This guide is based on the Spy achievement pack and milestones, and has evolved to include more Spy specific information. This guide will continue to evolve with the game.

"You got blood on my suit!" ~ Random Spy


Ratings are appreciated!

With over 400 possible achievements in TF2, you quickly realize it's difficult to discern which of the achievements belong in which pack simply because of the massive number of achievements. This is the reason I went looking for such a guide as this within the steam community, and didn't find one. The initial purpose of this guide is to shorten the list of possible achievements to those specific to the Spy class.

So, to give my fellow practitioners of espionage a list of these achievements, I did some searching and found my answers elsewhere, on the official wiki. I started this guide as a simple list of spy achievemnts mostly for my personal reference. Then I found a drop down box that basicly does this for you within the personal achievement section... as shown in this image.

So I decided to make this guide more useful and added information on "how to achieve" these achievements. To do so, I stole another breifcase of enemy intelligence from the official wiki, and then proceeded to add some personal insight based on my spy career.

If any images are not displaying properly, it is a loading issue with the steam servers. I assure you the images are still there. You can try to reload the guide to view them or simply check back later.

The spy pack itself contains 34 achievements, and you only need half of them to unlock the three Spy milestone achievements. You can refer to this list to unlock any or all of the achievements needed for the Spy pack. The descriptions for most of the achievements are fairly straitforward as far as what is needed to unlock them, others needed a more in depth explanation. The Spy milestones also unlock untradable and unique items for use with the spy profession, and for use in unlocking other spy achievements.

Due to limitations on the amount of text allowed in each section and some formatting issues, I updated this guide to give each achievement it's own section. I hope this also helps you to find the achievements your looking for more quickly by using the overview on the right. > > > > >

Kill a gun-wielding Spy with your knife.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: An enemy Spy who is near friendly lines, retreating, or has recently respawned will likely have the Revolver equipped. Any of these opportunities gives you the chance to chase down and kill that player for the achievement. I'd straife unpredictably to avoid gunfire and stay within melee reach to get your slashes in. I got this one by backing an enemy spy into a corner and slashing repeatedly.

Backstab your Steam Community friends 10 times.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: Join a group of players that regularly play together. You do not have to backstab ten different friends, so it is possible to backstab a single friend multiple times, whether they like it or not!

Survive 30 seconds after being ignited while cloaked.
Difficulty: Very Easy
How to achieve: While cloaked, head to the front lines and look for an enemy Pyro. Bump into the Pyro's flames and then retreat to safety. Extinguish the flames with a Health kit and avoid entering combat until thirty seconds have elapsed. When you start becoming wary of pyros and start running in the other direction when you see one coming, you'll likely achieve this one rather quickly. The thing to keep in mind when your going for this achievement is that a pyros flames are only deadly if they can keep it on you.

Get a Revenge kill with a backstab.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: You'll eventually be dominated by another player without trying, the classes are balanced in a way that makes each class strong or weak to other classes. If you are having trouble getting revenge, you can be purposely dominated by a class you are strong against, such as the Sniper. To get this achievement, start sneaking up behind anyone that's dominating you for a revenge kill. I got this one by targetting a Heavy, as they are a slower class and easier to target, but you can acquire it on any of the other classes if your determined or lucky enough.

Kill an Engineer who is working on a sentry gun.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: Look for an Engineer who is setting up or has built a Sentry Gun near a contested chokepoint. As your team makes a push through the area, backstab the Engineer as he repairs the Sentry Gun. Many Engineers will crouch right by their sentries and beat on them to repair them, you can be killed if your wrenched by a stray hit, so it's best to approach from behind if at all possible.

Backstab a disguised Spy.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: An enemy Spy that decloaks near your team is bound to already be disguised. Electro Sappers being placed on friendly Engineer buildings are sure signs that a disguised Spy is nearby. You can Spy-check by approaching the backs of teammates with the Knife equipped; if you automatically raise it as if to backstab someone, that "teammate" is actually an enemy Spy. *gasp* I got this one by spotting a cloaked enemy spy masquerading as a scout crouched in a corner, and simply snuck in for a quick backstab.

