Flame Thrower: Difference between revisions

The Flame Thrower is a highly unusual weapon. Instead of firing projectiles or bullets, it releases a short-range stream of large flame particles that linger in the air and quickly expire, basing their damage on how long the oldest touching particle was alive. It will release around 25 particles a second, with brand-new particles dealing 7.2 damage each, and old particles dealing 3.6 each, scaling linearly between the two. This roughly corresponds to the user's distance from their target. These particles will continue on their trajectory even as the player moves, and adjust their speed based on the player's movement, allowing for wide coverage around them. The flames penetrate through enemies and buildings, meaning opposing players cannot shield each other from the fire. Damage scaling is also different from other weapons, as there is no ramp-up or falloff, and [[critical hit]] damage is affected by particle lifetime scaling. The Flame Thrower will not fire flames [[water|underwater]], and will not damage underwater enemies if the user is above the surface. It will also light friendly [[Huntsman]] arrows on fire, allowing them to deal afterburn.

When an enemy is set on fire (except for Pyros), they will suffer a status effect called [[afterburn]], in which they will continually take damage and scream for their life. This has the crucial effect of revealing cloaked or disguised enemy [[Spy|Spies]]. Afterburn deals 3 damage and triggers twice per second for ten seconds, for a total of 60 damage. This will also persist after the Pyro's death, unless they have the [[Harvester]] equipped. Critical afterburn does not exist, but it will deal mini-crit damage if the user has a mini-crit boost, or the victim is Marked for Death. Afterburn is extinguished after one second if they are being healed by a beam, like a [[Dispenser]], the [[Payload]], or the [[Medi Gun]]. Afterburn is extinguished immediately if the victim takes a health pack, meets a resupply cabinet, submerses themself in deep water, has a Medi Gun [[ÜberCharge]], or is airblasted by an ally.

If the user presses the alternative fire key, the Flame Thrower will use 20 ammo to release a massive cone of compressed air, known as "[[Compression blast|compression blast]]" or more commonly "[[Compression blast|airblast]]". This cone deals no damage, but forcibly pushes back enemies (but not buildings), launching them in the air if angled upwards. The airblast can be fired once every 0.75 seconds, including underwater, trapping any enemy that simply cannot kill the Pyro. The airblast isn't powerful enough to offset the effects of gravity, so an enemy cannot be kept in the air indefinitely. However, airblasts from multiple Pyros will increase the velocity against an enemy. In addition, the airblast will reflect (most) enemy projectiles towards where the user is aiming, the most important of such being [[Rocket Launcher|rockets]] and [[Grenade Launcher|grenades]]. If reflected, the projectile will (usually) deal mini-crit damage against enemy targets, and if the projectile (or the Pyro) was crit boosted, then that projectile will also be crit-boosted. When a Pyro kills an enemy with a projectile belonging to their team, a unique kill icon will appear, and the Pyro will receive kill credit. As a final bonus, the airblast will extinguish teammates who are on fire - hopefully before they burn to death while staring right at you.

* The 20 hp on extinguish from ''TF2'''s Flame Thrower is also absent for the same reason.