How to utilize flank pyro

If you play team fortress 2 then you know about you, right? Pyro is a very good class for dealing huge damage and holding choke points. Some team fortress players consider pyro to be a class that doesn't require any skill. But, Pyro does require good gamesense and tactics to be effective. Pyro is a versatile class because he can attack, defend, support, and flank. Pyro along with other classes like spy and scout is very good for flanking your enemies. Many of pyro's weapons are focused on flanking. This flanking playstyle suits the pyro because his weapons can deal damage that will have an impact for a very long time. The flank pyro can be considered as a subclass or an alternative playstyle for the pyro. The purpose of a flanking pyro is to weaken enemy defences. Flanking pyros mainly focus on medics, snipers, and hanging engineers. A player is said to be hanging when he has no protection around him or no safe place to retreat. Flanking pyros mostly target engineers who haven't built a sentry gun or are far from their sentry guns. Pyro has many weapons and items in his arsenal that help in flanking enemy defences. Flank pyros usually look for alternate routes around the map where most of the enemies don't pass through or won't notice them.

Since we know what flank pyro is let's talk about the loadout. The loadout of a flank pyro is dependent upon the player himself. Many loadouts suit the flank pyro since most of the weapons in the pyro's arsenal are good for flanking. Let's talk about a few loadouts used by flank pyros. Firstly, there is the backburner as primary, detonator as secondary and power jack as their melee. Players use this loadout because the detonator and power jack help in movement while the backburner deals critical damage from behind. This is a very common loadout among flank pyros. Secondly, there is the dragon's fury as the primary, thermal thrusters as the secondary, and axtinguisher as the melee. Thermal thrusters allow for faster movement while the axtinguisher and dragons' fury deal a lot of damage. This loadout has a lot of similarities to the combo pyro loadouts. For the last loadout, it goes like this:- Phlogistinator as their primary, scorched shot as their secondary, and back scratcher as their melee. Pyros who use this loadout usually take alternative routes instead of using items to enhance their speed. This loadout is completely focused on dealing with lots of damage. This loadout can also be used as an offensive pyro.

Now, let's talk about some things to acknowledge while playing flank pyro. Firstly, you will find many sentry guns in the defensive lines of the enemy. A sentry gun is one of the pyro's biggest weaknesses. To deal with them use a weapon that can deal damage from longer ranges. If you encounter a sentry gun very close, then hide behind a wall. Deal some damage then instantly hide behind the wall again. Do this continuously and eventually, you will deal enough damage to take out the sentry gun. When playing as a blank pyro don't take the same route again and again. If you do this then enemies will be aware of your location. Try taking a different route every time you respawn. Just because you are a flank pyro doesn't mean that you shouldn't focus on low-priority targets. If you can, then prevent classes like scout and Demoman from reaching the frontlines. Doing this will help your team who are near the objectives. When you are flanking try to make an escape route ready because sometimes you get detected early or you may get critically damaged and need to retreat. Well, that's it for flank pyro. If you are using this playstyle then I wish you the best of luck. Thank you and have a very good day.