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Tactics Firebug Guide

Bill Nye The Science Spy

Grizzled Veteran
Jan 23, 2011
139
35
America
Alot of people think that the firebug is underpowered.But they are actually one of the best classes in my opinion and also others.I have a list of some tips here and i will be constantly be adding more.

1) When firing the FT ( flame thrower ) try to crouch and aim at there feet or legs instead of the chest. This way your flames wont block the view as much and your team mates will be able to headshot the zombies instead of having to body shot them because they really cant see where the enemy is.

2)Use a secondary weapon against Husks, I've seen firebugs even ones lvl 5 and 6 wasting a bunch of ammo for the FT killing a husk. ( Husks are highly resistant to fire)

3)Use the Mac-10 for ranges that the flamer cant reach,When your out of ammo with the flamer, or when you need to reload the Flamer and Gorefasts or Crawlers are coming at you.

4)At lvl 5 the firebug spawns with the FT but at lvl 6 he doesnt spawn with the flamer....instead he spawns with both the Mac-10 and Combat armor so its advisable to be a different lvl 5 or 6 class and after wave 1 switch the FB ( fire bug )Although the $300 of saving for the combat armor can be helpful.

5){optional} I usually set FPs and Scrakes on fire with the incendiary rounds from the Mac-10 to save FT ammo.

6) At lvl starting at lvl 3 you get incendiary grenades. These grenades are more powerful the normal grenades and M32/M79's grenades. And If you drop them at your feet they dont even hurt you or your armor. So if you get surrounded you can always drop a a few incendiary grenades depending on which zombies are around you,Your level and The Game mode.Also if your camping and a giant horde of zombies is coming through a door you can throw an incendiary grenade over the zombies in the front and it will hit all the zombies behind it.

7) The Firebug isnt supposed to look for kills , there supposed to set everything on fire to kill the weak zombies and give a nice damage boost to team mates shooting the ones who didnt die right away.

8){optional}Instead of using the Mac-10,You can also use the HC's Dual or Single or you can use the m79 or the katana.
If you dont want to use the Mac-10 dont buy the HC's,Katana or M79 yourself have a Sharpshooter,Zerker or Demo do it so you can save alot of money.

9)On harder modes and/or later waves you will usually run out of ammo for the flame thrower.A way to get more ammo in the middle of the wave is when your at the trader,If you have enough time and money buy another flame thrower and drop it on the ground in a place that you camp or usually walk by.This way if you run out of ammo you can drop the empty flame thrower and pick up the full one.Than if you have enough time sell the empty flame thrower and buy another full one.If you dont have time than just put the empty flame thrower in a place that you dont usually go by so that you wont by accident pick up the empty one instead of the full one.

10)The firebug usually does better while camping and in a building so that the enemies will come through in 1 way instead of multiple.If you do this you will use less ammo because you can set groups on fire at the same time and not single enemies.Also it will make it easier for you to crouch and aim lower instead of always having to check if enemies are coming up behind you.Good maps to be firebugs are biolab,biohazard,bedlam,foundry,offices,crash and if your camping in certain spots on: Santa's Lair,Wire,Waterworks,Departed,and Manor.

11)Gorefasts can sometimes be tough for a firebug since they are fast and do alot of damage with a moderate amount of health.When they get close you might want switch so your secondary to headshot them instead of using extra ammo for the FT and they still have a chance to do damage to you.

12)Flaming Scrakes and Flesh Pounds is not advised.Since they both have a lot of health.It would be better to just have another class like sharpshooter or berserker to take down the scrakes.And you also might want to use your secondary weapon against flesh pounds but sometimes the FT is better than your secondary weapon against them.

13)If you trying to set every enemy of fire like you should.When firing the FT move your mouse up,down left and right to set everything on fire,even the enemies behind the front.

14)DO NOT spam flames.


If you have any other tips post them and ill add them to this list!
 
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Generally I go for HC's (singular or plural) over Mac 10 just because it's much easier to disperse husks, it's much more effective against some bigger mobs and it's okay for dispersing trash. Plus the stun on trash mobs that don't die is helpful.

Probably different for non-solo and higher difficulties but figured i'de post.
 
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If you don't want your damage potential to drop to almost zero after you run out of Flame Ammo, I STRONGLY suggest the Mac10. Single-shots to light EVERYTHING on fire, so even if you're out of flame ammo, you're still putting out the pain on Zeds (And making them do the Burny Dance and thus not attack teammates for a precious few seconds!).

Generally, the loadout variants I use are:

-"All-Out", Flamethrower + MAC10

Good supporting potential through fire damage

-"Classic", Flamethrower + Handcannon

Great for being able to pick off smaller, single targets (Crawlers) with the Handcannon.

