Team fortress 2 or simply TF2/tf2 is a class based game where two teams, red and blu (Reliable Excavation Demolition and Builders League United) fight over different objectives. TF2 is home to 11 game modes which all add a new element of gameplay into the field. TF2 is a unique fps game that is different to most other fps games. TF2 has 9 classes:

Offence-
Scout
Soldier
Pyro

Defense-
Demoman
Heavy
Engineer

Support-
Medic
Sniper
Spy

Weapons are split into three groups: primary, secondary and melee. Every class has all three types of weapons. Note that some classes like spy and engie have an extra weapon to equip (albeit they're more tools than weapons)

Primary- This is the weapon, chances are, you will use the most. This weapon is for each class by default:

Scout- Scattergun
Soldier- Rocket launcher
Pyro- Flame thrower

Demoman-Grenade launcher
Heavy- Minigun
Engineer- Shotgun

Medic- Syringe gun
Sniper- Sniper rifle
Spy- Revolver



Secondary- This is a weapon that you can use to finish off enemies that your primary can't deal with. It usually has the statistic that the primary lacks. I.e. If the primary is a close range weapon the secondary may be used to pick off enemies from further away. The weapon is for each class by default is:

Scout- Pistol
Soldier- Shotgun
Pyro- Shotgun

Demoman- Stickybomb launcher
Heavy- Shotgun
Engineer- Pistol

Medic- Medi-gun
Sniper- Sub-machine gun
Spy- Sapper



Melee- This weapon is used for beating close range enemies to a pulp. It's the most satisfying type of weapon to get a kill with. The melee weapons by default are:

Scout- Baseball bat
Soldier- Shovel
Pyro- Fire axe

Demoman- Bottle
Heavy- Fists
Engineer- Wrench

Medic- Bone saw
Sniper- Kukri
Spy- Butterfly knife



PDA (Personal Digital assistant)- This tool is specific to the Engie and Spy classes, they have their own HUD (Heads up display) to select or equip a certain thing

Engie- Construction PDA: Creates and allows the placement of building
Destruction PDA: Destroys already created buildings.

Spy- Disguise kit: Allows the spy to disguise and essentially become a class off the enemy team (or their own) at the push of a few buttons

Tf2 is played across 10 game modes which are all different and bring an aspect of gameplay into the field. The game modes are played over 53 official maps (2/7/14) these are:

Arena- In this game mode the red and blu team are put together in a tactical mode in which the battle is to either capture the point or kill all of the other teams members. If you get the first kill in arena mode you are given a 100% critical hit chance for a short amount of time. In arena mode you do not respawn so it's probably not the best for beginners.

Capture the flag- In this game mode, red and blu's bases are symmetrical and are the same for both teams. The aim is to take the enemy intelligence briefcase and to bring it back to where your intelligence spawns. The intel has a glowing rim around it so you can see the outline from anywhere on the map. On a capture you receive 10 second of crits.

Control points- Control points is split into two game modes: Attack defend and control points.

Standard Control points- Maps are symmetrical and both teams start with two control points in possession and a central control point starts as neutral. The aim is to capture all of the control points before the time runs out. (If the control point has a padlock on it it cannot be taken by the opposite team).

Domination Control points- Similar to standard cp, in domination cp the map is symmetrical but all points start neutral. The aim is to capture all of the control points. This game mode only has one map which is called standin.

Attack/ defend- In this game mode, maps are asymmetrical and begin with all points in red control. Blu teams goal is to capture all of the points before the time limit runs out and Red team’s goal is to defend the points until the time runs out. Control points must be captured in order (with the exception of gravel pit and junction). Capture points which icon has a padlock on it cannot be captured. Once Blu capture a point it cannot be reclaimed by red.

On the unique map steel, the blu team wins by capturing control point E but the Blu team can get better accessibility to cp E by capturing the other control points allowing classes without special jumps to capture the point.

