Originally posted by: 40Hands
To the above post, :thumbsup:
I love playing the Pyro and I find too many people neglect their shotgun. I almost use my shotty more then my flame thrower.
Originally posted by: Daverino
Soldiers only have four rockets before they have to reload, and any Pryo worth their salt knows that counting to four is important when going up against a soldier. I'm not saying it's a walk in the park, because one rocket on your feet and you're in big trouble. But soldiers are very vulnerable when reloading and not nearly fast enough to run away from a pyro. In general, a pryo can also close and torch a soldier if he's got his shotgun out. Wait for the opportunity, torch the soldier, back off and finish with the shotgun. If you run up to a soldier and expect to kill him with with the flamethrower faster than he can kill you with his rockets, you're going to be very disappointed. And as someone who plays soldier a lot as well, I can say that when you catch on fire, if you don't see a pyro, then he's probably right behind you. So as a pyro, even if you have complete surprise on a soldier or demo, you need to start circling as soon as you torch them.
People really seem not to understand the point of the pyro because they believe the be-all-and-end-all of all classes except the medic is to get kills upon kills. That's really not the point of a pyro. The pyro's DoT makes everyone he torches fall back for health because they can't sustain against the pryo's teammates while on fire. If you take two soldiers and a pyro up against three soldiers, in a fair fight, I would bet on the team with the pyro. In a way, the pyro is the exact opposite of the medic. The medic heals over time and the pyro harms over time. His role is to support offenses and disrupt attackers because people WILL get out of his way and/or focus on him. A good team knows that the best defense against an uber pyro is to run past him, not away.
In comp play, though, the pyro doesn't really have a role because he doesn't reward high twitchiness like a soldier, scout or demoman will. Since those are the players that tend towards comp play, and because the teams are generally smaller than regular pub play, he's kinda left out of the comp scene. I don't think that means there's anything wrong with him or that he needs 'fixing.' If he really is the weakest class, I don't care. He's just too much fun to play!
Originally posted by: mb
You know the pyro has a shotgun too, right? You use that as soon as someone is out of immediate range of the flame thrower. It's a very effective combination, especially if you catch a scout on fire and he tries to run away.
Originally posted by: Avalon
Mostly true.
In comp play I've tended to notice that no matter how amazing I was in a pub, if I was up against a really good and smart soldier, getting near him was death, and staying away meant very little.
In a pub it's a completely different story. If I do go up against that great soldier, he's often focused on something else, which gives me time to light him on fire, move out of the way, and start shotgunning.
I don't think the Pyro needs to be changed per say, but if he is to be more relevant in comp play then comp play is going to need to be 8v8 minimum or he will need different weapons and/or tweaking. That's not Valve's goal, I'd imagine.
Anywho...bring on the Pyro achievements!
Originally posted by: Dman877
The syringe gun was always a pretty good weapon in narrow hallways, it's just that few people used it. Now that it heals the medic, they use it more.
About the pyro's, I don't get that class. I swear that whenever a pyro runs up to me, whether I'm a sniper or a heavy, I'm dead in like 2 seconds of direct fire. However, when I play pyro, I hold that fire over my target (I realize it has a short range, we're talking point blank here) for five, six seconds, and they still don't die. It has to do with lag I think because in order for me to hear the noise of my fire hitting them, I actually have to aim ahead of where they appear on my screen. It's just annpiyngbecause I don't have to do this for the other weapons in the game, just the flame thrower...
Originally posted by: Born2bwire
Originally posted by: Dman877
The syringe gun was always a pretty good weapon in narrow hallways, it's just that few people used it. Now that it heals the medic, they use it more.
About the pyro's, I don't get that class. I swear that whenever a pyro runs up to me, whether I'm a sniper or a heavy, I'm dead in like 2 seconds of direct fire. However, when I play pyro, I hold that fire over my target (I realize it has a short range, we're talking point blank here) for five, six seconds, and they still don't die. It has to do with lag I think because in order for me to hear the noise of my fire hitting them, I actually have to aim ahead of where they appear on my screen. It's just annpiyngbecause I don't have to do this for the other weapons in the game, just the flame thrower...
I think a lot of people take the secondary weapons for granted. I started getting into the habit of using the shotgun when I've expended my four rockets or whenever someone is out of the flamethrower's range. It's more effective than I think people give it credit for.
Originally posted by: BadRobot
they are quick enough to dodge sentry fire if you are good.