Spy
From Combine OverWiki, the English Half-Life Wikia
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"I never really was on your side." - The Spy
"Spies sapping my sentry!" - The Engineer
The Spy is one of the 9 classes that players may choose from in Team Fortress 2.
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[edit] Description
The spy is lightly armoured and is used for infiltrating, assassinating and sabotaging the enemy team and is capable of disguising himself as any class on either side. When undisguised, the spy speaks with a French accent and wears a team-coloured pin-stripe suit with a team-coloured full-face balaclava. While disguised, allies perceive the spy as usual but with a paper mask of the class he is disguised as over his face, penetrated by his always-present cigarette. Spies randomly use an alias name of an enemy of the disguise class, occasionally having his cover blown by the player he is mimicking.
Spies can take damage when disguised, although most of the time this is not immediately apparent. Since team-mates can no longer damage each other, players often shoot their allies simply at the risk of them being a spy. Spies also have the ability to cloak for a maximum of ten seconds. This cloak must recharge after use, and can be disrupted by enemy fire, contact with an enemy player or by being set alight by the pyro's flame-thrower. Spies cannot attack through the cloak, but they can disguise whilst cloaked and vice versa. Using a combination of cloaking and disguises allows spies to infiltrate the enemy team with little trouble, although a spy must be careful to avoid being spotted cloaking or decloaking.
Spies also carry electronic sappers that are placed on enemy structures, disabling them and slowly damaging them to destruction unless an engineer repairs their sabotaged equipment. A Spy's disguise is not lost when he places a sapper. The Spy's Butterfly knife gives an instant kill if he uses it to attack someone from behind or from the side.
[edit] Tactics
[edit] Spy Detection
- Spies cannot move through enemy players or enemy buildings. Attempting to do so whilst cloaked will make them visible momentarily. Make a habit of moving into friendly units that you are passing, particularly ones trying to avoid you; anyone who physically blocks you is a Spy.
- Friendly Engineers will send out an alert when their buildings are being sapped. If you are nearby, help the Engineer eliminate the Spy, otherwise you risk losing both him and a crucial Sentry.
- Spies can only carry the primary weapon of the class they are mimicking, and they cannot fire it. Do not waste time spy checking shotgun wielding Soldiers for instance, or anyone who is actually firing their weapon.
- As a Pyro, your teammates will be expecting you to be doing the bulk of the anti-Spy work. Shoot every friendly unit you see with your flamethrower. Spies that are set on fire are still visible when they cloak. Do not let them get away!
- The most efficient way to foil a backstab is to simply keep moving. Unless you are a Heavy or a Soldier, frequent changes of direction and quick looks over your shoulder will have novice Spies fatally revealing themselves to you, whilst the more skilfull will likely elect not to pick on you at all.
[edit] Spy Subterfuge
- Avoid running into people. Save your cloak for movement across open ground, and make sure you leave time for it to recharge.
- Whether your backstab was successful or not, your best bet is to immediately cloak, retreat, and begin again in a different area under a different alias. Reappearing in the same area with the same tactics life after life is a recipe for disaster.
- Your best chance for success is to not allow your opponent to see you at all. Decloak in quiet spots, attack from behind their lines, from unexpected corners and blindspots. Make sure to act like the enemy even if you don't think anyone can see you- appear to be attacking in the same direction they are, shout instructions in your borrowed voice.
- Stay away from Pyros at all costs.
[edit] Spy Disguises
- Scout: A bad choice, as the disparity between your pace and a real Scout will immediately make you stand out. May work as a double bluff, as few enemies expect Scouts to be Spies.
- Soldier: A reasonably effective disguise, as there are almost always a few Soldiers on each side no matter what type of game is being played. Their sluggish pace makes backstabs difficult however.
- Pyro: Their speed and the fact they almost always carry their primary weapon make Pyro an excellent disguise, in fact too good a one; the ubiquity of Pyro-Spies means Pyros are often treated with suspicion. Use sparingly.
- Demoman: A good disguise, as Demomen can be found in attacking or defending positions equally without rousing suspicion. Does however lose a slight amount of pace off the Spy.
- Heavy: Their lumbering pace makes backstabs and avoiding Engineer wrenches almost impossible, therefore this is a rarely used disguise. You can easily steal health from Medics using this disguise, and a Heavy/Medic team will almost never be spy checked. Competent Medics will however quickly cotton on.
- Engineer: An absolute must when tackling groups of Sentries. With two or more Engineers running around the sapped Sentries, opponents trying to help their Engineer will have a hard time working out who to shoot. Otherwise an overused disguise, and will immediately arouse suspicion away from buildings.
- Medic: Generally considered a poor disguise, as Medics are almost always found healing their comrades, something a Spy cannot of course do; the ubercharge meter also does not appear on a disguised spy. Has become more effective since the Medic update.
- Sniper: Same health and same speed as the Spy make the Sniper a reasonably effective disguise, particularly when hunting Snipers themselves. It is a poor choice away from quiet areas however, as a Sniper moving around in a battle hotspot is immediately suspicious.
- Spy: Although in theory an interesting double bluff, this is probably the worst disguise possible. Opponents will see a Spy first and the colour of their jacket second; they will wonder why you aren't wearing a paper mask; and they will wonder what you are doing in their base, as friendly Spies are almost never found in defensive positions. Do not use unless you are absolutely sure you can pull it off.
- Friendly Disguises: Can be accessed by pressing "-" after opening the cigarette case. Can sometimes be useful in approach play; opponents will see and anticipate a Pyro, for instance, rather than a Spy. Do not let them see you cloak, and do not disguise yourself as anything slower than the Demoman.
| Team Fortress 2 Classes | ||
|---|---|---|
| Offensive: | Scout · Soldier · Pyro | |
| Defensive: | Demoman · Heavy · Engineer | |
| Support: | Medic · Sniper · Spy | |
