So a few months ago, I wrote up quite a long thread on some basic TF2 tips to help you get started.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.302705-A-Friendly-Welcome-for-the-F2P-Players-of-TF2?page=1
I recommend you read that one first but it assumes you have at least played it a few times and understand the core mechanics. And now that I've been playing and I still see new people constantly making mistakes (not of their own fault but purely from lack of experience) I want to give a round two to just nudge along those who are having trouble with helping their team. This in some ways is a lot more broad, general and basic than the previous one, but telling yourself what you already know never hurts.
1. Don't stack classes.
First thing I said last time and I'll say it again. Don't stack classes. The best way to think of TF2 classes (for me at least) is in terms of percentages. You might jump on a quiet server with a couple of snipers, a spy, a pyro and a scout and you decide you want to go spy because there's only one other one. Seemingly harmless, you just made 66% of your team not able to do front line combat, and the other 33% is unable to take spam and flanks. A recipe for disaster. Don't stack classes.
2. Try all classes
You might get nagged at every so often by some people complaining your a bad spy or bad sniper, but I recommend playing them anyway. You need to understand how these classes work, how their weapons work, and whether you can fight them or not in a given situation. First hand experience will give you the knowhow of how to fight. Also, if you're doing poorly, don't immediately change classes. Frequently changing them will make you bad and unfocused and confused.
3. Know the map
Search the area and find out where the health/ammo packs are. Know all the alternate routes and find out the choke points where people are bottlenecked. The spy, for example, should almost always take the alternate path. This is also recommended for the scout and pyro. The soldier and demo on the other hand really need to push back the enemy at the front lines so they attack the other team to hold them off. Knowing the map could change the whole way you play.
4. Must-use weapons
The equaliser is a melee unlock for the soldier. Get it as early as possible because it will save your life so often. The soldier, being a versatile class, almost NEVER needs to use their melee weapon. The equaliser has a passive effect which changes your speed and damage the lower your health is.
The ubersaw is a melee unlock for the medic. Like the ubersaw, you need to get this weapon ASAP. It gives you 25% charge when you hit someone with it but has a lower firing speed. This means that if there's a spy you see and you hit him a couple of times, you're halfway there to using the game-changing ubercharge.
The axetinguisher is a melee unlock for the pyro (seeing a pattern here?) which gives critical hits (damage is multiplied by three) on burning players. Not absolutely a necessity but setting someone on fire and then hitting them with it will kill 7 out of 9 classes in the game.
5. Advanced settings
Go through options and advanced options and play around a little bit to see what you can do. I strongly recommend turning on damage indicators (which will show damage done on an enemy above their heads) and a sound for when you do damage to an enemy. Knowing how much damage weapons do is crucial. Many may underestimate the shotgun at first but it can do roughly 87 base damage, which will take out most classes in a couple of hits. There's an option for clicking on a teammate to heal them as a medic, as opposed to holding down the mouse. By far a better alternative which should be on.
6. Don't feel pressured to buy things at the store
I've played TF2 for a couple of years now and I've never bought anything from the Mann Co. Store. It sells weapons and items and gifts and paints and other virtual products, but don't feel like you need them to play any better. What you're given in the game is all you need to play well.
7. Know your range
It goes without saying that snipers are good at long range and scouts are good at close. Don't be afraid to run when you feel like you're not doing enough damage to kill. Back-off, regroup and formulate a strategy.
If you still don't feel confident, watch a few youtube videos. They gave me some great tips as to how to play the game. Even if you can't pull some of those things off at first, you eventually will be. With practice.
If you're talking to someone over chat, go ahead and add them to your steam friends. They could be what motivate you to play well or they could be your main source of information
8. Have fun!
If you're in Aussie, feel free to add me.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/Blignorance
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.302705-A-Friendly-Welcome-for-the-F2P-Players-of-TF2?page=1
I recommend you read that one first but it assumes you have at least played it a few times and understand the core mechanics. And now that I've been playing and I still see new people constantly making mistakes (not of their own fault but purely from lack of experience) I want to give a round two to just nudge along those who are having trouble with helping their team. This in some ways is a lot more broad, general and basic than the previous one, but telling yourself what you already know never hurts.
1. Don't stack classes.
First thing I said last time and I'll say it again. Don't stack classes. The best way to think of TF2 classes (for me at least) is in terms of percentages. You might jump on a quiet server with a couple of snipers, a spy, a pyro and a scout and you decide you want to go spy because there's only one other one. Seemingly harmless, you just made 66% of your team not able to do front line combat, and the other 33% is unable to take spam and flanks. A recipe for disaster. Don't stack classes.
2. Try all classes
You might get nagged at every so often by some people complaining your a bad spy or bad sniper, but I recommend playing them anyway. You need to understand how these classes work, how their weapons work, and whether you can fight them or not in a given situation. First hand experience will give you the knowhow of how to fight. Also, if you're doing poorly, don't immediately change classes. Frequently changing them will make you bad and unfocused and confused.
3. Know the map
Search the area and find out where the health/ammo packs are. Know all the alternate routes and find out the choke points where people are bottlenecked. The spy, for example, should almost always take the alternate path. This is also recommended for the scout and pyro. The soldier and demo on the other hand really need to push back the enemy at the front lines so they attack the other team to hold them off. Knowing the map could change the whole way you play.
