Class/Tip FAQ for TF2

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Hello people... And welcome to this my FAQ pulled from all parts of the web and my time playing that crazy game called Team Fortress 2.
Lets jump in when some basic stuff.

1: Learn the levels. Know which team might have the starting advantage. In cp_gravelpit, reds are defending from the blues.

2: Learn the strengths and weaknesses of each class. Work out which classes are suited to which maps.

3: Work as a team. TF2 is a team game, therefore kamikaze gungho tactics won't work.

4: Communicate. If you have a microphone, use it! Communicating with the rest of your team is essential to winning the round, even if you're just typing in team chat. A spy amongst your ranks could cause a lot of damage.

5: HAVE FUN!!! Remember it a game.

Now on to the classes.

* Scouts are mainly used for capturing flags. They are very fast, and can double jump, but they are the weakest unit. To be a good Scout you have to be very agile.

* Soldiers in the right hands can be destructive. Practice using the rockets to get used to their fairly slow speed. Also learn how to rocket jump, where you jump whilst firing a rocket at the ground simultaneously. Soldiers are also one of the best classes at destroying sentry guns.

* Pyros are not great at long range, but in corridors and narrow alleyways are very effective. The flamethrower has quite a short range (which halves when you are running forward). The best tactics are to set the target on fire, and when they are running away whip out your shotgun and finish them off (since you will have no chance with the flamethrower).

* Demomen are also very useful. The grenade launchers are good for wiping out enemies round a corner, whilst the sticky bombs are useful for many things. Stick loads around a doorway, then detonate them when an enemy walks through. Alternatively place loads round a control point, and then detonate them when the enemy tries to capture. You could also try sticky bomb jumping, which is like rocket jumping (see above).

* The Heavy class is very simple to understand. Like support machineguns in other games, they can mow down almost anything in the way. A couple of things to remember: The longer the range the less accurate they are, so if you're facing a soldier you have less chance, and also, spinning the minigun (MOUSE2) makes sure you're ready to fire instantly.

* Engineers are also very useful classes. Dispensers replenish ammo, metal and health so are very useful for your team. Build a dispenser first, then replenish your metal enough to build a turret. Try and build the turret (sentry gun) in a good position (right click twice to turn it towards you) - so that it is difficult to destroy. Using metal from a dispenser or just off the ground, keep upgrading it (using the spanner) until you get rockets. It will need repair and maintenance.

Teleports: place the entrance right by spawn and the exit by the front lines. Very handy in reducing the time for reinforcements to arrive.

Destroy your old builds before you build new ones. You'll be able to scrounge a fraction of the metal back.

* Medics are obviously extremely useful. They can heal team mates to normal health as well as increasing their health by a huge amount over their maximum, so keep it on! Medics also regenerate their health over time.

The ubercharge is one of the most powerful and fun features in the game. The idea is to charge up the bar in the bottom right corner to full. Do this by healing as much as you can, so as soon as you spawn put it on someone. Get a friendly rocket player to do some rocket jumping. It will charge it faster.
Using the ubercharge is simple: Get out in the open and click MOUSE2. You and your target will be invincible for a while - great fun if they're a heavy.

* Snipers are also simple to understand. Just like other games, except they don't do as much damage. Scope in and it will power up, when the bar is at 100% it is at its most powerful.

* Spy is one of the hardest classes to use properly, but also one of the most damaging. MOUSE2 to make yourself invisible so that you can sneak behind enemy lines, then disguise yourself as one of the enemy. Here you can place sapper charges on enemy equipment, and backstab people. Unfortunately these activities will reveal you as a spy, so cloak yourself again and find a new disguise. Sapping enemy equipment does not reveal you as a spy or cause you to uncloak.

* Its also worth noting that spies will block your path (whereas teammates won't) and spies will also take damage. Make sure everyone around you is on your team!

End of part 1.

Next Up Class Brake Down

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How to Play a Medic in Team Fortress 2

1. Learn how to use your weapons. Medics possess a Bone Saw, a Syringe Gun, and the class defining Medi-Gun.

1. Use the Bone Saw sparingly, at point-blank range. Save your Bone Saw for stealthy "backstabs" (the needlegun tends to be more noticable) or when an attacker is next to you and retreat is impossible — you're usually better off healing another teammate and letting them finish the job for you instead.

2. Use the Syringe Gun for distanced shots. As the name implies, the Syringe Gun fires hypodermic needles at a slower pace than bullets. It is not the most powerful weapon in TF2, but it is very underestimated by most players. An experienced player can be lethal with the Syringe Gun in his hands.

