Fire

“

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 or Flare Gun. 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 can see particles of the players team color coming from them, 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 and lasts for 10 seconds. Additional hits from these weapons restarts 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, he 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.

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.
Touching 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 halve the damage taken by fire.
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