Community Spy strategy

The Spy is a class of trickery and deceit. Specializing in espionage and sabotage, he can backstab, Cloak, disguise, and sap an Engineer's buildings. Enemies Spy-checking should be avoided, and to escape suspicion, a little bit of acting on your part can go a long way. But with some skill and some luck, Spies can fool these Spy-checkers.

General

• Your Cloak and Disguises take one second to fully activate. Watch your class image in the bottom left corner of the screen to see when your disguise or Cloak is complete. The enemy may be alerted to your presence if you don't wait. As a side effect, you do not have time to backstab an Engineer and escape if you are within range of his Sentry Gun.

• When disguising or changing disguises, your body will be covered by smoke puffs visible to everyone. If you are cloaked, this smoke can only be seen by teammates. However, if you have the Dead Ringer equipped, the smoke will linger if you disguise shortly before you are "killed," making it immediately obvious that you are still alive.

• Try to disguise as a class which is easier to imitate (for example, don't generally pick Medic or Scout, because you do not gain their speed). Disguising as an Engineer is useful because the Engineer is a common Spy target.

• After uncloaking, there is a three second cooldown period where you cannot use any equipment. This means you cannot attack or use the Electro Sapper. Always take this into consideration before uncloaking to start a sap or attack.

• The default Invisibility Watch takes 1 second to Cloak and 1 second to uncloak, with 9 seconds of Cloak time from start to finish, effectively providing about 7 seconds of full cloaking (unless you recharge your Cloak with ammo). Recharging from empty takes 30 seconds, so keep that in mind when you are in an enemy base looking for a hiding spot.

• Any source of ammunition, including metal from destroyed buildings, will recharge Cloak time for the default Invisibility Watch and the Dead Ringer, even if they are active. Dispensers will also restore Cloak time, however, only Level 2 Dispensers and higher can restore Cloak time when cloaking is active; Level 1 Dispensers will only maintain the current level of charge. You must be using an enemy disguise to use enemy Dispensers, but friendly Dispensers will heal and refill your ammo and Cloak charge regardless of Disguise. The bomb cart Dispenser on Payload maps will NOT refill your Cloak meter while cloaked. Using the aforementioned sources of ammo for Cloak refills can greatly aid you in an escaping enemy territory after you've done your job.

• Use blind spots (areas where the player's view is cut off, normally a corner or other 90 degree angle) to recharge the Cloak if you are not using the Cloak and Dagger. An example of this is in 2Fort, in the corner just inside the enemy fort entrance. Most people will run past these areas without even looking in the corners, allowing you to recharge your Cloak time or surprise a group heading out towards the bridge.

• Only your Cloak keeps you safe. Disguises are not necessarily reliable, as Spy-checking is common.

• Avoid broadcasting the obvious signs of an enemy Spy, e.g. running against the crowd, or a Demoman standing nowhere near Stickybombs, or an Engineer standing nowhere near buildings, or anyone standing around doing nothing. If someone does start shooting you, you can try to take him down with your Revolver, or Cloak and make a quick turn to escape (but don't forget the one second delay before your Cloak is fully active).

• When disguised, enemy Sentry Guns will not attack you and you can use enemy Dispensers. Enemy Medics can heal you if you fool them into thinking you are friendly. Note that even while disguised, you can still be harmed or killed by an enemy Sentry if you are between it and its target. Sentry Guns will not cease shooting at a target that it has already locked onto, even if the target disguises after being targeted, unless there is a closer target or the current target breaks line-of-sight or leaves the Sentry Gun's range.

• Your most dangerous counter-class is the Pyro. Avoid them at all costs. They are as fast as you and their flames make your Cloak useless. Pyros puff flames everywhere as Spy-checks, and if you bump into one he will immediately light you up. If this happens, try to fall back to other teammates. Be careful of Pyro vs. Pyro fights occurring as it will be hard to tell which Pyro is winning and you may get lit by an opponent even without intention.

• If you are on fire, immediately drop your now-useless Cloak and run for healing (e.g. Health packs or enemy Dispensers). Hopefully you can escape or get lost in a crowd, although due to the Spy's low health, finding a health pack and cloaking to regroup should be your primary concern.

• Always go for your opponent's back with your Knife. Not only are Backstabs instant kills, your Knife is weak otherwise. If you have to go toe-to-toe, use your Revolver; every other weapon in the game is stronger than the Knife. However, the Revolver is loud and distinctive, so you may want to stick with the Knife if you don't want to attract more attention. Upon moving forth to backstab a person, try to avoid looking at or staring at their backs when you do so. Their surrounding teammates may get suspicious and begin to shoot at you. Act like you are moving in the same general direction as your prey and at the last moment quickly face his back and end his life.

• Don't underestimate the power of the Revolver. If you're being chased, run backwards while side-strafing and firing into your opponent.

• Use the Revolver for sniping. A Spy makes a decent Sniper; at long range, damage is low but he has a good rate of fire and excellent accuracy.

• When targeting an enemy Engineer nest:
  • if the Engineer is behind his sentry: Stab the Engineer, sap the Sentry Gun before it turns around.
  • if the Engineer is away: Sap the Sentry Gun, stab the Engineer as he comes back. Another alternative is to immediately start firing your Revolver at a sapped building to destroy it faster. For Sentry Guns, this worked better before the December 20, 2007 Patch; with the new Electro Sapper change, this doesn't work as well - even after a Sap and six rounds from a Revolver, the Engineer still has time to remove the Electro Sapper and while the Sentry Gun kills you, since your disguise is gone.
  • the easiest way to take out an Engineer nest is to coordinate with your teammates. Have a friendly Soldier, Pyro, or Demoman attack the nest immediately after you sap the Sentry Gun.
  • when camping a Sentry Gun nest and the Engineer is nowhere to be seen, mouse over a building to find his name and check the scoreboard to see whether he's dead. If he's stuck in spawn you'll often be able destroy his toys with impunity.

• One of the best ways to stop an enemy rush is to backstab the Medics, especially if they are close to a full Übercharge. A quick suicide run against enemy Medics can swiftly shut down an attacking team.

• Remember to change disguises often. If an enemy sees the same Demoman run up to a Sentry Gun guarded by an Engineer three times in a row, he's certainly going to catch on to you trying to sap the Engineer's buildings.

• If you happen to run into a Heavy and Medic pair, use your judgment to pick your target. If many enemies are around, the Medic is a higher priority as he can keep everyone healed. If the pair are on their own, stabbing the Heavy will leave the Medic completely defenseless. If the pair is pinning down a group of allies, it is best to kill the Heavy and allow your team to advance and possibly kill the Medic if you are unable to. If the Medic is following the Heavy though, getting the Medic first and then the Heavy in succession should be the default course of action.

• Snipers and lone Heavies are usually easy targets for newer Spies, due to their low speed and movement when concentrating/firing. Also, eliminating Snipers makes it easier for your team to move into the enemy base. Repeatedly killing skilled Snipers when they are not protected by their team is a good way to make them change class!

• Be very careful approaching people who aren't distracted by combat; they will be much more likely to notice any suspicious activity.

• You can perform an offensive strike when the action is intense and packed in a single area. Give yourself a Disguise and then Cloak yourself. Dodge around the pack of enemies, being extremely careful not to run into anyone, then de-Cloak and turn around. Pick your targets and start backstabbing, starting with the one farthest back and moving up. You can chain several kills before the enemies turn their attention to you. There is a delay after every backstab before you can backstab again, so be careful not to overrun the last enemy.

• Disguising as your own team can be a good way to approach an enemy base. If you approach in an enemy disguise it is obvious you are a Spy, and if you approach cloaked, you are using up valuable Cloak time. Also, approaching as a fast and dangerous class such as Pyro can be used to scare enemy Spies and Scouts into avoiding you. Most of the time enemies will buy your friendly disguise if they spot you; use this your advantage. Cloak out of sight and get behind them, they'll be more open to being backstabbed or shot while focused on killing their imagined foe.

• If you step onto the enemy Intelligence, you will immediately pick it up and lose your disguise. This can get you instantly mowed down by enemy Sentry Guns, so watch where you step when operating near the enemy Intelligence. Note that you cannot pick up the enemy Intelligence while cloaked.

• The name displayed to the enemy team while you are disguised is the name of an enemy player of the same class as your disguise. If you disguise as a class not present on the enemy team, you will be assigned the name of a random player from the enemy team (note that this happens every time you change disguise). This can easily give you away, so always attempt to disguise yourself as a class that you know someone on the opposing team is playing.

• If an enemy sees you Cloak, try and head in one direction while you are still partially visible, trick them into thinking you're heading one way, and then veer off and head on a different path, hopefully causing them to chase nothing.

• The health level of your disguise will mimic the health of the player you disguised as at the moment you equip the disguise: if, for example, the Demoman you are disguised as is low on health, your disguise will appear to be as such; the same applies if the Demoman is overhealed. You can increase your fake health level by being healed by a Medic, standing near the Cart (while on defense) or an enemy Dispenser, and picking up a medkit. You will pick up medkits even if your disguise health is full, so try not to use them around enemies unless wounded as it may look suspicious that you picked up the medkit despite being at full health.

• Remember that your equipment, including the Electro Sapper, makes a loud and identifiable noise that most skilled players will be able to recognize and locate. Try and avoid making overt Spy moves until you can cause significant damage to an enemy's offense/defense.

• Be wary of long drops while cloaked; your enemies can see the blood particle effect and hear the cracking sound of your fall damage. When it's unavoidable (or simply faster), try to drop onto railings or other elevated platforms to avoid the damage. Clanking metal footsteps can also be a giveaway.

• If nearby players spycheck you with weapons, they'll usually base their decision on your reaction. Try to pay them no mind, as turning around or panicking is a good way to blow your cover; simply keep walking. They will usually back off if you don't react or die within two or three seconds. If the suspicious player is a Pyro, ignore the above; run and shoot!

• Spies can choose which disguised weapon they display to the opposing team. This will allow for more convincing disguises, especially making choices such as the Medic more viable. An example tactic is having the Kukri out as a Sniper when moving through compact and enclosed spaces, where using a Rifle wouldn't make sense.

• Weapon switching is done by pressing the "Last Disguise Used" button, which defaults to B. This will change your "fake" weapon based on what weapon the Spy has out. Holding out the Revolver will change your "fake" weapon to that class's primary weapon. Holding out the Electro Sapper will change your "fake" weapon to that class's secondary weapon. Holding out the Knife will change your "fake" weapon to that class's melee weapon.

• Weapon switching is instantaneous and does not emit any smoke or shimmers; it looks just as if the class had switched weapons. Use this to your advantage in further confusing your foes!

• You'll only be able to hold out the primary, secondary or melee weapons; the Engineer's PDA, Destruction Remote Control and Toolbox (right before placing a building) as well as the Spy's Disguise Kit and Electro Sapper tool will not be available for you to use as your "fake" weapon.

