Type: Offensive
Health: 175
Overheal: 260 (220 from Quick-fix)
Speed: 100% = 300 HU/s (115% with Powerjack)
Special Attack: Compression Blast

Pyro is one of the two most effective close-range
classes, the other one is Heavy. His strength comes
from his crowd-control abilities, reflecting projectiles
and supporting the team in general. Since he heavily
relies on close-range, the Pyro needs to surprise his
enemies (flank). Pyros can also nullify Spies' cloaking
capabilities, exposing them to your team.

Pyro's default weapons consist of:

• Flame Thrower
  
• Shotgun
  
• Fire Axe

• Don't run towards enemies who are far away from you. They will see you and they can easily take you out. Instead, take different routes where the enemy might not expect you to come from.
  
• Your Flame Thrower has a large model, which means that enemies can see your weapon if you don't hide it properly.
  
• Pyros are immune to afterburn, unless they are soaked in gas (Gas Passer). You don't have to worry about escaping from an enemy Pyro.
  
• Pick up ammo packs often. You can quickly use up all your ammo without even realizing.
  
• Spies tend to hide in corners often. By checking them, you are already helping your team a lot and it doesn't cost you more than 1 or 2 ammo.
  
• Don't be afraid to track down Spies who use the Dead Ringer, even if you are being attacked. They usually die within seconds if your tracking skills are good.
  
• If you are near a dispenser or the payload cart, your ammo is getting constantly refilled. This means that you can infinitely spycheck around the area.
  
• Avoid mini-sentries and sentries in general. They can destroy you in no time, especially if it's level 2 or 3. However, level 3 sentries' rockets can be reflected and while it's risky, you can kill the Engineer with it (or even the sentry).
  
• Weapon switching for Pyro is crucial, especially when fighting skilled players. Changing between your Primary and Secondary weapons can lead to advantage due to the damage output of both of your weapons. This ability is enhanced with the Degreaser.
  
• Pyro has several playstyles. To be the most effective, you might want to change between them occasionally. This means staying with your team and protecting them, flanking when needed or even making a suicide play by airblasting the enemy Über combo away as far as possible.
  
• Try taking different routes. If you are always following the same path, the enemy will know that you are coming.
  
• You can ignite your friendly Sniper's Huntsman arrow to boost his arrow with fire damage.

This part focuses on technical concepts. Watch the gifs to understand them.


Damage of each particle increases the longer an enemy is attacked
This is called ramp-up. In general, the more accurate you are, the more damage you will do.
This feature seems to work in general, but there are situations where it may appear buggy.
Close: 6.5-13 / particle
Far: 3.25-6.5 / particle


Flame particles can hit one target multiple times.
This is especially noticeable when you are shooting an enemy who's against the wall. The particles linger around him, causing them to hit multiple times (every 0.075 seconds). This makes killing Pyros with the Axtinguisher much easier (and makes "extinguishing" Pyros possible using stock Flame Thrower).
One puff of flame, regular: ~27 damage
One puff of flame, against wall: ~51 damage


The flames' range depend on your velocity.
Standing still is the standard range.
While running, your Flame thrower's range will be longer.
This can be boosted even further by using the Detonator to do a horizontal jump.




When flames collide with walls, they travel along based on the player's position and angle.
This can be used in several situations. The particles bouncing off the floor will linger, making several Pyro tricks easier (Axtinguisher, Flare punch). Shooting the wall with your Flame Thrower can be useful in situations where you can't see the enemy. Jumping on top an enemy player's head and aiming directly down causes massively increased damage due to the lingering particles.
It's hard to pull off in a real game, but with the Detonator it might be easier.
Note: Once the flame particles hit the wall, their velocity will be reset.


Flames have a random spread
Some flames go to the left a bit more, some to the right. Some go up, some go down a bit.
It's not an insanely wide spread, but it's definitely something that interfaces the game.
The flames can go in two (gif) or three different directions (e.g. the edge of the container is capable of doing that).


Flame damage is proportional to particle lifetime instead of distance from target.
Simply: younger particles do more damage than older particles. There could be an extremely slight difference between each particle's damage values due to their angles.
This value is ±0.08 / particle.


Particles linger on the ground if they hit the ground in a 90° angle
The process is simple. The particles want to go in straight line, but they hit an object. They use the Flame Thrower's (past) position to determine where they want to go, but since it's a perfect line up with the ground, the Pyro, and the flames, they will simply go back to where the Flame Thrower originally was. While it's ineffective, you can burn someone with this method (while escaping for example).


Flame particles go through enemies, buildings and teammates.
The flames don't get slowed down either.
This allows the Pyro to deal massive damage to multiple enemies. This can be used to kill the Engineer through it's dispenser without getting killed by his sentry.

Damage: 8/s (2/s for Degreaser)
Damage with mini-crit: 10/s (4/s for Degreaser)
Duration: 3-10s (these are limits, afterburn will never be more than 10 seconds)

Damage is done every 0.5 seconds.
The duration of the afterburn is heavily affected by the amount of previous damage done by the Flame Thrower. The more you hit the enemy, the more afterburn they will receive. Keep in mind that Flare Guns will always cause 7.5 seconds of afterburn, 10 seconds if they are already burning.

Afterburn reduces healing and shield resists from a Medi Gun by 20%.
Medics will simply have a harder time healing their teammates.

Tips & Tricks:

• Afterburn negates Snipers' aiming capabilities almost completely. Use this to your advantage.
  
• Afterburn is used to expose invisible Spies. Just a single puff of flame can ruin their entire play.
  
• Weakened enemies may try to escape you for a source of health. You can harass them with your secondary to lower their chances of survival.
  
• Afterburn gives you the chance to deal critical damage to enemies with your Flare Gun. This also works with other Flare guns, but the bonus damage is less.
  
• Pyros and Snipers using the Darwin's Danger Shield are immune to afterburn. This means that you need to put more effort into killing them. Shotguns are generally good against that matter, but for advanced players, flare punch is an amazing method too. (see: Flare punch)

If you are not chasing a spy, you should only check around the corners.
Spies' favorite hiding positions are the corners. A single puff of flame is usually enough to check each corner, no more should be used.

If you are chasing a spy, but you lost him, there's a high chance he either out-ran you or he escaped right next to you.
In this situation it's hard to determine you should continue spychecking or not. If the spy used the Dead Ringer, you should be aware of his presence and you should listen to the decloak sound. Also there's a high chance that he ran to a health pack, it's a great idea to check those spots as well.

Tips & Tricks:

• Standing next to a dispenser or a payload cart gives you infinite ammo. This means you can infinitely spycheck without any ammo cost whatsoever.
  
• You shouldn't try to combo an enemy spy using the Flare Gun, because if you miss, he could easily escape from you because his afterburn had worn out. Shotguns, Scorch shot (shot on the ground) or the Detonator (detonated) works better in this case, as they have a larger spread.
  
• Some teams won't have a single Spy. You can never be too sure, but you can always check the kill feed or the top bar of your screen to check the enemy's team composition.

The Compression Blast (or airblast) is the secondary fire of the Pyro's primary weapons with the exception of the Phlogistinator. Press right click to use one airblast.

It can be used for the following:

• Pushing away enemies
  
• Extinguishing teammates who are on fire (grants you 20 health)
  
• Deflecting most projectiles

The cost varies for each Flame Thrower though.
The standard cost of the airblast is 20 ammo. The Degreaser has a slightly higher price, being 25 ammo. The Dragon's Fury's airblast cost is only 5, but keep in mind that the weapon only has 40 ammo. This means that the Degreaser and the Dragon's Fury can do the same number of airblasts (8). The Backburner has the highest price with 50 ammo.
(Note: Your airblast is heavily affected by your ping and timings may vary.)

This is the simplest usage of the airblast. By aiming on the target and then pressing right click, you can push them away from you.

This doesn't work as effectively on targets who are:

• Currently under the effect of a Quick-fix Übercharge. (no effect)
  
• Using Mantreads (decreased knockback)

However, there are things that affects this:

• Angle you are looking at
  
• Whether you and/or your enemy jumped or not
  
• Your velocity
  
• Your relative position to the enemy

Things can get quite technical here, so I'll only explain the simple concepts.

• Airblasting an enemy upwards causes him to go up.
  
• Airblasting an enemy downwards causes him to also go up. (Only if the enemy is touching the ground)
  
• If the enemy isn't touching the floor however, he will be pushed downwards. Depending on the position of the enemy, you can make him receive fall damage by that. (This is because fall damage is decided by velocity rather than distance)
  
• If the enemy is behind you and he's also within a really close range, you can also push him away.

Tips & Tricks:

• If the enemy medic isn't using the Quick-fix, that means his Über doesn't get affected by airblast. This means that you can push the enemy combo away from your team, effectively saving your team from a potential lose. It's almost certain that you will die in the process, but even a few seconds can help and your team will be proud of you.
  
• There are hazards on certain maps [full list here], which means that you can score some "Environmental kills" by airblasting the enemy into those hazards.
  
