PUB PLAY :

This is where most of the learning of playing spy takes place. Therefore we’ll go over some general tips and helpful hints on how to play the class and help your team.

The spy is an offensive class, hands down. I know most people like to utilize the spy’s sneakiness and spy-uncovering abilities on D, but more often than not you’re not helping your team as much as if you were helping out the offense with those abilities. These are some of the ways you can help your offense best:

1. Initial approach - Many players have mentioned that the best way to attack the enemy base is to leave your base disguised as your own team but a different class, and then disguise as you enter the enemy base. That might be beneficial in certain circumstances, but I’ve found in my experience that it really isn’t that necessary. The best way to infiltrate is to find the most indirect path into the enemy base. The enemy will call out your approach, whether you’re disguised or not (and if they’re awake), so in essence you could run undisguised all the way. Your main goal is to find your way into the enemy base undetected. If you have to feign halfway, or totally turn around until it is safe to continue, do so. Your only goal at this point is to get inside that base!

2. Disguising - Once inside, you are now at your deadliest. Time to scout around and see how the enemy is setup. Only problem is, you move faster than most classes, so disguising is key. Choosing the right disguise is key to being able to move around without too much detection. Most of the time I disguise as a demo, since their speed is about the same as a spy’s, and they can be either an offensive or defensive presence.
Recommended enemy base disguises:

Medic - Enemy unsure if you’re running to the other base or healing in theirs.
Demo - Speed the same as spy, can be O or D.
Soldier - Since most D is usually soldier, and with the advent of strafe jumping and bhopping, a fast soldier isn’t as easily detected as before.
Sniper - If the enemy is using a sniper, they move the same speed as a spy and are usually ignored.
Spy - This actually works really well in some cases. Enemy thinks they are heading to enemy base or are following an offensive player.
Pyro - Same speed as spy.
Unrecommended enemy base disguises:
Scout - Enemy seeing a scout running around their base will get suspicious right off. Plus, scout moves so much faster.
Engy - Disguising as an engineer sometimes works, however the default weapon for an engy is the rail gun, and engineers rarely, if ever, use the rail gun. Since the spy only shows the default weapon, this will tip off most defenders.
HW guy - The SLOWEST of all the classes. A fast moving HW is a dead giveaway.

As you can see, the spy can pull off disguising as most of the classes. The myth that you can only disguise as the class with the same speed is not to be taken too literally. However, remember that you’re not there to just fool everyone. You’re there to help your offense. So let’s make it happen!

3. SG disposal - This is where the spy is at his best. SG’s will pick up any enemy that passes in front of it, but a spy can dance around an sg all day long while disguised and it will never pick him up. Remember though that an engineer won’t be far away from his gun, so you’ll need to get rid of it quickly. 2 frag grenades will dispose of an sg easily. Your nail gun will take care of an sg from a distance very well also. But do it quickly, because as soon as you do you’ll be discovered and attacked.
a. Fighting - Guess what? You’ve been discovered. Now you have two options - run or fight. We’ll look at fighting first off.

The spy has a super shotgun, which is equal in power to the medic’s super shotgun. The spy also has a tranq gun, but we’ll go into using it later. If you are forced to fight, the tranq won’t help as much due to it’s inaccuracy and the firepower you’ll be up against. It does have a good use, though, so we’ll get to it later. One technique that does work very well is the grenade/shotgun combo. Throw a grenade at a defensive player that doesn’t suspect you. When you do, you’ve weakened him quite a bit. Then you use your shotty on him before he even has a chance to retaliate. Works very well against soldiers, and pretty good against HW’s (to a point…).

The default amount of grenades a spy starts out with is 2. If you haven’t restocked your grens, you are now looking at fighting without any. In this case, shooting with your SS is pretty much your only option. You could try to use a gas grenade, but you’ll be dead before it can have an effect. Which brings me to the second option:

b. Running - Yes, that’s right. RUN!! The spy is a fast little booger. If you want to play spy well, you can’t have the mentality of “I can defeat anybody”. Reason is, YOU CAN’T! The spy wasn’t created to deathmatch. It was created to do what we’re talking about here. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Here’s why…

When you run, the enemy has 2 choices - follow you until you’re dead, or reestablish their defensive position. If they follow you, you’ve done another duty of the spy - distraction. Your offense now has the advantage of attacking where an enemy isn’t. If they turn to reestablish their defense, you can disguise yourself again and report what the defense is doing. The fact is, most of the time running is the best option to stay alive and help your team. Getting into a DM will do nothing more than get you killed 9 times out of 10 and let the defense reestablish itself.
(Running doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?)