4. Must-use weapons
The equaliser is a melee unlock for the soldier. Get it as early as possible because it will save your life so often. The soldier, being a versatile class, almost NEVER needs to use their melee weapon. The equaliser has a passive effect which changes your speed and damage the lower your health is.
The ubersaw is a melee unlock for the medic. Like the ubersaw, you need to get this weapon ASAP. It gives you 25% charge when you hit someone with it but has a lower firing speed. This means that if there's a spy you see and you hit him a couple of times, you're halfway there to using the game-changing ubercharge.
The axetinguisher is a melee unlock for the pyro (seeing a pattern here?) which gives critical hits (damage is multiplied by three) on burning players. Not absolutely a necessity but setting someone on fire and then hitting them with it will kill 7 out of 9 classes in the game.
5. Advanced settings
Go through options and advanced options and play around a little bit to see what you can do. I strongly recommend turning on damage indicators (which will show damage done on an enemy above their heads) and a sound for when you do damage to an enemy. Knowing how much damage weapons do is crucial. Many may underestimate the shotgun at first but it can do roughly 87 base damage, which will take out most classes in a couple of hits. There's an option for clicking on a teammate to heal them as a medic, as opposed to holding down the mouse. By far a better alternative which should be on.
6. Don't feel pressured to buy things at the store
I've played TF2 for a couple of years now and I've never bought anything from the Mann Co. Store. It sells weapons and items and gifts and paints and other virtual products, but don't feel like you need them to play any better. What you're given in the game is all you need to play well.
7. Know your range
It goes without saying that snipers are good at long range and scouts are good at close. Don't be afraid to run when you feel like you're not doing enough damage to kill. Back-off, regroup and formulate a strategy.
Scouts... I'm no good at this class. At all. Jumping and circle strafing is a must but new players might be overwhelmed with its difficulty at first... If an experience player has a good tip, feel free to add it.
Soldiers rely on splash damage to do most of their kills. The rocket will push an enemy and hurt them. The first thing most people will tell you is to aim for the feet or walls next to the enemy. While hitting an enemy directly will do roughly twice the damage, the rockets are too slow to reliably hit them.
Pyros flamethrowers are very poor at damage dealing. This is why the class needs to rely on their secondary and melee more than any other class. Burning a player and then hitting them with a different weapon is how this class should be played. Degreaser is highly recommended and backburner is frowned upon because it will get you into bad habits. (degreaser and backburner are flamethrower unlocks).
Demomen sticky bombs are shot with left click and then activated with right click. You can also activate them as they're being shot in midair so they make an excellent offensive weapon with high damage and high splash radii. Don't neglect your grenade launcher though as it's good for flanking, spamming and getting those nasty people who run up to you with ill intent.
Heavies have extremely short range but can kill extremely fast. I have a good rule of thumb which you should almost always follow. If you're not killing them in 3 seconds, you need to back off and try again later. Despite having the biggest health pool, they are also very fragile being prone to death from every other class except the medic, obviously.
Engineers need to use their teleporters. It won't get you kills, but for games with long matches, they're an absolute must. Never stand in one spot or else you'll get hit with a sniper. If an ubered medic and his target come running towards your sentry and equipment, run like hell.
Medics should always be on more than 80% health. If you've dipped below that, pull back and heal up. You will take a lot of damage aimed at your targets.
Snipers... I got nothing. Bad at the class.
Spies, as mentioned before, should always take the alternate pathway. Don't kill everyone you meet, only kill those when you know you'll be safe.
Soldiers rely on splash damage to do most of their kills. The rocket will push an enemy and hurt them. The first thing most people will tell you is to aim for the feet or walls next to the enemy. While hitting an enemy directly will do roughly twice the damage, the rockets are too slow to reliably hit them.
Pyros flamethrowers are very poor at damage dealing. This is why the class needs to rely on their secondary and melee more than any other class. Burning a player and then hitting them with a different weapon is how this class should be played. Degreaser is highly recommended and backburner is frowned upon because it will get you into bad habits. (degreaser and backburner are flamethrower unlocks).
Demomen sticky bombs are shot with left click and then activated with right click. You can also activate them as they're being shot in midair so they make an excellent offensive weapon with high damage and high splash radii. Don't neglect your grenade launcher though as it's good for flanking, spamming and getting those nasty people who run up to you with ill intent.
Heavies have extremely short range but can kill extremely fast. I have a good rule of thumb which you should almost always follow. If you're not killing them in 3 seconds, you need to back off and try again later. Despite having the biggest health pool, they are also very fragile being prone to death from every other class except the medic, obviously.
Engineers need to use their teleporters. It won't get you kills, but for games with long matches, they're an absolute must. Never stand in one spot or else you'll get hit with a sniper. If an ubered medic and his target come running towards your sentry and equipment, run like hell.
Medics should always be on more than 80% health. If you've dipped below that, pull back and heal up. You will take a lot of damage aimed at your targets.
Snipers... I got nothing. Bad at the class.
Spies, as mentioned before, should always take the alternate pathway. Don't kill everyone you meet, only kill those when you know you'll be safe.
If you still don't feel confident, watch a few youtube videos. They gave me some great tips as to how to play the game. Even if you can't pull some of those things off at first, you eventually will be. With practice.
If you're talking to someone over chat, go ahead and add them to your steam friends. They could be what motivate you to play well or they could be your main source of information
8. Have fun!
If you're in Aussie, feel free to add me.
http://steamcommunity.com/id/Blignorance