Note that the needles from the Syringe Gun arc downward rather quickly. You'll need to aim upward with the Syringe Gun if you intend to hit any enemies from a distance. This does, however, make it useful to shoot over short hills. The Syringe Gun's needles travel through the air slowly, which can make it tricky for other players to dodge. Keep this in mind.

Try using the Syringe Gun to provide cover fire for your team. They'll stay in the air long enough to travel at enemies that like to sidestep back and forth from corners. If you get a crit needle, the next several needles are very likely to be crits as well. This string of crit needles can take down even a fully healed heavy in many cases, so if you hear the "zing" of a crit when firing the needle gun, keep your fire on the target and they're very likely to drop.

3. Use the Medi-Gun to heal your teammates. This is pretty much a given; your teammates will worship you for being able to heal them effectively and quickly.

You don't have to keep your crosshairs on the player to keep healing them, so you should look around frequently to keep an eye on the rest of the battlefield; it's a good idea to look for other wounded players, and keep an eye out for approaching spies and pyros.

In addition to healing, your Medi-Gun can raise a player's health to 150% of their maximum health. This will slowly return back to its maximum when you stop healing. You can tell how "overhealed" a player is by the white glowing/pulsating surrounding their health cross; the bigger this glow, the more overhealing they have received. You will earn an "assist kill" if you are healing a teammate that gets a kill point.

2.
Use your Ubercharge to make you and one of your teammates invincible for a short time. As you heal players, you will notice that the small bar on the bottom right corner of your HUD will start to fill itself. This is your "Ubercharge" meter. When this reaches 100%, the Medic will announce that he is "charged". By right-clicking, you will activate your Ubercharge, which will make your healing target completely invulnerable for a maximum of 10 seconds.

Note that you and your target cannot capture points when Ubercharged. Similarly, you and your target will not be able to carry the enemy intelligence (flag). However, you can prevent the other team from capturing your team's point by standing in the capture zone; occasionally it may be necessary to use an Uber, even if you have nobody else to use it on, if it means preventing them from capturing just long enough to get some support.Your Ubercharge meter will fill fastest when healing a heavily damaged player. It fills slowest when overhealing a player who is already at 150% health. This helps gives medics an incentive to take care of their team as a whole, rather than permanently attaching to the nearest heavy.

The announcement of "I am charged!" can be heard by nearby enemies as well. If you wish to cover up this telltale signal so they are less likely to be prepared for it, you can call for a medic (or any other vocal command) just as you hit 100% and it will override the passive "I am charged!" announcement.

3. Don't worry too much about killing enemies. The Medic is almost exclusively a support class, so you won't be doing as much battling as would a Soldier or other class. Even so, you'll get plenty of assist kills by keeping other players healed as they take out enemies.

4. Don't forget about healing other Medics, too! This is one point that most Medics tend to forget while on the front line. Medics have the ability to regenerate their health, but only at a very slow rate. Good medics should look out for one another, and if you're hurt, don't be afraid to call for a medic like everyone else.

5. Set your priorities. Lots of players - especially heavies! - like to hit the "Medic!" key for the sake of getting your attention to come keep them healed, even though they are at full health. While it's good to keep your more vocal teammates buffed, please make sure that you keep everyone else alive, too.


Tips

Be sure to keep an eye out for players calling for a heal. You can easily hear them shouting "Medic!" or "Doctor!", as well as seeing a small red cross balloon appear over their head. You'll also see a message appear in the chat window.


It helps quite a bit to communicate your intentions to your team. The built-in voice comm/TS is invaluable for this, so if you have it, use it! If you've just filled your bar while healing a demoman and have spotted a pyro you intend to use it on, let them both know; the demoman may assume you're going to keep sticking with him and rush expecting an Uber that will never come, and the pyro may dash on ahead not knowing you're planning a big push that involves him. Likewise, if you spot a soldier running towards the front lines with a sliver of health because he hasn't spotted you, tell him to wait before he has a chance to engage any enemies.


If you are paranoid about Spies, the most effective way to "spy check" is to walk into that player. If you pass through that player, then he is not a Spy, and is on your team. If you find that the player blocks you, then he is a Spy. Also, spies keep their actual health pool, so if you heal a soldier or heavy and notice that they're filling up quicker than usual, stop healing them; they're probably a spy.


A Medic's Ubercharge will fill much more quickly during setup time, so long as he or she is actively healing someone. Other players do not need to damage themselves in order to boost your Ubercharge fill speed during this period.


