Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2

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MvM Spy: The Angel of Expert Mode
By Upsilon
MvM Spy has been taboo for too long. This guide will end this charade.
   
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Important Notice
I think it's just about official that I am discontinuing updating/writing guides for MvM. MvM Solly most likely won't see the light of day. Thanks again to everyone who viewed and I hope the guides helped you. They were great practice for me and I had a lot of fun, but now, I'm moving on. I hope the information will still be relevant at the time you are reading, and good luck on those Aussies or whatever is the next big thing on TF2 at the moment.

- Upsilon Force
MvM Spy: The Angel of Expert Mode
1. Intro/Terms
2. Why am I reading this? Who are you?
3. Overview/When to play spy
4. Loadout
5. Upgrade Build
6. Basics
7. Advanced Tactics and Examples
8. Additional, Random tips (as well as new things)
1. Intro
You read right: Spy in MvM Expert Mode. I’m hoping to destroy the taboo-ness around Spy in MvM in one guide which I cannot do without your help. If you feel the guide matches my dreams, please –I do implore– thumbs up, comment, favorite, and share it with anyone you know will be interested and please give me credit for the original as well as keep a lookout for those who wish to steal it. I'll also try to keep it updated if anything big changes.
First, I need to be absolutely sure that we’re on the same page with the lingo I will be using. If you are a hardcore gamer that’s seen many games, you might safely skip this section.

DPS= Damage Per Second (used often to shorten the word “damage” when typing. Depending on the context, it can be taken literal as well as in: 200 DPS).
AoE=Area of Effect (i.e. a sniper shot is single target while the Soldier’s rocket is AoE)
MvM=Mann vs. Machine (the TF2 co-op game mode where you fight robots in tower defense)
PvP=Player vs. Player (a game mode where little-to-no A.I. is involved. Mostly players)
Taboo=Unaccepted in certain eras of society. Like an anti-fad. (Google can help more)
CC=Crowd Control (refers to any effect or ability that limits/halts the movement or control of the target i.e. a stun, a slowing effect ect).
FF=Focus Fire (to bring everyone’s attention exclusively to attacking a single target i.e. “ff giant demo” means “everyone shoot the giant demoman to kill him as quickly as possible”. Another wording would be “focus demo”; using it as a verb)
Medic Dropping=Killing a medic specifically when his uber charge is ready, cancelling it; preventing him from using it.
LOS= Line of Sight (think of it as hiding. If a robot is about to shoot you and you duck behind cover, you have broken his LOS, and he’ll ignore you. LOS is a big deal in stealth games/gameplay. It’s the core of your survival.)

Also, there is a section where I place a secret that (I think) only I know about Spy in MvM. I’m being serious. I’ve only told a select few about it. It’s a mechanic that isn’t common in FPS games, but it works here in MvM. This secret is the main reason why Spy is so dangerous in this mode. Soon, I’m letting my secret out. Buckle up.
2. Why am I reading this? Who are you?
My alias is Upsilon Force. I play Spy extensively in PvP and MvM. In fact, when MvM was first released, the only thing I wanted to play was Spy. Why? Because no one wanted to and no one wanted one. I thought to myself “but he seems quite deadly.” I dedicated myself to making the best of Spy and spent many hours/tours playing him on easier modes to learn everything I could about him. One day, I got my dream game: MvM Spy in Expert Mode. It was a rough, uphill battle that went on for about 2 hrs (Expert mode was new at the time). Then, at the VERY LAST wave, I was running out of time in real life. I said “I have time for ONE more attempt at this wave then I have to leave” to which my team unanimously responded “Well, I’m adding you because….you are the best MvM Spy I’ve ever seen” and a few already had several tours, so the guys saying this were no noobs. [The internet being the internet, you’ll attack them with “omg mah teem beet dis bunches of tiemz wif no deffs an gotz all da $$”. Keep in mind this was a pub; I didn’t know these guys. That makes a big difference from a premade. Matchmaking is a dice-roll and you can’t win every time.] In one, final, all-or-nothing, glorious battle, I carried my team to victory, and then went on to complete the campaign. I had earned my Operation: Gear Grinder badge as one of the most taboo classes in MvM: the Spy. Right now, I’ll share with you all you need to know to do the same. Without further ado, The Angel of Expert Mode.
3. Overview/When to play Spy
The Spy is mostly about CC and in uncommon occasions, causing massive DPS to giants, softening them up for teammates to finish them off. First, foremost, and above all else, his main job is to kill medics before they can uber charge and steamroll your team. Sound familiar? Here is where we learn that there is a time to play Spy, and a time where Spy might not be the “best” idea, but still viable: when you have a demo. This mistake alone is probably the biggest reason why Spy has such a bad reputation. As you can see, the Spy and the Demo both have very similar fighting styles and jobs in MvM: CC and medic dropping. Since their roles are so similar, it MIGHT be best to only have one or the other, not both. While a very skilled team can manage it, these two on the same team might be competing against each other instead of contributing to the fight. For example, a medic group shows up with a giant Heavy bot. The Spy saps them, but at the same time the demo blows them up with his sticky launcher, wasting the Sapper and putting the Spy in unnecessary danger. The demo uses a crit canteen to kill the giant heavy, but the Spy already brought his health down to 25%, wasting the crit canteen. It’s not impossible, but if you’re pubbing, I’d recommend one or the other. Don’t take that as an absolute. If you and that demo can make it work, by all means. Also, don’t have 2 Spies. C’mon now.

