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Firewall guide: upgrades, pickups and the Rootkit
In Firewall you drag your turret left and right along the bottom of the screen, shooting the bugs and malware that come down the server lane. A run is eight waves followed by the Rootkit, a boss with 300 health. After every wave you choose an upgrade, and what you choose decides the rest of the run. There is also a Daily Run that is the same for everyone.
Choose your turret
- Standard Turret: balanced, a steady stream of shots. The best turret to learn on.
- Scatter Node: fires three weaker shots in a fan. It covers more of the screen and is good against crowds.
- Rail Daemon: slow, heavy shots that pierce two enemies. Strong against tough single targets, less so against fast crowds.
The foes
Most enemies come in the same few kinds. Bits are small and quick. Bugs are tougher. Swarms split into three Bits when destroyed. Trojans weave from side to side, so they are harder to hit. Spam parks near the top and fires down at you. Worms are big and slow, and cost 2 integrity if one gets through. Pings are fodder that arrives in formations, and any hit kills one, but every four that get through cost 1 integrity.
Pickups
Dropped pickups are shown in colours, and not all of them are good for you.
- Good: Patch (heals 1 integrity), Rapid (fire 50% faster for 10 seconds), Spread (two extra projectiles for 10 seconds), Shield (blocks the next hit), Purge (damages everything on screen) and Data (bonus score).
- Bad: Virus (reverses your controls for 5 seconds), Lag (you move slowly for 6 seconds) and Jam (your weapon jams for 2.5 seconds).
Grab the good ones and steer around the bad ones, even when that costs you a good pickup. A reversed or jammed turret in the middle of a busy wave is more dangerous than most enemies.
Upgrades
You are offered a choice after every wave. The general upgrades make you stronger in a simple way: Overclock (fire 20% faster), Hollow Point (shots do 25% more damage), Fork() (one extra projectile), Packet Pierce (shots pass through one extra enemy) and Turbo Bus (move 18% faster). Survival upgrades include Redundancy (+1 maximum integrity and heal 1), Hotfix (heal 1 after every wave) and Aegis Layer (start every wave with a shield). Pickup upgrades help too: Magnet Port draws good pickups towards you, Lucky Cache gives better pickups, and Long Cache makes their effects last 50% longer.
Some upgrades are trades: Glass Cannon gives 60% more damage but costs 1 maximum integrity, and Overheat fires 40% faster but slows your movement by 15%. Bloatware adds two projectiles but makes enemies 20% tougher, and Bounty Hunter raises your score by 40% but makes enemies 10% faster. Take a trade when you are confident you can dodge, and take survival when you are not.
A sensible plan
- In the first waves, take damage and speed so that you clear them quickly.
- Before the later waves, take Hotfix or Redundancy so mistakes are not fatal.
- Against the Rootkit, damage matters most, because it has 300 health and takes time to kill. Keep moving, and collect Rapid and Spread when they appear.
- If score is your goal, add Data Leech and Bounty Hunter once you can survive without them.