QUICK JUMP
| Vitals | Health | 175 HP | |||
| Primary Weapon | |||||
| Flamethrower | 15 | 5 | N/A | ||
| Secondary Weapon | |||||
| Shotgun | 80-90 (180) | 10-30 | 3-10 | ||
| Melee Weapon | |||||
| Fire Axe | 45-85 (195) | ||||
Pyro Strategies
Pyro's are one of my favorite classes in Team Fortress 2. I call them the ninjas of Team Fortress.
Extremely deadly at close range; the pyro's biggest challenge is getting next to his opponent unscathed. And there are lots of ways to do this. You can hide around corners, you can run towards your prey jumping from side to side (this works excellent against soldiers, especially in close quarters) or you can do my favorite; death from above!
There are few things as enjoyable as jumping off the sniper deck in 2 Fort as a pyro and destroying a heavy/medic combo while they approach the base. You can even annihilate their allies; using this method, you can melt Soldiers, Demomen, Medics and HWGuys all outside the base in 1 run. They don't expect anyone to dive on them like a pyro does.
Another example of the death from above tactic is destroying sentry guns built outside of the base. In 2 fort if you build a sentry outside of the opening ramp ways which people often do, in the little corners; you are asking for this. A pyro can jump out, face down, and fire with the flame thrower and before he hits the ground your sentry, dispenser and you, the engineer will all be dead.
So now that you know some Team Fortress Pyro Tactics, lets look at your weaponry.
...death from above...
The Flamethrower
As mentioned above, this weapon is devastating at close range. You never have to reload, but you need to be close.
Unlike any other gun in Team Fortress, the Flamethrower has proximity damage. An enemy right next to the gun will take more damage than an enemy at the "tip" of the flame. So again, I can't say it enough; GET CLOSE!
Also be careful; when you run forewards your flame length is cut in half. Because you are running against the wind, your flame is realistically shortened. Team Fortress 2 may look cartoony but it has very realistic cores. Because of this, don't keep your flamethrower out when people run from you.
When you set people on fire, they usually run away. Most of the time, they run towards water or health to extingiush themselves. When this happens, switch to your...
Shotgun
Your shotgun is your secondary gun, and your weapon for long range battles and when people run away. Set them on fire and then switch to this bad boy to kill them if they run from you. Especially if they jump in the water in a level like 2 fort.
A common thing that happens to me is I will set a player on fire, and they will run and dive into the water. I will a wait a second before diving in, so they feel comfortable, then switch to my shotgun and jump in. Usually I can fire off 2-3 shots on the way down at them, and they are usually headed back to their water tunnel to get health in a "safe" zone. Sometimes they die here, if not; I reload and continue pursuit. Keep your shotgun out until your are in area where the ammo and health is. If they are here, switch to your flamethrower. You are in close enough proximity to be at an advantage here with the flamethrower even against a scout.
Fireaxe
Your melee weapon. Most pyros use this in pyro vs pyro battles; however it is much better to use the shotgun and keep stepping back. While they are walking at the same speed swinging, you are walking back and shooting them in the face. I wonder who will win?
That's the main time people use the axe because, if you didn't know, pyros cannot be set on fire. You take fire damage, but you will not burn. Because of this in pyro vs pyro battles, people use the axe; however as mentioned above, I use the shotgun and I usually come out on top. You can even use the flamethrower and still come out on top most of the time, actually.
A few other small pyro notes:
- Your flame thrower does not work in the water. This might seem obvious, but hey; maybe not.
- You flame thrower can fire through dispensers. This is an exploit, but I don't mention it on the exploits page. This is only for my fellow pyro players. Approach a sentry gun and if it is build with a dispenser right next to it, and the dispenser is facing you (like in a water tunnel) get in between the dispenser and the sentry. The sentry will no longer kill you. Now crouch and fire, and your flame won't show up on your screen, but wait. The fire will go through the dispenser and kill the engineer, the sentry, and eventually the dispenser. You need to be right next to the dispenser for this to work, and it only works if you are facing the "wide" side, not the thin side of the dispenser.
- The fireaxe does the same damage as everything else. I see lots of players saying OMGZ! Fireaxe and Heavy Weapons Fists are most powerful meleee!!!! No. They aren't. See the WEAPONS PAGE.
Have fun setting the world on fire, pyros!