TeamFortress 2

From BattleWiki

Shacknews.com Team Fortress 2 tips and class guide.

Contents 1 All Players 1.1 General 1.2 Voice Communication 1.3 Medics and Ubercharge 2 Class Tips 2.1 Scout 2.2 Soldier 2.3 Pyro 2.4 Demoman 2.5 Heavy 2.6 Engineer 2.7 Medic 2.8 Sniper 2.9 Spy 3 Map Tips 3.1 2Fort 3.2 Gravel Pit 3.3 Dustbowl 3.4 Hydro 3.5 Granary 3.6 Well 4 FAQ 4.1 Q: How do sentries prioritize their targets? 4.2 Q: What's the basic scoring system breakdown? 4.3 Q: Does the damage from my weapons decrease with distance? THIS IS HUGE FOLKS. READ UP!! 4.4 Q: Is there another kick ass Shack guide showing pictures and videos of how to play this game? 4.5 Q: can you voice chat to your team when you're dead? 4.6 Q: how do you choose to spectate? 4.7 Q: Does anyone know what to do when the other team is on defense and does like 7 demos? 4.8 Q: Do TF2 sentries cut through 2 players at the same time? or does one player's body stop the bullets? 4.9 Q: Is there a way on CP maps to tell which team is defending and/or attacking before you pick a class? 4.10 Q: Has anyone tried defending a map with a heavy next to a medic and a dispenser? 4.11 Q: What should my team's class choices look like?

All Players

General

• frustrated with your scores and those freaks running theirs up at your expense? SPECTATE and watch them in action. See Q&A below for how.
• If you are confronted with a demoman's sticky bombs, you can blow them away from you with your heavy weapon, rocket launcher or shotgun. As an engineer, this can be clutch. See a sticky on your sentry? Blast it away with your shotgun.
• dealing with anti-spy tactics. valve is insanely good at detecting and dealing with spies... when we played them, they a)had specific anti-spy defense. Pyros around guns + demoman stickies on the ground around guns. If you even tried to sentry the demoman would blow you sky high or the pyro would roast you. Depending on the gameplay situation, there was almost always one around. b) were generally extremely wary... knew where all of their guys were, and could tell in a second if somebody showed up who wasn't theirs. I think they were very aware of audio as well... was pretty hard to drop in behind them (even when they weren't dying), which was generally pretty easy on shackservers.
• The most effective way of subtly checking for spys is to run into teammates. You (roughly) clip through teammates, but you will bounce off spies.
• If we're having a spy problem, I prefer going pyro and spamming the shit out of everyone :)
• Still have a spy problem? Look for cloaked blurs and smoke. When in doubt, shoot jump and run around to keep that spy uncomfortable.
• USE COVER. Keep your back to a wall to prevent backstabs. Use corners to cut off line of sight if you're hurt. Don't be afraid to retreat a bit and find health packs or to let your medic heal you. Even with a medic you're not invincible, and you should retreat, even if only for a second or two, if you take serious damage.
• People really need to learn basic teleporter manners. If you're a spy or scout, you do not use the fucking teleporter. Scouts don't need to save any time, and blue sparkles on a "red pyro" is a pretty clear indicator.
• critical shots are based on the damage you have done within the last, I think like 15 or 20 seconds (might be less than that), but essentially the more damage you have done recently, the more likely you are to get lot of crits, and if you continue to do damage then it just keeps going up and up until almost every shot is a crit. (weighted random based on amount and frequency of damage -ed)
• look at your team’s classes. Is it balanced? For example: Defending teams should have at least two engineers, attacking teams should have at least two medic soldier/heavy combos. Know the maps and what situation you are in. If you can’t get past those 3 sentries but there are no spies on your team and you can’t get an uber going, are you going to win?
• It's a good idea to look at what your teammate’s classes are, because you should always adapt to the fucking situation. Most, but not all of the time you will need at least one medic. If soldier isn't working out for you, switch it up. If your teammates aren't switching, YOU switch. I hate playing medic, but last night I was able to remain up at the top of the scoreboard most of time as a medic. If you are a good medic and have paired with a decent soldier/heavy *you will rape the shit out of the other team and reap the benefits.
• you have a secondary weapon * use it. It's much better to switch to your shotgun or pistol and take someone out instead of reloading your primary.
• Watch the walls for red/blue dots for snipers. After playing for a bit, you'll know where sniper hot-spots are and will know if there's sniper or not. I saw so many people run right into the dot and die instantly
• bind the ‘e’ key for reloading, you won’t accidentally call for medics when you only need some ammo. You also avoid bugging medics who have better things to do. Move the medic command somewhere else, it’s still very useful.
• by crouch jumping you can access places that otherwise you cannot.
• learn the placement of all med packs and ammo/metal boxes in each map. Use them to your advantage.
• If you’re still learning, don’t worry about it.
• You can mute players by pressing escape (probably have to move the server list window out of the way) and click "mute player" then choose the player you want to mute.

Thanks: aeg1x, DHAvatar, Chunks, rt702, dopeman, ConfusedUs, ]pm[chem., Trips, mikecyb, finestaut, Foxhawk

Voice Communication

• Voice com is crucial for team coordination..
• Before you get too chatty, get to know the maps, listen to the other players describe the maps. Knowing how to describe your location exactly helps tremendously.
• As a medic, it is your job to watch your partner's back and inform him of any threats. You should always be looking around and behind you. See a spy or other enemy? TELL YOU PARTNER ASAP. Call them by name and say what's up. That crucial split second can be the difference between dying right before you pull off that uber, or kicking some serious ass after the threat is neutralized and using your uber right when you need it. It is your job to inform your partner of your uber progress and extra intentions. If a teammate asks for a medic and he's close by, you can avoid partner problems by telling him you are gonna heal this dude and to hold for a second, i'll be right back on you.
• As a medic wielding uber powers, it is your job to help coordinate ubers and how to use them. Are there nasty sentry defenses? What is the best option to deal with that? Let your team know. "Alright we have two sentries to deal with, i need a good demoman or pyro to take them out. Who wants this one?" If no one steps up, find a good scoreboard leader to pair with maybe, don't waste too much time. When you find someone to uber. Ask them about their ammo situation, etc.
• As a medic's partner, it is your job to inform your medic of your intentions and when to take cover, advance, etc. See someone behind your medic? Tell them to get in front of you. Tell them when to hit the uber, etc.
• See a spy? Don't just yell "SPY"! Include information that will let your teammates know where the spy is. Without this you can possibly distract your entire team, watch them all turn around and shoot each other on the front lines when attacking, while knowing that spy was just disrupting things back in your base. Oops. However, see below.
• As a team, get to know your teammate's voices, especially pay attention to medic pairs. In this scenario, it's possible for a single medic to yell spy, and his partner will know to turn around and kill that bitch. Meanwhile the rest of the team continues with business as usual.
• In a tightly knit community like Shacknews, general conversation is to be expected. Don't get frustrated over these things. I feel your frustration with a team that talks about mostly anything but the game, just don't let this deter you from playing. If someone's really getting on your nerves, mute them in the main menu.
• Try not to be negative towards your teammates. You can't win every game. Shouting about how so and so sucked, or did a stupid thing, only serves to lower team morale. Now one player is pissed at another guy for coming down on him. This only serves to dampen overall team communication thus lowering your chances of coordination for winning the round. I don't give a shit if you're the best player on the team, if you're gonna be vocally negative about your teammates, you just decreased your team's chances of winning. GG. GJ. STFU. On the other side of this conversation, don't take these comments personally. That person just really wants to win the game. Instead of barking back another negative comment, consider not saying anything. Further negative comments just deteriorate the situation.
• If your team needs some class adjustments, don't be a dick about it. Make suggestions maybe. "I vote for another engineer, personally i suck at engy." "We could use another medic guys." Saying shit like "five fucking engineers and no teleporters isn't gonna get us anywhere" is counterproductive. Sometimes people just want to play a certain class. If people aren't willing to switch up after some suggestions, consider doing it your fucking self. I don't give a shit if you're at the top of the scoreboard, switching yourself may be the best option for the team in this case. Some people just want to kick back and play their best role.
• BE POSITIVE.
• If you are shy, ease yourself into voice com. Let people know you're new to voice. Start small. Just saying something will break the ice. People don't give a shit if you're shy or how you sound, if you're being helpful, you're a good teammate.
• As an engineer, let people know where your teleporters are going. Where the dispenser is going. If the tp needs to be moved up, let your team know.
• See an enemy teleporter signature on the other team's players? Let your team know! Taking out their teleporter can turn the tide in your favor.
• Let teammates know what the enemy is doing, and where they're going.
• If someone's mic is fucking up, let them know. Some dude's microphones don't work too well, some are horrendous. There's nothing worse than having pure static interrupt your entire audio when you're listening for nearby action.
• Remember when you die, only other dead teammates can hear you talk.

