Cloak
From TF2 Wiki
The Spy has the ability to Cloak for brief periods of time, allowing him to move unnoticed through enemy lines. To teammates, he appears as a translucent silhouette of the team color; to enemies, he is completely invisible unless he passes in close proximity or he is shot. In these cases, he appears as a translucent shimmer of his own team's color.
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Using Cloak
The Cloak is activated by the Spy's alternate fire, independent of whatever weapon he may be holding. While cloaked or in the process of cloaking/decloaking, the Spy is unable to use any of his weapons or reload his Revolver. The Spy can change disguises while cloaked, but will be surrounded by a cloud of smoke for a few seconds.
While cloaked, a Spy will see his own character model as translucent (as opposed to being tinted the team color). In addition to the indicator on the HUD, the Spy also holds his hand in front of him with his wristwatch exposed with an alternative indication of the cloaking time remaining.
It takes approximately one full second to cloak or decloak, and a fully charged cloak will last for 10 seconds. When the cloak's timer is empty, it takes 30 seconds to completely recharge.
Seeing Cloaked Spies
If a cloaked spy takes damage from any source, he will be momentarily revealed as a team-tinted, translucent silhouette. This also occurs whenever he touches an enemy player, but not objects such as sentry guns or dispensers. This prevents Spies from simply cloaking and charging through an offensive front. Also, Spies that have caught fire (see Flame thrower) will be visible due to the fire effect, even though their model will still be invisible. They will also have an aura of their team's color around them. Cloaked Spies will also drip water droplets after emerging from a body of water, revealing their position for a short amount of time. Dispensers heal cloaked enemy spies that are disguised as the Dispenser's team. A healing beam will flow from the Dispenser to the cloaked spy (apparently to no one at all).
Cloak Strategies
A common strategy when using a Cloak is to combine its use with a disguise, as this gets rid of the time that is wasted when disguising once behind enemy lines. Be wary, as the Spy will be surrounded by a puff of smoke for a few seconds while disguising. This smoke is visible to other players, even if you are cloaked.
Similarly, one must be careful not to be seen when decloaking, as the Spy flashes his real team color as he decloaks, regardless of disguise.
The Cloak is also commonly used to get past choke points or other places with lots of enemy presence. When crossing large open distances, it's generally preferable to stick with a disguise instead of wasting cloak time.
In CTF games, a fully cloaked spy can run over the intel and pick it up without manually decloaking. The spy automatically decloaks once the intel is held. This can effectively move the enemy intel even when surrounded by enemies, or at least reset the timer on it so it doesn't return to the enemy base.
See Also
Disguise kit - Another means of infiltration
Spy strategy - In depth strategy for the Spy class (including how to use the Cloak effectively)
