comp.tf - User contributions [en]

Pyro (Highlander)

2015-10-31T10:16:59Z

162.158.39.162: /* The Axtinguisher */

{{stub}}
The Pyro is the most defensive class in Highlander. The class's skillset allows them to diffuse large amounts of enemy aggression very quickly and easily, and as such they are generally entrusted with protecting the Combo or engineer nest along with the occasional spy-checking and deflecting spam through their Airblast. While the class' unique disruptive abilities are very powerful, the Pyro lacks both the mobility and range to be an effective combat class, and as such it is considered a '''Support''' class in Highlander.
==Gameplay==
The Pyro's unique abilities in the airblast allow it to float between sticking with his team's combo (usually composed of the Heavy, Medic, and Demoman) and supporting the flanking classes (usually composed of the Scout and Soldier, and occasionally the Engineer). Its abilities also allow it to push away Ubers and kill enemy spies fairly easily, making it an ideal partner for the Combo or Engineer. The Pyro excels at close range and can take out most classes in close proximity within few seconds. However, his lack of additional movement speed makes it difficult to hunt down targets safely. Some players opt a more offensive style of pyro, and will flank unsuspecting classes for quick, easy picks. This playstyle is known as the roaming pyro.

The Pyro's Airblast is its most interesting mechanic and forcibly repositions the enemy, extinguishes burning teammates, and re/deflects enemy projectiles (including, but not limited to, a Soldier's Rockets, Demomen's grenades and stickies, enemy Jarate and Mad Milk, and Crusader's Crossbow and Huntsman arrows). His afterburn, while a very weak mechanic, can finish off very weak enemies and trigger constant voice commands, making ambushing impossible for the duration of the burning.

===On Offense===
The Pyro is an invaluable asset on offense. His ability to deflect is important on team pushes as he can use it to disrupt enemy uber, reflect incoming projectiles off his team and eliminate enemy Spies attacking the Combo.
The Pyro, although important in pushes, does not make a good Medic buddy/Pocket due to his weapon's short range and overall manueverability. In some cases, using the ÜberCharge on the Pyro can be useful if attacking well-defended Sentry nests or if flanking on the enemy's position.

===On Defense===
The Pyro is most important on defense, again mostly because of his Airblast ability, as well as his ability to spycheck. When defending, the Pyro is usually near the Engineer and his Sentry nest, spychecking and airblasting incoming projectiles (Payload) or he is following the Combo and providing support.

== Unlockable weapons ==
=== Primary ===

==== The Degreaser ====

The Degreaser is the most widely used flame thrower in competitive play due to its 65% faster weapon switch time and damage debuffs that aren't very relevant. This allows the Pyro to swap between weapons almost instantly, thus allowing for more diversity in his play style when faced with differing situations during a match. The -25% damage penalty is a negligible downside to The Degreaser due to the fact that the Pyro is primarily a defensive class, and does not need the damage that other flame throwers provide for offensive purposes. It also matters less in that there are many, many ways to nullify afterburn, from inherent immunities, health regen and getting healed by a Medic or healthpack. Its fire particle damage is also nearly identical to the stock Flame Thrower, due to the way the game engine handles rounding. The Degreaser was popularized when the "Puff and Sting" combination was considered the strongest load out for the Pyro, which involved setting a target alight with the Degreaser, then using the faster weapon switch to take out the Axtinguisher, gaining the critical damage bonus from it. Nowadays, the Degreaser is most commonly paired with The Flare Gun, being able to gain the critical damage on a burning player that much easier, since the switch time on the Stock Flame Thrower is long enough for an afterburn immune enemy to stop being considered "on fire". The switch speed is also important for baiting out projectile reflects and getting to your melee weapon quickly, which can be crucial when running the Homewrecker.

==== The Flamethrower ====

While it is the base on which other Flame Throwers are built off of, the stock Flame Thrower doesn't provide the same level of utility that the Degreaser offers, and is thus seldom used in competitive play. The Stock is not the worst weapon, and still allows the Pyro to perform his usual responsibilities, only impaired by a moment of switch time. The Stock can also encourage a more aggressive style of play from the Pyro due to the presumed increased damage compared to the Degreaser, but this is usually looked down upon in competitive play as this leaves the combo at severe risk of spam and enemy spies if left alone.

==== The Phlogistinator ====

The Phlogistinator, while often looked at as a powerful public primary for the Pyro, is highly regarded as the worst flame thrower for competitive play. This is due almost entirely to the fact that it removes the Pyro's ability to airblast, and thus removing much of his utility such as being able to deflect spam and delay Übercharges. In exchange for this, his is granted 100% crit chance when using Mmmmph. A Pyro using The Phlogistinator is forced to play two considerably ineffective styles of play, the "W+M1" style which involves simply walking at the enemy while firing the weapon, which is looked down on by the majority of the competitive scene, or playing defensively with a Flare-based weapon, igniting enemies to build Mmmph from a distance, which relies on landing flares.

