Poll: Thinking of Playing Team Fortress 2... what Class is best for Newbies?

[DeimosMasque]

So I'm thinking about trying out Team Fortress 2 (which is free-to-play thanks to Steam.)

But as a newbie, who should I play? What is the best class for a total (AND I MEAN TOTAL) newbie to Team Fortress 2 play?

The only FPS I've played are Portal 1&2, Left4Dead 1&2 and Halo 3. Out of those only Portal 2 was played on the PC, the rest played on the Xbox 360. I do have an xbox-like controler but I don't know if TF2 is more of a mouse and keyboard game.

So overall I'm just asking, if I was going to go and play TF2 randomly with random players, what class should I play so I'm not worthless?

NOTE: Poll only has 8 options so I couldn't put the Spy on there, so if you think that it should be a spy let me know in the thread.

CAPTCHA: Level Playing Field. Thanks Captcha but I already know where this question is coming from.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Sniper or Pyro, I guess. With Sniper all you have to do is stand in one place and pull the trigger every once in a while and Pyro just runs around burning everything, and you have a good chunk of health to do that before someone kills you.

But ultimately it doesn't matter. Just try them all out. You can switch your class every time you die. Even as a newb I found Scout to be the most fun of all. Fast paced, double jump shotgun action

 

[VanQ]

Probably Medic. You can tag along with the more experienced players and provide them with heals/ubers as you observe how they play and learn the ropes. At least that way you can contribute more positively to the team than your typical noobie Spy.

"How do I go invisible?"

 

[deleted+75193]

DELETED

 

[Neverhoodian]

The Soldier is probably the most intuitive for newcomers that have played other FPS titles. He's a good jack-of-all-trades, and one of the few classes where it isn't necessarily a problem if you have a bunch of them on your team. Having said that, I'd actually recommend starting as the Medic. You'll provide a vital service keeping friendlies alive and it allows you to observe the playstyles of other classes while doing so. Just try to keep out of trouble as best you can; Medics are not meant for combat. Hustle back to friendly territory if your teammates die or abandon you.

Once you're comfortable with those two you can start branching out and see which class fits your playstyle the best. I suggest you save the Spy for last though, as he has the highest difficulty curve of all the classes (plus most pub servers tend to have a problem with too many Spies on a team).

Regarding method of control, I highly recommend playing with a mouse and keyboard, as it provides faster reaction time and greater precision than a gamepad. You're going to need it for more advanced tactics like rocket jumping.

One more bit of advice; try to make a habit of glancing over your shoulder every handful of seconds. A Spy could be sneaking up on you any moment...

 

[MHR]

Soldier

At the risk of sounding like a tryhard neckbeard ubervirgin, I have 3500 hours played in TF2, and the class you want to be playing as a new player is soldier.

Soldier has everything you need to handle any situation in TF2 unlike a lot of classes. He's easy to learn, easy to play, relatively easy to do well with, and you've got the health pool to survive a lot of the cheese and give yourself time to react, and the best part is that some of the best weapons for soldier are the ones he already starts with, the regular rocket launcher and shotgun. You can never have too many soldiers on a team. A team with all soldiers and a few medics is called a good team. I have learned to hate noobs that stack 3 snipers and 3 spies per team with a passion. They're not helping the team, they can't even be helping themselves since there's no way even a good sniper/spy is going to do well under those conditions, since there's no team to speak of to support.

Medic is also good for beginners since you don't have to aim or shoot anything that's trying to shoot back, you're learning what a team needs to do well, and you can mostly just focus on not dying, which is always good to know.

Heavy is an easy class, but don't take "easy" as being the same as "good for brand-new players." Yeah, he doesn't take a lot of skill to just aim a minigun while moving at a snail's pace, but he relies a lot on knowing what you're doing to avoid sucking. for example, since you're so slow, you're punished a lot harder for being in the wrong place, and you need teammates supporting you so you don't get ganged up on.

