After playing through all the classes and reading this thread I am thinking: they put a lot of thought and balance into the classes, enough so that I like them all!

Soldier - This guy for me is basically a heavy with less hp. Sentry guns? This class blows them up. The ability for with this class to juggle targets (rocketing them into the air and then hitting them as they fall down) makes it ridiculously easy to chunk targets. Rockets themselves do a great deal of damage, if you hit you targets directly of course. And that goes for all heavy weapons. These guys are great for taking out demolition men when they don't have the corner+corridor advantage. They are also great for suppressing snipers, and taking out medics who are healing heavies. And don't forget the DD (double damage) rockets (they are brightly blue/red and make a energy sound when shot), these babies have double area damage and double direct damage. They can almost kill a fully charged heavy (450hp), and kill anything else that gets in its way. Can easily rack up maybe 2-3 kills in one go.

Heavy - The tank of them all. He looks slow and stupid, but this guy can probably get CPs going better than any other class besides the elusive scout class. At close range they kill everything as fast as a SG (Sentry gun) does. At medium distances they cut down light classes with easy. And at long distances, their fat legs can get them across that field in no time at all. While many use heavies as medic-linked steamrolling units, heavies can also charge onto CPs and absorb damage, clear mines, and cause massive damage and distraction in a tactical manner. Bull you say? You need to get some courage soldier! Take granary or whatever that map is with A,B, and C capture points. The C tower is the last capture point and usually heavily defended with turrets and what not. But the worst part is that the top room usually has a engineer, pyro, or some other dude blocking the capture, ready to toast any scouts that get up there. If you're decent with aim as a heavy, roll through A corridor into center C, jump down and just run up the ramps while mowing anyone down in your path. They either have to jump off, or get cut down. Once you are on the top, if you made it that is, its simple to defend the CP as if it were your own. Combined with strategies involving killing sentries with other units, a spy, and a scout to take out that sniper in the back and C is yours in no time at all. Add a medic for extra fun. Can cut down 5 dudes in 5 seconds with DD shots and headshots.

Scout - Wow this class is fast, and springy! Not only do they evade fire and capture at twice the speed, they are armed to the teeth! Their auto-cocking double barreled sawed off shottie can tear up any class in one go. Snipers? 2 hits. Medics and engineers? 2-3 hits. But why stop there? With 6 shots you can take out any soldier, demo, whatever, with ease. Scouts are excellent at getting places, and getting behind their lines to deal with snipers and medics. But SGs (sentry guns) are your most dangerous enemy. Thats when the pistol comes in! Your pistol can pop any sentry/dispenser/teleporter from range without fear! Thats right, that crappy pistol is a winner for angling (shooting at an angle, corner, at something thats sticking out) stuff. True its not accurate at all, but who cares. With 40 some bullets you will never use, make it happen. The pistol also works great at putting people who you shot shotgunned up 6 times (god forbid they are still alive). Or for killing that scout thats getting away after getting shotgunned in the face by you! A note on deathmatch: Having a scout, one for example, is better than not having a scout at all. A good scout can penetrate enemy lines like a spy, and become a nuisance (except all the time since spies need down time). They easily have firepower necessary to kill, and make up in hp with their superior speed. People complain about that scout during deathmatch need to work on theirs.

Medic - This class takes even more skill than others, why? You have to be able to survive, and do a good job at healing. You also need to be able to take out spies by yourself, and kill the occational soldier with your Flechette rifle (the syringe gun). While you might always be surrounded by allies, they cant stop people from shooting at you. If they did, that would be pure skill, not the class they chose. Use ubercharge on your best players. Not just that heavy, or that scout jumping around, but literally either the players who can push that next spot, or deal the most damage. Sure you see that a heavy medic combo is great, but unless you do it at a CP where its a good idea, you probably want someone who can cover more field area, unless this heavy is a pro heavy, and knows when to "move" and when to be firing. Don't forget, tell your teammates whats going on, dont let your heavy walk into death because he thinks you got him. When you are healing, you need to have line of sight, but its ok to whip around to check for spies. This class is all about surviving and not dying, even if it means your ally that you are healing is dying. Heck, if hes dying, hes not doing a good job anyways. What am I talking about? Use teamwork to survive. While alive you protect the medic, you dead only means the medic has to fall back or is exposed more. And putting the medic in line of fire only means a dead medic. Lead your healer, or let him lead you!