While using the Cloak and Dagger, kill the same enemy 3 times, all within the same area in a single life.
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
How to achieve: Camp in areas with high player traffic and use the Spy's ability to see player names to target a specific person. As long as you don't get killed, this achievement can be done over a prolonged period of time. Play conservatively; if you manage to backstab the same player twice, they are more likely to try and hunt you down. Due to specific anti-Spy gear, such as the Razorback or Jarate, even targeting a Sniper may not be an easy way to obtain this achievement. I got this one by targetting the same Heavy moving towards the front lines from his spawn, as Heavies are slow and easy to get behind.

Kill a Sniper after your backstab breaks his Razorback.
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
How to achieve: You will be shocked after your first backstab attempt, alerting the Sniper to your presence. After the Razorback is broken, either try to land another backstab or slash at him, but avoid standing right in front of him. Be ready to straife to keep his back in front of you for the backstab. Using the Dead Ringer can also give the Sniper a false sense of security after "killing" you, allowing you to come back for an easy backstab.

Kill 50 enemies with the Ambassador.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
How to achieve: Use good aim to land headshots on unwary enemies. You can use your cloak to prey on injured players as they retreat from battle. Use it after failed attempts on headshots or backstabs as your retreating to a safe area while running backwards. (See 'The Ambassador' section for more info.)

Backstab a Medic that is ready to deploy an ÜberCharge.
Difficulty: Medium
How to achieve: When you see a Medic with an ÜberCharge ready, backstab him before it is deployed. You can use the Cloak and Dagger to stalk a Medic who is still building his ÜberCharge meter. Listen to any enemy medics on comms or using voice commands stating they are building or are ready to deploy their Über, and get in position to strike.

Provide an enemy with a freezecam shot of you flicking a cigarette onto their corpse.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
How to achieve: After killing an enemy, stand on that player's corpse and taunt while holding the Disguise Kit. Should you do the Spy Crab taunt rather than flick a cigarette, the achievement will still be awarded. This one is not easy to get on crowded servers, but still managable if you scroll to your disguise kit fast enough. Remember that the "G" key is the default to perform a taunt.

Backstab a Medic who has healed you in the last 5 seconds.
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
How to achieve: Disguise yourself so that you best fit the current situation; if you are at the frontlines, disguise as perhaps a Soldier or Pyro. If you immediately head backwards after being healed, a competent Medic will instantly recognize you as a Spy. It may be easiest to perform this in the midst of a large firefight, where the Medic will have to pay more attention to the battle after healing you.

Backstab an enemy who is dominating 3 or more of your teammates.
Difficulty: Medium
How to achieve: Depending on the map and players, it may be hard to find someone who is dominating three or more of your teammates. Use the information on the scoreboard to track how many dominations each player has and target any appropriate enemies. This one should be easy enough to acquire on trade servers where a lot of your teammates are being dominated while they are away from keyboard.

Backstab the enemy that you're currently disguised as.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: The name of the player you are disguised as will appear on your HUD. Use this to seek out and backstab your victim. Disguising as an isolated Engineer or Sniper can allow you to more easily travel around without drawing suspicion. If wielding the Cloak and Dagger, you can continuously change your disguise until it corresponds with a nearby player.

Kill an enemy while you're being healed by an enemy Medic.
Difficulty: Medium
How to achieve: Once an enemy Medic starts to heal you, backstab the nearest enemy. This achievement is best done in the midst of a large firefight where the Medic will be paying more attention to the battle instead of you. You will automatically be healed by a Medic if you backstab their patient with Your Eternal Reward, allowing you to quickly go for another enemy.

Backstab 50 enemies who are capturing control points.
Difficulty: Medium
How to achieve: Some control points are quite confined, making it difficult to get within melee range of a Spy-checking group of players. Sparsely defended control points, such as those on Gravel Pit, make excellent areas to stalk. Players that huddle around the Payload cart make for easy targets.

Sap an enemy Sentry Gun within 3 seconds of a teammate sapping another.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: When the enemy team has multiple Sentry Guns set up, coordinate with a fellow Spy to disable several of them at once.

Backstab an enemy and the Medic healing him within 10 seconds of each other.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: Look for a Medic and his buddy as they head towards the front lines. Medic buddies tend to run more slowly, so it is preferable to stab the faster Medic first.

Start capping a capture point within a second of it becoming available.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: Players tend not to pay attention to currently locked control points, so maneuver behind enemy lines and position yourself on the next control point in anticipation of your team capturing the preceding one. Using the Cloak and Dagger will allow you to hide indefinitely while waiting. Standard Control Point maps, such as Granary and Well, have control points that frequently change hands, and thus give you more opportunities to attempt this achievement. You only need to begin the capture process, not complete it.

