Video HealthHacks team video

[felicity]

As for sapping, stabbing and changing disguises in succession.. I mean how do you guys do it? .

This is just muscle memory, the same way you learn to play an instrument or type on a keyboard. Do it often enough and your fingers will just get used to it.

do you have any scripts that make you disguise upon stab.

Never use a script like this. You often don't want to disguise immediately upon stabbing if you're planning to cloak. If you disguise and cloak at the same time, the smoke trail from your disguise will betray your position.

 

[Shula]

I can guarantee you're not as bad at spy as I am. no matter what arrangements of weapons and items I use, it never helps in any way shape or form, I'm just really crap at spy.
Even if I use DR, I just end up running around on fire, chased by a bloody pyro. C&D I just end up standing in a corner for ages, make a move and get fucking killed, I end up feeling like a voyeur.
As for sapping, stabbing and changing disguises in succession.. I mean how do you guys do it? do you have any scripts that make you disguise upon stab, or switch weapons upon placing a sapper? or what keys do you have weapons bound to.. I find im getting killed to much while trying to select the right weapon or item, its like I know what to do, but fiddling around fucks it up.

This is totally me. I am just not a good spy at all, so I rarely play it. My son has all the spy achievements from when he used to play on my account before I got him his own.

 

[chuckwagon]

I can guarantee you're not as bad at spy as I am. no matter what arrangements of weapons and items I use, it never helps in any way shape or form, I'm just really crap at spy.
Even if I use DR, I just end up running around on fire, chased by a bloody pyro. C&D I just end up standing in a corner for ages, make a move and get fucking killed, I end up feeling like a voyeur.
As for sapping, stabbing and changing disguises in succession.. I mean how do you guys do it? do you have any scripts that make you disguise upon stab, or switch weapons upon placing a sapper? or what keys do you have weapons bound to.. I find im getting killed to much while trying to select the right weapon or item, its like I know what to do, but fiddling around fucks it up.

For me it is muscle memory like what Felicity said. When my brain thinks "sap and stab" my fingers know what to do to make it happen without thinking about each step.

When first started I would make sure that my sapper was my last weapon out before the knife so that I could press 'q' to quickswitch to it after the stab. Now though I usually use the 1,2,3,4 for weapon/disguise. Scout, Pyro, and Demo are disguises I use when I need to do it quickly because I can use my left hand to type 4-1, 4-3, 4-4, etc. I also abuse "B" If I need a more planned disquise, I need to take my finger off of "W" to get the 6,8, or 9 for Engie, Sniper, or Spy. For the most part, I usually always assume that a disguise will only fool a sentry, I try to be seen by enemy players as little as possible. Also don't forget the usefulness of disguising friendly. I actually move my right hand off my mouse over to the dash button to switch the friendly disguises. This usually isnt a big issue because I do it as I leave spawn.

Once you get used to it, the sap and stab is easier than you think as long as the sentry is facing away from you. It takes longer than you would expect to detect and enemy, turn and fire. The Kunai makes this even easier because if you mistime you still have some overheal as well.

I use a few scripts, but they are mostly cosmetic. I can hide my gun viewmodel by pushing 1 once the gun is already out. This is useful because the amby reload animation is so obtrusive. I have a crosshair color changer. I used to 'lose' my crosshair in the background this helps me 'find' it easy because it changes color when I change direction. Also if I press and hold 1 my mouse sensitivity drops and my FOV drops. This is for sniping. TBH I rarely use this one.

 

[KillerZebra]

Why isn't chuck in platnium?

 

[felicity]

Because he uses the kunai trollolol

 

[Rvsz]

I can guarantee you're not as bad at spy as I am. no matter what arrangements of weapons and items I use, it never helps in any way shape or form, I'm just really crap at spy.
Even if I use DR, I just end up running around on fire, chased by a bloody pyro. C&D I just end up standing in a corner for ages, make a move and get fucking killed, I end up feeling like a voyeur.
As for sapping, stabbing and changing disguises in succession.. I mean how do you guys do it? do you have any scripts that make you disguise upon stab, or switch weapons upon placing a sapper? or what keys do you have weapons bound to.. I find im getting killed to much while trying to select the right weapon or item, its like I know what to do, but fiddling around fucks it up.

You probably don't keep switching weapons like an idiot the whole time : )

 

[ViperStriker]

Sap and Stabbing and being able to quickly tap that B key or what have you to re-disguise without suspicion is mainly muscle memory, I rarely look down at my keyboard, and I'm able to pull that off without moving my eyes from the monitor to ensure no one's caught onto me.

