Welcome to Team Fortress 2! This guide will help you get through one of the biggest and most popular games on Steam. Here in this guide is information to help new players understand the different roles of the different classes and their subclasses, how the gamemodes work, and how to understand the inventory and crafting system.

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The Scout is fast, small, and packs a punch for his size. He's best at hit-and-run and driveby's, terrorizing less mobile and slower-firing classes like the Heavy, Sniper, and Medic, pushing payloads and capturing points, and stealing the intel.

Quick Facts

• 125 HP / 185 HP when over-healed
  
• Can double jump
  
• Captures points and pushes carts at twice the normal rate

Weaponry

• Scattergun
  
• Pistol
  
• Bat

Best For

• Capturing points / intel and pushing cart
  
• Quick drive-by's on solitary players

Synopsis
He's best for players who are used to mobility shooters, players who can keep a steady aim while moving around constantly. His double jump and speed allows him to create amazing flanks, so good map knowledge is key. He's best for offensive situations and keeping the enemy team on their toes.

The Soldier is probably the most well-rounded class in the game. Hes a little slow, yet mobile with his rocket jumps and air strafing. He's tanky, but deals a lot of damage, too. He's a good starter class for players ready to learn technical aspects of the game, primarily rocket jumping and strafing. He's a good class to lead a team into a fight, good at ending them, and good at leaving them. If you're new to the game, the Soldier is a good class to pick up first.

Quick Facts

• 200 HP / 300 HP when over-healed
  
• Can rocket jump to jump into fights or leave them
  
• Most well-rounded

Weaponry

• Rocket Launcher
  
• Shotgun
  
• Shovel

Best For

• Leading offenses and ending pushes
  
• Breaking up capture points and cart pushes

Synopsis
As said, he's well-rounded. His rockets shoot far, his shotgun shoots close, and his shovel shovels. If you've heard of rocket jumping, this man is Quake in TF2. His rockets deal good damage, especially if you land a crocket (crit rocket) in the right spot, it can turn the tides of a hard fight.

The Pyro appears to be a shallow class with just a flamethrower, but there's much more: his airblast. He attacks, he protects, and most importantly he deflects. His airblast deflects rockets, arrows, pipes, and other projectiles, and self-heals when airblasting allies who are on fire.

Quick Facts

• 175 HP / 260 HP when over-healed
  
• Can airblast to extinguish allies, deflect projectiles, and push away enemies
  
• Best for spychecking

Weaponry

• Flamethrower
  
• Shotgun
  
• Axe

Best For

• Spy checking
  
• Defending points, intel, and cart

Synopsis
You've probably heard of a W+M1 Pyro before. That isn't a compliment. What that means is the player will just run forward and hold down the left mouse button. There's much more to Pyro than run-and-gun. His utility can help his team just about as much as a Medic by defending players from rockets, pipes, stickies, and pushing away Demoknights and Spies. Good game sense, understanding the mechanics, and being a good team player is really important for a good Pyro. If you forget everything, only remember this: right click on your burning teammates!

The Demoman is one of the better classes in the game because of his overall versatility and burst damage capabilities. He is an effective hard-counter to the engineer and the main reason that you will never really see engineers in competitive play. He also has the ability to go as a Demoknight, which will be explained in more detail in the "Subclasses and How to Use Them" section of this guide.

Quick Facts

• 175 HP / 260 HP when over-healed
  
• Can sticky jump (or trimp if using a shield) to gain the similar mobility as the soldier
  
• Great at Medium and Long-range encounters, but struggles significantly up close

Weaponry

• Grenade Launcher
  
• Sticky Launcher
  
• Bottle

Best For

• Breaking up capture points and cart pushes
  
• Defending points, intel, cart, and trapping

Synopsis
Demoman is more than just KABLOOEY! In fact, he is one of the most rounded classes in the game, capable of leading a charge onto the next objective or sticking to the outskirts of a fight in order to gain the element of surprise. He can also use advanced movement techniques to fly through the air and get behind the opposing team, disrupting pushes that otherwise would have spelled disaster. Just watch out for spies that get too close!

The Heavy is a slow, lumbering, DPS beast that is the equivalent of a walking sentry gun. Often the leader of pushes in pubs and the favorite target for an enemy Spy, the Heavy is likely your pick if your goal is to simply shoot boolets and make other team cry. Leading pushes and countering enemy pushes is his specialty.

