Don't all classes except the Medic (and I guess Engie) only play one role: Killer?

So I wrote this guide for the website binartytrio.com and there was going to be a video. The thing is, the Binary Trio is no more, and I thought I'd just post this to my bloggy blog here. Enjoy... I guess.

ln This guide will be covering the basics of each class like what they are good against, what they aren’t good against, and the level of experience required to play each class well. Let’s just jump right into the classes and what the benefits of each are.

There are nine classes, and three sets of classes, each set containing three classes. These three sets are categorized as Offense, Defense, and Support.

The first class of the first set, which is the Offense Set, is the Scout. The Scout is the weakest and fastest class in the game. With the ability to capture control points twice as fast, the Scout can be very handy in objective based games. The Scout requires some finesse to use because he is so weak and has very limited range and tactics. As a Scout, you are not frontline material, or very good at fighting on your own. A Scout is more of a catalyst for the equation that is the combat in Team Fortress 2. With a powerful shotgun, pistol, and baseball bat the Scout can harass and distract while your team attacks, pester classes like the Spy and the Pyro, and lure the enemy into an ambush but one on one against something like a Soldier or Heavy, the scout will surely lose. The Scout can be a powerful catalyst but requires practice and finesse and is best in close quarters. I only recommend it to Intermediate or advanced Team Fortress 2 players.

Next in the Offense set is the Soldier. The Soldier is best at medium to long ranges against stationary targets like a Heavy or an established Engineer and is at a disadvantage against faster classes like Scouts or Medics. The Soldier has a slow firing Rocket launcher, a shotgun, and a shovel. The Rocket Launcher requires precise aim and is slow, so leading a target is the best way to land a hit. The shotgun should be use in response to close quarter combat, or when suppressing enemies while you are reloading. Soldiers have the highest health, second only to the Heavy, and are slow. They do have the capability to rocket jump, which is performed by firing a rocket directly under the player’s feet. This can be a tricky and dangerous feat, but when mastered it is a powerful tool for evasion and movement. The Soldier is a force to be reckoned with because new and experienced players can do well with this class, and when mastered, can be one of the most formidable classes in the game.

The Last class in the Offense Set is the Pyro, my personal favorite. The Pyro is far more versatile than most classes and can play all roles, Offense, Defense, and Support, exceptionally well. At the very core of the class, the Pyro is all about the flamethrower and lighting your enemies on fire. The key to offense as a Pyro is to suppress the enemy team by lighting them on fire and causing them to retreat and look for water, a health pack, or a medic. Defensively, a Pyro should hunt down and kill Spies without discretion or hesitation. The Pyro is the best equipped class to kill Spies because the flamethrower has the widest berth and is the easiest and most cost efficient to check for disguised Spys. As a Support Pyro, you can aid Engineers in defending their buildings against Spies or can extinguish enflamed allies by using the airblast. A good combination of shotgun and flamethrower is a hard balance to find but is extremely effective in short to medium range. One of the most basic combinations of the flamethrower and shotgun is to simply burn an enemy, push them into the air with the compression blast, then shoot them with the shotgun while they are in mid air. Pyros should also find ways around the back of the enemy team and attack when the enemy is ill prepared and setting the entire enemy team on fire can be far more important and effective than killing a few enemies. The Pyro is also the most deadly class in close quarters and cramped spaces. Pyro is very easy to pick up and understand for beginners and can be very deadly in the hands of an expert. The Pyro is a class for all skill types.

Now for the Defense Set. These classes can be used for offensive purposes but are most effective when in a defensive role. The first of this set is the Demo Man. The Demo is a very strong and area controlling class. The Standard Grenade launcher is great for controlling hallways or choke points and is devastating when direct hits are landed. The sticky bomb launcher is great for placing down a trap or controlling a corner. When used the in the same fashion as the Soldiers Rocket launcher, it can also be used to launch you through the air to reach higher places, reach places faster, or evade enemies altogether. The Demo has the third most health and, like the Soldier, is slow. The Demo is great against slow moving Heavys, established engineers, and players camping around corners but is bad in tight spaces and against fast classes, like the Scout, Pyro, or Medic. The Demo is nothing to scoff at and is handy in certain situations, but shouldn’t be anyone’s primary class unless a certain situation calls for it. Beginners could try the Demo out, but I doubt they would enjoy their time with him. I recommend the Demo to only novices that are familiar with some of the maps and tendencies of Team Fortress 2.

Now onto the most iconic class of the game the Heavy. The Heavy is the most influential direct combat class there is. He is the center stage combatant of any fight he is in. If you encounter one being accompanied by a Medic and aren’t prepared for a fight, run. If you are that Heavy, try to stick by said Medic. If you have to venture out, try not to do so alone. Though the Heavy is the powerhouse of direct combat, it is easy to ambush a heavy because he is so slow. The Heavy is best from short to medium range with his Minigun, and you should use the shotgun as more of a scalpel to be more precise. You should only use your fists as a last resort. In tight spaces Heavies should avoid Pyros because it only takes a few moments of direct contact from the Pyros flamethrower to dwindle the 300 health that a Heavy has. The Heavy is a very easy class to play. Point and shoot. Also stick close to a medic, and call out for one often. The Heavy is the easiest class to play and I recommend it to all players.

