Community Spy strategy

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— The Spy

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

Quick tips

Typically, you should Cloak when heading towards an enemy objective. A teammate running in the opposite direction is suspicious and a prime candidate for Spy checking.

While disguised, enemies are much less likely to Spy check you if you head in their direction with your back turned to them as if running from a battle with your real teammates.

Don't expect to become a great Spy overnight. Learn to play other classes first. Once you know how each class acts, you will be able to more easily trick your enemies.

Pay attention to which class you are disguised as! Snipers and Engineers normally stay in one area while Pyros can often be seen patrolling a base.

Avoid disguising as a Scout or Medic as your slow movement speed will give you away, and people will become suspicious if you aren't constantly healing.

You can don a disguise and switch weapons while cloaked to save time.

While equipped with the default Invisibility Watch, or the Dead Ringer, you are able to restore your Cloak meter with ammunition pickups.

To disguise quickly, press B and you will auto-disguise into your previous disguise.

General

When disguising or changing disguises, your body will be covered by smoke puffs that are visible to everyone. If you are cloaked, this smoke can only be seen by teammates. 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 (a general rule of thumb is to NOT disguise as a Medic or Scout because the lack of speed gain will make you look suspicious. An Engineer is a good choice since a disguised Spy can easily stand next to a building (make sure to have the Wrench out). Disguising as a Sniper will let you take a look at the battlefield from afar without taking too much attention for potential assassination targets; however, because you can not scope, don't stay in the same position for long, or else it will look suspicious.

Be careful about which class is around and which is not. If you come across a class that is identical to your current disguise, it will quickly give you away. Same-classed players are able to see their own name when they hover their crosshair on you as player identification. Your fake name ID can only be seen by different classes. If you see an enemy grenade, it's not the best idea to disguise as the enemy Demoman as he can spot you. Same thing goes for other classes.

Note the three-second cooldown period after decloaking in which you cannot use any equipment. This means you cannot attack or use the Electro Sapper. Plan accordingly before sapping or attacking.

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, therefore keep that in mind when you are in an enemy base looking for a hiding spot.

Memorize ammo spawns and shortcuts for good cover places. When you're cloaked, use pressure fire from teammates to run into the other team while cloaked to blend in with your disguise. Once out of Cloak, take cover from your own teammates as that would make your disguise more believable. An Engineer standing in front of an enemy Heavy's Minigun fire makes your disguise useless if witnessed by the other team.

Any source of ammunition, including Metal from destroyed buildings, will recharge Cloak time for the default Invisibility Watch and 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 your disguise. The Payload cart 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 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 your Cloak if you are not using the Cloak and Dagger. An example of this is on 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.

Most of the official maps have shortcuts where you can easily get behind the enemy lines. Also, they have unusual places where you can simply jump and reach, making the enemy team think you have already evacuated the area before they can react. Most of the places that look like just junk would interest you more. Memorize and work on them.

Your Cloak is your safest option if surveying the enemy. Disguises are not necessarily reliable as Spy checking is common.

Avoid suspicious behavior when disguised, e.g. running against the crowd away from an objective, being a Demoman and standing nowhere near Stickybombs, being an Engineer and standing nowhere near buildings, or just standing around doing nothing. If someone does start shooting at you, you can try to take him down with the Revolver or Cloak to make a quick escape (but don't forget the one second delay before your Cloak is fully active). Otherwise, you may stand still and hope that the Spy checker realizes soon enough that he isn't shooting at a Spy and walks off.

If you're planning on getting close to someone, a direct approach will attract attention; try not to look directly at them. If you're being checked, give up on chasing your target and getting closer. Instead, strafe right or left, change direction, and check your back like you're being suspicious after your "teammate" shoots in your direction. If fire persists, look for a cover area where you can Cloak and escape the situation with peace of mind.

When disguised, enemy Sentry Guns will not attack you and you can use enemy Dispensers and Teleporters. Enemy Medics can heal you if you fool them into thinking you are friendly (disguise as a power class for a greater chance that this will work). 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 locked on target even if the target disguises unless there is a closer target or the current target breaks line-of-sight/leaves the Sentry Gun's range.

Your most dangerous counter-class is the Pyro, the natural Spy checker. Avoid them at all costs or be prepared for a difficult stand-off. Pyros are as fast as you and their flames can ignite you even while you are disguised or cloaked. Avoid running into one to avoid being lit. If this happens, DO decloak, if you aren't already, in order to fight back as you retreat. Spectating Pyro vs. Pyro firefights from too close may result in the flames unintentionally igniting you, therefore be wary.

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.

Don't underestimate the power of the Revolver. If you're being chased, run backwards while side-strafing and firing at your opponent. Many players think that the Knife is the Spy's only weapon. They're wrong! The Revolver does much more damage than many think it does, and is ideal for picking off low health enemies that are leaving the battlefield as well as disposing of any Pyros.

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. The Ambassador makes an even better use of this. It crits on a headshot and is 100% accurate some time after firing.