Pyro is also easy, but he's similar to heavy. Lots of people end up doing little more than running at the enemy with the flamethrower on and dying a lot, but at least when he does die, he doesn't have to take as long to waddle back to the action.

But play whatever you want, TF2 is fun because you have choices. Few choices are bad choices unless it's being the third sniper/spy or using the Natascha. [sub]because that gun is bad[/sub]

Edit: I think spy was the very best class to exclude from the poll. Spy is the class that suffers the absolute most from not knowing what you're doing. I don't even play it most of the time because I'll just die too often for my taste.

 

[njrk97]

*Cracks Hat Finding Muscles*
Directing you to this picture

Spoiler

A harsh yet mostly true summation. So lets begin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YciTA18gq_E music for effect

Spoiler: Scout

Scouts are designed for mobility, they are at there weakest when they are not on the move. As scout you should not be hit simple as that. As a class they need to get close to targets to deal serious damage, his primary guns all rely on scatter meaning the closer you are the more damage you can do.They also count as 2x capping meaning on control point maps and payload they push like they are two classes instead of one.

Personally this is a very hectic class, it can be goods for teams but as someone new to the game they lose there effectiveness. Main thing with scout is also to not be hit by pyros and avoid sentries.

Spoiler: Soldier

Soldier are one of the slowest class in the game but they are also one of the most dangerous, you have 200 health which is a decent amount but you are still not invincible. The soldier relies on a rocket launcher which deal explosive and splash damage. This means you don't have to always hit a target directly, rule of thumb for this (This excluded the direct hit as it has no splash) aim for the feet of all class you attack, this mean if you miss you will still get them with splash damage. Two direct hits with rockets will kill most classes. At the same rate though don't forget you have a shotgun to hit targets aswell. Another note for soldier is rocket jumping, its hard to explain so google it up but trust me it can be VERY handy.

Personally soldier is pretty good starter class, just be aware of your speed and health and the fact rocket splash can hurt you. Scouts are hard to engage though so most will use a shotgun to hit them and pyro can blast your rockets back but this can be mostly negated by aiming at the feet.

Spoiler: Pyro

Pyro's are ambush classes, your short range makes you weaker in the open since you use a flame thrower but if you can ambush people around corners you become very deadly. Pyros also have the ability of after burn which means class take damage even after you stopped burning them. Arguably the most important ability of the pyro is the Airblast, first thing this can put out team mates that are on fire, DO THAT, this can also reflect rockets,grenades,stickies and even arrows but timing this is very hard, the exception to this is stickies which you push around when you blast them and grenades which linger if they are not a direct hit.

This is a pretty good class to start of with aswell the major thing is you have 175 health and very short range, be aware when to retreat and its also good as pyro to know the layout of the map well.

Spoiler: Demoman

Like soldier demoman also have splash with there primary weapons but unlike soldier demoman can bounce grenades of walls and other solids objects which can be very dangerous, yet again most classes will die from 2 hits of the demo's grenades. Peachy. You are more mobile as demo than soldier but you have the same 175 health as pyro. A big thing for the demoman is the sticky grenades, this is your secondary weapons and can fire 8 bombs which stick to walls and are manually detonated doing 103?138 damage PER STICKY. Very good for defense and it can be used well in offense, although using them by just spaming and detonating is frowned upon.

Demo is a kinda odd class, im going to say you should use it but at the same rate be aware when to switch classes and be aware what weapons to use in each situation as Demo.(Stickies are good for control points and payload when you are defending as all you have to do is watch your hud and when the cart is pushed/the point is being capped just right click and laugh as some poor sods are blown to kingdom come.)

Spoiler: Heavy

Heavy is slowest class in game but is also class with the most health, as heavy the main people who can kill you are snipers and spies so be aware of your surrounding to make sure you are not picked off. Heavy primary weapon must spin up first but when it does it is a force to be reckoned with. It does 520 damage PER SECOND on a single class if you hit them with all your bullets, here is the thing the heavy has bullet spread meaning at long range the heavy loses its effectiveness so your best bet is medium range. Also you move slower when your shooting just keep that in mind.