Quick Facts

• 300 HP / 450 HP when over-healed
  
• Can jump before spinning up his mini-gun to keep momentum
  
• Can out DPS all classes at Close and Medium range, but is easily picked off by Snipers at Long range

Weaponry

• Mini-gun
  
• Shotgun
  
• Fists

Best For

• Leading offenses and ending pushes
  
• Eating sandwhiches

Synopsis
Best for players that are good at tracking and like playing tank classes in other games. Admittedly he is not the best choice for offense. However, he is able to lay down immense firepower and therefore is great at holding choke points on defense. He can also swap out his shotgun for "lunchbox items" which are self-heal items that can greatly improve his survivability.

The Engineer is the quintessential defensive class for pubs on game modes like Control Point, Payload, and Capture the Flag. This is because of him being able to construct tier 3 sentries that will put a massive halt on the opposing team, and he can place teleporters to massively cut down on the time it takes for reinforcements to make it back to the front lines.

Quick Facts

• 125 HP / 185 HP when over-healed
  
• Can build turrets, dispensers, and teleporters
  
• Can use The Gunslinger to be more useful offensively with quick placing mini-sentries

Weaponry

• Shotgun
  
• Pistol
  
• Wrench
  
• Construction/Destruction PDA

Best For

• Defending points, intel, and cart
  
• Providing ammo and health to teammates and sending them to the front

Synopsis
The Engineer is the defensive backbone in pubs and can often make the difference between a win/loss based on your sentry and dispenser placement. As long as you keep a keen eye out for Spies trying to sap your buildings, you should be good. However, this is not the same in competitive play. More often than not, a competitive team will normally not run Spies, but will be running at least one Demoman that is sure to rain on your parade, and make you effectively useless.

The Medic is undoubtedly the single most important class for any team composition in all of TF2. When he is correctly used, he is the make or break between winning the match or suffering a defeat. He may not be the most coveted character as he is fairly defenseless when by himself, but his value to the team means that he should be protected at all costs.

Quick Facts

• 150 HP / 225 HP when over-healed
  
• Can Übercharge himself along with one other teammate
  
• The main target for the opposing team

Weaponry

• Syringe Gun
  
• Medi-gun
  
• Bonesaw

Best For

• Healing and Übering
  
• Creating pushes and stopping them

Synopsis
Him being the primary target for the opposing team often means that a Medic player will die a lot. If you're team lacks proper coordination then your effectiveness will be reduced dramatically, though not negated. In certain situations he can also swap out the stock Medi-gun for another type such as the Kritzkreig for strong pushes, or the Vaccinator if the other team has some problematic Soldiers.

The Sniper is the ultimate long range class. He is able to control the map with his signature Sniper Rifle, and has some of the highest fragging potential in the game. With a fully charged shot and good accuracy, the Sniper can take out every class in the game with just a single shot.

Quick Facts

• 125 HP / 185 HP when over-healed
  
• Can charge up shots to deal more damage
  
• Hard counters a few different classes

Weaponry

• Sniper Rifle
  
• SMG
  
• Kukri

Best For

• Shutting down targerts
  
• Getting backstabbed

Synopsis
With his massive impact with relatively little risk of getting killed, the Sniper is both a good and common class for new players. Even more so for players with good mechanical skill from other games. If you do decide to try out this class, beware of up close encounters and unless you're running the Razorback, keep an eye out for Spies as well.

The Spy is the hardest class to use successfully in pubs, and is also one of the hardest classes to master. He has amazing kill potential, and is an effective hard counter to classes like Sniper, Heavy, Engineer, and players who don't keep their heads on a swivel. Be warned that you will likely not be getting multiple backstabs or anything fancy for a while.

Quick Facts

• 125 HP / 185 HP when over-healed
  
• Can kill literally any class in the game under nearly any situation with a successful backstab
  
• Can disguise and turn invisible

Weaponry

• Revolver
  
• Knife
  
• Disguise Kit
  
• Invis Watch

Best For

• Shutting down targets and sentry nests
  
• Backstabbing

Synopsis
More than capable of stopping a Heavy led push, or taking out an Engineer's nest to help the team take the next point, the Spy is on of the most useful classes in pubs. However, he has one major downside, being that communication makes him almost entirely ineffective. This means that in competitive play the Spy is sadly almost never a viable option, and considering that the classes he counters aren't picked often either, he never gets to see the light of day. He can disguise as the enemy team to sneak around flanks and blend in with the team among chaos as well as disguise as his own team for sneaky tricks and baits.

Subclasses are still the same classes as the previous ones but you can make a subclass by selecting certain weapons or loadouts.

