I find myself crafting a whole set of fire resist gear in every playthrough and almost never using it. The only time I actually use it is when I plan to start large fires or have to snatch a fire-based artifact from its resting place.
Are there plans for enemies who use or cause fire to be in the game so that this gear can be more useful? Perhaps a boomer level after the point where their bile makes you glow that vomits explosion and fire-inducing nitroglycerine and also explodes in a big ball of fire when killed? Boomers are frequent enough that I think it would be a valid point of concern for a player in the late game when boomers reach an evolution level like this.
Also the gas bloaters can be used as a fire catalyst. I haven’t played the experimental version yet as I’m having too much fun with my current characters so I don’t know if a thing like this is in or not, but I’m thinking that their gass could ignite if it comes in contact with electricity, fire, or experiences gunfire. It would add another layer for players to think about when dealing with bloated zeds.
Another idea could be to introduce Fire hazardous environments.
Such as a rupture in the ground leading to a sweltering hot lava filled rooms with wild fires spontaneously spreading about. Fire temple with a ring of fire and fire base traps/enemies.
Etc etc etc
Ruptures and lava areas already exist, much to the dismay of the occasional day one survivor who steps down into their shelter basement and falls into the lava fissure below.
As far as the usefulness goes, I’d be hesitant to design up enemies who are intended primarily to force the usage of a very specific category of gear that feels otherwise underutilized. Doing so adds another piece to the gear checklist for players to deal with, ‘good’ gear must now also have fireproofing atop all the other properties.
Additionally, fires loot destroying properties are pretty intense, making flame based enemies an exercise in frustration when trying to loot anything at all. My survivor made the mistake of moving her lit cig into the unsorted loot pile for all of two seconds, and in that time it destroyed half the loot, including all the ammo and most of the firearms (loaded, probably), and burned most of the rest. I shudder to imagine trying to deal with late game when the rare loot your hunting for is immolated simply because the building a map tile over had a flame boomer that got attacked by wildlife and lost.
Burner zombies were originally supposed to set fires, but there were concerns about setting entire towns on fire unintentionally. Monsters that ignite fires are going to be rare, if not non-existent.
Really the primary use of fire resistant gear is insurance against your own mistakes. If you plan on hurling Molotovs around or taking a flamethrower to fungal blooms it’s a good idea to protect yourself against the inevitable inferno.
Yeah, the fire-starting potential of lit cigarettes is wildly overstated in the game, I find. I don’t know if it’s due to an overabundance of sensationalist stories, a personal prejudice against smoking on some coder’s part, or just plain humor potential, but lit cigarettes generally don’t burn hot enough to catch anything alight besides things that are already very dry.
If they were, the guy I used to care for would have burnt himself alive decades ago.