User blog:Desertfighter777/Team Fortress 2 Builds, part 1: The Pyro

First entry in a series of character builds representing the Team Fortress 2 classes.

Suggested path
Level 5: Get Phasewalk.

Level 6-10: We start off making sure we can light some things on fire: 5 points to Spark.

Level 11-15: The Pyro wears a fire-proof suit. Let's get you one with 5 points in Resilience.

Level 16-20: Pyro's don't aim and shoot. The spray and pray. To make full use of an imaginary flamethrower, a high rate of fire is needed. 5 points in the Quicksilver skill can help with that.

Level 21-25: Want more fire? You can get it. With 5 points in Phoenix, you'll burst into flames everytime you kill someone. On top of that, statistically 1/4 of your ammo won't be used, so you can spam your flamethrower even more!

Level 26-30: With all that fighting at close range, you're likely to get shot a lot. Therefore, upgrading your shield with 5 points in Diva will come in handy.

Level 31-35: More damage=more effective. 5 points to Slayer. From now on, when close to an enemy, try to aim somewhat for the head, but don't forget the horrible accuracy you'll probably have!

Level 36-40: Fine, you're allowed more accuracy. 5 points to Enforcer.

Level 41-42: With 2 points in High Velocity, you'll do more damage and your bullets will travel faster, giving you even more accuracy.

Level 43-45: 3 points in Striking. Using melee on enemies just became useful, just don't count on it too much.

Level 46-47: 2 points in Dramatic Entrance. Using Phasewalk for a bit of damage and closing in will work a bit better now.

Level 48-50: Lastly, 3 points in Girl Power to keep you alive.

Mad Moxxi points: If you find another 2 skill points unused due to the calculator not including Mad Moxxi's Underdome, I suggest you put them in Girl Power as well.

Suggested weapons
Main weapon: A weapon with as much of the following traits as possible: High rate of fire, big magazine, fast reload, highest incendiary multiplier, fully automatic. For the people who really want to simulate the pyro, drawbacks can be extremely low accuracy, high recoil and low damage. Probably an SMG. May require an SMG SDU.
 * This is the flamethrower. You can spray and pray all you like, burning everyone in the process, but you have to get up close and personal because of the low accuracy. If you just want to use this build without the simulation, you can drop the drawbacks. In either case accuracy, recoil reduction and damage shouldn't be what you're looking for in a weapon.

Secondary weapon: A balanced shotgun without extreme damage, accuracy or rate of fire. Ideal is all of these things a little bit above medium. Preferably a magazine size of 6. No SDU is needed for this.


 * Simple, this is the shotgun the pyro uses.

First added weapon: A weapon with the highest incendiary multipler possible, combined with as high accuracy as possible. Possible drawbacks include: low damage, medium rate of fire, medium-low recoil reduction, no scope. Possibly a Sniper or Revolver. No SDU needed.


 * This is the flaregun. It has the properties of igniting enemies from far away, but all the while being dead accurate. It's not meant to be strong or fast, but if you find a weapon with extremely high accuracy that's also strong, go ahead and use it. The flaregun has no scope, so neither should this.

Second added weapon: A weapon with x4 incendiary elemental effect. The rest doesn't really matter, but in order to help ammo-sharing between guns, it's best to use a combat rifle, repeater or launcher (launcher isn't recommended, seeing the playstyle of the pyro)


 * The pyro has 3 more weapons, but weren't implemented. These are the backburner, axe and axetinguisher. So for this last slot, and to keep to the pyro's style, just grab anything incendiary.

Suggested equipement
Shield: Endothermic.


 * The pyro has resistance to fire, this shield can help implement that.

Grenade mod: Incindiary. Possibly MIRV, Bouncing Betty or Rain. No SDU needed.


 * Pyro's don't use grenades, but if they had to, they'd use an incendiary grenade. The three listed grenade types all have the advantage of hitting a large group of enemies, possibly lighting all of them on fire.

Class mod: Firefly, focusing on Spark, Phoenix, Elemental chance and/or Ignite damage


 * More fire.

Artifact: Fire


 * Obvious.

Suggested strategy
Suppose you're level 50, have all the points invested, and the exact loadout as described (including drawbacks). You're fighting method should probably look like this.

When encountering a group of enemies, first try to ignite a few of them from a distance using the sniper/revolver and/or grenades. When the enemies start shooting at you, try to flank them, making use of obstacles as cover. You can Phasewalk into the group and unleash a wave of fire, possibly dazing a few enemies. When this close, fire the SMG. Try to ignite as many enemies as possible; the more burning enemies, the higher a chance of the fire effect stacking. If you're close enough after a kill, you can ignite another enemy with the Phoenix skill. Melee has a use, but when at melee range, you may as well shoot your enemy. If things get bad (shield down or something like that) you can phasewalk away, igniting a few enemies, or run to a safe cover while firing your shotgun/sniper/revolver. Remember, the SMG has horrible accuracy and is useless at even medium range. Your backup weapons should be more effective there.

Boss-fights work similarly. Get in, ignite the boss, get behind cover and repeat until he is dead.