Am I throwing if I play flamethrower without sticky flames in haz5?

Flamethrower is my favourite driller weapon due to its aesthetics alone, but everywhere I read says that flamethrower is only good with a sticky flame build. I get how sticky flames are powerful, but after trying the playstyle I found it pretty boring; I'd rather aim at the bugs and not the ground. Am I holding my team back if I play with face melter/fuel stream diffuser? Or should I just use cryo cannon instead?