• Heavies are an excellent choice for this purpose. Since they are slow, it takes them a longer time to walk into battle. This increases the chance of winning fights.

If your teammate is on fire, you can extinguish them by using one airblast, giving yourself 20 health.

Tips & Tricks:

• If you are using the Phlogistinator, but you still want to extinguish your teammates, you can use the Manmelter, which can be used for doing just that. This will reward you with 20 health and also a guaranteed critical hit with the weapon.
  
• You can extinguish multiple people with just one airblast. If your teammates are a bit far from each other, but not at a risk of dying from afterburn, you can wait up to 1-2 seconds, so they can group up a little bit, saving you a bit of ammo. (If there's a constant ammo source, for example a dispenser, you can extinguish them one by one)
  
• It happens that a teammate is about to die from afterburn, but he doesn't want to go to you for an extinguish (perhaps he didn't see you). If you can't reach him but he's really close to you, you can use the Powerjack to run up to him or you can scream for Medic (press E). This makes him turn around and will make him realize that you want to extinguish him. Voice chat also works, especially in a competitive scenario.

Airblasting an enemy's projectile causes it to:

• Change direction (opposite)
  
• Change team color (except: stickybombs)
  
• Deal mini-crit damage (+35%, also no fall-off)

The direction of the projectile depends on the angle you are looking. Some projectiles are affected by gravity, some aren't. (see: Projectiles)

There are several methods of reflecting projectiles. These are the following:

1. Skip one projectile and time the second
This is by far the most effective one for close range combat. Most soldiers (but any class works!) panic when they see a Pyro and they start to spam rockets. The Rocket Launcher has a delay of 0.8 second between each shot, which can be memorized. With this knowledge, you will be able to reflect the second rocket, just make sure you won't get killed by the first one.
This method also works with weapon switch speed.
Effective against: Soldier, Demo, Pyro (Flare punch, Dragon's Fury)
(Note: Don't forget to burn him! If you don't do that, the enemy will know what you're up to and will counter your reflects.)

2. Reflect by timing the projectile
This is the most effective method for medium-long range combat. Since the enemy is far from you, you have time to react and you don't have to "guess". There are faster projectiles though, which can be a bit harder to reflect, let alone aim them.
Effective against: Every class with the exception of the Pyro's Dragon's Fury.

3. Guessing
This is the least effective method of timing a reflect. It is most notably used for pulling off airshots
on rocket jumping soldiers, however it can also be used against the Huntsman. Skilled soldiers and Demomen also require this method.
Effective against: Soldiers, Demomen, Snipers using the Huntsman
Tip: Don't try to guess too many times. If it doesn't work for the first time, it won't work for the second time either. In this case it's better to just flame them and hope that they won't kill you.

Tips & Tricks:

• Getting the timings right can be hard for new Pyros. This only gets worse as you get to know more projectiles. You can ask your friend to load up a custom server and practice reflecting projectiles there. There are other solutions too: there are some workshop maps made for this purpose or you can try Dodgeball.
  
• Anything critical is priority. It can be a random crit or just a Kritzkrieg Über, both of them deal massive amounts of damage.
  
• While it may seem normal to reflect the projectile back to it's sender, you can kill more important enemies with it by redirecting the rockets towards enemies such as Medics and Snipers. Crowded places could be a great choice as well, but payload carts and capture points are usually like that too.
  
• Your ammo quickly gets used from airblasts, make sure you have a steady source of it. Picking up ammo packs from dead enemies/teammates retrieves you 100.
  
• You can help your Engineers by reflecting away projectiles from their buildings.
  
• You don't have to reflect all projectiles. There are situations where it's impossible to make use of a projectile, in this case it's just better to save ammo.
  
• Spamming right click won't do anything. Soldiers can easily outplay you, which will get yourself killed.
  
• Your hearing can time your reflects. If you know there's a Soldier (or Demoman) behind you (but let's say you are fighting someone else) and he's shooting you, you can time your reflect by hearing his shots. This can be achieved by doing a 180° a bit earlier than the second shot of the enemy and then reflecting the projectile back in his face.
  
• If there's a projectile spam coming towards you, it can be hard to decide which projectile to reflect. Running away could be an option, but your priorities should be rockets, grenades and stickybombs, as they deal the most damage.
  
• You can reflect an enemy projectile towards an enemy Engineer's buildings. For this purpose, the most effective projectiles are: rockets and grenades.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 1019.9 HU/s
Difficulty to reflect: Medium
Priority: Medium

When a target is covered in Mad Milk, 60% of all damage taken will be returned as health to any enemy.
Reflecting this projectile can benefit both you and your team too. It is crucial to reflect this projectile if you are having a fight with a Scout, because the healing effect can easily cause you to lose against him. On a successful reflect, the Scout will be soaked in milk and you will be able to use the Mad Milk's benefits. In that case it's better to use your Primary weapon against the scout, because it will give continuous healing to you. A reflected Mad Milk can also extinguish a nearby teammate who's on fire.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 3000 HU/s
Difficulty to reflect: Hard
Priority: Low

On hit, the Flying Guillotine causes the target to receive 50 damage and it also makes him bleed.
Reflecting this projectile is almost a guaranteed miss, unless the scout is walking in a straight line towards you. However, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't reflect it away from you. If you manage to get a hit somehow, it will deal around 122 damage including bleeding, which isn't even enough to kill a scout. You can use your primary weapon to deal extra damage.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 3000 HU/s
Difficulty to reflect: Hard
Priority: Low

On hit, the Sandman's ball causes the target to slow down to a specific speed. (225.88 HU)
Since it's damage is negligible, it's really only useful to reflect it when it's a guaranteed hit on the Scout himself and not on anyone else. This can ease the fight for you, but outside this it's not worth reflecting.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 3000 HU/s
Difficulty to reflect: Hard
Priority: Low

On hit, the Wrap Assassin's ball causes the target to bleed.
The ball's arc is identical to the Sandman's ball, meaning that both of them can be reflected in the same manner. The ball itself does 52 damage in total and while it's not certain that it will hit an enemy, it is worthy to try atleast. However, just like the cleaver, it should be reflected away from you if possible.


Physics: No
Speed: 1100 HU/s
Attack interval: 0.8 s
Reload time: 0.92 s, then 0.8 s
Difficulty to reflect: Easy
Priority: High

The Soldier's main weapon shoots rockets in a straight line. On hit, it causes splash damage.
The standard Rocket Launcher (and reskins) has the simplest projectile to reflect. It causes huge damage when reflected, which can kill weakened light classes easily (122-151 damage). Rockets should be your main priority as they deal huge damage and they can damage multiple enemies.
The Black box's rockets cause the player to receive health based on the damage (maximum 20 hp/rocket). Use this to your advantage, as reflected Black box rockets can heal you.
The Cow Mangler 5000 has the ability to do a charged shot, which deals mini-crit damage and also sets the target on fire. The projectile itself is hard to reflect because it's just a beam and it's hard to see it, but moving around the projectile could potentially help determining where the projectile really is.
The Air Strike's rockets are a bit less visible. When the Soldier is airborne, he's able to shoot rockets at an extremely fast speed. If you see one of these Soldiers, you need to back up while reflecting the most rockets possible.
The Rocket Jumper's rockets' deal 0 damage to enemies and they don't have the usual glow standard Rocket Launchers have. While it seems unlikely that someone will shoot you with it, it sometimes happens that a clueless player will try to use it against you. In this case, it can be used for rocket jumping via reflect (and it won't deal damage to you). (see: Advanced: Rocket jump)

Physics: No
Speed: 1100 HU/s
Attack interval: 0.24 s
Reload time: 1.196 s, then 1.04 s
Difficulty to reflect: Easy
Priority: High

The Beggar's Bazooka allows the Soldier to shoot 3 rockets under just a second. The main drawback of the weapon is it's reload time.
This weapon has a random spread, which means it's pure luck to determine where the rocket(s) will go. It's best to reflect the second or third rocket, as the first one is hard to react to on close range. However, on medium range it's best to reflect the rocket which will be the closest to you or to your teammates.

Physics: No
Speed: 1540 HU/s
Attack interval: 0.8 s
Reload time: 0.92 s, then 0.8 s
Difficulty to reflect: Medium
Priority: High

The Liberty Launcher has 5 rockets instead of the standard 4, travels at a 40% increased speed and it deals 25% less damage to enemies.
Since the rockets don't deal as much damage, they aren't as good against crowds but it's its perfect for singular target reflects (mainly the Soldier itself). The less damage also means that you can rocket jump with it without you losing as much health compared to a regular Rocket Launcher.
The speed increase is basically a middle ground between regular Rocket Launchers and the Direct hit. It's not too hard, but not easy either.

