- Joined
- Feb 9, 2008
- Messages
- 73
I really like to play the Spy class and I've been told on a few occasions that I'm fairly skilled at it. I thought I'd share a few things that I've learned in my time as a spy. Anyone else with some good tips feel free to list em.
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There are a few basic rules that every spy needs to know and follow. Knowledge of these rules will go a long way to making a player a much better spy.
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Infiltration
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First off, about getting out of your spawn. A lot of people think that the cloak should be used any time you're moving around. This is wrong. The cloak is a tool to be used sparingly. The longest time you should be cloaked is when crossing the space between bases. Just remember, stopping to recharge your cloak behind enemy lines is asking to be shot. Another key rule is to not put on your disguise before you get to the enemy base. Again, a lot of spies think that they should disguise right out of the spawn, this is also a mistake. It gives enemy snipers and anyone else looking at the right time the ability to tip off the other team as to what class you're diguised as and what name you're using. This brings me to another point. Whenever possible, cloak fully first and THEN disguise. Once cloaked there is no puff of smoke when changing. Also there is no chance for an enemy to see you changing. Now on to the subject of disguises.
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Disguises
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As a spy you have access to all the other classes as far as disguises go but you need to be aware of a few things when choosing which one to use. First, there are two classes you should never use. Ever.
Scout: As a scout you don't move nearly as fast as a real scout and you also can't double-jump. This is a dead giveaway. Any astute player will pick up on it and kill you. Let's face it, scouts are wierd little speed freaks. Even when they're not doing anything they're still jumping around and swinging their bats. The fact that you don't act like you're insane will be a tip-off for most players.
Medic: First off, you can't heal anybody. When was the last time you saw a medic not healing someone and charging their Ubercharge when there were team mates around? Yeah, thought so. Speaking of Ubercharge, you don't have one. Seriously, when you look like a medic, you don't have an Ubercharge display. Another dead giveaway for an enemy team member. Medic is a tough sell, just don't do it.
Now, on top of the two classes not to use, there are two other classes you should avoid using unless you have to (or are really good at it). First is the heavy. There's nothing wrong with the heavy disguise and there are no instant giveaways when using it but they're damn slow. It's hard to manuver when dressed as a heavy and there are times when you need to move quickly, like dodging enemy team members so they don't bump into you. Also, medics like to attach themselves to heavies and heal them. As soon as a medic starts healing you and notices that your health meter isn't moving, people start shooting at you...it gets messy. The second class to avoid is kinda obvious; Spy. Spies suck, everyone hates em, even the members of your own team. As soon as they see us they start shooting, even if we're friendly, it's some kinda wierd class discrimination thing. I dunno why they do it but it makes it hard to pull off the spy disguise. They will start shooting at you as soon as they see you. Bet on it.
That leaves you with five other classes to freely choose from. This brings me to another subject about disguising. Practice it. A lot. I can throw on a disguise in about a second. I don't bother with disguise scripts because a lot of times they require you to stop or let go of the mouse for a second. If they work for you though, more power to ya. Although, after maybe thirty minutes of playing you should be able to pick out a disguise without looking at the keyboard using the default bindings.
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Mischief
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What is the spy's role behind enemy lines? Just ask yourself: What would Rambo do? have you seen Rambo 2? If not then you should definitely give it a watch, mostly because it's cool but also because there's a scene in it that I want you to think about. The scene in the jungle where he takes out a couple Russian squads with nothing but a bow, a knife and some nifty disguises. Guerilla warfare baby, get used to it. Most people playing spy make the mistake of heading straight for the enemy intelligence. I mean, it can be hard getting behind enemy lines, and then five seconds later you go for the intel and get your head stomped. What I like to do is throw on a Pyro disguise and make a drive-by of the Intel Room. It's common to see a pyro just passing through the Intel Room so most people won't think twice about it and it gives you a chance to take a quick look around. If it looks pretty empty, then sure take a chance at sapping and grabbing the Intel, maybe sap-stab the engie there and make a run with the Intel. But, if it's busy in there then don't bother trying for it, you'll most likely end up throwing your chance away. There are more uses for a good spy than just Intel stealing. Guerilla warfare, remember? If you need some team mates to help out with the Intel then you need to help get them in there. You can do this by disrupting the enemy base. If everyone's looking for you, then they're not fighting your team's offense. Personally, I like to mess with the snipers. Most people (not all mind you, but most) who play snipers think it's cool to get the one-shot kill and aren't very good at up-close combat. Ambushing soldiers and demos is also pretty fun. Remember, pyros and engineers run faster than soldiers and demos. Makes it easy to get behind them, catch up to em and stab em in the back.
