The team at Valve decided in their ultimate wisdom that a monster should be released unto the world, leaving us all with a tough break. This new update has left utter destruction in its wake, and as such, several key sections of this guide are now made redundant.

I regret to say that it has been far too long since I have played TF2 as my PC has died, and there are other financial focuses that currently occupy my time and money (hah, as if I have any). As such, this guide will not likely be updated for a very long time, if ever. It's been a fun time writing this, so I might see you later, if at all.

Thanks for all of the insane support and fun times, everyone! It meant the world to me to see people enjoying and learning from this guide, which is exactly what I set out to achieve when I started. So from the very bottom of my heart, I thank each and every one of you.

For now, au revoir!

I'm Jack (formerly known as Firebrand) and my favourite class is the infamous Pyro. For uncountable reasons, I've loved this class ever since I've started playing it.

I played Pyro for season 8, 9 and 12 of UGC AUS/NZ Highlander. While I don't enjoy blowing my own horn, I'd say I was/am a pretty great Pyro. I'm definitely not saying I'm the best because there are many out there that are better than me, but I'm fairly experienced in all situations, so everything in this guide should be accurate.

This guide is meant to be a catch-all, completely comprehensive guide on Pyro. It will cover all bases including weapons to class matchups and advance techniques. It may be a chore to read this all at once and take everything in, so simply find a way to access it (favouriting works) and refer back to it for everything you need.

Though this guide is about playing public Pyro and not the Highlander counterpart, feel free to add me and ask questions about Pyro in any case, or just for a friendly chat. If you're Australian, I'm more than willing to play with you! Anyway, enough of this - enjoy!

Is it a man? Is it a woman? Is it an 'it'? We still don't know, but all we do know is that the Pyro is a switchblade with a fetish for human combustion.

"Switchblade?" I hear you ask. Well yes, the Pyro is a switchblade! There's more to Pyro than just W+M1, despite the apparent common belief. Pyro is awesome as a defensive unit and can easily swap to the offensive, dealing large amounts of damage to everyone. Once you learn the ins and outs of Pyro, as will hopefully happen by the end of this guide, you'll know what to do and where.

The first step in being good at anything, and in particular games, is knowing yourself. This is especially true with Pyro. I see many players unknowingly over-extend their efforts and fail to take advantage of what their strengths are. In this guide I aim to go in-depth in almost every aspect and I hope to help you find yourself as a player. Find your preferred playstyle and stick to it, and everything else will come in time.

Do you have good reaction speed? Perhaps you're best suited to battling enemies face-to-face, using airblast to reflect rockets and grenades for maximum damage. Good at playing mind games and/or hiding? You might want to try hiding in odd places and ambushing enemies from behind!

Learn what weapons you're best with and constantly practise with them. This is the easiest way to not only improve, but also know yourself. You know what they say right? "To know your enemy, you first have to know yourself."


Gamesense. It's a simple term that describes the player's ability to pick up on things they cannot see, much like a sixth sense. Having gamesense is the difference between being a good player and being a great one.

This is one of the things that you'll naturally pick up with as you advance in intelligence. I noticed, personally, that people in their late teens and early twenties have more gamesense than those at younger ages, but the two groups have been playing for the same amount of time.

That said, if you are young, this is the perfect time to start! One way of doing so is watching one player in particular (best done while playing) and predicting the path they'll be taking. Once you feel you've got a grip on that, pick two players. Predict the paths they'll take, when they'll shoot, who they run to and where. Keep escalating this and eventually you'll have the whole team's plans mapped out in your mind!


Something I noticed that even skilled players fail to undertake is using their sounds as an indication of what's going on. From the screams of allies calling for Medic to the quiet sounds of a pistol reloading, there is much to be learned from the surrounding sounds.

If an enemy is calling for help or a Medic, that's probably a good indication that they're low on health. Whenever you hear "Sentry goin' up" or something similar, that's a good time to run in and take down that sentry before it builds. Even things such as "I am fully charged!" and "Spah sappin' mah sentry!" are great indicators of who is where and what is happening. In short, you only get to use three senses in this game (including your sixth sense), and blocking out one is just silly.


Everyone wants to improve. Everyone should aim to improve. It's what makes us better as a whole. This is also the second step to improving your TF2 experience in general.

The best way to do this is just to play. Every time you play, generally speaking, you constantly improve your aim and timing while also learning more about other players and how they play. If you play with a particular group of players, it will also help to learn how they launch attacks, how they hold back and how they react to change.

Another way to improve your gameplay is to review yourself. Record a replay/demo, ask someone more experienced to watch you play or ask for criticism from other players in the game. It pays to notice how you die and what you could've done to prevent it - often it is due to a silly moment, where you may have over-extended or been caught off-guard. There are very few moments where your death would've been unavoidable, so keep a watchful eye out for everyone and everything, and plan your actions consequently.


This is the final step in playing TF2 at your best. Just enjoy your game and you'll find yourself playing better, as well as potentially making new friends because you're just a beautiful, nice person. Oh, sweet mercy, you're so beautiful... just... stay a while...

Uhh... ignore that. I was just... day-dreaming! Yeah, that's it. Nothing more. Nope. Absolutely nothing more. Anyway, onto Pyro stuff!

Right, onto the good stuff. If you read the above passage and took on board what is there, you'll probably already be a decent player. Pyro, however, is a different ball game. It takes much practice to improve and become a great player of any class and playing Pyro has a solid gap between W+M1 and W+M1+M2+Q+M1+Q+M1+M2... ect.

The first thing to realise is that many of the strengths of the Pyro can be weaknesses, and visa versa. This mostly arises from a psychological level as players tend to follow stereotypes. The classic stereotype is that Pyros are all close-ranged and cannot possibly do any damage at a distance. Being a stereotype, and most stereotypes being false for a large scope, the Pyro is capable of shooting his Flares or reflecting projectiles across the map to deal damage from a distance.

Secondly, one must realise that Pyro's limitations require the player to get creative. Try to find unique ways to utilising weapons and enemy's projectiles to get yourself out of sticky situations. Practice unique and unexpected tactics, such as reflect jumping or running around and parkouring to confuse enemies.



Aim
The easiest way to improve your aim is to play and watch your own gameplay in a replay/demo. To record a demo, simply open console (must be activated in advance options) and type "record [name]", where name is whatever you want the demo to be called. Then when you leave the server, open console again and type "demoui" and select the demo you just recorded. Watch your own gameplay and take note of why you weren't hitting your marks.

It may also help to change your crosshair (google that) and find a nice crosshair that works for you. If you use the Shotgun and have trouble hitting your marks, switch to a circular crosshair and resize it until it is perfectly in line with the spread of a shotgun shot.

Reflects
A method of improving your reflecting of any kind is to ask a friend of yours to fire projectiles at you from various distances and angles and try to shoot them off at different locations. You can also use a map named tr_walkway and practice on the bots there.

As with aiming, it is best to watch your own gameplay and take note of what you're doing wrong. Personally, my major issue is trying to predict rockets/grenades when they're a good enough distance away that I'd be able to reflect them on reaction.



Overall, a good Pyro will be able to hold the fort and use many assets to their advantage - a great one will probably carry the team by using everything the Pyro can do. Keep practicing and you might just be that great Pyro!

This expands on the previous section of understanding the game. It applies mostly for Pyros, but is good for every class to know.



To be a good team player, positioning is essential. Knowing where to be in any given situation could make all the difference between winning or losing a round.


Offensive Push with Medic
Generally speaking, when your team has a Medic, they'll probably want some protection. This could not be any more true than when your team is pushing to punch a hole in the enemy's defence. Anything from a bombing Soldier to a backstabbing Spy could ruin your team's entire push by dropping your Medic's Uber.

By keeping a keen eye out for trouble as your team pushes forward, any trouble can most likely be dealt with easily. Bombing Soldiers are made short work of by well-timed reflects and Spies will regret the day they were born when you burn them to oblivion. Any of the other classes may show up too, so be prepared for anything.

When your team actually pushes, they serve as an attention magnet, which gives you the perfect opportunity to come in on a flank and cut off the enemy, cleaning up the mess left behind in an Uber's wake. It also provides a good opportunity to go rogue in general, which may include capturing a point or dealing with unaware Snipers. Just ensure that the Uber push was effective or else you'll waste another minute building it up again.


Defensive Hold with Medic/Sentry
When on Defence, there are more decisions to be made on positioning. If your Medic is nowhere near a sentry nest your team has erected, you've a choice to make - should you protect the Medic or the sentry nest? That decision will depend on the situation and how effective the Medic/sentry is at defending a position.

What is stated above holds true for defending a Medic, though they will most likely not be moving far. Try to coax your Medic to join you in an easily defendable place to lessen the risk of death.
This is even better if the Medic is near a sentry nest as this makes your life much easier.

If you choose the alternative and an Engineer's sentry nest is more valuable, your job is to protect the nest from all kinds of danger. From sapping Spies to destructive Demomen, you'll be ratting out Spies and reflecting explosives away from the sentry while it kills the enemy team. If an Ubercharged player comes in to destroy the sentry, airblasting them away and keeping them occupied will give your Engineers relief as they'll only have to focus on repairing their sentry for other enemies' attacks.

Should the Spies be giving your Engineer grief, it is wise to equip the Homewrecker/Maul/Neon Annihilator. Destroying the sappers will make you the Engineer's best friend and they'll love you for it.


Other
So neither of those tickle your fancy, eh? Well then going rogue might! If you're finding that your team-mates aren't doing so well and you wish to make an impact on the game by yourself, finding side passages and picking your fights will be critical to your success.

