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Meowcenary

Gaben's Own Aimbot
Contributor
I can play any other class but I can't play Pyro worth shit. I've been wanting to play more Pyro but I suck at the class so much that it's becoming more frustrating than fun.

I've looked up quite a few guides and have been putting a lot of practice into the class but I still consider it a good round if I can get at least 1 kill for every 3 deaths, so I was hoping someone could give me advice to hopefully make me less shitty

My load out is the stock flamethrower, shotgun and axtinguisher

If you want to have a laugh watching me stumble around or want to tell me what I'm doing wrong then here's a demo https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/93545993/pyro1.dem
 
The Degreaser was added when Valve realized they created an useless class.
 
Spy checking. Spray everything with flames, always check corners and friendly looking players.

Airblast is your friend. It's overpowered. It can reflect everything but bullets (rockets, pills, jarate, etc) It can also extinguish friendlies who are on fire. Knocking back enemy players to repel a push is huge.

Many pyro's tend to continuously airblast a pyro in a corner just to mess with him. Don't do this. Light them on fiire then airblast. Because if you mess up or that spy is a good shot you can get killed.

Try to get behind enemy (Great for back burner, but also nice for any loadout)

If your guarding engineers, use homewrecker (melee weapons capable of destroying sappers).



My pyro loadout is phlog, scorch shot, and homewrecker. The heals and the kritz can be pretty strong if you manage to get the jump on the enemy. Scorched shot allows for AOE fire damage that knocks backs...which is great for sniping or starting off the map (shooting into spawn). It seems the farther away you are from the target the more knock back it does...great for cliff areas. You lose the ability to use airblast which is huge but you can the ability to heal fully when charged.
 
use shotgun to get most of your kills as you can do far more safe damage with it vs your primary. (flare is fine as well, just not as reliable.)
when you're pubbing, put yourself in shitty situations so you can learn to frag under pressure.
use airblasting primarily as a defense mechanism.
always run either degreaser or stock.
always run axtinguisher because as nice as being able to remove sappers is, you cannot repair buildings plus it's always better to have the ability to hit burning players with 195 damage.
get picked up by a low highlander team.
yadda yadda.
shotgun is the most practical weapon a pyro has.
pubs are great for getting airblast timing down because some pub soldier's timing is so bad that it mimics good soldiers timing their rockets oddly to throw you off.
yadda yadda.

EDIT: oh yeah, be aware of your surroundings and avoid having tunnel vision.
learn to multitask putting damage out to enemies.
 
Watched the demo.

There wasn't really a whole lot necessarily wrong, but definitely get some practice in with the shotgun and practice ambushing. Nine times out of ten if you pick off their medic and spritz the heavy with a little flame, you can back out and teammates will take it from there.
 
I'm doing alright with stock. I went into a Valve server and had 53 kills and 27 deaths, I also do fairly well on other servers such as Skial. What I do is almost the same for the deg/axt you light them up then melee them, just light them up for a bit longer then melee them. The melee part is tricky since it doesn't deal as much damage as deg/axt so strafe around the enemy a bit and use airblast to disorient until you finish them off. Use your shotgun at medium range when it's too risky to approach. If you want to get good at reflecting try playing on a dodgeball server for a while.
 
Well, guess it couldn't hurt. My usual loadout is Stock, Shotgun and Axtinguisher. Some tips when I play:

- BURN EVERYTHING. Don't worry too much about ammo. You'll pick up plenty from the weapon drops from whoever you kill.
- Spycheck. Spycheck, Spycheck, Spycheck. You see a teammate? Just spray them quickly and move on. If you see someone acting suspicious, probably a spy.
- Don't charge straight in. Even though you have the 3rd highest health, you have to get in close to work well. Most people will focus on a pyro charging them in the open. Take side routes and skirt around the map and surprise people around corners.
- Stay mobile. As you have to get in close, strafe left and right when closing the gap. Even when you start burning someone, circle around them.
- Airblast. Almost every pubs pyro can't do it. Pubs players won't be expecting it. Airblast can reflect anything that isn't a bullet. If you see a soldier about to shoot you, wait for his rockets and press mouse 2 to reflect them. This only gets better as you practice the timing. Hell, I once killed a sniper by reflecting an arrow back at him.
- Use your shotgun. The best thing it's for is to blast people who are just slightly outside of your flame range and backing up. Also good against other pyros.

Scout: They can outrun you. Try to sneak around and surprise them around corners. Good tip is to light them and airblast them so they can't run away.
Soldier: Not a problem if you can airblast well.
Pyro: Use your shotgun of flamer if you can keep it right on target. Remember, pyros don't catch on fire.
Demo: Beware of sticky traps, yes you can airblast them. Pretty much the same as soldiers, just grenades are more unpredictable.
Heavy: They'll mow you down in the open. Sneak around behind them. Good tip is to burn them and then swap to the axtinguisher. Circle around them.
Engie: Your flamer can reach around corners. if a sentry is close enough, you can burn it around the corner without getting hit. Otherwise, try to avoid nests.
Medic/Sniper/Spy: pretty much the same as any other class.

Well, the rest is up to you. Just practice, practice, practice and you'll get good eventually. Hope to see another goods pyro roaming around and killing everything.
 
