Firebug (Killing Floor 2)

Killing Floor 2 perk
Firebug
General Information
XP Objectives
• Dealing Firebug weapon damage.
• Killing Crawlers and Bloats with Firebug weapons.
Starting Loadout
Caulk n' Burn			9mm Pistol
Fireman's Knife			Molotov Cocktail
Perk Information
Role
• Close Range
• Front Rank Position
• Control Zeds Through Lighting Them On Fire
• {{{Role_3}}}
• {{{Role_4}}}
Strength
• Area of Effect Weapons
• Can Panic Zeds with Fire
• {{{Strength_2}}}
• Effective Against Bloats
• {{{Strength_4}}}
Weakness
• Hard to Kill Zeds Alone
• Ineffective Against Husks
• {{{Weakness_2}}}
• {{{Weakness_3}}}
• {{{Weakness_4}}}
Target Priority
					HIGH
					MEDIUM
					LOW
SURVIVALIST EFFECTIVENESS AGAINST ZEDS IS DETERMINED BY THEIR SKILL AND WEAPON CHOICES
Technical Information
Related Achievements
Reach Level 5 Firebug Reach Level 10 Firebug Reach Level 15 Firebug Reach Level 20 Firebug Reach Level 25 Firebug Normal Firebug Hard Firebug Suicidal Firebug Hellish Firebug Perked Up Mr. Perky 5 Mr. Perky 10 Mr. Perky 15 Mr. Perky 20 Mr. Perky 25
Console Achievements / Trophies
Mr Perky 5 Mr Perky 10 Mr Perky 15 Mr Perky 20 Mr Perky 25 Platinum

The Firebug is the flame-spewing maniac that keeps the Zed horde from overrunning your squad. Armed with a variety of fire-producing weapons, the Firebug can put large groups of Zeds in a panic by keeping them burning until they are little more than cinders. While Firebugs often score fewer Zed kills than other perks, they instead usually lead in assists as they hose down large numbers of Zeds with their gouts of problem-solving fire.

General Information

Being a flame weapons specialist, the Firebug sets multiple ZEDs on fire at time, making them suffer from the damage over time, stumbling and forcing them to panic which effectively decreases overall threat of the enemy crowd. Flame weapons of the Firebug provide a wide variety of ways to apply the damage.

Firebug skill choices let them focus on either killing ZEDs faster via improved flame damage and afterburn or on controlling the ZEDs flow through the various incapacitations methods.

200	5	Caulk n' Burn
325	2	Spitfire
650	4	Dual Spitfires
650	5	Incendiary Trench Gun
1100	4	Mac 10
1200	7	Flamethrower
1500	9	Microwave Gun
1500	8	Husk Cannon
{{{WeaponPricing_8}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_8}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_8}}}|{{{WeaponName_8}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_9}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_9}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_9}}}|{{{WeaponName_9}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_10}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_10}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_10}}}|{{{WeaponName_10}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_11}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_11}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_11}}}|{{{WeaponName_11}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_12}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_12}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_12}}}|{{{WeaponName_12}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_13}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_13}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_13}}}|{{{WeaponName_13}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_14}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_14}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_14}}}|{{{WeaponName_14}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_15}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_15}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_15}}}|{{{WeaponName_15}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_16}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_16}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_16}}}|{{{WeaponName_16}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_17}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_17}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_17}}}|{{{WeaponName_17}}}]]
---	---	Fireman's Knife
40	---	Molotov Cocktail
{{{WeaponPricing_20}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_20}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_20}}}|{{{WeaponName_20}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_21}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_21}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_21}}}|{{{WeaponName_21}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_22}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_22}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_22}}}|{{{WeaponName_22}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_23}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_23}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_23}}}|{{{WeaponName_23}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_24}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_24}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_24}}}|{{{WeaponName_24}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_25}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_25}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_25}}}|{{{WeaponName_25}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_26}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_26}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_26}}}|{{{WeaponName_26}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_27}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_27}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_27}}}|{{{WeaponName_27}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_28}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_28}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_28}}}|{{{WeaponName_28}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_29}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_29}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_29}}}|{{{WeaponName_29}}}]]
{{{WeaponPricing_30}}}	{{{WeaponWeight_30}}}	[[{{{WeaponLink_30}}}|{{{WeaponName_30}}}]]

Bonus Experience

Firebug receive bonus XP for killing Crawlers and Bloats with on-perk weapons.

