How to Tf2 pub: beginner tips for new players

a basic survival guide for suviving your first and following matches in tf2 valve servers

also note i dont own any images
just quick google search incase you see something thats yours

i also did not spellcheck properly but i shall do that as i re-read the finished guide at the end

So you are new huh?

Congrats, that means you took the time to read this.
Even if you are not new, you probably are just wanting to better yourself or late night scrolling through guides see how cringy they get.
Either way thanks for reading this

Getting started

since this is a guide to playing on pubs for new players mainly, there should be a section on how to access it. Simply start up the game and press on the play multiplayer option. Then just choose a game mode. If you cannot decide, click on the random gamemode that gives you a list of random servers and game modes, or takes you to a random gamemode as well.

Know what to choose

if you get into a server that is changing maps you will most likely be the first one. It happens more than you think actually. If thats the case it doesnt matter which side you choose, However, most of the times you will join a server that has people in it already, or is already playing. In which case choose whichever team has an open slot. If there is an equal amount of players and youre not sure, spectate and then decide. Spectating also helps to choose the next category, class selection.

Know which class to choose

upon choosing a team you must choose from each of the 9 classes to go as. It is entirely up to you but here are some things to consider:

class stacking
on pubs/valve servers, there are 3 indefinte classes of which you will almost always see.
The top 3 are, in order from greatest to least:

• Sniper
  
• Spy
  
• Soldier

There are also 3 classes which you will rarely see as well.
They are, in order from greatest to least (or which is seen more off slightly)

• Engineer
  
• Medic
  
• Heavy

Why are those classes played as alot?

It is no surprise how those 3 classes are the overall meta of pubs in a sense
Here's why:

Sniper
Easily one of the most generic fps classes in any game, the sniper is choosen as the primary starter class for anyone whose new. The reason being is because he is relateable. A lone wolf that has a long range weapon that can insta kill on headshot. Aside from the spy's ambassador, he is the only class capable of doing this. He is also the only class who can scope in on his weapon. However most new players do not recognize how sniper differs. For starters, headshots need time to charge to do maximum damage. The sniper cannot also get a headshot if he is shooting from the side with the exception of bow and arrow (huntsman) or the classic (even then you have to fully charge to headshot). in addition, headshot mechanics work a little differently due to the older source engine the game has. It would be no surprised if your first match you played on pubs had at least 2-3 snipers on either team/both teams.

Spy
The second of the most played classes in TF2, the spy has a unique set of weapons and mechanics that is rarely seen in other games. For starters he can turn invisible. YES INVISIBLE. Which means you can basically walk right past the enemy team, provided you don't bump into any of them otherwise you blow your cover. Another mechanic is his backstab. The spy has a butterfly knife, which while only does minimal damage an no critical hits in the front, will insta kill any class from behind instantly, provided they are not invulnerable from a medic or are a sniper with the razorback. The 3rd mechanic, which is often the one most new players don't master off the bat, is the disguise kit. The spy can turn into anyone on anyteam, excluding another spy of the same color (red spies cannot diguise as another red spy nor blue spies as another blu spy). Again, so long as you don't do anything to blow your cover, you can remain in the crowd on the other team. Not even sentry guns, which automatically autolock onto enemies will attack you. There are other mechanics and weapons such as zappers which disable buildings and being able to use enemy buildings such as dispensers which give health and ammo, and teleporters, but these are the top 3 reasons why people usually choose spy as well.
However, new players also play spy incorrectly. Most only try to backstab players or zapp buildings. They completely forget about the spy's other mechanics as well and usually end up getting killed quickly and wasting a slot. Hence why spy is a class that should be practiced with alot in order to avoid getting killed

Soldier
The 3rd most played classes in Tf2, the soldier, is argueable one of the most balanced or rather not balanced but well-rounded classes in the game. He is as versatile as his weapons are. The 2 things that draw people to him like maggots to apples

• rocket launcher
  
• rocket jumping

his rocket launcher is his primary weapon, and one of the most powerful weapons he has as well. Simply shoot at the enemy and they take damage. It is okay if you miss them or do not directly hit them with the rocket as most rocket launchers offer splash damage which damages anyone around the proximity.
rocket jumping is another unique mechanic. The soldier can aim at his feet and propel himself in the air. If timed right he can propel himself onto higher ledges or above the enemy and bombard them from above.
since he has alot of health, only heavy has more than him, he can survive for a very long time, provided that the player doesn't do anything stupid.

Why aren't these classes played

Now that we covered the reasons why the top 3 classes are overplayed, lets look at the lowest 3 classes played on pubs.

Engineer
The slightly higher played of all 3, the engineer offers alot of versatility as the soldier. For starters, he can build buildings using metal and his wrench. He can build 3 types of buildings:

• sentry gun (or mini sentry if you use the gunslinger)
  
• dispenser
  
• teleporter enterance and exit

all buildings can be lvled up to lvl 3 using 200 metal for each lvl + additional starting metal to build the buildings (except the minisentry, that is only 100 metal and cannot be upgraded)

the sentry guns automatically lock on to any enemy, provided they are not diguised aka the spy. It starts out as a lvl 1 sentry that only shoots bullets, then can be upgraded to a lvl 2 that shoots more bullets, and a lvl 3 that shoots rockets as well. Every upgrade increases firepower and health for the building.

























