Cloak

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Peek-a-boo! Click to listen — The Spy

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Cloak, or cloaking, is an inherent ability of the Spy, embodied in the Invisibility Watch worn on the wrist. For brief periods of time, a player using the class may become invisible. This ability allows the class to move unnoticed through enemy lines or make a quick escape when attacked.

The nature and strategy for cloaking depends on the type of watch the Spy uses in battle.

General attributes

Firstly, while cloaked, the Spy is unable to use his weapons or taunt, but can still use his Disguise Kit.

Secondly, the Spy is completely invisible to all enemies when cloaked, athough teammates will be able to see the class as a semi-transparent silhouette tinted in the team colour. A Spy therefore cannot simply charge through an enemy offensive cloaked.

Furthermore, regardless of what type of watch used, bumping into enemy players or being damaged results in the cloak malfunctioning, producing a temporary outline shimmer visible to all players regardless of team (although with the Dead Ringer this is only shown after a certain time cloaker). Weapons that produce visual effects, such as Jarate, Bleeding and fire, will render the cloak useless as the effects will make the Spy clearly visible. Similarly, emerging from water will cause the Spy to drip even when cloaked.

Upon decloaking, the Spy is make a unique noise and briefly appear in his team colour, regardless of disguise. Players must therefore decloak away from enemies to avoid being discovered.

Dead Ringer Strategies

The effect of the Dead Ringer still activates if you are wearing a friendly disguise. Keep in mind, uncloaking creates a loud and distinct sound. If you are targeting a single person, then it is best to uncloak a good distance away. Using the Dead Ringer right after leaving the Respawn area can be an obvious giveaway of a Spy's presence as most players will not believe an enemy died by just one hit. The situation may vary however, as multiple sticky bombs, backstabs, headshots and Critical rockets are believable causes of death.

The Dead Ringer is also activated upon fall damage. This can be bad or good depending on the situation. If the Spy was not expecting it to happen, he may run about randomly after realizing the Dead Ringer activated and thereby waste Cloak time. However, if he plans for this, dropping in front of an enemy and leaving a corpse, the enemy will be that much more unaware of the Spy's presence.

The watch also does not Cloak on command. A Spy must be damaged while having his Dead Ringer out in order to Cloak and feign death. In most situations, unless the Spy believes he may be unexpectedly backstabbed or headshot by an enemy, he should not have his Dead Ringer out. Enemies should be faced in combat under normal situations, with the Spy pulling out the Dead Ringer after 1-2 hits for a more believable death.

Pyros are the one class that can nullify the Dead Ringer's usefulness, as with all cloaking watches. If a Pyro is chasing you down, the chances are, even if you use your Dead Ringer, he will reignite you. So, as with all cloaking strategies, avoidance of Pyros should be top priority. If you are ignited while cloaked using the Dead Ringer, you will not take any significant damage until the Cloak wears off. However, the Dead Ringer can be used to quickly extinguish flame, and this can be used to your advantage. If you take a large enough beating from a Pyro, retreat, and then pull out your Dead Ringer, you will feign death, extinguishing the flame. The Pyro will most likely not try Spy-checking the area further, as it looked like you believably died from after burn.

If a Pyro does set you on fire, using the Dead Ringer may be a good tactic even if you think you'll really die. Most Pyros on public servers will continue to chase after you while you're invisible (wreathed in flames), leaving any points they may be defending, or following you right into your teammates' line of fire.

Using the Dead Ringer sets up possibilities to help aid your team in several ways. Firstly, it can act as a distraction for an incoming Über - which the opposition may deploy if they feel you are a large threat to them (disguising as an ally Heavy and charging towards the enemy is but one example). With the Dead Ringer activated, the Spy can then proceed to uncloak at a desired location, waiting for the Über to be depleted (in the case of a Medigun Über) or quickly extinguish a Kritzkrieg Über. Either way, this has helped your team by causing the enemy to deploy it early and thus giving your team mates adequate time to prepare to engage the enemy themselves. Another example can be seen is with the countering of the Demoman class. Again using "charging tactics" the Dead Ringer wielding disguised Spy can quite easily be enough to cause the Demoman to trigger his stickybombs and "eliminate" you - the Demoman while most likely proceed to laying down more, in which time you will have decloaked and backstabbed him, thus eliminating this deadly threat.

Cloak and Dagger Strategies

Use the ability to recharge Cloak by standing still to your advantage. Use 'odd' objects on maps to your advantage and stand on top of them to heal your Cloak. In tunnels, sticking near corners to refill your Cloak and then uncloaking to take out an enemy that walks by you works very well; this tactic also works near one-way doors, such as the ones on Dustbowl stages 1 and 2. The Cloak and Dagger's Cloak runs out much faster when you move vertically, so avoid jumping or falling while cloaked.

As a whole, the Cloak and Dagger's usefulness can be infinite. Defensive Spies can use the watch to Cloak near active control points and flag areas, uncloaking to backstab any enemies that come by to capture either one, then quickly re-Cloak and camp in the same spot. Offensive Spies can Cloak outside of high-traffic areas that the enemy is sure to walk down, getting behind them as they turn their backs to uncloak and backstab them.

