The Lore-Based Reason Why Pyro is a Mediocre Character

I’ve talked about Pyro a lot in the past. While I don’t play much Team Fortress 2 at all any more, most of my friends do. And because of that, I hear a lot of… varying criticisms about the game. Mostly about Pyro. The Pyro has always been a pretty polarizing class, but also a somewhat spoiled class. While Pyro’s game balance may be all over the place, Pyro has by far the zaniest and most varied cosmetics and is probably one of the more popular characters. Despite being a short-ranged menace in a game that isn’t designed with close… [Continue Reading]

Read more

If I Could Completely Rework the Pyro…

I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of the Pyro. The reason why is simple: Pyro is a close range class in a game filled with mid-range characters. That and the fact that the flamethrower just feels off compared to almost all other weapons in the game. Everything else shoots bullets or projectiles. Everything else is pretty clear that it hit you or damaged you. Flamethrowers are not the same. You get stray bits of flame that hit you or don’t hit you. Pyro overall is a jumbled mess of things that needs yet another complete rework anyway. So… [Continue Reading]

Read more

Maybe It’s Pyro Who Doesn’t Fit in Team Fortress 2, Not Just Sniper?

In all the years I played Team Fortress 2, there was always this long-standing belief that Sniper didn’t fit inside Team Fortress 2. As a character, he fits absolutely perfectly with a team of mercenaries and mad men, murdering because they are good at it and it pays well. But people have a strong dislike of Sniper because Sniper is often considered ill-fitting in terms of gameplay. After all, Sniper is a long ranged class in a game where most people have weapons with damage falloff over distance, running around with shotguns, pistols and mostly short range explosive weapons. Before… [Continue Reading]

Read more

The TF2 Unusual Apyrocalypse

So there’s a thing in TF2 where you basically had a 100% chance at getting an unusual from a certain number of crates. Specifically specific crates. As in, you open a bunch of crates and you are guaranteed an unusual. Of course as soon as word got out that you could get guaranteed unusuals, everyone started buying the specific crates and opening them and getting a ton of unusuals. And of course, this all had a ton of repercussions. The first was that the market for Unusual Hats dropped like a brick. Normally, unusual hats were anywhere from about €30… [Continue Reading]

Read more

Severe burns and tough questions

What you see here is the only unlock that is a straight upgrade in TF2. The Third Degree is functionally identical to the stock Fire Axe except for one thing: all players connected via Medi Gun beams will be hit as well. Below is a table showing how this works. So naturally, since the Third Degree is a straight upgrade with zero downsides, people will flock to use it, right? If you hesitated for even a moment before saying “no”, you are obviously new to the game. The Third Degree has an equip rate so low at least half of… [Continue Reading]

Read more

Why Pyro?

Pyro is, as of now, my go-to class when I play TF2. However, why do I like playing Pyro so much? I enjoy Pyro’s gameplay, both the ambush, flanking style and the more support-based style. But no, that isn’t the only reason why I like playing Pyro, although it is the main one. And it definitely isn’t Pyro’s character either, since Pyro is my fourth-least favourite merc character-wise. Demoman, Medic, and Heavy are my top 3 favourite mercs character-wise, in that order. And it most definitely isn’t Pyro’s cosmetic options, since I prefer Medic’s and Spy’s. What I love most about Pyro… [Continue Reading]

Read more

It’s Melting Men

The Manmelter is the most … different of all the flare guns. It’s definitely not the most unusual Pyro secondary out there, since that goes to either the Thermal Thruster or the Gas Passer, but among its subclass of Pyro secondaries it is definitely the most unique. But before I talk more about the Manmelter, I just want to talk about my one pet peeve of this gun, which I’ve mentioned in a previous article before: make the reloading more obvious. Seriously, making it more visually distinct when you are ready to shoot will improve the experience of using the Manmelter a… [Continue Reading]

Read more

The Menacing and All-Powerful Destroyer of Time Itself

Afterburn, the original core mechanic available to the Pyro, was widely regarded as being rather weak as anything beyond a way to enable some guaranteed crit mechanics, and even these days people wonder if a Pyro is worth as much as a Soldier or Demoman when it comes to pure damage output.  And I must admit that it indeed appears at first glance to have minimal effectiveness with its 4 damage per tick. Fire can be put out by pretty much everyone with pretty relative ease, so in the hands of the non-experienced, why would you want that? As it… [Continue Reading]

Read more

The other Pyro weapons from Jungle Inferno

I talked at length about the Gas Passer, giving my thoughts on how it is as a weapon and as part of a loadout, as well as some of my proposed changes for it. Personally, I like the idea of it, but the Gas Passer is rather underwhelming right now. As for the other Pyro weapons introduced in this update, I’m rather happy with them. So for today, I’ll go through them and give my thoughts on the new additions to Pyro’s arsenal. Before I continue, please read this Reddit thread on the Dragon’s Fury for a brief rundown on… [Continue Reading]

Read more

An Appreciation for Pyro’s Other Secondary Firearms

The introduction of the Gas Passer and the Thermal Thruster is rather revolutionary. Before the Jungle Inferno update, the Pyro’s secondaries are either shotguns or flare guns, mid-range weapons to help cover the flamethrowers’ lack of range. Some pack burst damage, some of them are pretty good utility tools, but they are all here to help extend Pyro’s rather mediocre reach. The Gas Passer and the Thermal Thruster are the first Pyro secondaries to not do so. Rather, they are pure utility tools, like the Jarate or the Banners. Sure, the Thruster can deal damage, but charging into enemies without… [Continue Reading]

Read more