-"Fireblade" Flamethrower + Katana

Ideal for cutting down lit up Gorefasts that make it through your flames. Having a secondary weapon that never needs to reload can really help when you're trapped without time to reload. Flame nade the ground at your feet, cut down any zeds still alive in your path, and run. Reload when it's safe. This used to be my most common loadout. My love of Zerker and melee in general are probably to blame...

-"Apocalypse", Flamethower + M-79

Good for AoEing groups. The M-79 is idea for wiping out spread-out groups of Crawlers/Stalkers and can almost instantly un-surround a teammate. Only issue is that it's VERY easy to hurt yourself with the M-79, even if you're careful.



As you can see, the Flamethrower, though absolutely required, kinda limits your potential for customization because of it's weight.
 
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Alot of the time I forget I have a secoundary weapon cause I'm so used to just using the FT :p

A few you might want to add: -

- Try to never sustain your fire with your flamethrower, the recoil will typically push your flames over your targets head sand it will burn up alot of ammuniotn. Always fire in quick bursts, and rapid click if you need damage fast. This will still give plenty of damage and keep your recoil under control.

- Drag your aim across groups to try and ignite as many foes in a short a burst as possible. This will greatly save ammunition and will keep yours and your teams view much clearer.

- Practise with the recoil of the Flamethrower. If at any point you need to sustain your fire (like if you run head long into a bloat or gorefast mob) get used t dragging your aim down rapidly to keep your recoil under control, similar to games like counter strike.
 
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Alot of the time I forget I have a secoundary weapon cause I'm so used to just using the FT :p

A few you might want to add: -

- Try to never sustain your fire with your flamethrower, the recoil will typically push your flames over your targets head sand it will burn up alot of ammuniotn. Always fire in quick bursts, and rapid click if you need damage fast. This will still give plenty of damage and keep your recoil under control.

- Drag your aim across groups to try and ignite as many foes in a short a burst as possible. This will greatly save ammunition and will keep yours and your teams view much clearer.

- Practise with the recoil of the Flamethrower. If at any point you need to sustain your fire (like if you run head long into a bloat or gorefast mob) get used t dragging your aim down rapidly to keep your recoil under control, similar to games like counter strike.

thx for more tips.
 
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When it comes down to a husk vs. Firebug dual, I find the mac10 to be quite effective (contrary to popular belief). All you have to do is get in nice and close and go full-auto on the husk's face. Depending on perk:difficulty ratio, it should spend about 2/3 to 3/4 of a magazine.

Handcannons is also good for this also on lower modes you might be able to decap the husk with a katana.
 
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its not a bad tactic...most people do it.

Keep in mind that as you go up in difficulty, stockpiling becomes harder and harder to pull off. Any extra money should really go to your teammates. I'd rather have 6 fairly well-equipped people on my team than be perfectly equipped myself and have one or two people die and need more money.
 
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Keep in mind that as you go up in difficulty, stockpiling becomes harder and harder to pull off. Any extra money should really go to your teammates. I'd rather have 6 fairly well-equipped people on my team than be perfectly equipped myself and have one or two people die and need more money.

although once everyone has money than you can do it.It also makes it easier is some cases because on lower modes some people will still your flamer even though you told them not to.Ive seen this happen many times even on hard but never on suicidal and HoE.And sometimes the berserkers,medics and/or some other classes will give them enough money to get what they need. Also at lvl 6 the flamer only costs $225 + maybe about 40 max for ammo = a maximum of $265.Than again money is a lot more valuable on Suicidal/HoE.
 
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Yes, stockpiling weapons on higher difficulties isn't too much of a problem even on higher difficulties. If absolutely no one dies in a game, then everyone will have plenty of cash. First, no weapons are lost from the people dying. Second, a good chunk of a person's money isn't lost if he/she isn't dead. Third, the end of round money pool isn't adversely affected if a person isn't dead.

I've had quite a few games where everyone is absolutely decked out in the best gear by wave 4 or 5 on HoE. Then by wave 9 or 10, we'd have 2 extra crossbows, a spare AA12, and a few extra AKs with absolutely no problems at all. The last HoE game I had, I could hardly spend all the money I had at the end because nobody ever died. So I just bought 3 crossbows, 1 of which I never used, and a pair of pipes.

If a firebug can stockpile 4 or 5 flamethrowers at the camp spot, those trash mobs are absolutely demolished all the way through wave 10. Then the supports, demos, and sharpshooters can focus very easily on the scrakes and fleshpounds.

