------------------------------------------------- Team Fortress 2 General Guide/FAQ Version 1.0 By Gene (Youkai Kouga on gamefaqs.com) SteelFangedSamurai@gmail.com ------------------------------------------------- Notice: This FAQ is to be posted ONLY on gamefaqs.com unless the author gives permission otherwise. Team Fortress 2 is copyright of Valve Software and everything else is copyright its respective owner. This FAQ is copyright Gene 2007. Do not copy this FAQ in part or full and use it as your own without permission. Feel free to contact me with questions/comments/suggestions at steelfangedsamurai@gmail.com _____________________________ Update Log _____________________________ Version 0.1 (12-15-07)- stuff Version 1.0 (12-30-07)- first version submitted for posting ----------------------- Table of Contents ----------------------- 1.0 Introduction 2.0 General game info 2.1 Game modes 2.2 Game mechanics 3.0 General strategy/etiquette 4.0 The classes 4.1 Scout 4.2 Soldier 4.3 Pyro 4.4 Demoman 4.5 Heavy 4.6 Engineer 4.7 Medic 4.8 Sniper 4.9 Spy 5.0 The official maps 5.1 cp_dustbowl 5.2 cp_granary 5.3 cp_gravelpit 5.4 cp_well 5.5 ctf_2fort 5.6 tc_hydro 6.0 Miscellaneous 6.1 Patched Exploits 7.0 Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------- 1.0 Introduction ------------------------------------------------------- Team Fortress 2 is one of those games that is representative of everything I look for in a FPS game. As a team game, it actively encourages teamwork unlike some of team FPS out there, is relatively easy to pick up and play, but difficult to master. I suppose the allegations that Valve dumbed the game down are true, but they actually managed to do so in a way that made it more accessible without removing the fun. Shocking! Of course, no game is perfect, but just listening to the commentary it's simply amazing what level of effort they took to make sure this game would be as fun as possible. Anyway, this is a general FAQ I've decided to write now that the game's been out for a bit and probably won't have any more drastic changes to the maps. It will cover the classes, how to play them and whatnot. It also will analyze all the official maps, and maybe a few custom ones, if there's ever one like that one map in DoD:S that everyone has on their servers (what's it called again...?). Like I said, the game is easy to pick up, but it still takes a bit of time to notice many things about this game. The goal of this FAQ is to point out some of the finer points of the game, but will go over the more basic points as well, in case you're a newcomer. Also please note that any of the strategies and such I list are meant first and foremost for public servers. ------------------------------------------------------- 2.0 General game info ------------------------------------------------------- As the name implies, this is a team game. Every class has defined roles that I'll go over in the character section, as well as discuss strategies for. This design encourages said teamwork, as not every class can do everything, and a balanced team helps fix this weakness. You pick a class and help your team complete the objectives. Enough said. Controls are exactly the same as every other fps out there with no special buttons. Well, E calls for a medic, but that's it. If you don't know them, then you can always check the ingame options menu and customize them to your liking. ------------------------------------ 2.1 Game Modes ------------------------------------ You shoot people until they die over 4 fun-filled game modes and currently five official maps! As of the current update there are 5 game modes. It appears Valve may implement a 6th (Civilian maps) based on a glitch that's still in the current build, but the V.I.P. code was in CSS and Valve never made any official maps for it. The current game modes are: __________________________ Capture the Intelligence __________________________ Official maps: ctf_2fort This is pretty straightforward capture-the-flag. The teams face off and attempt to grab the other's intelligence and return it to their intelligence. If the intelligence is dropped by a carrier, the team that owns the intelligence cannot return it to their base by picking it up, though. Instead they must sit by the intelligence until time on it has expired to prevent the other team from picking it back up. You do not need to have your intelligence in your base to capture the enemy intelligence. Games are by default set to whichever team scores 3 times first wins. However, this is a server variable and will vary from server to server. Sudden Death occurs if the map time limit is reached before any team wins. So far all these maps are symmetric. __________________________ Control Points __________________________ Official maps: cp_granary, cp_well These maps are a tug of war between five points, similar a linear map on Day of Defeat, though you have to capture them in order. If you capture all the points your team wins. After knocking someone off of a point, the progress toward capturing that point does not disappear right away. Instead it goes down slowly, quicker if someone from the controlling team stands on it to 'uncap' it. As a team captures points, their spawn will move up. Every time a point is captured, more time will be added to the timer up top. If time runs out before all the points are captured, Sudden Death occurs. So far all these maps are symmetric. __________________________ Attack/Defend __________________________ Official maps: cp_dustbowl, cp_gravelpit In these maps the Blu team must capture all the points before time runs out in order to win the round. If time runs out, Red wins. There are no stalemates. __________________________ Territory Control __________________________ Official maps: tc_hydro This is an interesting new idea, though so far the only map out for it could have been executed better. Basically it's the same as the Control Point game mode, except there are only two points in the round at a time, and the two teams attack each other trying to take said control points. The only exception is each teams' final point, where the defender must instead simply hold out until time runs out. The control point the teams attack/defend appear to be randomly decided based on the points that are adjacent on the big map at the message of the day screen. Teams win the match by capturing all the enemy points. An interesting concept, I must say. Just like the Control Point game mode, if time runs out, sudden death occurs. ------------------------------------ 2.2 Game Mechanics ------------------------------------ ********** Sudden Death ********** If time runs out on a map, the round will go into sudden death. During sudden death, no one respawns (you can change class at the beginning of the round, though.) The locker in spawn is also locked and medkits will not spawn throughout the level. The only way to heal is to find a Medic or an Engineer dispenser. A team wins the round by eliminating everyone on the opposing team, or fulfilling the map objective. If neither of these conditions are fulfilled before time runs out in Sudden Death, the round is a stalemate. Note: When an Engineer is stabbed in sudden death, his buildings explode. ********** Momentum ********** A game like Team Fortress certainly sounds like it ends up as a stalemate often, doesn't it? Yeah, Valve doesn't like ties either, so they implemented an interesting momentum system that encourages a player to play offense. That doesn't mean that offense is necessarily better than defense, but rather that a defending team doesn't have the overwhelming advantage with static turrets and whatnot. Valve has not revealed how the algorithm for this works, only that those who play offensively will benefit from it. Benefits of momentum include faster spawn times and more criticals, which are definitely not something that should be underestimated. Conversely, playing defensively will result in a spawn time penalty and no increase in criticals. ------------------------------------------------------- 3.0 General strategy/etiquette ------------------------------------------------------- 1) Work as a team and be a team player! Take one for the team sometimes and switch classes. 2) This game, unlike many other of the genre, puts more emphasis on the strategy compared to aim. With the exception of the Sniper, all classes are relatively short range. Thus, many matchups can't be beaten by aim alone. In order to be effective you'll have to outthink your opponents. 3) A microphone is great for this game. People just don't watch regular chat as closely. With a microphone you can clearly communicate locations and key information, as well as SUGGESTIONS. Don't be bossy over the mike, and definitely don't cry 'my team sux ;_;' like some people do. 4) Some general etiquette 1. Don't be a jerk. Pretty obvious. There are enough kiddies on public servers who complain as it is. 2. Don't team stack either. People do this all the time and it's annoying. Ironically sometimes the people who do this end up being the worse off team because they're all terrible and are just joining a team because a star player joined it. 3. If someone's doing a spy check on you, shoot to tell them you're not a spy (spies lose disguise if they do anything but move or sap engineer buildings) 4. If too many people are playing the same class as you, just switch. It hurts the team to have too much of the same class. Now for some more general knowledge that everyone should know. 1) You can bump Sniper's aim while they are in scope by shooting them. Useful on places like the top ledge on 2fort if your Snipers cannot achieve superiority over the other team. 2) Sentry guns can lock on to you from any direction if you are somewhere you can see. However, there is a slight delay before firing. You can peek out at it, shoot it, then hide under cover again to get destroy them. Running past them is not an option due to tremendous knockback. 