How To Play The Pyro

[Mr Pain 0]

I've been thinking about some strats for pyro, and I'm going to get a thread started here where we can share some tips. Here are my initial thoughts.

The pyro's biggest ability is sowing chaos among the enemy. Sure, anyone can shoot someone and kill them, but for all except the bravest players, nothing strikes fear into their heart like being set on fire.

Sometimes, it is worth going on a suicide run when defending if you can set half a dozen enemies on fire. Whether or not they all die, and even if you die, the time they spend running away to get healed or find med kits can give your team the time it needs to establish defenses like sentries, prepped ubers, and dispensers. So consider it as an option in tough times.

Now, a straight run at the enemy won't do much at all. It's just begging to get hit with a rocket or pipe bomb, or sniper bullet. That's why STRAFING IS THE PYRO'S BEST FRIEND. Never, ever, if you don't have to, run in a straight line. This is great for sweeping past groups of foes and setting multiple people on fire while avoiding their attacks, and it is absolutely crucial for destroying sentries. A good pyro can take out a level 3 sentry gun without an uber if he can get close and spin a circle around it while flaming.

As for the weapon selection, I prefer the backburner, but that's because I love sneaking up on people from behind. A clever pyro can be as effective as a spy at wiping out groups of enemies, especially in situations where they're all huddled up at a choke point or pushing the payload cart. That's why knowing the maps like the back of your hand and always using alternative routes is crucial to good backburning. No matter how many times it happens, people get careless and leave those juicy backs exposed, asking for a roasting.

Of course, the regular flamethrower's air blast ability is hugely important for defending on the final stages of dustbowl and gold rush, where ubered enemies can be knocked right off those bridges and into oblivion. This weapon is better for pyros that like to hang back and wait for the enemy to make a mistake. Not my preferred style, but hey, different strokes baby.

As for shotty versus flare gun, I go shotty almost always. The flare gun can be great, again, for sowing chaos from a distance, but it's pretty tough to use, and I like being able to finish off burning enemies as they run away by giving them a shotgun in the back. The shotgun is a pyro's little buddy, and is the difference between a decent pyro and a great one. You have to be willing to bust it out at a moment's notice.

The axes, well, I used to stick with the fire axe, but I've recently discovered the beauty of the axtinguisher. The big trick is just getting fast enough at switching to finish people off after you set them on fire. In fact, used properly, this could potentially make the backburner obsolete, as you can ambush foes, set them on fire, and crit kill them with the axe. But for hitting a lot of foes at once, it could become unworkable as an option.

Another thing I like to do is just jump out around a corner and set enemies on fire, them immediately fall back. Just scare them a bit. Again, chaos is the watchword for pyros. We all know he's nuts, so act like it.

Well, that's all I've got for now. I'm sure others have good strats and ideas as well.

[Troispoint 0]

Pyro is for noobs. Nuff' said.

[Mike808 1]

Pyro is for noobs. Nuff' said.

another thing about the choke points, it works great if you a pyro and another pyro rush in with one of u shooting fire and the other with the axtinguisher. This works very well cause once everyone is on fire both of you will be killing with ur axes

And trois pyro is not for nubs they can be very usefull for lots of things

[Mr Pain 0]

only one pyro per team read this, this is just a guide for the one pyro on each team

http://forums.gamingterritory.com/index.php?showtopic=6021

[Plasma Waffle 0]

Air blast pyros can be great for protecting sentries when needed. If right beside a dispenser, they can keep air blasting non-stop to get rid of stickies, send back rockets and pipe bombs (that would require some timing obviously so not non-stop blasting there)

[Mike808 1]

only one pyro per team read this, this is just a guide for the one pyro on each team

http://forums.gamingterritory.com/index.php?showtopic=6021

My advice is for the average pub game

[Mr Pain 0]

mine too

[Melissia 7]

Multiple pyros can definitely work when done properly, a lot better than one anyway. Just one pyro will often mean problems spychecking on larger maps.

[You suck and have no life 203]

Multiple engys can definitely work when done properly, a lot better than one anyway.

Multiple medics can definitely work when done properly, a lot better than one anyway.

Multiple demos can definitely work when done properly, a lot better than one anyway.

Multiple spies can definitely work when done properly, a lot better than one anyway.

Multiple heavies can definitely work when done properly, a lot better than one anyway.

Really?

