The art of fooling your enemy
Know yourself and know your enemy and in a hundred battles you will be victorious. - Sun Tzu
Yes. What the old Chinese said also applies to Team Fortress 2. More specifically if you know what your enemy will fall for, you already have an advantage.
Basicly fooling your enemy helps you win a battle in a dynamic and, sometimes normally otherwise lost, battle. It’s been countless of times I’ve won a nearly lost battle just by knowing that my enemy will chase after me and preparing a fast ambush at a better position for him.
Now straight to the point.
Fooling tactic # 1 – corners
The most efficient, in my opinion, way of giving you the upper hand in a close fight. What you do here is pretend to retreat while gaining a better position to attack your enemy and making him think you’re in a pretty bad shape or out of ammo or both. I’ll give you an example: I’m a RED Pyro running to B to get rid of those pesky BLU’s on point B. I run to B from my spawn through the left entrance when I encounter a BLU Scout heading my way from the direction of the rocks behind B. Now here I shoot a couple of shots at him with my Shotgun to get his attention. When he gets closer and damages me a bit I fall back to the entrance where I was previously running through pretending to retreat. Most likely the Scout WILL chase after me as he wants me really dead (and that kill point too). When I’m sure the Scout won’t see me I stop retreating and prepare for an ambush. Just as the Scout passes me by I flame him with my Flamethrower and finish him off with the Axtinguisher. Simple as that.
Fooling tactic # 2 – fake voice commands
Many people forget about this one but it’s as viable as all other tactics mentioned here. Now you may think most people will not fall for it but surprisingly many people actually get caught with their pants down by doing this. What you do here is really simple – you fool your foe by giving him a fake information which he’ll most likely rely on. For example – hit Z + 5 to say “Go Right” while you go in the exact opposite direction. What it will cause is your enemy going to your left because he heard you saying that. In the meantime you can get on his flank without him even noticing it and giving you a huge advantage in a fight. Really similar thing applies to faking the Ubercharge. Just hit X + 8 and you’ll see enemy reacting to your movements at the very least a little bit different because they think you have that tool of destruction of yours in your hands. What this will this cause is enemies seeking for cover as there’s no direct technique to combat an Ubercharge than to hide behind cover and wait for the Ubercharge to pass. This gives you a more freely movement on the battlefield for about 20 seconds as this is the time for the enemy to know that you actually don’t have that Ubercharge but it’s more than enough to get better positions than you’d get when “normally” coming out on them. Just make sure you don’t make it super obvious yelling “I am charged!” and doing nothing in a middle of a fight.
Fooling tactic # 3 – decoys & distractions
This is a more team oriented tactic as it involves multiple teammates for it to work. I’ll take Gravel Pit as my example map once again (pretty basic one though). You’re BLU and you can not get rid of that pesky Sentry on B and time is running out. What you do here is send a couple of teammates (preferably 3) to the point where enemies defense is weaker and force them to get reinforcements from the second point, in this case A. If your enemy falls for it most likely B is now guarded by an Engineer with his Sentry and an optional other teammate. This is the time when a Spy (or a Soldier/Demoman) comes into action. Now that the Sentry is only guarded by those two people it’s easier for a Spy to get to the Sentry and sap it. As the Spy saps the Sentry, rest of your team should be now running towards B to help your Spy destroy the Sentry (if the Sentry is in a bad position you can optionally spam it to death with rockets/grenades). Your enemy knows now that you’re on B but they can’t send all of their units to help defend it because they still have problems on A (if your decoys are good enough of course). Even if they send all of their units to get rid of the enemies B and eventually kill them all, there’s a high possibility that you’ll capture A as there’s no opposition and the point itself is half captured. So you will either get A or B. Nonetheless you achieved your goal of receiving extra time to capture that second point.
Distracting an enemy from a flanking teammate also works wonders. Sandvich Heavy paired with a Soldier or a Pyro can also wreak some serious havoc if a couple of foes try to kill your Heavy.
