Which class should I play?

There's no right answer to this question. Everyone likes playing different classes, and most players have 2 or 3 classes they play regularly. When you're getting bored with a class, try a new one. The contrast in playing style between classes is one of TFC's strengths.

There's a class for everything, and the trick is to find a class that's good at doing what you want to do. If you want to play Offense and capture flags, playing a Heavy Weapons Guy will only make things harder for you.

Here's a quick rundown of playing styles. Read over them, and pick the one that sounds the most fun to you:

Scout - The perfect flag capturer.

Scouts are the best flag capturers, so they are utterly essential in any map which involves a flag (maps with objectives like Capture the Flag or Territorial Control). Scouts can be effective even without firing a single shot, since their strength lies in their speed rather than in their combat skills. If you like moving twice as fast as everyone else, and screaming for an escort as you escape the enemy base with the Flag and the entire enemy team pursuing you, then the Scout is your class.

Sniper - The ultimate long-range fighter.

The Sniper is the only class that can kill an enemy on the other side of the map with almost no warning at all. Be careful though, for if the enemy engages you at close range you're weaker than most of the other classes. If you like settling down into a good sniper position and methodically killing every enemy who exits his base with a single shot to the head, then the Sniper is for you.

Soldier - The best all-around fighter.

The workhorse in any TFC team, soldiers perform well at any task and specialize in none. If you like killing lots and lots of enemies in straight man-to-man combat, this is the class for you. Soldiers are a core class in any offensive or defensive squad.

Demoman - A lethal close-range fighter.

Carrying more explosive weaponry than any other class, the Demoman clears whole rooms in seconds. He's essential on maps where the use of high explosives can destroy barriers, allowing access to more entrances into the enemy base. His remotely-detonable bombs make him a vicious defender in enclosed spaces. If you like watching the smoke clear and seeing bodies everywhere, the Demoman's your class.

Medic - The most indirectly lethal class in the game.

A solid close-to-medium range fighter, the Medic moves swiftly and carries a gun that enables him to mow down any of the weaker classes without too much trouble. His real strength lies in his ability to heal himself and his teammates with his medikit. If you love seeing eternal gratitude in the eyes of your teammates, or can't aim at all and still want to be incredibly useful to your Team, go for the Medic class. You might not kill a lot of enemies, but the teammates whose lives you've saved sure will.

Heavy Weapons Guy - A walking tank.

The name says it all. A slow moving, heavily armored beast toting an enormous assault cannon, the HW Guy can mow down any enemy in seconds. Not a lot of finesse in this one, since the cannon spits out so much fire you barely need to aim it. If you like picking a defensive position in a map and saying "No-one, and I mean no-one, is getting past here", then the HW Guy's the class you want.

Pyro - Set them on fire, and watch them burn.

A great first line of defense, the Pyro can easily knock chunks out of the enemy with his flamethrower. He doesn't have much in the way of killing weaponry, but he can make sure no-one gets into the base without being set on fire, and being burned alive tends to upset people. If you like running into a room, firing wildly, and then watching enemies run around screaming as they roast, then the Pyro is perfect for you.

Spy - The perfect infiltrator and terrorist, all in one.

A class who can disguise himself to look like anyone, the Spy can often walk into the enemy base, right past the defenders. Able to kill an enemy in a single hit with his knife, the Spy is someone you definitely don't want to turn your back on. After a few of their members have been knifed in the back, teams tend to get fairly paranoid. You know you're winning when they start to shoot each other for fear they're Spies. If you like matching your wits with the enemy instead of your reflexes, then the Spy is your class.

Engineer - The perfect remote defender.

When your base needs some heavy defense, the Engineer comes to the rescue, building automatic sentry guns that track enemies and kill them. Able to repair his teammates' armor and build machines to dispense ammunition, the Engineer is often the core player in large defensive squads. If you need to defend your base against all those hardcore players out there with much better aim, the Engineer's the perfect class.

If you've read over TFC's player classes and you're still not sure which one to pick, choose one that suits your experience level. Medics, Soldiers and HW Guys are all good first-time classes. Once you've got the hang of one or two of them, move on to some more complex classes, like the Engineer and Spy if you want to avoid a lot of combat, or the Sniper, Demoman, and Pyro if you like being in the thick of things.