Medieval attack/defend- In this game mode, You are stripped to melee with the exception of 'Olde weapons (huntsman, Shield, crusader's crossbow, food items, spy watches and banners). The gameplay has the same objective as attack/defend and the chat is filtered to ye olde english.

King of the hill- This game mode is similar to arena and control points except the game is played over one control point (and you respawn) which must be held for a certain amount of time to win the game. When a team loses the control point that teams timer freezes until the point is recaptured and the other team’s clock starts from where they left off.

Payload- In this game mode, Blu team must push a cart full of explosives through a series of checkpoints to the enemy base where it is detonated. The maximum speed the cart can be pushed is 3 (So if the payload symbol says more than 3 it will not be any faster if more than 3 people were pushing). If the payload cart is defended for long enough with no Blu pushing it the cart will start to move backwards to the latest checkpoint. On some maps there are uphill zones where the cart must be pushed constantly or it will roll back down the hill until it reaches the end of the constant push zone. The cart works as a level one dispenser and has an outline so it is visible from anywhere.

Payload race- In this game mode, both teams have payload carts and must push and blow up the other teams base with the payload cart. This game mode follows the same mechanics as the normal payload game mode.

Special delivery- In this game mode, both teams must fight over a briefcase of australium which they must pick up and bring to a rocket which will launch and blow up the enemy base. The briefcase can only be picked up by the same team once it has been taken from its starting point. If the team who currently owns the briefcase fails to pick up the australium within 45 seconds it is returned to its spawn point in its neutral state. The briefcase has an outline which is visible from anywhere.

Territorial control- In this game mode you will have a hard time finding a server as no one really plays it. (I don't know why its an alright game mode). The goal is to own all of the maps "territories". Each game is randomly selected from 6 available layouts in a "point against point" in which one team must capture the other teams control point whilst defending their own in order to capture a territory. One team wins when they capture all four territories.

Mann vs. Machine- in this game mode, a team of six players defend against wave afer wave of robots that carrying a bomb to blow up a mann co stronghold by dropping a bomb down a pit. You can buy weapon upgrades with credits that robots drop. There are giant robots with varying health and tanks which do no damage to players but carry a bomb that they drop in the bomb hole near to spawn.

Mann Power- In this mode, both teams fight over an intel briefcase much like in the "capture the flag" gamemode with the twist being all team members are equiped with grapple hooks (Default key H but I rebound mine to mouse 3) and random powerups spawn around the map that can be dropped with the same key as "drop intel" is bound to. If you press the space bar when grappling the grapple tether will disconnect and you will be flung up into the air which can be partnered with crouch jumping to increase your mobility and make grapple movement smoother.

TF2 features nine classes which all have their own personalities and may have a unique playstyle that can be confusing for new players. So In the next few chapters I hope to explain each classes characteristics and playstyle and give a few tips along the way.

Offence/Attacking- Offence is a key part in any TF2 match. Attackers must assault the enemy defence or make a push for the objective. As the defending team offence is useful too, counter-assaults must be made on the attacking team to push them back or to intercept an enemy with the intel or one capturing the cp.

The offensive classes specialise in mobility and have alot of damage capability. They are more effective at close range. Three classes specialise in offence they are:

Scout- The fastest class in the game and is capable of a double jump (double tap jump). He captures twice as fast as other classes.

Soldier- Soldier is the second slowest class with the second highest health. He has a rocket launcher which he can jump with which greatly increases his mobility

Pyro- Pyro is used to ambush and burn enemies dealing a large amount of damage at close range with his flame thrower. Right click is used to airblast which pushes enemies, extinguishes burning teammates and can send projectiles back at the sender (rockets etc.)