Ubercharges are typically used in one of two ways: Defensively and Offensively. If you are using it defensively, you are using it to protect yourself or your partner from dying. This is better than dying, but can sometimes be a partial victory of sorts for the enemy team; if you have to use your Uber to save yourself then you cannot use it for a well-coordinated offensive push. On the other hand, sometimes a defensive Uber makes the difference between the other side taking a capture point and being beaten back. When being used offensively, however, you have more choice of when, where, and on whom to use your Uber, so communicate with your team to make maximum use of that charge to take down a sentry or to do as much damage to the enemy team as possible and achieve your team's objectives.


So you've managed to survive long enough to fill that shiny Ubercharge bar; now, who should you use it on? This depends almost entirely on the situation, but cases where a sniper, spy, scout, or medic are your best bet are very uncommon. The targets you're most likely to want to use your Ubers on are typically pyros (for offensive pushes), followed by heavies (for defense), then demos and soldiers (less desirable because of reloads, but still pretty damaging), followed by engineer (sometimes it's the only way to prevent a crucial sentry gun from going down). However, this is not written in stone; use your best judgement to determine which class can best make use of your Ubercharge in the current circumstances. Also, given the choice, you will probably want to use your charge on the more experienced players on your team, the ones who are likely to use it to full effect instead of wasting it. Typically (but not always!) these will be the people at the top of your team's scoreboard.


If you're using an Ubercharge to take out a sentry, take the lead during your push to absorb the knockback from the sentry, allowing your partner to attack it with minimal resistance.


If you have more than one attacker in a group, it's possible to switch targets in mid-Uber. Enemy players will often stop attacking your Ubered partner (since they can't hurt him or her) and will switch targets to another player in your group. It takes a good medic to pull off this technique, but it's both intimidating and very effective. As a bonus, the previous target will remain invincible for a fraction of a second after you take the beam off of him, which can also be helpful.


Stay behind your meatshield! If you are healing a soldier or heavy, it's generally a good idea to keep them between you and whatever enemies happen to be firing at the both of you, unless there's a convienient corner to hide behind. They can absorb rockets and bullets much better than you can, and it'll help charge your Uber to boot!




Things to be wary of

Although you and your target cannot take damage while Ubercharge is activated, you can still be knocked around by explosions, such as from rockets or sticky bombs. Be careful not to get separated from your target.


Be wary of disguised enemy spies. They can also be healed by your Medi-Gun. Many spies will try to get a heal or set you up for a backstab by calling for a medic, so always be just a little bit wary. Above all, try to make sure that the person you're Ubering is actually on your team!


Medics, perhaps even more than the other classes, need to know where the medkits are located in each level. Don't be afraid to hog the medkits (within reason). Medics are high-priority targets, especially to pyros; while you can rapidly heal other players to put out their flames, you cannot do the same for yourself.


Many players will act as though they are invincible when they see they are being healed, and will charge into certain death. While frontline combat medics are an invaluable asset to the team, do not allow overconfident players to draw you out too far along with them. Sometimes it will become necessary to let an overconfident teammate rush to his death to preserve your team's healing ability and your progress towards the next Ubercharge.


It's better to blow your Ubercharge prematurely to save yourself than to die with 100%. If your health dips into the red or things start getting too hot, it's probably a good idea to right click and look for the nearest teammate than to attempt a retreat and risk dying with a perfectly good Ubercharge.


After using up your Ubercharge, you may be tempted to go out in a blaze of glory with your needlegun humming or bonesaw singing. Please don't! Your team will undoubtedly need healing during the period you'll be waiting to respawn and running back up to the front. It's best to retire back towards the rear of the fight and start building towards your next Ubercharge, and let the combat classes handle mopping up whatever opposition is left.

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How to Play a Pyro in Team Fortress 2

1. Know when and how to use your weapons. You are given three weapons, each of which are useful at different opportunities.

Use the flamethrower at short-range.The Pyro's flamethrower is most advantageous up close to your enemy, and almost guaranteed to be fatal at point-blank range.

As a Pyro, Spies fear you the most. If you see a brief silhouette of a player flicker before you, immediately set loose your flamethrower to reveal any cloaked Spies near you.

You can also use the flamethrower to reveal disguised Spies. Remember that burning players will glow their team color, which will blow a Spy's cover instantly.

Use the shotgun at medium-to-far ranges. If an enemy is rushing toward you from a distance, it can help to switch to your shotgun and start shooting to inflict some damage before he or she is within the range of your flamethrower, especially when you are about to enter combat with another pyro because it no longer depends on lighting them on fire, but damage instead.

It also helps to use your shotgun to pick off retreating enemies. Try to ignite a player with your flamethrower and finish them off with the shotgun.