Engineer - This class is more than just building you know. A well placed sentry can score 10 kills. No, I am not talking about ones that are around corners or have no blind spot, I am talking about turrets placed in high traffic areas that the enemy has to come through! This class has as much flexibility as any other class. Pushing teleporters up after each CP is something people forget however. The good engineer will re deploy entry and exit points as soon as CPs are secure. Sentries also need to get pushed up. A sentry sitting in the back is useless! Metal is not scarce, its everywhere. Need extra metal? Drop a dispenser. In 2 minutes these dispensers can give out 800 metal when full, and they replenish quickly. But the real engineers are combat engineers. Think your shotgun and pistol with infinite ammo isn't good enough? That shotgun (same as pyro/soldier/heavy) kills with ease! If it isn't, pretend it does! SCORE! But truthfully, a engineer can kill classes like, engineers, scouts, spies, medics, demos, and snipers without breaking a sweat. How? The shotgun is really that good. Need encouragement? Get on the TG server and watch a pro engineer setup outposts for his team while racking up assists left and right.

Demo - This guy for me is basically like the soldier, except with less range and more angling action. A hit from a grizznade will chunk most classes except the more resilient. Just like rockets. These nades also explode when people run over them, unlike their sticker cousin. The sticky grenade however can be more useful at times, acting like a mini rocket, that you can launch (by holding down the fire key) and shoot in a horizontal arc onto turrets, ceilings, walls, and whatever else you might fancy. Try putting a few on a dispenser and blowing it up when someone comes to it. Or placing them all in once place around a corner and turning it into a demo pack. Yes, thats right. Its that powerful, if you put them all close together that is. Otherwise even a set of 8 stickies in a 4x4 feet box, wont kill a heavy, and not a soldier being healed by a medic. Oh well. But regardless, spam fests with demo men have proved to be excellent defense in choke points with backup. At first it may seem hard to play, seeing as the nades do no damage if they aren't landing next to or ontop of someone. So this class is not for those who cannot pitch in a baseball game, underhanded, or saturate an area with spam and cartoony rum. A note, your melee weapon is weak, and should not be used over say, a sticky or nade while back pedaling.

Pyros, Snipers and Spies oh my!

Pyro - All right, you might be thinking, my god why isnt my flamethrowing killing anything?! First, a couple of things: Your flamethrower has a range of 4 feet. Now, traditionally flamethrowers in real life throw fire a lot further. Anyways, out of those 4 feet, within 2 feet, your flamethrower actually does deal HEAVY damage. And I mean, mind blowing, kill medics, scouts, stuff in 2 seconds damage. Of course, the amount of time you can trick someone into standing next to you for 2 seconds is minimal. That being said, many pyros do go down in a glory of flames, but kill little, and die often. What are you doing wrong? By now you might have guessed it! Combine that awesome shotgun of yours with your flamethrower! Second, the flames burn people for about 20 seconds, dealing around 8 damage per second, at increments of 3-4. This hurts people. Shotgun them in the face to make that steak extra chunky. The only time you want to keep flaming is in a enclosed room where you can stay near targets. Yet even then you may want to consider busting that shotgun out after you tagged everyone, kill their medic extra fast, and thus ensure that everyone burns like they should. Healing, water, and other effects will stop burning. Ensure this doesnt happen by, thats right, shotgunning them, before they get anywhere. If a combat engineer can do it, so can you! Tip: Help your team push rooms by standing at corners and flaming it up so people will think twice about turning the corner to fire at your friends. You are not a front line fighter, try to get behind the enemy if its too hot to approach from the front. Or maybe, a hotshot pyro like yourself fancies using that shotgun a bit more! Just leave the SG (sentry guns) to the soldiers and...snipers!