Great class to start with, very powerful and easy to play, just watch out for those sniper and spies and keep track of your health, your tough but your not immortal.

Spoiler: Engi

Engineers are very big team support, by yourself you are a fairly weak class, your weapons are average at best. You true use is with buildings, build a teleporter entrance at your base and a exit up near where the fight is to keep your team pushing. A dispenser is very important, fundamentally a dispenser defines where your team can fall back too as it give them ammo and health, finally you have a sentry, think what happens if you had a heavy and soldier built in one with pin point accuracy. Now engineers are very much a memory class, you need to remember all the good spots, don't just place building willy nilly as if they are in the open too much they can be decimated but at the same time dont make you building too out of the way or it wont help your team. Sentries and dispensers generally stay together though so that they can be guarded. As Engi your also a target, spies will attack your building so make sure to break the sapper of them, at the same rate though dont let the spy kill you, you have a pistol wrench and shotgun, use them to take spies out. Soldier and demos can also take out your building too so be careful where they are.

Engi as stated is a memory class, its a good powerful class if you remember good spots in maps and can help the entire team, give it a shot, two things though, hit building to make them build faster and level them up (Trust me a lv1 sentry is pitiful compared to a lv3, same with tele and dispensors) and be very aware of your surroundings (but don't wander too far from your buildings).

Spoiler: Medic

Medics are not very combat capable, remember that, you stay near your team, don't wander. As medic you keep your team alive by using your medic gun to heal them. Dont just stick to one person though as you need to keep your team alive. However your work best with heavies,soldiers,demos but remember heal priority (Turn on the 'team mates automatically call for medics when hurt' in advanced options)
Heal priority top first bottom last Remember that Heavies, demos and soldier always take priority aswell with these (If a heavy is on fire and red, heal him first then the sniper on fire with white health, granted it on a case by case basis. IF someone is about to die heal them regardless of class
On fire,on red health
on fire,on nearing red health
on red health
on fire with white health
full health

The other ability the Medic has is the UBERCHARGE, as you heal classes you build up a uber meter, when it full you can pop a uber which makes your heal target and you invulnerable for a few seconds as long as you keep healing them. Rember one thing about this though, POP IT DON'T DROP IT
If you have lost your heal target and are about to die,just use your uber and retreat.

Medic is good team support class but like scout it can get very hetic, i know i main medic, It has merits to though and not many people go medic in tf2 so i say give him a shot just dont stick on one target all the time.

Spoiler: Sniper

Spoiler: No

Spoiler: I mean it

Spoiler: FINE

Sniper is a high skilled class that requires alot of practise to be good, snipers are weak in close range but are good at taking out high threat targets. This requires that you can aim as sniper needs headshots to be effective. Sniper is also not very good in terms of teams as he is very isolated and can only handle one target at a time. Sniper are also targets for spy and basically everyone else on the enemy team if you get good enough.

This is short but just dont try him if you are new. There are already too many newb sniper on tf2 we dont need another one.

Spoiler: Spy

Like sniper, spy is a very hard class to play. Spies are designed to go behind enemy lines and reek havoc. Spies have the ability to go invisible for a short amount of time, however if they take damage or bump into the enemy they are revealed as they shimmer. Spies can also disguise as the enemy team, if they attack though they undisguised. A big way spies are given away is if the team that your disguised as bumps into you, as team members go through each other. Spies can also destroy building with a sapper, unlike attacking this does not undisguise you though. Spies can also use a knife. If you attack when you are behind them it counts as a backstab and will instantly kill them as long as they are not ubercharged. Remember though you have a revolver so use that in any situation you cant get a backstab.

Like i said though spies are hard to play as you have to fool other player on the enemy team, not recommended

Overall, soldier,demo,pyro,heavy and sometimes medic and heavy are your best bet. Team fortress 2 is a team based game though, that means you get the fun of adapting and changing class to counter the enemy team.