Kill 15 enemies who are standing on a control point they own.
Difficulty: Medium
How to achieve: Players tend to Spy-check anyone approaching an active control point, so approach from an unexpected angle. Backstabbing enemies passing through a locked control point will also grant points towards this achievement.

Destroy 1000 Engineer buildings with sappers.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: You will obtain this achievement after playing as the Spy for a decent amount of time. You will still get points towards this achievement via assists should a teammate destroy a building while it is being sapped. A building that you sapped has to be completely destroyed to get progress towards the achievement.

Sap an enemy building, then backstab the Engineer who built it within 5 seconds.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: Use your cloaking or Disguise Kit to sneak behind a preoccupied Engineer. Sap a building, quickly switch to your Knife, and then backstab the Engineer to prevent your sapper from being removed. If an Engineer has left the building unattended, hide until they inevitably return to repair it. Players using the Wrangler tend to focus more on combat and can be easily distracted from their buildings.

Headshot 20 Snipers with the Ambassador.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
How to achieve: Whenever you are in a position to backstab an enemy Sniper, use the Ambassador instead. Because an accurate Ambassador headshot only deals 102 damage, it may be safer to target Snipers who are already injured or are away from the front lines. The Croc-o-Style Kit set will prevent a Sniper from being killed by your headshots. I've found it's easier to approach from the side as snipers tend to straife to avoid enemy sniper fire. (See 'The Ambassador' section for more info.)

Backstab an enemy, who then switches to Pyro before they respawn.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
How to achieve: The procedure for this achievement is completely out of your hands. Continuously backstab enemies with the hope that one will become frustrated enough to switch to the Pyro.

Kill an enemy who triggered your feign death in the last 20 seconds.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
How to achieve: To make your fake death more convincing, try allowing the enemy to damage you for a bit before pulling out the Dead Ringer. The Saharan Spy set significantly reduces the volume of the decloak sound effect, thus making it easier to find safe locations to decloak.

While cloaked, bump into an enemy cloaked Spy.
Difficulty: Very Easy
How to achieve: This should happen incidentally as Spies tend to take routes that members from either team rarely traverse. You should eventually bump into an enemy Spy who is on the same path as you.

Backstab 1000 enemies.
Difficulty: Easy
How to achieve: You will naturally obtain this achievement after playing as the Spy for a decent amount of time.

Stab an enemy while fencing.
Difficulty: Very Hard
How to achieve: The Fencing Kill taunt is notably harder to perform than other taunt kills. In addition to being one of the longest and loudest taunts, you must also be undisguised and uncloaked. The first two strikes deal minimal damage and will easily alert enemies; use your ability to see enemy health to gauge whether your target is injured enough to be killed. To reduce the chances of being caught, perform the taunt from where you cannot be seen, such as around a corner or outside an enemy Teleporter Exit, allowing only the last strike to hit. This achievement cannot be obtained during Humiliation. You have to taunt with the knife to achieve this, best to do so on someone unaware of your presence. I got this one by finding a guy afk just outside of his spawn area, this happens a lot, but you also have to be aware of the mobs pouring out of the spawn. Try to time their waves and then move in for the easy kill. Also of note, you do not need to stand behind them, I got this achievement standing beside the target as their back was to a wall.

Backstab an Engineer, then sap 3 of his buildings within 10 seconds.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
How to achieve: Find an Engineer with a building next to an active Teleporter. Backstab the Engineer and sap both of the buildings and Teleporter. Another sapper will automatically be placed at the other end of the Teleporter, earning you this achievement. The buildings only need to be sapped, not destroyed. If there is a turret present, you need to either catch the engineer around the corner, which usually isn't possible on most maps. As an alternative you need to acquire and use Your Eternal Reward. If you stab an engineer right next to a turret with this specific knife, the turret will not automaticly kill you because you are now disguised as the engineer, allowing you to switch to your sapper and sap away.

Dominate a Sniper.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
How to achieve: Specifically target an unaware enemy Sniper. If the player is carrying the Razorback, three point-blank Revolver shots or two rounds from the Ambassador (if the first is a headshot) will do. If you are about to die, ensure that the Sniper does not receive an assist towards your demise. Hope that the player does not change classes before you manage a domination.

