Flamethrower

The flamethrower is a homemade weapon, a propane tank with a bike brake for a trigger, found in a loading dock at the University of Eastern Colorado in The University. It is the strongest tool against groups of infected and bloaters, at the cost of short range.

Category: Heavy
How to get it: Pick up

Unlocked by

The UniversityThe University sends Joel and Ellie on horseback across the University of Eastern Colorado near Boulder, looking for the science building where Tommy says the Fireflies are based. It mixes quiet exploration with a dorm full of infected and a fight against armed looters inside the lab building.

Found in

University of Eastern ColoradoThe University of Eastern Colorado is the Boulder campus where Joel and Ellie expect to find the Fireflies in The University chapter. You search it on horseback and on foot through the Go Big Horns and Science Building sections, and it holds 17 collectibles.

Good to know

Holds 100 fuel per tank and 200 in total.
A spare sits near a group of runners on the bottom floor of a nearby building, in a fight you can't skip.
The University's first workbench is in the same room as the flamethrower.
Any contact with the flame sets a human on fire and kills them.

Workbench upgrades

Its workbench upgrades include reload speed.

When to use it

Burn bloaters to strip their armor, then keep your distance, since a burning bloater can still grab you. Lure stalkers in and torch them as they close. Upgrade range first so you aren't standing in grabbing distance. Unlike a Molotov, it has no splash fire.