• By disguising as an enemy Medic and switching to their secondary weapon, a Spy can check if the enemy Medic is using Kritzkrieg or Medi Gun.

• When you are disguised, your disguise will wear the same equipment as your target. For example, if you are disguised as an Engineer wearing the Hotrod, you will also appear to be wearing the Hotrod.

• Spies can see enemy names and health when they are disguised. This can be used when planning on whom to kill or to predict where an enemy will go (an injured enemy is more likely to go toward a health kit). Spies can also see enemy Engineer's building's stats, including health and upgrade status.

• Try using your Revolver instead of going for a backstab against a target with very low health. The ability to keep at a distance will allow you to score an easy kill without (completely) blowing your cover. If this is against a high threat target (Pyros, Demomen, Scouts, anything that can kill you quickly once they know you're there), all the better for your next backstab run!

• The moment you lose your disguise, you won't be able to see the name and health display until you re-disguise.

• You can also see the Medic's ÜberCharge / Kritzkrieg charge status! While it's always been somewhat obvious when a Medic is at 100% charge, it does help prioritize targets when that enemy Medic is at 80+% charge!

• Try to single out the better enemy players and target them for assassination. Sometimes you can stop a push in its tracks by killing the good player acting as its mainspring.

• More deviously, if the teams are uneven and the next player killed is due to be rebalanced to your side, sometimes you'll be in a position to 'headhunt' a good player to your cause.

• If you know of an enemy Spy in your base, disguise as a Pyro of your own team. Most Spies will turn and flee, allowing for an easy Backstab. If he runs away facing you, either chase them out of your base, or into a group of teammates.

• Try to trick enemy Medics into using their ÜberCharge on you, allowing you to waste the charge. The easiest way of achieving this is to wait for the Medic to gain an ÜberCharge. If his healing target dies, disguise as a target a Medic would normally Über (Pyro, Demoman, Heavy). If the Medic is alone, he may panic and look for any potential healing target. When he starts to heal you, simply walk to whatever your team is defending and tell your Medic to hit his ÜberCharge. When the charge is active, stand still or taunt in order to waste the charge.

• Be wary on servers with sv_alltalk set to 1, as your voice bubble is visible to enemies even if cloaked. Most servers with alltalk on allow players to individually turn it off (usually by saying "/voiceall", but it varies); be sure to do this before changing to Spy. If you can't, use the Cloak and Dagger and stick to team chat.

• When approaching a group of enemies, a good tactic is to run backward. This is difficult as you are unable to see where you are going, however facing away from the enemy will make you look less likely to be a threat, and has saved many a Spy's life in situations when his watches are depleted.

• If you are being pursued by an enemy and want to make a quick escape, a great tactic is let the enemy see you round a corner. Right as you begin to round the corner though (Allowing the enemy see you going in that direction), activate your Invisibility Watch and quickly turn and run towards and around the enemy. This illusion makes the enemy believe you are still running in the direction you chose (example: to the right and down the hall) and will pursue that area trying to find you. However, in reality you've turned and ran right at/past them and are long gone.

• When disguised as attacking class, it is recommended to walk backwards into the enemy base because the enemy will think that you are retreating from battle and won't spycheck you. Using voice commands like "Help!" will increase the effect.

• If you are disguised (or forced into one due to the Your Eternal Reward) as a slow class such as the heavy, it may be helpful to quickly stab with your knife just before approaching someone from the back. This will give you an immediate speedboost and by doing it as late as possible, you reduce your chances of being spotted by an enemy teammate before you can get the backstab.

Weapon Specifics

Example Combinations
Combo			Usage
Ambassador	Knife	Cloak and Dagger	This set-up is useful for a Spy who likes to take their time and survive as long as possible and is best used against classes that don't move much like Engineers and Snipers. The Cloak and Dagger lets the Spy stay invisible as long as he doesn't move too much. The Spy may headshot a Sniper with Razorback or wait for an Engineer to build and quickly take him out from a distance using the Ambassador. The knife allows him to then disguise at will and sap the buildings.
or Revolver or Big Kill	Knife	or Invisibility Watch or Enthusiast's Timepiece	The default loadout allows for a quick-moving, versatile Spy. The Revolver is useful to pick off lone enemies, damage Engineer buildings from a distance, or as a backup when you are discovered. The Knife allows you to disguise at-will, unlike Your Eternal Reward. The Invisibility Watch is the most versatile of the watches: quieter than the Dead Ringer, allows more mobility than the Cloak and Dagger, and can be replenished with ammo or metal. Move quickly, complete your objective, and move on.
L'Etranger	Your Eternal Reward	Dead Ringer	The Saharan Spy - with Dead Ringer This is a risky but recommended setup when using the full Saharan Spy pack, as it fully utilize the set bonus (namely the quiet Cloak) to the maximum benefit, allowing the Spy to play with his enemies. Once the Spy has got himself a disguise, he can backstab Engineers and then take out their buildings with ease, without worrying about the Sentry Gun killing him. Should the enemy discover the Spy, he could feign death with the Dead Ringer and escape relatively easily; the reduced cloaking sound provided by the set will make it far less obvious to enemies that you are using Dead Ringer. Combining L'Etranger with the Dead Ringer allows for a much quicker Cloak refill in extreme situations. 3-4 bursts of L'Etranger will nearly fill your Cloak, allowing you to feign death again. Also, having the complete Saharan Spy pack of the L'Etranger, Your Eternal Reward, and the Familiar Fez will greatly reduce the sound of the Dead Ringer, making the illusion of your death all the more believable.
L'Etranger	Your Eternal Reward	Cloak and Dagger	The Saharan Spy - with Cloak and Dagger This strategy is for Spies preferring to camp in one place, and is not recommended without the Familiar Fez. The Spy can wait in a corner cloaked until a good victim runs past him. Then he can silently backstab and instantly disguise as the victim making it unlikely for the rest of the enemies to notice anything. The L'Etranger can be used to quickly fill your Cloak when fast fill is needed since you can't pick up ammo packs to fill it. With the Familar Fez has a more silent Cloak at the cost of a long blink time, so it makes it easier to hide from enemies.
L'Etranger	Conniver's Kunai	Cloak and Dagger	This is a medium-risk high-payoff loadout for Spies who like to have a lowered risk of being caught. The Spy should hide at the back of groups, waiting for an opportunity to get the first backstab. Then he can kill other nearby enemies. If you are caught early, then the L'Etranger can be used to fill the Cloak for a quick escape. Because the Kunai can remove negative effects that mark him as a Spy (Bleeding, Fire, etc), this loadout can be used to safely hide quite quickly if there is a handy distracted enemy nearby.

Revolver / Big Kill

• The Revolver is the Spy's primary weapon. While not as useful as the Knife, it is still an integral part of the Spy's arsenal. A Critical hit with this weapon does 120 damage, enough to kill all damaged classes with low default HP level, like Scout, Sniper, Spy and Engineer. It is also moderately accurate, enabling a skilled Spy to use it for medium-range sniping. It also has a very fast reload time.

• Use the Revolver for killing low-health classes when backstabs are not easy or possible (for instance, if a Sniper has their back against a wall). Additionally, it is a good getaway weapon: if you are being pursued by a Pyro, for instance, the Revolver is powerful enough at short range to take the Pyro down within 4-6 direct shots (fewer, if one of the shots is a Critical hit).

• The Revolver makes an excellent defense against Scouts. Scouts will often rush uncloaked Spies, trying to get an easy kill. The Revolver can usually take them down before they get within optimal range.

• A good scenario for using the Revolver is to sap a lone building, then shoot the Engineer who comes to save his building (If the Spy can land 3-4 solid hits on the Engineer, the Engineer will die). The Spy can also shoot the sapped building to speed up the demolition process, but patches have made this less effective. This strategy is fairly effective against Teleporters, which can be destroyed in 4 shots if sapped, usually faster than the Engineer can remove the Electro Sapper from the other end.

• Another good use for the Revolver is as a getaway weapon, since the Knife is both short ranged and will do very little damage if you cannot backstab.

• The Revolver can also be used to prevent Engineers from setting up buildings without having to get close enough to sap. Buildings can be destroyed with one or two shots if you shoot them right after they are placed, and because buildings are large, unmoving targets and the Revolver is quite accurate, the Spy can destroy them from far away so that the Engineer will be less likely to find him (firing from above the building's position works well).

• Remember that the Revolver is always 100% accurate (as accurate as a Sniper Rifle bullet) when putting a delay of 1.25 seconds between shots (an accurate wait time is to hold down reload while firing the first shot, let the reload play, and when your ammo count goes back up to 6, fire again for another 100% accurate shot, or simply waiting for the auto-reload animation to nearly finish if you have it activated.). Use this to snipe buildings from far away, pick off wounded enemies, or to weaken far away enemies from a distance. Every long-ranged shot from the Revolver deals about 20 damage to players, though it (as well as all other weapons) will deal full damage to buildings.

• Although the Ambassador is especially effective against the Razorback (See below section regarding the Ambassador), the Revolver will do just as well because of it's faster fire rate; the Spy can fire 3 shots into the Sniper dealing 50+ each at close range before they can even unscope and hit you. Also this is more effective than the Ambassador with Huntsman Snipers due to the fact that they don't stand still usually.

• When moving down long narrow corridors (the sewers on 2Fort) it is best to keep the Revolver out. If you see an incoming enemy from the other end of the corridor, you have the option of getting up close and personal with him (if he is fooled by your disguise or you are cloaked) or you can have your Revolver at the ready and pump a few shots into him while backpedaling. The narrow corridors are ideal for your aim as there is not much space for your enemy to strafe.

Ambassador

• The Ambassador is one of the Spy's unlocks for the Revolver. Its headshots can be very useful, especially against distracted foes. If caught unaware, two headshots will prove lethal for any class aside from the Heavy (discounting Overhealing or increased maximum health bonuses).

• The Ambassador can also be used to "snipe" Engineer buildings from a distance like the Revolver, as an alternative to sapping. Remember, if an Engineer is working on the building, shooting the Engineer first is preferable.

• With good aim, the Ambassador can be deadly against a Scout. If you manage to headshot him at close quarters he will have only 23 health left (8 with the Sandman, 48 with the Special Delivery Set's health bonus), so you can finish him off with a single slash of the Knife or another shot (as he may flee in search of health).

• The Ambassador makes the Razorback almost entirely useless; Assuming that the Sniper is not overhealed, a single headshot followed by a regular shot, which can be fired faster than the Sniper is able to react, is enough to kill him.

• If you see an enemy Sniper wearing the complete Croc-o-style kit and he would be finished off with a headshot, try to kill him with consecutive bodyshots or the knife. His immunity to headshot-based death will save him (albeit with 1 HP).