Medics and Ubercharge

• All classes should read this section because ubers require two people to pull off. Some info is listed again in the Medic section.
• A sentry will stay locked on the first person it detects. Coordinate sentry attacks with other teammates besides you two. As an uber pair, engage the sentry and get it's attention. Now (provided there are no other sentries) another teammate can come in and have their way with it while it is trying to fire at you.
• As a medic, you can turn off your uber and use it later by switching weapons. The longer you wait to use it again, the less of the uber you will be able to use. This can be advantageous in a couple situations. If you are standing on the cap point, TURN IT OFF! If you are forced to use your uber before you want to and no longer need it, TURN IT OFF! You can turn it on again by switching back to your healing weapon. It is still better to use just 50-75% of your uber than 25% of it fighting and the rest walking around. It is also better to start the cap timer than to just sit there in awe of the pretty colors waiting for enemies to show up right as it wears off. For example: Say you are approaching the cap point, you have an uber ready, and there are two people guarding it. You hit the uber, your partner takes out those two people, and you have the cap point to yourselves. Turn the uber off! The cap point timer starts. You sit there for a couple seconds and another two defenders show up. You hit the uber again! Having the extra elements of surprise and invulnerability you take them out easily. Your uber wears off. You haven't used all of it, but you have gained a huge advantage over just letting the uber wear out by itself. This can be the difference between winning and loosing the round.
• If you are having problems with sentries, consider ubering a demoman. If he can lay just three stickies around each sentry, they will go down if you don't get pushed back or run out of time. With a good demoman and a little luck, you can potentially take out 2-3 sentries for a huge push advantage afterwards.
• You can't cap, nor pick up the intel (2fort) while ubered. If you go uber when carrying the intel, it will drop. If the other team shows up, USE IT! After they're taken out, pick it up again and make haste.
• If you are being assisted by a medic, watch for your ubercharge meter. When that hits 100% your medic can make you invulnerable for a short period of time. This is a great way to take out entrenched sentries and push for cap points.
• Your medic’s ubercharge meter will rise faster if he is healing damage, so perhaps try to take some damage without charging into action. Stick your head out there fire off some rounds and fall back. Soldiers should continuously rocket jump. Don’t lead your medic into the line of fire or a room with 1000 enemies. Remember, your medic is healing you, not himself.
• Save the ubercharge until you're damaged you still heal when invulnerabling.
• don't burn the uber too early, I've seen that happen a lot. Stay out of sight as the medic and give your target time to get in the right area to start causing havoc. Since the Heavy & Soldier move slow, you can really waste valuable seconds if not careful. Uber lasts 10 seconds.
• If you are ubered up, take action! Your medic has invested valuable time getting to this point, don’t waste the opportunity.
• Take the bullet for the medic. If the medic is healing you and you see a rocket heading straight for him, jump in the way. Of course, not always possible, but when it is, it's better to take the blow and get healed than lose the medic.
• If I am your medic and someone runs up to us with 5 health and is on fire, give me a sec to heal him up before you charge in to battle. The more points healed, the closer to ubercharge for a fire fight.
• I hate it when I am healing a soldier/hwguy and they run away from me forcing me into the line of fire. You guys needs to respect the fact that medics will die for you, but will be able to heal you better if you are smart enough to stay near cover.
• If you have a medic with you, keep an eye on them! I can’t count how many times I could have been saved if the person I was healing looked back every once in a while to make sure I wasn't being killed by an enemy who came from behind.
• If I see an uber, and I'm a soldier or demo, I try to knock the medic away from the heavy with explosions. (if the medic’s healing stream disconnects, the other player looses invuln)
• If you encounter a medic healing your assailant, aim for the medic first. He will take normal damage unless invulned.
• don't expect a medics healing to do anything at all if you start to take successful critical shots. Even heavies can be instantly killed regardless of how many medics are on him if somebody gets some crits on him.
• If you have a good medic... Try to keep between your medic and danger. The longer the medic stays alive, the longer you stay alive. If your medic stops healing you for any reason, spin around with your gun firing. There's a good chance he got Spy'd. You can take a stab or two to the face. Backstabs are instant death. If you get ubercharged, ATTACK. Don't sit there with your thumb up your ass. Attack! You cannot die for ten seconds, but the enemy can. Make sure they do. Attack! Take out sentries first, followed by enemy medics, followed by whoever and whatever else is looking dangerous. A good medic will ubercharge you if either of you are going to die in combat. Although it's best to save the ubercharges for entrenchments, it's still better to use it and stay alive than it is to die with it unspent. Don't sit there and berate him.
• if you lose a great medic, hang back behind the front line (second wave) and stay alive until he comes back. If you alternate deaths, you'll never meet up again.
• A heavy with a proper medic (or two) will deal way more damage per second than even a super*accurate soldier. For sheer firepower a medicated heavy is hard to top.
• you should see what 2 heavies + 2 ubers at the same time does. A team was doing that to us and they just steamrolled us.
• perhaps a great setup tactic would be two soldiers, two heavies, and two medics. The soldiers rocket splash a wall while their medics rapidly achieve 100% ubercharge status. The medics then switch to the heavies for ultimate surprise carnage with the soldiers in tow cleaning up the aftermath. If this doesn't happen, have those soldiers switch to heavy during setup.
• Pushing the offense back eliminates the risk of an Ubercharge ruining your whole 8 sentry gun defense or whatever by either flat out fraging the medics or forcing them to use it early and waste it for 1-2 players. This is how the Shackers lost the dustbowl game against Valve, they had Ubercharges ready to go in places where it actually mattered. There was no pressure on them to force a wasted uber in a poor location.
• People always want to uber heavies, but sometimes, other classes can be very rewarding. For example, ubering a pyro when an enemy is camping control point can be loads of fun. actually, i think pyro is my favorite class to sit on. they're very strong against scouts and other pyros, which are the classes that often kill me when i'm healing. i tend to stay alive longer when i'm on a pyro. and an ubered pyro is truly scary. it's amazing how quickly one can clear a room.
• Yes, please give pyro players more uber attention. I have taken down well over 75% of a team with an uber, and I have given ubers to pyros who have done the same. If the enemy is grouping up for an assault, send in an uber pyro. If anyone walks out alive, they won't be much of a threat.

Thanks aeg1x, bozer, sludge vohaul, vynn, chazums, DHAvatar, harvord, DrZettl, d3tached, ConfusedUs, Wombat Woo,EvilDolemite, gyokurom, alias, mindmann, Syixxs, rosewood, pwnage1232

Class Tips

Scout

• Any scout using a teleporter is displaying very bad tf2 etiquette. I shouldn't have to explain this, but as a scout you haul ass. Leave those tp charges for your heavy/soldier/medic/demo/pyro teammates. Same for the spy.
• Scouts can safely drop from any height if you hit jump shortly before you smack into the ground. You will double jump then land safely. Of course, this does not work if you already used your double jump to leap from that lofty height. This is fantastic for moving around faster and getting the drop on unsuspecting enemies.
• Your job is find a hole and sneak through it. It doesn't matter if they see you doing it, they can't catch you.
• Flank constantly. You shouldn't engage in many head on fights. You might win, but you'll die in the next one.
• Once you've set up behind their front line scout out the objective. TELL THE TEAM if there are turrets and where they are. Only in very rare circumstances should you try to kill a turret yourself.
• In a lot of levels there are upper floors that no one who is any threat to you really uses. This is a safe haven full of free kills and plentiful health, and flank routes. People will eventually come up and chase you around but only another scout is a concern (everyone else you can run from or kill). Drop down to kill the respawning medics who run by, or anyone else really. You'll get good scores on these levels and be very useful.
• learn the placement of all med packs in each map because you'll be running around picking them up pretty frequently. Of course that knowledge helps all classes, but the Scout can take advantage of frequent med pack pickups the most.
• the pistol is a great annoyance weapon at range. It can get people to back off down long hallways and even distract snipers. You probably won't get many kills with it but it's far from useless.
• You can DM with pretty much any class but you have to get in close for your shotgun to do good damage. Run around in circles and stay airborne as much as possible. Avoid closing with pyros head on.
• You cap at double the rate, but you alert the enemy to your position if you're solo. On some maps (like well), you can cap so fast that the defense can't react. On others (like gravel) it takes a lot to cap so you can't really solo cap.
• If you can drop down on someone, wait to fire until your gun is right on their head.
• You have the advantage of being able to get to where you're needed the most the fastest. You're most useful on offense, but you can play D or chase the intelligence carrier if the situation arises.

