Level 10 Flame Thrower All fire damage increases 'Mmmph', activate to refill health and crit for several seconds -10% damage penalty No random critical hits No airblast Being a revolutionary appliance capable of awakening the fire element phlogiston that exists in all combustible creatures, which is to say, all of them.
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Surging electrolysed ultra-waves of pure phlogiston, this devastating incinerator will get them all hot under the collar! Actually, it will burn them alive. Horribly.
— Phlogistinator publicity blurb
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The Phlogistinator is a primary weapon for the Pyro. It is a retro-futuristic ray gun with some metal parts colored either bronze or silver depending on the team, and a team-colored canister stamped with the Dr. Grordbort crest. It fires waves of energy that function identically to the Flamethrower's flames. However, these energy waves appear to fire directly in front of the Pyro, despite the actual damage-causing particles lagging behind, resulting in an effect that can be deceiving to the eye.
With the Phlogistinator equipped, all fire damage done by the Pyro will increase a "Mmmph" bar. Once filled, it can be activated with the secondary fire command, which performs a taunt that will refill health completely and enable a short crit boost. During this taunt, the wielder has 90% damage resistance. The taunt cannot be activated if the player is in the air or in water. The weapon cannot gain random crits or use compression blasts.
It requires 225 points of fire damage[1] to completely fill the "Mmmph" bar, and the duration of the buff is 10 seconds.
Enemies killed by the Phlogistinator suffer a distinctive death by incineration, wherein they disintegrate into smoldering orange cinders that quickly fade away.
In some cases, when you switch from Pyro to another class, you will have only 50 ammo.
After activating "Mmmph" followed by switching class, the "Mmmph" glow effect will be present when taunting.
"Mmmph" gained is not reduced to reflect Damage Resistance. For example, hitting a Spy protected by the Dead Ringer will enable the Pyro to fill his "Mmmph" gauge, despite the Spy not having enough health to do so normally.
The canister does not glow when critboosted.
In some cases, fire particles still in the air while activating "Mmmph" will also be critboosted.
If the "Mmmph" is activated and the round changes, the effect will continue until the "Mmmph" bar is depleted.
If you are switched to the enemy team when the rounds end with a full "Mmmph", the charged particle effect in client view will still be the old teams color.
Trivia
Phlogiston is a theoretical fire-like element that was once believed to be contained within combustible objects.
This weapon's design seems to be inspired from the "Unnatural Selector", a model which can be bought here at Weta's online store.
While the Phlogistinator grants 90% damage resistance while activating Mmmph, it will not protect against damage from Backstabs.
The Hadouken taunt deals 500 points of fire damage, filling the Mmmph! meter instantly.