Sniper - A underplayed class, but a lot more useful than you might think! The traditional sniper picks people off. A veteran of this type, will be able to hunt targets while keeping a low profile. Enter the TF2 sniper. While those who do play sniper in TF2 are those who stand around waiting for a target to pop out, you do have the rare sniper who will help the team out by shooting out well placed turrets in one powerful charged shot. These snipers, real men, have this urge to put bullets in the heads of heavies who think they are all that with a medic healing them. And then there is that hobby they have when it comes to engineer. Nothing beats waiting for that engie to start upgrading his turret or fix a dispenser, combine with a spy to get a headshot on the engineer and blow up his stuff! I know it sounds too easy, but if you want to be that sniper who is doing more than sitting on his ass, you need to get out there and power shoot that engineers equipment. Sick of that sudden death lone sentry owning your team that has no troops back? Be the sniper who gets that angle shot on the turrets 3rd tripod foot for a sure kill. In short: As a sniper you are doing your best when you are taking out all the sentries that are blocking those choke points that your team cant get past. Combine with other classes to get a full effect of distraction, so that you can take that calm cool aussie shot of yours. Tip: That secondary gun of yours, is slightly more powerful than the medics' flechette rifle pistol gun. Use it to defend yourself, or with great aim, cut down that hp lacking scout as he tries to take you out. Headshots with the sniper charged kill instantly. A charged shot to the body however, will kill most targets if they are not fully healed. Dont forget, the enemy can see your dot while scoped. Make sure you aim at a surface that isnt obvious. If you cant adjust your aim fast enough, maybe this class isnt truely for you. Damn kangaroos.

Spy - Let me address a couple concerns. The greatest spies, are undetectable. You wont notice them until its too late. They will kill your engineers and turrets with great ease. They will see through your own spies with deadly awareness, and worse off, is that they will make your medics your worst enemy!

"They are too weak" - With one hit kills, and invisibility, you'd think they are too strong!

"They are too strong" - Seeing as how they die so quickly, get cut down by paranoid players, and cant avoid indirect fire, its hard to argue that they are game changing.

In short, everything here is based on skill. Even a great scout can bring down heavies who don't have medics on them.

There is however, that spy, who can kill many, never die, and you see him rack up quadruple kills and live. Those spies, are the spies you wish your dad was. They exist, but I only know of one on the TG server. Even the most paranoid players have trouble spotting them because they are constantly changing disguises, and always killing others in different places.

Notes
1. The spy is not for everyone.
2. The spy requires patience in an otherwise fast paced game.
3. The spy needs to be EXTREMELY efficient at killing, no misses.
4. The spy needs to be smart, knowing when to cloak, when to uncloak, and know the map well.
5. Never decloak to knife someone unless you are sure that you will not be noticed. This becomes less of a concern as a spy's skill increases to a point where they can uncloak to kill, and then disappear like magic.
6. Never use the same disguise more than 4 times.
7. Never use a disguise that the enemy doesnt have, or use a disguise of a enemy that has only 1 class. Pay attention or stop playing spy.
8. You are not a great spy until you can survive killing like 10 or some ridiculous number of people in a row.
9. If you are not #1 on your team as a spy, equal time given, you are not doing your job, and are a crappy spy. Thats just the way it goes. If this is you, all you need to do is improve.


As it stands right now, even if his stabbing rate was decreased, he'd still be as powerful. Most people are not good enough to kill as fast as they can stab, so this is a moot point. If you want to kill spies who can quadruple kill medics and heavies at the front line in the middle of everyone, then you need people with a lot more awareness. Stealth isnt perfect either, if the spy is great, you will never see them cloak or uncloak. However, the smallest impact of a bullet, can tip you off that they are there.

Considering we have FF OFF. I do not see why spies need their invisibility shown or anything like that. Any disruption from pure invisibility will not occur as it basically makes disguising useless. If you do not know how this works, you are in need of some espionage lessons.

Tips:

1. How to kill a engineer guarding his turrets? Sap turret, then backstab him.
2. You can capture points too! Often it only takes 1 to cap quickly, so get behind the enemy line and get it done!
3. Getting behind the enemy to sap their teleporters is a great idea!
4. Take out medic/heavy combos, your team needs you to make it happen when your sniper is busy!
5. Spies do just fine in deathmatch! Make sure you have one that is a great spy!

Note on the pistol: The pistol for the spy deals a crap load of damage. Anyone who tells you otherwise again hasn't tried using it enough. Let me give you an example. I sneak past your defenses and become a heavy disguise. I wait at spawn until a medic is up. I draw the medic to heal me, then turn around. I then pistol whip him in the head in a second. Use your imagination! This gun is about as powerful as a shotgun! Except its in the form of a single bullet! If you know your pistols you'll understand why it deals so much damage! This baby is more powerful than in real life when compared to the desert eagle hint hint. Anyways, like a shotgun's damage, it kills. Just watch out for your ammo count. Confused about what Ive written, combine your pistol with the sich and let your imagination run wild!



In conclusion, all the classes are great. Every single one of them has the potential to dominate when pushed to their extreme potential. Its great on how much thought valve put into these classes. Everyone has plenty to learn and there is always room for improvement. If you don't believe me on any of these points, get on the server and play!