The Draconian Burner is an enemy exclusive to Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem. They are a larger and tougher version of the Draconian Pyromaniac that are equipped with more deadlier weaponry.
Overview[]
The Draconian Burner is a variant of the Draconian Pyromaniac equipped with a red fireproof suit and mask; this mask is a lot different than the ones seen worn by Pyromaniacs. They are members of the newly-formed Pyronihilistic Order of Ashes, created in the later months of the European campaign to lay waste to the continent.[1] Only the most fanatical Draconians are allowed in the ranks, each swearing an oath to sacrifice their bodies and souls to the Great Flaming Crusade.
Mental, seeing the potential of such a dedicated, elite force, elected to elevate them by implanting dual thermal beam guns into their arms, which are linked to the brain via neural connections.[1]
Appearances[]
Burners, while they seldom appear throughout the game, often appear in pairs or in small groups, sometimes with other enemies. The first Burner encountered by the player appears in "The Song Of The Stormbringer" as a miniboss, killing Sergey shortly before engaging the player. This Burner's health is normally 1,100 HP, but in co-op, this is raised further depending on how many players are playing with the following formula:
In this formula, "P" represents the number of players in the current session that are fighting the Burner boss, and "H" represents the Burner boss's new health value. With four players, the Burner's health becomes 2,090 HP.
Burners become slightly more common later throughout the game, with many of them appearing in "Crime And Punishment". They are also more common when playing on New Game+, even appearing as early as the first level.
In the Christmas area in "The Song Of The Stormbringer", there is a chance of a friendly Draconian Burner being summoned after spinning the wheel inside the bar. This friendly Burner is much smaller in size compared to the normal version, has a blue visor, and wears shoes that are similar to Serious Sam's signature red sneakers.
Behavior and skills[]
Close-up view of a Burner's thermal beam guns.
Burners are much tougher and more dangerous than Pyromaniacs, seeing as they have increased health and are equipped with deadlier weapons, which makes them formidable opponents. Their primary weapons are dual thermal beam guns, which are far deadlier than the flamethrowers used by Pyromaniacs. Like their weaker brethen, Burners are equipped with a jetpack, which allows them to easily fly above the ground, traverse difficult terrain, and attack head-on in one-to-one combat.[1]
Upon spotting the target, the Burner will use two main methods of attack; a vertical sweep with their thermal beams in the air and a horizontal sweep with their thermal beams on the ground. Both can be dodged by sprinting away or sidestepping. At close range, they will do a short jump before slamming into the ground for an explosive burst of flames that functions as their melee attack.
From a distance, the Burner will propel itself in the air with its napalm tanks in order to get close to the player.
Like the Pyromaniac, however, the Burner's jetpack can be easily ruptured and serves as the Burner's weak spot; shooting at it will deal 3 times more damage to the Burner and allow the player to dispatch it more easily. Killing a Burner by rupturing his napalm tanks or while in mid-air will cause him to explode.
Tactics[]
Enemy[]
- The XPML21 Rocket Launcher is very useful against the Burner early in the game, especially after receiving the Multirocket upgrade.
- His forward laser attack can be avoided by sidestepping into the opposite direction. When they fire their lasers horizontally, however, they should be dodged by jumping over them with a perfect timing or by damaging the Burner quickly to make him flinch and cancel the attack.
- The A-24 Devastator and TCC-2 "Perun" Crossbow are very useful for shooting the Burner's tanks. The tanks will explode after two hits, which allows the player to kill him more quickly.
- If the player does not have rockets, crossbow bolts, or Devastator shells, the AK-74MX, XM214-A Minigun, XL2 Lasergun (in New Game+), and especially the XPMR "Burner" Raygun are highly useful against Burners. They can still deal a lot of damage to one, but it is recommended that the player aim at the Burner's fuel tanks to eliminate him more quickly.
