Team Fortress 2 Pyro Guide
January 16, 2008
The Pyro is a gifted close range fighter with a knack for setting things on fire. He is equipped with his trusty Flamethrower, a Shotgun, a Fire Ax, a fire-proof suit, and a decent supply of health. Skilled players can unlock his true power and defeat several enemies at once.
1. Weapons
The Pyro has been given a decent armory that consists of a Flamethrower, a Shotgun, and a Fire Ax. The Flamethrower has a short range, and does more and more damage the closer it gets to its target. At point blank range the Flamethrower can any opponent in less than two seconds. The reason that it gets so powerful at close range is due to the fact that it uses up lots of ammunition in a small amount of time. Even at a slight distance, the Flamethrower can still set an enemy on fire, making them take additional damage after getting hit. It has a limited range, so be sure that you are close before you shoot. Also, it doesn’t work underwater (big surprise), so try not to be submerged unless you absolutely have to. The Pyro’s Shotgun is just like every other Shotgun, so no use explaining what it does. It is useful to mention though, that it is much more deadly than your Flamethrower when your enemy starts running away. Since almost every class is the same speed or faster than the Pyro, the Flamethrower becomes useless when you try to run up to someone. If you aren’t close enough to hit them, use the Shotgun. It’s that simple. As for the Fire Ax, don’t bother about using it for any special purposes, since the Flamethrower does more damage, and doesn’t require as much aim. If you’re out of ammo, desperate, or have some other reason for using it, then go ahead and use it. You can learn the hard way why they call it a “Pyro” and not an “Ax Guy.” All that said, the Ax does deal a good amount of damage, it’s just unlikely that you’ll ever need to use it.
2. Defense
When you’re playing as a Pyro, and you need to guard a capture point or a flag, just whip out your Flamethrower, hide in a corner somewhere, and wait. Wait for a long time. When an enemy, or a group of enemies, gets close, you’ll know what to do. If you want to do something more fun, you can run around shooting anyone you see at your base, even your own teammates, and see if anyone catches on fire. If they do, then just keep shooting, you’ve just found a spy.
3. Offense
If you decide to rush out as a Pyro, and shoot anyone you see, you’ll just succeed in getting yourself killed. The whole point of Team Fortress 2 is to use strategy, so stop and think before you run outside after you die, and always ask yourself three questions: “Where are the large clusters of enemies going to be on this map?”, “Did I see any Medics before I got killed?”, and most importantly “Where are the good hiding places?” You want to know where enemies cluster up, such as a doorway or tunnel, in order to find the best place to shoot them at. You want to know if there are enemy Medics so you don’t end up shooting someone who just gets healed. Hiding places are good because they give you an extra two seconds before an enemy can see you shooting at them. Once you know the answers to all three of those questions, you can set out on the map. Simply head towards the good hiding place near a place where enemies cluster up, wait for an enemy to pass by, shoot at Medics before anyone else, otherwise they’ll heal everyone, and once everyone’s burnt to a crisp, you run to a hiding place closer to your goal.
4. Retreat
Setting someone on fire causes them to receive a few points of damage every second for almost 15 seconds, making them take huge amounts of additional damage from a fight. If your getting low on health in a fight, and you set someone on fire, then just run away. Obviously, this won’t work out in the open, so only run away when there are corners and walls around. Unless your opponent managed to find a health pack, a Medic, or a Dispenser, you’ll see a nice notification that you got another kill. Even if you don’t get the kill, you’ll be glad to know that you didn’t die. If you shoot any enemy Pyro, they’ll get damage, but they won’t catch fire, so the retreat strategy doesn’t work well for that situation.
5. SURPRISE!
When you fire on an enemy first, you have a much better chance of not dying. I don’t think there’s anything else I need to cover about it.
6. Attacking Groups
Now the part you’ve been waiting for: How to fight against a whole group of enemies. Well, there’s no actual secret, so I’ll just list a few things to keep in mind so you have a chance of not dying. You need to surprise the group, so you get another two seconds to shoot before you die or retreat; target one enemy, and don’t shoot anyone else unless they see you; if you do try to shoot everyone, then shoot from side to side, with no real emphasis on aim, since your Flamethrower has a tendency to ignite anything nearby; after everyone’s on fire, kill any Medics, or at least try to set them on fire; know when to retreat, because killing them sends them back to spawn with full health, and having them run around on fire wastes their time, giving your team more time to advance.
Comments
Got something to say?