Perk Bonuses

This table represents the passive stat bonuses the Firebug receives.

Perk Weapon Damage	max. 20%
( Perk weapon damage increased by 0.8% per level )
Perk Weapon Reload	max. 25%
( Increase perk weapon reload speed by 1% per level )
Resist ZED Fire Damage	max. 80%
( Resistance to ZED fire starts at 30% and increases 2% per level )
Immunity to your own Fire	max. 100%
( Increase resistance to your own fire 25% base plus 3% per level )
Starting Ammo	max. 50%
( Increase starting ammo 10% every five levels )

Perk Skills

This table represents the active abilities the Firebug has access to. You have the option of choosing one per tier.

Supplies
Bring the Heat		5	High Capacity Fuel Tank
Increase damage with fire weapons 35%.				Increase fuel tank capacity and magazines for all perk weapons 100%.
Spicy
Barbecue		10	Ground Fire
Perk weapons’ burn effect lasts 150% longer, increasing damage over time.				Ground fires do massively increased damage and reduce ZED movement speed.
Burn
Napalm		15	ZED Shrapnel
Burning ZEDs that make contact with other ZEDs will light them on fire and the burn effect lasts 150% longer.				ZEDs you kill with fire have a 20% chance to explode, damaging and knocking down nearby ZEDs.
Flame
Heat Wave		20	Firestorm
ZED struck at point blank range with fire will stumble back.				Increase range of perk weapons.
Advanced Training
ZED TIME - Pyromaniac		25	ZED TIME - Inferno
During ZED Time, you attack with perk weapons in close to real time and never run out of ammo.				During ZED Time, any ZEDs hit with fire are slowed 30% and take 50% more burning damage.

Actual Stats

Barbecue (DOT duration multiplier)	x2.5
Bring the Heat (extra damage)	35%
Firestorm (extensive flame / beam model)	yes
Ground Fire (damage multiplier)	x2
Ground Fire (snare power, add, per hit / DOT tick)	100
Heat Wave (effective radius)	3m
Heat Wave (stumble power multiplier)	x1001
Heat Wave (works with all on-perk damage types)	yes
High Capacity Fuel Tank (extra mag ammo)	100%
Inferno (extra damage)	50%
Inferno (snare power, add, per hit / DOT tick)	100
Napalm (burning ZEDs spread fire)	yes
Napalm (DOT duration multiplier)	x2.5
Napalm (DOT duration)	5s x2.5
Napalm (DOT interval)	1s
Napalm (DOT scale)	x0.4
Napalm (initial damage)	7
Pyromaniac (resistance to slow-mo, on firing)	90%
Pyromaniac (weapon does not consume ammo)	yes
ZED Shrapnel (chance)	20%
ZED Shrapnel (explosion damage)	10
ZED Shrapnel (explosion falloff exponent)	1 (linear)
ZED Shrapnel (explosion radius)	200
ZED Shrapnel (knockdown power)	500
ZED Shrapnel (melee hit power)	500
ZED Shrapnel (stumble power)	500