Thanks Boxelder, vynn, Sze Ior, Alicey

Soldier

• As a soldier, one of your primary objectives is to help a medic charge his uber faster. When traveling with a medic, aim down about 45 degrees and fire rockets to take damage without impeding your forward progress too much. you gotta get the angle just right, too far down and you'll rocket jump, wasting time. too far up and you won't take damage. If the medic gets ahead of you, turn backwards and rocket jump in front of him to catch up. Reload while you're in the air. Either way, for fuck's sake... TAKE DAMAGE if there is no threat! Even if you don't get that uber you're helping to create faster, you are giving your team an advantage. I cannot stress this tip/tactic enough. Ubers under any circumstance give your team a huge advantage no matter where they are used.
• At the beginning of a round if you are going to charge up with a medic, instead of rocket jumping all over the place, go stand in front of an ammo cabinet and just keep shooting. When standing in front of an ammo cabinet, you don't have to reload so you can just keep firing into the cabinet over and over taking your health down and the medic will charge up super fast. Doing this as a medic with a soldier, we would get charged up in like 15 seconds. The medic beam will override the cabinet giving you health.
• Learn to fucking aim }:(
• Utilizing the soldier’s ability to rocket jump can be clutch sometimes.
• crouching while rocket jumping gives you more air
• always keep an eye on your rockets available and constantly reload, especially before engaging the other team.
• Be able to swap between your rockets and your shotgun quickly. That quick shot could be all you need to take out your enemy once your rockets are gone and that time you spend reloading your rockets (and pray to god you dont miss) could mean your death. Anticipate your enemies movements as well
• a medic’s uber charge will increase to 100 faster if you are taking damage. Continuously rocket jump while a medic is assisting you to uber-up quicker.
• long ranged rockets are a great sentry gun neutralizer
• Killing scouts is pretty easy with the shotgun. Give them some rocket splash when they close and finish them with a shotgun. They'll learn to run the other way pretty quickly. I used to die to scouts as a solider but I rarely do unless they totally surprise me now.
• 3-4 indirect hits will destroy a sentry gun depending on proximity if no engineer is around. 3 direct hits kills any sentry with no engineer.
• Rocket Launcher has tremendous possibilities for damage. Go for the body shots when you can. This is hard to learn as in every other incarnation of the RL you get a much stronger incentive to hit with splash damage vice direct hits. In TF2 you get huge rewards for direct and marginal for indirect hits.
• The rocket launcher also has interesting push capabilities as well, leading to launching an enemy into the air and then hitting them directly with a rocket as they fall. This is an insta-frag for most anything. I've been getting better at this especially with the assistance of the gigantic hit box sizes for all the classes.
• Rocket jumping is great for travel if you have a medic helping, otherwise it is a bit risky. The most useful rocket jumps I've found: A right path hut -> C cap point on gravel pit, Grate in 2fort, Top 2nd to last point to last point in granary Theres (a metric fuckton -ed)more but be inventive and try stuff to see if you gain anything worthwhile.
• soldier, like usual, is fantastically better if you are firing from above rather than attacking from below your opponent just as in any game. Standard deathmatch skills translate extrodinarly well into TF2.
• rocket jump script (may not work on some servers):

alias +rocketjump "+attack;;+jump;+duck" alias -rocketjump "-attack;-jump;-duck" bind X "+rocketjump"

Thanks mittense, ayesel, limpossible, Boxelder, alias, rosewood, haiku

Pyro

• One of your primary objectives as a pyro is to spy check. Spy problem? Hang back where the spy was last seen and flame check everyone. Watch the score board, if that spy hasn't died, your job isn't done.
• You are an excellent defensive capture point teammate. Especially in close quarters like the A and B capture points in Gravelpit, base caps in Well or Granary, and close quarter Dustbowl points. Even if 4-5 enemies are sitting on that capture point, you can rush in close range and light them all on fire for massive defensive points and bonus appreciation from your teammates. There's nothing like watching one of those points tick away 'x5' and seeing your pyro light them all up to their deaths.
• as a pyro its good to switch to shotgun after you've lit the guy on fire but is running away out of reach from your flame
• Distance (or better lack of distance) is key - the closer you are the more damage you deal - also try to keep the flame on your target - they die quicker.
• The real secret to the pyro, in my opinion ( this has been the same since tf1), is that the flames move out in waves at a constant speed - and the speed has nothing to do with the speed you are moving at. This means an enemy will be hit with far fewer flame waves if he is running away from you, even if you are running after him. He will be hit with FAR more if he is running towards you, even if you are running away. If you can make an enemy come to you while you are holding down the flame, even a heavy will die Very quickly.
• getting in the enemies face is essential. Use the map and your fairly fast speed to your advantage and cut off your enemies running route to blast fire in their face. If your enemy runs away, use ramps and jumps to your advantage to cut them off and use the element of surprise. Good practice can be found in the 2Fort "stairs room/lobby"
• Pyro vs Pyro: go with the shotgun for long range (duh), but if the other pyro gets in close, I say go for the axe. It's a much more comedic kill, and since you both are fire resistant it's a better choice. (They will take reduced damage from direct flame contact however.)
• With the new pyro changes, I'd have to amend my original comments about close range pyro vs pyro. The new fire damage up close wins by a mile even vs other pyros, so don't switch to axe.
• Really? I have found that resorting to the shotgun and axe still works well for me. That may be a fault on the part of my opponent's flamethrower accuracy, though. Work on your accuracy with the shotgun and the axe. Let him try to burn you, pump a few slugs into him as you close the distance, and then bury your axe in his face. It works like a charm. The only challenge to it is making sure you are accurate and don't miss those critical axe blows.
• if you run into another pyro, use your flamethrower while backing up. I think flames travel at a set speed no matter what, so if he(she?) chases you, you'll be out of his range while he'll get burnt. If he decides not to chase you, use your shotgun exclusively.
• Pyro vs Heavy: the only time to attack these guys is in very close or from behind. If you can get in real close and use your speed advantage, you can at least take a good chunk of health down before you die
• Pyro vs Scout: you will rock these guys in close quarters or cap points, but out in the open just spread your cheeks and bend over.
• Pyro vs Soldier: you'll probably get rocked in open areas if you're equal in DM skill unless you can close the distance to user your flamethrower. The main problem is the distance between really long range where it's easy to dodge the rockets (and you can use your shotty), and mid-short range where you can't use the flamethrower yet and the rockets and splash damage are the most effective.
• Pyro vs Spy: flame everyone including teammates, problem solved, unless the spy is Sweet Lew
• Pyro vs Demoman: I treat these guys pretty much like heavies, if I can get the jump on them I'll charge in from behind, or if I'm already real close, but one good shot and you're done.
• Pyro vs Medic: Probably the most fun to toast. These should be your primary targets always. They burn so nicely, and most of the time they're too busy healing to defend themselves, or if they defend themselves, their heal target is on his way to dying.

