Flare Gun

The Flare Gun is a ranged weapon that provides a ranged method of illuminating areas. It fires Flares, Blue Flares, and Shimmer Flares, which provide light and stick to the blocks they hit. They also deal minimal damage, and inflict the On Fire! debuff. The Flare Gun is found randomly in Gold Chests underground.

Flares travel in a slight arc and stick to blocks (similar to Sticky Glowsticks), but have greater velocity and range. They are waterproof, and can be fired into and out of water. Once fired, Flares emit low-level, flickering, tinted light (red or blue, depending on the type fired) that lasts for 10 minutes. They stick to the blocks they impacted and will function underwater. Flares cannot be recovered once they burn out.

When held, the muzzle of the Flare Gun will continually emit a flare effect, as long as at least one Flare is in the player's inventory.



Flares
Flares are used as ammunition for the Flare Gun. There are two variants that work identically, but do not stack together: Flares (red) and Blue Flares. They can be purchased from the Merchant for each, while a Flare Gun is in the player's inventory. 25–50 red Flares are also found in Gold Chests that contain a Flare Gun.

Both types of Flare deal the On Fire! debuff, causing the afflicted enemy or player to lose 4 health per second. There is a chance that the debuff will last 5 seconds, and a  chance that it will last 10 seconds.

Types
There are currently 6 / 2  different types of Flares.

Tips

 * If playing in multiplayer, a player can use the Flare Gun much like a real-world, to signal other players for help. Due to its high range, it can shoot relatively far and can fairly easily reach the area of another player (barring obstacles).
 * The Flare Gun's shots will pierce targets. Since they inflict the On Fire! debuff, the weapon can prove very useful for fighting off groups of enemies, such as during the Blood Moon, as well as keeping track of bosses and enemies in dark environments.
 * The Flare Gun can be especially useful against worm-like enemies (and bosses like the Eater of Worlds), or even the Brain of Cthulhu's Creeper minions. Surprisingly, the Flare Gun is also useful against Wyverns, being able to kill one with a single, well landed shot and a few seconds.
 * While mining downward, firing a Flare where the player is mining will allow it to fall with the player as they mine.
 * On the, with Flower Boots, farming fishing bait becomes easy; Wearing the boots, shoot the ground under the player with the Flare Gun while swinging a Bug Net or auto-swinging a Golden Bug Net. This method is significantly faster than using the net and Flower Boots combination alone, as the Flare will break plants far faster than either net. On Jungle grass, around 25–40+ Buggy drops per Flare duration can be expected using this method. Pure or Hallowed grass will instead yield Grasshoppers and (especially if raining) Worms, a few of which will be golden critters.