TF2 How To

Your guide to the ends and out of Team Fortress 2, written by yours truly, Dauntless

[tf2howto]

The Kunai: Because I am addicted abuse

Fuckin Kunai. Why do I keep using you? You're just gonna get me killed! But like abused spouse, I just keep coming back. But why? 

Proper Kunai use involves balancing the pros of the weapons vs the cons in a big way 

Pros:

The Kunai has a couple things going for it: 

1) The steal health function. 

2) Successful backstabs stop bleed/fire

3) You can steal health into a 180 overbuff. 

Cons:

1) Forces you to have 60 health (major con)

2) The buff only comes into play after your first successful stab

3) These two factors force a spy to become knife-centric which puts you at a disadvantage against players you know how to combat spys (spy checking, sweeping, mad milk, jarate etc). In a ranged revolver fight, just about any class can down you in one shot, it'll take several from you to do the same. 

So how would one orient a spy class to minimize the cons while optimizing the benefits? 

Simply put, through loadout and proper spy technique. 

Recommended Loadouts: 

Kunai-Dead Ringer-Ambassador 

Kunai-Dead Ringer- Enforcer

Kunai-Dead Ringer- L'etranger :

The logic of these loadouts are simple:

Either the spy needs to maximize his damage output with his primary (read revolver) to compensate for his low health. This accounts for the Ambassador which gives the competent spy the ability to combat any class AND kill them before he takes the low damage required to die. As well as the Enforcer, which functions similarly to the ambassador, but is easier to use, but lacks the same damage output and range the the ambassador enjoys, since headshots with the ambassador A: works at all ranges for 102 damage, B: 2 Headshots takes less time to kill than multiple Enforcer shots 

And/Or the spy needs to minimize time spent vulnerable to attack. That is why the dead ringer is included in these loadouts. It allows the spy to live through being spychecked, and more importantly, to live through the crossfire that happens on the battlefield. 60 health isnt a lot. Indirect rocket/grenade/minigun spam can easily do that much damage. Which is why using another invisible watch is a bad idea. It's pretty easy to walk into a rocket that wasn't meant for you and die. 

The L'etranger pairs nicely with the Dead Ringer for this loadout. Instead of fighting to kill an opponent, the spy just needs to land enough shots to recharge their cloak. Then he can escape and live to stab another day. You'll find that fighting to run away is easier than fighting to kill, especially with this loadout because of the disadvantage of the low health. 

Strategy Suggestions:

Play to stab: Your goal with the kunai is to stab as many people as quickly as possible. The health buff after-damage extinguishing allow a spy to cut through an entire team quickly, without having to stop to look for health kits while burning or when at low health. Because of this, I recommend using the Kunai only when you have ample opponents to slay. Especially if they are derpy and spy prone. 

ALWAYS HAVE YOUR DEAD RINGER ACTIVATED. If you aren't going in for the stab, have the Dead Ringer out. You will get spychecked. If you don't have your pocket invincibility out, you will die from it. 

Run away as soon as possible. If the fight isn't going your way, disengage. That's one of the perks of spy. Wait for a better opportunity to strike. 

When not to play Kunai:

Against low team numbers. (There arent enough players to stab for the buff to be worth it)

Against players that know how to counter spys. (If they know your tricks, the health buff isnt gonna save you, and the health debuff is just gonna getcha killed.) 

Closing Thoughts

Occasionally the backstabs won't read and your would-be victim will turn around and one shot you. This will happen. A lot. If you find that your backstabs either aren't reading consistently, or that you aren't stabbing frequently, it would be better to change to a different knife, rather than trying to force the Kunai to work for you. Remember that you have other weapons. The knife is a much better alternative in these sorts of situations. 

Thus concludes my rundown of the Kunai. If you have any thoughts to share, or suggestions for other guides, please drop me an ask, I'm happy to take follower requests. This guide itself came from a follower submission.  

Like what you read? Follow me @ http://tf2howto.tumblr.com/

Wanna Play with me on steam? http://steamcommunity.com/id/iStandDauntless

Personal blog: http://istanddauntless.tumblr.com/

As always, the guide was written by yours truly, Dauntless. 

