Intro

Most people consider the spy to be the most confusing class in the game. this guide will help clear some of that confusion away, as well as give you useful tips to use in game. Enjoy :)

1. weapon stats (default setup)

SECONDARY:
Name: Revolver
Base damage: 40
Crit Damage: 120
Ammo in a "clip'': 6
Ammo in reserve: 24
Notes: -The big kill has the EXACT same stats as the revolver.
-Technically, the revolver (and any other gun for the spy) is a secondary weapon because of the sapper.

MELEE:
Name: Knife
Base Damage: 40
Backstab: 6 Times the victim's health
Notes: -The Sharp Dresser, the Black Rose, and the Saxxy (when used by the spy) have the EXACT same stats as the knife.

PRIMARY PDA:
Name: Disguise Kit
Notes: -With the Disguise kit, you can disguise as either a friendly or enemy player.
-When disguised as an enemy, you can take enemy teleporters. The teleporter will give you an enemy colored trail, as well as put you in positions you normally wouldn't be able to be in.

SECONDARY PDA:
Name: Invis Watch
Cloak Time: 9 seconds (when cloak is full)
Notes: -ammo boxes and dispensers (depending what team you are disguised as, or on) will give you additional cloak.
-EX: if you are on BLU team, and you disguise as a RED, both RED and BLU dispensers will heal you and give you cloak.
-While invisible, enemy sentry guns won't shoot you.
-Obviously, when you cloak, enemies won't be able to see you.
-The Enthusiast's Timepiece and the Quackendbirdt have the EXACT same stats as the Invis Watch.

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/578985893204676402/85189087B1C63DB07AD1E0AA655C2776BA625E97/256x0.resizedimage

The image above shows:
1. the spy uncloaked
2. the spy when he gets bumped while invisible
3. the spy when he's invisible

BUILDING:
Name: Sapper
INFO: Disables and slowly destroys enemy Engineer buildings
Notes: the Ap-Sap has the EXACT same effect on buildings as the sapper.
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2. Saharan spy weapon stats

SECONDARY:
Name: L'Etranger
Base Damage: 32
Crit Damage: 96
Ammo in a "clip": 6
Ammo in reserve: 24
Stats: + 40% Longer cloak duration
+ On hit, you get 15% cloak added to your cloak meter
- bullets do 20% less damage than the revolver

MELEE:
Name: Your Eternal Reward
Base Damage: 40
Backstab: 6 Times the victim's health
Stats: +When you backstab an enemy, the Spy instantly disguises as the backstab victim.
+Victims don't make ANY noise when dying.
+Victims' bodies disappear after being stabbed.
+If backstabbed, the backstab victim's death will not be shown in the killfeed for other enemies.
-You lose your disguise kit

The HAT!!!
Name: Familiar Fez

SPECIAL NOTES: For the saharan Spy set, you get a cool taunting particle effect. That's it.
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3. Dr. Enforcicle weapon stats

SECONDARY:
Name: Enforcer
Base Damage: 48 <---(undisguised), 40 <---(disguised)
Crit damage: 144 <---(undisguised), 120 <---(disguised)
Ammo in a "clip": 6
Ammo in reserve: 24
Stats: +20% damage bonus while undisguised
-20% slower firing speed
- No random critical hits

MELEE:
Name: Spy-Cicle
Damage: 40
Backstab: 6 Times the victim's health
Stats: +Silent Killer: No attack noise from backstabs
+On Hit by Fire: Become fireproof for 2 seconds
-Backstab turns victim to ice
-Melts in fire, regenerates after 15 seconds

SECONDARY PDA:
Name: Dead Ringer
Cloak Time: 6.5 seconds
Stats: +Cloak regenerates 80% Faster
- Decreases the maximum time that the Spy class can ‘feign’ death according to the amount of damage they take after they fake their demise.
+60% Cloak drain rate

SPECIAL NOTES: This loadout is used mainly to destroy engineer buildings.
EX: Teleporters

This section will go over different ways to deal with enemies when you are a spy.

(Note: There are certain terms In this section that you may not be familiar with if you are a less experienced player. Don't worry, those terms are explained in the next section.)