Perk Notes

• Damage modification (passive + skills): Passive damage bonus, Bring the Heat skill and Inferno skill affecting damage of all on-perk weapons (including Knife) or on-perk damage types. Damage ROUNDED.
• Skill (Barbecue): Barbecue increases DOT duration by x2.5 times. This skill stack with the Napalm skill for total of x5 longer DOT duration.
• Skill (Firestorm): Caulk n' Burn, Flamethrower and Microwave Gun change their flame / beam model to another model that is approximately x1.4 times extensive.
• Skill (Ground Fire): Skill does not work with the Residual Flames. Calculation specifics: skill mutiplies DEFAULT Ground Fire damage value by 2 and adds this value to PERK AFFECTED Ground Fire damage value. Example: Bloat (neutral to fire) vs lvl 25 + Ground Fire. Bring the Heat OFF: Damage = (10x1.2) + (10x2) = 32. Bring the Heat ON: Damage = (10x1.55) + (10x2) = 36.
• Skill (Heat Wave): Skill forces ZEDs to stumble as long as they are not in cooldown and can do such special move. Effective radius - 3 meters.
• Skill (Napalm): Initial damage - 7, DOT duration - 5s x3.5 (boosted by the skill itself), DOT interval - 1s, DOT damage scale, of initial damage - x0.4. When ZED is being attacked by the player with the flame-spraying weapon there happening AOE check around this ZED (check interval - 0.25s, check radius is twice as wider (x2) than ZED's collision cylinder). All the other ZEDs within this radius take napalm damage and become "napalm infected" for the duration of DOT. "Infected" status prevents them from taking / spreading napalm damage to other ZEDs. When this status gets worn off it is become possible to cause another AOE check by attacking these ZEDs. Unlike surrounding ZEDs, initial target is almost never gets marked as "infected" hence always take Napalm damage. ZEDs also spread napalm upon bumping into each other.
• Skill (Napalm and Barbecue interaction): Due to calculation specifics either of skills, when selected alone, provides total DOT duration multiplier of x2.5. However when both skills used together at the same time the final DOT duration multiplier only become x4, not x5 as would expected.
• Skill (ZED Shrapnel): Explosion can be activated by all on-perk weapons or on-perk damage types. Chance - 20%, damage - 10, radius - 2 meters, falloff - linear, knockdown / melee hit / stumble power - 500.

On-perk Weapons

Following weapons and damage types are associated with the Firebug. They are getting damage bonuses and buffs to their attributes from the respective skills:

Weapons	Damage Types
Beam_Microwave	Ballistic_DragonsBreath
Flame_CaulkBurn	Explosive_HuskCannon
Flame_Flamethrower	Explosive_Shrapnel
HuskCannon	Fire
Knife_Firebug	Fire_FlareGun, Fire_FlareGun_Dual (child of Ballistic_Handgun)
MolotovGrenade	Fire_FlareGunDoT
MolotovSplash	Fire_Mac10 (child of Ballistic_Shotgun), Fire_Mac10DoT
Pistol_Flare, Pistol_DualFlare	HuskCannonDot (child of Fire)
Shotgun_DragonsBreath	Microwave_Beam, Microwave_Blast
SMG_Mac10

Strategy

Due to the natural resistance to fire, Scrakes and Fleshpounds should be the lowest priority for Firebugs. Instead focus on killing small ZEDs and clearing escape routes as your team will likely fall back upon engaging the big ones.

Conserve your ammo by using tap-firing tactics.

Learn your weapons - despite the plain notion of how flame weapons should be utilized, they actually offering a wide choice of ways to deal the damage including afterburn, ground fire and splash damage.

If your teammate is in trouble save them a second of two by utilizing your special ability to stumble ZEDs via Heat Wave skill - it can even stumble an enraged Fleshpound!

Even if your weapons are not as much effective against Husks as many others, you still might want to focus on killing that ZED. Your fire resistance ability and Dragonsbreath will aid you in this mission.

Your Molotovs not only set ZEDs on fire but also spawn a light emitting flare that lasts for roughly 30 seconds. Very helpful if you play on dark maps like Catacombs.

Perk Utilization

The Firebug does well to understand how important their role really is. Although being the most efficient and effective killer of "trash" ZEDs in the game isn't the most glorious of roles, it is arguably the most important. As such, Firebugs that forgo the short-term glory of attacking Scrakes, will dramatically increase their team's chances of survival by dealing with the more numerous and dangerous-in-numbers weaker enemies. Firebugs that possess a degree of lateral thinking and forethought will consistently be able to keep trash ZEDs away from the team's position, simply by circumventing Scrakes and Fleshpounds, and concentrating on the other, weaker, enemies.

By contrast, if the team has decided that they will kill Scrakes and Fleshpounds by decapitation, then Firebugs do well to observe this team idea by avoiding big ZEDs entirely. Because flame weapons cause body HP damage almost exclusively, most attacks upon Scrakes / Fleshpounds with flame weapons will not assist in achieving a decapitation due to the difference in head and body HP pools. In actuality, using flame weapons to attack big ZEDs that result in "Fire Panic" and "Stumble" afflcitions, will negatively impact a team's ability to smoothly decapite them. As such, it is important for the team to discuss their intentions and make their roles clear so that the chances of survival for all players on the team is maximised.

Trivia

• According to the character's favourite weapon lines, Ana Larive is the Firebug of the team. Although many other characters are enjoying the flame weapons as well.