Pyro

TF2Wiki

The most mysterious of the TF2 classes, the Pyro sports a full body, inflammable suit which obscures the gender, voice, and skin color of the Pyro. Though there are rumors about him/her (Handbag in his/her locker, for instance), nobody really knows the truth. For convenience, I will be sticking to the male pronoun instead of the speculative female and the bastardization of grammar that is the gender-free third person "they".

GENERAL STRATEGY

Strategy with the Pyro is relatively simple for beginners: you can be one ofthree Pyros, the infamous W+M1, the ambusher, or the defensive Pyro. All can be devestating if played correctly, but the foremost is hated by a lot of the community for lacking "skill". I personally disagree with that assesment, but I will posit that it is the least effective way to play.

W+M1, also referred to as the "charging pyro", consists of charging the enemy with your mouse button held down, lighting a few people on fire, dying, rinse, repeat. This can shut down an enemy offensive if there is either a) no medic or healthpacks or b) the majority is 125 health classes. However, these conditions are not met 90% of the time, and it will be completely inneffective. Don't specifically not use this tactic based on it's connotation within the TF2 community, specifically don't use it because it's not effective. If you find it to be effective, then use it.

The second style of Pyro play is the ambush. This can destroy a team if played correctly. This is a 3 step process:
1) Find a corner the team has to cross, or a hole in the wall for you to sit in.
2) Camp there
3) When they cross, light them on fire / kill them.
This can destroy a heavy/medic pair, and, with the backburner, kill 90% of classes. You essentially act as a less stealthy spy, hiding until someone crosses your path.

The third and final tatic for Pyros is that of playing defensively. Although this lends itself for CP games where you are either playing defense on an attack/defense map or holding on a push map, this also can be used to cover your rear on pushes. Essentially, your job is to a) spycheck, that is light everyone on fire until you find a spy, b) kill any stray enemies near you, and c) airblast enemies on fire and stray projectiles. You act as the counter to spies, other pyros, demomen, and soldiers. Considering those are effective offensive classes, you act as the backbone of the defense.

DON'T FORGET YOUR AIRBLAST! You can turn around projectiles, douse flames, and push back enemies with it. If you find that you are best at defensive pyroing, keep your original flamethrower equipped and airblast anything that seems fit. This eats up your ammo, so try and find some dropped weapons or metal boxes to give you something to shoot with.

SPECIFIC STRATEGIES VS. OTHER CLASSES

Scout - Once you light a Scout on fire, 90% of the time he will retreat. The lack of health coupled with lack of firepower means this fight is easily yours. If a Scout is picking you off from a distance, resist the urge to charge him as it will a) leave you vulnerable from the sides and behind and b) not work because of the Scout's speed.

Soldier - Airblast his rockets back at him. Again, resist the urge to charge him, as you will be less likely to reflect up close. Eventually, he'll get tired of not coming close to hitting you and back off.

Pyro - The most difficult fight in the game. Either use your shotgun or, if you have the flare gun equipped, the fire ax to kill him. Most of these fights are a crapshoot.

Demoman - Reflect everything he shoots at you back, but don't worry about charging if you're aware of his projectiles. These travel slow enough and arc whereby you won't have to worry about being hit if you know where they are.

Heavy - Probably the second most difficult class to kill. Get up close and light him on fire. This should be enough to confuse and disorient him, whereby you can either a) kill the medic attached to him or b) finish him off.

Engineer - If the engineer places his sentry around a corner, you can roll around the corner just slightly and still nto be detected, in which case you can flame the sentry to death. If a spy has sapped his buildings, airblast the engineer away to make sure he doesn't de-sap them.

Medic - Your flame can take out a medic relatively easily if you hit and run, thereby reducing his patient's ability to ward off your attacks. He will be forced to retreat, thus leaving his patient vulnerable.

Sniper - If you can get up close, you can airblast him out of his nest and into the combat zone, leaving him to die. Otherwise, relatively simple and easy to kill.

Spy - Spychecking is your job. Run around and flame everyone, and if a "teammate" catches on fire, proceed to let your team know and attempt to kill him.

UNLOCKS

Backburner (Second Unlock, replaces Flamethrower) - Good for ambushes, as you can easily take out people from behind. Otherwise, not effective, as airblast makes you a counter to demomen and soldiers, which adds another dimension to your attack or defense.

Flare Gun (First Unlock, replaces Shotgun) - This one is more controversial. This gives the pyro some long range capability, and allows for enemies a Pyro approaches to already be damaged when appraoching close range. However, this reduces your ability to kill Pyros to nearly zero. Use your own discretion on this one: if the other team's Pyros are effective, switch to shotgun. If not, then use this.

Axtinguisher (Third Unlock, replaces Fire Ax) - If you're either facing a team of effective Pyros or on a map with a significant underwater presence, then you should be using the fire ax. Otherwise, the axtinguisher acts as an effective end to either W+M1ing or ambushing.