Talk:Community Pyro strategy

I'm going to start going through this page and rewriting it as more of coherent guide than a list of bullet points. Each section will be based on a different style of play, as opposed to the current system where it simply lists bits of strategies based around the individual weapons and unlocks. I'm going to try and use as much content from the current bulleted version of the article. If there are any disagreements, discuss them here. I think this will be a great improvement to tf2wiki! Tachko 03:56, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Great! I'm sure we'll all appreciate it by sending you imaginary cookies. -Firestorm 04:56, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

A new Pyro combination. But one thing I must ask.

Before I ask, the Degreaser's fast weapon-switch ability makes it a useful weapon with the Axtinguisher, so right off the bat, we know Degreaser and Axtinguisher will be in the combination. However, what secondary should be in the combination: Shotgun or Flare Gun?

For Shotgun, you still have the ability to burn with the Degreaser, it is a good way to finish off the enemy (if he was being overhealed or is a Soldier/Heavy), and can be used in water. So you can simply puff, airblast, and quickly use the Axtinguisher, then finish off with the Shotgun if the enemy in question is not already dead (or Puff -> Airblast -> Shotgun -> Axtinguish).

For Flare Gun, there are two ways to burn, has a higher damage output (Puff -> Airblast -> Flare -> Axtinguish for around 236 damage at a quick time, thanks to quick switching), and alone it can shoot faraway. Which should be chosen? Or, should there just be two more combinations? AbeX300 20:42, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Both loadouts have their advantages and disadvantages. Like you said, the shotgun enables more short-range burst damage, but the flares allow for combats at longer ranges. Using one or the other boils down to your personal preference and/or playstyle. And if you have an odd-leveled weapons :P - Mistah Phoenix 20:48, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Right, so I suppose two combinations are to be created. :D Also, I forgot to mention that the Shotgun is more effective against other Pyros. Then again, the Axtinguisher isn't effective either way against Pyros. AbeX300 21:31, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

New Pyro Weapon Combination; Not Sure If This Is Legit

As someone who plays as Pyro quite frequently, I experiment with weapons now and then. Recently, I have fallen in love with The Degreaser's quick weapon-switch ability. I then pondered how this could be used along with the Homewrecker as I saw the strageties in the Homewrecker section.

So I came up with this weapon combination:

Theoretical Combination
Combo			Usage
Degreaser	Shotgun	Homewrecker	For the Pyro who wants to destory enemy sentries. The Degreaser helps damage both the Engineer and the sentry at the same rate. Morever, its quick weapon-switching ability can let the Pyro quickly switch to the Homewrecker to quickly finish off the sentry before the Engineer can react to the afterburn. Additionally, the Degreaser can airblast sentry rockets to the sentry or the Enigneer. All these especially work well with a Medic on your side and even better with an ubercharge. The shotgun is used to finish off the burning Engineer at close-quarters to make up for the low-damaging melee weapon. The homewrecker is ideal as it can finish sentries faster than the Engineer can repair them and takes out mini-sentries in two hits. However, your low damage output makes you vulnerable to stronger foes, especially Heavies. This set-up is not for amateur Pyros as it requires a mastery of side-strafing and circle-strafing to avoid sentry knockback.

I am not totally sure if this is fully legit though as this is my first time making up such a combination. I would like to know what you guys think of this. Is the combination bogus? Is the description too specific? I would very much like some critique before putting this up, if it is accepted at all. ------ Davtwan 19:03, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

Adding Three Subheadings to The General Heading

(Ugh browser moved back as I was typing, so I have to type this again. Sorry if this feels rushed.)

I thought that one way we could clean up this article is divide the General section of the article to different playstyles. For the Pyro, I was thinking of dividing it to Ambushing, Supporting, and Pocketing (Defensive).

Ambushing: Attacking the enemy at their blind spots from a hidden location. Supporting: Going along the team at the front lines to attack, put out fires, reflect projectiles, and push back Übers. Pocketing: Staying in the back-lines to spy-check, reflect explosives off sentry bases, remove sappers, and push back rushes and emeny Übers.

I do realize there are other playstyles. If you think there is a major playstyle that I missed, then let me know! Please provide an explanation for the playstyle too.

The section will end up looking like this:

1. General

1.1 Ambushing

1.2 Supporting

1.3 Pocketing

I know this is a major revision to the General section, so I want to know what your thoughs are before I do this. Any input, rejection, or approval would be appreciated. ----- Davtwan 17:56, 25 October 2010 (UTC)

P.S. To those wondering, I was thinking of moving the tips to their appropriate sections and any tips that don't fit would be left under the General heading. ---- Davtwan 17:57, 25 October 2010 (UTC)

I just did a general overhaul of the entire section, short of map-specific tips. I moved some tips to different places, re-ordered the sections for flow, and generally cut down on some stuff that doesn't quite work or was repeated. Pertaining to the General section, I would appreciate a general read-over to see how it looks now.

As for the play-styles, I would fully support adding sub-headings to make it easier to read. However, I would like to point out that "Pocket" has different connotations in different circles; in competitive play, "Pocket" means pairing up with a Medic and charging the enemy head-on. I would suggest the following instead, to reduce confusion:

1. General

1.1 Ambushing/Roaming

1.2 Front-Line Combat/Pocketing

1.3 Supporting

1.4 Defensive

I think that non-ambiguous headings would likely go a long way towards making it easier to read. --LordKelvin 05:56, 8 November 2010 (UTC)

Ah, I only used the term "pocket" as in a defesnive Pyro as it was used in the article before. The term was used as a personal pyro that guards the backlines or sentry camps. Sort of like a Pyro in an Engie's pocket, I suppose. I see now that the term has been removed in recent editing, however. I'll assume it was used incorrectly by the Wiki's standards.

By "support," I was refering to front-line combat. Usually the Pyro assists in front-line combat by reflections, attacking in thin areas, and extinguishing the team. I'll fix that to avoid confusion as well.

So now my new headings will be:

1. General

1.1 Ambushing/Roaming

1.2 Front-Line Combat/Support

1.3 Defensive

I am almost done rearranging the tips. I'll recopy the General Tips if your overhaul has made any changes on those. Thanks for your input and I'll be adding any changes you did to the tip list (as I don't plan on removing any tips just yet) right away. ----- Davtwan 18:41, 8 November 2010 (UTC)

The revision is complete. I have not removed any tips, instead I either moved them to the appropriate section or converted them into a paragraph. I have also added some tips of my own to give some of the sections more meat. I'lll try to see a mod of the strategy revision project as soon as possible before posting it up. ----- Davtwan 18:34, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Adding new section, "Class-Specific Strategies"

I was adding extra tips to the Pyro Match-Ups section, but then I realized that there are just so many different things you can put in it, especially since it varies depending on the setup of your opponent. I was thinking, it would probably be a better idea to create a class-specific subsection in this article instead, and let players add to that. I'm going to get started adding to it over the next few days, but I also need to do some double-checking to see if/how any current tips already cover anything that would go into there. --LordKelvin 05:56, 8 November 2010 (UTC)