Class DescriptionThe pyro is an offensive class that can either spread out his damage in the immediate area, or concentrate it on a specific location to deal amazing damage for a short period of time. This description may seem to be a no brainer when you think about the flamethrower and how it works, but in order to master this class, you must fully understand the pyro's damage dealing capabilities and also understand physique of the class as well. The pyro runs at regular movement speed which is a step down from a scout’s fast speed and also slightly slower than a medic’s run speed. He has above average health (175) and is immune to another pyro’s DoT damage (damage over time) that results from getting hit by the flamethrower and being set on fire. To put things as simply as possible, the pyro is very similar to the scout in playstyle when it comes to killing the enemy team. Flanking the enemy can be crucial, and learning how to maneuver yourself around your prey is even more crucial.
The Pyro is...
- An offensive class that's made to blitz forward with his group and do damage to crowds of people, or ambush others when flying solo.
- The class with the most powerful close-up damage weapon in the game considering its user's movement speed.
- The only class that can do damage over time to many enemies and to many players at once.
- A class that has the above average movement speed along with above average HP's.
- Immune to other pyro's gradual fire damage.
- Great for spy checking.
Class Purpose
Playing a pyro on the battlefield means that you’re a little less greedy then those who would prefer to play a scout. I say this because unlike the scout class, which provides no utility to his teammates in actual combat, the pyro has some utility to compliment his damage dealing capabilities. Pyros are VERY powerful on maps like Granary. I’m willing to put money down to prove that complete HAVOC can occur on Granary where you have a GOOD medic/pyro combo. The fact of the matter is that the pyro has good movement speed, and one of his jobs is to rush onto capture points before the scouts can finish capping them. When the pyros arrive on the point, they set all those skinny scouts in flames and do their best to kill them or push them straight off the point.
The most obvious boon the pyro offers his team is that he is the ultimate spy checker. Just by letting his flames loose on any teammates he sees, he can intentionally (or accidentally) set disguised enemy spies on fire and murder them before they can do any harm to anyone. Even though this is a helpful ability, I wouldn’t suggest switching to a pyro if the only reason is to counter pro spies on the enemy team. I say this because the pyro has so much more to offer than just being the team’s spy checker waterboy.
The pyro is primarily an army destroyer. If the enemy team has a thick offensive of heavies, medics, soldiers, and demomen that’s plowing through your front line like nobody’s business, the pyro is your best weapon BY FAR. The pyro class essentially picks up where the soldier tends to be much weaker, and that’s because pyros have the ability to spread out their damage and focus it very quickly at will. They can literally create chaos on the front lines.
If you want the truth, the pyro is the ultimate medic killer. If the enemy team has an abundance of medics (2 or more), the pyro is your savior. Chances are that your heavies and soldiers won’t be unable to kill off an offensive with that much healing power. Just by throwing himself into the battle head-first, a pyro can nullify the healing that’s being done and actually overcome it with the direct and gradually damage that his flamethrower dishes out. If you set the entire offensive in flames, they will not only begin to lose health rapidly, but you will also hinder their vision and kill their confidence and morale.
In smaller scale battles, the pyro can kill any other class with a teeny weeny bit of luck and alot skill. That’s right, I said it. Playing a good pyro takes skill. A lot of cocky players will tell you that playing a pyro takes no skill, probably probably they are too busy playing soldiers (lol.) After playing all classes for a good amount of time, I can safely tell you that it takes as much skill to play a good pyro than it does to play a good soldier, and it perhaps even takes more than that! Fighting with the pyro class is half art, and half skill. A good pyro will always kill two mediocre pyros, and perhaps even three crappy pyros, all at once!
There’s a way to own with pyro, and it’s not all about getting the jump on your enemy, believe it or not. It’s through circle strafing like a pro and trailing your enemy faster than they can react. Overall, the pyro is a somewhat anti-personal offensive class like the scout is, except it doesn’t pick off its targets like an evasive vulture, so to speak. It also has an overall better chance at destroying sentry guns. and its A LOT more powerful when ubered then compared to an ubered scout. Some might say that the pyro is sometimes the best choice for an uber in specific situations as well.
