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TDS loot firearrow

The TDS Loot icon

FireArrow

The Fire Arrow in the first two games.

The Fire Arrow is an explosive arrow shot with the Bow, and is the most lethal arrow in Garrett's arsenal.


Basic Info[]

Cost:

Attack:

  • Explosive Weapon
  • from 7 to 17 points of damage upon direct hit (determined by where the arrow hits and a random factor)
  • from 4 to 6 points of damage to anything caught in the blast radius
  • Tree Beasts take approximately 2.5 times the normal damage from Fire Attacks

Stealth Bonus: No; weapon will increase visibility, and explosion will attract attention

TDS fireplace arrow

A stealable Fire Arrow concealed within a fireplace, in TDS

Areas they can be found: near lava pools and rivers, inside flames (torches, fireplaces), dropped by a Fire Shadows when they flee, or where Fire Elementals or Fire Mages dwell

Maximum amount in inventory (TDS only): 15

Symbol: Fire Element

Length: 3.26 DromEd Units

Usage[]

TDS firearrow light

A drawn Fire Arrow illuminating a pitch-black tunnel, in TDS

Tactical Information[]

A Fire Crystal

If the Fire Arrow should be described with one basic word, it would be destruction. This arrow has many uses, but before all it is the most powerful damage-dealing ranged weapon, used by Garrett. It does a great deal of damage to Humans, Chaos Beasts, Monsters and even the insidious Undead, which are immune to most normal attacks. The damage that the arrow does to a target depends on where it hits. Most vulnerable is the abdominal area. Next are the chest and knees. The head is least vulnerable to damage from the Fire Arrow. Even so, the damage it can do is enough to finish most enemies in one shot. Zombies take two successful hits unless you are able to hit them in the chest or abdomen. That will only take one arrow, so it is wise to aim for those areas. Furthermore the Fire Arrow's trajectory doesn't have a parabola (arc). When fired from the bow it goes straight forward, without falling to the ground, irrelevant of whether the bow was fully pulled or not, until it hits a hard surface or a character. This allows the arrow to travel further than the arrows that do arc. On the other hand the player must be cautious with his aim, in order not to see his arrow fly away much higher than the intended victim. The proper aim for the Fire Arrow should be the higher tip of the aiming rectangle. One should watch out when fighting Fire Elementals and Fire Shadows, since they are not only immune to Fire Arrows, but they actually heal them. Another thing to watch out for is the arrow's explosive properties. This means that not only the target that has being hit will take damage, but all adjacent characters or breakable props. This also includes Garrett, which means he must be very careful not to hit something like walls or furniture near him (especially explosive barrels). The biggest problem in this matter is characters running toward the player in an attempt to attack. By the time one can pull the Fire Arrow back and fire, they could get next to Garrett and so it does significant damage to him as well. However, all characters caught in the blast area but are not directly hit, take less damage depending on what distance they are from the blast. Last but not least when the player takes out or aim a Fire Arrow, it lights up giving away his/her presence.

The Fire Arrow also has many other useful properties. It can be used for setting up traps in different ways. For example one can blow up an explosive barrel when someone walks near it or he can detonate any type of mine even if no one has activated it. It can also be used to disperse those nasty Insect Swarms out of Garrett's way so he would take no damage. If one wants to do that, he must aim at the ground beneath them, because the arrow will fly through the swarm. A better tactic however would be to save the Fire Arrow and avoid or run past the swarms. The player can also use Fire Arrows as a defensive weapon to destroy any incoming projectile from enemies like the Bugbeast and the Apparition, by hitting it in mid air. The player can also relight torches that are put out. This is a more quest related feature since darkness is a thief's friend and some doors open only when special torches are lit. Examples are the door to the Mystic's Soul in Bonehoard and the door to The Keepers' Chapel in The Barricades. A little more obvious use for the Fire Arrow is distracting characters from their positions or walk paths, because it makes a lot of noise upon impact. It can be used as a substitute for the Noisemaker Arrow with similar success.

Arrow Characteristics[]

Firearrow dromed
The Fire Arrow as it appears in the manual

The concept of the Fire Arrow in the Thief Universe follow the same basic principle as the Chinese fire arrow (not an incendiary arrow with a lit-up arrowhead, but an explosive light artillery),[1] but relies upon the destructive power of the fire crystal instead of gunpowder. The Fire Arrow is mainly recognized by its dominant orange color. Its shaft is regular in size and it uses a Fire Crystal for a head. This crystal explodes upon impact. The Fire Arrow of T1 and T2 is unique by its two fletched tail. Gravity has no effect on this projectile's flight path, and it can be shot at speeds slower than Garrett's running speed.

The Fire Crystal has a streamlined shape and it is the only arrow crystal that emits light by itself. It has very powerful and dangerous explosive characteristics. Crystals of such type, can usually be found near underground lava rivers. The legendary Fire Shadows are known to have some spiritual bind with Fire Crystals, as they release a crystal from themselves upon defeat, if there is someone brave enough to challenge one. The yellow-belly adventurer, however, should be advised that Fire Crystals tend to appear in less dangerous places like fireplaces and torches.

References[]

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