Use the axe as an alternative last resort. Using the axe is a lot of fun, but be careful. It can be very satisfying to score a melee kill with the axe, but don't get too cocky.

2. Take your enemies by surprise. Don't charge at your opponents head-on while blasting your flamethrower. It's intimidating, sure, but you'll probably be gunned down before you can even singe another player. Instead, try to sneak up behind a group of enemies, get up as close as you can, and let your flamethrower rip!

3. Understand your strategy. As a Pyro, fear is essentially your middle name. You generally live to cause chaos and confusion in other players. Nothing is more intimidating to an enemy than a set of flames that continues to damage him or her after you are out of the way. As such, you'll find that players tend to scatter and run from you, which helps to keep them from shooting at you accurately and calmly.


Tips

Don't get too comfortable with using only your flamethrower. An effective Pyro will burn individuals up close and then pick them off with the shotgun as they try to run away.

Don't stand still when attacking. Run circles around your enemies and quickly reverse to avoid showing any patterns. Be unpredictable!

One of the Pyro's greatest strengths lies in being able to deal out a lot of damage, provided that you ambush effectively and get as close to the enemy as possible. If you can sneak up on a player and shoot off your flamethrower at point blank range, he or she will probably be dead before even having a chance to react. This makes hiding around corners very effective, as you can quickly deal a huge amount of damage in a short amount of time.

Although it goes without saying, don't attempt to use your flamethrower while underwater. Switch to your shotgun or axe if you need to fight.

Unless you are within damaging range, avoid chasing players with your flamethrower. You may look like a huge threat with an oncoming flamethrower, but remember that most players will rocket or gun you down before you can even reach them.

Prepare counters for all your opposing classes. For example, if you see a soldier its best to get as close as possible so that they damage themselves in trying to kill you.


One Little Warning

Take extra care when battling other enemy Pyros. You are fire resistant and cannot take burning damage over time, although you will still take contact damage from the flamethrower. Because of this, it is a good idea to use the Shotgun when battling enemy Pyros.

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How to Play an Engineer in Team Fortress 2

1. Recognize when and how to use your primary weapons. Engineers are given a shotgun, a pistol, and a wrench.

Use the shotgun for short-to-midrange attacks. This is your base weapon, which you will be using to attack for the majority of the time.

Use the pistol for long distance. While not pinpoint accurate, the Engineer's pistol is good for finishing off a retreating enemy. If you run out of ammo in the heat of battle with the shotgun, pull out the pistol and fire away.

Use your wrench to repair your structures and for close combat. Wrench kills are fun, but not always practical in head-to-head combat when the shotgun is so much more powerful. Save your wrench for repairing your sentry gun and other structures.

2. Understand how to use each of your structures. Engineers have the ability to create a sentry gun, a dispenser, and teleporter entrance/exits. Place a structure at your desired location and watch as it automatically begins to construct itself. Be sure to keep it well guarded while it does so, otherwise an enemy can easily destroy it before it finishes.

Sentry gun (130 metal). These turrets will automatically fire at any oncoming enemies, making them a staple in base defense. Sentries also have a limited range outlined by a wall of blue or red.

Sentries have three levels of firepower (levels 1, 2, and 3), which can be upgraded by obtaining more metal and hitting it with your wrench. Each level upgrade requires an additional 200 metal.

+ Level 1 sentries are very basic. They fire rounds and rotate much more slowly than other levels, making them susceptible to damage by faster players.

+ Level 2 sentries have stronger firepower and can rotate faster than Level 1 sentries.

+ Level 3 sentries are the most powerful, able to rotate and shoot rapidly with rockets and additional rounds.

Dispenser (100 metal). The dispenser slowly generates metal and ammo for teammates. It will also heal teammates, albeit much more slowly than a Medic.

Coupled with a nearby sentry, a dispenser can provide limitless metal, ammo, and health to an Engineer and other players. Be wary that dispensers generate metal at a relatively slow pace, so don't expect to have a batch of metal right after it finishes constructing itself.

Place a dispenser strategically on the front lines to provide teammates a consistent source of health. These are invaluable during sudden death matches.


Teleporter (125 metal). The teleporter is highly useful for transporting newly spawned players to the front lines quickly. Remember that you will need to place a teleporter entrance and exit.

Be strategic when selecting a location for your teleporter entrance. You will want to place an entrance where your teammates can readily see it, but not so obvious as to leave it open to enemy fire.

Similarly, avoid placing exits out in the open. Not only do you want to preserve the life of your exit, but also the lives of your teammates as they come to learn where they've been teleported.