Scout: As you probably know, the scout is the fastest class in tf2, sometimes making scouts hard to backstab. But, it's not impossible. The best way to deal with a scout is to move into their backpedal and stab them.

Soldier: the soldier is the 2nd slowest class in the game, making it easier to backstab him. But, he has very powerful weapons that can kill you extremely quick. An efficient way to deal with soldiers is stalking.

Pyro: the pyro IS YOUR WORST ENEMY. His flames can make you visible when you cloak, and he can kill you very fast because you only have 125 hp. The flamethrowers do high amounts of damage, as well as afterburn damage, which can quickly kill you. The safest, and most efficient, way to deal with a pyro is to preform a leaping stab.

heavy: the heavy is basically target practice for you (as a spy). he is the slowest class in the game, making it fairly easy to backstab him. All backstab tactics work well against a heavy, but be cautious. If a heavy is paranoid, he will spam his minigun everywhere.

demoman: the demo is slightly slower than the spy (by 7% percent), making backstabbing him a little easier. But, like the soldier and pyro, his weapons can easily kill you. Also, just like the soldier and pyro, the best ways to kill him are by stalking or leap stabbing.

Engineer: you can disable his buildings, and kill him while he's distracted, making the sap and stab fairly easy. The stab and sap is more efficient, but harder to pull off.

Medic: since the medic focuses on the player he's healing, you can kill him while he's distracted.

sniper: since most snipers stand still, you can easily backstab them. For some reason, if they have the razorback, just shoot him. It only takes three or four bullets to kill him.

spy: normally, spies don't run into other spies but when it does happen, rely on your gun to finish them. DON'T EVER TRY TO TRICKSTAB A SPY. if you mess up at all, the enemy can easily stab you.

There are many different types of trickstabs and backstabbing techniques. They are:

1. corner stab -When you go around a corner, move behind your enemy as they walk around the corner, and stab them

2. stair stab -when you jump on someone and crouch at the same time on an incline (like stairs), and stab them

3. quick stab -as someone walks by you, you rotate your view towards their back and stab them.

4. under stab -if an enemy decides to jump on you, you look at their feet and stab them when they're in range.

5. matador stab - basically a corner stab without the corner. you move one way, and when the enemy follows you, you move the opposite way you were originally moving (EX: from left to right) and backstab them

6. leaping stab -when you fall or jump on somebody that is below you and stab them (EX: from the top of the C capture point on gravel pit to the bottom)

7. stalking -when you uncloak behind a moving target and stab them (when you start to uncloak, it's like you are stalking them because you can't attack yet, but you are right behind them as they move.)

8. sap and stab - when you sap an engineer's building(s) and backstab him as he tries to repair them

9. stab and sap -when you backstab the engineer FIRST, then sap his buildings

(sorry if I forgot any, but these are the commonly used ones)

OBVIOUS TIPS:
Use your cloak to get behind the enemy lines
disguise as an enemy to blend in
backstab stuff

BASICS:
Be Patient. Patience is a spy's friend. Don't go for the first stab you see, always take the time to check your surroundings. If you do, you could:

1. Get MOAR backstabs
2. See if other enemies are around (that would kill you if you didn't look for them). This can save your life, as well as possibly get you more kills to assist your team.
3. Provide you with valuable information that you could give to your team.
EX: sentry placements, enemy medic's uber percentage, and who's defending / attacking an objective.

Most intermediate spy players think the revolvers are ONLY for picking off low health targets, which is not true. The default revolver is very powerful, doing 40 damage a shot with six to shoot at a time. If you do the math, six bullets do 240 damage (which kills EVERY class in the game except the heavy). Also, the default revolver shoots faster than the default shotgun. So, when it's safe, be aggressive with your gun.

Prioritize. While playing in game, sometimes you will have to pick which enemies to kill first. The order I prioritize my kills is:

1. Medic
2. Medic/Demoman combo
3. Medic/Soldier combo
4. Medic/Heavy combo
5. Engineer carrying a building
6. Demoman
7. Soldier
8. Heavy
9. Engineer
10. Sniper
11. Pyro
12. Scout
13. Spy
14. Cats

Like I said, this is the way that I prioritize my targets. You don't have to follow my prioritizing order, but it's a good starting point to use until you get more experienced in tf2.

