Half-LIfe 2: The Orange Box Team Fortress 2 Strategies

The Ultimate Team Fortress 2 Guide



Written by |CBW|Spive

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Version 1.0

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E-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://www.CanadianBlackWatch.com

Website: http://www.CBWGaming.com

Copyright 2007 |CBW| The Canadian Black Watch Clan

Team Fortress 2, after years of waiting and a few detours along the way, it's

finally here. Here at CBWGaming.com, we're hoping to assemble the ultimate TF2

guide and keep it updated with the latest information, tips and strategies. At

this point we've broken our guide into 3 parts:



The Game



TF2 is a online only multiplayer game developed and published by Valve

Corporation. The game is team-based and currently has two game modes, Capture

the Flag and Control Point. In Capture The Flag, each team tries to capture the

other team's "Intelligence" which is in the form of a briefcase full of

documents. The intelligence can be captured and score a point for their team by

moving their player over the intelligence and running back to your own team's

intelligence room. If the player dies with the intelligence, it lies on the

ground for 1 to 2 minutes before being returned to it's original location. If

your team's intelligence is lying out in the open, protect it from being picked

up again by the other team - if they touch it again before being killed, the

1-2 minute clock starts all over again and you'll need to protect your

intelligence that much longer before it is returned to it's home. Control Point

gametype has teams trying to capture and hold 3 to 5 control points on the map

- control them all and your team scores a point. Each gametype has an overtime

mode where if the team score is tied after the game time runs out, it's sudden

death. Players don't respawn during this period and the way to win for your

team is to either eliminate all the enemy players or complete the map

objectives before your opponents or the sudden death time runs out.



The whole gang



What do I need to play TF2?

Can your PC play TF2? Valve's recommended specs are...



Minimum: 1.7 GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, DirectX? 8 level Graphics Card,

Windows® Vista/XP/2000, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection



Recommended: Pentium 4 processor (3.0GHz, or better), 1GB RAM, DirectX® 9

level Graphics Card, Windows® Vista/XP/2000, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet

Connection



If your PC meets the minimum requirements, then you need to pick up a copy of

Team Fortress 2. (You can also get Orange Box for the XBox 360 now and for

PS3 later in 2007) You can get it a couple of ways right now. First is via

Valve's online store on their Steam platform

( http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=game&AppId=440&cc=CA ) . The

standalone game is $29.95 or you can get it in their Orange Box package which

contains Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two,

Portal and Team Fortress 2. Orange Box costs about $50. Either way, you will

need to install the Steam application which manages all the games you've

purchased from Valve. Steam can automatically keep your games patched up to the

latest version without you have to go searching around the internet for update

files. Once your Steam account is setup and TF2 is installed, now you need to

get online...





Heavy Weapons Guy vs a Scout



How do I play TF2 online? Easy - fire up Steam, click on your Games tab at the

top and double click on Team Fortress 2. Once the game loads, you see you have

an option to "Find Servers" - click on that. On the "Internet" tab, click on

Refresh button and wait until the server lists loads. You can click on any

server that looks good to you - maybe one that is currently running the map you

like or more importantly one that has low latency (ping).



CBWGaming.com runs some excellent servers that are well administered and low

latency to most gamers in North America.

http://www.cbwgaming.com/index.php?pg=server You can find those servers in

your Internet tab if you sort alphabetically and scroll down to

http://www.CBWGAMING.COM or in the Favorites tab, enter their IP:Port

information directly.



This should give you a basic guide to the game and how you can get up and

running. Next we'll move onto the player classes and how to play them.



Team Fortress 2 Player Classes: Part 1



Classes - TF2 has built upon the class system introduced in the original Team

Fortress Classic. The classes are a great example of "rock - paper - scissors"

in that each class has it's strengths and weaknesses that can be exploited by

other classes. For example, the Heavy Weapons Guy is very strong and has a

powerful weapon, however he is slow and can be easy pickings for a sniper or

spy. The best teams will be well balanced between classes to achieve the

objectives of the map and gametype. There are 9 classes that can be played....





Scout



Health: 125

Weapons: Shotgun, Pistol, Baseball bat



Strengths: Fastest moving player in the game... by far. This is the perfect

class for running intelligence back for the score or to run ahead of your

team to start capturing control points. His speed makes him a hard target to

hit (snipers) and he can often run right around enemy players before they get

a shot off. The scout can double jump which can allow him to clear large gaps

and change direction in mid air.



Weakness: Low health and lack of a big time weapon is his weakness.



