Compression blast

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A Pyro using compression blast against a Scout.
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The Pyro

Compression blast, also known as air blast, is the alternate fire for all of the Pyro's primary weapons except the Phlogistinator. It is a blast of sphere-shaped gas emitting from the end of the weapon. When the alternate fire button is used, the Pyro will use twenty ammunition (fifty ammunition with the Backburner equipped) to push enemies away several feet. It can also deflect most projectiles and instantly extinguish burning teammates.

Contents

Deflection

Projectiles within the area of effect are redirected so that they are launched towards the Pyro's crosshair. When these projectiles are deflected, they are not simply "reflected" as if from a mirror; rather, the Pyro can redirect them. Deflected projectiles are essentially stopped and fired again from the Pyro's current position, aimed directly at the object the Pyro's crosshair lies on at the time. This can give strange results if the crosshair is centered on very near objects and players, sometimes causing the deflected rocket to move at angles very different to the direction the player is facing. With the right timing and position, a skilled or well-positioned Pyro can deflect projectiles at any desired angle, regardless of their original path. Grenades and stickybombs that are already on a surface will roll in the direction pointed to by the cursor.

The following projectiles can be compression blasted:

Grenades and baseballs are not naturally given any additional vertical velocity when they are deflected. Aiming these deflected projectiles is more difficult, but their trajectory can be controlled by the Pyro's angle and position. They must be deflected upward in order to arc as they do when fired normally.

Deflected projectiles are considered to have been fired by the Pyro deflecting them for the purposes of friendly fire and kill awards. For example, a RED grenade will turn BLU when deflected and hurt any RED team players in the approximated area when it explodes. It can also hurt the Pyro who deflected it, similar to a Soldier damaging himself with his own rockets. The only exception to these rules is the stickybomb. Although they can be pushed away, they do not change ownership. The only change to a deflected stickybomb is that if the Demoman who fired the stickybomb detonates it while within its blast radius, the Pyro will be credited for the kill. Deflected Mad Milk and Jarate will soak enemy players and extinguish allies, and will have all the attributes of normal Jarate and Mad Milk, for example, the Pyro will be given kill assists if a teammate kills an enemy under the effects of deflected Jarate. On-hit effects are applied to the Pyro that deflected it. For example, it is possible to gain the +15 health bonus from the Black Box's rocket if the deflected rocket successfully hits a target. Likewise, the Crusader's Crossbow's bolts will heal teammates if deflected and the Pyro will be credited with the healing caused.

Non-critical deflected projectiles will always turn into mini-crits, while critical projectiles retain their critical status. Additionally, a deflected baseball will only stun as it would for the Scout who launched it. If the Pyro is crit boosted, for example under the effects of the Kritzkrieg's ÜberCharge, deflected projectiles will turn into critical projectiles. Again, neither of these effects apply to stickybombs.

Demonstration

Learn more about the Weapon Demonstration project.

Strategy

The deflective abilities of an air blast can be used both offensively or defensively:

Defense

Offense

Related achievements

Leaderboard class soldier.png Soldier

Backdraft Dodger
Backdraft Dodger
Kill a Pyro who has airblasted one of your rockets in the last 10 seconds.

Leaderboard class pyro.png Pyro

Hotshot
Hotshot
Kill a Soldier with a reflected critical rocket.
Hot Potato
Hot Potato
Reflect 100 projectiles with your compressed air blast.


Kill icons

Unused Kill icons

These kill icons were contributed by NeoDement.

Update history

June 19, 2008 Patch
  • Added alt-fire compression blast to the basic Flamethrower.

June 20, 2008 Patch

  • Fixed Compression Blast and Flare Gun trail particles on DX8.

May 21, 2009 Patch

  • Compression blast now extinguishes fire on friendly targets.
  • Grenades and rockets deflected by a Pyro under the effects of Kritzkrieg will now be criticals.

June 8, 2009 Patch

  • Fixed not being able to reflect arrows with the Flamethrower.

June 23, 2009 Patch

  • Force-A-Nature & Flamethrower air blast knockback effects no longer work on disguised Spies.
  • A Pyro's air blast will now extinguish burning disguised enemy Spies, since knockback no longer affects disguised enemy Spies.

June 25, 2009 Patch

  • Reverted Force-A-Nature and airblast knockback on disguised Spies, so that they can once again be knocked back.

August 31, 2009 Patch

  • Fixed the Pyro's airblast pushing Spectators in free-look mode.

December 17, 2009 Patch (WAR! Update)

  • Fixed being able to affect friendly pipes with airblast (they would unstick).

December 22, 2009 Patch

  • Fixed Pyros not getting the proper kill icon for kills with deflected Direct Hit rockets.

February 23, 2010 Patch

  • Fixed the Pyro not being able to deflect enemy flares.

April 28, 2010 Patch

  • Airblast re-fire delay reduced by 25%.
  • Airblast ammo usage reduced by 20%.
  • All reflected rockets/grenades/arrows now Mini-Crit.
  • Airblasting enemies into environmental deaths now awards the death credit to the Pyro.

May 5, 2010 Patch

  • Fixed deflected Stickybombs becoming Mini-Crits when detonated.
  • Fixed deflected Stickybombs becoming Crits if the Pyro was Crit-boosted.

September 30, 2010 Patch

  • [Undocumented] Pyro's Airblast pushes grounded stickies approximately twice the distance now.

December 17, 2010 Patch

  • Fixed a Flamethrower bug that allowed players to rapidly fake the Pyro's airblast effect.

April 14, 2011 Patch (Hatless Update)

  • Removed airblast restriction from Backburner (at a 150% cost).

April 18, 2012 Patch

  • The Quick-Fix's ÜberCharge is no longer affected by airblast.

December 20, 2012 Patch

  • Fixed the Pyro’s airblast not working correctly when facing downhill.

May 13, 2013 Patch

  • [Undocumented] Fixed Cow Mangler 5000 shots becoming Critical hits instead of mini-crits when reflected.

Unused content

Bugs

Notes


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