(Update: Spy is now best played if you were the Scout of your team and you've earned enough cash to get a refund token. Or if you are skilled and daring, you can play "money Spy" with some killing in between. Variations can still apply.)
4. Load Out
Alright, now we’re gettin’ to the meat of this guide! In MvM, there is very little room for creativity with your load out no matter what class you’re playing. A Scout can get vote kicked out because he doesn’t have the Fan of War/Sandman or Mad Milk and Spy is no exception. His load out is almost as strict. Here’s what I take and why:

Primary weapons

The Ambassador: THE whole-heartedly recommended gun for Spy in MvM and what I take almost every time. As Spy, you shouldn’t be shooting at all. If you do, it should be sniping at giants from a safe distance. If you can aim carefully, you can do a 102 shot critical on EVERY shot with no upgrades! For free, that’s not bad at all! Also, the giants move slowly so might as well put a dart board on their foreheads that say “HEAD-SHOT ME!!!”

Revolver: Meh. It’s kind of strong, yes. It’s a balanced weapon, but in MvM, you need utility; a weapon with some kind of special advantage aside from raw fire-power. If your team just barely lost to a few tanks, you might consider taking this with a firing speed upgrade. That’s tough to say though because it’s untested (I’ve never needed to do so). Also, your melee attack speed will be so fast, it will out-dps most of your guns. Sounds weird, I know, but most of your money will be in your knife. You need to be stabbing, not shooting. It’s really nice to take a gun that’s still useful, but doesn’t need any upgrades. After all, most of it will be in your knife, defenses, and buy-back-insta-respawns.

L’etranger: Later I will mention that you should take the Dead Ringer as your PDA/watch/stealth option which might make you go “DR? Pfft, the L.E. is a given!”, but that’s not true. The LE’s damage is very low and you shouldn’t be shooting. I’ll cover why later. With plentiful ammo packs lying around and the Engineer’s dispenser, there’s just no need for this gun.

Diamond Back: “Wait, you SAP ROBOTS?! OMG DIE-MUND BAAK!” Whoa there, Sherlock Holmes! You might have planned ahead, but there’s a catch: you do NOT receive bonus crits from killing sapped robots. Tough luck, I know, but because you can’t get its bonus, you are left with nothing but a damage reduction and no utility. If you’re on Advanced Mode, you might be able to sap the robo engi’s buildings for some crits, but it won’t be much. Never take it when you’re serious. (Update: It now does work on robots backstab, but one death resets all your stored crits. Still not recommended, but not as useless. Maybe newer spies can try this.)

The Enforcer: Now here’s a tricky one: 20% slower, but 20% stronger. “Buy firing speed and a crit canteen vs. that Tank” right? Wrong. It’s expensive and you might do great damage per second for a time, but remember the reload time and running out of ammo. In the long run, your melee will do better dps. Here are some estimates from pure experience. The enforcer does about 70-80 damage per shot, but with minimal upgrades, fires about 1 time a second. With your melee, you do about 40 damage per hit, but swing more than 1 time per second. In the long run, the melee is more steady and consistent vs. tanks and you need melee upgraded to fight giants. Besides, if your team relies on you to kill tanks, you have bigger issues than playing Spy. Give this weapon a pass.