Physics: No
Speed: 1980 HU/s
Attack interval: 0.8 s
Reload time: 0.92 s, then 0.8 s
Difficulty to reflect: Hard
Priority: High

The Direct Hit is capable of killing light classes with a single direct rocket, which travels at an 80% faster speed. It's splash radius is reduced by 70%.
The Soldier heavily relies on hitting the target directly, that's why most of the times he will be near his enemies. This makes the Pyro's job significantly harder, as reflecting the Direct Hit's projectile up close could seem like it's pure luck. The first or third method of reflecting could be used in this case. (see: Compression Blast)
However, since the projectile does 152-189 damage when reflected, it can kill medics and light classes in a single shot and since it moves at a much faster speed, it is also easier to predict movements.

Physics: No
Speed: 3000 HU/s
Attack interval: 0.8 s, 0.53 s (after a successful hit)
Difficulty to reflect: Hard
Priority: High

The Dragon's Fury is a single shot flamethrower that's reload time is reduced whenever it hits an enemy.
Due to the speed of the projectile, it's impossible to react to it: you need to time the reflect by the attack interval. It's best to purposely get yourself shot with it, then reflect the second projectile. Not moving a lot helps in this, since the enemy Pyro will be able to get a guaranteed hit on you. Upon a successful reflect (and burning him prior), it will take away almost half of his health, which is a huge difference in a battle against a Pyro.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 2000 HU/s
Attack interval: 2 s
Difficulty to reflect: Medium
Priority: Low

The Flare Gun does a guaranteed critical hit on burning targets.
The fast projectile isn't hard to reflect, but it's useless in a way that it deals little damage to non-burning targets. However, aiming the flare towards enemy Snipers is a good idea. It is also useful to reflect it against a Pyro who is trying to Flare Punch you.
The Detonator deals mini-crit damage on burning targets. Sadly, you can't detonate it after you reflected it, which makes it even less worthy to reflect.
The Scorch Shot has area damage on the ground. However, reflected projectiles do not have this effect. It also deals mini-crit damage on burning targets.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 3000 HU/s
Attack interval: 2 s
Difficulty to reflect: Hard
Priority: Low

The Manmelter is capable of shooting an extremely fast projectile.
This is probably the rarest projectile to come across. It's fast speed and low damage makes it unworthy to reflect.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 2009.2 HU/s
Difficulty to reflect: Medium
Priority: High

The Gas Passer is an area-denial tool that makes enemies soaked in gas. Any damage they receive will set them on fire (even Pyros).
While it's certainly not the most effective secondary, it does make the enemy retreat. Reflecting this projectile helps your team pushing forward. It can also extinguish teammates in a larger quantity.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 1216.6 HU/s
Attack interval: 0.6 s
Reload time: 1.24 s, then 0.6 s
Difficulty to reflect: Hard
Priority: High

The Grenade Launcher is the Demoman's primary weapon. It is capable of dealing massive damage on direct hits.
This should be the second most common projectile to reflect. They are a bit harder to aim due to it's arcing properties. However, on hit it can deal a devastating 135 damage. Generally aiming towards it's sender is your best option, but if there are multiple people around you, then you should aim towards light classes as reflected grenades can one shot them. Crowds are a great option too.
The Iron Bomber's projectile does much less rolling on the ground, meaning that it's a perfect projectile to aim at stationary targets (mainly snipers). Grenade jumping is much easier too.
(see: Advanced: Grenade jump)

Physics: Yes
Speed: 1513.3 HU/s
Attack interval: 0.6 s
Reload time: 1.24 s, then 0.6 s
Difficulty to reflect: Hard
Priority: Medium

The Loch-n-Load has a 25% projectile speed increase and a 20% damage boost against buildings, however it only has 3 ammo and it shatters on surface
While it can be easier to aim with it, the fact that it's projectiles can't roll on the ground makes it less worthy to reflect. It's only recommended to direct the projectile towards the Demoman itself or towards a nearby mini-sentry (since it's already stationary, it's not hard to aim at it).

Physics: Yes
Speed: 1513.3 HU/s
Attack interval: 0.6 s
Reload time: 1.24 s, then 0.6 s
Difficulty to reflect: Medium
Priority: Low

The Loose Cannon is a unique Grenade Launcher with the ability to Double Donk an enemy player (this means the cannonball must hit the enemy twice)
The Loose Cannon's projectile is by far the most annoying and risky to reflect. It's the only projectile that changes teams and doesn't get the mini-crit boost when reflected. Reflecting this isn't recommended as it can explode right next to you and it deals more damage than it would otherwise do. While it's hard to pull off, it's possible to do a Double Donk with a reflected cannonball.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 925.38 - 2409.2 HU/s
Attack interval: 0.6 s
Reload time: 1.09 s, then 0.67 s
Difficulty to reflect: Easy
Priority: Medium

The Stickybomb Launcher shoots projectiles that stick onto any solid surface. They can be detonated at any time.
It's important to note that this is the only projectile in the game that doesn't change team colors upon reflection and it also won't receive mini-crit damage boost. There are 2 good uses of reflecting stickybombs: airblasting traps away and to damage or kill the Demoman.
When coming around a corner and you see a stickybomb trap, airblasting it can significantly reduce the damage taken from a detonation. It also allows your team to safely push in because they will know that the Demoman doesn't have his traps set up.
Since the projectile doesn't change team-color, it's only capable of damaging your team and the enemy Demoman, therefore you shouldn't focus on anyone else other than the Demoman.
The Scottish Resistance is capable of laying 14 stickybombs instead of the standard 8 and it shoots 25% faster. The main drawback for this weapon is the detonation time, which is 0.8 seconds longer. This can come in handy, as you have more time to react to a potential trap.
The Quickiebomb Launcher is a weapon that rewards speed and accuracy. As a Pyro, the projectiles of this weapon are far deadlier to you than any other Stickybomb launcher's projectiles. Keeping distance doesn't help either, because it's charge time is significantly reduced. The best way to fight a Demoman using this is to get as close to him as possible, which will force him to use another weapon.
The Sticky Jumper's projectiles deal 0 damage to both you and to it's user. An escaping Demoman may try to use this weapon to jump away from you; reflecting the projectile can make the Demoman miss his jump entirely. Outside this one specific case, there's nothing else you could do with a reflected Sticky jumper projectile.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 2400 HU/s
Attack interval: 0.625 s
Reload time: 1.0 s, then 0.5 s
Difficulty to reflect: Hard
Priority: Low

The Rescue Ranger can heal buildings for a small cost of ammo. It can also be used to pick up buildings from any distance.
It's damage can be beneficial towards a fight with an Engineer as it damages 54-72. It is possible to reflect the projectiles away so that the Engineer can't heal his buildings, but it may only be useful if his buildings are already being attacked.
(Note: Sadly, reflected Rescue Ranger claws do not heal friendly buildings.)

Physics: No
Speed: No data found
Attack interval: 0.5 s (Energy orb)
Difficulty to reflect: Easy
Priority: Medium

The short circuit's secondary fire is capable of destroying almost any projectiles.
Reflecting this is crucial if your teammates are mainly Soldiers and Demomen, as their projectiles can easily go to waste just by one projectile. It's also important to note that reflected energy orbs can also destroy enemy projectiles. If the enemy Engineer shoots 2 energy orbs and you reflect the first one, the second one will be destroyed on contact.

Physics: No
Speed: 1100 HU/s
Attack interval: 3 s (Rocket)
Difficulty to reflect: Medium
Priority: Medium

Level 3 Sentries are capable of dealing massive single target damage. It also shoots a powerful pack of rockets every 3 seconds.
The rockets' stats are near identical to the standard Rocket Launcher's stats, however it deals more damage (50-150) and it has much more knockback. The rockets can easily be forced to be shot and you can kill the Engineer with it (but pretty much any light class too). You can also do a "sentry jump" with it, but it will do way more damage than a standard rocket would otherwise deal.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 2400 HU/s
Reload time: 1.6 s
Difficulty to reflect: Hard
Priority: Medium

The Crusader's Crossbow is capable of healing teammates and damaging enemies at the same time.
The arrow's damage and healing rate scales with the distance. The further, the more healing/damage will be done. This is important as the reflected arrow's damage (51-101) and healing (75-150) is heavily affected by this. Since it's still an arrow, it should be directed towards the sender rather than towards anyone else. It rarely ever happens that an arrow could be used for healing a teammate, however when it happens it can make a noticeable difference in-game.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 1812.1 - 2600 HU/s
Attack interval: 1.94 s
Difficulty to reflect: Hard
Priority: Medium

The Huntsman is a high-damage single shot weapon that can be charged to increase damage. Headshots deal critical damage.
Reflecting it is the definition of high risk and high reward. Reflecting this projectile is insanely hard, especially when it's fully drawn. Since the projectile is barely visible if it's going straight towards you, it's better to strafe around it so you can see the arrow's trail. Aiming it shouldn't be too hard as it's a fast projectile. On a successful hit, the damage can range from 68 to 360. If you are encountering a huntsman Sniper up close, try to guess when will he shoot and aim for the head.

Physics: Yes
Speed: 1017.9 HU/s
Difficulty to reflect: Medium
Priority: High

When a target is covered Jarate, the target will receive Mini-crit damage.
While 35% extra damage might not seem like it's a lot, it actually is. Just by reflecting the Jarate, you can get a huge advantage for your team. This is especially noticeable when there are Heavies and Pyros around: since they deal continuous damage, the enemy's survival chances are significantly reduced. A reflected Jarate can also extinguish a nearby teammate who's on fire.