Scout is an offensive class. He moves the fastest out of all of the classes but has low health (125). The scout captures twice as fast as other classes and is capable of a double jump (double tap jump). He can be very damaging from a direct hit at close range but is not effective at a distance. He has a baseball bat a fast firing shotgun called a scattergun, a pistol and a baseball bat. The scout is at his most damaging if you get the stealth drop on an enemy. If you come out of nowhere drop behind an enemy and fire nonstop into their back then chances are they will be dead before they realize there is a bloody scout shooting at them from a few feet behind. The scouts tactics are to flank (go around) enemies and either get the stealth drop on them or ditch them and capture the objective. Scouts main purpose is to capture objectives and is best suited to do so out of all nine classes. Scout is more of a get in and out quickly/evasive class more than a kill every enemy you see class.

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Scout

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Soldier is an offensive class but he can also be used for defense. He has a rocket launcher which can deal a scary amount of damage. Rockets do more damage the closer an enemy is to where the rocket was fired from. The soldier can rocket jump to cover large areas quickly by aiming a rocket under him, jumping and firing. (Crouch and jump at the same time to get more height). Aim rockets at your enemy’s feet so that they can't avoid explosion blast damage. Soldier does more damage at close range and again is best if you have a stealth advantage to get the drop on an enemy. The enemy won't have time to register that they have been shot at if you are close (1 or 2 hits to kill most classes in a few shots). Rockets can bounce enemies around and can disorientate them.

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/

Pyro is a punch packing offensive class. The pyro can kill any class in a few seconds and has the secondary ability to air blast on a right click. Air blast launches projectiles back at the sender (rockets etc.), can extinguish teammates), and can push players a short distance (can be used to kill people with the map I.E air blasting people off the cliff on upward). The pyro is best when he sets an ambush to catch enemies by surprise. A pyro with the backburner can kill a group of five or so unaware enemies in a few seconds. Pyro is more of a surprise class: your goal is to make the enemy exclaim "hey is that a pyro I hear behind me?" Followed by some general death noises. Don't attack enemies head on, they will use your short range to their advantage.

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Pyro

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Defense is crucial as it stops the enemy from achieving their objective. Defense is needed on the attacking team too: if you do not protect your objectives or the cart you can lose it again. Most objectives in game need to be defended from attackers by both teams. When the main attackers clear out the enemy defenses and start to capture the objective, defensive classes move in and help the offensive classes hold the objective until the objective is captured.

Defensive classes have high damage and are effective at close to medium range. The three defencive classes are:

Demoman- The demoman has a stickybomb launcher that fires stickybombs that can be detonated with right click. Stickybombs cannot stick to players or objectives. The demo has a grenade launcher that explodes instantly on a direct hit and a few seconds after firing on a non-direct hit.

Heavy- The heavy has 300 health making him the strongest class. He has a minigun which can deal a lot of damage at close range. He is painfully slow and is best if partnered with a medic

Engineer- The engineer can build three different types of buildings: Sentry guns, Dispensers and teleporters. Each building can be upgraded with metal to level 3 (200 metal an upgrade)

The demoman is a high damage defensive class. He can deal a lot of damage to engineer buildings, destroying them with several sticky bombs. Sticky bombs can be charged to go further by holding down the fire button. Stickybombs are detonated with right click. Demoman can also be used as both an offensive and supportive class. He can support his teammates by destroying sentry guns and engineer sentry nests (when engineers build all their building around them. He can clear out enemy defenses quickly but his stickybombs can be destroyed with bullets and melees. Other explosive weapons will push stickybombs away with the explosion blast and pyros can clear your stickybombs by air blasting them away. The demo also has a grenade launcher that explodes on a direct hit or several seconds later on a non-direct hit. You can place 1-2 stickybombs down (any more don't give you more height and may kill you) jump and detonate them (Crouch jump to get more height).

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Demoman

The heavy is a high health defensive class with a lot of damage capability. He is painfully slow and when he is firing his minigun he barely moves at all. The heavy’s main weakness is his speed which makes him an easy target for support classes. The minigun chews up a lot of ammo so pick up the guns from your dead foes or get an ammo kit to get your ammo back. Hold down right click to spin your minigun up ready for enemies. Medics tend to cling to you as heavy so try not to disappoint them. When you are ϋbercharged shoot everything that moves and when everything that moves is dead: shoot everything that doesn't move; that's the heavy way.

