### Roles and Responsibilities --- Pyro's role in highlander is generally supportive. Your goal is to protect your team from various threats, hold space, and control engagements. To be an effective pyro, you need a deep understanding of the game state and use that information to proactively position yourself to react to the most likely threats. The highest priority threats that you will have to consistently be able to deal with are soldier [[#Bomb Denial|bombs]] and [[Spy Tracking |spy]]. Your current style of play is heavily dictated on whether or not the spy is alive and the likelihood of an incoming bomb. Managing [[Understanding Ubers |ubers]] is another important element of pyro. Correct positioning and use of [[Airblast and controlling engagements|airblast]] can heavily influence the outcome of an uber exchange or allow your team to successfully refight or escape by stuffing an uber. Pyro can be somewhat flexible when it comes to prioritizing protection based on the strengths and weakness of your teammates, as well as the strength of the threats on the enemy team. ### General Play --- While there are major differences between play in a [[King of the Hill (KOTH) |king of the hill]] and a [[Stopwatch |stopwatch]] setting, there are plenty of concepts universal to all modes of play. In most situations, you should be positioning yourself around your medic and demo without straying too far. Think of your range as a bubble, anything inside that bubble should be protected by you. The more you move that bubble around the less stable the border of protection is. Try to position yourself away from sightlines and with a good view of the area around your combo, including the ability to see and adjust for bombs. Be aware of common bomb and sac timings, such as right after your team gets a medic pick, so that you can keep your eyes on the sky when needed. Also be aware of common spy timings, such as during sacs/bombs and around ubers. With good [[Spy Tracking]], you should know where the spy can be on the map at all times. You should absolutely never be spy checking when the spy is dead. It is important to walk with your combo when taking a fight to reflect spam off your team and watching for spies as your team transitions to new areas. You may frequently be in called in during [[Understanding Ubers |ubers]], especially defensively. Use airblast so control the positioning of players and hold space for your team. When not involved in an exchange, positioning around your sniper can be very powerful as the spy will be looking for an opportunity to pick off players that are alone. Make sure you to adjust your position back to your combo during the post uber. During downtime you can use flare-based secondaries to check for spy at range, and abuse the arc and ability of the [[Utilizing the Detonator effectively |Detonator]] to harass snipers out of sight lines without peeking. ### Reflecting Spam ^12dc63 --- Pyro can enable his team to take space without taking damage from projectile classes. While playing your team, you can selectively use your [[Ammo management|ammo]] to deny spam from enemy Demomen and Soldiers. During pushes and holds or any other time that you team may be vulnerable, you can find opportunities to mitigate this damage for you and your team. It is important to make sure that the spam you are reflecting would otherwise have impact for the enemy team, otherwise you will end up wasting ammo and losing focus on other responsibilities. ### Bomb Denial ^516d33 #### Recognizing Bomb Timing ^6ee2b2 --- The first step in consistently denying bombs is knowing when to look out for them. Like [[Spy Tracking|spy tracking]], bomb timing is quite predictable and relies on your awareness of the game state. Keep an eye on when the soldier is alive using the [[Game settings and configuration#^75b680 |match HUD]] and pay attention to his positioning and various cues that lead up to sacs. Soldiers will bomb very frequently during the [[King of the Hill (KOTH)#The Midfight |midfight]] on KOTH maps and will also bomb frequently while on [[Stopwatch#Offense|offense]] during stopwatch maps. Teams will often look for the opportunity to run a sac when they are at an uber disadvantage, particularly right after their medic dies. On KOTH, teams will frequently send a large sac wave onto point in an effort to kill the medic, get as many picks as possible, and use their reduced respawn time to take retake the point. Also be aware that the soldier and spy are trying to coordinate plays together. If you expect a bomb or a spy play, be on the lookout for the other and [[Communication |communicate]] with your team where you focus is. #### Denying the Bomb --- When you've spotted an incoming bomb, the first rocket is generally very predictable. Most soldiers are going to shoot a rocket right as they are about to land, and then try to finish off the kill. Some soldiers do not respect airblast at all and you will be able to simply reflect their rockets off cooldown every time they bomb with very predictable timing. Others will hold shots until you try and predict their rocket, which is where having your [[Game settings and configuration#^efa4cb |flames off]] comes in handy. Its very important to be applying pressure to the soldier after he lands so that he can't just hold rockets forever. This can be done by you or your teammates depending on positioning. If this falls on you, holding m1 and forcing the soldier to act or die, while keeping full visibility with your flames turned off, is going to be the most effective strategy. As soon as you've dealt with the bomb, either by killing the soldier yourself or leaving him up to your team to finish off, immediately start looking for spy. As mentioned previously, spies and soldiers are coordinating together, and you should expect both to try to make a play at the same time.