Team strategy

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That was an amazing killing spree... by the other team! Click to listen — The Soldier on improper team strategy

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In Team Fortress 2, it is difficult to combat the enemy team with everybody working alone, and essentially impossible just by yourself. Working with the other classes on your team is an important aspect of success. This article is designed to assist you and your team with achieving victory. For a guide on improving your own game, see Strategy. For map-specific strategies, see the individual pages for each map.

General Strategy

Communication

Due to the absence of a mini-map, and Team Fortress being a class oriented game, communication and cooperation is always a key element to achieve victory. Coordination between the team players and the right balance of classes will always lead the team towards victory. Even regardless of skill levels, communication is the most important ability to learn. Either through the use of teamspeak or the in-game voice chat, a team with good communication and synchronization can defeat skilled players that lack teamwork. Effective team communication and coordination is especially desired in the more competitive venues of the game.

Voice commands and text messages are a very useful way to communicate, but, since many in game sounds and the location of the character may affect if teammate is able to hear the voice command and some players may not pay attention to the text chat, a microphone will always be a more reliable way to communicate with your team. For example, vital information such as the location and disguise of enemy Spies, the place of enemy Sentry nests and Stickybomb traps and the timing of attacks and ÜberCharges (by the enemy or by the team) simply cannot be communicated as easily without the use of voice chat.

However, it is worth bearing in mind that some servers use the AllTalk feature, which allows every player in the server to listen to everyone, including the enemy team. In such circumstances, it may be best to use the team text chat for more vital information, since sharing this by voice chat may cause the enemy team to be ready to counter your attacks. AllTalk is generally enabled on some public servers, in which the game is played more for the social interaction of every player, no matter the team, rather than playing with a competitive mind.

Team Composition

Team Fortress 2 is a class-based, teamwork game in which players on a team usually have to cooperate and coordinate to some extent in order to achieve victory. The nine different classes have their own strengths and weaknesses and their own unique styles of play, based around maximizing their strengths and minimizing their weaknesses. However, it is impossible for any one player no matter how skilled to completely compensate for the weaknesses of the class they are currently playing. One player may be less skilled than the other, but he could still win in an encounter in which his current class has the upper hand (such as a less-skilled Pyro beating a skilled Spy). This makes the choice of which class to play very important, and the player will be rewarded for learning more about different classes, and at the same time it makes cooperation equally important. One could think of it as a very complex game of rock, paper, scissors.

A mistake many new players commit is to view Team Fortress 2 outside of the team context, focusing instead on the class(es) they prefer to play and thinking of strategy only in terms of a series of one-on-one match-ups. However, most combat situations in Team Fortress 2 will be between groups of players involving a variety of classes. Therefore to be successful, one must think and work as a team, rather than as a solitary unit. This includes being aware of what classes currently make up your team as well as the classes that make up the opposing team, this is known as team composition. It is often possible to gain an advantage by having several players that play as classes who counter the classes of the enemy team (an example being, using Demoman and Medic combos, to counter a team that has many Engineers, thus too many Sentry Guns). However, it is important to not over-compensate and have too many people change classes (eg. a team has a problem with Spies, so lots of players switch to Pyro, this could lead to vulnerabilities in the team due to the classes they lost from switching). It is a better idea to check the scoreboard periodically to keep an eye on your team's current classes and recommend adjustments accordingly, but you must also be willing to change your class if the situation calls for it.

Practice

It is important to be good at a few classes rather than just one. Know your classes' strengths and weaknesses, so that you can make good calls about when you should switch to another class. It is also important to know the different roles each class can play, e.g. asking your team's only Engineer to switch to Medic so your team can make a push for the Enemy's intelligence would not be a good idea, as it is equally important to both capture and defend intelligence in a ctf map. In general, instead of saying "can somebody be medic", it would be a better idea for you yourself to swap to Medic and fulfill that need as long as you are not already playing a vital role.