If you're being chased by a Pyro, forget about cloaking. Try to lure him out of whatever area he is patrolling and shoot him down with the Revolver. Approximately 3-4 accurate shots will be enough to kill a non-overhealed Pyro. If you carry the Dead Ringer, either take down the Pyro and then exit by cloaking or instead use your Cloak and jump away to the sides. Most of Pyro players won't be fooled by this because your death animation will lose most of its major frames as you feign your own death.

When you're covered in liquid (Mad Milk or Jarate), your Cloak effects will be rendered useless, thus disregarding which kind of Cloak you have. You should think of a way to wash them away once you get rid of the Sniper or Scout that is on your tail.

Always go for your opponent's back with your Knife. Not only are backstabs instant-kills, your Knife is weak when used otherwise. If you have to go toe-to-toe, use the Revolver; every other weapon in the game is stronger than the Knife. The Revolver is loud and distinctive though, therefore you may want to stick with the Knife if you don't want to attract more attention. Upon moving forth to backstab a player, try to avoid looking or staring at their backs when you do it. 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 their life. When you are chasing someone, try not to hug or bump them before you stab them; that will alert whoever you are chasing and might attract unwanted attention from the other enemies around.

When targeting an enemy Engineer nest:
- If the Engineer is behind his Sentry Gun, stab the Engineer and sap the Sentry Gun before it turns around. This is called Stab-n-Sapping.
- If the Engineer is away, sap the Sentry Gun and stab the Engineer when he comes back. Another alternative is to immediately start firing the Revolver at a sapped building to destroy it faster. Against 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 the Revolver, the Engineer still has time to remove the Electro Sapper 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 is dead. If he is stuck in spawn, you will often be able destroy his toys with impunity.

If an enemy Engineer places his Sentry in the middle of a narrow corridor creating a chokepoint and is turtling, diving from the front would be a pathetic action to take. Your teammates may take the attention of the Sentry Gun, and you might die from crossfire since you have very little space to escape. Instead, locate the Engineer's Teleport entrance and sap it. Once the Engineer removes the Electro Sapper, you will immediately be teleported away, telefragging the Engineer in the process if lucky. Alternatively, you can try to find a way around in order to sap his buildings and take his attention. If all else fails, coordinate a group attack using team chat.

One of the best ways to stop an enemy rush is to backstab any 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 player sees the same Demoman run up to a Sentry Gun guarded by an Engineer three times in a row, they are certainly going to catch on that you are trying to sap the Engineer's buildings. The same thing goes when running with your teammates; if you're seen as a Pyro who travels along with enemy Heavy and Medic pairs, keep in mind there will be some Spy checks from any Pyros when you try to blend in. Try to work alone but, if you can't, try to keep yourself well cloaked and do not act in a suspicious manner when in you are in the enemy's sight.

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 pinned down by a group of your 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. If you are chasing them, the best time to attack is when the Heavy changes direction and they are under attack as most of the Medics are followers; their distance will be relatively greater as the Medic has to wait until fire ceases or turn the corner with a large angle to keep the healing link focused on the Heavy.

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 classes!

Be very careful when 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 between backstabs, therefore 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. If you approach cloaked, you are using up valuable Cloak time. Approaching as a fast and dangerous class such as the 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 will be more open to being backstabbed or shot while they are 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, therefore 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, therefore 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 equipped the disguise: if, for example, the Demoman you are disguised as is low on health, your disguise will appear to be as such also. The same applies if the Demoman is overhealed. You can increase your fake health level by being healed by a Medic, standing near the Payload cart (while on defense) or an enemy Dispenser, or picking up a medkit. You will pick up medkits even if your disguise health is full, therefore try not to use them around enemies unless wounded since it may look suspicious that you picked up the medkit despite being at full health. Keep an eye on your fake health level since it looks less suspicious leaving the battlefield and going into the enemy base at low health. Try not to call for a Medic if your fake health is full; it looks suspicious.

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. Your uncloaking and cloaking has its own sound, therefore uncloaking behind an enemy is not one of the brightest ideas, especially if that player is a Pyro. 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 you're planning to dive into the battlefield from a higher place, be careful to drop behind something that would serve as a good cover.

If nearby players Spy check you with weapons, they will 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. Avoid carrying a rifle unless you're trying to peek at enemy chokepoints from behind the lines. Also, carrying the Huntsman will make enemy Pyros light you on fire to add fire damage to friendly Sniper's arrows, and even if they're not suspicious they might throw a basic puff at you.

Weapon switching is done by pressing the 'Last Disguise Used' button (default keyB. This will change your "fake" weapon based on what weapon the Spy has out. Holding out the Revolver will change your "fake" weapon to the primary weapon of that class. Holding out the Electro Sapper will change your "fake" weapon to the secondary weapon of that class. Holding out the Knife will change your "fake" weapon to the melee weapon of that class.

Weapon switching is instantaneous and does not emit any smoke or shimmer; it looks identical to the class switching weapons. Use this to your advantage in further confusing your foes!

You will only be able to hold out the primary, secondary, or melee weapons and the Engineer's PDAs and Toolboxes (right before placing a building). The Spy's Disguise Kit and Electro Sapper tool will not be available for you to use as your "fake" weapons.

