Thoughts on the Dragon's Fury. This is not a guide, just my opinion on the weapon and my experience with it.

[tim fortre teu]

It's been a few months since I started playing with the Dragon's Fury (I'll just call it the DF), so I'd like to share my experience.
The reason I decided to give it a try is because I got really bored with the regular Pyro playstyle (which doesn't mean it's bad or I don't like it, I've actually started to enjoy it again recently). I just couldn't find using the stock Flamethrower (and other flamethrowers) at that time satisfying anymore. So one day I finally equipped the DF and... first impressions were rather bad. Using it felt very uncomfortable and clunky, I barely could get any kills, it was too different in comparison to other flamethrowers, so I quickly gave up on that idea. At least for a while, because I tried again later, keeping in mind that it would require some time to just get used to the DF, let alone get good with it.
To get used to and somewhat good with it required about a month of playing for me. It affected my playstyle quite significantly, because I couldn't do a lot of things with the DF as reliably or quickly as with the stock Flamethrower: spychecking, defending sentry nests, extinguishing teammates, stopping ubers. It reduces Pyro's defensive and supportive capabilities, so I had to focus on more offensive and aggressive playstyle, being much more frequently on the frontline and actively engaging in duels.


The most important thing to point out is probably the way the DF deals damage. A fast projectile is fired instead of a stream of flames. It travels a longer distance in comparison to the Flamethrower, it can pierce through multiple enemies and Engi's buildings. This changes a lot, because the DF requires to be very precise not only to just deal damage, but to be rewarded with more damage (enemies on fire receive 3 times more damage) and faster firing speed, which is necessary for winning duels and staying alive. Instead of relying on comboing the Flamethrower with secondaries and melees to deal a lot of damage (and also on the airblast), the DF is very powerful just on its own as long as you don't miss.


It doesn't mean the DF has no combo potential. The general idea is to use a flare gun to set an enemy on fire to then follow up with the DF dealing more damage. Different flare guns can make it easier or harder, in particular, the Sc*rch Shot does a knockback on a direct hit which makes enemy's movement more predictable and it's easy to spam. The Detonator is really good regardless of what your primary is because of extra mobility and also the ability to spam. The stock Flare Gun is not as useful because it's harder to hit shots with and crit flares are pretty much useless (except for long range fights), because flare guns are supposed to be combo starters, not finishers. Also, the Manmelter is surprisingly viable, because it lets quickly extinguish teammates, bypassing the DF's major downside.


The major downside I'm referring to is the increased airblast cooldown. Given how important it is, it too required to adjust my playstyle, especially when fighting classes like Soldier and Demo. The airblast becomes a very high risk, high reward tool when it comes to reflecting projectiles, which makes me put much more thought into whether I should or shouldn't use it, because it directly affects the outcome of the duel (the Flamethrower also involves some risk, of course, but it isn't as big when you can airblast twice more often). If I miss the airblast, I'm very likely to die, because I'll deal no damage and won't be able to use the DF completely for almost 2 seconds due to the cooldown. So in some cases it might actually be not worth it to airblast at all, instead relying on quick precise 3-4 shots. But it doesn't mean it's totally useless and not worth a risk, because it's still the same airblast that can deal high damage if used at the right moment. Pushing enemies with the airblast is pretty much useless unless it's necessary and more effective (e.g. stopping ubers, pushing enemies off a cliff or making more space between you and enemies to reposition) because of the aforementioned cooldown.


I've already noted how the DF affects duels with Soldier and Demo, so I don't think there's anything else worth pointing out. However, the DF also changes match-ups vs. Pyro, Engi, Scout and Spy significantly.
I can't stress enough how much I hate fighting another Pyro when we both have Flamethrowers. It's one of the worst kind of duel that can occur in this game in my opinion, because I can do nothing but hold m1, hoping that the randomness of the flame particles will decide the outcome of the fight in my favor, unless I or my opponent has a shotgun (which I don't in most cases). Thankfully the DF allows me to either win the fight quickly with 3 accurate shots, or miss them and die, and it'll only be a fault of my poor aim and positioning.
Engineer isn't as big of a threat on his own regardless of Pyro's primary, unlike his buildings which the Flamethrower isn't very effective against due to limited range and low damage. The DF, however, totally changes that. It's one of the most effective weapons when it comes to dealing with senry nests due to greater range, higher damage (75 damage to buildings), faster firing speed and the ability to pierce through enemies and buildings (which can even counter wrangled sentries). It's also viable to uber Pyro with the DF to quickly destroy a sentry nest.
The outcome of a duel between Pyro and Scout usually depends on the environment they're in. If Scout can use his range advantage and high mobility, it becomes very hard to kill him without quick and precise combos. However, the DF due to its greater range and higher damage can make dealing with Scout easier, being able to kill him in 2 shots (more precisely, 2 shots + afterburn, which applies to other light classes as well).
Pyro is known for spychecking and countering Spy. Obviously, spychecking is much harder with the DF, it's just impossible to easily cover as much area with flames as with the Flamethrower. However, once Spy is spotted, there's nothing much he can do against Pyro in most cases regardless of Pyro's primary.


I'm currently playing with the Panic Attack, which I've never used with the DF before. I haven't played long enough to really compare it to flare guns, but so far it's been pretty good. Of course, shotguns can't be used as a combo starter, unlike flare guns, so I have to rely on my primary more, but I can't say it was an issue or it significantly reduced or increased my damage output.


Closing thoughts. Don't really know what else to say. It's been so fun and satisfying to play with the DF, it'll definitely stay as my main Pyro's primary. But is it better or worse than the stock Flamethrower? I think it's neither. They're so different that I don't even think it's appropriate to decide which one is better. They both are great, there's enough to appreciate and dislike about both weapons. And I don't think that the DF being an unpopular option is a bad thing. It changes Pyro's role and playstyle so much, established by a whole decade at the time of adding the DF to the game, so it's pretty much guaranteed to be an unpopular option.

So that's my experience with the Dragon's Fury and thoughts on it. Thank you for reading this.

[Zumo Nacho INC]

"Your next line is aint readin allat"

[riZn]

It's my favorite Pyro primary. Slow airblast is certainly an issue, but eventually you learn the ideal times to use it. Against other Pyros it could be an issue if they know how to reflect DF's fireballs, but it's very rare to find an enemy Pyro that can consistently do that.

[Karam]

I like the weapon but it's the airblast that makes me not use it. I being able to reflect a lot during big pushes

[Wiener Hole Paper Cut]

Why no strange version still? I'm still leery of giving valve any more money but I'd be really tempted if they added one.

[Euphytose]

Originally posted by Wiener Hole Paper Cut:

Why no strange version still? I'm still leery of giving valve any more money but I'd be really tempted if they added one.

Indeed, no strange? No use.

I have a strange addiction and I'm not afraid to admit it.

Same with the Eureka Effect.