Tips:

1) Don't hang around for a fight... keep moving. If you need to duke it out,

use your speed to your advantage - a circle strafe is your friend against

anyone who is packing more firepower than you are... which is just about

everyone!



2) Every map has a couple of spots where your double jump can be used

effectively. A key one is the middle bridge on 2Fort. Head out to the

battlements and double jump onto the center bridge roof and then again onto

the enemy battlements. With any luck you can slip right into the ramp doorway

and be on your way to grab the enemy intelligence.





Soldier



Health: 200

Weapons: 4-shot Rocket Launcher, Shotgun, Entrenching tool (Shovel)



Strengths: Possibly the best all-round class. The Soldier has above average

health which makes him durable in a firefight and his rocket launcher can dish

out some real damage.



Weakness: Relatively slow moving class makes him sniper bait as well as taking

a while to get into the action on those control point maps. The soldier's

rockets travel slowly so that if

you are trying to hit someone at range, your target has plenty of time to get

out of the way.



Tips:

1) This class can "rocket jump" by pointing your rocket launcher directly down

to the ground, hit the jump and fire key at the same time. You can jump higher

if you crouch while performing this maneuver. If you time it right, you'll

find yourself able to "jump" up to second story levels - for example the

Battlements in 2Fort. This takes some health off your player so you will want

to execute properly the first time.



2) When using the rocket launcher, don't aim at the player's body - instead

aim at their feet. The blast damage will hurt nearly as much and with any

luck you can launch your enemy into the air in time to have a second rocket

waiting at their feet when they land. You can also use the rockets to blast

players off ledges and walkways by aiming at the walls behind them.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbZOeGyd61E





Pyro



Health: 175

Weapons: Flamethrower, Shotgun, Fire Axe



Strengths: The flamethrower has a very short range, but great for getting

people coming around corners and groups of enemies. You can see the fear in

your enemies as they flee from your 20 foot flame. Once you light your enemy

on fire, it continues to burn them, removing about 5-10hp every couple of

seconds until the victim dies or the flame gets extinguished. In a recent

update, Valve made the pyro's flamethrower more potent which now gives him

the killing power of any other main class in the game. Although the character

model for the pyro is pretty fat the character moves fast so he's up to the

front lines in a hurry.



Weakness: You may become frustrated at the lack of kills you get with this

class. As mentioned it's great for spreading fear among the enemy, the

flamethrower's lack of range and instant killing power may frustrate you if

you're used to dealing out instant death via the soldier or heavy.A medic,

health packs on the ground and more obviously a good dip in the water will

extinguish the the Pyro's flame on the victim.



Tips:

1) If you're traveling in the open, break out the shotgun until you get back

into tight quarters where the flamethrower's full potential can be dished out.



2) As mentioned above, as Pyro you'll want to avoid hanging out near water

where your victims can extinguish themselves.



3) If you see multiple targets of opportunity, take out medics first as they

can put out flames with their healing gun.



4) Pyros are the #1 spy detecting class. With friendly fire off, Pyros should

be flaming everyone in their vacinity to help reveal enemy spies.



5) As a pyro you cannot be set on fire, although you still take damage for a

enemy pyro's flamethrower you will not burn afterwards. So when fighting

another pyro it is usually best to take out the shotgun.





Demoman



Health: 175

Weapons: Grenade Launcher, Sticky Grenade Launcher, Whiskey Bottle



Strengths: Great class in tight quarters and for defending/attacking

bottlenecks. The grenades explode on contact before the first bounce with an

enemy or after a few seconds on the ground so this class can keep a key

doorway or opening packed with explosions for a long time. Their secondary

weapon, the sticky bomb, can be used to defend control point/intelligence

or any key bottlenecks. Load the area up with sticky bombs and detonate them

as your enemies pass by them by pressing the alternate fire key.



Weakness: Lack of a long range gun is his biggest weakness - makes the demoman

extremely vulnerable in the open. He is defenseless at far range.



Tips:

1) Since the Demoman's sticky bombs can stick just about anywhere, put them on

the inside or doorways and ceilings (off the ground) to make them less obvious.



2) Your stickies can be shot at and moved by projectile weapons (shotguns,

rockets, pistols) so guard against your traps from being tampered with.



3) Another tip is to use your sticky bombs as a full time weapon... launch

them at your enemy and as they fly towards your target, detonate them.



4) Hold your primary fire button down to launch your sticky bombs further.



5) Similar to the soldier, the Demoman has his own version of the "rocket

jump". The procedure with the demoman is to lay a sticky bomb (or two...

careful - this is going to hurt) on the ground where you want to jump from.

