The Backburner is an unlockable primary weapon for the Pyro. It is the default Flamethrower with a team colored metal addition to the nozzle shaped like a dragon's head.
The Backburner guarantees critical hits whenever it is used on an opponent from behind, and deals 10% more damage than the normal Flamethrower.
The area behind an enemy that will register critical hits for the weapon is approximately a 90 degree angle centered behind where the opponent is 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.
The Backburner is automatically given to any player who obtains 16 Pyro achievements.
Damage and function times
| Damage and function times
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| Shot type
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Particle
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| Damage
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| Flame damage (close)
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100%
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6.82 / particle
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| Flame damage (far)
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60%
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4.09 / particle
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| Critical
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12-21 / particle
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| Mini-crit
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6-9 / particle
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| Afterburn
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3 / tick
60 total
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| Afterburn (mini-crit)
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4 / tick
80 total
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| Function times
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| Attack interval
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0.04 s
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| Ammo consumption interval
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0.08 s
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| Afterburn duration
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10 s
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| Values are approximate and determined by community testing.
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Note: Flame damage is proportional to particle lifetime instead of distance from target. Unlike most weapons, critical hits are also affected by the scaling. Additionally, there is a very slight damage variance (±0.08 / particle) due to differences in particle angles.
Demonstration
Crafting
Blueprint
As a Crafting Ingredient
Related Achievements
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Flamethrower
Set five enemies on fire in 30 seconds.
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Semper Fry
Kill 20 enemies while you are on fire.
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Combined Fire
Use your shotgun to finish off 20 players you've ignited.
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Pyromancer
Do 1 million points of total fire damage.
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Second Degree Burn
Kill a burning enemy who was ignited by another Pyro.
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Weenie Roast
Have 2 enemy Scouts on fire at the same time.
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Hot on Your Heels
Kill 50 enemies with your flamethrower, from behind.
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Infernal Medicine
Extinguish 100 burning teammates.
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Friendship is Golden
Extinguish a burning teammate with your Jarate.
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Update history
June 19, 2008 Patch (The Pyro Update)
- The item was added to the game.
July 1, 2008 Patch
- Fixed Backburner's flame critical hits not being recalculated after collision. This meant that it would check if the target was looking away once and after that the flame could score a critical hit again even if the orientation changed.
July 29, 2008 Patch
- Removed health bonus from the Backburner (previously gave 50 extra max health).
August 19, 2008 Patch (A Heavy Update)
- Added new firing sounds to the Backburner
April 29, 2010 Patch (119th Update)
- Added a 20% damage bonus to the Backburner.
May 19, 2010 Patch
- Reduced Backburner damage bonus from 20% to 15%.
September 30, 2010 Patch (The Mann-Conomy Update)
January 7, 2011 Patch
- Backburner was assigned a unique kill icon.
- [Undocumented] Fixed players claiming health by switching to the Powerjack as the enemy dies from burn damage from the Flamethrower.
February 3, 2011 Patch
- Updated model (the dragon attachment) with optimizations and new LODs.
February 22, 2011 Patch
- [Undocumented] Several particle effects, including Flamethrower fire, were altered to appear brighter. These changes do not apply to ATi graphics card users and some others.
April 14, 2011 Patch (Hatless Update)
- Removed the restriction on airblast.
- Ammo cost increased 150%.
- Damage bonus reduced to 10%
Bugs
- In first-person view, the flame at the front of the Backburner clips through the metal cover.
- Due to being a near identical model of the Flamethrower, a similar bug persists; should the Pyro move his hand due to a voice command, the hose connected to the propane tank will appear attached to his wrist.
- Upon dying whilst using this weapon, the Pyro will drop the default Flamethrower.
Gallery
See also
 Pyro |
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| | Weapons |
Primary | | | Secondary | | | Melee |
Fire Axe ( Frying Pan, Saxxy, Conscientious Objector, Freedom Staff, Bat Outta Hell, Memory Maker, Ham Shank, Golden Frying Pan, Necro Smasher, Crossing Guard, Prinny Machete) · Axtinguisher ( Postal Pummeler) · Homewrecker ( Maul) · Powerjack · Back Scratcher · Sharpened Volcano Fragment · Third Degree · Lollichop · Neon Annihilator · Hot Hand | | | | | | |
| | | Abilities | | | | Cosmetics | | | | Item sets | | | | Special taunts | | | | Achievements | | | | Character | | | | Strategy | | | | Other | |
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General
Soldier
Heavy
Engineer
Medic
Sniper
Spy
