4 replies to this topic

[ackstorm]

Anyone else played with flamers since this patch? I've run around with them in testing grounds and I can't seem to tell that i'm even firing them.

Its like i'm pointing floodlights at them. In bright mechs like Polar Highlands it's hard to tell they are even shooting. Am I experiencing a glitch or did they majorly overcompensate for the flamers 'blinding' effect?

[Wintersdark]

Mine are quite visible, like blowtorches.

Some of my testing videos:

Edited by Wintersdark, 17 February 2016 - 07:12 PM.

[Bad Pun]

I'm not really digging the new animation either, it feels like a weak flashlight shined into a dusty room.

As for its effectiveness, I'm not convinced that it was a buff yet. I've gotten a couple mechs to overheat, but my Raven just didn't have the punch to capitalize on it and friendlies accidentally hit me in the back before I could disengage. I'm not saying it's bad, yet, but I'm pretty sure it's not very good.

Simply adding heat to target effect on the flamers as they were would have made me more interested in the weapon. It's already competing with various small lasers, which as anyone could say was a much better option over the flamer as it was; anything that reduces any of its effectiveness is a silly notion.

[Wibble in a Clan can]

Well. I have tested flamers out a little bit now and they do have some use- at last, although its mostly defensive
1) The blow torch animation is not blinding- and doesn't look as good but its also easier to tell what you are hitting.
2) They work at putting heat on an enemy mech- takes a bit of time with 1-2 flamers (shy of 9 seconds on a heatsink rich heavy) to really get them at 90% but doesn't give you much heat unless you flame for ages. 3-6 flamers can cause heat problems very quickly (on you and them- but you can't see what its doing to them usually, and in my private test games the effect is delayed slightly which can make judging how much flame to pour on very difficult).
3) Also flamers are very-very short range. Need to be on top of the opponent, and they now do negligible damage. For most public games this means basing a strategy around them Is not so great (even if you do isolate and shut down a mech- friendly fire in PUG matches get you almost as much as them because you are face hugging). Also- you get no reward (XP/Cbills) from using the flamer as most of these rewards are based on armour/structural damage you put out- heat damage doesn't count. Mostly, mechs I flame start to run away or just shield and call for help, a few make he fatal mistake of trying to alpha me.
4) However- there are some usage cases for them. I can see flamers becoming very dominant in 1 on 1 type solaris fights (although the obvious counter are cool running ballistics- my attempts at flaming a gauss dire went as one would predict). In mechs with great manoeuvrability or survivability that can actually get close without dying they can be used to win a brawl (went OK with 2 in my Cheetah, not so well with up to 6 on a Nova). Also not a bad weapon for clan mechs with lots of spare energy slots (at .5t/flamer) or to fill low mounts as backup/defence in case someone decides to face hug you. 3 flamers will potentially be a great addition to the base Kodiak. I am tempted to equip these on some snipers with spare energy slots also- to help shut down backstabbing lights without too much tonnage allocation away from the snipers primary role.

Potential future improvements could be to: strengthen the animation, add some reward for their use, add an animation/indicator as to when the 4+ second exponential "ghost" heat on firing mechs commences and stops.

Edited by WibbsScrapMerc, 21 February 2016 - 07:21 PM.

[Bad Pun]

This is mirroring my own testing very closely. Seriously close range, requiring many of them to be useful, no immediate rewards.

If they could deal damage, have a useful animation and blind an opponent on occasion while still dealing heat, they'd be much more useful.

But as they are, they need a mech with energy slots to spare and the mobility to get use of them. The flamer is little more than a specialist tool and a troll's toy.

Can it be useful? Yep. It just requires a build with the flamers in mind, not as an add-on.

Edit: I think I'd like to coin a new phrase in reference to the flamer. With its silly animation, lack of damage and what slim utility it presents; I will heretofore refer to them as "heatlamps".

Edited by Bad Pun, 21 February 2016 - 08:13 PM.