Team Fortress 2: Newbie Advice Thread

It's been suggested that we split this topic off from the main TF 2 thread.

Since the astonishing announcement that the game is now free to play, Team Fortress 2 has received a massive influx of fascinated new players. For the benefit of these newcomers who are trying to learn the ropes, they can ask questions and seek advice from long-time players here.

So: Any questions?

Good thing someone made it. You know what? I think i'll copy-paste all the pieces of advice that have been given in the other thread and post them here.

Edit: So, here it goes. Sorry if I don't name anybody, it'll just be easier to read this way. It's for the cause.

But don't watch only your K/D ratio: assists are also important , as well as destructions. A medic can be MVP of a team with only assists.

And if you're a Sniper or Spy, you don't just want a huge kill count, you want to kill someone important to the other team who's hard for the rest of your team to get, like Medics, Engineers, Sentries, and overhealed offensive classes spear-heading an assault.

Also, do I need a Steam account? And is it a paying thing?

Yes you need a Steam account (that's what you use to download the game), but no Steam itself doesn't cost anything.

Each class is unique. Each one has its uses, so find something you like and can do well and stick to that, or you can switch around if you feel like it. Note that I'm going to only describe strategies for the initial loadup of weapons and equipment.

Scout has little health, but is the fastest and can capture points twice as fast as others. At close range, his shotgun packs a punch. Best for capturing points and hit and run tactics, especially disrupting unprotected snipers.

Heavies are slow, but have by far the highest amount of health and can easily rack up damage with their miniguns if the enemy is close enough. Paired with a medic, you can plow through whatever comes straight to your face easily.

Soldiers are next to the Heavy. Slightly lower health and a bit faster. Armed with rocket launchers that can more or less destroy enemies with a direct hit and cause splash damage. Also have a shotgun. Mainly focus on offense.

Pyros are good for ambushes. With reasonable health, they're ok as long as the enemy is close enough and isn't running away from you. Running straight up to enemies isn't an efficient tactic, as his flamethrower has poor range and his shotgun won't cut it against some of the more offensive classes. By right clicking with the flamethrower equipped, you can extinguish burning teammates, blast back projectiles, and bounce enemies away.

Demomen are also good for ambushes, with Ok health and medium speed, they can stick remote detonated mines all over the map and have a grenade launcher that does some insane amounts of damage. Do note that more and more Demos are being used as an offensive melee class though, armed with a shield and a sword and charging towards their enemies.

Engineers are more of a support class. They guard key locations by building upgradable sentries, dispensers(health and ammo) and teleporters. Also armed with a shotgun, more or less reliable for damage up close. Most of your kills should come from a fully upgraded sentry though.

Sniper is....well, a sniper. Line up your shots, wait till they charge to 100%, and blow off their heads.

Medics should stick to characters with high amounts of health, mainly heavies. Heal them at all times with your secondary weapon and hide behind them or whatever cover you can find. When the time is right and your charge is at 100%, right click to use whatever special ability your current gun has. Note that his starting offensive weapons are piss poor at actually dealing damage and are situational most of the time.

Spy is more of a disruption class, with low health and an ok speed. He can cloak for a limited amount of time. While disguised as another class(do note he adopts that class' running speed too) from the opposing team, he can sabotage and destroy Engineer building and one hit kill anyone with a back-stab.

- Don't stand on ennemy teleporters. If an ennemy teleports, you WILL be killed. Also note that you can use ennemy teleporters when you are disguised as a spy.

- You can get metal and ammo from dead people's weapons and destroyed buildings.

- You can not backstab or sap when cloaked or having the Dead Ringer activated. However, you can still cap points with the Dead Ringer activated without disguise.

- Resist the urge to do taunts after a kill. You are like a sitting duck for any ennemy that passes by, specially Spies and Snipers.

- Snipers that rush in the heat of battle with submachineguns do not live long and are not glorious heroes.

- Throwing Jarate or Mad Milk at an ennemy that is on fire will NOT extinguish him. Thankfully it only works on allies.

- As a Heavy, you can give your sandviches to teammates by throwing them with a right click. Your medic will appreciate. Do note however that ennemies can take them.

- Scouts standing still die.

- As a Pyro, you can extinguish allies that are on fire with a right-click using your flamethrower, any one of them. It costs you ammo, more so with the Backburner.

- Missiles, stickies and grenades you reflect are still capable of hurting you.

- You build faster as an engineer by constantly slapping your buildings with your wrench. You also repair, upgrade and destroy sappers by using your wrench.

