Dealing with Pyros (TF2)
- Thread starter Kopikatsu
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I'm just starting out, so take my advice for what it's worth (i.e., not much.) In my limited experience, your average pyro isn't going to be able to do much at anything but flamethrower range, so the goal should be to be aware of any pyros running at you through open areas, and any locations they might use to sneak up on you. They also (although this is a player thing, not a class thing) seem to get tunnel vision a lot, so if they start after someone other than you, you often have enough time to kill them or run away. If you're a spy, pyros are your counter, so they're probably going to kill you in a direct fight.
Shotguns, rockets (provided they aren't too good at airblasting), miniguns, scatterguns.. there's plenty of things to do. Often, though, they'll catch you by surprise, which is their forté and where they shine the most. In those cases, you'll likely die.
- Feb 7, 2011
- 8,802
- 3,383
- 118
- Country
- 'Merica
- Gender
- 3 children in a trench coat
Only happens when you don't know the maps, or if you just suck at movement in general.Kopikatsu said:
You must melee them, it's their only weakness. None of this silly running and aiming, just melee, trust me.
Speaking as an almost full-time pyro, the most important thing is to keep them out of range.
Even playing a heavy wont necessarily save you from that, I find that if I get the drop on a spooled-up heavy I can still burn them to death before they can track me with the minigun.
But aside from the obvious "don't get burned", most of fighting a pyro is in the brain.
Making them come to you is probably your best bet.
Pyros want you to fight on their terms. They want you around blind corners and in tight areas.
Even if you can repel a pyro with superior firepower, a good one will often try to come up behind you via a different route. Knowing your maps really helps in this case: just think of where the hallway that that pyro went down leads to and set up a trap. Pyros do not like their own medicine.
The class that gives me the most trouble is the demoman, more specifically the demoknight. With one of the shields on the demo is almost impervious to flame damage which renders most of the pyros arsenal useless. That and that evil, evil charge of theirs kicks my ass most of the time.
Heavys are great against pyros if you see them coming. The pryo will most likely charge straight at you and be shredded by minigun fire. just make sure to spool up before they can see you and maybe hold fire until they are too far in to get away. The Tomislav is very handy for this.
Even playing a heavy wont necessarily save you from that, I find that if I get the drop on a spooled-up heavy I can still burn them to death before they can track me with the minigun.
But aside from the obvious "don't get burned", most of fighting a pyro is in the brain.
Making them come to you is probably your best bet.
Pyros want you to fight on their terms. They want you around blind corners and in tight areas.
Even if you can repel a pyro with superior firepower, a good one will often try to come up behind you via a different route. Knowing your maps really helps in this case: just think of where the hallway that that pyro went down leads to and set up a trap. Pyros do not like their own medicine.
The class that gives me the most trouble is the demoman, more specifically the demoknight. With one of the shields on the demo is almost impervious to flame damage which renders most of the pyros arsenal useless. That and that evil, evil charge of theirs kicks my ass most of the time.
Heavys are great against pyros if you see them coming. The pryo will most likely charge straight at you and be shredded by minigun fire. just make sure to spool up before they can see you and maybe hold fire until they are too far in to get away. The Tomislav is very handy for this.
Coming from one who mains pyro, don't let us get behind you. The Backburner gets auto crit from behind. Not Even Heavies last long with that.
Pyros are a ambush-style class. Keep your distance, never show your back. Calling for help works wonders. TF2 is all about teamwork, so ask for help when you need it. If the people on your server are dicks about helping each other out, find a better server 
A good heavy, demo, scout, well place sentry an stealthy spy can do the job. All it takes is skill.
Edit: AND BACK THE HELL UP. Seriously. The flame thrower's range is pretty limited and you'll have the advantage if they switch to a shotgun. If they have a flaregun, hope the can't aim for shit.
Edit: AND BACK THE HELL UP. Seriously. The flame thrower's range is pretty limited and you'll have the advantage if they switch to a shotgun. If they have a flaregun, hope the can't aim for shit.
Pyros are one the least problematic classes, to be honest. Hell, I find it easy to dispatch of them as a scout. Meatshot then back up and spam pistol. If they switch to secondary, close the distance and meatshot them again. If you're playing soldier, shoot your rockets slightly in front of them, either catching them in the splash, or forcing them to back up. In any case, put them at odd angles to avoid reflectance. For demoman, keep your distance, and have your stickies better positioned. Also, nades are extremely effective at close range. He can reflect, but most pyros can't do it that well. Heavies make mince meat of them; if you have problem killing pyros as heavy you're doing it wrong. Very wrong. For engineer, keep a sentry between you. For medic, backpedal and fire your blutsauger, pretty easy. For sniper, jarate and bushwacka is an incredibly cheap and easy pyro counter, though negated by a pyro who can airblast and isn't surprised by it. Spies are the only ones who really have a problem with pyros, but the pyro is the spy's hard counter, that's to be expected.
I take them out as a heavy and or soldier all the time. But as any support class they are fairly well death once they are in range of you.
From my experience, this is how to deal with a pyro as each.
*NOTE* this is just my opinion, there are probably better methods.