Offensive pushes and defensive holds can be accomplished by yourself if you're skillful enough and/or have health kits and ammo packs nearby. You'll have to get creative if a skilled enemy or two show up though.

Without the support of a team, it is difficult to win a 2-on-1 fight (unless your skill level far exceeds theirs). Due to this, try to single out your targets and pick fights to your advantage - anything from health kits that you can pick up to edges that foes can be blown off of will most likely aid you.

A notable weapon for this is the Backscratcher, which allows for more health to be obtained per health kit picked up. Due to you most likely not having the support of Medics or dispensers, this has no disadvantage aside from taking up your melee slot.



To be a great player, you must have gamesense. Gamesense is where a player knows what's going on in any given situation without needing to see it happening; a sixth sense, of sorts.

To develop gamesense, it helps to learn how other players play and think as they would. You could be able to know what they're going to do before they do it themselves, which is deceptively powerful in out-smarting them. Knowing when a Spy will come for you or anyone else will give them great grief when you've killed them without Spy-checking excessively.

Gamesense tends to come from experience, knowledge and age. As these three things increase, so does your gamesense. Since knowing what your enemy will do before they do it is a huge advantage, it pays to constantly think what they're thinking, which comes from knowledge. Experience will come naturally by playing more and more, noticing trends in which classes do what. Age constantly increases and it will allow your brain to develop more, resulting in more sophisticated thinking and playing.


Overall, just know your own strengths and limitations and take those into account while playing.

Perhaps the most useful tool in the Pyro's arsenal, the airblast has many applications. The main application of this is reflecting projectiles fired/thrown by the enemy to protect your team members. Almost every projectile in the game can be reflected, giving the Pyro a unique role in denying projectile-based attacks.

For the sake of this section, each class will be presented and all projectiles will be placed into their respective class's section.

The annoying little bugger not only deals impressive damage quickly, but they can choose to stock their loadout with weapons that launch projectiles at people.

Sandman / Wrap Assassin - These two both come from a melee source and follow the same arced path. The Sandman ball can be reflected to stun an enemy it hits and the Wrap Assassin bauble will cause bleeding damage to its target. Of the two, the Sandman is much more useful as the stunned enemy will be unable to defend themselves from an attack. These are easy to spot due to the coloured trail it leaves behind as it sails through the air.

Mad Milk - This jar of suspicious milk will cause a splash radius that will extinguish team-mates and cover enemies in milk, which will return 60% of damage dealt to the milked target as health to the attacker. This health regen does not work for afterburn damage. As you can imagine, this can be turned to your advantage by reflecting the milk to your target(s). Since this projectile sometimes cannot be easily seen, for closer ranged throws, watch the Scout's arm. It'll animate quickly when the milk is thrown, leaving the reflecting to a matter of timing.

Cleaver - It'll hit you for 45 damage and deal bleeding damage, but it will crit when it hits a stunned enemy. This can be used to your advantage by reflecting it into a stunned enemy to land a most-likely fatal blow, or just deal bleeding damage to someone. Once again these projectiles are difficult to see, so watching the animation of the Scout will help you.


The main source of projectiles for you to reflect, soldiers have a variety of rocket launchers to select, most of which have differing speeds or other quirks.

Rocket Launcher - The most common projectile to reflect, this is the primary way to kill Soldiers. These can be used many ways, including damaging the enemy or reflect jumping to safety. Normal rockets are the easiest to reflect but can catch you off-guard, so stay aware of everything around you. When in close-range of Soldiers that are spamming rockets, learn their shooting pattern and you should be able to predict the rockets easily. If given the opportunity, it's best to aim the rockets at weaker enemies for the kill, or large groups of enemies to heavily weaken them all.

Cow Mangler - Everything that applied above applies here, except the projectiles can be slightly harder to see. Also, if a fully-charged shot is coming your way, that's a beauty to reflect kill someone with.

Black Box - This acts just as a normal rocket launcher but it gives the user 15 health on hit. However, with only 3 rockets being able to be fired before needing to reload, it alleviates some pressure as a Pyro. These are best used to regain health and heavily sway any fight you're in.

Liberty Launcher - With 25% less damage and 40% more projectile speed, this can be difficult to reflect. Once again, wait until it reaches a certain distance in front of you and reflect it. Aside from that, everything that applies for the Rocket Launcher applies here.

Direct Hit - with 25% more damage, 80% projectile speed and -70% explosion radius, it's best to predict these rockets if you're in close-range (unless you have light-speed reactions). These don't have to be reflected as often if you can dodge them since the smaller splash damage radius lowers the chance of it hitting someone from afar.

Beggar's Bazooka - Being able to fire three rockets in quick succession can devastate teams, and reflecting all three is a hard task. Being caught in close-quarters with a fully loaded Beggar's Bazooka can be disastrous, but an easy way to end his potential killing spree is to reflect the first rocket and kill him. If the Soldier dies, no more rockets can be fired.

Air Strike - These rockets come out as per usual while the Soldier is grounded, but upon a rocket jump, they barrage your team with a flurry of explosives. In order to reflect these properly, it's advised to reflect the first rockets that come out back into the Soldier to kill them. If that is not possible, reflect the rockets that would hurt you and avoid the others like you're playing a bullet hell game.

Rocket Jumper - This training tool gets a special shoutout since an odd bug (maybe) lets you reflect jump with it, but it seems to deal massive damage to you in doing so. Reflecting these do no damage aside from self-damage. You'll look like an idiot.


Flare Gun - Reflecting a Flare will deal 41 damage to whoever's unlucky enough to be in its path. Reflecting this in close-quarters can be difficult as there are no animations to watch out for or noticeable plumes of smoke trailing from it. If you find yourself in a battle against another Pyro who uses the Flare Gun, it's likely that they'll shoot the Flare Gun as soon as they swap it, so look out for the weapon swap. These can also be directed at targets on fire for a solid 90 damage.

Detonator - This plays out exactly the same as the Flare battles, except they are able to detonate it before or after you reflect it, so it's best to reflect it away from yourself as soon as possible.

Scorch Shot - With a splash radius and the power to displace enemies, this is the perfect tool to throw enemies off-guard with. Sadly, with -50% damage, it leaves much to be desired as you'll rarely kill anyone with a reflect from this weapon. Otherwise, this is the same as a Flare.

Grenade Launcher - Grenades from a Demo deal over 100 damage upon contact with an enemy, which is devastational - especially when it's reflected and deals mini-crit damage. If the pipe hits their feet, it will launch them up into the air. These can be used to your advantage easily if your prediction is good enough, since 130 damage to any class is bound to leave a mark. As this is an explosion, this can be used to jump, much like the rockets.

With short range reflects, simply aiming slightly ahead of the enemy's path will most likely hit them. At longer ranges it is best to flick your aim upwards when reflecting the pipes so that it properly follows an arc trail and doesn't just roll along the ground.

Due to the relatively low-key profile of the grenade's model and nothing like a smoke trail, as well as the relatively fast projectile speed, sometimes reflecting pipes can be tricky. If a pipe lands on the ground near your team, reflecting it will nullify any damage it deals to team mates (but not yourself).

Loose Cannon - Aside from the fact that the cannon ball will explode one second after being fired normally (sooner if the Demo lit the fuse before firing) and that it knocks back enemies, there isn't much to add. Reflecting these can be used to knock enemies off of cliffs as mini-crits provide an increase in knock-back.

Loch-n-Load - With a 25% increase in projectile speed and 20% more damage, this weapon acts as a more potent grenade launcher. Unfortunately for them, the shots dissipate when they hit anything but a player or engineer building and there are only three in a clip. Therefore this means that if the pipes don't hit you directly, you do not have to worry about being caught in post-fire explosions, and since there are only three loaded, they will only fire thrice before needing to use something else or reload.

Iron Bomber - This weapon is functionally similar to the standard grenade launcher, but with the added effect of having very little roll after landing at the cost of a -15% explosion radius. Therefore, it is advisable to treat this weapon the same as its default counterpart, but be wary of where they land.

Stickybomb Launcher - The stickybomb launcher will deal heavy damage to any team who is bombarded by them. While damage drop-off is present (more distance = less damage), with eight stickies at the ready before they have to reload, the damage quickly adds up. At close ranges they can deal anywhere from 70-100+ damage and long ranges generally offer 30-45, but both are enough to concern anyone near their explosions. Because of this, teams will appreciate a Pyro who keeps them out of the way. Stickies that are stuck to walls are almost certainly being watched, so airblasting or shooting them will make short work of the trap.

A notable visual aspect of stickies are that they can sometimes be hard to see, especially if one is not paying attention. Luckily a small trail can sometimes be seen so that may help you notice them in mid-flight.

Scottish Resistance - This weapon is not very common to see, but one should be aware of its presence. The major reason to use this weapon is that the clusters of bombs can be detonated by looking at them or standing over them, thus allowing for a Demo to activate different traps at different times. This means that if you see a Demo who isn't looking at a trap you're passing through, you're most likely safe to end him.

Quickiebomb Launcher - Slightly more popular than the Scottish Resistance, this weapon is a spamfest. While it does not allow the Demoman to fire more than 6 stickies before reloading and having a -15% damage penalty, it makes up for it by having a -0.2 second faster bomb arm time and ramping up damage based on the charge, up to 25%. To effectively reflect these, it is advisable to airblast them as soon as they come within range of the airblast hitbox. Furthermore, as there is only 6 within one clip, you will spend less ammo to reflect all 6. Otherwise, they are no different to normal stickies aside from fizzling after 2 seconds of landing.


