What is bale-fire?

[SON OF OL]

I used explosive shot on a captain who proceeded to burst into green flames. He died with the message "killed by bale fire". Can anyone explain what happened?

[Malaficus Shaikan]

If you posion grog it becomes bale fire(Think magic fire) when shot.
I think one of your upgrade's also makes your explosive shot bale fire.

[SON OF OL]

Interesting, is there any real advantage to bale fire or is it just a way of showing your target is both poisoned and burning?

[Sky Wizard]

Bale fire is a combination of poison and fire. Grog is a good source of bale fire but it can happen if you set a poisoned orc on fire, or poison a burning orc.

As for advantages, some captains can be weak to bale fire specifically.

[TheJustlyParanoid]

The general idea of enemies suffering from both poison and fire effects makes it quite good for clearing out an area quite quickly, so poison the barrel and shoot it whenever the time feels right. It also more or less serves as a faster way to hit an entire group with the poison effect--including captains weak to the stuff--than having to build up for a charged arrow/ground pound or wait for them to take a drink.

....Just be careful that you take into account that both fire and poison are going to apply in the blast radius, because that goes for both weaknesses AND resistance/enragement.