[kuttlewug 28]

Pyros are great especially when the enemy is about to move the cart on the next point or capture a control point and you come out of no where and set everyone on fire and retreat unscathed. good times

[ktspaz 0]

I have some tips.

I tend to refrain from using the backburner, because I always regret switching to it for a crit rocket hits me, or there stickies on the wall, and etc.

A great combo I do when taking A SINGLE person is to set them on fire with the flame thrower, instanly air blast them, switch to Axtinguisher CRIT MELEE. This almost always works because the air blast tends to confuse the person for a short peroid of time...enough time to switch and kill. Heavies are a bit harder though, a quick burn and hit won't work, it will only get them down to the reds if they have full health.

And if you didn't know already, the last point on cp_steel is perfect for compression air blasting. You can imagine there fists waving at you while they fall to their deaths.

[Plasma Waffle 0]

I have some tips.

I tend to refrain from using the backburner, because I always regret switching to it for a crit rocket hits me, or there stickies on the wall, and etc.

A great combo I do when taking A SINGLE person is to set them on fire with the flame thrower, instanly air blast them, switch to Axtinguisher CRIT MELEE. This almost always works because the air blast tends to confuse the person for a short peroid of time...enough time to switch and kill. Heavies are a bit harder though, a quick burn and hit won't work, it will only get them down to the reds if they have full health.

And if you didn't know already, the last point on cp_steel is perfect for compression air blasting. You can imagine there fists waving at you while they fall to their deaths.

Lol yeah airblast on steel is great. I just use a script so that as soon as i use fire it auto-switches to the axtinuguisher though =)

[h3gi 5]

I agree that a Pyro has no place in say competitive 6v6, but is my second main in pubs due to how much you can exploit the other team if they're not pros.

First off, I'm an air-blast pyro. I absolutely HATE the backburner, have not used it since they took out the +50 HP, and don't see myself using it ever again. If I want to kill from behind, I go Spy. And if I catch myself behind an unwary enemy, I'm confident enough in my ability to flame/axtinguish for damage output, especially considering the back crits don't always register immediately. Air blast is amazing. When I did use Backburner, often I found myself in situations where I wished I had the normal flamethrower, but never vice versa. Soldiers mean nothing to me. Demos get extremely annoyed when none of their attacks can do any damage to me. I have killed sentries with their own rockets without a healer. With the case of the air-blast vs. the backburner, the amount of skill required to use is proportional to the utility and general effectiveness.

Regarding shotgun vs. flare gun, I'm a flare gun user, but the shotgun is definitely useful, too. The shotgun is useful in most all situations and is very useful for finishing off damaged opponents, not to mention other pyros, but I see more use of the flare gun with the way I play. First off, I'm paranoid about snipers. A good Sniper CAN shut down a huge chunk of the opposing team's prowess. In this case, I find a single flare gun shot disrupts their sniping long enough, either by their sidestepping or attempting to extinguish the fire for me to damage and hopefully kill some enemies before I have to pay attention to the Sniper again, where I just shoot another well aimed flare. The shotgun is only an instant disruption against them and can generally be ignored, and we all know that from a distance, a flamethrower Pyro is a sitting duck to a Sniper.

Now, the Fire Axe used to be a favorite of mine before the Pyro update, seeing how everyone I met had their anti-pyro strategy set against the mouse1-hold run-forward-in-a-straight-line species of Pyro, and seeing me pull out my axe and shotgun confused them ever so delightfully. Then came the Axtinguisher and the prospect of 100% crits that would take down anything that wasn't overhealed except for Mr. Russian Big Man. This is, in my opinion, where the true power of the Pyro lies. The pyro is assuredly a melee class. The flamethrower, no matter how you look at it, is just a long-reach melee weapon. With the pyro, you have to be up close and personal, getting into your enemy's face, confusing the ranks, acting like an idiot, but hopefully an idiot who knows what he's doing. 195 damage in a single swing is ridiculously AWESOME and SWEET, which is why I choose the flare gun. The air-blast lets me get inside the enemy base without much fear of certain classes, buying me enough health to axe down whoever is unlucky enough to have my crosshair upon.

With the weapon layout I use explained, here is my general strategy.