Sentry Gun Rockets - With a bucketload of DPS in a level 3 sentry, the rockets only add to it. Fortunately these can be airblasted and redirected, so the rockets can be aimed towards the Engineer, another player or the Sentry Gun itself. Reflecting two close-range rockets will often be enough to destroy a Sentry completely, and since the Sentry will fire these automatically, they are easily predictable.

Do keep in mind that a Sentry's damage fall-off is dependent on the distance between the target and the Engineer of the Sentry, not the Sentry itself - just watch out if an Engineer decides to wrangle some rockets your way while standing right next to you.

Rescue Ranger - Being able to repair buildings from a distance is a valuable asset in almost any Engineer's toolbox, but these repair claws can be reflected. As the Engineer has low health to begin with, this will often deal a sizable amount of damage to them. Despite repairing buildings for the Engineer, reflecting these into buildings will not repair your own team's.

These claws possess a small, team-coloured trail to allow them to be seen easier.


Crusader's Crossbow - An awesome tool in the Medic's arsenal, it can be equally (read; 1.33 times more effective) tool for a Pyro to reflect. Anything that the Medic can do, a Pyro can do one third better due to mini-crits. These can be redirected to damage an enemy or heal an ally, which will vary on the distance.

The crossbow deals 25 / 50 / 75 damage at short, medium and long ranges respectively, and that translates to 34 / 83 / 124 for a Pyro's mini-crit reflect. Healing will not be affected however, and the standard healing numbers of 50 / 72 / 100 are applied.

Healing syringes of death can sometimes be difficult to see due to no animation of the Medic before firing, the small size of the syringe itself and the hard-to-see trail left behind.

The golden shower follows an arced projectile pattern, requiring your aim to be upward if a long distance is desired on a reflect. A small, golden jar of piss has a relatively low profile, so they may not be obvious if one is not attentive.

Huntsman - This bow and arrow weapon is a fast-travelling projectile that has various angles to be fired at (depending on the pullback time of the bow string), a relatively high damage number if used accurately and the ability to deal 135 on a headshot almost instantly if not drawn back. Fortunately, these can be reflected, which will often deal over 130 damage if the bow is pulled fully back. 130+ damage is often enough to kill a standard Sniper, so a well-timed reflect can put Robin Hood in his place.

As the projectile flies fast, it's best to determine your reaction timing range and stay beyond those limits when under fire from this weapon. If you do desire to get close, if airblasting the enemy is possible before they fire, they will have often let go of M1 in an attempt to fire. As the shot doesn't continue until the Sniper touches the ground, another well-timed airblast will often net you a kill.

Since the projectile requires time to fly, if possible, aiming the arrows at a closer target often nets a hit more times if done correctly. They'll also get a nasty surprise of 130+ damage out of nowhere which is sure to send anyone but a Heavy looking for health.

Jarate - A jar of piss is bad for you, kids. So bad you'll take mini-crit damage! As one would expect, this works on the enemy team when reflected. Coupled with flamethrower spam and afterburn damage, this can easily kill many of the softer classes. This can be hilarious if a Sniper tries to extinguish themselves, only to find that you have reflected it at them and they take even more damage.

The Pyro has many weapons available to it, which further promotes the "switchblade" factor. Below is a comprehensive guide on all of the weapons with opinions gathered by all kinds of Pyro players (experienced, I assure you). Hopefully this helps you realise the true strengths and weaknesses of each weapon and, as such, form your own playstyle.

A basic structure of a Pyro's preferred usage is that the flamethrower is mainly used as a protective tool and a steady DoT enabler, andin the case of the Degreaser, enabling combos. The secondary weapon is usually where most of the damage comes from, using high-impact weapons to dish out large figures of damage in small portions of time. The melee is mostly as a utility/backup weapon should things go awry.

PLAYABLE

• Flamethrower
  
• Degreaser
  
  
• Shotgun
  
• Flare Gun
  
• Reserve Shooter
  
  
• Axtinguisher
  
• Powerjack

SITUATIONAL

• Backburner
  
• Phlogistinator
  
  
• Detonator
  
  
• Homewrecker
  
• Neon Annihilator
  
• Backscratcher

For convenience's sake, I've split these into three different sections. The weapons are listed in a general order, being stock weapon first, and then loosely ranked in usefulness below. Enjoy!

The Stock Flamethower is a very solid choice of weapon, and if used properly, can be more effective than any other flamethrower in certain situations.

This has great damage in close quarters and the airblast is a wonderful tool to use in many situations. Using the flames to set multiple groups of enemies on fire and then retreating behind your team is a great way to weaken many enemies at once, and airblasting enemies off edges is hilariously harmful.

There are disadvantages to this weapon though. Obviously the short range of the weapon only serves to end you when facing mid-range foes, such as Scouts. Unlike the Degreaser's weapon switch, the stock's can be the bane of Pyros when facing projectile-based foes. Despite this, dedicate a few weeks to using this and you'll be proficient with it.

This weapon is preferred by those who wish to be more defensive in nature, locking down areas and protecting VIPs (such as Medics or Engineers). They rely on warding off enemies with airblasts and flames, and firing upon their foes as they run with their secondaries. It also helps to discipline yourself in airblasting timings and forces you to learn weapon switching properly. If this sounds like you, this is your weapon.


This is the preferred weapon of most competitive Pyros, myself included. Stats are below:

• +65% weapon switch speed
  
• -25% afterburn damage penalty
  
• -10% damage penalty

The advantages of this little beaut lies solely in the weapon switch speed. There are many neat things one can do when in possession of a Degreaser that no other primary can match. The first and most popular of which are the many combos, which usually revolve around flaming an enemy, airblasting them into the air and dealing damage with your secondary or melee weapon immediately after. When a player becomes proficient enough they can use the weapon switch speed in conjunction with reflects to demolish groups of enemies, particularly those including Soldiers or Demomen.

Speaking of Soldiers, this makes the Pyro-v-Soldier mindgame much easier to manage on your side. They'll often switch to Shotgun, fire a shot or two and swap back to rockets. This will probably make you swap to your secondary because they're not firing projectiles, which they'll use to trick you. With the fast switch speed, you can quickly switch back and win the fight.

Other strategies for vsing classes is outlined in the Class Matchup section, so feel free to skip to that if it has your desired information.

The only statistical disadvantage that lies in using this weapon is the reduced fire damage, which is often more than made up for in the use of secondary weapons. The other disadvantage comes in the mental form - this weapon encourages players to switch to their secondary or melee at the wrong times. A Soldier often has an easy time avoiding being reflected when you're swingin' an axe in the air in front of him!

Overall, this is, in my opinion, the best primary for a Pyro in general. It provides an excellent gameplay niche, the afterburn is not to be dismissed and it also looks nice to boot. Definitely try it out if you want to maximise your options in all situations.


This is a weapon that is often shunned, yet it holds a place in my heart.

• 100% criticals from behind
  
• +150% airblast cost

The Backburner lives up to its name, and you can probably see why. Triple damage when flaming at their butts is a nice ambushing tool to have. Sadly, the airblast cost is what really kills this weapon's potential as a catch-all. 50 ammo per blast generally means 3 airblasts before you need ammo (assuming you also use a bit of fire), so you really need to hit your mark with those reflected projectiles.

Do note that the Backburner makes for a great tool for airblast training in public matches. Since each airblast takes a quater of your ammo, it is ideal for extreme reflecting practice (I often find myself doing this to maximise my damage upon reflects).

If you want a challenge in face-to-face combat, or like to ambush enemies from behind, this weapon is a viable option. It's hilarious when used with the Detonator to reach hidden places and rain down with crits upon unsuspecting arson victims. It also looks cool.


I will say this much about this weapon; I do not like it. I will outline why below.

• All fire damage increases the "Mmmph!" metre, which can be activated for healing + mini crits
  
• No airblast
  
• -10% damage
  
• No random crits

As you can see, the major attraction of this weapon is the Mmmph! mode. This is not why I dislike this weapon - I dislike it because of the lack of ability to airblast. This leads to users of this weapon to completely forget the best ability the Pyro has which is airblasting. Suddenly fighting enemy Soldiers and Demomen became a massive chore, and many opportunities are wasted. Typically newer players will be attracted to this weapon because of the crits-on-demand, the ease of use and the unique look. This prevents newer players from embracing the glorious airblast.

Though this weapon does not give the ability to airblast, it does give crits on demand. On the occasion that there are a group of enemies either stacking the cart or a control point, the Phlog's crits can easily clear the objective of everyone. With crits, it has a DPS of 325, which leads to 2,600 damage over the eight seconds. It also penetrates players and buildings which can completely destroy anyone in your path.

The biggest downside with this weapon is that you have to taunt to activate the crits. Although you do have a full refill of health and 75% damage resistance while taunting, you can still be killed with enough effort by the enemy team. Furthermore, the taunt has sound accompanied with it so the enemy team will most likely know where you are. Therefore it is best to find a hidden spot to flank from.

When not flanking but using this as a head-on weapon, it turns the Pyro into a tank. Sadly, this role is better fit by the Heavy with the increase in range, health and even more DPS.

This weapon combos greatly with the likes of a fire-damaging secondary as they also build the Mmmph! metre up. Use this with the Flare Gun when aiming for long-range kills or the Detonator / Scorch Shot when facing against a crowd.