Thanks flubba79, re-verse, Nihil ME, limpossible, bcyde, Syixxs, YamatoTwinkie

Demoman

• If walking forward with a medic and there is no threat, for fuck's sake, sticky jump! You will assist your team by charging your medic's uber meter faster while he/she heals the damage you take. Anything else is wasted time walking around. I cannot stress this tip/tactic enough. Even if you don't get the uber, you are giving your team a huge advantage no matter where it is used.
• You're limited to eight stickies placed at any given time. If you place any more after eight, the first one you placed will explode.
• Glowing stickies are the critical damage kind
• demo bombs no not auto detonate on impact after a bounce
• Utilizing the demo’s ability to sticky jump can be clutch sometimes.
• Stick grenades have great range when your charge their firing (hole down the sticky fire button) for an additional amount of time. And good places to sticky bomb up are always choke points (hidden from view as best as possible), capture points, and flag/briefcase rooms.
• I like planting stickies on the inside of doorframes, then baiting enemies to follow you. When they walk through the door, hit your secondary, and BLAM-O, insta-paste.
• when using the stick gernades i deploy out all the nades and reload then switch to my primary nade launcher gun. if someone runs over the stick nades you can still right-click to blow them up while holding the primary weapon (4 nade launcher). afterwards pull out your stick gernade launch and place more stick nades down. rinse and repeat.
• If you can predict where your enemy is going to run successfully you can plant enough explosives in their way to trip them up. When you're facing a foe with a medic, focus on arcing your shots in the path of the medic. Medics tend to swing around the other way of their target, much like an 18 wheeler (wide right and left turns). Firing rounds behind an enemy medic is always a pretty good idea as they tend to retreat quick. When planting sticky grenades, dont just clump them up in a pile. Sure, it makes for great burst damage but more often than not you'll explode them prematurely and your target will live on, but if you lay out your sticky grenades nicely you can rig an entire room to go kaboom. Do not hesitate to lure your enemies into your rigged room. Once they're in the room, press the detonator, and watch the gibs fly!
• My personal strategy (that gets me countless control point defenses) is to always put all 8 of your sticky grenades onto your teams control point that the enemy is trying to take. That's obvious but I think too many demomen stick around too close to their control points once they've done this. Don't get into the thick of battle after laying down your sticky grenades. What I do is after laying down my sticky grenades is I'll find a place where I can shoot my grenades to slow down the enemies offense without putting myself in too much danger. Longer hallways or around corner works well. The key is not to die. You can stay there holding them back for as long as you want with your main grenades and you can retreat anytime you think you might die. But the absolute second you hear the announcement that your control point is being taken you detonate your sticky grenades. You don't have to be near it, you don't have to see the guy you most likely just killed. I'd say 85% of the time you'll end up killing someone.
• you can detonate sticky bombs by alt-firing your grenade launcher. no need to switch back to the sticky bomb gun.
• whenever possible stick the stickies to the ceiling. The game is designed to draw your vision to the floor area, but most people will never see the sticky grenades above until it is too late. (also on the sides of corners and other key places work well too.)
• You can fire a sticky bomb and detonate existing sticky bombs simultaneously. The only one that will not detonate is the just fired bomb. The old TFC no-det period was changed from all pipes to only the new sticky bomb.
• Sticky bomb prime time is 1 second as near I can tell. During this one second interval you can't detonate the bomb but everything else is fine. When a sticky bomb becomes active it pulses a bit of light around it telling you that it can be detonated.
• if you find an active teleporter exit, don't just blow it up. lay your stickies down and wait for some poor sap to use the tele before blowing them. :) what's even cooler about this is the game will play an ironic little bit of music as a reward. (at least it did for me)

Thanks mittense, DrZettl, flubba79, limpossible, NastyJack, slickdoody, Grumbled, alias, smax

Heavy

• Right-click for heavies spin their guns without shooting so it allows you to shoot the primary without the start up time. However, you walk extremely slow when you're doing this
• Of all the classes, you have the most hit points but This does not mean you're invincible. As a heavy, your number one priority should be staying alive. You're so slow that if you die, you can miss half the match trying to find your way back to the action.
• Get a medic. You are ten times deadlier with a medic. More on this later.
• Do not charge entrenchments without support. A L2 or L3 sentry gun will kill you dead, unless you somehow manage to drop on it point blank with your gun already spinning. Even then, you might die.
• Keep aware of your surroundings. Know where sniper nests are and take cover from them. When you're firing, you're even slower than normal. The worst sniper in the world can get a headshot on you. Know where sentry guns usually sit, and watch out for spies.
• Watch your ammo count. Pick up fallen weapons and ammo boxes. Sascha uses a lot of ammo. A lot! If you run out of bullets, your effectiveness drops through the basement. Fire in controlled bursts. Keep your gun spinning (Mouse2) when there's no enemies on screen (but you know they're around) but don't keep firing bullets at corners.
• Know your optimum firing distance. Don't just spray and pray. Sascha has a really huge spread and sucks for long distance. Your best at mid range and closer. Face to face, enemies sometimes die before they realize what's happening.
• Bad medics, the ones that constantly switch healing targets, stand completely still (making them cannon fodder), or abandon you, simply aren't worth your time. Play as if they're not even there, or treat them like mobile dispensers. A good medic is your best friend. If Sascha is your lover, your medic is that wonderful contraceptive that lets you fuck her bareback without risk of pregnancy.
• If you have a good medic... Try to keep between your medic and danger. The longer the medic stays alive, the longer you stay alive. If your medic stops healing you for any reason, spin around with your gun firing. There's a good chance he got Spy'd. You can take a stab or two to the face. Backstabs are instant death. If you get ubercharged, ATTACK. Don't sit there with your thumb up your ass. Attack! You cannot die for ten seconds, but the enemy can. Make sure they do. Attack! Take out sentries first, followed by enemy medics, followed by whoever and whatever else is looking dangerous. A good medic will ubercharge you if either of you are going to die in combat. Although it's best to save the ubercharges for entrenchments, it's still better to use it and stay alive than it is to die with it unspent. Don't sit there and berate him.
• if you lose a great medic, hang back behind the front line (second wave) and stay alive until he comes back. If you alternate deaths, you'll never meet up again.
• If you are about to get an übercharge and have less than 100 ammo find the nearest dropped weapon/dispenser/ammo box before its ready. Nothing is worse than getting über and then having to whip out the shotgun. Not only is it not as powerful but the time it takes to spin down and switch is a huge waste.

