Spy: Difference between revisions

The '''Spy''' is a [[Classes#Support|support class]] whose purpose is to immediately kill unsuspecting enemies at great personal risk. He has 125 health and 107% speed, making him slightly faster than usual. His [[Disguise Kit]] allows him to camouflage himself as an enemy teammate, while still taking damage from them as usual. His [[Invis Watch]] allows him to cloak and turn invisible, only being revealed when he bumps into an enemy, or is shot by them. These allow him to sneak into enemy lines without being detected, giving him freedom to roam around the map. With his [[Knife|Knife's]] backstab feature, he can instantly kill any enemy looking away from him, which is especially valuable against [[Medic|Medics]] and [[Heavy|Heavies]]. His [[Revolver]] acts as a reliable backup weapon for when he is inevitably caught, able to blast pursuers close-up and finish off enemies from afar. Finally, his [[Sapper]] allows destruction of enemy [[buildings]], disabling them and dealing constant damage to them. This skillset is designed to allow the Spy to kill enemies undetected and be able to sneak away, with limited combat abilities outside of espionage.

The Spy faces unique issues compared to other classes. These issues include the triviality of spy-checking, the commitment of cloaking, his lack of combat ability, a reliance on luck despite his high skill requirements, and disproportionately hard counters from [[Pyro]], multiple [[Engineer|Engineers]], and any player who simply turns around. Players have learned to blast any "ally" that approaches them, and this will kill the Spy before he gets a chance to return fire. As his cloak is revealed when taking damage (such as unwittingly getting caught in crossfire), and he is helpless for a long period of time after uncloaking, he has no good response when he is revealed. Even if he could respond right away, his weapons are below par. The Revolver is merely decent, not exceptional, and the Knife is a terrible melee weapon outside of backstabs. This makes it difficult for Spy to win in a 1v1 fight, even with perfect aim.

As a result of these numerous downsides, the Spy is considered the weakest class in the game. Despite this distinction, he is by no means unusable, and is still able to find success if the circumstances are right. On offense, his main goal is to destroy the enemy Sentry Gun, which is accomplished by killing the Engineer and sapping all his buildings. He can also go deep into enemy territory to sneakily capture an objective, something which other classes have a hard time achieving. On defense, his main role is to constantly kill the enemy Medic and his patient, preventing them from building up enough momentum to mount a successful assault. A Spy standing around an obscure corner can get more kills than even a Heavy standing there, and is especially useful in killing the [[VIP]]. While the Spy is not a good class for anyone desiring consistency, his playstyle and mechanics are unlike any other, with a technical skillset that takes full advantage of the player's game knowledge. He is terrible for new players, but acts as an amusing option for experienced players to try out, pushing their luck to see just how far they can take the so-called "worst class in the game", and finding joy in the unexpected depths of his mediocre brilliance.