Overall, this weapon removes the unique ability of Pyro, airblasting, but can offer great crowd control as a trade-off with the crits. Unless you are dedicated to a flank, do not use this weapon as not having airblast is a massive loss. Furthermore, it's easy for other players to locate where you are when you flank and know that the W+M1 is the only way you're going to get kills, so they are able to kite you and kill you. Also, you'll be hated upon by almost everyone in the server for using it. Have fun!

This thing is a beast. At close range, it will deal 90 damage per shot. At medium, with good aim, it should deal around 45-60. With 6 in the clip, what's not to love?

The Shotgun is a very versatile tool to have in your arsenal, and it does not disappoint. Scout giving you troubles? Two solid shots from this beast and he's down. Other Pyro is trying to flame you? This will fix that problem. With a bit of practice and nice aim, you'll be taking down enemies left and right with no hassles.

Weapons that forgive misplays or a dodgy shot are very appreciated by all, and the Shotgun fills this criteria perfectly. Even if one or two shots are missed, it generally still gets the job done. Unlike the Flare-style weapons that the Pyro has access to, any form of Shotgun is forgiving and generally more reliable.

Despite all of this preaching, the Shotgun still has its downsides. Being a weapon that spreads bullets over distance, and damage drop-off being applied (the further away the enemy, the less damage you deal), it is best suited to close quarters. Unlike the Flares, you cannot efficiently ward enemy snipers away from shooting you, nor can you effectively finish off killing enemies running away from you.

With all of that said, it is still one of the best weapons a Pyro can use. Whether you're up against many other Pyros or you're in a close-quarters environment, this is the weapon for you.


This thing is also a beast. Dealing 30 damage at any range may not be much, but if they are on fire they take a crit (90 damage). 90 damage impact, coupled with the afterburn damage, is often enough to crush most weaker classes and at least heavily damage the tougher guys.

Another factor that all should be aware of is the knockback with a crit from this. With this, you can knock enemies further away from yourself. One must also learn to be creative - I personally use this to knock Heavies over hills/stairs so they cannot harm my team, or send enemies careering over edges. There are many more applications to this which I will outline later.

It also makes for a good weapon to finish off those who are fleeing. Typically if an enemy is heavily damaged and they have the opportunity to run, they will. Take this chance to predict where they're going and land a nice 90 on their backsides!

This has a big upside that the shotgun dips out on - distracting enemy snipers. I've had many situations where I've saved my team because their Sniper had to take the time to extinguish themselves or pick up a health kit, and even more where I've outright killed them.

Sadly, this weapon doesn't forgive too well. Should you miss, you'll have to wait nearly a second to fire another, forcing you to bide time. You'll have to get creative in the meantime. This also has a disadvantage when facing other Pyros unless you can crit-flare them (outlined in the class matchup section), so you'll have to rely on other methods to compensate.

If you're looking for a good catch-all source of damage or a way to help protect your team from the likes of snipers, this one's for you.


Want to know how Valve makes a weapon almost strictly better than the default? This is how.

• +15% fast weapon switch
  
• Mini-crits airborne targets within 5 seconds of switching
  
• -33% clip size

See that? Do you see that? "Mini-crits airborne targets". That right there, ladies and gentlemen, is something that should never have been given to Pyro. The Reserve Shooter was definitely viable before the buff to the clip size (for those who don't know, it used to have -50% clip size with another debuff). With the relatively recent buff, it has become an absurdly powerful weapon.

The obvious playstyle involves airblasting the opponent in the air and comboing them quickly, which is exactly the best way to use this weapon. The sheer damage output is overwhelming to most classes, especially considering that Pyro is able to deny and reflect damage from projectile-based classes. If you're feeling dirty enough to use this weapon, the combo playstyle should be abused as much as possible.

It is also a viable weapon to use on foot, provided you only have to deal around 150-180 damage to enemies. This leads it to be a great one-on-one or two-on-one weapon since it highly discourages any jumping and otherwise functions the same as a standard shotgun.

The downside to this weapon is fairly obvious too - two-thirds of the clipsize is a real kick in the foot to yourself at times. Often, if your aim is off, you'll find yourself only having dealt 50-80 damage and needing to reload, while they're having a field day pumping into you. This problem is amended by simply learning how to properly play with it, which is outlined in the Builds section below.

Though you'll need to switch up your gameplay a little, this weapon will be worth it. Get used to it and you may find yourself switching weapons almost twice as fast from now on. I know I've used this quite freqently myself, pre-buff. Nowadays I just feel dirty for using such a god-like weapon.


That's it for the secondaries that one can main. I've split this into three sections because it won't let me fit any more in. Thanks Valve.

The Detonator has so much potential but it is left to suffer in the pits of inadequacy. At best, it's a utility weapon.

• Mouse2 detonates a travelling flare, exploding and igniting anyone in a small radius
  
• Only deals minicrits upon direct flares on flaming opponents
  
• -25% damage penalty
  
• +50% self-damage

Fireworks are mostly pretty, but this one is simply lacklustre. Some may like this weapon for its quirks, which I will admit are nice, but I do not. Firstly, let's discuss the positives of this weapon.

The remote detonation is a nice mechanic to have since it has many uses. If you miss a shot with this, a simple detonation will set them on fire. This is especially good for warding off those boppy little buggers known as Scouts, or for hitting cloaked Spies when you only know of their general location. Expanding on this, it is also great for countering Spycicle spies.

Detonating in a large group of enemies is another fun thing to do. So long as you're sneaky, they'll all freak out and be looking for you. Perfect distraction! Bonus points if you can do it multiple times in a row!

This detonation also works in a similar fashion to a Scottish Resistance in terms of destroying stickies. Just make fireworks and they'll fall to bits, I promise you.

It's also able to be used for explosive jumping. Unfortunately, the height is not enough to perform at the level of a Soldier, but it does allow for some platforms to be reached (such as Turbine's large healthkit near the intels). This allows you to reach small doorframes and be a sneaky lad/lass.

Now comes the dreaded downside - damage. Ol' firework dispenser here doesn't exactly dispense enough damage, thus it underperforms. Simply put, 30 damage with a mini-crit doesn't satisfy anyone's needs.

If you wish to annoy snipers or reach unusual places, this is the weapon for you. Sadly, as there are useful quirks, it has its downside of sucking at being a damaging weapon. At best, a utility. At worst, half of a scrap metal.


Igniting all players in a small radius whenever this thing hits a surface or player and subsequently explodes is nice, right? Well, sadly, this is also a lacklustre weapon.

• 100% mini-crits vs burning players
  
• Flares knock back target on hit and ignites enemies in a small radius
  
• -35% self damage force
  
• -35% damage penalty

The Scorch Shot is a nice concept, but the execution wasn't exactly that great. It does have its virtues though, as igniting multiple players upon hitting a target means you don't have to time any detonations for an AoE effect, unlike the Detonator. The explosion can also damage an enemy after hitting them with the initial impact, resulting in two hits from one flare.

Knockback upon a hit is also nice in certain situations. It can muck up a Soldier's jump or knock an unsuspecting enemy into a hazard or off an edge. This is easiest done when players are attempting an early capture on Point E of cp_steel. Note that this knockback is not influenced by angles like the airblast is, so you will not be able to knock an opponent in an upward or downward fashion. Another point to be aware of is that jumping with this weapon is also possible, though is almost useless as you cannot jump as effectively as a Detonator, plus it takes time to set up the jump.

The knockback also ramps up based on the distance of the shot. This means cross-mapping an enemy near an edge will send them careering off into the abyss and leaving them to ponder how you managed such a feat. It may also be useful for pushing back damage tanks such as Heavies and Demomen.

Now comes the part none of us like - the negatives. This weapon's only negative is doing 35% less damage. That means you'll be hitting for 20s normally and, upon a mini-crit, 26s. That just isn't enough damage from the Pyro's main damaging tool to justify regular use of the weapon. The knockback is also mostly useless in a face-to-face situation as the normal flare provides knockback upon a crit that can also be angled, so it is more useful.

When you need a weapon to knock people from certain areas, this may just do the trick. As a regularly usable weapon? It just doesn't do enough damage, sadly.


Like his bretheren in this particular section, the Manmelter just doesn't do enough damage to be justifiable as a heavy-use weapon.

• +50% projectile speed
  
• Mouse2 generates a vacuum that extinguishes allies and stores a crit that is used upon the next shot
  
• Does not require ammo
  
• No random critical hits
  
• -20% firing speed

Extra projectile speed is a nice insurance to have. You are more reliable in long-distance ignites when using this weapon which works very well in conjunction with the ability to store crits. This extra speed has a quirk too, which is that there is less of an arc present in the projectile's path. Sometimes it is a nice thing to have, other times it can be annoying when you're trying to fire over a hill or obstacle.

The extinguishing feature may also be nice to have as you can save ammo for your flamethrower and gain crits-on-demand. Use this in combination with the Backburner and you'll find yourself scoring crits left, right and centre!

Not requiring ammo is also a nice insurance to have. There have been very few times where I have totally ran out of ammo for my secondary and was not able to obtain more, but when those times happened, it really sucked. This weapon promotes spamming from afar as there is no damage penalty unlike the Detonator and Scorch Shot.

The downside to this weapon is the reload. The -20% speed can mean the difference between life and death, and Pyros that like to quick switch will be thrown out of rhythm with this thing. Another factor to note is that there is no reload animation and only a sound is played in its place. This means you'll have to do some counting in your head if you plan to listen to music.

