Helfire Tincture

The **Helfire Tincture** is a lunar equipment in Risk of Rain 2.

When activated, a sphere of blue flames surrounds the holder for 12 seconds, continuously inflicting the invisible  debuff on everything within 15 meters (including the holder and their allies). Once a character leaves the fire or the Tincture's effect expires, the Helfire debuff persists for an additional 3 seconds.

The Helfire debuff deals damage 5 times per second. Each tick deals 0.5% of the holder's max health to themself, 0.25% of their max health to other allies, and 24% of their max health to enemies. This means that the damage per second is 2.5%, 1.25%, and 120% of the holder's maximum health to themself, to allies, and to enemies, respectively.

The Helfire debuff is nonlethal to the holder, so it will never bring them below 1 HP.

## Notes

* Correction: The in-game description of dealing 5% of your maximum health to yourself and 2.5% to allies is technically correct, but does not account for how all friendly-fire damage (including self-inflicted damage) is halved.
* Correction: The in-game description of 8m radius is incorrect, and the description does not specify the duration.
* Survivors with natural armor take less damage from Helfire Tincture.
* It's possible to gain permanent uptime of the flames by having a  and at least 4 , though proper preparations must be taken to ensure the player can stay alive.
* Although the Helfire debuff is invisible, it still counts towards the .
	+ However, the  changes the Helfire debuff into , which will combine with other affected fire sources such as .
* provides increased burn damage to enemies and yourself making the choice risky but powerful. Despite the increased self damage, the burn is never lethal.
	+ Allies can still die from the burn caused by , so be wary when using this combo near drones or other players.

## Item Effects

### Beneficial

* can block self-damage ticks.
* reduces the damage taken while on fire, and because it ticks extremely fast for low amounts, it's easy to reduce burning damage taken to 1.
	+ Combining Armor Plates with the  can result in a steady healing over time effect. This theoretical build is limited by Planula’s scarcity.
	+ Since the  is a global damage increase, it will increase the damage done to burning enemies. However, its range is slightly smaller than the flames' area of effect (13m versus 15m), so the player will need to get slightly closer to enemies to reap the benefits.
	+ Focus Crystal will give a damage boost against allies including other players.
* will activate each tick of burning, firing 5 times per second and rapidly triggering on-hit effects.
	+ Pairing the Razorwire with on-hit healing from the  or  gives the player automatic healing as long as enemies are within the Razorwire's range.
	+ An can add a considerable barrier with enough on-hit healing.
	+ Stacking Tougher Times will occasionally prevent the Razorwire from activating. It is important to find a balance between Tougher Times, Razorwire, and on-hit healing.
* , , , , , and  increase the damage dealt by the flames while simultaneously increasing survivability.
	+ Having more max health increases the damage dealt, but likewise increases the damage taken, so more Repulsion Armor Plates are necessary. Taking 1 Repulsion Armor Plate per 1000 max health reduces each self-damage tick to 1.
* helps the player automatically heal when close to enemies, and inflicts  to slow them down and keep them in the burning area. It also pairs well with Focus Crystal by draining even more health.
* Having two  allows the player to stand still and recover HP at a higher rate than the Tincture burns them.
	+ can accomplish the same thing but allows the player to continue moving.
* All of the healing strategies above are greatly enhanced by the .
	+ The  recovery ceiling is lower than the self-injury inflicted by the Tincture and still affords the bonus healing that Rejuvenation Rack does. However, the Corpsebloom prevents the player from healing excessively, making Aegis practically useless and damage from enemies difficult to recover from.
* will trigger on the player if the burn ticks while at full health. However, these explosions do *not* deal self-damage, resulting in a huge damage boost with no downside as long as they can stay at full health.  is the best way to accomplish this.
	+ While shields do make it more difficult to use this strategy, as long as the combined value of the player's health, shields, and barrier is greater than their combined maximum health and shields, Voidsent Flame will still trigger.
* will make all burn damage negligible, as the player's max health becomes 1.
	+ The same effect happens upon killing a  Elite while holding the .
		- A lesser effect happens when the player gains the  buff by killing an Overloading Elite while holding the Wake of Vultures, where half of their max health becomes shields. This means that, for the duration of the Overloading buff, all damage taken from and dealt by the Tincture is halved.

### Detrimental or useless

* is near-useless because of how rapidly the burn damage ticks, constantly resetting the 2 seconds necessary to recover. The only way to make use of a Medkit is to proc Tougher Times many times in a row.
* The barrier from  is consumed almost instantly, and—in the late-game—the stack requirement becomes too high to be sustainable.
* and all shield effects *do not* increase the damage dealt, and shields require 7 seconds without taking damage to replenish.
* will never activate because the player is constantly taking damage.
* can reduce incoming burn damage, but the effect is considerably smaller than a single Repulsion Armor Plate. The armor granted is still useful for approaching enemies.
* should be avoided as the damage from this item is based on max health, not base damage. Halving your health will halve the damage that the Helfire Tincture deals.
* The  will multiply the damage on enemies and allies. Without plenty of healing, even one stack can make the self-burn damage get out of hand by dealing 10% of the user's maximum health per second as self damage.

# ==== [Version 12.45.1.009 ] ======
Training… <100000000 cycles>
Training… <1453461 cycles>
Complete!
Display result? Y/N
# Y
[Grix] ignites. We measure the time.
.....
.....
.....
...
..
.

Too ordered. Composition is settling - I scrape the mixture from the bottom.
[Ouju] ignites. We measure the time.
....
...
...
..
.

Too smooth. Ratio can be greater. I flatten the mixture. Black ichor of [Ouju] begins to pool around my feet.
[Rhisko] ignites. I measure the time.
...
.

I increase the ratio of Tetrafoil. I saturate the mixture. Ichor floods the chamber. Ash flutters in the air before settling on the floor.
...
I ignite. <He> measures my time.
...
...
...
..
..
..
.

<Perfect.>

```

## Version History

Anniversary Update
* Bug Fixes
	+ Fixed Helfire Tincture’s burning effect being offset

Early Access Content Update 5
* Gameplay Changes
	+ Helfire Radius: 10m ⇒ 15m
	+ Helfire Duration: 8s ⇒ 12s
	+ Improve VFX and SFX

Early Access Patch (Build ID No.3731106)
* Gameplay Changes
	+ Increase radius from 6m to 9m.
* Bug Fixes
	+ Improve collision detection of Helfire aura

## References

1. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/417739215355510784/559901542787055636/943662181763911711