4. Knifing - This is the bread and butter of the spy. This is where the spy gets most of his kills. The spy has to know when and where to knife, however. Just killing people randomly doesn’t help your team as much as killing that HW guarding the flag, or that soldier waiting at the top of a ramp or entrance. If you kill at random, you disclose your location, and that player you just killed will respawn and come right back again. Knife that sniper that’s keeping your offense at bay. Knife that demo that’s piping the front of the yard. Knifing selectively can totally turn around a defensive strategy, because now they have to look out for you whereas before they were just sitting lying in wait for the offense. If you’re just knifing in general, you become simply a nuisance that the offense has to deal with, and your team doesn’t benefit from it.

Most of the time, one knife shot to the back will kill an enemy instantly. I’ve found it’s best to aim high towards the neck rather than the back, to get the largest percentage of deaths. Don’t believe when people say “One hit, instantly, every time works” - it’s simply not true. Especially to a fully armored HW guy. I have had many occurrences where I stabbed a HW full in the back, and the first stab only wounds them. Best to aim high to make sure. Also, stabbing a weakened player any place on their body will normally take care of them. But remember, the first time you swipe with that knife, your disguise is GONE, so make that swipe count.

5. Feigning - This is one of the skills I’ve found to be utilized the least, but when used right can definitely help any spy, and can take a defense totally off guard. Normally during a game, it’s good to make sure and feign when nobody’s looking of course. Otherwise they’ll simply stand on top of you when you can’t get up and crowbar or wrench you to an embarrassing death. The best way to utilize feigning is either during your approach to the enemy base, or right after you’ve entered.

Once you’ve entered the base, feign in a corner or by an existing corpse. I normally feign silently, but you can feign with a groan if you so choose. Remember though, if you do, and the player nearest you hears the groan but doesn’t see a kill up at the top right, they’ll suspect it’s a spy feigning and come after you. The silent feign is definitely the best option in this case. Now, while you’re feigned, just wait and be patient. Watch up at the top right to see if that HW guarding the flag is dead, or that sg by it has gone down, or that the majority of your offense is attacking. With nobody looking, you now have the element of surprise to stab or pick up the flag, and catch the defense on their heels. You have to time it right though, otherwise you’re dead.

6. Gas grenading - You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t mentioned gas grenades much. This is why - I hardly use them…J. But seriously, gas grenades are best used when you have the flag and are retreating from a pursuing enemy. However, DO NOT gas respawns or throw multiple gas grenades in one place. This is considered spamming, and is not respectful to other players. Another good place to use gas grenades is in maps like 2Fort, if an enemy is guarding the ramp room from up top. A well-placed gas grenade will dwindle his health and force him to move, paving the way for your offense.

7. Flag running - Okay, most of what we’ve talked about here has had to do with distraction, sg removal, and general aiding of the offensive players. But spies are also very good at flag running as well. Don’t ever let someone tell you that spies aren’t good for it, because if you utilize all the spy’s skills, you can lead your team in caps! Here are the best suggestions for helping your team score.

a. Pay attention to your teammates - Know who your teammates on offense are. When you enter the base, your main goal is sg removal, defense locations, and distraction. But when the flag is on the move, your goal has to include keeping it moving. If the defense has built an sg near the flag, and you’re out of grenades, you should try and keep the flag moving whenever possible. When you grab it, it takes a second for the sg to lock on you. You can advance the flag quite a bit this way, and even make the engy’s rebuild their sg to be close to the flag. By this time your offense should be able to grab the flag and advance it even more. You’ve helped your offense even more by just advancing the flag. Sometimes you will even get by that sg and take that flag home. And remember, COMMUNICATE to your offense. If you advance the flag, once you die tell your teammates where it is. You’ll feel good knowing you helped in that cap.
b. Misdirection - This is a trick that spies need to definitely learn, and it’s part of that “patience” skill I preach all the time. Let’s say the map is Crossover2. Your offense has gotten the flag and taken it to the tunnel that has been blown and dropped it there. The first inclination of the spy is to head directly to the tunnel to get the flag. Only problem is, most of the defense has congregated at the tunnel, and most spies are no match for that. So instead, the clever spy will take the water entrance into the base, go through the base, and come up from behind. Then you can stab the person or persons guarding the flag, grab it and go. Taking the long approach may take a little more time, but for the spy it’s essential, and garners the best results.
c. Running with the prize - You’ve got the flag, but now the enemy is hot on your trail. Remember that tranq gun I mentioned earlier? Time to whip that out, run backwards, and fire on pursuers. The tranq gun is probably the most difficult gun to use in TFC, but if you hit a player with it, they are helpless. They can still shoot at you, however, so be careful! I use the tranq when I have the enemy flag and I’m running back to my base. If I can, I tranq anyone following me or any enemy offense in front of me, thereby they won’t kill me coming back home.

Now you’ve helped cap, time to turn around and head back to the enemy’s base. They know now that there’s an effective spy they’re up against, so their defense will either lock up tight or they’ll give up. You have successfully gotten into their heads, and in affect changed the complexion of the game. That, my friend, is how to be an effective spy. Yaayyyy!!!

These were a few tips and tricks on public server play. Now we’re going to step into a whole ‘nuther realm of playing spy:

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