Essentials
The first thing you should do when starting Team Fortress 2 up for the first time is to go to Options, click on the Keyboard tab, go to Advanced, and enable the Developer Console. This is your new best friend, and you're going to be using it a lot as you play the game more and more. You can open it by pressing ~ on your keyboard, right below the Escape key.
Open the console, then copy and paste the following command:
cl_interp 0; cl_interp_ratio 2; cl_cmdrate 66; cl_updaterate 66; rate 60000; fov_desired 90
This should help to lower interpolation enough, which will help with landing shots much more consistently and just giving overall a smoother gameplay experience due to a better connection. It also raises your field of view (FOV), which will "zoom the game out". This helps immensely with being able to see more things around you, and can prevent motion sickness.
Now that the console is enabled and you've punched those commands in, go to Advanced Options. Enable the following options:
- Automatically reload weapons when not firing (Reloading will not lock your ability to shoot unlike games like Left 4 Dead 2, and the moment your weapon has loaded another round, you can fire it off immediately without any delay.)
- Fast weapon switch (You can press Q to swap between your currently equipped weapon and the last weapon you pulled out.)
- Play a hit sound everytime you injure an enemy (This is incredibly important to have enabled as it allows you to know whether or not you damaged an enemy.)
- Play a last hit sound when one of your attacks kills an enemy (Same as above, but with killing someone.)
- Display damage done as text over your target (This and your hitsound will work together in unison to let you know whether or not you hit someone, and will relay how much damage you dealt to them. It will also show how much health you have healed a player for as Medic.)
- Accumulates combat text damage events into a single number (This will make it so that your damage numbers will batch up into one number to make it easier for gauging how much damage you dealt, rather than spamming the screen with minuscule numbers. This is particularly good to have on any class that has a high rate of fire, such as Pyro, Heavy, and Engineer with his sentry guns.)
- SNIPER: Sniper Rifle will re-zoom after firing a zoomed shot (This one is self-explanatory. You don't have to right click every single time after firing a shot while scoped, and you can always switch weapons to cancel the zoom.)
- MEDIC: Medigun continues healing without holding down fire button (This allows you to more comfortably play Medic. You can focus less on constantly making sure you stay on your target and more on dodging incoming fire.)
- MEDIC: Display a marker over the player you are healing (Helps with knowing who you're healing when your teammates are bunched up in one spot, such as on objectives, near dispensers or during a push.)
- MEDIC: Injured teammates automatically call out (You can find out who's low on health without having to hope that your teammates call out for Medic.)
- Enable teammate glow effects after respawn (This can be good to find out where your team is located if you aren't familiar with the maps, and can also help with finding any enemy Spies who may be looking to get a cheap backstab on your team at your spawn door. Look for any teammates who are suspiciously placed outside of the spawn door.)
Muse through the rest of the options in this tab to see if you need anything else enabled that may help. For example, you may want to enable colorblind mode if you're, well, colorblind. You can also change your viewmodel's FOV from between 54 and 70, but if 70 isn't enough you can use the console to change it. I would recommend using an FOV between 70 and 90.
Custom Configs/HUDs
Should you find Team Fortress 2 to run at an abysmally low framerate, you can lower the game's quality by going to Options, Video, then going to Advanced. Here you can lower the texture/model quality, drop shader quality, disable anti-aliasing, enable multi-core rendering, etc. If that still isn't enough, however, you can look towards third-party configs made by the community to alleviate low FPS.
Here's a list of websites for installing graphics configs.
The most widely-used site for game configs. Archaic and maybe a little too complicated for new players, but it gets the job done well.
The latest config to the scene, and as a result is updated the most. Includes a .cfg that overrides the forced graphics options in Competitive Matchmaking, allowing you to run the game normally in said mode. They claim to run at a higher FPS than Comanglia's config, but I haven't tested it myself.
One of the best FPS configs out there, and is used by many top-level players. You really can't go wrong with this one.
This is the one I use often, as it can completely overhaul your game in the best way possible if you know what to do. It allows you to pick between several different graphics configs (including mastercomfig and Comanglia's config), adds scripts for general quality-of-life changes, helps you issue binds, lets you enable transparent viewmodels, and includes a script that can change viewmodels/crosshairs for each individual class. It's the most helpful website I've found yet for generating a config, but I imagine it would be absolutely daunting to a new player.
As for HUDs, if the default HUD isn't the one for you, there are always custom HUDs you can install.
As with the Configs, here's a list of websites for installing HUDs.
To my knowledge this is used by everyone and their mother at this point because of the power it offers in customization. You can make one from scratch yourself, or use one that someone already made. Here's my HUD for you to use if you'd like.[toonhud.com]
Another widely used website for downloading HUDs. These ones can be pretty unique, but that's a double-edged sword in itself.
