The Ring of Change
I’ve never been a Spy player.
Heck no, that would be underestimating it. I’ve NEVER touched the spy expecting good results. That’s more like the truth.
Much like supremesonic, I suffer from the “I suck at this class syndrome”; and although I’ve played as spy sometimes and I’ve felt the thrill and blood rush of a successful infiltration, the fact that it’s hard to see me helping my team as one(and because it’s harder and harder to find a server in which one competent player and one jackass like me aren’t already spying and hogging 2 spots) generally keeps me away from this class.
In fact, the game seems to notice this, and kept the last of the spy new weapons that I lacked from me until some hours ago. That weapon was The Dead Ringer*.
So… I suppose you’re now expecting some tale about how this marvellous invention saved my dwindling score and helped me become a better spy? No such thing. I still suck. Harder.
No, the thing with its weapon and what I wish to talk about, is not something I experienced as a spy, but something I noticed before but decided to wait until I had the little bugger in my hands to examine it.
I wish to talk, not about what was brought to the table, but rather what was already here.
An Old Friend, Revisited
Ah, the disguise kit. Such a wonderful tool that as time went by, lost its values as we grew wiser to the tricks of that deceitful little bugger, the spy. Natural selection at its best it would seem, as even some random mutations by Mother Valve which gifted better tools to fool its preys, seem to have failed. It’s true, the disguise kit was seemingly doomed to extinction except when dealing with a sentry or in the few seconds after the invisibility faded.
But Valve solved the issue. And they solved it in the best way possible. You see my dear reader, to solve a problem of balance the method usually employed is to empower the weaker side or take power from the stronger side. In theory this creates a sinusoidal zig zag of balance between the two sides which decreases with the number of measures taken normally on some ratio to a logarithmic scale; like a pendulum slowing to an halt. Reality however is not so beautiful or easy to understand and correct.
So what was the correct way instead of giving it a buff? Simple now that we see it in retrospect. Make the players use it.
For you see, the power of the disguise kit, has got nothing to do with its capabilities but with the use the player makes of it. With the normal watch or the Cloak and Dagger, it is a bad choice to use the disguise when you have such a wonderful tool at your disposal as invisibility on demand. However, like a true tool it is not so much as a choice between a manual or a electric screwdriver, but rather knowing which to use at the proper situation.
The Dead Ringer, took this choice from us.
With the Dead Ringer, the table has turned. The necessity of a disguise is now absolute. Want to get behind the enemy? Fine, disguise yourself and flank them or get invisible in the front lines, find a silent corner and uncloak. But you better have your disguise ready. Although using the Dead Ringer for an uncloak and stab is pretty easy in a pub, in a game with more competent players it will be hard for anyone to uncloak in the middle of the battle and manage to survive being shredded apart by bullets, shotgun shells, rockets and fire. The disguise is essential to a Dead Ringer spy, and as such I’ve found myself being fooled time and time again lately by that Pyro which I did not double check, or by that friendly Heavy that rounded the corner(dammit paper Shadow!).
Thus the disguise was given once more the high profile of the battlefield, and now that we see its use, it is once more feared again. For it is the tool of the impersonators, the invisibility of the masters, and the paper thin shield that cuts through all our defenses.
Gentlemen. A toast, to the disguise, now risen from among us.
*On an related note, I still haven’t gotten a jar of piss, despite my enthusiasm for it.
Stumble it!
Paper Shadow responded on 07 Jul 2009 at 8:42 am #
“…or by that Heavy that rounded the corner(dammit Paper Shadow!).”
This is funny, considering I suck as the Heavy…
Zanpa responded on 07 Jul 2009 at 8:47 am #
I still want my disguise-as-dispenser kit. The Spy update decieved me.
Deepsmeg responded on 07 Jul 2009 at 8:55 am #
I want to sap an engineer!
On a more serious note, I was playing on the UC server a while back and someone was rabbiting on about how they don’t know how to use the Dead Ringer.
End result: Everytime I killed them, I flamed them for a moment after, lighting them up like an invisible Christmas tree.
They found that watch oh so useful!
Drexer responded on 07 Jul 2009 at 9:01 am #
@ Paper Shadow
I meant it as if you were disguised as an heavy. Which you were one time. And I got extremely annoyed by that kill due to some random reason. Thus I added it here.
@Zanpa
There it is a plugin on the works somewhere that does that. I lost my link though.
Corodan responded on 07 Jul 2009 at 9:49 am #
Dang. I need to get in a snapshot some day.
Good rant/discussion/lolwut
Comissar Cain responded on 07 Jul 2009 at 10:15 am #
Players seem to be adapting slowly to the Dead Ringer. You’d think that a spy dying in one shot would be an obvious red flag to anyone who hits them, but entirely too often I see players just continue on their merry when my own instincts scream “DEAD RINGER.” Besides being an invaluable tool for the one scenario that stops Spies dead (having to wade through firefights to infilitrate), it remains surprisingly good for what the Spy’s supposed to do: Screwing with player expectation. Dead spy, no backstab, right?