3) Beware of spies. They look very convincing in disguises in this game, so be sure to be cautious and check suspicious people. Their health won't go down on the bar you see, so shooting them multiple times is a good idea. The only way to confirm a Spy without being a Pyro is to run into them. You can clip through your teammates but you cannot clip through a Spy. I need more for this section :S ------------------------------------------------------- 4.0 The Classes ------------------------------------------------------- ********* Offense ********* ______________________________________ 4.1 The Scout ______________________________________ Health: 125 Weapons Primary: Scattergun Secondary: Scout Pistol Melee: Baseball Bat Special Notes: 1) Can Jump again in midair with space 2) Speed is 133% "normal" 3) Counts as 2 people when capping/uncapping a control point Pros +Fast, fast capping, increased mobility +High damage up close Cons -Low health -Annihilated by sentry guns Good against: 1) Medics (enjoy your projectile weapon <3 and uncaring healing buddy) 2) Spies (very difficult to backstab, revolver doesn't do much) 3) Snipers that are in reachable areas Bad against: 1) Engineers (Sentry guns utterly DESTROY Scouts. If there's no engineer and the gun is close they're manageable, but other than that, GG. It may be the only class they're truly "bad" against, but it's so overwhelmingly one sided how they stop a Scout that it makes up for it) Based on the abilities alone, it's pretty obvious what the TF2 team had in mind for using a scout. They're very fast, have two hitscan weapons, capture points faster/run the intel faster, and are the only class to have increased mobility without a health tradeoff. ********* Weapons ********* Scattergun- A sawed off shotgun. Very high spread in exchange for very high damage up close. Fast reload. Hitscan. 6 rounds per "clip", can have 36(?) shells at a time. Scout Pistol- Just a plain pistol. Not terribly accurate but it suffices for long range combat. Fast Reload. Hitscan. 12 rounds per clip, can have 48 bullets at a time Baseball Bat- Melee weapon. Attacks faster than other melee weapons, but also does less damage. *The Scattergun has a very nasty spread. You must get very close for it to do significant amounts of damage. At mid-long range or further it is a better idea to just use the pistol, even though it only gets a meager amount of ammo. It's not hard to close the distance anyway with the Scout's superior speed. *The Pistol isn't very accurate like I said, but it generally hits well enough. For some reason unlike the Engineer's pistol, you only get 4 clips, which are very, very easy to burn through with its high rate of fire. It's a good choice for longer range, but it simply doesn't do enough damage, so I recommend that Scout's should close the range instead. *The Baseball Bat, despite looking incredibly awesome in the second trailer for this game, is generally not a good idea to bring out unless you're attacking someone who is totally off guard and has 150 or less health. 175 is pushing it, and under no circumstances should it be done on a soldier or Heavy. The scattergun does more damage anyway. Verdict on the Scout's best attack zone? Extreme short ********* Strategy ********* *Although it is often tempting, it's not a great idea to attack every single target you see. There are other classes with more health for that. The Scout can certainly be played like that if you wish; it's more than capable of doing so, but generally I'm of the opinion that you should ask yourself "Can I leave this enemy to the rest of the team?" If so, take the OTHER path (you know, there's always seems to be one in pubs that no one uses for no apparent reason) to get you behind the enemy and flank them, or capture their point, or intel, or whatever. Of course if they don't see you, it's not nice to look a gift horse in the mouth... *To go along with the previous point, there is indeed much more than being hard to hit that comes with the Scout's increased mobility. In public servers it's very common to run into teams that don't work as a team. The Scout is very good at exploiting this weakness if the other team goes total offense, leaving either their capture points or (less likely) their intel completely unguarded. Oftentimes with double capture rate if they're all up at the front pushing your side hard you will get the point and can proceed to do a one man push and totally catch them off guard. *In general it seems that the pub players anticipate that you will use your superior mobility to flank them if you engage them head-on and then hide behind some sort of cover in situations where you have the ability to do so, and will thus align themselves properly to counter said flanking maneuver. Of course, the obvious counter to this is to instead use cover so that it looks like you're doing that, but instead pop out the same place you hid from. Seeing as this is a mindgame sort of thing your mileage will vary from player to player. *Take advantage of the Scout's double jump! Not only does it allow you to jump further and reach places other classes normally could not, but with a direction you can totally change the trajectory of your jump! A nice way to throw people off, really. Don't overuse it, though, because a jump is also a nice way of telling people "Hey I'm going to travel in this direction for a bit please shoot me." It's an okay fake out tactic to throw out sometimes. *Scouts suck in Sudden Death. Generally you should switch classes. ______________________________________ 4.2 The Soldier ______________________________________ Health: 200 Weapons Primary: Bazooka Secondary: Shotgun Melee: Folding Shovel Special Notes: 1) Can rocket jump with the Bazooka. Holding a direction while aiming down and pressing shoot+jump at the same time generally works for me, and you can also make your jump more horizontal by appropriately modifying the trajectory of your rocket, though you have to be walking backwards. 2) Moves slower than every class except for Heavy Pros: +High damage/splash damage +High health +Increased mobility (at the cost of health) Cons: -Slow -No real long range weapon -Slow reloads Good against: 1) Pyros (They have less health and your weapon does more damage up close. Watch out for their guaranteed damage though.) Bad against: 1) Spies (Slow walking speed ;_;) 2) Snipers (Slow walking speed ;_;, but at least they have to charge a headshot somewhat) Soldiers are the most balanced offensive class, and roll in the kills quite easily. Despite being rather slow, their damage more than makes up for it. ********* Weapons ********* Bazooka- A rocket launcher with splash damage. Effective for spamming, but better with aim, as even if the enemy anticipates where the rocket is going to land, they will still often get hit by the splash. 4 rockets per "clip," 36 rockets max. Slow reload. Shotgun- Just a plain shotgun, just like the Engineer has. Aside from being hitscan I do not feel that it is really a boon to the Soldier unlike some other secondary weapons are to other classes. Generally I only use it if I can't be bothered to reload my bazooka. Shovel- Melee weapon. Same as the other generic melee weapons. *The Bazooka is arguably one of the best weapons in the game, as it rightfully should be. As stated above even if you don't always score direct hits since it's a projectile weapon, generally you will be able to damage the enemy anyway because of the splash. It's only problem is the PAINFUL reload. But if you're good enough you will kill the enemy before you need to reload anyway! Against multiple enemies it can be a problem though. *The Shotgun is not nearly as damaging and is also a close range weapon, but is hitscan. I only use it for bumping sniper's aim (see sniper section), and when I don't have time to reload. The shotgun also has a kinda crappy reload too, coincidentally... *Nothing special about the shovel, except Soldier's are slow so melee is worse for them. Verdict on the Soldier's best zones? Everywhere closer than mid-long. ********* Strategy ********* *Soldiers don't really have any fancy frills to them other than their rocket jump. Knowing the map-specific stuff and general knowledge will make the best tactics apparent. *The Bazooka is the best long range weapon for taking out sentries, as intended by Valve (according to their commentary). If you're beyond the sentry gun's maximum range, you can pretty much take it down for free. *As with any slow class, you are more susceptible to flanking. As such it's more important to be aware of your surroundings at all times, though certainly not nearly as much as heavies do. *Critical rockets are the bane of everything, and are complained about all the time. If you score a hit with a critical, even if it's not a direct one, do your best to follow it up if it doesn't kill your target outright; they will undoubtedly have low health. It's a nice way to break a deadlock. ______________________________________ 4.3 The Pyro ______________________________________ Health: 175 Weapons Primary: Flamethrower Secondary: Shotgun Melee: Fire Axe Special Notes: 1) "Normal" speed 2) Immune to catching fire Pros: +High damage at close range +Faster than any other offensive class except Scout +No reloads on Flamethrower +Great for spy checks Cons: -Low range Good against: 1) Any low health class you can catch off guard 2) Spies (they catch fire even when disguised) Bad against: 1) Soldiers (Take too long to burn) 2) Anything when they can't get up close The Pyro is an interesting class in that his(her?) strength varies GREATLY on the map. As such most of the strategy will be knowing the map, and when and where to use them most effectively. ********* Weapons ********* Flamethrower- A Flamethrower. Catches non-pyro classes on fire. Details on how it hits below. Criticals increase range and damage. 