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/Big Kill

• Clip Size: 6 - Reserve Ammo: 24
• Point Blank Damage: 55-60
• Mid Range Damage: 35-45
• Long Range Damage: 16-25
• Critical Hit: 120

The Revolver, while not as useful as your Knife, is still an important weapon in the Spy's arsenal. It's accurate, reloads quickly and does a good amount of damage, with a critical hit capable of killing any wounded low health classes. It is good for killing low health classes where you cannot backstab, such as a Sniper with a Razorback, as you can usually bring them down in close range with a single clip. It is also useful when running from enemies such as Pyros, as the high damage can kill them or at least ward them off. Use the Revolver to speed up the demolition of buildings after you have sapped them, or kill the Engineer who comes to remove it. The Revolver is also useful for mid range sniping, as it is very accurate.

Ambassador

• Clip Size: 6 - Reserve Ammo: 24
• Point Blank Damage: 46-56
• Mid Range Damage: 31-37
• Long Range Damage: 15-19
• Headshot/Critical Hit: 102

The ambassador is the Spy's primary weapon unlockable. It has reduced damage and a slower firing speed but deals critical hits on a headshot. However, after any shot the reticule will expand making the gun more innacurate until it shrinks back to normal size. The headshots combined with it's accuracy makes it very useful for taking down distracted opponents without backstabbing, as two headshots can kill all classes bar the Heavy without accounting for overheals or health increasing items.

The Ambassador makes the Razorback completely useless, as a headshot and a bodyshot can kill a Sniper before he can react. Try to use the Spy's ability to see enemy health to your advantage, as any enemy in the red can almost always be killed with a headshot. Provided you hit the enemy, you can follow up a failed backstab with a headshot to take them out.

L'Etranger

• Clip Size: 6 - Reserve Ammo: 24
• Point Blank Damage: 44-48
• Mid Range Damage: 28-36
• Long Range Damage: 15-18
• Critical Hit: 96

The L'Etranger has deals 20% less damage, but gives you 15% more cloak on a successful shot. It trades long range damage with the ability to escape easier. However, it's loud and distinctive firing noice can alert enemies to your presence, your weapon and your current class. Try shooting at enemies from a hidden location when you need to recharge your cloak. It is useful for providing more cloak for the Invincibility Watch and the Dead Ringer without any ammo packs or dispensers nearby, as well as an alternative source of cloak for the Cloak and Dagger.

Enforcer

• Clip Size: 6 - Reserve Ammo: 24
• Point Blank Damage: 70-72
• Mid Range Damage: 41-55
• Long Range Damage: 24-26
• Critical Hit: 144

The Enforcer is effectively the opposite of the L'Etranger, dealing 20% more damage than a regular revolver but increasing time to get cloaked by half a second. This weapon trades stealth for more firepower. The 0.5 seconds of longer cloak entering time might not seem much, but it lengthens that time by almost 50%. The Dead Ringer enters cloak immediately and isn't affected by the penalty, so using it with the Enforcer is recommended. The damage dealt with the Enforcer is a lot, being able to take down low health classes at close range in merely two shots, and instantly killing low health classes with a critical hit.

Diamondback

• Clip Size: 6 - Reserve Ammo: 24
• Point Blank Damage: 47-51
• Mid Range Damage: 30-33
• Long Range Damage: 14-21
• Critical Hit: 102

The Diamondback is essentially the Spy's counterpart of the Frontier Justice. As long as your sapper is involved in the destruction of a building, you will get one guaranteed crtical hit for your next shot. However, it cannot randomly crit and has a 15% damage penalty. You can store up to 35 critical hits.

This weapon is really good on maps where there is prone to be many Sentry nests. The crit from destroying one building can take out most of the Engineer's health, allowing you to kill him with a second shot and sap all of his other buildings, giving you more crits. Once you have a few crits stored you actually become a dangerous opponent in direct confrontation, as you can kill anything except a Heavy with two crits.

