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Spy Sappin' my Sentry - Guide to Playing Spy v1.5
Written by: DarkNecrid
So yeah, I've had the game for about 2 months, and only really started playing this month. In the past 2 weeks I've had well over 100 hours put into the game, and have 74 hours as Spy.
I am by no means a master, however I have learned the minutiae of the Spy very much needed to play him well.
Without further ado, I give you my guide. This is not a perfect guide, but should be a good place to launch people beyond the basics of the class.
I. Introduction
"Gentlemen."
The Spy is one of the most unique classes in Team Fortress 2, playing a role that very few appreciate or understand. The Spy is a strategic opener, with his abilities to get behind the opponent's front line and crush it from behind. At information gathering, the Spy excels, even better than the Scout does, and while a Spy doesn't do something obvious like crushing the enemy offense with big giant missiles or bombs, he does cause strategic openings that cripple the enemy team.
A good spy is the antithesis of obvious, a shade that briskly moves around the map, and one that your only glimpse of will be the cold steel being lodged in your backside.
The Spy needs 1 thing to do his job: Knowledge. A Spy without knowledge, is bad. Each class needs a little bit of knowledge, but never to the point that the class will absolutely fail without it. Without knowledge a Spy might as well be dead. Knowledge is split up into multiple facets, as well:
*Map Knowledge: Knowing the intimate layout of each map. This is important for many reasons you'll see later on.
*Class Knowledge: Knowing how each class acts, where they go, and such.
*Team Knowledge: Knowing the enemy team, more intimately than they know themselves.
If you are on the Spy's team, use voice chat to give him knowledge. Tell him where the Snipers are, make sure to call Classes all the time, and such.
II. Analyzing Spy Strengths and Weaknesses
"Ahem."
Strengths:
-You have the strongest pistol weapon in the game. (Revolver)
-You can disable & destroy enemy buildings. (Sapper)
-You have instant kills. (Butterfly Knife)
-You can disguise as any class, enemy or ally.
-You can turn invisible.
-Any of your weaknesses can be countered by being good and smart, even versus good players.
Weaknesses:
-The pyro, don't get close to him.
-Not having enough or correct knowledge.
-Enemy voice chat can cripple you and you won't know it until it's too late if you aren't carefully monitoring when you get revealed while cloaked or keep track of your surroundings.
-Making even a single mistake can get you killed.
-Natascha, the Blautsauger, the Force-A-Nature, Jarate and flamethrowers all reveal you as a Spy.
-You're one of the few classes that get worse the more of them are on a team. Keep the amount of spies to 1-3 minimum depending on the amount of players. The more spies you have, the worse you make EVERY spy on the team since the enemy team will be even more alert.
III. Class Equipment Statistics and Usage
"Oh dear, I've made quite a mess."
Revolver:
Your primary weapon. It's also your only ranged weapon! It's also the best pistol in the game, use it often.
The Revolver has 6 shots, carries 24, and reloads in 1.16 seconds.
At point blank it does 55-60 damage, at medium range it does 35-45 damage, and at long range it does 20-25 damage. Critical hits always hit for 120.
The Revolver has amazing accuracy, and in the hands of a user with good accuracy, is one of the most deadly weapons in the game.
UNLOCKABLE - Ambassador:
Unlockable primary pistol. It has 6 shots, carries 24, reloads in 1.16 seconds.
At point blank it does 46-56 damage, at medium range it does 31-37 damage, at long range it does 15-19 damage, and on a headshot it does 102 damage.
It fires 20% slower, has perfect accuracy for one shot and then you need to wait ~3 seconds to get another perfect shot.
Sapper:
Secondary. Utility item. Infinite amount.
Attach to buildings to disable & destroy them.
Buildings take 6/7/9 seconds to be destroyed depending on their level. Sappers can be removed in 2 wrench hits.
A common question is if you should Stab & Sap, or Sap & Stab. For me, personally, it depends:
Stab & Sap if the Engineer is close to the Sentry Gun, the Sentry Gun isn't facing you, and you have the Health for it. Sap & Stab if you don't have the health for it, the engineer isn't close by, or the Sentry Gun is facing you.