The Classes

The heart of Team Fortress 2's gameplay are the nine different classes and how they interact with both friend and foe. Even if you play only one or two of them on a regular basis, it is still enormously helpful to learn about the role of each class in the overall context of a game. Each class has unique attributes that determine their strengths and weakness: health, movement speed, weaponry, and other innate abilities such as health regeneration or the ability to Double Jump. This section categorizes the different classes and is meant to draw attention to how the different classes can work together to become more powerful in groups than they would be functioning alone. NOTE: this categorization is different from the "official" class roles of Offense, Defense, and Support defined by Valve, and it is meant to draw attention to strategic and play-style similarities as opposed to an arbitrary "theme."

Group 1 - General Combatants

• Classes: Demoman, Heavy, Pyro, Scout, Soldier

• Characteristics: All the members of this group possess higher than average firepower, survivability, or maneuverability and in some cases, a good mix of all three. All but the Scout have a Health range of 175-300 without overhealing and receive the vast majority of ÜberCharges due to their powerful Primary weapons. Another defining characteristic of this group is that almost all abilities that impede enemy movement are found in this group: Natascha, the Force-A-Nature, the Sandman, the ability to "juggle" opponents with the Rocket Launcher, Grenade Launcher, or sticky Launcher, and the Pyro's compression blast. The vast majority of the abilities in the game that can buff movement speed and mobility are also found in this group: the Force-A-Nature, the ability to rocket, grenade, or sticky jump, the Equalizer, the Eyelander/Chargin' Targe, the Gas Jockey's Gear item set, the GRU, and the Buffalo Steak Sandvich. These classes do not require much preparation before entering combat which can be important in situations when time is essential.

• Team Role: These classes make up the majority of most teams and engage in the most combatant and direct fighting on the front lines. The members of this group are generally the ones responsible for leading the push into enemy territory and securing objectives. They should play as aggressively as a situation allows. Their success is usually measured in kills made and damage dealt before dying. Members of this group are usually capable of holding their own in one-on-one match-ups against other classes; a team entirely consisting of group 1 classes would be a very formidable team and can often do fairly well over short periods, but they would experience difficulties breaking down tough defenses and might run into problems during sustained firefights, so help from groups 2 and 3 is necessary. One of the most vital roles that these classes perform is to protect the other classes, particularly the less well armed support. Medics and Engineers need to be kept alive as long as possible to benefit the team fully, and they will need protection from group 1 and 3 enemies, who will often specifically target them. Buildings are constructed and maintained by Engineers, but they help the entire team, so those buildings should be considered "public property" and looked after by all classes, especially Pyros. In order to help out the support classes even more, it is important to leave Health and Ammo pickups for them as much as possible. Even the group 3 Assassins, the Sniper and Spy, rely on the front line combatants in group 1 to provide them with cover and distract the enemy team while they get into position to eliminate key enemies. Their job becomes much harder if there are no heavier classes to preoccupy the enemy.

Artillerymen

The Soldier and Demoman, the artillery of the team.

• Classes: Demoman, Soldier

• Strengths: Both of these classes have a high amount of damage potential, range, resilience, and mobility. They possess similar explosive weapons such as the Rocket Launcher and Grenade Launcher. The Rocket Launcher, sticky launcher, and Grenade Launcher fire highly damaging rounds that deal damage to multiple enemies at once in a large area of effect. Not only that, these weapons are the only consistent form of indirect firepower in the game. The weapons are able to score damage and kills without needing a direct line of sight at a target. This, combined with the ability to "fire and forget", allows the Soldier and Demoman to make excellent use of cover to enhance their already formidable power. They also excel at demolishing the Sentry Gun positions of Engineers since they can both attack from a safe range and simultaneously damage multiple buildings plus any Engineers trying to repair. Both classes possess the ability to trade some of their health for the ability to perform explosive jumps that can cover huge vertical and horizontal distances quickly, allow them to make sudden and devastating attacks from unexpected angles, or to escape tough situations.