=== Secondary ===

==== The Shotgun ====

The stock shotgun is a very commonly used weapon by competitive Pyros. It allows the user to quickly dispatch of revealed Spies and Scouts that may be attacking the combo, as well as providing a surprising amount of damage to bombing Soldiers and Demomen. It's downsides are considered to be negligible, being that it can only be used as a close range weapon and does not provide any long range damage, but due to the Pyro's defensive role, this is not always needed.

==== The Flare Gun ====

Another commonly used weapon by competitive Pyros. This weapon replaces The Shotgun with a single flare that, when hitting an enemy, will set them alight. In addtion to this, if The Flare Gun hits an enemy that is already on fire, it will crit. The Flare Gun is widely used in combination with The Degreaser to quickly take care of Scouts and Spies, as well as being able to pick off retreating Soldiers and Demomen that may have been set alight in defense of the combo by using The Degreaser's faster weapon switch time to quickly swap to The Flare Gun, hit a critical strike on the enemy that has been set alight, and swap back. It can also be used to contribute to spam, and also provides the Pyro with a long range damage option. The down side, however, is that it requires much more accurate aiming to be effective, and it takes players a much more time to master than The Shotgun.

=== Melee ===

==== The Powerjack ====
One of the most commonly used melee weapons used in competitive Pyro play, The Powerjack grants the Pyro 15% movement speed while active, allowing him to quickly traverse the map, which can lend itself well to flanking enemies and moving to the action after a respawn. In addition to this, killing an enemy with The Powerjack will return 25HP to the Pyro, even over healing him if he happens to be over 150HP when scoring the kill. This can make the Pryo very resilient in sticky situations, but due to the Pyro's defensive nature, this will only be used in a pinch. The 20% melee damage while active may make melee fights with Spies and Scouts difficult, but a well played Pyro will rarely put himself in this situation, and will only attack with The Powerjack to secure a kill on an injured opponent if his Flare Gun or Shotgun are not enough to finish the job.

==== The Homewrecker ====

Another commonly used melee for the Pyro, The Homewrecker deals 100% more damage to buildings, making removing a sentry a breeze for the Pyro. In addition to this, hitting a friendly building with The Homewrecker while it is sapped will completely remove the sapper, this allowing the Pyro to protect the Engineer's sentry from Spies, thus providing a boost to the Pryo's supportive nature, The downside of -25% damage to players is considered negligible as a Pyro will rarely be in a situation where he has to use his melee against players.

==== The Axtinguisher ====

The Axtinguisher used to be one of the most commonly used melee weapons for Pyros, both in competitive play and public play. It was used as part of the "Puff and sting" combination with The Degreaser, where the player sets an opponent alight with his primary, then using The Degreasers faster weapon switch time to quickly hit the player with The Axtinguisher, gain a crit and dealing massive damage to them. The Axtinguiser was nerfed, however, and now only crits burning players from behind, and only mini-crits burning players from the front. In addition to this, it also deals -50% damage to non-burning players, which makes this weapon almost useless for competitive play.

== See Also ==

* [[Highlander]]

[[Category:Classes in Highlander]]

Sniper (Highlander)

2015-10-31T09:55:45Z

162.158.39.162: /* Getting picks */

As that [[Highlander]] is a format with 1 of each class, both teams will have one [[Sniper]] at all times.

== Gameplay ==

=== Getting picks ===

It's usually up to the Sniper or one of the other [[Glossary#Metagame terms|Pick]] classes such as [[Scout]], [[Spy]], or [[Soldier]] to initiate a fight. The Sniper can be used to help either begin a push or make sure that a push doesn't begin by securing an important kill such as the [[Medic]], [[Heavy]] or [[Demoman]]. This key pick helps reduce the resistance or offensive capabilities of the enemy team during a push or hold. This is the biggest responsibility of a Sniper, and most of the Sniper's other responsibilities are directly tied to this.