The Engineer, or Engie, is next up on this list. The Engie is one of the more complicated classes. The Engineer has three main structures that he can build; a sentry, a dispenser, and a teleporter (entrance and exit). A Sentry starts out at Level one and only has a feeble semiautomatic gun that does little damage but can push enemies back slightly. To level it up, use supply by hitting it with you wrench. Once at level two, the guns damage and push-back strength is significantly increased, making it very hard to push past. Once at Level three it simply does what the level two can but also fires rockets. The same upgrade path applies to the Dispenser, which doles out Health and Ammo to yourself and Allies. The teleporter is pretty self explanatory. Upgrading the teleporter makes it so that it can teleport your teammates faster. Being good with an Engie is all about knowing where to place a sentry gun, dispenser, and the most convenient place to put a teleporter for you team. A well established Engineer can stop a powerful team dead in its tracks. The level three sentry fires rockets and has TWO guns equivalent to that of the Heavy’s Minigun that has a frightening impact on enemies. It’s smart to keep a close eye on your structures and to maintain their condition and supply. The Engineer is terrible in a fight due to his low health, and poor weapon selection, so it is smart to avoid direct combat altogether. The Engineer is a very mathematical class and I don’t recommend it to beginners. If the team lacks an Engie, and one is needed, contribute to the team and fill the role even if you aren’t effective with him. Also, when starting out as an Engie, you will die. Sentries draw a lot of attention and I can attest that killing Sentries and Engies is high on the enemies check list.

We move onto the third and final set, Support. This consists of the Medic, the Sniper, and the Spy.

The Medic is the most important non combatant in Team Fortress 2. He has the capability of healing any class back to complete health and also healing them BEYOND their max health. For instance, a Heavy, which has 300 health to begin with, can have 450 health when being healed by a Medic. A Medic can Uber-Charge a teammate once he has healed enough in one life. An Uber Charge makes the Medic that is healing and person the Medic is healing invincible. This can be used to plow through large groups of enemies, or moving into range of killing a Sentry. Also, the Medic can uber Charge himself and use this to run away or move to a better spot without fearing death. The only downside to this is that the Medic cannot capture control points. If he could the entire team would choose the Medic class and would Uber charge themselves until they won and that wouldn’t be very fun. In combat a Medic is weak, and should never confront anything tougher than a Pyro one on one. The Medic has a Syringe Gun, his healing gun, and a bonesaw for a melee weapon. The Syringe gun can do respectable damage but not at a very far range. It is best to choose one particular teammate and constantly heal him, watch his back, and heal other teammates when the opportunity arises. Medics are best coupled with a Heavy but if one isn’t available then a Soldier, Demoman, or Pyro will do. I don’t recommend Ubercharging anything less than a Soldier if you can avoid it. Don’t ever Uber charge classes like Snipers, Engies, or Spies. The Medic is an easy class in theory, but can be tougher to apply that theory in the heat of batte. I recommend this class to anyone because you can never have too many Medics and the class is easy to master. The biggest tip is to watch your back because EVERYONE will take a shot at you, given the chance.

Next is the Sniper. The Sniper is a rather simple class. Point big Gun, shoot enemies in head. It SOUNDS simple, but in practice it can be tricky. The sniper, as eluded by the name, has a long range Semi automatic Sniper Rifle that should used at long distances. Now this may sound like your cup of tea, but there is a major downside to this Sniper Rifle. Each shot must be charged up to do the full amount of damage and to charge this up you must be scoped in for a few seconds and when you are scoped in there is a little dot that shows the enemy team where you are pointing. You can scope in quickly and fire at enemies but it doesn’t do the full amount of damage. Being a good Sniper requires good aim, good judgment of the battlefield, restraint, and knowing what Spies are thinking. Good aim for obvious reasons, judgment to know when things are changing and where to snipe from, restraint so that you don’t stand in the middle of the battlefield and die for one measly headshot, and thinking like a Spy because Spies love nothing more than back-stabbing Snipers that are too focused on the battlefield. Along with the Sniper Rifle the Sniper has a Sub-Machine Gun that is a lot like the Medics Syringe gun except the SMG has better rang. The Sniper also has a Kukri (kind of like a machete) as his melee weapon. Knowing when to use the SMG and Kukri instead of the Sniper Rifle is an art that can save you some battles and keep you alive. I don’t recommend the Sniper to beginners unless you have exceptional aim.

The last class of the bunch is the Spy, a completely different class from all the others. This French assassin can play only one role: Killer. It’s a master of deception and the only class except the Sniper that can kill every other class with one hit. The Spy can disguise himself as any class on the opposite team as long as he does not attack. Once the Spy attacks, the disguise is lost. However, the Spy also sports a fancy cloaking device in the form of a wristwatch. The cloak renders the Spy almost completely invisible for a short period of time. If you find yourself running out of cloak, walk over an Ammo box or a dropped weapon as they restore some of the cloak meter. Once cloaked, the Spy cannot attack until the cloak is removed. Tactically, this class is an excellent way to get behind enemy lines and snipe off those more valuable targets like the Medic+Heavy combo, or that annoying Sniper that always seems to pick you off at the right time. The Spy also happens to carry a sapper, handy for taking out Engineer constructions. To deliver one-hit kills, the Spy must stab the enemy in the back. It’s a difficult play to class, but once you figure out how to blend in with the enemy team without them noticing, you’re in for some mad killstreaks.

If you haven’t completely figured out what class you want to play, go with a few that sound good and see which one is the most fun. That is what this whole game is about. Fun.

Join me next time for the Intermediate Players Guide to Team Fortress 2 when I talk about all the crazy weapons that have been added since launch, the crafting system, hats, and other tips and tricks for each class.