CEVO Articles

Overview:

The Spy is a sneaky character, capable of disguising as an enemy and cloaking to get behind enemy lines. He wields three weapons: the Revolver, the Electro Sapper, and the Butterfly Knife. Each of these weapons is unique to the Spy and extremely powerful.

Weapons:

Revolver – The Spy’s primary weapon is a six shot Revolver that deals 20-60 damage, depending on range. A critical hit always deals 120 damage, regardless of range. This weapon is very valuable for finishing enemies and picking others off at long ranges due to its accuracy.

Electro Sapper – The Spy’s secondary weapon is the Electro Sapper which is used to destroy an Engineer’s buildings. Usable only at close range, the Sapper disables the building and destroys it in 7 seconds (8 if it’s a level 2 Sentry Gun and 10 if it’s a level 3 Sentry Gun). A common strategy is to sap a Sentry Gun and then stab the Engineer as he works to repair it (it takes 2 wrench swings to remove a Sapper).

Butterfly Knife – The Spy’s melee weapon is a Butterfly Knife that is extremely powerful. One swipe at the back of an enemy is an instantaneous kill and therefore the majority of a Spy’s kills are with this knife. It is not very powerful otherwise so it is advised to use the Revolver in any situation where you are not disguised.

Disguise Kit - The Spy’s last weapon slot is occupied by a box of cigarettes that, upon smoking, allow the Spy to disguise as any enemy (or friendly) class. These disguises enable the Spy to infiltrate the enemy lines and provide the ‘mode of stabbing’- pop on a disguise and use the Butterfly Knife to stab an unsuspecting enemy.

Strategies:

1. The key to being a successful Spy is - as you may have guessed - not getting caught. This includes, but is not limited to, utilizing the Cloak (right-click) to avoid choke points and bad situations, acting like an enemy while disguised, and using terrain to your advantage. Many battles can quickly become very dangerous for the Spy: it is better to ‘live today to fight another day’ than to die fruitlessly pursuing an unachievable objective.

2. One of the technicalities in avoiding enemy detection is the one-second delay when the Cloak is activated or a Disguise is applied. This delay prevents instantaneous changes in the Spy’s appearance which would be over powered. Thus, as it is, use the picture in the lower left corner of your screen to see what your character looks like from the outside.

3. In terms of Cloak usage, the bar in the lower right hand corner of the screen shows how much Cloak charge you have left. Use corners and dark areas to recharge your Cloak during your infiltration missions. Additionally, try to avoid Pyros in general; once you are on fire it is obvious that you are a Spy.

4. Although most good Spies attempt to stay alive and use their sabotage multiple times before dying (Strategy 1), suicide runs are sometimes necessary for the good of the team. Eliminating key enemies such as the Medic or the Heavy can turn the tide of the battle even if it means certain death for the Spy. Lastly, suicide runs are a valuable way to get a flag out of a dangerous area - uncloak and ‘keep running’ the flag out, 10 yards or so at a time.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 3:28 pm and is filed under Strategy, Team Fortress 2. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.