Playing a Pyro in Mann vs Machine is a lot different than playing the class in the normal game. Of course all the classes play different in this mode, but with the Pyro it’s much more extreme. With most classes the skills from the MP side translate to Mann vs Machine with only a few, if any adjustments. A Sniper still headhots, Soldiers still unleash a storm of rockets and can Rocket Jump across the map to gain an advantage, Engineers still build nest and support the team. Not so for the Pyro. A Pyro’s most important skill, in my opinion, is situational awareness. The ability to know when to press an attack, when to hit and run and when to get the hell out of Dodge. When faced with a horde of robots that just run forward to attack, tactics meant for fighting other players just don’t work. This guide was written to help people learn what DOES work.

Things are that different enough in Mann vs Machine the Pyro needs to adopt a new role in the team, Tank Killer. For continual fire on a Tank, there is no other class that can do the same level damage that a Pyro can. It may come as a surprise to some players that Tanks have a damage resistance to the Mini Gun and it only does 25% of its normal damage. A Heavy would do better using a shotgun or punching a Tank rather than using his Mini Gun. While the Tank does not take afterburn damage, it does take full damage from Flamethrowers and the best Flamethrower to use against the Tank is the Phlogistinator. The reason the Phlog is so good at the Tank Killing role is when it becomes Crit Boosted. The process goes like this. The Pyro damages enemy robots or the Tank to full the “Mmmph” meter. When the meter is full the Pyro makes a alt fire attack that activates the crit boost for the Phlog. After a short taunt animation, all damage done by the Phlog is crit boosted for 10 seconds, minus the length of the taunt, so it’s about seven or eight seconds. When the Phlog’s crit boost ends the Pyro can continue to damage the Tank to refill the “Mmmph” meter.

Now, there are some differences in filling the “Mmmph” meter from the main game. A Pyro needs to do either 1,200 points of damage to robots, or 2,000 points of damage to a Tank to fill the meter. (In normal game play it’s only 300 points.) As you can see by the numbers it’s faster to fill the meter doing damage to robots than a Tank. A Phlog Pyro shouldn’t just be doing damage just to fill up the "Mmmph" meter and should be doing their utmost to help the other mercenaries. This means getting up close to the robots and destroying them. The biggest problem is surviving long enough to do damage. This means a Pyro should invest in damage resistance and possibly increasing their speed. Before a Tank shows up, increasing the damage output is less important because when a Pyro fills the "Mmmph" meter and becomes crit boosted, they can tear though a group of regular robots with incredible speed and even savage Giant Robots. Getting close enough to do that damage is the trick though.

A common tactic used by Phlog Pyro’s to build "Mmmph" quickly is to use a “Critical Hit Boost” Canteen they purchased at the Upgrade Station. A Pyro will activate the Canteen and get five seconds of critical damage. By the time that runs out the Pyro should have a full "Mmmph" Meter. Then the Pyro can activate the Plog’s crit boost for even more damage. Then repeat as often as needed to kill the Tank (or whatever the Pyro was fighting). If the Pyro does not have any Crit Canteen charges left, a Medic equipped with a Kritzkrieg can be a huge help. And given that the boost from the Kritzkrieg last longer than the crit boost from a Canteen this is really the most optimal way to go. Lastly, many Soldiers will carry a Buff Banner in Mann vs Machine. If the Soldier is smart, they will try to stay near to the Tank to support the team as they try and take it down. While the Buff Banner only gives Mini-Crit damage, it is still a nice boost to the damage the Pyro can do to a Tank.

It is notable that tests that have been done when a Pyro attacks a Tank at point blank range. If attacking from the front, the Pyro will do more damage if they aim upwards somewhat because of how the hit boxes work. This in theory could change at some point.