Both the secondaries-Sapper and Red Tape Recorder-have the same stats in MvM, but you might want to take the recorder so it’s obvious when the bots are still sapped due to the loud noise.

Melee Weapons

This one is very important. This is your main weapon as Spy, so we have to choose very carefully. Not only this, but when you choose a knife and upgrade it, there’s no going back past wave 1.

The Spycicle: Ah, my darling…marry me. PvP or MvM, I love this knife. It doesn’t show up in the kill feed when you kill someone (though it makes one crazy-loud sound when you stab. I thought it was a “silent killer”..???), humiliates your target by leaving them in an ice statue, and most importantly for MvM, will block a Robo Pyro’s fire burning for a few seconds. This will save your life many, many, many times, which will save you precious time and invaluable money. More on this later. (Update: With the introduction of Hu-long Heaters being put on Heavy giant bots, stock is now the best option.)

The Big Earner: This one is some what viable, but the health reduction hurts. I’ve survived with <25 hp waaaay too many times to even consider this for myself. It does open up a risky strategy of keeping your cloak full, which can be awesome, but one, stray flame from a pyro and you’re toast. Pun intended.

The Conniver’s Kunai: This health reduction is even worse! Only 65 hp!? OUCH! One rocket in your general direction and it is game over for you, Kunai lovers. Sorry. Stabbing for free health is cool and all, but you have an upgrade for that. It’s not worth its weight.

Butterfly Knife: If it’s all you got, it’ll have to do. It’s not awful, but with most stock weapons in MvM, there’s no bonus utility. Avoid using this if you can, but if you are stuck with it, it can work.

Your Eternal Reward/Wanga: Absolutely not. It’s only trick-the disguise steal- doesn’t work on bots. That means you are a Spy in MvM that can’t disguise, which is like a singer with laryngitis. Always avoid. Take Butterfly Knife over this.

PDA/Watch/Stealth

Dead Ringer: If you take any other watch to MvM, you deserve every second of flaming and vote kicking thrown your way. The Spy is squishy, meaning he dies very quickly. If you catch the robots attention for half a second, you are insta-gibbed; dead. INSTANTLY. That’s what makes playing Spy in MvM so intense: you are constantly ONE mistake from instant death. The Dead Ringer is YOUR ONLY CHANCE to be any use to your team in the slightest. Don’t even consider any other watch. If a spy plays without Dead Ringer, KICK HIM!

Every other PDA: Never take them. The Dead Ringer’s cloak is instant, while the others take a second or two. YOU DON’T HAVE TWO SECONDS. Besides, the idea of these weapons is to remain invisible. With your disguises, you already have that effect on robots. You don’t need any help to go unseen, you need help not getting blown to bits, tossed through a meat grinder, and be used as a paint for the map all in a matter of a second. It’s Dead Ringer or bust. Literally.
5. Upgrade Build (outdated, but can be used for reference)
The backbone of an effective game is your upgrade choices. Even a very skilled player can easily lose Normal Mode MvM if his/her build is bad. Conversely, even if you have a bad player with a good build, they can kick some serious butt. For Spy, about 80% of your money is going in his knife. The rest are spread out to canteens, buy-back respawns and some minor defense.
First thing you should always buy-whether you have $400 or more, is one Sapper upgrade. This will make your sapper have an AOE instead of single target. If you start with $400, go for Sapper, then 3 “Teleport to Spawn” canteens.

“Teleport to spawn? What good is that? Why not the other canteens?”

Back to the guns, you shouldn’t be shooting (but ammo canteens refill sappers) and melee doesn’t get the bonus of crit canteens. Uber canteens are really good and all, but they are 7.5x more expensive than teleporting to safety and racing back out. Uber canteens only last a few seconds which often won’t be enough to get you out of trouble. They have a situation or two where they can work, but not often enough. Think of Teleport as a $10, buy-back, insta-respawn; a “get out of death free” card. If you’re pinned down with low health and no way out, a tap of your canteen button and you’re GONE! It’s super cheap, it’s so rewarding, it’s like a ninja smoke bomb!