• The ability to see enemy health is invaluable with the Ambassador. When it drops below half of its base value, the health meter is shown in red. Against all classes except Heavy, this means a guaranteed kill upon headshot.

• When using the Ambassador, be sure to allow the reticle to shrink back to its smallest size in order to guarantee a critical headshot.

L'Etranger

• L'Etranger converts fire-power into potential fleeing power; it allows the crafty Spy to turn scenarios where scoring a kill with the Revolver or Ambassador is difficult into more Cloak and the ability to run away for more backstab opportunities.

• L'Etranger has a very distinctive 'crack' when fired, which will alert nearby enemies to your presence and the class you're playing.

• The +15% Cloak per hit is applied regardless of the amount of damage you do to the opponent or your distance from him. A clever Spy can use the fact that hitscan bullet weapons are 100% accurate after 1.25 seconds of holding fire (like the Revolver and Ambassador) to recharge his Cloak safely from a distance.

• A great way to prevent players from being known they are being hit or hearing the L'Etranger's unique crack is to hit players that are already being shot at the front-lines. They'll most likely not notice the second source of shots hitting them. Just remember to be in a good hidden position, have good distance from the fight, and keep the amount of assists scored minimal or players will get suspicious. Don't get too greedy either; three shots is more than enough as it gives almost half your Cloak back.

• Keep in mind that both the regular Invisibility Watch and the Dead Ringer's Cloak timers can be replenished by picking up ammo packs / fallen weapons and standing next to a friendly or enemy Dispenser. Don't use L'Etranger if you know you can recharge your Cloak quickly.

• As the Cloak and Dagger is not recharged by sources of ammo, L'Etranger can be very useful in providing another source of Cloak.

• However, there are times when waiting to recharge your Cloak is better than using the L'Etranger. Standing in an open field with hardly any enemies around would be better left to the Cloak recharge while being near a frontline firefight gives an opportunity to get a one or two L'Etranger shots in.

• L'Etranger does considerably less damage than the Revolver and slightly less damage per shot compared to the Ambassador. However, L'Etranger does not suffer from the slower firing time of the Ambassador. If you are consistently hampered by Scouts or looking to take out Razorback-protected Snipers, you may want to consider using the Revolver or the Ambassador over L'Etranger. The damage reduction of L'Etranger also applies to buildings, making any Sap, Stab and/or Shoot techniques a little more tricky to do.

• L'Etranger can be used along with the Dead Ringer as another source to refill the Cloak quickly. However, be forewarned that when players realize both items are being used, they'll Spy-check around your corpse to make sure you are truly dead. Be careful not to use the gun too much in direct confrontation, or players will double-check no matter how convincing the death was and waste the Cloak that was earned.

• Remember that some players check their back to watch for backstabs, especially those in large groups or near gameplay objectives. Having an elevated position or being at their side are better positions to not get caught using L'Etranger than being behind them.

Electro Sapper

• The Electro Sapper is a tool used to take down an Engineer's buildings. There is an unlimited supply of these Sappers, and there is no "reload" delay between placing them. Thus a Spy can continuously sap a building until it has been destroyed even if an Engineer is repairing it, since as soon as the Engineer knocks off an Electro Sapper, a new one immediately replaces it -- and Sappers still do damage during the 2 Wrench-hits it takes to remove them.

• Holding MOUSE1 when approaching a building will place the Electro Sapper as soon as you are in range. This tactic also allows you to replace an Electro Sapper immediately after an Engineer removes it.

• The Electro Sapper has a significant vertical range in addition to its horizontal range. In many instances, you may be able to sap a building from well below or above it, allowing you to confuse its Engineer. This method may also permit you to more safely retreat from the scene of the crime if your sabotage efforts are interrupted.

• The Homewrecker allows Pyros to remove Electro Sappers from Engineer buildings. This, combined with their Flamethrower's Spy-checking ability, will make your job much harder. Therefore, it is strongly advised to eliminate these Pyros before attempting to sap buildings or at least wait for backup.

• When sneaking up on an Engineer using the Wrangler, stab first, then sap. Killing the Engineer will cause his Sentry Gun to become disabled for three seconds, which will be more than enough time to place an Electro Sapper.

• It is possible to stab an Engineer, then quickly sap the Sentry Gun. When attempting this, it is recommended that you circle strafe away from the sentry to gain more time to sap.

• If an Engineer has his Wrench out and you sap his building, he most likely will attempt to repair the sentry instead of killing you first. Since it take 2 hits to knock the Electro Sapper off, this gives you a great window of opportunity to stab him. This is easier then the stab and sap because you don't have to account for which way the sentry is facing and then circle-strafe the opposite way.

• It can also be rapidly deployed to slowly destroy buildings while the Engineer removes them.

Knife

• When you are in range for a successful backstab, the Spy will ready his Knife for a stab with a reverse-grip stance. If the Spy doesn't have his Knife in a reverse-grip, you may perform a low-damage slash instead. Look for the change in grip before attempting a backstab if you're unsure if the backstab will actually register.

• Although a backstab grip guarantees a backstab, many other pokes will register a backstab as well. As long as your stab connects with the enemy's rear-facing half, any swipe or poke should kill him. This allows many advanced techniques, including quick passing stabs, stair-stabs, and more.

• A successful Backstab deals 6 times the enemies' current Health on crit-enabled servers, and 2 times their current health on no-crit servers.
• Always remember the Knife does pitiful damage and cannot Crit outside of backstabs. In most scenarios, you should switch to the Revolver to fight enemies once you've been discovered. Even in close range, the Revolver is significantly more powerful than non-backstab Knife swipes.

• Because a backstab is always a Critical hit, enemies killed by a Knife backstab will always emit a blood-curdling scream upon death. It is important when killing an enemy that you have a plan to either run from or kill nearby foes as soon as you perform your first stab.

• While you can use disguises or binds to remove an enemy disguise, a quick swipe of the Knife into thin air is usually the fastest way to silently drop your disguise. This can be useful when performing covert Capture Point maneuvers.

• Before backstabbing a Sniper, make sure the Sniper doesn't have the Razorback. If he does have the Razorback, shoot him with the Revolver or the Ambassador. When the Sniper is under attack, it will take him a while to react and fight back giving you plenty of time to finish him off. It's also very easy to headshot a still Sniper from behind.

• If a Razorback-wielding Sniper is standing beside a corner, it can sometimes be more rewarding to backstab the Razorback, then round the corner and Cloak. When the Sniper finishes Spy checking (which they often don't do because they don't recognize the sound of a Razorback breaking, or they don't have sound on), come back and backstab them. However, if they are near their spawn the Sniper may go back to retrieve another Razorback. Either use this opportunity to kill him, or wait for him to reappear and use your primary weapon.

• When discovered, an advanced technique to help fend off the pursuer is to run up a slope, jump over the head of the pursuer, do a 180 degree turn, crouch, and backstab him. This is commonly called the stairstab. [1]

Your Eternal Reward

• The lack of ability to choose your disguise while using this weapon means a greater reliance upon cloaking efficiently and choosing good hiding places.

• This restriction also means that in most scenarios, at least one person (your last victim) will know what your disguise is at all times. Because of this, it's important to continue to rely on Cloak as a primary stealth tool. Your Eternal Reward may also be more difficult to use on Alltalk servers for this reason.

• This weapon is extremely well-suited for taking out Sentry Gun placements when you already have a disguise. You can backstab the Engineer and the Sentry Gun won't detect your presence between disguises, making Stab n' Sap that much easier.

• If you do not already have a disguise, you may still be able to take out a Sentry Gun with an extremely fast stab-and-sap. Or, if the gun is unattended, simply uncloak with your Electro Sapper equipped, and strafe the Sentry Gun in the direction opposite the barrel as it turns towards you. If you continually apply the Electro Sapper, you should be able to sap the Sentry Gun before it can fire at you.

• However, consider switching back to the original knife when fighting off sentry farms, especially if the Engineers can watch each other. Those situations usually have a greater need to disguise at will than the ability to quickly disguise after attacking. Moreover, the other Engineers in the farm will most likely be alerted after the Spy saps the first placement.

• Wait around an area in which opponents are looking forward to push. Surprisingly, this weapon works incredibly well in the initial clusters of an enemy push. By waiting and assimilating an opponent's guise in a pack of enemies quickly, usually the one who is the slowest, one can assume his identity almost instantly without raising any suspicion in those around him. During firefights is also a wise time, as their attention will be focused on what is in front of them, and not behind them.

• If you do not have the full Polycount set, it is a good idea to use the original default Cloak, because it produces less noise than the Cloak & Dagger. However, if you have the full Polycount set, it is a good idea to use Cloak & Dagger to wait patiently for someone to fall behind a group, or turn their back to you in a closed and secluded environment. Due to the effects of the full Polycount set, your de-Cloak will be whisper quiet and not alert your target.

• Using the Dead Ringer alongside Your Eternal Reward will instigate a strong element of luck and skill, and will be much harder to kill opponents. If you can carefully assume the identity of someone you are in a good situation. If you are discovered, the Dead Ringer can make an excellent escape plan, and if not, you can go right along with stealing the lives/disguises of everyone who turns their back.
  • Using the full Polycount set, the reduced de-cloaking noise bonus helps counter the Dead Ringer's loud de-Cloak sound. Use this to your advantage.

• Using Your Eternal Reward is especially efficient on Payload maps as with Your Eternal Reward it is easier to backstab most or all the enemies pushing the cart than it is with the normal knife.

• When using Your Eternal Reward on Control Point maps, be wary when defending the final point. Because the Eternal Reward disguises instantaneously, stabbing enemies capping your last point will not disrupt the cap. This can allow for survivors to continue to cap while you frantically try to stab them. Pulling out your selected Revolver at this time is usually the best response.

• Prior to obtaining your first disguise, look for enemies who are separated from the rest of their team. Once you stab them and obtain their identity, approach their front lines from behind. This will allow you to rapidly disguise on each kill, eliminating members of their team while staying safe from any Sentry Guns in the area.

• Try to prioritize which disguise you want to use first over the kills you want, as using obvious disguises (such as Scout) or slow ones (Heavy or Soldier) will restrict your movement between areas a lot more and you will be unable to move as you like without losing the disguise.

• If you are stuck with a slower disguise (Soldier, Heavy, Demoman), remember that you can Cloak at any time to move at normal walking speed. Your disguised speed will resume when you uncloak.

• Choose your attacks wisely when faced with a large group. A misplaced backstab will get rid of your disguise until you're able to land a successful backstab, something that may be difficult once you've been discovered/exposed.

• Because of this, new players are recommended to practice with the regular knife until they master backstabbing successfully without the indicator.

• Due to the fact that backstabbing with Your Eternal Reward will fade away the ragdoll of your victim and instantly disguise you, you can usually get away with backstabbing in front of a group of enemies without being noticed. If you're already disguised, backstab a Medic's healing target and proceed forward as if nothing had happened.