A Spy can give out a fake reloading animation by shooting a few times from the Revolver, then using the last disguise button to change the disguise weapon to secondary or primary. After managing all that, switching to your Revolver and then hitting R will give give out fake reloading animations and will keep going even if you cancel the actual reload by changing weapons.

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. Beware because if you draw your Electro Sapper out, this can expose you to Pyros and other classes as the Hotrod will flip down.

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

When disguised, Spies can see enemy names and health. 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 any enemy Engineer building's stats, including the health and upgrade status.

Try using the 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 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 will 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 from your own team. Most Spies will turn and flee, allowing for an easy backstab. If they run 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, thus allowing you to waste their 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 that a Medic would normally ÜberCharge (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 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 backwards. 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 were depleted.

If you are being pursued by an enemy and want to make a quick escape, a great tactic is to 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 the Invisibility Watch and quickly turn back around 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 into that area trying to find you. However, in reality, you turned and ran right at/past them and are long gone.

When disguised as an attacking class, it is recommended that you walk backwards into the enemy base because the enemy will think that you are retreating from battle and won't Spy check you. Using voice commands like 'Help!', 'Incoming!', or giving out fake reloading animations will increase the deceit. Mind it that you do this in open areas and not in narrow corridors as you can bump other attackers while you're backpedaling. It is advised to run diagonally and constantly check your back to avoid any confrontation.

If you are disguised (or forced into one due to 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 speed boost, and by doing it as late as possible you reduce your chances of being spotted by an enemy teammate before you can backstab.

Be wary of players who are defending an area that doesn't give them much action, such as a Pyro in an area with effective Sentry Guns, as they will be more likely to know the whole structure of their team since they are not doing anything else in battle. If they know that the Demoman is in battle, coming in as that same Demoman will immediately raise a red flag in their mind that you might be a Spy. If they have more things to do, they will most likely not notice any inconsistency that comes up around your disguise.

If possible, take note of the Spy checking habits of the enemy team. If the Pyro shoots fire on everybody that passes through, you might want to avoid any area the Pyro is in. If you have an Engineer that smacks everybody on the head as welcome, adjust your plans to take that into consideration. You may need to die in order to register the patterns.

The Spy's entire theme is deception and misinformation. One way to manifest this in actual gameplay is to switch up your loadouts constantly, especially your watch. Smart players will try to memorize enemy equipment, so feed them constantly changing information to throw them off their mental game. Or, to be particularly nasty, wait for them to become used to your equipment, then change them completely.

Weapon specifics

Primary weapons

Revolver/Big Kill

Weapon	Kill icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill icon	Loaded	Carried	Point blank	Medium range	Long range	Critical
Stock Revolver		6	24	55-60	35-45	16-25	120
Promotional Big Kill		6	24	55-60	35-45	16-25	120

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 levels like the 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 (example, 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 with 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 and 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 as 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 the 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 its 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 usually don't stand still.

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 them (if they are fooled by your disguise or you are cloaked) or having your Revolver at the ready to pump a few shots into them while backpedaling. The narrow corridors are ideal for your aim as there is not much space for your enemy to strafe.

Ambassador

Weapon	Kill icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill icon	Loaded	Carried	Point blank	Medium range	Long range	Critical
Unlock Ambassador		6	24	46-56	31-37	15-19	102
Unlock Ambassador		6	24	102	102	102	102

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, similar to 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 only have 23 health left (8 with the Sandman, 48 with The Special Delivery set's health bonus), therefore 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 Croc-o-Style Kit, and he could 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 when equipped with the Ambassador. When it drops below half of its base value, the health meter is shown in red. Against all classes, except the Heavy, this means a guaranteed kill upon a headshot.

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

If you get busted (say a lone Sniper) and miss the backstab, but you hit him with the Knife, simply switch to the Ambassador and shoot him in the head to get a kill.

L'Etranger

Weapon	Kill icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill icon	Loaded	Carried	Point blank	Medium range	Long range	Critical
Craft L'Etranger		6	24	44-48	28-36	15-18	96

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

L'Etranger has a very distinctive "crack" sound 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 on the frontlines knowing that they are being hit or hearing the L'Etranger's unique crack sound is to hit players that are already being shot at. They will 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 keeping 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 Invisibility Watch and Dead Ringer's Cloak timers can be replenished by picking up Ammo packs/fallen weapons or 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 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. L'Etranger does not suffer from the slower firing time of the Ambassador though. If you are consistently hampered by Scouts or looking to take out Razorback-protected Snipers, you may want to consider using the Revolver or 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 will 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 you 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 than being behind them for not getting caught using L'Etranger.

