• Please make sure you are familiar with the forum rules. You can find them here: https://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php?threads/forum-rules.2334636/

Frustrations of a Firebug

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Jon

Jon

Grizzled Veteran
May 14, 2009
202
5
33
Hilliard, Ohio
#1
So here I am, trying to level up my Firebug perk. I thought it'd be fun, since you know, I love burning **** and whatnot. Well, I was horribly mistaken. Here's my list of annoyances while playing with others:

1. Sharpshooter w/M14. Since the flamethrower has no range, anything seen by the ss will pretty much instant die. By the time I try to get in range to kill enemies with my flames, they are already dead and then some.
The last game I was in I tried to backup a level 5 ss with my flames, and he told me to go away...:confused:

**** you, I hope they meganerf the Sharpshooter class. This is coming from a level 6 Sharpshooter.

Conclusion: If there's an M14 in the game, just don't play as a Firebug.

2. Demolition perk. Since it seems to be a pretty popular perk, there's always one or two in a game, or so it seems to me. I'll be flaming away the easy enemies such Clots, Gorefasts, and Crawlers, only to be surprised by the demoman who thinks it's a great idea to waste a grenade and blow up a single enemy with his grenade launcher. Great, you could be doing useful things such as conserving your ammo for large crowds. Oh woops, I forgot, you have SO MUCH AMMO that you don't know what to do with it! Add on the annoyance of pipe bombs, which every demoman spams the map with them, there's not much to do as a firebug other than to twiddle your thumbs.



Conclusion: If there's a demoman in the game, just don't play as the firebug.

3. Everyone steals your kills. No "ifs buts, or exceptions." A lot of people wait until you've been burning an enemy for good amount of time and then take it out with a single shot. I'm looking at you, Mr. SS w/ the M14.

What's funny is when you play the firebug class, is people then accuse you for stealing their kills, even though they were never shooting at them. And I get votekicked, it's happened to me many times. Wow, sorry I'm stopping a single person from getting 1000 kills. Hell, there shouldn't even be a killcount in this game IMO.

Conclusion: The firebug class is pointless. Sharpshooter and Demoman are way too overpowered for it to be fun (same goes for Bezerker, there's no point). They need to nerf these classes or this game is just a "run to a map by yourself, and kill everything" rather than a cooperative survival horror game.

(My experiences are only played on the normal/hard difficulties with no FF)

/rant
 
#5
*shrug* I guess I don't feel the same way you guys do, and I'm still leveling FB up to 6.

You know why SS really tell you to go away? It's not just because you're making it hard to get headshots...it's because you're actually killing more. Yes, more. It doesn't seem like it at the time, but you are, especially when a large pack spawns and your flame thrower is crisping guys in the back while SS's are still mowing down those in the front.

Do I WTFPWN with FB? No. But I hit the middle of the charts most of the time, I get my perk leveled in good order, I'm generally safer than all the other players because I'm at the back, and I kill with ease. On certain maps, at certain choke points, FBs can dominate in kill counts, unless other players go out of their way to get the first kill, usually at their own risk.

Plus, since flames no longer ignite a FB's armor (or because 100% immune to fire means your armor is too...), AND because flames no longer count players as obscuring objects, there's NO penalty or downside to hosing your team down in fire to save lives when you've got specimen in the middle of the group. I've saved teammates doing that, and I sweep for crawlers and stalkers as well. And when people get in my way as FB, I just flame through them and make my kills. Playing a FB has never been easier. I've played whole games where, once the wave starts, I've never moved...and still be near the top for kills.

I've also found FB to be great for distracting Husks and keeping them from blasting the rest of the team. Sit your FB out front, and they'll soak up all the fire damage.

FB needs more weapons, no disagreement here. Or something else that helps define the classes role. But I still smell perk envy here, because you can just as easily replace SS with Commando, Support or even Berzerker.

FBs still mow down weaker specimen better than any other perk, even Commando, with less work by the player. The problem isn't that X perk makes FB useless...it's that FB has never been as engaging a perk to play as the others. FB is just the current unloved child of KF's perks. It was Medic before.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
#6
Jon said:
So here I am, trying to level up my Firebug perk. I thought it'd be fun, since you know, I love burning **** and whatnot. Well, I was horribly mistaken. Here's my list of annoyances while playing with others:

1. Sharpshooter w/M14. Since the flamethrower has no range, anything seen by the ss will pretty much instant die. By the time I try to get in range to kill enemies with my flames, they are already dead and then some.
The last game I was in I tried to backup a level 5 ss with my flames, and he told me to go away...:confused:

**** you, I hope they meganerf the Sharpshooter class. This is coming from a level 6 Sharpshooter.

Conclusion: If there's an M14 in the game, just don't play as a Firebug.

