Tips for a complete TF2 newbie??

xGaffner

xGaffner

xGaffner

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Hey guys. Before you all slate me, the reason why i've never played TF2 earlier is because it just didn't look like one of those games to appeal to me. I recently downloaded it as it's free for the weekend on steam and have been playing it non stop since. What can i say? Looks are deceiving. I'm having a right blast so far and really enjoying myself, much better than i thought it would be. One thing though, it's really hard lol. Well maybe not hard, it's just that i suck at it bad. I was wondering if any of the gods of OCUK could share their wisdom with me, give me some tips, advise me on the best classes to use as i can't find one that is just right for me yet. I'm really not used to how long it takes to kill someone.

Just to give you a little background on my playstyle. In FPS games i play really conservatively, i don't camp though. will keep my ground and rush when necessary but i like to keep to myself and keep a bit of a distance. Not really a fan of fighting point blank range. I also play Call of Duty and am ok and i used to play Halo 2 "Semi-Professionally" back in the day on Xbox. So far i've used Sniper the most, because he is long range but he also has ann Smg/Rifle which is the kind of weapon i play best with.

Any suggestions on tips etc. etc....

Thanks
 
It completely depends on playstyle.

The best class for beginners is always Medic, as it gives you a chance to watch your team, see how they play, see what tactics people use - all whilst healing and helping out.

Regarding your class choice, you have to try each class and make your own choice :)
I'd never played a class like the spy, assumed I'd like the sniper. Tried the sniper, got bored of being perma-scoped behind all the action, and tried out the spy - and I ****ing love the spy now :p

Tips:

1) spy check, spy check, spy check.
2) pyros can douse people on fire with the secondary fire
3) if you're a spy, cloak then disguise. hides your cloak-smoke.
4) don't play for kills - if it's a control point game, staying scoped for 20 minutes isn't going to win the game.
5) sap and stab is for newbs, stab and sap :p
6) if you're a medic, heal everyone, not just your heavy BFF
7) spy check.

have fun :)
 
Cheers guys, i'm really having a lot of fun so far. I've stopped using the Sniper a little bit now as i don't know, something just feels a bit different when trying to snipe people, it feels as if i'm not hitting them when i should be, oh well. Probably just me. I've moved on to using the Scout a lot more now as his shotgun it pretty damn lethal and he's so fast he can retreat really quick too. His pistol isn't too bad either. Not really liking the Pyro though, seems a bit of a "no-skill" character to me. Just seems like hold W+M1 like a madman and you get loads of kills easy :/ but yeah, great game so far.
 
Go into the Options screen, find the screen that lets you pick 'small HUD' and 'fast weapon switch'

turn them both on

now your health / ammo etc will be a lot smaller on screen, giving you more viewing space

the fast weapon switch will change straight to the weapon, Ie if you're a solider and you pressed 2, it would go straight to shotgun, instead of having to press 2, then click

^this makes being a spy or engineer way way easier


Medic is a good class to start off with, he's nice and fast, and you can concentrate on other people's tactics whilst being a key member of the team, remember to heal all your team mates, especially ones on fire as medic puts the fire out :)

Coming from TFC, TF2 was very different and at first harder to grasp imo, a few rounds of medic and you'll soon be on your feet, don't use your uber until the last second!!





Pyro is easy to get a high score with, but I find it boring/repetitive

Demo man is a good class to master, can take out any sentry gun with a demo, more or less the same goes for Soldier

Spy/Scout take a lot of skill to get a high score with (generally), but are both invaluable to the team

Sniper speaks for itself, awesome class, but you never need more than 2 on any map!
 
Not really a tip per say, but I like playing Demoman a lot. Although he is primarily a defensive class, once you get the hang of him, he is one of the best offensive classes as well.

Use stickies to defend doors. Either keep them out of sight to get sneaky kills or place them visible in doorways to slow down the enemy and deny them passage of way through a certain point (easily the most suited task for the Demoman). Use single stickies and quickly detonate them for medium range combat. Pipes are best used at shortish range in direct combat (not too close so you damage yourself too much). If you're really close, melee is best, but you need to judge the situation well as you may as well try and reload an extra pipe if you are out of melee range.

Direct combat with pipes can take a bit of getting used to, but there is nothing better than air shotting that scout jumping around you thinking he has the advantage. :p

If you have no other immediate dangers, spamming pipes and stickies (singles with quick detonation) at choke points is a good idea. Even if you don't get any kills, it will stop the enemy walking through that area.

Sticky jumping is not really an essential skill to learn when you are starting, but it is worth while practising as that extra speed can make the difference between saving a point and winning and losing. Varying the sticky placement and jumping and detonation timing means you can get to where you want with minimum blast and fall damage to yourself.

Although I've not played since the new update, so I can't help with the new weapons, but to be honest the originals are very good as they are and I can't see me using them that much really.
 