Sources:

Image source

http://beefjack.com/news/sweet-mask-bro-shogun-2-brings-themed-unlockables-to-tf2/

Content Source

Me. 

[tf2howto]

Ever gotten your shit rocked, and wanna know why?

As always I look for follower suggestions, so I have a question:

Ever gotten your shit rocked by some dude and wanted to know how he does it? How was he able to use that loadout to murder you, where you struggle to kill a single guy with it? I can help. 

[tf2howto]

giv unosul plssss. 2 scrap + 3 wep?

deal add me 

[tf2howto]

Instead of saying "this is what I use and it's best" it might be a good idea to actually take a look at how weapons and strategies interact? Saying scatter/milk/atomizer is the bets scout loadout 100% is like stating milk is the best drink 100% of the time. A lot of comp scouts will give the advice to use stock pistol, sure, there's bad loadouts, it's a bad idea to use the shortstop and pistol in a single set, but the factor of being comfortable with something is ignored (cont...)

Eh, the scout post was more me braggin about my set tbh, I can give a full explanation of why Scatter/Mad Milk/ Atomizer works well. But the long and short of it is, the scatter is equally as effective as the pistol at medium range if abused properly. Mad Milk is broken, vastly increasing the scouts survivability, countering pyros/heavies/spies/other scouts. And the milk pairs well with the atomizer since it is easy to heal 10 health off of a mad milked opponent, allowing one to dodge more frequently in the air, thus being harder to kill. As well as the extra mobility the atomizer provides (and the third jump servers as a "oh shit I cocked that jump up, but it's ok I have another"). Right now I've actually been running FaN-Cleaver-Wrap Assassin as a scout to some pretty hilarious result. You can down a heavy without having to reload, even faster and more reliably than you could with 3 scatter meat shots.

As a final note, keep in mind that this blog is being released piece by piece and I can't explain everything at once. I can go through and do other methods of play and stratagems per request, but I do what I want otherwise. 

[tf2howto]

(cont) with that comes the pyro post, which I as a pyro main just can't believe. The fact that defensive pyro with engineers is ignored (aka how pyro is designed) is outright saddening. With this comes the statement the reserve shooter has different mid range capability than the shotgun, even though the only difference is forced mini crits and clip size (everything else is the same with the reserve shooter, being a regular shotgun) There's so much more to pyro than just that, sadly ignored.

Eh, the lack of capacity in the Reserve Shooter makes it worse than the shotgun at medium range because you have to reload more frequently, since you can't dispatch anybody at that distance with 3 shots, but you could with 6 (or at least get in more damage). Over all, the additional time wasted reloading would give the RS a lower dps than the shotty. The aerial bonus with the Reserve Shooter isn't helpful since you'll be holding it out longer than the 3 second range. On the other hand, the Reserve is a much better as a sting and at close ranges than the shotgun because it can down people in 1-3 shots with the sting or with out it. The minicrits are just a bonus. Pyro-play wise, there are other ways to play the class certainly, but it has gone so much farther than "camp the sentry", "camp a corner", "camp the base". You can do it, it would net kills, but relying on players coming to you will lower how effective you can be kill-wise inherently (unless your team is getting crushed). The addition of the Gas Jockey lets pyro be played like a scout. Some people prefer one way to play to the other. I've been experimenting with this game for years and I've found what works best for me, and I'm here to explain why that is so, and how somebody else can do the same. 

[tf2howto]

Give them the ole Puff-n-Sting

So you wanna be a pyro huh? But not some Mouse 1'ing Rainblowin/Backburning son of a bitch? You want something that take a little more finesse. A certain level of skill that can't be recreated by a howler monkey randomly flailing on a keyboard? WELL I'VE GOT THE THING FOR YOU MAGGOT. 

Pro pyro play or "Proro" -ing involves one combo, repeated until you can do it in your sleep. 

Your loadouts, should you choose to accept them. I'll explain the specific pros and cons of each later.  

