What does it mean when the Spy Callout is wrong

team-fortress-2tf2-spy

Sometimes when I look directly at a certain class such as a demoman, and press "X-2" the command to say "[class] is a spy!" my character will say the wrong class.

Example:

Looking at Demoman
Press "X-2" (Spy Callout)"
My character yells "Engineer is spy" (which is the wrong class)

Why does the game do this? is it a bug, or something else?

Best Answer

I have since done some tests on the Spy callout, and it seems that it's only based on hitboxes in your line of sight: In other words, if you look at someone, even if that person is under full cloak, then you can call them out as a Spy.

The callout also works at range: you could be looking at a Sniper on the other side of the map and still be able to call him a Spy.

Contrary to @scarothjagaroth's and my earlier comments, It is not possible to call someone a Spy through:

Opaque Walls
Transparent Walls
Other Players

Here's a video I made testing the callouts, hitboxes and the different scenarios listed above:

Now onto the specific example situation you give. In the heat of battle you might have thought you were looking at the Demoman you've ran past, but the server may have either

Calculated hitting an Engineer that was far away (as your view swings past his hitbox)
Called out a Spy under cloak (that was disguised as an Engineer)

In conclusion, the 'Spy' call is probably working as intended. Most good players will be extra aware of all 'friendly' classes around them anyway if people are shouting 'Spy!', not just the class or player you specifically called out. So long as you made your team aware of a Spy in the vicinity, it shouldn't matter too much who you've accused.

Comparison table

        Base (Max)  Disguise  Backstab  
         Hitpoints    Kit       Icon    On backstab

Knife    125 (185)    Yes       Yes     Disguise drops
                                        Enemy screams (crit-death)
Icicle   125 (185)    Yes        No     Disguise drops
                                        Leaves behind ice statue (crit-death)
YER      125 (185)     No        No     Disguise as the enemy, silently
                                        Corpse cloaks
Kunai     70 (180)    Yes       Yes     Disguise drops
                                        Enemy screams (crit-death)
                                        Health is stolen from enemy
Earner   100 (150)    Yes       Yes     Disguise drops
                                        Enemy screams (crit-death)
                                        Cloak is restored

Knife / Sharp Dresser

The normal knife and Sharp Dresser are the most balanced of the knives.

They are the easiest knives to use when you need to sap enemy sentry guns. Not only can you choose your disguise, but you can sometimes take up to 3 non-crit hits from an Engineer's wrench before dying... more if they're using the Jag.

Icicle

The icicle works mostly like the normal knife, except that it leaves behind ice statues instead of regular ragdolls, alerting enemies to the presence of a spy. If a spy holding the icicle is hit by a flame attack, or pulls out the icicle while on fire, they will not burn, extinguish any flames they have, and become immune to fire damage for 2 seconds. This disables the icicle for 5 seconds, but not the spy's other weapons, allowing them to escape or to pull out a revolver to take down the enemy who set them on fire. Usually it's best to use this item if you know there will be at least one pyro spychecking for the other team, so you can make a hasty retreat. Clever pryos, however, will equip a shotgun and kill you anyway, so best to keep running.

Your Eternal Reward / Wanga Prick

The Eternal Reward and Wanga Prick are very good for killing several enemies in succession, such as those pushing a cart that are not looking behind them.

It also makes a Stab and Sap on an Engineer and his sentry gun considerably easier, provided you already have a disguise.

Be aware that you cannot disguise as your own team with these knives!

Note: You disguise only if the enemy dies from the backstab. This means you will not disguise if they: turn when you kill them and die a normal death, are ubered, have a Razorback, or are using a Dead Ringer.

Conniver's Kunai

With 70 health, you are a one-hit kill to any non-Scout melee weapon. Most ranged weapons will also kill you in one hit.

Because the health you gain is capped at 180, you actually have less health than a fully overhealed Spy with the Knife or YER (they would have 185).

The Kunai may be good for escaping due to the extra health, but it requires that you get a backstab first.

Big Earner

With 100 health, your survivability is a bit higher than with the Kunai, but a single rocket, grenade, or scattergun/shotgun shot may kill you if their pellet spread is right.

The 30% cloak you gain from using this knife is not a lot in the grand scheme of things. For the Invisibility Watch, collecting a small ammo box restores 25% cloak, a medium ammo box restores 50%, and a large ammo box 100%. For the Dead Ringer, collecting a small ammo box restores 25% cloak, a medium ammo or large ammo box restores 45%.

The Cloak and Dagger would be the watch that gains the most from this, but it's also the watch that recharges if you stand still while cloaked...

What I use

I use the Knife or Your Eternal Reward as appropriate to the situation:

CP push/PL defense (RED): Start with YER (Saharan Spy Set) and Cloak & Dagger. Switch to Knife and Dead Ringer as appropriate.
CP push/PL offense (BLU): Start with Knife and Dead Ringer, disguised as BLU's Soldier or Heavy. This is to draw the enemy Sniper's fire, or set off the demoman's sticky trap. Switch to YER and C&D as appropriate.
PLR: Varies. Usually YER and C&D.
CP symmetric / koth: Varies. Usually Knife and DR.
Arena: That's a trick question. I rarely play Spy in arena.

Plan B for spy (What spy revolver?)

Lets weigh the different options:

Revolver / Big Kill - Standard damage. Kills lower HP classes in 3-4 non-crit hits.
Ambassador - Lower damage shots, slower firing rate, no random critical hits. Headshots do 102 damage if you haven't fired recently... you can tell because the firing reticule in the center of the screen will be at its smallest size. Kills lower HP classes in 2 hits if one is a headshot, otherwise 4-5 hits.
L'Etranger - Lower damage shots, recharges cloak on hit. Kills lower HP classes in 4-5 non-crit hits. Extremely useful when being used with the Dead Ringer... less so, but still somewhat useful with the Invisibility Watch or Cloak and Dagger. Also part of the Saharan Spy set, in case you want the silent decloak set bonus.
Enforcer - Higher damage shots, cloaking takes half a second longer. Kills lower HP classes in 2-3 non-crit hits. Extremely useful with the Dead Ringer, where the downside doesn't apply.
Diamondback - Lower damage shots, no random critical hits, gets guaranteed critical hits from backstabs or when your sappers destroy buildings. Kills lower HP classes in 4-5 non-crit hits or 2 crit hits. Unless you're fighting mini-sentry Engineers, this gun is largely inferior to all the others.

These days, I tend to flip between using the Enforcer with the standard Knife/Dead Ringer and the L'Etranger with Your Eternal Reward with any cloaking device (and Saharan Spy set). Occasionally, I'll use the L'Etranger with the DR and standard Knife or the Saharan Spy set with the Dead Ringer.

In terms of pure damage, if you have time to aim, the Ambassador is your best bet. If you can't, the Enforcer is. If you tend to run out of cloak a lot, the L'Etranger can help, but remember that you break disguise when you shoot enemies with it.

In my personal experience, the L'Etranger seems to miss more than the other guns. All revolvers shoot straight down the reticule for the first shot, but somewhat randomly for successive shots until they cool down. This is much easier to tell on the Ambassador, as the cooldown is identical to the headshot cooldown.

Having said that, if you have auto-reload on, the reload animation takes slightly longer than cooldown, so letting it autoreload and complete the animation is another good way of telling if the cooldown is done.