200 ammo max. Shotgun- Just a plain shotgun, just like the Engineer has. Hitscan. Fire Axe- Melee weapon. Same as the other generic melee weapons. *The Flamethrower is an interesting weapon. The flame stream is not actually an accurate representation of where it's hitting due to the lag compensation in all Source engine games. As such it's actually pretty dangerous for scouts because the flame actually hits a longer range than it looks on their end so it's difficult to keep distance. Also, the on fire thing is ~60 guaranteed damage unless the enemy jumps into water, which again depends on which map. *The Shotgun is just like the Soldier's and Engineer's, though it benefits the Pyro more because the Pyro's main weapon is so short range. *The Fire Axe is the same as other melee. Some claim it has longer range, but there's no proof of this. Obviously the Pyro is best up close and personal, provided you can get the enemy there... ********* Strategy ********* *As stated above, the Pyro's effectiveness varies greatly depending on the terrain of the level. Big open areas with nowhere to hide (like cp_granary's final point before it was changed) are generally a no no. Cramped areas where the enemy will have little space to evade you are ideal. Preferably with a hiding spot as well. *Camping behind something is an effective strategy, provided you're patient enough. I'm not :( *Since FF seems to be permanently disabled for TF2, spy checks are very simple on any server as well as inexpensive. The Flamethrower is ideal as it catches a spy on fire even if they're disguised, plus you only have to spend a measly .5% of your ammo. Do it to your whole team! When playing Spy I absolutely hate how Pyros have a tendency to check everyone even when it doesn't make sense for them to be a Spy, and thus I end up avoiding them. It really is amazing how much of a difference in effectiveness for spies when there's a decent pyro on the team. *If someone is running away after you have severely burned them, go ahead and pop out your shotgun and shoot them to finish them off before they escape you and potentially get a medic or health kit. *Avoid soldiers if you can. If you must take one on, get them from behind. Otherwise I tend to end up trading deaths at best. *Try not to be suicidal when you get Medic support. Suicidal Pyros are a MAJOR reason why Pyros never to get constant support from a Medic in a public server. ********* Defense ********* ______________________________________ 4.4 The Demoman ______________________________________ Health: 175 Weapons Primary: Grenade Launcher Secondary: Sticky Bombs Melee: Whiskey Bottle Special Notes: 1) Slightly slower than 'normal' speed 2) Can grenade jump with the stickies. It's slightly more tricky than doing so with the Soldier, and more expensive per se, but it also goes further and is a lot more versatile. You'll want to put the sticky on the ground behind you and jump/detonate at the same time. If for some reason you need to go even further you can do two. 3) Sticky Bombs can be detonated with any weapon out using the secondary fire button. Pros: +Great at both defense and offense +Sticky bombs are a huge asset for both offense and defense +Can deal some great damage Cons: -Can be tricky to aim the grenade launcher. The grenades [now] only explode before the first bounce, so no bank shots. -Once the stickies are down it takes a while to put all 8 back up again. -Slow reloads on both weapons (though the sticky bomb launcher has a high clip capacity if you use it as your primary form of attack instead of the grenade launcher) Good against: 1) Engineers (3 stickies will take down any sentry along with stuff near it) Bad against: There's nothing Demomen are truly 'bad' against. Soldiers have the upper hand one on one, but it's not like they're a direct counter. This is one of the reasons Demomen are considered one of the better classes along with Soldier and Medic. Ah the demoman. How I hate you and love you at the same time. They become a massive pain when entrenched defensively, and are also a headache to engineers. ********* Weapons ********* Grenade Launcher- Shoots grenades that bounce and stuff. They will only detonate if they hit something before the first bounce due to how ridiculous they were during the early open beta. If they hit something after the first bounce they will stop moving but not detonate. 4 rounds to a clip (I hear 360 version has 6 or something), 34(?) max ammo. Sticky Bombs- Shoots bombs that stick to wherever they hit (only walls, unfortunately). 8 can be out at a time. Must be detonated with alternate fire, and can be detonated with any weapon out. The stickies will disappear if you die. Also they can be knocked away by enemy attacks. Whisky Bottle- Melee weapon. Same as the other generic melee weapons. *The Grenade Launcher is great for spamming up chokepoints. It has a sort of bad reload time, but it's definitely better than the bazookas. It's also good at close range combat, but takes a bit of practice, especially versus things like Scouts. *The Sticky Bombs are very useful for digging in and stemming the momentum the other team may have built up. It's also easier to use an offensive weapon than the Grenade Launcher. More on this weapon in the strategy section. *Nothing really to say about the bottle. The Demoman is best at med-close range. Don't want them to get TOO close though, even though it makes aiming easier. ********* Strategy ********* *The grenade launcher is nice for spamming it up, but stickies are clearly the Demoman's best asset. So many possibilities. On offense with stickies: *For turrets with an engineer sitting there and doing nothing but holding down left click with his wrench out the Demoman is usually the best one-man solution (spy can be too, but turrets tend to be dicey with people who play like that, while the demoman can do it with a lot less risk provided he has cover). Three stickies will take out a turret no problem. And usually the stuff around it too, including the Engineer if he's foolish enough to stick around. *If you're having trouble hitting with the grenade launcher, or just prefer having something better close up, the sticky launcher is great at this too. Keep in mind though that you must lead, even more than the soldier because the bombs do not explode on impact. The tradeoff is that naturally you can't set up stickies at any place because you'll be constantly detonating them. *Placing stickies aggressively is also a great tactic. Putting them on the center point in a control point during the opening fight will give you an edge and keep the other team off of the point and force them to go after you. On defense with stickies: *Though typically you'll see people shoot stickies all over the floor in public servers, I think that this is not always the proper choice. The stickies have enough splash damage to kill if placed above the arch of an entrance or on low ceilings. It all comes down to what you want to do. Both stop enemies in their tracks usually, but they might just choose to take another route, and in the end still harass the team. But if the enemy doesn't see them, then naturally they'll just go straight in, at which point you detonate the stickies and they die. Sometimes if you do this to someone more than once at a path they'll start taking another path anyway, even though they don't actually see any stickies and you're not there. Like all mind games, your mileage will vary based on the intelligence of your opponents. Just keep the ceiling in mind as an option. *You don't usually need eight mines at one point to kill someone passing through, unless you put them on the ceiling or something. Consider splitting your bombs between two paths. At the very least it can serve as a deterrent even if you're not watching the other path. Other random things regarding stickies: *If you're guarding a point with stickies and you're nearby it, consider shooting more stickies on to the point instead of just blowing them all. One sticky will detonate since you can only have eight, and your deterrent remains intact. Convenient! *If someone starts shooting your stickies away, just place more. The stickies have a large ammo reserve anyway. Generally they'll have to shoot a lot to sufficiently disperse eight stickies to the point where they can't be heavily damaged, unless you're covering a wide ground area with the stickies and they're already spread pretty far. *Red stickies on the sand/dirt texture in brightly lit areas can be difficult to see. The more you know! ______________________________________ 4.5 The Heavy ______________________________________ Health: 300 Weapons Primary: Minigun (WHO TOUCHED SASHA?!) Secondary: Shotgun Melee: Fists Special Notes: 1) Extremely slow 2) Hitboxes are notably larger than other classes Pros: +Humongous health +Humongous damage +No reload (!) Cons: -Startup on Minigun unless you opt to move even slower -VERY reliant on support due to the terrible speed and being a target. -Minigun absolutely tears through ammo Good against: 1) Everything nearby if you have proper support. Bad against: 1) Everything unless played properly. 