Aug 19, 2026news

Fighting Falcon Under Fire

Blazing and Burn Are Not the Same Effect

The key to Fighting Falcon is separating Blazing from Burn.

The reported developer clarification is that Blazing is removed before attacking a base, but the burn still works. That sounds contradictory until the effects are treated as two parts of the same skill rather than one single hit.

Blazing is the added state. After a normal attack, it applies a burn with a coefficient of 450 for 4 seconds, triggering at most once every 4 seconds. Fighting Falcon gains Blazing for 8 seconds.

Against troops, the first attack immediately gives her artillery Blazing. That means the burn can begin right as the engagement starts. This immediate interaction is what makes the troop version of the skill feel different.

Against a base, there is no immediate Blazing-triggered burn on the opening attack. Instead, the reported timing is an 8-second wait, followed by burn ticks of 450 per second for 4 seconds. In practical terms, the base still takes the 450 coefficient 4 times. Players should not read the removal of Blazing as the removal of Fighting Falcon’s damage-over-time effect.

Base Attacks Need a Longer Commitment

The base tests make one practical lesson clear: do not pull back as soon as the skill indicator appears.

An early Red Heat and Fighting Falcon attempt produced 41, with the tester concluding that Fighting Falcon had not attacked. A solo follow-up confirmed that Fighting Falcon’s base burn did work: the skill shot was followed by four visible ticks, counted as “one, two, three, four.”

The issue was timing rather than a complete failure of the skill. The report suggests that Fighting Falcon needs to remain locked onto the base for longer before the burn actually goes out. Pulling back at the moment the emblem appears can end the attack before the delayed effect has time to apply.

That changes how players should use her in short base taps. A quick entry and instant retreat may miss the part of the kit that matters most. If the goal is to capture Fighting Falcon’s full reported base damage, stay engaged until the burn effect is clearly active, then pull back.

This is not a small execution detail. It is the difference between a low result and a complete skill sequence.

Earlier Base Damage Benchmarks

Before bringing Fighting Falcon into the comparison, the report ran single base attacks with both skill shots used and then pulled back. These results give useful context, even though the tests were limited and crits were not guaranteed.

Results:
• Iron Yardbird: 60 million in battle data on one comparison, with 60.8 million shown on another. The report describes the results as basically identical on a reasonably high-level base.
• Futurist and Iron Yard: 69.1 and 66.7.
• Vindicta and Thunder: one result of 58 when the reported Thunder crit was assumed not to trigger.
• Red Heat and Vindicta: 69 with 56.6, followed by 59.7 in another test.

The report’s position is not that Thunder suddenly becomes weak. When Thunder’s crit lands, he remains the strongest reported damage option in this group. But crit is not guaranteed, so non-crit results can fall behind Futurist and Iron Yard.

There is also a base-health caveat. For bases above 3 billion HP, the report states that Yardbird is technically better. Outside that situation, the tested base damage was described as broadly similar. These are comparison points, not a final leaderboard: officer levels, skill training, timing, crits, and test conditions all affect a real result.

Red Heat Unlocks Fighting Falcon’s Base Pressure

The strongest reported Fighting Falcon base results came after waiting long enough for the delayed burn and pairing her with Red Heat.

Results:
• Fighting Falcon used alone as primary: 27.7 after the skill managed to go off; another attempt did not trigger.
• Red Heat and Fighting Falcon, with both effects allowed to complete: 77.5 total, including 72.3 million on the skill shot.
• A second reported result: 84.9 total, including 71.3 million on the skill shot.

For comparison, another cited high result was 88.5 total, with 70.1 on the skill shot and 18.4 in the other reported component. The report does not claim Fighting Falcon has conclusively beaten every Thunder result. Instead, it places her as roughly as strong as Thunder in base attacks when her burn is given time to happen.

Red Heat is central to that case. The reported numbers are:
• Iron Sting: 32% damage and 40% skill boost.
• Red Heat: 25% damage, 50% burning coefficient, and 40% skill boost.

The report’s theory is direct: Red Heat’s 50% burning coefficient stacks with Fighting Falcon’s burn, skill damage, and normal damage in a way that can outweigh Iron Sting’s 32% damage for base attacks. A test with Iron Sting was described as 67 and “nothing special,” reinforcing the reported preference for Red Heat.

Field Fights Change the Timing Problem

Against troops, Fighting Falcon’s opening burn changes the fight immediately. In the reported head-to-head test, Red Heat and Fighting Falcon faced Vindicta and Thunder with neither side pre-charged. The account describes Fighting Falcon starting to burn Thunder as soon as the attack connected, even while Thunder had his shield active.

That does not remove Thunder from the field meta. The report is clear that Thunder remains one of the game’s best officers. The point is that Fighting Falcon creates another top-end threat rather than simply replacing him.

The follow-up tests focused on pre-charged skills and exposed important counterplay.

Fully pre-charged Thunder test:
• Thunder engaged as soon as his skill was fully charged.
• Fighting Falcon got her shot off.
• The burn did not happen; the report concludes there was not enough time for it to kick in.

Partially charged Thunder test:
• Both sides were pre-charged, but Thunder attacked when only around halfway through the final charge condition described in the test.
• Fighting Falcon’s burn did go off.

The practical message is timing. A fully ready burst can deny the delayed burn from becoming a factor. If Thunder’s skill is not completely ready, Fighting Falcon can punish the engagement window hard. Players using pre-charged artillery should treat her burn timing as a real risk, not an animation to ignore.

What the Current Tests Support

The reported testing supports a cautious but useful early verdict.

Fighting Falcon does damage bases. The removal of Blazing before a base attack does not cancel the burn. On bases, the burn follows the reported 8-second timing and then deals a coefficient of 450 per second for 4 seconds. Staying in combat long enough is essential.

Red Heat looks like the natural reported pairing. Her 25% damage, 50% burning coefficient, and 40% skill boost fit Fighting Falcon’s burn-focused output better in these base tests than Iron Sting’s 32% damage and 40% skill boost. The available results of 77.5 with 72.3 million on the skill shot, and 84.9 with 71.3 million on the skill shot, are strong enough to make that pairing worth serious attention.

Thunder and Vindicta still matter. Thunder’s reported ceiling remains exceptional when the crit lands, and a fully pre-charged skill can prevent Fighting Falcon’s burn from getting time to activate. Fighting Falcon is therefore not a universal answer to every artillery fight.

For now, the cleanest takeaway is simple: Fighting Falcon can compete in base damage if you let the burn complete, and Red Heat is the pairing that produced the most convincing reported results. More repeat testing is still needed before treating any single damage total as final.

Freedom

Song of Triumph

Vivian Moore is a Freedom Ground officer built around frontline tempo: durable personal stats, nearby Ground Firepower support, and Tactical Skill-driven pressure.