Secondary Weapons

Electro Sapper/Ap-Sap/Snack Attack

• Ammo: Infinite

The Electro Sapper is the Spy's most reliable tool for destroying buildings. Pressing the fire button while near enough the building will automatically attach it to the building. It will then disable the building until the Sapper or the building is destroyed. It has no reload delay, so you can quickly lay multiple Sappers. An Engineer can knock an Electro Sapper off with two hits of the Wrench. The vertical range to attach the Electro Sapper is quite large, alowing you to attach a Sapper to a building from below or above it, confusing the Engineer. Sap a building so that the Engineer comes and repair it, then backstab him is usually a reliable method of killing Engineers. If an Engineer is guarding his sentry nest, stab him first then quickly switch to your sapper and attach it to the nearest sentry. Sapping a teleporter places a sapper at either sides which can be removed by the Engineer. Fully sapping and destroying a teleporter destroys both the entrance and the exit. However, sometimes you would want to destroy only one part with the Revolver to avoid alerting the enemy to the presence of a Spy.

Red-Tape Recorder

• Ammo: Infinite

The Red-Tape Recorder rapidly downgrades any buildings it is attached to, disabling the building like a regular sapper, until it becomes a toolbox which behaves like a large ammo pickup. Like the default sapper, Engineers can remove an attached recorder with two hits of the Wrench, but any levels the building was downgraded from will be lost. While it might sound less effective than the Electro Sapper due to how much time it needs to completely destroy a building, it can be devastating to an Engineer's base, even against a vigilant Engineer. The downgrading speed is very fast, and will usually remove one level from the building by the time it is destroyed. That means that whereas you will normally only damage a level 3 sentry against an active Engineer, with the Red-Tape Recorder you can turn it into a level 1 in only a few moments. It also costs more metal for the Engineer to repair the damage, since he will not only have to fix any damage done, but also invest another 200 metal to upgrade it back.

Melee Weapons

Knife/Saxxy/Sharp Dresser/Black Rose

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 40
• Critical Hit: 120
• Backstab: 6 times the enemy's health
• Fencing Duration: 4 seconds
• Fencing Damage: 500

The weapon is one of the weakest weapons in the game, but with the backstab, it posseses the only reliable instant kill attack in the game. While holding this weapon out, the spy will hold it normally, but once you come into the range of backstabbing, the spy will automatically reverse his grip on the knife, and attacking during this time will register as a backstab. The backstab range is actually quite wide, in that you can get a backstab while facing to the side of the enemy.

The backstab is one of your main tools of assasination. Go for high-priority targets such as Medics or Snipers and pick them off. Remember that backstabbing an enemy will make them emit a loud dying scream which can alert enemies of your presence, so run or cloak as soon as you perform one. Never wildly swing the Knife wildly at an enemy, as it deals little to no damage. Switch to your Revolver when discovered instead.

All of the Spy's knives except the Spy-cicle share a taunt kill called fencing. The spy does a fencing maneuver which stuns enemies, then thrusts his knife forwards, killing anyone in it's path. The taunt can be used to kill distracted enemies and Engineer buildings, but don't try removing sentries with this taunt.

Your Enternal Reward/Wanga Prick

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 40
• Critical Hit: 120
• Backstab: 6 times the enemy's health
• Fencing Duration: 4 seconds
• Fencing Damage: 500

This is the Spy's unlockable knife. It disables your ability to disguise, but upon a successful backstab you instantaneously disguise as your victim, and your victim will not scream upon death or drop the body, nor will the kill appear on the enemy's kill feed. The lack of a Disguise Kit means you must rely mostly on your cloak. Try infiltrating into a bunch of distracted enemies while cloaked. Then, as they're busy fighting your teammates, take them out one by one from behind. The silenced kills and instant diaguising can let you backstab multiple enemies unnoticed. Have a disguise already as you approach a Sentry nest guarded by an Engineer and you can backstab the Engineer there then easily sap his buildings, since the disguise is quick enough that sentries doesn't notice it.

