Incendiary launcher

The incendiary launcher is a weapon that fires bolts that deal low damage but can start fires and ignite enemies.

Acquisition

Incendiary launchers can be crafted at a machining table once the gunsmithing research project has been completed. Each requires 75 Steel, 4 Components, 20,000 ticks (5.56 mins) of work modified by the general labor speed of the crafter, and a crafting skill of 4.

Incendiary launchers can also be purchased from outlander and orbital combat suppliers, outlander settlements, or obtained from the following raider kinds:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Pirate gunner	4.01%	Normal	70-230%
Town guard	3.78%	Normal	60-200%
Mercenary gunner	4.59%	Normal	70-320%
Ancient soldier	3.59%	Normal	100%

Summary

The incendiary launcher creates a "plus-shaped" explosion, which deals 10 Flame damage and causes fire. Fire spreads through flammable surfaces, and causes pawns to take damage over time and run around helplessly. Unlike frag grenades, the fiery explosions are deployed on impact. It has a forced miss radius of 1.9 tiles, meaning shots will land in a 1-tile radius from the intended target, including diagonal. Due to the forced miss, shooter accuracy does not matter; careful shooter is purely detrimental to its use, while trigger-happy is a pure benefit. The launcher is fired like any other weapon, so is blocked by walls.

Of non-consumable player weapons, the incendiary launcher has the 2nd highest warmup/cooldown cycle, only beaten by the pila. Combined with the weak shots and low accuracy, and the incendiary launcher has the lowest single-target DPS for all ranged weapons. The main benefit of an incendiary launcher, as its name suggests, is the fire it creates.

Pyromaniac pawns receive a +2 Pyromaniac has incendiary weapon mood buff while equipped with an incendiary launcher. Note that they must be equipped, not merely carried. They also receive an additional +8 Used flame weapon mood for 0.333 days when used on an enemy.

Analysis

The incendiary launcher is undoubtedly a support weapon. It is one of the few weapons that start fires - pawns that are on fire will stop attacking and run wildly. Don't fire near your colonists. Launchers are a somewhat viable alternative for colonists with low skill or health issues, due to the forced miss negating a shooter's accuracy.

Manual oversight is very helpful when using explosive weapons, as pawns won't lead their fire or care about collateral damage. Explosives in general are very inaccurate against moving targets, so try to avoid targeting those if you can. Creating a flammable structure/room, luring or trapping raiders in, and lighting it on fire is a valid crowd control tactic, albeit a costly one.

Fire becomes much less useful as you enter the mid- and lategame. Mechanoids are immune to fire, high-tech raiders start to wear more heat resistant apparel (which doesn't prevent ignition, just the damage), and there'll be too many tribespeople for a single launcher to suppress.

Because it relies on fires, rain significantly diminishes its utility. Note that the game has a "firewatcher", and will automatically start rain if fires get too out of control.

Comparison to molotovs

Compared to molotov cocktails, the incendiary launcher sacrifices rate of fire for significantly faster projectiles and a doubled range. This makes launchers better in certain supportive and defensive roles, where colonists can sit back and distract enemies. The range also makes the launcher safer to use, and easier to not cause friendly fire. Molotovs are quicker to deploy, so are more useful when the only thing that matters is the fire itself, such as in a burn trap room. Molotovs are also generally more flexible for this reason.

Outside of combat, fire is useful for disposing of unwanted items, such as corpses. Create a fireproof room using stone walls and floor, fill it up with undesirable items, and watch it burn. As molotov cocktails fire faster, they are marginally better for this purpose.

Unlike molotovs, incendiary launchers are affected by weapon quality. This only affects the damage of the projectile itself and melee damage. The fire radius and rate of fire are not increased, meaning that quality has little impact on actual performance.

Attack table

Ranged

Incendiary launcher			DPS (Optimal)	Market value
Quality	Dam.	AP	DPS (Optimal)	Market value
Awful	9	0%	1.29	170
Poor	10	0%	1.43	255
Normal	10	0%	1.43	340
Good	10	0%	1.43	425
Excellent	10	0%	1.43	510
Masterwork	12.5	0%	1.79	850
Legendary	15	0%	2.15	1700

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality.}

Melee

Feature	Toggle
Attacks

Incendiary launcher			Stock (Blunt)					Barrel (Blunt)					Barrel (Poke)					Human: Left & right fist (Blunt)					HP	Value
Quality	DPS^[1]	AP^[1]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	HP	Value
Awful	3.98	11.6%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 37.5%	100	170
Poor	4.07	11.82%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 20%	100	255
Normal	4.4	12.75%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	340
Good	4.74	13.73%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	425
Excellent	5.08	14.7%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	510
Masterwork	5.92	17.14%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	850
Legendary	6.59	19.09%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	1700

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality.}

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Note: This is the actual base average derived from the melee verb system updated in 1.1.2610, it may sometimes disagree with the listed value in the in-game infobox.
It may also change depending on the stats and the melee verbs available to the wielder if the weapon is wielded by some other than a baseline human.
↑ Chance for attack to be selected, assuming the weapon is wielded by a baseline human. It may change depending on the melee verbs available to the wielder