So you wanna be a pyro huh? But not some Mouse 1'ing Rainblowin/Backburning son of a bitch? You want something that take a little more finesse. A certain level of skill that can't be recreated by a howler monkey randomly flailing on a keyboard? WELL I'VE GOT THE THING FOR YOU MAGGOT.
Pro pyro play or "Proro" -ing involves one combo, repeated until you can do it in your sleep.
Your loadouts, should you choose to accept them. I'll explain the specific pros and cons of each later.
Degreaser - Flaregun - Powerjack- Attendant (The Gas Jockey Set)
Degreaser - Reserve Shooter- Powerjack- Attendant (The Gas Jockey Set)
Degreaser - Shotgun- Powerjack- Attendant (The Gas Jockey Set)
Degreaser- Flaregun- Axetinguisher
Degreaser- Shotgun- Axtinguisher
Special Case: The Scorch Shot (This weapon is worth mentioning here, but Scorch Shot strategy is a little too in depth for a mention here, look out for a full length on that later. One tip tho: Shoot everyone with it all the time. Burn everything)
Your simple goal here is to Light-Puff-Sting. All the time. Every Time.
But what does that mean?
Well, step one is to "light". Simple enough. You want to engage (preferably ambush) with your Degreaser with a little mouse 1 action. Just burn your target for a second or two, your goal here is only to do ~30-40 damage maybe a little more against tougher classes. This sets your sting up to be more consistently lethal, as well as causing your opponent to suffer afterburn. All three of the factors hasten their demise.
Step 2 is the "Puff" otherwise known as the airblast. For those that don't know, by clicking mouse 2, you can let out a small burst of fuel that will reflect projectiles and push players (as well as put out burning teammates). You goal with the puff is to knock your opponent into the air. By pushing a player, you force them to lose all of their momentum, thus forcing them to confront you. More importantly, you've got control over where they are, which sets up the last part of your combo. They can't dodge while puffed. TAKE ADVANTAGE!
The Sting: What you are trying to do here is kill your opponent with any of the forced-crits you can muster. With the Flaregun, Shotgun, or Reserve Shooter, you want to hit your target as soon as they are airborne and vulnerable. With the Axtinguisher, you need to puff your opponent into the air, close the distance between you and them, and "catch" them with a swing of your Ax for massive damage.
Pros and cons of each weapon:
Shotgun:
Pros: High capacity, medium range harassment capabilities, good anti pyro, good anti scout. It's also the best weapon a pyro has against sentries, as far as sentry-sniping goes.
Cons: No forced crits, lower damage than other stings
Best used when fighting multiple opponents, talented scouts, large numbers of pyros
Reserve Shooter:
Pros: Massive damage (You can force a sting that does over 130 damage in one shot, OW!) Even faster switch time. Great against pyros, scouts, demos, spies (especially spy-cicle wielding spies since their little toy won't save em from bullets!)
Cons: Pitfully low ammo capacity, little to no mid-range combat capabilities
The Reserve Shooter is the strongest secondary sting the pyro has, making it great in most situations. It suffers against heavies, and soldiers that can aim. They out DPS your ass at more ranges. It's rough being a pyro.
The Axtinguisher:
Best paired with the shotgun (if you find yourself against a bunch of pyros) or the Flare Gun (if you want to be able to engage at longer ranges). Against heavies, I recommend you burn them for at least 50 damage, no more than 100 before stinging. This will make your chop likely lethal.
Pros: Massive damage (195 since it is guaranteed to crit), making it effective against tougher classes (Heavy, Soldier, sometimes demo). Easier to land than an aerial secondary (Flaregun, Reserve Shooter, etc) sting.
Cons: You have to be close to use it, thus putting you in danger if your opponent isnt caught off guard by your attack. Too many times I have seen pyros go in for the ax, only to miss or die before it lands. Also doesn't work against pyros. You also can't use the Gas Jockey set while wielding this weapon, which lessens your combat-effectiveness.
Finally the Flare Gun;
Pros: Medium-Long Range combat capabilities. Consistent, high damage sting (it'll do 90 damage every time if they are on fire). Burn out (it hurts!). Allows the pyro to engage snipers from long range. Also allows you to flare spam heavies outside of their minigun's effective combat range. Those fatty's are massive targets.
Cons: Little damage against pyros. Little damage against sentries. Single shot. It's the most difficult to aim as well.
The Flare Gun is my favorite sting. It's consistent. It's powerful, and you can do it from farther away, thus making you safer from counter attack. Whereas the you have to be close to use the Reserve shooter, even closer with the Axstinguisher, you can light-puff-sting with the Flare while moving in whatever direction you want. You can pull back to dodge, push in to ambush. It takes a while to get a feel for the arc of the shot, but once you can reliably aim it, you have a very powerful weapon. It also causes a longer afterburn than the Degreaser, (bout 50 damage worth), allowing you to Puff n Sting and forget, just watch em burn tryin to put themselves out.
Q) Why use the Degreaser? Why not one of the "stronger" flamethrowers?
A) Mainly the weapons switch speed. Your goal with puff and sting pyro isn't to mouse one them, its to kill them as quickly as possible with your sting. A good puff and sting will do much more damage much quicker than a mouse 1ing pyro every time. It's also much harder to counter.
Q) Why the Gas Jockey Set?
A) Movement Speed. You wouldn't know it, but movement speed is one of the most important factors in TF2. Going just 10% faster allows you to hunt down and kill any class (besides scout, unless you catch them with a puff to stun em!). The bullet vulnerability is negligible compared to how helpful the speed boost is.
Take some of these tips to heart, and you'll find yourself a much better pyro for it. Stay tuned for tips on the Powerjack and the Scorch Shot! Both are good ,but this guide is getting a little long....
If you have any questions, or want to know something else about the game, feel free to shoot me a message. Be sure to check my blog and/or follow me for more advice!