Enforcer

Weapon	Kill icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill icon	Loaded	Carried	Point blank	Medium range	Long range	Critical
Craft Enforcer		6	24	70-72	41-55	24-26	144

The Enforcer is a Revolver replacement that trades stealth for extra firepower, effectively serving as the polar opposite to L'Etranger. In exchange for a bonus 20% base damage inflicted, the Spy takes 0.5 seconds longer to drop in or out of Cloak.
While 0.5 seconds may sound insignificant, it is in fact approximately a 42% increase in Cloak time for the Invisibility Watch/Enthusiast's Timepiece and Cloak and Dagger.
The Enforcer is a wise choice when using the Dead Ringer as the Cloak time penalty does not affect the watch's instant Cloak when feigning death.
The Cloak penalty can also be easily countered by using cover when cloaking. As long as you're not already in open conflict when cloaking, the penalty can be almost completely ignored.
The Enforcer allows you to take out a Razorback-wielding Sniper or kill low health classes in 2 shots at point-blank range. This way you can kill Razorback Snipers easily without the use of the Ambassador or kill an Engineer rushing back to the Sentry Gun which you just sapped.
The Enforcer will destroy any Engineer buildings faster than the Revolver, taking 5 shots for a Level 3 Sentry Gun. You can use this to take down enemy buildings faster, by sapping them and then shooting at them while they're disarmed. However, this will blow your disguise.
A critical hit with the Enforcer can kill most of the lower health classes with one shot.

Diamondback

Weapon	Kill icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill icon	Loaded	Carried	Point blank	Medium range	Long range	Critical
Promotional/Craft Diamondback		6	24	47-51	30-33	14-21	102

The Diamondback is a promotional weapon for the Spy. It does less damage per-shot than the Revolver, but has the ability to store up critical hits (rather like the Frontier Justice) when your Sappers are involved in the destruction of enemy buildings. Each kill or assist involving one of your Sappers will give the Diamondback one single automatic critical hit. It is incapable of causing critical hits randomly.

Once it has a few crits in it, the Diamondback is exceptionally powerful, dropping any class that isn't overhealed in three shots and making the Spy a surprisingly large threat in a given combat situation. Because you actually need to obtain crits to get the most out of it, it is best used on maps where the enemy is making heavy use of Sentry Guns - and a very bad choice of weapon if they are not since the Diamondback has no real upsides without those crits.

The Diamondback is extremely loud. Anyone remotely nearby will be able to hear the weapon's report and know what weapon is being firing immediately. This can work for you, however, its report is so loud that it can be used to try to bait enemies to go after you, allowing you to easier locate a straggler to eliminate with a backstab. You would be amazed how many players will hesitate if they know a Spy is around the area.

The Diamondback excels at dealing with Engineer nests. If you can secure even one critical hit with an Electro Sapper, a single shot will take over 80% of the Engineer's health in a single shot, functionally guaranteeing a kill with a follow-up shot. Because of this, it generally does well on Payload and Capture the Flag maps where Sentry presence is virtually guaranteed.

If you lack crits, the Diamondback can still function as a holdout weapon; it does more damage than L'Etranger, meaning it is a little better than it is in terms of damage even without any crits stored it.

A clever Spy can "milk" crits from an unaware Engineer by allowing him to get some buildings up and then sapping the lot of them when the Engineer is away. This method will allow you to obtain additional crits for your Diamondback, but can be difficult to perform more than once without the Dead Ringer due to the likelihood of the Engineer's teammates coming to assist.

The Diamondback, like all revolvers, is 100% accurate provided you delay 1.25 seconds between shots. This works extremely well with the crit boost, allowing you to reliably put down enemies and buildings at long range due to the raw power of its guaranteed crits; anything shy of a Heavy or Level 3 Sentry will go down in 2 shots (and barring overheals/an Engineer, the latter will go down in three).

Secondary weapons

Electro Sapper

Weapon	Kill icon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Kill icon	Loaded	Carried	Point blank	Medium range	Long range	Critical
Stock Sapper		1	∞	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

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. 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 two 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 either eliminate these Pyros before attempting to sap any buildings or to avoid them completely when the opportunity arises.

When sneaking up on an Engineer who using the Wrangler, stab first and 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 and 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 first instead of trying to kill you. Since it take two 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 method because you don't have to account for which way the Sentry is facing and circle-strafing the opposite way.

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

When dealing with Teleporters, it may be ideal to forego the Electro Sapper and use your Revolver. If the Engineer is not near either end, it will attract less attention if you destroy one end as the Engineer will not automatically know a Spy was the culprit. Additionally, you can combine both to ensure one end is destroyed, while the Electro Sapper encourages the Engineer to leave his other buildings unprotected.

Melee weapons

Knife/Saxxy/Sharp Dresser

Weapon	Kill icon	Attack interval	Damage
Weapon	Kill icon	Attack interval	Point blank	Critical
Stock Knife		0.8 seconds	40	120
Stock Knife		0.8 seconds	N/A	6× victim's health.
Promotional Saxxy		0.8 seconds	40	120
Promotional Saxxy		0.8 seconds	N/A	6× victim's health.
Promotional Sharp Dresser		0.8 seconds	40	120
Promotional Sharp Dresser		0.8 seconds	N/A	6× victim's health.

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 six times the enemies' current health on crit-enabled servers, and two times their current health on no-crit servers.
Always remember that a 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 Ambassador. When the Sniper is under attack, it will take him awhile to react and fight back which gives you plenty of time to finish him off. It is also very easy to headshot a still Sniper from behind.