When using Your Eternal Reward, try focusing on backstabbing enemies with disguises you want. You don't want to get stuck with an unconvincing or inconvenient disguise like a Scout or Heavy. Backstabbing an enemy being healed by a Medic also let's you get be the next heal target. you can also do the same by backstabbing a foe under a non-invulnerable Ubercharge and be the next receiver of the charge.

Be sure to use this knife carefully when you have a disguise, as a failed backstab will cause you to lose your disguise with little way to obtain it again, usually while you're deep inside enemy territory. Also, while a backstabbed foe won't drop his body, his weapons are still dropped, and observant enemy players can still spot you disguising. A backstabbed foe will also know that you are carrying the Your Eternal Reward, and inform teammates through text or voice chat about your presence.

Conniver's Kunai

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 40
• Critical Hit: 120
• Backstab: 6 times the enemy's health
• Backstab Heal: The enemy's current health, up to 180
• Fencing Duration: 4 seconds
• Fencing Damage: 500

The Conniver's Kunai leaves the Spy with 65 less health, but let's him take all the health of his enemy, being able to overheal up to 180 max health. The weapon makes you extremely fragile with just 60 health, so be careful of spycheckers and use cloak to infiltrate the enemy base. This weapon is useful for taking out high health classes like heavies, as backstabbing one instantly gives you the full overheal. Being able to backstab multiple enemies quickly can let you survive longer than conventional Spies, as the heal can negate the damage dealt and being in constant overheal is considerably higher than a normal Spy's 125 health, which is almost never overhealed. Still, be very careful when using this weapon, as a quick Flamethrower burn, a stray explosive or a melee attack can easily kill you in one hit unbuffed.

Big Earner

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 40
• Critical Hit: 120
• Backstab: 6 times the enemy's health
• Fencing Duration: 4 seconds
• Fencing Damage: 500

The Big Earner reduces your health to 100, but backstabbing enemies gives you 30% of your cloak back. This is a tradeoff weapon, as it allows you to escape better but with less health. Use this knife when you're going for aggresive and risky backstabbing, so that you can escape and find another victim easier. It is recommended that you use the Cloak and Dagger or the Dead Ringer, as these watches benefit from the increased cloak more.

Spy-cicle

• Attack Interval: 0.8 seconds
• Normal Damage: 40
• Critical Hit: 120
• Backstab: 6 times the enemy's health

The Spy-cicle is similar to the Your Eternal Reward in that kills with it will be silent, though the body of the enemy will be turned into solid ice and remain visible. Additionally, if you're hit with fire while the weapon is out, it'll immediately extinguish the flames while making you fireproof for the next 2 seconds, but it will be rendered unusable until after 15 seconds till it regenerates.

Kills with the Spy-cicle will be completely silent, though due to it leaving a body, it'll draw some attention from enemies and reveal your presence and melee weapon of choice. It is also helpful for escaping from Pyros, but melting it will leave you with only your revolvers to defend yourself, so find a reliable one to go with it.

PDA

Disguise Kit

The Disguise Kit allows the Spy to disguise as any other class on your team or the enemy's. Using the Kit brings up a cigarette bag which allows you to choose from a list of classes. Pressing "-" toggles the disguises to the colour of your own team. Press b to don your previous disguise. When disguised, you look to your teammates as normal with the exception of a paper mask you're disguised as, but to the enemy, you look exactly like one of them. You also take on the name of the person of that class, or a random person on that team if they don't have players using the class you're disguised as, and you get their weapon loadouts, fake health meters that are exactly the same to their health, the movement speed of your disguised character and can be healed by enemy Medics and Dispensers. Sentries will also not target you while disguised. When disguised, pressing b switches your disguised class' weapon to your own weapon slot, while reloading your Revolver also plays the reloading animation of that character if they're holding a gun. Different disguises have different levels of believability and surprise.

