Thanks. Demo's my main class.

How do you get weapons, specifically for scout?

They drop randomly. Alternately, they can be gotten through achievements.

Or crafted.

You can trade some items from other classes for them. We have a trading thread here.

Thanks for letting me know.

And I don't have any items besides the stock weapons, so that wouldn't work too well.

Don't worry about that. The stock weapons are ,with some minor exceptions, pretty good by themselves. I am slowly returning to them myself.

Heck, I think nowadays I only play vanilla weps.

Thanks for the demoman guide; i'll likely be playing that the next time I play.

I don't know when that will be.

Stock weapons are meant to give you a flexibility enough to fit into most scenarios. For example Engie with Shotgun+Pistol+Wrench is your standard point of defense that doesn't get involved in larger fights. Vanilla Demoman is expert at demolishing and area denial that can work both on offense and defense and so on...

If you role Demoman and want a good melee without having to become a knight, I suggest the Caber. Barring lag, it insta kills Pyros, Scouts, Engineers, Other Demos, Spys, and Snipers. However, it only works once unless you go the resupply. After that, it's just a bottle without crits. And a single hit costs you a hefty 100 health. But it's great for taking out a rambunctious Scout/Pyro that's getting all up in your face and your going to die anyway. Take the asshole out with you, ya know?

Plus, Cabering scoped in snipers is 110X more satisfy than a backstab.

As a Stickyman you shouldn't be getting into melee range at all. When you do, though, you need to make it count. The Caber is perfect for that.

Yep, the Caber is great for taking out close by Scouts and Pyros about to Meatshot/Ax you. Give em a taste of raw explosive power, that's what I say!

As a spy, if you get into the enemy base and behind the enemy, try not to waste your life. There may never be another time where you can enter a place that nobody else can hassle free. Once they learn about a recurring Spy, they make take special precautions and attention to making your ability to work efficiently useless. It's about patience, not about causing havoc by your lonesome. Your job is to break the line from behind while your team mates attack the line from the front. Cooperate with your teammates, let them warn you when they are approaching so you can attack while the enemy is distracted by your other team mates. Sap sentries, stab enemies who are focusing on bigger enemies, and then continue.

And, don't kill somebody unless you know it's going to be worth it. Killing a random soldier looking for an ammo box is a waste of your cover, as opposed to a charging medic or an engineer setting up their base or moving their sentry elsewhere.

Incidentally, if ever you're close enough to an enemy Engy to see him pick some gear up, he should really have been more careful. Teach him a lesson by killing him and the gear at once.

so, I've owned this game forever but only recently gotten into playing it. And oh my god is Medic and Pyro fun. Though I admit my pyro needs lots of practice.

edited 7th Nov '11 12:06:13 PM by Midgetsnowman

Vorpy, speaking of the Spy I could use another tip. I'm still practicing against bots in the Dustbowl until I feel confident enough to take on other people. (Since I know from playing the Left 4 Dead games that you're likely to get kicked if you make noob mistakes.) Anyway, the first game I played was with the Spy, and I was running into problems.

I figured that it'd be a bad idea to run toward the enemy with a disguise on, since they'd wonder "Hey, why is he running toward us instead of the control point?" Real players would probably be even more likely to think that. So I used my cloak, and here's what usually happened: I'd die. To be more specific, I'd die often while still cloaked and still disguised. I was able to avoid it a few times, but I have no idea how they were detecting me or what the key to not being detected is.

After that I tried the Heavy and had a lot more luck, but I'd still like to know what I was doing wrong with the Spy.

edited 8th Nov '11 4:50:06 AM by KilgoreTrout

Try and remember that collisions make you temporarily sort-of visible. And bots see that stuff instantly.

Also, you're not that likely to be kicked for sucking. Unless you're on a very picky server. TF2 is surprisingly newbie-friendly, least as far as I've found.

Bots actually are harder to backstab than humans in my experience.

They know about your true nature.

Also, keep in mind that decloaking makes a rather loud noise and that you can't backstab while cloacked.

That, and dying from random crockets and spam as a spy while cloaked is part of the job. The only thing you can do about it is be patient or find a way that's less spammed.

Thanks guys!

Cloaking and decloaking each take a second, and after decloaking, you can't do a damn thing other than move for 3 seconds.

So, I just went out of an hour of gameplay on Gravelpit as a Sniper.

Here's a friendly tip to newbies:

Not moving does not make your aim better, unless you are a sniper.

Speaking of which, DO NOT try to outshot them from a distance. You'll look stupid in the best of cases, and you'll have a new hole in your head in the worst.

Although if you're making a push, it might be worth it for the soldier to pop off a rocket or two at them as you cross their covered area. At worst, you'll distract them a little while they dodge the rockets. At best, they'll be too focused on getting a headshot, and die.