Where were we….ah, yes: the build. You should next take a point in Armor Piercing, which will allow you to stab giants for a fair amount of damage, and/or a point in melee swing speed to help you thin the groups (depending on the wave. More on this later). Yeah, that’s right: you can’t backstab giants without this upgrade (Update: You can, but don't go for it unless you have some points in this upgrade. The damage isn't worth the risk unless you are finishing one off). Each one will allow 25% more damage, up to a maximum of….*drumroll* ….750 950! You read correctly! SEVEN-HUNDRED, FIFTY NINE-HUNDRED, FIFTY DAMAGE PER SWING. I’ve seen it a million times, yet I always get so pumped when I see those numbers flyin’ around the monitor! Combined with Melee Speed, you can stab a giant up to FOUR TIMES! 4 x 750 = 3,000! 4 x 950 = 3,800!
Next up, you need at least one point in “+25 hp per kill” on your knife. When you take out a group of 4 bots that’s 4 x 25 = 100, and any health that goes over will turn into over-heal. Sometimes, 125hp isn’t enough to keep you up, but over 180-200hp? Now we’re talkin’!
Here’s where I deviate from the norm a bit. I often only take ONE point in my Sapper upgrade. It might be a smaller area and not last as long, but really, you need neither. Sometimes, I’ll take two points at the most; rarely 3. Here’s the thing: while the bots are sapped and you are stabbing them, you are quickly getting the attention of the ones you have NOT sapped which means you’re gonna’ blow up soon. The level 1 upgrade of the sapper’s duration gives you just enough time to stab 3-4 (5 if you’re daring or safe to do so) and cloak yourself to escape. By then, you have about 10+ crit rockets and crit grenades along with 50+ crit arrows, crit robo scout bats, miniguns, pyros, and sniper scopes with your name on them. Dead Ringer doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?
Finally, if crits are flying everywhere, you NEED Crit Resistance. Blast Resistance is really good too because nothing is more frustrating than trying to sap a wave of bots and a friendly Pyro circles around them, causing the crit robo solly to shoot his crocket at him, miss, and gib YOU. It sucks. One upgrade that I take EVERY game is “Regenerate 2hp per second”. It’s really nice to heal up little owies you get from some stray gunfire. Combine this with your 25hp on kill, and you can stay healthy quite easily. I only take 1 point in health regen. Sometimes more, if I have excess money or it’s Advanced Mode instead of Expert. That about covers upgrades! That’s about it, really. The Spy really doesn’t start to shine until about after wave 2 on most maps. TL:DR Sapper, 3 tele canteens, 1 melee speed, 1 armor piering, 1 health regen, 1 hp on kill, steadily go between attack speed and armor piercing, and prioritize defenses as needed (which shouldn’t be too high. Just crits and explosions. Use your judgment.) Now for the exciting part. We now know our load out, role, and build so there’s only one thing left. How to PLAY.
Upgrade Build 2 (Updated 7/29/2014)
With the newer changes to the Spy starting with 25% AP backstabs, the focus of Spy is more toward his stab speed. So now it's more like: 1 hp regen, 1 hp on kill (knife) 1 Sapper, max melee speed, tele canteens as always, then steadily raise armor piercing with 1 point in each resistance & max crit resistance ALWAYS. This should get you by better in the current meta.

