Silarn's Anti-Guide to Spying

[Silarn]

Since I haven't played much as a spy (very sad, yes, I know), I'll tell you spy folks just what makes me notice you. I figure this can be helpful for spies and... not for spies.

A) This one's pretty much unavoidable, and if it happens you should curse. If I see two people with the same name. Yeah. If that happens, I know one of you is the spy. I tend to aim for the one doing nothing.

A2) This basically falls along the same line as A. If I see a class that we either don't have or somebody that's the same class as me (and I'm the only one doing it) and a quick Scoreboard check confirms it, the jig is up.

B) You don't do what you're supposed to do. What does that mean?

You're a Soldier, Heavy, or Scout sitting in a corner, waiting. In this case, you should have been a Pyro. A Demoman is passable, but then I'd expect stickybombs.

You're an Engineer and you're not building anything. Suspicious.

You're a Spy and you're not spying. Odd.

You're a Medic not Medicing. Medics are rewarded for constantly streaming health (even if everybody around is healed). Not to mention, all Medics should be out helping the damned offensive. Friggin' noobs. (And I'm talking about the Medics, there.)

You're a Sniper and you're paying more attention to me and my team than the other team. Have I made my point?

C) To tie right into that last one, if I notice anybody paying more attention to me or others on my team (especially if I'm a more-targeted class) than to what said disguise says they should be doing, the flag is raised. In other words, you need to PEEK at people while acting like you're doing something useful.

D) You rush straight toward your objective. If I'm an Engineer and I see somebody running towards me and my turret, I get very suspicious.

E) You're standing around somewhere strange and random. Nothing's happening there. There's no reason to be there. What the heck are you doing? 2Fort sewers, for instance. If I see anybody not actively moving forward or an Engi without a turret... Ahem.

F) You catch on fire.

 

[CyberPitz]

Pretty good list. Definitely worth it for those Spys who don't know what they are doing wrong. I tend to be a pyro or demoman and make it look like i'm running around looking for a vantage point. Or if I want to sabatage some turrets, I'll be an engie.

Most people should pay attention to this

 

[Apocalypse89]

Just a question, but if you're a Spy and are disguising yourself as an non-Spy enemy, do they see you holding that class' weapons or a spy weapon? Because seeing an engineer or medic run around with a knife or revolver would surely be a rather obvious indication something is wrong...

 

[A Big Fat CoW]

Three more things:

Spy is the only class that can cloak. If I see another class cloak or decloak around me, it's pretty obvious that it's an enemy spy in disguise.

The Disguise animation lasts for at least two seconds, if not longer; that is, when you first disguise, blue or red smoke will cover your character for that amount of time. If you disguise right near an enemy and then run out of hiding, it's very easy to detect.

Third thing is, teleporters leave glowy dust on you of the same color as your team, and you'll trail that dust for a good 5 seconds or so after using it. That means if you're a red spy, and you go through a teleporter and cloak, the enemy will see a glowing red trail of dust running towards them.

 

[tibetanpunk]

The spy when disguised looks exactly like one of your team mates, with their weapons etc...
There is no friendly fire at all. If you think someone is acting suspicious, let off a few rounds into them and see how they react...Then let off a few more to see if the disguise drops...Blood coming from them is a sure sign that they are a spy...

 

[CyberPitz]

Just a question, but if you're a Spy and are disguising yourself as an non-Spy enemy, do they see you holding that class' weapons or a spy weapon? Because seeing an engineer or medic run around with a knife or revolver would surely be a rather obvious indication something is wrong...

I was wondering that exact same thing. Couldn't get a straight answer out of the people I was playing with.

The spy when disguised looks exactly like one of your team mates, with their weapons etc...
There is no friendly fire at all. If you think someone is acting suspicious, let off a few rounds into them and see how they react...Then let off a few more to see if the disguise drops...Blood coming from them is a sure sign that they are a spy...

And you answered it! Thank you!

 

[Mutley]

I went in a server today with Q with friendly fire on. I think this is the only game where I can say - don't play in servers with friendly fire on, lol! It's horrible and makes Spys harder to catch.

 

[Gunner]

Here's a tip for spies:

If you're trying to infiltrate a position, turn around and go there in reverse, it gives the impression that you're on their team but just retreating from the front lines. It works all the time. And if you want to really fool them, when you get in their view while you're in reverse, stop and pretend to check the corners you came from by doing a little strafe dance.

Another tip: call for medics let them heal you, then backstab them when they're leaving.

 

[DjBourgeoisie]

Here's a tip for spies:
Another tip: call for medics let them heal you, then backstab them when they're leaving.

nice one, ill have to remember that one

 

[CyberPitz]

Oh yeah, having an enemy medic heal you is quite possibly the best thing ever.

