Spy weapons (competitive)

This article is for competitive play, based on the standard community competitive format.
The community competitive scene changes frequently. Some or all info may be outdated.

The Spy is a class highly dependent on his stealth abilities to take out enemies behind cover with a backstab.

Primary Weapons

The Spy's primary weapons provide him with his only long-range damage, and are mostly used to cover a retreat. All of the Spy's primary weapons will be perfectly accurate if unfired for 1.25 seconds.

Revolver

The stock Revolver deals low damage, and can be good to pick of a low-health enemy at range.

The Big Kill has the same stats as the Revolver.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Revolver	Point-Blank: 60 512 units: 40 Over 1024 units: 21	Critical: 120 Point-Blank Mini-crit: 81 Over 512 units Mini-crit: 54	Attack: 0.58s Reload: 1.16s	Stock primary weapon.

The Ambassador

The Ambassador deals reduced damage, but deals critical damage on a headshot.

Weapon	Damage	Critical hits|Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Ambassador	Point-Blank: 51 512 units: 34 Over 1024 units: 18	Critical: 102 Point-Blank Mini-crit: 69 Over 512 units Mini-crit: 46	Attack: 0.696 Reload: 1.16 Cooldown until perfect accuracy: 0.95s	Accuracy is based on the time since the last shot. Deals critical damage on an accurate headshot. 15% damage penalty. 20% slower firing speed.

L'Etranger

The L'Etranger deals reduced damage, but provides 15% additional cloak on hit.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
L'Etranger	Point-Blank: 48 512 units: 32 Over 1024 units: 17	Critical: 96 Point-Blank Mini-crit: 65 Over 512 units Mini-crit: 43	Attack: 0.58s Reload: 1.16s	Adds 15% cloak on hit. 20% damage penalty.

Diamondback

The Diamondback deals reduced damage, but deals stores and deals critical hits for each building sapped.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Diamondback	Point-Blank: 51 512 units: 34 Over 1024 units: 18	Critical: 102 Point-Blank Mini-crit: 69 Over 512 units Mini-crit: 46	Attack: 0.58s Reload: 1.16s	Gives one guaranteed critical hit for each building destroyed. 15% damage penalty.

Enforcer

Note: The Enforcer is banned or restricted in some leagues.

The Enforcer deals increased damage, at the cost of a longer cloak time.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Diamondback	Point-Blank: 72 512 units: 48 Over 1024 units: 25	Critical: 144 Point-Blank Mini-crit: 97 Over 512 units Mini-crit: 65	Attack: 0.58s Reload: 1.16s	20% damage bonus. +0.5 second increase in cloak time. Has no effect on the cloak times of the Dead Ringer.

Primary Weapon Usage

The stock Revolver can quickly deal with low-health players. The Ambassador can help put damage on, or even take out certain classes with a headshot. The L'Etranger provides additional cloak for a better get-away. The Diamondback is useful in the presence of Engineers. The Enforcer provides increased damage, useful for taking down classes with more health, but makes it harder for the Spy to escape safely. The Ambassador tends to be used, due to the possibility of increased damage with a headshot, but the stock Revovler sees a lot of use due to consistant damage.

Secondary Weapons

The Spy has only one secondary weapon.

Electro Sapper

The Spy's only secondary weapon is the Electro Sapper.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Electro Sapper	DPS: 25	N/A	Level 1 Building: 6.00s Level 2 Building: 7.20s Level 3 Building: 8.64s Combat Mini-sentry: 4s	Removed by two hits from a wrench. Removed by one hit from the Maul. The Spy's revolvers deal less damage to a building which is being sapped. Buildings are disabled while being sapped.

Secondary Weapon Usage

The Spy's Electro Sapper is useful for taking down or disabling an Engineer's buildings to allow the team to advance.

Melee Weapons

The Spy's melee weapons are his primary source of damage. Any hit within the 180º range behind an enemy will register a Backstab, dealing six times the player's health. They deal about 60% the damage of another stock melee weapon, (compare to scout). All of the Spy's knives except for the Spy-cicle will perform the Fencing taunt.

Knife

The stock Knife deals low damage normally, but can backstab for an instant kill.

The Sharp Dresser and the Black Rose have the same stats as the Knife.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Knife	Melee: 40 Backstab: 6 times the target's health	Critical: 120 Mini-crit: 54	Attack: 0.8s	Stock melee weapon.

Your Eternal Reward

The Your Eternal Reward deals identical damage to the stock Knife, but will cause the death of an enemy to be silent, and disguises the Spy as the fallen teammate instantly. The Spy cannot otherwise disguise.

The Wanga Prick has the same stats as the Your Eternal Reward.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Your Eternal Reward	Melee: 40 Backstab: 6 times the target's health	Critical: 120 Mini-crit: 54	Attack: 0.8s	Disables the Disguise Kit. Backstabs are silent. Corpses are hidden. Instant disguise as the killed player.

Conniver's Kunai

The Conniver's Kunai grants the Spy health on kill, at the cost of initial health. The granted health can provide overheal.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Conniver's Kunai	Melee: 40 Backstab: 6 times the target's health	Critical: 120 Mini-crit: 54	Attack: 0.8s	On backstab, grants the Spy health equivalent to the target's health. Maximum health reduced to 60 from 125. Maximum overheal reduced from 185 to 90. Maximum overheal from backstab is 180. Health provided extinguishes fire and bleeding, similar to a health pack.

The Big Earner

The Big Earner provides the Spy with 30% cloak on backstab, but reduces his maximum health by 25.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Big Earner	Melee: 40 Backstab: 6 times the target's health	Critical: 120 Mini-crit: 54	Attack: 0.8s	30% cloak granted on kill. Maximum health reduced to 100 from 125. Maximum overheal reduced from 185 to 150.