• Kills with Your Eternal Reward are truly silent; your poor foe will make no noise at all when he is backstabbed or just plain stabbed. Consider using this weapon when you are up against paranoid players who Spy-check frequently (you can't disguise at will, so why bother at that point?).
  • Still keep in mind that the "poke" sound of the knife hitting the flesh can still be heard.

• The Cloak and Dagger works well with this knife, since you can search for people to backstab and disguise without having fear of being exposed.

• With the use of a Cloak and Dagger with Your Eternal Reward you can potentially crush any enemy opposition by setting up near a largely used path way. Hide in a nice little nook where you know your enemies will pass by. When you spot a straggler, take him down with a backstab. You'll disguise yourself as him and easily slip in behind your enemies. Dish out as many backstabs as you can before getting caught. Once you are caught, bail out and Cloak until the coast is clear.

• Your Eternal Reward gives players less flexibility in fending off close encounters. Even if the target that was chasing you has died, you are left without a disguise if a backstab wasn't performed.

• If a Medic's heal target was killed by Your Eternal Reward, the Spy will instantly become the new heal target. This will not only put players in a safer position to blend in amongst the group, but they will also be overhealed. This tactic is risky, however. An observant Medic will notice if a Spy has passed by or one of his "teammates" disappeared. It is best to take over when the Medic isn't looking at his target. (I.E. Hiding behind a wall to take cover while his heal target is around the corner.)

• Due to the speed of the disguise, it is possible to backstab enemy players while being übercharged by an enemy Medic without breaking the ÜberCharge. This is not possible with the normal knife.

• While the stab fully cloaks the victim's body, it does not Cloak their weapon and some attachments such as Darwin's Danger Shield. Keep your Revolver at less than full ammunition and you will automatically pick up the weapon and hide all evidence of the stab.

• If you are badly injured, but disguised, consider using health packs in safe locations to heal, rather than the resupply locker, as touching the locker will remove your disguise.

Conniver's Kunai

• The Conniver's Kunai decreases the wielder's max health by 65 (down to 60), however, backstabbing with the Kunai will leech all of the victim's health and give the Spy a maximum overheal of up to 180 health, which decreases at 2 health per second back to 60.
• With the Conniver's Kunai equipped, you will have to rely greatly on your Cloak. Spy-checkers can kill you considerably easier due to your reduced health (barring the overheals from the Kunai, of course). The Dead Ringer and Cloak and Dagger are recommended over the Invisibility Watch or Enthusiasts Timepiece.
• The Conniver's Kunai excels when dealing with heavier classes like Heavies and soldiers; each backstabbed enemy is basically a full heal with an overheal, and the Spy can survive notably longer with this bonus health than a more conventionally-armed Spy. Consider using it when facing down groups of powerful enemies that lack proper Spy-checking ability (I.E. Pyros).
• The Conniver's Kunai is a trade-off weapon - it gives you much greater sustainability in exchange for making you extremely reliant upon overhealing from backstabs to survive dangerous areas. Any backstab can keep you in the fight much longer than other Spies - however, with only 60 health normally, you will go down in a single grenade, melee attack from most weapons, or rocket. Because of this, carefully picking and choosing targets before proceeding into enemy territory is essential for survival.
• The Conniver's Kunai makes you extremely vulnerable when you first leave the spawn room - so bear in mind that it's generally a poor choice on defensive missions. Be sure to Cloak or disguise before you exit, lest an enemy pick you off as you leave.
• The Conniver's Kunai rewards very heavily for chainstabs, as even if the enemy team notices you, you can heal off the damage by backstabbing other people. Because of this, you can be a bit more reckless when sneaking up on groups of enemies. If an enemy spots you, start backstabbing to heal off any damage you are taking.

Fencing

• This taunt can be used with any of the Spy's knives to kill distracted enemies with one hit. However, due to the taunt's long duration and the minimal damage dealt by the first two swings, taunt-killing is a very risky strategy.
• It can be effectively used to destroy Engineer buildings with one hit, so the Engineer won't have time to see his building being sapped or damaged and return to save his buildings. However, do not attempt to destroy an enemy Sentry Gun in this way, because one must remove one's disguise in order to be be able to perform the taunt, and attempting to do so will cause the Sentry to target and kill its attacker.
• However, if a Sentry is close enough to a Dispenser, then you can hide behind it without being detected and perform the taunt. The extra reach of this taunt means that it can often destroy both buildings.
• Also, keep in mind that - even if you are able to catch anyone unaware - the Spy speaks during the taunt, and this may give your presence away.
• This taunt can still be used during Humiliation. Also, if being chased by a Heavy, try to perform this taunt around a tight corner; with luck, you should be able to hit with the last swing.
• Fencing with Your Eternal Reward is not recommended, as you have to remove your disguise in order to taunt, and you won't get a disguise.

Disguise Kit

• The Disguise Kit is the Spy's major infiltration tool. Most of your time spent disguised will be done while pretending to be an enemy. Each plays differently when trying to blend in.

Scout

• Statistics

• Speed: 100% (33% slower than actual Scout.)
• Stature: Short, Skinny

• Inconspicuousness

• Element of surprise: Medium
• Believability: Low

• Fake-Reloads

• Scattergun: Partial, Short
• Force-A-Nature: Partial, Short (Wrong animation, visible shells!)
• Pistol: Full, Short

The Scout disguise should be donned when the disguise is not being used to trick the enemy for a substantial amount of time, such as when hiding or when the enemy is too watchful to not Spy-check. The Scout's character model is very small and none of its weapon models stick out, so it hides well. It has no move speed reduction, though it does not gain speed to match that of the Scout. The disguise will generally fail to convince competent enemies up close both because of move speed and because it can't emulate double-jump, but because Scouts are known to wander for extended periods, it's usually viable for quick glances, particularly from long distances. The Scout disguise is common in competitive play because of the nature of competitive team composition and the fact that disguises don't work well for blending in against coordinated teams regardless of disguise choice.

Soldier

• Statistics

• Speed: 80%
• Stature: Normal

• Inconspicuousness

• Element of surprise: High
• Believability: Medium

• Fake-Reloads

• Rocket Launcher: Partial, Short
• Shotgun: Partial, Short

Disguising as a Soldier can work well for blending in to stab a slow-moving target. Most generally don't suspect them. That said, having the speed of a Soldier means you'll have trouble dodging enemy fire and avoiding blocking enemy movement, and if your target starts moving at full speed (assuming it's not Soldier or Heavy), you might not be able to catch up to it without losing your disguise. If there are enemy Medics on the enemy team, you might be able to get them to heal and/or Über you. If your disguise is wielding the Equalizer, you will not go faster and will also not block Medics from healing you, which could easily give you away.

Pyro

• Statistics

• Speed: 100%
• Stature: Normal

• Inconspicuousness

• Element of surprise: Low
• Believability: Medium

• Fake-Reloads

• Shotgun: Full, Long

As a class with 100% move speed, no need to reload, and reasons to hide by himself, among teammates, and near Sentry Guns, the Pyro disguise is fairly well-rounded. Pyros aren't expected to attack until they get close to others, and they commonly patrol their own bases, so the Pyro disguise can get in and out of enemy areas nicely. Unfortunately, the Pyro disguise has a couple flaws that make it less than perfect. Aside from the fact that it's a common disguise (and therefore frequently Spy-checked), Pyros are expected to Spy-check constantly, so competent nearby enemies will almost always attack you when they notice you aren't Spy-checking them. If you're lit on fire by an enemy Pyro, it might be more immediately noticed because Pyros never catch fire, though the color of a fire's glow gives you away no matter what disguise you're using. If you're trying to hide around a corner or wall, switch your disguise's weapon away from the Flamethrower because its long weapon model and can sometimes be seen through walls and props. The Pyro's Shotgun is arguably tied with the Engineer's for being the best fake reload in the game.

Demoman

• Statistics

• Speed: 93%
• Stature: Normal

• Inconspicuousness

• Element of surprise: Low
• Believability: Medium

• Fake-Reloads

• Grenade Launcher: Partial, Short
• Sticky Launcher: Partial, Short

Demoman is an average disguise in almost all ways, with both advantages and disadvantages in each of its traits: its move speed is reduced, but only slightly; it has reasons to stay in the enemy's base, but not for very long without using stickies; it's used in both offense and defense, but is expected to spam its weapons while doing so; its character and weapon models aren't too big, but aren't particularly small either. Because of this, the Demoman disguise works well as a general first-glance disguise, but is oftentimes foiled after loitering for too long. It has a moderately believable fake-reload on both of its guns.

Heavy

• Statistics

• Speed: 77%
• Stature: Tall, Wide

• Inconspicuousness

• Element of surprise: High
• Believability: Medium

• Fake-Reloads

• Shotgun: Partial, Short

Because of its severely reduced move speed, Heavy is a rare disguise. He can't chase well for backstabs, takes a long time in transit, is too large to hide in some places or blend in, and he has little reason to move around by himself. However, the very fact that the Heavy disguise is rare can make it more effective in some situations, as most players won't expect it. Because of this (and the nature of the class itself), the Heavy disguise is a great choice if you want an enemy Medic to heal you (or even possibly ÜberCharge you) regardless of what your health appears to be. Heavies have a commonly-used primary weapon that isn't usually fired on a whim, so the enemy Medic usually won't immediately Spy-check you. The Heavy disguise is actually pretty great if you are going to stab another heavy, when he is revving is Minigun, as long as you don't have the same name as him, nobody will really Spy-check you. When it comes down to it, though, the large model size and extremely slow move speed make the Heavy a poor disguise.

Engineer

• Statistics

• Speed: 100%
• Stature: Short

• Inconspicuousness

• Element of surprise: Low
• Believability: Medium

• Fake-Reloads

• Shotgun: Full, Long
• Pistol: Full, Short

The Engineer disguise is good for taking down enemy structures and those in the surrounding area. The Engineer has 100% move speed, small character and weapon models, and a tendency to stay around his own base (and buildings). Enemies are prone to Spy-check Engineers that avoid wrenching for too long, though, and it's not unlikely that you'll by Spy-checked by an enemy Engineer when/if he spots you with his name. Engineers are also very rarely used anywhere outside of their bases. Because of these things, the Engineer disguise is generally limited to taking down enemy bases, though it does this quite well. The Engineer's Shotgun is arguably tied with the Pyro's in being the best fake reload in the game.

