HuangLong's Wrath

Degreaser: better for combos but not as good for airblast consumption and afterburn damage

Phlogistinator: No afterburn, Airblast does not work on players and Airblast does not deflect projectiles

Dragon's Fury: works in burst damage so it works differently from stock and it takes longer to airblast consistently

Interceptor: ok this is kind of better than stock but it does slightly less damage

Alright, so with the advent of the code """"""""""optimization,"""""""""" I've noticed that Arsonist in specific has had flame hit detection become massively more inconsistent (the flames now originate from the head instead of the flamethrower, requiring you to be closer to the enemy for the flames to hit even if it looks like the enemy's already engulfed in it) and therefore harder to play effectively. I've seen the effects of this update myself, basically nobody is going Arsonist except for the low level players that still think W + M1 is still 100% fine, and as multiple classes I've literally been able to run straight through flames and kill Arsonists without even noticing I didn't get hit.

If only there were some other flamethrower that only shot one flame particle at a time that already had really inconsistent hitreg and was hard to perform effectively with without the right skills.. oh right you read the title. Yeah, the Dragon's Fury got screwed over on another level thanks to the code optimization update.

So, now not only is it harder to use every flamethrower (harder to w+m1, harder to pull off combos, harder to literally do anything,) the Dragon's Fury bore the brunt of the update. With all the inconsistencies and devolving hitreg, it makes the already least used, most esoteric and hardest flamethrower to use, with the most untapped potential to decimate servers if used by the right person that much harder to use, if not outright impossible.

"Yes"

"Yes"

"Yes" (edited by moderator)

Things are weird sometimes. I've spent too much time watching a metric shit ton of videos about the TF2 version of the Dragon's Fury (by lister, go check him out) and then immediately going to play TC2 right after like an absolute retard. I go to play with the DF and then there's just like.. nothing to it. Something about it feels more than just lackluster, it doesn't feel complete even though it's been in TC2 for like years. And now I'm here to complain about it.

So here are the stats:

It launches a fast-moving fireball that deals a base damage of 25 (30 for literally everyone,) fires 50% faster upon hitting something, and deals double damage to already burning enemies. However, the ammo is completely differnent from stock, giving you 30 rounds or fireballs to shoot, and having an airblast that takes up 3 ammo upon an airblast and does that 50% slower than stock.

It's meant to be a mid-close range enemy destroyer, where you can become extremely aggressive and deal massive amounts of burst damage in seconds. Note that I said "meant to be."

What this thing really is is just a Flamethrower that shoots one, count 'em ONE (1) flame particle that travels at the same speed as stock. Oh, it can also be reflected by enemy Arsonists. It doesn't even matter about your aim half the time, since it still uses the same random projectile deviation as stock, and even though it's purely visual, it has no animations, which still throws me off. This thing might as well deal the same DPS as stock in most situations, taking most people's aim and expectations of the weapon into consideration. You expect an actual fireball, not whatever the hell that is.

You lose out on the massive spread, consistency and ammo count of the stock flamethrower, and for what? Being able to flare punch other Arsonists and deal slightly more DPS if you hit two shots in a row? Meanwhile, you could just use literally anything else and the Axtinguisher to put out more damage than this. You can't even kill a level 1 building in proper time, compared to just a shotgun, which deals 60 base damage, fires at a consistently faster rate than this, and has none of whatever this bullshit is.

Compare this to the TF2 counterpart, which I believe is balanced compared to this piece of crap.

Compared to its TC2 version, it deals the same 30 to regular players and then an actual crisp 90 right after if you hit the enemy in the center. Unlike the TC2 version, the projectile actually moves faster than stock, is bigger than stock, and is a clear indication you're about to get fucked in the ass if you don't do something against a moderately skilled player using this thing. The TF2 version deals 70 damage to buildings, which actually makes it good for taking on fortified nests compared to stock.

Takeaway: There is almost no place where the Dragon's Fury outperforms its TF2 counterpart or is better than the stock Flamethrower.

In essence, the Dragon's Fury was meant to make the TF2 Pyro a more head-on offensive class capable of outputting massive damage numbers and seriously putting a dent in the enemy team like Scout and Soldier, not just another W+M1 ooga booga free damage + crits weapon. In TC2, that's unfortunately what the devs have made it, minus the crits part.

If you're going to use this thing, take my word you are not going to have fun playing with this. That's why I have weapon suggestions for those who have part-time jobs being masochists.

Despite what you might think, the Flare Gun is not a good idea to pair with this unless you're an actual god at aiming. Instead, use the Detonator for movement since it allows you to get the jump on players while simultaneously being able to have on-demand movement to escape, or literally any shotgun for being able to have backup damage (most notably the Deathblow, Family Business or Bullet-Stormer). The Mending Mallet, Improvised Innovator and Escapist's Escapade are also decent picks since they either let you stay in the fight longer, deal a little more damage to kill that one high health target, or escape fights altogether.

I have a few ideas, the most prominent one however is: revert the damn thing back to its TF2 counterpart.

If that can't work, then raise the base damage, make it deal less damage against non-burning enemies than deal more when they're on fire, so it buffs the damage output against enemies and its ability to deal with buildings. You could also make the projectile bigger/reach farther, or even just add the pseudo-explosive knockback that its TF2 counterpart has, just add anything that its original version does better than its current form so we're not just duped into thinking into it's gonna be something big, grand and dangerous when it's really just not.

All in all, the Dragon's Fury is just a mediocre weapon that performs worse than literally every other flamethrower (yes, even the Phlog) in TC2. Hopefully this isn't too far off from the dragon's furry post being locked for this to still be relevant, lmao. Oh, and don't forget to have a great day.

just asking