Annoy the team as a Scout. Throw Mad Milk, distract them with Bonk, blast them with the Scattergun. Predict where the target will be as a Soldier. Know how your rockets work. As a Pyro, Airblast is key. Know how to bounce Grenades as a Demoman. As a Heavy, keep an eye out for Spies and watch your rear. As an Engie, know the good places to build. Heal everyone as Medic. Keep an eye out as Sniper. Be cautious as Spy.

You can pass through your teammates, and cannot do friendly fire. Spies disguised cannot shoot without loosing their disguise. They can however sap ( attack buildings with the sapper) while disguised. So don't hesitate to shoot at 'teammates' that act suspicious.

Also, if you cannot pass through someone, he's a Spy probably out to backstab you. Beware also to random 'bumps' whe nthere is no one around. It's either lagg or a spy cloaking.

It's better to waste an uber to live than die fully charged and rerun all over to the frontline.

The Scout, like the Spy, is a glass cannon: you can do lots of damage and piss the hell off of the ennemy team, but you ARE squishy. One direct rocket or grenade to you and you're down.

So basically, you run around ( NEVER STOP MOVING as a Scout. It's akin to asking people to kill you), attack people by the flank, from behind and NEVER STOP MOVING. You must take advantage of the double ( and now triple) jump to disorient the ennemy and keep yourself out of harm's way.

Scout - Always keep moving. Your shotgun is lethal at point-blank range, so treat it like a melee weapon. Never attack head-on, learn to outflank and back"stab" foes.

Pyro - Airblast. Airblast incoming rockets or grenades. Airblast burning teammates to extinguish them. Airblast ubered Medics to push them away from what they're healing. Airblast enemies off of cliffs.

Soldier - Mostly a matter of getting the hang of how your rockets behave and timing your shots so the enemy walks into them. Aim at the feet. Remember your shotgun.

Demoman - Mostly a matter of getting the hang of how your grenades behave and bouncing or arcing them where they need to go. Use stickies for close-range work or sentries around corners.

Heavy - Keep an eye on your ammo, you'll go through it faster than you expect - walk over dropped weapons to replenish it. Keep moving unpredictably so a Sniper doesn't get'cha. Watch your flanks and rear for Spies.

Engineer - Mostly a matter of learning the best places to build your gear. Even if you can't get a Sentry up, a Teleporter will turn the tide of a battle. Shoot or wrench everyone who comes close, and always keep your back to a wall. Kill Spy, then take care of his sappers (unless he legs it, in which case you don't need to chase him across the map).

Medic - Spread the love, don't stick to one Heavy like a leech. That said, don't abandon someone who thinks you're about to help him take out that Sentry. Try to stay in cover without breaking line of sight to your target. Watch for Spies.

Sniper - Headshots are pretty pro, but a fully-charged bodyshot will kill a lot of things in one hit. Don't get so focused on one killzone that you neglect the rest of the battlefield. Listen for decloaking Spies and keep your back to a wall.

Spy - Teammates don't come on head-on before trying to get behind someone - backpedal past, then move back in while they're relaxed. Even if you can't kill that Engy and get his nest, be on hand to sap and shut down everything when your team shows up. Work from the back forward instead of running in front of the crowd to backstab one juicy target.

General - The non-default weapons are not necessarily "better, " they alter the way the class plays; get a good grip on the vanilla weapons before trying something more complicated. Come to terms with the fact that your success is contingent on the performance of the same people who make Youtube comments. It's called Team Fortress, so don't charge the enemy line on your lonesome. Stay away from servers with fast spawns or increased max players, they frak up the map balance something awful.

Also take a look at the guides contained here: http://tf2wiki.net/wiki/Special:Search?search=how+to&go=Go

edited 26th Jun '11 8:53:03 PM by OrangeSpider

Beat me to it.

Anticipating Questions That You Haven't Asked Yet

I’ve played some other FPSes, how different are they from TF2?

Team Fortress 2 isn't much like your modern tactical shooters - there’s no grenades (except for the Demoman), no aiming down the sights (except for the Sniper), no regenerating health (except for the Medic), no going prone (except when you die), and no leaning out of cover (insert scathing MW2 remark here). Matches are generally objective-based, with an emphasis on helping your team capture ground over individual players accumulating an impressive kill-death ratio.

On the other hand, TF2 is more nuanced than run-and-gun fragfests like Doom or Quake, and each class behaves distinctly differently, countering each other in a variety of ways. So it’s simpler than a tactical shooter but a little more complicated than the likes of Serious Sam.

x
Am I at a disadvantage for starting out without items?

