Flame Thrower Speed Test Video
Davil
Florida, USA Join Date: 2012-08-14 Member: 155602Members, Constellation
Florida, USA Join Date: 2012-08-14 Member: 155602Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">How quick can you destroy the alien economy?</div>So I did some testing to see just how good exactly the thrower could be if used for it's implied purpose, cysts. The results are actually pretty amazing to be honest. Here's the video if you're interested in checking it out.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjowdp3-eIA&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Flame Thrower Speed Test on YouTube</a>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjowdp3-eIA&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Flame Thrower Speed Test on YouTube</a>
Comments
As a support weapon I like it better than the GL because I can fire it over/around my marine and exo buddies to help with the skulk problem, there is no chance of me firing it into a room and someone steps in front of me at the last second causing the grenade to gib me if I don't run for my life, and it can be good to scare away aliens that don't know what its used for.
That, and when the lights are out, it makes every alien you shoot very easy to see because they light up!
Edit: Also great for sweeping rooms to find the shade cloaking everything, can't forget that
Sadly, they usually don't listen. It's the Marine equivalent of a zerg rush, and it's stupid effective. It should also be noted that while one Flamethrower doesn't do much damage to skulks, two flamethrowers will ruin even an all-in Skulk rush to try and stop two JP/Flamethrower troopers working in tandem.
One last point, JP/Flamethrowers with a welder are probably the best Exo support you can possibly buy. Shotguns and GL's are both weaksauce in comparison to Exo / JP/Flamers. Especially with Whips being a little more common in 229-230.
Thanks for showing how OP the Flamer really is ^_-
Edit: To reiterate what SpaceJew said above, FL+welder with exos is a monstrous combination. It makes it so much easier when dealing with evasive skulks.
Flamethrower is also the weapon of choice if you want to kill a hive fast. . . it's almost twice as fast as shotguns against a hive
Flamethrower is also the weapon of choice if you want to kill a hive fast. . . it's almost twice as fast as shotguns against a hive<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I did try it on the hive, but the problem is that you do have to be pretty close and it takes a couple reloads depending on your weapons level. It does do a fantastic job of ending any nearby crags though.
I'm considering doing more videos like this in the near future. Too many odd accusations people come up with that don't really mesh with reality.
because i sort of agreed with the 'flamethrower is weak' talk from 228.... but since then every experience with FT has been jaw-dropping...
a couple of days ago i was a fade and thought 'lol a flamer!', but somehow managed to die before i could get 2 attacks off... and also grabbed it a couple of times myself and found that it seems to melt away skulks in about 2 seconds... you can probably kill 3 skulks at the same time with flamethrower and jetpack due to the aoe damage.
because i sort of agreed with the 'flamethrower is weak' talk from 228.... but since then every experience with FT has been jaw-dropping...
a couple of days ago i was a fade and thought 'lol a flamer!', but somehow managed to die before i could get 2 attacks off... and also grabbed it a couple of times myself and found that it seems to melt away skulks in about 2 seconds... you can probably kill 3 skulks at the same time with flamethrower and jetpack due to the aoe damage.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
229 fixed a bug where the flamethrower could damage the owner, and also they added a flame residue, which I'm not sure whether or not it does any damage. I'm pretty sure that was just a graphical change.
+1 for the idea it gives me
+1 for the idea it gives me<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Nothing wrong with trying to make a little money for my time.
Flame residue does do damage. I have been killed, and killed with it.
In order to recyst the res tower he has to recyst all the way back up to it and wait for the infestation to cover it. The likelihood of him noticing what just happened and reacting to replace them all within 2 minutes is pretty low. In addition there are several different scenarios where it could and could not work, so don't try to pretend like this would never work. I've played several games where I could run around knifing res towers to death before anyone noticed me and that takes quite sometime. The beauty of a rapid attack like this is that the aliens will have several buildings under attack at once so it will be hard to determine where exactly the person doing it is or may be going.
I stand corrected.
It's just funny to see a team with four or more flamethrowers in a pitched battle; usually that ends with four flamethrowers on the ground, and a marine loss in the encounter. While you will kill things with the flamethrower, it's not as effective against lifeforms as the lowly rifle, and only somewhat better against non-cyst structures. And really, I think the rifle is just better, given that you don't have to be in biting range to use it, and it is good against both structures and aliens. I'm not saying the flamethrower is worthless, just that it isn't even close to worth the 25 tres + 25 pres investment you pay for it.
Also forgot to mention, if you're like me as alien commander you probably aren't in the hive the whole time. I operate under the belief that you rarely need to be in the hive as alien commander because there is just so little to do and there's too much temptation to waste res on upgrades no one is going to use or whips or other boredom projects like hallucinations. So that is even more time before someone actually gets to re-cysting things.
It was the most horrifyingly beautiful thing I've ever witnessed. I still have yet to see a hive go down faster than in that match minus a (far less effective, but admittedly highly entertaining) massive train of ARCs instakilling one. I also feel kind of bad for all of the skulks and fades that were instantly fried by 5-6 simultaneous streams of flames as we jetted across the map at warp speed into their other hive.