I’ve actually been yelled at once for backtracking after a ringer spy (god knows why I was singled out), only to find the spy a few seconds later and put him down for good.
I think the best thing about the Dead Ringer is that it’s taken the predictability out of the Spy class. Now, putting a spy down doesn’t even guarantee being safe from Spies for a bit (or at least that spy)–he could be carting around a Dead Ringer. It forces players to either be extra cautious (slowing them down) or risk Spies infilitrating successfully further. In the long run, even if the Spy never uses it, the Dead Ringer has the net effect of making the Spy harder to predict and the player’s job easier. Not bad for a weapon I balked at when I first heard about it.
noser responded on 07 Jul 2009 at 1:41 pm #
Some great disguises are with the secondary weapon out. People will fall for a medic running slowly if they are distracted by the medigun/kritzkrieg that could save their burning selves. I’ve had people chasing after me, hearing a few of them calling medic.
If you shoot 1 bullet out of the revolver/amfailsador and then disguise as soldier, medic, or even scout if you dont bring to much attention to your speec by standing still or jumping a lot, spamming need a dispenser here, the reload animation is very convincing.
Voice commands have saved me a lot. Someone at the front line, called spy, as I was hanging around the control point, hoping for a chance to sap some sentrehs. Disguised as an engineer with the wrench out, a soldier came up to me shotty-ing me and I used the voice command “No!”, then “Go, go, go!”. He immediatly stopped, saluted me (taunted) and ran off.
Combyne responded on 07 Jul 2009 at 3:12 pm #
I feel the recent buff to the disguise kit was definitely necessary. People Spychecked like hell before, but now Omfgninja’s teachings on paranoia finally make sense!
Easy ways to use disguises are to play with people’s first assumptions, like a friendly Engineer with a wrench, or a disguised friendly Spy. I believe these two disguises excel at tricking pub players at first glace.
And ever since the new update, I’ve actually bound a button for “last disguise used”. I’ve never been good at the Spy, either.
Ota responded on 07 Jul 2009 at 5:46 pm #
The dead ringer opened my eyes. I mean, i’ve spent like a hundred and some hours with the spy, and never really tried to go by the enemy lines uncloaked. It’s amazing how many times it works, and damage doesn’t really get you killed in a second like when you’re invisible, so it can even rival it. Throw in a dead ringer with it, and some ammo. I’m enjoying it till the nerf
Zorgulon responded on 07 Jul 2009 at 10:30 pm #
It’s unlockables like the Dead Ringer, and the Kritzkrieg that give me confidence in the unlockables system.
The genuine innovations and interesting changes in playstyle they bring make up for the underwhelming (Bonk!), superior (Blutsauger) and downright dodgy (FaN, pre-nerf Ambassador, pre-nerf Sandman) unlockables Valve put out.
People who dismiss the pocket watch as being useless simply Aren’t Doing It Right.
Brian_Black responded on 07 Jul 2009 at 11:32 pm #
As of yet, I have still seen no one mention something that I realized the day I picked it up: use a friendly disguise with the Dead Ringer. When you do this, it throws out a corpse of that class, not a spy corpse. An example: I’m on RED and disguise as a RED Soldier. If I activate the Dead Ringer before taking any damage (a better strategy is to take a few hits first), I will throw out a RED Soldier corpse. This doesn’t even give people the inkling that a spy is nearby.
Go forth, and sow greater seeds of backstabby goodness.
Brian
Teatime responded on 08 Jul 2009 at 3:31 am #
“the fact that it’s hard to see me helping my team [...] generally keeps me away from this class.”
Spoken like a true team player
@Comissar Cain
There’s a flip side to this: I have witnessed far too often that somebody shouts (correctly) “Dead Ringer” and the whole team starts running around like headless chickens spychecking every corner. Usually discontinuing every kind of defense or attack they were pursuing before. So a single spy has disorganized large portions of a team without actually killing somebody. This really puts your team into a disadvantage and helps the opposing team (in critical situations this might even be enough to decide a match).
So in general I would also suggest to just continue playing (with increased vigilance) instead of backtracking or other roaming just to catch that one spy.
(Of course this implies a mindset which puts the success of the team over one’s own deathscore … and too many people have different priorities)
oldmeme responded on 08 Jul 2009 at 3:47 am #
I never used the Dead Ringer before the buff, but right after it was [buffed], I went on a 46 points killing spree with it (19 kills) on the very day, and that rocked my world (untill I found out the stats never saved since I reseted them only recently
). I haven’t seen as many points with it since but I certainly use it as much as I use the regular watch.
Also, the Cloak and Dagger is, and always has been, awful for me. I don’t know if I’m not using it right or something, but it always runs out when I don’t want it to.
Short and sweet article. Hurrah for the Spies!
