KF2 Firebug Perk Guide: Weapon Stats, Skills and Builds (PT)

This is a translation of a Brazilian Portuguese perk guide (part of a series covering all perks). It describes the Firebug in the version of the game current at the time, so some numbers may differ today. For other takes see Firebug guide: weapons, skills and loadouts and Caulk n Burn tap-fire guide.

Basic rule: do not set Scrakes and Fleshpounds on fire unless absolutely necessary.

Role

The Firebug is the team's incendiary specialist and pyromaniac, responsible for keeping groups of ZEDs busy and panicking. Using pure flame weapons such as the Flamethrower, Firebugs are usually the assist leader and do not get many kills. Fire deals damage over time and can make ZEDs stumble and panic, reducing the threat, but on Scrakes and Fleshpounds it is a mistake: they are hard to hit when panicking, so use ballistic weapons or the Microwave Gun on them. The skills focus on better and longer damage or on crowd control through incapacitation.

XP bonus

The Firebug gets XP for kills with perk weapons plus a bonus for killing Crawlers and Bloats with perk weapons.

Normal	Hard	Suicidal	Hell on Earth
2	3	3	5

Passives

• Perk weapon damage +0.8% per level (20% at level 25).
• Perk weapon reload speed +0.8% per level (20%).
• Fire resistance against ZEDs starts at 30% and grows 2% per level (80% at 25).
• Resistance to your own fire starts at 25% plus 3% per level (100% at 25).
• Starting ammo +10% every 5 levels (50% at 25).

Skills

Level	Left	Right
5	Bring the Heat: +35% fire weapon damage	High Capacity Fuel Tank: +100% fuel tank and magazine capacity of perk weapons
10	Barbecue: burning lasts 150% longer and DoT damage rises	Ground Fire: ground fire does 3x damage and slows ZEDs by 30%
15	Napalm: burning ZEDs ignite others on contact, burn lasts 150%	Zed Shrapnel: ZEDs killed by fire have a 30% chance to explode, hurting and knocking down neighbors
20	Heat Wave: ZEDs hit at point blank are pushed back	Firestorm: more range for non-projectile perk weapons
25	Pyromaniac: in Zed Time you shoot near real time with no ammo use	Inferno: in Zed Time residual fire spreads to all nearby ZEDs

Weapons

Tier 1

Caulk n Burn, the Firebug's starter weapon.

Caulk n Burn. Weight 5, price 200. Direct damage 10, bash 25, magazine 50, total ammo 500. Splash damage 5 (radius 1.5 m), ground fire damage 10 (radius 1 m). Upgrades: 500 / 600 / 700 / 1500 for x1.1 / x1.3 / x1.4 / x1.5 damage (+1 to +4 weight). Upgrades improve direct and splash damage but not ground fire. Players take no splash or ground fire damage. The flame keeps a short life after firing, dealing damage without using ammo, so tapping gives more damage per magazine. Direct damage is low, but the fire panics ZEDs, interrupting the special abilities of some. Shooting the floor leaves fire that damages passing ZEDs; most small burning, panicking ZEDs die with a little effort.

Fireman's Knife and Molotov Cocktail.

Fireman's Knife. Light attack 32, heavy 64, bash 15, damage reduction 20% (block and parry). Horizontal attacks do no more than 75% and not less than 50% of base damage depending on angle. It blocks slashing damage and normal blows.

Molotov Cocktail. Damage 60, radius 5, linear falloff; residual fire 10 damage in radius 1.5 m for 10 seconds (Firebug) or 5 seconds (Survivalist), flammable damage type. Instant explosion leaves residual flames with no falloff, and explosions spawn a light source (Firebug only) lasting about 31 seconds, which helps on dark maps such as Catacombs.

9mm Pistol.

9mm Pistol (single / dual). Weight 0 / 2, price 0 / 150, damage 25, bash 20 / 22, magazine 15 / 30, total ammo 75 / 60. Upgrades 200 / 500 / 600 / 700 / 1500 for x1.2 to x2. Recoil depends on stance; crouching and aiming gives the least. It receives all passives and skills. Headshots decapitate Clots, Slashers, Cysts, Stalkers and Crawlers; it is weak against everything else and almost useless against large ZEDs.

Tier 2

Spitfire flame revolver.

Spitfire. Weight 2 / 4 (dual), price 325 / 650, damage 40, bash 22 / 24, magazine 6 / 12, total ammo 192. Upgrades 600 / 700 / 1500 for x1.25 / x1.5 / x1.75. Direct hits ignite ZEDs; projectiles are affected by gravity but with the lowest gravity scale, traveling nearly straight; leaves residual flame that deals damage over time.

Dragon's Breath shotgun.

Dragon's Breath. Weight 5, price 650, 35 damage per pellet, 6 pellets, residual flame 8 (radius 1.5 m), bash 25, magazine 6, total ammo 60. Upgrades 600 / 700 / 1500 for x1.1 / x1.2 / x1.3. DoT is calculated per pellet; direct hits can spawn residual flames; pellets are affected by gravity; player position does not affect spread.

Tier 3

Flamethrower.