Degreaser - Flaregun - Powerjack- Attendant (The Gas Jockey Set)

Degreaser - Reserve Shooter- Powerjack- Attendant (The Gas Jockey Set)

Degreaser - Shotgun- Powerjack- Attendant (The Gas Jockey Set)

Degreaser- Flaregun- Axetinguisher 

Degreaser- Shotgun- Axtinguisher 

Special Case: The Scorch Shot (This weapon is worth mentioning here, but Scorch Shot strategy is a little too in depth for a mention here, look out for a full length on that later. One tip tho: Shoot everyone with it all the time. Burn everything) 

Your simple goal here is to Light-Puff-Sting. All the time. Every Time. 

But what does that mean? 

Well, step one is to "light". Simple enough. You want to engage (preferably ambush) with your Degreaser with a little mouse 1 action. Just burn your target for a second or two, your goal here is only to do ~30-40 damage maybe a little more against tougher classes. This sets your sting up to be more consistently lethal, as well as causing your opponent to suffer afterburn. All three of the factors hasten their demise. 

Step 2 is the "Puff" otherwise known as the airblast. For those that don't know, by clicking mouse 2, you can let out a small burst of fuel that will reflect projectiles and push players (as well as put out burning teammates). You goal with the puff is to knock your opponent into the air. By pushing a player, you force them to lose all of their momentum, thus forcing them to confront you. More importantly, you've got control over where they are, which sets up the last part of your combo. They can't dodge while puffed. TAKE ADVANTAGE!

The Sting: What you are trying to do here is kill your opponent with any of the forced-crits you can muster. With the Flaregun, Shotgun, or Reserve Shooter, you want to hit your target as soon as they are airborne and vulnerable. With the Axtinguisher, you need to puff your opponent into the air, close the distance between you and them, and "catch" them with a swing of your Ax for massive damage. 

Pros and cons of each weapon:

Shotgun:

Pros: High capacity, medium range harassment capabilities, good anti pyro, good anti scout. It's also the best weapon a pyro has against sentries, as far as sentry-sniping goes. 

Cons: No forced crits, lower damage than other stings

Best used when fighting multiple opponents, talented scouts, large numbers of pyros 

Reserve Shooter: 

Pros: Massive damage (You can force a sting that does over 130 damage in one shot, OW!) Even faster switch time. Great against pyros, scouts, demos, spies (especially spy-cicle wielding spies since their little toy won't save em from bullets!) 

Cons: Pitfully low ammo capacity, little to no mid-range combat capabilities 

The Reserve Shooter is the strongest secondary sting the pyro has, making it great in most situations. It suffers against heavies, and soldiers that can aim. They out DPS your ass at more ranges. It's rough being a pyro. 

The Axtinguisher:

Best paired with the shotgun (if you find yourself against a bunch of pyros) or the Flare Gun (if you want to be able to engage at longer ranges). Against heavies, I recommend you burn them for at least 50 damage, no more than 100 before stinging. This will make your chop likely lethal. 

Pros: Massive damage (195 since it is guaranteed to crit), making it effective against tougher classes (Heavy, Soldier, sometimes demo). Easier to land than an aerial secondary (Flaregun, Reserve Shooter, etc) sting. 

Cons: You have to be close to use it, thus putting you in danger if your opponent isnt caught off guard by your attack. Too many times I have seen pyros go in for the ax, only to miss or die before it lands. Also doesn't work against pyros. You also can't use the Gas Jockey set while wielding this weapon, which lessens your combat-effectiveness. 

Finally the Flare Gun;

Pros: Medium-Long Range combat capabilities. Consistent, high damage sting (it'll do 90 damage every time if they are on fire). Burn out (it hurts!). Allows the pyro to engage snipers from long range. Also allows you to flare spam heavies outside of their minigun's effective combat range. Those fatty's are massive targets. 

Cons: Little damage against pyros. Little damage against sentries. Single shot.   It's the most difficult to aim as well. 

The Flare Gun is my favorite sting. It's consistent. It's powerful, and you can do it from farther away, thus making you safer from counter attack. Whereas the you have to be close to use the Reserve shooter, even closer with the Axstinguisher, you can light-puff-sting with the Flare while moving in whatever direction you want. You can pull back to dodge, push in to ambush. It takes a while to get a feel for the arc of the shot, but once you can reliably aim it, you have a very powerful weapon. It also causes a longer afterburn than the Degreaser, (bout 50 damage worth), allowing you to Puff n Sting and forget, just watch em burn tryin to put themselves out. 