Nope.avi. The alternate items offer benefits that are carefully balanced with drawbacks to compensate. Mostly they alter how the class plays – for example, the overwhelming majority of the Demoman’s alternate weapons turn him from a ranged explosive expert to a charging melee fighter. There’s no uberweapon that will completely dominate a match, and many players who have owned the game for years will stick with their class’ default weapons over any of the new stuff, at least in certain circumstances.

x
How do I get items?

The easiest way is to just play the game. TF2 rewards you with items automatically (though there is a cap to how many you can get in a week}. The exact items you’ll get will be random, and the game can be annoyingly fickle by giving you items for your least favorite class or the same drop three times in a row. But if you play long enough you'll amass a respectable arsenal of alternate weapon options.

You can also unlock certain items – the ones from a class’ first update – by completing that class’ achievements. For example, if you complete any five Sniper achievements you’ll earn the Sniper Milestone 1 achievement and get a complementary Huntsman. Such achievement items cannot be traded, however, and if you craft them anything you build with the resulting scrap will also be untradeable.

Speaking of crafting, that’s another way to get – or rather make – items. If you have multiple copies of an item, you can break them down into Scrap Metal, then combine the Scrap into Reclaimed Metal, and so forth. The TF2 wiki has a list of recipes if you lack a "premium" account’s crafting list. Note that a lot of the stuff from the Uber Update requires items from past updates, making them hard for a newcomer to get a hold of.

And finally, you can just buy items at TF2’s online store, but such items will not be tradeable nor craftable. You know, if you just have to have them right now.

x
What’s the deal with hats?

They look nice. Hats are for the most part purely cosmetic items that either drop randomly (and extremely rarely) or can be purchased from the store. A rare few are part of item sets and are required to receive a set's bonus, but those can be specifically crafted if you have sufficient materials.

x
But what about the ___ hat, where do I get that?

Game developers like to promote their products with TF2 tie-ins, so for example, anyone who preordered Left 4 Dead 2 before a certain date got Bill’s Hat to wear in TF2. Such promotional items cannot be bought in the store and do not drop randomly, so your only hope is to trade for one. There’s a whole metal-based economy out there, and I’m not the guy to try to explain it.

x
What class should I start out as?

Whichever looks the most interesting and/or fun! ...That said, there's a lot of newbies out there going Spy and Sniper, and while it's possible for a newcomer to do well as those classes and contribute to their team's victory, most end up dying a lot with single-digit scores. Generally speaking, the Soldier class is probably the most straightforward to use, followed in no particualr order by the the Demoman, Medic, and Heavy. The Scout and Pyro are also pretty simple in theory, but they're both fragile, which can hurt newbies. The Engineer class requires a bit of knowledge about the maps, so it's hard for a newbie to get the most out of it. The Sniper and Spy are the most "technical" classes in that they do an overwhelming amount of damage in certain conditions, but achieving those conditions takes a certain measure of skill and/or luck a first-day player will probably not possess.

x
Am I a noob?

If you're reading this thread, no. By actively pursuing knowledge to improve your game, you're setting yourself apart from those who make beginner mistakes without learning from them. That said, it's possible to be a veteran player with years of experience and still have a "noob moment." So don't feel bad if that happens.

edited 26th Jun '11 8:52:52 PM by Tacitus

@Am I at a disadvantage to having only the defaults?

Actually, there are 2 (perhaps 3) exceptions to the "carefully picked drawbacks" rule. 2 of medics saws are direct upgrades of the regular saw. Also, some could consider the dish slightly better to use than the bat because it has a higher killfeed, but it is very minor.

Also, no one uses default soldier melee.

Perhaps we should take the time to do a little bit more detailed strategies for the individual classes?

Also, I recommend that Newbies bookmark this Wiki, as it's the official TF2 Wiki and contains a lot of info.

edited 26th Jun '11 9:09:00 PM by RocketDude

Miscellaneous Information

You can change class at any time by hitting the "," key. If you're in your spawn point, you'll change class instantaneously, but if you're outside it you'll immediately die and have to wait to respawn as your selected class. You can disable this on the advanced options menu.

Friendly fire is off (unless you're on a modded server). Don't be afraid to fire into a scrum or Spycheck teammates. Note, however, that you can hurt yourself with your rockets, grenades, or even sentry fire if you get between it and its target.

You can walk right through teammates and only jostle them a bit, but the enemy will be solid. If a supposed teammate bumps into you, it's a Spy in disguise! An Engineer's buildings work in a similar way, though they will be solid to the Engineer.