First of all, I want to know, as much as any other class, exactly where the enemy is. That means where their firepower, support, good/bad players, long range/short range classes, etc. is. A pyro in the middle of a ring of six Heavies will do nothing but aggravate. Flaming everyone and dying nets very little benefit to the team, especially when a single opposing medic is available to render your fire useless. What I try to do is to get myself in one-on-one matches where by the time I'm noticed, I'm already within flaming range. I'm not content enough to get a bunch of people on fire, and MAYBE one of them dying to the flames or at least getting assists. When I play pyro, I want to KILL. Annoying the other team is also an effective strategy, but putting KILLING first sort of fills in for that. I want to surprise the enemy with my presence and my damage, so coming in from weird angles is always on my mind. Where can I come from that 1. won't kill me, 2. won't be expected, and 3. will provide me targets to KILL? Suicide runs are not my style, and if possible, I go and heal before storming in again. I find that staying alive and finding prospective targets is much more beneficial to me and my team than suicide flame runs.

The pyro I believe is a support class, not offensive. Being the case, I find a defensive Pyro grants you the ability to do a lot of things. Fire is one good thing. The air blast is great at rendering many opposing targets useless, buying time which is what your goal is. When that stupid Soldier is spamming easily-deflected rockets across the hallway, he is granting his team no benefit, while the pyro is delaying the Soldier from doing anything, an objective highly prioritized for defense. The air blast is also great for countering ubers. If you catch them early enough, forcing the Medic behind will not only waste his time for charging that uber, but "assisting" your team in giving them a single, very vulnerable target to kill with no backup. If you didn't happen to be in the right place but can still get to them, throwing off the ubered target's aim will certainly lessen the effectiveness of their uber, and if you draw their fire, all the better! Better let your body die than the sentry that took time to set up. As was said before, the flare gun is a nice way of bringing damage and rage from afar, especially against Snipers. On defense, your teammates can provide enough distraction for you to flare from afar, let them forget about you, and suddenly pop out in front of them with your barb-wire-covered axe to seal the deal. The pyro is also a great target to uber and run inside an enemy encampment to sow havoc and destruction. Teleporters go down, Medics pop their ubers early, no one can aim properly, and their attention is at least partially taken off from their objectives (payloads, control points, etc.). Just make sure they don't have other pyros to blast you back, or too many sentries for you to make an advancement.

And YES, I DO believe the Pyro is a credit to the team as long as the user is capable.

Class Specific

SCOUT: One on one, a Scout can damage you from afar and can run away whenever he wants. Against a scout, the situation really dictates the outcome. For example, if you are in close quarters and the Scout hasn't paid you any attention, burning him ONCE will already do half his health in damage (at least 25 damage with the flame, plus 50 afterburn damage). This makes you a feared target against the Scout, so if you see a Scout and he sees you and you are both in an open area, run away; you can't do anything. You CAN try to corner him, running in with your shotgun and doing some damage, then pull out your flamethrower and pull a crazy flame-spasm just to catch him on fire, then unload some more shotgun shots as he runs away. Other than that, try to ignore him.

SOLDIER: Again, the compressed air-blast is godsend for this battle. Half the time, soldiers either don't expect you to be good enough at the air blast to use it, or are just stupid and try to get lucky. If you're good enough, the rocket-spammer will give you no trouble, PLUS you can redirect their rockets at key targets, like the medic healing him. When he pulls out his shotgun, however, I personally pull my flare gun and almost guarantee me a hit against the slow mover. A shotgun is also a decent choice; he has more health than you, but you move faster, so at this point it's a pretty even battle. I usually try to play with him, so he gets comfortable about keeping his shotgun out as I'm dodging, then I hide moving in on him with my weaving and pull out my flamethrower when I'm in good range, or sometimes my Axtinguisher. If he keeps his shotgun out, the flamethrower will outdamage it, especially if he's reloading. If he pulls out his rocket launcher, I keep track of if he even has any in his clip from when he last put it away, then I time a good air blast for his gibbed death. Overall, non-backburner Pyros have a good chance against Soldiers.

PYRO: The key thing to remember is that fire LAGS. The rendered particles do not match with the "real" particles in the server. The particles have to "come out" your flamethrower, forcing you to lead your target. Flaming ahead is crucial to getting the most damage output. This also means that when two pyros engage, one running backwards and the other running forwards in a straight line, the pyro running backwards will kill the other pyro. Therefore it is beneficial to lure the other pyro into chasing you, either for letting your fire "stay" behind you a little and damage him more than he damages you, or to lure him into a sentry gun or other backup. The axtinguisher and the flare gun both are obviously of extremely little use against the pyro. Both the shotgun and the fire axe can be useful. Be mindful of other pyros when you are ubered and doing a run. Their air-blasts can render your attack completely useless.