Mind games
As a spy, you are the most hunted and feared class in the game. This may sound bad, but you can use this to your advantage. here are some ways to manipulate enemies.

1. Normally, if an enemy sees you go in a certain direction, they will assume that you are going to continue moving in that direction. What you can do to get enemies off of your tail is cloak when they can't see you (EX: around a corner), and change direction once you are fully cloaked. The enemy will continue to chase you on the path that it looked like you took. This can give you extra time to heal or get to an objective. This technique is called ''illusion''.


This video is not mine. All credit for the video goes to the youtube user: TheOyooy.

Blending in with the enemy can be as simple as looking the other way when an enemy walks towards you. Sometimes, it can be difficult not to react to your enemies' actions, but if you don't react to them, it will pay off in the end because you can get kills that would otherwise be inaccessible. The best time to blend in is when your enemies are distracted (EX: shooting your teammates or focusing on objectives). The enemies wont waste much ammo spy checking you because they are focused on someone/something else, giving you easy kills.

Paranoia is when the enemy is paranoid of you, and they begin to spy check more often. this happens when you backstab enemies. You can use Paranoia to your advantage by killing them while they are looking for where you might be hiding. be careful against spy checking pyros because they reveal you when you are invisible if they light you on fire.

Shortcuts

It is important to learn shortcuts because they can help you escape nearly impossible situations, or help you get to objectives faster. You can also use shortcuts offensively. Some examples of that are:

1. cloak and use shortcuts to maximize your distance while you are invisible. This can help you get behind targets faster and safer.

2. use shortcuts to get to control points faster to capture them.

mainly though, shortcuts are used to escape bad situations faster and more efficiently.

Objectives

As the spy, you can get behind the enemy lines without them noticing. This can be helpful when your team can't get to a certain objective like the C capture point on gravel pit.

If you have a nonfunctional team, don't give up. there is a technique called solocap.
Solocap is when you get to a capture point that the rest of your team can't get to, and you capture it. (self explanatory) Sometimes, you might not be able to simply solocap. You might have to blend in for a while, and wait for the right time to strike.

More General Tips

-Cloak
-Disguise
-Postition
-Stab
-Repeat

Disguises won't fool the enemy forever. When you disguise, Don't abuse it. Quickly position yourself where you need to be, while still acting as natural as possible (this may sound impossible, but this technique comes with practice), and strike.

(Note: "Spy checking" is when an enemy inflicts damage to you to figure out if you are a spy)

When an enemy spy checks you, try not to react to it, unless a pyro sets you on fire. If you are lit, either retreat, or kill the pyro before more enemies become aware of your presence.

A good strategy (besides using your cloak) while retreating is to use your gun. It can either kill your pursuer, or lower their health enough to scare them off.

When in a group of allies, disguise as a friend or an enemy spy.

When decloaking, make sure that you aren't in any enemy's view.

NEVER decloak right next to or in front of an enemy.

If possible, decloak behind your enemies.

If you backstab someone, and one of their teammates see it, cloak, hide, and put a DIFFERENT disguise on than your previous one.

Don't disguise as a scout unless you are in a crowded area because when you run in a scout disguise, you don't run as fast as one, and the leg animation lags a little, making it obvious that you aren't a real scout.

Because medics run slightly faster than spies, it can be hard to catch up to them. But, if you cut corners (stay as close as you can to corners without touching them) and use shortcuts, you can catch them.

Sentries ONLY shoot at the torso of your character, not other exposed body parts.

If you are behind someone's shoulders, they won't see you.

If you decide to cloak while retreating, run one direction until you are fully cloaked, then change direction.

Never look into your enemy's eyes. NEVER.

When you sap an engineer building, if it is safe to, you should shoot the sapped building. It will make the building die faster.

As you may be able to tell, this is the end of my spy tips guide. Please leave a comment telling me what you think about this guide. Oh, and don't forget to rate. Thanks for reading...

P.S: I am planning to make more guides in the future that discuss specific loadouts for the spy. If you want me to cover a certain loadout, put the loadout in the comments.

(QUICK UPDATE: I have a multitude of new and more specific spy guides that cover things like loadouts and individual weapons. Go check them out through my profile!)










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