If a Razorback-equipped Sniper is standing beside a corner, it can sometimes be more rewarding to backstab the Razorback and then round the corner to Cloak. When a 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 the sound on), come back and backstab him. 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 stair-stab. [1]
Don't go Knife crazy! The Knife does nearly no damage when it's not a backstab. Only attack with it if you are certain it will backstab or else you will deal minimal damage and give away your position.

If you are lucky enough to own a Saxxy, you may not wish to use it with the Spy; the Saxxy turns enemies into solid shimmering Australium upon a kill, and the sudden transformation of your victim into a precious metallic statue can frequently blow your cover under enemy lines.

Your Eternal Reward / Wanga Prick

Weapon	Kill icon	Attack interval	Damage
Weapon	Kill icon	Attack interval	Point blank	Critical
Craft Your Eternal Reward		0.8 seconds	40	120
Craft Your Eternal Reward		0.8 seconds	N/A	6× victim's health.
Craft Wanga Prick		0.8 seconds	40	120
Craft Wanga Prick		0.8 seconds	N/A	6× victim's health.

Since a Spy cannot disguise at will if using this weapon, he will have to rely more heavily on efficient uses of Cloak and teammate distractions to acquire kills.

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 is important to continue to rely on your Cloak as a primary stealth tool. Your Eternal Reward may also be more difficult to use on "alltalk" servers for this reason.

Kills with Your Eternal Reward are truly silent; the victim will not scream & their bodies disappear upon death whether they are backstabbed or not. Also, the enemy will not see their kill notification. Therefore, even paranoid Spy-checkers will have trouble finding a Spy using Your Eternal Reward.

This weapon is extremely well-suited for taking out Sentry Guns when you already have a disguise. You can backstab the Engineer and the Sentry Gun will not detect your presence between disguises, making Stab n' Sap 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 n' Sap. If the gun is unattended, simply uncloak with your Electro Sapper equipped and strafe the Sentry Gun in the direction away from the barrel as it turns towards you. As soon as the Electro Sapper is attached, the Sentry Gun is done for, and you can escape without any damage taken.

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.

Your Eternal Reward is almost always better than any other knife when dealing with a crowd of pre-occupied enemies in a final push, or near a Payload cart. After backstabbing the enemy in the back of the group, one can assume the victim's identity almost instantly without raising any suspicion from those around him, and slowly eat away at the members of the group.

Using the Dead Ringer alongside Your Eternal Reward will instigate a strong element of luck and skill, whether the Saharan Spy set is worn or not. The inability to Cloak or disguise at will will render backstabs much more difficult. However, once a disguise is acquired, the Dead Ringer can make an excellent escape plan should anything go wrong.
- The Saharan Spy set, or the full Polycount set, will reduce the sound of de-cloaking with any watch, notably the Dead Ringer. Since the Dead Ringer has a characteristically loud sound that can be deafened, its only major drawback is solved. Use this to your advantage.

When using Your Eternal Reward on Control Point maps, be wary when defending the final control point. Because the Eternal Reward disguises instantaneously, stabbing enemies capping your last point will not disrupt the cap (it will, however, slow the capping with one less person). This can allow for survivors to continue to cap while you frantically try to stab them. Pulling out your selected Revolver at this time to stall for friendly backup is usually the best response.

Prior to obtaining your first disguise, look for enemies who are separated from the rest of their team, or distracted in a firefight. Once you stab them and obtain their identity, approach enemy 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 in a large group of enemies. A single missed backstab will get rid of your disguise until you're able to land a successful backstab, which will be difficult should you be discovered.
- Because of this, new players are recommended to practice with the regular Knife until they master backstabbing successfully without the indicator.

Since backstabbing with Your Eternal Reward will "cloak" the ragdoll of your victim and disguise you instantaneously, 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 has happened.
- 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.

Using the Cloak and Dagger with Your Eternal Reward, you can potentially crush any enemy opposition by setting up near a largely used pathway. Hide in a nice little nook where you know your enemies will pass by. When you spot a straggler, take them down with a backstab. You will disguise yourself as them 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. An observant Medic will notice if a Spy has passed by or one of his "teammates" has suddenly disappeared. It is best to take over when the Medic isn't looking at his target, e.g., 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 stock 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.

If you plan on using the Saharan Spy set, it is advisable not to use the Wanga Prick as a substitute to Your Eternal Reward since it dosen't contribute to the set.

Conniver's Kunai

Weapon	Kill icon	Attack interval	Damage	Healing
Weapon	Kill icon	Attack interval	Point blank	Critical	From backstab
Promotional/Craft Conniver's Kunai		0.8 seconds	40	120	N/A
Promotional/Craft Conniver's Kunai		0.8 seconds	N/A	6× victim's health.	Target's current health, capping at 180 health.

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.

Remember that effects such as afterburn and bleed can be instantly negated by a successful backstab. However, you cannot heal from health packs if you are overhealed, therefore, if you have either afterburn or bleed you will not be able use Health packs to stop these effects until your overheal has ended.

Never, ever bring out your Revolver against other classes unless they do not have long range weapons, they do not notice you, or you have the Dead Ringer equipped, as you almost never survive a one on one confrontation with the Conniver's Kunai.