Offense and Defense
Offense-
Some players will tell you that the pyro is lacking and that it needs a little something something to put it on level with the big nasty soldier. At first, I originally thought the pyro could use another 25 hp, something slight, just to make the pyro a little more durable. After playing every class for a long period of time, I can now safely say that the pyro is balanced, and having at least one makes an excellent addition to any offense. He has the ability to trash enemy medics and send your rivals into complete disarray.
Just as the medic/scout combo is the best skirmish combo in the game, the medic/pyro is the best offensive blitz combo in the game, bar none. As long as there aren’t 2 or more well-placed SG’s, an ubered pyro/medic can devastate an entire front line or defended area with ease. This goes without saying that because of the pyro’s speed, a medic can provide even more momentum to a pyro than it can a soldier. I’m not saying that it’s better or worse than a medic/soldier combo, but it sure does have its advantages in certain situations.
Just remember, whenever you get a medic to uber you, head straight for the SG’s first and burn them down. Even though the SG’s will push you back slightly as you move towards them, you will eventually reach them because of your speed. When you're moving towards an SG, tell your medic to move ahead of you as well so it will aim at him and allow you to move even further forward. You will only fail if there are around 3 or more in the area, because there will be no way you can push forward with all of them all shooting you while ubered. You're best best at that point would be to uber a demoman, so that you can take out at least 2 of the 3 or more SG's by focusing stickies on multiple points.
Fighting on offense as a pyro is simple to learn, yet hard to master. Common sense tells you to try and set as many enemies on fire as you can to rack up the damage. It also tells you to concentrate your flamethrower on medics and other important classes to kill them off fast and then move to your next nearest target. Common sense knows best, and there are really no other rules or advice I can give you. All I can say is that the Medic/Pyro on offense can be amazing, especially when you uber the pyro and sick him on a room of enemies. The only other thing that needs to be said is that the shotgun is also your best bud. Using your shotgun before you get into flamethrower range is important and playing defensively with it when you're on front line can be important as well. Sometimes patience will triumph over having a reckless attitude.
Defense-
To be perfectly honest with you, pyros are effective on defense, and only because a monkey can do it. Sitting next to a respawn on 2fort, running around using your flamethrower, and humping your team’s SG’s to check for spies is braindead activity at best. I’m here to tell you that even though a pyro on defense (and sometimes soldiers on defense) can be effective; playing one on defense can also be a waste of your true potential. Leave the other classes (like engineers) to be on the defensive.
There will be times where you are on a defense map like Dustbowl and the enemy is bringing in a hell of a lot of offensive classes backed up by good medics. This is the only time you should feel proud to be a defensive pyro and rightfully so. If your team is doing a poor job on defense and you see up to 10 guys charging up to your last capture point with a medic behind you, give them hell just because you can! A defensive situation where the enemy is attacking in bulk is the proper time to use a defensive pyro. If that’s not happening, then switch classes.
Class Weapons
Flame Thrower-
This weapon does the most up close damage compared to any other weapon in the game, no contest. Before I tell you anything more about the pyro’s primary weapon, you must know that the flamethrower deals damage in very rapid spurts and that it does MORE DAMAGE the closer you are to your target! For every point of ammo you use, you deal a wave of damage to your target(s) in front of you, and the overall direct damage is affected by your relative distance to the target. This means that you will be doing very little direct damage if your target is on the tail end of your roaring flamethrower, but it will do UNBELIEVABLE damage if you press up against your target.
If you come at a heavy from behind, press up against his back, and let the flamethrower go full throttle, you WILL kill the mighty Heavy after a full second or so. He will most likely die before he has the chance of knowing what hit him, and that’s a heavy! Imagine pressing up against snipers after sneaking up on them. The flamethrower will make them fall over before you know it, and the same go for every other class. As long as you keep circle strafing and moving to dodge point back minigun/rocket/grenade fire, you will be able to outmaneuver your slower opponents with your faster movement speed.