Butterfly Knife:
Your third item, it's a knife. Can't crit, does less damage than normal melee weapons (cept Axetinguisher), but can backstab for insta kills.
It does 37-54 damage on hit, and does 10,000 damage (that doesn't count for statistics) on a successful backstab.
Backstabs don't need to hit the back, just need to happen somewhere within 180 degrees of the target's field of view.
Disguise Case:
Fourth item. You can disguise. More on this later.
Invisibility Watch / Cloak:
Cloaking is all about timing.
Cloaks take exactly 1 second to become effective, have a 3 second cooldown after you decloak where you can't use any items, it lasts for 10 seconds and takes 30 seconds to recharge.
While cloaked you can disguise without your smoke appearing.
Picking up ammo, dropped weapons, dispensers, and broken parts of buildings all restore your cloak.
UNLOCKABLE - Dead Ringer:
When you right click, you bring up the Dead Ringer. Next time you take any damage, you cloak for 8 seconds. This is less than the normal cloak, and requires someone (or you) to hurt you. Really, the Dead Ringer is best used as a trick. While the Invisibility Watch is perfect for infiltration by itself, the Dead Ringer is perfect as a magic trick to mislead people. Disguise as an important friendly class (Medic!) and "die" on purpose. While you're disguised as a friendly, the kill messages will display their name and that ragdoll will go flying, making them less the wiser that a Spy is coming. I don't really recommend it in Arena, the player count at the top gives this away.
UNLOCKABLE - Cloak & Dagger:
When you right click, it's exactly like the Invisibility Watch, but it drains faster while moving, and to refill it you have to stand still. It drains slower when crouch walking, and it drains super fast from falls. It's more of a camping watch, while the Invisibility Watch is all about being mobile. Your style of Spy will determine if you use this or not.
IV. Disguises
"I never really was on your side."
Disguises are one of the most important parts of Spy play, but you can't rely on them. Remember, a Disguise is easily gained as it is lost. Even the slightest wrong move can blow your cover, and quite possibly kill you.
Disguises take 1 second to apply, and if you aren't cloaked, you will have smoke appear around you. Always change disguises when cloaked except at the start of the game or in a spot you can't be seen.
While disguised you move the speed of the class you are disguised as, unless if they are faster (Scout and Medic) in which case you move your speed.
Disguises are revealed if you are touched or shot while cloaked, you will shine your team color in the outline of your current disguise. If you get revealed at all, change disguises.
While disguised you have your disguise target's health at the time of the disguise. A Medic healing you (allied or not) will make your actual & disguised Health go up. Communicate with your medics if you want your disguised health to go up or not.
You take on a (random) name of someone on the other team in your disguise class when disguised.
*Scout Disguise: Is the best disguise in all honesty. A few reasons for this: is the smallest & thinnest class so this disguise is the best at hiding, is the smallest & thinnest class so the model doesn't match the Spy's at all - a Sniper trying to uncharged Headshot the "Scout" will merely bodyshot you (this *can* save your life), the speed difference isn't VERY noticeable if the target is distracted, and most importantly the Scout is the only class that has a reason to be anywhere on the map, so it's the most believable disguise. Still, you want to mix it up, people do catch on.
*Soldier Disguise: Useful for getting an uber or kritz on you. Especially the later. Use at choke points for getting in, don't use in open areas. Use the reload trick to aid in this. (see below!)
*Pyro Disguise: Very common and useful disguise. Only thing that gives you away is you catching on fire. Please don't disguise as Pyro while on fire.
*Demoman Disguise: Also common, speed loss is minimal. Good for getting Kritz. Switch between this and Pyro often.
*Heavy Disguise: Useful for getting uber or kritz on you & getting heals fast. Use at choke points for getting a first kill, don't use in open areas. Be ready to cloak asap when using this disguise, people WILL bump into you. No one ever suspects the Heavy disguise.
*Engineer Disguise: Useful for getting close to buildings. Also useful if you can act like a battle engie.
*Medic Disguise: Now that you display an uber meter, this disguise is great, use it!
*Sniper Disguise: Also common. But you need to be where a Sniper would be! Has no real drawbacks!
*Spy Disguise: Rules. Now because you have a face mask on, this disguise is way more believable. Don't think Cloaking is a good idea in a bunch of people, when you start to cloak you shimmer your real team color, so!