Medic

• Statistics

• Speed: 100% (7% slower than actual Medic.)
• Stature: Tall

• Inconspicuousness

• Element of surprise: High
• Believability: Low

• Fake-Reloads

• Syringe Gun: Full, Short
• Blutsauger: Full, Short

The Medic disguise isn't very effective in most situations. While it's true that enemies usually won't notice the lack of increased move speed, the Medic disguise is flawed in much more significant ways. Medics are usually quick to be joined by team mates, who expect to be healed quickly, which you can't fake. Because Medics are almost never by themselves and because the Medic disguise is incapable of emulating a Medic's teamwork behavior, it generally doesn't last very long. The only real benefits of using the Medic disguise are that it can be used to bait enemies and that it has a good fake-reload. Though because Medic disguises used to not have a ÜberCharge meter until the Spy/Sniper update, some enemies will forget and assume a Medic with a ÜberCharge meter isn't a Spy.

Sniper

• Statistics

• Speed: 100%
• Stature: Tall, Skinny

• Inconspicuousness

• Element of surprise: Low
• Believability: High

• Fake-Reloads

• SMG: Full, Short

Disguising as a Sniper is usually effective if you stick to where Snipers are expected to be, which you can use to set up repeated Sniper backstabs. It's not suspicious for Snipers to stay within their base's perimeters for extended periods, and they aren't specifically expected to Spy-check allies. Of course, the inability to actually zoom in can make the disguise less effective against observant foes, and Snipers are conspicuous when they stray too far from Sniper posts or look away from their targets. Enemies will also take note if they spot a Sniper trying to approach a group of allies in almost any area other than said Sniper posts. Furthermore, take care if you are disguised as a Sniper with a Huntsman, as enemy Pyros may attempt to light your arrow. The Sniper disguise has the advantages of being relatively small and having 100% move speed.

Spy

• Statistics

• Speed: 100%
• Stature: Tall, Skinny

• Inconspicuousness

• Element of surprise Medium
• Believability: High

• Fake-Reloads

• Revolver: Full, Short
• Ambassador: Full, Short

The Spy disguise can work fairly well, though its ability to blend in is largely based on the Spy-checking habits of your enemies. The Spy disguise is the only disguise that has an excuse to mingle with your team mates without attacking, so it can come in handy when getting into firefights, it is also safe to Cloak and uncloak in front of your enemies as a Spy since it is the Spy's nature to Cloak. Using an enemy Spy disguise has no effect on the color of your disguise smoke or your Cloak, so you can still be spotted by those. Many players will instinctively fire at all Spies (even friendly ones), so the Spy disguise is usually risky, though because Spy disguises used to not have fake masks until the Spy/Sniper update, some enemies will forget and assume a masked Spy must be a friendly Spy. The Spy disguise has a good, complete fake-reload.

Friendly Disguises

While some may initially see friendly disguises as very limited in use, they can prove quite handy in a number of situations. In general, a friendly disguise is recommended during setup time in all maps, because they will avoiding giving away that you're a Spy while making the enemy prepare for a class that isn't actually being used. If you're having trouble getting into an enemy area, a friendly disguise can be used to scare enemies (Sniper is good for open areas; Demoman is good for doorways; Heavy and Pyro are good for cramped spaces). If an important ally needs help, you can use a friendly disguise to draw enemy fire (Heavy or Medic usually works well). Additionally, your hit box is not the same as your disguise class, which can be used to draw Sniper fire with a reduced risk of headshot to spare team mates or waste an enemy's time.

Friendly disguises (especially Medic and Sniper) are good for baiting because most enemies won't expect a friendly disguise to be used; this can be used either for prepping a stab or faking out an enemy by visibly moving behind a corner, cloaking, and going for the backstab when the enemy chases your phantom. These tricks can be used more safely and repeatedly with the Dead Ringer, which will let you fake friendly deaths. In a Spy Rush, friendly disguises can be used to fool the enemy team before they realize what you're doing.

Invisibility Watch / Enthusiast's Timepiece

• Cloaking is the Spy's special ability. Right clicking (by default) activates the Cloak, which renders the Spy fully invisible for enemy players. Players on the Spy's team can still see an outline around him. When cloaked, you can not use any of your weapons. Taking damage or running into an enemy will make the Spy flicker for a very brief period of time.
• Remember that when the Invisibility Watch runs out you can be seen by the enemy. To prevent this pick up metal or fallen weapons to recharge your watch
• Compared with the Dead Ringer and the Cloak and Dagger, the Invisibility Watch uses the least amount of energy and allows the furthest amount of distance while invisible.

• The Cloak is best used to get into an enemy base, where you should uncloak and continue being disguised. Cloaking takes 1 full second and uncloaking takes just over 2, during which you can be recognized by the enemy. Therefore, it is advisable to look for a safe and covered spot to uncloak. See the Cloak article for a more detailed explanation.

• The margin of error with the Invisibility Watch is small given that you cannot feign your demise as with the Dead Ringer nor hide in plain sight as with the Cloak and Dagger. Plot your courses and approach targets carefully as being spotted will most likely result in instant death. If you have second thoughts, attempt to retreat and regroup. Throwing your life away at a lost cause not only leaves you waiting to respawn but also alerts the enemy to your potential targets and methods.

• Maintain movement to decrease the likelihood of being detected and cornered. Unlike the Cloak and Dagger, the standard Invisibility Watch only recharges when you are uncloaked or if you are able to procure ammo boxes, fallen weapons, or scrap metal from destroyed buildings. However, the Invisibility Watch does not drain as quickly as the Cloak and Dagger when moving, allowing you to maneuver from position to position quickly.

• When detected, attempt to feign the direction in which you will retreat. If you run toward an exit while cloaking followed immediately by moving in another direction when fully invisible, the enemy is likely to pursue you along the path you appeared to use.

• Grab metal where you can, when you can while cloaked. More observant enemies may detect an ammo box inexplicably disappearing but more often than not they will be too preoccupied to notice. This is especially the case when in the midst of a firefight. Even if the enemy does notice, so long as you remained invisible, their efforts to track you down will either be fruitless or divert critical attention from mission objectives.

• When waiting in the enemy base, hiding near an enemy Dispenser is a good way to emulate the Cloak and Dagger's effect, given you are disguised. This eliminates the need to hide to recharge your Cloak or search for metal drops, and can pass time waiting for the right moment to attack or sap the Engineer's base.

• A quick foot and knowledge of a map's layout can be used to get from one end of a map to the other, speedily and invisibly. Take note of shortcuts and ammo box locations as you explore a map, and use shortcuts to cut down your time even further.

• Keep in mind that Enthusiast's Timepiece viewmodel Cloak meter is bugged and does not show the amount of Cloak left properly; rely on HUD Cloak meter instead.

Cloak and Dagger

• The Cloak and Dagger's Cloak time while moving is shorter than the Invisibility Watch.
• Be careful not to bump into enemies because then they will be able to see you partially.
• Despite being less focused on movement, the Cloak and Dagger can be preferable to take on maps with not enough ammo boxes to get you past a large enemy front, such as if the enemy team has the center of Turbine.

• The Cloak drain is based on how fast you are moving, however, it is capped at the Spy's normal walking speed, so moving any faster (falling, for example) than that will not increase the drain rate. Keep in mind that taking fall damage will cause an audible groan and 'bone-cracking' sound, potentially giving away your location to very aware enemies.

• You can cover more ground with the Cloak and Dagger if you walk while crouched rather than if you run at normal speed. This is also because the Cloak drains relative to how much you move.

• You cannot pick up ammo boxes to replenish your Cloak. Be sure to take this into account when attempting to infiltrate the enemy base.

• With the Cloak and Dagger Spies can safely report important information to their team, such as the locations of Enemy Sentry Guns or Offensive Pushes, with a much lower risk of getting caught.

• While it is recommended to stay out of high-traffic areas while recharging your Cloak, try to avoid the most obvious places. Don't hide in corners or crevices that have a good vantage point on the immediate area, as smart Pyros will regularly puff into these areas in order to flush out Spies. If possible, hide in an open area that is rarely traveled, as most enemies will never expect a Spy to hide out on the open.

• Standing on elevated terrain (such as on top of a crate, barrel, or rock formation) will prevent most enemies from inadvertently bumping into you, and give you a good vantage point, as well as a chance to run if you see an enemy approaching. It's also a fair defense against Pyros, since some don't Spy-check above eye level.
  • If you can find a good vantage point where you can see incoming enemy troops, you can relay off what's coming in to alert your team to any problems they may be confronted with. Remember though, you can still jump down and kill these targets should you need to.

• If you have been discovered by an enemy, it is often best to stop, duck, and wait for your Cloak to recharge, or for the enemy to leave. If you have been discovered by a Pyro, however, you should evade immediately to try and avoid being caught on fire.

• Your Eternal Reward works well with this watch, as you will have to rely more heavily on Cloak without the power to disguise on command.

• Cloaked Spies can assist teammates in destroying Sentry Guns hidden behind doors by cloaking and remaining stationary by the door; this will cause the door to remain open while another player with long-range weaponry (such as the Sniper) can destroy the Sentry Gun from a distance with ease. An open door with no apparent cause can be very suspicious to observant Engineers, so avoid this tactic whenever an good Engineer is guarding his nest.

Dead Ringer

• The Dead Ringer makes a distinctive sound that lets all the enemies in the vicinity know that you are using the item (If you are wearing the "Saharan Spy" set, the Dead Ringer will make much less noise). Try to uncloak in a safe location, then move in for the kill.

• To make feigned deaths appear more realistic, you can take fire for about a second, then pull out the Dead Ringer.

• While cloaked with the Dead Ringer, you take 90% less damage, and you do not flicker from enemy shots. Use this to your advantage when crossing chokepoints with a large amount of enemy fire.

• You can recharge your Cloak with ammo, even while cloaked. However, once the Dead Ringer's initial Cloak duration (approximately 6 seconds) is up, you will no longer benefit from the 90% damage reduction, nor the 'flicker-less' Cloak effects.

• Remember, with the Dead Ringer, you can't Cloak on demand. When possible, take the high road in maps such as Pipeline and ease into enemy territory. A fairly safe choice of disguise when doing this is disguising yourself as an enemy Spy because Spies are expected to infiltrate enemy territory. To the naive team, you will appear as a Spy that is coming back to resupply.

• The Dead Ringer is most effective when the enemy is very close by. When the game boils down to the last control point and the enemy is in your base, the Dead Ringer can be a better alternative than the Cloak and Dagger.

• A decoy tactic would be to use the Dead Ringer in combination with the Disguise Kit to fake the enemy Snipers into thinking you are a Sniper and wasting their headshots on you rather than your team's Snipers. You don't die from headshots, so simply resupply after being shot (it's easy to do on 2Fort). Likewise, disguising as a friendly Heavy or other offensive class at the start-up gates and being on the front-lines ensures that not only do you take the initial hit that would likely kill a teammate, but you get a believable way to Cloak past the front lines. Make sure to yell battle cries to further authenticate your disguise as well before the gates open.