Backstab 3 Snipers in a single life.
Difficulty: Medium
How to achieve: This is most easily done on maps that favor Snipers, such as 2Fort, where multitudes of Snipers are sure to be found lined up and ready to be backstabbed. Note that you do not need to backstab all three Snipers within a short period of time, so retreating after the first or second backstab is a viable option.

Stab an enemy to death while under the influence of Jarate.
Difficulty: Medium
How to achieve: A Sniper who manages to hit you with Jarate or the Sydney Sleeper will already know you are there. Once hit, stay out of the Sniper's line of fire and attempt to backstab a different target who may not immediately be aware of your presence.

Headshot 3 Scouts with the Ambassador.
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
How to achieve: Scouts move quickly and are difficult to headshot. As when sniping, try to predict where the Scout will be when you fire. The Spy does not and cannot zoom in to get headshots, making close range encounters with Scouts slightly easier. Scouts in the midst of combat tend to be already injured, so the 102 damage an Ambassador headshot deals should suffice. (See 'The Ambassador' section for more info.)

Backstab 3 enemies within 10 seconds.
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
How to achieve: Spies will frequently find themselves behind enemy lines with at least three nice big backs facing them. When this happens, attempt to backstab all of them.

As before mentioned, to unlock the following milestones, you need to unlock 17 of the 34 spy achievements listed above. In your personal achievements section, they will show up in the list with the other Spy achievements.

I don't believe that the milestone achievements count for the next milestone to be unlocked, but I really wasn't paying enough attention to them as I unlocked them. In all honesty, you should have the 3rd milestone unlocked through normal gameplay way before you start to focus on acquiring the harder achievements.

With that said, here are each of the milestones and the rewards granted for achieving them...

Achieve 5 of the achievements in the Spy pack.
Reward: Ambassador
Refer to "The Ambassador" section.

Achieve 11 of the achievements in the Spy pack.
Reward: Cloak and Dagger
Refer to "The Cloak and Dagger" section.

Achieve 17 of the achievements in the Spy pack.
Reward: Dead Ringer
Refer to "The Dead Ringer" section.

As previously mentioned, the Spy Milestone 1 grants an achievement reward known as "the Ambassador" which is a class specific pistol for Spy. You don't need to unlock this milestone to get an Ambassador, you can aquire a Vintage version through the Community Market, or trade another player for one. If your real lucky, you'll find one in game before unlocking the milestone.

What I want to point out about the Ambassador is that there are 3 achievements that require using this pistol to unlock them, and those achievements are: Diplomacy, Skullpluggery, and Who's your Daddy?

While the Diplomacy simply requires 50 kills with that specific pistol, the other two require that you get a certain number of headshots on Snipers and Scouts. I can tell you right now getting them naturally versus a Scout is not going to be easy, actively look for scouts standing still. Snipers on the other hand should be simple enough if you can sneak up behind them, if you have a choice go after the snipers without the croc gear that gives extra hit points. I reccommend going for these headshots with the Ambassador equipped, targetting strictly Scouts and Snipers, and any progress you get on those achievements will also go towards Diplomacy. As a bonus... any stray shot accidental kills, or kills that result in a deviation of the plan that was to be executed, will also help out your Diplomacy kill count.

I actually expected to acquire the achievement for headshots on snipers long before getting the one for scout, it just turned out to be the opposite. This is due in part because I got lucky enough to find a couple of scouts standing still. In addition to that, however, I pulled off a beautiful headshot on a scout running full speed a long distance away by timing his run and putting the crosshair a hair ahead of him. You just never know, sometimes you'll get lucky if you go for the impossible shots.

This is the second milestone achievement item. The "Cloak and Dagger" is basicly an improved version of the "Invis Watch" which is a stock Spy class item. There are no achivements that require the use of the Cloak and Dagger, however, it's a serious upgrade from the default watch. I prefer this watch over the Dead Ringer as well, because it allows you to sneak up on enemy backs a lot easier.

Tip: When cloaked, use the LFT CTRL key to crouch, and continue to move in whatever direction you have chosen for your approach. You'll notice that the cloak meter drains a lot less, and sometimes you'll need to pause to let it regenerate a bit before moving forward. It does, however, help you dodge some stray damage and get you to where you need to be without as much of a risk of being seen.