If you like to use the Backburner but find yourself having to extinguish many allies, this might be the weapon for you. Like the two weapon above though, this is not that great as a main weapon.

Ironically, the Panic Attack won't help you all that much when you're having a panic attack.

• +50% reload speed
  
• This weapon deploys 50% faster
  
• Fire rate increases as health decreases
  
• Hold fire to load up to 4 shells
  
• Weapon spread increases as health decreases

Enter, the Panic Attack. When this was first announced, I was excited to see how this would work in action! Disappointment in my eyes when I see that it is, essentially, a worse shotgun. It does have its niche uses, but those situations rarely occur, and oftentimes those situations are avoidable by using a more versatile secondary weapon.

Thankfully, the reload speed has been increased by 50%. This ensures that the shots are loaded faster, as this weapon would be nigh-unusable without the extra boost. Together, with the increase in fire rate upon losing health, it can quickly pump out large amounts of damage. However, the bullet spread also increases as your health is lower. This particular aspect alone ruins the Panic Attack as the spread offsets the damage increase from the fire rate.

As it can load up to 4 shells, there are a number of tactics that can be used to maximise the efficiency of the Panic Attack. From my admittedly-brief experience, the best "neutral" use is to load 1-2 shots before entering a fight. This ensures that you still deal a sizable amount of damage while not wasting ammo. However, if the situation calls for the use of loading 3-4 shots, don't be afraid to lock yourself in until the shots are fired and the enemies lie dead on the ground!

As eluded to before, once you begin loading shots, you are locked into using the Panic Attack until the shots are fired or you die. Because the Degreaser relies on you being a slippery ♥♥♥♥♥, being this committed to a relationship will probably end poorly for you, so be sure to use her when you need her and stash her away for a rainy day.

Overall, the Panic Attack is another fantastic concept ruined by poor execution. There's not much that the Panic Attack can do that the Shotgun or Reserve Shooter can't. This weapon would be immensely better if there was no bullet spread, but alas, Valve has teased us again.

This weapon is overshadowed by almost every other Pyro melee and even has a strict upgrade. Only use this if you haven't unlocked the weapon you want yet or you're using a cosmetic version.

A base 65 damage can come in handy, but typically using your flamethrower is better for close quarters damage because of the extra security. That's basically all there is to say about this weapon - it's ordinary.






A fantastic backup weapon for a Pyro.

• Mini-crits on burning players from the front
  
• Crits on burning players from behind
  
• -50% damage to non-burning players
  
• No random crits

The Axtinguisher is the preferred melee for the Pyro for many. Usually you'll be dealing 195 damage with this thing which will kill 8 of the 9 classes with one axe, provided they are not over-healed. Using the Degreaser to combo with this leads to insane damage output, mostly reaching above 200 once they are set alight in approx. half of a second.

It also is to be noted that the crit gives knockback which can be used to your advantage. One such use is combo-ing a Heavy, dealing a little over 200 damage (afterburn accounted for) and knocking them off of a ledge or balcony. This is a perfect opportunity to get him with a Flare for the finish or to simply run, should you be on low health.

The major downside for this weapon is when attacking the enemy without first setting them on fire. While there are a few situations where this can be used as a last resort, it should be avoided at all costs. For this reason, the best weapon to pair this up with is the Degreaser.

Another downside is attacking an enemy from the front, as it will only deal 44 damage without fire and 98 with. This leads to the Axtinguisher being used for sneak attacks and while flanking the enemy as your secondary weapon will often deal more damage in its place. That said, the 98 damage can be sizeable when stacked with the secondary, so it's definitely viable to use face-to-face.

Overall, a very nice reassurance tool. Use this if you feel like dishing out 195 hits in close quarters, or you simply want to deliver mail with the alternate Axtinguisher.


An Escape Plan for the Pyro? Sign me up!

• +15% movement speed while active
  
• +75 health restored on kill (any excess will go into overheal)
  
• +20% damage vulnerability while active

Being able to run faster as a close-quarters class is a wonderful bonus, and this does an excellent job of it. With an extra 15% movement speed while active, it becomes easier to land consecutive blows with it, thus making for an easier way to regain any lost health. This is particularly useful after rocket jumping using airblast, as you will take a large amount of self-damage, most of which is restored upon a kill.

The obvious downside is obvious. Being 20% more susceptible to damage sucks, so it is most wise to only have this weapon out when rushing to a place or when actively killing someone. Be wary that a Sniper is able to quick-scope you when you have it out as a headshot with an extra 20% damage deals 180 damage - the Pyro only has 175 health. A method of countering this is using the Powerjack with the Degreaser and good timing which will allow you to negate any extra damage by simply switching to another weapon when about to take damage.

Overall, a very nice weapon. If you find yourself never using melee in combat, this is a good way to use your melee slot as it allows you to reach destinations faster. If you find yourself roaming around where there are few or no health sources, this can also be of use.


This will make you any Engineer's best buddy.

• 100% damage against buildings
  
• Hitting sappers removes them
  
• -25% damage against players

Being able to remove friendly sappers is a very useful ability to possess, particularly when there are many Spies in a server. Sometime you will not be able to totally protect your Engineer's buildings and a Spy may slip a sapper on one of them - this is where you come in and save the day! If you see a sapper on your team's teleporter near spawn, removing the sapper at either end will remove both. This can make for some sneaky building saves.

This weapon also deals double damage to any enemy building - that's right, you can one-shot Mini-Sentries! Any other building will go down in two hits, as long as they're unattended. If an Engineer throws down a Mini, attempting to run away, just whack the thing once and resume the chase!

When you're using this weapon, be prepared to never use your melee for a kill. -25% damage is a huge debuff against players, and simply using a flamethrower or a Shotty/Flare Gun will suffice. Obviously, if there are no Engineers on your team, this weapon becomes much less viable.

If you're looking for a way to save your Engineer's buildings, or simply have trouble dealing with Mini-Sentries when chasing enemies down, this is the weapon for you.


Use this weapon and you'll soon be charged for rake.

• +25% damage
  
• +50% health from health kits
  
• -75% heal rate from other sources on wearer

First, let's talk about the damage bonus. This is a great weapon to two-shot the classes with 150 health, and it deals unconditional heavy damage to everyone. With a standard hit, this deals 81 damage (assuming there is no damage spread).

Now for the main feature - extra health from health kits. As a result of this, small health kits now restore 51 health and mediums restore 132. This is particularly useful when you plan to roam around, away from the main pack, and it maximises any health kits. Using this weapon can make you an absolute pain to kill.

Receiving -75% healing from Medics, Dispensers and the Payload Cart can often be annoying. A Medic will have to dedicate much of his time to pocket you instead of spreading the healing around, and this makes pushing into enemy territory that much more annoying.

This debuff does come with a bonus - the Ubercharge build-up rate does not alter. This makes you a great subject to build uber upon without needing to devote time to self-damage (unlike the Boston Basher Scouts). It may be a wise idea to be heavily damaged and run away with your Medic because you'll be getting a great uber build-up.

Relying on health kits also means your Medic will have less survivability because he/she cannot pick them up for healing. Do be wary of this, and be nice to your Medic.

This weapon is best used when there are no Medics on your team, or the health kits come aplenty. It's also great for scratching backs.

This weapon is more or less useless, and I'll outline why below.

• -20% damage dealt
  
• On hit: target is engulfed in flames

Let's firstly talk about the ability to set things on fire. You're a Pyro - fire is your biggest distinguishing feature, so what's the purpose of having a melee that can do it? The only real place this has is in Medieval mode, and even then, a Backscratcher is usually a superior option.

Meanwhile, only dealing 80% of the damage per hit sucks. There isn't much more to this weapon, really. Perhaps in Medieval mode, when a Scout has a Sun-On-A-Stick, this may be usable, but otherwise there are always far superior options.

Neo Tokyo's take on a Homewrecker.

• Crits on wet players
  
• Able to remove sappers
  
• -20% damage penalty vs Players
  
• No random crits

This is a Homewrecker for those who like to play on maps with water. While it doesn't deal as much damage to buildings as the Homewrecker, it is great when you're on a team with any player able to douse enemies in liquids. Since this weapon's crits work on anyone standing in water or swimming, as well as anyone who is doused in Jarate or Milk, this is a great team-work tool.

There really is little point talking about the penalty to players, since you probably wouldn't be using it if it weren't to be a crit. Refer to any of the above weapons for information. Use this weapon if you regularly play on maps with water and want to be an Engineer's best friend.

This weapon is the strict upgrade to the base melee.

• Deals damage to anyone connected by a medigun's beam upon a hit.

Read the Stock melee for information on this. This weapon is an occasionally fun axe and can be used to great effect, provided the situation plays out well. I have had a situation where a Medic popped Kritz on me, so I ran in and managed to one-shot both of their Medics, who were healing a single Heavy. For the record, I did kill the Heavy too.

Overall, this weapon is usually not very effective. Only use it if you haven't got any alternatives.

The Scout can either be the easiest or the hardest matchup as a Pyro, and it is based on two things. Firstly, the skill level of each player, and secondly, the terrain. If the Scout can aim accurately, it's not unlikely to be downed by two or three fast shots from them. This is more likely to happen when in open terrain, such as cp_granary's last point.

Simply setting a Scout on fire will take off half of his health just from afterburn. This is lethal if you could hit them with 65 damage from a shotgun, or a critical from the flare. Even if you know you'll die, just hit them with all you've got because their frail health figure is crushed, and the afterburn withers the rest of it away.