• A useful tactic for using the Dead Ringer is to equip it during the beginning of Payload maps. This allows you to run through enemy defenses relatively easily, and the initial chaos might help cover the distinctive ring. It also helps your team by getting rid of Stickybombs at the door, as most Demomen will blow the stickies at the first sight of an enemy.

• The Dead Ringer comes with its own unique style of terror, as you can tell when your teammates spot a Dead Ringer they tend to warn others that there is a Dead Ringer. This can be useful to both your team as well as yourself, allowing for you to cause several wild goose chases. The more confused your enemy is the easier it is to uncloak, however this does tend to bring more Spy checkers into the game, so switching between Dead Ringer and Cloak and Dagger is a good idea.

• The Dead Ringer can be held up when capturing a point, carrying enemy Intelligence, or pushing a cart on Payload map, making it a relatively safe method for doing so, especially in combination with friendly unit disguises. If you are hit by enemy fire that causes the Cloak to activate, however, you will drop the Intelligence/cease to capture the point until you uncloak again.

• A fairly effective tactic is to use ammo boxes to your advantage and constantly Cloak and uncloak while picking up ammo boxes, so as to replenish your Cloak. Since the Dead Ringer removes 90% of damage taken, this tactic can be used for an incredibly long time. However, due to a patch, the Dead Ringer cannot be fully recharged with a Large Ammo Box.

• When on fire, don't immediately pull out the Dead Ringer. Unless you were at extremely low health, an immediate death due to fire will look suspicious. Also, feigning death too early might allow the Pyro to ignite you after you have Cloaked, negating the Dead Ringer's effectiveness. It is much more effective to escape the Pyro and Cloak while out of its view. Simply turn a corner or jump off a ledge to escape, then use the Dead Ringer to make your "death" look more authentic.

• If ignited while cloaked, a good option is to run straight for friendly lines, as the Pyro will likely not pursue. Also make note of health pickups should you be too far from friendlies and need a quick extinguish, although it is unlikely you will survive if the Pyro is actively chasing you.

• When you're bleeding with the Dead Ringer active, you won't flicker from the damage. However, the bleeding effect will still show, revealing your location to enemies.

• Despite what the tooltip says in a loading screen, Jarate will not wash off if you use the Dead Ringer while covered by it.

• The Dead Ringer can be helpful for dealing with Soldiers. Smart Soldiers will constantly Spy check suspicious team mates by firing two well placed rockets at them. Since it only takes two rockets to kill you, this can make playing as Spy difficult. Because of this the Dead Ringer can be a life saver against teams with a lot of Soldiers.

• If you are waiting for your foe to come to you, or are otherwise out in the open and undisguised, keep the Dead Ringer active. An enemy Spy may attempt to kill you with his own backstab, and thus you'll have baited him out of hiding for a few moments, and may even catch a glimpse of his next disguise.

• When using the Dead Ringer, if you choose to not take the high or back roads it is better to disguise as another friendly class rather than an enemy, as the other team will become suspicious if they see a disguised Spy running straight towards the front line.

• When you are at full health, only activate the Dead Ringer if an enemy is after you and firing at you. If he shoots you once without you cloaking, and then shoots you a second time and sees you die, they'll be more convinced that you are actually dead.

• If you have equipped the Saharan Spy pack, the Dead Ringer's loud uncloaking sound is replaced with the uncloaking sound (at a lower volume) used for the other cloaks. This makes it extremely useful in both getting through fortifications and obtaining stealth kills with the Eternal Reward.

• An enemy Dispenser can lengthen your invisibility time, even indefinitely if the Dispenser is fully leveled; however this will make uncloaking difficult as you will likely be around an enemy hotspot. Try to plan your escape away from or behind the buildings before uncloaking.

• Having the Dead Ringer activate while you're in the middle of disguising will cause you to emit smoke while you're invisible. If you backstab and immediately flee, keep the Dead Ringer out as a shield, then disguise after it is activated by damage.

• A possible tactic to help increase believability is not to pick up the closest health or ammo pack when the Dead Ringer is triggered. Often your "killer" will look to the nearest medkit to see if it disappears, indicating you're still alive and thus reinitiating the chase.

The Saharan Spy Set

Main article: Item sets

The Saharan Spy
	L'Etranger Your Eternal Reward Familiar Fez
Effect	Extra effects when taunting.

• The uncloak volume reduction this set grants you is invaluable when using the Dead Ringer; its main problem of people detecting you upon uncloaking is nullified, and as such it is entirely possible to backstab targets who just triggered your Cloak by uncloaking directly behind them.

• The Invisibility Watch is completely silent when decloaking in conjunction with the Saharan Spy set.

• However, with the normal Invisibility Watch or the Cloak and Dagger, bumping into people or running out of Cloak will cause your silhouette to flicker for a lot longer, revealing you much more easily. As such, it is inadvisable to use these unless it is a situation where the Dead Ringer cannot be used effectively.

• A regular Spy works wonders among packs of enemies, where he cannot be noticed, while the Saharan Spy is much better at dealing with lone targets or in very big maps, where a regular Spy's decloak noise would give his position away. Keep this in mind and change your loadout accordingly.

• Remember that even if you can uncloak silently, trying to stab and steal someone's disguise in an area guarded with Sentry Guns is not recommended unless you already have a disguise. This makes using the Dead Ringer to proceed behind enemy lines a lot more risky, as if you uncloak in a hostile area there will be no escape.

• If an enemy sees you undisguised with the Familiar Fez equipped, they may assume you are using the Dead Ringer or Your Eternal Reward. Try to minimize the amount of time you are undisguised behind enemy lines.
  • For this same reason, you can exploit your appearance by purposely not using the whole set, but just wearing the hat. Most players will still assume you have the pros and cons of the set bonus.

• When using the Dead Ringer in conjunction with the Saharan Spy Set an easy way to get behind enemy lines is take fall damage to activate the Dead Ringer, then move from ammo box to ammo box until a suitable backstab target can be found. This way, the enemy is unaware of your presence until you achieve the first backstab.
  • Try not to trigger the Dead Ringer when using the set, as your "deaths" will seem very obvious.

• When approaching a group of targets from behind, try to stab a faster moving class such as a Pyro, Demoman, Medic, or Sniper first. This will allow you to run up to the slower moving classes more easily than if you started by stabbing a Soldier or Heavy first.

• Just because you can't disguise without getting a backstab does not mean you are incapable of taking out a Sentry Gun. Approach the sentry while cloaked, and uncloak directly behind the sentry while holding down Mouse1 with the Electro Sapper out. The sentry will not lock on to you until you are completely decloaked, at which time the Electro Sapper will be placed. This tactic is extremely difficult if enemies are around.

Against Engineers

Most, if not all, tactics concerning Engineers will only work if the Engineer is not surrounded by allies. Use these tactics wisely.

• A tremendously useful ability to have is the power to surprise an enemy Engineer. The worse the Engineer is at Spy checking, the better. An excellent way to check if an Engineer is in the vicinity is to Cloak, run in, and survey the area before retreating. However, this technique is less effective with the Dead Ringer equipped, as you cannot Cloak at will. When a lone Engineer is blocking an objective with a Sentry Gun, you can use the Ambassador to attempt to take out the Engineer at long range first, using nearby objects for cover.
  • An alternative strategy is to use the Engineer's own buildings against him. This can be done by disguising as a player with low health, and crouching near the Dispenser to heal your disguise, while simultaneously using the Dispenser as cover from the Sentry Gun. Using this strategy will allow you to eliminate the Engineer at close quarters, while being safe from his Sentry Gun's fire.

• A lonely Engineer building a Sentry Gun can be easily killed by the Ambassador. Shooting him first in the head and then on any body part will kill him; afterward, you simply sap the building. Very useful if the Engineer is busy wrenching said building.

• If an Engineer leaves his buildings unattended, some players may simply rush in and sap everything in sight. It is advised you do not do this, unless you are totally sure that the Engineer is dead or too far away to respond in time. What you should do is shoot at a building once, and then hide in cover to defend against the Sentry Gun. The Engineer may come rushing back to hit it with the Wrench, allowing you to then follow him back to wherever he was previously. Wait at the area and backstab him as he attempts to return to his buildings.

• A similar tactic is to find an enemy building outside of the Sentry Gun's field of vision and sap that, then pull out the Ambassador and wait. When the Engineer comes to remove the Electro Sapper, quickly headshot him then shoot him, as the headshot on its own is unlikely to kill him. Since it takes two whacks with the Wrench to remove an Electro Sapper, you should have ample time.

Sentry Guns

• A sapped Sentry Gun cannot fire. If the Engineer is standing next to them, you have several options:

• • Sap the Sentry Gun and then run out of the room with the Intelligence or try and cap a fast-capping/partially capped point. Remember, if you accidentally touch the Intelligence while disguised, you will lose your disguise, and the Sentry Gun will attack you.

• • Sap the Sentry Gun and stab the Engineer if he goes to repair it. If he is already in position and repairing the Sentry Gun, the Electro Sapper will be removed before you can switch to the Knife and backstab. If he is out of position, you will have time to make the attempt. If he is in position and is repairing the Sentry Gun, all you can do is run for it, or keep putting new Sappers on the Sentry Gun. He will keep removing them as you place new Sappers, but it takes a long time to destroy a Sentry Gun this way. You will almost certainly be spotted by a teammate of the Engineer and be killed without destroying the Sentry Gun.

• • Your Revolver can destroy Sentry Guns at long range well due to no damage falloff against buildings. Firing at a Dispenser first is the key to succeeding; once it's down, fire at the Sentry Gun. With your Cloak you can move around and try shooting from different angles; try to find hiding spots where no one notices you firing. When an Engineer first deploys a building, it's vulnerable to damage. One or two Revolver shots will take it down quickly before the Engineer has time to set it up. Note that Sapping the Sentry Gun and then immediately unloading your Revolver into it worked well until the December 20, 2007 Patch, which reduced the Spy's damage done to the Sentry Gun he sapped. Now the Sentry Gun does not go down - the Engineer has time to save it - and then the Sentry Gun will kill you. Your Revolver does more damage against buildings that aren't sapped, so if you find a lone Teleporter or Dispenser, and an Engineer isn't far off, shooting it without sapping it is the best course of action. However, when there are no Engineers near by, sapping a building and fleeing is the best way to avoid being spotted.

• • In certain situations, a Sentry Gun may be built so close to the cap point that you can reach it while capping. In this instance, you can quickly sap the Sentry Gun, undisguise, and resume sapping the Sentry Gun over and over. However, watch out for the Engineer breaking the capture with his body. Watch the Spy Guide Part#2 Engineers: Section 2 by [ESG] Orca to see how it's done.

• • Communicate with your teammates asking them to tell you via voice commands or voice chat when they need a Sentry Gun disabled, and then repeatedly sap the Sentry Gun.