The Demoknight is the loudest, swiftest, and drunkest Scotsman to enter the battlefield. One enters the ranks of Highland's Finest by picking up a solid melee and a shield and charging straight into battle. While there isn't any specific qualifications to a Demoknight, the most standard and true loadout is any boots, any shield, and the Eyelander or any other sword, but any melee does fine, really. The Eyelander is the best choice of weaponry because as you get more kills with the sword, your max health increases and so does your speed.

Weaponry

• Boots
  
• Shield
  
• Sword

Synopsis
Demoknights excel in targeting solitary targets and murdering them dead. Have you ever heard of the phrase, "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight," because this applies directly to him. Charging directly into a point full of baddies won't do well for a man whose choice of weaponry is a big piece of steel. Players choose Demoknights for the thrill of the fight and scaring the hell out of the unsuspecting enemy with a charge and perfectly timed crit strike.

Imagine you're leading your team into a perfectly timed push on a point and everything is going well and suddenly you're uncontrollably laughing and murdered by a giant Russian man and his finger gun. That's the joy of the Boxer.

Weaponry

• Any primary
  
• Any secondary
  
• Any gloves

Synopsis
By equipping the Holiday Punch, you can force an enemy to taunt and unable to attack by hitting him from behind with the gloves or a crit hit. And thus, you beautifully end the reign of an Übered combo. While you're not restricted to a melee-only loadout like the standard Demoknight, you can still use any weapons at your disposal. The Boxer subclass is more of a mindset. The Holiday Punch is really good at shutting down Übered enemies, Killing Gloves of Boxing is good for getting crits on kill, and the Fists of Steel is good for protecting yourself from snipers.

Just watch this video.

Weaponry

• Frontier Justice
  
• Pistol
  
• Gunslinger

Synopsis
The Battle Engineer is great for pushes and staying on the frontline, something that is difficult for the regular Engineer to keep up with. Primarily because the Gunslinger replaces his regular upgradable sentry with a little mini-sentry that costs 100 metal, builds faster, shoots faster, but is non-upgradable. A good Battle Engineer can still keep an area on lockdown by constantly placing down mini's as they get destroyed by the enemy, but he's best at keeping momentum in pushes by using his 200 metal reserve for both a dispenser and a sentry. And when his mini gets destroyed, if it has successfully killed or assisted in killing another player, your Frontier Justice will receive crits.


Über, Über, Über. UNCONTROLLABLE, NONSTOP ÜBER. Plow down your enemies with a great, bloody saw and remain invincible. Make your enemies cry. Make your allies cry, too. Everyone's crying. You're invincible.

Weaponry

• Any primary
  
• Stock Medi-Gun
  
• ÜberSaw

Synopsis
Battle Medics work solely based off of their Übersaw by maintaining an aggressive melee playstyle. Hitting an enemy with the Übersaw gives 25% Über, so four hits gives fully charged Über. Battle Medics work really well in pairs, as well. When one medic gets Über, they can charge the other medic so they can get Über too - an Über chain. While Battle Medics are formidable, they're also a disdain to your team. Medics are meant to heal, not keel.

These here are what's considered base game gamemodes, regular gamemodes with Valve and community maps.

Payload is TF2's take on escort missions. The BLU team pushes the cart (the payload) into the RED base under a time limit. Along the way are multiple checkpoints for the cart to push through. These checkpoints give extra time for the BLU team for a maximum round time of 10 minutes. If the BLU team fails to push the cart to the final checkpoint of the map before the time expires, they lose the round.

While the payload is a bomb, it cannot be destroyed by any player apart from when it reaches the final checkpoint and it does not deal damage. Rather, the payload will heal and dispense ammo to BLU players who push the cart. Players "push" the cart by standing near it and moves faster depending on how many players push the cart for a maximum amount of three players. Each class counts as one person pushing it except for the Scout and players with the Pain Train weapon equipped, who both count for two people pushing. ÜberCharged players and, disguised BLU Spies, and enemy Spies disguised as BLU team cannot push the cart (but enemy Spies can still receive healing and ammo).

The cart can move backwards if it hasn't been pushed for 30 seconds or isn't pushed through a rollback zone that looks like multiple arrows on the payload HUD. It can also move forwards based on the direction of the arrows on the HUD. If the timer reaches zero and the BLU team is still pushing, overtime occurs until the BLU team can push the cart to a checkpoint or RED manages to keep BLU away from the cart for 30 seconds.



Payload Race is exactly as it sounds: two payloads at one time, one for each team. Both fight to push their payload to each other's final checkpoint and the first team to do it wins. The most popular map is Hightower and is probably TF2's most memorable and famous map. In this gamemode, there is no time limit and the carts do not move backwards except for rollback zones, leaving this gamemode (notably Hightower) to go on for a long time, mostly because most of the TF2 community views Hightower as a map to mess around on rather than for the objective.

