Hot Pot

"Powerful flamethrower with improved reach. Stays protected in an underground bunker until enemies are in range."

---

Mark 1	Mark 2	Mark 3

---

Summary

• The Hot Pot is a Prototype Defense that is built in the Weapon Lab.
• Like all Prototype Defenses, it will only last for a certain amount of time after it is placed on your base.
• The Hot Pot is, in essence, a Flamethrower with slightly increased range and much higher damage, along with the standard high health that all Prototype Defenses have. In comparison to other Prototype Defenses, however, the Hot Pot has the least health among them.
• The Hot Pot has a special function: it will stay underground until enemy troops get in range. While underground, it is invulnerable to damage, and troops will act as if no building were there. When active and no enemy troops are in range, the Hot Pot will retreat back into its bunker after a few seconds of inactivity.
• Troops attacked by the Hot Pots will continuously burn for a few seconds, receiving minor damage.

Offensive Strategy

• Due to its very high damage, units with high health, such as Scorchers, paired with damage-dealing units, such as Zookas, are best suited for dealing with this defense.
• Its relatively short range means that it is possible to avoid the Hot Pot completely by taking a different route or flanking it. If the Hot Pot is positioned on one side of the Headquarters, most troops are able to attack the Headquarters from the other side without intervention from the Hot Pot.
• If using low-health troops such as Riflemen or Warriors, be sure to use Shock Bombs to minimise the amount of damage it can do to your army. Saving up Gunboat Energy for this purpose is paramount; it could mean all the difference in an attack.
• There is a small window after the Hot Pot emerges where it does not fire. It is possible to shock it in this timespan, allowing troops to fire on it without retaliation from the Hot Pot. However, this requires anticipation for the moment when the Hot Pot will activate or having a quick reaction time to minimise damage.
• If you shock the Hot Pot while it is exposed, it cannot retreat until the Shock wears off. This is a good time to use Artillery and Barrage to damage or destroy the defense.
  • If you choose not to react quickly to a Hot Pot, exposing it with Critters followed by continual shocking of the Hot Pot is a good idea. As Shock Bombs are expensive, you should only expose the Hot Pot when your troops are close to activating it.
  • You can shock the Hot Pot while it is inside its bunker to prevent it from emerging. However, this is not always recommended as this could turn out to be problematic if troops end up on top of the bunker while it is inactive.
  • However this could be integral in a Smokey Warrior attack, as the Hot Pot will be given no opportunity to fire while the Warriors eliminate their target.
• Taking the defense out with Gunboat Weaponry alone, while possible, is not always recommended. Critters must be used in order to expose the defense, after which it must be taken down within a few seconds or else it will retreat into its bunker, negating any weaponry thrown on the hatch afterwards.
• Very long-ranged troops such as Grenadiers can outrange this defense while it is active. However, if the defense retreats while there are no other buildings nearby to occupy the attention of these troops, the troops will move forward, and possibly into the range of the Hot Pot where they will be promptly melted.
  • The player may use a Shock Bomb to stop the retreating progress.
  • It is important to note, however, if the Hot Pot is connected to the Headquarters, then Grenadiers will naturally outrange the Hot Pot and be in no harm of triggering the defense, for as long as no Flare is deployed to reposition them.

Defensive Strategy

• The Hot Pot works very well against mass infantry as they all get wiped out in less than 2 seconds. As such, it should be placed away from other area damage defenses to prevent all of them from getting shocked by one Shock Bomb.
  • This is especially noticeable during the Hammerman Strikes Back event when mass infantry are always used.
• When defending against a Smokey-Warrior Rush, place the Hot Pot as far as you can from Flamethrowers and other important defenses such as the Shock Launcher so that all of them cannot be shocked with one Shock Bomb.
• The Hot Pot works well with the Grappler. The Hot Pot's relatively high damage will destroy the troop pulled in quickly.
  • However, this could prevent the Hot Pot from retreating inside its bunker, opening it to damage from Gunboat Weaponry, as the Hot Pot will periodically fire upon the troops that were dragged.

Version Differences

• At Mark I, the hatch appears as solid red. The flamethrower inside appears as a red canister with a single barrel and a blue pilot light.
• At Mark II, the hatch gains a flame symbol on top of it. The flamethrower inside has a reinforced barrel.
• At Mark III, the hatch gains a white stripe across it. The flamethrower inside gains a large gas canister containing blue liquid.

Trivia

• The Hot Pot's fire is a bluish-purple, in comparison to the reddish-orange of a normal Flamethrower.
  • This may be due to the fact that they use a different fuel source, evidenced by the blue liquid on the back of the Mk. III Hot Pot.
• It is currently the only Prototype Defense that cannot be assembled with a level 1 Weapon Lab.
• The Hot Pot is the only defense that goes underground and can't get hit by other troops.

Statistics

Building Size	Range	Attack Speed	Damage Type	Splash Radius	Special Ability
3x3	8.5 Tiles	.15s	Splash	2 Tiles	Continues to burn units for 5 seconds after they have received damage from it.^

Input total Statue bonuses to modify the statistics in the table below accordingly

Building Health+%	ApplyReset
Defensive Building Damage+%

Level	Health	Damage Per Second	Burn DPS*	Total Residual Burn Damage	Build Cost				Build Time	Weapon Lab level Required
					Fuses	Gears	Rods	Capacitors
1	10,000	600	100	500	0	3	3	0	1h	2
2	15,000	1,020	170	850	3	3	3	3	4h	3
3	20,000	1,440	240	1,200	6	6	3	3	12h	4

*The Hot Pot deals both "normal" damage and Burn damage at the same time while it is active. The "normal" damage is equal to five times the Burn DPS. When you combine the "normal" DPS and the Burn DPS, you get the DPS that troops take while being hit by the Hot Pot.

^Enemies will continue to receive Burn damage for 5 seconds after being attacked by the Hot Pot. The "Total Residual Burn Damage" column is the total damage dealt during those 5 seconds.