Pyro
The Pyro is a class who wields a Flamethrower as its main weapon. Along with the ability to inflict burn damage and a relatively high damage output, the Pyro also has the airblast mechanic, which can neutralize an enemy's uber with ease, reflect projectiles like rockets and arrows, and extinguish burning team mates.
Contents
6v6
Main Article: Pyro (6v6)
In 6v6, the Pyro is considered an offclass. Most commonly run when the defending team has über disadvantage while defending last, the Pyro's job is to neutralize the enemy team's über through the use of the airblast mechanic along with compression blasting away spam from the Soldier and Demo.
Highlander
Main Article: Pyro (Highlander)
In Highlander, the Pyro is considered a support class. The Pyro's main job in Highlander is to protect the Medic. It also has the jobs of displacing and neutralizing enemy ubers, spychecking to neutralize the enemy Spy, protecting its team's sentry gun by deflecting projectiles, and providing flank support when required.
Primary
The Flamethrower provides better upfront damage than the Degreaser as well as possessing a relatively cheap airblast in comparison to the Backburner and, although by no means a bad weapon, lacks either the ambushing potential from the Backburner as well as the weapon switching bonus of the Degreaser, which can often be invaluable. Since either of the allowed alternatives have an offensive focus (trough different means) that means the stock Flamethrower will generally be used with a more passive play-style in mind, and often without tangible upsides in relation to the alternatives. | ||
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
The Backburner is a weapon made with ambushing and flanking in mind and is rarely used in 6's. Since the Pyro generally has responsibilities to either the Medic or the Engineer in Highlander, it requires a significant change to the team's overall strategy to be used effectively and is therefore rarely used in that format as well. The Backburner's unique ability allows it to critically hit an enemy from behind (approximately 180 degrees) allowing the Pyro to quickly kill an unaware opponent. This comes at the price of diminished support capabilities since the Pyro will only be able to use four airblasts with full ammunition and this greatly hinders the most powerful support tools in the Pyro's arsenal. | ||
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
The Degreaser is the most widely used flame thrower in competitive. The weapon provides the Pyro with faster weapon switching which makes using weapon combos (such as the Flare Gun or the Axtinguisher ) far easier and allows the Pyro to handle combat situations that would otherwise be quite difficult to handle. The Degreaser's downsides come from the weapon's reduced damage upfront and weakened afterburn in relation to the stock flamethrower. This rarely affects the Pyro, still, given that the class' objectives in most competitive scenarios are to either stall the enemy or support his own team rather than actively getting kills. | ||
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
The Phlogistinator is banned is most competitive TF2 formats. It is also at a significant disadvantage to other pyro weapons, because it means that the pyro is unable to airblast, one the classes's key strengths in highlander and 6v6. | ||
ESEA 6s legal? | No | |
UGC HL legal? | No | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | No |
The Rainblower is a reskin of the stock flame thrower, which was released during the Pyromania update. When it is equipped the wearer enters the Pyroland view. | ||
ESEA 6s legal? | No | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
Secondary
The Shotgun is a default Pyro Weapon. It is identical to the Engineer's, Heavy's or Soldier's. It is a hitscan weapon and has 6 ammo in it's clip alongside 32 additional ammo carried. For the Pyro, the Shotgun can be used in situations where the flamethrower wouldn't be as practical or useful. The Shotgun deals respectable damage at close-range and gives the Pyro decent abilities at mid-range. Even through it's damage long-range is fairly negligible it allows the Pyro to harass enemies from a distance and support his teammates on occasion. | ||
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
The Flare Gun allows the Pyro to harass and even pick off targets at long-range. The Flare Gun's abilities allow the Pyro to light enemies from a distance (dealing 30 damage plus the afterburn) and it also critical hits on enemies that are already on fire (dealing 90 damage) without being affected by range. Just like the other flare guns, the regular Flare Gun is a projectile weapon and one has to predict the enemy's movement to use it effectively. | ||
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
The Detonator provides a useful boost to mobility as well as the ability to light entire groups of enemies on fire from great distances by detonating the projectile but loses the critical hit from the regular flare gun (the Detonator mini-crits on burning targets instead) and the projectile also harms the player. The Detonator is mostly useful to harass enemies and also, in situations where the Pyro may benefit from added mobility by using the Detonator's explosion knockback. The Detonator's explosion can also destroy enemy stickies allowing the Pyro to dismantle sticky traps without much danger. | ||
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
The Reserve Shooter is not as common as the most popular secondaries for the Pyro. The weapon provides both an extra boost in weapon switch speed (that stacks with the Degreaser's) and mini-crits airborne targets but only holds 3 shots in comparison with the regular shotgun. The Reserve Shooter is especially useful for a Pyro that can make the most out of the weapon switching boost and the Pyro's airblast to ensure massive up-close damage which allows the Pyro to become quite effective in 1v1 situations. | ||
ESEA 6s legal? | No | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
The Manmelter is rarely used since it has little going for it in most situations. Flare Gun ammunition is rarely cause for much concern and even with the extra projectile speed and crit on extinguish condition the Pyro loses a lot on burst damage as well as firing speed. Additionally, the Manmelter's extinguishing ability is best used to make up for the Phlogistinator's lack of airblast (which is not even allowed in most competitive leagues). | ||
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
The Scorch Shot inherits some key traits from the Detonator such as destroying stickies, having the ability to light groups of enemies on fire and allowing the Pyro to use it's knock-back and diminished damage to add a bit of mobility. However, the Scorch Shot also loses 50% damage when compared to the regular flare gun and this greatly hinders the Pyro in any combat situation. Therefore, this weapon is rarely used in competitive play in favor of the more “reliable” choices. | ||
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
Melee
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
ESEA 6s legal? | No | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |
ESEA 6s legal? | Yes | |
UGC HL legal? | Yes | |
ETF2L 6s legal? | No | |
ETF2L HL legal? | Yes |