• Weaknesses: While the artillery classes do not have very pronounced weaknesses, the weapons of these classes carry some disadvantages as well. The Soldier and Demoman can easily hurt and kill themselves when firing point-blank. Most importantly however, all of their explosive weapons have limited clip sizes and lengthy reload times. How to manage reloads is an important skill for playing the artillery classes. If one is prone to being irresponsible with their explosive weapons, the results can be fatal. The need to reload can often make holding positions against a constant stream of enemies problematic without support. It is important to note that because explosive projectiles take time to travel, they can be dodged easily. It becomes increasingly problematic at mid to long range with agile and skilled foes, regardless of how well the explosives were aimed when fired.

• Team Role: Dealing huge amounts of damage at medium ranges, forcing enemies out of cover and entrenched Sentry positions, and punishing enemies that are tightly packed together is a key component on these classes. Consistent damage, in any situation, is their role. However, failing to provide enough suppressive fire can quickly lead to your team being overpowered by the opposition. Other than this, the main strengths of the Soldier and Demoman are their sheer lack of huge exploitable class weaknesses.

Close Combatants

• Classes: Heavy, Pyro, Scout

• Characteristics: These classes are profoundly advanced in close range combat in which they can easily grasp the upper hand in most conflicts with notorious swiftness and flexibility. Namely, they have more pronounced strengths in close combat situations, but more pronounced weaknesses than the artillery classes. They have a few more specialized roles such as Spy-checking and objective-grabbing compared to other classes. The heavy has the highest Health of any class, but he has the lowest mobility especially while attacking. The Pyro is devastating at close range which is amplified if he appears unexpectedly, but conversely, he has very low damage potential at mid and long range. The Scout, by contrast, is the fastest and most agile class but has the lowest health out of the group 1 classes, and if the Sandman is equipped, he will have a base Health of only 110. All three classes in this group can do tremendous damage over time. However, in order to do so, they must usually be at close proximity to the enemy and have a clear line of sight. This, in turn, means that they often take as much damage as they receive which require these classes to rely on flanking and ambushing to reduce the amount of damage. Preferably, this would be achieved with the help from Engineers and Medics. The reliance on line of sight attacks also makes this group much less effective overall against Sentry Guns than the artillery classes. The Pyro is the most effective Spy-checking class on the team. He is able to expose both cloaked and Disguised Spies with ease and assist with Electro Sapper removal. The Pyro and the heavy are unique in that their Primary weapons, the Flamethrower and the Minigun, both which never require reloading and can fire continuously until depleted. This can enable them to provide valuable suppressive fire to the team during prolonged fights where enemies are streaming in constantly. This can also make them very effective ÜberCharge recipients being able to utilize the entire period of invulnerability to the fullest possible effect.

• Team Role: This group of classes has the most problems with enemy Sentry Gun positions. Teams that are relying too heavily on the classes in this group often have a difficult time defeating a team that is "turtling", defending an area with an excessive use of Sentry Guns. Once enemy Sentry Guns have been eliminated, they can freely enter enemy territory and wreak havoc. This group is effective with assisting and protecting allied support classes. Pyros work in conjunction with Engineers, and both Pyros and Heavies work very well with friendly Medics. This group is excellent at punishing enemy teams that neglect having enough group 2 classes to heal and restrict their movement with Sentry Guns. Without enough healing, fire can deal a huge amount of damage through afterburn, and the "hitscan" bullet damage of Heavies and Scouts with good aim cannot be easily dodged. These weapons can quickly erode enemy health and bring their team on their knees. Finally, all three classes in this group are very effective at contesting objectives of various types. Heavies have the momentousness to defend dropped Intelligence, Capture points and Carts while laying down suppressing fire; Pyros have unique abilities to keep Spies away from objectives and physically prevent enemies from contesting objectives by using the compression blast to push them back; the Scout can use his natural speed and excellent capturing force to accomplish objectives faster than any other class. While Soldiers and Demomen usually make up the damage "backbone" of a team, a sprinkling of the close combat classes can help them hold their ground, counter unexpected threats, contest objectives, and make a devastating coordinated push when the time comes.