2) Snipers. ESPECIALLY snipers. These guys buckle to Snipers as hard as Scouts buckle to sentries. 3) Spies. Check your back, you're a prime target fatty. I'll be blunt. Heavies suck by themselves. If you want to be able to do anything by yourself, don't play a Heavy. Sure they've got a lot of firepower, but while using said firepower they sacrifice almost ALL their mobility and as a result the enemies just hide behind cover and peek out to shoot one shot at a time and you end up dead. You must have the assistance of your teammates to play a Heavy. Not necessarily even a Medic, though Medic is obviously the best option. However, I don't agree with the statement "ANYTHING A HEAVY CAN DO A SOLDIER CAN DO AS WELL!" Sorry soldier, you don't have the staying power of Heavy Weapons Guy. That's why he has such a hottie like Sasha and you're stuck with an ugly Bazooka. ********* Weapons ********* Minigun- No reload, goes through ammo very fast and is very damaging. Not good at long range. Can spin the barrel to negate startup by holding secondary fire. Shotgun- Same as all the other shotguns yet again. Useful for the Heavy because it doesn't have startup, thus allowing you to keep your mobility while defending yourself. Fists- Melee weapon. Same as the other generic melee weapons, except 10x cooler. Not as cool as the DoD:S fist of justice though :( *The Minigun has an unparalleled damage output up close, even better than the Pyro's. However, it makes you move very, very slow. Whether this tradeoff is worth it or not depends on the situation. It's terrible at long range though. Don't bother trying to do long range. *The Shotgun is the same as always. Useful for Heavies because their primary makes them move slow. *Nothing really to say about the fists, other than melee only sudden death is a dumb mod IMO. The Heavy is best at medium range, shockingly enough making him one of the further ranged classes in this game (LOL!) ********* Strategy ********* *I cannot stress this enough- you need the support of your team to play as a Heavy. You need the support of your team to play as a Heavy. You need the support of your team to play as a Heavy. If they say something three times in the Navy that means it's important! *Similar to Pyros, closed spaces are more advantageous for Heavies, though preferably WITHOUT the hiding spots. However they don't completely die out in the open, either. But if you have a Medic buddying up with you I doubt he'll appreciate losing his cover behind you if it can be avoided. *Always be aware of your surroundings. As a Heavy not only do you move very slow making you an easy target, but you're also a target because you're a threat and spies will tend to gravitate towards you. Although you might be in the middle of engaging the enemy, turning your back to them for a split second to check the status of your Medic is a good idea, for both your sakes. *When paired with a Medic, keep in mind that you need the support of your team to play as a Heavy. AKA if he dies, you're usually screwed too. You have to play as a team! Think of your Medic! And yes, I play Medic a lot, I think it's ranked third for me. *A minor trick that's sort of similar to something in CSS you see people do occasionally with the AWP is to jump and start spinning the barrel in midair as you cross a corner or whatever to expose yourself. The game obviously won't start slowing you down in midair just because you started spinning your barrel, so you can expose yourself more quickly and get a tad bit more of an advantage when turning corners. Not recommended if you expect someone to turn the corner you're doing it at, though. That can be ugly. ______________________________________ 4.6 The Engineer ______________________________________ Health: 125 Weapons Primary: Shotgun Secondary: Engineer Pistol Melee: Wrench Special: Computer thingy (builds stuff) Special2: Remote Detonator (blows up stuff) Special Notes: 1) 'Normal' speed 2) 4 brings up the build menu, # builds corresponding object. They can be rotated with alternate fire. You do not necessarily have to wait for the object to rotate the full 90 degrees if you want a weird angle. 3) 5 brings up the blow up stuff menu. Exploded things leave behind some metal you can salvage. Pros: +Sentry Guns (which can be repaired faster than most single people can damage) +Excellent support class Cons: -Below average combat abilities -Takes time to set up a level 3 sentry -Sentries are static buildings, so they take a lot of damage, meaning you have to stay in their general vicinity even if spies aren't a problem Good against: 1) Scouts (they die to sentries) 2) Pyros (range too short to deal with sentries) Bad against: 1) Demomen (They can spike with their damage totally negating the repair ability) ********* Weapons ********* Shotgun- Same as all the other shotguns... Except it's the Engineer's primary weapon. Poor him :( Pistol- Unlike the Scout's Pistol, you get a whopping 212 ammo. Other than that, it's mostly the same, and should be used the same way, at distances. Wrench- Melee weapon. Same as the other generic melee weapons, except if you hit anything you build with it, it will repair the building at the cost of some of your metal. You can have 200 metal tops. Buildings: Sentry Gun: Comes in three levels, each which take 200 metal to upgrade to. Initial cost for level 1 is 130 or so metal. All sentry guns can detect enemies from all directions. The front of the gun is just where it will have its fastest reaction time too. Otherwise it has to turn. All sentry guns have tremendous knockback from their shots to prevent people from simply running past them. They do not shoot at disguised/cloaked spies. Their maximum up/down angle appears to be roughly 60-70 degrees. Also note that your own turret CAN shoot you if you stand in front of it while it's shooting at an enemy. Level 1: Small little thing with low health and a (comparatively) low rate of fire. Can be killed by most enemies fairly easily. Level 2: Much faster rate of fire and more health. Level 3: Even faster rate of fire + rockets on top. Additional health. Dispenser: This little machine will slowly heal any teammate nearby it as well as give out ammo/metal about every 2 seconds. Pretty useful. It can run out of metal, but the other two have an infinite supply. Teleporter: Pretty self-explanatory by the name. Has a bit of a cooldown between teleports. *Using your shotgun for spy checks isn't a bad idea since they tend to target you, and an Engineer isn't typically in direct combat. *The Pistol is better for long range combat than the shotgun. The shotgun from my experience as a Sniper tends to be a better aim bumping tool, though. *The Wrench's repair restores health to all buildings and ammo to the sentry gun. If a sentry gun doesn't need repairing, it goes toward the upgrade though. This needs to be kept in mind if you keep a level 2 around for whatever reason. *Sentries will be discussed in the strategy section. ********* Strategy ********* *The Engineer who built his buildings is the only one who doesn't simply clip through the buildings. Don't be afraid to put a sentry gun at a narrow chokepoint; your teammates will be able to pass through without jumping over it. However, your enemies will not. Especially useful for not letting a Spy get behind you. *If a spy does the obnoxious stand-by-your-turret and repeatedly sap thing and no one comes to help you, SHOOT HIM FIRST. This should be obvious but for some reason people seem to forget it. It's really your only option in the situation if you don't get outside help. *Turrets don't have to be used just like static emplacements. Level 1's can be fun to just drop them somewhere hidden and forget about them, and they'll catch people off guard and kill them sometimes. It's a great tactic if you're being pressured too much to set up, or you want to play more offensively. *I'd argue that the auxiliary buildings are more important to put up than the sentry guns common to contrary belief. They start out at their max potential without needing any upgrades, and are used by actual moving players instead of a stationary aimbot. Don't underestimate the power of the teleporters and dispensers... *Staying way behind at a point two points behind the current one is not helpful for the rest of the team. Move up. That being said, if your team goes all offense it's sometimes a good idea to stay behind to stop a sneaky Scout or Spy. ______________________________________ 4.7 The Medic ______________________________________ Health: 150 Weapons Primary: Syringe Gun Secondary: Medigun Melee: Bonesaw Special Notes: 1) 'Normal' speed 2) Medigun heals allies, alternate fire activates ubercharge, which gives you and the guy you're healing 10 seconds of invulnerability. 