1. Disguising as a Scout is the least convincing disguise of all, since you can't match the Scout's speed or their Double Jump. However, the Scout can be surprising as enemies don't expect a Scout disguise. the Scout's model is also quite small, so while your actual hitbox isn't smaller, you can hide behind objects without being visually spotted by enemies. Try to pretend you're taking cover and don't move to much to minimize enemy suspicion.
2. Disguising as a Soldier is a good unexpected disguise for stabbing slower targets like enemy Soldiers and Heavies. However, your reduced movement speed will make it hard to backstab quicker classes or dodge enemy fire. Try to enter the enemy lines unsuspiciously while walking backwards reloading your Revolver, since Soldiers usually backpedal to their frontlines while reloading their Rocket Launchers.
3. Disguising as a Pyro is not too bad. He moves at normal speed, has reason for hiding in an ambush position, usually stays among teammates and guards sentry guns. However, you're usually expected to be spychecking other teammates, so they might spycheck you if they don't see you blasting flames around them. Also, if you're ignited by an enemy Pyro, it'll be immediately obvious to the enemy that you're a spy, as Pyro's cannot be ignited.
4. Disguising as a Demoman has it's advantages and disadvantages. you're slower, but not by much. You are usually expected to stay in an enemy base, and Demos are used in offense and defense. However, Demomen are expected to spam their projectiles or place stickies, so the disguise is only useful for a quick glance fooling, and will be seen through after extended periods of observation.
5. Heavy's poor move speed and big size makes him a rare disguise, but that can give you the element of surprise! Your reduced move speed means you cannot chase enemies for backstabs, so try to roam around common routes and simply backstab enemies as they pass by. You are not expected to be constantly firing your Minigun, so the enemy won't grow suspicious if you don't use it. However, the reduced move speed and large size still makes it a poor disguise.
6. The Engineer disguise is generally used for taking down enemy sentry nests. You have a good reason to stay near buildings, but foes will get suspicious when they don't see you constantly swinging your wrench or if you have their name. Therefore, when using this disguise, enter a sentry nest, quickly take down the buildings and it's Engineer and escape.
7. A Medic disguise isn't a reliable disguise. Your slower move speed than a real Medic is not much of a problem when compared to emulating a Medic's beaviour. As soon as wounded opponents see you, they would come asking for you to heal, which you can't do. You are also frequently surrounded by the enemy team, which makes backstabbing and escaping difficult. However, since enemies usually let Medics follow them from behind, you're given a perfect opportunity to backstab them.
8. Sniper disguises are generally used to take down other Snipers at the common sniping spots. However, your inability to scope may make enemies suspicious. However, you can trick the enemies into believing you more by having your own Snipers aim at you and miss. This will convince other players that you are unscoped and hiding merely because you're avoiding getting shot by an enemy Sniper.
9. Spies are a decent disguise, since you can go about your normal behaviour without being too suspicious. However, note that your disguise smoke and cloak effect is still the same colour as your actual team, which can give you away. Also, some paranoid players will fire at any Spy, even ones on their own team, so you risk getting exposed by these players.
10. Disguising as your own team isn't going to stop enemies from shooting at you, but they do have some uses. During setup, using a friendly disguise will not give away the existence of a spy on your team. Friendly disguises are also good for scaring of enemies such as Scouts when disguised as a Heavy or enemy spies as a Pyro. You can also make yourself as bait to draw fire on you and waste enemy time and ammo.

PDA 2

Invisibility Watch/Enthusiast's Timepiece/Quäckenbirdt

• Cloak Type: Standard Recharge
• Cloak Duration: 9 seconds
• Activation Time: 1 second
• Deactivation Time: 1.8 seconds
• Recharge Time: 30 seconds

The cloak is another of the Spy's standard abilities. By default, right-clicking activates your cloak, which renders you fully invisible to the enemy while only partially visible to your teammates. When cloaked, you can't use any weapon. Taking damage or bumping into enemies reveal a faint outline which may give away your location. Taking ammo replenishes your cloak.

Your default cloak allows the most movement with the least amount of energy. Use your cloak to enter enemy territory undetected and decloak at a safe location with a disguise already up. Plot your actions carefully to make the most of your cloak time and backstab enemies with minimal detection. Have good knowledge of the map and move through rarely used routes and search for ammo pickups to extend your cloak time. Standing near a dispenser can let you emulate the effect of the Cloak and Dagger, and let's you slowly recharge your cloak while staying invisible and wait for the right time to backstab and sap.