When you're hitting an enemy with your flamethrower, you will hear a sizzling sound. Use your ears and it will teach you how to aim and maneuver the flamethrower properly. After you master it, you won't really need to rely on the sizzling sound. EDIT- With the introduction of the air blower being tacked onto the stock flamethrower, the pyro class now has more ultitlity that goes beyond being a spy sizzler. By using your right clicker, you can fire a burst of compressed gas in front of you for 25 points of flamethrower ammo. You can use this compressed air burst to reflect rockets, sentry gun rockets and demoman grenades/stickies. You can also push away stickies like a leafblowerby using te air compressor. With a little timing and practice, you will be able to hassle soldiers and demomen players alike, all while protecting yourself and your allies. Shotgun-
The pyro has a normal TF2 shotgun and it is a great compliment to the pyro’s flamethrower. To make things simple, whenever your target is at a distance and is aware of your presence, bring out your shotgun and fire at him. You should always have your flamethrower out when in close range and always have your shotgun out at mid to far ranges (unless you’re approaching with your flamethrower, more details below.) It’s really that simple, because there’s no point in running around with your flamethrower out while the enemy shoots at you and you can’t shoot back. Also, the shotgun allows the pyro to fight the enemy while underwater, because the flamethrower DOES NOT work underwater, and players that are on fire can jump into the water to douse themselves as well.
As a very important side note, I would highly recommend looking at your keyboard and I you encourage to find the “Q” key. The “Q” key is your “Last Weapon” bind by default. When it comes to pyros, this button makes your life on offense STUPID EASY. When you go mid-far range, push Q to bring out that shotgun. When you get in range, push Q and whip out that flamethrower. It’s just that easy.
~With both of these weapons in mind, there are three simple ways to approach combat and three simple ways of doing battle after getting close enough with the pyro. Let’s talk about the approaches first, then attack styles for when you’re in close range:
Approaches
1. Flanking/Ambushing. This requires sneaking up on your target or flanking them to get in close range before they see you. As long as you can get in close range before he notices you, you will already have the upper hand.
2. Charge forward with your shotgun. Instead of keeping the flamethrower out, in some situations, you can pump your shotgun at an approaching targets and then immediately switch to your flamethrower when you catch up or get in range.
3. Charge forward with your flamethrower. This approach is not all about trying to scare your enemy as you gain on them, it’s also about killing their vision. This approach can be very effective against snipers. By swinging your flames around while strafing a little bit, you will block out their vision and the chances of them getting a headshot (or even landing a shot) will get slashed in half. Snipers don’t like what they can’t see, and sometimes this mentality prevents them from shooting at you at all.
Attack Styles
1. Circle Strafing- Circle Strafing with the flamethrower literally involves running around them in circles while facing them at all times with your flamethrower going full force. This prevents the enemy from aiming at you properly while they are quickly burning to death. Since the only class that can really escape this is the scout, pretty much all classes will only be able to weaken you while they die to your circle strafing at close range. Try your best to change directions and alternate while you strafe around them, especially if you’re fighting a soldier or heavy that will try to aim off to his left or right hoping to kill you fast before the flamethrower finishes them off.
2. Trailing- Trailing is simply keeping the flamethrower steady as you strafe with your target or chase him down. If you are facing the target and he strafes to your right, strafe right along side him. If he turns and runs, run behind him and keep the heat on. By staying alongside him, you will keep your target in your flamethrower’s torrent and kill him very fast. Also, if your target is barely in flamethrower range, just bring out your shotgun and finish him off fast.
3. Tag and Shoot- This is a basic tactic that can work well for beginners and is also effective against soldiers and scouts. When you get in close range, you shoot the flamethrower on your target and let him catch on fire. After they are on fire, you quickly switch to your shotgun and moonwalk away from them while shooting at them. Move out to mid range and keep firing at a relatively safe distance while they continue to take fire damage and get hit by your shotgun. The damage over time will give you the edge and make it easy for you to finish them off with your gunfire.
The Fireaxe-
I’ll be honest with you, I rarely get to use this melee weapon, because the flamethrower is the most powerful close range weapon in the game and the shotgun gives you your range capabilities. Still, if you’re a fan of conserving ammo or if you are quick with switching to your melee weapon, the Fireaxe does do great damage with a decent crit rate as well. I would rather see a pyro learn to master the flamethrower and get the job done than waste his time showing off with the Fireaxe. If you want to act like a hotshot running around with a melee weapon, choose a different class. If anyone disagrees with me on this point, then I'd like to see you post a video of an ubered pyro using his Fireaxe as opposed to an ubered pyro using a flamethrower. Good luck with that.
Class Concepts & Tactics
-Be Sneaky! (Don’t let them know you are flanking them until they are burning alive.)
