On Thursday, June 19th, Valve Software released the latest update to their hit multiplayer FPS, Team Fortress 2.  Included in this update were the 35 Pyro-specific achievements, the three new Pyro weapons (along with easier unlocks) and two fan-made maps, Turbine and Fastlane.

Unlike the Medic unlocks which required a player to unlock all 39 Medic-specific achievements to get all three of the new weapons, the Pyro’s unlocks are now 10, 15 and 20 achievements in that order.  The reduction to the requirements help in two respects.  1) The player can choose what achievements to go after and not have to worry about getting all of them.  2) After the player has unlocked all of the new weapons, he is still able to get Pyro-achievements.

So far I have unlocked all 3 Pyro weapons, compaired to the 1 Medic weapon i have unlocked.  Is this because I don’t play Medic enough?  Not really.  Truthfully, the Medic achievements are just too situational, and in some cases, have to be artificially done via maps like Achievement Box.  Example, Blunt Trauma: Assist in punching out 4 enemies with a single Uber-charge on a Heavy.  1) You need to have a Heavy Ubered.  2) They Heavy needs to be meleeing.  3) The Heavy needs to take out 4 within the 10 seconds of the Uber-Charge.

The Pyro achievements are far more realistic, and even the most difficult ones are not required since you only need 20 achievements to have all of the weapons unlocked.  Some fun Pyro achievements inclue:

Next of Kindling: Ignite an enemy, and the Medic healing him.

Cooking the Books: Ignite 5 enemies carrying your intelligence.

Firewall: Ignite 5 Spies who have a sapper on a friendly building.

Fire and Forget: Kill 15 players while you’re dead.

True, these achievements are still situational, however these situations actually happen in normal gameplay.  Now for the weapons…

The first Pyro unlockable is The Flare Gun, which replaces the shotgun. It allows the Pyro to ignite an enemy at long range, but does require careful aim on their part. It’s particularly useful for causing havoc on Snipers and Engineers who want to keep their distance.

The second Pyro unlockable is The Backburner. This flamethrower is built for the Pyro who likes to ambush their opponents. It removes the compression blast capability, instead guaranteeing critical hits whenever it’s used on an opponent from behind. To aid in survivability, it grants the Pyro an extra fifty health.

The third Pyro unlockable is The Axtinguisher. This mighty axe guarantees critical hits on any enemy that’s currently on fire, although it’s significantly weaker against enemies who aren’t. A great combination with the The Flare Gun, or with another Pyro buddy riding alongside doing the igniting.

In addition to the achievements and weapons, Valve also included two user-created maps.

CP_FASTLANE (control point)
created by Arttu “skdr” Mäki

A control point map with five points, in the style of Badlands. Its symmetrical layout provides for high-speed and well balanced gameplay, while the multiple indoor routes, connected to larger outdoor arenas, provide a wide set of interesting and varied combat spaces. The arena-style control points require solid teamwork to capture and hold.

CTF_TURBINE (capture the flag/capture the intel)
created by Bill Johnston

A CTF map inside a large industrial compound. It’s clean and straightforward, making it easy to learn, but its well balanced layout ensures there are still a wide variety of strategic choices for teams to make, and for individual classes to shine. Competitive teams and players have already popularized this one.