Spy-cicle

Note: The Spy-cicle is banned or restricted in some leagues.

The Spy-cicle kills players silently, but freezes their bodies in ice, akin to the Saxxy. If the Spy is lit on fire, or taking afterburn with it active, it will extinguish the fire, prevent additional fire damage for two seconds, but disable the knife for 15 seconds.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Spy-cicle	Melee: 40 Backstab: 6 times the target's health	Critical: 120 Mini-crit: 54	Attack: 0.8s Fire prevention time: 2s Recharge time: 15s	Kills silently. Leaves ice statues rather than corpses. Will stop and prevent fire damage while active. Can prevent afterburn. Disables the knife after doing so. Uses the Revovler taunt as opposed to the Fencing taunt.

Melee Weapon Usage

The stock Knife has no health penalty, and allows the disguise kit. The Your Eternal Reward allows for a Spy to take out enemies silently, but voice communication can supersede this. The Conniver's Kunai can help a Spy survive after a backstab, but makes the Spy highly vulnerable. The Big Earner is useful for a better getaway, and the Spy-cicle is helpful to avoid fire damage. The stock Knife tends to be a favorite choice for its lack of downsides, although some confident players may use the Conniver's Kunai to help extinguish fire damage.

PDA Items

Disguise Kit

The Disguise Kit allows the Spy to disguise as any other player in the game.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Disguise Kit	N/A	N/A	Disguise Time: 2s Smoke Duration: 3s	Smoke will be invisible if disguising while cloaked. Disguising as a friendly Spy will drop any disguise. Speed will be reduced to match a slower speed disguised class. This occurs when disguising as a Heavy, Demoman, or Soldier. Cannot speed up the Spy to match the speed of a Medic or Scout. Speed is not affected by weapons such as the Eyelander, Gloves of Running Urgently, or the Buffalo Steak Sandvich. By re-disguising as the same class, the spy will adjust his apparently active weapon to match the slot of the one he is using. The Electro Sapper or any PDA items cannot be mimicked in this way.

Invisibility Watch

The stock Invisibility Watch provides a rudimentary cloak which can be refueled with ammunition, and drains while active.

The Enthusiast's Timepiece has the same stats as the Invisibility Watch.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Invisibility Watch	N/A	N/A	Cloak duration: 10s Recharge time: 33.5s Cloak enable time: 1.2s Cloak disable time: 2.2s	Can be refilled with ammunition. If disguising while cloaked, the associated smoke will be hidden. Afterburn, bleeding, Jarate, Mad Milk, and water effects will be visible while cloaked. Cloak will flicker if the Spy bumps into an enemy player, or takes damage of any kind.

Cloak and Dagger

The Cloak and Dagger has less overall cloak than the stock Invisibility Watch, but allows the Spy to regenerate cloak by not moving.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Cloak and Dagger	N/A	N/A	Walking duration: 6.8s Crouch-walking duration: 66.5s Recharge time: 18.2s Recharge time while cloaked but not moving: ??? Cloak enable time: 1.2s Cloak disable time: 2.2s	Cannot be refilled with ammunition. Cloak duration based on movement speed. Cloak will flash identically to the stock Invisibility Watch. If the cloak meter runs out while cloaked, the cloak will flash as if the Spy had been bumped.

Dead Ringer

The Dead Ringer can be a useful tool into tricking the enemy that they have killed you or have gotten an important pick. A pick can be attempted with the enemy fooled that they have killed you, making the second attempt very easy. The Dead Ringer's loud ring can sometimes be muffled down by voice communication, but can still be easily heard by anyone completely aware that a Spy is still around. A common tactic to use with the Dead Ringer is to disguise as an important pick target of your own team, such as a Demoman, or Medic, while playing Gravel Pit offense and run out the spawn gates with it activated to fool an enemy Demoman camping the gates at the start of the round to blow his stickies.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Dead Ringer	N/A	N/A	Supercloak Duration: 6.5s Cloak enable time: 0s Cloak disable time: 2.2s Recharge time: 16s	Can only be activated at 100% charge. When activated, the Dead Ringer has no immediate effect, but prevents attacks by the Spy. If the Spy is damaged in any way while active, it triggers cloak and drops a fake corpse. The first 6.5 seconds of the cloak are a Supercloak. Supercloak is not subject to flashes, but it will show Jarate, Mad Milk, Afterburn, and water effects. Extinguishes afterburn when activated. Reduces damage taken by 90%. Cloak can be extended with ammunition, but will not be Supercloak. Cloak drains 60% faster. Decloaking reduces the overall cloak amount to 40% or lower. Ammunition pickups cannot refill more than 35% charge. Large and Medium pickups will refill 35%. Small pickups will refill 25%. Cloak recharges 80% faster otherwise.

PDA Items Usage

The PDA items were the Spies' essential tool to do his trickery, especially his Disguise kit, or to conceal himself temporarily (Except Cloak & Dagger, which makes the possibility to cloak indefinitely).

• The Invisibility Watch travels furthest, but the duration is timed, so it's best to pick the route carefully before doing so, and pick up ammo boxes to travel even further / fill up the cloak meter faster.

• The Cloak & Dagger is best used to watch the enemies' movements, while standing by cloaked indefinitely, making this PDA the best choice when paired with Your Eternal Reward.

• The Dead Ringer is best used to fake your deaths, making the enemy confident that you were dead, thus making it easier for a stab. But the loud decloaking sound makes it harder to keep the enemy tricked of your death, so find a safe place to decloak, far from the enemies.

Overall, it is up to each player to pick one that suits them most, and also the situation they were in.

See also

• Spy (competitive)
• Utility