Spy techniques

[Nightmare_90]

I was just wondering how some of you guys and gals play as a spy, what are your techniques and tricks. I for one and am a horrible spy, but others are really good with it. Some people zap then stab, stab then zap, just go around for medics, or run to the base for teles and wait for a spy cap !bang Just wondering what some of you people do

 

[Killa]

I'm decent, but the thing I hate the most is when I'm about to stab en masse and then I get all panicky and screw it up. Just play it enough and it'll come to you.

 

[Gman is GOD]

small tip i have, always watch your invisibility bar. if you run out in the middle of an enemy base, your done for... if your low, find an area where not many people pass to recharge before proceeding into enemy territories. thats all i got, im a horrible spy to =D

 

[PotatoCannon]

My good tip is that you got to remember when disgussed your not a spy your w/e you disgussed as so act like it if your a scout start running in if your a sniper get to high ground and act like your sniping.

 

[Dreadmaker]

180 degree quickstab :

you are disguised as an enemy, and an enemy walks by you. Swerve a little out of the way so as to avoid bumping, but as soon as they pass you, 180 and stab them in the back. This works quite well if you practice.

Flying stab :

Lu can attest to this; I use this one a lot. Get on a high place (battlements in turbine, crates in turbine, various houses/first cap in dustbowl) and wait for someone to pass underneath. if you time it right, and they don't stop, you can get a basically impossible to defend stab. There is no spy to spy check, nothing to run into... just a flying stab of death.

 

[DEMODER]

Prioritize your targets.

Medics should be first, especially if they just got uber. It is one of the most satisfying feelings to hear and enemy medic say, I am fully charged!, then listen to his death wail as you bury your knife in his back before he can use it.
If you can't get the medic, stab the person he's healing, then he'll have to try and defend himself.

If your disguised and trick an enemy medic into healing you, don't try and kill the medic! Let your team know you got a medic healing you and lead him straight to your teammates. I personally love to do that when the medic has uber, have him uber me, then undisguise and taunt the medic while my teammates surround him for the kill.

As a spy, you LOVE snipers. So blissfully unaware of your approach and their impending demise.

Avoid pyros, they are sickly overpowered, especially against spies. The range on the flamethrower is ridiculous. And a pyro carrying a flamethrower and gas pack on his back, wearing a flame resistant rubber suit shouldn't be able to outrun a spy carrying a knife or revolver, BUT THEY CAN! Your best bet when being chased by a pyro is to run backwards and pelt them with the revolver. You might get lucky. Don't turn your back to them, the backburner will obliterate you. Of course there is no more satisfying feeling then backstabbing a dirty, filthy, stinking pyro! (eGO pyros excluded)

Disguises rarely work. Don't expect to be able to run around with a disguise and not get spy checked.

Cloak is your most vital class function. It is your absolute best option to infiltrate enemy bases/areas. Watch your cloak meter carefully, as running out of cloak in a room full of enemies usually doesn't turn out very well for you. Even the best spies have this happen, as enemy movements can make you modify your path enough that you run out of cloak before you can get to a safe spot. However, good cloak management can minimize these instances.

Always uncloak behind an enemy, if your going to try and kill him.

When starting a backstab chain, always start at the back and work forward. Trying to run a few enemies up will get you dead before you can start a good chain.

Work your way behind enemy lines and sap teleporter entrances. Not only does this slow the enemies advance, but it makes those pesky engineers have to take time to rebuild them.

Stabbing then sapping is a great way to get engineers if you get the timing right. Always make sure your knife lands before switching to your sapper.

Sapping then stabbing is also a good tactic and should be used on engineers who are sentry whacking wrench happy. You know, those annoying engineers who beat on their sentries even when the rest of the opposing team is nowhere close to it.

Don't underestimate your revolver. It can be a pretty effective weapon when you can't get a backstab on someone.

And lastly, the greatest spy skill, the one that most everyone has the hardest time learning, isn't built into the game. It's built into you. It is called.....Patience. If your not a patient person and just want to blow stuff up, the spy class is not for you. You have to be very patient and pick your moments to attack. The best spies try and catch the enemy unaware or preoccupied with something else. Patience let's you get that element of suprise, that after you land that satisfying backstab, leave your enemies going, where in the HELL DID THAT COME FROM!?

And that's about all I can think of as far as spy strategies go. There are some great spies here in eGO that can probably fill in any gaps I might have left.

 

[Lu?]

Lu can attest to this; I use this one a lot. Get on a high place (battlements in turbine, crates in turbine, various houses/first cap in dustbowl) and wait for someone to pass underneath. if you time it right, and they don't stop, you can get a basically impossible to defend stab. There is no spy to spy check, nothing to run into... just a flying stab of death.

This is true...!bang

 

[Sandman]

rule # 1 don't listen to DEMODER

but seriously him and dreadmaker got it, just practice a lot and try to be paitient, that was the skill that probably took me the longest to learn lol. something i've picked up was always expect someone to spy check you at all times, always try to face your own team, don't try to call medic to often while disguised, and remember everyone plays spy a little differently, some like big chains of stabbing death, others like 10 minute lives taking 1 player out at a time, its all about what you enjoy and excell at doing.

and for the love of all things AVOID PYROS LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!!!!!!!

thats about all i can add.

~Sandman~

 

[HardHat]

You might want to ask Jehuty for advice...assuming he's willing to share his secrets.

 

[TheZaw]

When retreating with cloack, go one direction until fully cloaked, and then completely turn another direction and escape the impending doom.


Serach on youtube:
How to play spy (by evildaedalaus)
and Advanced Spy Technigues by OMFGNinja (All techniques+more that have been mentioned in this thread. OMFGNINJA is a great spy btw.)