Thanks DHAvatar, ConfusedUs, MONGOLOID

Engineer

• Go to: http://gnomish.shackspace.com/TF2/neer.html for some creative sentry/dispenser/tp placement location ideas. Good stuff here TF2 engys. Some of these locations, especially the one on top in Well, hardly will every help your team, but don't let that dissuade you from using these techniques to find new and unusual locations to mess with the enemy. Sometimes a sentry in the least expected location can do the most damage.
• That engineer shotgun isnt as bad as you think. People underestimate the shottys power and therefore target other more deadly foes in the group. This gives you the chance to put the buck to them. It's also possible to take down enemy turrets with it if you have the right corner to hide behind. I've blasted down lvl 2 turrets without having to strafe completely unscathed.
• your dispenser heals teammates and dispenses ammo and metal
• a good engie can play offense too. teleporters and dispensers first instead of sentries. any engie who builds a sentry before a dispenser makes baby jesus cry though, defense or not.
• right click rotates a sentry 90 degrees when you're placing it.... allows you to fit them snugly in corners
• The only bad thing is that if you place it right in a corner you can't get behind it to constantly wrench it and to be safe from spy backstabs. I'm thinking normally its best to keep it going the right direction and back yourself in the corner and place it like that unless its a tight situation or some other reasons.
• Ya, and you can also be shot by your own sentry so going over to repair/upgrade while a scout is running past could cause the sentry to fill you with bullets.
• I think right clicking also rotates teleporter exits too. I appreciate the time saved with a teleport, but it's kind of distracting teleporting face first staring into a wall.:(
• Right-click rotates teleporters too so you can make people spawn without facing the wall. There's an arrow on the blue map when you're placing it down
• On over time your number one priority is to build a dispenser!
• I usually build a telleport entrance first on all maps. Just outside of the primary spawn. Than Ill keep moving the exit as the front line changes.
• one of my pet peeves is when someone builds a SG first in an area with limited ammo refills. most notable on gravelpit, location A on defense. I always rush there and first thing i do is drop a dispenser sense the only refill is the thing that spawns on the ground, and its only 100 metal every time. I drop the dispenser, and pick up the metal thing there then drop a SG and then bang my dispenser to make it build faster, while im doing this some smacktard comes up and builds an SG first, then mooches off my dispenser so he can finish his SG. It hurts both of us cus we are both fishing for metal now and by the time the gates open we have 2 level 1 SGs which are useless, cus hes a smacktard. Tldr: BUILD DISPENSERS FIRST
• The engineer should always build a dispenser 1st by their sentry gun no matter where it is because it also heals teammates and them so they can wrench the sentry gun, get healed and get more metal all at once.
• i dont build right next to each other because demo and soliders have too easy a time taking them BOTH out. placement is key. building the dispenser around the corner, behind a rock, or in a shed will keep the dispenser alive longer and help further keeping the SG and dispenser and teammates alive.
• it really depends on the situation IMO.
• banging with the wrench cuts build time in half! 20 seconds on TPs and Dispensers without banging, 10 seconds with banging. 10 seconds on SG without banging, 5 with banging.
• sometimes its not easy or useful to build TPs IE. in sudden death. After getting my dispenser up (WHICH SHOULD ALWAYS BE YOUR FIRST BUILD IN SUDDEN DEATH) and my SG, if i have the extra metal i will build TPs around the back ways to my SG/Dispensers. The spots i build them don't really make them useful for transporting people, but they are useful as a giveaways for spys. A stupid spy will see them as an easy target and sap them, thus giving me a heads up that theres a spy on their way to my important stuff so i should be aware. I do this a lot on hydro when there are back door paths.
• build a sentry gun behind a strategic location. Run forward to engage your unsuspecting victim. He’ll think you’re an easy engie kill, so run back and he’ll die by your sentry as he runs to get you. Repeat. Profit.
• keep in mind your sentry gun doesn’t have an infinite range, is it out of the line of fire from soldiers and snipers?
• TELEPORTERS, MOTHERFUCKERS.
• feel free to experiment with your sentry gun placement. Try to place them a little way away from the corners to avoid splash damage from rockets and grenades. Look for buildable spots on crates, boxes, and other parts of the environment.
• If spies are pestering you, just sit around and whack away at your sentry. Although it’s tedious and boring, If they decide to stab you, the sentry goes nuts and kills them. If they place a charge, you obviously know who is a spy (plus it will be stopped) and they're at your mercy - shoot at them and if they shoot back... well... your sentry is gonna fuck them up :)
• 1st thing you do on your 1st spawn is run out of the spawn and drop a tp entrance. run back in and ammo up then head to wherever you are going to set up. It takes 2 seconds and can make a huge difference. I see tps neglected too often.
• Support existing sentry guns with your own - place your sentry in a position to cover an existing gun's blind spot and that gun should in turn cover your blind spot.
• Q key - pressing Q will swap your current weapon with your last weapon, which is great to toggle between the shotgun and wrench quickly. (and exit build/demolish screens)

Thanks aeg1x, painangel, Grimp, topkatz, Chupa808, carazy, vynn, sigpro, m0rfus, DHAvatar, dopeman, limpossible, stgulik, gatts, Pneum0, gnomish

Medic

• As a medic, you can turn off your uber and use it later by switching weapons. The longer you wait to use it again, the less of the uber you will be able to use. This can be advantageous in a couple situations. If you are standing on the cap point, TURN IT OFF! If you are forced to use your uber before you want to and no longer need it, TURN IT OFF! You can turn it on again by switching back to your healing weapon. It is still better to use just 50-75% of your uber than 25% of it fighting and the rest walking around. It is also better to start the cap timer than to just sit there in awe of the pretty colors waiting for enemies to show up right as it wears off. For example: Say you are approaching the cap point, you have an uber ready, and there are two people guarding it. You hit the uber, your partner takes out those two people, and you have the cap point to yourselves. Turn the uber off! The cap point timer starts. You sit there for a couple seconds and another two defenders show up. You hit the uber again! Having the extra elements of surprise and invulnerability you take them out easily. Your uber wears off. You haven't used all of it, but you have gained a huge advantage over just letting the uber wear out by itself. This can be the difference between winning and loosing the round.
• If you are having problems with sentries, consider ubering a demoman. If he can lay just three stickies around each sentry, they will go down if you don't get pushed back or run out of time. With a good demoman and a little luck, you can potentially take out 2-3 sentries for a huge push advantage afterwards.
• You can't cap, nor pick up the intel (2fort) while ubered.
• turn around and check your back quickly every once in a while and it won't break your healing stream. Sometimes just checking if there's other team mates are behind me somewhere will keep me from being too paranoid about my back. Also you have the random chance of hitting a sniper by a quick weapon switch and then returning for healing.
• STOP DUAL HEALING. Dual healing should only be used if almost everyone else is dead or no one else is around. If at the beginning of a round a soldier/medic are trying to charge up, you will only slow down the charge a lot if you try and dual heal. And in actual battle, if two medics are healing one guy then that means other players aren't getting proper medical attention from professionals. TF2 has universal health care, start acting like it.
• your healing gun should be your primary weapon. Using it will raise your ubercharge. When it reaches 100% you are ready to unleash all holy hell upon your enemies.
• get the fuck out of the intelligence room and get on the front line. stop healing that sniper fool!
• don't burn the uber too early, I've seen that happen a lot. Stay out of sight as the medic and give your target time to get in the right area to start causing havoc. Since the Heavy & Soldier move slow, you can really waste valuable seconds if not careful. Uber lasts 10 seconds.
• If I'm a medic and someone calls for one, unless we're in the heat of things, most of the time I'll switch off the heavy to heal the guy. Reasons being is that the hurt guy will probably die if I don't get over to him, and the ubercharge will fill up a lot faster healing a guy that's hurt. Once the guy is healed, the uber is ready to be unleashed and I'll go back to the original heavy that I was supporting.
• the ubercharge will fill up a lot faster healing a guy that's hurt
• Medics need to coordinate with their healees when they're going to use it. one of my big WTFs is when I'm standing around reloading and a medic just uses up their uber on me. I'm always just like WTF are you doing? I'm not even close to an enemy.
• Once, someone yelled at me because I "wasted" it but was really getting sniped and shot at, so dying would truly be wasting it.
• Once you hit Uber, you, the Medic, are invincible until it runs out. The person you are healing is only invincible so long as you are healing them.
• You can switch uber targets! Stop healing person #1 and he'll stop being invincible. Start healing person #2 and he is now invincible. Typically, though, do not do this, because it's fucking stupid. First, you waste a second or two of your very limited invul time. Stupid! Second, the person you were ubering thinks he is invincible. He's probably charging straight down the gullet of a level three sentry guarded by a heavy, a pyro, and fifteen thousand sticky bombs. You take off his invul and he's dead before he even knows what the fuck. Stupid! Third, the person you're switching thinks he's gonna die, because there's a level three sentry guarded by a heavy, a pyro, and fifteen thousand sticky bombs. He's probably running the fuck away so he's not dead before he knows what the fuck. Therefore, you're wasting even more of your precious, limited invul time. Stupid! The only time I switch invul targets is when the person I'm healing is stupid and runs away rather than charging in, guns blazing. I'd rather waste two seconds of my invul time switching targets and waiting for him to turn around and run back into the fray than waste all ten seconds on some idiot who's taking cover behind a boxcar. Ugh.
• dont be afraid to pair yourself up with a demoman or pyro. You can unleash hell. Sure, Heavies got some good damage and health, but they are slow as hell. With your speed matching that of a pyro or a demoman, you can really do some heavy offensive damage.
• (as a spy) I hate when I am disguised and a medic on my team starts healing me haha. only time I ever don't want a medic hanging out with me. bigger giveaway than when you catch fire while cloaked.
• Sometimes you're one of the best spy elimination tools out there. If an an enemy suddenly calls for a medic but isn't firing on the front lines, pull out your bonesaw and take a hack at em. I've killed spies at least 5 different times when this happens, and its f'ing hilarious, because they're usually calling for a medic, so they're highlighted on the map for you.
• People always want to uber heavies, but sometimes, other classes can be very rewarding. For example, ubering a pyro when an enemy is camping control point can be loads of fun. actually, i think pyro is my favorite class to sit on. they're very strong against scouts and other pyros, which are the classes that often kill me when i'm healing. i tend to stay alive longer when i'm on a pyro. and an ubered pyro is truly scary. it's amazing how quickly one can clear a room.