Group 2 - Support Team

• Classes: Engineer, Medic

• Characteristics: By far the most team-oriented classes, the Engineer and the Medic are the main classes that can provide reliable healing to their allies which greatly reduce team losses due to simple attrition. For this reason alone, almost any team of any size greater than one on any map will benefit from having at least one support class. However, the usefulness of the support classes increases as team size increases. They largely lack powerful combat abilities of their own and have a low amount of Health(125-150) and average mobility and weak ranged weaponry. Therefore, they mostly likely contribute to their team's success through their support skills. These skills are very powerful and have a huge impact on the match. Medics and Engineers are much more than simply glorified Health and Ammunition pickups for the other classes. The Engineer's support skills take the form of his Buildings while the Medic's take the form of the ability to provide overhealing buffs to multiple teammates and the game-changing ÜberCharge. For both classes, bringing these assets to ripe takes time. Both ÜberCharges and fully upgraded buildings can take quite some time to reach their full potential, often a minute or more of game time. In a game as fast-paced as Team Fortress 2, that is a small eternity. Many game-types have a Setup time to accommodate the support classes and allow them to contribute at full power right from the beginning of the mission. Good Engineers and Medics will do everything they can to speed up the process of building their ÜberCharges and Buildings. The long "build" times of the Medic and Engineer define the success of their gameplay more in terms of their own survival than in getting kills. Both classes must play very cautiously to avoid death and survive long enough to provide their potential skills for the team. A support class who dies at a critical moment can cost their team victory.

• Team Role: Providing healing, resupplying allies in the field, reducing team losses due to attrition, and allowing teammates to hold positions while under constant enemy pressure, or applying constant pressure of their own are several of the objectives a support class needs to accomplish. A team with group 2 classes that survive will almost always be able to outlast a team without any. Sentry Guns and Overhealed/Übercharged teammates are very good at absorbing and shrugging off damage. A Medic that is skilled at overhealing can easily increase the health of multiple allies by up to 50% which can be a game-winning advantage by itself. Support is given to any and all teammates, but is most effective when given to the general combat classes of group 1 who will usually take the brunt of enemy attacks, and they would often die and need to return to the battle quickly upon respawning. Medics and Engineers on the same team can support each other quite effectively as well, and they should do so whenever the opportunity arises. For example, Medics can heal allied Medics or Engineers under heavy fire while Engineers can repair, build, and upgrade the buildings of other friendly Engineers. The support classes are often necessary to counter the effect of the support classes of the enemy team. Many games are often decided by a contest between the ÜberCharges of one team's Medics and the Sentry Gun nests of the other team's Engineers. ÜberCharges can also be vital to defend against enemy ÜberCharges and Kritzkriegs. The support classes need to watch out for the attacks of enemy group 3 classes, the Sniper and Spy, since they are often the priority targets of these enemies. Help from group 1 and 3 is often necessary to stay alive. Finally, the support classes can break the back of the enemy team on the attack or ensure a successful defense of an objective through a well executed ÜberCharge or well-placed Sentry Gun. In terms of team composition, a grand reliance on a large number of support classes is almost never a good idea. While they can provide very powerful support abilities, Medics and Engineers, themselves, are not effective combatant classes. Every player who plays a support class is not playing a class that can fight off the enemy, and this increases the burden proportionately on the smaller number of teammates who are playing a class from groups 1 or group 3. A large number of Engineers or Medics can be a dream come true for enemy Snipers and Spies whose skills are quite capable of countering the support classes. The power of the support classes is their ability to help out a large number of their teammates easily. It is wise not to have too many team spots devoted to support.

Group 3 - Assassins

The assassins: the Spy and the Sniper.

