--- title: What the Buck Flamethrower and Fuel Bills: How Fire Works description: How to unlock the flamethrower, what Fuel Bills do, and how burning bills spread fire across the table. url: https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/flamethrower-and-fuel-bills/ --- Bills # What the Buck flamethrower and Fuel Bills _[Image: The breaker with a flamethrower attached sets a pile of $10 and $20 bundles on fire while money numbers float up]_ _The flamethrower rides on the breaker and burns everything in a wide ring around it. Official Steam screenshot, © kohlgames / Loerting Games._ The What the Buck flamethrower is a full-game upgrade that mounts a flame on your breaker and burns every bill around it, fed by Fuel Bills that the ATM starts to withdraw. confirmed It sits in the $20 branch of the skill tree, so you reach it after Collector Bills, usually in your third or fourth shift. confirmed ## How to unlock the flamethrower Buy the Flamethrower node in the $20 branch of the skill tree. On release day its text read: withdrawn bills have a 0.5% chance to become Fuel Bills, a flamethrower is added to the breaker, flames burn all bills within the breaker’s range, and each Fuel Bill adds 20 fuel. confirmed Unlocking it also earns the **Flamethrower** achievement (“Unlock the Flamethrower and Fuel Bills in the Skill Tree”). confirmed Version note: a pre-release review key showed the same node with 10 fuel per Fuel Bill, a burn range of 220% of the breaker’s radius and a burn rate of 5 fuel per second while lit. The fuel per bill was doubled by release; the other two numbers were not shown on screen in release-day recordings. confirmed ## What the Buck fuel bills Fuel Bills are bills with a fuel can effect. Shredding one adds fuel to your tank instead of only paying out. confirmed At 0.5% they are rare at first, which is why the flame often sits unlit early on. Destroying them in bulk counts toward **Burn Rate** (“Collect the fuel of 50 Fuel Bills”). confirmed With the prestige node that lets coins roll special effects, prestige coins can become Fuel Bills too, which helps keep the tank topped up. confirmed ## How fire spreads The store page describes the core rule: a burning bill sets its neighbours on fire. confirmed With the “burning bills set fire to bills they touch” upgrade, a lit pile burns down on its own like a fuse, even after your breaker has moved on. The release-day player kept his cursor in a corner and still set off chains by brushing the edge of the pile. confirmed ## Flamethrower upgrades, in the order worth buying The fire branch has a long row of nodes. The ones seen on screen were fuel per Fuel Bill, fuel tank capacity, fuel used per second while lit, flame reach (beyond the breaker radius), fire ticks per second, damage per fire tick, burn duration, burn spread interval and income from bills destroyed while burning. confirmed A practical order: - **Fuel per Fuel Bill and fuel tank capacity** first, so the flame stays lit long enough to matter. - **Income from bills destroyed while burning**, which turns the fire from a clearing tool into a money source. - **Flame reach and burn spread**, once the first two are up. - **Damage per tick** only when bills survive the fire. ## Is the flamethrower worth it? It is a clearing tool more than an earner. In a release-day full clear, the end-of-shift income breakdown put the flamethrower at about 1% of income while the collector led by far. confirmed Where it shines is late in a shift with huge bundles: the fire chews through stacks your breaker would need several passes for. One player on release day saw his Prestige Points climb faster with a steady flame than when he let the table stack up and burned it in one go. Treat that as a lead, not a rule. reported ## Cosmetic gold flamethrower The Supporter Pack DLC ($2.99) includes a gold flamethrower skin alongside a gold phone, credit card, monitor and menu buttons. It is cosmetic only and changes no numbers. confirmed See [price and editions](https://whatthebuck.wiki/game/release-date-price-editions/). ## Flamethrower checklist - Unlock it in the $20 branch, not before you have Collector Bills running. - Buy fuel nodes before damage nodes. - Keep the breaker moving at the edge of large piles so fire spreads inward. - Do not expect it to replace the collector as your main income. ## Sources Last checked: 10 November 2026. Marks: confirmed = official notes, the store page, the game itself or a recording of it; reported = two or more players; unverified = one source. - [Release date post](https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/4832970/view/1846651706678316) - [Steam store page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4832970/What_the_Buck/) - [Japanese release-day clear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_58s9JvCR8&t=1060s) · at 17:40, 21:10 - [Pre-release key run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL1DyJptysQ&t=4078s) · at 67:58, 91:47 - [Steam achievements](https://steamcommunity.com/stats/4832970/achievements/) - [Release-day 100% run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtjuwrgHzQU&t=5415s) · at 90:15, 87:04, 29:34 ## More in Bills - [Bill values Every bill from $1 to $100, coins and bundles: where each one comes from and how to make bills worth more.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/bill-types/) - [Special bills Gold, Electric, Explosive and Collector Bills: what each effect does, how they chain and how gold mixes with the others.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/special-bills/) - [Diamonds How Diamonds are unlocked, what happens when one shatters, and how to get the Diamond Hands achievement.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/diamonds/) - [Investment Papers How stock certificates reach your tray, how shares and staking work, and when to tear a paper for the payout.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/investment-papers/) - [Combo and Frenzy How the combo meter fills, what each Frenzy stage multiplies, and how to keep a Frenzy going.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/bills/combo-and-frenzy/)