🔫 FLARE GUN

Damage & Stats

The Flare Gun fires a single pyrotechnic projectile that deals 25 impact damage and ignites targets for 30 fire damage over 5 seconds (55 total). The flare travels in a high arc at low velocity (15 m/s), limiting effective direct-fire range to 20 meters — beyond this, the arc trajectory makes hitting moving targets impractical. The weapon holds one round and requires a 4-second reload. The player carries a maximum of 10 flares ($15 each). The primary function is signaling: fired skyward, the flare illuminates a 50-meter radius for 20 seconds and marks the player's location on allied minimap in GTA Online cooperative scenarios.

The incendiary effect ignites flammable surfaces within 2 meters of impact — vegetation, fuel spills, wooden structures, and vehicle interiors. Flares fired into enclosed spaces create localized fires that spread according to the fire propagation physics, providing area-denial capability despite the weapon's low direct damage. The flare's bright burning projectile is visible from extreme distances (500+ meters at night), making it simultaneously a signaling tool, a primitive incendiary weapon, and a distraction device. The bright trail also draws NPC attention toward the impact point, redirecting guard patrol routes and civilian movement.

Tactical Analysis

The Flare Gun's primary tactical value is as a distraction and redirection tool rather than a damage dealer. Firing a flare into an unoccupied area draws guard investigation — the bright impact and resultant fire command attention, pulling patrol routes away from the player's intended infiltration path. In nighttime stealth missions, a well-placed flare creates a 20-second illuminated zone that guards investigate, opening unlit approach vectors that were previously patrolled. The distraction is more reliable than noise-based alternatives because the visual stimulus commands attention at greater distances.

Against vehicles, the flare's ignition effect compensates for its low direct damage. A flare fired through an open vehicle window ignites the interior, creating a fire that damages the fuel system over 10-15 seconds until the vehicle explodes. This delayed vehicle destruction provides a non-explosive alternative to sticky bombs — the fire buildup appears accidental to NPCs who don't witness the initial shot, generating lower wanted-level response than an explosion would. The delay also allows positioning a sabotaged vehicle as a timed trap at known enemy approach routes.

Attachments & Modifications

The Flare Gun accepts no physical modifications — its single-shot break-action design leaves no attachment points. However, three flare types provide functional variety: Standard Red ($15/round, 20-second illumination, fire ignition), Emergency White ($20/round, 30-second illumination with double brightness, no fire effect — pure signaling), and Smoke Flare ($25/round, creates a 10-meter smoke screen for 15 seconds on impact, no illumination or fire — concealment tool). Flare types are selected from the ammunition menu and can be mixed in the player's 10-round inventory.

The Smoke Flare variant transforms the Flare Gun from a marginal weapon into a tactical concealment tool. The 10-meter smoke screen blocks NPC and player line-of-sight for 15 seconds, enabling open-ground crossings during sniper-covered approaches, obscuring the player during vehicle changes that break witness descriptions, and creating visual cover for exposed cover-to-cover movements in environments lacking physical barriers. The smoke does not affect the player's vision when inside the cloud (the player character covers their mouth with their arm), providing asymmetric advantage.

Best Situations

Nighttime distraction during stealth infiltration is the Flare Gun's highest-value application. The Malibu Club heist preparation requires accessing the building's roof through a guarded alley — firing a flare into the adjacent parking lot draws the alley guard to investigate the fire, opening a 15-second entry window. Similar guard-redirection opportunities exist throughout Vice City's guard-patrolled locations. The flare's fire effect adds authenticity to the distraction — guards genuinely respond to fire as an emergency rather than investigating a suspicious noise and returning to position.

Maritime signaling in the Leonida Keys and offshore areas uses the Flare Gun's intended function. During boating missions, firing a flare skyward summons NPC rescue boats (if the player is stranded), marks air-drop locations for supply delivery missions, and illuminates dark ocean water for nighttime navigation near shallow reefs. The Emergency White flare's extended brightness enables allies in GTA Online to locate the player's position from up to 500 meters away during cooperative missions in the Everglades where vegetation obscures standard minimap positioning.

How to Acquire

The Flare Gun ($300) is available at Ammu-Nation stores, marina supply shops, and the Everglades ranger station from the start of the game. Standard red flares ($15 each) are available at all stocking locations; Emergency White ($20) and Smoke ($25) flares are sold exclusively at military surplus stores and the Grassrivers hunting supply shop. A free Flare Gun with 5 rounds is found inside the emergency supply cabinet on any owned boat, and another spawns at the Leonida Keys marina dock office.

The weapon is also provided during the introductory boating tutorial mission when the player is taught maritime signaling, and this tutorial Flare Gun persists in inventory. During several stranded/survival stranger missions in the Everglades, NPCs provide flares as mission equipment, though these are consumed within the mission context. The Flare Gun occupies the pistol category on the weapon wheel despite its non-combat primary function, sharing space with standard sidearms.

Comparison to Similar Weapons

Against the Molotov Cocktail ($50) for fire-starting, the Flare Gun offers range advantage (20m aimed versus 15m thrown) and ammo economy (reusable launcher versus consumed bottle) but deals less fire damage (30 over 5 seconds versus 50 over 6 seconds) and creates smaller ignition areas. For pure area-denial fire creation, Molotovs are more effective; for precise fire placement at range and distraction dual-use, the Flare Gun is more versatile.

The Smoke Flare variant creates unique capability overlap with the Smoke Grenade ($150). The Smoke Grenade produces a larger cloud (15m versus 10m) for longer duration (20 seconds versus 15) and is throwable without a weapon switch. The Flare Gun's smoke variant is less effective as a pure concealment tool but provides the advantage of combining smoke capability with the same weapon that handles distraction flares and fire ignition — carrying one Flare Gun with mixed ammunition replaces three separate items (distraction tool, incendiary, smoke grenade) at the cost of reduced effectiveness in each individual role.

Combat Strategies

The Flare Gun is not a primary combat weapon — its 25 impact damage and 4-second reload make it nonviable against armed opponents in direct firefights. Its combat utility exists in pre-engagement preparation: firing a flare to redirect enemy attention before engaging from an unexpected angle, igniting fuel spills or vehicle positions to create environmental hazards before the shooting starts, and deploying smoke flares to obscure the player's approach to a superior firing position.

In desperation scenarios (out of primary ammunition, cornered), the flare's ignition effect can provide a survival option. Firing at the ground between the player and approaching enemies creates a small fire barrier that forces enemies to path around, buying time for escape or weapon scavenging. Against a single pursuer, a direct-hit flare ignites the target's clothing for sustained damage that may eliminate them without follow-up — the 55 total damage is sufficient to kill wounded enemies but insufficient against full-health armored opponents.

History in the GTA Series

The Flare Gun appeared in GTA V's (2013) Heists Update for GTA Online, where it functioned primarily as a novelty sidearm with fire-starting capability. Its practical use in GTA V was minimal — a curiosity weapon purchased for entertainment rather than tactical value. GTA Online's subsequent updates did not expand the Flare Gun's functionality beyond its basic incendiary projectile role.

GTA 6 recontextualizes the Flare Gun from novelty to utility through the smoke flare variant, the distraction mechanics, and the maritime signaling system. The weapon's integration with guard AI behavior (flare-response investigation pathing), the fire propagation system (environmental ignition for area denial), and the smoke concealment mechanics transform it from GTA V's joke weapon into a legitimate tactical tool. The addition of flare types provides the functional variety that GTA V's single-function version lacked.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated April 24, 2026.