14 DAY TRIAL // Valve is planning to roll out a Pyro update and then hold a free gaming weekend to celebrate all of this. So, read on to see what's new, and then jump into Team Fortress 2 to enjoy the adrenalin-pumping action.
The Pyro, armed with his trusty flamethrower and his rather weird face mask, is one of the characters from the game that take so much time to master and does not hold a big appeal for newcomers - so Valve has really given him a makeover. The flamethrower itself is being re-done, with the alternate fire button now used to create a push of compressed air designed to push away all in the path of the Pyro, combatant and projectile at the same time.
There are three distinct class achievements for the medic, that can be unlocked and which offer a new weapon for combat use. The shotgun is getting a replacement in the Flare Gun, a weapon that has the downside of tricky aim and the upside of allowing you to set the pesky Engineers and Snipers aflame from a distance.
There's also a modified flamethrower known as the Backburner, which deals critical hits if you use it to kill an enemy with his back turned to you. There's no compressed air option on this one, but it boosts the player's health by 50%.
Last, but by no means the least, is the Axtinguisher. As the name itself suggests, we're talking about an Axe which has the ability to cause critical damage to all targets that are already burning.
The Pyro is also getting 35 new Achievements to unlock. Just to give you an idea of the wacky thinking going on at Valve, you get an achievement if you kill an enemy that another Pyro set ablaze, and also if you manage to get a Soldier burning while he's rocket jumping around.
The Pyro update also comes complete with two fan-made maps. One of them is control point based and is called Fastlane, while the other, called Turbine, is a straight up capture the flag map. Check them out in Team Fortress 2 this weekend.