Fooling tactic # 4 – luring
There’s nothing more useful than a Scout with a brain which helps his teammates kill their enemies. I’m bringing out the Scout here because apparently he’s the best luring unit out there, especially with the BONK! Yes, I know… Everyone will say BONK! is useless but believe me – it isn’t. It can assure you that someone will follow you after you use it because everyone is aware of the slowdown effect after using it. So use it to your advantage! Locate a nearby friendly Sentry or a Heavy in a tight area and lure a group of enemies into its range of fire. Sure, it will work only once but you have accomplished your goal. You helped your team kill a couple of enemies which could make it possible for them to capture a control point or capture enemy intel. The same can do any other fast class – Pyros, Spies, Medics, Snipers and Engies. Just go out there and get their attention and run like hell to your teammates. They sure will be grateful for your help as the enemy going after a easy kill forgets about his surroundings and easily gets caught in an ambush.
But the most important is…
… teamwork! I haven’t discovered anything new here but with teamwork these tactics can be even more effective than done alone. Fact is that your team can combine all of these four tactics they can assure you a total victory. So pay attention to what your teammates are doing and try to cooperate with them as much as you can. I can assure you that in the game of TEAM Fortress it will help you because these tips alone can’t win you a game and so can’t you alone.
That’s all for the fooling tactics that I know at least. I’m sure there are plenty more of them and plenty more variations of them but these are the most important in my opinion. Make sure to combine them and cooperate with your teammates when using them and surely you will have more successes than loses.
Tygrys on November 29th 2009 in community, game classes, how to, tactics, team fortress 2
Stumble it!
snipers_get_the_head responded on 30 Nov 2009 at 7:56 am #
finally, a fairly useful article. +0.5 for you.
snipers_get_the_head responded on 30 Nov 2009 at 8:00 am #
Oh, and epic gmod work as well, especially the last pic.
Shorokin responded on 30 Nov 2009 at 8:32 am #
Another great tactic is two spies working together, looking like a new wave of spawned team-mates. If you see a lone enemy running towards you, you’ll be more likely to spy check. And even if you are suspicious of them, you have to contend with two spies simultaneously trying to flank you for the backstab.
It even works nicely if one Spy acts like an obviously bad Spy while his friend subtly sneaks behind you while you’re worried about the other guy.
Lord Zurkov responded on 30 Nov 2009 at 8:41 am #
“If one knows oneself and one’s enemy, one should not fear the outcome of a thousand battles.” — Sun Tzu
Excellent g-moddery, some good strategems, and a moral at the end of the story. Sounds good to me!
clamps responded on 30 Nov 2009 at 8:49 am #
teamwork in solofortress? what a ridiculous concept
ExAstris responded on 30 Nov 2009 at 9:06 am #
That last screenshot is pure gold. Good guide, too
ChrisH responded on 30 Nov 2009 at 10:19 am #
Under voice commands, I wish you could add how “om-nom-nomming” through your mic can fool an enemy into a heavy eating a sandvich.
I never tried the “go Left!” commands though. Tanks for you two bucks.
chipbuster responded on 30 Nov 2009 at 12:10 pm #
“. . . Those skilled in war can make themselves invincible, but cannot cause an enemy to be certainly vulnerable. Therefore it is said that one may know how to win, but cannot necessarily do so.” -Sun Tzu
HelisPoe responded on 30 Nov 2009 at 3:27 pm #
The Sandvich Heavy decoy is incredibly useful. With the Sandvich buff, you know have a decoy that is still irresistible to enemies yet continues to fully heal itself. It’s appalling how effective it is.
Joe the Plumer responded on 30 Nov 2009 at 5:12 pm #
Finally, a new article
FlyingHat responded on 30 Nov 2009 at 5:27 pm #
If you’re fooled by #2, you’re nothing short of being an idiot.
orange!GAMER responded on 01 Dec 2009 at 2:20 am #
@FlyingHat: Yet, this game is full of idiots.
