Backburner

“

Mmmmmmmrrrrrrrpppghhh! Click to listen — The Pyro on rump roasting

”

The Backburner is an unlockable primary weapon for the Pyro class and replaces the Flamethrower. It is unlocked after 15 of the Pyro achievements are completed (excluding 'Milestone 1'). It is currently placed as a Level 10 Flamethrower in the loadout menu. This version of the Flamethrower is built for the Pyro who likes to ambush their opponents. It removes the compression blast capability and the chance for random crits. Instead, the Backburner guarantees Critical hits whenever it’s used on an opponent from behind and deals 15% more damage than the normal Flamethrower. The Backburner registers up to approximately a 45 degree angle to the back of someone's left or right. So, roughly a 90 degree angle centered behind where they are facing. This is significantly less than the Spy's backstab range, which appears to be any angle in the 180 degrees behind where a player is looking.

Damage

• Base damage is based upon range (or, by extension, particle lifetime), and is rounded at the end of all calculations (after Critical multipliers, et cetera).
  • From 0 to 200 units: 7.13 per particle (160.4 per second).
  • From 200 to 384 units: linear decrease from 7.13 to 4.28 per particle (96.3 per second, 60% of max) (384 is maximum range)
    • There is very slight variability (±0.08 per particle) because some particles are at an angle, slightly varying their travel time.
• Afterburn damage: 3 damage every 0.5 seconds for 10 seconds (60 damage total)
  • Mini-crit afterburn damage: 4 damage every 0.5 seconds for 10 seconds (80 damage total)
• Mini-crit: 1.35× base damage, then round to nearest whole
• Critical hit: 3× base damage, then round to nearest whole
  • DPS at <200 units: 472.5

Note: Damage-Per-Second values assume all particles find victims.

Base damage changes over particle lifetime, instead of distance from player (all other weapons affected by distance measure from player to player). Damages are approximate and determined by community testing.

Function times

• Attack Interval: 0.04
• Ammo Consumption Interval: 0.08

All times are in seconds. Times are approximate and determined by community testing.

Trivia

• The Backburner changes its eye color depending on which team you are on. RED makes the eyes turn white while being on BLU team makes the eyes a yellow-ish color.
• The Backburner is just the original Flamethrower with a dragon-painted piece of metal mashed on the original muzzle.
• Originally the Backburner gave the Pyro an extra 50 health, giving him 225. This was removed in the July 29, 2008 Patch.
  • Moreover, the Backburner originally did not cause 15% more damage.
• Since the July 8, 2010 patch, the Backburner, the Blutsauger, and the Sandman are the only unlockable weapons that share a kill icon with their default counterpart.

Related patches

June 19, 2008 Patch

• The Backburner is added to the game as part of the Pyro Update.

July 29, 2008 Patch

• Removed health bonus from the Backburner

August 19, 2008 Patch

• Added new firing sounds to The Backburner

April 29, 2010 Patch

• Added a 20% damage bonus to The Backburner.

May 19, 2010 Patch

• Flamethrower changes
  • Increased base damage 10%
  • Afterburn duration increased (from 6 to 10)
  • Reduced Backburner damage bonus from 20% to 15%

Gallery

• Backburner 1st person red cropped.png

  RED 1st person view.

• 

  Full RED 1st person view.

• Backburner 1st person blu cropped.png

  BLU 1st person view.

• 

  Full BLU 1st person view.

See also

• Flamethrower
• Backburner Strategy
• Fire