• Classes: Sniper, Spy

• Characteristics: While both possess low Health (125-150) and average movement speed, the most obvious similarity of these two classes is their shared ability to instantly kill any opponent with a single attack. They both rely on good positioning, skillful strategy, and patience to get their kills. While the success of the group 3 classes is, to some extent, measured by the number of targets they kill before they themselves die, who they kill is usually more important than how many. A Spy that reveals his position and sacrifices his life to stab an enemy Soldier is of questionable value, but one that takes out an enemy Medic with full ÜberCharge can be game-changing and is well worth the death of the Spy. The Sniper and Spy would avoid the front lines due to their low health, and, instead, operate behind the line (the Sniper behind his allies' lines and the Spy behind his enemies'). Both classes are also better than any other class at picking off opponents who are trying to hide behind their allies, such as Medics.

• Strengths: Though hard to master, they are very deadly classes. Both the Spy and the Sniper can be beneficial to a team as a distraction. In the case of the Spy this is even more prevalent, as he can take advantage of the ongoing chaos of the battle to backstab foes without much notice at all and even when the enemy is notified, their time spent trying to find you helps your own team indirectly. The Snipers main strength lies primarily in his ability to take out foes from long distances, which adds to the fact he can 'control' open space, since slow moving enemies like the Soldier and Heavy need to avoid these situations. Both classes would do well to prioritize their targets, sniping or backstabbing a Medic with an ÜberCharge is more beneficial to your team than killing random people without real strategic merit.

• Weaknesses: To balance of the non-direct combat nature of these two classes, they have low health (125 HP). Furthermore they are not very suitable for direct confrontations as their weaponry is not very strong for close encounters. A Sniper specific point of interest is the fact that when he is zoomed in he cannot see his environment around him, which in turn can be dangerous since Spies often target Snipers naturally. A Spy specific point is his vulnerability when he is cloaked, he musn't run into enemies (which gives away his location) or get hit by enemy fire on the way. Uncloaking should also be done where it cannot be seen as it leaves the Spy helpless for a second, and makes him an easy target. It is also best to keep in mind that the support class is not always the best to play as. If there are too many Snipers and/or Spies on your team then it is best to not play as them. If the enemy gets too paranoid of Spies, don't keep playing the Spy as it will not only get harder for you, it also does not help your team at all as you could be playing another class and wait for the dust to settle down.

• Team Role: Precision elimination of key enemy targets. These can be very talented enemy players that your team is having trouble with, or they can be resilient targets such as Heavies, or they can be high value targets such as Medics and Engineers. The assassin classes are at their most valuable when countering the influence of the group 2 support classes. Headshots and backstabs can cut right through the healing and overhealing of Medics and eliminate Engineers hiding behind their Sentry Guns. The Spy in particular is designed with the ability to disable and destroy Engineers and their buildings. The support classes also try to stay alive at all costs so that they can build up their power and provide constant benefit to their team. Death is a much bigger setback to Engineers and Medics than it is for any other class, and the assassins from group 3 are sometimes the only classes capable of killing them even when they are surrounded by formidable defenses. The Sniper and Spy also tend to end up locking horns with their counterparts on the enemy team due to where and how they fight. The ability to pick off key enemies can break stalemates, and the psychological effect of Snipers and Spies can split the concentration of enemies and make them reluctant to push forward. The ability of Spies in particular to attack enemies in areas where they expect to be secure can have a huge overall impact on enemy defenses. A team with very effective Snipers and Spies, if left unchecked, can easily run away with a game. However there are several reasons why having too many Snipers and Spies on a team is a very bad idea. Snipers and Spies operate "behind the lines" or at arms length and rely on not being the immediate target of the enemy to kill distracted players who are not expecting them. However, not having enough general combat classes means the enemy team will be less occupied and much more able to focus on eliminating Snipers and Spies. Not only that, but having a lot of Spies has diminishing returns and becomes counterproductive as the enemy team realizes how many Spies are being used. One Spy that still has the element of surprise is much more effective than several that are constantly getting discovered and killed. If you are playing Spy or Sniper and not having a very good day, it may not be your fault. It may be the fault of your team's composition.

Class Specific Strategies

See below.

Team Tactics

These are strategies in Team Fortress 2 that most players should learn and understand to help their team achieve victory. Using these in combat will allow your team to possibly have an advantage in a match.