3) Health regenerates at roughly 1.5-2 health/second Pros: +Can heal, making them arguably the best support class Cons: -Their weapon sucks even if you know how to use it, though it CAN kill. No good against/bad against really for Medic, because they have the worst offense in the whole game, and are at a disadvantage versus everyone except maybe snipers at close range. The advantage to using a Medic is amplifying everyone else's abilities. Yeah, I'll agree Medic can be pretty boring at times, but hey, someone has to do it. A single medic will go a long way to keeping your team healthy and preventing the enemy from wiping out your line and pushing back. Plus they can do 2 man pushes with the ubercharge. ********* Weapons ********* Syringe Gun- An automatic weapon with 40 syringes per clip and projectile bullets with absurd drop. If you look at the official Valve stats for this gun, I believe the average killing range is _BELOW_ that of melee weapons. It's not really that short ranged, but you do have to aim up to hit. And also lead. Each syringe does roughly the same as a Sniper's SMG bullet though ;_;. Medigun- Heals people, enough said. they just have to be within a certain range and oriented in such a way that there's not a wall between your line of sight if you were looking at him. Also appears to critical sometimes, even though it's not as noticeable. Note that you can heal above the class's health limit, making them even more durable. This will eventually degen off them if not maintained, however. Bonesaw- Same as all the other generic melee... Only difference is that it's more useful since your gun kinda sucks sometimes. *Always aim up with the Medigun. The only thing to note is that you have an edge when shooting up hills compared to other guns (that one hill between the dish and facility CP comes to mind) *Medigun is very useful. People appreciate it. They even use the "Thanks!" radio a lot. Shocking! Uber is great for pushing somewhere the enemy has dug their heels in. Best range: Short... or none at all, preferably! ********* Strategy ********* *This is another class where you're a major target. Even worse, all your weapons are below average! Try to use cover as much as possible, including whoever you're healing as a meat shield. *Don't just stick on one person like glue. Heal others and then resume sticking to that one person. *Take advantage of how easy Valve made the Medigun to use. It'll allow you to take cover behind a wall as long as you can still see the person you're healing. *This class, like the Heavy, must be played as a team player. You can't do much alone. It's inherent to the design of the class. *If someone is being overly reckless, just because you're with them, just stop healing them, seriously. The Medigun buffs up health sure, but it can't deal with three or four enemies whaling on whoever you're with. It's not worth both of you getting killed if they're going to get killed anyway. *A microphone is a great asset for Medics. You can warn the guy you're with of people coming up your flanks since you're able to freely rotate while they're generally stuck dealing with what's ahead of you. If you don't have a microphone, I sometimes use the "Help!" radio, but people don't really seem to pay attention to it... *Do not waste ubercharges. They are very, very valuable. Also, contrary to the popular public server myth, you do not need a freaking uber to take out a sentry if there's no engineer right next to it or the guy being healed is a demoman. Instead save them for when you're near death or breaking through a lot of enemies. ______________________________________ 4.8 The Sniper ______________________________________ Health: 125 Weapons Primary: Sniper Rifle Secondary: SMG Melee: Machete (/Club/Kukri/WHATEVER) Special Notes: 1) 'Normal' speed 2) Shots with the sniper rifle must be charged to do optimum damage. More on this later. Pros: +The longest range in the game by far Cons: -Worst secondary weapon in the game, arguably worse than the Syringe Gun. -Takes time to charge up Sniper shots, which makes you stay in scope Good against: Heavies (This is a clear counter-class for them) Soldiers (They're also slow and easy targets) Bad against: Spies (You WILL get stabbed, it's very difficult to avoid) Snipers suffer from the same Pyros suffer from. Due to their design geared specifically at one extreme range of combat, their abilities vary greatly depending on the map. And also arguably on their team's ability to hold a line. ********* Weapons ********* Sniper Rifle- Pretty much the average sniper rifle. Only one zoom. Note that shots must be charged up to do maximum damage, as shown by the rising meter on the right of the scope. Headshots always critical. The enemy can see the laser dot from the sniper rifle on the wall. SMG- Terrible gun. Measly ammo, awful damage, not terribly accurate. Better than nothing though, and at least it's not projectile. I believe I read somewhere the pistol does around double the damage of this gun... Machete- Standard melee. Seems faster by the animation, but I doubt it is. *I really like what Valve did with the Sniper rifle and charges. Despite seemingly useless without charges to a beginner, a headshot will kill any 125 without a health buff guaranteed, no matter the charge. A body shot takes a lot more charging though, 80%+ or so. A fully charged headshot is a guaranteed kill anything, even those pesky Heavies buffed up to 450 health by a medic (who also have a head the size of a watermelon as well!) With a name like Sniper it's pretty obvious they're best at long range. ********* Strategy ********* *The way to play a Sniper is more or less the same as other games of the genre. Keep in mind though that most other classes are a lot shorter ranged than in other FPS, and as a result you can be a bit more risky, which trades off with the charging mechanism. *Finding a safe vantage point is more advantageous in this game. Spies absolutely love to shank Snipers since they can't watch their back very easily due to the charge mechanism. Plus as a Sniper you're all alone in the back, meaning you're more likely to see them do something funny, and you're all alone :) *If there's another Sniper across from you on whatever map, they'll usually give priority to taking you out. Usually you should do the same, but if there's a place at wherever you are that will allow you to safely snipe someone who's actually endangering the rest of your team instead of just watching you, consider taking them out, then dealing with the other Sniper. Sniper wars, though they can be fun, are immensely useless if the two snipers only watch each other. *It's actually not that difficult to snipe with a higher ping, believe it or not. Valve did a great job with lag compensation. You're still at a disadvantage though. ______________________________________ 4.9 The Spy ______________________________________ Health: 125 Weapons Primary: Revolver Secondary: Electro-Sapper Melee: Butterfly Knife Special: Spytron (Disguise kit) Special Notes: 1) 'Normal' speed, though this is altered by slower disguises. 2) Can disguise as any other class on either team. 3) Can cloak with any weapon out using secondary fire. Takes time for the cloak to fully take effect, so wait a tad before running out or they'll see you. 4) A backstab with the knife is an instant kill Pros: +The deadliest class under all the right conditions Cons: -Not really difficult to play, just different. It requires a lot of thinking and mindgames. -Luck and minimizing the enemy's luck is a significant element to playing a Spy. Good against: Heavies (Slow, never watch their backs) Soldiers (Also slow, but they do actually turn around) Snipers (Never watch their backs) Bad against: Pyros - (There's ALWAYS some guy running around in circles shooting random flames at people. Always.) The Spy is definitely my favorite class, even though sometimes it can be really frustrating. Unlike the other classes, it can do well without teamwork, though teamwork is always helpful. ********* Weapons ********* Revolver- This is actually a fairly decent primary. It's accurate, it does reasonable damage, and has fast reload. Its ammo is kind of low but generally you'll only be using it if your cover is blown anyway. Electro-Sapper- You put this on Engineer buildings and it drains the charge and uses it to blow itself up or something cool. Anyway, it'll slowly drain the health of buildings. If the Engineer is not in the immediate vicinity it's pretty much guaranteed to kill level 1 sentries, dispensers, and teleporters. Level 2 and level 3 sentries give them some time to come over, though. Butterfly Knife- Terrible damage used normally, Instant kill with a backstab. Disguise Kit- Allows you to disguise as another class. If you disguise as the opposing team, sentry guns will not shoot at you. A disguise is lost if you attack. When disguised you take another person's name off their team and ----- Quick rundown of disguises: ----- Scout- Very bad, your speed does not increase = near-instant detection. Soldier- Decent because no one expects it, but slows you down. Only change to it once you're nearby or before a cloak. Pyro- Theoretically tied for the best, but since Spy is all mindgames and this disguise is VASTLY overused that technically means it's very predictable and actually only decent. Demoman- Slightly slower, but not really all that noticeable. A very good one. Heavy- Very slow, again something people don't expect, but I still would not recommend it Engineer- I would argue that this is truly the best disguise, as almost every team has someone on Engineer, while there may or may not be a Pyro. Still, do not rely on one disguise. Medic- They can detect you by highlighting your name since you don't have an ubercharge