*Friendly Disguises: Are different because enemy Sentry's will shoot you, enemy Dispenser's won't heal you, but you can cap points & push karts, PLUS you can scare enemies which is useful in Arena. Say the game is 1v1? Disguise as the worst foe of the remaining class. They'll be afraid and this can cost them the game.
V. Tips and Tricks
"You got blood on my suit."
Reload Trick:
While disguised as a class with a reloadable weapon, y if you reload your revolver (I mean actually reload it), your disguise will reload their weapons too....in 1.16 seconds, which is faster than most weapons to be noticeable. You can cancel the reload animation of your revolver (switch to a different item during it) and quickly redo it to continue the animation of your disguise. This can make you "safe" to the enemy team. In fact, using this trick is neccessary at times if you want to secure an enemy uber, or to be safe. People see a reloading person, and assume he's on their team.
Most effective with Engineer, Demo, Spy, and Soldier. It's needed with Engie and Spy especially. Very helpful to maintaining those disguises.
Cloak Tricks:
*Remember that you shimmer your team color when you use it, and when touched you are revealed.
*Remember the 3 second cooldown, and plan your backstabs accordingly.
*Maximize your cloak time! Learn faster spy routes!
*You can always make your own private server and learn map routes this way!
*Ammo, dropped weapons, dispensers, and destroyed parts of buildings all refill your cloak, use them to help your Spy routes. Denying enemy engineers their ammo is very useful.
Disguise Tips:
*Scout disguise can mislead people aiming at you while you run away.
*Make sure to act like the class you are disguised as would.
*If you get shot, do not act differently, the person you are disguised as wouldn't. This is a sure fire way to break your disguise and get you killed. This is hard to do, since instinctively you want to turn around and shoot, but don't!
*Change disguises if you get revealed by Cloak. People see the outline of the class you're disguised as while cloaked, and they'll tell their team.
*Utilize your disguised health properly, call for enemy medic's when it's low, so they have a better chance of healing you.
*Work with your medics if you should be overhealed or not while disguised. If you're disguised as an enemy and overhealed but there's no medics, guess what? Bustedddd.
*Likewise don't get healed near a dispenser unless if they are looking away. If they notice your Health not going up, you're done for.
*Same goes for health kits.
*Disguise as someone well represented on the enemy team (like if they are mass pyros, go pyro) to lessen your chance of being caught.
*Taunts do not work while disguised or cloaked.
General:
*Use your revolver often! It's twice as effective as knife at close range.
*Remember you can shoot disabled buildings to make them blow up faster.
*Your Knife will backstab any time as long as it is 180 degrees behind their FOV. So if you stand on an enemies head and look towards their back and stab, even though you are on their head, it'll backstab.
*Don't be afraid to use friendly disguises, but remember you have to act as that class would on your team, and remember you aren't immune to Sentry's.
*Learn to manage your cloak and don't use it to escape all the time!
*Don't be afraid to die (even in Arena). If you have to die to kill a Medic who is close to building uber, do it. Do not play Spy if you are expecting an amazing Kill Death Ratio, because you aren't going to get it often.
*Remember to use the enemy Dispenser to get your health up to max, then sap it.
VI. Matchups
"I will gut you like a Cornish game hen!"
Let's say you get into a 1v1 fight. Who has the advantage, and how do you win?
vs Scout: Requires excellent accuracy and following ability with your shots. Don't try to backstab unless if he isn't moving. If you have accuracy + can follow the Scout with your shots, you will win this fight most of the time as long as you don't let the Scout get in your face.
vs Soldier: Avoid the missiles, and shoot him. Barring a crit or bad positioning on your part or an enemy medic, you will win this fight quite often.
vs a Pyro: Requires you to never be in the reach of his flamethrower. Since you move the same speed, if you get outside the reach of it, and backup and keep doing that, you can just revolver him to death easily. Otherwise, well you're screwed.
vs a Demoman: Tough fight. Watch out for all the bombs, and I mean watch out because he will kill you rather quickly. Missiles are easier to dodge than bombs. Much easier.