And, in my honest opinion the Concise Disguise Menu (Which forces you to double tap 1, 2, and 3 keys at the top of the keyboard to disguise) is the superior way to use the Disguise Kit. I've got muscle memory in my hands to double tap certain keys to disguise as certain classes (i.e. Tap the 3 key twice to get Spy, tap the 3 key then 2 key to get Sniper, tap the 3 key then the 1 key to get Medic, etc.).

 

[OleGreg]

I don't use any scripts or Huds other then strictly vanilla but Viper's Concise Disguise Menu ....I've heard good things about that. As a non-YER spy I can only comfortably/easily click on disguises 1-5 withot taking my hands off the keyboard.

"B" is a huge help...but it's also nice for the ability to switch weapons on your disguise. It makes disguising as a Gloves of Running Urgently heavy possible...and since "most" spies don't use certain classes like Heavy, Medic as disguise it can really work to your advantage.

Try to imagine players running around with a cone in front of their view. (Cone of Vision). Certain classes like Pyro, and Engineer tends to have greater cone of vision (also better/experienced players tend to have larger cones). Regardless of whether your disguised try to avoid that cone of vision while going for a stab.

That being said if the enemy team is running towards your position (and your disguised) it's helpful sometimes to pretend to be afk...DON'T attempt to hide but be in plain view. As long as your somewhat off the running path people will assume your afk...you also don't always have to go straight for a kill...sometimes hanging out with the enemy for a bit can present a much better stab.

 

[[YDEK] fi$hy k!tty]

I'm not entirely sure why, but I have a habit I picked up from watching a friend of mine play spy when he was teaching me how, and I just mash my "Q" button like a crazy person almost constantly, which is somewhat helpful when stab n' sapping. But as he proved, if you drink too much, you can end up mixing up the order and trying to stab sentries and sap engineers.

Make sure the sentry isn't facing you when you go for your stab though, like chuck said, you need that time it takes for it to rotate to put your sapper down. Obviously, the positioning is a bit harder in pubs when you have multiple sentries covering multiple angles, but that's where you exploit the inexperience of other players.

 

[Rvsz]

Why isn't chuck in platnium?

His team is noob

 

[staticvoid]

Tobias is a huge inspiration for me, but recently I stopped playing spy, and now that I tried to return to it, I've found out that I lost all my skills. Sure I can get a couple of stair stabs here and there, but overall I've completely lost all of my skill. :(

 

[SuperNewman]

I have a gaming keyboard with the hard to reach disguises mapped to keys within easy reach. I do mostly fast disguises (demo, engie, pyro, scout, sniper) but like to change up to a slow one every now and then to throw people off. To make my slower disguises more believable, (like if you are stuck as a soldier or heavy with YER) I like to decloak near the spawn and then walk toward the objective, following the same general path as someone who had just respawned. I've mapped my "last disguise/change visible weapon" button to my middle mouse button to make re-disguising much easier. Appropriate disguises for appropriate places are important. Nobody buys the demo camping near a sentry nest (or on top of a dispenser), or the sniper running around near the front lines, or the engie near an active nest without the wrench out. I like using a friendly disguise, keeps you undetected as a spy for a little longer. Nobody expects a backstab from a scout or demo that just retreated around a corner. I also like to change the weapon that I'm holding, too. Nobody buys the caber knight disguise when you are walking around with the grenade launcher, nor the medic disguise if you are walking around with the syringe gun. If you are quick, you can circle around a level 3 sentry without a disguise and sap it, as long as you move in the right direction. I've been able to take out sentry nests with the Saharan spy set and DR as an act of desperation, as you can decloak right behind the sentry, and circle around it with with the sapper. If the engie is stupid, you can decloak behind his dispenser, and get his sentry to kill him for you.

The two biggest drawbacks to the Saharan spy set with the DR (and the YER in general) is the loss of friendly disguises, combined with a harder sell for the DR. It's best to have your gun out and pop off a few shots and take some damage before you trigger the DR to make it a little more believable. The DR pairs better with the other knives, despite the loud de-cloak, because you can feign a friendly disguise death, which is much more believeable (or just lest noticeable) than a Fez wearing spy running at you with a Yer out.

I usually do not go for stair stabs because I usually get owned every time I try them.

I suck at headshots, but the Ambassador is the best tool around for snipers who use the Razorback.