Scout

Special Skill Key: Displays the status of each team's Flag on Capture The Flag maps
Speed: Very fast
Armor: Low armor (maximum of 50 green armor)
Weapons: Single-barrel shotgun, nail gun and crowbar
Grenades: 3 caltrop canisters and 3 concussion grenades
Abilities:
Removes an enemy's Spy's disguise by touching him
Disarms detpacks set by enemy Demomen when he comes in contact with them

Run. Don't fight.
Don't run in straight lines.
Call for help.
Concuss enemy defenders.
Slow down pursuers with caltrops.



Sniper

Special Skill Key: Toggles the sniper rifle zoom
Speed: Medium
Armor: Low armor (Maximum of 50 green armor)
Weapons: Nailgun, auto rifle, sniper rifle and crowbar
Grenades: 2 hand grenades

Become one with your sniper rifle.
Use your sniper rifle like a rifle.
Aim for the head.
Avoid letting enemies get close.
Hide your laser sight.
Use your auto rifle to finish them off.



Soldier

Special Skill Key: Reloads your currently selected weapon
Speed: Slow
Armor: Heavily armored (Maximum of 200 red armor)
Weapons: Single-barrel shotgun, double-barrel shotgun, rocket launcher and crowbar
Grenades: 4 hand grenades and 1 nail grenade

Reload regularly.
Use your nail grenade to pin your enemies down.
Learn to rocket jump.



Demoman

Special Skill Key: Detonates all your pipebombs
Speed: Medium
Armor: Medium armor (Maximum of 100 yellow armor)
Weapons: Single-barrel shotgun, grenade/pipebomb launcher, and crowbar
Grenades: 4 hand grenades and 4 MIRV grenades
Abilities:

Can set large explosive charges, called detpacks, to blow down obstructions, creating more entrances to the enemy base

Use your launcher.
Don't use too many pipebombs.
Reload regularly.
Clear rooms with your grenades.
Get up close and personal.
Use your detpack to open new pathways.
Learn to pipebomb jump.



Medic

Special Skill key: Selects the medikit
Speed: Fast
Armor: Medium armor (Maximum of 100 yellow armor)
Weapons: Medikit, single-barrel shotgun, double-barrel shotgun, and super nailgun
Grenades: 3 hand grenades and 2 concussion grenades
Abilities:

Can heal his teammates with the medikit
Automatically heals himself over time if the medikit has enough "ammunition"

Heal your teammates.
Cure your teammates.
Power up your teammates.
Infect your enemies.
Listen for "Medic!".



Heavy Weapons Guy

Special Skill key: Selects the assault cannon
Speed: Very slow
Armor: Extremely heavily armored (Maximum of 300 red armor)
Weapons: Single-barrel shotgun, double-barrel shotgun, assault cannon, and crowbar
Grenades: 4 hand grenades and 1 MIRV grenade
Abilities:

Due to his size and armor, the HW Guy isn't fazed much by injury, and rarely gets pushed around much by explosions.

Defend.
Work in relatively open areas.
Stand in doorways.
Work with a Medic or Engineer.



Pyro

Special Skill key: Selects the flamethrower
Speed: Medium
Armor: Well-armored (Maximum of 150 yellow armor)
Weapons: Single-barrel shotgun, flamethrower, incendiary cannon, and crowbar
Grenades: 1 hand grenade and 4 napalm grenades
Abilities:

Wears flame retardant armor, making him impossible to set on fire

Set them on fire.
Use your incendiary cannon effectively.
Be the first line of Defense.
Hold them off with your napalm grenades.



Spy

Special Skill key: Brings up the Disguise menu
Speed: Medium
Armor: Lightly armored (Maximum of 100 green armor)
Weapons: Tranquilizer gun, double-barrel shotgun, nailgun, and knife
Grenades: 2 hand grenades and 2 hallucination gas grenades
Abilities:

Removes an enemy Spy's disguise when he touches him
Can disguise himself to look like any class, team or both
Can feign death

Pretend to be one of them.
Think before you disguise.
Remember your teammates.
Think before you shoot.
Avoid enemy Spies and Scouts.
Be careful when picking up Flags.
Lie in wait for them.
Knife them in the back.
Provide intelligence.
Take out their sentryguns.