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Heavy

The engineer is a defensive class that can build multiple buildings (3). A sentry gun, a dispenser, a teleporter entrance and exit. The engineer can deal huge amounts of damage effectively but must be on constant lookout for spies and snipers. The engineer's building all take metal to build, the engie has a maximum amount of 200 metal which he can build or upgrade his buildings with (use the wrench to upgrade/repair your buildings). Metal can be collected from dropped weapons of dead players (this rewards you with 100 metal on pickup), ammo crates (40 small, 100 medium, 200 large), from the resupply locker in spawn and lastly from your dispenser. Spies can sap your buildings which disables and destroys them. To remove a sapper you must hit the building twice to remove it. The engineer has a shotgun, pistol and wrench which he can deal a lot of damage with. He has an item which can replace his pistol called the wrangler which you can use to take manual control of your sentry. You can use the sentry’s rockets (level 3 only) to do this. you can use your wrangler to right click on the floor under you and jump (crouch jump to get more height) you can also use the sentries bullets to jump which is much harder and usually ends in death.

Engineer HUD-



Top- sentry
Skull- kills, brackets are assists
Bullets- Ammo
Rockets-Rocket ammo

Second from top- Dispencer
bullets-amount of ammo/metal currently ready for dispencing

First and second from the bottom- Teleporter
Teleporter symbol- Amount of teleports

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Engineer

Both attacking and defending positions need support to work to maximum efficiency. I.e. A sniper could provide covering fire, killing key targets and clearing a path for his teammates without even being noticed. Defensive positions need support to lend a hand in picking off key targets and healing the team.

Support classes have average health, average speed and have a mixture of ranges. Three classes specialize in support these are:

Medic- The medic heals teammates and gives then a defensive buff which extends their health whilst building ϋbercharge at the same time. ϋbercharge can be used to make your healing target and yourself invulnerable for a short amount of time or give them a 100% critical hit chance with the kritzkrieg.

Sniper- Snipers have a sniper rifle which needs to charge its shots to be at maximum efficiency. Headshots do critical hits and will kill all classes instantly at full charge.

Spy- The spy has a knife which kills any class instantly with a stab from behind. They have a sapper which can destroy and disable sentry guns and other engineer buildings and an invisa-watch so they can become completely invisible for a short amount of time.

The medic is a support class that can back up any team position. He can buff people and increase their health (this drops back to normal when you stop healing the target) and build ϋbercharge whilst healing (discharge with right click). ϋbercharge renders you and your healing target invulnerable for a short amount of time(You can still be killed with the environment: cliffs saws etc.). ϋbercharge builds up faster when the healing target is hurt. ϋbercharge the higher damage classes. When your teammates call for medic (E) you can see who needs healing. You are not a very damaging class as medic but you are the second fastest and rely greatly on your healing target to protect you. You are not defenseless though and can still take care of lower health classes.

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Medic

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The sniper is a support class who help out both defensive and offensive attacks by killing key targets (Heavies, Engies, Snipers, Medics etc.). The sniper has a smg that is pretty weak but can deal with enemies in two thirds of a clip or so. As soon as you find jarate you should use that as a secondary. The sniper's rifle charges a shot making it deal more damage the more charged the shot i.e. A headshot is always a crit (excluding Sydney sleeper). Right click to scope. Remember to not attack on the frontlines if you're not using the huntsman bow. (I still wouldn't recommend it unless you know what you're doing).