Of course, a Pyro does not have to use a Phlog. Shocking to some people I am sure. While the other Flamethrowers are not as good at killing Tanks, they are more useful fighting the robots in some respects due to a mechanic that the Pyro has, the Airblast. Airblasting and Knock Back weapons have their own section. But what else can a Pyro do? An effective, if more situational way for a Pyro to do a lot of damage quickly is to use a Backburner. If a Pyro can get directly behind a robot the Backburner does critical damage. This means that anything other than a Giant Robot is going to die very quickly. The problem of course is getting behind the robots, but many maps makes this easy with the entry points for the robots being at the top of a cliff. This means the robots drop onto the map and a Pyro can put their back to the cliff wall and the robots will drop down right in front of them. Some of these maps are Decoy, Coal Town and Mannhattan. Even without the Backburner getting on the back of the robots is a good idea as the robot can’t shoot the Pyro.

Getting on the back of the robots is not without risk though. The Pyro is isolated from the rest of the team and will not be able to get much support. The Pyro will also rarely be able to get more ammunition or find a Health Pack. Or course the Engineer’s Dispenser is a long way off as well. About the only hope for support is a Medic who is able to hit the Pyro with a shot from the Crossbow. There is another problem as well. While the Pyro is getting on the back of the robots, more robots will probably be entering the map. And those robots will then be on the Pyro’s back. Let’s face it, being a Pyro in Mann vs Machine isn’t the easiest thing.

Airbalsting and the knock back (Referred to as just “airblasting” for brevity) caused by some Pyros’s is a MAJOR source of controversy and for good reason. Airblasting as a mechanic can be very useful. A Pyro can force a robot with the Bomb away from the hatch, knock robots into one of the many pits on the different maps or reflect rockets. These are good things, right? Well, they are good things. The problem is that some Pyro’s think it’s a good idea to Airblast All. The. Damn. Time. Enemy robot enters the map, it gets airblasted back. Robots a third of the way up the map, airblast all of them back to the start. That’s a good thing, right? No, it is Not. While the Pyro is airblasting, they are not causing damage.

More importantly, airblasting all the robots knocks them around and make it more difficult for everyone else to target the robots. Having an airblasting Pyro around is *hell* for a Sniper and they have every right to be angry when they have their head shots being ruined time and time again. I was once in a game with a Pyro who use an upgraded Scorch Shot (Full Reload Speed Firing Speed upgrades) to knock away a robot carrying the bomb when it was at second stage/third stages. Another player and myself were tying to kill it (it was the last robot of the wave) and neither of us could land enough hits to overcome the robot's health regeneration. It took *several minutes* to kill the robot because the idiot Pyro refused to stop knocking it around.

Now part of this is VALVe’s fault. The huge problem with the airblasting (at the time this was written) is that it effects all the robots equally. That means a Giant Robot can be knocked around about as much as a small regular robot.

Airblasting is a good thing, but ONLY when it is proper to do so. And here are those times: Knocking a bomb carrying robot away from the Hatch. Knocking a robot into a Pit, particularly if it has the bomb. Extinguishing a teammate (Yeah, don’t forget to do this). Separating a Robot Medic from the robot it is healing, especially if it is Ubercharged. Reflecting rockets and Pipe Bombs fired by the robots. Knock away a Spy from the Engineer’s Buildings (unless the Engineer is about to kill them). You get picture, use airblast to help the team, not make things harder for them. And yes, helping the team means airblasting a Sentry Buster that is about to explode *away* from your teammates, not towards them.

Unlike with most other classes, the Pyro is designed to do damage over time. A Pyro sets an enemy on fire and withdraws to let them burn to death. This doesn’t work well in Mann vs Machine. The mercenaries need to kill as many robots as they can, as fast as they can, because even a robot that is on fire and going to die can still shoot. That means when upgrading upgrades that do the most damage the quickest are the best choice. Pick weapon damage over an increase in Burn Damage or Burn Time.

Stock Flamethrower and Re-skins: Good, but not great damage. Most often used by Pyros who are airblast happy unfortunately.

Backburner: Does Critical damage from the back, what’s not to like? It costs more to airblast, but that’s isn’t a major drawback. As a note, the Tank does not have a back and getting behind one with a Backburner does not mean you Critical damage to it.

