Fire Fighter - TF2 Pyro Loadouts

Do you like to be a front line fighter? Want to take the fight to the REDs and make sure their corpses are turned to ash? Want to hear a moron like me ramble about weapons for 6 minutes?
We'll be covering -
1 - Why I'm a reliable source.
2 - Why it works well.
3 - Cosmetics (Optional step)
4 - Weapons + Alternatives
5 - Mindset + Video

Welcome!

Introduction

Hello! To those who may not know me, I am TheBlackFalcon, and I'm a Pyro Main on TF2. Knowing quite a bit about said class, I run a series on my channel based around fun to use and interesting loadouts for everyone's favourite mumbling megalomaniac.

Why am I credible?

At the time of writing, I have over 1300 hours on TF2, with almost 300 hours on the Pyro himself, meaning I know more than most about this class.

Questions?

Don't hesitate to drop a comment below. If you have a suggestion for another guide or an improvement to this then feel free to let me know!
That said, if I don't reply to your comment here, then feel free to contact me on YouTube
YouTube
That said, thanks a lot for giving me the time of day, and if you liked this, be sure to check out my other stuff!

Part 1 - Why does this work?

Since the dawn of time, Puff n Sting Pyros have roamed the badlands, wreaking havoc across the land. But everything changed when the fire nation Valve nerfs attacked. Now seldom seen, Puff n Sting Pyros are still an effective way to secure practically free kills if done correctly. The ability to shut down an enemy's movement, then set them alight and smack them with a 90 damage crit (Or more with the Axtinguisher, more on that later) is incredible. While the Puff n Sting Pyros are down, they're certainly far from out.

Part 2 - Looking the part!

As always with these - You have to look the part. I'd personally recommend the Brigade helm, coupled with the trickster's turnout gear and the filamental for a spectral firefighter style look. And that's just what you are, except, rather than fighting fire, you fight with fire.

Part 3 - Weapons / Alternatives

For this loadout, there's a degree of variation around, but I'll tell you my favourites and why I like them. First off, the degreaser. The degreaser is an infamous flamethrower, though it was nerfed with Tough Break. It allows a pyro to effectively swap to and fro. It offers 60% faster deploy speed, 30% faster holster speed, with 66% penalty to afterburn, and an extra cost of 5 ammo per airblast. While it's not exactly formidable on it's own, combined with our next two weapons, this thing is a doozy. The flare gun is our secondary of choice. It's a relatively well understood weapon, but, if you're newer, the flare gun shoots out 30 damage flares, that do a 90 damage critical hit on burning players. This allows the Pyro to dish out insane DPS with the right aim (They're projectiles - aim ahead!) and can pretty much one shot some squisher classes after the right amount of flames. Our third weapon is one of the more controversial ones, especially from a TF2 standpoint, but after it's buff in Jungle Inferno, I think it's in a good place. The Axtinguisher is a long debated weapon with a good history to it. It originally was straight up better than the basic axe, until they hit it with a nerf in Tough Break. As you can see below - The nerf made the weapon all but useless. It was near impossible to pull it out in time to stop yourself getting a demoman pipe to the face. You may be asking why I'm recommending a useless weapon - I'm not. It was buffed again in the March following tough break.
This version of the axtinguisher basically made it how it used to be, while it remaining fair for other players to fight against. It now deals minicrits, while extinguishing the burning enemy, while retaining less base damage and a slower holster speed. Here's the fun part - The axtinguisher now deals extra damage based on how much afterburn time is remaining on the player you hit, as well as giving you a disciplinary action style speed boost after you kill. This can be used to chain multiple flamed enemies together in order to hit them. In terms of damage, it's no laughing stock, ranging from 86 to 167 damage minicrits based on how much afterburn is left. This too, turns the Pyro into a moba-style assassin, leaping out unexpectedly for a quick kill on an unaware player. While you may be tempted to ignore the axtinguisher in favour of the Powerjack - give it a try. It might surprise you how underrated this weapon is.
As for alternative weapons, I'm tempted to say the reserve shooter, but, I haven't seen many people use it at all, even though I used to love it. I've yet to research how they changed it (If they even did) but it certainly feels a lot harder to use on Pyro. And of course, always feel free to try out the Powerjack if you're struggling with the Axtinguisher.

Part 4 - Mindset + Video

Mindset

Frontliner. Absolutely. You need to be aggressive with this or you're going to get nowhere. Reflect projectiles, extinguish your teammates and above all, ambush, ambush, ambush. I cannot stress this enough as it's an incredibly important aspect of the Pyro. He's TF2's best close quarters class, so use that to your advantage. Hide around corners, stay close to buildings and use cover. A pyro in the open is practically a dead pyro once a sniper gets involved.
If you're new to the game, I'll explain the general idea. Puff n Sting Pyros get their name from the playstyle. You "puff" a small blast of fire to ignite an enemy, then you swap to your flare gun or axtinguisher thanks to the Degreaser's quick swap speed, and "sting" with one of them for a guaranteed crit. It's a highly effective strategy and is not one to be overlooked despite it's nerfs.

Video

Part 5 - Closing Remarks

Firstly, thank you for reading this guide! If you still have any questions, then slap them in the comments below!
If you'd like to hear more from me, upvote this guide (or whatever you do that's positive on steam guides), and subscribe to my YouTube!
Side note - Any comments hating on the Pyro class will be deleted. If you think the class is a "W + M1 with no skill" class, then kindly keep it to yourself. Constructive criticism, however harsh sounding, will not be deleted. Thanks for reading.