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Sniper

The spy is a stealth support class. He is not like any other class in the game. He has a revolver, sapper, and knife, and a disguise kit. As a spy you can disguise as an enemy team member; you will be shown to the enemy team as though you are one of them. The spies main weapon is a butterfly knife which he can kill any class instantly with a backstab, losing his disguise upon doing so. You can use your revolver to shoot enemies who are too far away from you to stab with your knife. The sapper is used to disable and destroy enemy buildings. Make sure you kill the engineer before sapping his stuff or use it as bait to draw the engineer out to repair his buildings where you can backstab him. Avoid the person you are disguised as. Your disguise is not supposed to make the enemy think you are one of them; it is used to let you get past them unnoticed and to fool sentries and get the drop on an enemy. Cloak with right click, this makes you completely invisible for a short period of time.

https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Spy

Pickups are objects that are spawned or dropped in various locations around different maps which have an effect. The different pickups are:

Ammo Crates- Ammo crates are really useful as they will replenish your lost ammo as well as give you metal if you're an engie. The three types of ammo crates are:

Small Ammo Crate: Refills a fifth (20%) of each weapon's ammo capacity and gives 40 metal.

Medium Ammo Crate: Refills half (50%) of each weapon's ammo capacity and gives 100 metal.

Large Ammo Crate: Refills all (100%) of each weapon's ammo capacity as well as a full 200 metal.

Small Ammo





Medium Ammo





Large Ammo







Debris- Debris are bits of destroyed building which can be picked up and used to refill 50% of your ammo per piece of debris but gives less metal and cloak back to engies and spy’s. Stickybomb debris gives you 1 unit of ammo per piece of broken sticky.

















Dropped weapons- Dropped weapons give you back 50% of your weapons ammo capacity and engies dropped toolboxes grant 100% ammo and metal











Health Packs- Health packs are found on almost all maps, health packs extinguish you and replenish lost health.

Small Health pack: Heals roughly a fifth (20.5%) of the user's health. It is also dropped by any player who is killed during Medieval Mode.

Medium Health pack: Heals half (50%) of the user's health.

Large Health pack: Heals all (100%) of the user's health.

Small health pack








Medium Health pack








Large Health pack






The sandvich/heavy food drops- The heavy has a secondary weapon item called the sandvich which can be dropped for other players using the right click button. A sandvich works like a medium health back healing 50% of a player’s maximum hp. You also get the sandvich back if you pick up a health pack regardless of size. Keep in mind the Buffalo Steak Sandvich can also be dropped.








Spells- To use a spell you must have a spellbook which can only be found on the annual Halloween event when playing hell tower . A spell will grant the player a random spell which is cast with the action tool (default key h)

Critical hits- Sometimes when you fire a weapon it will discharge a critical hit instead of the normal damage it does. Critical hits do a large amount of damage. You can usually kill someone with one direct critical hit (excluding single bullet firing weapons except for the sniper rifle). The more damage you have done the larger chance you have of getting a random critical hit. Melee weapons have a larger chance of critting than other weapons.

Weapons that say "No random critical hits" in the stats can only receive critical hits from a crit boost (kritzkreig or the "first blood crit in arena mode)

Mini-crits- mini- crits do less damage than a normal critical hit and cannot be achieved randomly. You must have a mini crit boost (eg. crit a cola) or your target must be susceptible to mini crits (such as being marked for death, jarate etc.).

The entire TF2 community revolves around hats. Hats are a declaration of your skill and style on the field. The better your hat, the more respected you are (generally not 100% if the time). But some hats can be achieved easily and quickly and are often worn by TF2 players who are new to the game who don't really get the concept of hats. The most common hats (and cosmetic items) that are associated with crap or new TF2 players which should be avoided are:

Ghastly Gibus
Pyrovision Goggles
Mercinary badge

Stealth-
So you're a lone scout in the middle of the field to the left there are a group heavies and to the right the path is clear, so which way do you go? The answer is a no brainer but when you are in a game situation you can get into the mindset and think that you're invincible and can take on anything. But in reality you are outgunned or outnumbered so the best solution is usually the easiest: go around or simply sneak past. Even as a high health class like heavy, If you see a group of enemies it's best to go around. The heavy is not a walking tank even if he does have some firepower. At close range even a "puny" scout can do 100 or so damage a hit and as heavy your base health is 300 so by the time your minigun has even started to fire you could be dead. Still don't be afraid to fight people! You don't have to go around everyone you see only if you are outgunned and know that you will lose. I.E if you're heavy a couple of snipers aren't going to pose that much of a threat to a heavy at close range