The dispenser is the 2nd on the list, it is one of the best buidlings for supporting your team and yourself. it is also one of the cheapest using only 100 metal to start building it. It does however take longer than most other buildings, but can be increased by hitting it with your wrench, like all other buildings. The dispenser generates health, ammo, and metal, all of which are useful to you and your team. The higher the lvls the faster it heals, more ammo it gives, and faster the metal is generated.
the last building is the teleporter, which helps you teleport teammates and yourself to the frontlines faster, provided both building enterance and exit are made. It works best on slower classes and if the map is long, but that doesn't mean it won't work anywhere else. The higher the lvls, the faster it reloads and can teleport teammates faster.
In addition, the engineer also his shotguns, secondaries, and wrenches and can leave his buidlings be to assist in fights.
With all these good things however, comes the drawbacks.
The engineer is an area denial class, which works best if you have teammwork. Although it is possible to lone wolf, it is quite difficult and you work better if your team assists you.
The engineer's buildings are a main target for spies as well as the engineer himself. Provided that one of the top overplayed classes is the spy class, it is easy to see why people rarely play the engineer. Not only that but building upkeep is a critical component as to why people stray from the engineer. If you are away from your buildings for too long, they can be damaged or even destroyed/zapped. Another drawback is building placement. Some people, especially new players, do not know the maps very well and good areas to place buildings, which ends up with them being utterly destroyed.

The medic
less played than the engy but more than the heavy, the medic is a portable health kit on heels. He is able to heal as well as heal himself by default, which is something no other class can do without using a weapon for it. although the medic has a variety of weapons for self defense, the main 2 components of a medic are:

• overheal
  
• ubercharges

the medic is the only class that can overheal classes by default as well. there are other weapons such as the powerjack and katana, but they require kills for it. Overheal is healing past a person's original health. It is essentially armor and is harder to get rid off/helps alot when fighting.
the medic is the only class that can make an ubercharge, aside from a phlog pyro. An ubercharge happens when the medic's medigun is fully charged. depending on the medigun, the uber varies, it can range from resistances to faster healing to crticial shots and the stock version of invulnerability.
There are many reasons why the medic is not played.
For starters there are usually no good teammates to uber/heal. A medic's main output is through helping classes, which doesn't do much if you only have spies or snipers. Although soldiers can suffice, most rocket jump away or lone wolf.
Another reason is he is a prime target for enemies. A medic usually can be left vulnerable when his patient dies or everyone goes ahead. His weapons can suffice, but most classes can usually kill him with little to no problems. And alas the main reason he isn't played is because he is boring. Other than healing classes, there is not much to medic unlike spy or soldier. Although he plays a very important role, most people tire of him eventually, unless they want to win a little easier.

The heavy
The least played class on pubs, the Heavy. The heavy has the most health of any class, and can be overhealed the most from 300 to a whooping 450 health. His primary, a minigun, is nothing to take short either. It does continuous damage and becomes more powerful/accurate the closer to an enemy you get. He benefits the most from any team oriented mechanic, such as ubercharges and dispensers, minicrits and crits as well.
The downsides to heavy are staggering as well. For starters he is slow, one of the if not the slowest classes in game. So much so that he was made a defensive class due to his slowness, otherwise he could very well be an offensive class. Another reason, he is one of the if not the prime target of spies and snipers. The heavy is big, bigger than any class. This combined with his slowness makes him a perfect target to rack up headshot kills. Also, he is the easiest class to backstab, especially for new players who don't look around/turn around. Probably the best reason is he is a team player. He benefits/plays the best when there are teamwork mechanics. However, in pub matches where mostly everyone is lone wolf, it is rare you find teamwork on pubs with some exceptions.

loadouts

there are several weapons in game, most specifically for the classes they were designed for. This being said there are tons of possibilities for loadouts. There are metas for each class, but since the game is being updated frequently, weapons nerfed, buffed, and reworked, it is best not to rely on one single weapon or loadout forever. It is best left up to you to decide which loadouts work best. A prime example is this image taken off google

a scout loadout
now most frequent tf2 players may not see this as a good loadout, hell veterans may even tell you the same. But look closer at it.
allow me to explain
the bfb or baby face blaster works on racking up damage to build up a hype boost which makes the scout run faster. however, when starting you are slower and lose boost as you double jump/take damage. Using the crit a cola gives you mini crits which give you more damage but makes you take mroe damage. This is good for building up hype boost. The wrap assassin launches an ornament that causes bleed. The bleed can be used keep gaining damage or weaken the enemy to finish them off.