Flamethrower. Weight 7, price 1100, 18 per direct hit, bash 28, magazine 100, total ammo 500, splash 5 (radius 1.31 m), ground fire 10 (radius 1 m). Upgrades 700 / 1500 for x1.15 / x1.2. Players take splash damage (35% of initial) but not ground fire. The evolution of Caulk n Burn: excellent for creating walls of fire and holding a point with many ZEDs, unless the ZED is a Scrake. Setting ZEDs on fire interrupts abilities such as the Siren scream, Bloat vomit and Clot grabs.

Mac 10 incendiary SMG.

Mac 10. Weight 4, price 900, damage 28, bash 24, magazine 32, total ammo 384. Upgrades 700 / 1500 for x1.15 / x1.3. Direct hits can spawn residual flames.

HRG Incendiary Rifle.

HRG Incendiary Rifle. Weight 6, price 1200, bullet 30, direct projectile impact 230, explosion 100, bash 26, magazine 30 (grenade launcher 1), total ammo 270 (launcher 9). Explosion radius 5 m, linear falloff; ground fire 10 for 10 s in radius 1.5 m. Upgrades 700 / 1500 for x1.2 / x1.4. The Firebug gets bonuses for both bullets and explosion plus all DoT it causes. Minimum travel distance to explode 3.87 m, projectile speed 40 m/s; a direct hit deals ballistic damage (essentially a big slow bullet) and then explosive damage. Gravity applies.

HRG Scorcher.

HRG Scorcher. Weight 4, price 1000, residual flames 7, extra residual flames on impact 4, impact damage 70 (ballistic), the rest is fire. Fire rate 28 rpm (35 at level 25 Firebug), bash 24, magazine 1, total ammo 31. Upgrades 700 / 1500 for x1.2 / x1.4.

Tier 4

Microwave Gun.

Microwave Gun. Weight 9, price 1500, 16 per direct hit, alt fire 210 (explosion radius 7.5 m), bash 29, magazine 100, total ammo 500, splash 10 (radius 3 m), ground fire 5 (radius 1 m). Upgrade 1500 for x1.15. The alt fire pushes ZEDs back and can cause ground fire; players take no splash or ground fire damage. The beam lingers after firing, so tap-firing saves ammo. Very effective against E.D.A.Rs, whose metal bodies are their weakness. Scrakes and Fleshpounds also contain metal, but avoid killing them alone, since the fight is slow. Its knockback makes you one of the best at escaping.

Husk Cannon.

Husk Cannon. Weight 8, price 1500, 60 per explosion (radius 1 m), magazine 20, total ammo 260, ground fire 3 for 4 seconds in radius 1.5 m. Charging gains 1 power per 0.2 s, with shots releasable only at 0.4 s intervals. Charge tiers from the author's table: under 0.2 s deals 100 damage (radius 100); next tiers go 180/130, 260/160, 340/190, 420/220 and, past 1 second, 500/250. It does no impact damage, only explosion, so the Demolitionist's High Impact and Armor Piercing skills do not help. Players have 95% resistance to its explosion but can still take heavy afterburn. Ground fire is generated only by fully charged shots. Upgrade 1500 for x1.1.

Thermite Bore.

Thermite Bore. Weight 7, price 1500, activation time 4 s, impact damage 150, explosion damage 150 (radius 500 units), 5 residual flames per explosion (10 damage every 0.5 s for 7 s, radius 150), bash 56, magazine 100, total ammo 500. The player takes self damage equal to 5% of the primary explosion and no DoT; grenades can be manually triggered; the projectile has no penetration, so it flies until it sticks in a solid surface or a ZED that survives the impact. The Survivalist skill Make Things Go Boom increases the initial blast but not the residual flames.

HRG Dragonsblaze.

HRG Dragonsblaze. Weight 10, price 1500, direct damage 28, 8 pellets, ground fire 8 for 2.5 s, bash 27, magazine 4, total ammo 60. The upgrade (1500, x1.15) affects only direct shots; players take no ground fire damage.

Tier 5

Helios Rifle.

Helios Rifle. Weight 8, price 2000, damage 50, bash 26, magazine 40, total ammo 320, microwave damage type. Highest tier, no upgrades.

General strategy

• Because of high fire resistance, avoid Scrakes and Fleshpounds. Focus on small ZEDs and clearing escape routes, where Firebugs excel.
• Save ammo by tapping rather than holding.
• Learn how each weapon works: when to use ground damage and when direct damage.
• If a teammate is in trouble and you have Heat Wave, you can easily help; it is strong enough to push back a raging Fleshpound (one of the few cases where a Firebug is effective against it).
• Against Husks use ballistic weapons: Spitfire, Dragon's Breath and Mac 10.
• Molotovs also create light, useful on dark maps.

Builds

Crowd control: level 5 left, 10 right, 15 right, 20 left, 25 optional. A bit more damage of every type (DoT, splash, ground fire) and strong stumble power. Pyromaniac gives infinite ammo in Zed Time; Inferno gives more damage and slow.

Solo: 5 left, 10 left, 15 right, 20 left, 25 right. Focus on damage and range; in solo you must face Fleshpounds and Scrakes, so buy the Microwave Gun and another weapon, use the alt fire as the big ones get close and then shoot.

These are just some common builds; feel free to create your own and test combinations.