Physics: No
Speed: 330 / 1100 HU/s
Difficulty to reflect: Easy
Priority: High

MONOCULUS is a halloween boss found on Eyeaduct.
Since MONOCULUS only shoots these rockets and nobody else can shoot you, why not reflect it's rockets? The rockets deal a lot of damage, especially when enraged. Make sure you are somewhat close to it as the standard rockets travel extremely slowly, but not close enough that his enraged rockets would kill you instantly.

Not all projectiles are reflectable. These are the following:

• Righteous Bison's beams
  
• Pomson 6000's beams
  
• Syringe Gun's syringes
  
• Blutsauger's syringes
  
• Overdose's syringes
  
• Grappling hook (Mannpower)
  
• Halloween spells

Health: 125
Speed: 400 HU/s
Difficulty: Medium
Priority: Low

The Scout's mobility allows him to quickly get to enemies and kill most of them in 2-3 shots. However, his low health pool forces him to stay out of sight most of the times, which can lead to surprise attacks.
It's best to keep distance and try to avoid Scouts. In case of an encounter, you will need to get as close to him as possible and deal burst damage to him with the secondary of your choice.

Tips & Tricks

• Scouts tend to chase hurt enemies. If one is chasing you, try to find a corner and surprise him.
  
• Scouts are vulnerable to flares. If a scout is running towards you, try to shoot him with a flare gun. Afterburn will make him rethink his decisions. If he continues to charge at you, try to hit a second flare or use your primary weapon to kill him.
  
• Shotgun does quick work of Scouts if used correctly.
  
• If a Scout is escaping from you, you can use the Detonator to catch up.
  
• Scouts who fight you on middle range are the deadliest. Try to trap him against a wall or a corner.
  
• Scouts who use the Force-a-Nature are capable of killing you in a matter of second. However, if he misses a single shot, the Scout is forced to reload, which makes it the perfect time to strike.
  
• Scouts are much easier to hit with the Flare Gun after they used their second jump.
  
• Airblasting Scouts away from you can force them to do a second jump towards you. This makes aiming flares easier as well.

Health: 200
Speed: 240 HU/s
Difficulty: Medium
Priority: High

The Soldier heavily relies on his primary weapon, the Rocket Launcher. It shoots high-damage projectiles which can be reflected, easing the fight for you. However, he can easily escape from you by Rocket jumping.
Airblast is essential when playing against Soldiers. In case of an encounter, try to reflect rockets while also setting him on fire.

Tips & Tricks

• The rockets can easily be redirected towards other enemies. Use this if somebody is closer to you than the Soldier himself.
  
• If you can't reflect his rockets because he's close to you and he knows how to counter your timings, try to use your secondary weapon to kill him.
  
• Don't try to reflect rockets without also shooting flames. Most Soldiers will know what you are up to and will counter your attempts.
  
• You can try to kill an escaping Soldier using your secondary weapon.
  
• Soldiers tend to panic and spam rockets when you surprise them. This can make the timing of airblast much easier.
  
• You can stop a Soldier from rocket jumping away from you by airblasting him towards the ground.
  
• If the Soldier is using the Shotgun, try to juggle him around with airblast. The Soldier most likely won't be able to hit all of his shots.
  
• If the Soldier is using the Buff Banner, your Flare Gun shots and reflects won't deal any extra damage while the buff is active.
  
• If the Soldier is using the Market Gardener, airblast him away before he would land a critical hit on you.
  
• If you perform a Rocket jump or get bounced off, the Soldier might try to airshot you. Direct hits deal a lot of damage, so you should reflect the rocket at all costs.

Health: 175
Speed: 300 HU/s
Difficulty: Medium
Priority: Low

The Pyro relies on combos, which includes his primary and secondary weapons. His weapons of choice heavily affects the match-up, but his advanced methods of taking out Pyros also matters.
Try to find out which secondary the Pyro uses. In case of an encounter, try to out-damage him using your Primary weapon, or you can use advanced tactics to kill him.

Tips & Tricks

• If no one is around, try to airblast them upwards or towards any walls. This causes them to lose tracking, which can ease a fight.
  
• Flares are weaker against Pyros using Shotgun. Try to avoid Pyros using the Shotgun if you can't do flare punches. (see: Advanced: Flare punch)
  
• Melee is a great last resort against Pyros, since they have to be close to you. Make sure you secure a kill with it though.
  
• If the enemy Pyro is backing up and he is continuously airblasting you, try to follow him and kill him with your secondary weapon, since it usually indicates that he's very low on health.
  
• If you need to escape and your enemy is using any of the Flare guns, try to move in unpredictable directions. If you can, try to reflect the flares.
  
• Unlike with other classes, if the enemy has a Medic, you have little to no chance of surviving (same goes with Heavies). It's better to run away or kill the Medic, since he's a more important target anyway.
  
• If the enemy Pyro is using the Dragon's Fury, try to jump around if you can't reflect them constantly. Constant hits will cause him to melt you in seconds.
  
• You can't react to the Dragon's Fury's projectiles, which forces you to memorize the reload time of the weapon. It's easier to learn the shorter reload time than the longer one, so try to get yourself hit once and then time your airblast.
  
• Don't airblast Pyros who are taunting with the Phlogistinator. It will cancel their taunt and gain guaranteed critical hits immediately. Try to run away as far as you can.
  
• If a Phlogistinator Pyro has Über and crits and your team is around, airblast him away at all costs. He can easily kill your entire team. You will most likely die in the process, but atleast you will save your team from a potential loss of objective.
  
• The best tactic against Pyros using the Flame Thrower is to circle around them. They usually can't catch up and you won't lose much health either.

Health: 175
Speed: 280 HU/s
Difficulty: Medium
Priority: Medium

The Demoman needs to think ahead of it's enemies decisions, which can lead to unpredictable and difficult battles. His weapons deal high damage, but require high precision.
Check your surroundings, the best traps are the ones which you don't expect. In case of an encounter, try to reflect as many projectiles as you can while also burning him.

Tips & Tricks

• Demomen lack hit-scan weapons. You can kill a Demoman without taking a single damage if you are moving unpredictably.
  
• Demomen are especially good in tight corridors, since they can use their weapons much more easily. Try to avoid these corridors if the Demoman is using the Stickybomb Launcher frequently.
  
• Getting close to a Demoman is rewarding. They will take self-damage from hitting you with grenades and stickybombs. If he switches to melee, try to airblast the Demoman away.
  
• Grenade launchers' projectiles are hard to aim. Both the Demoman and you can easily miss an opportunity of dealing 100(+) damage.
  
• Demoknights are significantly easier to deal with, because they don't have any ranged options to go with. Airblasting them disables their charges and you can secure an easy kill on a defenceless Demoman.
  
• The Stickybomb Launcher has a faster fire rate than your airblast. If you want to kill the Demoman, try to reflect the stickybombs away from you instead of airblasting them towards the Demoman. If you are running towards him and reflecting the stickybombs towards him, you will run over them essentially.

Health: 300
Speed: 230 HU/s
Difficulty: Hard
Priority: Low

The Heavy is a team player, he's worth nothing without his teammates. He's good in 1 on 1 situations, but he can't do well against multiple enemies without the help of his teammates.
Stay as far away from them as possible. In case of an encounter, try to airblast him away from you or run away. If he's low on health, combos are your best choice.

Tips & Tricks

• Heavies almost always have Medics, which sets your survival chances even lower against them.
  
• The highest chance of you killing a Heavy is when he's alone and he didn't notice you. Try to deal as much damage as possible when you strike him.
  
• You can get extra knockback by damage surfing the Heavy's primary weapon's bullets. Jump while he is attacking you.
  
• Knocking off Heavies from high grounds is highly beneficial because they need to work their way back to the place they originally were, which is a slow process.
  
• Always remember that Heavies can't chase you as effectively as other classes.
  
• If you are using the Panic Attack, you can quickly switch to the Degreaser and to the Panic Attack to damage the Heavy with both of these weapons.
  
• Heavies using the Natascha are the deadliest against you. You already have low mobility, the Natascha only makes that worse.
  
• You can kill a Heavy by hiding behind a corner and hitting him with your secondary weapon. This secures a slow kill, just make sure he won't jump at you.

Health: 125
Speed: 300 HU/s
Difficulty: Medium
Priority: Low

The Engineer is an area-denial class. He can either take an aggressive route (Gunslinger) or a more defensive route. He needs to place his buildings at a safe spot, otherwise his buildings will be exposed to the enemy team.
Dealing with Sentries isn't your job. In case of an encounter, try to kill him if his Sentry isn't around, otherwise don't bother.

Tips & Tricks

• Engineers are an easy kill if they are alone without any Sentries nearby.
  
• Remember, buildings aren't affected by any critical damage. Your reflects won't do extra damage on them.
  
