Tf2 Weapon Guide: Making The Cloak & Dagger Useful!!?!?

Most spies consider the Cloak & Dagger to be the worst spy watch because they think the watch promotes "camping", but I, Scooty_Mc_Derp, will reveal that the C&D can be used more aggressively than the default Invis Watch! Don't believe me? Well, read this guide and see for yourself.

Weapon Stats

Weapon guide suggested by: General Ham!

Cloak & Dagger
+Can be indefinitely cloaked while standing still
-Cloak drain based on movement speed
-Cannot be refilled by ANY source of ammo while invisible
-35% less cloak refill from ammo boxes

Effect: Motion Sensitive cloak style that recharges indefinitely while standing still, allowing for infinite cloak.

Maximum Cloak Duration:

(CONSTANTLY RUNNING)
6.67 sec.<-----(without L'etranger)
9.33 sec.<-----(with L'etranger)

(CONSTANTLY CROUCH WALKING)
58.82 sec.<-----(without L'etranger)
82.35 sec.<-----(with L'etranger)

Cloak Fade Time:
Player: 1 sec.
World: 1.2 sec.

Decloak Fade Time:
Player: 2.2 sec.
World: 1.8 sec.

RECHARGE TIME (WHEN EMPTY & NOT CLOAKED)
15.0 sec.

Overview

(Pretty much all of the tips in this guide have something to do with mind games using cloak. Don't worry, they're not hard to understand, I'm just letting you know.)

Because of the C&D's relatively short cloak time, people think that it's impossible to get anything done with this watch, which is understandable (but incorrect), but by personal experience, I figured out a way to be VERY aggressive with this watch. For this to work, you must follow the following tips almost exactly or your spy endeavors with this watch will fail.

Tips And Techniques

1: Don't cloak with this watch unless completely necessary.

With the invis watch, spies generally cloak a lot more than necessary, like when a spy is trying to get to the enemies' spawn. After the spy gets behind the enemy team, he continues to cloak all the way back to their spawn. THIS DOESN'T WORK WITH THE C&D. In this same situation, cloak only to get behind the enemy, then uncloak and walk to their spawn. Being aggressive with the C&D is completely dependent on cloak conservation.

2: Use the C&D like the invis watch, but conserve cloak. Only use the C&D's "infinite cloak" ability when in trouble.

Spies generally equip the C&D on defense to wait for a good stab. This works, but it is very boring and normally doesn't help your team that much. But with the invis watch, they cloak, get behind the enemy, and get more stabs. Use the C&D like the invis watch. It sounds stupid, but this technique not only gives you more diversity with your watch, but enables you to preform much more complex illusions to escape from danger.

By using the C&D like the invis watch, you can still get behind the enemy, but also have the cloak recharge faster. At this point, you're probably asking "Why not just use the invis watch?", and here's why.

If done correctly, you can trick enemies much more effectively than with the invis watch. For example, if an enemy is chasing you and you turn a corner, you can cloak and stand still. How does this help? If your enemy in this situation is an experienced player, and he doesn't see you when he turns the corner, he will think you cloaked and went back the way you came. He then backtracks and tries to find you where he originally saw you.

Basically, it's a double mind trick. He thinks he saw through your (first) mind trick of illusion to turn around and go back the way you came, and walks back the way he thinks you did. When in reality, you never turned around, and you're sitting in the corner laughing your ass off at him (the second mind trick).

*MINI PSYCHOLOGY LESSON INCOMING*

With the regular invis watch in this situation, you wouldn't have enough cloak to do this. If you cloaked and sat in the corner, your cloak would deplete before your pursuer walked away. It would take him about 2 or :3 seconds to turn the corner, leaving you with about 6 seconds of cloak left. Then, he would walk a little further to check ahead, wasting another few precious seconds of your cloak ( leaving you with around 2 seconds of cloak). When he turns around and begins to walk back, you run out of cloak and die.

With the C&D, you would live AND have about full cloak.

This sounds quite complicated, but it's the basis of the spy class itself. Give the enemy something to believe, and use their arrogance to your advantage.

:3 Don't rely only on your cloak.

One of the main reasons that the C&D is underused is because it runs out of cloak quicker. The spies are so reliant on their longer cloak time, they can't handle 2 or 3 seconds less than normal.
_______________________________________________________________________________

General Techniques

When unprepared for a stairstab, simply jump over the enemy's head, cloak out of their view in midair, walk back up the stairs, and wait for your enemy to leave. This is another double mind trick. When you jump over them and they don't see you cloak, they think you went down the stairs and back the way you came. When again, you're at the top of the stairs laughing.

If you didn't know, the C&D has a louder decloak than the invis watch. Use this to your advantage. If you run out of cloak because you're not conserving it and an enemy is next to you, uncloak to get their attention, cloak again, and stand still or go to an unexpected spot like on top of a prop in the map. Your enemy will be confused as to where you are, and will waste time looking for you. You get to recharge your cloak, you get a good laugh because they look stupid because they can't find a motionless spy, and you get one less enemy on the battlefield.

Every once in a while, you should use the C&D to wait for a stab. Don't camp in a corner for the entire round, but wait on top of a prop or something else that enemies don't normally check. Wait for about 20 or 30 seconds for something to pop up in a choke point like a medic/heavy combo and kill them.

Video :)

This video (made by me) is a run down of most of this guide, mainly for the people who dont wanna read. (EDIT: Video is very old and the stats for the watch are outdated, but everything else is still accurate.)

Outro

We are at the end of the informational journey contained within this guide. The techniques mentioned WILL require some practice, but can be highly effective.
Leave a comment telling me what you think about this guide, maybe another weapon for me to cover, or even a specific loadout. Check out my other guides, and don't forget to rate & favorite :)

(There are two cat symbols in this guide. If you found them both the first time reading through the guide, you are awesome! They look like --> :3 <-- No, that one doesn't count)

[Mossy]

You can't craft it? aww i just used the rewarded for a Knife

[Scooty_Mc_Derp]

I would recommend all stock basically. There's no drawbacks or limitations to deal with, and it's simple and effective. You could change up the default revolver for the ambassador, but either than that, I personally went stock load out for learning spy

[Pietro]

What loadout do you recommend for learning how to play spy?

[Scooty_Mc_Derp]

Just added the video section. watch it :3

[Scooty_Mc_Derp]

lol yeah

[⛤Ch1mera⛧]

I love using C&D with the enforcer and eternal rewards. It just makes playing the spy feel much better and rewarding IMO, the only thing to do is get better at using ambassador and there we go.

[Scooty_Mc_Derp]

Yeah. most people use it wrong. Thnaks for enjoying :)

[♣Dr.Pillz♣]

Thank you for explaning this because most people any-more are just useing the Dead Ringer spy-cicle set up and are getting a ego the size of Heavies stomach

[Scooty_Mc_Derp]

lol :D

[JessLovely]

I actually first read it back in March :P, but sure.