Please change Flame Blast's detonation mechanic.

Heya,

Since Condi Engi has become a thing in Raids again, people start doing rotations on the golem and so many of them struggle with Flame Thrower #2: Flame Blast. I've got plenty of pm's over the past couple of weeks with comments like "how do i use it?" "it feels so slow" "it doesn't detonate" etc. The issue with this skill and Condi Engineer is, that you have to swap away from Flame Thrower after using Flame Blast.

So what makes Kits so smooth to use in general? You can swap kits and chain a second skill while casting the first one. You do not get interrupted which is only fair, as this allows you to not have downtimes between attacks. This works on every kit except for Flamethrower, since Flame Blast forces you to activate it a second time before you can swap a kit, ultimately leaving you with a downtime before casting the next skill. So I tell people to use the instant cast option on Condi Engineer, but many (including myself) find this really forced upon the player and not everyone wants to use it on every spec or have to change options every time you swap characters.

I've talked with a lot of Engineers lately and I have yet to encounter one who really likes to press Flame Blast twice and wait in between for the second activation. Or short: We all hate this skill so much... It just doesn't feel smooth, it's unfun to have more dps with a different option and it's uneasy/clunky to use.

But just complaining isn't a good feedback. I would like to suggest a couple of versions that work:

• 1) Flame Blast does no longer deal pass through damage (shifted to detonation) and now detonates automatically on contact with a target. It can still be detonated manually for blast finishers / stacking might / stealth etc.
• 2) Same rules as version A), but to be able to hit all the targets you want, the detonation no longer hits in a radius around the target it detonates on, instead deals damage to enemies in a cone to and behind that target. Basically like an accelerated soap bubble that pops.
• 3) Flame Blast now has a ground target. Basically like the "Phoenix" of the ele: You ground target behind / inside the enemy, get both hits off and cause a blast finisher on impact. Unlike the phoenix it won't come back tho, no mulit hit ofc.
• 4) Same rules as version 3), but instead the pass through damage is shifted to the detonation, ultimately transforimg it into a "Throw Napalm" with a blast finisher.

I like version 3) the most, but in the end of the day I do not care how you'd change it. But what I (and plenty of other Engineers I know) want, is that you change it in some way. How it works right now is just frustrating, clunky and not fun to play with. But that's just my ... "our" opinion. What do other people think about this skill? Do you support the rework idea? (plssayyes x.x)

Thank you! :)

It has been a frequently asked change around here and I truly hope they just make it like Phoenix without the coming back part. I also hope they reduce incendiary ammo's CD while at it.

Should rework it to be like Temporal Rift without pull.

I would love to see versions 1 and 3 combined. Flame Blast being a ground-targeted skill that detonates automatically would make it a more fluid skill than it is currently. No core engineer just presses Flame Blast once and moves on to other kits, they just mash the skill until it detonates. Making it function similar to the elementalists' scepter skill Phoenix would make the rotations for core engineers go faster and could greatly improve their DPS.

@Hoodie.1045 said:I would love to see versions 1 and 3 combined. Flame Blast being a ground-targeted skill that detonates automatically would make it a more fluid skill than it is currently. No core engineer just presses Flame Blast once and moves on to other kits, they just mash the skill until it detonates. Making it function similar to the elementalists' scepter skill Phoenix would make the rotations for core engineers go faster and could greatly improve their DPS.

ive been suggesting this for a long time. I think having Flame Blast be 'unique' which I'm sure is the original balance intent, that's just not worth it. It's already JUST like phoenix in that it's a fire themed blast that has a roll-through hit. If we can just aim it behind someone and have 0% chance of bugging, that'd be greaaaaat.

Flame Blast has been a ability I've disliked and even hated for years, and the main reason is the pass-through damage component. Back in the days the main issue was the fireball just vanishing into thin air for no reason leaving you with the detonate button to detonate a non-existent projectile which wouldn't reset for a long period of time. After condi Engineer became a thing in raids and I had to use Flamethrower again, it was the pass-through damage that angered me instead. It feels extremely clunky, slows everything down and just plain old isn't fun to use.

My idea has always been to remove the damage and effects of it passing through enemies and move everything into the detonate effect, and making it explode on contact with an enemy. I would be perfectly happy making it a ground-targeted attack as well. I would like that idea a little less because we already have so many things we need to aim and target but it would definitely be a solution I would be just as happy with. At this point I'll accept just about anything because it just doesn't feel right in it's current state. Condi Engineer already takes so much to pull off in PvE, throw us a little bone here.