Flamethrower is Good :D

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I beat the game on Hard recently and now I'm working through a [probably doomed to fail] playthrough on Impossible. I only maxed out three weapons—those being the Plasma Cutter, Flamethrower, and Pulse Rifle.

Some thoughts on the Flamethrower specifically...

I remember this weapon being garbage in the original Dead Space, so I thought it might be interesting to give it another shot in the remake. I found this weapon to be a total beast and quite possible S-tier.

The primary has its uses but where it really shines is the secondary, which lays down a wall of fire. Unlike the primary, which has very limited range, the alt-fire can be shot really far: for example, it can be fired from a safe distance directly at Guardians—the Necros attached to walls that shoot tentacle pods—and I found that I was often 1-shotting them. Most Necros that walk into the firewall get stuck there so it effectively provides the player with another form of combat control akin to Stasis.

The ammunition for the Flamethrower is also very inventory space efficient. It drops in chunks of 25 and fills up to 150 per stack, meaning 6 pickups equals one stack. Compare that to the Plasma Cutter, which drops in chunks of 6 and stacks up to 25. What you're left with is that the Flamer has around 1.33x or 33% more inventory space efficiency of the Plasma Cutter. Furthermore, a full stack sells for 5,250 credits, so letting ammo for the gun pile up and then selling it at the store can be a good way to make some extra cash, which can then be spent on upgrades, or ammunition for less efficient weapons.

It's not all positive though—there are two major drawbacks. Firstly, the primary's limited range and inability to sever limbs means it would be unwise to try to rely on it solely. Secondly, it is possible to trap yourself behind a firewall, and attempting to run through it causes Isaac to take a small amount of damage and flail around as he catches fire. But overall I think this time around the Flamethrower is an S-tier or at the very least A-tier weapon, best used alongside another gun that is better suited to cutting through bone. Use the Flamer to burn away the Necromorph's flesh, and then finish them off with a couple of Plasma Cutter shots or Telekinesis throws.

Edit: I just tested some some things with the final boss and found another positive: when the Hive Mind's chest opens up during phase two revealing 5 yellow nodes, it is possible to destroy more than one of them at the same time using the Flamethrower's secondary. If lobbed directly at the yellow nodes, the canister that normally drops a firewall will instead explode on impact. With a fully upgraded Flamer I was able to pop four nodes at the same time using 4 or 5 shots. I think getting all 5 might at the same time be possible but I'm not sure.

Hopefully this info helps anyone who may be on the fence about trying it out and pumping it full of Power Nodes.

[pythonfp]

You forgot a downside : it doesn't work in a vacuum.

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Originally posted by pythonfp:

You forgot a downside : it doesn't work in a vacuum.

I somehow made it through the whole game without ever trying to use it in a vacuum but yeah that is definitely another drawback.