The spy is one of the most advanced classes in Team Fortress 2, but also one of the most fun if you can pull him off confidently. The spy lurks in and behind enemy lines, targeting enemy troops who are unprotected and distracted, preying on the enemy’s weaknesses. Huge success can be achieved if you are accurate, quick-thinking and aware of how to strike the enemy’s weak point for massive damage, so read on to get your target’s number.
Also quick note, check out the Spy Detection Guide to make sure you’re not unknowingly giving yourself away.
Versus The Scout
The scout is one of your worst enemies outside of the pyro, because he’s so fast that you can’t really backstab him, and if he catches you then you can’t possibly outrun him. Most of the time scouts are not really looking out for spies, so try to stay out of his path as best you can. If he discovers you then you should at least try to dodge and weave as much as you can to avoid being an easy target, and try to take him down with your revolver. He only has a small amount of health so it shouldn’t take too much to put him down.
Versus The Soldier
It’s fairly easy to get behind and stab the soldier because he’s quite slow, but if he sees you then you’ll probably end up watching some manner of taunt as he blows you apart. One thing to look out for is that it is very easy to get hit inadvertently by his rockets if he’s shooting at your team, so be aware of that, try to stick to walls if you have to cloak right by him. If he spots you your survival chance depends on how close you are to him; if you’re far away then you probably won’t get hit by anything, but if you run into him close up, better start praying.
Versus The Pyro
The absolute bane of all spies, pyros can set you on fire revealing you even if you cloak or disguise, all the while damaging you. Oftentimes they will run around randomly flaming teammates trying to find hidden spies. The only way to effectively deal with pyros is just leave them alone. Let them chase after your teammates, but be careful of getting caught in the flames. If he knows you’re there, then like the soldier it depends on how far away you are. Your best bet is to backpedal while desperately trying to take him with the revolver down before he can barbeque you.
Versus The Demoman
Easier to deal with compared to most of the other classes, he has a great deal of damage capability but little precision, so if he sees you, you can generally get away without even taking damage. Just be careful he doesn’t pull the bottle out on you, because if you’re right up next to him it can get ugly. Remember though, you’re slightly faster than him. Other than that, like the soldier avoid his grenades when he’s shooting teammates, but also be wary of the grenades that miss, they can still reveal you if you’re nearby when they detonate. As for sticky bombs, you can mostly just ignore them in terms of obstacles since he won’t blow them up on you if he doesn’t know you’re there, but if they’re pinning your team back, consider making the demoman’s back a priority target.
Versus The Heavy
Simultaneously one of the easier and more annoying kills, approaching the heavy is very dangerous, but if you can get behind him without him knowing, it’s a free kill. Be very careful when cloaking past a heavy, because they will be shooting almost constantly, and if you get hit by the spray even once, you will flicker. For this reason try to stay well away from your team, because if he sweeps past you to hit one of your teammates, then you will be exposed. Once that happens, assuming you somehow manage to get away from him without being perforated, everyone nearby will be on full alert. Heavies seem to tend towards being one of the more paranoid classes as well, especially if you’ve been doing a good job killing him. If you can cloak past him he won’t have an opportunity to test your disguise.
One thing worth noting is if he has a medic, and most of the time they do, that you should go for the medic first. If you take out his medic he is mostly useless, and you or your team can usually proceed to take him down with minimal loss.
Versus The Engineer
One of the most intense match ups for the spy, the engineer’s top priority is stopping you from getting anywhere near their sentry gun. After all, without a sentry they are mostly useless. They will shoot anyone who comes near it if they’re any good, so don’t ever try to walk up to him unless you’re feeling very confident. Most of the time you will want to cloak past him and uncloak where no one can see you.
Engineers tend to react in one of three ways. The easiest to deal with is the kind that sits behind his sentry wrenching every building in sight. If you sap all his buildings, he will tend to target the sappers before worrying about the spy. To deal with him, just repeatedly sap all his buildings and wait for an opening where the sentry is sapped and he’s repairing something. At this point, go the backstab and reapply sappers as necessary.
The other two reactions are the psychotic engineer who will target anyone who saps his buildings and prioritise them over said buildings, and the type that will pursue the spy just as soon as his sentry is unsapped. With both of these types, you’re often best off sapping everything and running away. However there is one tactic than can work very nicely against engineers sitting right behind their sentry. You have to act very fast, but the aim is to backstab the engineer, and the immediately whip out the sapper and slap in on his sentry before it can spin around and shoot you. Just make sure the knife actually makes contact with the engineer, because you lose your disguise as soon as you click. This works best on the slow-turning level 1 sentry guns, but can work up to level 3 as well.
Whatever you choose to do, it will likely end up with you dead, so try to ensure the engineer is dead and his turret has an electrosapper on it. When his teammates kill you, they will most likely be unable to save his turret, because it’s unlikely there’s a wrench among them. If there are multiple engineers and turrets, wait for some teammates before sapping. They can easily take down any number of sentries if you keep them disabled with your sappers. If the engineer has no sentry, you should probably just ignore him, since he’s mostly worthless to the enemy. Just make sure he has no teleporter exits up and you’ll have done your job.
Versus The Medic
Would seemingly be easy to kill these guys, because they have almost no defence of their own, but they almost always have a minimum of 3 enemies around them, and run around like crazy to avoid getting shot. First off, if you hear him get an über (”I am fully charged!), immediately try to take him down, as you’re about the only one who can stop the damage that would cause. If he’s too well protected, it’s sometimes worth trying to disguise as a heavy, and call for the medic to activate his charge on you as you run into friendly territory so he at least wastes it.
Given his speed (7% faster than you, and constantly on the move) it can be very hard to hit him in the back, so wait until you have a decent opportunity to take him down. If he’s standing still around a corner healing someone it’s very easy to kill him. However avoid looking like you’re running straight for the medic’s back, as this is a big indicator to his team that you’re a spy trying to kill him. Do not ever call for a medic to get them to heal you if you’re trying to kill them, unless you’re really desperate for health and believe you’re completely undetected. If a medic is healing you and he notices you’re not shooting, he will pull out his bone saw and slice you up.
Versus The Sniper
The easiest enemy you can come across, they are generally scoped in and won’t notice you running up on them, even if you come from the front. If he does see you it’s about an even fight, but you will almost never get seen by these guys. Do watch out for his team though, because they will notice if you beeline right for his back. If you cloak and get in behind him usually no one will notice, and you can make a smooth getaway.
Versus The Spy
An interesting matchup, this one. If you run into them in the midst of the enemy, he’s often disguised as one of your team members and easily picked out. As long as you don’t turn your back on him, treat him as any other enemy. If you run into one in your base it gets a little bit harder, but since you’re a spy its somewhat easier to spot the warning signs. If you want, just randomly stab your teammates in the back, you might uncover a spy. Most of time you will not get in a direct fight with a spy, because they’re just as concerned as you are for getting away alive. If you do however, then it just comes down to who is a better shot.
