Flare Gun

For its dual counterpart, see Dual Flare Gun

The Flare Gun is a weapon that was available during the Holiday Update 2013, Holiday Update (2014),  and Holiday Update (2015). It is unlocked at level 7, boasts great Damage, moderate Range, excellent Accuracy and Agility.

Strategy
A powerful foe on the field, this exclusive weapon is capable of easily taking down an opponent with a single pull of the trigger, inclusive of multiple targets. However, it's reloading time, while not time-consuming, can be your downfall if an experienced player is rushing at you. It's slow bullet traveling speed also makes it difficult to score kills at long range as the shots could be easily avoided. However, with practice and in capable hands, Flare Gun is a deadly foe on the battlefield.

Guide
This page will help you to use this weapon effectively.

Advantages

 * Very good Damage, able to kill most opponents in one shot.
 * Good Range.
 * Excellent Agility.
 * Excellent Accuracy.
 * Fast reload speed.
 * Players with the Flare Gun are pretty rare to find, so "rivalry" might not be common.

Disadvantages

 * It only has 1 flare, making you vulnerable after a shot (or while reloading).
 * The projectile fired from the weapon explodes after 3 seconds. So the range depends on the distance the projectile can travel within 3 seconds.
 * The projectile is quite fast, but does not hit player instantly, making it easily avoidable at long and mid range.
 * Enemies can easily avoid this due to only having 1 shot.
 * The Black Hero Armor and the A.S.P. Armor both have 35% Health bonuses, making them able to withstand one shot from the flare IF BOTH Health skill perks were bought by the user. Additionally, the full armors from either the Unstoppable Force Kit and the Stuntman Pack provide a total of 36%, meaning that player that wear the full armors will be able to survive from one shot.
 * It's the only paid weapon that can be used by hackers through "certain steps". Any hacker that you play against might have this weapon.

Trivia

 * This weapon is similar to the Noisy Cricket but with one advantage: it doesn't have the harsh recoil, making this even more powerful than that of the Noisy Cricket as it maintains the exact same stats as its competitor!
 * In real life, the Flare guns are not meant to be used as a Weapon but rather as a signal for help.
 * The Flare Gun, like the MIB Noisy Cricket, has increased damage in Multiplayer.
 * Previously in Missions mode, the Flare Gun was unable to instantly kill a bot from full Health. Now it can kill any bot (apart from Elite Enemies) with a single flare.
 * However, this has been patched in the Holiday Update (2014), so now the Flare has the same damage online and offline.
 * The flare explodes shortly after an opponent is shot and killed.
 * In TF2, Far Cry, Manhunt and other game series, the Flare Gun is also used as a Weapon.
 * Oddly enough, it shows the "Zzap!" splash after shooting, even though it's not an Energy-based Weapon.
 * There is a glitch with this weapon that allows you to fire at a faster rate by continuously tap the reload and fire buttons at the same time, or hold down the fire button and simultaneously tapping the reload button, then releasing it. Letting go of the fire button will lead to having to do the process again. This can increase the chance of hitting moving target.
 * Despite the size of its shot, the flare fired has a larger hitbox than most weapons, despite the flare "barely" missed the opponent, it would still kill, although it'd only remains in midair.