Avoiding cheap deaths in TF2

team-fortress-2tf2-spy

Often when I play TF2 (usually as spy/scout, but sometimes as other classes), I'll find myself suddenly [blasted/incinerated/insert your own favorite way to die] by something I never saw coming. Many times there's no obvious error on my part that caused this, but just plain bad luck (bumping into someone around a corner while invisible, finding out as scout that there's a sentry behind that corner you just passed, etc.).

Although some of these could be avoided by playing more cautiously and paying greater attention to my surroundings, that takes time that I do not have when in dangerous situations. (You can't take 360 spins to ensure nobody's sneaking up on you, you have to kill your target and get out of danger.) Is there any real solution to this, or do I just have to take the deaths, curse my luck, and respawn in 15 seconds?

Best Answer

In addition to learning the maps, there are a few other things to know:

  • Sentry guns beep 1-3 times each time they change directions (so about every 3 seconds). Once for mini/level 1, twice for level 2, thrice for level 3. Generally, if you can hear a sentry's beep, you'll be in its range when you round a corner.
  • As a Spy, you'll get a LOT of cheap deaths. Sadly, this is because of the Spy's shortcomings in order to combat the instant-kill backstab.
    • The Spy's Dead Ringer takes some getting used to, but in certain situations, using it (preferably while disguised as a teammate so they don't know you're a Spy) can get past a defensive line. Beware that the Dead Ringer makes a louder than usual decloak sound. The Dead Ringer is a "perfect" cloak for the first 6.5 seconds, so enemies who touch you won't make you appear as a team-color outline. However, they still can't move through you.
    • The Cloak and Dagger gives you some latitude by not decloaking when you don't want to, but it also has a very short cloak time.

Having said all this, you're still going to die a lot in Team Fortress 2. It's the nature of the game! The lower-HP classes in particular are specialized in some way, but lower HP is the drawback.

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