-Burn, Baby, Burn! (Set as many targets on fire and charge clusters head on. Focus on key targets like medics first, then keep moving to other targets.)
-Closer Means Hotter! (Distance affects your flamethrower’s damage, so press up against your enemy as close as possible while going full force with the flame thrower.)
-Circle Strafe like Mad! (Run circles around your target and trail them. Avoid their attacks while you burn them alive.)
-Cloak Yourself in Flames! (Shoot your flamethrower in front of you to prevent the enemy from shooting at what they can’t really see.)
-Push Them Away! (Rush to capture points and push enemies off of them by fending them off with your flamethrower.)
-Spy-check! (There’s no shame and no reason not to shoot a little flame onto your teammates, just to make sure if they are disguised enemy spies. If they actually catch on fire, finish them off.)
-When in Doubt, Shotgun! (Use the shotgun and use it often. Start firing at targets when you’re not in range to use the flamethrower.)
VS. Other Classes
VS. Scout-
Scouts are faster than you, but they are also weak. Always remember that. If you can get close enough to flamethrow a scout long enough, they will die fast and easy. Most of the time, a good scout might catch on fire but then escape while shooting back at you. This is why the Tag and Shoot attack style is useful against the scout, because the burning damage will give you the edge while you shotgun the scout down before he kills you with the scattergun.
VS. Soldiers- The soldier is one of your counters. The reason why fighting a soldier is risky business is because the soldier can simply rocket you backwards before you can get in range to flamethrow him. It’s safe to say that a good soldier will always kill a pyro, so you must out-skill him and dodge his attacks with your speed. Use your shotgun and speed to outwit his shotgun and slower speed. He has a little more hp, but if you can get close enough to Tag and Shoot him, you will get turn the battle in your favor.
This goes without saying that if you can ambush the solider and trail him while pressing up against him, he will probably fall over and die before he can do lethal damage to you with pointblank rockets. Confidence is key with this match-up, whether you get the jump on him or not.
VS. Other Pyros-
Fighting other pyros is an art form. To best describe it, it’s like a bullfight. You have to juke the other pyro like a bull fighter that flicks his cape and dodges off to the side. Picture yourself tripping your friend in real life. You do it by suddenly strafing to your left while tripping him over with your right foot. What I’m trying to say is that you need to keep the enemy pyro in your flamethrower’s torrent at close range while completely dodging his. Circle strafing skills are crucial here and that’s what divides the amateur pyros from the pros.
As always, being as close to him as possible ends the battle faster, and lowers the risk of dying to his flamethrower considerably. At mid to far range, you should always bust out with your shotgun. At close range, you should ALWAYS kill him with your flamethrower, even though you are immune to each other’s DoT fire damage. Some pyro players perfer to use their Fireaxe against, but I will always suggest using your flamethrower because it's very possible to stay out of melee range while burning him down with your flamethrower because of your movement speed. Out of the hundreds of times I've gone Pyro vs Pyro, I've only gotten killed by a Fireaxe once or twice while using the flamethrower on him, and that was only because I was hit by a Fireaxe crit right off the bat.
VS. Demoman-
If you get in close range, he’s pretty much screwed. The only thing he can do to you at close range is get a lucky bottle hit on you or land a primary nade in your face. He will most likely use his owns stickies to wall you off. If he walls you off, he will then try to either catch you off guard or start lobbing primaries at you. As he does this, use the only edge you have against him, your shotgun! The demoman doesn’t have a traditional gun to attack at range with, so gun him down before those stickies find their way to your feet.
VS. Heavy- This is the one class that will give you the hardest time, even at close range. This guy is rough to take down if you don't know what you're doing. You’re best and probably only chance to kill him fast is to find a way to get in close. Either find an alternate route around him to ambush him, or run from cover to cover while shooting at him with your shotgun. Once you’re in close range, you only have one option, and that’s to circle strafe around him like a pro while pressing up against him and burning him to ashes. If you continue to circle around him in one direction, he might trail you and minigun you down with ease, so be sure to juke him as often as needed. Go left, then right, then left and quickly right again. The more you juke him, the more time you have to burn him down, and it won’t take that much time at all.
