Updated Spy Ramblings

[neoviper]

Ever since the new update came out I've been itching to try the new semi-updated spy. Cloak recharge from ammo makes a huge difference, you can now stand next to (or on top of) a dispenser and never run out of cloak, and if it's upgraded you can even recharge your cloak while still remaining invisible. You have to be careful of enemy players, engies in particular if you do this, frequently even if you're standing on top if it they will touch you a bit and make you visible for a second. still, its incredibly useful on a stage like dustbowl, to get to the sentry setup, recharge your cloak, and then uncloak behind it out of sight. another useful thing you can do is backstab someone and cloak immediately as you normally would, but run over their weapon that dropped and get a bit of extra cloak to get out of there. finally, and the one I had the most fun with, is the large ammo boxes, you can stay cloaked almost entirely through a stage with just medium and large ammo boxes, and makes evading enemies who have spotted you much easier.

quite a fun update, all in all, hopefully should make things easier on the less experienced spies out there.

[ZoliEsq]

for the experienced ones it's gonna be a hellsend for other classes

[Still Learning]

^haha, oh yes it is Directly after the update, my score at end of round actually almost doubled. Making it something like 60/20/18 in the MVP XD

regarding dispensers.... don't recharge Your cloak while invisible. Uncloak and recharge it in disguise If You get found out, cloak into safety ( or shoot the engie to death if the dispenser covers You from sentry fire

[Zijoku]

^haha, oh yes it is Directly after the update, my score at end of round actually almost doubled. Making it something like 60/20/18 in the MVP XD

regarding dispensers.... don't recharge Your cloak while invisible. Uncloak and recharge it in disguise If You get found out, cloak into safety ( or shoot the engie to death if the dispenser covers You from sentry fire

Good to know

[Pie21]

Wait it does recharge while you're cloaked - I know because I abuse it often The most fun you can have is to run to the enemy's base (my best memory is Hydro), cloak, and sit on top of their dispenser and watch them. If it's level 3, your cloak will charge faster than it runs out, so you can just watch them until they turn their back, then put a knife in it.

EDIT: Okay, it doesn't seem to anymore since the Scout update.

[SpamBotChris]

Can anyone comment on the spy-weapon-appearance update? A disguised spy can now select different weapons. How's that working out? (All part of Valve's strategy to make the spy disguise worthwhile again. Now we have rechargeable cloak, the cigarette box is almost redundant. Most spies seem to spend their time invisible rather than disguised.)

Also, any comments on the fixed backstab? Flick-stabs and face stabs are rumoured to be gone, though I'm too far away from a >600MHz PC to test it myself.

[ZoliEsq]

Not a fan of the new weapons, as I do disguise, cloak and switch to the knife all in on swoop... as I disguise, it switched to the melee b/c I was on the knife already, this is only really gonna maybe help out someone disguised as an engi maybe.. as for the stabs, it eliminates lagging out out 1/2 way thorugh the stab, so that helps.

[123rune20]

I would say the new mini-update for spies is pretty fun. I can still recharge my cloak and upgraded dispensers after the scout update, so you can sneak in pretty easily. At non-upgraded dispensers it seems to "freeze" my cloak meter.

What I am really mad at is the disguise weapon thing. I have mastered it myself, however I have seen at least two dozen newby spies runnin' around with their melee weapons out. If you choose your weapon (Number Keys 1-3) and then press "B" for last disguise, it will change the weapon. So 3 for a melee weapon, 2 for a secondary, and 1 for a primary.

[Pie21]

I certainly like the idea of changing weapons, and it's probably good (for now) that the Spy's disguised weapon doesn't change when he changes his weapon, he has to redisguise. Even running around with a melee weapon out is often less suspicious than a primary weapon these days

And good to have you on board, rune! Having not played much Spy since the update, I'm wondering what weapons work well to run around with as the common disguise classes (pyro, demo, engy, sniper)?

[ZoliEsq]

Well now standing next to a sentry with as an engi will look less suspicous with the wrench.. U can even just stand on the dispenser like those campers do.

[123rune20]

Lol. On 2fort, it's pretty fun to make it as spy up to the enemy battlements, disguise as sniper, and pretend to move back and forth like a crazy sniper.

I've actually stayed up there for five minutes, until one little pyro came out, flamed me and almost walked away. Oh well!

Also, i've escaped getting killed as spy just by switching weapons. -)!

[bushface.]

My favourite part of the update is probably the instant backstab. On top of being much more accurate, the shorter animation decreases the time between a stab and a followed sap.
If an Engineer is sitting right behind his sentry, it is now much easier to stab first, and ask questions later.

The cloaking recharge from dispensers is also good, almost overpowered.
I was hoping that it would encourage Engineers to use their dispensers for offensive healing and ammunition, instead of metal machines.

Oh well, I guess I'm not camping their dispensers enough.

[CaleWillKill]

I kind of like the new weapon switch feature, but it's not that useful for the disguises I use. I always use a friendly pyro to get close, then cloak behind and disguise as enemy pyro. I don't really need anything but my flamethrower, so I don't need to switch weapons.

[9Squirrels]

Wait.. what? Spies can change weapons now? Dammit, it's not like they needed any help staying hidden. now I'm going to spend all my time spy checking other engies approaching my equipment with their wrenches out.
I was getting hit by a very effective spy this weekend on Goldrush stage 1 when I was defending the second cap. S/He kept running in, disguised as an engie (bearing my name no less) and sapping my SG and dispenser, then sapping my SG a number of times as I tried to clear it. Then cloak and run. By which time any local team mates would have arrived hearing my calls for help, and would start hosing me down thinking I was the spy. It was INCREDIBLY annoying. S/He'd usually get my dispenser down first time round, then maybe my SG the second. The smart thing was not attacking me, it meant that when I cleared the saps from the SG it didn't kill him/her. So frustrating.

[Still Learning]

Sounds like that could have been me XD though it probably wasn't

Playing spy now is even more rewarding. A good spy will strike a level of paranoia that might just win Your team the game all by itself ( snipers checking their back constantly, people spychecking others instead of shooting the enemy, being caught unloaded after a spycheck as demo/soldier/engie...etc etc. ). And when everyone does that, he'll just switch classes to sniper and headshot the people who move predictably due to spychecking XD

Also, it's kinda cheap, but... a global macro that turns Your "choose weapon X" to "choose weapon X + press >last disguise<" works wonders. Won't do anything for non-spies and needs only a minor gamepülay adjustment for spies... but allows for weaponswitch-spam. ANd it will take a loooong time until people finally realize that rapid weaponswitch =|= "I'm not a spy" anymore. Convincing a soldier that just fired a rocket in Your face that You are no spy, then turning around and stabbing him as he runs past makes me all warm and fuzzy inside

Big LOL @ facestabs still being an issue, though not so much now.