Team Fortress 2 Best Classes to Play

Updated:

20 Oct 2023

Team Fortress 2 is a class-based first person shooter with 9 different classes, and while it might not seem like much compared to Overwatch’s 38 heroes or Apex Legends’ 24 legends, each class has its own unique playstyle, with tons of variety in the weapons and strategies you can use!. Honestly, there’s no single best class in the game, every class fills its own niche and depending on the state of the game you might want to play as someone else or use a different loadout. In this list, I’m going to take a look at the role each class plays and the tools they have available in order to find out who’s the strongest, who has the best options, and when you should play them! With that out of the way, here’s the 9 classes from Team Fortress 2, ranked from worst to best

9. The Spy

I might be biased in ranking Spy last, god knows that I’ve been on the receiving end of my fair share of game-losing backstabs, but that’s the thing; when played effectively, Spy can single handedly turn the tide of a game. Spy’s abilities revolve around blending in with the enemy team by turning invisible and disguising as enemy players, and when the opportunity presents itself he can go for a backstab, a one-hit kill that leaves your opponent dead before they realize what hit them. He also has a revolver that can pick off wounded enemies and a sapper that stuns and eventually destroys the Engineer’s buildings.

The Spy can be a powerful disruptor, but he’s not a strong fighter. He has only 125 HP, making him one of TF2’s light classes, or characters with the lowest health, and his weapons are weaker in a direct confrontation. It also requires some degree of acting to play as the Spy, and when you’re caught with your pants down you might as well be already dead. The Spy’s strengths require a dedicated set of skills to take advantage of, and his weaknesses can make playing Spy very frustrating for new players.

What Spy Excels in

Taking out dangerous opponents while they’re distracted
Disrupting a coordinated enemy team by taking out valuable targets and destroying their buildings
Countering Heavies, Snipers, and Engineers

Pick Spy if

You can deliver an Oscar-worthy performance as a suspiciously slow scout
You’d rather outsmart your enemies than fight them directly
To you, there’s nothing more satisfying than a one-hit kill

Class Details: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Spy

8. The Heavy

Heavy is one of the most iconic characters in Team Fortress 2, and it’s easy to understand why; he’s a big guy with an even bigger personality, and was the first class to get a video in the “Meet the Team” series! As a playable character, the Heavy is TF2’s tank, being able to put out tons of damage at the cost of slow movement speed, and even slower speed when his gun is active. That slow speed is why very few players actually main Heavy, TF2 is a game all about movement after all, but in the right situation he can be the backbone of your team’s defense

Heavy is a defensive powerhouse, boasting a massive 300 HP at max health, and his primary weapon, the Minigun can shred through players in mere seconds! Heavy also always keeps a snack in his back pocket, with a variety of secondaries that can be given to other players as a health pack, or eaten to heal yourself and sometimes even give you a buff. Heavy is also Medic’s best friend, being damn near unkillable while he’s being healed and always keeping his healer safe

What Heavy excels in

Being a tank, dealing lots of damage while taking lots of hits
Staying on the front lines of your team’s Defense, mowing down enemies before they reach the objective
Supporting your team by handing out health packs and protecting them from incoming threats

Pick Heavy if

You love playing as characters that are slow, but strong
You’re playing Defense, and your team needs more power classes
There’s a Medic on your team that needs someone to heal

Class details: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Heavy

7. The Pyro

Pyro tends to get a bad rap for being frustrating to fight, and depending on who you ask that’s either a plus or a negative. Me personally, I like to think of it as a plus. Pyro’s primary weapon is the Flamethrower, which can shoot out a short stream of fire or push back enemies and projectiles with an airblast. Thanks to afterburn, enemies who manage to escape your flamethrower’s range will keep taking damage, and airblast makes Pyro a natural counter to Soldiers and Demomen

