Backstab

“

So, your deadly skill is jogging? Mine is murdering people. Click to listen — The Spy to the Scout

”

A Backstab is a context-sensitive attack with the Spy's Knife that results in a one-hit kill (unless the target is using the Dead Ringer, has the Razorback equipped, or is under the effects of an ÜberCharge). A Spy may backstab an enemy as long as the enemy is close enough to be hit with a melee attack, and as long as the Spy is within a 180° range of the enemy's back. To indicate that a Spy is within the required range to perform a backstab, his Knife will become primed, with its tip facing downwards. The Knife will remain in this position until the target is no longer in reach, or the Spy attempts a backstab by attacking.

A backstab can be performed while you are disguised, although your disguise will be removed upon attacking, regardless of whether the attack connects with the enemy or not.

Backstab icon

The Sniper's unlockable Secondary weapon, the Razorback, prevents one backstab per life (unless the Sniper returns to a resupply cabinet) and stuns the offending Spy momentarily. This weapon makes Snipers less susceptible to backstabbings, and forces Spies to use other methods of attack.

Killing a player with a backstab will sometimes cause a special death animation for that class. This animation has a 25% chance of occurring.

Backstab Issues

Due to an in-game glitch, a backstab can sometimes occur upon stabbing an enemy in the front of their body, referred to by the community as a 'facestab'. While these problems have been reported to be fixed in the developer notes accompanying various patches, facestabs do still occur occasionally (this is most likely due to lag).

Another community-coined term, is the 'failstab', which refers to a backstab which should have succeeded but instead did only normal Knife damage, despite the backstab animation playing fully and the Knife connecting. Failstabs are often caused by lag compensation.

When playing on a no-crit server, the Spy's knife sometimes does not prime when you are capable of backstabbing an enemy.

Related Achievements

Soldier

War Crime Spybunal Kill a Spy who just backstabbed a teammate.

Sniper

Shock Treatment Kill a Spy whose backstab attempt was blocked by your Razorback.

Spy

	Agent Provocateur Backstab your Steam Community friends 10 times.		Come In From The Cold Get a Revenge kill with a backstab.
	Counter Espionage Backstab a disguised Spy.		Die Another Way Kill a Sniper after your backstab breaks his Razorback.
	Dr. Nooooo Backstab a Medic that is ready to deploy an ÜberCharge.		FYI I am a Spy Backstab a Medic who has healed you in the last 5 seconds.
	High Value Target Backstab an enemy who is dominating 3 or more of your teammates.		Identity Theft Backstab the enemy that you're currently disguised as.
	Is It Safe? Backstab 50 enemies who are capturing control points.		May I Cut In? Backstab an enemy and the Medic healing him within 10 seconds of each other.
	Sapsucker Sap an enemy building, then backstab the Engineer who built it within 5 seconds.		Slash and Burn Backstab an enemy, who then switches to Pyro before they respawn.
	Spymaster Backstab 1000 enemies.		The Man with the Broken Guns Backstab an Engineer, then sap 3 of his buildings within 10 seconds.
	Triplecrossed Backstab 3 Snipers in a single life.		You Only Shiv Thrice Backstab 3 enemies within 10 seconds.

Trivia

• Due to the nature of achieving a backstab, it is technically impossible to score a non critical backstab.
• Originally the Spy's backstab animation was just over a second long and manifested as the current animation but slowed down. This was changed to the current, sped up version we have today in the interests of balance.
• There are several community-devised specialist techniques when it comes to backstabbing, most of which requiring some level of practice.
• The 180° range is notoriously unreliable. This is likely due to occasional mismatches between the model and the hitboxes. These glitched attacks are known as Facestabs.

Backstabbing Techniques

• Stab’n’Sap: Stab a (turtling) Engineer, before switching to your Sapper and sapping the Engineer’s Sentry gun. Usually an experienced spy will track the sentry’s turning direction and move against it after he stabs (as it will follow him, this will buy him more time).

• Stairstab: Stand at the top of the stairs, facing down at an enemy approaching you. Run forward and jump, turning in mid-air to stab them in the back. This technique can be difficult to master, but it is also difficult to protect against, as the enemy has to turn almost completely around to avoid it.

• Spinstab: While an enemy is running towards you, let them run past you before spinning and stabbing their retreating back.

• Moving efficiently: Learn to utilize shortcuts and tricks of the map to catch up to faster-moving enemies such as Medics and Scouts.

• Teleports: As a disguised Spy, you can take the enemy Teleporter, making your disguise more believable and often placing you in a very advantageous position behind an Engineer in his Sentry nest.

External links

• TF2 Backstab mechanics