What is creep in SteamWorld Build and how to get rid of it

SteamWorld Build is not just a city builder. It is also a mining slash dungeon crawler. It is the dungeon part that involves defending yourself against enemies. 

There are several types of enemies in SteamWorld Build. One of them is Creep. You'll first encounter this in the Marshy Ruins, the second mining floor you unlock.

What is Creep?

In SteamWorld Build, Creep is a ground based dangerous collection of purple and green vines. If left unchecked, Creep can grow on free adjacent tiles.

Creep spreading across adjacent tiles in SteamWorld Build

Creep is not technically an enemy in the traditional sense, as it doesn't do any damage. It does have to negative effects to your gameplay:

1. Creep will prevent you from building anything on or next to it;
2. Creep will make your Steambots move slower when crossing it 🐌

Reasons enough to get rid of Creep as soon as you encounter it. 

Getting rid of Creep

It's time to bring out the big guns! 🔥 For your guards to be able to get rid of Creep, you'll need to equip them with Flamethrowers.

Don't have a Flamethrower item? Check the train station offers every 5 minutes or dig around the mines to find chests!

To equip Flamethrowers, select the Guard quarters and add the Flamethrower item to the room. One of your guards will now carry the proverbial torch. In this case a very large torch with a trigger...

When you are digging around and uncover Creep, your Guard will spring into action. It will rush to the Creep and start spraying it with fire. 

Once an area is cleared of Creep completely, it won't return. This means that if you have cleared Marshy Ruins of Creep, you can unequip the item from your Guard quarters on this floor and use it on the next. Unless you want to have you Guard use it against other enemies. Because trust me, the trigger happy lad will just as easily fire up a Beetle's butt 😉