Remember that players passing through your teleporter will temporarily leave your team color's trail in their wake. Experienced players will take note of this and attempt to track down the location of your exit.


Your teleporter can transport one player about every 10 seconds.

3. Develop a strategy. While Engineers are catered to being a defensive class, they still have much opportunity to play on offense as well. Be sure to experiment with different techniques and plans that offer the most benefit for you and the rest of your team.

1. Consider your defensive role. Most Engineers will spend their time within the base, placing sentries in locations where they cannot easily be destroyed. If you are very close to the respawn, you might consider building a far-off dispenser near the front line to provide health to your teammates since you have easy access to the supplies cabinet. Don't forget about placing a remote teleporter exit to assist in transporting your teammates. For a defensive engineer, the sentry gun should be positioned to best protect the objective.

2. Consider your offensive role. Engineers can be used to create "mini bases", which can provide a place for teammates to retreat for health and ammo, as well as a place to transport teammates with the teleporter. In an offensive role, a sentry gun should serve to protect the teleporter exit and dispenser.

4. Be wary of Spies and their sappers. Spies are equipped with sappers, which will disable your structures and render them unusable. Sappers will also slowly drain your structure's power, and will destroy it if it is left on for too long. If a Spy saps one of your structures, quickly hit it a few times with your wrench to destroy the sapper and to repair your structure.

It's important to remember that sappers will disable your structures. Hence, if a Spy saps your sentry, it will not be able to shoot until the sapper is removed. This can leave you vulnerable not only to the Spy's attacks, but also other incoming enemies.

Naturally, don't forget that your sentries will not attack a Spy that is cloaked or is disguised as one of your teammates.

If, after knocking off a sapper from one of your sentries, a Spy continually puts on another one after another is knocked off, first kill the Spy. If you don't, he will keep applying sappers until the Sentry is down, and you will be open for attack once the sentry is destroyed.


Tips

You can speed up the building time of any of your structures by simply continuing to hit said structure with your Wrench.

Note that you can turn your structures before creation with a simple right click. This will rotate the blueprint on the ground by 90º. This is exceptionally useful for strategic placement on ledges and the like.

It's a good idea to turn your structures so that they are most effective. Rotate your teleporter exits to face the open, so that your teammates won't have to turn around in confusion. Rotate your sentries so that they don't waste time turning around to fire, giving your enemies less time to react.

Be sure to pick up dead enemy (and teammate) weapons. They are a great source of metal to repair your structures.

Try to find the best locations for which to build your sentry. Some good locations are enclosed rooms, around far corners, and behind large boulders.

You will want to build your sentry in a place where it can shoot any players that attempt to destroy it. Therefore, it's a bad idea to place a sentry out in the open, where a sniper or a well-placed series of rockets can pick it off from a distance. Edges and tight corners are also a bad idea, since an enemy can easily position himself to shoot the sentry without getting hurt.

Communication is essential in TF2. If you are guarding your intelligence in ctf_2fort, listen to your teammates (whether through chat or through voice) for information on enemy movement.

Pay attention to the HUD in the top left corner. If one of your structures takes damage, you will hear a beep and your HUD will highlight the damaged structure.

Pay attention to the Engineer's voice. You will hear him shout different things depending on the scenario. For example, he will shout "Sentry down!" if your sentry is destroyed, or "Spy sapping mh sentry!" if a Spy disables your sentry.

If you find that a Spy is persistently sapping your sentry, use your wrench to kill him. You might find it easier to destroy the sapper and kill the Spy with your wrench at the same time, rather than to destroy the sapper and pull out your shotgun to kill the Spy. It's also more humiliating for the Spy to be killed by a melee weapon. Either way, use your best judgment.

Don't assume that you can only repair and upgrade your own sentries. If you are teamed up with another Engineer, and your sentry is destroyed, team up with the other Engineer to keep his own sentry from falling.

Note that if you have structures built as an engineer, and then switch to another class, those structures will vanish.

During a game of Capture the Flag, build your sentry on top of your own intelligence if you can. This can prevent enemy spies from sapping your sentry because as soon as they walk up against it, they will pick up the intelligence, which disables their cloak and disguise, and the turret will proceed to shoot them.

Don't get too attached to a specific location on a map. A good engineer will demolish and rebuild his structures in strategic locations as the game's situation changes in order to complete the objective and serve the team. A sentry gun and dispenser placed in a section of the map not currently in play are useless.

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How to Play a Demoman in Team Fortress 2

1. Examine your arsenal. As a Demoman, you are armed with a grenade launcher { Pipe bombs }, a sticky bomb launcher, and a trusty whiskey bottle.