• If the Engineer tries to block your way towards him by building stuff, ignore them unless it's a Mini-sentry. It's a decoy so the Engineer can run away from you.
  
• If you destroy any Buildings and your teammates aren't nearby, pick up all the remaining pieces of them by wasting the ammo of your flamethrower. The enemy Engineer can find those pieces and he can use them to rebuild his buildings.
  
• Mini-sentries are far deadlier to you than any other Sentries. They can be placed without a lot of metal cost and you can't deal with sentries well anyway. This can be a problem on KOTH maps, where the space is limited. Try to avoid them by hiding behind walls or obstacles.
  
• You can use the Detonator to jump on top of a Sentry and destroy it via circling.
  
• You can use a level 3 Sentry to kill the Engineer with his own Sentry's rockets.

Health: 150
Speed: 320 HU/s
Difficulty: Easy
Priority: High

Medics rely on their team more than any other class in the game. Alone, they are mostly defenseless. They need to observe the battlefield to make important decisions regarding healing and using Übercharges.
Medics are paranoid and they usually move unpredictably. In case of an encounter, chase him as long as you are not in severe danger (and you are unsure whether you will kill him or not).

Tips & Tricks

• Medics are always high priority, no matter what class you play.
  
• If the Medic has Übercharge, try to force him to use the Übercharge at all costs. A single critical Flare Gun projectile can do that.
  
• Medics regenerate health overtime, which is by default 3 health per second. Keep that in mind, since afterburn doesn't always finish the job.
  
• Never get hit by the Ubersaw. It gives the Medic 25% extra Übercharge, which can change the entire outcome of the game.
  
• Medics usually use the Crusader's Crossbow. It deals high damage, but it can be dodged easily as well.
  
• Medics using the Blutsauger are much harder to kill, since they can shoot you and recover health as well, effectively nullifying your afterburn.
  
• If you are flanking the Medic, be quick, so others wont notice you.

Health: 125
Speed: 300 HU/s
Difficulty: Medium
Priority: Low

The Sniper needs to have great precision to kill enemies. He needs to watch the battlefield, but also his back to check if there is an enemy trying to flank him.
Snipers can't see you if you aren't in his line of sight. In case of an encounter, try to get as close to him as possible while also being unpredictable, so he won't be able to headshot you.

Tips & Tricks

• If the Sniper scopes in, he's affected by tunnel vision and their vision is severely reduced. This way, it's easier to attack him if there's space around him.
  
• You can use your flamethrower's flames to block your head's visibility.
  
• Snipers are unable to aim if they are affected by afterburn. Flare Guns are especially good when harassing Snipers from a great distance.
  
• Snipers are generally more paranoid than any other classes, since his main weakness is tunnel vision. Try to find a pattern in their behavior.
  
• Snipers like melee weapons against enemies that are close. Try to stay out of reach, but also stay in flamethrower range.
  
• If the Sniper is using the Darwin's Danger Shield, he's immune to afterburn and has increased fire resistance. You can counter it by using any Shotguns or your melee. If you know how-to, you can try to pull-off a flare punch. (see: Advanced: Flare punch)
  
• Remember, if the Sniper is using the Jarate, you can reflect it in his face before you would receive it's effects.
  
• Only airblast better Snipers if you know what you are doing. Most of the times they will be able to escape you.
  
• If you are trying to get close to a Sniper and he saw you, try to damage him with your secondary weapon while also moving towards him. This way, he will be affected by recoil and that worsens his aim.

Health: 125
Speed: 320 HU/s
Difficulty: Easy
Priority: High

The Spy requires to be stealthy, otherwise he is exposed to the entire enemy team. He needs to either act like someone from the enemy team or he needs to hide extremely well to achieve his goals of killing important targets.
A single puff of flame can ruin a Spy's play. In case of an encounter, use your primary weapon to set him alight and neutralize him as fast as possible.

Tips & Tricks

• If a Spy goes invisible, don't try to pull off a combo on him. Tracking down with your primary weapon is much more accurate and it's almost guaranteed that you won't lose him.
  
• Spies are terrified from Pyros, so they usually stay far from you. This doesn't mean that you can't detect them.
  
• If you see a teammate going towards your battlefield, it's likely that he is a Spy. Go towards him to check if he is a Spy or not.
  
• Better Spies tend to disguise as a Scout, since that gives them full speed and low visibility.
  
• Spies disguised as Scouts have slower speed. This is a huge giveaway once you can distinguish the speed of a Scout and a speed of a Spy.
  
• Spies' Revolvers are deadly if used well, especially on medium range. Try to harass Spies with your secondary weapon to discourage them from attacking you.
  
• Spies with the Spy-cicle being active lose their knives once they contact flames, but they become immune to fire for 1 second and become immune to afterburn for 10 seconds. Even with all this, you can still track an invisible Spy, but it requires much more precision and awareness.
  
• The Dead Ringer gives the Spy speed boost to get away from you. Try to keep track of him with your primary weapon and nothing else. If he outran you, use any mobility weapons to get closer to him (if you know where he went).
  
• If the Spy escaped from you, try to go to nearby locations where health packs are found. They usually go there to refill their health.
  
• Better Spies can try to do a "trickstab" on you. Regardless of the type of the trickstab, you can always airblast them away from you to stop their attempts.

Orientation: Passive Damage
Ammo: 200
Ammo per airblast: 20
Pairs well with: Shotgun

The Flame Thrower is the default option for Pyro. It has the most amount of airblasts.
It's widely used because of it's airblast ammo cost and good afterburn damage. However, it's switch speed forces a much more passive playstyle, as you can't use secondaries that effectively.
The Shotgun is best used with this weapon, since it doesn't rely on already burning enemies.
The Nostromo Napalmer is a reskin of the Flame Thrower that can have a set bonus that does increased damage against the Isolationist Pack Set. You also take increased melee damage from the set owner. Unfortunately, not many people use these sets.
The Rainblower is another reskin that gives you pyrovision. It shoots rainbows, which can only be seen in Pyroland. It also has a powerful area taunt attack.

Orientation: Flank
Ammo: 200
Ammo per airblast: 50
Pairs well with: Thermal Thruster, Detonator

The Backburner deals critical damage from behind in a narrow angle. It also has a massively increased airblast cost.
The Backburner is a situational weapon that is best used in maps that have flank routes. It's notably useful on Payload, since you can get behind the payload and kill most of the enemies pushing the cart. It's airblast cost is extremely noticeable and even through you can pick up ammo packs from dead bodies, you will always run out of ammo really fast. Mobility weapons enhance this weapon's potential.

Orientation: Damage
Ammo: 200
Ammo per airblast: 25
Pairs well with: Flare Gun, Panic Attack, Axtinguisher

The Degreaser has an increased deploy and holster speed for the price of heavily decreased afterburn damage and slightly increased airblast cost.
The increased switch speed allows for a much more aggressive playstyle that heavily relies on secondaries. The airblast penalty isn't much of a problem because using 8 airblasts without picking up a single ammo pack is near impossible. The afterburn penalty only comes into play if your secondary isn't a Flare Gun (they increase the afterburn damage and duration respectively). It also makes advanced Pyro mechanics easier.

Orientation: Single-target damage
Ammo: 40
Ammo per airblast: 5
Pairs well with: Flare Gun(s)

The Dragon's Fury is a single-shot flamethrower that deals 300% damage on burning enemies (69-90). After a successful hit, it's recharge time is reduced (from 0.8 s to 0.53 s). It has a noticeably slower airblast rate and no random critical hits (hidden stat).
This weapon shines against enemies with high health (especially Heavies). However, it's still a single-shot flamethrower, meaning that crowd-control is almost non-existent, which is one of Pyro's main job. It's efficient against Pyros, because on two fast consecutive shots, you still get the increased damage bonus. It's best used with the Flare Gun, where you can combo 2 consecutive hits and a flare to deal a total of ~200 damage, enough to kill a Soldier.

Orientation: Crowd-control
Ammo: 200
Ammo per airblast: -
Pairs well with: Manmelter, Scorch Shot, Detonator

The Phlogistinator offers guaranteed critical hits for 10 seconds (taunt included) after it's Mmmph bar is filled by dealing 300 fire damage to enemies. However, this flamethrower has no airblast and random critical hits.
The best way to fill up the Mmmph bar is to spam enemies with the Scorch Shot or the Detonator. The guaranteed critical hits are nice, but no airblast is a huge disadvantage once you realize how useful airblast really is. This weapon requires you to be more hidden than ever, as your attack is much more efficient if it's sudden. Try to activate your Mmmph by hiding in a corner or activate it via one of the cancellation methods. (see: Advanced: Phlogistinator taunt cancellation)
You can close the gap between you and your enemy with the Detonator. However, if you want to support your team with extinguishes, then you should use the Manmelter.

Orientation: Damage
Ammo: 32/6
Pairs well with: Flame Thrower

The Pyro's default choice of secondary, the Shotgun, is mainly used for consistent damage dealing.
It's one of the best choices for close ranged combat against multiple enemies. It doesn't require the enemy to be burning to be used effectively, which is why it pairs well with the default Flame Thrower. It's also a great damage dealer on medium range, just don't run out of ammo because the reload time is long.