Step on the stickies then jump and detonate them at the same time... you

won't be able to reach the same heights as a rocket jump, but this will help

you get into a couple of nice positions.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua1eAxHTPpk



Team Fortress 2 Player Classes: Part Classes -

TF2 has built upon the class system introduced in the original Team Fortress

Classic. The classes are a great example of "rock - paper - scissors" in that

each class has it's strengths and weaknesses that can be exploited by other

classes. For example, the Heavy Weapons Guy is very strong and has a powerful

weapon, however he is slow and can be easy pickings for a sniper or spy. The

best teams will be well balanced between classes to achieve the objectives of

the map and gametype. We covered the Scout, Soldier, Pyro and Demoman in the

previous page - now the remaining classes.





Heavy Weapons Guy



Health: 300

Weapons: Minigun, Shotgun, Fists



Strengths: The most health in the game (300)... by far. This guy can take a lot

of damage before he goes down. His Minigun can dish out a lot of rounds for an

extended period of time although accuracy really drops off at any sort of range.

A good class for defending or plowing through a bottleneck.



Weakness: Very slow moving class makes him cannon fodder for snipers. His

minigun takes a couple of seconds to spin up to speed before the bullets start

firing so those pesky scouts have a fighting chance to run right around you

before you get any rounds off.



Tips:

1) If you pair a Heavy up with up a Medic, they can be a nearly unstoppable

force. Get a medic's attention by pressing your "Medic!!" key and if the good

doctor is worth his salt, he'll hook up with you to go do some damage.



2) If you sense that enemy contact is inevitable, spool the minigun up to

speed by pressing the alternate fire button - this makes sure that you can

start unloading rounds into the enemy without waiting for the gun to rev up

to speed from scratch.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY5qJHZCz2I





Engineer



Health: 125

Weapons: Shotgun, Pistol, Wrench



An extremely versitile class that is a necessary part of any good defense. The

Engie can has a few special abilities at his disposal - he can build a sentry

gun, a dispenser and a teleporter. The engineer spawns with 200 "metal" and he

can spend this metal to build and/or upgrade his creations. To build, scroll

through your weapons until you get to the Build menu where you will be able to

select "1" to build a sentry. Position your sentry, keeping in mind that it

can only cover an angle of about 90 degrees. Once you position your sentry and

click build, it takes about 10 seconds for it to auto build. You can now begin

the upgrade process... the first upgrade gives your sentry double machine guns

and the second upgrade gives it a rocket launcher. To upgrade your sentry,

select your wrench and hammer on your gun with it. Each strike of your wrench

takes metal from your engineer and goes towards upgrading your gun and it takes

200 metal to upgrade your sentry gun to each successive level. Your engineer

can collect metal from weapons lying on the ground, dispensers and destroyed

sentries, dispensers and teleporters. After your sentry has been upgraded to

the third level, your only concern is to protect your gun and keep it "alive".

If your gun takes damage, have some metal on hand and bang it with your wrench

to repair it up to full health.



Dispensers are built in a similar manner as sentries - cycle your weapons to

the build menu and select dispenser. Once you build your dispenser (which costs

100 metal), it can give the engineer metal as well as all players health and

ammo. An ideal location for your dispenser would be close to your sentry gun

and in an area where you teammates can easily access it. One strategy you see

often, if you have time as an engineer, is to build your dispenser first and

your sentry gun second. By having the dispenser up first, you have a steady

supply of metal to keep your gun upgraded and repaired - as well as a steady

supply of health and ammo for yourself as you build.



The last build item is a teleporter which costs 125 metal. The engineer needs

to build an entrance and the exit before the teleporter will function. Ideal

entrance positions are near your spawn with an exit location as close the front

as possible without risking the destruction of the exit half of your teleporter.



Once you've got your builds in place, now you need to watch over your

creations and keep them healthy. Spies are a dreaded enemy of the engieer

because spies have a "sapper" weapon which they can place on your builds

and destroy them after 5 seconds. Sappers take longer to destroy higher level

sentries. Once a spy has laid the sapper, you'll hear an audio alert and see

your sentry gun/dispenser flashing in the top right hand corner of your screen.

Imediately bang the effected build a few times with your wrench to eliminate

the sapper but watch your back while your doing it - a spy is close at hand.



Don't be a selfish engineer!! You can help upgrade and repair your teammates

builds as well.Engineers are fun to play... nothing brings a smile to my face

like seeing my "baby" rack up the kills.