Use your bottle for short range attacks. The bottle can surprisingly come in handy for short range attacks, since the grenade launcher and sticky bomb launcher are ideally for longer distances.

Use your grenade launcher for medium range attacks. Pipe bombs are one of your main explosive projectiles. They will explode about 3 seconds after they are launched unless they directly connect with another enemy player or enemy building, in which case they will detonate upon impact.

Pipe bombs will only detonate upon impact with another player/building if they do not bounce off the ground or off a wall first. Otherwise, they will harmlessly bounce off the player. In either case, they will still explode after 3 seconds.

Use your sticky bomb launcher to set up traps and chokepoints. A sticky bomb will detonate at your command with a simple right click. You can launch up to 8 sticky bombs at once that stick to walls, ceilings, and other hidden locations to lure unsuspecting enemies into an explosive mess.

Use sticky bombs to set up bottlenecks that prevent/hinder enemy advancement on the field. You'll find that many players find a set of sticky bombs on the ground to be very intimidating.

You can hold down the fire button to "charge" your sticky bomb launcher to shoot long distance bombs. This is especially useful for inflicting some damage before you are in enemy sight.

2. Consider your offensive role. Demomen are particularly useful to eliminate close enemy congregations, since they can deal a significant amount of damage from a distance in a relatively short amount of time.

Use your sticky bomb launcher to clear out an Engineer sentry quickly. Lob about four or five sticky bombs around a corner or over an incline and detonate them all at once to destroy a sentry gun immediately. You'll probably take out the Engineer in the process, as well.

3.
Stickies out of sight.

Stickies out of sight.

Consider your defensive role. The Demoman's sticky bombs are a defensive staple in guarding your intelligence, as well as your capture points. Try to conceal a set of sticky bombs out of enemy sight, such as around a corner or around the outer edges of a doorway. As a group begins to rush in, detonate the concealed sticky bombs and watch the chaos that ensues.

4. Be sure to switch between weapons as needed. You can detonate your sticky bombs no matter what weapon that you have selected. Don't be afraid to switch to your grenade launcher while you have your sticky bombs set up, so that you don't become a sitting duck to incoming players.

5. Reload. This may appear to be a trivial and intuitive notion, but nothing is worse than being caught without any extra sticky bombs or pipe bombs in your launchers when a group of enemies start to come your way. Be sure to keep your weapons fully loaded whenever you have the opportunity to do so.

6. Use your sticky bombs to "grenade jump" to unreachable heights. Similar to the Soldier's rocket jump, the Demoman can use his sticky bomb launcher to reach great heights. Simply set a sticky bomb to the ground, and simultaneously jump over it and detonate it to fling yourself in the air.

Some notable locations to "jump" to are on the top of the Capture Point "B" building in cp_gravelpit and over the dividing wall in cp_well—most useful before the setup timer reaches zero.

Be sure not to do this with a "critical" sticky bomb, as you will cause unnecessary extra damage to yourself.


Tips

Take note when you shoot a "critical" pipe bomb or sticky bomb. Your launcher will emit an electrical charge sound, and the bomb will sparkle red or blue, depending on your team color. These bombs will inflict a devastating amount of damage if detonated next to an enemy. You will find that critical sticky bombs have the power to wipe out several players in a matter of seconds.

Don't assume that your bottle is a total "last resort" weapon. You may find that many faster players, such as the Scout, will try to get up as close to you as they can, attempting to take advantage of your lack of short range weapons. Although you probably shouldn't rush toward a player with your bottle, it is very useful in keeping enemies a moderate distance from you.

Be sure to toy around with the range and trajectory of your launchers. Note the speed that your bombs travel in the air, and try to give "lead shots" to moving enemies. Remember that you can use your sticky bomb launcher to shoot sticky bombs at a distance.


Warnings

Don't underestimate the "splash range" of your pipe bombs and sticky bombs. You'll undoubtedly kill yourself at least a couple of times while trying to master them, whether it be by detonating them upon yourself, or by shooting a pipe bomb too close to another player.

Beware that enemies can scatter your sticky bombs and knock them off walls or ceilings by shooting them. Enemy explosives will scatter them most easily (e.g. rockets, other sticky bombs), although they can be shot by bullets as well.

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How to Play a Spy in Team Fortress 2

1. Understand the nature of disguising. There are several points to consider when attempting to disguise.

One the effect of movement speed on the Spy, depending on your current disguise. For example, you will slow down to a Heavy's movement speed while disguised as a Heavy. Keep in mind that you will not speed up to a Scout's speed when disguise as a Scout.

