After a relatively peaceful dig on the first level in SteamWorld Build you reach the Marshy Ruins, which are quite a bit more hostile. Of the hazards you meet, one is a growth called creep that can block progress. So, how do you remove it?
Creep appears as a purple, vine-like growth on the ground and walls of the mine. When you find it, it usually will have already overtaken the hollow that it started in. It’s unable to grow on fertile ground. Once you reveal it, it will start to grow outward in all directions, taking over the ground. Your robots will move slowly when trying to cross over it, and you can’t build on it. Because it will grow wherever it isn’t obstructed, you need to take care of it quickly.
That job falls to the guard robots. However, they can’t remove it right out of the box. They need the proper tool. That tool is a flamethrower, a popular weapon among war criminals and snow removers. With a flamethrower in hand, the guards will automatically move to exposed creep and begin burning it away.
So, obviously, for this, you need to have built a Guard Quarters, but you almost certainly have already done that. Next, you need to get the flamethrower item. It might show up as an option from the train, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it. Instead, you’ll need to find a chest that holds one. If you don’t have a flamethrower already when you expose your first creep, you’re going to want to double back and search every cranny for unopened chests.
Once you have a flamethrower (or to check if one is in your inventory) click on the Guard Quarters. Under the Equipment heading on the info pane, click the edit button. Then, look through your items to find the flamethrower and equip it to the quarters. Immediately, a robot will take it and deal with your creep problem.
Note that when it comes to equipment, you can equip more than one of the same item. So, you can stack two flamethrowers and remove creep faster. However, there is creep on the third level of the mine, so you may need to reassign the flamethrowers once you reach that level. Hopefully, you have enough to share.