The winning strategy for playing Pyro is to ambush your opponents and go for a combo after they’ve been set on fire. All of your attacks deal lots of damage at short range, but outside of that you can’t do much. So, if your opponent notices the fire before they notice you, you’ve already won the fight. You also get the choice between a shotgun or a flare gun, both of which are devastating to enemies who are already dealing with afterburn, but each one has their own playstyles and variants

What Pyro excels in

Ambushing opponents and dealing lots of damage once you’re in range
Countering Soldiers, Demomen, Spies, and Ubercharged Medics
Setting large groups of enemies on fire

Pick Pyro if

You can’t be trusted with a book of matches
The enemy team is mostly made up of projectile classes
You take it as a compliment when your dead opponents start complaining in chat

Pyro Details: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Pyro

6. The Sniper

Sniper is the most straightforward class in TF2, if you’ve played any FPS game you already understand how he works; click on a head, now they’re dead. The Sniper’s role is very similar to the Spy, find a valuable target and pick them off, but the reason Sniper is ranked so much higher than Spy is because he’s way better equipped to deal with those threats. Due to the long range he works at, he doesn’t put himself in harm’s way when dealing with dangerous opponents, and in a head-on encounter the Sniper actually has options to defend himself.

The Sniper Rifle is a reliable tool, but the Sniper’s arsenal has some other tricks up its sleeve. Aside from a couple other Sniper Rifles, the Sniper’s other primary weapon is the Huntsman, which is a bow and arrow that allows the Sniper to get up close and personal with his targets. For your secondary slot, you have the option of either the SMG, which can soften up enemies who get too close for comfort, or the Jarate, which coats players in a “mysterious” yellow substance that makes them take more damage

What Sniper excels in

Picking off enemies at long range
Guarding long corridors and sightlines
Supporting your team by taking out valuable targets

Pick Sniper if

You’re an experienced FPS player with great aim
The map you’re playing on has plenty of open areas and long sightlines
Your team is already doing well and needs more support classes than power classes

Sniper Details: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Sniper

5. The Engineer

As Engineer, you can create different buildings that can support your team and defend the point. Your buildings will do most of the work, and if used effectively can carry entire games, but keep in mind that taking care of them is a full time job, since the enemy team will be constantly trying to tear them down. The Teleporters instantly move players from spawn to any spot on the map, giving your team a convenient way to travel to the frontline in only seconds, and your Dispenser is an endless source of health and ammo.

However, the Engineer’s main attraction is his Sentry Gun. The Sentry defends a single point, and as soon as an enemy player steps within range it starts shooting them without missing a single shot, at level 3 it can kill opponents almost instantly. Alternatively, you could use the gunslinger, which replaces your sentry with a cheaper, more disposable mini-sentry and gives you +25 extra health, pulling you out of the light classes

What Engineer excels in

Moving teammates to the front lines with the Teleporters
Defending a capture point with the Sentry Gun
Healing and resupplying the team with the Dispenser

Pick Engineer if

You care more about supporting the team than taking part in the action
You need to go AFK every so often, and want to keep playing even when you’re away
You don’t mind building everything up again from scratch when it gets destroyed

Engineer Details: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Engineer

4. The Medic

The Medic is TF2’s healer, providing an invaluable service to the team, and while in other games the healer isn’t always as fun to play as the other classes available, playing Medic in TF2 is satisfying in its own right. That’s because as Medic, you’re on the front lines of battle, saving the lives of your teammates wherever they might be and escaping sticky situations by the skin of your teeth. When you aren’t saving your teammates lives, you’re enabling them to deal more damage than they can ever hope to do by themselves

Medic can provide two main buffs to your teammates, overheal and ubercharge. Overheal happens when your Medigun heals a player’s health beyond its max capacity, after you stop healing them it slowly drains, but when it’s there it’s just some extra health. Ubercharge on the other hand can make or break an entire game, you have a meter that slowly fills up as you heal teammates, and when it’s filled all the way up you can grant a single player the power of invincibility for 8 seconds!