Strengths: Great defenders of intelligence/control points as well as

bottlenecks. No defense is complete without a couple of engineers and their

sentries covering their base. Dispensers can be a critical peice of any defense

with it's ability to heal teammates and supply them with ammo at critical

points on the map.



Weakness: Low health makes the engineer designed for letting his sentry do

the fighting.



Tips:

1) Always build the dispenser first, as it will give you more metal to build

other things, and is a big help in healing medics and teammates.



2) At the very beginning of any level, immediately drop a Entrance Portal,

run back into the spawn to refill your metal to 200, THEN head out into the

fray.



3) Team up with another Engineer to drop a level 2 sentry quickly then work

on the second gun.



4) Sentry placement is everything as an Engineer. Pick a poor location and

the sentry will be easily taken out by a Soldier or Heavy in no time at all.

Your sentry gun has a limited range.. let's say 40 or 50 yards. Don't set it

up where it can be hit from out in the open from a distance without locking

on to the attacker and fighting back. Ledges, just outside of doorways and

in corners are decent starting points for sentries.



5) A good plan is to build your dispenser and sentry gun right next to each

other. This way if you can build the dispenser first followed by your sentry,

you'll be replenished continually by your dispenser and be able to get your

gun up to level 3 in no time.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i68cEsALWt0





Medic



Health: 150

Weapons: Medi Gun, Syringe Gun, Bone Saw



The medic is a support class which can be used on offense or defense. Use the

medi gun to heal your teammates from a short distance and try to avoid getting

hit while they deal the damage. After you get about a minute and half worth of

heals in you get the UberCharge (which is activated by your "alternate fire

key") and gives you and your Medi Gun target invulnerability. You get rewarded

for healing by getting a kill-assist for every kill your Medi Gun healing

recipient gets. The syringe gun .... shoots syringes.... they are low damage

and medium distance. The syringes lose height as they travel and are really an

emergency defensive weapon. Medics are primarilty designed to let the heavier

classes do the fighting while they support their teammates.



Strengths: The medic is an integral part of any good team - Combine a medic

with a Heavy/Soldier/Demoman and the pair can do a LOT of damage. The medic

has decent health and can also self heal at a slow rate.



Weakness: Has little in the way of offensive weapons... the syringe gun is

for emergency defense only.



Tips:

1) At the spawn, try to pair up with the heaviest class possible to maximize

your usefulness. No sense in hooking up with a scout when he'll outrun you on

the way to the front lines and his offensive firepower is limited compared to

a soldier or heavy.



2) Use your Ubercharge to make you and a heavy class invulnerable for a push

through a bottleneck. Sometimes this will be the only way to bust into enemy

territory to take out those pesty sentries that have been holding your team

back.



3) Don't wait too long to use your UberCharge. Too many times you will see

medics get their Uber fully charged and not use it in a timely manner only

to die along with a wasted uber.



4) A medic can charge their Ubercharge faster by healing wounded teammates

(vs boosting healthy teammates). In some control point maps, there is a

"Setup" period of about 45 seconds. Hook up with a Soldier or Demoman and

have them injure themselves by firing rockets into the feet (Soldier) or

detonate sticky bombs near themselves (Demo). This will increase the speed

at which you get your Uber on. If you act quickly off the start, you'll have

your Uber fully charged by the time the setup period is over. Once the gates

open up, enable your Uber on a Soldier or Heavy and bust through the opening.





Sniper



Health: 125

Weapons: Sniper Gun, Machine Pistol, Machete



When you select the alternate fire key, your sniper gun zooms in through the

scope which leaves you suseptable to surprise attacks from the side and rear

(did we mention that spies love snipers?). When you are zoomed in, your gun

shines a laser on your target which can alert your firends and enemies that a

sniper is near. If you remained zoomed in, your gun "charges" to full power in

a few seconds which gives your next shot extra power. While zoomed in, your

movement is slowed - which is another example of the ying and the yang in this

game.



Strengths: Head shots to most classes is an instant kill. The sniper is great

for covering choke points from afar - stop the enemy before they can even get

to your side of the map is always a good strategy.



Weakness: When your zoomed in, your peripheral vision is nill. This makes

snipers prime targets for spies, and there's almost nothing you can do about

it - expect to get knifed several times a map as a sniper.



Tips:

1) When zoomed in, hide your laser dot where the enemy can't see it. For

example in 2Fort when sniping across to the enemy battlements, keep your

dot on the outside metal wall or the outside of the ledge. When the enemy

moves into view, quickly move your fully charged sniper sight onto the target

for a powerful shot.



