Flamers deal massive damage, but have very low range. In Fallout 1 and 2, the ammo is quite heavy, at 1 pound per shot. The Pyromaniac Perk in the second game and Tactics only add 5 points of damage, compared to 50% more damage in 3 and NV.

Unlike other Big Guns in 1, 2, and Tactics, save for the Rocket Launcher, the Flamer only fires one shot per attack. Because of this, each single shot deals more damage than each bullet fired by those heavy machineguns. They also don't seem to be as durable in 3 as they are in NV.

How many people here have tried builds in all games that exclusively use fire weapons, such as the Flamer, Shiskebab, Saturnite Fist Superheated, Gehenna, etc? How effective are they? Are they even worth doing?