vs a Heavy: Try to backstab this guy or snipe with Revolver. If he see's you first in close/middle range, you're done for.
vs an Engineer: If he has no buildings near him, you win. If he has buildings near him, hope you can sap & stab or stab & sap right. A difficult way of beating an Engineer with the sap & stab method, is if he's all alone, sap the Sentry Gun, stand on it, and as the Engineer comes, crouch jump off of it and turn around real quick and stab him.
vs a Medic: Depends if he has Blutsauger or not. If he has Blutsauger, it's a way harder fight if you can't avoid the shots well. Mediocre difficulty otherwise.
vs a Sniper: Easy. You will very very rarely lose this fight. Backstab's come swift and easy, and you will win a revolver vs SMG fight with ease.
vs a Spy: Depends on who has better accuracy / knife skills. Try to revolver fight an enemy Spy.
VII. Closing
"Well, this was a disappointment!"
In closing, Spy requires insane knowledge. Most player's don't realize what they do, or their nuances, and as such think that Spies rely on 95% luck, 5% skill. In order to play Spy, you need to know everything, including the nuances, the tricks, how classes act, map paths, enemy team makeup, health kit layouts, etc. You need exceptional timing, good accuracy, and tricks to minimize any and all luck. You'll notice I did not mention spy checking or map tricks. I didn't go in-depth into Spy checking because spy checking constantly goes on and with good positioning and believability, it becomes less of an issue. Map tricks...well I could be here all day with those. You can always find videos, or learn them yourself. Most of them are rather obvious, but hopefully this'll help you with Spy. Learn how other classes act, get your knowledge, learn your nuances, and you're on your way to great success.
NOTE ON FACESTABS:
A lot of people complain about facestabs, and I want you to take the following 3 things into account next time:
-Lag compensation means the attacker is favored. To the Spy, you may have had your back turned.
-If a Spy passes you and quickly turns around and stabs, it will look like he stabbed you in the face in first person, even though he stabbed your back.
-The 180 degree FOV deal is rather touchy and weird, and so is the timing.
You may freely distribute this guide, or pieces of it, on other sites or for personal use, as long as you do not change any part of it and give me credit.
Written by: DarkNecrid
So yeah, I've had the game for about 2 months, and only really started playing this month. In the past 2 weeks I've had well over 100 hours put into the game, and have 74 hours as Spy.
I am by no means a master, however I have learned the minutiae of the Spy very much needed to play him well.
Without further ado, I give you my guide. This is not a perfect guide, but should be a good place to launch people beyond the basics of the class.
I. Introduction
"Gentlemen."
The Spy is one of the most unique classes in Team Fortress 2, playing a role that very few appreciate or understand. The Spy is a strategic opener, with his abilities to get behind the opponent's front line and crush it from behind. At information gathering, the Spy excels, even better than the Scout does, and while a Spy doesn't do something obvious like crushing the enemy offense with big giant missiles or bombs, he does cause strategic openings that cripple the enemy team.
A good spy is the antithesis of obvious, a shade that briskly moves around the map, and one that your only glimpse of will be the cold steel being lodged in your backside.
The Spy needs 1 thing to do his job: Knowledge. A Spy without knowledge, is bad. Each class needs a little bit of knowledge, but never to the point that the class will absolutely fail without it. Without knowledge a Spy might as well be dead. Knowledge is split up into multiple facets, as well:
*Map Knowledge: Knowing the intimate layout of each map. This is important for many reasons you'll see later on.
*Class Knowledge: Knowing how each class acts, where they go, and such.
*Team Knowledge: Knowing the enemy team, more intimately than they know themselves.
If you are on the Spy's team, use voice chat to give him knowledge. Tell him where the Snipers are, make sure to call Classes all the time, and such.
II. Analyzing Spy Strengths and Weaknesses
"Ahem."
Strengths:
-You have the strongest pistol weapon in the game. (Revolver)
-You can disable & destroy enemy buildings. (Sapper)
-You have instant kills. (Butterfly Knife)
-You can disguise as any class, enemy or ally.
-You can turn invisible.
-Any of your weaknesses can be countered by being good and smart, even versus good players.
Weaknesses:
-The pyro, don't get close to him.
-Not having enough or correct knowledge.
