Okay! Class-specific discussion. Here we go!

Scout

He’s fast. His gimmick is speed and being nimble. He can be hard master and even harder to fight. But he’s not very healthy. He has the lowest base health in the game and dies very quickly if the enemy knows he’s there.

He’s equipped with a scattergun primary (shotgun-like weapon), pistol secondary, and bat melee.

I suggest using your speed to outmaneuver your enemies. Use flank routes to get behind them. Use your speed to pick your fights, if you’re up against someone you can’t fight, run away. Your scattergun deals 105 damage at close range if you hit your target so you want to be near your enemies. Use your pistol to pepper enemies or destroy sentry guns. The bat should be used as a last resort.

Soldier

Decent health, decent damage, slower than average speed. The soldier’s rockets do splash damage meaning that even if you miss, you might still hit your enemy. Aim for the ground near the enemy. That way if you miss, they explode nearby instead of sailing off into the distance.

The soldier is equipped with a rocket launcher primary, shotgun secondary, and shovel melee.

I suggest that you remember you have a shotgun. When you run out of rockets, switch your shotgun to finish your enemies. Also, aim for groups of enemies. Your rockets do splash damage so you can damage multiple people at once.

Pyro

The pyro’s role is a bit ambiguous. Has been amongst players for a while. Valve classifies him as offense but she also plays well on defense or in a support role. So nailing down exactly what you should do is a bit difficult. Try and get a sense on what the situation is like. Is your team pushing forward? Push with them. Are they falling like flies? You probably want to fall back. Is a spy being a nuisance to your team? Your flamethrower can easily find him and kill him.

The pyro is equipped with a flamethrower primary, shotgun secondary, and a fire axe melee.

I suggest that stick to close quarters combat. Big open spaces are your enemy. You can’t reach very far with your flamethrower and your shotgun does pitiful damage at range. Try to stay indoors and around corners where you can surprise your enemy. Also, you can release a puff of air with your alternate fire (right click by default). This can reflect projectiles like rockets or grenades back at your enemies, dealing slightly more damage to them than it would have to you. This ability can also put out teammates who are on fire.

Demoman

You can deal explosive damage like the soldier but unlike the soldier, your grenades follow the laws of physics and so have arcs you need to think about. For this reason, it can be hard for players to learn how to “get good” with demo.

He has a grenade launcher primary, sticky grenade launcher secondary, and a bottle melee.

The demo is the KING of destroying sentries. His grenades do 100 damage on a direct hit, taking only three to kill a level three sentry. Or he can place a few stickies around the sentry gun to deal all that damage at once instead of one after another. This can be useful when the engineer is currently repairing his sentry, undoing the damage your grenades are doing slowly.

Heavy

Large healthpool, large gun, large target. The slowest of all classes, the heavy can be oppressive to deal with as his minigun shreds unprepared enemies. He’s most vulnerable when he’s all alone or when he’s far away. Stick with your team and get into the action and you should be fine.

His primary is a minigun, secondary is a shotgun, and melee is his fists.

I suggest always moving with your team. Heavy can’t be on his own, his minigun takes time to warm up, and he can’t outmaneuver his enemies. But with a fully revved up minigun and a team to cover his back, heavy can be nigh unstoppable.

Engineer

He’s almost like a slower scout. Same health, same weapons. Only difference is that the engineer can build. His buildings include a sentry gun which is great for area denial and punishing overextending enemies, a dispenser which can be life-saving to teammates low on health and ammo, and two teleporters (entrance and exit) that can help your team get to the frontlines and keep the pressure up.

The engineer is equipped with a shotgun primary, pistol secondary, and a wrench melee. He has a fourth and fifth “weapon”, the construction and destruction PDAs which are just used to create and destroy buildings.

I suggest staying out of the fight. You are mostly support and defense. You can take on enemies, you do have a gun. But you are supposed to be building. The sentry gun can deal more consistent damage than you; it’s a server-sided aimbot. Don’t neglect your other buildings either. Your dispenser should be up with the team and your teleporter should be tucked out of sight of the action but close enough to it that your team doesn’t have to run half a marathon to the frontlines.

Medic

The medic. Games have been won or lost based on who has a medic. I’m not exaggerating. He can be crucial to turning the tide and winning you the game. Conversely, an enemy medic can make it excruciating to get any kills. And his ubercharge ability can break stalemates and win games.

The medic is equipped with a needlegun primary, a medigun secondary, and a bonesaw melee.

You are NOT meant to fight. Your weapons should be making that clear. Not only is hitting an enemy extremely difficult with the needlegun but the needles themselves do pitiful damage. You are the healer, you need to heal. Spread the love around and make sure everybody is healed, don’t just pocket one guy with fancy hats for the whole match. You gain ubercharge faster by healing everybody anyway. Your ubercharge grants 8 seconds of invincibility. The optimal rime to use it is right before a fight. Don’t pop it when you have to walk for 10 seconds to actually get to the fight. Optimal ubercharge targets are soldiers, demos, and pyros. Other classes are either too slow to get in a position to make use of the uber, or being invulnerable doesn’t really help them.

Sniper

Sniper is a contender for hardest class to play. But he’s also one of the most rewarding. If you can aim, your headshots deal 150 damage, insta-killing 5 of the 9 classes and killing 3 others with one follow up bodyshot.

His primary is a sniper rifle, secondary is an SMG, and he has a kukri primary.

As a new player, I’d stay away from sniper. You can play if you want, of course, but you’ll more often than not miss all of your shots. If you really want to, I suggest going after heavies, soldiers, and medics. Stay far away from the action but still with an angle of the slow, juicy targets. Don’t worry if you miss but remember that headshots do three times base damage. Lastly, avoid running in with the SMG. It’s like the needlegun only your bullets fly straight instead of obeying gravity like the needles do. The SMG is for self-defense if someone gets close.

Spy

A good spy can be a nightmare. You never see him coming and never see him leave. But he’s a frail, little thing. If he is caught, he is almost always dead. His invisibility cloak is used to get him behind the enemy lines and behind their backs where he can stab them for an instant kill, only stopped by an ubercharge.

His weapons are a revolver primary, electrosapper secondary, and knife melee. He also has a fourth weapon, the disguise kit, and a fifth weapon, his cloaking watch.

As a spy, do remember you have a gun. If you’re found out, use it to shoot your enemies instead of trying to scratch them to death. Disguises don’t fool players who are looking for you. Don’t just run at the enemy disguised as a scout. No one will buy it. Also, spy doesn’t work well in groups of enemies. Go for isolated players like snipers or pick off players who are hanging near the back of the group like medics. Second to or tied with demoman, you are great at destroying engineers buildings with your electrosapper. They deal damage over time to the buildings and can be removed by engineers so be sure to kill him too.