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- "Remember how Carmine was always talking about fire? He woulda loved that thing.
- "Yeah... and burned our asses with it too."
- "Yeah, heh, rest in peace Carmine.''"
- —Dominic Santiago and Marcus Fenix, after finding a Scorcher
The Scorcher was a lightweight, man-portable, dry chemical-fuel flamethrower. The Scorcher propels a stream of flame that damages and sets enemies on fire, dealing major damage over several seconds. The Scorcher was designed specifically to excel in short-range combat, possessing a maximum range of approximately 10 meters.
The Scorcher is compatible with a backpack fuel tank that increases fuel capacity, but is vulnerable to damage and will explode with the user if shot. Locust Grenadiers and Boomers are often equipped with a Scorcher in lieu of the standard Gnasher Shotgun or Boomshot, and are called Flame Grenadiers and Flame Boomers, respectively. These units wear specialized helmets and backpack fuel tanks which are extremely vulnerable because of their flammability, as this means shooting the tank will ignite it.
Gameplay[]
The Scorcher is a deadly close combat weapon, with an unmatched concentrated damage rating compared to other weapons in Gears of War 2, even the Gnasher Shotgun. The Scorcher is also the most accurate weapon to blind fire, and has a psychological side-effect of inducing fear and panic in enemies at close-range. Attaining a Perfect Reload with the Scorcher will not increase damage, but instead increases the range of the flame stream. The damage dealt by the weapon is impressive regardless, capable of downing enemies unbelievably fast and taking out entire groups thanks to the extent of the flames. Burning an opponent to death with this weapon leaves their body distinctly charred and blackened.
However, the Scorcher has extremely limited range, surpassed even by the Gnasher Shotgun. The Scorcher is most effective in close-range combat, such as inside buildings and around heavy cover. Many players tend to target enemies wielding the Scorcher because of its deadly nature, and because they are aware of its limited range. It is best to use the weapon when advancing on multiple confined opponents or rushing enemies in a group, as pressure must be put on the opponent to keep them eliminating the Scorcher user from afar. However, the Scorcher is devastating if its wielder leads the invasion, as he can not only cripple the team faster than his teammates, but he can blind them of his allies' position, leaving them open to surprise attacks. Alone, the Scorcher is rather ineffective since it doesn't disable the opponent's actions, but in a group, it can be the most decisive weapon in a battle. This isn't just because of the weapon's deadly nature, but also for the fact that, if used right, this can completely blind an enemy.
The Scorcher is particularly effective against Sires and Maulers, as the flames deal damage around the Boomshield. The Scorcher is also effective at destroying Meat Shields, and is capable of destroying grenades that have been set as proximity mines around corners and behind cover. While the Scorcher is considered a counterpart to the Gnasher, it is both effective against and vulnerable to the weapon, being able to down more effective at slightly more effective ranges, but lacking the ability to fight back at point blank due to the shotgun's one-hit kill.
Interestingly enough, the Scorcher is insanely powerful in matchmaking, capable of downing an opponent with a directed stream in a fraction of a second, yet in Horde, the locust seem capable of enduring the weapon for incredible periods of time, taking as much as a full tank to kill bigger enemies even up close. This has made it a hard weapon to use in Horde, mainly useful for its blindfiring.
In Gears of War 3, the Scorcher has been shown to be weaker in Matchmaking in the third installment, taking longer to down and kill a foe, however, this has been changed in the coming updates; vastly increasing the damage at the expanse of lowering the ammunition capacity. The weapon can be used to great effect against certain enemy types, notably in Horde mode. It stops Corpsers in their tracks, doing more damage to them than any other man-portable weapon (except the One-Shot) while also stunning them until the trigger is released. If fired at a Berserker, it will stun them as well as make them far more vulnerable to weapon damage from teammates. Spraying it at Lambent Berserkers even only for a moment causes their chest cavity to open up prematurely, allowing teammates to fire into it without having to wait for the enemy to charge. A distinct wet splitting sound can be heard when this happens.
The Scorcher Flamethrower makes a return in Gears 5 with the introduction of Operation Five, making it the first weapon to be added in the game post-launch. In Gears 5, the Scorcher is much more powerful than its past iterations. First, it deals extremely high damage on par with Gears of War 3 post-update, moreover, the blinding effect is far more pronounced than before, making the target at a distinct disadvantage to the user. Second, the afterburn damage now last a full half-second, ensuing a last minute kill in contrast to its past iterations which lasted a fraction of that time, while the flames ensure cover remains all but near useless. However, the biggest change comes in the fact that the Scorcher for the first time, is now able to light the ground and walls on fire like the Incendiary Grenade. When successfully accomplishing a perfect reload, rather than simply extending the range, this new effect creates an area denial that hurts anyone, friend or foe. All in all, the Scorcher is one of the most lethal close combat weapon in the game, and becomes an increasingly useful weapon in game modes such as Horde 3.0 for example.
Execution[]
In Gears of War 3, the Scorcher has an added Execution, where the player jabs the Scorcher into the downed enemy and fires flames into their body. This will also make flames come out of their eyes and mouth. The execution is considered to be particularly brutal and, in Gears 5, the opponents' head explodes due to possibly, the in-built pressures from the ignited gases.
Behind the scenes[]
- In Gears of War 2, killing 30 enemies with the Scorcher earns the Smells like Victory achievement.
- The reloading method of the Scorcher is not definitively distinguishable, especially with a perfect reload. The reloading animation seems like the player simply wiggles the trigger handle, however the player is actually "pumping" on a separate handle in front of the trigger. This pumps air into the tank on the side of the weapon, putting the fuel under pressure and allowing it to be expelled from the nozzle. However, when a perfect reload is achieved, it appears as though the fuel igniter at the front of the flamethrower extends, hence the increased range, as a clicking/slotting noise can be heard if you get a perfect reload with it.
- After Ben's death and when you find the Scorcher for the first time at the New Hope facility, Marcus and Dom talk about how Ben would have liked the weapon because of his love of fire, even though throughout the whole game Ben never once mentions his love of fire. The reason for this is because some of his lines of dialogue got cut out of the Tutorial level. Originally after blowing up the garage with a frag grenade, Carmine was supposed to go on and on about playing with fire as a kid.[2]
- In Gears of War 3, the Scorcher's execution doesn't expend ammunition when the weapon is fired.
- In Gears 5, the Scorcher now leaves a burning patch on the ground or walls when fired. This is strange, given that the Scorcher's fuel is a dry chemical compound that leaves a 'clean' burn like those powered by flammable gases such as propane. Liquid-base, especially those of thick viscosity like napalm, is what allows real-life flamethrowers to create a 'pool' of fire on the ground if allowed to settle. The Scorcher's fuel source however, has not been confirmed to be liquid-base or changed into one.
Appearances[]
- Gears of War: Judgment
- RAAM's Shadow
- Gears of War 2 (First appearance)
- The Quickening (Appears in flashback(s))
- Gears of War 3
- Gears 5 (Multiplayer only)