 

[The Brick]

Yeah friendlyfire is pretty bad. I played on a server with it enabled. I was a medic and was blasting my previous record for healing points in one round. I got close to 8000, and then someone who I was healing just shot me through the head on purpose. What a dick.


On topic: try to avoid going close to enemies that are the same class as you're disguised as. When the enemy engineer looks at you when you are disguised as an engineer, he'll see his own name when he looks at you. So when I see people of my class running around with 'The Brick' as their name, it's pretty obvious what's going on.

Another tip: never look at the enemy when they're looking at you, that's suspicious.

 

[Apocalypse89]

After playing a bit on 2Fort, I have two more tips:

1. Stay away from Pyros, as they're the best anti-Spy class. A touch from their flamethrower will reveal you whether you are cloaked or disguised. And they have plenty of fuel to test with.

2. Seeing an Engineer emerge from the sewers half a minute after the start of the round = Most obvious. Spying. Ever.

 

[CyberPitz]

Yeah friendlyfire is pretty bad. I played on a server with it enabled. I was a medic and was blasting my previous record for healing points in one round. I got close to 8000, and then someone who I was healing just shot me through the head on purpose. What a dick.


On topic: try to avoid going close to enemies that are the same class as you're disguised as. When the enemy engineer looks at you when you are disguised as an engineer, he'll see his own name when he looks at you. So when I see people of my class running around with 'The Brick' as their name, it's pretty obvious what's going on.

Another tip: never look at the enemy when they're looking at you, that's suspicious.

Are you saying if I'm an engineer, then when an enemy engineer sees me, they will see their name? I was under the assumption that you stole the name of the last person you killed/random enemy name.

 

[The Brick]

No the other way around. If you're an engineer, and an enemy spy diguises as an engineer, you'll see him run around with Cyberpitz as his name.

 

[CyberPitz]

That's exactly what I said, but swapped, but I get it. Ok, so always pick the most unused class

 

[Silarn]

Actually, disguised spies do not bleed. That is bad information.

They do catch on fire, however.

As has been answered, they do hold the disguised class's weapons, however they can't use them. Actually, I'm not quite sure, here... Does attacking reveal you or doing damage? Can you mime 'shooting the enemy'? If not, that seems like a big giveaway.

 

[CyberPitz]

Actually, disguised spies do not bleed. That is bad information.

They do catch on fire, however.

As has been answered, they do hold the disguised class's weapons, however they can't use them. Actually, I'm not quite sure, here... Does attacking reveal you or doing damage? Can you mime 'shooting the enemy'? If not, that seems like a big giveaway.

Attacking with any weapon *besides cloaking and the elctro sapper* will take away your disguise.

 

[Apocalypse89]

Any type of attack immediately reveals you, and I don't think you can fake attacking. So add another tip:

-Combat classes walking in plain sight of the enemy without firing a single shot = Suspicious.

 

[Silarn]

Also, I believe it picks a random name from a person that is that class (or just random if none is available). You wont always see your name for a spy if the spy is disguised as your class - unless you're the only one.

Meaning that, so long as there are multiple engineers or whatever, one of their names will be picked. So picking the 'least used' class is not a good idea, as it'll make it much more likely that he will notice or somebody else will notice two people with the same name. It's much better, if possible, to pick a class with large numbers. You'll be 'one of many'; people are less likely to notice the double name.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

That's exactly what I said, but swapped, but I get it. Ok, so always pick the most unused class

If people are paying attention and know that there's only one sniper, and they see two snipers, the gig is up

 

[The Brick]

It's best to either pick the most used class, or an unused class (though the scoreboard will give that one away pretty quickly).

 

[tibetanpunk]

I could have swore they bled, they must change back and bleed simlutaneously...

 

[Gunner]

Another tip: you tried planting charges on the engineer's toys, and he defused them. Run away, change disguises and come back. It's so fun to mind **** with them haha

 

[Mutley]

No the other way around. If you're an engineer, and an enemy spy diguises as an engineer, you'll see him run around with Cyberpitz as his name.

The spy can be an Engineer (or what ever class they pick) and have any name from the other team.

I've killed multiple Spies by checking the scoreboard, I see that really "The Brick" is a Pyro but the one in front of me is running about as a Soldier = Spy. :cheers:

It happens a lot, so the name doesn't usually match the actual class of that player on your side. So TAB is your friend!

 

[FISKER_Q]

Spies only get their names from the other teams guys, if you got one engineer named name1 the spy will get name1 all the time if he disguises as an engineer.

I guess it's possible it uses a random name if no such class exist, or if the player changes class after the spy disguises.