Weapons
The two fire based weapons that the pyro carries are the flamethrower and the incendiary cannon. Both will set enemies on fire.
The pyro also carries the single-barrel shotgun.
As with all classes use the crowbar as a last resort.
Special Skills
Hitting the special skill key (right mouse button by default) will select the incendiary cannon.
Grenades
The pyro carries the standard fragmentation hand grenade and the napalm grenades. When they explode, the napalm grenades cover a medium size area with flames. These flames will burn for a few seconds and any enemies that contact them will be set on fire.
Strengths
So right off the top, I must say that if your goal is to kill lots of enemies, you shouldn't play the pyro. The pyro's role is that of a supporting player. You might help your other teammates get some great scores, but that's the fact you must understand. Instead, the pyro is able to cause confusion and panic over at the enemy's side of the map. He's also great as the first line of defense, to wear down incoming opponents. His flamethrower is able to send a considerable large volume of flames a good distance in front of him. The flames can block the vision of his enemies, thus causing the confusion. The flamethrower doesn't really do that much damage. A pyro will have to chase down an opponent and keep him in his flames for many seconds before he'll go down. However, all the pyro needs to do is set some enemies on fire and his job will be done. Players don't like to be set on fire, they lose their armour and health, and all they can see in front of them is flames. A good pyro will keep moving, trying to flame as many enemies as he can. He probably won't take anyone down, but he'll scatter the enemy, giving your other teammates a chance to accomplish the map objectives.
From afar, the pyro should use his incendiary cannon. Don't mistake this cannon for the bad boy the soldier carries. The pyro's cannon is much less powerful though he can carry more rockets in the launcher at one time. Also, the incendiary cannon has a larger blast radius than the soldier's rocket. Even an indirect hit from it will ensure that the target will be set on fire. The rocket is great for setting a large group of enemies on fire, especially snipers on a high-up deck somewhere. Most people don't know this, but the incendiary cannon can light enemies on fire through walls and roofs. So if you target ducks behind a wall, shoot for where you think he is behind the wall, he'll get toasted on the other side.
One last thing, the pyro is able to hold enemies at bay using his napalm grenades. Like all of his arsenal, the napalm grenades won't kill anyone, but they do act as a deterrent. No one likes running into an area thats covered with flames. For them, that means they'll be on fire, have their vision obscured, and they know someone is waiting for them on the other side. Use the napalm grenades in doorways, hallways, and narrow corridors
Weaknesses
The pyro's main weakness is that he lacks weapons that can be classified as "devastingly powerful". The flamethrower and cannon can take a fair chunk out of an ememy, but you really have to work at taking the enemy down. On most one-on-one fights, the pyro must be careful to keep moving and using his flames to confuse the enemy.
How To Defeat A Pyro
The pyro can be engaged at any distance. At closer distances just make sure you aren't standing in one place for too long. You can be sure the pyro will want to fry you with his flamethrower. It does take a few seconds of sustained contact, but a pyro can take you down. So keep moving, and just fire your weapon as many times as you can. Use a well-timed grenade. Or try the run-and-gun game. Shoot the pyro, run away for cover, then shoot again.
At longer distances, your safety becomes increased. He'll use the incendiary cannon, and to be frank, you can take two direct hits from it before you need to worry. Given that, get off the shots you need to take him down.
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Spy
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The Spy
The spy carries two weapons directly related to his profession: the tranquilizer gun and the knife.
The tranquilizer will slow any class down to a fraction of their max speed. I like to use this when I'm being chased or when I want to attack an enemy from behind. The spy's knife can kill an enemy instantly if you stab them in the back. This weapon works good with tranq.
The other weapon the spy carries is the nailgun and super shotgun which should be used if your cover is blown.
Special Skills
Hitting the special skill key (right mouse button by default) will bring up the disguise menu, allowing the spy to look like anyone he wants.