Best tip is if you've got no idea what class you should play when you join a game or are just having a really bad round (which happens to everyone), go medic.
 
When you are medic, don't ubercharge anything except heavies, demos and occassionally soldiers or pyros (unless if you are going to die if you don't). Demos for killing sentries always, heavies for clearing out an area, pyros for killing people in enclosed spaces (not in the open) and soldiers for when there is no one else really :/.

Also, don't uber someone when they have just emptied their stickybomb launcher/rocket launcher. Earlier, I was a soldier and this medic kept ubering only me as I was near top on the team, but half of the time, I had no rockets in my rocket launcher..... Very annoying.

When you are spy, don't trust your disguise at all. It very rarely tricks anyone (except sentries) and people are very paranoid. Try to go a long way back and attack people who are distracted somehow.

Soldier is good for newbies, but there are already soo many soldiers because of the new update. Aim at the feet, don't go far ahead of your team.

Pyro isn't as skillless (sp?) as people make out... some pyros can get near top on the team while other just die when they try to engage the enemy. Try to ambush people and never take on a large group. Don't attack heavies unless if they are already injured or distracted. If you need to run away, mouse 2 at the enemy as you back away to push them away. Use the shotgun when they aren't close. If faced with another pyro, do not EVER follow him(/her) as you will receive 5X as much damage as you can deal him.

Playing as heavy is all about positioning - try to go somewhere useful but not somewhere where you will die very quickly.

etc etc sorry I cba to write anymore
 
I say play as Heavy or Pyro to begin with. Watch how other people play for the other classes and then once you think you know how to play them try them out... The most complicated class I'd say for a beginner is probably the Spy or maybe the Engineer.
 
A good tactic for taking on single enemies as a Pyro is to quickly set them alight with your flame thrower, air blast them in to the air (this is easier if you can do it against a wall) then before they land hit them with the axtinguisher once or twice. The hardest bit is getting close really.

Secret_Window said:
The most complicated class I'd say for a beginner is probably the Spy or maybe the Engineer.
Click to expand...

I'd say the engineer is one of the easier classes to get to grips with really.

No matter what you do, your sentry is going to get destroyed at some point if the enemy team are half decent. The engineer is all about slowing the enemy down as much as possible to give the rest of your team a chance to push them back. If your team has to travel far to get to the front lines, I personally think it's best to setup a teleporter first before you even do anything else. When you put down your sentry, make sure it’s in a good place. You will learn all of the good spots after playing the game for a bit. Although unusual spots can work for sentry placement sometimes, it's generally better to stick with the tried and tested.

If there is at least one other engineer on the team with you, at start-up, one should start setting up a teleporter and the other should setup a sentry nest. One level 3 teleporter is all that is needed really. When it comes to building sentries, it is better for engineers to work together to get one to level 3 asap instead of a couple of level 1 or 2 ones.

The only other thing is to look out for spies constantly. However you will find it much easier to keep them at bay if you have a little help. A Pyro is best but a solider is quite good too.

I personally don't find the engineer very rewarding really as you are limited with what you can do, but lots of people do enjoy playing it, so just give it a try and see if you like it.
 
Well, from experience of getting my friend to play TF2 (who is a newb) he couldn't figure out how to upgrade sentries, what a dispenser meant, how to do the teleports correctly. I know this sounds crazy, but if he is a representative of a n00b then really I don't think an engineer is the best class to begin with lol - then again this is just my friend. :o

Me personally I found the engineer one of the easiest to begin with too, so I guess it depends on whether the person is an experience PC Gamer or not. If not, M1+W as Pyro is the w1n! :p
 
Thanks a lot for the advice fellas, appreciate it. Been playing this a lot recently and am improving a bit. Definitely gonna buy it when the free weekend is over. I've been having a lot of fun with Scout, Demoman, and Soldier and Engineer recently, i love how fast the Scout is lol. I still suck with the Sniper unfortuntaely :(. 1 question, how do i unlock extra hats and weapons and stuff i see people with?
 
xGaffner said:
Thanks a lot for the advice fellas, appreciate it. Been playing this a lot recently and am improving a bit. Definitely gonna buy it when the free weekend is over. I've been having a lot of fun with Scout, Demoman, and Soldier and Engineer recently, i love how fast the Scout is lol. I still suck with the Sniper unfortuntaely :(. 1 question, how do i unlock extra hats and weapons and stuff i see people with?
Click to expand...

Some weapons you will find as random drops, or you can speed up finding weapons by unlocking milestones, by completing certain amount of achievements.

Hats are also gained by random drops throughout the games, and sometimes Valve gives certain ones occasioanlly, like the Halloween one or the Cheaters Lament one.

Another new method of getting them is crafting, but I imagine you won't have enough stuff to think about that yet :)
 
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