Thanks Boxelder, vynn, Helvetica, deject, Grimp, ConfusedUs, limpossible, mikecyb, Crimson, mindmann, haiku, yay4furryanimals

Sniper

• Having more than 2 snipers is overkill, and even 2 can be two much if one can handle the load. Look at it this way, if the only time you're "sniping" anything is when the other sniper(s) on your team are dead, it's time to switch classes. If you're breaking your longest life without getting kills to match, it's time to switch classes. If you can't shoot a scout running across the map, never play as a bloody sniper.
• Whenever I play sniper, I play it as the support role that it's meant to function as. I pick off people who are hurting my team's offensive units, and I always aim for medics, sentries, and engineers before anything else. A good sniper on a team can greatly ease the burden of any offensive push due to the snipers ability to rid the battlefield of the opposing team's support classes.
• Your sniper rifle projects a telltale laser dot on the wall you are aiming at, if you can, hide it on a surface the opposing team can’t see.
• While you are zoomed in with your sniper rifle, you have a charge that rises to 100% to do more damage.
• Snipers can be an effective long range sentry gun neutralizer, I suggest taking out the engineer first.
• use the secondary nail gun to pick out spys.. i've found it to be the most useful weapon for 'spy checking' due to its high rate of fire

Thanks mittense, pookguy88, InfoBiter

Spy

• No smoke trick: Disguise yourself as a member of your own team but a different class. Now you can switch to the enemy color and will not have the 2-3 seconds of smoke so long as you choose the same class. Switching will be instant with no smoke trail or transition time. In Dustbowl for example, you can get up close to the doors and see what is on the other side so you know what to expect. Now, if you then duck around a corner, you can switch to the enemy color and will not have the 2-3 seconds of smoke.
• You move at spy speed whilst cloaked, so if you're a heavy you'll move faster cloaked.
• DO NOT use your team's teleporters! This is very bad TF2 team etiquette. Think about this. If you are disguised, the teleporter will leave a red or blue tel-tale trail for the other team to identify you by.
• I used to think the best way to run disguised into a room full of enemies was to run backwards so it seemed like you were just shooting at someone, then I saw an enemy spy do this and it was super obvious.
• I'm pretty much always tapping my voice com key so people know I'm not a spy. More people should do this if they are walking the wrong direction into a home base.
• One of my favorites is disguising as one of my own so that the other team doesn't know there's a spy incoming. You cloak when the action is hot or there's no one around, change disguise mid cloak, then uncloak behind where the enemy spawns from. No one checks behind them on their way out and if you come running they just assume you're part of the team.
• I've also waited for medic's to charge up their uber and then used the "go go go" button to get them to use it on me, charge into battle, but not fire a single shot. My teammates take them out shortly after. Such fun.
• you can disguise as a member of your own team. use the "-" in the cloak menu(?)
• being disquised, you'll slow down as a heavy or soldier, but you won't go faster if you disguise as a scout.
• mouse2 cloaks no matter the weapon, watch your meter and use it wisely, hide, and wait for a full recharge before using it again if possible.
• disguised spys can call for medics and be healed by the enemy
• if you change disguise while cloaked as a spy you will still create that smoke and give away your position
• When choosing a disguise, always choose a costume that runs just as fast as you. Never pick a Soldier, HWG or scout. The soldier and HWG disguise slow you down and make backstabbing a real pain. The scout cover doesn't slow you down but it doesn't speed you up or give you the double jump either and these facts make it easier for the other team to uncover your true identity.
• Mind your killing grounds and your costume accordingly. Front lines are good for the demoman costume, behind them it's engineers territory and nothing beats the ploy of the engineer keeping watch over his sg to scope out your playing field. The pyro is often used when the other team is tired of getting ganked from behind so dress accordingly.
• Snipers can't see you when sniping but they listen for footsteps since this is their only defense against you. Just walk up to them and hit them as much from behind as possible (if they hug the wall). Even missing your back stab will lead to their death since all they can do is switch to their smgs and hope for the best while 2*3 quick stabs will do the trick in much less time.
• Your invisible cloak is your friend: use it sparingly and wisely. Find some place no one ever goes (preferably with a health pack spawn) to recharge it and then pounce on the poor sheep.
• High grounds are great for surprise back stabs. Taking a little damage from a fall is well worth a medic+HWG kill.
• Guns are perfect for long distance engie buildings kill. Try to get one that's unattended, find a hiding spot far away and shoot. The bullets from that gun are very precise.
• Saps can kill a turret even when an engie is trying to get rid of them. Just keep the sg in between you and the engineer and continue planting saps on it until it explodes.
• Spies are one of the best defense class. just hang around an hallway or room leading to your base/objective and an entire offense party can fall to your knife.
• Kill off the medics before they get uber and try to get them to heal you at the same time. They'll hate you forever though. (I once got a medic to uber me when I was disguised as a demo, hilarious)
• Don't let the engineers get too comfy, keep them running for metal.
• no matter what weapon the spy is wielding, he appears to be using the default weapon of the kit he's impersonating
• When running toward an enemy base while disguised, that's when they're most likely to shoot you to see if you're on the wrong team. If you're calling for a medic, or backpedaling into their base, they're less likely to shoot you but it won't fool everyone.
• Spys are great at capturing CPs in some situations. Even if you don't make the cap, it can distract the other team long enough to allow your team to make a push. If a Demoman has the CP covered in stickies, the Spy is great for taking him out.
• I hate when I am disguised and a medic on my team starts healing me haha. only time I ever don't want a medic hanging out with me. bigger giveaway than when you catch fire while cloaked.
• Switch your costumes up. I find that disguising as an engineer doesn't work as well now because it's the standard spy costume. I'll typically go with Soldier/demo, with the occasional heavy for kicks. I like the heavy disguise because no one suspects you and you can keep an enemy medic occupied for a while.
• act your role. If you're going into the enemy intel room dressed as a soldier, make a quick lap thru the room as if you're just checking on things. Then you can switch to engineer or cloak and sneak in there.
• Spys also make great offensive units. I like disguising as a soldier/demo or medic and joining with an offense party. The amount of chaos this causes is awesome. You can usually take out a medic/hw combo pretty easily.
• I think the best thing to do though is to act the part you're playing. Don't just dress up as the enemy, ACT like the enemy. And use your cloak for getting into believable positions.
• If you're in disguise, and you get shot, DON'T FREAK OUT! If you act like nothing happened, the shooter will assume you're legitimate and go about his business. If you start circle strafing the shooter, he will kill you.
• cloaked/disguised spies, can NOT capture points, shoot your gun or decloak to reveal yourself
• sentry guns won’t shoot at cloaked, undisquised spys
• if you decloak in front of a sentry, it will shoot you
• being disquised, you'll slow down as a heavy or soldier, but you won't go faster if you disguise as a scout.

Thanks aeg1x, ArtilleryMarker, Tommy Toolbag, vynn, mikecyb, SatansFist, Finestaut, Izanaki, deject, ConfusedUs, ieGod, Slowtreme, wasylm, bipolar, chazums