I added this section because I didn't realize how much traffic this old guide was still getting!
6. Basics
Perhaps the main idea of Spy, no matter the wave or difficulty, is DO NOT DIE. Everything a Spy does - even here in MvM - requires him to be behind enemy lines. Getting back to your position after you die takes a while and is very dangerous. Not only that, you are the medic dropper! If there is a wave of medics and you go down, your team might go with you! If you are swarmed by metal fist heavies, the spy can backstab those; they aren't "giants". Don't die here either!
It might be frustrating, but as a Spy, you need to spend a lot of time during the wave watching, not fighting (this is why it's viable to go money Spy). You have to wait for your opportunities. Yeah, it’s a COD player filter, lol. You might get flamed for not being in the fray, but you have to keep calm. Don’t break under your teammates flame pressure, because then you will REALLY screw up. You have a hard enough time convincing anyone to even let you play Spy in the first place! You have a lot to prove! So wait for those opportunities like letting a bunch of bots or two pass so you can get the ones in the very back. Wait for that giant heavy bot to start shooting at teammates before you sap ‘n stab his medics. Watch the tank go by as you wait for bots behind it to show up. Also, you have ONE sapper with a cool-down. If you use it too early, you might miss that medic wave and cost your team the round. And always…ALWAYS…
AAAAAA
LLLLLLL
WWWWW
AAAAAA
YYYYYY
SSSSSSS
HAVE YOUR DEAD RINGER UP! Only put it away if you are about to attack. Other than that, you should see your left hand holding the gold pocket-watch at every second of MvM. If not, you should be on your way to an ammo pack or dispenser. We never wana’ die, remember?
Giants can also be a problem, but never for Spy. As I mentioned earlier, your stabbing can cause immense damage, but giants don’t let you stab for free. After about the 3rd stab (rarely, the 4th stab), the giant will turn to swat you away like an annoying fly. Instead, it can be safer to just headshot it with our trusty Ambassador from a safer distance. If you can land those shots consistently, you can put out a lot of damage for no upgrades and do so safely.
A big role Spy can play is helping to collect money. If the Scout has trouble for whatever the numerous reasons, you can get it safely with your Dead Ringer and disguises. He’ll love you for it. Besides, who doesn’t want a free $100 bonus?! It’ll give you something to do while you wait for your opportunities. Just don’t take too much from him as he gets HUGE health buffs from gathering money, which he will need badly to survive and keep collecting. Be an angel.
7. Advanced Tactics and Examples
If you skipped straight to this section, shame on you. I spent time typing all that up there, you know. You could at least read it -_-.