Also, anyone who states that stockpiling weapons is unnecessary is somewhat correct. In a group of people that you personally know are good, you won't need extra weapon the majority of the time. However, most of us play in a pub setting where we have no idea about the skill level of other players. Sometimes you'll get that player that tends to just spam that AA12 at apparently nothing so you have to pick up the slack. That extra flamethrower or 2 will come in real handy in those situations. Even in a group that is group, it's still nice to have a backup. It's just pragmatic to do so. It's not stupid to make a plan for the worst situation, because, sometimes, you'll just happen to get that triple fleshpound spawn with a few scrakes thrown in for good measure. One or two players will usually die in the process from all the scuffle, and you might then need the extra weapon's ammo to continue on. Again, it's not stupid to plan as though that may happen, because it certainly has, and when it does, it's better to be safe than sorry.
 
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Is a fair point I usppose, although I personally like to keep my money for a just in case situation, where someone dies and loses all their high expense weapons.

1 of the main reasons I don't stockpile weapons is it tends to make me play rather sloppy.

Best example I can think of:

Spoiler!


This is why I don't stockpile weapons, because doing so makes me play rather undisciplined and makes me more likely to make a critical error. Complacency is by far the biggest threat in Killing Floor, and stockpiling tends to encourage that.
 
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I'll place a spare weapon in our camp spot all the time, but I usually never use it. The only case where I'm sure I'll use a spare weapon is a crossbow when I'm the only sharpshooter on the team. At other times, they're just for backup as usual.

I do agree that placing spare weapons may make people play worse such as aiming for body shots instead of headshots. They, of course, do this because they understand that they have a little bit of leeway due to the increased ammunition laying around in the back of their group. I, however, am not of that mindset. I'll still be patient with my shots even if I know I have 4 AKs sitting there for use.

For instance, there seems to be a lot of people that simply cannot keep their index finger off the left mouse button when they're weilding an AA12 on full automatic. I see these kinds of people especially on lower difficulties, and it's a bit difficult for me to understand why sometimes. They're the kind of people that'll shoot a clot right as he turns and walks through a doorway rather than wait a second or two to see if his clone buddies may come along for a single shotgun shell ride.

I do agree that a person should not spend all of his/her money buying spare weapons. I generally only do so for wave 10. Wave 9 and below has almost never necesitated spare weapons for me. Of course, if people die, then the priority is getting their tier 3 weapons back rather than getting spares. Otherwise, I'll buy a spare weapon.

Oh, I don't advocate saving your money either. If you have like 3000 pounds, you're better off buying something, because if you die, you're losing 35% of that cash to the nether, and then 35% more of that 65% that's left is gone from the end of round bonus. Remember, weapons aren't too expensive that it is impossible to get at least a decent setup from the money the survivors of the group got from the round. A SCAR or AA12 are nice, but a bullpup or shotgun, respectively, are not exactly unusable even in the later waves.
 
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It is like playing the pyro and TF2 and taking the powerjack. It seems a pretty direct upgrade to the axe, it does more raw damage, and gains a big health boost when you get a kill with it. The downside is you don't get any random ciritcal hits, but since criticals only have a maximum of 25% chance of occuring at very best then using the regular axe isn't a great trade off.

THe big health boost is what makes the weapon so preferable, however this leads you to thinking that you should try and make use of the powerjack to finish off the foe to get that health boost.

This is all well and good, however I tend to find that in certain situations, rather than mkaing full use of my flamethrower or shotgun to kill a target, I'll try and use my melee weaopn powerjack instead, and from time to time this will cause me to get killed myself when had I played normally I would have won.

I get that more when using the Axtinguisher. I've even caught myself trying to Axtinguish even un-burned enemies. This also happens with the Ullapool Caber. Sorry, just couldn't resist.
 
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I get that more when using the Axtinguisher. I've even caught myself trying to Axtinguish even un-burned enemies. This also happens with the Ullapool Caber. Sorry, just couldn't resist.

Exactly, and thats pretty much my point, having the option makes you try to overstep your limits in certain situations rather than focusing on doing your job. :)
 
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Mac-10 Perk

Mac-10 Perk

Im trying to level up my firebug now, and am wondering if you get any perk points for using the Mac-10? It's not listed under perks, but why would they have a gun that doesn't benefit anything? You could just use another light weight weapon like HC that would benefit another perk.
 
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Is a fair point I usppose, although I personally like to keep my money for a just in case situation, where someone dies and loses all their high expense weapons.

1 of the main reasons I don't stockpile weapons is it tends to make me play rather sloppy.

This is exactly why I don't stockpile.

I also do much better with the pump shotgun than the AA12. My usual support loadout is pump, hunting, and handcannon or dual 9mms, and a machete.
 
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