Map Tips

2Fort

• Sniper perches. top or bottom of the battlements. Mix it up to keep the opposite team's snipers from camping the top perches.
• If you go uber when carrying the intel, it will drop. If the other team shows up and you have an uber ready, USE IT! After they're taken out, pick it up again and make haste.
• You can't teleport with the intel, also it will drop if you enter your spawn for health.
• One great tactic with 2forts is to overtake the sewers, treating them like capping points (with no actual points, durr). You start with yours, securing it, and then make your way over to theirs, building a sentry and a teleport. Your team can then tele right into their sewers where you can amass a team of medics/heavys/soldiers to march up and through their base.
• This was a common fort tactic and with a good demo, you can stop that shit
• I feel pyros do better on defense on this map watching for incoming scouts that try and double jump on the second level or defending the room with the wooden stairs that engineers love to protect. Occasionally, I'll go offense on this map as a pyro, but only if the other team is completely turtling.
• Pryos - getting in the enemies face is essential. Use the map and your fairly fast speed to your advantage and cut off your enemies running route to blast fire in their face. If your enemy runs away, use ramps and jumps to your advantage to cut them off and use the element of surprise. Good practice can be found in the 2Fort "stairs room/lobby"
• you can block the ramp corridor to the basement with a dispenser placed exactly in the middle of the corridor. You can get to the basement by jumping over it, but cannot jump over it on the way up. The dispenser will delay enemies a few seconds on the way out as they have to destroy it to get past. This also serves as an early warning for spies as they will usually destroy it before grabbing the intel.
• When Engineers defend the wooden stairs (i.e., always), they're accustomed to spies trying to sap the buildings. The Demoman's sticky bombs are an excellent way to destroy the buildings from behind cover. Pop in and out and fire them one at a time, or sneak up to one from underneath and fire two or three. It takes two well*placed bombs to take out a L2/L3 sentry.
• ALWAYS capture intel via the high route unless the "spiral" staircase is heavily guarded. If it's dropped, the high route is much harder to defend for a whole minute, and makes life much easier for offensive scouts trying to save the cap. If the intel gets dropped on the wooden staircase, kiss it goodbye.
• Use offensive momentum. This is classic CTF tactics, but if you're about to score, have an offensive guy (just one) already sitting on their intel again, ready to pick it up again the instant it's captured. Most players expect 15-30 seconds before their defenses are really tested again, so Engineers and the like will take their time resetting defenses.
• Again, common-sense CTF here, but if their intel's about to be returned to base, make a suicidal run just to get a 'touch' on the intel. This will reset the 60-second clock after your certain death and most likely keep the advantage with your team. \
• Scouts: 9 times out of 10, the wooden stairs will be too heavily defended with sentries to make it through alive. So, always take the high path. If you miss the jump across the roofs, go back through your base and try it again. That wastes less time and resources than running to the wooden stairs, dying, waiting 15 seconds, and respawning in the back of your base.
• Spies: You're suspect unless you're on the second floor of the base. Even stupid Engineers will block your path up the wooden stairs and make it very obvious that it's *you* trying to sap that sentry in your way. With the new strong Pyro, life's twice as hard downstairs. If you absolutely, positively, cannot get up the stairs, it's time to change class.

Thanks bcyde, limpossible, alias, gatts, snagger, AndyGoin, Rosewood, FiReaNG3L, dedgecko

Gravel Pit

• Decent scouts can absolutely *murder* on gravelpit defense, trust me. Gravelpit is scout-heaven. (wide open areas, lots of cover, healthpacks everywhere, elevation changes that make full use of the double-jump, and lots of different routes to take) The only thing scouts have to worry about on gravelpit is sentry guns, and what happens when you're on defense? No enemy sentry guns at all. Because of his speed/mobility advantage, a scout can be a much better forward-skirmisher on gravelpit defense than either the spy or the pyro, in my opinion.
• As a sniper, I've completely shut down a few teams when holding the last point in gravel pit. In the back left outside of Red spawn you can cover the rocket guys that come out of B on the left and try to take shots at the turret on the left ramp. You have a "okay" angle on the exit straight in front of the tower to A. And you have a PHENOMENAL view of the back area near the stairs of the other exit from A on the right. I've downed a lot of medics/heavies that sit back there thinking they are in the clear. Plus you can really call out where they are coming in from with the exception of things coming out of B. That's why you sit back on the RIGHT side of the Red spawn.
• Sniper perches. On defense at B: back against the fence that looks into the tunnels or right at the top of the ramp on the right when you come out of C. On defense at A: To the right of the cap point looking down the long ramp/hill to the tunnels. On defense at C: see previous tip. On Offense at B: tunnels, and once team makes a push to the cap point, move out to the fence behind the tall rocks and cover the passages from B to C. On Offense at A: I personally have never been successful sniping here, too many places for demo/pyros/scouts/spies to come from. On Offense at C: try to counter the positions that I listed in previous post, or just switch to spy - sap teleporters and BS snipers.
• Offense. In the first phase (a+b on gravelpit) the action is close enough to spawn that engineers are not useful. In the second phase (C) travel time from spawn starts to be a problem. Also, to keep more of the team alive it helps to have a place to fall back and recharge, which a turret and a dispenser provides.
• i'm all about playing aggressive defense on gravelpit (I normally play scout). I'll usually take a less-traveled route and pick off incoming medics, spys, and anyone else I can sneak up on and unload the scattergun at point-blank range. An enemy's forward sentry usually puts a damper on that , though. I wouldn't do it if it wasn't effective. Playing a scout on D means that you can be almost everywhere at once.
• If you're on offense and the other team is heavy on engineers instead of other troops, just switch to demoman first to clear out the sentries, as a pyro you're pretty much useless against those unless you have a good medic on you. If they're heavy on other types of troops, pyro it up as usual and cause chaos and keep the cap point burning.
• On defense it's pretty much a no brainer, keep the cap room filled with flames for everyone running in and to check for spies. Pop out to keep the medics and demomen running, but I think your best bet is to make sure the scouts and spies are low on health in your cap room. When it gets to defending point C, you may get the urge to branch out from the cap point to try and raise your score, don't. It only takes one skilled spy or scout to end the game for you. Stick close to that tower and constantly run up and down flaming everyone.
• As a soldier I almost single-handedly managed to capture a point on Gravel due to my ability to rocket jump up to the top level of a tower just as the enemies were respawning.
• Always keep an eye on C. If A or B is down, the other is going, and there’s an enemy scout sitting at C, you’re toast.
• Advocating passive defense on gravelpit is asking to lose. Sure keep 1-2 players near the cap point to ward of spies is fine the rest of the team needs to be attacking the offense from positions of strength. Like the choke point from A to C. If you deny that for significant time their only option is to attack from B, a far weaker attack strategy as it can be covered by sentry guns much more effectively. Pushing the offense back also eliminates the risk of an Ubercharge ruining your whole 8 sentry gun defense or whatever by either flat out fraging the medics or forcing them to use it early and waste it for 1-2 players. This is how the Shackers lost the dustbowl game against Valve, they had Ubercharges ready to go in places where it actually mattered. There was no pressure on them to force a wasted uber in a poor location.
• I almost always play scout on that level my tactic is to run into places already captured, hide, and kill key classes as they run through to the contested point. Demomen are easy kills. I had one guy who would just stand there and die when he saw me coming. No close range weapon hurts a lot. Medics go down fast too. Keeping these two classes from even getting to the fight can win the whole map for your team. There also health all over on that map so you can just keep going and going and going. Never had another team bother to organize against me.
• Most people still haven't noticed the windows high up in the house directly above A(?)'s capture point. Soldiers/Demomen on either team can clear out the entire capture point and leave the opposition confused.

Thanks bcyde, mittense, alias, Boxelder, snagger, YamatoTwinkie, sroylance, dedgecko

Dustbowl

• The second "part" of this map is really annoying. The attacking team can go up the far right side tunnel where the one way grate is. With a few people in here, it's impossible to be flanked in such a tiny corridor and this lets the medics sit and power up their uber without any chance of dying. I've done some serious clam scrims on this map and every single team does this.
• You can go around behind them and nail the medic. Always worth the trade. Always.
• Offense. In the first phase (1/2 cap) the action is close enough to spawn that engineers are not useful. In the second phase (2/2) travel time from spawn starts to be a problem. Also, to keep more of the team alive it helps to have a place to fall back and recharge, which a turret and a dispenser provides.
• When attacking, The second and third stages of dustbowl benefit madly from a well placed teleporter. In the final stages, you are talking about transit times for your most power combat classes (soldiers, heavy weps) in excess of 20-30secs, which a tele brings down to... 1. This makes a big difference in sustaining pressure, getting people to the front to attack. I've also found that in the latter stages, rogue pyros on the defending team can usually leap into bottlenecks and kill half your team - a sentry gun shows no fear and takes them out, and a dispenser gets your team healed and armed fairly effectively.
• In Dustbowl in the final attack/defend area, a sniper in the lower outpost near the final CP can take out most sentries and people when they don't expect it.

Thanks DHAvatar, marku5, sroylance, Ziggurat, alias

Hydro

• Most CPs will have a point where a sentry gun is covered in most directions except for the direction looking directly at the CP. This keeps attackers from taking out your sentry until they're actually on the CP (when they're most exposed). Since attackers usually go for sentries first, this is an effective, frustrating, and potentially life-saving placement.