DEMOMAN: Right. This man can give you oodles of trouble, depending on how tricky he is. If you see a sticky patch, try to air blast it so that at least they won't damage your allies. Of course, use caution; I try to air blast BEFORE getting in range of the stickies, then run forward before it ends, then run back as soon as I see/hear them roll. This ensures that I'm the maximum distance from the stickies while still moving them. If your caught up in a duel against the demo, it really depends on the skill level of the demo. Whatever you do, DON'T be an idiot and run up to him flaming. He will just plant a sticky at his feet and detonate it when you run into it, or launch a grenade in your face. Always always always keep a distance from him if he sees you. If you can't ambush him and kill him quickly before he can respond, there's not too much you can do. If you're confident enough, you CAN reflect his grenades/stickies. Just remember to get slightly ahead of said projectile so that it will hit your head and not your feet, and aim upwards while reflecting it, as if you were shooting your own sticky or grenade. If he shoots at your feet, your air blast will either not be aimed high enough to make it go back to him or be aimed to high for it to connect. If he lays stickies AROUND you to block your path, either shove his stickies back at him or take the path of least resistance to escape, air blasting as you do. An annoying fight.

HEAVY: A favored matchup of mine. A lot of Heavies act the way they look; stubbornly attached to a single viewpoint. They typically have a lot of targets to watch out for, so use this to your advantage. I usually try to flare gun him from afar, then sneak up and axtinguish him down. A typical occurrence is on Goldrush stage 1 point 2. If your team has the attic and you see a Heavy pushing the cart beneath you, a flare gun is an easy shot. Then just drop down while crouching and land axtinguish him to death. Try to be on top of him or behind him so he doesn't see you. If you are fighting a Heavy and he does see you before you are in range, USE CORNERS! Flame and retreat is my strategy. Either aim a flare if he's revving or wait until he's almost to the corner, jump out and flamethrower him a tiny bit, and then retreat. If he can't heal himself, you can try to run around behind him and take him by surprise, or use a corner to pop out and surprise axtinguish. In some cases, a very rewarding sound is his OM NOM NOM behind the corner. You can either try flame-pop him again (to make sure the sandvich doesn't extinguish the fire) and axtinguish his helpless body, or pull a Hadouken if you're fast enough. Remember to circle strafe if you cannot find a good corner to use. I will sometimes pop out and circle strafe with my flamethrower, then when he tries to turn and catch me, I circle strafe the OPPOSITE way and axtinguish as I so. I do take damage, but it's usually a very small amount compared to the damage you're dishing out on him. Two hits will take down a Heavy that is not overhealed. A heavy with a Medic on him will take three hits, so if I can't surprise him, I usually don't attempt this battle.

ENGINEER: Engineers themselves of course pose very little threat, but taking out the sentry might be impossible. Sentries have a set turning-speed, so circle strafing is vastly important. Try to enter its field of vision where it's not facing you, and you should preferably be already close to it. At level 1, if you're close enough, you can even circle strafe fire it down if it's facing you at the point of entry. Level 3's are tough to take down. If you can't get in range without it blasting at you, you will not be able to damage it due to knockback. However, certain angles can guarantee your fire to hit it without it spotting you, it's just tricky getting in the right spot. If you have uber on you, make sure your medic gets in the field of vision first. Sentries have a single-targeting system. The first enemy they spot, they fire at until it dies, the sentry dies, or its ammo runs out. When the medic is taking all the knockback, you are free to run up to it at full speed, granted you are not in the line of fire, and take it down quickly with time to kill other targets.

For friendly Engineers, you are a good support unit. Standing on a dispenser guarantees you enough ammo to continuously fire your flamethrower without the fear of ever running out. This is critical to Spy checking. You should always know where a friendly dispenser is so you know where to go to heal and replenish ammo. I frequently find myself in bad situations when playing catch with enemy Soldiers where a nearby dispenser would be greatly appreciated.