Orientation: Damage
Ammo: 32/6
Pairs well with: Degreaser

The Panic Attack deploys way faster, has a fixed pattern and it shoots more bullets. It does less damage and the successive shots become less accurate.
This weapon is the best choice against Heavies. The Degreaser can be used to shoot flames and quickly switch to the Panic Attack to shoot and vica versa, dealing massive single target damage. However, it is advised to use this weapon on close range only due to the damage penalty.

Orientation: Damage
Ammo: 32/4
Pairs well with: Degreaser

The Reserve Shooter deals mini-crit damage launched by knockback (except by airblast) and it deploys 20% faster for the price of reduced clip size.
The increased damage is only useful against a team full of Soldiers or if you are playing Passtime or Mannpower. The faster deploy time is useful, but the clip size is already too much of an issue to even count. However, it pairs well with the Degreaser for an even further increased switch speed.

Orientation: Damage
Ammo: 16/1
Pairs well with: Degreaser, Dragon's Fury

The Flare Gun is capable of dealing critical damage to enemies who are on fire.
Most flare guns work much better on long range than other secondaries. However, this weapon requires the most amount of precision and prediction out of the 4 flare guns. Mastering this weapon is extremely rewarding, as it has a lot of advanced techniques to learn.

Orientation: Mobility
Ammo: 16/1
Pairs well with: Phlogistinator, Axtinguisher

The Detonator is a flare gun that is capable of doing a small jump while also dealing mini-crit damage to enemies on fire.
This is the middle ground between the Thermal Thruster and the Flare Gun. It provides damage and mobility at the same time, which can be used extremely well by an experienced player.
The jump can be also used to close the gap between you and the enemy. (see: Detonator jump)

Orientation: Area denial
Ammo: 16/1
Pairs well with: Phlogistinator

The Scorch Shot is a flare gun that has splash damage which deals mini-crit damage on burning targets.
The Scorch Shot is best used as a spam weapon, rather than a close ranged combat weapon. This forces you to rely more on your primary, which most likely lacks high burst damage. However, it's insanely powerful when used together with the Phlogistinator, because you can quickly refill your Mmmph bar with it. This weapon is especially good against enemy Snipers. The weapon can do a basic jump that is less powerful than the Detonator jump. (see: Scorch Shot jump)

Orientation: Support damage
Ammo: Infinite
Pairs well with: Phlogistinator

The Manmelter can extinguish teammates for one guaranteed critical hit. It has an extremely fast projectile that doesn't require ammo.
This weapon is useful when you have the Phlogistinator equipped, since you can extinguish teammates with it. However, it's only good when the enemy has a lot of Pyros and not just one or two. It's the best weapon to harass Snipers due to the projectile's insanely fast speed and easy predictability.

Orientation: Mobility
Ammo: 2
Pairs well with: Backburner

The Thermal Thruster is a high-mobility utility weapon that launches the Pyro in the air. After land, it deals damage to enemies and knocks them away. It has two charges.
Even through it has a high deploy and holster time, it's very useful for getting around the map. The knockback is not necessarily useful. If you land on enemies, you deal 10 + 3 * falling damage, which is deadly. It requires precision though.

Orientation: Area denial
Ammo: 1
Pairs well with: Dragon's Fury

The Gas Passer is a utility weapon that charges over time and by damage. When thrown, it leaves a gas cloud. If an enemy enters into the cloud, he will be soaked in gas and every damage done to him will set him alight.
This weapon can hold back an entire team from pushing through a chokepoint. However, this weapon cannot be used on maps with a lot of open area. The recharge time (60 seconds / 750 damage) is long as well and it forces you to deal damage with your primary and melee only.

Orientation: Damage

The Pyro's default melee weapon, the Fire Axe, deals 65 damage on hit.
This weapon deals basic damage and has no utility purposes.
It's not advised to use this weapon, everything else is better.
The Lollichop takes you to Pyroland, but can also only be seen there.

Orientation: Damage

The Third Degree deals damage to everyone who is connected with a Medic's healing beam.
This is the only weapon that is a straight upgrade from the default choice with no downsides. During regular gameplay, it doesn't come in handy. However, it's extremely useful against an enemy (usually Heavies) that have lots of Medics connected to them. In this case, use any secondary weapon that enhances mobility to get closer to your target. Outside this, it's only useful in Mann vs. Machine.

Orientation: Damage

The Axtinguisher deals 33% less damage and it has a 35% slower holster speed. However, hitting a burning enemy will do mini-crit damage based on the remaining afterburn duration. It gives a speed boost on kill.
The holster speed is noticeable, but the weapon is still great to use. The speed boost is useful for chaining Axtinguisher kills. It's best to shoot a lot of flames right before you would hit the enemy as it will cause more damage. This weapon can be used well with the Degreaser and the Detonator.

Orientation: Support

It deals 100% increased damage against buildings and it's capable of removing sappers. However, it deals less damage to enemy players.
This is the ultimate support weapon. You can remove sappers in just a single hit from friendly buildings, which is especially useful when the Engineer isn't around. If you are helping an Engineer who is alive and his buildings are being sapped, kill the Spy first and then remove the sapper if needed. It deals 130 damage to buildings, which makes it capable of destroying all buildings in just 2 hits.

Orientation: Support

The Neon Annihilator has the same statistics as the Homewrecker, but instead of the extra building damage, it does critical damage against wet enemies.
This weapon is best used on maps where there's a lot of water, like on Banana Bay. However, if there is no water on the map, it's better to use the Homewrecker.

Orientation: Mobility
The Powerjack gives a speed bonus while the weapon is active, but also gives 20% damage vulnerability. When an enemy is killed with this weapon, the wielder receives 25 health.
This weapon is easily the best melee weapon for generic usage. It provides faster movement speed when going out to the battlefield and the downside is only applied if the weapon is active. The extra health gain is especially useful when attacking enemies who are weak and not paying attention to you.

Orientation: Solo healing / Damage

The Back Scratcher has a 25% damage bonus and a 50% increased health gain from health packs. However, the wielder gets reduced healing from Medics.
This weapon is really great for solo Pyros, who don't take the advantage of nearby Medics (or if there isn't any). However, it's also a good weapon for building Über.

Orientation: Damage

The Sharpened Volcano Fragment sets enemies on fire for the price of 20% less damage.
The upside is negligible, since you already have a flamethrower that does just that and there are much better options anyways. It's not worthy to use outside Medieval mode.

Orientation: Mobility

The Hot Hand deals 14% (theoretically it's 20%, but it appears to be less) less damage, but it gives you a speed boost upon a successful hit.
The speed boost is useful for repositioning, but it's more of a humiliation weapon. The 56 damage isn't done in one hit and while the time between the two slap is much less than a second, it's possible to miss one of the two,which halves the damage.

Weapon: Rainblower
Length: 5 seconds
Loudness: Moderate
Can kill multiple enemies: Yes
Can destroy buildings: Yes

The Armageddon is one of the two taunt attacks that can kill in an area.
One of the key features of this taunt is that the damage is halved for every enemy in the circle provided by the taunt (from 400). If the enemy isn't dead, then afterburn will be applied.



Weapon: Any secondary except Thermal Thruster and Scorch Shot
Length: 3 seconds
Loudness: Loud
Can kill multiple enemies: Yes
Can destroy buildings: Yes

Hadouken is one of the shortest taunt attacks in the game.
This is Pyro's most effective taunt attack. Even if the taunt itself is loud, most enemies won't notice it because they are busy fighting in the battlefield.



Weapon: Scorch Shot
Length: 4 seconds
Loudness: Silent
Can kill multiple enemies: No
Can destroy buildings: No

The Execution is a unique type of taunt attack that only kills instantly on short range.
Beyond that, the attack deals 20 damage (plus afterburn). This is the only taunt attack that is affected by your vertical view.



Weapon: Thermal Thruster
Length: 6 seconds
Loudness: Silent
Can kill multiple enemies: Yes
Can destroy buildings: Yes

The Gas Blast is a completely silent, but extremely long taunt attack.
Even if it's silent, it's length makes this taunt completely ineffective. If the stars align, you can get a hilarious kill with this taunt.

While Pyro has a high potential in close-range combat, he lacks mobility and repositioning abilities. He's also really weak in long-range combat.
These weaknesses can be a bit softened:

• Long-range damage is limited: Using any Flare Guns
  
• Low mobility: Using the Detonator and/or the Powerjack

Weapons
For competitive, the most effective weapons are the following:


9v9 (Highlander)
Role: Protect the Medic and the Engineer, shut down spies and make occasional flanks.
In highlander Pyro has a supportive role. He heavily relies on other classes to protect him as much as other classes rely on him.

7v7 (Prolander)
Role: Protect the Medic, reflect projectiles.
In 7v7, there can only be one class and therefore Pyro is widely used.