Engineer

Special Skill key: Brings up the Build menu
Speed: Medium
Armor: Lightly armored (Maximum of 50 yellow armor)
Weapons: Railgun, double-barrel shotgun, and wrench
Grenades: 2 hand grenades and 2 EMP grenades
Abilities:

Can build automatic sentryguns
Can build ammunition & armor dispensers
Can repair his teammates' armor
Can create ammunition

Get Metal.
Build a Sentrygun.
Upgrade your Sentrygun.
Maintain your Sentrygun.
Build a Dispenser.
Repair your teammates' armor.
Make ammunition for your teammates.
Protect your Sentrygun with EMP grenades.

What are some of the things I can do?

Throw Grenades

Each class in TFC has one or two types of grenade. Grenades are extremely important to becoming a good TFC player, so learn to use them well. Some kill, some wound, some confuse, some cover your retreat, and they all make you more effective at your chosen class when used wisely. You have two grenade throwing keys, one for each type of grenade your class has. When you push down the grenade key, you'll pull the pin out of the grenade. This is called Priming. When you release the grenade key, you'll throw the grenade. Note that the grenade will explode 3 seconds after you've Primed the grenade, even if you haven't thrown it yet. Your two grenade keys are "Throw First Grenade Type" (F by default) and "Throw Second Grenade Type" (G by default).

Here's a breakdown of the grenades used by each class:

Scout

Grenade Type 1: Caltrops.
Grenade Type 2: Concussion grenades.

Sniper

Grenade Type 1: Hand grenades.
Grenade Type 2: None.

Soldier

Grenade Type 1: Hand grenades.
Grenade Type 2: Nail grenades.

Demoman

Grenade Type 1: Hand grenades.
Grenade Type 2: MIRV grenades.

Medic

Grenade Type 1: Hand grenades.
Grenade Type 2: Concussion grenades.

Heavy Weapons Guy

Grenade Type 1: Hand grenades.
Grenade Type 2: MIRV grenades.

Pyro

Grenade Type 1: Hand grenades.
Grenade Type 2: Napalm grenades.

Spy

Grenade Type 1: Hand grenades.
Grenade Type 2: Gas grenades.

Engineer

Grenade Type 1: Hand grenades.
Grenade Type 2: EMP grenades.

Hold onto the grenade.



Call for a Medic!

Medics on your team are incredibly useful, being the only things that can heal you when you're in the middle of enemy territory, or when you're defending a position that's too dangerous to leave. Medics are usually busy healing other teammembers or killing enemies, so TFC provides you with an easy way to attract their attention. Hit your "Call for a Medic" key (Z by default), and you'll hear yourself yell for a Medic. In addition, any Medics on your team will see a flashing red cross above your head, so they can easily pinpoint the player calling them, even if he's in the middle of a crowd of defenders.



Find out where my Flag is

Many TFC maps are based around the movement of Flags, usually in the form of a Capture the Flag scoring system. You can find out the rough status of the Flags by hitting your "Display Flag Status" key (I by default). This will display a message in the top left of your screen. For each Flag, it'll tell you whether it's in it's Base or lying somewhere around the map, and who's carrying it if it's being carried.



Discard Ammunition for my Teammates

One extremely useful and very under-used action that you can do is use your "Drop Unused Ammunition" (X by default). When pressed, you'll drop a backpack in front of you containing all the ammunition you're carrying that you don't need. For instance, if you're a Medic, you have no way of using Rockets, but you might have picked some up from a fallen enemy's backpack or from a resupply station. So next time you see a teammate, try dropping

Discard ammunition for Defenders.
Leave unused ammunition for others.



Pass the Flag to a Teammate

If you're a slow moving class, or you're nearly dead, it's not a good idea to be carrying the enemy Flag. If you see a member of your team nearby that's faster or healthier, its a good idea to throw the Flag to him/her. You can do this by hitting your "Drop Flag" key (C by default). This will throw the Flag out in front of you.