InKilling Floor 3, players have accessto several different classes, each with their own skills and gadgets to use against the Zeds, and one of the most fun and interesting ones is Firebug. Boasting flaming weapons and even more fire in the rest of her kit, she is a great addition to any team thanks to her AoE potential and ridiculous damage-over-time output.
Thanks to the diverse skill trees and weapon mods, players have quite a few options for how to build her, whether they want to focus on the tick damage or go full on for those heavy hits. No matter the case, players will be able to tear through the waves with no problems, thanks to the flexibility and overall power level of this flaming beast.
Key Skill:
Key Mods:
It might be enticing to focus on some area damage or long-term sustain with Firebug, but one of the best ways to build her is with a full damage focus that prioritizes burst and high consistent output over long-term burns. Having skills like Focus Fire and Firecracker can greatly improve the player’s initial burst, which is especially useful against larger groups andmedium-sized Zedsthat normally take a few extra seconds of cooking to die. It also adds a bit more skill-expression to the class, as accurate players will be rewarded with a higher damage output for dealing with larger crowds and slightly beefier enemies as well.
For mods, some great options lean into the damage philosophy, such as Slow Tick Receiver, which increases damage while reducing fire rate, and Stable Synth Plasma, which enhances accuracy and reduces ammo consumption at the cost of some accuracy. Combining all these tools together can create an insanely powerful class that has no problems shredding through hordes and does just as well against the bosses at the end of the stage. It is also one of the best ways to build Firebug when taking on the maximum difficulty, as without that initial burst many of the smaller enemies will sneak through the flames and down the player in a matter of seconds.
Key Skills:
One of the coolest aspects ofFirebug’s kitis her ability to set the ground alight and deal insane area damage to entire hordes at once. Both her weapons and skills can accomplish this, made better by additional upgrades like Slow Cook and Explosive Reaction, whichadd extra flamesfor Zeds to walk over without ever needing to change the playstyle or general approach. And, having large areas of fire on the ground at all times, allows the player to play more defensively and even camp at times in certain locations where the spawns are a bit less eratic.
In the mods department, Firebug has some super cool ones like the Incendiary Launcher, which gives her an underbarrel that launches a flaming grenade to add even more fire and chaos to the arenas. Using it in conjunction with an attachment like the Supercharged Plasma, and suddenly players can cover entire rooms in flames, causing explosions and blasts to happen every few seconds and leaving no place for Zeds to maneuver.
Firebug is already great at dealing with groups of Zeds with her AoE flames, but bosses can be quite tricky, as without a huge amount of range or single-target damage, she can struggle to put a dent in the higher health pools. One way of getting around this is by adding additional tick damage to her attacks, using skills like Heat Exposure to allow a single touch of fire to last significantly longer, which is great against both smaller enemies and even the bosses. Also, additional effects can be added with things like Flammable Material, causing panic to Zeds and turning the fire into an AoE status applier that crowd-controls and damages enemies at the same time.
There are alsosome handy weapon modsthat work with this playstyle very well, like the Pneumatic Plasma Cooler, which lowers the overall damage of the weapon but ups the ammo count, which means more ticks of fire and a higher overall damage output with certain skills equipped. Simpler mods like Affliction Amplifier are also great additions, giving more power to both fire effects and any other status ailments that the player manages to apply. Overall, this approach is pretty great in a more utility-based role, lowering Firebug’s initial burst but giving her so much extended power along with a few nasty effects to help clear out any Zed that steps too close.
