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- Joined
- Jul 16, 2008
- Messages
- 1,113
shotgun is much better, its easier to aim, easy to kill burning enemies, bullets aren't effected by gravity, shoots faster, is able to be used underwater, great for killing people up close, and a lot more.
The pyro isnt meant to be a long range class, which makes the flare gun even more useless. besides, I can always reflect the flares that are shot at me
AU CONTRAIRE!
(I need a theme song. Like the PRICE LINE NEGOTIATOR!)
I have a dilemma. I really love my Engineer, and so branching off into other classes is a difficult decision to make. However, plenty of engineers have this idea of a "flamethrower sentry." This idea is stupid. However, it gives me an excuse to play Pyro. Because, you know, I'm just playtesting the flamethrower sentry. Really.
The assumption of most people is that Pyro is (1) Only W+M1, and (2) A short range class. You can see this in the quoted comment, or a few of the other comments. In response I have to say (1) you've obviously never played against TC Vinsky, and (2) the Sniper is a long range class... and he has Jarate and Huntsman. So shut it.
The Flare Gun makes the Pyro viable in the medium to long range. This is very important in open maps, like Turbine, where your ambush opportunities can be low, and line of sights are long. The shotty is a barely-medium-range weapon, both flame thrower options are short range, and all melee is always short range. This loadout limits you only to enemies you can physically touch, unless you're perfectly happy at getting one-exactly-one pellet in your enemy.
The Flare Gun takes some getting used to, but lucky two other classes provide the skills required: Soldier and Medic. The Flaregun is a rocket that follows the needlegun curve. With practice, you can easily flaregun unsuspecting bad guys. At range, you can ignite them. You can crit them. It's great.
Also a Source Engine note: the shotgun uses the bullet hit boxes, which follow the shape of the class closely... but the flaregun uses the flamethrower hitbox, which is a cube that fits the class inside. This means, especially for lanky classes like Spah, Sniper, and Scout (Hmm. The S-class), you just need to get near, not get a headshot. Especially when shooting at angles (see: Axis Aligned Bounding Box), you get even more "hittable square footage". This actually makes the flaregun EASIER to get a hit with.
Finally, see my argument for the Rocket Launcher. The Pyro fills a similar niche as the Soldier; your job is to blow apart any type of coordinated offensive, and in this case, a flamethrower is even more awesome than splash damage; you can ignite a group of enemies, all who suddenly forget their well laid plans and Leeroy Jenkins straight toward the nearest medkit or Medic. Suicide Pyros destroy more coordinated attacks than anything else.
However, the Pyro has suffered a series of nerfs over the months, and it's much harder to do a serious suicide pyro. Burn time is down, hit boxes are shorter, damage is reduced... they've done everything except give you a 1% chance of exploding for every bullet you take (hey, now there's an idea...). Demos might get the QQ, but Pyros feel the nerf pain.
The Flare Gun gives you your... flare... back. Because a rush is usually linear (everyone is running a predictable line) and you can ignite a few people from the other side of the map, and add chaos to their plans. Always good.
In conclusion, if you're on a map with lots of water*, or lots of tight Pyro-friendly corridors (I'm looking at you Teufort), then the Shotgun actually makes you a stronger class. In ALL OTHER situations, the ability to "reach out and ignite someone" is a total upgrade to the pyro. Your enemies have learned to stay just out of your range and make fun of you; fight back by tossing a bit of flame into their face from 50 paces.
TL;DR
Hudda hudda hudda. Haroooooooooodda dudda hudda. Hrmph. Huddada HUDDA huuuu. Hud hadda hud ah HUY! Hudda.
* Might I suggest that a class that depends on flame is not a good fit on a water map? I'd file this under UR DOIN IT WRONG. Like trying to Mini-gun snipe as a Heavy... you're not really playing to your strength, now are you?
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