Escape-
Often in TF2 you will be chased and hunted down by other players for either for objective reasons (I.E Stealing the enemy intelligence briefcase or being alone in arena) or because you are simply weak or on low health. In these situations you can either get blown up trying to get a health kit or hide from the enemy and get him off your trail. You need to make unpredictable movements and be ready to get going again as soon as the threat has left. When you are being chased never walk in a straight line. You must zig zag and jump around to disorientate them (works best as scout).

The HUD's purpose in TF2 is to quickly show you important information quickly and easily.


in the bottom right of the hud is your ammo. The larger bold number (in this case 6) is the ammo in your current clip (ammo you can fire until you have to reload) and the smaller non bold number is the remaining ammo you have left in total (it excludes the ammo in current clip)

In the bottom left of the hud is your player/class and your health (this goes red when you are on low health).

The top center of the hud is the time remaining in the mission.

The bottom center of the hud is the objective status. This tell you key information on the objective(s) I.E which team controls which point, How far the payload cart has been pushed or the Intelligence whereabouts and which team is winning.

F2P/ Free to play- When you start on tf2 you will be a "F2P" or " Free to Play" and what this means is that you haven't put any real life money into the Mann Co store which is the tf2 shop. Unfortunately, the minimal amount of money you can add to your steam wallet to pay for these in game items is 4 pounds. In the Mann Co store you can buy cosmetics (Hats and miscs (costumes)), weapons and tools (Keys, paint etc.) I can't stress this enough - NEVER BUY WEAPONS FROM THE MANN CO STORE TRADE DUPLICATE ITEMS INSTEAD. Weapons from the mann co store can cost up to 7 pounds and can be easily obtained by swapping an unwanted weapon for a wanted one.



P2P /Pay to play or Premium- Once you buy an item in the Mann Co store you will be given a larger backpack (increased from 50 to 300 slots) which can be increased further with a backpack expander, Better crafting opportunities, slightly more frequent drops of cosmetic items, the ability to reward the person who helped you the most before you became a premium player from your current game server or from your friends list (his gives them an item called "The Professor Speks" which counts how many new players that user helps out that nominate that specific user when they upgrade to a premium account) and lastly allows you to use the tf2 trading system which is a great way of getting what you want by trading items of your own for items of another user. As a f2p you can receive items through a trade but cannot put your items in a trade.



Uncrating- this section ties in with the Mann co store. Buying keys through the store will allow you to open Mann Co supply crates which are random drops with one item in them. Weapons from these crates are of the quality "Strange" which count your kills with that weapon. You will also uncrate cosmetic items from the crates more rarely. Unboxing crates also wields a 1/100 percent chance you will unbox and unusual which are the envy of the tf2 community. Unusuals can be worth anything from 10 keys or so to being hundreds or even thousands of pounds in real life money. The first thing I did when I started to play tf2 was waste loads of my own money to buy keys for use in unboxing crates; but then I realized that the items I were unboxing from the crates were rarely worth the value of the key I was paying for them. My advice is if you want an item, trade for it instead of trying to uncrate it