VS. Engineer- The engineer is a counter to you, because the SG does a good job of pushing people backwards. As with most offensive classes, the engineer won’t give you much trouble alone. The problem is getting anywhere near that SG with your flamethrower. Here are your options…
1. If an SG is directly around a corner or over a ledge (or below you when on a ledge), you can edge close to the SG without it going off and then go full force with the flamethrower. The flames will hit the SG and eventually kill it. If you see sparkles going off, it means you’re hitting it with your flames.
2. If the SG is in a similar position but you need to fully turn the corner to damage it, it is possible to run in REALLY QUICK and IMMEDIATELY start circle strafing around it before it has a chance to push you away and off in one direction. This is more possible with a medic healing you, but I’ve seen this done before on Dustbowl and I’ve done it myself. It’s just easier to pull off with a pyro that with a scout, because you have more hp’s and you also “weigh” more than a scout. You can also concentrate more damage on the SG and burn it down fast, which is more consistent damage than even the scattergun can deliver.
Level 1 SG's are easy to circle strafe. Level 2 SG's are harder to circle strafe because they are able to push you backwards more easily with their improved firepower. Level 3 SG's are ussually impossible to circle strafe unles they are aiming at another target when you approach it. The rockets that they fire will maim you before you even have a change to start flaming it.
3. As for fighting sentry guns in rare situations where you have to kill a SG from around a corner, use the shotgun. It’s not the best way of taking out a SG, but that’s just a weakness of playing the pyro class. It will most likely keep the engineer on his toes or draw enemies out to try and kill you. Deal with them accordingly by telling them to kiss your flamethrower on the lips.
4. Wait for an uber charge. Once an ubered pyro gets in range of the engineer and his SG, the engineer might as well start running. Nothing will be able to heal the engineer or repair the SG fast enough to keep up with the damage of the flamethrower. The engineer and his buildings are as good as gone. The Flamethrower's torrent will go through buildings and players, so you can scorch the engineer, his SG, and his dispenser all at once in some cases. It's also very important to tell your medic to move forward and in front of you to take some of the SG's gunfire, allowing you to move forward without being slowed down.
VS. Medic-
Medics are your main targets at all times. I’ve seen pyros go into crowds of enemies and chase down the medic with everyone shooting at him, and I don’t blame them either. There’s no shame in gunning down the medics first, just try and make sure to set everyone else on fire while you do it. Also, the medic is slightly faster than you, so if there’s some distance between the both of you, and he retreats while shooting his needle gun at you, don’t be stupid. Use your shotgun to gun him down and try not to be predictable with your movements. Don’t allow him to kill you with his needle gun.
VS. Sniper-
You can either shoot them with your shotgun to mess with their aim, but at really far ranges, it’s also smart to shoot your flamethrower in front of you and your friends, just so the sniper has a hard time getting a clear shot as you all charge forward. I suggest using the flamethrower as much as possible at mid and close ranges, just to set him on fire and also black out his vision while he tries to autogun you down.
VS. Spy-
The spy has nothing on you. The only thing he can do is blitz in and get a lucky backstab in on you before you notice and catch him on fire. You should spy-check and flame suspicious teammates just in case. Spies have low hp so they are fast flamethrower kills, and also easy to nail with the shotgun.
