Summary
Firebug is a perk that allows operatives to bring blowtorches to missions. Anyone without Firebug will be unable to use blowtorches procured from their allies.
It is located at the top of the perk tree, and slightly to the left.
Overview
The blowtorch allows one to breach metal doors and make windows in them. In most cases it is a faster alternative to the silent drill, but it breaks the doorknob of any door that it opens, subsequently alerting any witnesses. Its speed can not be sped up, so drills can still be faster if one prefers speed, although most operatives favor the torch's compact size of 2x1 rather than the drills 2x2. Windows in metal doors made by the blowtorch will alert NPCs who see them, but only if the door is open, likely due to a bug. NPCs cannot see through windows created by a blowtorch.
The blowtorch also has several other uses besides opening doors in specific missions:
- In The Blacksite, on any difficulty above Rookie, the windows on the cell doors are blocked off by a metal panel. The blowtorch can be used to remove them and find which cell Rose is in.
- In The Withdrawal, the windows in the manager's office can be opened with the blowtorch, making it seem like it was opened normally.
- In Black Dusk, you can torch the vent bars to gain access to new areas inside the vents. This is the only way to get rid of the bars.
- In Concept, you can cut down a wire fence to access the bank's parking lot more directly and you can torch the grate to access the basement.
Strategy
The blowtorch is a situational tool. It is recommended not to make holes in frequently opened doors during stealth to prevent guards or other NPCs from becoming alerted. It is also strongly recommended to not use it to breach doors in stealth, as it will break the locks of doors and leave them open for people to see and become alerted. Because of this, a Drill or Lockpick Kit would be much more effective in breaching doors since lockpicking doors does not breaks locks, and a drill will with the Precision Drilling perk will at least let the door be closed to help avoid alerting NPCs. It can be used in the 4 missions that were shown in the overview, but also tends to be useful when doing The Scientist loud, as the blowtorch can be used to create windows in doors outside to give a good angle on the outside power box on higher difficulties.
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