Engineer: You will pretty much be determined on a well placed sentry to get kills as an engineer, so try and be tactical with its placement. If you can locate it at a corner or at a choking point, then you can get it up to annihilate any opposition whilst performing repairs/restocks on the sentry (should have a dispenser close-by). This WILL leave you vulnerable to intelligent demo's, so be careful. The same can be said for soldiers too, so be careful. I can easily get between 25-30 kills using this method before someone finds a way to outsmart or outmanoeuvre me. If you have a frontier justice equipped, then if your sentry gets destroyed, you can devastate the person who took out your sentry
I wouldn't recommend the wrangler for this, because you will spend most of your time repairing the sentry.
Medic: Taking care of a pyro can be awkward using the medic, for the same reason taking care of a heavy or a soldier is awkward as a medic. The syringe gun spreads quite a lot, meaning accuracy is an issue. If you can replace it with the blutsauger (which I find seems to be more accurate) then you can heal yourself whilst firing. Always a plus
If you can flank the pyro, then you will have a higher chance of killing them, but make sure that when you start firing, you dont stop until you need to reload. Speed is everything.
The surgical saw (or any other melee) can make short work of any class if you manoeuvre yourself correctly, but only use it as a desperation method against a pyro! Keeping your distance is integral to staying alive.
Also, as a medic, if you notice a nearby team mate which happens to be a different class then try healing them and allow them to take care of the pyro, a heavy or a soldier can dispose of a pyro much more quickly than you can.
Spy: Generally speaking, avoid pyro's like the plague!! Pyro's are the ultimate defence against spies. It's awkward standing trying to work out a solid strategy, due to how quickly a flamethrower will dispose of you. If you find yourself in a position to backstab them, then great! It feels rather satisfying to backstab a pyro!
Unfortunately, chances are you wont end up in a position to backstab :S
The spy revolver is often under rated, but it's actually pretty damned powerful if you can land a headshot or two! Body shots are exceptionally weak, so try to be as quick and accurate as you can.
Also remember, the spy class was built around the idea of backstabbing and sapping engineer devices, so it's often best to avoid pyro's and hide from them whenever possible. I know that's not great advice but, it's often the best decision.
Thats all the advice I have, and I hope some of it helps. If anyone disagree's with me then, fair enough. Everyone has their own method of playing, so there could be a lot of different methods of taking care of pyro's.
My method: It costs $400,000 to fire this weapon for 12 seconds. It takes me less than 5 to kill any androgynous fire spitters!
*NOTE* this is just my opinion, there are probably better methods.
Engineer: You will pretty much be determined on a well placed sentry to get kills as an engineer, so try and be tactical with its placement. If you can locate it at a corner or at a choking point, then you can get it up to annihilate any opposition whilst performing repairs/restocks on the sentry (should have a dispenser close-by). This WILL leave you vulnerable to intelligent demo's, so be careful. The same can be said for soldiers too, so be careful. I can easily get between 25-30 kills using this method before someone finds a way to outsmart or outmanoeuvre me. If you have a frontier justice equipped, then if your sentry gets destroyed, you can devastate the person who took out your sentry
I wouldn't recommend the wrangler for this, because you will spend most of your time repairing the sentry.
Medic: Taking care of a pyro can be awkward using the medic, for the same reason taking care of a heavy or a soldier is awkward as a medic. The syringe gun spreads quite a lot, meaning accuracy is an issue. If you can replace it with the blutsauger (which I find seems to be more accurate) then you can heal yourself whilst firing. Always a plus
If you can flank the pyro, then you will have a higher chance of killing them, but make sure that when you start firing, you dont stop until you need to reload. Speed is everything.
The surgical saw (or any other melee) can make short work of any class if you manoeuvre yourself correctly, but only use it as a desperation method against a pyro! Keeping your distance is integral to staying alive.
Also, as a medic, if you notice a nearby team mate which happens to be a different class then try healing them and allow them to take care of the pyro, a heavy or a soldier can dispose of a pyro much more quickly than you can.
Spy: Generally speaking, avoid pyro's like the plague!! Pyro's are the ultimate defence against spies. It's awkward standing trying to work out a solid strategy, due to how quickly a flamethrower will dispose of you. If you find yourself in a position to backstab them, then great! It feels rather satisfying to backstab a pyro!
Unfortunately, chances are you wont end up in a position to backstab :S
The spy revolver is often under rated, but it's actually pretty damned powerful if you can land a headshot or two! Body shots are exceptionally weak, so try to be as quick and accurate as you can.
Also remember, the spy class was built around the idea of backstabbing and sapping engineer devices, so it's often best to avoid pyro's and hide from them whenever possible. I know that's not great advice but, it's often the best decision.
Thats all the advice I have, and I hope some of it helps. If anyone disagree's with me then, fair enough. Everyone has their own method of playing, so there could be a lot of different methods of taking care of pyro's.
My method: It costs $400,000 to fire this weapon for 12 seconds. It takes me less than 5 to kill any androgynous fire spitters!
You're all doing it wrong. Or at least differently from the way I do it.
The trick is to run INTO them, and past them. If you do it right, they'll blunder past you, and you'll only receive a lick of flame. They hardly ever expect it, and you can whittle down their health easier without taking as much damage, or getting caught on scenery and toasted. I'd recommend doing this when you are more reliable at killing people at lose quarters of course.
The trick is to run INTO them, and past them. If you do it right, they'll blunder past you, and you'll only receive a lick of flame. They hardly ever expect it, and you can whittle down their health easier without taking as much damage, or getting caught on scenery and toasted. I'd recommend doing this when you are more reliable at killing people at lose quarters of course.
