Fencing

“

I'm going to gut you like a Cornish game hen. Click to listen — The Spy

”

Upon taunting with the Knife or Your Eternal Reward equipped, the Spy begins a Fencing maneuver, resulting in damage or death for anyone slow, unaware or simply unfortunate enough to be in the way. The damage is loaded on to the initial two stabs, the last thrust being an instant kill. The taunt can kill multiple enemies if it connects on both the stabs and thrusts. It is necessary to kill someone using the Fencing taunt to gain the The Man from P.U.N.C.T.U.R.E achievement. Fencing can destroy buildings upon impact. The taunt can still be used during Humiliation (despite being visually disarmed), to kill the winning team members as they come barreling into your spawn, and during a Stalemate, when the two enemy teams meet and spam taunts at each other. Due to its length, it can only be used safely against oblivious targets, however unlike other taunts its NOT recommended you perform it on scoped Snipers or distracted Heavies, as the first 2 slashes will connect, and any competent player will immediately turn around upon taking the damage. However, you can still time this taunt to lunge while an enemy runs into it (like when they are coming around a corner) or to destroy any Sentry Guns built too close to the gates at the start of an attack/defend map. The taunt animation exists in the 360 and PS3 versions of the game but does not cause any damage, as before the Sniper and Spy update for the PC version.

Damage

• First 2 swings: 25 each
• Final Thrust: 500
• Critical hit: N/A

Times

• Attack Interval: 4

All times are in seconds. Times are approximate and determined by community testing.

Related Achievements

The Man from P.U.N.C.T.U.R.E. Stab an enemy while fencing.

Notes

• Before the May 19, 2010 Patch, Spies using the Invisibility Watch or the Cloak and Dagger could perform the Fencing taunt and Cloak at nearly the same time, allowing them to deliver a lethal blow while completely invisible. It is still possible to do so, but it is extremely difficult to execute and requires frame-perfect precision.
• The Dead Ringer could also be activated whilst taunting before it was patched soon after the Sniper and Spy update, allowing you to remain cloaked after being damaged but still carry out the taunt animation (and so still able to kill people). Now, if you taunt with the Dead Ringer onscreen, it will not activate if you take damage during the taunt.
• This is one of only 4 kill taunts in the game that is not completely silent up to the kill (Not including generic sounds like weapons clinking). This means that, unlike most kill taunts that can be done in secret, the Spy has to give up his location in order to pull off this taunt, which is done with one of several lines of dialogue. (Other noisy kill taunts: Pyro's Hadouken, Engineer's Dischord, and Engineer's Organ Grinder.)
• Another aspect of Fencing is that it's the only kill taunt that does non-lethal damage without immobilizing the opponent first. This is another reason the Spy cannot easily kill taunt in secret.