 

[DarkNecrid]

Learn to Sidestab. When you go to stab someone, you're going to want to quickly look left or right, and then quickly return straightforward and stab. There's a script to do this, too, if you want to see what it looks like. It's harder to use the script though because it pitches the same direction 100% of the time, and screws up while you move. What happens when you learn to do this manually, is you cancel the long backstab animation from your movement, resulting in "instant" backstabs that normally require you to be moving behind the target but not close to them. This method works whether you're right behind them or not.

Learn to Quickstab. Backstab someone while a distance behind their back, resulting in no long backstab animation.

Learn to use your Scout disguise when running away. The Scout disguise has the smallest hitbox, resulting in a harder to hit target.

Know how every class acts.

Learn when to sap -> stab or stab -> sap. Engie near sentry? Stab -> Sap. Engie not? Sap -> Stab.

Know each classes strategy on each map and act that way. If you're a pyro, don't use the water path, for example.

Conversely, don't disguise as pyro while on fire unless if you're sure you won't be caught.

Use the slower disguises (Soldier, Heavy, Demoman) to your advantage. A lot of spies never disguise as these because they move slower, however if you have a more stationary target (say, Sniper), feel free to use this. Spies almost never disguise as these, so people are less inclined to spy check these classes (except demo, demo is pretty common, use Soldier or Heavy)

Never use the same disguise twice in a row in Arena. In non-Arena, you can get away with it with proper positioning.

 

[Nero]

You might want to ask Jehuty for advice...assuming he's willing to share his secrets.

Good luck. You'll probably just find a knife in your back.

 

[QB]

The very fact that there is a popular script to cancel the long backstab animation is the best evidence in the case against it. It... needs... to... go. That could be the spy update all by itself.

Spy tips? Generally avoid large groups of people. Heavy/medic combos are your bread and butter, especially if they are in water or a hallway. Attack from the same direction as the enemy team is attacking your team (don't attack counter to their direction).

Try to build up maximum cloak before you attack so that you can get away and attack again. This tactic creates massive suspicion amongst your foes, and they will abandon offense to try to find you. You may be found out eventually, but you will have done your team a great service.

This is advice from someone who probably has a 40:1 ratio against spies in general.

 

[DarkNecrid]

The very fact that there is a popular script to cancel the long backstab animation is the best evidence in the case against it. It... needs... to... go. That could be the spy update all by itself.

It's just poorly programmed. Also the script isn't very popular, when I say it screws up while you move, I mean it. Also it's pretty imprecise since it turns you the same direction and there's no way to change which direction to stab with it while you use it really. Kinda sucks for that. Useful for practicing it though.

But yea, the long backstab animation is your worst enemy. Avoid at all costs.

 

[QB]

Eh. The script enjoys some popularity among people with similar setups. The lack of precision has to do with the difference in resolution among other things. I think your framerate even influences the various turn scripts. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

But yeah we can agree: standard backstab animation = big fat massive suckage. I miss at LEAST 50% of backstabs that use the standard animation.

 

[DarkNecrid]

thats because unlike Counterstrike (idk if you play it), the knife is animation -> damage, instead of damage -> animation.

so basically if the animation never hits anything you don't do damage. the long animation doesn't hit anything until the knife goes down all the way. if you move the wrong way, target moves the wrong, you get air blasted, anything, it misses and you fail. the quickstab is faster and slices in a wide area, which means its harder to miss.

if they used the CS method of damage -> animation, it'd make the slow animation like the quickstab, and basically fix everything.

Expect such a fix next month. In valve time. I think that's like 3 years from now or something.

 

[Cicatriz]

Patience and Practice never hurt either.

But being patient is key.

 

[KelpTheGreat]

Someone said that if you're gonna backstab an enemy, uncloak behind them. This does not always work: An enemy that is listening intently can hear your uncloak sound. Also, make sure you look around for other enemies before uncloaking, or they'll probably kill you before you're done.

If someone starts to spycheck you at long range, just keep walking and acting normal. Chances are they won't notice they've damaged you.

If you come up face-on an enemy, they might not spy check you (depends on the situation). Use this to your advantage and don't go behind them to attempt a backstab. They'll definitely notice this. Keep going past them and come back awhile later, when they've forgotten you.

And don't forget to use your revolver! If it's obvious that the enemy knows you're a spy, stay away from them and shoot accurately. If it's one-on-one, you might just get the kill; then just re-cloak and disguise and hide.

 

[Macaroni]

rule # 1 don't listen to DEMODER

but seriously him and dreadmaker got it, just practice a lot and try to be paitient, that was the skill that probably took me the longest to learn lol. something i've picked up was always expect someone to spy check you at all times, always try to face your own team, don't try to call medic to often while disguised, and remember everyone plays spy a little differently, some like big chains of stabbing death, others like 10 minute lives taking 1 player out at a time, its all about what you enjoy and excell at doing.

and for the love of all things AVOID PYROS LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!!!!!!!

thats about all i can add.

~Sandman~

Lol, good idea.

I have a really cool technique, it seems like a script, but I just have incredibly fast reflexes with my mouse. I've trained myself to hit the B key after every time I lose my disguise. This also has the side effect of a smoke cloud surrounding me, confusing the opponent as to which way I am facing. Also, when walking in the opposite direction as an enemy, snap around as you pass them, do the "slash-stab," and snap back to your previous orientation while disguising. It seems like a facestab, but it is simply an extremely rapid backstab. Carmine says it lags a lot, but it is a fair tactic. If you get backstabbed by me, think again before declaring hax or facestab.

 

[Ballzac]

I'm decent, but the thing I hate the most is when I'm about to stab en masse and then I get all panicky and screw it up. Just play it enough and it'll come to you.

Thats what makes me play spy for 1 round and think "sigh.... no more spy for me" lol