-Enemy voice chat can cripple you and you won't know it until it's too late if you aren't carefully monitoring when you get revealed while cloaked or keep track of your surroundings.
-Making even a single mistake can get you killed.
-Natascha, the Blautsauger, the Force-A-Nature, Jarate and flamethrowers all reveal you as a Spy.
-You're one of the few classes that get worse the more of them are on a team. Keep the amount of spies to 1-3 minimum depending on the amount of players. The more spies you have, the worse you make EVERY spy on the team since the enemy team will be even more alert.
III. Class Equipment Statistics and Usage
"Oh dear, I've made quite a mess."
Revolver:
Your primary weapon. It's also your only ranged weapon! It's also the best pistol in the game, use it often.
The Revolver has 6 shots, carries 24, and reloads in 1.16 seconds.
At point blank it does 55-60 damage, at medium range it does 35-45 damage, and at long range it does 20-25 damage. Critical hits always hit for 120.
The Revolver has amazing accuracy, and in the hands of a user with good accuracy, is one of the most deadly weapons in the game.
UNLOCKABLE - Ambassador:
Unlockable primary pistol. It has 6 shots, carries 24, reloads in 1.16 seconds.
At point blank it does 46-56 damage, at medium range it does 31-37 damage, at long range it does 15-19 damage, and on a headshot it does 102 damage.
It fires 20% slower, has perfect accuracy for one shot and then you need to wait ~3 seconds to get another perfect shot.
Sapper:
Secondary. Utility item. Infinite amount.
Attach to buildings to disable & destroy them.
Buildings take 6/7/9 seconds to be destroyed depending on their level. Sappers can be removed in 2 wrench hits.
A common question is if you should Stab & Sap, or Sap & Stab. For me, personally, it depends:
Stab & Sap if the Engineer is close to the Sentry Gun, the Sentry Gun isn't facing you, and you have the Health for it. Sap & Stab if you don't have the health for it, the engineer isn't close by, or the Sentry Gun is facing you.
Butterfly Knife:
Your third item, it's a knife. Can't crit, does less damage than normal melee weapons (cept Axetinguisher), but can backstab for insta kills.
It does 37-54 damage on hit, and does 10,000 damage (that doesn't count for statistics) on a successful backstab.
Backstabs don't need to hit the back, just need to happen somewhere within 180 degrees of the target's field of view.
Disguise Case:
Fourth item. You can disguise. More on this later.
Invisibility Watch / Cloak:
Cloaking is all about timing.
Cloaks take exactly 1 second to become effective, have a 3 second cooldown after you decloak where you can't use any items, it lasts for 10 seconds and takes 30 seconds to recharge.
While cloaked you can disguise without your smoke appearing.
Picking up ammo, dropped weapons, dispensers, and broken parts of buildings all restore your cloak.
UNLOCKABLE - Dead Ringer:
When you right click, you bring up the Dead Ringer. Next time you take any damage, you cloak for 8 seconds. This is less than the normal cloak, and requires someone (or you) to hurt you. Really, the Dead Ringer is best used as a trick. While the Invisibility Watch is perfect for infiltration by itself, the Dead Ringer is perfect as a magic trick to mislead people. Disguise as an important friendly class (Medic!) and "die" on purpose. While you're disguised as a friendly, the kill messages will display their name and that ragdoll will go flying, making them less the wiser that a Spy is coming. I don't really recommend it in Arena, the player count at the top gives this away.
UNLOCKABLE - Cloak & Dagger:
When you right click, it's exactly like the Invisibility Watch, but it drains faster while moving, and to refill it you have to stand still. It drains slower when crouch walking, and it drains super fast from falls. It's more of a camping watch, while the Invisibility Watch is all about being mobile. Your style of Spy will determine if you use this or not.
IV. Disguises
"I never really was on your side."
Disguises are one of the most important parts of Spy play, but you can't rely on them. Remember, a Disguise is easily gained as it is lost. Even the slightest wrong move can blow your cover, and quite possibly kill you.
Disguises take 1 second to apply, and if you aren't cloaked, you will have smoke appear around you. Always change disguises when cloaked except at the start of the game or in a spot you can't be seen.