The "Strange" version of the Cloak and Dagger keeps track of how much time you spend cloaked as a spy. You may be able to get these off of the Steam Community Market.

This is the third and final Spy milestone achievement reward. The Dead Ringer is a Spy class item that can be used instead of the "Invis Watch" and is obtainable by completing the final Spy milestone achievement, or by buying the vintage version on the Community Marketplace. The dead ringer has the unique ability of cloaking a spy on injury and letting him fake his death so that he can reposition for the kill.

There is only one achievement that requires the use of the Dead Ringer. The "Sleeper Agent" achievement requires that you kill someone within 20 second of them activating your false death. This is fairly simple, just keep trying until you get it right. In most cases the person killing you is right behind you, so running in a circle behind your target right after cloaking helps.

Tip: I never cared for this device really, and since it has been nerf'd, I suspect fewer Spies will be using them. I encourage you to stick with the Cloak and Dagger after obtaining the above feat, as it helps you to stay behind enemy lines for a longer period of time.

The "Strange" version of the Dead Ringer keeps track of how many deaths you feigned as a spy. You may be able to get these off of the Steam Community Market.

In the achievement The Man With The Broken Guns I mentioned that Your Eternal Reward is an awesome alternative to trying to catch the engineer away from his turret. I wanted to mention that this knife is available for purchse in the in game shop, and it's also an item that can be looted or traded. If you wait long enough, you will find one. I happened to stumble on one just after purchasing it and ended up with two. You never know when it'll end up in your inventory.

Every year Valve one-up's it's Halloween release. A few years back they started dropping the Haunted class cosmetics. Personally, I think the haunted spy is one of the best they did.


This is a cropped screenshot of the Haunted Spy as shown on the loading screen.

You may or may not be able to find this and many other haunted Spy class items on the Steam Community Market. I hope the current prices don't haunt you!

Anyone that's played TF2 long enough has heard "I hate spies" at least once. In my opinion it's the most difficult profession to master, and I really enjoy the class. If you get a lot of flak for playing a spy, challenge your opponents to try it! I can't count how many times I've seen a few people switch to the spy class after spending about five minutes on the server. Don't be bothered too much by all the complaining, any skilled Spy would get the same reaction.

For those that would post negative comments on this guide, don't. No one wants to read your rants, and I'll just delete them. Any really offensive comments will also be reported. If you don't like this guide, that's fine. I then challenge you to write one for yourself. As for this guide, it serves the purpose I intended.

With all that said, like this guide or hate it, feel free to give it a rating.

The list of achievements and most (not all) of the other information related to the Spy profession can also be found on the official TF2 wiki. I merely intended to make this information accessible here, and add whatever information I found lacking on the wiki. I do give credit where credit is due!

The spy image used as the icon for this guide is a resized version of an avatar that can be found on the Official TF2 Steam Group, so if you play TF2 and don't have a profile avatar ... no excuses, click on this link and pick your avatar.

If your TF2 inventory is on the dry side you can join The Leaky Spigot Giveaway Group for a chance to acquire some items for free. On the flip side, if your inventory is so full it's about to blow a pipe, you can offer up some of your extra items to the group. Let's bust out the gift wrap and get into the Leaky Spigot spirit of giving!

Thanks for the Steam Awards!

I have been creating guides for the Steam Community for a few years now, long before Steam Awards were a thing. I love creating content for the games I play. In 2020, Valve decided to reward players that create content with the points shop system.

The Steam points are very appreciated, and certainly encourages me to create more content for the gaming community. I even spent a few of the points to give more space for Steam guides on my profile. This lets me present up to seven of them on my profile at once. If you want to see what else I've created, you should check out the Other Published Steam Guides section of this guide!

This guide was first published in 2013. See for yourself! You can check the dates on the top right pane of this guide. As we are heading into 2024, that makes this guide over 10 years old. The term for a 10 year anniversary is Decennial and I am now calling this a Decennial Guide.

If you appreciate this guide helping out the player base over the last ten years, throw it a Steam Award as a thank you! I'd really appreciate it!

This guide is part of the TF2 Guide Index, a master guide pointing to all published guides specifically for Team Fortress 2 that Mr. Jester has contributed to.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2382445788
"Stab, Stab, Staab!"

You can check out all of my Published Steam Guides here, the following guides I feel are related in one way or another.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=202362272

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2183349877