- The C-4 Demolition Charge, FRPCL (the latter in New Game+3) and SBC Cannon can be used as emergency weapons against Burners. One charged up cannonball, attached C-4 charge, or chainsaw projectile will kill them instantly, regardless of the difficulty settings.
- Burners are high-priority targets when appearing with other enemies, as their attacks can give the player less room to dodge other enemies and deal high damage to them if they are not paying attention to the Burner. Therefore, it's recommended to kill them quickly.
- Burners can be ridden when the "Rodeo Time" skill is active. Their high health and damage output makes them useful for fending off large hordes of enemies without the player being seriously damaged in the process, although their slow ground speed makes them easy targets for Adult Arachnoids, Beheaded Kamikazes, Common Aludran Reptiloids, Hatchling Arachnoids, Gnaars (especially females), Khnums, and Kleer Skeletons. When riding a Burner, the player must prioritize powerful targets or large groups of weaker targets so as to maximize the Burner's chance of survival while the player is riding him.
- The "Combusion Tamer" achievement requires the player to kill 30 enemies while riding a Burner. This is most easily achieved by firing a T.A.C.T. and then getting behind the Burner to quickly ride on top of him whilst being surrounded by a huge horde of weaker enemies. The resulting tactical strikes should take out at least 30 enemies while dealing no damage to the Burner the player is riding.
- This can be made easier with the Time Warp gadget, which must be activated before getting on a Burner for the achievement.
Ally[]
- The allied Draconian Burner can easily stave off or distract hordes of lower-tier enemies and will teleport to follow the player around. This makes him useful for the "Recharge" side objective if the player can keep him alive for that long.
- Should the player spin the wheel in the second Christmas area and land on the sword and shield icon, they will be forced to fight a trio of Knights. If already spawned, the allied Burner can prove useful here since he can distract the Knights, allowing the player to defeat them without taking too much damage.
- Keep in mind that unlike other allied NPCs in the game, the friendly Burner has a limited health pool and will eventually die after he has sustained enough damage. To maximize his chances of survival, quickly eliminate any high-tier enemies like Khnums, Major Bio-mechanoids, other Draconian Burners, or especially groups of Kamikazes and female Gnaars.
Behind the scenes[]
- The Burner's appearance is based on one of the Pyromaniac's early concept designs.
Related achievements[]
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
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| Meet the naughty monster |
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| Kill a Draconian Burner with a Burner gun |
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| Kill 30 enemies while riding one Draconian Burner |
Trivia[]
- The Burner's characteristics are very similar to that of the Lasergewehr-wielding Super Soldiers from Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, since they also duel-wield beam weapons, have jetpacks, and are similar in height.
- The Burner's Halloween skin introduced in the Halloween Update is a reference to the popular 2018 online multiplayer social deduction video game Among Us.
- There are further references to Among Us, all of which are related to the friendly Burner who can be found in New Game+:
- The prize that unlocks him is named
Susin the script file controlling the second Christmas area,Content/SeriousSamSM/Scripts/ChristmasArena02.lua. "Sus", a slang word meaning "suspicious" or "suspect", is a commonly used term in Among Us to call out any suspicious Impostors. - In the same script file, a commented out line contains the term "AMOGUS", albeit with the "O" and "U" censored. This is a meme misspelling of "Among Us".
- When the friendly Burner is unlocked, a musical cue is played that is strikingly similar to the one played at the start of a round in Among Us.
- The prize that unlocks him is named
- There are further references to Among Us, all of which are related to the friendly Burner who can be found in New Game+:
- One of the Burner's death sounds is actually reused from an unused death sound for the Sandwhale from Serious Sam 3: BFE.
- The Burner is called
LazerPyroin the game files. - Oddly enough, the player can place C-4 Demolition Charges on the friendly Burner and detonate them. This doesn't do any damage to him, though, and may instead deal some damage to the player if they are too close to the charges.
Gallery[]
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
Pre-release[]
Artwork[]
Retail[]
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem (First appearance)
References[]