Cloak and Dagger

• Cloak Type: Motion Sensitive
• Cloak Duration: 6.2 seconds
• Activation Time: 1 second
• Deactivation Time: 2.2 seconds
• Recharge Time: 15 seconds

The Cloak and Dagger is more useful for situations where lots of movement is not necessary. Walking drains the cloak faster than the usual Watch, but standing still regenerates it. Your sillouette is visible to enemies when you move while cloaked, so try to limit your movement. You can't use ammo to replenish your cloak, so try staying still when your cloak is running out.

The Cloak and Dagger can be useful for slowly covering large distances, however ammo boxes and weapons do not replenish your cloak. After successful infiltration, stay in a commonly traveled point and relay information about the enemy to your team. Try to avoid obvious locations like corners that has a good view and position to prevent spychecks. Instead, choose regularly journeyed open areas where enemies don't expect you to be. Backstab a lone enemy, run, recharge at a safe place and go back to your old location and wait.

Dead Ringer

• Cloak Type: Feign Death
• Cloak Duration: 6.5 seconds
• Activation Time: Instantaneous
• Deactivation Time: 1.8 seconds
• Recharge Time: 16 seconds

The Dead Ringer makes you feign death at the next attack when you have it out. A fake corpse will be produced and you will be fully cloaked upon activation. You have a 90% reduction in damage taken from the activation shot and 6 seconds after cloaking. That means you can survive normally lethal attacks like a critical rocket or a headshot. You will also not reveal a faint outline when bumping into enemies during these 6 seconds. Activating the Dead Ringer while already on fire extinguishes it. However, it's decloak noice is loud and distinct, which may enable the enemy to realise that you're using the Dead Ringer. You can recharge your cloak with ammo, allowing you to stay cloaked longer.

Try to make your deaths convincing. Your enemies are bound to get suspicious if you die from a single Pistol shot. Friendly disguises can come in handy with this weapon. You can disguise as an important class and draw fire, pretend to be killed, then use your cloak to infiltrate the opponents frontlines.

This cloak is good for the Saharan Spy set, as the loud decloak noise is much more silent.

Item Sets

The Saharan Spy

• Consists of L'Etranger, Your Eternal Reward and the Familiar Fez hat.
• Set Bonus: Reduces decloaking sound, cloak blinking time increased by 0.5 seconds.

This set eliminates the problem of Dead Ringer's loud decloak noise, as well as completely silencing his other watches. However, bumping into enemies, getting hit by enemy fire will make you vsible longer, so it is recommended that you take the Dead Ringer for this set. When using the Dead Ringer, it is useful to feign death to get behind enemy lines for your disguise. When discovered, you can quickly feign death and later fire your L'Etranger to regenerate your cloak quickly so that you can feign death again.

This set is also useful with the Cloak and Dagger. Stay cloaked in a commonly traversed area and backstab your disguise target. You can easily escape and cloak multiple times with your L'Etranger's cloak replenishment. Additionally, since your Cloak and Dagger with the set bonus will make next to no noise when decloaking, enemies won't be aware of your presence until it's too late.

The Man of Honor

• Consists of Enforcer, Big Earner, Made Man miscallenous item and the hat Cosa Nostra Cap.

This weapon combination allows you to deal a lot of damage and escape easily. The Dead Ringer is the best watch for this set, as it negates the Enforcer's penalty, making it plainly a stronger Revolver. It also allows you to survive with your reduced health by reducing damage with feigned deaths.

The Invisible Rogue

• Consists of the Under Cover hat, the Griffin's Gog item and the Intangible Ascot item.

Purely cosmetic set.

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) 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 priority, 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 and teammates that you cannot pass through. 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. However, an experienced Spy's revolver beats the SMG hands down, so sometimes 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. Many enemy spies will disguise as one of your teammates immediately when they spawn, so sometimes what appears to be some random Demoman or Sniper wandering through enemy lines is a spy.

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