Spy Stuff: When on CTF, spy around for the best time to capture the intelligence, and look for the best avenue that people might take on escaping. On 2Fort, check the sentry placement, but keep in mind to be in a place that your allied scouts or other classes can pick up the intelligence easily if you happen to die in the process. One thing you can do is push L to drop the intelligence to lure any active enemies to that certain place for a few seconds, and then pick it up and run to a different exit (This helped evacuate the spiral when going on 2Fort, as everyone was rushing to the battlements exit to defend the intel). And never be afraid to kill people who are within range. Don't go out of your way to kill them (chase them down), but if they stand between you and escaping, use your Revolver and Knife. They are there for a reason. If you don't kill them, you can make them weak enough to be unreliable in trying to protect the intel you stole. You also might never know if a magical random crit will appear to divinely save your from a soldier or demoman.

Remember your positionings when taking on Engineer's Sentry Nests. Learn the best method of killing them by observing their behavior. If they immediately run to their sentry after you sap it, stab them before they can break it off, if they immediately run after you, focus your attention completely on them, and cloak if they pull out a weapon you will not survive long against (Southern Hosp or Shotgun).

With the Advent of the Widowmaker, it is best to be completely out of site of the Engineer while he's firing off, because then it's a massive stream of spy-exposing pain and misery that never reloads.

Another tip to ridding sentry nests is to find the entrance teleporter. Sap it, and stand on it with a disguise. Once the engineer breaks the sapper, you may have a chance to teleport onto his head and kill him.

Another thing to try is turning on Fast Weapon Switch, where the gun instantly switches upon the turn of the mouse wheel or number push. This makes stabsapping more effective than before. When you are behind an Engineer manning his Sentry Gun, stab him and quickly switch to your sapper, running the opposite direction that the sentry is turning to avoid the explosions.

Also, try to kill the Engineer while his sentry gun is still constructing from Level 1 to Level 3, upon killing him you can sap his building and then proceed to high five other team mates.

Gentlemanorcus' Guide to Not Being a Complete and Utter Failure and Making Your Mother Cry As Medic

Here's another guide, this time for medic. Same deal as last time: no alternate loadouts. This will also not have a "vs. class" section, since medic will die against pretty much all classes.

Overview

Your main goal is to heal your teammates and keep them alive, and ubercharge them to clear enemy defenses and sentry nests. The medic is not nearly as easy as many people make it out to be. Though you easily get points and you don't have to try to kill people, you will be a constant target for the enemy team. The firepower of every single class will be focused on you.

Tactics

You are pretty much purely meant for healing, unlike the TFC medic. Though you can be a combat medic, you won't be much help and your team will probably dislike you.

To be fair, your syringe gun can be good in a pinch. You can sometimes kill scouts if you're lucky. One time, I killed a heavy, my only assist being a mini-sentry. Your saw can also get some lucky crits sometimes. But it should by no means be your main weapon.

Your main tool is your medi-gun. Train it on one of your teammates, hold down the left mouse button, and your teammate will be constntly healed. As you heal, your uber meter will increase. Once it has reached 100%, you can "uber" your teammate by right-clicking. This will make you and him invicible for a short time.

Your main healing targets should be soldiers, demomen, and heavies. Though heavies are most common, ubering soldiers and demomen can be good for getting rid of sentry nests.

For a while, you should try to heal everybody who is injured. However, after a certain point (like when up against sentry nests), you should focus on one teammate alone, ignoring all others. This unit should be a solider, demoman, or heavy. You are a "pocket medic." Your teammate should keep your from harm while you heal until you can deploy an ubercharge.

As you heal your target, weave, jump around, and duck. You are the constant target of all the enemies. Keep in mind as long as your view is on the taret you are healing, even if your are looking behind you; look out for spies this way.

Whenever you can, try to heal from behind walls and scenery. This can protect from fire while you're still increasing your uber.

Before you heal someone, shoot at them. They might be a spy.

Your uber is incredibly important. If you are about to die and your uber is high, run. Your uber is important. Go back to spawn, heal, and select a new target.

Once you deploy an uber, keep constantly healing your target. You can uber mutliple people in one ubercharge. To uber another person, simply put your medi-gun on someone else while you are ubered. They will be ubered.

Tips

• Keep in mind level 3 sentries have knockback preoprties. To help your ubercharged teammate, you can stand in front of the sentry gun while still healing the target. You will absorb the knockback, and your teammate will be able to shoot the sentry gun without problems.
• If you have a mic, use it. Communicate that your ubercharge is ready and which enemies are attacking to your teammate.
• Occasionally randomly shoot behind you. Be wary of spies.
• Your ubercharge will increase faster if you heal damaged teammates, as opposed to fully healed ones.
• Don't try and heal people whenever they call "medic!". Just heal people who you can see have low health.

That's about it. Remember to duck and cover. And don't call the medic a Nazi.

edited 9th Nov '11 7:58:53 AM by gentlemanorcus