[i]Cosbolt: I've done my absolute best to organize Sketchek's notes on flame mechanics into a reader-friendly fashion by correcting grammar and rephrasing some sections to clarify the more complex ideas. I didn't include several things that are now impossible or unfeasible, like using the axtinguisher and flare-punching. To read the whole thing, look [url=http://pastebin.com/raw/Si9Yg3qV]here[/url] [/i]

[h]FLAME MECHANICS[/h]
I apologize in advance that this is such an incoherent mess. I honestly don't have a very firm understanding of this stuff myself. Proceed with caution.
The flamethrower is a projectile weapon, when you hold mouse1, it fires numerous little invisible boxes, we will be referring to them as flame particles. When one of these particles makes contact with an enemy player's collision hull (hit-box,) a straight line is drawn from the point of firing (your pov at the time of firing the particle) to the center of the particle that made contact. if there are no map brushes or solid entities in between the two points, the hit is confirmed and fire damage is applied. One flamethrower ammo fires two flame particles. you can tap to shoot one particle at a time for 0.5 ammo. The flame effect you see when you use press mouse1 is not a good indicator of how the particles really move. You can see the true flame hitboxes and some other flamethrower data. Simply make a local server and type this in the developer console: "sv_cheats 1 and "tf_debug_flamethrower 1" It helps to imagine flame movement in two parts. inherent and inherited. Inherent movement can be observed by standing completely still and firing in any direction. Inherited properties are ones that come with the situation you are in. I'll leave the more detailed observations to you but keep the following inherent properties in mind. Each particle fired has a randomly generated speed and spread (within certain parameters.) Additionally, "forward" velocity for each particle decreases over time. Lastly, each particle accelerates upwards slightly near the end of its lifetime

When you are moving, your velocity at the time of firing a particle is added to that particle's inherent movement in the direction that you are moving. this is inherited movement. For example: strafing left while firing straight up will send a stream of flame into the air as normal, but the stream will move left with you at 300hu/s (default pyro speed.) When you stop strafing left, any particles fired before you stopped moving, will continue traveling left, regardless of your following movements. Likewise, if you strafe forward while firing straight forward, the stream will move along with you appearing to have no difference in range, meaning the particles are in fact moving an additional 300hu/s to inherent speed. When you come to a stop, the last particles that were fired before stopping will travel noticeably further than any following particles. moving forward increases forward particle velocity, therefore increasing total range. Strafing backwards while firing forwards will add 270hu/s backwards (negative) velocity to inherent movement. this will result in a particle's initial forward velocity being slower. As inherent forward velocity decreases, inherited velocity begins to catch up and exceed it; the particle will come to a complete stop before accelerating in the opposite direction like a boomerang.

Short bursts of flame while strafing forward can be surprisingly useful, not just for reaching otherwise unreachable targets, but it can help with spacing and aiming. The longer range allows you to keep more distance between you and your enemies. Additionally, the increased speed makes it easier to lead the enemy. In situations where you are strafing left or right while flaming, such as circle strafing, you need to aim slightly away from the enemy (in the opposite direction you strafe) rather than lock onto them with the crosshair [i][Cosbolt: lead your targets][/i]. The more distance between the two of you, the further away you need to aim.

Strafing backwards while flaming is perhaps one of the most effective tactics in a pyro's arsenal. To demonstrate why, lets imagine a flamethrower fight between two pyros. A red pyro chases a backpedaling blu pyro. Both have their crosshairs locked on each-other and the red pyro is starting to catch up. Even though the red pyro has faster particles and faster strafe speed, the flamethrower range is greater for the blu pyro. The red pyro's inherited speed makes no difference since they both move in the same direction. On the other hand, the blu pyro's particles may move slowly and float backwards after a moment, but the simple fact that they don't travel in the same direction as the red pyro's means that the red pyro will end up walking into them. In addition to this, the one being chased is the one that chooses the path that both parties travel, making it easier to lead the chaser and harder vice versa. Backpedaling around a corner and leaving a trail of flame for the chaser to walk into makes it impossible for the chaser to do damage (excluding explosions) while the back-peddler does damage without even seeing the chaser. Flame hit detection draws a line from the point of firing to the point of collision; even if the enemy is unseen at the actual time of firing or time of contact, the hit is valid. This is why you should almost never chase a backpedaling pyro, especially around corners.[url=http://i.imgur.com/gLRYOfh.gif]
example[/url]

Due to particles inherently rising upwards over time, total range will generally be longer when aiming upwards than downwards. Jump while flaming up for huge upwards range or down while falling to supplement the limited downwards range. Flaming while jumping or falling long distances can be difficult to aim but once you understand this, its just a matter of adapting. These are just some of the many ways to use inherited movement to your benefit in a firefight. When you understand how flame particles truly behave and how to properly aim and manipulate them, your skill as a pyro gains a new layer of depth and your odds of success will increase. I highly recommend that everyone should become familiar with inherited flame movement even if you don't play pyro, as it could also help you fight against enemy pyros.

VARIOUS TIPS[olist]
[*] Ping and latency is something to consider with regards to advanced flamethrowing; you want as little lag as possible. You also might want to consider practicing with artificial ping on local servers (net_fakelag). There are some quirks regarding latency and the position of the flamethrower's firing point. look up "flamethrower mojo" for more info.
[*] Airblast knockback is calculated relative to the position of your pov to the enemy; aim makes no difference. Jumping and crouching will change the height that the target flies.
[*] Interestingly, the pomson and bison's projectiles use the same hitboxes as flames and can be viewed using the flamethrower's debug mode. This explains why they ignite huntsman arrows.
[/olist]

And that's all I'm telling you. I wouldn't want to take away the fun of figuring stuff out yourself. Though hopefully i saved you some time by shedding a little light on the basics. Now it's your turn to come up with stupid ways to kill pyros.

THE END
I didn't cover absolutely everything i know but I've probably provided all the tools anyone would need to figure out the rest. Just remember that there isn't really such thing as a "pyro combo" in the same sense that there is a "backstab" in tf2. There is no "burning drop axe crit combo", only the fact that you acted in a way that resulted in a critical axe on a pyro. Don't restrict yourself to arbitrary simplification. the whole purpose of playing this way is to be unconventional and creative.
[i]~be fluid~[/i]

[i]"To be lost is not the worst that can happen...to be forgotten i the worst." -Pierre Claeyssens[/i]