[u][b]Sharking- [/b][/u] Sharking is where a scammer will trick a player into selling an item for much less than it is worth or trick a buying player into paying too much. An example of this is that a player will unbox an unusual that doesn’t look as good as they'd hoped so they go to a trade server and a player will trade with them and the player will say things like "[b]That's not the actual price of the item!"[/b] or [b]"No one uses that to check prices anymore![/b]" Or will simply trade you a cheaper and better looking unusual for your ugly and high priced unusual. Keep in mind that this can happen over [b]any item and not just unusuals[/b] To avoid being sharked- As of January 2015 the most widely accepted pricing system for tf2 is [url=http://backpack.tf/]backpack.tf[/url] which is steam secured and is simple to use. Check your prices on backpack.tf as well as ask a trusted friend if you need a second opinion on the items price. [previewimg=2667526;sizeThumb,floatLeft;images.jpg][/previewimg] [u][b]Phishing- [/b][/u] Phishing is the act of pretending to be someone else in order to [b]collect private details like passwords and ultimately steal your account[/b]. Phishers use bots to work like a disease: A phisher bot will add you on steam and say something like " Hey My friend wants to trade with you but he can't, can you send him a trade?" then they'll send a really shifty link [u][b]DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK[/b][/u] the link is a phishing link and it will take you to a really convincing looking steam page, before you can do anything however it will ask you to sign in and if you do, the phishers will take your stuff change your password and change your account into another phisher bot. [u][b]IF you do click on a link close it and run a virus scan on your computer immediately. [/b][/u] If you find a phisher bot you should report them under hijacking/ phishing, then unfriend and block them. If you give them your details Change your password and trade everything you own in your inventory to an alternative account or to a trusted friend who can look after them until you are sure the phishers haven’t hijacked your account. [previewimg=2667527;sizeThumb,floatLeft;phisher-bot.png][/previewimg] [u][b]Recap- [/b][/u] If you are trading, check the price on [url=http://backpack.tf/]backpack.tf [/url]or another reliable source so you aren’t sharked; if you see a phisher bot report, unfriend and block them; if you click the link close it and run a virus scan; if you give them your info: Change your password and transfer your items to another































Sharking- Sharking is where a scammer will trick a player into selling an item for much less than it is worth or trick a buying player into paying too much. An example of this is that a player will unbox an unusual that doesn’t look as good as they'd hoped so they go to a trade server and a player will trade with them and the player will say things like "That's not the actual price of the item!" or "No one uses that to check prices anymore!" Or will simply trade you a cheaper and better looking unusual for your ugly and high priced unusual. Keep in mind that this can happen over any item and not just unusuals

To avoid being sharked- As of January 2015 the most widely accepted pricing system for tf2 is http://backpack.tf/ which is steam secured and is simple to use. Check your prices on backpack.tf as well as ask a trusted friend if you need a second opinion on the items price.









Phishing- Phishing is the act of pretending to be someone else in order to collect private details like passwords and ultimately steal your account. Phishers use bots to work like a disease: A phisher bot will add you on steam and say something like " Hey My friend wants to trade with you but he can't, can you send him a trade?" then they'll send a really shifty link DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK the link is a phishing link and it will take you to a really convincing looking steam page, before you can do anything however it will ask you to sign in and if you do, the phishers will take your stuff change your password and change your account into another phisher bot. IF you do click on a link close it and run a virus scan on your computer immediately.

If you find a phisher bot you should report them under hijacking/ phishing, then unfriend and block them. If you give them your details Change your password and trade everything you own in your inventory to an alternative account or to a trusted friend who can look after them until you are sure the phishers haven’t hijacked your account.



















Recap- If you are trading, check the price on http://backpack.tf/or another reliable source so you aren’t sharked; if you see a phisher bot report, unfriend and block them; if you click the link close it and run a virus scan; if you give them your info: Change your password and transfer your items to another safe account. Stay safe guys!