- Believe everyone and everything is a spy that is after your head.
- Believe that the flames are to be consumed by you to give you more power, and use that knowledge to safe your teammates from burning alive.
- Continue to believe everyone and everything is a spy; EVERY-FUCKING-ONE.
- Be at my side when I believe that a spy is near my buildings, ready to strike at any moment.
- Kill some shit while you can.


I do not know much about the class, but do the above and I will fucking love you beyond any other class (exclude Medic, because I love them the most) <3
 
use the homewrecker instead of the axtinguisher if you're going to use the stock flamethrower. Puff and sting isn't as effective without the degreaser
 
I edited my last post since I wasn't all that clear since I was up all night. You are going to want to pick and choose your battles, obviously going after a heavy is a bad idea unless he is by himself, oblivious and not that good. Have decent aim with the shotgun, don't move predictably, airblast any projectiles you can. When dealing with Soldiers you can light them up, quickly airblast as their initial reaction will be to shoot then rush at him, airblast against a nearby wall and melee him if he isn't dead yet. Look for lone players or those in a small group of two or three, chances are if you are quick enough you can kill one or maybe two of them and escape. If you start to lose health then backtrack and use the shotgun to try to finish them off. Don't rush at a group of aware enemies or any group for that matter, you will want to approach from the back or side unless you run into a lone merc and you are certain you can win.
 
Depends if you are going to rush them or if you will stay back and defend. For Agro-Pyro I go with
-Degreaser
-Flare
-Axtinguisher
You can switch the flare for a shotgun, but I like setting snipers on fire to mess up their aim, or get an easy crit. For defense I use
-Stock flamethrower
-Shotgun
-Homewrecker
I usually just stick around an Engie and become a Pybro, deflecting projectiles and spraying fire. Never let anyone pass without spraying them with fire. Everyone is a spy until they are baptized by flames. Homewrecker essentially makes you a more feared Engie, since no Spies are going to continue to sap once they realize you'll light them up once you knock off their Sapper.
 
My opinions on pyro may be a bit old school since I grew up on the class "back in the day," but here it goes:

I watched you demo, and I saw what I thought I might see for someone having issues with stock: a kind of mix of degreaser and soldier gameplay. My first suggestion is this:
#in your pyro.cfg
unbind 2 #or whatever you use for shotty
unbind MOUSE2 #or whatever you use for airblast

Then switch back to stock axe. Play a couple of hours using JUST flame and the unstinguisher. It will frustrate the hell out of you, but it will mend what seems to be a mental disconnect for you with the class: flame is your main damage dealer. It can dish out 200-300 damage in under 2 seconds if your leading is true. Often in the demo I saw you give a token flame lick to someone, back off, then try to finish them off with shotty. To me this is the wrong mentality for stock (see my comment below on switch time). You wanna move in from the flank, circling around them (if possible) at the same time, so you make a Archimedean spiral of hell. You wanna get to the point where you flank a non-pocketed heavy and think "pig roast." Forgoing the airblast and shotty will also reinforce the flaking mentality.

Once you've got flame+circle-strafing in your mindset, then you can add in the airblast and shotty. I often saw you either airblast a weak class out of the range of your flamethrower (and thus out of your best damage), or airblast power classes right to a range/position where they are most effective against you. When airblasting people, use it to put then into the range that gives YOU the advantage. For example, pin soldiers to walls as you strafe away from their rockets, keeping the flame on them; don't airblast them to middling range where their rockets are still hard to predict but now don't do any splash damage to them. Think of it this way: just outside of flamethrower range, all you have is your shotgun, whereas the soldier has a shotgun AND his rockets. Use the airblast to assist your flame, deflect, harass around a corner, or get the hell away. For instance, there is typically little reason to airblast a solo heavy that you have caught off guard: better to use that time to lick him with extra fire as your run around him. If you get surprised around a corner by the same heavy looking right at you, set him on fire, blast him away, and get back around the corner to safety. Corners in general work really well with airblasting, as you can turn the corner, flame, blast, then get back to safety while they take afterburn.

As far as the shotty, use it to finish off light classes that moved out of range, though you should feel no shame in chasing down naked spies and engies with fire. If an enemy pyro is in flamethrower range, burn him instead. You generally want to handle solo demo/soldier/heavy with the flamethrower as well, since they are more effective than you at shotgun ranges. This means getting a good flank on them or being a boss with the reflects so you can close the range. Generally, only have the shotgun out as you travel wide open areas; the second you might come upon an enemy within flamethrower range, you should switch back to it.

I really feel you can't use the degreaser mindset with stock. The former only loses about 30dmg (for close direct flame) in the 0.23s weapon switch; the latter loses 102dmg in the 0.67s switch. Thus it's even questionable that switching to the axtinguisher with stock is much superior to just putting more flame on them, especially if another enemy is nearby. Fire, fire, fire.

If I had to sum it up, in the demo you remind me of the chemistry student in a clean white labcoat, goggles and gloves on, carefully opening a jar of solvent in a fume hood. You want to be the student setting his pencil on fire with the bunsen burner. Hope this helps!
 
What I do....

1. Set victim on fire.
2. Airblast victim back.
3. Whip out shotgun and shoot victim.
4. Win

I usually neverplay Pyro, when I do, I win.
 
wait i have a better one, heck I been playing with it almost all night.

Step 1- Open Console
Step 2- type +attack and hit enter
Step 3- Hold W
Step 4- Never release W