Grenades
Playing the spy does take a fair amount of skill and thinking, so if you suck at it first don't feel so bad. That said, the spy's biggest strength lies in his ability to don disguises and impersonate the enemy. To do so, hit the special skill key to bring up the disguise menu. Here you have several choices, you can either change your colours first or you can change your disguise. Pick what class you want to be disguised as. A good thing to keep in mind is not to pick a class that the enemy doesn't have. If you know the other side doesn't have a medic, don't be one. Also, the spy moves quite fast, almost as fast as the medic. Your disguise won't change that. So, if you go out there as a HWGuy, you'll look like one super fast HWGuy. Ok, once you've changed classes you can then change over to the enemy colour. Now there is some difference here at how people do this. Some spies will not change colours as they leave their base. This allows them to not raise the suspicions of the other side, who invariably will have their eyes trained on the spy's base. Once the spy leaves the base, they will find a hidden away spot to finish their disguise. Now if you do choose to do all your disguising at your base, the acting starts right away. Just don't waltz out of your base. The enemy will think it strange that one of their own just left the other base with nary a pursuer in sight. What you should do is run out of your base like you're an injured teammate. Run backwards and call for medic. Zig and zag as you run over to the other base. To the other side, it looks like you're a teammate who trying to escape out of the enemy base. If you can pull it off, get another teammate to chase you out of your base, firing wildly all that time. I've seen it done and it works really well.
Alright, so you're in disguise and you've made it out of your base... what's next? First, realize that while in disguise you cannot fire your weapons (including the knife). If you do, your disguise will disappear instantly. You may throw grenades and keep your disguise however. A good spy will also be a good actor. When you enter the enemy base, act as if you belong there. Don't run at the sight of the enemy. Remember, they think you're on their team. Also, don't make the mistake of getting close to things that can be triggered only by players on the other team, this includes doors and elevators. If an enemy sees that you're next to a door that normally should open for his teammates, he'll know something's wrong. The key is to act natural around the enemy. Turning away from an opponent while staying still is a good way of deflecting their curiosity. To them, you aren't looking at them (which means you don't consider them a target... yet) and also you aren't running for their flag.
So now you've gained the enemy's trust... what now? Well, the spy is great at infiltrating heavy defenses to take out specific targets. For example, does the enemy have a sniper that's taking out every one of your teammates as they leave the base? Sneak up to the sniper, select the knife, and stab him in the back of the head. One stab should do. Your disguise is now gone, so drop a gas grenade to discourage the use of this perch again, and high-tail it out of there.
Does the enemy have a sentry gun that's cutting down every teammate that tries to get past it? Well, lucky for you, your disguise can fool even a sentry. Taking out a sentry can be risky business. Most times, the engineer that built the sentry will be nearby to maintain it. While it maybe simple to toss two hand grenades at the sentry and run, I'm pretty sure that engineer won't simply let you run away. I play engineer quite a bit and nothing gets an engineer more mad than seeing his sentry go down to a spy's grenade. Don't get me wrong, the toss and run thing works, but now at least one player knows your secret. A better option is to wait for the engineer to leave to get more supplies. Then toss your grenades and run. The drawback is that a good engineer will be wary of anyone who seems to be interested in his defensive set-up. It is quite possible that he'll hit you with his wrench just to check that you're not a spy. What you should do is wait a fair distance from the sentry and act as if you're covering the way leading to the sentry. Keep your eye on the engineer. When he leaves, that's your cue.
The spy is also great at making a run at the enemy flag. He can penetrate all of the enemy's defenses, right to the flag. The drawback is that once a spy grabs a flag, his disguise disappears. This frees you to fire all your weapons, as you will need them since the enemy will be using theirs too. Remember too that any sentries that you passed safely on your way to the flag will now know who you are and will fire away. A common technique is to make the grenade tosses at the sentries and then immediately run for the flag.
One ability the spy has that I haven't mentioned is the ability to feign death. This allows the spy to act like he is dead and lie on the floor. Remember to use the 'j' to key to feign. If you don't use that key, your feign will not be silent and the enemy will know a spy has feigned. While down on the floor you can still look around, but not fire your weapons. When a spy looks around while feigning, his body will rotate around. This will give away the spy easily, so good spies will not look around when feigning. Feigning can be used to spy on the enemy, thus giving your team valuable intel. Feigning can also be used to take out single opponents. A common tactic is to wait for an enemy player to pass freely. Once the player passes, the spy will stop feigning and run up to player from behind. Then, the knife is usually used to take the player down.
The spy is also a middle-of-the-road fighter, good for classes with similar health and armour values. One on one, a spy should try to the following technique. First, shoot the opponent with the tranquilizer gun. This halves the player's foot speed so he can't run away from you. The tranq dart also impairs his ability to fire his weapons. Then, switch to the knife and run up to him and stab him until he goes down. Players hate this because they are powerless to run away. I know I don't like going down that way.