While disguised you move the speed of the class you are disguised as, unless if they are faster (Scout and Medic) in which case you move your speed.
Disguises are revealed if you are touched or shot while cloaked, you will shine your team color in the outline of your current disguise. If you get revealed at all, change disguises.
While disguised you have your disguise target's health at the time of the disguise. A Medic healing you (allied or not) will make your actual & disguised Health go up. Communicate with your medics if you want your disguised health to go up or not.
You take on a (random) name of someone on the other team in your disguise class when disguised.
*Scout Disguise: Is the best disguise in all honesty. A few reasons for this: is the smallest & thinnest class so this disguise is the best at hiding, is the smallest & thinnest class so the model doesn't match the Spy's at all - a Sniper trying to uncharged Headshot the "Scout" will merely bodyshot you (this *can* save your life), the speed difference isn't VERY noticeable if the target is distracted, and most importantly the Scout is the only class that has a reason to be anywhere on the map, so it's the most believable disguise. Still, you want to mix it up, people do catch on.
*Soldier Disguise: Useful for getting an uber or kritz on you. Especially the later. Use at choke points for getting in, don't use in open areas. Use the reload trick to aid in this. (see below!)
*Pyro Disguise: Very common and useful disguise. Only thing that gives you away is you catching on fire. Please don't disguise as Pyro while on fire.
*Demoman Disguise: Also common, speed loss is minimal. Good for getting Kritz. Switch between this and Pyro often.
*Heavy Disguise: Useful for getting uber or kritz on you & getting heals fast. Use at choke points for getting a first kill, don't use in open areas. Be ready to cloak asap when using this disguise, people WILL bump into you. No one ever suspects the Heavy disguise.
*Engineer Disguise: Useful for getting close to buildings. Also useful if you can act like a battle engie.
*Medic Disguise: Now that you display an uber meter, this disguise is great, use it!
*Sniper Disguise: Also common. But you need to be where a Sniper would be! Has no real drawbacks!
*Spy Disguise: Rules. Now because you have a face mask on, this disguise is way more believable. Don't think Cloaking is a good idea in a bunch of people, when you start to cloak you shimmer your real team color, so!
*Friendly Disguises: Are different because enemy Sentry's will shoot you, enemy Dispenser's won't heal you, but you can cap points & push karts, PLUS you can scare enemies which is useful in Arena. Say the game is 1v1? Disguise as the worst foe of the remaining class. They'll be afraid and this can cost them the game.
V. Tips and Tricks
"You got blood on my suit."
Reload Trick:
While disguised as a class with a reloadable weapon, y if you reload your revolver (I mean actually reload it), your disguise will reload their weapons too....in 1.16 seconds, which is faster than most weapons to be noticeable. You can cancel the reload animation of your revolver (switch to a different item during it) and quickly redo it to continue the animation of your disguise. This can make you "safe" to the enemy team. In fact, using this trick is neccessary at times if you want to secure an enemy uber, or to be safe. People see a reloading person, and assume he's on their team.
Most effective with Engineer, Demo, Spy, and Soldier. It's needed with Engie and Spy especially. Very helpful to maintaining those disguises.
Cloak Tricks:
*Remember that you shimmer your team color when you use it, and when touched you are revealed.
*Remember the 3 second cooldown, and plan your backstabs accordingly.
*Maximize your cloak time! Learn faster spy routes!
*You can always make your own private server and learn map routes this way!
*Ammo, dropped weapons, dispensers, and destroyed parts of buildings all refill your cloak, use them to help your Spy routes. Denying enemy engineers their ammo is very useful.
Disguise Tips:
*Scout disguise can mislead people aiming at you while you run away.
*Make sure to act like the class you are disguised as would.
*If you get shot, do not act differently, the person you are disguised as wouldn't. This is a sure fire way to break your disguise and get you killed. This is hard to do, since instinctively you want to turn around and shoot, but don't!
*Change disguises if you get revealed by Cloak. People see the outline of the class you're disguised as while cloaked, and they'll tell their team.
*Utilize your disguised health properly, call for enemy medic's when it's low, so they have a better chance of healing you.
*Work with your medics if you should be overhealed or not while disguised. If you're disguised as an enemy and overhealed but there's no medics, guess what? Bustedddd.