2. Demolition perk. Since it seems to be a pretty popular perk, there's always one or two in a game, or so it seems to me. I'll be flaming away the easy enemies such Clots, Gorefasts, and Crawlers, only to be surprised by the demoman who thinks it's a great idea to waste a grenade and blow up a single enemy with his grenade launcher. Great, you could be doing useful things such as conserving your ammo for large crowds. Oh woops, I forgot, you have SO MUCH AMMO that you don't know what to do with it! Add on the annoyance of pipe bombs, which every demoman spams the map with them, there's not much to do as a firebug other than to twiddle your thumbs.



Conclusion: If there's a demoman in the game, just don't play as the firebug.

3. Everyone steals your kills. No "ifs buts, or exceptions." A lot of people wait until you've been burning an enemy for good amount of time and then take it out with a single shot. I'm looking at you, Mr. SS w/ the M14.

What's funny is when you play the firebug class, is people then accuse you for stealing their kills, even though they were never shooting at them. And I get votekicked, it's happened to me many times. Wow, sorry I'm stopping a single person from getting 1000 kills. Hell, there shouldn't even be a killcount in this game IMO.

Conclusion: The firebug class is pointless. Sharpshooter and Demoman are way too overpowered for it to be fun (same goes for Bezerker, there's no point). They need to nerf these classes or this game is just a "run to a map by yourself, and kill everything" rather than a cooperative survival horror game.

(My experiences are only played on the normal/hard difficulties with no FF)

/rant
Click to expand...

Most of this applies to Berserker as well...
 
Upvote 0
#7
nothing wrong

nothing wrong

I'm probably alone feeling that FB does not need any more weapons. What could be more ultimate for a pyromanic than a flame thrower anyway? Heard ludicrous suggestions of all guns shooting fireballs, just, no thanks.

There can be a problem of people stealing your kills but really once the firebug has dualies and flamethrower he doesn't need as much money as some other classes such as support. Although the firebug doesn't get all the kills, he is doing a lot of damage to everything. Currently my flamethrower damage is 3.1 million while my shotgun damage is 3.0 million. Looks like I'm going to hit level 5 on firebug first.

Anyway last night playing suicidal on biotics lab, camping the downstairs area in a full 6 man team, I got 550+ kills by end of wave 10 which put me 2nd on the leaderboard.

The problem the OP is experiencing is playing on too easy a difficulty, where players are competing for kills rather than just being bloody glad to have the great support a firebug offers. I mean, you complain about pipe bomb spammage? The only time I'm upset about pipebombs is when it results in someone self killing. The rest of the time, its a godsend. Up your difficulty mate, sounds like you're ready for it.
 
Upvote 0
#8
You do not need kills to level your firebug. As long as you hit a specimen, you level your perk. The key to firebug (and any other class) is to use it when it's appropriate. Not all maps are designed the same and you need to figure out when it's appropriate to use which class. You wouldn't bring a crossbow to a small enclosed map and likewise you wouldn't bring a chainsaw to a sniper fest. You could try a firebug friendly map like KF-defence. I was able to join a suicidal game in wave 2 and by wave 6, I was leading the kill board.

Bottom line: Pick your perk/tools according to the situation. Not necessarily just your favorite perk.
 
Upvote 0
#10
Nenjin said:
You know why SS really tell you to go away? It's not just because you're making it hard to get headshots...it's because you're actually killing more. Yes, more. It doesn't seem like it at the time, but you are, especially when a large pack spawns and your flame thrower is crisping guys in the back while SS's are still mowing down those in the front.
Click to expand...
No, the dude had 600+ kills. He was an asshat and all he wanted is kills. In the hands of a good SS w/ M14, no other class is really needed. SS needs a meganerf.



Do I WTFPWN with FB? No. But I hit the middle of the charts most of the time, I get my perk leveled in good order, I'm generally safer than all the other players because I'm at the back, and I kill with ease. On certain maps, at certain choke points, FBs can dominate in kill counts, unless other players go out of their way to get the first kill, usually at their own risk.
Click to expand...
But still, a Firebug was much more necessary before the patch. Now everyone runs around with overpowered weapons. Choke points? It rarely happens in normal/hard anymore, since you have people with the SCAR/M14/AA12/Nade Launchers.


I've also found FB to be great for distracting Husks and keeping them from blasting the rest of the team. Sit your FB out front, and they'll soak up all the fire damage.
Click to expand...
If anything the husk needs a health/dmg boost to make them more of a threat, they are pushovers. What's the point in sitting in front of them when anyone can pick them off in under 5 seconds?
 