counter. Worthless. Sniper- Another theoretically good one, but keep in mind it'll look suspicious not being at a vantage point. Spy- This rarely fools people, because apparently even when the word "spy" crosses the mind of people in public servers they immediately do a spy check. I mean, it's not uncommon for people to spy check their own spies when it clearly says "Disguised as such and such" under their name! It does work sometimes though. And of course it's an OKAY approach disguise like the friendlies, but the friendlies are better. Friendly disguises- Good for the approach, that's about it. Medic strikes me as the best as they can't see your name anyway and not all medics will shoot when shot at. No other comments on the Spy's weapons. ********* Strategy ********* ********* Insertion ********* *As I said above, a lot of playing Spy is luck and/or minimizing the other team's luck. As such, for your approach, you should: a) Avoid places with large firefights when cloaked, if you are bumped or damaged you will be exposed temporarily, at which point you should execute evasive maneuvers b) Approach your line with a disguise on the enemy doesn't flag as suspicious. The friendlies work for this. c) Change disguises somewhere nearby, cloak and go in, decloak somewhere where no one is looking. It isn't actually that hard to get in usually using cloak, provided you don't bump. Uncloaked and disguised is generally a lot more difficult, and the less chances you take, the greater your chances of success. *Once you're in, still give people a wide berth to prevent lol xD random spy checks that happen to everyone. Be especially wary of Pyros and Engineers who do nothing but camp their sentry, as they are the most frequent spy checkers. If they shoot you as a Pyro you're screwed, but an Engineer may let you walk wherever you're walking without shooting enough times to kill you. Snipers are naturally suspicious of anyone who goes up on their ledges, but they always have their back turned. ********* Subterfuge ********* *Now that we've covered how to stay alive, CHOOSE YOUR TARGETS CAREFULLY. Things to keep in mind: 1) How much of a threat the target is to the other team. 2) Can you kill them without being detected or if you can't, can you escape easily? Or are you willing to sit through the respawn time) 3) Is there a sentry nearby that will whale on you for losing disguise? If they keep their back turned and you can do so undetected feel free. Also hit-and-runs on Heavies/Medics are easy as well. Many Heavies do not turn even if they hear the ear-splitting scream of the Medic, though the better ones WILL in which case you may just have to make do with just them. High-priority targets regarding threats include: 1) Heavy/Medic 2) Snipers (depending on their skill) 3) Demomen clogging up a path with mines Or basically anything that is putting the pressure on you and/or impeding progress. ------------------ Regarding sapping: ------------------ If no one is around, go ahead and do the sap. Keep in mind that this will alert whatever engineer along with anyone sees the sentry that there is a spy in the base. Do not bother with lone inactive teleporters unless they're by a spawn. They're "traps" (and I use that term VERY loosely) for an Engineer to detect a Spy, and they don't really get you anything unless you're a point piggy. When there is the engineer around, however: With level 1 and 2 sentries it's fairly easy just to stab the Engineer and quickly sap his gun before it turns on you. You can take a few hits. It's also possible with level 3 sentries, but it is very dicey and you have to make sure the sentry is oriented exactly 180 degrees away and that you strafe in the opposite direction it rotates (if you even can!) while you sap it in order to pull it off. There's simply too many risks when trying this on a level 3. Pretty cool when you DO do it though. Otherwise if you don't want to risk taking a hit or two (not like it REALLY matters if you do) or it's a level 3, then you'll be forced to sap the sentry and whip out your knife as fast as possible usually. It's also dicey, and it doesn't even work against paperweights, because they usually hit the sentry right as you place the sapper, and thus really only need another wrench hit to knock it off, meaning if you stab them, you'll probably end up eating a rocket as soon as you lose the disguise. The only really effective move against paperweights is to repeatedly sap. This takes a lot more time and is dicey in that someone may come by and see you and shoot your head off if the paperweight doesn't (it's really shocking how many just try and repair through it...). It also broadcasts your presence at a sentry gun doing said thing to the entire server, but brute forcing them is sometimes the only way. Another conditional option is to let your teammates do the work destroying the gun as you disable it, using the multiple sap method. Of course as a Spy oftentimes you will be working alone and this will not be applicable. Finally, you can always IGNORE it. A novel idea! Find a lower risk target and leave the sentries to a demoman or something. Or wait until your team comes to do the job. It's not always worth it. Also note in Sudden Death if you stab the Engineer his buildings explode anyway, saving you the trouble of sapping and giving you a huge advantage. against Engineers. ------------------ If your cover is blown: ------------------ *Run away with cloak if they're in a position to attack you. Use some fancy footwork and don't head in a straight line. *If it's a lone person using a class that's usually at a natural disadvantage for whatever range you're at, you can take them out with your revolver provided you have good enough aim. Situations where you'll stand a good chance of winning: 1)Lone Medic (strafe carefully though) 2)Lone Sniper (their secondary is awful) 3)Lone Pyro (ONLY AT MEDIUM RANGE! Keep them zoned. Difficult to pull off, but fun to laugh at them.) 4)Lone Engineer (This one's actually a tossup, at close you will usually lose, at medium you have a chance though) 5)Lone Spy (mirror match, obviously comes down to player skills) Anything else and you're at a disadvantage and it's better to run if you can. *If you manage to escape be sure to change your disguise to keep the enemy from warning the rest of their team about a Spy of a specific class. ------- One final note about playing a Spy. It's just something you have to get used to and learn by experience. I could type all day about theoretical situations and what I would do in said situations, but it's better to just come up with whatever you're most comfortable with in the end. I only went into detail with sapping because I see so many Spies do it wrong. The only way to get better is to notice general public server behaviors and try your own approaches yourself. This class is certainly not for everyone. That wraps up the class section. Onwards!! ------------------------------------------------------- 5.0 The official maps ------------------------------------------------------- Just like DoD:S, Valve kind of shafted us with the amount of maps released with the game. Well, at least they keep their word and always have high quality products. The game modes for these maps are described in the general game info section. Also I will only give a very general summary of what the map looks like since playing the map is a better way to learn it anyway. Instead, this section will focus on map specific tips and tricks. ______________________________________ 5.1 cp_dustbowl ______________________________________ Game mode: Attack & Defend Symmetric?: No Pretty straightforward three-stage map. Blu attacks, Red defends. First stage starts with a firefight to a house on the left of a canyon from Blu's view and continues through some mineshafts to another point at the building. The second stage Blu starts in a trench and must fight to another building followed by another path through mineshafts to yet another building. On the final stage Red is given a massive advantage; Blu must take a bunker, followed by a very narrow main path (and a small side path that isn't all that useful if it's being watched) to the final cap point. All of these maps have a sort of 'stepping stones' that were clearly put in by Valve to give an edge for the offensive team in their final approach toward the capture point. They start out obvious, then turn subtle, but they are definitely there. I'll point them out in the 'points of interest' section, except the fairly obvious ones in stage 1. Oh and I apologize in advance for mostly going over what to do with Blu. But it'd be rather redundant for Red, since it's the same stuff in reverse. Class usefulness varies greatly here, though generally the Scout is not a useful class unless on Blu and their static defenses have been broken. Even then, you can still demomine jump. Stage 1: Fairly balanced for all classes on Red except Scout. On Blu Snipers aren't too hot either. Stage 2: Pyros and Demos shine on Red. They absolutely dominate the mineshafts and beginning trench, respectively. Sniping on Blu is pretty worthless except maybe at the very beginning. Spies tend to suck on Blu, also. Stage 3: Both sides should use Demomen. Heavies are decent but only if you can hit the sweet spot for their zoning. Spy effectiveness will vary greatly on this map depending on the skill levels of the players. Pyros can work too, but don't get caught on the opposite side of the path from the other team. Also BOTH sides need at least one engineer. Scout is 100% worthless except on Red to flank if they don't use the tunnel. ********************* Points of interest ********************* Stage 1: 1) The one-way gates are incredibly predictable and often well guarded by Red. Taking other routes is usually advisable. Same with the one on stage 2. 