Don't underestimate airblasts. Airblasting a Scout is generally enough to skew his aim, and landing a shot becomes far easier when they're predictable. Do be wary that they'll most likely double-jump to escape your flame's reach, so you may choose to airblast them again or predict the jump and kill them.

A scout will have an easier time hitting you if you're walking the same direction as they are. If they're facing you and strafing left, try moving towards him and to the right - it may just be enough to throw his aim off. The key to surviving is to move unpredictably and hitting all of your shots.

If using the Shotgun, it is advisable to take your time to track his movement and ensure all of your shots hit instead of wildly flicking your mouse like a madman. The maximum damage a Scout can deal to you is 120 with a Scattergun, and the maximum you can deal to them is 90 with a Shotgun. This means that you and the Scout can 2-shot each other if the shots are near-perfect, which lends the Scout an advantage as his movement can be far more erratic than yours.

If using the Flare Gun, battling Scouts becomes more difficult. Quick-switching with the Degreaser and hitting them with a crit Flare is a preferrable method to dispatch them, but they may also be predicted and simply using the Flare on its own may work too.

The terrain plays a large role in the outcome of a duel. A Pyro will want to battle a Scout in an area filled with walls and corners, which leads to easier trapping. If using the Flare Gun, it may be useful to light the Scout on fire and run around a corner, baiting the Scout into your next crit Flare/Shotgun.

The best way for a Scout to kill you is to stay out of your flamethrower range and take shots from afar. This lends them the upper hand because they avoid being trapped by an airblast and their more erratic movement allows them to evade your fire more effectively. With a high damage output they can play around you and dispatch you quickly.

Should they be caught up in your airblasts, they will do their best to jump again unpredictably to avoid the trap. This lets them easily distance themselves from you to pick you off from a middle range.

If a Scout picks at you from afar, the easiest solution is to return fire while running for cover. This will most likely bait them to follow, which will let you ambush them. By airblasting the Scout after their final jump, they will have no opportunity to escape another shot from you.

If all else fails, just stick with the team and have the other members aid you in killing the Scouts.

Oh boy, the classic Soldier. Everyone loves the Soldier. Everyone but you.

Possibly the most versatile class in TF2, he can do many things, including covering insane ground in short time, destroying key targets from above and protecting his own. A class like this may seem impossibly difficult to counter, but you're the key to that.

This match-up, much like the Scout, involves both players' skills and the terrain. It also involves the loadouts of either player - the rockets' speed, the type of flamethrower used, the Soldier's secondary weapon (or boots) - it all adds up.

The fight instantly becomes easier to win when the Soldier uses any form of non-damaging secondary, such as the Gunboats or a Banner. This forces the Soldier to rely on damaging you with his Rocket Launcher, which you can reflect, or their melee, which lets you burn them and kill them.

As reflecting a Soldier's rockets is generally an easy feat, let's assume he has the standard Shotgun as a secondary. They'll most likely swap to the Shotgun to deal damage. You can't exactly reflect bullets, so you'll most likely swap to your own secondary. This can lead to them switching back to the rockets as those put out more damage. This causes you to do the same, creating a cycle. This mind-game is a common occurence and can truly only end when one of the participants runs away or dies.

Using the Degreaser against a Soldier helps the situation greatly. This allows you to by-pass the mind-games with enough dexterity and toy with the enemy Soldier, plus Puff'n'Stinging an enemy Soldier will end them (assuming they have no over-heals).

Although it is covered in much greater detail in a section below, I feel that reflect jumping deserves a mention here. It can be used if the Soldier you're facing is simply an obstacle to a destination you're aiming to reach, or to confuse and flank enemies. Basically, wait until a rocket is aimed near your feet, and reflect it into the ground. Then, use your air-strafing prowess to reach your destination.

Soldiers will usually either use irregular firing patterns, flanking methods (including jumping over your head) or shooting the ground around you to hit you with splash damage. They can also use their secondary Shotgun, and with a base health higher than yours, they will probably win the fight in even conditions. Switching their weapons to fake you out is often a tactic used too.

With irregular firing patterns, Soldiers can be very unpredictable and can deal heavy damage to you at close range. These often come in the form of waiting for you to airblast before shooting and constantly (potentially randomly) switching the rate of fire.

Being flanked is never good, and such a thing is common with Soldiers due to their mobility. From hiding in bushes to sitting atop ceiling support beams, they can come from nearly anywhere. When flanking, they will often jump at you from a blind spot, dealing heavy damage and possibly killing you without knowing where they were in the first place.

Splash damage can add up quickly, especially when the enemy Soldier is near you. Often times they will shoot in the direction you're walking to maximise the damage, but slightly in front of your position so it becomes impossible to reflect back at them, if at all. Another common situation is when they bomb you from above, often going for blind spots and walls for splash damage.

With a base 200 health, they will often win a Shotty-only fight, assuming you two have equal skill. This can be especially lethal at close ranges when flanking from behind as three well-placed shots will suffice to kill you.

Swithching weapons is an effective way to kill a Pyro who is not using the Degreaser or is inattentive. By swapping to the Shotgun, the Soldier baits the Pyro to bring their secondary out, letting the Soldier switch back to their primary to score a free hit. If a Pyro can see this coming and switches to their Flamethrower again, the Soldier can switch again to the Shotgun and score a free hit that way.

Learning a Soldier's timing is key to winning a fight. Often times, when Soldiers try to fake you out by using irregular firing patterns, they will still have a predictable pattern. Observe the pattern to notice any trends, such as delaying the second shot by half a second, and adapt accordingly. It is also noted that if a Soldier waits for you to airblast, pressure them by setting their face on fire and they will either give in and shoot or eventually die.

To counter flanking, it is best to check all corners and potential hiding spots for any sneaky players. Listening for the sound of rocket jumps or Soldiers taking damage from falling is also a good habit to learn. Finally, if you know where they are, try to flank them or play mind games; it may just work.

Splash damage is sometimes unavoidable, especially from certain angles, but often times it is. If a Soldier is shooting at a wall behind you, walk away from the wall. If the rockets are landing in front of your feet, you can either back away to take no damage or walk forward, risk taking damage and attempt to reflect it back at them. If the rockets are going to the sides of you, you can jump just before impact and surf the rockets towards the enemy or towards safety.

If a Soldier only uses their Shotgun against you, the best course of action is either to out-damage them or to run to safety, potentially baiting them to follow. You can also take cover if you use the Flare, shooting them to deal crit damage and drawing them towards you.

For Soldiers that try to fake you out, it's best to use the Degreaser for the weapon switch speed. By simply watching which weapon they pull out, you can adapt much easier than with any other Flamethrower. If possible, sneaking in damage with either weapon when they switch gives you a huge advantage.

In summary, this match-up can go either way, but due to the presence of the Degreaser, it is generally a favoured match-up for the Pyro.

So some other slimy git's decided to copy you eh? Time to fight fire with fire!

...which is what I would say, if it were not more effective to use bullets instead. Generally speaking, this match-up is simple. The person with the better shotgun aim will most likely win, unless the battle takes place in impossibly small locations, in which case the W+M1 master will emerge victorious.

Terrain may alter the battle as always. If this battle takes place on some form of ledge, be sure that you're not closest to it - airblasting other Pyros is a viable tactic to have them die from fall damage or stop the combat.

If one uses the Degreaser, it is a great strategy to airblast the enemy, making their movement trackable. It also throws off the enemy's aim, giving you the edge. An extension of this is crit-flaring. The Pyro cannot take residual burn damage, but he is considered 'on fire' while the flames are hitting him. If timed perfectly, a flare from the Flare Gun will hit the Pyro for a critical hit. Just be wary that the other person may reflect your flare back at you for 41 damage.

By far the best weapon for close-range Pyro battles is the Reserve Shooter. Simply airblast them into the air and hit them for ~125 damage on the first shot, followed by a fatal blow in the next. This is best with the Degreaser which will allow for insane damage output.

As per usual, erratic movement will lessen your predictability, making dodging much easier to accomplish. This may also skew your aim too, so adjust accordingly.

Should they be using the Phlog, the best option is to stay out of the Phlog's reach and shoot them with your secondary. If they're taunting, airblast them and run like all hell in the other direction immediately as they'll be chasing you down with 325 DPS up the butt.

Overall, the best weapons for this match-up are the Degreaser and Reserve Shooter, although the default Shotgun is formidable too.

A good Demoman can spell the end for a Pyro with ease. Despite all of his ranged attacks being reflectable, his pipes can come at alarming speeds and his stickies can prove troublesome to relfect if aimed correctly. In my opinion, Demoman is the most fun class to face due to these extra challenges.

First point that should be mentioned is that a Demoman who can effectively use their stickies/pipes already has a good chance of at least heavily injuring you. If you can consistently prevent yourself from being damaged, then the best option is to move in and close distance on the Demoman. This forces him to use his Grenade Launcher, which can be reflected for massive damage, or will pull out his melee and swing wildly at you, which is also easy to counter.

The best method of killing a Demoman is to come on his flank. While this is obvious for every class, it is especially effective against a Demoman who is distracted as they don't usually have enough time to react well. It is still most wise to be on full health in case they hit you with a grenade as those will do heavy damage to you.

Generally speaking, unless you are at close-range, a Demoman will have the upper hand. He has many options, including fleeing with a sticky jump, or making you waste ammo/health by spamming you with projectiles. The latter can be used to your advantage, however - if the enemy lays down a sticky in front of them as you itch closer and closer, they'll most likely detonate as soon as possible. If you are on top of the sticky bomb, you can jump when he detonates to launch yourself at him. From here, it's a simple Puff 'n' Sting or something similar.