Health can be recovered from medkits on the ground if no Medic is handy. Ammo can be found in similar boxes, but can also be replenished by walking over dropped enemy weapons and Engineer building wreckage - Heavies and Demomen will want to take advantage of this fact.

If you're on fire, you can put it out with a medkit pickup, by jumping in water, having a friendly Pyro airblast you, or having Jarate or Mad Milk thrown on you. A Medic cannot extinguish a fire on his own, but his healing beam will counteract the fire damage. Throwing Jarate or Mad Milk on a burning enemy will not put out the fire. Bleed effects from certain weapons can only be stopped with a medkit.

The supply lockers in your spawn point instantly replenish your health and ammo as well as reloading your guns. Don't be afraid to duck back in and use them if you're nearby - it can be the difference between a two-second delay or waiting ten seconds to respawn.

If you're standing on an enemy Engineer's teleporter exit when someone comes through it, you'll be gibbed. But if you're a disguised Spy, you can take an enemy's teleporter, possibly gibbing the Engineer if he's standing on it.

As a Medic heals with his Medigun, he builds up an Ubercharge that can make him and his target invincible for ten seconds, deployed via right-click. This is a great way to clear a deadlock, but if the enemy deploys one, take cover!

An Engineer can rotate a building's facing by right-clicking when he's deciding where to put it down. Once it's completed, he can pick it up and haul it to a new location by right-clicking again.

An Engineer can build something faster by whaling on it with his wrench. This applies if he's building it for the first time or deploying it after moving it.

Sentry guns make a distinct beeping sound while waiting for a target. If you hear such a noise coming from around a corner, you may want to rethink your route or wait for some help.

A Demoman's sticky mines can be cleared by a Pyro's airblast, scattered with explosives, or just shot and destroyed.

A Sniper's rifle projects a laser dot at whatever its aimed at, color-coded according to team. If you see a blue or red spot on the wall, watch your head!

A Spy's cloaking device makes a distinct whooshing noise when it turns off. Keep your ears open. For that matter, keep an eye on the kill feed in the top right corner of the screen - if you see teammates being backstabbed, be on your guard.

A disguised Spy moves as slow as the class he's mimicking, but cannot run faster than he normally could. Spies disguised as Medics will lag behind, while Spies disguised as Scouts will be very noticeable - especially since they won't be double-jumping around like true Scouts.

A Spy cannot attack while cloaked, and attacking while disguised will drop the disguise - keep this in mind if you're near sentries. A cloaked or diguised Spy cannot capture control points or push the cart.

A disguised Spy can heal himself with enemy Dispensers or Blu team's Payload cart.

If you see a teammate firing their weapon, attacking in melee, or readying their minigun if they're a Heavy, they aren't a Spy. If you see a teammate switching weapons or reloading, they may still be a Spy - the Spy can duplicate those actions without breaking his disguise. Shoot them just to be sure.

If a disguised Spy walks over a medkit, the little health symbols floating around him will be in his original team's colors - use this to identify enemy Spies and not give yourself away if you're the Spy.

If you're lost, remember that Red interior design favors wood, while Blu likes concrete. This can clue you in as to who's territory you're in.

On Attack-Defend or Payload maps, Blu always attacks, and Red always defends.

Crouching has no affect on a weapon's accuracy. Neither does hopping around like an idiot.

The Payload cart acts as a little Dispenser to the attackers, replenishing health and ammo while Blu team pushes it. It also blocks incoming fire and projectiles, so you can crouch and hide behind it while pushing. Note that Blu team can shoot over/through the cart much easier than Red team can, so use that to your advantage while attacking.

edited 27th Jun '11 10:31:03 AM by Tacitus

Has some nasty ads, though, might want to run Ad Block Plus when you're on there.

As for in-depth guides... eh. A good idea, but not in this thread, maybe in the other one or a special page for it on the wiki in the Just For Fun namespace. Let's let questions be asked here.

Moving to other topic.

Pyro / Medic / Engineer advice for newbies

edited 26th Jun '11 10:53:13 PM by Rotpar

Just saw the other message. I'll move my post to the other topic, how do you link to a post in a thread? Let's have a post here that links to whatever guides people want to write for newcomers.

^Right-click on the post timestamp and copy it. Paste it into your post as a link.

Protip: You see that seemingly useless, silly-looking thing that you wear on your head? Don't trade it for a weapon (Note that someone I know did this. We have never let him forget it)

KSPAM: I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific, since everything I've seen claims that (most) hats are useless pieces of body color.