Dragon’s Fury: Has a longer range than the flamethrowers, but requires hitting the same enemy several times in a row. Bad for facing a horde of Robot Scouts, much better to doing damage to a Giant Robot or Tank.

Degreaser: This weapon gives no real advantage in Mann vs Machine that is apparent and any other flamethrower is a better choice.

Phlogistinator: The premier Tank killing weapon of the Pyro.

Shotgun: This weapon gives the Pyro a fallback weapon if the Primay Weapon is out of ammunition.

Detonator: If the Pyro can detonate at the proper time this weapon can set a number of different robots on fire at the same time and Mini crit burning ones. Good for building "Mmmph" for the Phlogistinator without causing knock back that angers teammates. Upgrades that increase firing speed may not be good for this weapon as being able to detonate at the best time can be difficult when firing quickly.

Flare Gun: A weapon good for causing damage to Giant Robots as most other robots are too fast to get multiple hits on at range. With Reload and Firing Speed Upgrades this weapon can do a massive amount of damage to a single target (roughly 90 points a second!), but eats ammunition at a ferocious rate. When rapid firing, stand near a Dispenser.

Gas Passer: The best secondary weapon for the Pyro in Mann vs Machine. In fact, it is so good that many people consider it to be brokenly overpowered when upgraded. Some players will even call votes to kick a Pyro who uses it as it takes the fun out of the game.

Man Melter: While this gives the Pyro a weapon that can’t run out of ammunition, there are very few upgrades for this weapon limiting its usefulness. The greatest advantage of the Man Melter requires that a Teammate be set on fire and that the Pyro be close enough to extinguish them to get a guaranteed crit. I can’t recall seeing anyone use this weapon in Mann vs Machine.

Panic Attack: Very similar to the Stock Shotgun with a little more consistency in damage.

Reserve Shooter: Not many robots get thrown into the air which limits any benefit this weapon has. The Pyro would be better off with the Stock Shotgun.

Scorch Shot: Already covered in the section about “Airblasting and Knock Back”. In general not a good weapon to use.

Thermal Thruster: For getting around the map, this is the best thing the Pyro has other than a Teleporter. Can be useful against a Tank as the Taunt Attack does 500 points of damage. Of course the “Hadouken” attack Taunt does the same and performs the Taunt more quickly.

Melee Weapons are not used in Mann vs Machine to directly damage the robots very often. For the Pyro, the bonuses or special abilities some melee weapon are what makes them useful, not the damage done..

Fire Axe and Re-Skins: Basic melee weapon that gives no real benefit.

Axtinguisher/Postal Pummeler: Of limited use when fighting a robot with a lot of health and that is on fire. Usually getting close enough to get a melee hit on a robot is a Bad Idea.

Back Scratcher: This weapon does more damage and the Pyro gets 50% more health from Health Packs. The downside is healing by a Medic or Dispenser is 75% less. Really only a good idea for a Pyro that spends a lot of time away from the rest of the Team. The added 25% damage can be of some use against a Tank though.

Hot Hand: Bad Idea to be used against robots and doesn’t give any useful benefits.

Homewrecker/Maul: Can be useful on a map with a lot of Robot Spies and the Engineer has problems keeping his buildings un-sapped.

Neon Annihilator: Unless there is water on the map there is nothing this weapon can do that the Homewrecker/Maul can’t do better.

Powerjack: The main use for this is moving around the map more quickly. Most useful if there is no Engineer or the Teleporter is down. Many Pyros use this.

Sharpened Volcano Fragment: The only melee weapon that is worse than the Hot Hand for Mann vs Machine.

Third Degree: The only time this weapon’s special ability would of use would be against Robot Medics. There are better choices in most cases.

Team Fortress 2 in general and Mann vs Machine in particular are team based games. If one player isn’t helping the team, they are hurting the team and everyone loses in the end. This does not mean you have to be the perfect player and no one should expect you to be one. (If they do, they are a toxic player and you are best playing with other people.) Everyone makes mistakes, but the important part is trying to learn from them and do your best while having fun at the same time.