Thanks snagger

Granary

• There are a LOT of opportunities to flank on Granary because the routes split. Also, at the 2nd CP the stairs that lead to the upstairs balcony is always a great way to catch the defense off guard.
• 3-4 scout rush at the start to cap middle there's a good chance the other team is doing the same.
• granary absolutely needs 2 HWG/medics and at least 2 scouts, snipers are almost usless

Thanks alias, Jayx77, vynn

Well

• Sniper perches. Midpoint: eirther on each teams balcony of the main base, you can zap guys through the crack between the boxcar and the wall of the building that houses the midpoint.

Or right outside the midpoint gates and covering the platform that the cap point sits on.

• The last point captures extremely quickly, a scout rush at this time can work well.
• watch out for the trains! If you hear the bells, get off the tracks ASAP
• During setup you can rocket jump on the boxed rail car outside the middle cap point between the gates (one on each side) to score an easy surprise kill
• you can use the well in your base area to go underwater to the middle room without being seen exiting the base

Thanks dedgecko

FAQ

Q: How do sentries prioritize their targets?

If it's always first come, first served seems like there's some coordinated strategy there that could be taken advantage of beyond the standard pop and shot...

A: From what I've seen, once it locks a target, it stays locked until target is dead or out of range. I've gone in and had it lock on me and let a scout run by it.

A: On the last point of second phase on dustbowl last night, on blue team, I came up behind a friendly uber heavy laying down fire into that corner where everyone puts sentries all the time. As a pyro, I just ran straight past them and flamed the sentry, the engineer, and a medic that was there and the sentry didn't turn to me.

Q: What's the basic scoring system breakdown?

A: Below is an unofficial comprehensive list:

ALL:

Kill 1

Kill assist 1/2

Capture 2 (also including intel)

Defend 1 (also including killing an intel carrying enemy)

Building destruction 2

ENGINEER:

Teleporter use 1/2

Healing (dispenser) 1/600

Wrench Sapper 1

Sentry assist 1/2

Sentry kill 1

MEDIC:

Healing 1/600

UberCharge 1

SNIPER:

Headshot kill 2 (1 in addition tokill point)

SPY:

Backstab kill 2 (1 in addition to kill point)

Q: Does the damage from my weapons decrease with distance? THIS IS HUGE FOLKS. READ UP!!

A: Short answer: yes

A: Detailed answer: (long range (LR) is defined as battlement to battlement on 2fort and medium range (MR) as main resupply door to opposite wall, also on 2fort. Point-blank is abbreviated PB. Most damages are rounded to the nearest 5 unless small to begin with. Crits tended to vary much much less than regular shots, so only one number is given.)

PRIMARY WEAPONS:

Scattergun: PB: 85-105 (crit: 180) MR: 10-40 LR: 3-10

Rocket Launcher: PB: 105-115 MR: 50-90 LR: 45-60 (all crits: 270)

Flamethrower (per ammo, not including afterburn): PB: 15 Max R: 5

Minigun (per ammo): PB: 50-55 (crit: 105) MR: 5-30 (crit: 105) LR: 5-10 (crit: 30)

Grenade Launcher: All ranges: 65-125 (crit: 295)

Syringe Gun: PB: 10-15 MR: 5-10 LR: 5-6 (all crits: 30)

Sniper Rifle: All ranges: 110-195 (crit: >300)

Revolver: PB: 55-60 MR: 35-45 LR: 20-25 (all crits: 120)

SECONDARY WEAPONS:

Pistol: PB: 20-22 (crit: 45) MR: 10-15 LR: 8-9 (all crits are probably 45, but I couldn't seem to get any at MR or LR)

Shotgun: PB: 80-90 (crit: 180) MR: 10-30 LR: 3-10

Sticky Bomb: 90-140 (crit: >300) (range not applicable)

Machine Pistol PB: 10-12 MR: 4-6 LR: 4-5 (all crits: 24)

MELEE WEAPONS:

Baseball Bat: 30-45 (crit: 105)

Shovel, Fire Axe, Fists, Bottle, Wrench, Bonesaw, Machete: 45-85 (crit: 195)

Butterfly Knife: 30-50 (cannot crit!)

NOTES ON THIS INFO:

The bat has a low damage rate, but you swing it at least twice as fast as any other melee weapon. the butterfly knife backstab and headshot sniper rifle does unlimited damage.

(Source: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=605111 )

Q: Is there another kick ass Shack guide showing pictures and videos of how to play this game?

A: Yes, courtesy of thekidd. Go here: http://thekidd.shackspace.com/shack/TF2/tf2.html

Q: can you voice chat to your team when you're dead?

A: only the other dead people. unless sv_alltalk 1 is on which some server admins fail to change. Just like CS. Dead people can still hear live teammate's voice talk.

Q: how do you choose to spectate?

A: press "." and select the little spectate thing down in the middle at the bottem of the screen instead of which team you wanna be on :D. (looks like a TV) besides reading this guide, spectating is the best way to learn how to play a class. find the best player you can, and watch him/her by spectating.

Q: Does anyone know what to do when the other team is on defense and does like 7 demos?

It was nonstop demo spam down the hallway and we couldn't do shit.

A: your best option is getting an uber out there. If you cannot coordinate that then your team failed.

Q: Do TF2 sentries cut through 2 players at the same time? or does one player's body stop the bullets?

A: bodies stop the bullets. I always try to put the engineer between myself and the sentry because he gets tked by it AND acts as a damage absorber :D

Q: Is there a way on CP maps to tell which team is defending and/or attacking before you pick a class?

A: Red is defense.

A: You can change your class while you're still in your base thing so you can change depending on what your team is doing.

Q: Has anyone tried defending a map with a heavy next to a medic and a dispenser?

A: He could stand in front of both and take any damage and mow down people with no loss of ammo. And the amount of dmg to overcome the dispenser and medic would be insane.

A: Send in a Spy and a Sniper. Backstab the Heavy first to stop the flow of damage, which allows the rest of your team to come marching in. Put the Sniper on the Medic. If there's time, sap the dispenser and let the Spy get out alive. If the Sniper can't get the kill, spare the Medic so he doesn't respawn alongside the heavy. You'd rather face a weak Medic in battle than a fresh one, anyway.

A: If you can't get a spy in, use a Demoman and a Sniper. Don't shoot the Heavy, as that'll only charge the Medic's uber. Send the Demoman after the dispenser and the Sniper after the Medic. Once one of those is down, the remaining two can be taken out by conventional methods.

Q: What should my team's class choices look like?

A: For a 10-man Defensive team: 3 Engineers, 4 damage-dealers (Heavy/Demoman/Soldier/Sniper/Pyro [go light on the Snipers, heavy on the others]), no more than 1 Spy (and only then if you have problems with offensive Engineers), 2 Medics.

A: For a 10-man Offensive team: 4 damage-dealers (see above), 1 Engineer, 2 Scouts, 2 Medics, no more than 1 Spy (becomes too obvious and they'll start using tons of Pyros). If your team is stuck on a non-moving battle front, swap the Scouts out for offensive Engineers.

A: For dual-purpose teams (offense and defense, like 2Fort, Hydro, etc.): Start with the Offensive team and put the Engineer and one damage-dealer on defense. Send the rest forward. If you need more defense, swap a Scout for another Engineer or a damage-dealer [preferably Pyro, Demoman or Soldier]. If you need more offense, yell at your teammates to stop playing so much fucking defense. 2 Scouts can get any job done if a base is appropriately attacked.

A: The ideal make-up is whatever counters the opposing team. The classes are really paper-rock scissors. I'd agree that the map really changes it too.

A: You need people that can hold down 3-4 classes as required. But I think you'd probable want to focus on 2-3 people that can snipe the flea off a rat, and a handful of extremely well aimed Soldiers/Demos. For your Engi and Medic people you need to find capable and fast thinking players that don't mind sitting in the rear/not racking up frags. All the other classes should be supportable by the people that can play those other classes well.

A: 12 spies ftw

Thanks mittense, handofthrawn, ImageOmega, Izanki, Modica Sol Solis, bcyde, gyokuro, aeg1x, Do_Or_Die, Omaha, freshyk, snagger, hawkeye, Slowtreme, dobob, cause&effect, d0gbert, Silent Sorrow, Iwannaacura, Edgewise, ElPopo, thekidd, lowpoly, pwnage1232, rosewood