A Cut Above

Kill a gun-wielding Spy with your knife.

An interesting achievement, to say the least. Simply put, eliminate an enemy Spy that is using a gun by stabbing him. Backstab, facestab, or just plain stabbing will all do, as long as you do it with your knife. The easiest method to garner this achievement is to stealth and find another Spy that is using an Ambassador revolver. Due to the long range and headshot capabilities of the Ambassador, a Spy with it is more likely to go in guns a blazing rather than engage in knife-based subterfuge. Stab him and viola! But really, all you need is an uncloaked Spy wielding a knife with his back to you.

To farm this, get a friend to play a Spy. Have your friend select the revolver, and then come close to you to let themselves get backstabbed. Then backstab them! Viola, instant achievement. If they do not have the achievement either, it may be kind to reciprocate the favor and let them backstab you while you wield the revolver.

Note: It is probably obvious, given the normal technique, but both the standard revolver and the Ambassador are eligible for this achievement. Any other weapon that the enemy Spy is currently losing is not.

Agent Provocateur

Backstab your Steam Community friends 10 times.

This one is a fun one. Its goal is exactly as it states, and they have to be your Steam friends at the time which you stab them. In other words, stabbing people that you have invited to be your friend will not count. The simplest way to do this normally is to just play public games with your friends! You will inevitably get the required number of backstabs after a time. For added hilarity. Play on a server that is populated entirely by your Steam friends!

To farm this one, all you need is one friend that is willing to die over and over, much like the other achievements in this list. Simply backstab him 10 times (consecutively or otherwise) and you get the achievement! Once again, it is kind to let him repeat the process on you to get the achievement. It is relatively painless, especially with instant respawn servers.

Note: An interesting addendum to this achievement is the meaning of agent provocateur, which is that of an undercover operative that is used to instigate individuals or groups to dissent with the group overall or commit a crime for which they can be arrested. In this particular case, you are irritating your friends!

Burn Notice

Survive 30 seconds after being ignited while cloaked.

One of the harder achievements, this one involves managing to stay alive after being set on fire while cloaked. However, funnily enough, this does not mean that you have to be on fire the whole time. Rather, the achievement is simply about catching on fire and then surviving 30 seconds, on fire or not. The easiest way to get this achievement is to stay near the bridge in 2fort and let a Pyro set you on fire. Then leap into the water and disappear! The alternative is to seek out a Medic or health pack to remove the flames. Either way, get away from the Pyro fast!

To farm this achievement, simply have a Pyro friend set you on fire after you cloak. Decloak and immediately seek out water or a health pack. Then wait around for 30 seconds! Viola, you have recieved your achievement. It might be a kind courtesy to let the Pyro continue setting you alight, as it is a pyro achievement to set cloaked Spies on fire 5 times.

Note: The achievement name, Burn Notice, comes from an espionage term where an agency issues a notice called a "burn notice" where it says that one of its spies has become unreliable. In this case, the spy is "black-listed." Perhaps the most notable use of this term is in the USA Network drama series Burn Notice.

Come in From the Cold

Get a Revenge kill with a backstab.

Chances are the majority of players will get this achievement with little to now effort, as long as they love backstabbing! The only requirement is to kill a nemesis with a backstab. Simple enough! The problem, however, is that if an enemy is your nemesis, it means they have already killed you several times without you killing them. Ouch. Nevertheless, you should get this easily through normal play. Just play a lot. A great double whammy is to backstab a medic nemesis ready to deploy his über, thus netting you Dr. Nooooo as well.

To farm this, have a friend repeatedly kill you until they get the nemesis status applied to them. Then, backstab them! Easy enough. This is a great achievement to work on in tandem with Counter Espionage or A Cut Above, as you can backstab an enemy Spy who is your nemesis that is disguised or wielding a revolver, respectively. As always, return the favor!

Note: The idiom Come in From the Cold refers to returning to something after a long time. In this case, it is backstabbing the aprticular enemy that is your nemesis!

Constructus Interruptus

Kill an Engineer who is working on a sentry.

A relatively hard achievement, this involves killing an Engineer as he is upgrading or repairing his sentry. In other words, it is basically a suicide mission. Most sentry guns will have a dispenser near them to heal and rearm the Engineer working on it, making long-range elimination extremely improbable unless the Spy in question gets a headshot with the Ambassador. So run up, backstab the Engineer as they work, and watch yourself get promptly gibbed!

To farm this, have a friend deploy a sentry gun as an Engineer. Then have them work on upgrading it as you stand out of range of the gun. While they are upgrading, chip away at them with your revolver. Once they die, you net the achievement and don't even have to die! It does not matter whether or not the sentry is fully upgraded, armed, or repaired, so long as the Engineer is hitting it with his wrench

Note: This achievement has a distinctly... sexual reference. It refers to coitus interruptus, which is best left undescribed here. We aren't a sex blog! This is a PC games site! Regardless, if you are curious as to the term, Wikipedia has a good article.