Team strategy

In Team Fortress 2, it can be very hard for a single player to effectively combat the enemy team. Working with your team is important for success. This article is designed to help you and your team achieve that victory. For a guide on improving your own game, see Strategy. For map-specific strategies, see the individual pages for each map.

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Be sure to communicate with your team: use voice commands and a microphone when available.

General Strategies

These are the strategies of the game that most players should learn and understand if they want to help their team. Using these in combat will allow you to get a leg up on the competition.

• Flanking

Find alternate routes and use them (even if they take longer than direct route). Don't take the same flanking route too often to avoid becoming predictable -- the enemy will quickly learn to anticipate your strategy.

• Ambushing

Wait around corners and surprise your enemy. You and a few of your allies could wait around corners and ambush any enemies that walk by as a defensive or offensive tactic.

• Ubercharging

Communicate with your Medic buddy. Try not to waste your ÜberCharge, but remember that it's better to spend your charge and survive than to die with a charge ready. Have a plan for what you will do when Übered.

• Coordinated pushes

Rather than a slow trickle of problems for the enemy to deal with, sending your entire team barreling down at once can be much more intimidating and harder to counter. This can also break turtles easily if an Ubercharge quickly follow a spy sapping all the Sentry Guns, followed by the rest of the team.

Class Specific Strategies

Know your weapon, know your foe. These guides are meant to help you understand what to do in certain situations and when fighting other opponents. Use these guides to know what your class should do to help the team.

• Basic Scout strategy (match-ups)

• Basic Soldier strategy (match-ups)

• Basic Pyro strategy (match-ups)

• Basic Demoman strategy (match-ups)

• Basic Heavy strategy (match-ups)

• Basic Engineer strategy (match-ups)

• Basic Medic strategy (match-ups)

• Basic Sniper strategy (match-ups)

• Basic Spy strategy (match-ups)

Team Tactics

The Barrage

• Overview: a creeping hail of explosives moves though an area to clear the way for the rest of the team.
• Details: Demomen and Soldiers fire continually into an area to make it a no-go zone for the opposing team. Attackers follow the barrage by moving into the cleared area and holding it.

The Demomen and Soldiers must use a spread of fire across the intended area to ensure it is all cleared.

Über push

• Overview: the attacking team coordinates a series of ÜberCharges to clear an area.
• Details: Two or more Medics build up an ÜberCharge. The first Medic activates his charge and enters the area; after 9 seconds the second Medic follows and moves into the area. If the situation allows, the second Medic can follow immediately, taking advantage of the distraction provided by the first Über pair and moving deeper into enemy territory before activating the second charge. Communicating who will Über first is key.

Minefield

• Overview: Demomen lay series of sticky bombs over an open area.
• Details: a spread out carpet of Sticky bombs is laid over an open area in sequence by several Demomen. When attackers push forward, detonate each set of Stickies in series to kill multiple waves of attackers. It is important that the other Demomen wait for the previous set to be detonated before detonating the next set. Using the Scottish Resistance makes this strategy more efficient, easier to pull off, and somewhat lessens the need for multiple Demomen, as a single Demoman can have up to 14 stickies and selectively detonate them.

Coordinated Sap

• Overview: Spies sap Sentry Gun emplacements to enable an attack by teammates.
• Details: a Spy or Spies sap Sentry Gun emplacements just before an offensive push, enabling teammates to safely attack the disabled Sentries. Communicate when you have sapped the Sentry Gun to enable the attack to commence immediately. Continue to sap to enable the attacker to take out the Engineer first.

Medic Luring

• Overview: a "Soldier/Heavy" disguised Spy lures Medics into ambush points.
• Details: instead of attempting to kill an enemy Medic, a Spy disguised as an enemy assault class can lure an unaware Medic into an ambush. Thinking you are a member of his team, the Medic may follow you into your team's base, allowing your team to ambush him with a Sentry Gun or a group of allies. Remember that Spies look less suspicious when they appear to be trying to help the team.

Rushing

Main article: Rush

• Overview: All players select the same class to overwelm the enemy.
• Details: All players choose only one class or a majority of one class. The class usaully depends on the situation. For example, a Scout rush allows your team to reach and capture the first point very quickly, hopefully before the entire enemy team arrives.

Practice

It's important to practice both with your friends and your team. Learn your team's strengths and weaknesses. If you are aware of your team's weaknesses you can help remove them, and if you are aware of your team's strengths, you can amplify them. When your team is in need of a certain class, try to find a player who plays that class well, or who is not already fulfilling a vital role -- asking your team's only Engineer to switch to Medic may not be the most effective use of your teammate's ability.