Disguised Spies do not cry out in pain or bleed when shot, which helps to combat enemies that shoot anyone that comes into their sight, otherwise called "spy checking" Thus, don't go ballistic if you are shot once or twice by the enemy. Just shrug it off and hope that the enemy doesn't notice your health bar go down.

Make sure that your disguise makes some sense. You probably wouldn't find a Scout running down to your own intelligence room, just as you wouldn't find a Pyro defending in the water. The general idea here is that you want to blend in with the other team as much as possible, so don't do things that they wouldn't do, otherwise.

Remember that enemy Medics can heal you when you are disguised! Try calling for a Medic while disguised to help your cover. On the other hand, be careful not to appear too anxious for a heal.Enemy Engineer dispensers will also heal you while disguised.



2. Use the Engineer's teleporter sparingly and strategically. While you'll reach the front lines much more quickly, the downside to using a teleporter is that it leaves a trail of your team's color by your footsteps (that is, you'll leave a red trail when on the RED team). This will quickly reveal your location when cloaked, and will immediately give you away if you are a disguised red Medic leaving a blue trail.

3. Take your time and be patient. If you prefer rushing into the fray and shooting everything in sight, then the Spy is not for you. Take it slow, and wait for some enemies (and teammates) to drop before you head into battle. It's easier to pick off weakened enemies.

4. Be deceptive and unpredictable. Remember that the Spy isn't a front line class like the Soldier or the Heavy. You're behind the scenes, working to undermine the enemy team from within.

5. Understand the nature of your cloak. The cloak, as expected, will render you invisible for a short period of time. It's very useful, yes, but it doesn't make you invincible. Keep these tips in mind when using the cloak:

You will be partially revealed if you take damage. As such, don't run into oncoming fire while cloaked, such as toward a Heavy's minigun.

Your body briefly glows as your team's color when fading in and out of visibility. That is, if you are on the RED team, you will briefly flicker a red color before fading back into visibility. This happens regardless of whether you are disguised as a red or a blue player, so this will quickly give you away if you are seen removing your cloak.

Note that you cannot use any of your weapons or reload your revolver when cloaked. You will need to wait a few seconds to uncloak before being able to attack again.

Remember that you can still bump into enemies while cloaked. This makes running around corners tricky, as you'll probably end up bumping into a player by accident. If you bump into an enemy, your cloak will flicker and briefly reveal you, which has the potential to blow your cover completely. Keep in mind that you will only bump into enemies. You can easily pass through your teammates.

Uncloaking right behind a lone enemy player is generally a bad idea. Becoming visible takes about two seconds, and in that time someone can easily see you. Uncloak yourself in a spot where you know you can't be seen.

6. Stay out of the way of enemy Pyros. In general, Pyros are one of your arch nemeses, since they can burn you and render your cloaking ability completely useless. If you are spotted by a Pyro, it may be in your best interest to cloak and get some cover. Be sure to stay out of the range of his flamethrower.

7. Backstab your enemies. One of the primary associations made with the Spy is his ability to kill any enemy with one knife strike from behind. When disguised, try to sneak up on an unsuspecting player and stab them in the back.
Always attack the farthest player in a group. If you manage to sneak behind a group of five players, start from the back and slowly start
backstabbing forward, making sure that no one spots you in doing so.

Don't be afraid to use your knife as a melee weapon if you must. While the knife is generally for backstabbing, it still does decent damage, but is the weakest melee weapon in the game (when not backstabbing.)

8. Set your target priority. Going for "personal glory" and landing four backstabs in a row feels great, but may not be the most beneficial way to help your team. Get behind enemy lines and observe the other team. Do you see well-positioned sentries or teleporters? Does their Heavy wreak havoc to your team, and is he being healed by a Medic about to Ubercharge him? You constantly have to make the decision as to which target you attack first.

9. Understand how your sapper works. Sappers slowly damage an Engineer's buildings {sentry guns, teleporters, and dispensers} and disable them, making them useless unless the Engineer removes the sapper in time.

Since sappers disable sentry guns, it can help to shoot a sapped sentry with your revolver or stab it with your knife a few times to help destroy it quickly. It will not shoot at you so long as the sapper stays in place. Be careful when doing this with an Engineer attempting to repair it, as you may get killed in doing so.

Don't forget that using a sapper will not remove your disguise.

Enemy sentries are usually target priority, because they tend to cause a lot of destruction on your team.

10. Remember your revolver. While it can be tricky to aim, the revolver is still very powerful, and can be devastating if you get a critical hit.