Weaknesses
The spy cannot fire while disguised and the opposition will use this fact. Many teams will require that teammates fire a round off when entering a critically defended area. This proves to the defenders that the entering player is not a spy. Spies will have to find a way around this test.
Also, in TFC, each player can be identified by pointing your cross-hairs at them. Try it yourself, point at each of your teammates. You'll see in the bottom left-hand corner the player's name and his vitals. A spy from the other team will take on the name and vitals of one of your teammates. This is to help the spy from being easily identified. However, it's quite possible that the player being impersonated will see his name on another player. This will instantly give away the spy's disguise.
A final weakness is that the enemy can see what a spy's next disguise will be. For example, say a spy dies in the enemy base. His body will lie there, at first looking like an enemy spy as he respawns. When he starts to disguise again, however, all his changes will be mirrored in the body he left behind at his last death. The opposition will be able to see instantly what disguise he has now chosen.
How To Defeat A Spy
The spy can wreak much havoc if a team does not become vigilant against his attacks. First, watch the exits of the enemy base, look for players that are the same colour as you are. Do you notice any players that are coming out that didn't go in? Most times, you won't be able to look at the enemy base for long periods of time because of sniper fire. Then, you should station yourself by your own base's entrances. Watch players coming in, and try to ID them with your crosshairs. Do any of them have your name? Also, if you are a scout or spy yourself, try touching all the players coming into your base. This will remove any disguises that a spy might have. If you are an engineer, build a dispenser at one of your main entrances or in a well-traveled narrow hallway. If a spy touches the dispenser as he passes, you will be notified that an enemy is using it. Detonate the dispenser immediately. Note, this works best if you have your eye on the dispenser all the time. If the dispenser explosion doesn't kill the spy, you still won't know what the disguise the spy has. A final, but crude way of checking for spies is to shoot any teammates entering your base. Any spies will exhibit blood when shot. Note that any teammates shot will lose some of their armour (depending on server settings). Some of your teammates won't like that, so apologize if you get the chance.
Other times, you will not be able to cover the entrance or there are too many entrances to cover. In this case, you will be resigned to the fact that spies will enter your base. Pull back your spy defense to critical areas or go on a roving spy hunt. In a roving hunt, watch for players that don't seem to be coming back to base to resupply. One thing to look for is a player who runs back, bypasses the respawn, and runs straight for the flag area. Shoot this teammate immediately to check for a spy. In a critical area defense, you stay in one spot to defend from spies. Watch for anyone entering the critical area. Try to watch from a spot where you can see all entries to the area. Get your teammates to fire off a round when entering this area. Anyone who doesn't do this, fire at them immediately.
Special mention about spies must be made to those playing engineers. A sentry, more often that not, will be destroyed by a spy. The spy is the mortal enemy to a sentry gun. Engineers must be especially paranoid about spies. The first tip is to be at your sentry's side at all times. Leaving it unattended with a spy loose means you will be re-building your gun shortly. As I mentioned before, build a dispenser if possible, in places leading your gun. Be wary of anyone that enters the area or room that your sentry is placed. Shoot them or hit them with your spanner immediately if you have to. Invariably a supposed teammate will get close to your sentry and you'll hear the familiar click of a priming grenade. This is your immediate cue that this is a spy. I know this sounds crazy, but your job is to get in between the spy and your sentry. Get as close to the spy as possible. Your body will block any tossed grenades and might even bounce them away from your sentry. You should also be firing at fast as possible at the spy at the same time. If the spy runs, chase after him, don't let him get away. Make him pay for what he tried to do. If you are lucky enough, you'll finish off the spy in the area where your sentry is. This means you'll be able to watch him re-disguise for the next respawn. Tell your teammates what to look for. Hopefully, they'll get him before he gets to your area again. If not, now you know instantly what class to shoot at.
A final clue to notice is when a spy feigns. Most spies do not use the silent feign (though you should). Look in the upper right corner of the screen to see if anyone died when you heard the cry. If no one did, then a spy has feigned close enough that you heard it. It maybe one of your teammates, but be careful if you're just inside the doors of your base. It is possible an enemy spy is waiting for your teammates to open the door. Cautiously open the door and look for bodies lying near by. Most feigning spies won't have ammo bags on them. Shoot these bodies for evidence of blood.
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