The Pyro Update (6/19/08)
Overview
The second of the class updates introduced three new Pyro weapons while also modifying the default Flamethrower, the Pyro class achievement pack, and added two community created maps into the official map rotation.
Maps
The Pyro Update introduced the idea of inserting community made maps into the official map rotation, adding the simple and straightforward capture the flag map ctf_turbine and the five control point push map cp_fastlane.
Concerning my personal opinions on the two maps, I would say that both fit well into the official TF2 art theme, but I feel that ctf_turbine looks a bit too simple in some places, particular the flag rooms, which betrays its origins as community-made. On the other hand, cp_fastlane sometimes get bogged down at the final points, where it can become quite easy for the defending team to hold off attackers for a long time.
Achievements
After the incredibly difficult Medic achievements, the much easier Pyro achievements were a welcome change. The requirements for unlocks were also lowered from the 12-25-39 requirements introduced in the Gold Rush Update to 10-11-17 for both the Medic and Pyro unlocks. The Pyro achievement pack was also the first to include an achievement specifically requiring one of the unlocks to obtain, with the Attention Getter achievement requiring the Flare Gun.
Items
The biggest change to the Pyro probably wasn't any of the three unlock items but the addition of the Compression Blast (or Airblast) alt-fire to the Flamethrower. Ever since its introduction, the Airblast seems to be the direction of innovation the TF2 team wishes to take with the Pyro. The first version of the Airblast released in the Pyro Update could only reflect projectiles and push back enemies (including invulnerable ones) at the cost of 25 ammo. Later updates added even more reflctible projectiles, allowed the Airblast to extinguish fire, increased the rate of fire of the airblast, reduced the ammo cost to 20, and converted all reflected projectiles into minicrits, but also decreased the Flamethrower's damage output relative to the Backburner's.
The original Flare Gun dealt only 20 base damage and had an damage ramp-up with increasing distance instead of fall-off. Later updates changed the base damage to 30 at all distances with no damage ramp-up/fall-off. The mini-crit and full crit ability when striking already burning enemies was added later to help compensate for the addition of more extinguishing abilities through Jarate and the Compression Blast. The Flare Gun is popularly considered as one of the most balanced side-grades in the game, though there are still quite a few that argue that it is still a downgrade.
The original Backburner had guaranteed critical hits from behind and 50 more health but no Compression Blast alt-fire. 225 HP Pyros (335 if overhealed with a Medic) was quickly seen as overpowered, especially with the damage falloff tweaks on both Flamethrowers, and the 50 health was quickly removed, but not before the "W+M1" stigma was born. From then on, the Backburner was generally considered underpowered, but the W+M1 stigma remained. While the support abilities of the Airblast were recognized quite quickly, further buffs such as the ability to extinguish fires have made it such that there is a stigma against using the Backburner. To this day, the Backburner remains one of the most controversial items in the game.
The Axtinguisher hasn't changed since its original release. It has guaranteed critical hits on enemies on fire and deals half damage with guaranteed no critical hits on enemies that are not on fire. Interestingly enough, the Axtinguisher remains the only damaging weapon in the game that does not deal additional damage with the Kritzkrieg ubercharge or any other critboost, due to the "No critical hits vs nonburning enemies" overriding the critboost. Every single other weapon that do not score Critical hits normally will still deal three times the base damage while under the critboost effect.
Bonus
The Pyro Update released alongside Meet the Sniper, and introduced the idea of the taunt kill by making the Shotgun/Flaregun "Hadouken" taunt lethal to anyone hit with it. This started the tradition of giving a lethal taunt to every other class, with even the Medic receiving one eventually.
The TF2 team also experimented with the Flamethrower/Backburner damage values for several days after the Pyro Update. For a few days, fall-off/ramp-up damage was removed completely but was quickly labeled as overpowered, especially when coupled with the Backburner's +50HP. Though the damage modifications were tweaked and the health boost removed, the "W+M1" stigma they helped create still plagues the Pyro in some circles.
Suggestions for the Future
The Pyro has seen quite a few modifications over the years, with flamethrower damage, airblast mechanics, and afterburn receiving numerous tweaks over the years.
I would suggest changing the Axtinguisher's attribute of "No critical hits vs nonburning players" to "No random critical hits" simply for aesthetic purposes of allowing the Axtinguisher to do extra damage during critboosts. As the "-50% damage vs nonburning players" would still apply, the critboost damage would still be half that of the full 195 damage against a burning player.
The Flare Gun vs Shotgun balance is generally regarded as balanced and the equip rate is split about 50-50 at this time. However, the Flare Gun actually deals one of the lowest damage per second in the game, making it one of the weaker weapons. Its appeal comes from its long-range and utility abilities due to the shotgun occasionally feeling redundant when the Flamethrower is available. Ultimately, the tradeoff between the Flare Gun and shotgun is essentially between a utility tool and a side-arm. As the afterburn and fire mechanics will likely continue to be modified in the future, it has probably become increasingly important to be mindful of the Flare Gun vs Shotgun balance. A simple increase in rate of fire on the Flare Gun may be appropriate at some point to help raise its damage per second.
The Backburner should receive some rework to hopefully remove the stigma. There are already several ideas floating around. Hopefully one of them may be implemented.
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