*Likewise don't get healed near a dispenser unless if they are looking away. If they notice your Health not going up, you're done for.
*Same goes for health kits.
*Disguise as someone well represented on the enemy team (like if they are mass pyros, go pyro) to lessen your chance of being caught.
*Taunts do not work while disguised or cloaked.
General:
*Use your revolver often! It's twice as effective as knife at close range.
*Remember you can shoot disabled buildings to make them blow up faster.
*Your Knife will backstab any time as long as it is 180 degrees behind their FOV. So if you stand on an enemies head and look towards their back and stab, even though you are on their head, it'll backstab.
*Don't be afraid to use friendly disguises, but remember you have to act as that class would on your team, and remember you aren't immune to Sentry's.
*Learn to manage your cloak and don't use it to escape all the time!
*Don't be afraid to die (even in Arena). If you have to die to kill a Medic who is close to building uber, do it. Do not play Spy if you are expecting an amazing Kill Death Ratio, because you aren't going to get it often.
*Remember to use the enemy Dispenser to get your health up to max, then sap it.
VI. Matchups
"I will gut you like a Cornish game hen!"
Let's say you get into a 1v1 fight. Who has the advantage, and how do you win?
vs Scout: Requires excellent accuracy and following ability with your shots. Don't try to backstab unless if he isn't moving. If you have accuracy + can follow the Scout with your shots, you will win this fight most of the time as long as you don't let the Scout get in your face.
vs Soldier: Avoid the missiles, and shoot him. Barring a crit or bad positioning on your part or an enemy medic, you will win this fight quite often.
vs a Pyro: Requires you to never be in the reach of his flamethrower. Since you move the same speed, if you get outside the reach of it, and backup and keep doing that, you can just revolver him to death easily. Otherwise, well you're screwed.
vs a Demoman: Tough fight. Watch out for all the bombs, and I mean watch out because he will kill you rather quickly. Missiles are easier to dodge than bombs. Much easier.
vs a Heavy: Try to backstab this guy or snipe with Revolver. If he see's you first in close/middle range, you're done for.
vs an Engineer: If he has no buildings near him, you win. If he has buildings near him, hope you can sap & stab or stab & sap right. A difficult way of beating an Engineer with the sap & stab method, is if he's all alone, sap the Sentry Gun, stand on it, and as the Engineer comes, crouch jump off of it and turn around real quick and stab him.
vs a Medic: Depends if he has Blutsauger or not. If he has Blutsauger, it's a way harder fight if you can't avoid the shots well. Mediocre difficulty otherwise.
vs a Sniper: Easy. You will very very rarely lose this fight. Backstab's come swift and easy, and you will win a revolver vs SMG fight with ease.
vs a Spy: Depends on who has better accuracy / knife skills. Try to revolver fight an enemy Spy.
VII. Closing
"Well, this was a disappointment!"
In closing, Spy requires insane knowledge. Most player's don't realize what they do, or their nuances, and as such think that Spies rely on 95% luck, 5% skill. In order to play Spy, you need to know everything, including the nuances, the tricks, how classes act, map paths, enemy team makeup, health kit layouts, etc. You need exceptional timing, good accuracy, and tricks to minimize any and all luck. You'll notice I did not mention spy checking or map tricks. I didn't go in-depth into Spy checking because spy checking constantly goes on and with good positioning and believability, it becomes less of an issue. Map tricks...well I could be here all day with those. You can always find videos, or learn them yourself. Most of them are rather obvious, but hopefully this'll help you with Spy. Learn how other classes act, get your knowledge, learn your nuances, and you're on your way to great success.
NOTE ON FACESTABS:
A lot of people complain about facestabs, and I want you to take the following 3 things into account next time:
-Lag compensation means the attacker is favored. To the Spy, you may have had your back turned.
-If a Spy passes you and quickly turns around and stabs, it will look like he stabbed you in the face in first person, even though he stabbed your back.
-The 180 degree FOV deal is rather touchy and weird, and so is the timing.
You may freely distribute this guide, or pieces of it, on other sites or for personal use, as long as you do not change any part of it and give me credit.
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One of the more in-depth and informative "how-to's" i've read. Well done. 
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