Through sticky spam and accurate pipes, it is easy to see how a Demoman might go about killing you. With access to fire-resistant secondaries such as the Chargin' Targe, they may also take a route that negates afterburn damage.

The main method is to shoot stickies at the ground while you run towards them, then detonating the stickies whenever you walk near or over them. They can also aim high above your head and at your feet, detonating the stickies to deal damage while making them hard to reflect.

With fire-resistant tools at their disposal, they can rely on their pipe aim to do the work for them while avoiding afterburn damage. They may also charge out of / into the fray with ease to escape or disrupt your allies.

Stickies can be stuck to walls and ceilings as traps, so a fleeing Demoman may just be baiting you to fall into their trap. "Rollers", a term for grenades that are left lying on the ground, can also be used to damage unsuspecting enemies.

To counter stickies being placed in front of where you are walking, they can either be reflected into the Demoman or you can jump over them as they detonate, bringing you closer to the Demoman at an alarming speed. For sticky bombs that are detonated all around you, the easiest solution is to either keep up with where the Demoman is firing the sticky bombs or to escape the situation entirely.

For Demomen that use fire-resistant items, simply using any bullet-based weapon does work. Do keep in mind that they have no access to stickies, though they can charge, so be prepared for a surprise charge.

Traps are almost always avoidable, so be wary when chasing a Demoman. Check every ceiling, wall and floor space before venturing forth, and don't walk towards them if they are looking at a particular doorway. For rollers, these can be reflected (though will still deal damage to you), but will not move along the floor much.

In short, managing your distance is key and be sure to judge whether the risk of being killed is worth the kill itself.

The infamous lard-ass has come to ruin everyone's day. What do you do? Why, trim the fat and roast the good stuff!

A Heavy can cause extreme headaches if given the chance - with a bulky 300 health normally and 450 with overheal, and the best DPS in close-quarters, it's easy to see how a measly Pyro can be killed by such a titan.

Fear not! It is possible to kill almost any Heavy presuming you're readily equipped and play your cards right. Arguably the best loadout to kill a Heavy in most situations is the Degreaser, Flare Gun and Axtinguisher.

The best case scenario is that you've ambushed the Heavy. With this, you simply light him with the Degreaser, swtich to your Flare Gun to shoot him and finish with the Axtinguisher, dealing a clean 300+ damage. If the Heavy is receiving healing, or otherwise survives the first hit, simply strafe around them and hit repeatedly with the Axtinguisher until they're dead.

Life sucks sometimes and often you won't get the best case scenario. If a Heavy happens to see you as you approach them, try to airblast them into a corner and deal as much damage as you can with the method above, this time strafing around their aim. If they aim to your left, run to the right. They'll aim to your right to hit you, so cross back to the left. Repeat until the Heavy is dead.

Of course, sometimes the Heavy will see you at mid-range or further. This is where the Flare Gun is handy. It will take four hits at most to kill an un-healed Heavy with flares, which is easy enough due to their slow movement. Ensure that you have cover nearby to hide behind as you reload, and make sure nobody ambushes you from your open side in between shots.

Other than these situations it is usually one-sided, the Heavy typically being the victor. Simply set up these sitatuions by running away and luring the Heavy and you should find you're no longer being shredded by miniguns!

Engineers can often be problematic for many teams, especially in larger numbers. Through a combination of your flames, airblasts and ingenuity, you can actually make a sizeable impact against sentry nests to punch a hole open for your team to come through.

Assuming you just find an Engineer on their lonesome. Since you have 50 more health than them, either a Flare Gun or Shotgun should do the trick to kill them and using a Degreaser to Puff'n'Sting will make things much easier.

Most roaming Engineers will probably run the Gunslinger for the mini-sentry, which they'll most likely deploy to distract or kill you. Most players focus the mini-sentry, which gives the Engineer time to escape. The decision to kill the Engineer or mini-sentry falls on the situation - if you're trying to capture a point or there's much cover for you to avoid the sentry's fire, you should kill the Engineer first. This will stop any mini-sentries from coming up again for a short while and allow you to destroy the sentry in relative peace. If you're trying to attack a point or the mini-sentry is in an open, high traffic area, the mini-sentry should take precedence as the rest of your team should be able to handle the Engineer.

Dealing with a sentry nest can be difficult, but is possible. If the sentry is being controlled by a wrangler and the Engineer's not looking in your direction, you might be able to kill the Engineer (probably dying to the sentry in the process) which will allow your team to have an easier time destroying the nest. If it's the same scenario but there's no Wrangler, you can even bait the sentry to shoot its rockets at you, which can be reflected into the Engineer for a guaranteed kill.

It's notable that a Homewrecker can destroy a level 3 sentry in two hits, so if an Engineer is setting one up near you, just destroy it. If a sentry is busy shooting some of your team mates, you can destroy the sentry while it's distracted. The sentry will probably begin focusing you, in which case you should run away from the direction it's turning and circle it while you use the flamethrower or Homewrecker.

Aside from the sentry's rockets the Engineer has one reflectable projectile - the Rescue Ranger's bolts. Timing your airblasts while he uses it against you can deal great damage alongside your weapons.

Engineers have multiple ways to counter you. These include, but are not restricted to: mini-sentries, level 2 sentries, flanks and the use of the Wrangler. From what is listed above, there is not much to add to this. mini-sentries can deal hefty damage in a short time while also being spammable since they only cost 100 metal. Level 2 sentries do not shoot rockets, so there are no opportunities for reflecting the rockets. Flanking is outlined in earlier sections and the Wrangler just adds more range and control to the sentry guns.

To fight against mini-sentries and level 2 sentries alike, either leave them be and let the Engineer run away or circle around them while flaming them. The latter works especially well when the sentry has to turn around to lock onto you in the first place.

Flanking is typical - keeping an eye out for any seemingly strange things (such as enemy building ruins or machinery noises) while ratting out their teleporters is the key to avoiding the flanks.

The Wrangler adds DPS to each sentry gun while allowing for more control. While the Engineer wields the Wrangler, they cannot fight for themselves, so a strategy is to take cover from the sentry's line of sight while taking down the Engineer. They will have to spend time changing weapons, which forces the sentry into two seconds of down-time, which allows you to walk out into the open again. Just be careful that the Engineer doesn't quickly whip out the Wrangler again.

In short, the Engineer's sentries can be used to your advantage and thus can allow holes to be punched in the enemy's defences. If a sentry nest is too much, just stay outside of its range and clear the way for your better-equipped team mates to clear it away.

From healing allies to giving them unrivalled killing power, the Medic is the perfect support role. Due to this the Medic isn't really that able to defend himself from surprise attacks (aside from popping Uber to save himself).

What's one thing Pyro is good at? Surprise attacks! With a combination of airblasts, heavy repeated damage and good aim, it's fairly easy to stop a Medic.

The first aspect to be wary of is the Medic's surrounding allies. A Heavy, Scout, good Demoman or pocket Soldier can stop you from killing anyone, so plan it out intelligently. As per any situation, it's better to come in from a flank, and this is especially true when trying to end a poor German doctor. Try to find a side path and attack before you are seen by anybody. The optimal time to flank the enemy is just before they push the point you are defending; this will often lead to you killing the Medic because they are focused on rushing in, and the enemy team being defeated in a lengthy battle because of their lack of heals.

Things won't always be so rosy and sometimes you're going to have to take a combo head-on. Depending on the enemy classes that are surrounding the Medic you'll have to use different tactics to defeat them, which can be found in the other class match-ups. If there are more than three players protecting the Medic, it's probably best to run from the fight and seek assistance from your team or just run in and try to kill that Medic (which is likely a suicide mission).

If a Medic comes in with their buddies and wants to ruin everyone's day with an Ubercharge, you're actually the perfect close-range counter to them. Airblasting the target/s of the Uber will cause them to waste precious time and airblasting the Medic themself may cause the Uber to disconnect from the target as the distance becomes too great. This will greatly aid your team whether on attack or defence and you'll feel like a champion.

An infamous tactic used by groups of Medics is called "Uber Chaining", which involves two or more Medics healing each other and one gaining uber with the Ubersaw. They then use that Uber on their buddy while their buddy does the same thing, thus creating a theoretical infinite ubercharge. Most new players fall prey to this tactic, so do them a favour by airblasting the Medics away! If you're given the chance to flank this healy snake, try to go for the Medic at the end because he'll most likely not be receiving heals.

Medics may also use the Quick Fix if they find your airblasting too painful. While under the influence of a Quick Fix ubercharge, the Medic and the healing target are invulnerable to movement-disrupting effects and general displacement from other players. If you can get up close to the Medic, they will still die from taking an Axtinguisher to the face or repeated Shotgun shots (though this might require the aid of a team-mate or two).

In general, killing Medics can be either simple or difficult depending on the situation. Make your best judgement and stick with it.

Mate. This bloke will turn your head into a fountain of blood if you're not cautious. One of two classes capable of instantly killing any class, regardless of health, a good Sniper can pose a great threat to your team. Do not fear, for there are methods of dealing with the thunder from down under!

The ideal situation is that you've come up on their flank with nobody else around - the perfect time to kill a Sniper. It's as simple as dealing enough damage to kill them, which is an easy task when you've flanked them at close range.

As per usual, this won't often be the case. In the next best scenario, you'll be in close range but they're facing you. Make sure to dodge and weave to avoid their shots, set them on fire so they have a harder time sniping and closing the distance to land the killing blow. If they pull out the Jarate to extinguish themselves, they're wasting time that they could be using to run away, so punish this by dealing heavy damage while trying to avoid the Jarate's splash radius.

