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Team Fortress 2: Say Hello to My Little Friends By: PoisonRamune, the Apathetic Lizardman In the first Team Fortress 2 article I went over the general gameplay mechanics and briefly touched on why I liked the game. However, there was one major element I didn’t mention too much, the character classes. While this game could have ended up another generic competitive online FPS, the array of characters really makes this game standout. As I mentioned in the first article; the game is essentially repetition with slight variables. The maps layout will remain constant and I can normally come to expect certain traps set up in certain areas. However, my specific assault (or defense) strategy and mindset is totally dependent on which characters I’m fighting with and against. At first, I was going to just link all 9 “Meet the Team” videos here. However, as hilarious as they are that’s a huge cop out right there.
Offense Scout (The Baller) – The scout is a lanky kid from the US east coast. Being a fan of baseball, he wields a metal bat as his melee weapon. His main gun is a scattergun which honestly seems like a glorified shotgun and sports a pistol as a sidearm. Since he is the lightest player in the game, his main role is that of capturing objectives (whether it’s a control point or the enemy flag). However, having the fastest foot speed in the game also makes him a great defender, as he can intercept the enemy and muck them up until reinforcements arrive.
Soldier (Crank Dat) – The soldier reminds me of a young R. Lee Emery (the sarge from Full Metal Jacket and Mail Call). His main weapon, the rocket launcher is not only a devastating piece of equipment. It can also be used to drastically increase the soldier’s mobility through rocket jumping (jumping while firing a rocket at the ground to get significantly launched in the air). His sidearm is the standard shotgun (which 4 other characters seem to carry as either main or side weaponry) and his melee weapon is forgettable (I seriously needed to look up what weapon he had and the soldier is one of my most used classes… His melee weapon is a shovel in case you actually did care). While he is near essential in every team, he’s also so versatile that he’s pretty generic. Pyro (Feelin’ Hot Hot Hot) – Enemy spy in your base you just can’t find? Around a network of corridors and you KNOW someone is hiding there too? Then you need a pyro. This mysterious man in a gas mask will rain fire on your enemies (literally) with his mighty, but short ranged flame thrower. His shotgun sidearm and fire axe melee weapon are pretty stock (and honestly, I’m sick of writing out shotgun already). Due to the variety in the pyro’s weapons he’s pretty much an everyman on your team. From doing effective spy checks, to leading the assault for the point, or staying back and setting up an ambush to burn an over zealous attack team; the pyro really can do it all (not all per se, but everything within his power). Defense
Demoman (Boom Boom Boom Boom, I Want You in My Room) – I feel I can relate to the demoman. Maybe it’s because I’m a destructive drunk, but I can really relate to him. The demoman is a drunken, cycloptic, black man from the UK. The demoman can lay down artillery (“blindly” firing grenades at high angles), use strategic grenade bouncing to flush out traps waiting around a corner, or just cause general bedlam with his mighty grenade launcher. His sticky remote mine launcher is perfect for laying down traps around control points, taking out enemy units and structures from a safe distance and doing a weapon assisted launch similar to rocket jumping. The demoman’s 40 oz bottle melee weapon is not only a cute character novelty, but also one of the fastest striking melee weapons in the game. Even with all the fire power, the demoman still has a hard time getting a “direct” kill when using his main weapon as a gun. While I have killed my opponent directly by totally dumb luck, most of the time I end up killing them as they run away from another threat and into my grenade’s blast radius. Heavy (Ivan Drago Really Let Himself Go) – The heavy is a huge Russian with a gun fetish. The heavy is less of a man though and more of a vehicle in TF2. He’s a damn tank, almost literally. His foot speed is incredibly slow; however, this is made up with the most plentiful life bar in the game and a main weapon that will turn an enemy troop or sentry turret into swiss cheese within 3 seconds (the only exception to this are characters + a Medic and another heavy). Wielding a chain gun as a main weapon there’s not too much in terms of a heavy’s strategy other than look around and shoot stuff. While his situation will be different each time, you may be laying down cover fire for your allies, staying in the intelligence room and shooting up that rogue scout or pyro, or leading the attack and shooting up all that tries to defend their side of the map; you’re pretty much just firing at anything that moves. Engineer (He Blinded Me with Science) – Good ol’ Tex. The engineer truly does little in the way of direct combat and mostly uses his toys to get ahead. The standard combination of shotgun, pistol and wrench will down your foes, but when up against some specialty weapons he doesn’t stand much of a chance. However, the engineer’s magic all lies within his magic lunch pail (tool box, yes I know). With the tool box, the engineer can build sentry turrets (which do a good job at chopping up a drunken PoisonRamune), teleporters (which allow you to transverse the map faster) and dispensaries (ammo and life refill stations). While the teleporter and dispensary are very straight forward in their uses and applications, a well place sentry can effectively annoy your opponents and ensure a good solid victory. It’s obvious to place a sentry tower near a control point or in a busy atrium within your base, but placing a sentry right outside of you enemies spawn point will have them gritting their teeth and pulling out their hair until they can co-ordinate a team effort to take that turret out. Support Medic (Help Me, Dr. Zaius) – The stereotypical German doctor. The medic’s job is pretty obvious; he’s going to be healing your teammates. His main weapon, the needle gun is a standard rapid fire machine gun with a major caveat, it’s near worthless. It should only be used if you get separated from your teammates and are being shot at. Due to the general poor quality of your main weapon, your main objective will be to follow a teammate and use your heal gun on them. Not only will you replenish any life they lost when you target them, but your heal gun will also charge up. Once charged, your heal gun can release what is called an “uber” temporarily giving the teammate you targeted a stat bonus. As a medic, your strategy is going to be pretty follow the leader based. Rarely will you stray from your teammates and launch some assault or sit in the corners alone and waiting for the enemy to break through the frontlines. You are support incarnate.
Sniper (Silent but Deadly) – The sniper is my least played class. This has much to do with the fact that I suck with him. However, I can tell you he’s an Austrailian and uses a Napalese assault knife as his melee weapon. His main weapon is a sniper rifle and it can be used to zoom in on your enemies and take them out from afar. While in zoom/scope mode, your view and movement are pretty limited and thus it’s unwise to stay zoomed for any extended amount of time. The sniper is a typical FPS sniper and does all of the typical sniper things for his team. He’ll hide in the corners and terraces killing those who run by or can be seen halfway across the map. There’s really not too much to this guy. He might also be at the end of a long hallway headshotting any unobservant sap that makes a running blitz towards him.
Spy (Where I Can See You) – All the support characters are named after their functions. And you guessed it, the spy is a spy. He has the ability to go invisible for about 10 seconds, stab you in the back for a one hit kill, and ruin the engineer’s structures with electro-sappers. He also has the clever option of changing into any of the 9 character classes (dressed in the opposing team’s color). The spy is such a versatile character that I can’t even being to explain all the fun ways to use him, but here are just a few (since have the fun is figuring out a new strategy with this guy). You can use the cloak and run right into the base to stab a few of your better opponents in order to cause a “power play,” rushing their base while the enemy is spawning. You can run around your enemies’ (and your own base) as an enemy spy and create a clever diversion (or strategic defense). The spy is great for getting into a base and killing people, getting into a base and causing confusion and paranoia, or getting into a base and taking a control point.
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