Get ready: An actual guide: Class strategies, weapon statistics, specific tips and tricks.
Going into this, I assume you've already played a little bit, so I won't go over things like 'don't run into heavyspam' and 'holding intel reveals you'
=Weapons=
Revolver:Specs:
25 damage
1.666 shots per second (5 shots in three seconds)By now, people have probably told you, 'use the revolver, it rocks,' or 'dumbass, use your revolver once in a while.'
So much so, that now, I see more revolverspam than failed facestabs.
So instead of spamming, let's get acquainted with the revolver, shall we?
Stationary range:
Fig. 1: Stationary range of the Infiltrator's revolverYeah, that's pretty beastly.
But what makes it even more amazing is that if you're moving forwards, you extend the range by another 1/6th or so. Now, obviously, you don't have the sniper's advantage in actually knowing where your enemies are when they're offscreen, but remember that if someone's retreating from you, the fight's not over when they make it off the screen.
Knife: Specs:
200 damage (exactly 200, a heavy eating past 200 health has a chance of surviving)
0.5 attacks per second (One attack in two seconds)Yes, this is what the flashy, humiliating kills are all about. Two men and a knife.
The effective range for it is an area surrounding the knife roughly the size of a character.
This means that slightly above, and quite a ways below the knife is the kill zone.
Fig. 2: Approximate kill zone of the Infiltrator's knifeHere are the critical times for it (Times are approximate, but pretty darned close). During no part of it can you move, unless you use certain...exploits
0.00s: Backstab animation begins, you are now visible to people facing you.
1.00s: People who are around one gun-length in front of you or covering your torso will die.
1.20s: Knife goes away, you are still visible, it is now safe to be on you for enemies
1.30s: You start fading out.
2.00s: You are invisible and able to move now.
Invisibility: What? Not a weapon you say? Well, fuck you.
The spy has both complete invisibility (M2) and passive invisibility. With 'complete' invisibility though, remember that stray shots can reveal you through flickering and blood.
Passive invisibility means that people who aren't looking at you, even when you're not cloaked, cannot see you. This is handy during a backstab, because you're completely invisible as long as you're behind them.
You can use your visibility as a weapon by revealing yourself. If an engie is spamming the chokepoint to the intel room, uncloak yourself and gunspin a bit. If they don't follow you, revolver their sentry. If they do, revolver them.
=Tactics=
HAO DO I FACESTABBED PERSON
To pull off the mythical facestab, you need to know where the enemy is going to be 0.70 - 1.00 seconds after you press M1. Three factors affect this:
1
. What class are they? How fast do they move?Obviously, you're going to need to be a little further away for a scout than you do for a heavy. Not much I can say, just play the other classes a bit until you get used to how fast they move.
2. What's the terrain like?If there's things on the ground like crates which need to be jumped over, valleys to be walked up, or alternate paths, take these into consideration.
Don't stand behind crates and face away from them to attempt a stab, this will not work unless your target is a Heavy firing their gun. For most classes, there is no point where they will be where you're aiming, they'll simply move forward over you.
Fig. 4: DurrWhat you need to do is catch them when they're actually on the crate.
Because of the large effective area of the knife, an enemy on the crate will be killed by a stab.
(More on effective offensive use of crates later)
3. Experience of the person.If the person you're attempting to disembowl has some experience at playing the game, you can use their wariness to your advantage.
It's likely they'll be spy checking in front of them.
TACTIC A: Let yourself be hit by a bullet or two (especially from a shotgun, this isn't recommended against a sniper, since it only leaves you one chance) then facestab them when they're chasing after you.
TACTIC B: If they're not spamming, time your stab a little bit late. Instinct will tell them to stop and/or jump, which will work out perfectly.
EFFECTIVE OFFENSIVE USE OF CRATES LATER
People standing on a crate are fair game for a stab.
A class which simply loves this is the engineer, which you now know is no problem.
Also, a backstab will ALWAYS hit the engineer first, so don't worry about getting noticed by him, worry about getting noticed by his teammates.
Fig. 4: Gawd, what a fggtEven better than that, people who are momentarily on (or slightly above) a crate can get stabbed as well. Scouts in particular, love to jump over crates, meaning you can catch them on their way down.
Fig. 5: Gawd, what a fggtAdditional Tips
With a fast-firing, high-damage gun, you're a pretty good class for spychecking. If a heevee is eating a manvich in front of you, fire a few shots around him, remember, it's this fat Russian meatshield who's occupying the enemies while you sneak around like a little bitch.
Stab where you expect other infiltrators to be! (In other words, where you would be) If you've seen a guy go for a stab a few times next to a crate, give it a try. You might get lucky, and it's worth around 6000 lulz points.
Spawnstab! On maps like ctf_classicwell and ctf_truefort/ctf_2dfort, the enemy spawns a ways back into the intel room, and your stab goes through team doors. I'm not saying you should attempt this humiliating, make-other-people-hate-you maneuver...
no, wait, yes I am. Stopping that medic for a few extra seconds could be valuable, both in terms of points, and in winning.
The following is an extremely assholish tactic. It will be enclosed in spoilers. If you wish to retain your integrity, do not look on the contents of the following spoilerbox.
Quickstab! Press M2, but before you finish fading out, press M1. This will result in a stab which is unpredictable and somewhat desperate, but occasionally results in hilariously awesome things.
Next post:
CLASS STRATEGIES!
