Pyro Tips

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GENERAL THINGS LIKE BUTTONS AND TERMS YOU F2P NUBS WON'T KNOW:
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-Puff+Sting: A combo move which involves 1. setting someone on fire, 2. airblasting them into a wall (this part is optional depending on the situation as it may move them out of your range), and 3. hitting them with the Axtinguisher. This combo will deal a straight 200 points of damage, not counting any after burn. This also means that, un-overhealed, you are going to kill 8/9 classes instantly. Take note: if your intended target sees you and whips out their melee, you need to sober the fuck up. Valve's netcode is anything but good and you don't need to take that chance. Possibly go for a Puff and Blast, or dodge their first swing and lead up with your own. As a reminder, airblasting isn't always necessary.

-Airblasting: Your alt-fire for the flamethrower, M2. Reflects things and people. Covered more up ahead.

-Weapon Heckling: Switching you weapons constantly to mess with an enemy. For instance, switching between Flare Gun and your flamethrower to keep an enemy guessing what range you want to try and engage at.

-NOTE: Quickswapping weapons is necessary. Look for it in the advanced options. I think Q is the default bind for switching between your 2 chosen weapons.

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WEPONZ
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-If you aren't using the Degreaser, you need to switch to a different class. Even if you can't/won't Puff+Sting, you'll need it for weapon hecking/staying alive. The normal flamethrower is almost unused, and the Backburner is for W+M1 Pyros only. Unfortunately, the Phlogistinator is terribly effective, especially when paired with some common fucking sense like not running straight at people that are out of your range and see you, dodging around corners, etc. Or if you can't airblast for shit, which is the next tip. When it comes to the two flamethrower groups, it mostly breaks down like this (take it with a grain of salt):

1. Phlog Pyros: Group Assault Pyros. They can easily wipe out a whole slew of enemies in seconds, yet suffer in 1-on-1 encounters.

2. Degreaser Pyros: Single-Target Pyros. They can't do much against whole groups of enemies but they are the undisputed masters of 1-on-1 combat when in the right range.


-Airblasting (which is your flamethrower's M2) is the only reason Pyros don't get immediately eaten up. It can reflect rockets, flares, grenades, arrows, and push aside stickies. It's also good for getting the fuck away from a class or place. A heavy's coming towards you? Puff his ass away, preferably with a side of fire, and get the hell out of there. Anytime that you successfully reflect something, the game treats it as something you did, and thus gives you the damage for it i.e. if you reflect a rocket back at a soldier and it hits, it does damage to him. All reflected objects gain mini-crit damage.


-I'm making another note about reflecting because it's so damn important. You have to learn to do this, and you can't just spam airblast when you get to higher tiers of play. Predicting only works so far. You'll have to learn your latency and what that means, along with when to move into a rocket to blast it. People recommend the dodgeball servers, but nothing really beats practice and lots of it.

-Your secondaries are the Flare Gun, Shotty, Detonator, Manmelter, and Reserve Shooter. The Manmelter is bad and not worth mentioning. The Flare Gun is...situational at best. I can easily hit people with it when they aren't paying to much attention, and 2 shots will straight up kill anyone with 150 or less health, but it's slow enough and predictable enough for any good player to be able to dodge it. The shotty is good all around and really great for beating enemy Pyros. If you're slightly more advanced, are using airblast, and can aim, then the Reserve Shooter is for you. The added minicrit damage is  amazing for dealing with Scouts and people in the open, provided you can count to 3 and remember any given number from 0-3. When it comes to the Pyro secondary, you really have to find what fits you.



-Your melee. Not a lot to say here. Use the Axtinguisher. It just works. It's 1/2 of Puff+Sting. If you don't think you'll be puffing and stinging, then the Back Scratcher is a personal favorite. Medics really don't help you, but chances are, you won't be near many Medics if you're ambushing anyways. Powerjack is nice if you want the set bonus, but I personally don't use it.



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FLAMMABLE CONTENT INBOUND
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-You are going to die a fucking lot. Get used to it. People will bitch about this and say "Oh, well, Pyro is a support class and he isn't meant to get kills and boy howdy do I sure like sucking cock," but that's all a fucking lie. Pyro is generally one of the weaker classes, BUT THIS DOESN'T MEAN HE CAN'T STILL WRECK YOUR SHIT. Let me explain how.



-Back to the start of these tips. You are going to die a lot. As Pyro, it just kinda' happens. Heavies will straight up beat your shit if you don't get the 1st Axtinguisher hit on them, and then sometimes they can still whip around and Tomislav your ass. If a Soldier is smart enough to juggle you with his rockets, then you'll lose again. Same goes for Demo and his grenades, but this is less common. Scouts are probably your main counter. They can run in, get a meatshot on you, then run the fuck away before you can even set them on fire. Best thing to do is backpedal, try and dodge, and shoot with your secondary until you're in an enclosed space. Then airblast his ass against a wall and have your way with him.


-Onto the good news, there are some classes you will absolutely wreck. Spies of any description will cower in fear at the very sight of your flames. Any unaware class you can get behind probably won't be able to react to a flame then Axtinguisher to the back. If you really want to piss off a Demoknight, wait for him to charge, then airblast him against a wall. Set him on fire, and just keep him against the wall. As long as he doesn't pull out a grenade launcher, then you get to make him your bitch.


-The Puff and Blast. This is basically airblasting someone and having your way with them through the power of your bullets. This is especially nfity for taking down DR spies that are running away and out of ax range. Puff 'em up and let the bullets fly. A note when you're airblasting, try and push them upwards rather than outwards. I find the Reserve Shooter is better for this, especially if you're trying to counter one person at a time. It can also be done with the normal shotty or Flare Gun, but, again, this is all down to personal taste. Either way, this basically gives you the safety of distance from a trigger-happy, self-hating Soldier while still being able to thrust your lead-covered cock into someone.


NOTE: When you're trying to reload, make sure it goes all the way through before switching back. Quickswapping before I've reloaded has lead to a lot of my deaths

-Also, if you're fighting a Soldier with the DH or maybe even the LL, then you had better learn to predict like a bitch. Same goes for a Demo with the LnL

-Spychecking is half of your support aspect. The other, less glamourous side is being a Engi's bitch and using the Homewrecker. But more on that later (nope). A short tap of your flames at any and everyone will guarentee that you'll catch all the bad spies that come your way. All the good spies will be busy running around the backroutes and stuff which is KINDA' WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING. Also, never engage a Spy in melee unless he's coming down from your airblast. Even bad Spies can get a lucky backstab.