If you find yourself against a good Sniper at a long distance, the best solution is to find some cover, preferably with somewhere to go. Since running in a straight line makes you an easy target, try to change up your running pattern and duck here and there, and shoot your secondary at the enemy to knock their aim around.

Should the Sniper be using a Huntsman, their shots can be seen coming toward you, thus making them avoidable at long range (and also reflectable if you're feeling pretty spiffy). If you find yourself out of your comfort zone because the Sniper's too close, don't run away. They'll be able to predict where you're going and aim ahead. If the Sniper's within airblasting range, you can airblast him and airblast when they hit the ground, which will often result in a successful arrow reflect. This will only work if the Sniper releases Mouse 1 while in mid-air because the arrow does not fire while they're in the air.

Snipers will mostly use the Jarate to counter Pyros, but some have been noted to effectively use SMGs to clean up headshots. At close ranges, a Sniper can still headshot you if they are skilled or lucky enough, so from there they just body shot you and net themselves a kill.

Huntsman users can also bait you into airblasting prematurely, thus netting themselves a killing as well. Using corners and walls to their advantage, they can predictably fire arrows to kill a chasing Pyro.

Reflecting the Jarate as they use it to extinguish themselves will lead them to take more damage while burning, plus make them look foolish. Win-win! To avoid taking close-range headshots, strafe around the Sniper while killing them. Should they land a headshot, or otherwise put you below 50 health, it's best to dispatch them as soon as possible.

Don't fall into any traps or ambushes set by Snipers. This includes chasing Huntsman Snipers around corners and walls. To avoid this, simply not running around immediately will often trick the enemy into firing prematurely, thus letting you run around after the shot has been fired and kill them.

In general, simply gauge the skill level of the enemy and act appropriately.

The sneaky git has a fetish for driving knifes in the spinal cord, I tell ya. Since you're the Pyro, you're the best counter to a Spy - even with Dead Ringer, your flames will show the position of a cloaked Spy and the whole team will know where the slimy git is.

Spies can generally be found lurking in plain sight under the guise of your team-mates and/or cloaked. Usually they'll be behind your team, going for backstabs and revolver kills. If you see someone on your team acting suspiciously (running towards you while facing you, not shooting while at the front line, a class in an unusual spot), they're most likely a Spy. Use your flames to ensure they aren't a traitor and then continue on your merry way.

If a Spy uses Dead Ringer, is it entirely possible that they will activate it when out of your flames' reach to fake death. Never fall for this. If a Spy 'dies', shoot/flame around the location of their death and keep a keen eye out for any silhouettes as they'll be the cloaked Spy. Chase them down before they can reach a health kit or ammo pack to ease the fight.

Spies who use the Dead Ringer and the Spycicle will most likely cause you to be confused by their ability to escape any contact with fire for two seconds, but if you keep the flames on them as they flee, you can hear a faint sound amongst the inferno. When the two seconds expires, they have 15 seconds to recharge, which is more than enough time to kill them.

Spies who fancy themselves as being good or great may try to perform trick stabs, such as stair stabs, matador stabs and more. The easiest to counter is the stair stab, which involves a Spy jumping over you from an elevated position and backstabbing you on the way down. This can be seen coming from a mile away as they'll generally lead you to stair stabbing range and attempt to end you, which is easily dealt with by not letting them make contact with you. As for the other stabs, just make sure to keep your eye on them and not get too close, nor fall into any traps.

At mid-range, Spies who know they've been spotted may use their revolver in the hopes of killing others. Unless their aim is very steady, especially with the Ambassador, you can close the distance with enough effort and kill them. Should that be too difficult, simply shoot at them with your secondary, preparing for the next time they attempt to backstab your team.

Overall, Spies aren't hard to deal with for Pyros. Simply keep track of where they are and where they'll be and you'll have a ball killing them over and over.

So you've mastered the art of reflecting. You know every Pyro weapon inside and out, and you know how to counter every class in the game. You understand the best place to be at all times ad everyone on your team loves you, except for that one jealous guy. The enemies all think you're the fun police and have begun nurturing the seeds of hatred for you. You're now the Pyro champion!

...Or, you would have been, but you have one more challenge ahead. You have to master another skill! It's name is... reflect jumping!



The Basics

Firstly, before you even attempt to reflect jump, it's vital that you know how to rocket jump. The method of reflect jumping (at least with rockets) is the exact same as rocket jumping, but you are using someone else's rockets.

Reflect jumping with the Demo's grenades is possible too, and in most cases is easier to do. The key for this is timing; to reflect the grenades into the ground and then crouch jumping near it at the right time to maximise the distance can take some practice.

To practice this, it is recommended that you first download tr_walkway.
http://tf2.gamebanana.com/maps/107794
This will allow you to freely control bots who can fire projectiles at you for you to practice.


Rockets

As reflect jumping with various projectiles has very similar theory to those projectiles, most of what can be applied in those areas can be applied here. Things such as where you aim the rocket, the distance you are from the explosion and how soon/late you jump all have impacts on the direction, velocity and effectiveness of the jump.

The first, and potentially most important technique to learn, is directing the rocket to allow you to jump in your desired direction. When a Soldier fires a rocket at your feet, position yourself around it so you are able to reflect it as though you were rocket jumping normally. It is usually best to reflect the rocket when it is closer to the ground as it is easier to gain the most height and distance.

When reflecting the rocket, the direction you reflect it should be based on where you wish to go. To go forwards, direct the rocket downwards and behind you; if there is a wall behind or next to you, this will have the rocket explode closer to you, thus propelling you further. To go backwards, simply reflect the rocket at your feet in front of you. For the sides, it's the same as forwards except you simply air strafe to the side.

The distance from you to the explosion can heavily affect the power behind your jump. To maximise the power, jumping just after you reflect will have you closer to the ground when the rocket explodes, providing a surprising boost to your jump. Jumping much earlier than the rocket's explosion will deal less damage to you but not provide much distance or height to your jump.

Optimal rockets to jump with are those that travel very closely to the ground horizonally. These are easier as there is a larger period of time where you can reflect it to jump, and before it explodes. Rockets that are aimed at a higher angle towards you are trickier to jump with as positioning yourself is often harder, as well as reflecting the rocket at your feet.

Reflect jumping with rockets will generally take away over 100 of your health, so only do so wisely.


Grenades

Grenades are generally easier to reflect jump with as they can be set up with ease. The only tricky part of this is timing; it will take a little practice to perfect jumping with grenades as you have to know the time they'll explode.

Almost everything that is said in the section above can be applied here, except that instead of reflecting the grenade a certain direction away from you, it's easier to either reflect it into a corner or directly downward in front of you. This allows you to position yourself around the grenade before it explodes.

These will also take a large chunk of your health out, so again it is best used to either escape or make a huge play.


In-game uses

Reflect jumping is rarely useful in most scenarios, simply because you detach yourself from the rest of the team and deal huge damage to yourself. That said, some situations where it may be useful include:

• Jumping to another player to kill them
  
• Protecting a VIP of your own team in an emergency (such as a Medic)
  
• Getting to a safe location or fleeing from certain death
  
• Acting as a distraction for your team
  
• Gaining height advantage (be wary as the health loss puts you at a huge disadvantage)
  
• Rushing an objective to advance your team or to win
  
• Impressing the ladies

Reflect jumping makes you look cool but is actually rarely useful, so fly away!

I do not intend copyright by any means. All of the material in this guide belongs entirely to their owners. This includes images and videos.

If any of these pieces of material belong to you and you do not wish for these to be placed in this guide, let me know. If you provide evidence that you are the owner of such material, I will remove it upon request.

If you would like to see something of yours here, let me know and I'll endeavour to check it out!



Despite this video being age-old, this is one of my favourite moments of all time from my Pyro experience in Highlander.














While these videos are quite dated, most of the theory here still applies to this day.












These just make me cream repeatedly. Watch these for inspiration.

All the boys at Team Energy (nRG) and co. for bearing with me as they had to be my test subjects for Pyro experimentation.

All members of Team Dysfunctional and Picture Perfect, who started my real Pyro gameplay in competitive.

All who were a part of Royal Flush for being awesome players and friends, and allowing me to have a last hurrah of Highlander Pyro.

All of Team Insidious / Wumbo Wizardry (wumbo!) for just being plain great and letting me suck as Scout :P

The blokes in Butthole Surfers - hope we do well in this 4v4 season!

The ladies and gentlemen at Smurfy Fortress for being an awesome community to play with!



All of the Pyros in Oceania for being awesome. Also to all past Pyros who have retired (looking at you Krispy).

BodaciousBeast, for making the SFM picture of my character in the first section.

To tawll, whom I introduced to TF2 many years ago and now he kicks my arse at it. Damnit.

Joakimmos for teaching me the best way to kill Spies, then backstabbing me anyway (and also for helping me with a rough patch in life).

Spongebob for easily being the most-abused test subject of my Pyro antics <3

Barnaby Jones for helping me to word certain sections of my guide.

Ravioli for ALWAYS SNAPPIN' ME UNDIES!

Thank you for reading this lengthy guide of my ideas of how to play Pyro! I hope you enjoyed it much more than I did writing it, because I sure as hell didn't spend this much time for nothing!

If you have any suggestions or questions, just drop a comment below. Once again, feel free to add me if you want to play together!

Now get out there and show everyone who's the best!