==== Pick Priority ====

# '''Anybody who's attacking you'''. While your life isn't valued as much as demo or medic you are still a vital asset to the team fight so protecting your own life is placed before picks.
# The other '''[[Sniper]]'''. The enemy's sniper is your counter, your Kryptonite, your nemesis. You two will be locked in a duel until you or him are dead. The other sniper poses such a threat as he can do everything you can and he is a danger to your team as you are to his. Eliminating him ASAP is advised but if he's nowhere in sight that's even more worrying...
# The '''[[Medic]]'''. Killing the medic is relatively easy as he can be killed with an uncharged headshot or a fully charged bodyshot, when the medic is killed this means that it will be have to be another 40 seconds until the enemy team can have an Ubercharge giving your Combo the advantage. This also means that the enemy team is denied healing on the frontline of battle meaning the flanking classes should get some easy picks or at least they will have to retreat.
# The '''[[Demoman]]'''. The Demoman's area denial is frustrating as passages and vital points can be blocked by stickies and grenade spam can deal up to 400 damage per clip. By killing the Demo all stickies set up are destroyed and your team is free to move in.
# The '''[[Heavy]]'''. The Heavy is the meat shield of the team and nearly always has overheal from the medic boosting him to 450 health. Despite his large hitbox and slow movement speed professional heavies have learnt to duck and weave out of sniper shots. With the 20% resistance he receives from the Natascha and the Brass Beast he can survive fully charged headshots when fully buffed to 450. However when he is killed the team is more vulnerable to spam and flanks as a core element to the combo is dead.
# The '''[[Engineer]]'''. The humble Texan on his own is nothing to you but with his buildings he is much more of a threat as he stops your team from pushing. His death means that his buildings are not getting constant healing (or wrangled). However gunslinger engineer doesn't deliver as much denial as a wrench Engi so picking him of isn't as vital. But taking shots at his buildings when he's six-feet-under his advisable as every bit of damage helps for your team.
# The '''[[Pyro]]'''. The pyro has limited range (even with the flare gun and other projectile weapons) but can air blast projectiles, harass with after burn and protect the combo easily. In short he is the bodyguard of the combo. But when he/she/it is dead your team's Spy as a lot more breathing room as his main counter is dead. Soldiers and Demos are free to spam as much as they like without the worry of their ammo being chucked back at them.
# The '''[[Soldier]]'''. The Soldier acts as an effective suicide bomber willing to place his life on the line for a valuable pick following more or less the same order of picks like you. Soldier tends to do the "Hit and Run" technique similar to Scout but at the cost of his own health when he rocket jumps. However when not bouncing round the map with his RPG he is rather easy to kill with a medium-sized hitbox and a slow movement speed. But practising how to air shot, headshot can make quick work of Soldier and giving the upmost pleasure when you achieve that.
# The '''[[Spy]]'''. The Spy is deadly to you as you are to him. The Spy like you is also classified as an assassin being able to get kills regardless of enemies health but his strength weakens with proximity (the spy excels at close range while the sniper excels at long). As his revolver and knife are much more dangerous at close range keeping your distance is advisable. Your kukri deals considerable damage and jarate and the SMG can be used to track him when he cloaks but your ears must be alert at all times.But when killing him your team can be consoled that their spines are safe from being penetrated.
# The '''[[Scout]]'''. the Scout is rarely a threat to you unless he attacks you head on and killing him isn't game changing but his 2x capture rate speeds up capturing time so denying a scout the objective is necessary.

=== Countersniping ===

Snipers tend to try and have long sight-lines due to their ability to utilize these positions to create an advantage based on their long-range capabilities; these sight lines mean that the two Snipers can often see each other. Typically, Snipers attempt to shoot each other in order to become the dominant force between the two, because killing the other Sniper opens up an opportunity to safely [[Glossary#Metagame terms|Pick]] without the risk of taking a headshot. However some Snipers choose to ignore the enemy sniper and move to other sight lines to avoid the risk of dying.

The Sniper versus Sniper fight is a very detailed one, with many servers hosted that are solely dedicated to letting Snipers fight each other at long range to help people refine their Sniper killing strategies. Some Snipers prefer to strafe around quickly left and right while out of scope and wait for the other Sniper to scope in before taking a shot. This is due to a few factors such as the extremely slow speed at which the Sniper moves while scoped in; he is unable to dodge a shot and is a standstill target while scoped in, meaning that the Sniper who scopes last will have the upper hand in a fight. Another reason why a Sniper may elect to shoot second is the fact that scoping in shows the enemy where you will be standing to take a shot - the enemy Sniper has an advantage here because he can choose where he stops and retains a small element of surprise due to being able to relocate himself. Other Snipers decide to disregard the "second scoping" tactic and decide to shoot first every time. This can be a hindrance to Snipers due to the difficulty of hitting shots on a randomly strafing target.

=== Area denial ===

The Sniper can effectively shut down entire attack routes with his innate ability to kill nearly anything in the game in one shot, given proper preparations and steady aim. Even without good aim the sheer presence of a Sniper can help to lock down an area. Snipers can ensure cart lanes and control points are clear, and can also help make sure flanking classes are kept away from important core classes.

Areas of interest on most maps are important areas for Snipers to focus on; for example, Snipers should focus on shooting near the cart on Payload maps as it is usually an area saturated with easy kills in the form of light classes who are pushing the cart to help their team advance. This is one way that the Sniper can contribute to his team easily, by slowing down the enemy team's objective taking power.

== Highlander Sniper Guides ==
* [[Liquid's Sniper Guide]]

== See also ==
* [[Highlander]]

[[Category:Classes in Highlander]]