Big Earner

Weapon	Kill icon	Attack interval	Damage
Weapon	Kill icon	Attack interval	Point blank	Critical
Craft Big Earner		0.8 seconds	40	120
Craft Big Earner		0.8 seconds	N/A	6× victim's health.

The Big Earner reduces the user's overall health to 100, but grants a 30% Cloak refill (for any watch) upon a successful melee kill.

The Big Earner functions as a Knife equivalent of L'Etranger; whilst it requires a risky trade-off (with lower heath and damage respectably), successfully landing a hit grants a Cloak bonus, thus making for easier escapes in exchange for riskier assaults.

The Big Earner works especially well with the Dead Ringer, as the Knife's ability to regain Cloak faster and the watches' survival ability can negate the health drop caused by the Big Earner (through an increase in survival chances).

The Big Earner primarily benefits offensive/aggressive spies; successfully backstabbing in the enemy base can give your Cloak the necessary recharge it needs to help you survive in a pinch.

It's recommended that you choose the Cloak and Dagger or Dead Ringer over the Invisibility Watch/Enthusiast's Timepiece when using the Big Earner; with reduced health, your survival may depend on abusing the Cloak whenever possible (due to reduced health and granted Cloak bonus on backstab), so it is preferable that you have a Cloak that won't run out quickly or that will allow you to survive.

Note that, whilst it is not advised, getting a non-backstab or taunt kill will still grant the Cloak bonus, i.e. as long as the Knife is used, meaning that, in a desperate situation, a Cloak reward can still be gained by spam attacking an unaware, weak enemy.

Spy-cicle

Weapon	Kill icon	Attack interval	Damage
Weapon	Kill icon	Attack interval	Point blank	Critical
Craft Spy-cicle		0.8 seconds	40	120
Craft Spy-cicle		0.8 seconds	N/A	6× victim's health.

The Spy-cicle causes any backstabbed players to leave a frozen ragdoll, but causes a completely silent death. Upon any contact with flames, the knife provides a 2 second fire immunity, but requires a 15 second recharge period before it can be used again.

This knife allows for a completely silent kill like Your Eternal Reward, but leaves a unique corpse not unlike the Saxxy; as a result, it draws minimal immediate attention, but alerts anyone finding the body to your presence, requiring the player to employ a hit-and-run tactics to remain completely undetected.

Try to time your kills carefully; should an observant Pyro come across a frozen ragdoll, they may Spy check more thoroughly to render your fireproof bonus moot.

Since any contact with fire renders your knife temporarily useless, you may have to rely on your Revolver to defend yourself; consider picking a gun that doesn't suffer from a damage decrease, such as the Diamondback or L'Etranger.

Fencing

	Kill icon	Weapon	Damage	Duration	Details
Fencing		Knife, Saxxy, Your Eternal Reward, Conniver's Kunai, Big Earner, Wanga Prick, Spy-cicle	500	4 seconds	The Spy transfers his weapon to his left hand and begins to practice a deadly Fencing maneuver, resulting in damage or death for anyone to be in the way.

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, using a Kill taunt 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 can be negated by quickly performing a voice command

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 even if the Kill taunt succeeds.

Successfully Fencing with the Big Earner will still grant the 30% Cloak bonus, but it is still not advised as it also requires no disguise and your lowered health may put your life in risk if you fail.

PDA Slot

Disguise Kit

Weapon	Ammo		Damage
Weapon	Loaded	Carried	Point blank	Medium range	Long range	Critical
Stock Disguise Kit	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

The Disguise Kit is the Spy's major infiltration tool. Most of your time spent disguised will be done 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 in order 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, therefore 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 jumps. Since Scouts are known to wander for extended periods, it is 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 do not 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 will have trouble dodging enemy fire and avoiding blocking enemy movement. 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. To get behind enemy lines, it might work to just simply walk in backwards. Normal Soldiers often walk backwards while retreating, therefore most players will generally not suspect a backwards-moving Soldier. 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, therefore a Pyro disguise can get in and out of enemy areas nicely. Unfortunately, the Pyro disguise has a couple of flaws that make it less than perfect. Aside from the fact that it is a common disguise (and therefore frequently Spy checked), Pyros are expected to Spy check constantly, therefore competent nearby enemies will almost always attack you if they notice that you are not Spy checking them. If you are 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 are using. If you are trying to hide around a corner or wall, switch your disguise's weapon away from the Flamethrower because it has a 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

The Demoman is an average disguise in almost every way, with both advantages and disadvantages in each of its traits. His move speed is reduced, but only slightly; he has reasons to stay in the enemy's base, but not for very long without using stickies; he is used in both offense and defense, but is expected to spam his weapons while doing so; his 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, a Heavy is a rare disguise. He cannot 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, therefore 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 his 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 a 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 is not unlikely that you will by Spy checked by an enemy Engineer when/if they spot you with their own 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, albeit doing 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 is true that enemies usually will not 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 teammates who expect to be healed quickly, which you cannot 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. Medic disguises did not have an ÜberCharge meter until the Spy vs. Sniper Update, therefore some enemies will forget and assume a Medic with an ÜberCharge meter is not a Spy. One positive trait about the Medic disguise worth mentioning, though, is that anybody asking for a Medic expects the Medic to be behind them... for a backstab opportunity!