6v6 (Standard Competitive)
Role: Deny projectile spam.
Pyro is considered an off-class in 6v6. It's usually used on last point, where the Pyro's lack of mobility isn't considered as a disadvantage. It can also be used to deny the enemy uber.

4v4
Role: Protect the medic.
In 4v4, Pyro has much more potential than in 6v6 due to the limits of classes. Pyro is usually played instead of the Demoman because it has a mildly higher damage potential.

Pyro needs to use only one weapon during the entire game: his Flame Thrower.
The rest of his weapons are pure utility.

The Flame Thrower is reliable. It has a balance between damage and airblast.
The Degreaser is the worst choice for MvM, as you will never need the extra switch speed.
The Backburner is a viable weapon because of it's ability to deal critical damage to robots from behind. It has airblast, but it costs 50 ammo each.
The Dragon's Fury's strength comes in when fighting with giant robots. However, it's unable to deal damage to crowds.
The Phlogistinator offers guaranteed critical hits from simply damaging robots. As of now,
it's the most powerful MvM weapon for the Pyro.

The Shotgun has high damage close range but has no utility purposes.
The Reserve Shooter is just like the shotgun, except it deals mini-crit damage to airborne enemies. It has no use on Pyro in MvM.
The Panic Attack shoots more pellets but deals less damage. Again, it has no utility.
The Thermal Thruster is a utility made for one thing: mobility. This tool might be for you if you prefer movement over damage.
The Gas Passer, paired with "Explode on ignite" upgrade is insanely powerful, but it's pricey. Keep in mind that you will get hated for using it (for whatever reason).
The Manmelter allows the Pyro to extinguish people for a guaranteed critical hit. It may be useful during rounds where there's a lot of Pyro bots, but otherwise there are better utilities.
The Flare gun allows the Pyro to deal critical damage to burning enemies. This, paired with fast reload speed can be a great damaging tool while you are far away from the battlefield.
The Scorch shot is capable of denying areas due to it's high knockback. Again, paired with fast reload speed: the effect is enhanced. It also gives a smaller Detonator jump. Using this might get you some hate too.
The Detonator is versatile weapon. It's the middle-ground between the Flare gun and the Thermal Thruster, allowing damage and mobility at the same time.
Upgrading "Jump height" allows for huge jumps when used it with this weapon.

The Fire Axe does basic damage and has no utility.
The Sharpened Volcano Fragment sets targets on fire for the price of lowered damage.
It serves no purpose in MvM.
The Back Scratcher allows you to collect more health from health packs, but you will receive less healing from Medics. Players in MvM rely on Medics, so this weapon is somewhat useless.
The Axtinguisher offers mini-crit damage on burning enemies. It has no real purpose in MvM other than using the speed boost after a kill.
The Hot Hand gives you speed boost on a successful hit. It's damage is negligible, but the speed boost could be used efficiently.
The Homewrecker's sapper removal ability may come in handy when the Engineer is dead.
The Third Degree allow you to kill connected Medics by hitting any of the connected enemy. Paired with guaranteed critical hits (canteen, Kritzkrieg), this weapon is insanely powerful when there's no Demoman around.
The Powerjack is a simple tool for mobility. Wielding it gives you a small speed boost, but also some vulnerability.



Important upgrades
Resistance allows the Pyro to survive longer. This is important because Pyro is already a suicide class due to his close range and low survivability.
Damage is needed. While Pyro's Flame Thrower is capable of dishing out massive damage to multiple robots at once, it's lack of single target damage output will need upgrade.
Health on Kill is the most important upgrade for crowd-control. Pyros can easily die between 50 robots but with this upgrade you can get health from each robot. This should be one of your first things to upgrade.

Worthy upgrades:
Movement speed allows the Pyro to quickly go from one point to another. He heavily relies on movement as he's a close range class, so upgrading this is not a bad idea.
Ammo capacity gives the Pyro more time to spend on the battlefield. This mainly comes in effect around tanks, where the Engineer may not have his dispenser around.
Airblast force increases the airblast's effectiveness. This may only come in handy if you aren't using the Phlogistinator. It is a cheap upgrade and every now and then it can save games.
Jump height increases the size of your jumps. Pairing it with the Detonator, you can jump insane heights for the same price of 40 health.

Ineffective upgrades:
Burn time allows the Pyro to extend afterburn. Using afterburn in MvM has no real purpose.
Burn damage simply increases damage caused by afterburn. Using afterburn in MvM has no real purpose.

Tips & Tricks:

• Jumping on top of robots and quickly activating the Phlogistinator's Mmmph bar allows you to skip the taunt almost entirely.
  
• Circling around giant robots is an effective strategy as they usually don't have high turn speed. Upgrading "Movement speed" enhances this effect. (Note: this may not work on melee bots)
  
• Just like in normal games, you are the main counter of Spies. It's even better, since incoming spies are announced.

Maximum achievable height: 170 HU
The jump can be done by doing the exact same as you would do in a normal rocket jump (or a Detonator jump), but the jump will be tinier (CTRL + SPACE + MOUSE1).
You can do a c-tap, but the height difference it gives is almost negligible.

You need to look at your surrounding.
Some jumps may seem impossible with the Scorch shot, but using some props can help you reach your destination. Here's a Scorch Shot jump video with examples made by VAVLIE.

Ground-shot
Maximum achievable height: 246 HU, 254 HU with c-tap
This method is the simplest: it only requires you to shoot at your feet (CTRL + SPACE + MOUSE1).
It takes away 23-44 health, depending on how close you were to the projectile.
Just like rocket jump, you can do a c-tap as well.

Self-detonation
Maximum achievable height: 271 HU
This requires you to shoot the projectile right behind/below you and detonate (MOUSE2) it immediately after (CTRL + SPACE + MOUSE1 + MOUSE2).
This sends you further than the first method, but it's easier to mess up too.
You can't do a c-tap using this method.

Pyro on the left used self-detonation, while the Pyro on the right used ground-shot without c-tap.

You can get creative with this method. Try to reach places where you originally couldn't reach.
As a starter, here's a playlist made by VAVLIE.

This requires a moving enemy.
It can simply be done by jumping on top of another's head and the taunting immediately. A bit of stealth and precision is required for this method.



This requires a building and knowledge of it's health.
You can do it by taunting on a building right before it would be destroyed. This can be done especially easily if damage indicator is on.



This can be done on Payload maps that have areas with low ceilings.
This requires you to be on the edge of the payload cart (backside). When you reach a place where you would be knocked off, taunt as late as possible. It is extremely difficult to do alone, but it's much easier to do if there are teammates pushing the cart.

It's best used against better players.
Once the enemy finds out that the Pyro can reflect their projectiles, they generally start to attack the Pyro with their secondary weapons. However, switching to a secondary weapon makes the enemy think that they can use their primary weapon again. Once they do, the Pyro can switch to his primary to reflect a potential projectile.

Reflecting the second projectile instead of the first one is usually more successful.
This is especially true when the you doesn't use the Degreaser. Try to time the second shot of the enemy.

This is best used with the Degreaser.
The increased switch speed helps the surprise factor even more. If you have fast reaction time, you can even try to reflect the enemy's first projectile instead of the second one.

An average rocket jump costs you 70-110 health, plus the fall damage.
Make sure you have at least 140 health.

In order to rocket jump, you need to do the same as you were a Soldier, but this time you use someone else's rocket.
You need to understand how to do a normal rocket jump as a Soldier first.
CTRL + SPACE + MOUSE1 + A/D. (roughly)

As a Pyro, the only thing that changes is the fire button.
CTRL + SPACE + MOUSE2 + A/D.

You can achieve maximum height by going in front off the rocket and then quickly flicking to the position of the rocket and press the keys mentioned above.
If you don't flick, you won't be able to control yourself as much.

This type of rocket jump is way more powerful than a regular rocket jump.
It sends you approximately 1.5-1.75 times further.

This could be used to pick important targets, such as Medics and Snipers.
Medics wouldn't expect a flying Pyro coming towards them, so try to kill the Medic quickly.
You can deal high burst damage with the Flare Gun in just a second, leaving the medic with around 40-50 health. After that, you can just use the Flame Thrower against him.

You can do a sync jump by using 2 rockets.
This deals lethal damage to you unless you are overhealed. If you ever manage to do it once,
you will most likely hit the skybox, because the knockback force is ridiculous.



Rocket Jump practice map, recommended stages: 1-2.

An average Grenade Jump costs you 100-140 health, plus the fall damage.
Make sure you have maximum health.

In order to Grenade Jump, you need to do the same as you were a Demoman but this time you use someone else's grenade.
You need to understand how to do a normal grenade jump as a Demoman first.
CTRL + SPACE + A/D.

The hardest part in grenade jumping is the timing.
First, you need to determine whether the grenade is safe to reflect. It may explode right in your face, which is unfortunate. The fuse time of the grenade is 2.3 seconds (1.4 seconds for the Iron Bomber), so if it's coming from far, you may not be able to surf it. Unlike rocket jumping, it doesn't require you to flick all the time (it depends on the remaining fuse time). After the reflect, the grenade will start to roll. It depends on the Demoman's choice of weapon, whether you need to predict the grenade's movement or not.