0_o

What game do they think they're playing? Hats aren't just simple decoration. No my friend, hats are a status symbol in this game. People will judge you as a player first and foremost based on the fanciness of your hat. The rarer, more colorful and decked out the better.

edited 27th Jun '11 12:03:35 AM by KSPAM

Here is something that I would like to stress for everyone who ever plays engineer.

DO NOT BUILD TELEPORTER EXITS FACING WALLS

I would also like to suggest for Engies, if it's calm and cool for now, try and build a dispenser. It gives off continous health and metal for future buildings. Build Dispenser, THEN Sentry, preferably in a safe place.

x4 Read what Valve said on the game's description: "the world's number one war-themed hat simulator

Weapons might change your game mechanics. A Nice Hat gives you honor.

^ honour. Am I right, mate?

This being said, Steam has an excellent newbie forum that contains copious amounts of how-to-play-a-class videos. Watch those.

edited 27th Jun '11 1:26:32 AM by Aminatep

Any specific advice on coming from Xbox?

I cannot think of anything, but this: You have a mic. Use it, as it's your only way of communication with team(PC's have voice commands under respective keys).

Also, two things for all Pyros. Firstly, respect your Shotgun. It's your only reliable way of fighting in mid and long range(Flare Gun requires some skill, that not everyone - me being a great example - have). It's also your only reliable way to actually do something against enemy Pyros.

Secondly, airblast burning teammates. Not only you get extra points for it, you also give them an opportunity to find medkit or even promptly return to fight, if they're barely scratched. Truth be told, people panic when set on fire, so do something to remedy it.

Oh, and a little thing for Medieval Mode: Although Powerjack renders you more vulnerable to melee weapons, which seems to be a deathwish in this mode, if you can use it carefully, you can constantly heal yourself with kills. Finish off weakened enemies, get this +75 hp buff and move on. If you however have problems with it, just stick to the rake(...OR you can find a Pyro with Sharpened Volcano Fragment and team up with him while being armed with Axtinguisher, though it's likely very situational).

Something for the Scouts too: You have paper-thin defense, it's a fact. You'll die if someone looks at you angrily. You also have a insanely powerful primary, capable of two-shoting everything but Heavy and you're the fastest and most agile class. Use alternative routes, avoid clusters of enemies, flank, fire two meatshots and retreat. Most enemies take a while to react when their health suddenly drops so much.

These were advices from below-average pre-update player. Be wary when executing all these tactics.

Best Regards

Another miscellaneous note on something that I don't think has been said yet:

Team composition is Important.

Always check the classes on your team before you select your own class. No team needs a third 'utility' class like a sniper, pyro or spy. By way of contrast, an extra demoman or soldier usually doesn't hurt. If there are zero medics on your team and you don't hate healing, for the love of Fraggle Rock, roll a medic. What they do is more important than any amount of kills.

There have been so many matches where I've seen teams that just didn't stand a chance, not because of a skill difference, but because one team or the other just picked the wrong classes and refused to change them.

Once you have a good idea of the roles each class is designed to fill, you can dynamically switch between classes you're comfortable with based on the flow of the match.

Just started after freeness, but have been spectating for a while. If you want to be REALLY good with Spy, get good with the other classes. Makes it easier to get into their heads. You want to act like the class you are faking. And don't look suspicious. The more you stare at your allies, the more likely someone is to spy check you.

You also have the text chat keys (T and Y if I remember correctly), which can be used in a pinch, but it's quite easy to miss text chat and saying "Heavy is SPY" over mic usually gets you a heck of a reaction very quickly.

In addition to this, be aware of what kind of server you are on. On a server with alltalk if you lay out a brilliant plan over mic the other team will hear you. This doesn't mean don't use your mic, of course, saying that someone is a spy or that there's a sentry hidden around a corner is a good thing either way, but keep the strategizing to either text chat or "Follow me."

Why have Alltalk, then? Because it's bloody hilarious to listen to.

Why do snipers have that urge to charge in with SMG?

I mean I do understand it's a really good secondary but still.

edited 27th Jun '11 9:56:32 AM by Aminatep

Probably because it's the closest thing to the bog standard machine gun that tends to dominate other FPS franchises.

And apparently, I am the only player in the entirety of TF 2 who prefers to type out spy warnings and the like and disable mics. However, I do type REALLY fast. ;)

edited 27th Jun '11 10:00:00 AM by Karkadinn