another good example is the ritgeous bison
you may not see it alot in pubs, but it is useful. It can penetrate enemies, which is useful if you see enemies running away orif the enemies are huddled into a group, like pushing a payload kart. you can chirp at enemy health and then finish them off with your rocket launcher. It requires no ammo but does need to reload, another upside if theres little ammo around or you can save the ammo for a teammate who needs it more. It is also one of the few weapons outside of pyros that can light up huntsman arrows (sniper's bow and arrows) to help them out incase they miss and get a bodyshot on an enemy, help them burn said enemy.

it should also be noted that overall, the meta loadouts or most frequently used loadouts are used alot, so it may be harder to kill an enemy if they know the game, especially if all you see is the same type of weapon or loadout over and over again.

gamemodes: prioritizing targets/objectives

okay now you picked a class and loadout
now you gotta ask yourself, what do i do?

objectives
it varies based on the map and gamemode. If you play payload its rather simple, either push the payload kart on blu or defend against it on red. You can easily determine which classes to take out and what to do. However, it gets harder with different gamemodes and maps. For example payload frontier. It is one of the larget maps in payload instead of being broken down into 3 stages. Or payload race. Now, not only do you have to push your payload kart, but also protect against the enemy team advancing their payload kart. You must figure out what your class is capable off and if you can do it. Or, should you go another class more capable of it
as shown in the figure, for example


you see a pyro and a sniper defending on red, which is good as a pyro can airblast and a sniper can insta kill easier with the huntsman at closer range.The blu heavy and scout are also good as the heavy can keep enemies off the kart while at the same time getting ammo and health from it. The scout is helping too as he can cap objectives 2X as fast as other clases. However, you see the engy on blu pushing. Not to say that it isn't a good idea, but that means he probably left his building unattended. Also you already have teammates pushing, it would've been better if he moved his buildings up. same for the soldier as he couldve pushed back enemies instead of helping push the kart.

target priority
again this varies on map and gamemode, but theres a middle ground for this. The main classes to be taken out are those that are top scoring or dominating. These classes are obviously giving your team a hard time, and if you think you are up to it, try attacking them or at least helping against them. If all players on both sides are of equal skill, then based on personal experience and opinion, the order of how to priotize targets should be

• engineer buildings-weaken the engineer as much as possible, especially his sentry first. stall teleporting enemies as well as giving them free health, ammo, and metal.
  
• the engineer himself-stop him from repairing/rebuilding his buildings
  
• the medic-free heals and ubercharges are hard to defeat
  
• the heavy-makes it much easier on teammates if you can take him out, also any medics lose their prime ranking potential patient
  
• the spy-they can take out anyone on your team easily and it makes it easier to focus on your front instead of always looking behind you
  
• the sniper-long range makes it harder to counter them. If you can take them out
  
• the soldier- a pain in the ass to defeat but not impossible, however its easier to just let someone else take care of them as they are usually in the front lines
  
• the demo- a hassle for slow classes, but a scout can take him out easily
  
• the pyro- although excels at close range combat, more than a demoknight, the pyro can easily be taken out from a distance. Hell even the phlog is no match at about 10 feet apart
  
• the scout-although the fastest class by default without weapons, the scout has the lowest health and most damage prone. Unless it is a pro scout, they should be easily taken care of by your team

closing tips, tricks, and advice

it is no surprise that really random ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ will happen in game, no matter how pro you are. Hell even random crits, a perfectly natural thing will account for 1/2 of those moments. Here are some final tips before you enter/re-enter pubs

always keep moving
almost always keep moving, even if you are a spy/sniper, don't stand in one place for too long. Making your movements unpredictable can help save your life at least 50% of the time.

teamwork
there is always a way to help out another teammate if you get creative, not only killing enemies. Here we see a demo placing stickies in front of an engineer's sentry, or a engineer placing his sentry in front of a demo's stickies, hard to tell. but it can mutually benefit both. It can benefit the demo so he won't waste his stickies too early on the soldier, or help the engy should a spy be nearby, the demo can dedonate his stickies to kill him before he zapps the sentry, or afterwards and help the engy focus on only fixing the sentry instead of also fighting the spy. Or if the soldier gets too close, as a 2nd line of defense to help the engy/buy him time to rebuild his buildings.

be aware of your surroundings
Every map has several open spots specifically for ambushing unsuspecting enemies. Always be aware of this and constantly check your surroundings. This works especially well for classes such as pyros and spies who are masters at ambushing

final piece of advice
practice, Practice, and more PRACTICE makes perfect. Overall better yourself and have fun

[Void]

I'd believe you completely if i was fresh to tf2

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

sure

[woku]

i mean tf2

[woku]

can i play with u sometime

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

thanks man

[woku]

nice job dude

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

imma make more guides further in the future
simple yet very effective and descriptive guides on how to in tf2
although most of it is common sense

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

@potato
yeah but these are just basic tips
also with the bfb you don't start with the boost you gain it
and the mini crits can help you fill it up, as well as start fast then once you get the damage in you can cont.

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

@krinkov
thanks

[Krinkov]

Didn't read the entire thing but still upvoting it cause it's so thorough.