Comissar Cain responded on 08 Jul 2009 at 8:17 am #
The Cloak and Dagger isn’t bad, you just have to take a slower approach. It’s essentially a camping weapon: You move far enough, stop to let it regen, move a little further (the real trick is to cloak as close to potential targets as possible) pick a spot… and wait. Do not use it like the usual cloak, wait for the perfect opportunity, minimizing your chance of being intercepted. Get a feel for the situation, THAN de-cloak and go. It forces you to play a slower playstyle than the standard watch. That said, I’m not entirely convinced it’s better than standard watch in the long run.
@Teatime, Oh, I definitely agree. I guess what irked me in the particular case was it was one of those bottleneck situations where there was only one real way to go as Pyro (W + M1 style) and I didn’t feel like eating a face full of heavy fire anyway–I was simply waiting for any opposing team brave enough to push forward and making them pay for it, but I do agree, having the entire team suddenly go spy-hunting can do just as much damage–which, when you think about it, is another layer of depth to the Spy.
TF|-bill responded on 08 Jul 2009 at 8:10 pm #
terrific article! i loved those last few sentences haha
as for your jar of piss, just get the sniper achievements! most of them are very reasonable to get through casual play, moreso than every other class besides maybe pyro. I got 15 or so the very first weekend and before the update I was a horrid sniper. I’m talking didn’t even have Grey Matter yet. forcing myself to play it made me good, and once you get jarate, it’s so worth it. the assist points come rolling in and it’s always there to save you from the pyro you just kukri’d to death but is still damaging you
Wazzle responded on 09 Jul 2009 at 4:14 am #
You know, it also helps that the Dead Ringer has the sexiest weapon model in the game.
Wyatt responded on 09 Jul 2009 at 4:29 am #
Maybe I’ve missed something as I haven’t read this site in a while but is there some reason you weren’t using your disguise? The disguise is one of your must have tools. Now the main disguise changes from time to time depending on whats in vogue (after the pyro update it was always pyro) but after I spawn I immediately hit 3,4,6 pause B. This effectively is butterfly knife, disguise kit, disguise as engineer, wait for disguise to set, switch to the wrench. All of this is done while I’m running out of the spawn so by the time I get to the front lines I’m properly disguised, cloaked and gone. I mean main disguise as the one I pick the most. I still use every other disguise from time to time.
Anyway I’ve used the Dead Ringer a bit. Not getting it until so much later because of the random drops messed up my practice but it’s a pretty good tool. But it is so much different than playing the normal way. I enjoyed that first bit of learning when you activate the watch only to cloak because you jumped off a roof and broke a leg. I still prefer the invisibility watch but I appreciate what the Dead Ringer allows you to do. Forget the Cloak and Dagger, that’s just spy in slow motion. It drives me nuts trying to use that thing. Once they added metal drops for the invisibility watch I don’t see why you would ever run out of cloak.
Eran responded on 09 Jul 2009 at 7:29 am #
@Zorgulon: I believe there was a Sandman unnerf at one point. It was disguised as a “multicore rendering” update, but according to someone I know, that feature had not changed at all in that update.
Here’s the update logs in question (original nerf and possible unnerf)
[-]March 18, 2009 – Team Fortress 2 Update Released
Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:
Added Multicore Rendering
This initial release is aimed at testing compatibility, so the option is OFF by default
To turn it on, go to the Options->Video->Advanced dialog, and check the “Multicore Rendering” option
Other Changes
Several performance improvements to decals and client bone/flex setup
A variety of alt-tab and mode switch fixes
Improvements to the way the engine initializes surround sound, fixing some specific hardware cases
Fixed a crash on exit in Vista 64
[-]March 13, 2009 – Team Fortress 2 Update Released
Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:
Gameplay Changes
Players who are stunned by a Scout now take 50% less damage
Increased the minimum distance to stun a player with the Sandman
Sergio responded on 09 Jul 2009 at 4:58 pm #
I like DR. It helps to get that SINGLE backstab you need and then lets you escape safely. For example, I was once on Well and both teams were fighting for the middle point. An engineer was coming in and as I was disguised as his team, I sidestabbed him as he walked past me. I then pulled out the DR and good thing too, because I had a soldier beginning to fire rockets at me. Or for instance, if you stab a medic but see the heavy turning around, you can pull out the DR and run off. It’s helped me to be more of a “hit and run” type of spy. You just have to learn to adapt to the situation.
Killa-Ewok responded on 12 Jul 2009 at 2:35 am #
WHERE MAH ARTICLES
I NEED, INEEDINEED THEM
Valkyr responded on 12 Jul 2009 at 5:25 am #
nothing new here?
Comissar Cain responded on 14 Jul 2009 at 9:17 pm #
On another note. If you want Jarate so bad, why don’t you just play Sniper for a while and grab it? Most of the Sniper achievements, at least the ones needed to get Jarate, are stupid easy.