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 is not suspicious for Snipers to stay within their base's perimeters for extended periods, and they are not 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 the 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. Do note one small trick you can play. If you are in an area with common Sniper versus Sniper battles, such as the the 2nd floor exit in 2Fort, you might be able to get by as a Sniper longer by getting a teammate Sniper to shoot at you, but missing. If you are getting shot at, and the Sniper on your team constantly moves, your enemies may not expect you to zoom in and fire back because, to them, you have an enemy just waiting for you to pop out of hiding.

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 teammates without attacking, therefore it can come in handy when getting into firefights. Using an enemy Spy disguise has no effect on the color of your disguise smoke or your Cloak, therefore you can still be spotted by those. Many players will instinctively fire at all Spies (even friendly ones), therefore the Spy disguise is usually risky. Spy disguises did not have fake masks until the Spy vs. Sniper Update, therefore 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 preparing 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.

PDA2 slot

Invisibility Watch / Enthusiast's Timepiece

Weapon	Cloak
Weapon	Cloak type	Duration	Activation time	Deactivation time	Recharge
Stock Invis Watch	Standard Recharge	9 seconds	1 second	1.8 seconds	30 seconds
Promotional Enthusiast's Timepiece	Standard Recharge	9 seconds	1 second	1.8 seconds	30 seconds

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 Cloak and Dagger, the Invisibility Watch uses the least amount of energy and allows the furthest amount of distance while invisible.

Cloaking 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

Weapon	Cloak
Weapon	Cloak type	Duration	Activation time	Deactivation time	Recharge
Unlock Cloak and Dagger	Motion Sensitive	6.2 seconds	1 second	2.2 seconds	15 seconds

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.

The Cloak and Dagger allows you to become invisible permanently, as long as you are standing still, so you could sneak behind enemy lines and do some scouting, then report back to your teammates about their Sentry positions, class combinations, etc.

The Cloak and Dagger can be used for a technique known as "Spycapping" in which case a Spy sneaks past enemy forces and sits cloaked on the last control point. Once the control point has unlocked the Spy then proceeds to uncloak and quickly capture the final point for the win.
- When attempting to Spycap be sure that there are no enemy Sentry Guns around, if there are quickly use your Electro Sapper on them and capture the point.

Dead Ringer

Weapon	Cloak
Weapon	Cloak type	Duration	Activation time	Deactivation time	Recharge
Unlock Dead Ringer	Feign Death	6.5 sec	0 sec	1.8 sec	16 sec

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 "flickerless" Cloak effects.

Remember, with the Dead Ringer, you cannot 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.

Demomen usually put Sticky bombs outside the setup gates during setup time, you can try using these to your advantage to get behind enemy lines.

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 and Mad Milk won't 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. Staying next to a Dispenser past the normal Cloak time will also make you visable from bullet hits and enemies bumping into you.

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.

Disguising as a teammate then using the Dead Ringer will allow you to slip behind enemy lines, then disguise as an enemy without causing suspicion.

Because you cannot Cloak on demand with the Dead Ringer, you can use falling damage causing your Cloak to activate, to Cloak allowing you to quickly slip behind enemy lines.

When defending, the 90% damage reduction can help you stall the enemy at a chokepoint for a few precious seconds. Conversely, you can also use the Dead Ringer to stall the enemy at their own gates, by going in un-disguised and un-cloaked, and dodging erratically with the Dead Ringer out.
Because drowning deals such low damage, using the Dead Ringer when drowning will even heal you slightly, as it has damage reduction.
When on 6v6 or Highlander mode, disguise as a friendly Medic and activate the Dead Ringer to trick the enemy team into making a push.

Item Sets

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.

The Man of Honor

Main article: Item sets

The Man of Honor
	Enforcer Big Earner Cosa Nostra Cap Made Man
Effect	No effect

This set is designed for the Spy who likes to make large amounts of damage and escape quickly. The Enforcer and the Big Earner work together towards this goal, providing a higher damage output and a way to refill your Cloak faster.

Even though this set lets you choose your watch at will, the Dead Ringer is usually the Watch of choice to carry with this set eqquiped:
- The Enforcer's downside does not apply to it, making this weapon a straight upgrade to the default Revolver.
- The Dead Ringer's death fake ability helps offset the Big Earner's health penalty.