A high-quality minimalist HUD without any loss of information. One of the best IMO.
There are tons and tons of guides on how to install both, such as these two.
A General Idea of Each Class (Offense)
Now, it's time to pick your main. Before choosing, please remember that TF2 is a game about coordination and good team composition. If you see that your team has no Medic, you should play Medic, even if you're bad at him. If your team has no backbone for pushing, go Heavy or Demoman, even if you're bad at them. If your team has 2 Snipers and 2 Spies, don't go Sniper or Spy. You're only ruining team composition and you're going to lose unless your team is outrageously better than the other, which is a remarkably rare thing. I'll also be listing off the essential unlockables as they can open you and your team up to effective strategies you wouldn't be able to do with the Stock weapons.
Scout
Role: OBJ, DPS
Starting Difficulty: Intermediate
Mastery Difficulty: Easy
Counters: Demoman, Sniper
Countered by: Engineer
Scout is the the fastest class in terms of raw speed, and has two passive abilities; a double jump and a x2 Capture Rate modifier. He does massive damage up-close with his Scattergun, often being able to two-shot opponents up close should he have good enough aim. He also uses a Pistol for finishing off enemies and doing long-range damage to buildings. As a result, Scout is a class centered around cleaning up kills that have been damaged during a push, dodging as much damage as possible while doing it and playing the objective. This comes at the cost of only having 125 health, which is very low for a class constantly on the front-line, forcing him to rely on overheal buffs when making a play. He can ruin Demo and Sniper's day since he can dodge just about everything they throw at him, but Sentry Guns will shut him down nigh-instantly. Scout's skill floor is pretty high for new players and it's easy to be bad at him. Persist at improving your aiming and dodging though, and Scout is a very rewarding (and fun) class to play as. If you want to improve at Scout, I would suggest playing on an MGE server and getting advice from the sweaty boys there. Alternatively if you're getting stomped too much and feel like you aren't learning anything because you can't get more than two shots off before dying, you can try practicing by yourself by downloading a map called tr_aim. It's not too hard to get adjusted around how the map works and I find it's personally the best overall map for sharpening up on hit-scan aim.
I would recommend Scout to players who enjoy being able to play aggressively and are able to stay hot on their feet, dodging incoming fire left and right and dealing good damage up close.
He doesn't really need any unlockable weapons besides the Boston Basher.
Soldier
Role: DPS
Starting Difficulty: Easy
Mastery Difficulty: Kinda Hard
Counters: Engineer
Countered by: Pyro, Heavy
Soldier is the second slowest and second healthiest class, at 200 Health. He can rocket jump to make up for his slow speed, and as such, can rival the mobility of Scout if the Soldier is skilled enough. Soldier is considered to be the most versatile class in the game due to his outstanding mobility and splash damage capability with the Rocket Launcher. Soldier also has a Shotgun if he needs to deal with Pyros or Scouts, or just to finish off low-health enemies he can't hit with another rocket. He can have a variety of different roles on the frontline, from being the team's spearhead of a push to playing on the flank. Soldier is only really countered by Pyro due to airblast and Heavy because he can deny Soldier's jumping. Soldier is an easy class to start playing the game with due to his forgiving health pool and good damage. The skill ceiling is high, however, as Soldier requires good knowledge of how to rocket jump and needs to have good rocket placement if he's to be played at the higher levels. Unfortunately you can only improve with landing rockets by experience and playing the game, but if you want to improve at rocket jumping, there are a ton of Jump maps designed for that. I would recommend Jump Academy's Easy map, jump_beef or jump_adventure to start with.
Soldier is for people who want a class that's incredibly mobile, fun, and can fit into most team compositions without being a particular hindrance.
He should have access to all of his weapons, but specifically the Gunboats and Escape Plan are good for him.
Pyro
Role: Support, DPS
Starting Difficulty: Easy
Mastery Difficulty: Easy
Counters: Soldier, Demoman, Spy
Countered by: Heavy, Engineer, Sniper
Pyro is arguably the most average class in the game in terms of stats with 175 Health and moving at normal speed. Pyro is played in a lot of different ways to varying effects. This includes flanking, supporting pushes by reflecting spam away, or staying behind the team to spy-check and keep your Engineers safe. He's a strong counter to Spies, and a soft counter to Soldier and Demo due to his airblast. His lack of range makes him susceptible to being sniped and mowed down by a Sentry before he can do anything about it, and Heavy out-damages him up close. Generally speaking Pyro is easy to pick up, and it's not too hard to master him either, though his overall effectiveness and role in a team is enigmatic and can leave something to be desired.
Pyro is good for players who wish to fill a niche role in a team as a support-DPS hybrid that can occasionally roam and make a flank play.
He should have the Degreaser, Backburner, Flare Gun, Detonator, Axtinguisher, Back Scratcher, Homewrecker and Powerjack for unlockables.