Uncrating- this section ties in with the Mann co store. Buying keys through the store will allow you to open Mann Co supply crates which are random drops with one item in them. Weapons from these crates are of the quality "Strange" which count your kills with that weapon. You will also uncrate cosmetic items from the crates more rarely. Unboxing crates also wields a 1/100 percent chance you will unbox and unusual which are the envy of the tf2 community. Unusuals can be worth anything from 10 keys or so to being hundreds or even thousands of pounds in real life money. The first thing I did when I started to play tf2 was waste loads of my own money to buy keys for use in unboxing crates; but then I realized that the items I were unboxing from the crates were rarely worth the value of the key I was paying for them. My advice is if you want an item, trade for it instead of trying to uncrate it

Trading is the act of exchanging items with another player. The tf2 community is largely centered on trading and is simple and easy to work. Once you have bought a premium uprade for your account you will be able to use the tf2 trading system (which will allow you to now give items in a trade as additional to receiving items (which was the only thing you could use the trading sytem for when you were a f2p)). The places you should be trading if you're looking to sell/buy an item are trade servers (Just put "trade_" into the map select in the server browser) or on trading websites like tf2 outpost[www.tf2outpost.com] and http://backpack.tf/.

How do I send a trade request?- You can send a trade request to someone on your current server (or use a steam id) to trade a user through the trading option on the items/ backpack page one the menu, or alternatively trade someone by clicking on the dropdown arrow by someones name in your steam friends list and clicking "Invite to trade"


What do I do once im in a trade? Once you're in a trade you will be shown a window like the one below which will have your inventory and the trade chat to the left and the items for trade on the right. I have annotated the window below

On tf2 you can craft two weapons from the same class into one scrap metal pile. Metal is the "Currency" if you will of tf2 and is what you will use to pay for lower value items like cosmetics using the trading system. As I mentioned, two weapons of the same class can be crafted into one scrap metal pile or just "Scrap metal" or even more simply "A scrap". Three scrap make up a reclaimed metal pile (Or "rec") and three rec make a Refined metal pile (Or "ref"). 9 scrap make up a refined metal (or 18 weapons). IF you go onto a trading server or website (Like http://www.tf2outpost.com/) you will notice people will be asking for numbers like 1.33 or 2.11 ref pure or whatever the number may be and what this means is below. The numbers are rounded so 0.33 x3 = 1

One item- 0.5 ref (1/18 of a ref)

One Scrap Metal- 0.11 ref (1/9th of a ref)

One Reclaimed Metal - 0.33 ref ( 1/3rd of a ref)

One Refined metal 1.00 ref (a whole ref)

Scrap Metal














Reclaimed Metal














Refined Metal

Sharking- Sharking is where a scammer will trick a player into selling an item for much less than it is worth or trick a buying player into paying too much. An example of this is that a player will unbox an unusual that doesn’t look as good as they'd hoped so they go to a trade server and a player will trade with them and the player will say things like "That's not the actual price of the item!" or "No one uses that to check prices anymore!" Or will simply trade you a cheaper and better looking unusual for your ugly and high priced unusual. Keep in mind that this can happen over any item and not just unusuals

To avoid being sharked- As of January 2015 the most widely accepted pricing system for tf2 is http://backpack.tf/ which is steam secured and is simple to use. Check your prices on backpack.tf as well as ask a trusted friend if you need a second opinion on the items price.

Phishing is the act of pretending to be someone else in order to collect private details like passwords and ultimately steal your account. Phishers use bots to work like a disease: A phisher bot will add you on steam and say something like " Hey My friend wants to trade with you but he can't, can you send him a trade?" then they'll send a really shifty link DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK the link is a phishing link and it will take you to a really convincing looking steam page, before you can do anything however it will ask you to sign in and if you do, the phishers will take your stuff change your password and change your account into another phisher bot. IF you do click on a link close it and run a virus scan on your computer immediately.

If you find a phisher bot you should report them under hijacking/ phishing, then unfriend and block them. If you give them your details Change your password and trade everything you own in your inventory to an alternative account or to a trusted friend who can look after them until you are sure the phishers haven’t hijacked your account.

Now you should know a little more about the way tf2 works. If youre thinking of the next step, its probably how you should treat and interact with other players. I wrote another guide about that here- http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/id/flyingwaffle237/myworkshopfiles/?section=guides&appid=440