Closing Thoughts
Some players believe that the pyro needs something more to truly own. I used to think that the pyro could use slightly more HP, just to compete more with soldiers. After playing them more and more, they began to grow on me. The Pyro dominates maps like Granary and any situation where you want to plow through the enemy faster, allowing your team to move forward rapidly. This class provides a lot of momentum to an offensive team and a lot of players don’t seem to realize this and can't appreciate the class for what it is. It’s well balanced and it CAN own when in the hands of a player that simply knows how to move around in an FPS. Mastering the WASD keys is what makes a player a good pyro user, and not just how well he uses that flamethrower. --- ADVANCED SECTION This section of the pyro guide is for all those crazy types that enjoy loving the pyro and they have eitherloved it or hated it by playing for a long period of time. We'll talk about the class from a different perpective and talk about the unlockables as well. Perfecting the Pyro - A Story About the Little Arsonist That Could So if you have been playing this class for a long period of time, it's probably been a labor of love. By now you've seen what the Pyro can and cannot do. You now know your limits. You've probably heard a hundred players tell you the Pyro sucks and the Pyro just doesn't make the cut. Well why the sad face? Let me explain to you why that little man in a rubber mask is the source of such controversy. Why is the Pyro such a controversial class? There's a number of reasons why the Pyro is often the subject of heated debate, but I believe the most realistic factor is that many players are familiar with the former TF games and they probably played both of them. They know what the Pyro was like before TF2 came around and they want the Pyro to be like what it once ones, and others will tell you that they believed the Pyro was weaksauce in the past. In TFC, the pyro was pretty lackluster and people only played him for the novelty factor. He didn't have that punch that the other classes had, therefor contemporary TF2 players want to see the Pyro make a comeback while still having him be unique in his own right. Why isn't the Pyro used very often in Clan Matches? The answer is simple. Most clan matches are low numbers games. There are 9 classes in this game. You always need your bread and butter classes first and foremost, and having an extra medic to raise the medic your enemy team decides to bring in. You need your soldiers and your demomen and your medics and your scouts. You tend to see Pyros and Engineers and Spies come afterwards and there's simply not enough room in a small numbers matchup to fit them into the equation. Why don't you ever hear players complain about those other classes that get left out of clan matches? The short answer is that in general, people tend to focus too much on one thing and refuse to look at the big picture. If you saw more 9v9 clan matches in the world, you would most likely see more pyros, only because the pyro is essentially in between the scout and the other combat classes on a scale that combines speed, utility and damage-dealing capability. When you need a class that can travel more ground because of its fast movement speed, but you need a class that's more sturdy than the scout, the pyro is the class you need. It just isn't a bread-and-butter class. It's more of a class that compliments his team in a subtle way Why do most players think the Pyro is the weakest? This answer just as simple as the last. Any player with a good head on his shoulders will tell you that most Pyros suck at playing them! Do you think I'm being a prick? I regret to inform you that I'm just being a realist. Before some of you throw a fit and stop reading continue on to the next question... Why do most Pyro players suck, you elitist jerk? I'll tell you why. It's the product of most players suffering from a severe yet very subtle psychological disease... So when you play a soldier and you see an enemy appear from a dozen yards away... what do you do? Well you friggen shoot a rocket at him, that's what you do! Well what about demomen? Do you just sit there as the enemy approaches and not pop a grenade in his face? Of course not! You frag that guy with your little nade of joy! Well what about if a bunch of guys come out of nowhere and attack you as a Heavy? What do you do? Well I'd like to think that you rev up Sasha and rip the bad guys to shreds. That's the most I can hope for! So... everything that you just read about is so common, it's practically automatic behavior, isn't it? You see a guy come at you and you use your awesome primary weapon to give them the beat down, right? Well... what about that pyro player? What do you think he does when he sees four guys coming at him directly? Well... that pyro player holds his flamethrower in his hands... and he basically runs in to get into flamethrowing range... and... well... he gets his ass kicked around like a soccer ball. Has it hit you like a ton of bricks yet? Most player stick with their primary weapons, including the Pyro. They all play their offensive classes like offensive classes by rushing into the fray. The difference between the Pyro and the other guys is that their primary weapon is a close ranged weapon!!! I'm not saying most Pyro players don't use their shotgun, I'm saying that they don't use it when it matters most! What's the point of charging several enemies at once with your flamethrower out? You won't be doing damage to them while they are all targeting you and gunning you down. You're committing suicide BECAUSE you're not using your shotgun that has some range. If you were playing a soldier, scout, demoman or a Heavy, YOU WOULD BE SHOOTING THE BAD GUYS FROM A SAFE DISTANCE THE MOMENT YOU ENGAGE THEM! Isn't that right? And that my friends, is the reason why most Pyro players suck. If you can understand the simple