Other word of advice aswell, hat are cool and all but if you dont want to get mocked by some less than nice people. Dont I repeat DONT wear these items ever

 

[Greg White]

Heavy. First time I played him I was laughing maniacally with occasional bouts of "CRY SOME MORE BABIES!" the entire match.

Then I switched over to the Pyro and played "Do you believe in magic" the next match.

Good times.

 

[Pseudonym]

Heavy or medic. You don't need good aim for those or that much skill. Their uses are obvious. For the medic: run along with teammates and heal them, prefferably while they are in combat. You can overheal them. The medic and the heavy combine rather well as the heavy can, with help of the medic get 450 health and good health regen. With the medic it ussually works like this: if you aren't (over)healing at this very moment you are doing it wrong. The heavy is slow and short- to mediumranged.

You might also want to use the scout, not because he is very good in the hands of a newbie but because of his speed he allows you to quickly run around the map so that you can quickly find out how the maps work.

Slightly more fiddly the first couple of minutes but also really easy is the engineer. You just need to work behind the lines setting up your items at strategic places. You don't even have to interact with the other team that much. It's an easy way to contribute to the team without having to have a great sense of the tactics or the maps yet.

What you should watch out for is playing too many charactars with too little health, especially when your team already has too many of those. The spy and the sniper aren't always useless, but teams consisting of too many frail charactars will get stomped on by teams with more heavies, medics and soldiers. You can't run a team on just light support classes with little to no health or regen.

Another tip is to find a friend to play it with. If you can communicate well with even one teammember this gives an advantage and makes the game more fun.

 

[VanQ]

Other word of advice aswell, hat are cool and all but if you dont want to get mocked by some less than nice people. Dont I repeat DONT wear these items ever

Not necessarily true! If you've become good enough that you can do some pubstomping, it can be a highly effective tactic to wear those items while dominating half the enemy team. Not only is the mental warfare a good tactic, but the butthurt is delicious.

 

[happyninja42]

I picked medic for the poll, but I think engineer is a good starting one too. It's not terribly exciting, but it gives you something to do while you are learning the game, and it doesn't involve too much crazy action. Medic's are always helpful, and the job description is pretty straightforward. "Keep them alive as best you can" So even a newb medic is helpful.

 

[SuperSuperSuperGuy]

I like Soldier. It's a jack-of-all trades class whose only real weakness is its walking speed, which is offset by some more advanced techniques like rocket jumping. There are some tips and tricks, but a Soldier can function moderately well without them.

Another good starting class is Medic. The Medic's syringe gun is a little hard to use because of projectile motion, but as a Medic your primary job is to heal people and give them Ubercharges in order to break through enemy lines. That lets you observe how more experienced players like to play their classes. There aren't enough Medic players running around in pub matches, anyway.

Heavy is really tanky; it can sponge hits really well, and its main purpose is to wreck everything that comes near with its minigun. There aren't particularly many intricacies for a Heavy, besides learning how to not die and keep your minigun trained on key targets.

Pyro seems like a good newbie class, since its learning curve seems to extend to "learn how to run at things and set them on fire", but the skill ceiling on that is very low. A Pyro is most effective when it uses airblasts, its secondary and melee weapons, and ambushes to its advantage, both of which can be a little difficult to learn without experience with maps and projectiles.

 

[Uhura]

I would recommend Pyro or Scout (I started out with Pyro). The flamethrower is a pretty good weapon if you want to annoy/terrorize the opposing team plus you can help your team mates with the airblast (it extinguishes burning team mates). If you have an ok aim, Scout is also pretty good. You'll get a good sense of the map quickly and you probably won't annoy your own team mates. Even if you don't get a lot of kills, you can still distract the opposing with your shenanigans, which can help your team mates.

I see a lot of people recommending Medic and I have to disagree with that a bit. Medic is one of the most important members of the team and if you do a lot of noob mistakes (heal the wrong people, pop ubers at wrong times, die a lot, don't know the map etc.) your own team mates will get angry at you.