What Medic excels in

Rescuing and buffing your teammates
Pocketing, or healing a single target to help them go on a rampage
Turning the tides of battle with a well-timed Ubercharge

Pick Medic if

Your teammates can’t seem to stay alive for very long
You get a thrill out of being the decisive factor in your team’s victory
You have more fun when you’re playing a supportive role

Medic Details: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Medic

3. The Demoman

Kaboom! Demoman is a class that’s all about projectiles, he has two primary weapons, the Stickybomb Launcher and Grenade Launcher, both of which launch explosives at the enemy team, and his big gimmick, Demoknight, basically turns himself into a projectile, charging at an unlucky enemy with a sword and shield. At first, his weapons may seem unwieldy, making you feel like you’re as drunk as he is and sometimes even hurting yourself, but once you get the hang of it you’ll discover something; bombs can deal some real damage!

Demoman is the most powerful damage dealer in the game, with his grenades and stickies combined giving him a whopping 1200 points of damage in the clip, and the explosive nature of his weapons makes him the best choice for area denial. However, that’s not all he can do, having two primary weapons makes him incredibly versatile. With his stickies, he can lay traps, spam explosives at the enemy team, and launch himself across the map or bounce enemies for a follow up with a grenade, and with the grenade launcher he can kill almost any enemy with only 2 or 3 shots

What Demoman excels in

Dealing a massive amount of damage in a wide area
Defending a choke point with traps and explosive spam
Blowing enemies to bits at long range or slicing them up at close range

Pick Demoman if

You don’t mind a steep learning curve in exchange for great rewards at the end
You just want to deal as much damage as possible
You’re a human calculator when it comes to physics

Demoman Details: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Demoman

2. The Scout

Remember earlier when I said that TF2 is a game that’s all about movement? Well, no class is a better example of that than the Scout. He is the fastest class in the game and can double-jump, and that’s enough to make him this high on the list. Scout only has 125 HP, making him a light class, but thanks to his speed he can dodge attacks left and right, and having low health doesn’t matter when nothing can touch you anyways!

Scout’s primary weapon is the Scattergun, a weapon that’s very similar to the Shotgun, with the main difference being a tighter bullet spread and having higher damage ramp-up and fall-off. Combined with his fast movement speed, Scout is great at getting up in his target’s face, running circles around them like an annoying fly and killing them with just a few shots. Scout also has the unique ability of capturing a control point or pushing the payload cart twice as fast, meaning he’s also a great choice for playing the objective

What Scout excels in

Outmaneuvering his opponents and dodging attacks
Being able to pick and choose who he fights, and winning in a 1v1
Getting to and capturing the objective faster than anyone else

Pick Scout if

You feel the need for speed
There’s less than a minute left on the timer, and your team needs to capture the point
You like to play as a glass cannon

Scout Details: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Scout

1. The Soldier

The Soldier has so many strengths going for him that nobody else can take the top spot, actually he’s overpowered in some regards. He has the second highest HP and second slowest movement speed, but thanks to Rocket Jumping he’s one of the most mobile classes in the game. The Rocket Launcher itself is an incredibly powerful weapon, being able to deal great damage at both short and long range, and his arsenal is loaded with so many different options that he’s also the most versatile class in the game

Aside from the Rocket Launcher, Soldier also has the Direct Hit, which gets rid of splash damage in exchange for rockets that deal more damage, the Black Box, which heals you when one of your rockets land, as well as a few other useful sidegrades. However, the secondaries are where his massive arsenal shines, you can equip the Shotgun, or one of the Banners, which provide passive buffs as well as active bonuses after dealing enough damage, or the Gunboats, which reduces the damage you take from rocket jumping to a negligible amount. Overall, the Soldier has so many great options and is powerful enough that he’s a great choice no matter what situation you’re in

What Soldier excels in

Dealing massive amounts of damage with his Rocket Launcher

Flying across the map with Rocket Jumping

Just about anything, really. Soldier is a generalist class, and can play any role you can think of with the right loadout

Pick Soldier if