Weapon Combinations

Example combinations
Combo			Usage
Ambassador	or Knife or Sharp Dresser	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	or Knife or Sharp Dresser	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, the Spy has a more silent Cloak at the cost of a longer blink time, so it makes it easier to hide from enemies. It should be noted that in most public games the importance of killing any one single enemy player is less, so camping for too long in one space not doing anything makes you dead weight to your team.
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.
Enforcer	Conniver's Kunai	Dead Ringer	This is a high-risk high-payoff loadout for Spies who like to do as much damage to the enemy as possible. 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. The Dead Ringer will increase your chances of surviving while using the Kunai. If you are caught early, then the Enforcer can be used to kill enemies quickly and effectively. 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.
Enforcer	Big Earner	Dead Ringer	The Man of Honor - with Dead Ringer This set is especially recommended for those who use the Dead Ringer frequently or otherwise rely on it. The downside of the Enforcer will be nullified with the Dead Ringer, making it a straight upgrade to the default Revolver. The already increased Cloak recharge rate of the Dead Ringer pairs very well with the bonus of the Big Earner. A single backstab is usually already enough to use the Dead Ringer again, once it has been used. Due to the Dead Ringer's great damage reduction, the downside of the Big Earner is somewhat negligible.
L'Etranger	Big Earner	Cloak and Dagger	This set focuses on staying out of sight. Due to the Cloak and Dagger's fast Cloak consumption, and to it's ability to not be able to use ammo packs to recharge your Cloak, L'Etranger and the Big Earner allow you to be cloaked often and escape most situations invisibly. Keep in mind that this set greatly relies on dealing damage to regain Cloak, which means that you will often be without your disguise and therefore vulnerable. This is mostly a set for people who know ideal cloaking spots and pathways in the map they are playing on.
Ambassador	Your Eternal Reward	or Invisibility Watch or Enthusiast's Timepiece	This set is for the Spy who likes to kill an enemy, move on and repeat. The Ambassador allows him to kill the victim if the backstab misses and gives him a significant way of killing people without backstabbing. Your Eternal Reward allows the Spy to be rewarded with a disguise, so he can be ready for a follow-up. The normal Invisibility Watch forces him to keep moving quickly and to uncloak, Cloak and collect ammo boxes constantly. It also gives him enough time to catch up with his next target. Note that for this set, you want to make as many kills as possible in one life, as you are most effective at killing efficiently. This also means that if you are discovered, you do not always get killed and you have some defense. You should make every kill count if you use this set, for you cannot gain disguises without killing somebody.

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 Engineer. 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 this is the case, you have 3 options: Crouch behind the Dispenser and use your Revolver to take it out or at least damage it (Provided there aren't any enemies around, they will hear the sound of your Revolver), crouch jump over the Dispenser (unless the Dispenser is placed in a position where you would've normally jumped on to the platform to reach it) or simply 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, unless you are disguised as the Engineer, but he will almost certainly see a clone of himself and kill you. Unless you have backstabbed the Engy already and you disguised as him, or the Engy is dead and you are disguised as him, do not go on top of a Dispenser uncloaked.
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 telecamping, 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 - (or E 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 Payload 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 Blu 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.
- Do note that if you are in a situation that you may think it is safe to call a Medic, such as separation from the other members, there is one giveaway that a person paying attention would notice. As a Spy, your Medic call copies your health, not the health of that who you are disguised as. Therefore, if the person you are disguised as has above half health, but you have below half health, then your Medic call will be red or vice versa and the deadly wounded teammate will call Medic in pure white, therefore if the Medic pays attention to the signs, calling Medic at the wrong health may be a dead giveaway that you are a Spy. If you notice that you might give yourself away, such as medicalling while almost dead while your disguise is healthy, then call Medic and look at them for signs. If they pull out a weapon like the Übersaw or Needle Gun and look at you, this may be a sign that you have just revealed your disguise to them.

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. If you do 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 vs. Spy Update, when disguised as a Medic, the ÜberCharge percentage did not show up when an enemy targeted you. This was a big giveaway. This was fixed in the May 21, 2009 Patch, and now disguising as a 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 of them will likely result in a Spy check. A great method to single-handedly stop this attack is trying to run with the group 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 rear of the pack and backstab most, if not 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.

Deliberately trying to avoid people in corridors is like saying, "Hey! Here I am! Shoot me!" and will likely get you Spy checked and possibly killed. If you see someone barreling down a corridor at you, it is 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 is 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 on your back in a few seconds. Use this knowledge to time your actions. If you know that the opponent's #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 twice in the exact same spot, they are going to be checking the area the next time they come through in order to find you.

Most importantly: There are many people (Pyros) who will Spy check anyone they see, regardless of team affiliation, just as a precaution. Because of this, you must 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. Wait until the damage indicator clears before moving to ensure that you're completely invisible.

Avoid disguising yourself as a Scout. While your speed will be slower when disguised as a Heavy or a 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 Scout who is running slower than normal. This is one of the quickest ways to be detected. The speed difference is not as noticeable if running towards or away from enemies, and disguising as a 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, 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 it also makes enemy players less likely to Spy check you thinking 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 by default), put on a disguise, or Cloak to recon ahead for danger and/or clear out an ambush. Afterwards, 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". It's best to avoid being seen altogether and use cloaking more often.

While disguised, try to use voice commands such as Battle Cry. It will make your disguised player speak and do some mimics, and therefore it can fool some enemies who don't think about Spies being able to do those mimics.

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 spawned, you can wait for them to pass by 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.
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 their team's back.
When you see a friendly Spy approaching a target, choose another target. If your teammate targets 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 the Cloak meter in areas without ammo boxes, therefore you can Cloak in order to hide in case a backstab attempt fails. 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 will need to proceed with caution when attempting a backstab.
Be aware of the level of noise each of your cloaking devices make. A common mistake is decloaking too close to your target, thus enabling 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.