Fire Could Use Some Changes

[Code.]

Honest to god flamer is one of the most frustrating but rewarding weapons I've ever used.
It doesn't need RoF changes, armor properties(would be cool in a different fuel mix but y` know)
I will agree flame RNG is bullshit because I have both won due to it and lost due to it by running through about 2 flame tiles. If I really need to get a kill and watching runners flamedrag me and walk off just fine.
Flamer isn't a matter of balance it's a matter of skill
Shotgun and most other weapons are "Click it until it dies or wait for it to get in (x) tiles then click it until it dies."
Flamer is honestly the only weapon I feel happy using because of its unique mechanics and rewarding you for improving with it.
I used to suck ABSOLUTE ASS with the flamer and thought it did 0 damage.
Until you actually use neuralink to link yourself in with the game for 0 input lag(A.K.A Muscle Memory) and this allows for (with proper timing) high damage bursts that allow for a multitude of different plays Including Baiting, Chasing,Suppressing and more.
"Go watch Troller play with a flamethrower and see what a robust marine can do with it."
Honest to god I learned a lot from Troller and he helped me get a positive K/D(before it was removed)
If I think I'm good enough, I might one day write a flamethrower guide for situations like this.

TL;DR
If you sit back with flamer for an extended period of time,observe better flamer mains(Destrok, TrollerNoob) and see what makes their form of playstyle so effective you begin to see what makes flamer good when you start flaming nearly instantly with muscle memory, predicting flamer pathings, taking advantage of special flamer pathings and start using flamer as area denial and you will know when you climb the skill curve with flamer because you'll start seeing Xeno moments before they happen(You get good with Gamesense.)
Try using a l42 scope(not smartscope,fuck smartscope) and flamer and even if you can't hit that shot just learn how xenos think when on fire,and eventually once you have a good grasp on how aggressive you CAN be not SHOULD be rush them while they are resisting and see what you can do.
Maybe I'm actually a terrible flamer main and deserve to be hung at the middle of town but just take a bit to think about it.

[kooarbiter]

yes to all of these


as it stands, i mostly only ever use flamers as the underbarrel attachment as a pseudo pdw that can be quicky and easily refueled, it scares the shit out of runners and lurkers if you learn to predict where your enemies will be, then you can fall back or chase them, i once got 4 consequtive solo kills with just a mostly unchanged pulse rifle and underbarrel flamer on drones and runners.

[kooarbiter]

[Moosetasm]

Yes. Using the incinerator is definitely fun. There’s something inherently satisfying about lighting up a target.

It’s just that, in CM, they operate in a weird fashion. They don’t act like a flamethrower really would, which I think was the whole point behind my ramble. I’ve seen plenty of stock footage of flamethrowers (real ones) being used, and they never just leave a line of fire from them to the target (and why would anyone risk setting themselves on fire by purposefully igniting the terrain right next to them?). That’s why I suggested the whole spray-bottle style mechanic, or treating flames like a thrown item regarding how they travel (though they should travel faster than thrown stuff). And they’d only ignite a single tile at the end of the path, or any target that is impacted by the flames as they travel out to target. Then make the fuel cost less (like 1u per shot) and then remove that fire delay, or give it a burst that ignites a 3x3 spot for 10 fuel (center tile burns longer).

If you remove the fire delay but limit the weapon to creating one tile of burning fuel, you can have a much more customized & realistic area of denial effect, where you are able to make a single line of fire that goes side to side instead of straight from you. That mimics what troops have done with flamethrowers irl. And the 3x3 burst (which could definitely have a fire delay, due to the lines having to repressurize) would be the equivalent of a trooper hosing a target area down.

I dunno. Like I said. I think fire is fun. Incinerators and the resulting fire just behave oddly, with fire especially spreading in a seemingly random manner (LV grass fires, how do they work?).