Fire

“

I appear to have burst into flames. Click to listen — The Spy on the blatantly obvious

”

A burning Heavy

Fire or afterburn refers to the damage-over-time effect inflicted on a player when hit by an enemy Pyro's Flamethrower, Backburner, Degreaser, Flare Gun, or Sharpened Volcano Fragment. A Sniper can also set enemies on fire if a friendly Pyro has ignited his Huntsman arrows. This is useful for hit-and-run tactics and for weakening or finishing off an opponent if the damage from the Flamethrower alone is not enough to kill them. This allows Pyros to score kills even while dead, as the fire damage may finish off a wounded opponent.

Upon being set aflame, a player character will automatically scream out that they are on fire, alerting nearby Medics and teammates to their plight. Setting an opponent on fire also creates a disorienting effect on their screen view (flames will engulf the edges of the screen and a burning sound is heard). This can be used to a team's advantage if the Pyro is able to ambush a group of attacking foes. Snipers lit on fire will find it extremely difficult to perform an accurate shot, as the scoped view will move every time the Sniper takes damage from the burning.

Fire can be used to carry out Spy checks. A small burst of flame will ignite an enemy Spy, even if cloaked or disguised. If a player is set on fire, you will see particles of the player's team color coming from them. This is a useful effect for distinguishing disguised Spies.

The fire effect starts immediately upon damage from the Flamethrower, Backburner, Degreaser, Flare Gun, or a flaming arrow from the Huntsman. Each fire effect will last for 10 seconds. Additional hits from these weapons will restart the duration of the fire back to ten seconds. Fire damages a player every half-second for 3 HP each tick (2 HP each tick for Degreaser), totaling 60 damage over those ten seconds (40 damage for Degreaser). Afterburn damage cannot Crit, however it can still Mini-Crit if the target is covered in Jarate or if the attacking Pyro is buffed by the Buff Banner.

Note that enemy Pyros cannot be set on fire. While a Pyro still takes contact damage from the Flamethrower, they will not take further damage over time. The Pyro does, however, count as on fire for a brief second while he appears with the charred graphical effect after taking damage from a fire-inducing weapon, and while he takes no additional damage, he can still suffer Critical hits from the Axtinguisher, or Mini-Crits from the Flare Gun.

It is possible to allow Gibs to catch fire, (a Soldier assists a Pyro in exploding an enemy), with the cl_burninggibs 1/0 command

Surviving Fire

The following will extinguish a player who is on fire:

• Picking up a health pack or Sandvich
• Completely immersing one's self in a body of water. Puddles and low-level water (such as in the sewer tunnels in 2Fort) will not extinguish a burning player.
• Being the recipient of a regular ÜberCharge; a Kritzkrieg charge will not extinguish the flames if the target is already being healed.
• Being healed by a Medic, Dispenser, or Payload Cart for a full second will extinguish flames.
• Being splashed with Jarate by a friendly Sniper, or Mad Milk from a friendly Scout. Snipers and Scouts can also extinguish themselves by throwing their respective Jars at their feet.
• Being airblasted by a friendly Pyro.
• Activating the Dead Ringer as a Spy.
• Receiving the effects of a Resupply Locker

The following methods do not extinguish the afterburn, but can help burning players survive by healing faster than the afterburn can deal damage or by mitigating afterburn's damage:

• Eating a (non-dropped) Sandvich or a Dalokohs Bar.
• Being healed by a Medic
• Being healed by an Engineer's Dispenser or by the Cart in Payload mode.
• Drinking Bonk! Atomic Punch will stop any afterburn damage, although it may resume after the effects of Bonk! have worn off. Note that it does not protect against Flare Gun inflicted afterburn.
• A Medic's health regeneration will often be enough. With the Syringe Gun, the minimum healing rate (3/sec) will restore health at half the rate of afterburn damage.
• A Medic's Oktoberfest taunt may save a Medic low on health.
• The healing received on-hit when using the Blutsauger or Black Box.
• Shooting an enemy coated with Mad Milk will heal 75% of the damage dealt.
• Health gained on-kill with the Eyelander or Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker as Demoman.
• The Chargin' Targe offers a fire resistance that applies to afterburn.
• The Battalion's Backup provides a 35% damage resistance to the Soldier and all teammates in range of him.
• The Dead Ringer provides a 90% damage resistance if set alight while Cloaked as Spy
• The Medieval Medic set bonus will allow you to out-heal the Degreaser's afterburn and boosts your chances of surviving normal afterburn.

Weapon Specific

The following weapons provide additional resistance or vulnerability against fire-based attacks. Note that both contact damage and afterburn are modified.

Weapon / Item Set	Effect
Axtinguisher	Always deals critical damage versus burning enemies.   Deals 50% less damage versus non-burning enemies.
Bushwacka	Grants 20% fire damage vulnerability on wearer.
Chargin' Targe	Grants 50% fire damage resistance on wearer.
Rocket Jumper	Grants 100% fire damage vulnerability on wearer.
Southern Hospitality	Grants 20% fire damage vulnerability on wearer.
Sticky Jumper	Gives 100% fire damage vulnerability on wearer.
The Expert's Ordnance Item Set	Grants 10% fire damage resistance on wearer.

Related Achievements

General

Flamethrower Set five enemies on fire in 30 seconds.

Soldier

Semper Fry Kill 20 enemies while you are on fire.

Pyro

Attention Getter Ignite 100 enemies with the flare gun. Burn Ward Ignite 3 Medics that are ready to deploy an ÜberCharge. Controlled Burn Ignite 50 enemies capturing one of your control points. Firewall Ignite 5 Spies who have a sapper on a friendly building. Got A Light? Ignite an enemy Spy while he's flicking a cigarette. Next of Kindling Ignite an enemy, and the Medic healing him. Pyromancer Do 1 million points of total fire damage. Spontaneous Combustion Ignite 10 cloaked Spies. Weenie Roast Have 2 enemy Scouts on fire at the same time.

Baptism by Fire Force 10 burning enemies to jump into water. Combined Fire Use your shotgun to finish off 20 players you've ignited. Cooking the Books Ignite 5 enemies carrying your intelligence. Firewatch Ignite 10 Snipers while they are zoomed in. I Fry Ignite 10 disguised Spies. Makin' Bacon Kill 50 Heavies with your flamethrower. Pilot Light Ignite a rocket-jumping Soldier while he's in midair. Second Degree Burn Kill a burning enemy who was ignited by another Pyro. Trailblazer Ignite 10 enemies that have recently used a teleporter.

Heavy

Rasputin In a single life, get shot, burned, bludgeoned, and receive explosive damage.

Engineer

The Extinguished Gentleman Have dispensers you built extinguish 20 burning players.

Medic

Autoclave Assist in burning 5 enemies with a single ÜberCharge on a Pyro.

Infernal Medicine Extinguish 100 burning teammates.

Sniper

Friendship is Golden Extinguish a burning teammate with your Jarate.

Spy

Burn Notice Survive 30 seconds after being ignited while cloaked.

Bugs

• Should a player survive the end of the round whilst still on fire, they will continually have flame particles and HUD effects for the remainder of the map.

Kill Icons

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  Flamethrower

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  Backburner

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  Degreaser

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  Flare Gun

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  Flaming Huntsman

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  Flaming Huntsman afterburn

• 

  Flaming Huntsman headshot

• 

  Deflected flaming Huntsman

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  Deflected flaming Huntsman headshot

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  Axtinguisher

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  Sharpened Volcano Fragment

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  Environmental ignite damage (Only on custom maps, Currently unseen on official maps due to a lack of environmental fire.)