Control Point consists of multiple checkpoints on a map that both teams fight over for; the team with all control points wins the round. At the beginning of a round, only one point is available for capture - it is neutral and in the middle of the map. The first team to capture initiates the timer and starts the game. If the timer runs out in the middle of a game, regardless of how many control points a team has (apart from capturing all which wins the game), both teams lose at a stalemate. Capturing points adds time to the timer.

A team can only capture a point if it is available and already the enemy's point. An available point will be on the HUD without a lock icon.
Meanwhile, an unavailable point will be locked from capture and have a lock icon on the HUD. The only way to capture a locked point is to capture the point adjacent to it, if it is available. The best way to remember which points are locked and which are available is to keep an eye on the HUD and follow where your team goes to get to the front of the fight. If there's nobody around on a point, it's probably safe to say that point is locked and you should find the front.




As well as showing which points are available, the HUD also shows if a point is being captured and by how many people. The icon of a man will show up over a point on the HUD and if there are multiple opponents, a number will show how many. Additionally, the HUD will show how close they are (or you are) to capturing a point.

A point cannot be captured by disguised Spies, ÜberCharged players, or Scouts under the effects of Bonk! Atomic Punch. Engies cannot place buildings directly on the point either. Scouts also count as two players capturing as well as players with the Pain Train. These rules apply to every gamemode that has a control point (like Attack / Defend and King of the Hill).


Capture the Flag (CTF) is probably the most recognizable gamemode in TF2. A briefcase (the intelligence / the intel) appears in both team's base and the objective is to steal the enemy's and bring it back to your team's base. The game is won when one team has stolen the enemy's briefcase three times.

This gamemode typically does not have a time limit and usually goes on for a long time. If there is a time limit and the game isn't won before the end, the teams will enter sudden death.

Disguised Spies, ÜberCharged players, Scouts under the effects of Bonk! Atomic Punch, Soldiers with the Rocket Jumper, and Demomen with the Sticky Jumper cannot pick up the intel.

The best way to play this gamemode is to rush the intel with a Scout if it's open, or rush with a Medic if protected by a Sentry nest. Engineers are the best defenders for the intel for their sentries with Pyros the second best defenders to root out hidden spies and help destroy Sappers with the Homewrecker.

Additionally, the HUD in this gamemode shows the location of both intels like how a compass points north. Also, when a player picks up the intel, they will have an outline that displays their health that can be seen through walls for all players in the game.

Attack / Defend is essentially Control Point but the RED team cannot take control points back once BLU captures them, making it an attack and defense gamemode. For most maps, the game is in stages called areas. Once the BLU team captures all points in a round, they move to the next area of the map for the next round to capture more points until they capture all areas and win the game.

King of the Hill is a control point map with only one control point. Both teams fight to capture the point for a total capture time of three minutes with a separate timer for each time. The round is won when a team captures the control point and holds it for the duration of the timer. If a team captures the point from the other, no time is added to either team. The timer for the team who lost the point pauses and the capturing team's timer starts again. If a team is capturing while the other team's timer is at zero, overtime occurs until the other team can defend of the attackers, or the attacking team captures the point.

Special Delivery is a mix of CTF and King of the Hill. Instead of two intels, there is only one. A team wins by picking up the intel, taking it to the rocket, and waiting for the elevator to reach the top to deliver the intel. Once the platform reaches the top and the rocket opens up and the intel is delivered, the game is won. Additionally, the platform heals and gives ammo just like the payload cart.

Crafting is very confusing on the surface, but once you get a basic grasp on the concept it actually becomes very intuitive. As you continue to play the game, you'll get random drops overtime. These random drops will mostly be weapons, but in rare cases they can be cosmetics or tool items like Name Tags. You don't need duplicates of items in your inventory as they just take up space, so you can craft them down into metal to create weapons or cosmetics you don't have or just make Refined Metal for trading.

To craft weapons, you'll need metal and typically another weapon already. For example, to craft the Holy Mackerel, you'll need 1 Refined Metal and 1 Sandman. If you're not too worried about what you get, you can create Class Tokens and Slot Tokens which will give you a random item from that class and slot you crafted.

Here is a chart that plainly describes the flow of making metal for crafting in TF2.


See? Not so bad! Note that Refined Metal is also used as a form of currency in trading, albeit the standard "Mann Co. Supply Crate Key" is much more commonly used.