2) Keep moving... even if it's just side to side at random. A still sniper

is an easy target - not only for opposing snipers but for spies.



3) Use your ears... when zoomed in, your peripheral vision is gone. Use sounds

to listen for incoming enemy's weapons and explosions to give you time to

unzoom and take defensive action.





Spy



Health: 125

Weapons: Revolver, Cigarette Pack (disguise kit), Electro-sapper, Cloak

Watch, Butterfly Knife



An extremely fun, but challenging class to play. The spy is a purely offensive

character - not by using brute force but cunning. One of the spy's key

abilities is to disguise himself to look like a player on the other team. Open

up the cigarette pack by scrolling through your weapons and choose the class

of player you want to disguise yourself as. To your teammates, you will look

like a spy with a mask over your face - to the enemy you will look just like

them. When the enemy puts their crosshairs over you, the name of a player on

their team will show above your head. While you're disguised, enemy sentry guns

won't shoot at you which helps you get behind enemy lines. You'll stay

disguised as long as you don't shoot your gun or slash your knife - the moment

you do, you lose your disguise. Another ability of the spy is the ability to go

invisible (or cloak) for up to about 10 seconds - use the alternate fire key

to activate/deactivate your cloaking watch. This is great for getting behind

enemy lines. Once you’re in the midst of your enemy, you can start doing your

damage. You have an Electro-Sapper which you can place on enemy sentry guns,

dispensers and teleporters which destroys them after about 5 seconds if they're

not repaired by the engineer. Using cloaking, disguise and your best acting

skills can often get you into the intelligence room where you can grab the

goods and make a run for your side of the map. Spies are primarily for

disrupting the enemy lines by destroying engineer equipment and using your

butterfly knife on the backs of your opponents for a one hit kill.



Strengths: The ability to cloak and disguise yourself allows the spy to get

behind the enemy to take out snipers and sentries. Stealth is their biggest

advantage... use it rather than trying to get into firefights.



Weakness: Don't try to shoot it out with anyone. The pistol is weak and

you'll be overpowered by every other class in the game in terms of firepower.

While cloaked, don't bump into the enemy or you'll lose some of your

invisibility for a moment, giving away your position to the enemy.



Tips:

1) When going disguised, pick a class where there are a lot of those players

on the opposing team. This will help you blend in with the enemy. Two classes

to always avoid - they are easiest to spot as spies - Scouts and Heavies. A

real Scout is extremely quick and a real Heavy is noticeably slow. As a Spy,

you still travel at your Spy speed which is much slower than a Scout and

significantly faster than a Heavy. The enemy will see a Scout running the same

speed as most other classes and start opening up fire on you knowing without a

doubt that you are a Spy. Same goes for the Heavy.



Additionally, choose a defensive class that wouldn't look out of place hanging

around near the back lines such as a Pyro, Engineer, Sniper or even a Medic.



2) Disguise is not enough... you'll need to act the part. How many scouts do

you see running empty handed back to your own spawn? It's a dead giveaway.

Always be asking yourself, is this what I would be doing if I was really this

enemy player?



3) Use your cloaking properly. Use it to get past choke points and to run away

after a timely stab or electro sapper. Get behind cover before uncloaking and

change classes after you've been discovered or taken offensive action. Also,

try to use your cloak to get as deep into enemy territory as possible, uncloak

and then start running back to the front lines. You'll be heading in the same

direction as the enemy and it's much easier to come up from behind a player

than way for a quick knife in the back.



I hope you've enjoyed our guide on TF2 player classes. Next update will be on

the maps and strategies.For any questions, please come to our forums at

http://www.cbwgaming.com/forums/index.php



Copyright/Distribution/Reproduction Guidelines -



This FAQ/Strategy Guide/Walkthrough is my own published work, and

copyrighted by |CBW| The Canadian Black Watch Clan and |CBW|Spive. Do not edit

this FAQ nor borrow its contents in any way. If you want to use some

information in your own guide, simply ask me. If you want to place this guide

on your website download the file and host it, unaltered, on your own web

server. Please give all proper credit for the guide.



Any site out there has permission to host my FAQs (following the above terms),

however, these are a list of current sites that host my FAQs officially:



- http://www.gamefaqs.com/

- http://www.canadianblackwatch.com/

- http://www.cbwgaming.com/

- http://cbwgaming.blogspot.com/



Copyright 2007 |CBW| The Canadian Black Watch Clan
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