This brings me to a couple of tips for effective guerilla warfare. First, know the enemy base inside and out. Don't go into a base without a knowledge of where things are and expect to live for long. If you stab someone and get made, you need to be able to cloak and run to a hiding spot for a few seconds, preferably somewhere with a bit of health. Long enough to redisguise. Remember, the cloak is your biggest tool. Don't use it to run around the enemy base, use it to escape when needed. Get in the habit of stabbing, cloaking and redisguising. If you get spotted then you can actually use the cloak for more than just hiding. It can be a tool for misdirection. For about a second until you fully cloak your still semi-visible. Run in one direction and activate the cloak, as soon as you're fully cloaked switch and go a different direction. Most players will expect you to keep going in the same direction and usually you can side-step them and watch them run past, firing at where they think you are. By the way, this is an excelent time to decloak and backstab them. It really irritates them and has the added benefit of making you giggle.
When you do finally go for the Intel it's best to use a bit of misdirection here too. Again, the cloak comes in handy. Take note of the exits to the room. If there is more than one then your best bet is to come in and sap something, turn around and run towards one exit while cloaking. As soon as your cloak is up turn around and move to the back of the room and watch the defenders chase after you out the exit. Decloak, sap anything in the room, grab the Intel and run like hell out the other exit. Keep in mind, it's not necessary to get the Intel all the way back to your base. Just get it out of the Intel area where it'll be harder for the other team to defend it. If you go down, make sure to tell your other team mates where you dropped it, they can't go after it if you don't say anything.
That's about it, I'll try to update this if I come up with anything else.
Thanks,
Prime
----------
There are a few basic rules that every spy needs to know and follow. Knowledge of these rules will go a long way to making a player a much better spy.
----------
Infiltration
----------
First off, about getting out of your spawn. A lot of people think that the cloak should be used any time you're moving around. This is wrong. The cloak is a tool to be used sparingly. The longest time you should be cloaked is when crossing the space between bases. Just remember, stopping to recharge your cloak behind enemy lines is asking to be shot. Another key rule is to not put on your disguise before you get to the enemy base. Again, a lot of spies think that they should disguise right out of the spawn, this is also a mistake. It gives enemy snipers and anyone else looking at the right time the ability to tip off the other team as to what class you're diguised as and what name you're using. This brings me to another point. Whenever possible, cloak fully first and THEN disguise. Once cloaked there is no puff of smoke when changing. Also there is no chance for an enemy to see you changing. Now on to the subject of disguises.
----------
Disguises
----------
As a spy you have access to all the other classes as far as disguises go but you need to be aware of a few things when choosing which one to use. First, there are two classes you should never use. Ever.
Scout: As a scout you don't move nearly as fast as a real scout and you also can't double-jump. This is a dead giveaway. Any astute player will pick up on it and kill you. Let's face it, scouts are wierd little speed freaks. Even when they're not doing anything they're still jumping around and swinging their bats. The fact that you don't act like you're insane will be a tip-off for most players.
Medic: First off, you can't heal anybody. When was the last time you saw a medic not healing someone and charging their Ubercharge when there were team mates around? Yeah, thought so. Speaking of Ubercharge, you don't have one. Seriously, when you look like a medic, you don't have an Ubercharge display. Another dead giveaway for an enemy team member. Medic is a tough sell, just don't do it.