 

[Doom972]

Whichever is the most fun to you. I came into it thinking I would love being a sniper due to my Counter-Strike experience, but I found out that the Heavy was much more to my liking, and remains my favorite and most played class to this day.

I recommend not playing a sniper or spy if the team already has one, because unless you're really good at those classes, you're just wasting space, and there are usually more than enough people playing them. I do recommend playing medic, as it's the easiest to play, and your team will try to protect you. This way you'll get the best chance to learn map layouts and watch others play other classes and learn the game.

 

[Idsertian]

The first thing you're going to want to do, is find a decent community with people willing to help out new players. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to keep joining servers in your area until you find one. Having a decent community to play with trounces all aspirations of skill. I'd say start with Lotus Clan, but they can be a bit whiny and ragey, at least this side of the pond.

That said, you should pick the class that most suits your play style. A caveat to that is that you should avoid playing Pyro with the Backburner, or Heavy with the Natascha. Don't be that guy. For me, my early days were spent hopping from one class to another until I settled on Spy, because watching people rage because they're not checking their back is funny as hell. Also, confusing noob engies by sitting on their heads and spamming sappers on their buildings is also funny as hell. Actually, playing Spy well is pretty satisfying.

Also, there is some teleporter etiquette you should be aware of:

If you play Engineer, for the love of all that is good and true, turn your teleporter around. Leaving your teleporter exit facing a wall will only serve to annoy and hinder your team, and you will receive hate for it in abundance. Again, don't be that guy.

The next piece of etiquette can be summed up by this image:

Spoiler

Yes, there is a priority list for use. It may seem like a minor thing, but allowing that Engy or that Medic through first could very well save your team. Be a bro, let them use it first. And if you use one as a Scout, GabeN will find you and slap you in the face with his mighty bawsaq.

Lastly, a tweak to your game that will help you immensely:

> Right click TF2 in Steam
> Click properties
> Click "Set Launch Options..."
> Copy and paste this into the dialogue box: -useforcedmparms -noforcemaccel -noforcemspd
> Click "Ok"
> Run game
> Click "Options"
> Click "Mouse" tab
> Make sure the "Mouse Acceleration" box in unchecked, and that the "Raw Mouse Input" box is checked
> Set your mouse sensitivity way up by typing a number in manually into the box (I use 10, but you may want to adjust this up or down depending on your mouse and the surface you use it on)
> Enjoy your now highly accurate mouse!

The above may take some time to get used to, but trust me, it is really worth it. Being able to aim with pinpoint accuracy is a huge advantage. Also, those commands will work with any Source Engine game, so go nuts with adding them to L4D, Portal, Garry's Mod, Counter-Strike and Half-Life. Or anything else that uses Source.

But back on topic, pick whatever class suits you best. The game has tutorials for each class, so I recommend playing through those and basing your decision on that. Also, watch the really good players as they play to see how they succeed, and always try to be aware of what's going on around you.

Lastly: Don't spawncamp. There is a special place in hell for people who do that.

 

[Spider RedNight]

You might can try the Heavy; they're slow but they do decent damage and have a lot of health and paired with a Medic, it can get pretty devastating

Conversely, you can be a Medic (as long as you just get over the fact that EVERYONE will be calling for you and you can't be everywhere at once) so you have responsibility but not in the field of killing everyone.

 

[DeimosMasque]

Wow! Thanks everyone for all the advice. I'd say more but my bank account was hacked last night and I was cleaned out of all my money so basically... not really thinking about which class to play at the moment. Though Scout and Soldier seem like good starting options.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I'd say Heavy, as it's the most straightforward to play: move forward and shoot at things that move. Pyro is also simple, but requires some navigation savvy to get into range, and Soldier is IMO only useful once you master rocket jumping, which takes time.

 

[Patrick Buck]

Mmm Pyro. Pyro is always a good way to go, as it's basically spray and pray. solider is a good choice too, at a bit more range. I'm very fond of demo at the moment, and somehow I'm doing really well at it at the moment. Pretty much any class can be used for anything anymore, if you use it with the other equipment loads. It all depends on what you want.