Methods of lighting arrows launched by the Crossbow block

[Donkyonky]

Hello besiegers.

Recently, I discovered (by accident) that arrows launched by a crossbow block that is on fire, are also on fire. I also saw their devistating effect on buildings and armies.

Immediately, I started experimenting on how to light them on purpose. One such way was to simply light the crossbow block on fire; ensuring ALL arrows are on fire. This, however, was not optimal, as the crossbow blocks could only fire a handfull of arrows before being disabled. Another way I tried was with the torch block. I placed it just a block infront of the crossbow, in order to not burn it. This had some success, as some arrows would be lit. However, not every single arrow was lit, and many ended up hitting the torch itself. I decided to set the torch 1/2 of a block down, preventing the arrows from hitting the torch. This was far more successful, as all arrows were launched successfully, but only 5 of 30 total arrows were lit (this was done by simply holding C until all arrows were spent)

Shortly after that, I experimented with a flamethrower placed facing upwards, which intersected the arrows' path. I tried firing arrows through the flame, but not a single one was lit. I tried 2 flamethrowers in the arrows' path, which did light a few arrows, but the flamethrowers did not last long enough for all 30 arrows. I tried setting the flamethrowers to fire at the same time as the crossbow fired, but still only a handful of arrows were lit.

So, I'm curious; has anyone else figured out a reliable way to light arrows? Given their accuracy, the ammount available and the effectiveness of fire, I wouldn't be surprised if someone has. If so, please show us, as our war efforts would be much easier with such technology.

[Ed_B011]

I just use a flamethrower to light them. You honestly don't need more than a single arrow on fire to destroy anything made of wood, so having them all be on fire is a bit overkill. I build with MachineVsMachine in mind, though. If you're planning on beating levels with this, a flamethrower is a better option. Or bombs. Bombs never fail.

[King_BR0K]

Try putting the crossbow in the middle and having two flamethrowers on the sides angled towards the center to increase the time that the arrows are in the fire.

[Kexi]

Tested around a little and came up with this setup:
http://i.imgur.com/tiLVKzV.jpg

These values seemed to be the best in every case:
Flamethrowers are angled 10 degree towards the crossbow
Flamethrowers are set to max range (1,25) Anything above 1 worked pretty well but it felt more reliable with 1,25.

Crossbow power makes the most difference.
Crossbow power set to 1,5 (default) -> ~50% lit
Crossbow power set to 1 -> ~80% lit

Conclusion:
You need to keep the arrow in the fire as long as possible to make sure it gets lit. Easiest way to do so is to reduce the power of the crossbow but you have so sacrifice some reach for it.
Maybe you can push the crossbow power up and use like 2-3 flamethrowers in a row to increase the time it's in the flames. Had no time yet to test this out myself. Good luck :)

[Scdingo]

I had the same concerns about using flame arrows. In my experience in multiverse, I have had very little success with using fire arrows effectively. What I usually do is I keep 4 crossbows on a revolver system and shoot each one, one at a time. I light each crossbow on fire before hand to ensure 100% of the arrows light. This method works for me, however I found that I can land dozens of fire arrows on a wooden object without it catching fire. This is extremely frustrating. Have yall noticed the same thing?