Spies using the Cloak to move through areas should pay close attention to their Cloak meter. When the meter is drained, the Spy does not become fully visible, but like when bumping-in a enemy, being half-cloaked will be visible to the enemy, easily identifying his location. Avoid moving cloaked through quiet areas where the enemy will not see you or areas your team has secured to avoid wasting Cloak time.

Although you will become only half-cloaked when your Cloak meter runs out, you can still move and be partially camouflaged in certain areas, depending on your team color. For instance, BLU Spies with no Cloak left still might not be spotted if they are in places like in their own base (since their base probably has blue colored walls) or underwater. RED Spies can blend in with the reddish rock walls on maps like Hydro and Badlands, as well as in their base. Keep in mind that for camouflage to be most effective you must move slowly and stay far away from your enemies. Crouching while camouflaged is the best way to travel and not be seen. Also keep in mind that this will only fool your enemies at a glance; if you are in danger of being bumped into, or they are extremely close to you, it is wise to stand perfectly still so you can become completely invisible again and avoid detection.

The introduction of the Cloak and Dagger has made the Spy incredibly useful for surveying enemy movements. Simply stand near the enemy spawn cloaked and tell your team via in game voice chat what you see coming out. Following the enemy team and letting your team know what they seem to be planning works very well. Once both teams encounter each other, you can remove your Cloak and land some easy backstabs on enemies who are concentrating on fighting your team.

Cloak and Dagger vs. Invisibility Watch

The Cloak and Dagger may seem superior to the Invisibility Watch due to its potentially endless amount of Cloak time. However, this may not always be the case. The Cloak and Dagger does give the Spy 'unlimited' Cloak, but it this perk comes at a cost which may make some players reevaluate their decision to take it over the standard Invisibility Watch.

First, the Cloak and Dagger drains Cloak much faster while moving than the Invisibility Watch. This means that to stay cloaked over the same distance traversed, a Spy equipped with the Cloak and Dagger will have to take multiple breaks, in many cases, right in the middle of a path, where he may be bumped into by an enemy, hit by a stray bullet, or burned by a Pyro doing Spy-checks. Using the Invisibility Watch in a situation like this allows the Spy to travel further while cloaked, making it less likely for him to be trapped and discovered in an area heavily traversed by the enemy.

The other main drawback of the Cloak and Dagger over the Invisibility Watch is the fact that it cannot be recharged by picking up ammo or weapons. This may seem to be not that much of an advantage at first, but when used in an offensive manner, it can potentially make the Invisibility Watch much more useful. Coupled with the first point (being able to run further while cloaked), being able to replenish your Cloak bar instantaneously when encountering ammo boxes or weapons allows a Spy armed with the Invisibility Watch to be able to traverse massive distances of a map while staying cloaked. This is especially effective on the Payload maps, where ammo boxes are extremely common. Players who play Spy often may also find the Invisibility Watch more useful than the Cloak and Dagger, because depending on the situation, common Spy players will react quickly when their Cloak meter runs out (e.g running to the nearest ammo kit/ taking out the closest enemy). This allows them to cover ground faster, and get more kills quicker than the Cloak and Dagger, while those who use Cloak and Dagger will often find themselves wasting two minutes or more getting to their spot to start taking out enemies, while those who use the Invisibility Watch are able to get into those areas quicker. Overall, it all boils down to if you want more quick kills (Invisibility Watch), or if you're focusing on survival (Cloak and Dagger).

Overall, the choice between Cloak and Dagger and the Invisibility Watch really depends on personal preference as well as play style. The Cloak and Dagger is no doubt more useful for a defensive Spy, or a Spy who likes to "camp" in certain spots and wait for an enemy to approach. However, for the offensive or the highly-mobile Spy, the Invisibility Watch may sometimes prove to be more useful than the Cloak and Dagger.

Appearance to team

Note that for gameplay reasons, cloaked friendly Spies are different from cloaked enemies.

A cloaked friendly Spy has a small outline distortion to help you see them, whereas a cloaked enemy Spy is completely invisible. Similarly, a friendly Spy who changes their disguise while cloaked will be surrounded by "disguise smoke" briefly, while enemy Spies may safely change their disguises while cloaked without any visual indication at all. This counter-intuitive visual effect has misled many players to believe that they should not change their disguise while cloaked.

Another noteworthy point is that your teammates cannot tell which watch you are wearing unless they hit the inspect key.

Related Achievements

Pyro

Spontaneous Combustion Ignite 10 cloaked Spies.

Demoman

Shorn Connery Decapitate a cloaked Spy.

Heavy

Spyalectical Materialism Kill or assist in killing 10 cloaked Spies.

Engineer

Search Engine Kill 3 cloaked Spies with a Sentry Gun under control of your Wrangler.

Sniper

Jarring Transition Use Jarate to reveal a cloaked Spy.

Shoot the Breeze Kill a fully invisible Spy in a single hit.

Spy

Burn Notice Survive 30 seconds after being ignited while cloaked.

Spies Like Us While cloaked, bump into an enemy cloaked Spy.

See also

• Disguise Kit - Another means of infiltration
• Spy strategy - In depth strategy for the Spy class (including how to use the Cloak effectively)