Now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for. What are the things makes MY Spy so different? So effective? The wait is over. First, I’ll start with my big, super secret; the one thing Spy has that no one else does. It’s a mechanic called Aggro.
“Ive heard of Aggro before. It’s from RPG’s and MMO’s, right? What does it have to do with TF2 or MvM or even Spy? What is aggro anyway?” Aggro is a mechanic where the player(s) can manipulate the attention and the FF of enemy A.I. In MMO’s, whoever is causing the most damage to a monster is who the monster will attack. If their tough guy, the “tank”, can “hold aggro”, making the A.I. monster attack him, he can keep the rest of his team safe. When you damage a giant bot, you “pull aggro” on yourself. This is incredibly useful! Let’s say a giant heavy is very close to scoring the bomb. The siren is blaring, your team is panicking, the giant is marching up to them with his over-the-top mini-gun damage, and everything is looking grim. Spy aggro can save the day! With the Ambassador, you can sit far away from the giant and head shot him once or twice, which will pull aggro. The giant heavy will ignore all your teammates and attempt to shoot you, but you’re too far away and the Ambassador’s headshot damage doesn’t fall off over distance! (bear in mind however, that this does have a range limit. The bots will still ignore you if you are TOO far away.) This frees up your team to jump right next to that giant in ZERO danger and light him up! See two giant demos and only the Pyro is with you? Headshot the giants 1-2 times each and they will FF you, leaving the Pyro to blast the giants away for free! If you want to hold aggro, however, you MUST maintain LOS. The moment you break LOS, you lose all aggro. There you go! Lucky you: you now know my biggest secret. I might not have been the first to discover it or mention it (not sure), but please, give me a little credit.
---This one will throw you for a loop at first, but hang with me! I’m being serious! In your misc. gear slot, it’s great to equip the Pyro Vision. DON’T SCROLL AWAY, GIMME A SECOND! The Pyro Vision changes some sound effects that can communicate things to you non-verbally. For example, every time you are killed, you will laugh. You also laugh when your dead ringer is popped (which is fun too, it’s like the Spy is laughing at their attempt to kill him). This is a great way of detecting if a teammate has died or is taking heavy damage. Also, since the voices are sped-up, you can hear what they are saying faster. Instead of “MMMMEEEETAAALLL GIIIIAAAAANNNNT ISSSSS KEEEEEEELING UUUUUSSSSS!” you’ll hear “metalgiantiskillingus”! The best part is every heal pack turns into cake! WARNING: do not use if you are hungry. Who would have thought that sky-blue icing would look so delicious...
---“Wait! If disguises are so important, which one should I take? Does it matter?” Very good question. Answer: It DOES matter. I ALWAYS take the engineer’s/medic's disguise for two big reasons: 1) The Engineer’s running speed is the same as the Spy, so I can disguise without slowing down. 2) He is one of the few classes that has MvM specific call-outs like “SCOUTS A GONER! SENTRY BUSTER! MIGHTY ROBOT! HEAVY’S A GONER!” or something very crucial like “GUESS IT’S UP TO ME, NOW!” It might not seem like much, but since you are behind enemy lines, you can’t really hear what your teammates are saying. The Spy can now call them out for you. Also, while pubbing, your team might forget to call out that they’re dead. The more situational awareness you have, the better.
---Did you know that while a little bot is sapped, it doesn’t matter what angle you stab them from? Right on! If you sap a robo scout and stab him in the face, you will still “backstab” him.
---Robo medics/giant medics almost never pay any attention to you. You can stab them freely, just be concerned about their heal target. Following a giant medic, you can stab it until it dies which is the only time that an Uber canteen would be useful.
---How many stabs you can land on a giant depends on if someone else has his aggro. If you attack a giant bot waaaaaay away from your teammates, he will turn on the 2nd stab. If you want to wear him down like this, stab only once or twice (MAX), disguise, then cloak. As soon as you cloak make a break for an ammo pack, but don’t step on it yet. Wait until the giant stops shooting at you, then decloak and take the ammo pack. If someone has the aggro of the giant already, you can land 3 stabs (4 if you’re lucky). After the 3rd stab, repeat the escape maneuver of disguise, cloak, run for ammo. If the ammo is really far away, forget it; just stalk the giant or run further back toward their spawn to go for another group. Don’t attempt to stab a giant heavy unless you are at full health. He will follow you for a few seconds after you cloak and can still easily kill you.
Advanced Tactics (part 2 for readability)
---A great tactic is to let your team fall back to a half-way point while you stand right next to the robot spawn point. You can thin the groups and easily have time to pick off the medics in this formation. The Spy can leave a giant heavy bot with 6 robo medics medic-less with half health by the time he shows up to your team’s engi nest. This is what I meant by “I carried my team to victory”, not to say they were useless pork, but that I played THAT big of a role in our tour. If you are in a mission like the Mecha Engi mission where there are a lot of medics spread out from each other, then it is advised to have your team pop the uber charges early, even backing the nest up a bit and spreading your team out along the robots’ path while you still use this tactic.
---Don’t ever be on ground level unless you are about to attack. Be up on a rock or some kind of elevation. You will always have some stupid Pyro that thinks he’s supposed to be spamming is flame thrower or a scout might innocently be gathering cash and pulling aggro, increasing the chance of you accidentally dying. Just wait until you hear the engi’s voice say “PYRO’S A GONER!”, then you can make your moves. In general, the Spy is very much a lone wolf; stay away from your teammates entirely. You don’t need to be near them for any reason at all.
---The first wave or two will be a bit boring because you aren’t really needed yet. You can help gather cash and maybe sap a group. This wave is usually laid back, so if you die, just wait on your respawn timer, don’t buy back. Dying is much more acceptable in this wave. (Speaking of dying, another good tip is I only buy back at about the $10 point. If you are hard-pressed and your team is trying to clutch its way past a wave, you can buy back a little bit sooner, but again, if this is the situation, Spy is the least of your concerns.)
---What is the one thing that measures whether the robot wave is making progress or not? The bomb(s). If there is no tank, all you have to do is keep the bomb from moving. If it doesn’t go forward, you can hold them off indefinitely, right? It’s how Pyro works: airblast the bomb in a ravine for infinite time. The Spy can do something similar. If the only thing your team needs is time, you can sap the bomb bot and leave it. It will be stunned and most of the other bots will stop in their tracks too. Say if the bomb bot is just a few feet from scoring, you can sap it and wait maybe 2-3 seconds for teammates to show up.
---When a bot is “scoring” a bomb, there are some things you should know about that “animation”. During the bomb-score animation, no matter where their upper bodies are facing, they are facing the bomb point. As soon as they start to fold up to jump in, they are facing the goal. Backstab accordingly. You can keep the bomb safe for a long time by yourself if you keep this in mind! Use your tele canteen to catch up with a giant scout and save the day!
8. Additional, Random Tips
-If your team is having trouble with the initial waves, you can try playing a different class and not spend ANY money on them. For example, I played a game as Pyro for the 1st or 2nd wave, then switch to Spy later. As Pyro, I can airblast for a few resets, giving the team more time. I then switched to Phlog because they were having trouble with a tank that wave. However, I only did this because my team was....not good. You can also use this slippery technique to hide the fact that you will play Spy later. It's like a disguise IN REAL LIFE! HOW IMMERSIVE!
-When facing Captain Punch during the Mecha Engi campaign, your backstabs damage can max out at a whopping 1.5k!! WOW! This is one of those few times where the uber canteen can be useful.
-Boot Camp teammates suck. Proven fact. If you play Boot Camp to learn Spy, that's fine; but no one is winning a F2P MvM anytime soon. They can throw the blame game around all they want, but gunslinger/pistol/pomson Engis, Huo-Long Heater Heavies, point-blank Pyros, Snipers that miss 3 times and turn to their melee (and are ALWAYS the ones that F4 too early), Sollies without Buff Banners, Scouts without Fan of War or Mad Milk, and Uber Charge Medics don't have any room to talk crap to you. When you play with Tour of Duty tickets in Mann Up mode, the competency of teammates skyrockets...as does their hatred for Spies.
-If you have teammates circling the bots as you try to stab them, you have 2 options: 1) Let them die. 2) Politely ask them to stop so you can kill stuff. Option 1 is my favorite. Just sayin'.
-When money is more scarce, Resistance upgrades are almost obsolete entirely for Spy.
-Remeber that your question might often be answered by another comment.Try this before you ask!
-Sorry, I will not accept random friend invites.
Go prove that Spy is the Angel to be feared
I first recommend that you play Normal Mode MvM to get used to this wall of text’s information then work your way up. It will still be tough to convince your teammates to let you play Spy in harder modes. Direct them to this guide; maybe it’ll change their minds. If they are reluctant, but roll with it, show them that Spy is no devil to be hated, but an angel to be feared; the angel of MvM Expert Mode and beyond. Thank you for reading!