A General Idea of Each Class (Defense)
Demoman
Role: DPS DPS DPS
Starting Difficulty: Intermediate
Mastery Difficulty: Hard
Counters: Engineer
Countered by: Scout, Pyro
Demoman is slightly slower than the average class, and has 175 Health. In a similar vein to Soldier, he can sticky jump with the Stickybomb Launcher to make up for his speed, and can turn out to be much faster than both Scout and Soldier if he's skilled at it. Although he's labeled as Defense, he is an incredibly versatile class and can attack just as effectively as he can defend. Demoman is the most devastating class in the game in terms of raw damage, and can clear entire areas with his ability to put out constant damage with the Grenade Launcher and Stickybomb Launcher. Demoman's skills lie in area denial and crowd control. He can place sticky traps on the entrances of choke points to take a frag or two when a team pushes through it and make a team take a lot of damage if they push while he's spamming. Demoman can destroy Engie's buildings in a heartbeat, but since he sucks at close range, Scout and Pyro will just annihilate him. Demo is going to take a bit of practice as his pipes (the grenades launched from the Grenade Launcher) are harder to aim than rockets, and you'll need to get adjusted to the quirks of using stickies as a primary weapon most of the time. There's also learning how to sticky jump which is much harder than rocket jumping, and having good enough gamesense to properly position yourself to do as much damage as possible while staying relatively safe. Aim and gamesense will merely take experience, but sticky jumping can be learnt with maps, as with rocket jumping.
Demoman is for you if you want a versatile damage powerhouse that is a core part of any good team composition, getting fat damage in on the enemy before they know what hit them.
Demo doesn't really need any unlocks besides maybe the Scottish Resistance and his Demoknight weapons if you ever want to play as Demoknight.
Heavy
Role: DPS, Tank
Starting Difficulty: Easy
Mastery Difficulty: Easy
Counters: Pyro
Countered by: Sniper, Spy
Heavy stands as the game's tank by having the slowest speed of any class, but also harbors a whopping 300 Health. Heavy is one of the strongest classes for head-to-head combat, and can shred through an unprepared team. He has the second-highest DPS in the game behind Demoman, but uses a hitscan Minigun rather than projectiles, lowering the skill floor for him. Heavy is at his strongest when he's defending, and although it takes a long time for him to get to the frontline while attacking, he brings his team a lot of presence by merely being there to soak up damage and mow down whoever challenges him. Heavy brings presence, presence brings confidence, confidence brings better plays. Pyro kinda lacks in close-range damage compared to Heavy, and the two classes that can instantly kill anyone are naturally going to be the counter to the game's designated bullet sponge. Heavy requires good tracking to get out as much potential damage as possible and good perception to make sure he doesn't die to a Sniper or Spy constantly.
Overall, Heavy is for you if you want to be the backbone for your team and be right in the middle of the action, taking aggro so your comrades can pick off anyone who hasn't run away by now.
Heavy should have the Tomislav, Natascha, Sandvich, Fists of Steel and Gloves of Running Urgently for unlockables.
Engineer
Role: Support, OBJ
Starting Difficulty: Intermediate
Mastery Difficulty: Intermediate
Counters: Pyro, Scout
Countered by: Sniper, Spy, Demoman
Engineer himself is at a measly 125 Health and runs at the standard speed. However, Engie's strength lies in his support capability, with all three of his buildings proving to be vital to any defense, or even offense. His Sentry Gun is the most powerful area denial thing in the game due to the insane damage and knockback a Level 3 Sentry can dish out. When a Sentry is placed to guard an objective, that area is automatically a no-go zone for the opposing team and that objective can't be taken while it's still up. If you don't know what I'm getting at, Sentry Guns halt aggressive plays as they need to be dealt with before a push can happen. Dispensers are damn-near vital to your whole team as they provide health and ammo to sustain your defense, and you're not doing your job well if you don't have one up. Teleporters are arguably one of Engineer's most important buildings, as they allow your team to get to the front lines in an instant, which is just generally an immense factor in whether or not your team can hold an objective far away from spawn. Just from this paragraph, it's not hard to tell that an Engineer has a lot on his mind constantly and it can be deceptively hard to play as him. You need to learn the best spots to build and how to play as efficiently as possible, all while trying to not die to Spies and getting your buildings sapped or destroyed by Soldiers and Demos. To sum it up, Engineer requires good map knowledge, good gamesense and a fast, efficient setup plan all while keeping his cool.
Overall, if you like to play a vital role on a defending team and multi-tasking like hell for an immensely rewarding outcome, Engineer should be your guy.
Engie should have the Rescue Ranger, Wrangler, Short Circuit, Jag, Gunslinger and Eureka Effect for unlockables.