concept of engaging your enemies at range, like the other 4 offensive type classes, you can then understand why some Pyro players have no idea how to use their class properly. No class will survive a 4v1 focus fire from the front lines. No class at all. Why do people see the Pyro as a weak class? Because the other 4 classes used ranged weapons in that kind of hopeless situation and the bad Pyro players don't! It's really that simple! What can Pyros not do? Pyros can't do chokepoints, period. They can do anything else other than go through heavily defended chokepoints. What most amateurs do is try to rush in with the flamethrower and they just get killed. What you have to realize, as an experienced Pyro player, is that your NOT suppose to be able to handle chokepoints on your lonesome. That's a character flaw of your class. Scouts can't take sentries. Soldier can't handle being surrounded from multiple angles. Demomen don't have guns. Heavies are spy and sniper bait. Pyros can't do chokepoints! Yada yada yada! These are all facts of life and they exist because of class balance and class gameplay. So what does this entire wall of text really mean, Mr. Monologue? You want me to sum up everything you just read? --> Learn to use your shotgun and understand when it's appropriate to use it or your flamethrower instead<-- Both weapons have their strengths and weaknesses. You just need to learn how to both both with deadly efficiency, as opposed to rushing in head first with your flamethrower against five alert enemies New Weapons The new weapons that the Pyros gets through achievements are solid additions and the added utility of the airblower to the stock flamethrower has helped improved the Pyro class as a whole. I'll talk about all of these new goodies and I'll assume that you already know what the air compressor is and what it does. The Flare Gun- This is your first unlockable weapon at 10 achievements (10,16, 22) and it replaces your shotgun. By sacrificing the stopping power of the shotgun, you receive a bolt-action type weapon that fires fast, long-ranged flares across clearings. The flares themselves are very accurate, yet they are slightly affected by gravity and arch downwards just a wee bit, similar to how a demoman's grenade will travel. You must account for distance and trajectory by aiming slightly above your target. It hits the target for a small amount of impact damage (up to 30 or so damage) and it ignites the target as if he was set on fire from a flamethrower. Enemy pyros will take the impact damage, but they will not be ignited. This weapon is fun and annoying to other players who get set on fire, especially snipers and non-evasive spies. It's one of those weapons you use while being constantly on the run while strafing to remain evasive. In my personal opinion, I would say that the shotgun is a slightly better weapon choice overall, but if you want to have the option of dealing some damage at far ranges, the flaregun is your best and only option. The Backburner- So basically, the Backburner is the same as the stock flamethrower, except that is will always deal critical damage from behind and that it does not have an air compressor. You sacrifice that extra utility for some serious damage-dealing potential. If you are ubered while using a backburner, even professional enemy players won't have many choices. They will either have to face you and take all that flamethrower damage or they will try to run away while you crit them to ashes from behind in a mere second. The Backburner basically gives the Pyro the damage that most damage expected from the Pyro in the first place. It's the ambusher's choice of weapon, plain and simple. The Axetinguisher- This weapon will always crit when a player is on fire. This sounds awesome on paper, but to tell you the truth, real pyros don't use their axe often. They use their flamethrower and fry their enemies before they would even have the time to swap to their axe and start swinging, especially now with the Backburner. The pyro axe weapons are a little redundant. The only time axes work the best are in pyro versus pyro matches, but even then flamethrowers do most of the talking, if not all of the talking! The normal axe does beat the Axetinguisher in a pyro match, but yea, you get the idea. The only time you will want to use this weapon is when you light a heavy (or maybe a soldier) on fire and immediately switch to your axe and cut them down. A soldier will die if you are able to get that first swing off, and a heavy will die within 2 swings (3 swings for sure if he's being healed and you survive Sasha that long. This weapon is a better partner for the stock flamethrower, but at the same time, there's absolutely NO REASON to use the normal axe over the Axetinguisher. If you're not lighting people on fire and you are relying on your normal Fireaxe to do damage, then you shouldn't even be reading this section of the guide to be honest! :) Offensive Weapon Setup: Backburner Shotgun Axetinguisher This setup is the traditional pyro setup as far as I'm concerned. You have the Backburner to deal the heavy damage on offense while flanking/ambushing/chasing others. Plus you have the shotgun to finish off guys and clean up your mess at midrange. The Flare gun doesn't really pack enough punch, especially in close-quarters combat, so the shotgun is a no-brainer as far as offense is concerned. Defensive Weapon Setup: Flamethrower Flaregun Axetinguisher When you're playing defense and you're helping defend sentry guns and complimenting your team, the stock flamethrower with the air compression really shines. You can easy repel any explosive projectiles with the air blast to ward them away from the sentry guns. You can also fry spies and other charging enemies, as well as set distant attackers on fire with the flare gun to keep them at bay. --- And that's about all there is... flame on!
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