13 replies to this topic

[Thor Sten]

Recently I've seen more flamers in action. Not overwhelming often, but more often than, say, half a year ago. Did I just just by chance witness some trollbuilds or did flamers get an upgrade? Has someone finally figured out how to use them effectively and if so: Can you teach me ?

[Boulangerie]

Flamers did get an upgrade. They increase heat on opponent up to a max of 90% now I believe. They will build your heat exponentially.

I haven't experimented with them too much, but have been on the receiving end a few times. They are annoying to fight, so keep a weapons group with just a couple weapons in it for this case. Overheating can spell death, but the flaming mech probably isn't dealing you a ton of damage, so keep moving towards your teammates, call out that you are being flamed, and keep putting a few points of damage on your opponent.

I think most mechs that carry flamers now just add 1-2 in there. They are usually brawling mechs, and the flamers have the most effect on mechs that run hot (laser boats, especially clans). Try to fire them in 4-5 second bursts. Then if your opponent shuts down, stop flaming. If you don't fire them for a few seconds, it will reset the exponential ramp up.

Maybe someone else with more knowledge will chime in here.

[Vetal]

I would like the previous flame-animation. The current one is ugly. And it does not make blind opponent.

Edited by Vetal, 18 September 2016 - 09:15 AM.

[InspectorG]

Locust-E

Find enemy LRM boats, lazerboats hiding in the back. Let them get hot, then burn them from behind. Keep a lock and let a friendly lurmer kill them.

Laught till the end of the match.

[Thor Sten]

Thank you. I'll give it a shot next match

[Tordin]

Vetal, on 18 September 2016 - 09:14 AM, said:

I would like the previous flame-animation. The current one is ugly. And it does not make blind opponent.

Sure it looks like a blowtorch now. But rather that than a hit to the framerate, due to not so optimized game.

[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky]

Thor Sten, on 17 September 2016 - 02:51 AM, said:

Recently I've seen more flamers in action. Not overwhelming often, but more often than, say, half a year ago. Did I just just by chance witness some trollbuilds or did flamers get an upgrade? Has someone finally figured out how to use them effectively and if so: Can you teach me ?

They did get a buff... Idk if they are good or bad... But i personally dont use them for 1 reason:

I like reaping the rewards from getting the kill. Overheating a mech and having them suicide doesnt improve my kdr, nor does it give me c-bills... So whats the point risking getting i to close enough range if there is no reward?

[xengk]

[Fox With A Shotgun]

It's useful as a form of hard crowd control in a way. Assuming that a 'Mech has 60 heat worth of capacity, each flamer now adds 4.5 heat/sec up to 80% of the heat cap. On a 60-heat cap mech, this means that you'll be taking them up to 48 heat before it stops adding any more (but also prevents them cooling down).

There's not much you can fire in 12 heat without overheating. Meaning that if they try to fight back, you get a free cockpit shot at them.

[The Basilisk]

Vetal, on 18 September 2016 - 09:14 AM, said:

I would like the previous flame-animation. The current one is ugly. And it does not make blind opponent.

That was the intended goal. Flamers should not impact visibility or frame rate like the previous animation did.

DPS of flamers got reduced below MGs but now even a single flamer will make an incautious oponent overheat in seconds.

[Veolfen]

A brawler with a flamer can deny any laser build from shooting.

It's so effective i'm surprised that i don't cross the path of more brawlers with flamers.

[fuzzylogic01]

i make a point to keep my builds between 1.4 and 1.8 heat.
that way I can maintain fire with something even if someone is heating me up.

[SpiralFace]

Flamers are effective, but you really need coordiantion to get the most out of them. When you are dueling a 'Mech 1v1, they are almost broken in the way that they can shut down your opponent or just completely lock him out from firing his weapons, but obviously, with 12 'Mech's on the field, its very tough to utilize, as their close range nature means that if you run into their ball, you can get focused down quick.

[Koniving]

Thor Sten, on 17 September 2016 - 02:51 AM, said:

Recently I've seen more flamers in action. Not overwhelming often, but more often than, say, half a year ago. Did I just just by chance witness some trollbuilds or did flamers get an upgrade? Has someone finally figured out how to use them effectively and if so: Can you teach me ?