Upvote 0
#11
The problem the OP is experiencing is playing on too easy a difficulty, where players are competing for kills rather than just being bloody glad to have the great support a firebug offers. I mean, you complain about pipe bomb spammage? The only time I'm upset about pipebombs is when it results in someone self killing. The rest of the time, its a godsend. Up your difficulty mate, sounds like you're ready for it.
Click to expand...
This. And it's not just a function of difficulty...it's has almost as much to do with the map, like widowmaker said. I played on LT-PoliceStation last night, as a FB, and yeah, the SS was racking up kills outside the range of my FT because PoliceStation is just a bunch of long *** corridors. We didn't start fighting to survive until wave 8. The other 7 were just a snipe fest.

You come to love your FB when things are bad, you're reloading, and they torch the line of guys that was just about to eat your face. FB is like demo. They're about dropping a whole group of enemies instead of quickly killing them one at a time. (And as a matter of fact, my favorite backup weapon for the FB is the M79.)

In the hands of a good SS w/ M14, no other class is really needed.
Click to expand...
Or Commando, or Support, or with kick *** Berzerkers...let's not start throwing out exaggerations? And let's not forget, this isn't a competition. There's something to be said for the FLAVOR of a class. Are there leaderboards? Competitions? No. So before we freak out about balance, let's keep perspective on the kind of game KF is.

I think the real issue is that the early waves are too easy, and trivial with the new weapons. I still see people wipe out on waves 7-10. Regularly. But now people are getting by on earlier waves because their weapons are better, and it makes the differences between perks look cataclysmic.

So let's talk real game play here, or not at all. Wave 10, hard and suicidal, do and die. (No FF, sorry Gusone. I'm just not that manly.)

In that case, i'd be more worried about the Xbox, non-perk enhanced, one-shotting FPs and Scrakes, than I would a SS and his M14. Or the FB.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
#12
I'm just frustrated that I only have a single weapon and had my main grenades taken away from me.

I feel the next content update should include a T1 and T3 weapon for the Firebug. It's the same reason I was happy to see the Katana for the berserker - I was so tired of the chainsaw that is was like pennies from heaven. Same situation is applying to the firebug - I'm sick of the flamethrower, which is sad since that means I'm going to be stuck around L4 until there's an alternative.
 
Upvote 0
#13
driftwood said:
The problem the OP is experiencing is playing on too easy a difficulty, where players are competing for kills rather than just being bloody glad to have the great support a firebug offers. I mean, you complain about pipe bomb spammage? The only time I'm upset about pipebombs is when it results in someone self killing. The rest of the time, its a godsend. Up your difficulty mate, sounds like you're ready for it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, actually, that might be it. I don't have much time on my hands these days so I usually just hop into a hard server and try to play a fun spirited game. Perhaps I should jump into the realms of suicidal, though I was hoping to level some of my classes first.
 
Upvote 0
#14
I'm pretty sure the FB will get something out of the next update Kogitsune. It's even possible FB stuff was already in the works, and was saved/pushed back for a future update. I think that was the case for the demoman. I hope so anyways. I like FB and I like burning stuff...but you're just not as active as other perks...and the game play just doesn't feel as visceral.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
#16
IMO Firebugs are annoying, when burning a corridor full of specimens, they **** up my framerate, making me miss the fleshpounds... party wipe, game over

similar thing with demo, smoke clouds block everyone's view, only a few demos learn that they should be hitting at packs of mobs far away and in a way they don't obstruct everybody else

and yes, I agree that firebug needs a new weapon
 
Upvote 0
#18
if you want to level your perks, stay away from killwhores and look for a more co-op centric group, seek out tougher games with good players instead of easy mode pubstars. when players are too busy surviving to care what the score is, you'll level up without even thinking about it. servers with no active admins around to cut down on that kind of vote kick abuse are probably not the best places to find a decent game either.
 
Upvote 0
#19
I admit, I play demo and kinda like bit, but I only use the nades if no one is attacking a group or to back up my team members being swarmed. Also, its rare; sometimes I will find a pyro as demo and we will partner up and kill stuff together. He keeps gores/clots/crawers/bloats of my back while I watch his :D.

I swear if I here someone say the "He wasted a gernade on one clot!!!" one more time I'm gonna flip. Sp what if I kill one guy with a nade. Really doesn't mean anything unless I'm play on suicidal. I also main medic so don't give me anything tips on teamwork :D
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply
Jump to latest Follow Reply
Community News
Forums
Merch
Menu