Help with Dustbowl

Dustbowl seems to be the only official map I tend to do bad to semi-decent at. Every other map (excluding certain custom maps like Labor)  I tend to do good to great in. But Dustbowl is the main one where I rage-quit. Excluding the 2nd phase where there is a chasm in the middle of the map at the begining (whatever the official name of this phase of the map is); where numerous hiding places lie in wait for the Spy. The other two have very limited places where a Spy can strike, this is especially true for the last Capture Point which provide very limited room to hide (as if to de-cloak) and strike.

Any strategies and stories of frustration are appreciated.

Well, spy is always easier on defense when the offense has capped the 1st point.  It gives you more room to work with.  Always try to mix up your area of attack.  If you do the same thing over and over, they will catch on.  Also, try to figure out the blind spots on the map where enemies will run past you, but wont see you.  This is a good way to get some cheap kills.  On the last cap point, the main choke point is the narrow hallway.  You need to de-cloak behind the 1st cap point and try to make your runs there.

The great thing about Dustbowl stage 2 is that there are four narrow tunnels connecting the two points. A good strat is to walk down anyone of them and go as far as you can if no one is there and then cloak just before you turn a corner. Then just hug the walls so you dont bump into anyone and follow any enemies you see that pass you.

Attacking on stage 1 is actually really hard. There will almost always be a sentry farm next to the defending spawn that is just begging to be sapped, problem is its under heavy guard since almost the whole team is usually running around it. So youre best bet is to figure out when your team is going to make a push, then run ahead and trying and clear out the sentries on the second capture point before your team gets there.

On offense, the best tactic is to run back towards the spawn (while your team is trying to get the 1st cap) and take out any teleporter entrances, and then start picking them off as they run back to the front lines (some call it cheap.....others call it effective!)

Avoid any area that has 2 or more sentries.  Spies are completely worthless when an area has sentries guarding other sentries.

I developed some Strategy on Dustbowl:

Stage 1 last CP is pretty easy for Spies. Either get to the CP when it's cleared or go back around the Sniper nest.

Stage 2 last CP is harder but not impossible. You're limited to de-cloaking in three places: Near the boulder to the left that has a medkit, up the middle point behind some boxes, and to the left in the corner. I no longer try to take out all the sentries but instead sap when necessary (like when there's a push) or take some kills as enemy strolls away from the Sentries and tries to take out my team. I did fairly well doing this, but I didn't dominate nearly as much as when I'm on Well, Granary, Badlands, and etc.

Stage 3 last CP... I still have no concrete strategy for it. Other then camp around the tunnel or under bridge and take them out as they try to use the tunnel, which is dependent entirely on timing and luck of the draw. Or... cloak and get behind the CP where the Snipers like to hang and.... just wait until your team makes a push and sap/stab. That's about it. I still think that Dustbowl is the most un-friendly map to the Spy.

You can play an offensive dustbowl spy if you learn the maps (and common sentry placements VERY well).  Dustbowl gameplay revolves around sentries, and you usually know where to expect people.  You must be patient however, because dustbowl is just a busy map.  If you're dying very often, you should start asking yourself if you really do want to go for a kill when there are a lot of people around.  Chances are that you will find yourself being patient and picking off the defenders in the very back of the defense.

Just play spy on defense, otherwise.  The thing about offensive spying is that blowing your disguise in the back of the enemy defense (where you will probably have the easiest time surviving and killing naturally) has the consequence of you being vulnerable with no teammates are around to help you.  Coordinating attacks other than on sentries with your own teammates is not always so easy, either.

On the contrary, defensive spying allows you to more-so turtle or camp in good positions behind doors, close-by your teammates.  Blow your disguise or get caught on defense, and you can often just run back to your teammates for support.  That doesn't mean that you can't play an espionage-minigame with the other team while you're defending, though.  ^_^  Aggressively sneaking to the blue team's spawn area can be very, very worthwhile, and I tend to do this more often on certain dustbowl maps like map2 and sometimes map1.  If you do things right, the enemies will get very mad and often end up wasting more time than killing a single spy is worth, trying to catch you.

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Not at all.  Dustbowl map3 is the only Dust map that is incredibly un-friendly map for spy.  Maps 1 and 2 give you plenty of options, escape paths, good patient waiting places.  Dustbowl tends to deadlock with people waiting in tunnels as well, which is sometimes easy backstabs for you.  Camping the tunnel will not work either.  A good player will not be outsmarted in a tunnel where you have little-to no escape options after blowing cloak.  All you can hope for is that you see the enemy while in cloak, so that he doesn't know to start spamming bullets until you die.

The only reasonable use for spy on offense (on map3) that I can see is for coordinating saps on the enemy sentries while your team pushes through, and possibly sneaking the cap if things go bad for your team.  You might try sneaking to the enemy spawn early on to sap teleporters, spawn-stab people, etc.  It's all very touchy, but in general, map 3 for dustbowl sucks balls for spy because you have little-to-no escape options or surprise options on such a cramped, bullet-spammy, one-path map.

One defense for map3, you might try sneaking past enemy lines a bit to pick off snipers and those that are running to join their team around the great corner (the last one that always deadlocks by the 2nd cap before the bridge).  Other than that, you probably will have a hard time doing much else.