A General Idea of Each Class (Support)
Medic
Role: Support
Starting Difficulty: Easy
Mastery Difficulty: Hard
Counters: N/A
Countered by: N/A
Medic is mildly faster than normal and has a cool 150 Health. He also has a passive Health regen at 3 HP per second, which will go up to 6 the longer you've gone without taking damage. Med is undoubtedly the most important and powerful class in the game. While it seems like all he can do is just heal, it's his overheal capability and Ubercharge that can completely change the tide of a game in one fell swoop. This means Medic is a high-priority target, and you're going to constantly be under attack from roaming enemies and Snipers. Medic seems fairly simple at first merely by design since all he seems to do is heal and occasionally help push, but there is immense depth to the way he works and how he is played well. This can be very hard to comprehend as a new player that doesn't quite understand the mechanics yet. Medic requires good knowledge of heal orders (who should be healed first), when to use Uber, learning to aim with the Crusader's Crossbow, how to count the enemy Medic's uber if they have one which is never guaranteed, how to surf rockets to escape from a bombing Soldier, having knowledge of crit heals (a mechanic that heals your target faster the longer they've gone without taking damage), and... you get my point. Medic is easy to pick up, but really, REALLY difficult to master. He's countered by virtually every class except another Medic, but counters are irrelevant when Ubers and staying with your overhealed team are thrown into the mix. Improving at Medic is only going to take experience and developing gamesense. No shortcuts with this guy.
I would recommend Medic to sadists people who wish to play pure support and carry their team to victory with well-timed Ubers and heals.
Medic needs the Crusader's Crossbow, Kritzkrieg and Ubersaw for unlockables.
Sniper
Role: Picks
Starting Difficulty: Hard
Mastery Difficulty: Easy
Counters: Sniper, Heavy, Pyro
Countered by: Sniper, Scout, Spy
Sniper is at a low 125 Health and runs at normal speed, sharing stats with Engie. Sniper is a very, VERY powerful class with the ability to one-shot all classes from anywhere on the map. He's a pick class, meaning that he's centered around single-target elimination. Sniper is at his best during slow games when neither team really wants to push. He can try to get a pick on the enemy Medic to gain Uber advantage, kill the Engineer to make sure he won't be repairing damage to his buildings, and can shut down a defending Heavy very easily. Since he's such a mechanical class, he has a pretty high skill floor and requires good aim and positioning to be played well. F2P Snipers are a running gag in the community for a reason, and it's because new players have a hard time playing as him. He's pretty much a hard counter to Heavy and Pyro since they literally can't do anything against a Sniper that isn't up-close, while Scout and Spy can sneak past everyone to kill him easily while he's scoped in and focused on something else. That's pretty much it, though. You improve with Sniper by improving aim, and you improve aim by playing, so you're just always improving with Sniper. As I mentioned in Scout's guide, you can always try tr_aim. He's not particularly nuanced like Soldier or Medic, and is just as simple in practice as he is on paper.
Sniper is best suited to players who, well... like to snipe. They stay away from their team and try to get crucial picks that can turn the tide of a game to their team's favor.
Sniper needs the Razorback and Jarate for unlockables.
Spy
Role: Picks
Starting Difficulty: Hard
Mastery Difficulty: Hard
Counters: Sniper, Heavy, Engineer
Countered by: Pyro, Team callouts lol
Spy has 125 Health and runs at Medic's speed. Spy is similar to Sniper, in that they both occupy the role as the dedicated pick classes of Team Fortress 2. Spy, however, is much more suited as a roaming type class, as he is often found far away from his team doing his own thing. He has the ability to completely disable a Sentry Nest, shut down a combo by taking out the Medic or pocket, and gather information on the enemy team due to his ability to check Uber and what classes they don't have via the Disguise Kit. He's arguably one of the hardest classes to play in the game as he can be completely shut down by an enemy team that's communicating properly and must time his attacks during chaotic events (during pushes, especially) to get work done. He naturally counters Sniper since he can sneak past the other team to get to him, Heavy since he's usually focused on something else and is very slow, and can cripple an Engineer's nest with his sapper. Naturally, he's countered by Pyro, and it's not hard to see why. Skill with Spy, unlike most other classes, is almost entirely formed around experience. You need to have good map knowledge, consistency in reading players, independence and good acting skills for your disguises. He takes a lot of effort to be played well, and in a similar vein to Sniper and Scout, it's really easy to be bad with Spy. I wouldn't recommend Spy to new players due to his high skill floor and skill ceiling, so try coming back after a couple dozen hours when you've had enough time to get used to how the game works and how other classes function.
Much like Sniper, Spy is good for people who wish to do a lot for their team by getting crucial picks, but they want to rely more on deception and stealth rather than raw aim to get their job done.
Spy doesn't really need unlocks, but all of his weapons are good and serve a viable purpose, so it's good to have them.
Guide by fish
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