MEDIC: MEDICS DIE FIRST. ALWAYS. One competent medic can render your fire effectively useless. One on one, medics die to a lot of things, but again, running straight at the medic will just end up with wasted ammo and a fruitless death. Even if he is in range and you are damaging him, he is probably using his blutsauger which pretty much cancels out your damage. The medic is usually surrounded or at least paired with a teammate. And because they know they are targets, they try to stay behind. If you can come from behind, try to kill the medic without being noticed. One way is, if you know a pair is coming your way, to hide somewhere you can stay in range while not be seen with the path they are taking (such as behind the shack right outside offense's spawn exit on Dustbowl). You let the heal target PASS, then you flame the Medic down, or if you have the ammo and time, air blast the medic to stall him while the target runs ahead. Then feel free to do as you please with him.

For friendly Medics, you are a decent target, but the Medic should not stay on you for too long. Try to make most of the overheal; feel free to try a bum rush, but tell the medic to stay behind. The overheal will give you an advantage in sowing destruction so you can run out and let the medic heal you again. If you want uber on you, one of your priorities is to take down sentries and teleporters. Especially with the advent of level 3 teleporters, doing an uber rush and taking down the exit will put a huge dent in the opposing team, slowing them down considerably. Just make sure to take out all of the exits so an engineer doesn't just take it and rebuild the exit. When I get ubered and run in a congested area, I typically do a running halo flare, meaning I jump while running forward and immediately spin my mouse so that I do a 360 flame, trying to catch everyone in the vicinity on fire while the jump carries my momentum forward. Then once I'm sure there are good, close targets, I pull out my Axtinguisher and go on a killing spree. This tactic makes sure you are doing the most damage you can in the smallest amount of time, BUT is harder to make effective due to the short range of the axe. Also, make sure other Pyros don't air blast you or your medic, rendering your attack useless as was mentioned earlier.

SNIPER: If there is one thing to do against Sniper, it's to dodge. Dodge dodge dodge. Be unpredictable. Shift your patterns. Move backwards at times to throw them off. Jumping usually works, but against a good sniper, any jump leads to a 100% predictable movement pattern, and therefore a guaranteed headshot. An uncharged headshot will not kill in one hit, but don't get cocky just because you can survive it. A good flare gun shot mixed with some dodging will annoy any sniper and put him in his place, and if it connects, all the better. Sneaking up on a scoped Sniper usually means a flare and an axtinguish for me. More so than any other matchup, the closer you are, the more danger you pose to him, and vice versa.

SPY: You are a Spy's worst nightmare. A Spy on fire has about a tenth of the efficiency of one that is not. Therefore, as a rule when playing pyro, EVERYONE IS A SPY. There are a lot of tricks spies can pull. I myself play Spy, so I know of all the possible signs (no secondary weapons, shadows, ubercharge bar, etc.), but I still throw one or two ammo into all of my teammates if I can, just to be sure. Remember, if a Spy gets through and does damage, it's the Pyro's fault. Spies tend to stay away from you, so your back is generally safer than the backs of your teammates, but a good (or dumb) Spy MAY try to kill you first. Just be wary.

I'll update this if I remember something or if anything is pointed out to me, but for now, the end.

Edited December 29, 2008 by h3gi

[ep!c._. 0]

Meh, a good pyro will usually get 1 unexpected air blast in before i realize what he's doing and then after that he just stand there with his flamer out while i wreck him with my shotty. Or I just shoot the ground knock him into the air and shoot him in the face. For the most part people that play pyro are awful

Lol @ that video.

[h3gi 5]

For some reason, embedding this video doesn't work.

But it should be seen in high quality anyway.

At :36, as I'm switching to my axe after lighting him on fire, I don't rush in immediately; I deliberately wait just out of range where I can swing as soon as I can if he tries to run out. If I had run in, he might have been able to circle around me before I can attack in that half second it takes to switch weapons, making it harder to aim my melee. By staying in that spot, he can only run forward into me, and I'd be ready to axe him.

At 1:28, I miss my flame tap, having switched to my axe .1 seconds too soon; when I come back in at 1:30, I flame in a 40 degree arc across his body, purposefully staying off-aim as I switch to my axtinguisher, then I hit Mouse1 and move my cursor back across him, timing the movement to connect with his body.

Edited January 23, 2009 by h3gi

[Nket 16]

W + M1

[LunchBox 10]

W + M1

Don't forget about the space bar!

[h3gi 5]

W + M1

This works, too. ._.