• Flanking

Find alternate routes and use them to get behind the enemy, but keep in mind how much extra time this will take. Do not take the same flanking route too often to avoid becoming predictable, as the enemy will quickly learn from their mistakes and anticipate your strategy.

• Ambushing

Wait around corners and surprise your enemy. Your team could wait around corners and ambush any enemies that walk by as a defensive or offensive tactic.

• Übercharging

Communicate with your Medic buddy. Try not to waste your ÜberCharge, but remember that it is better to spend your charge and survive than to die with a charge ready. Have a plan for what you will do when ÜberCharged.

The Barrage

• Overview: An advancing push involving heavy usage of explosives by Artillerymen to clear the way for the rest of the team.
• Details: Demomen and Soldiers will continually blast explosives into an area to make it a no man's land in order for the opposing team to lose ground. Normally, Close Combatants will follow the barrage by moving into the cleared area and holding it. The Demomen and Soldiers will continue to spread out across the intended area to ensure it is all cleared.

Über push

• Overview: A series of ÜberCharges which are used to clear an area.
• Details: Two or more Medics will build up separate ÜberCharges. The first Medic activates his charge and enters the area; after 9 seconds, the second Medic follows in suit. If the situation turns for the worst, the second Medic will follow immediately and take advantage of the distraction provided by the first ÜberCharged pair. The second Medic will proceed to move deeper into enemy territory before activating the second charge. Communicating who will ÜberCharge first is key.

Minefield

• Overview: A series of stickybombs over an open area laid by Demomen.
• Details: Several Demomen will spread out a carpet of Stickybombs over an open area in sequence. When attackers push forward, they will detonate each set of Stickybombs at certain key points to kill multiple waves of attackers. It is important that the other Demomen wait for the previous set to be detonated before detonating the next set. Using the Scottish Resistance makes this strategy more efficient, easier to pull off, and somewhat lessens the need for multiple Demomen since a single Demoman can have up to 14 stickies and selectively detonate them.

Coordinated Sap

• Overview: The sapping of Sentry Gun emplacements to enable an attack by teammates by Spies.
• Details: Team of Spies will conjure together to sap Sentry Gun emplacements just before an offensive push which enables teammates to safely attack the disabled Sentry Guns and Engineers. The Spies will then communicate when they have sapped the Sentry Gun to enable the attack to commence immediately. They will continue to sap to enable the rest of their teammates to take out the Engineer first. Alternately, the Spies may take out the Engineers while they are being distracted by the attack.

Medic Luring

• Overview: When a Spy, disguised as a Medic buddy, lures Medics into ambush points.
• Details: Instead of attempting to kill an enemy Medic, the Spy will disguise as an enemy assault class. He will attempt lure an unaware Medic into an ambush. Thinking he is a member of his own team, the Medic may follow you into your team's base, allowing your team to ambush him with a Sentry Gun or a group of allies. Remember that Spies look less suspicious when they appear to be trying to help the team.

Rushing

Main article: Rush

• Overview: All players select the same class to overwhelm the enemy.
• Details: All players choose only one class or a majority of one class. The class usually depends on the situation. For example, a Scout rush allows your team to reach and capture the first point very quickly, hopefully before the entire enemy team arrives.

Tactical Direction

• Overview: In certain maps, your team will have to decide whether to go one path or another.
• Details: This decision usually comes into play in 3-CP maps such as Gravel Pit.

The Train

• Overview: A large amount of Heavies that will clear and defeat enemies due to their enormous amount of firepower and Health.
• Details: A "Heavy" train is useful in many game modes especially capture point modes because this allows them to capture points with ease and provide a barrage of fire power in order to protect their own capture points.

The French connection

• Overview: Two Spies that walk together in a group, to minimize suspicion by the enemy team.
• Details: This very useful to clear a group of enemies pushing the minecart on Payload, or taking out an advancing group assuming you are coming from the enemies direction, or clear out a sentry nest. Because there are two (seemingly) teammates walking together, this makes it a lot less viable for the enemy to shoot you repeatedly to spycheck.

See also

• Strategy
• Classes