So if you want to make a real speed test, aim on the ground and speed up your flying.
If you are bored as the alien commander you're doing it wrong. Just because your experience is one of "plant stuff and watch it grow" doesn't mean you shouldn't be actively supporting your troops.
If you're running out of things to do, build drifters and get them into good spots to track marine movements. Keep a drifter on hotkey just for spitting red-go-fasta clouds on your skulks (seriously, this stuff is borderline OP) or start planning your forward cyst rush on a marine base. All the while, you should be constantly communicating with your team (to the point of being annoying) about where you see enemy movements and coordinating your troops actions either toward or away from threats.
On the topic of flame throwers... hell yeah... my fav marine set up is JP/FT for the exact reasons you cite. A JP/FT is a massive pain in the ass to the alien comm. After spending most of my time in the alien comm seat, I can safely say that it is no small issue to have a whole lane of cycsts connecting RT's to the hive vanish in a few short seconds. It's one thing to rally your troops to a few marines picking away at lone cysts or hacking up an RT, its a whole different level of urgency if that cyst chain basically vanishes and 2 or more RT's are starving to death.
Yes, cysts only cost 1 Tres, but when your whole economy down range from the hive hinges on them, you don't really have the choice not to rebuild them... and remember that the cysts add to the base cost of every RT on the map, which impacts how efficiently you are hauling down Tres.
If you're running out of things to do, build drifters and get them into good spots to track marine movements. Keep a drifter on hotkey just for spitting red-go-fasta clouds on your skulks (seriously, this stuff is borderline OP) or start planning your forward cyst rush on a marine base. All the while, you should be constantly communicating with your team (to the point of being annoying) about where you see enemy movements and coordinating your troops actions either toward or away from threats.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Comp games you typically won't see the alien comm in the hive very much either. It's far more valuable to be able to outnumber the other team by having 1 extra person on the field. And this is exactly what I mean by having the temptation to spend res on wastes. Drifters aren't particularly necessary to see marine movement if you have cysts in the right spot. Really I get by with 2 usually just to have some advanced warning. And communicating with your team is pretty easy to do whether you're in the hive or not, just cause you aren't in the hive doesn't mean you can't talk and look at the map. A cyst rush on the marine base is just... Don't bother it's another waste of res. My point is this, it's far more advantageous to actually give your team the overflow from having max res or just buy them eggs rather than waste it on whips or shades.
Comp games are all about speed/rushing and killing RT's. Do you ever even see a flame thrower in comp games?
They're not all about rushing and speed, they're about aggression/pressure, quite a difference. But no you probably won't see a flame thrower in a comp game cause the aliens generally get stomped and it's a 6 on 6 match. When you actually have more players it's a pretty different ball game. And now that the fast onos has been removed and the flame thrower has been buffed it might show up at some point.
Ok, but the thread is formatted to pub play, about flamethrowers... my comments on how to play alien commander were formatted to that environment as well... which made me scratch my head when you rebutted it with "In comp play..."
You see where I'm going with this ;)
In a pub match, I guess you can exit the hive and go nom stuff too, but I think you're not supporting your team as much as you could by just running the match from the gods-eye-view.
Sorry, just a nit-pick.. I agree with you about FT's in general.
The problem is the marine comm needs to research FT. I've had games where comm doesn't research it and it drags it out longer.
It's perfect for clearing WHIPs (so long as they're not upgraded) and Crags.
On that, as an Alien comm (and usually if I control the map) I'll drop 1-2 Crag's with my shades (or within range to offer healing) of my shade / movements.
They'll keep the towers alive without cysts if you have 2 crags. With this recent crag nerf, it might be 3 now.
So @ 2:40 you might want to annotate your video with a comment that focused burn on the crags if found will be required or they'll out-heal dying.
<!--quoteo(post=2032435:date=Nov 23 2012, 07:07 AM:name=Troubleshooter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Troubleshooter @ Nov 23 2012, 07:07 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2032435"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->If you're running out of things to do, build drifters and get them into good spots to track marine movements.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I try to get at least 2 drifters at key choke points on maps to catch early movement of marines myself, rather than wait till late game.
<!--quoteo(post=2032435:date=Nov 23 2012, 07:07 AM:name=Troubleshooter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Troubleshooter @ Nov 23 2012, 07:07 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2032435"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Keep a drifter on hotkey just for spitting red-go-fasta clouds on your skulks (seriously, this stuff is borderline OP)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
And this! I keep forgetting about :(
<!--quoteo(post=2032435:date=Nov 23 2012, 07:07 AM:name=Troubleshooter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Troubleshooter @ Nov 23 2012, 07:07 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2032435"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->or start planning your forward cyst rush on a marine base. All the while, you should be constantly communicating with your team (to the point of being annoying) about where you see enemy movements and coordinating your troops actions either toward or away from threats.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
All the yes on forward planning. Ninja Cyst up! (harder now I think with the shade distance reduction)