Introduction
I'm not a master at Spy, but I have found the most enjoyable way to play Spy for myself, and I want to share that with others. This method of playing Spy is for those who don't care about being flashy but instead want to have Spy games with the least possible deaths and make the best possible decisions while playing. This is to avoid the "one kill, one death" style of gameplay that you see so often.
This is in contrast to a high-risk, high-reward style of gameplay where a Spy will throw themselves into dangerous situations and rely on trickstabs or other high-risk techniques to survive. While you might think this means that the type of gameplay I'm promoting is low-risk, it's more about reducing unnecessary deaths while maintaining a mentally engaging playstyle.
The "Lack of Control"
Spy is a class that seems to have a lack of control. When compared with a class like Soldier, this is most definitely true. If both players have put in the same amount of time into each class, the Soldier will always win in a direct confrontation.
Spy only truly functions within real matches rather than isolated environments like MGE. This is because Spy does not have strong damage output or health and cannot rely solely on aim and combat skills.
Despite this, Spies can be successful. Success as Spy depends on understanding enemy behavior and making decisions based on that knowledge. The better you anticipate player movements, the more control you have, and the less you feel out of control.
A common issue among Spy players is attempting an action without fully assessing the situation. In theory, there are two outcomes: you either fully assess and succeed or fail due to an incomplete assessment. This understanding allows you to improve decision-making by analyzing failures objectively.
The Rules
- Minimize the amount of time that any player knows about your presence. Invisibility is your most important asset.
- Assess the situation before going in.
- Minimize execution time of your plan.
Enemy View Assessment
The most important assessment in playing Spy is understanding what enemies can see. Before making a stab, always check behind you to determine who might witness your actions. The more players who can see you, the higher the risk.
Do It Fast
The easiest way to die as Spy is trying to stab someone who is walking ahead of you. If you take too long, you'll be detected. Always minimize the time you are visible.
The Impossible Situations
- Trying to kill someone, but a Pyro is continually flaming around them.
- Trying to get rid of a sentry nest, but the Engineer is never looking away from the gun.
- Trying to get rid of a sentry nest that has more than one sentry.
- Trying to get rid of a sentry nest that has a Pyro flaming around it.
When dealing with these "impossible" situations, there is not a single way to deal with them, but we'll provide small ways to deal with the subproblems which can help you come up with a full assessment.
Pyro
Pyros flame because their priority is to prevent Spies from approaching. There’s not much you can do about this directly. However, you can:
- Look for targets outside the Pyro's range.
- Attempt a vertical stab if a target is positioned correctly.
- Coordinate an attack with teammates to shift the Pyro's focus.
Sentries
If you destroy a sentry in an uncoordinated fashion and there is an engineer nearby who is ready to rebuild it, then you probably just wasted your time, and might even be dead for nothing, don't just carelessly sap a sentry, instead focus on the bigger issue which is the person who is able to keep making those sentries.
Teleporters
If your team is struggling, then it's usually because the damage output from the enemy team is greater than the damage output from your team, damage output can be reduced by reducing the number of players on the enemy team that are ready to fight, which can be reduced by removing the enemies teleporters, so usually it is worthwhile to walk all the way to their spawn to get rid of these if you can't make any other move.
Nests
As mentioned in the impossible situations section nests are hard to deal with, it makes sense because trying to decloak and stab someone will probably end up in you breaking rule 1 pretty bad. The better
Pulling people away
The more people you have focused on getting rid of you, the less of them will actually be focusing on the objective, so pulling people away can be a good move, this can be done by just shooting someone with your gun and then cloaking away, so that they now have to use a part of their mental energy thinking about the fact that you exist, this works well on snipers, as well as shooting sentries that have a nest built up, and may cause the engineer to chase you giving you time to sap their stuff.
Post-Stab Survival
The moment you stab, rule #1 is broken—your presence is revealed. If multiple players witness your kill, your death probability skyrockets.
- If 5 or more people saw your stab, you will almost certainly die.
- If 3 or 4 people saw your stab, you will probably die.
- If 2 or 1 people saw your stab, you have a good chance to escape.
- If no one saw your stab, you're in the clear.
After a stab, assess the situation. If no one saw you, continue attacking. If you were seen, consider cloaking and escaping.
Invisibility
Being invisible is the most important part of Spy. This allows you to get into positions that would be impossible for any other class.
The two primary watches are:
- Invisibility Watch: Offers mobility but forces decloaking in sub-optimal situations due to a time limit.
- Cloak and Dagger: Allows you to wait indefinitely, offering more control over when you decloak.
The Loadout
- Cloak and Dagger: Enables careful decision-making and controlled decloaking.
- L'Etranger: Increases cloak duration, benefiting Cloak and Dagger users.
- Big Earner: Provides a speed boost after a kill, assisting with post-stab survival.
Respawn Timers and Game Mode Information
Payload
- Attack respawn timer: ~5-10 seconds.
- Defense respawn timer: ~10-15 seconds.
King of the Hill
- When your team owns the point: Longer respawn times (~10 seconds).
- When the enemy owns the point: Shorter respawn times (~5 seconds).
Spawn Denial
In King of the Hill, respawn timers are influenced by whether your team controls the point. If the enemy owns the point, your team will respawn faster, and vice versa.