This type of grenade jump is way more powerful than a regular grenade jump.
It sends you approximately 2-3 times further.

An average cannonball jump costs you 80-120 health, plus the fall damage.
Make sure you have at least 150 health.

In order to rocket jump, you need to do the same as you were a Demoman, but this time you use someone else's cannonball.
You need to understand how to do a normal cannonball jump as a Demoman first.
CTRL + SPACE + A/D.

The cannonball jumps requires extreme knowledge of the Loose Cannon or the jump's execution will be based on luck
The standard fuse time is 1 second, but it can be changed by the Demoman. If you want to do this jump, you may only do it if the Demoman isn't a direct threat to you. If he sees you, he may shorten the fuse time and the projectile will do increased damage to you when you reflect it.

This type of cannonball jump is way more powerful than a regular cannonball jump.
It sends you approximately 2 times further.

An average sticky jump costs you 60-144 health, plus the fall damage.
Make sure you have at least 160 health.

In order to rocket jump, you need to do the same as you were a Demoman, but this time you use someone else's rocket.
You need to understand how to do a normal sticky jump as a Demoman first.
CTRL + SPACE + MOUSE2 + A/D.

The stickybomb is the only projectile that won't change teams when it's reflected and it also won't receive the mini-crit bonus.
Make sure you won't damage your team with the sticky that you just reflected.

The stickybomb has to be manually detonated by the Demoman himself.
This can lead to awkward situations, where you want to surf the stickybomb but the Demoman won't detonate it. There's a higher chance that a more experienced Demoman will detonate the stickybomb faster than a newer player would do.

You won't travel further from the explosion.
This makes it a bit less effective than other jumps.

How-to
You need a general understanding of flames to learn this skill.
Pyros are immune to afterburn, however they aren't immune to flames in general. This can be abused by quickly switching to your Flare gun while the Pyro is still contacting the flame particles.
This way, he will be registered as a "burning" target, and the Flare gun will do a critical hit on him.
Predicting movement is the most reliable way to pull this off.



Reverse Flare punch
You need a general understanding of switch speed to learn this skill.
You can counter a Flare punch by actively shooting flames to the target and then reflecting the enemy's flare.

How-to
You need a general understanding of flames to learn this skill.
Pyros are immune to afterburn, however they aren't immune to flames in general. This means, if you hit a Pyro with the Axtinguisher at the exact moment when the Pyro is on fire, you can land a mini-crit on him. This can be done by predicting his movement.
One method is to shoot the flames on the ground, forcing the Pyro to contact more flame particles.



Another method is to send up the Pyro via airblast. This makes predicting far easier.



Another method is to act like a Spy and trickstab the Pyro.



Reverse Flare punch Axtinguisher kill on Pyro.
Flare punch can be negated by reflecting the flare before it would hit you.
If you ignite the Pyro before airblasting his projectile, you can do a Reverse Flare punch.
You can pair this with the Axtinguisher to pretty much insta-kill the Pyro.



Note: Pyros will always receive the smallest amount of mini-crit damage due to how afterburn affects them. Tested damage number is approximately 76. (?)

Basics
The basic maneuver depends on the target's status, whether he's burning or not.
If he's burning, you can use the Detonator to get close to him and use the Axtinguisher to kill him.
However, if he's not, you can shoot a puff of flames that will ignite your enemy. This should be right after you've done your Detonator jump.

Creativity
You can go absolutely nuts using this method, finding creative ways to kill enemies.
Here are a few methods of doing so:

This can only be done in maps where sewers can be found.
2Fort is one example where sewers can be found.

Pulling this off requires some knowledge of surfing.
You can find a basic surf tutorial here.
In short, you need to hold A or D to stay on a slope. For this jump, this is all that matters.

You need to do a Detonator or Scorch Shot jump to get on the sewer's side.
After this, depending on which wall you are touching, you need to hold A and D. It requires some practice to do it constantly.

If the sewer has water, you can use the Neon Annihilator to get guaranteed critical hits on enemies that are wet.
This makes the jump a bit more useful and practical.

If you did it perfectly, you will be faster than a Scout.
Jumping perfectly is hard, but it's rewarding, since you can always catch up to enemies.

Video demonstration and tutorial of sewer surfing

Using the Flare gun, you can spawn the projectile inside the wall, which if you are close enough: will blow up.
It can only damage you, the shooter. If you kill yourself with this method, it will show the Detonator's kill icon.

It's only possible to do the jump on solid brushes or displacements which are parallel with the X and Y axis.
You can't pull it off on objects, enemies and any solid surface areas that are rotated. Some brushes have invisible walls in front off them for mostly decorative/gameplay enhancing purposes: you can't jump from those walls either.

If you found the correct wall, you need to line up in a certain direction with the wall.
This area is around the Pyro's pelvis and a bit above and below (if next to the wall).
Line up and press your crouch, jump and fire button at the same time.

Video tutorial by sketchek
Jumps on several maps by sketchek

In order to do it, you need to airblast an enemy to the ground right before you land on him while also having some velocity.
The enemy should be airblasted 90 degrees down the ground or it will be harder to perform. This will cause the enemy to bounce off the ground. The hardest part is to actually land on the enemy at the right time, which is the brief second of him bouncing off the ground.



It can be done simply by jumping on top of another's head.
This gives the least velocity. If you don't have any jumping tools, this is most likely your only option to go with. In this case, try to position yourself so the enemy can't see you.



The Scorch Shot gives a medium boost to the airblast jump.
It's the middle ground between nothing and the Detonator. It's important to note that performing airblast jump while also maintaining velocity with this weapon is much easier.



The Detonator gives the largest boost out of the three methods.
Get maximum velocity out of the jump by staying far from the enemy.



It's much easier to do it on non-moving targets.
Perfectly bouncing off a moving enemy is extremely difficult, but it's possible.



You can chain airblast jumps infinitely.
As long as you can keep up the consistency.

This one is the same as a regular sync rocket jump, but with 3 rockets.
You barely survive even if you are overhealed. The knockback force is insane.



One can be done by reflecting 2 grenades at the exact same time.
This jump can only be done if you are fully overhealed, which makes it impractical. However, this type of Pyro jump sends you the furthest and hitting the skybox is guaranteed.



A Sync cannonball jump can be done by reflecting and surfing 2 projectiles of the Loose Cannon at the same time.
This requires the Pyro to be overhealed. It's difficult to do because it's extremely rare that two Demomen will use the Loose Cannon during the same match, let alone shoot 2 cannonballs at the same time at you.



This type of jump can be performed by hitting an airborne enemy with a Scorch Shot projectile and then performing a regular Scorch shot jump while timing the other projectile as well.
The hardest part is to do the jump without any enemies disturbing you. Since this jump already requires an enemy to come into play, it's difficult to get any use of this jump. It can be used along with the Axtinguisher though. As expected, this sends you two times further as a regular Scorch Shot jump would otherwise do.



It can be done by shooting a Detonator projectile up the air, wait until it comes down and then do self-detonate jump.
This requires an extremely difficult timing. It's impracticality comes from the fact that the skybox needs to be at least 8000 hammer units high. Currently none of the official maps have this.
As expected, this sends you two times further as a regular Detonator jump would otherwise do.



A regular Short Circuit jump can be done by shooting an energy orb to the point where an enemy and the ground meets, but hits you as well. Since the orb can be reflected, the jump can be done as a Pyro as well.
This jump is already inconsistent enough because most enemies will be moving anyways. Doing this as a Pyro makes it even worse, since you need to reflect one (which requires an Engineer to use the weapon against you). This jump is a bit stronger than the Detonator jump.

The more the rocket gets reflected, the faster it gets, therefore the more fun it will be!
The speed of the rocket is measured in mph and/or admin speed. It usually starts off at 30-50 mph and there's no upper limit (as long as your game won't crash). An average player can get to 100-200 mph, skilled Dodgeball players can get to unreal speeds, the limit depends on the server's plugin.

Community servers can be found by searching for the map prefix "tfdb".
One example of a famous map is tfdb_octagon_a7.

There's a full Dodgeball guide for players who really want to dig deep into this gamemode, available here.
Guide made by invisible orange.

Pyro's wiki page
Basic strategies
Advanced strategies
Know your enemies (wiki ver.)
Know your weakness
Airblast
Airblast tutorial
Environmental hazards
Projectiles
How to cancel the Phlogistinator's taunt
Competitive Pyro in general[comp.tf]
Pyro's weapons in Competitive
Competitive 6v6 Pyro wiki[comp.tf]
Competitive Highlander Pyro wiki[comp.tf]
Reflect jump practice map
Reflect practice[gamebanana.com]
Scorch Shot jumps
Detonator jumps
Detonator jump practice map
Detonator usages in practice
Detonator jump practice configs
C-tap tutorial (Detonator/Scorch)
Surfing tutorial
Sewer surfing tutorial
Flare jump tutorial by sketchek
Flare jump examples by sketchek
Detailed Dodgeball guide by invisible orange