Team Fortress 2/Spy

• Health: 125
• Speed: 100% (93% disguised as demoman, 80% disguised as soldier, 77% disguised as heavy)
• Type: Support
• Special Ability: Cloak

The Spy is perhaps the strangest class in TF2. Though he is not effective in direct combat, he can use a combination of cloak and disguise in order to infiltrate the enemy. His knife produces an instant kill from behind and his sapper can disable and destroy buildings, making a good spy a huge asset to the team.

Weapons

Primary Weapons

• Revolver - Clip Size: 6 - Reserve Ammo: 24

The revolver is not really meant for heavy combat; while the rounds are more powerful than a conventional pistol, they fire slowly and come in clips of six. Use this weapon when getting away from enemies, running from Pyros, and helping your teammates kill an enemy from a distance. When facing enemy spies, it is generally advisable to switch to the revolver if you miss a backstab.

Secondary Weapons

• Sapper - Infinite ammo

Clicking on an enemy building in melee range will plunk one of these down on it. Once it's on, a structure will be unable to perform it's function and will slowly lose HP until it is repaired or dead. An engineer can remove a sapper with 2 hits of his wrench, but you can resap immediately if you wish. A common strategy is to decloak (with a enemy disguise on) near a engineer nest, hold onto the fire button with the sapper out and run around sapping all the buildings, causing confusion and most of the time destroying a few dispensers (which could be carrying massive amounts of metal), and opening up a hole in the enemy's defense which your teammates can exploit. Prepare to die several times before you succeed at taking it all down, however.

Melee Weapons

• Butterfly Knife

This weapon instantly kills if you stab from behind (and sometimes the sides). Attacking from the front, however, deals less damage than a normal melee weapon would. The most obvious situation to use the knife is for assassinating enemies, but if you're locked in close-range combat, you can whip out the knife and try to flank the enemy for an instant kill. If you're lucky, you may get a backstab or a facestab(an exploit that occasionally occurs when you hit the backstab hitbox while attacking from the front).

Using the Spy

Even the best acting won't stand up to a flamethrower. Sometimes, pyros will even set you on fire when you're cloaked by accident.

The spy is a stealth class, first and foremost. While you can put up a fight with the revolver, your role is better filled by getting behind enemies and stabbing them in the back. Remember to decloak in the enemy's blind spot (an example would be the two corners near the two doors on each base in 2Fort), and behind the enemy is preferable as this presents a perfect opportunity for backstabs. Do not disguise as a scout (you will not gain his speed), spy (spies without masks on are spychecked frequently), or medic (you will not appear to have a ubercharge meter), or you will be spychecked frequently. Avoid bumping into enemies as disguised spies cannot go through the opposing team as enemy teammates can. Enemies will generally not spycheck someone coming from their side of the battlefield, presenting many backstab opportunities, but watch out for enemy sentries. Remember to avoid pyros like you would avoid a heavy as a scout, as they can set you on fire (thus breaking your cover) unintentionally. When set on fire, retreat to the nearest health kit while firing your revolver at the pyro that set you on fire. Remember that even while fully cloaked people can still see the flames.

A spy's other huge role, apart from backstabbing, is to sap engineers' buildings. Sentries and dispensers are your main priory, as you are one of the few classes who can take on a sentry without an übercharge. Preferably, you should plant sappers on buildings (while disguised, obviously) and wait close by for the engineer to come to knock the sappers off. When he comes, backstab him quickly before he hits the sapper off (it takes him two blows of the wrench). It's worth noting that if you backstab him after the sapper has come off you must sap again very quickly…otherwise the sentry will shoot at your undisguised self.

Defeating Spies

Automatic weapons, such as the minigun, can nullify a spy's cloak by keeping up a steady steam of bullets.

Spies are generally very suspicious, and a few signs to watch out for are teammates on fire that glow the enemy team's color, teammates that you cannot pass through, and soap suds. A effective counter to a spy is a pyro, which can light spies up and effectively destroy their disguises and cloak. Do not melee an aware spy or you risk turning into a backstab. Spray areas that a spy has cloaked in, as cloaked spies will flicker when hit. Most spies will go down quickly when you find them, but some will put up a fight with the revolver. If you're a medic or engineer or similar, it is usually safer to back off.

1. Scouts are great spycheckers. Try and run through teammates. If you can pass through them, they're on your team, if they block you, they're a spy. Since you're up close to the spy you can usually kill him with 2 quick scattergun blasts.
2. As a soldier, you will normally discover spies by accident. The slightest bit of splash damage will cause a cloaked spy to flicker, so if you see one cloak, fire in his general direction.
3. Pyros are the best spycheckers in the game. Puff everyone you see with fire. Puff standard decloak spots with fire. Teammates that catch fire are spies.
4. Demomen are not the best spycheckers. Other than the standard walk through method, you can lob a grenade at a suspected spy. If it detonates, it's a spy and he might even be dead. Spychecking in this manner also helps your aim.
5. As a heavy, you are a primary target of spies as you are slow and easy to stab. Even when you discover a spy, it's hard to catch him so generally you should leave that up to your teammates. If you have a decent medic following you around he'll usually deal with spies for you.
6. Engineers are another target of spies. When repairing, look behind you frequently as spies will attempt to stab you then sap your sentry before it can turn around. If spy saps your stuff then runs away, just desap and continue. If a spy saps your stuff then stays around, you'll need to kill him or else he'll resap.
7. As a medic, you don't have to focus on aim and you therefore often spot spies first. Remember; you don't have to look at what your patient is doing at all times, look behind and around you frequently. If you spot one, you can sometimes get him with your saw, but against pro spies it's not advisable.
8. Snipers are an easy target for any spy. Descope frequently and look around. If you spot a cloaked spy, you can sweep your SMG back and forth to try and reveal him. When you spot a spy, chase him down with the machete. If he's pro, the revolver beats the SMG hands down, so your only option is to kill him with your rifle.
9. Spies aren't too good against other spies. The only good way to spycheck as a spy is the walk-through method. Of course, if you are disguised as an enemy and you see an enemy spy uncloak, you can go in for the kill as the other spy is probably not expecting you.

No matter your class, alertness is your best defense against spies. Don't get too caught up with the visible side of the battle.