Q) Why use the Degreaser? Why not one of the "stronger" flamethrowers? 

A) Mainly the weapons switch speed. Your goal with puff and sting pyro isn't to mouse one them, its to kill them as quickly as possible with your sting. A good puff and sting will do much more damage much quicker than a mouse 1ing pyro every time. It's also much harder to counter. 

Q) Why the Gas Jockey Set? 

A) Movement Speed. You wouldn't know it, but movement speed is one of the most important factors in TF2. Going just 10% faster allows you to hunt down and kill any class (besides scout, unless you catch them with a puff to stun em!). The bullet vulnerability is negligible compared to how helpful the speed boost is. 

Take some of these tips to heart, and you'll find yourself a much better pyro for it. Stay tuned for tips on the Powerjack and the Scorch Shot! Both are good ,but this guide is getting a little long.... 

If you have any questions, or want to know something else about the game, feel free to shoot me a message. Be sure to check my blog and/or follow me for more advice! 

http://tf2howto.tumblr.com/

written by Dauntless. 

http://steamcommunity.com/id/iStandDauntless

Image Source: 

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/File:Attendant.png

Info Source:

This shit's off the top of my head boys and girls. 

[tf2howto]

Follower Suggestions?

Crap you guys are gonna actually make me update this thing if y'all keep following me. Anybody have anything they would like to know more about? 

[tf2howto]

L'etranger: Second Worst Gun the Game

Oh the 'tranger, how you damage output disappoints me. But you aren't as worthless as people think! 

Cons: Pitifully low damage output, inaccurate when fired quickly

Pros: 15% Cloak on hit, use as part of the Saharan Spy set

I ain't gonna mince words, this weapon is bad. Rather bad. The only thing worse in terms of offensive capabilities is the medic's crossbow. But, it has a few things going for it:

1) You can dispatch any of the lighter classes (125 health or less) in 3 shots at close range. If you aim true, you can put a scout down before he bonks ya. Three shotting a sniper is even easier. (side note, his sniper rifle is much stronger than your tranger so you  better be dodging)  

2) Most importantly you gain 15% cloak on each successful hit. This attribute is best paired with the Dead Ringer (or DR for the uninitiated). There are two main reasons for this. The first being, your gun is a piece of crap but your knife can kill in one shot. If somebody engages you, you can pull out the ol' pocket invulnerability and escape. Then you can re-engage when your opponents' back is turned and ripe for the stabbin'. The second reason this pairing works well is that the Dead Ringer is only available on full charge. By using the trager, you force your watch to recharge more quickly, and thus you are less vulnerable. For a spy, having your Dead Ringer charged is always the difference between life and death. The Dead Ringer is the best escape watch because you don't "blink" (become momentarily visible) when somebody shoots you/makes contact with your player model while you are invisible.  

This works even better when you are using the Saharan set. Somebody shoots you, you go invisible, silently decloak behind them, and stab. Or if you fuck that up (which you will) you can plug them with your tranger and DR away. Usually three shots will do the trick.  

 3) Take advantage of your innate ability to see enemy health. If a player is weak (Im talkin' 20%-40% health or less, more if you are ballzy) plug em a couple of times to put them down. Don't be surprised if your shots miss/don't read and they turn around to kill you. Remember, there's no shame in pulling out the DR and running away. And then coming back to kill them right after they drop their guard. 

4) It's perfectly accurate when fired at a rate of 1.25 seconds a shot. Keep calm and you can snipe low health players, harass snipers, even take out sentry guns. Scratch that, especially take out sentry guns. 

Loadout Recommendations:

Saharan Spy Set (L'etranger, Your Eternal Reward, Fez) with the Dead Ringer

L'etranger, Kunai,  Dead Ringer (note very risky, but if played effectively, you can cut through a team and escape rather well. Best used when high numbers of players are concentrated in small areas) 

By Dauntless, also known as Medical, Scoot Pilgrim, Luck Or Skill?, Goku Or Go Home, Hipstette 

http://steamcommunity.com/id/iStandDauntless

Sources and helpful links 

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/L%27Etranger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBIKqZEjSAA&feature=player_embedded

My head. I play too much TF2. 