If you enjoy my guides, you can join my fan group! Don't think of it as me looking for worship, but more like "subscribing to my channel". https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/groups/upsilonfanclub
Special Thanks
Special Thanks goes to my good friend Froggerlogger. None of these guides would exist without your encouragement!
223 Comments
lesbians #savekuromi 27 Oct, 2023 @ 11:05pm 
"Spy is an aoe class" I've never heard a more absurd thing in my life

Finished the guide and realized it was actually written a really long time ago, makes more sense now, and a lot of this information isn't outdated.
Heatmaker 7 Jan, 2019 @ 3:44am 
Ambassador just sucks now in 2019
Auscobe on Twitch 23 Jun, 2018 @ 4:22pm 
Good guide. I secondary Spy in the normal game, engie being first and medic being second in mvm (Medic main normally, i heal the crap out of everyone). Can't wait to use this info to be a good spy.
put me out of my misery 26 May, 2018 @ 8:51am 
nice to see another fellow spy mate who can do wonders on MvM
*insert cringe* 27 Apr, 2018 @ 10:12pm 
Really nice guide! I really want to learn to play spy in MvM and this will certainly help.
*insert cringe* 27 Apr, 2018 @ 10:11pm 
The luckiest I've ever gotten on a boot camp server was getting to wave six as pyro.
Yes, I'm Kazuma 12 Dec, 2017 @ 7:25pm 
Recharge rate for a cloak watch is not something you can buy in the MvM mode, so if you really wanted some way to get a faster recharge time on the Dead Ringer, you would most likely have to use the L'etranger.
elementary schools near me 26 Nov, 2017 @ 11:11am 
New dead ringer nerf (like the 500th one -_-). How would I use this for spy in mvm? I can’t pick up ammo packs, which is a big problem. Maybe recharge rate?
Upsilon  [author] 18 Aug, 2017 @ 12:36pm 
You're asking for a TLDR....from a GUIDE of the most complicated classes to play - an assassin designed for single-target picks - in a mode where he isn't fully intended; a horde survival mode?
habibi 9 Aug, 2017 @ 8:29am 
TL;DR anyone?