2) The first stepping stone I'll point out is the shack on the right with tons of health and ammo, though in this case it's meant mostly for Blu to help hold an area. Still, it's not a bad place for a Soldier to help support his team with rockets. Stage 2: 1) The shack on the right at the start has a ton of health and ammo. It's a good idea to take it as a foothold on Blu. 2) Also, on the second point, the rock to the left has a full medkit. Another useful stepping stone and a great place to harass Red from. The path right next to the one-way gate is good too. Stage 3: 1) Though the first point doesn't really have any stepping stones like others, the second point is MUCH easier to cap if Blu takes the building on the right. It secures you an additional one-way route that Red will be hard-pressed to defend against. They will try and flush you out ASAP, and it's very difficult to defend it unless you do something drastic like watch the stairway with a Heavy. 2) Likewise, the building on the left is useful, though not as much since it's not actually connected to the other side of the pit. It does have a better vantage point though, and Soldiers and Demomen can still jump over to a little ledge on the left with explosives. 3) The tunnel is a double-edge. Use it or it will be used against you. If the other team digs in and places a sentry or something, watch it too or take it back if possible. ********* Mobility ********* Stage 1: Aside from using demomines to rush over flat terrain unexpectedly, there's not really any other tips to give. There are no real areas that can only be reached by specific classes. Stage 2: I've been told that any class can get in that tiny bunker window at the start from the front but I never did try it. I know Scout can at least. The others have to go on the raised hill side. This is a seldom used path and can be pretty useful since you don't have to go all the way around to the side door. Stage 3: Demomines to leap across the gap at the start are an EXCELLENT way to get over to the point if all the sentries but the one in that raised area are gone. For some reason no one ever seems to notice when someone does it until it's too late... Also, you can reach said raised area with Engineers (build dispenser and use it to reach up there), Scouts, Demomen, etc. Engineers on red often use this as a safe place to put teleporters, as it reaches pretty far back. At the final point Demomen can leap up the ravine with demomines. I don't think anyone else can get all the way up though. ********************* Class-specific tips ********************* Demoman: 1) USE YOUR MINES. If you're on Red your job is to stall for time and on Blu you need to cement your position on this map. 2) Spam is effective on all the maps. Just don't go overboard. Engineer: 1) See the 'mobility' section about the raised area on defense for stage 3 2) Teleporters are absolutely essential on this map for Blu except on part 1. It is VERY easy for Red to push Blu back, possibly even all the way back to the first point on stage 3. Teleporters (and of course sentry guns) help prevent this obviously. Try to keep one up as close as possible to the battle line, but in a safe area. Spy: 1) If you play Spy on this level, be prepared to die. A lot. And destroy a lot of sentries. They'll be the main obstacle for your team along with demomen to a lesser extent. ______________________________________ 5.2 cp_granary ______________________________________ Game mode: Control Point Symmetric?: Yes Five points and a symmetric map. Pretty simple design, alternates between being closed and open areas (more are open) which prevents any one class from dominating. People love Scouts here, though. On the original version the final point was devoid of any cover which often ended the map in stalemate. Valve's fix to this was to add all the obstacles you see now along with that extra window room that just screams tacked on. Of course I probably would not have the same opinion if the original was like that, but oh well :P. Anyway, the important thing is that Valve changed the momentum bonuses for this map. Momentum is very powerful indeed on this map now, so it behooves your offense to play as aggressively as possible to get that first point. Leave one or two people for defense though! Snipers suck here. They favor long-range combat in open areas, and while there are indeed some in this map, they do not play enough of a role to play a class dedicated to that range. Ditto with Pyros, but to a lesser extent. ********************* Points of interest ********************* 1) Don't forget about the one-way exit to the right of point 2! Useful thing, it is. Just make sure you don't land in the middle of a bunch of enemies. Spamming stuff down it is more trouble than it is worth. ********* Mobility ********* Demos and Soldiers can get on top of the lights by the auxiliary tunnels to the center point. Aside from the element of surprise, not useful at all. All classes can get on top of the crates at the center point. None can actually cross to the other side of the map with them except Soldier and Demo, though. Scout can get to the platform, but not the other crates. ********************* General tips ********************* 1) Attack, attack, attack. This cannot be stressed enough. If you get pushed back to your second point you already stand a good chance of losing. If you find yourself on the losing end of the first conflict be especially sure that you have some sort of defense back there in case the entire team gets wiped. ______________________________________ 5.3 cp_gravelpit ______________________________________ Game Mode: Attack & Defend Symmetric?: No This attack and defend point starts with Red defending TWO points at once instead of just one. A is in a building on an open hill with cover. B is more flat and has a building with a hole in the top (why?) ********************* Points of interest ********************* 1) B is indeed easier to defend than A. While A is big and open, there is too much cover to be able to stop Blu from advancing up the hill. B has less cover (though it still has plenty) and is a bit more enclosed. ********* Mobility ********* 1) Scouts, Demomen and Soldiers can all get on top of the building at the B capture point. Not very useful for Scouts though, since their shotgun is short range AND they have to climb on top of that big rock to get up there. It's great for the other two, though. You can harass a team that's capturing from up there. 2) Scouts, Engineers, Soldiers, and Demomen can get up into the concrete tunnels that Blu comes out of. Not terribly useful as an Engineer, since you simply will not get enough time to set up a good sentry gun up there, and it's difficult to rebuild. Works for the other classes, though. ********************* General tips ********************* 1) If you're on Red, don't just let them have a point... this is probably one of the dumbest things I've heard mike commanders say in pubs. It's okay to focus more defense on one, but do not let them just take one of the two initial points. 2) Scout is actually pretty good on defense here in the beginning since there are two points. They can rush over to a point being capped by one or two people and stymie their offense while others arrive. Also, health is generally close to the point, giving the Scout's runaway tactics a bit more of an edge. 3) Teleporters on Blu... I have a mixed feeling on this. The problem with them is that putting them close to the battle line indirectly makes many people on a pub team take the path where you set it up. This can cause problems on the final point, especially if the Engineer puts it at the A-C path (speaking of electricity, it's funny how Ohm's law seems to apply to public games!). Just something to keep in mind. ______________________________________ 5.4 cp_well ______________________________________ Game mode: Control Point Symmetric?: Yes Five points and a symmetric map. A train station to be precise. Much better than cp_granary IMO. It's open for the most part, but there's just enough cover to make everything interesting. Also the secondary routes are a lot better, creating lots of interesting tactics! ********************* Points of interest ********************* 1) The water is great for stealth maneuvers, whether with a Spy, Scout, or whatever. Use it to flank the enemy and/or capture an unguarded point. All the more reason to keep someone back to watch the points... Also, under the bridge can be used as a staging point as it isn't usually checked since it's, well, under everyone's feet. You can even see what's going on above from there. 2) The upper levels of either of the team buildings are generally inhabited only by snipers and sometimes people spamming crap down below on their second point. It's a useful route. ********* Mobility ********* 1) Soldiers and Demos can get over the train that separates the sides before round starts. Good for a surprise attack, but kind of gimmicky, so don't abuse it. Scouts might be able to as well, but I haven't tried. 