• • A Sentry Gun takes about a second to execute a full 180° rotation. If you are directly behind a Sentry Gun and the Engineer is close to and facing his Sentry Gun it is possible to take out the Engineer and then the Sentry Gun. It requires that you backstab and as soon as the Knife hits the Engineer use the quick switch key to change to your Electro Sapper and place one before the Sentry Gun locks on. Strafe with the Sentry Gun's rotation (remember that the Sentry Gun will attempt to rotate as little as possible to shoot its target) so that you will have more time to place your Electro Sapper. Note that due to lag, it is possible for the Sentry Gun to shoot you between the actual placement of the Electro Sapper and the Sentry Gun being shut down. A level 3 Sentry Gun will not always kill you immediately (although it has a good chance of doing so unless your reaction time is superb); however, it will still be sapped and most likely destroyed.

• • If the Sentry Gun and Dispenser are in such a position that you cannot reach the back of the Engineer for a backstab, try jumping on the Sentry Gun or Dispenser and sitting on the Engineer's head. This is an ideal spot as it is in your victim's blind spot and will allow you to backstab him from above (and apply the stab and sap trick above). However, if the Engineer is crouched and tries to stand or jump, they will be unable to do so and suspect a Spy. At that range, a Shotgun blast or two will kill you instantly. This trick also works well against a Heavy taking the role of a makeshift Sentry Gun.

• • A difficult trick is to take advantage of the fact that Engineers take damage from the gunfire of their own Sentry Gun. Stand in a position where the Engineer is between his Sentry Gun and you, then uncloak. You will die, but hopefully so will the Engineer. This is useful if the Engineer is in a position where you simply cannot backstab him. Use carefully as this technique can easily backfire on you.

• • A variation of this trick can be used against a common Engineer Sentry Gun/Dispenser setup. Some Engineers like to sandwich themselves between their Sentry Gun to the front and a Dispenser to the back. Disguise as a Pyro (as if you are helping the Engineer Spy-check) and walk up behind him, so the Dispenser is between you and the Engie. As quick as you can, fire a few rounds into the Engineer with the Revolver. Duck as soon as the Engineer dies from the combined damage of your Revolver and the Sentry Gun's fire. If done correctly, the Sentry Gun will lose you as you hide behind the Dispenser. Re-disguise, sap everything and leave. Watch the Spy Guide Part#2 Engineers: Section 1 by [ESG] Orca for a demonstration of how this is done.

• • The Engineer's Wrangler weapon permits the Engineer to control his Sentry Gun entirely. Take extreme caution, as many Engineers will Spy-check with this, and it will make sapping the Sentry Gun much harder. Killing the Engineer while he is using the Wrangler will give you a few crucial seconds to sap his Sentry Gun bullet-free.

• With Your Eternal Reward, you can backstab someone in the range of the Sentry Gun including the Engineer behind it without being detected. Just remember that you need a disguise equipped before you can do this, otherwise the Sentry Gun will kill you as soon as you step in range uncloaked.

Dispensers

• Keep an eye out for Dispensers once you infiltrate the enemy base. They will still heal you and you can use them while your Cloak is still active (when using the default Invisibility Watch or while cloaked with the Dead Ringer). In fact, all Dispensers above Level 1 can recharge your Cloak even while you're cloaked. Level 1 Dispensers don't recharge your Cloak but your Cloak won't drain, either. Instead, it'll stay at the same level, giving you time to plan your next actions. Level 2 Dispensers recharge it slowly and Level 3 recharge it much faster, so Dispensers can be crucial to your plan. Note that the healing beam CANNOT be seen when cloaked and when next to a Dispenser - but be sure to watch out for Engineers, as they will constantly run back to their Dispenser, possibly running into you and revealing you. To avoid the Engineer, jump on top of the Dispenser instead of standing beside it. Be careful though, as his teammates can still run through it and, if they do, reveal your location.
• Note that on maps with narrow corridors, like 2Fort, Engineers may place superfluous Dispensers in locations that block your path. They also use these Dispensers to lure you into sapping them, thus alerting him and his team of your presence. If possible, take another route.
• When uncloaked, avoid standing on Dispensers. Because most players (except the Engineer who built the Dispenser) will clip through buildings, being spotted in this position will instantly ruin your disguise.
• If you have no other option, using a Scout disguise and crouching behind a Dispenser while uncloaking may minimize the odds the Engineer will spot you instantly. This can be useful in small, commonly camped areas.

Teleporters

• If you're disguised as an enemy and take one of your team's Teleporters, the glowing ring and trail effect will not show up. Using friendly Teleporters with friendly disguises will give you a ring and trail but these are removed when you next use an enemy disguise.

• Walking over an enemy Teleporter exit when someone uses it kills you, a term called telefragging.

• When you find an exit Teleporter, watch it to see which way players come out. Then stand behind the Teleporter and wait. When the next player comes out, backstab him instantly. He should report this to his team, but he'll be dead for a bit, so you can risk waiting a little for a second Teleport and kill, or you can just sap the Teleporter and leave the area. This is called tele-camping, which is usually frowned upon by most TF2 players.

• Due to the August 13, 2009 Patch whenever a teleport entrance or exit is sapped, the other automatically has an Electro Sapper placed on it as well, regardless of their distance from one another. However, the Engineer can now remove Sappers from both the entrance and the exit by using his Wrench on either. Although this makes it much harder for Spies to get cheap points by sapping Teleporter entrances outside the enemy spawn, a successful Electro Sapper on an active Teleporter will now give two points.

• If you're trying to telefrag enemies with their own Teleporters, either step over them while cloaked or use a slow disguise (Heavy and Soldier are the best) in order not to draw too much attention towards you.

• If you see enemy Teleporter entrances and exits in unusual places (often near their objectives), it could mean you are walking into an Engineer's trap - many Engineers place their Teleporters inside their base as an early warning system, hoping that you will be unable to resist sapping them and will thus alert the Engineer to your presence. (One way you can trick the Engineer in this scenario is by firing 2-3 Revolver shots at it, or if the Engineer is close by, hit it with your Knife as it is much quieter, but not enough to destroy it. Engineers will almost always expect a Spy to sap it if anything, so this may throw off the Engineer who built it)

• As of the Sniper vs. Spy update, the Spy is now able to use enemy Teleporters. This can be useful for getting into well-defended Sentry Gun nests and/or nests that would otherwise be unreachable.

• If you can time it just right, it's possible to sap an enemy Teleporter entrance just as it teleports you. However, due to the August 13, 2009 Patch this is rather pointless as you can achieve the same effect by taking the teleport and then sapping the exit. However, it does allow you to harass the Engineer as he attempts to knock your Electro Sapper off.

• If you are lucky, you may manage to telefrag an enemy upon taking an opposing Teleporter. While this normally applies to your own team's Teleporters as well if an enemy somehow stands on it without destroying it, the likelihood is higher as a Spy, as enemies may be clustered around the exit on the other side. In some cases, you may even be able to telefrag the enemy Engineer on the other side. However, be aware that telefragging will immediately alert the Engineer who built the Teleporter.

• A clever Spy can sneak his way to the enemy's Teleporter entrance, sap it, and then stand on it, waiting for an Engineer on the exit side to knock off the Electro Sapper. Once the Electro Sapper has been knocked off the Spy will teleport to the other side, telefragging the Engineer if he is close enough, and is free to sap any buildings the Engineer has built. This is a risky but effective way of taking down forward bases built by one Engineer.

• • However, the above strategy becomes obsolete if there are two Engineers babysitting their buildings in the same location. The second Engineer will no doubt see/hear his buddy trying to repair his Teleporter and dying. There is usually no way to fight the second Engineer without the Sentry Guns swiveling and shooting you dead once you uncloak/remove your disguise. Your best hope in this situation is to either run, or sap BOTH the Sentry Guns as fast as you can, while avoiding the Wrench. If you're VERY lucky, you'll be able to get both of them, and then deal with your hard-hatted assailant. Assuming he doesn't just repair the Sentry Guns or Shotgun you to death, you could also try the continuous sap strategy.

• Another way to deal with Teleporters is to simply sap the entrance, and then put another back on immediately after it gets knocked off, and repeating. As the Engineer cannot repair the Teleporter while it is being sapped, you can slowly wear down the entrance and take out both sides with little to no risk; this is one of the safer courses of action if the Engineer is smart enough to stand off of his exit and Wrench whoever comes through right after he knocks the Electro Sapper off. However, beware that this takes a long time, and in the case of spawns with only one exit, greatly increases the risk of an enemy seeing you and killing you. In this case, you can simply take out your Revolver and empty it into the entrance after sapping it, this will usually kill the entrance in most cases. If the Engineer is quick enough to knock off your Electro Sapper before you can destroy the entrance, simply place a second one on immediately and repeat, though repeatedly sapping will probably work better as your Revolver may be out of ammunition. This method is faster and reduces the risk of being discovered by the enemy in their spawn, but leaves you more vulnerable as you will not be disguised.

• You can quickly kill Teleporters by sapping them and then shooting them a few times with your Revolver. Although this will attract more attention than just sapping, it may destroy at least one side of the teleporter before the Engineer can remove your Electro Sapper thus reverting the other side of the teleport to level 1.

• Hitting a teleporter with a Wrench will only remove Sappers from the other end if the end being hit has finished building. If you sap a teleport early in its build, the Engineer may not have enough time to save the other end even if they're able to remove the Electro Sapper.

Infiltration

• You can disguise as your own team by hitting the minus (-) sign (or the e key if you have the simple disguise menu enabled) at the top of the keyboard after bringing up the disguise interface. As a friendly non-Spy class, players on the other team are much less likely to alert each other to Spies entering the base if they see you. However, the best way to get in and out is to Cloak properly.

• While it may not seem immediately obvious to the Spy, as you slowly decloak you take on the color of your team until you are 100% visible. It is vital to let the Cloak come on fully before entering into areas where you would be seen. Try to decloak around a corner where an opponent can't see you. It's very obvious that you are a Spy as no other class is able to Cloak.

• While cloaked, remember to avoid all enemy fire - if you're hit, you flicker visible. The same is true if you bump into an enemy. If you plan to rush out, tell your team-mates to let you go first (cloaked), so that stray fire from the enemy team at your visible team-mates doesn't reveal or kill you.

• If you are discovered and must Cloak to run away (assuming that you are not using a Dead Ringer), use misdirection to break away from your foes. If you are running in a certain direction while you Cloak, your enemies will usually head in that direction, so you can immediately make a radical turn after becoming completely invisible, or even turn in the immediate opposite direction to get behind them for a backstab opportunity.

• While cloaked, avoid giving away your position, especially to Snipers or if you have been busted, your pursuers. So do not:
  • ...pick up medkits (unless you're burning) or ammo crates.
  • ...enter the enemies' line of sight before your Cloak is fully active. (See above)
  • Also, if you go through an automatic door while cloaked and no one else is around, it is obvious that there is a Spy. If the door is very narrow, you still will become a very easy target, as you only have one direction to run in. Also, if you come out of swimmable water, water will be visible dripping from you.

