I have been using this on one character and find it rather lackluster. Its primary fire hardly hurts its target and the lingering burn is not all that deadly. The secondary fire is decent but does not last long and is short range. Once you deplete your fuel you are totally out of luck as well.
My suggestion would be to make it work a lot more like a real Flamethrower. Exhibit A:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHB3JuID-rs
Short bursts of moderate range flame that leaves everything it hits burning horribly and is fiercely deadly but with its limited fuel supply requires you to be accurate and very judicious with your sprays.
Comments
I find you can make that weapon hurt quite a bit. Keep in mind the damage will be mitigated heavily by shielding. I think if it was made stronger the fuel system would probably need to be changed since there really is no cost to burn through fuel as it will replenish shortly after. It's not like you have to find fuel tanks from drops. Part of the reason it may not seem to perform that well is the damage type. It's plasma damage, not fire damage. Basically, an energy weapon damage type vs an environmental damage type.
Vanilla Ground PvP information
I have never seen all that amazing damage from it. Its secondary fire can be ok but nothing compared to a good Shotgun blast or High Density Shot or Full Auto spray.
I guess the nerf worked. Used it twice and it's been collecting virtual dust in my bank ever since. I should just delete it already and reclaim the bank slot.
Yup. That right there would make it viable at least.