2) Scouts/Soldiers/Demos can all get up on the balcony of the middle point before the round starts. Gives you the high ground and a shorter travel time to the point (though that's not really that helpful, since generally the point lights up in fireworks at the start) Scouts need to use the windowsill to hop up. 3) Engineers (and the usual bunch) can get up to the rafters on the final point using dispensers. Extremely useless though, as it cuts the sentry range significantly. Who cares if no one can hit it if it's not contributing to the defense?! ********************* General tips ********************* 1) Momentum is not as great an issue as in granary, fortunately. It's ok to take a little more time on this one. The world won't end if they take the central point. 2) More than any other map, this is the most important to have a balanced team on. As stated above, the secondary routes are extremely powerful, and if a team is going all-out offense in an attempt to break a point with no one watching the point, a pair of Scouts (or Spies, though they're slower, but easier to slip out with) could slip out and totally reverse the game, and possibly even outright win it for their team. Heck, it can even happen with a single scout if no one goes after them. 3) Even if the enemy is close enough to come and waste you for trying to sneak behind them and capture a point, the tunnel is STILL worth it. If they're walking back to the point, they're certainly not fighting your team. Tactics like this help relieve pressure off your team and allow them to at the least regain their feet, and hopefully push through a weakened line before the rest of the enemy comes back. ______________________________________ 5.5 ctf_2fort ______________________________________ Game mode: Capture the Intelligence Symmetric?: Yes Ah yes, the classic. It's two identical forts staring straight at each other with a bridge and water in between them. There are 3 entrances, two straight out from the front and the pipe down below. The intel is located in the basement which is only accessible from the second floor (haha, what?). All classes are useful on this map, though Pyro doesn't appear to do very well on the offense. Also if the enemy team has sentries properly placed and are camping them, Scouts will not be of much use either. ********* Mobility ********* 1) The Scout, Demoman and Soldier can enter via the other team's battlements. The Demoman and Soldier can do a simple rocket jump, but the Scout must cross the roofing on the middle bridge. This leaves them open to enemy snipers, so be careful when you cross as a Scout. This is a great path, but oftentimes it's blocked by one of the more common sentry placements. 2) The Demoman and Soldier can rocket jump up to the room overlooking the hall directly after the two front entrances. This is a very rarely used path, and usually the only people watching it are the occasional Demoman who plants stickies down below to cover the entrance. It also gives a single person the best shot at destroying the same sentry emplacement mentioned in point 1. 3) No one ever watches their own sewers unless an Engineer builds a base there (which is part of the reason I think the sewer base thing people do isn't really that useful, though it IS a nice staging point.) It's a good way to sneak in. Note that if you're going in as a Spy it is impossible to make it across their base to cover with cloak starting from the top of the sewer, so it might be better to go in front if it's not in the middle of a firefight. ********************* Class-specific tips ********************* Engineer: 1) Though it is IMMENSELY boring to do, an engineer in the intel room is one of the best ways to guard the intelligence. Any other sentry placement can be bypassed in some way, shape, or form. The problem is that the sentry must ALWAYS be monitored even though not many people get down to the intel room because otherwise a Spy will just sap the sentry and grab the intel. 2) Another great option is the place just to the right of the non-battlements spawn where the stairs go up. If placed correctly, it can completely obstruct the way to the spiral ramp for the other team, and also guard against anyone coming in from the battlements. If far enough back, it can also guard the grated room too, but that path is rarely ever used, and placing it further up gives it more of a chance to shoot anyone down below. 3) Teleporters are generally not as useful on this map unless you make a base in the enemy sewers (or just drop one, no one watches their own sewers) or some other random gimmick like dropping an exit behind the desk in the enemy intel room. ______________________________________ 5.6 tc_hydro ______________________________________ Game Mode: Territory Control Symmetric?: No Interesting map. Control point oriented like the CP maps, but only between two adjacent parts that are randomly selected. It seems like a great idea, but it always seems to end in stalemate unless one team is stacked. I think the problem is that the maps are too small and that the secondary routes aren't good enough. Still, pretty fun experience. Not gonna cover the basic geometry in this one, it's too complex to get a good idea anyway. I will still point out some interesting points, though in later revisions. I need to look at this map while doing this sort of thing. Don't bother playing Scout on this one. Other than that, the other classes are fair game, though I'd argue Pyro has limited use in the actual approach toward the point as they are typically open areas. They do a nice job securing the routes, though. ********************* General tips ********************* 1) I'd say this map favors either an extremely aggressive or extremely defensive team more than anything else. Even if someone manages to sneak the frontline, people usually die fast enough so that someone will ruin your party if you actually try and cap. Plus it's easier to hold the central paths. Defense works well also since there's only a single point to guard and thus the Engineers and such never need to move. Sudden Death is a different case, however. If the other team has a good Spy (and a good spy won't let you know they even have a spy in SD) and the other team is pressuring their team, they can slip by and shank the lone engineer or whatever and cap the point. Demomines can stop this but it can be a gamble. Therefore I recommend a more balanced and/or a defensive approach. 2) Don't be afraid to dig in if you're losing. Sudden Death is a completely different game for this map and anything could happen. ------------------------------------------------------- 6.0 Miscellaneous ------------------------------------------------------- This is the section where you can find random tidbits that no one actually cares about, but are fun to read anyway. ------------------------------------ 6.1 Patched Exploits ------------------------------------ 'Fast Heavy' This was the first annoying exploit found in the game. By using all their ammo as a heavy then mashing fire and secondary fire a Heavy could glitch out their minigun so that they could fire it while moving at normal speeds. Yeah, it was pretty lame. At least it took a bit of effort to set up. It looked hilarious, though, as it looked like they were just running normally with the firing effect coming out of their gun. 'cp_gravelpit map exploit' Oh boy. This one was pretty serious. If someone pressed their back against the rock between the A and B paths they used to be able to fall through the map. Anyone who's messed with noclip (or played the Empires mod beta lololol) knows that in Source games you can shoot one way through the absolute floor of a level. People set up sentry guns right outside Red's spawn. Terrible form of griefing. 'cp_dustbowl gap at spawn' This one was fixed recently. For a while it was possible to shoot people before the round started on the right side of the canyon because of a mapping error. Wasn't too serious, it was even kinda funny. 'Sapping Through Walls' Man, I abused this one. You used to be able to sap through walls as long as you were in range to use a sapper normally. It was funny as hell. 'Civilian Class' join_class civilian in console and you were a floating red scout with no animations, 50 health, and no weapons. WOOHOO. Harmless. 'Uber Storage' If a Medic switched weapons while in uber they used to be able to store it until they switched back to the medigun. This was removed and labeled an exploit by Valve. I don't think it needed to be removed though. 'Teleporter that blocks spawn' On gravelpit an Engineer could somehow block the entire spawn with a teleporter. Ewww. ------------------------------------------------------- 7.0 Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------- Email questions/comments/suggestions to steelfangedsamurai@gmail.com I'm happy to take emails. Especially for this game, I need to know what newbies don't know! Don't expect a swift reply though. Thanks to Syll and all my other friends I play this game with. Thanks to Valve Software for their unparalleled level of detail in games. Thanks to all the servers I play on for not putting on dumb gimmick mods/not being 24/7 durrhurr servers/knowing that the game doesn't need more than 24 players Copyright crap, copied and pasted from the top: Notice: This FAQ is to be posted ONLY on gamefaqs.com unless the author gives permission otherwise. Team Fortress 2 is copyright of Valve Software and everything else is copyright its respective owner. This FAQ is copyright Gene 2007. Do not copy this FAQ in part or full and use it as your own without permission.