Tips

You will know that you have landed a backstab when the Spy thrusts the knife in a different manner than normal. However, you can still inflict an instant kill so long as you are striking a player with the knife from behind.

Many players find that the brief delay in the second "backstab animation" can cause difficulties in landing a backstab effectively. Try to run up behind an enemy and thrust your knife just as you reach their back, so that you swing your knife as normal, but still obtain an instant kill. It may take some practice, but it can help substantially.

You will leave a trail of bubbles behind you while cloaked and swimming in the water. This can give away your position to more experienced players.

Remember to be unpredictable! Unpredictability of movement and action are key factors that sets apart a good Spy from a mediocre one. If you decide to cloak to retreat from your enemy, try running straight in one direction, but quickly change while fully invisible. That way, your helpless enemies will mindlessly chase after your shadow, while you escape around the corner.

Avoid disguising as a class if no one is playing it on the other team. If you do this, you will be assigned a random name from the enemy team, which frequently tends to be the same as the person looking at you. In other words, if you are a blue Spy disguising as a red Pyro, and there are no red Pyros on the server, there is a chance that a red JohnSmith will see "JohnSmith" when targeting you.

Similarly, avoid making contact with the same class that you are disguised as. If there is only one Sniper on the other team named JohnSmith, and he spots you disguised as a sniper, he will see "JohnSmith" when targeting you, which is a dead giveaway.

If you attempt to call for a Medic while disguised as JohnSmith, then JohnSmith will see his name shouting for a heal. This can blow your cover if you are not careful. Even worse, all players have a chance of seeing their own name if you call for a Medic while disguised as a class that isn't on the other team.

For humorous effect, get a spray that says 'FYI I am a spy'. While disguised as an enemy class, put the spray on the wall, and wait to see an unsuspecting enemy to examine the sign. Then back-stab him. This is often the most satisfying when the enemy class is a medic who has been healing you.


Warnings

Expect to die often as a Spy. The Spy is one of the more difficult, if not the most difficult class to master in TF2. You need to be able to analyze and measure the enemy's movement and reception to Spies, which may take a handful of deaths to discern. Luck has a lot to do with it too: usually the enemy team will do a lot of 'spy checking'. There will be times when they forget to do this, which will make your job as a spy a lot easier.

When disguised as a Medic, you do NOT have an Ubercharge meter under your name! While most inexperienced players don't realize this, experienced certainly will and will hunt you down, so try not to disguise as a Medic unless you know the opponents won't realize it.

[maxxblood]

How to Play a Sniper in Team Fortress 2

{ Very Good Video This Time Enjoy }

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee2LHDFAhRc

[maxxblood]

How to Play a Scout in Team Fortress 2

{ Insane Videos Below }

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRSW0Y1SgoA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j59kujK004o

[maxxblood]

How to Play a Soldier in Team Fortress 2

{ 2 Videos this time }

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FSHDtLIapw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2egN_JAmSQg

[maxxblood]

How to Play a Heavy in Team Fortress 2

1. Call the medic! A heavy medic combo is devastatingly strong, and and an ubercharged heavy can take down groups of enemies and destroy entire minibases made by engineers.

2. Keep your gun loaded. Pick up enemies' dropped weapons to keep your ammo up.

3. Remember to fall back once in a while to reload and heal. Heavies may have 300HP, but those points get used up pretty fast when up against several enemies.

4. Turn on your gatling gun before going into the fray. It takes a second, and prepares you for the opposition.

5. While it is fun to punch a guy in the face, use melee as a last resort.


Tips

Stay near the front of the group and have medic support, as your size provides cover for your teammates.

An engineer's dispenser is almost as good as a medic, and it gives you ammo.

Crouching provides no real accuracy improvements, and it turns you into a giant, level 2 turret.

A good Heavy will use his high rate of fire to hold down enclosed "choke points" on the map while his team establishes themselves around him. Along with being able to deliver damage at a devastating rate and quantity, the Heavy draws a lot of fire, allowing more nimble teammates to take advantage of the distraction.


Warnings

Medics are helpful, but don't medic spam by mashing the call button. It's just annoying.

Stay alive! It takes longer for the heavy to reach the frontline.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z66iWDH_lgU

[maxxblood]

Well that it for me hope this info helps out in some way. Here is also a good link That I got most of the vids from. They have lots of info also. Please check it out.

http://maxxed.de/team-fortress-2/

[Balti]

Excellent tips Maxx! Thanks for posting these. I'll make them a sticky here. Hopefully they'll help someone out like me!

[Tombstone]

Great job Maxx. These will be real useful as we get ready to compete in a TF2 ladder.

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