This article reminds me of a section on the OMFGNinja guide of fooling your enemies, spies can do wonders with this tactics, considering the friendly disguise and combning it with the dead ringer, I just hope more people used both of them in the right way… then again, this game is full of idiots
Secret Agent Clank! responded on 01 Dec 2009 at 4:26 am #
Hey Tygrys. About time you’re on board too.
W + M1 fo leif
Sandman responded on 01 Dec 2009 at 6:52 am #
Great article.
For effectiveness and laughs, I love the DR spy disguised as a friendly sniper. If you act the part correctly (not flaunting the DR, just being a very visible and hard-to-hit target), many of the opposing snipers will concentrate on you instead of your team. You’ll give your sniper teammates uncontested shots at them, and then at the rest of their team when they’re no longer threats.
Dead Ringer – providing laughs since 2009.
gelugon2105 responded on 01 Dec 2009 at 2:12 pm #
Good things to keep in mind, though some of these won’t work against more experienced players.
Nice GMod images though.
pulf responded on 01 Dec 2009 at 2:56 pm #
Tygrys is GMod god, not only that, he can also write witty articles! That’s a win!
ComissarCain responded on 01 Dec 2009 at 9:06 pm #
In my experience, people so rarely use the ‘go left’ ‘go right’ ‘move up’ commands seriously that as an enemy player I tend to regard them as spammers or someone screwing with me and react accordingly: Might also want to make sure your teammates know the fakeout.
However, I have noticed a particularly useful on variation on that. Spy players DO listen for “Spy!” and often try to complete whatever it is they’re doing or escape. Seeing a group of friendly players and hitting ‘Spy’ can often snag you a spy that you otherwise might have missed or not spychecked in time: I’ve seen enemy spies change course, or even just cloak and run off before I even attempt a Spycheck.
You can also *occasionally* trick the enemy team as a friendly spy player by using Voice commands in an odd way. This includes using a Medic cry (or Spy Cry) before you uncloak, resulting in an awful lot of Spychecking the ACTUAL player, or to make it a little more robust, call-out, than quickly swap costumes (while cloaked) for a little misdirection. I wouldn’t recommend trying it shortly before you go to sap/stab combo on an Engi (he pretty much knows you’re coming) but you can create a minor bit of mayhem. (Note that using Medic however will still put that icon above your head–in the wrong situation, that can be very, very bad).
Panzerwurst responded on 07 Dec 2009 at 7:09 am #
>scout
>axtinguisher
Yeah, uh, good luck with that, mate.
Brian_Black responded on 10 Dec 2009 at 12:48 am #
No speculation on the latest update yet?
Also, Panzerwurst; light scout, airblast into corner/wall, wait for double jump, airblast again, axtinguish. Works more often than most scouts would like.
TempoPanda responded on 10 Dec 2009 at 3:44 am #
WHATS WITH BOOMERCHARGE
?
scattergunner responded on 10 Dec 2009 at 2:13 pm #
OMG NEW UPDATE IS COMING! NEW UPDATE IS COMING!!!!! AAAAGH!! ..ok, i just needed that
lols responded on 10 Dec 2009 at 2:42 pm #
New update? Solly and Demo unlocks it seems!
Jrhather responded on 10 Dec 2009 at 6:36 pm #
Y’know what’d be awesome? A 3rd team. I say Purple.
orange!GAMER responded on 11 Dec 2009 at 7:15 am #
“I Like where this threadis going”
@Sandman: Never thougth of that, good idea.
@ComissarCain: You, sir, are an astonishing-ly superb spy, I shall follow your advice in my next gentlemen-ish scoundrel run.
Substance... responded on 13 Dec 2009 at 1:23 am #
Yes, and thats why i always take the corners on the outside as scout, usually to find a weakened pyro crouching on the inside of the corner on the otherside.
Easy kill