Now, on top of the two classes not to use, there are two other classes you should avoid using unless you have to (or are really good at it). First is the heavy. There's nothing wrong with the heavy disguise and there are no instant giveaways when using it but they're damn slow. It's hard to manuver when dressed as a heavy and there are times when you need to move quickly, like dodging enemy team members so they don't bump into you. Also, medics like to attach themselves to heavies and heal them. As soon as a medic starts healing you and notices that your health meter isn't moving, people start shooting at you...it gets messy. The second class to avoid is kinda obvious; Spy. Spies suck, everyone hates em, even the members of your own team. As soon as they see us they start shooting, even if we're friendly, it's some kinda wierd class discrimination thing. I dunno why they do it but it makes it hard to pull off the spy disguise. They will start shooting at you as soon as they see you. Bet on it.
That leaves you with five other classes to freely choose from. This brings me to another subject about disguising. Practice it. A lot. I can throw on a disguise in about a second. I don't bother with disguise scripts because a lot of times they require you to stop or let go of the mouse for a second. If they work for you though, more power to ya. Although, after maybe thirty minutes of playing you should be able to pick out a disguise without looking at the keyboard using the default bindings.
----------
Mischief
----------
What is the spy's role behind enemy lines? Just ask yourself: What would Rambo do? have you seen Rambo 2? If not then you should definitely give it a watch, mostly because it's cool but also because there's a scene in it that I want you to think about. The scene in the jungle where he takes out a couple Russian squads with nothing but a bow, a knife and some nifty disguises. Guerilla warfare baby, get used to it. Most people playing spy make the mistake of heading straight for the enemy intelligence. I mean, it can be hard getting behind enemy lines, and then five seconds later you go for the intel and get your head stomped. What I like to do is throw on a Pyro disguise and make a drive-by of the Intel Room. It's common to see a pyro just passing through the Intel Room so most people won't think twice about it and it gives you a chance to take a quick look around. If it looks pretty empty, then sure take a chance at sapping and grabbing the Intel, maybe sap-stab the engie there and make a run with the Intel. But, if it's busy in there then don't bother trying for it, you'll most likely end up throwing your chance away. There are more uses for a good spy than just Intel stealing. Guerilla warfare, remember? If you need some team mates to help out with the Intel then you need to help get them in there. You can do this by disrupting the enemy base. If everyone's looking for you, then they're not fighting your team's offense. Personally, I like to mess with the snipers. Most people (not all mind you, but most) who play snipers think it's cool to get the one-shot kill and aren't very good at up-close combat. Ambushing soldiers and demos is also pretty fun. Remember, pyros and engineers run faster than soldiers and demos. Makes it easy to get behind them, catch up to em and stab em in the back.
This brings me to a couple of tips for effective guerilla warfare. First, know the enemy base inside and out. Don't go into a base without a knowledge of where things are and expect to live for long. If you stab someone and get made, you need to be able to cloak and run to a hiding spot for a few seconds, preferably somewhere with a bit of health. Long enough to redisguise. Remember, the cloak is your biggest tool. Don't use it to run around the enemy base, use it to escape when needed. Get in the habit of stabbing, cloaking and redisguising. If you get spotted then you can actually use the cloak for more than just hiding. It can be a tool for misdirection. For about a second until you fully cloak your still semi-visible. Run in one direction and activate the cloak, as soon as you're fully cloaked switch and go a different direction. Most players will expect you to keep going in the same direction and usually you can side-step them and watch them run past, firing at where they think you are. By the way, this is an excelent time to decloak and backstab them. It really irritates them and has the added benefit of making you giggle.
When you do finally go for the Intel it's best to use a bit of misdirection here too. Again, the cloak comes in handy. Take note of the exits to the room. If there is more than one then your best bet is to come in and sap something, turn around and run towards one exit while cloaking. As soon as your cloak is up turn around and move to the back of the room and watch the defenders chase after you out the exit. Decloak, sap anything in the room, grab the Intel and run like hell out the other exit. Keep in mind, it's not necessary to get the Intel all the way back to your base. Just get it out of the Intel area where it'll be harder for the other team to defend it. If you go down, make sure to tell your other team mates where you dropped it, they can't go after it if you don't say anything.
That's about it, I'll try to update this if I come up with anything else.
Thanks,
Prime