[istanddauntless]

Best scout loadout. Seriously. Scatter/Mad Milk/Atomizer.

Posted this because I was tired of seeing nubcake loadout pics. I’ve got 8 more of these, whatcha got? 

http://steamcommunity.com/id/iStandDauntless

[tf2howto]

Today I will explain to you the mysteries of the Force A Nature, or if you are a hip mother fucker, FaN. Probably one of my favorite weapons in the entire game. Stay tuned for my explanation of the "Force Jump" or "FaN Jump" later. 

Cons: 2 Shots, Slow Reload, Low DPS, Least Accurate Scattergun.

Pros: Highest Damaging AND Fastest Shooting Scattergun, Force Jumps (more later) , Making Fuckers Fly. 

This weapon is the ultimate in hit-and-run scout play. Your goal with it is to maim (or kill if you can do it quickly) and GTFO. Your low capacity and slow reload make prolonged combat VERY risky. Use the FaN's blast back to FORCE your enemies to disengage from you BY MAKING THEM FLY LIKE A BIRD. 

To optimize the force delivered by the FaN you must maximize damage AND trajectory. Here are some tips: 

1) Get as close as possible to your opponent (ideally behind them, you don't want to be detected before you get the first shot off). Proximety maximizes damage (The FaN, like the scatter, delivers 175% damage at close range, as compared to most weapon's 150%). This also will make most (ideally all) the pellets fired by the weapon connect.

2) Trajectory: Basically you want to make the angle between the buisness end if your FaN and your target's meaty flank to between 45 and 70 degrees. This will ensure the farthest launch. The best way to get these angles is to crouch down and aim up at your target. You'd be surprised how will this works with the Scatter and the Sodapopper! 

3) Leave Mouse1 held down after the initial shot, as the game will automatically fire the weapon as fast as possible. This will cause more damage, and the additional shot will deliver more force. Or you could just fire one and let the sucker fall to death, which is much riskier but hilarious. 

Weaknesses:

Unintentional Force Jumps: Your first shot in the air will force you to FaN jump. If you aren't expecting it or have shot at a low angle, this jump will stop your momentum, making you an easy target. The easiest way to avoid this is to have your double jump saved, as you can jump again to keep dodging. What gets scouts killed is standing still. 

Heavies: These fuckers just have too much health to kill with the FaN. Attempting to kill one is risky so instead, use their meaty size to your advantage to launch them. Those fat fuckers can really fly. This is great for knocking heavies off of high perches or objectives, like the cart or the control point. 

Built Sentries: Ain't nothin you can do about a sentry gun with the FaN, avoid at all costs. If the engineer is leaving his gun unattended, you can try and kill it just by slowing chipping away at its health from outside its firing range. 

Strengths:

Light/Unaware Classes: Two shotting suckers who have low health (125 or less will be lethal, 150-175 can be lethal, but requires 2 good shots, 200 is extremely difficult given the FaN's force but doable) is an easy way to get kills, or just to make them fly.

Mini Sentries or Battle Sentries: 2 Fan meatshots delivered quickly while the gun is building or after it's active will kill the little guy. Watch engineers rage as scouts kill their little darlings. 

Medics: The FaN's knockback, damage, and firing speed make it an ideal medic killer. Slip in while his pocket isn't paying attention to slay or knock away his doc. Two quick shots should do the trick. 

FaN Juggling: You can bounce your enemies into a wall or into the air and catch them with the second shot. This is super annoying and super lethal. Be aware that this will leave you open to a counter attack as their can be a delay between the initial shot and the killing blow. Smart soldiers will try and shoot a rocket at you, which could very well kill you both. 

Loadout Recommendations:

FaN- Mad Milk- Atomizer (highly mobile, my favorite)

FaN - Pistol - Your Bat of choice (the pistol lets you finish off targets weakened by the FaN, as well as giving you some mid-range offensive capabilities)

This has been a rundown of the offensive capabilities of the FaN, but the weapon's real advantage comes with the glory that is the Force Jump, stay tuned for that guide later. 

By Dauntless, also known as Medical, Scoot Pilgrim, Luck Or Skill?, Goku Or Go Home, Hipstette 

http://steamcommunity.com/id/iStandDauntless