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[A_Catguy]

Recently picked up a Firestarter FS9-S because I was curious to see if the flamer was really as bad as everyone says, and it'd be nice to have another decent light in my loadout. I'm not actually disappointed.

Current loadout is four MLas split between the arms, three flamers, two center torso and one right torso. I put two jumpjets in the feet, upgraded to endo-steel and double heatsinks, and slotted in four doubles split between the right and left torso. Upgraded the engine to a 215 for just that tiny bit of extra speed, and then got to it.

First few matches were a little interesting, as I usually run a Kitfox build focused heavily on ECM and AMS support for heavies and assaults and less on fighting, so having a mech that could actually stand toe to toe on its own with another light was fun. The flamers, admittedly, didn't do much damage, but I managed to trick quite a few bigger guys to focus on me. Or, if they were too busy with bigger fish, I easily got them overheating. I realized real quickly that the flamers were much more a utility than an actual weapon, and I started using it as such. I started breaking off to meet with mediums and heavies who could brawl, and would flit around with them helping discourage the enemy from alphastrikes with my flamers. In four rounds I probably caused more damage through forced overheating than anything else, and was pleasantly surprised with the results.

For most people's play style, who focus on DPS and damage output, this mech and the flamer are not sure choices, but if you like hanging back or working in a group, providing a bit of extra edge for your team, I fully endorse the flamer.