• You appear to have the same health as the target of your disguise did at the moment you took on that disguise.

• Get a friendly Medic to heal you while you are disguised, because your disguised health level also rises to 100%, thus making you less suspicious when disguised while around the enemy spawn however appearing to be injured may be a good idea so you can get an enemy Medic to heal you. Note that overhealing will also be visible on your disguise, and if the enemy team has no Medics, walking around with an overheal may be a dead giveaway.

• Avoid walking over medkits unless your real health is injured, your fake health level will appear to be injured and if you don't pick up a medkit when walking over it, it is a dead giveaway that you're a disguised Spy. You can only increase your disguised health level from Dispensers and carts if your real health is injured. So if you're receiving a healing beam, and your health is not appearing to increase then those that know this telltale sign will know you're a Spy, so it's best to use a Dispenser and cart only if you're truly injured. But against less experienced players, being healed by a Dispenser or cart can makes you seem less suspicious. As of the May 21, 2009 Patch, in the PC version, walking over a medkit will add to your disguise health. You will also pick up medkits if your disguise health is down, even if your real health is full.

• Alternatively, if you have the Cloak and Dagger equipped, you can deliberately grab medkits in order to deny them to the enemy. While they will probably know that an enemy Spy is in the area, you can assist your team in this way by making your opponents easier to kill if your teammates are also relatively close by; however, this is also a double-edged sword since you can accidentally deny the medkit to a teammate who needs it.

File:Spy for Medic.jpg

Friendly disguised Blue Spy calling for a Red Medic

• Remember that you can call for and be healed by enemy Medics while disguised. This is a great way to hold your cover, and also a good opportunity to backstab the opponent's support. Beware that this also risks drawing undue attention to yourself, especially if your alter-ego notices his own name calling for a Medic. For these reasons it is probably best to do this as a retreating maneuver.

• Once in the enemy's base, communicate with your team. Talking might not move you up on the scoreboard but reporting Sentry Gun placements, if a group of enemies are taking an alternate route, or building a minibase can make a big difference and bring your team closer to victory. Note that on alltalk servers, your speech bubble is your own team color even when cloaked.

• You can walk backward while heading for the enemy base, or look backwards occasionally while walking forwards. Retreating into an enemy base while disguised looks much less suspicious than running into it at full tilt (unless your disguise health is relatively low), but as this trick has been done so many times, it can appear obvious to the astute observer.

• When you disguise yourself, you take the name of an enemy player that is playing the same class as the disguise. It is crucial that you try to use a class that is well represented by the enemy side to decrease the risk of coming face to face with the person you stole the name from. As of the May 21, 2009 Patch, you can see whose name you have taken on on your disguise nameplate.

• If you disguise as a class not represented by the enemy team, you take on a name randomly. This can be a dead giveaway as a glance at the score table will make your trickery obvious, so try to disguise as a class that you know the enemy has.

• Try to act natural. Many times, an enemy will shoot you and not notice your health go down; however, if you react to their shots, you can be certain that they and the rest of their team will hunt you down. If you continue heading in the same direction and if you seem to ignore the attack (assuming that it doesn't kill you), many times you will be left alone.

• Expanding on the above, standing still while in the enemy base is highly suspicious, and most players will try to Spy-check you. Making it seem like you were NOT harmed by this attack is the key to getting sneaky backstabs when they turn away. Be incredibly careful of Pyros however. If you see one heading for you, and he is actively Spy-checking, RUN!

• Before the Sniper/Spy update, when disguised as a Medic, no ÜberCharge percentage showed up when an enemy targeted you, which was a big giveaway. This was fixed in the May 21, 2009 Patch, and now disguising as Medic you appear to have a ÜberCharge percentage that the Medic you're disguised had when you took on that disguise. If there aren't any enemy Medics you will simply have a random ÜberCharge meter.

• You may, while entering the enemy base, notice that an attack force is heading for your base. Running in the opposite direction to them will likely result in a Spy check. A great method to single-handedly stop this attack is trying to run with them, towards your base. This works well, as it appears to the opposite team that you are not a Spy, and you can slow yourself down a little bit to get to the back of the pack and backstab most, or even all of them. Just be sure the person you are disguised as is not among them, or you will be very dead very quickly.

• A dead giveaway that you're a Spy in disguise is the fact that your enemies are unable to walk through you. Once they bump into you they will try to kill you immediately. When in small enclosed spaces (e.g. the sewers in 2Fort), walk close to the walls and be sure to leave enough room for enemy players to run past you.

• However, deliberately trying to avoid people in corridors is like saying 'Hey! Here I am! Shoot me!', and is likely to get you Spy-checked and killed. If you see someone barreling down a corridor at you, it's usually a better idea to open fire on them then to risk bumping into them and being melee'd by them. Remember, your Knife isn't exactly fantastic in a face-off, it's only good for backstabs and taking out already weakened enemies; you cannot count on facestabs to save you.

• Keep an eye on the enemy players that are about to respawn. When did they die? What class did they play? What is their skill? Remember: these are the players that are going to be in your back in a few seconds. Use this knowledge to time your actions. If you know that the opponents #1 Scout will respawn in a few seconds, let him pass by before you take any backstabbing/sapping action. Also remember, if you've just killed the same player say twice in the exact same spot, he's going to be checking for you being there next time he comes through.

• Most importantly: There are many people (Pyros) who will Spy check everyone they see, ever, just as a precaution. Because of this, you must always remember to keep moving, change disguises frequently, and whenever possible, avoid being seen by the enemy entirely.

• As long as there's a damage indication on your HUD, you are semi-visible. To ensure that you're completely invisible, wait until the damage indicator clears before moving.

• Avoid disguising yourself as a Scout. While your speed will be slower when disguised as a Heavy or Soldier you will not get a speed boost or be able to double jump when disguised as a Scout. Due to this, the enemy will see a slow Scout running slower than normal. This is one of the quickest ways to be detected. However, the speed difference is not as noticeable if running towards or away from enemies, and disguising as Scout can be effective if the enemy team has a lot of Scouts or just several newbie ones.

• A good idea to make your disguise more believable is to get behind or near the enemy spawn, then put on your disguise, wait until no-one is around/not watching you and then run forwards so it looks like you just respawned. Not only can it put you behind players leaving said spawn, but also makes enemy players less likely to Spy check you, think that you're someone who just came from their own spawn.

• Picking up the enemy Intelligence does not yet make you a suicide flag runner. You can drop the Intelligence anytime ("L" key by default), put on a disguise or Cloak to Scout ahead for danger and/or clear out an ambush, then return to the Intelligence and resume carrying it when the path is clear. This is especially useful against Sentry Guns which you can sap and then return to the intelligence and Demomen, who like to block your path with stickies, essentially trapping you between themselves and anyone pursuing you from the enemy base. It's also a good way to lure other classes out of ambush, as they will move from their spot to check why has the Intelligence been dropped.

• Disguises only fool enemies "at-a-glance". So it's best to avoid being seen altogether and use the Cloak more often.

• While disguised, try to use voice commands, such as the battle cry. It will make your disguised model talk and do some mimics, and so it can fool some enemies who don't think about Spies being able to do so.

• Reloading the Revolver/Ambassador will reload the weapon equipped by your disguise. Use this for added realism.

• If you are using the Cloak and Dagger, try to jump up on obstacles and ledges as you move through the map. Players use the obvious running pathways and will run right past you if you are cloaked. Standing on a crate allows you to recharge your Cloak without being bumped into and giving away your position. Standing on top of obstacles is also a good place to avoid Spy checking and escape pursuing players as they often forget to check the top of boxes and ledges.

Backstabbing Techniques

For more information, see Backstab

Approaching The Target

Approaching your victim for a backstab is difficult without getting caught. It is common for an enemy player to randomly Spy check hiding places and teammates. You can expect the enemy team to Spy check more often if they are alerted to the presence of a Spy.

The easiest targets to approach are distracted players who are busy with another task. Common targets are Engineers that are building/upgrading and Snipers who are looking through their Sniper Rifle.

There are a few things to keep in mind before going in for the killing blow:

• Determine who your target is and if they are a good target before you approach.
• Don't panic when you are discovered.
• Make sure to double check the routes behind you before decloaking, especially in routes which are commonly used. A recently spawned enemy player might catch you decloaking.
• Check your surrounding first before cloaking. An enemy player might be looking at your general direction. If you are lucky, they might not be suspicious of you. But if they start shooting at you, run and hide.
• Check the scoreboard for dead enemy players so you can be aware if someone will come out from spawn.
• If you know that someone has just spawn, you can wait for them to pass you. You can also try to delay their movement to the front line by timing your kill so they would be forced to look for you.
• Your disguise protects you from passing glances but only until they get suspicious. Kill your target as soon as possible.
• Be aware of the speed of your Heavy and Soldier disguise. While enemies may be less suspicious of these uncommon disguises, you will have a much harder time trying to hunt down your victim.
• A common mistake is to Cloak when the target is attacking you. Even if the target is aware of you, you can still kill them with techniques like stairstabbing, sidestabbing, or shooting at them.
• Be careful on approaching the same target too often. Even the most inexperienced player will start checking their back after being stabbed too frequently.
• When attempting to backstab during an enemy push, be sure to wait until they have engaged your teammates. Be wary of enemy players who are watching the team's back.
• When you see a friendly Spy approaching a target, choose another target. If your teammate targeted an [Engineer], sap their buildings while they are distracted. You can also watch your teammates' back by targeting approaching reinforcements.
• Use elevated areas to your advantage. With good timing and positioning, you can get your target within a couple of seconds.

A Spy's weapons and gadgets can drastically change how a Spy has to approach his target. Keep these tips in mind when choosing your loadout:

• If you have the Dead Ringer, refill the watch as much as possible before going for your target. It makes for great insurance in case you fail to catch your victim, and you start becoming the enemy's target. Make sure your death is convincing though or the area will be double-checked.
• The L'Étranger can help quickly refill Cloak in areas with no ammo boxes, so you can Cloak away to hide in case a backstab has failed. Be careful if you decide to shoot unaware players as they will turn their attention toward you.
• With Your Eternal Reward, you cannot disguise until you backstab someone. You need to be careful during your approach.
• Be aware of the level of noise each of your cloaking devices make. A common mistake is to decloak too close to your target for them to hear you. The Saharan Spy Set nullifies your cloaking sound to a whisper, but it does not mean players cannot hear the cloaking sound.
• Also, when using Your Eternal Reward try to predict and calculate your enemies movement and patterns to look for an opening in getting the first kill.

See also

• Team strategy
• In-Depth Spy Guide: by sR+Orca
• Great Spy Guide Video: by sR+Orca