# Water Pump > The Water Pump in Blockade Brigade: 500 gold, stands on water and puts Infernos out in one hit. Hoses, water bonus, levels and FAQ. - Page: https://blockadebrigade.com/towers/water_pump - Site: Blockade Brigade, a tower defense game for Windows PC (https://blockadebrigade.com/) - Last updated: 2026-10-23 - Text generated: 2026-11-02 07:35 UTC [Advanced Tower](https://blockadebrigade.com/towers/advanced) ## Water Pump Inferno-killer pump, water tile only, huge water bonuses 500 gold, Ground only, Research 20000 The Water Pump stands on a water tile and sprays Infernos, and only Infernos: water puts an Inferno out in one hit, whatever its health, armour or shield. It has 1 hose at level 1 and up to 4 at the top levels, each aimed at a different Inferno. Every water tile around it, corners too, makes it spray faster and reach further. It costs 500 gold; on a dry tile the ground is dug to water first, at the bulldozer's prices. Every other enemy walks past it untouched. Build your own Water Pump ### Attributes Level 1, on the ground Cost 500 gold to build Unlock 20,000 XP XP to research it (main menu, Upgrades & Research) Sell value 375 gold 75% of the gold spent on it; all of it back within 15 seconds of placing Can hit Ground Damage 150 Fire rate 0.6/s DPS 90 damage a second, one hit on one target, before armour Range 7 3.5 tiles Targets at once 1 Inferno Power uses 6 when firing · 1 on standby Full power only while it has a target. Switch it off to free its power. Neighbours +15% damage, +10% fire rate each Same-type towers on its four sides, up to four (+60% / +40%). Connected Water Pumps need 25% less power. Platforms +8% damage, +0.5 range a level of height Small +1, Medium +2, Large +3, up to 3 stacked. Ground Grass: −5% damage No penalty on rock, or on a platform (it stands on steel, even over grass) Level parts Base: 1 green level light, plate 01 Research 3 items, 5 levels each 250 / 750 / 2,000 / 6,000 / 15,000 XP a level, 72,000 XP for all. Water Pressure, Pump Speed, Hose Reach Cards Damage, Fire Rate, Range End-of-wave cards: up to 5 of each a game, then Endless cards Base numbers: no research, cards or neighbours. (+n) is the change from the level before. ### How to use it #### Infernos only It never sprays any other enemy, so it is a specialist. Build it where Infernos walk, and keep your other towers for everything else. #### Surround it with water Each of the eight tiles around it that is water, corners included, gives +10% fire rate and +0.25 range, up to +80% and +2 with water all round. Dig the water before you build: the pump counts its water when it is placed. #### Reach and speed, not damage One hit is always enough, so what matters is how far it reaches and how often it sprays. Range and fire rate research and cards help; damage does not. #### Upgrade for hoses 1 at levels 1-2, 2 at levels 3-4, 3 at level 5 and 4 from level 6. Each hose sprays a different Inferno, so a pack of them goes out in one volley. #### Kill them first Slow and freeze do nothing to an Inferno, and its heat clears the slow off enemies near it and melts a Cold Snap's snow. Put the Water Pump before your slows, so the Infernos are gone by the time the pack reaches them. #### Pumps side by side Each Water Pump on the four sides of another gives it +10% fire rate (up to +40%). ### Build it Pick a level, research, end-of-wave cards and how much water is around it, and see what your Water Pump ends up doing: how far it reaches, how often it sprays and how many Infernos it can put out each second. Share the build with a link. How the configurer works it out (formula, card values, share-link format) #### How the game adds it up - **Damage:** level base x (1 + neighbours x 0.15) x (1 + height x 0.08) x ground (0.95 on bare grass, else 1) x (1 + research %) x (1 + cards % + Endless %) - **Fire rate:** level base x (1 + neighbours x 0.1) x (1 + research %) x (1 + cards % + Endless %) - **Range:** level base + height x 0.5 + level base x (research % + cards % + Endless %) - **Dps:** damage x fire rate, one hit on one target, before splash, afflictions and armour - **Rule:** Every source multiplies damage and fire rate; cards and Endless cards of one stat add into one percent. Range percents are all of the levelled base, added. #### End-of-wave cards Each wave offers 3 cards. Up to 5 cards of each stat a game, then that stat comes only as grey Endless cards (a random amount in the range shown). Percent per card: | Card | Normal | Common | Rare | Epic | Legendary | Mythical | Endless | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Damage | 2% | 5% | 10% | 15% | 25% | 35% | 1-5% | | Fire Rate | 2% | 5% | 10% | 15% | 25% | 35% | 1-5% | | Range | 2% | 5% | 10% | 15% | 25% | 35% | 1-5% | #### Research Unlock: 20,000 XP; its upgrades: 72,000 XP for all. - **Water Pressure:** +10% a level, 5 levels (+50%), 250, 750, 2,000, 6,000, 15,000 XP - **Pump Speed:** +6% a level, 5 levels (+30%), 250, 750, 2,000, 6,000, 15,000 XP - **Hose Reach:** +6% a level, 5 levels (+30%), 250, 750, 2,000, 6,000, 15,000 XP #### Where it stands - Each same-type neighbour on its four sides: +15% damage, +10% fire rate (up to 4). - Each level of height (hill + platforms): +8% damage, +0.5 range. - Bare grass: damage x0.95 (no penalty on rock, or on a platform: it stands on steel, even over grass). One tile is 2 range units. #### This tower's own rule - It sprays only Infernos, and one hit puts one out, whatever its health: hoses 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 (levels 1 up). Each water tile round it (8, corners too) adds 10% fire rate and 0.25 range. #### Worked examples - [`#build:l10~r.damage.5~c.damage.55555~e.damage.5x10`](https://blockadebrigade.com/towers/water_pump#build:l10~r.damage.5~c.damage.55555~e.damage.5x10): damage 2486.25, fire rate 1.32/s, DPS 3,282, range 11.5. - [`#build:l10~r.damage.5~c.damage.55555~e.damage.5x10~n3~h15`](https://blockadebrigade.com/towers/water_pump#build:l10~r.damage.5~c.damage.55555~e.damage.5x10~n3~h15): damage 7931.14, fire rate 1.716/s, DPS 13,610, range 19. #### Share-link format A build is the page address + `#build:` + parts joined by `~`, in any order; parts left out are 0 / none. Opening the link loads the build and scrolls here. Links shared from the page also carry `?utm_source=...&utm_medium=...&utm_campaign=tower_build&utm_content=...` before the hash; they are optional. - `l`: tower level 1..10 - `r..`: research level 0..5 of a research item (damage, fire_rate, range_radius) - `c..`: end-of-wave cards of one stat, one digit per card = its rarity (0 Normal, 1 Common, 2 Rare, 3 Epic, 4 Legendary, 5 Mythical); at most 5 a stat - `e..x`: Endless cards of one stat: count cards of +amount% (only once that stat has 5 cards) - `n`: same-type neighbours touching it, 0..4 - `h`: height: hill + platform levels, 0..15 - `g`: standing on bare grass (no platform) - `s`: level of the Cold Snap over it, 0 = none (1..10) - `sp0`: that Cold Snap has no power (it cools nothing) - `w`: water tiles beside it, 0..4 (sides not taken by neighbours) - `k`: towers in its connected chain, itself included (at least neighbours + 1) - `kw`: water tiles beside the whole chain ### Every level Base numbers: no research, cards, water or neighbours. Damage is a whole volley, shared by the hoses, but water puts an Inferno out in one hit whatever the damage, so the columns that count are hoses, fire rate and range. Power is what it needs while it has a target. | Level | Upgrade | Total spent | Damage | Fire rate | DPS | Range | Power | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | build 500 | 500 | 150 | 0.6/s | 90 | 7 | 6 | | 2 | 800 | 1,300 | 190 | 0.68/s | 129 | 7.5 | 7 | | 3 | 1,280 | 2,580 | 230 | 0.76/s | 175 | 8 | 8 | | 4 | 2,048 | 4,628 | 270 | 0.84/s | 227 | 8.5 | 10 | | 5 | 3,276 | 7,904 | 310 | 0.92/s | 285 | 9 | 11 | | 6 | 5,242 | 13,146 | 350 | 1/s | 350 | 9.5 | 12 | | 7 | 8,388 | 21,534 | 390 | 1.08/s | 421 | 10 | 13 | | 8 | 13,421 | 34,955 | 430 | 1.16/s | 499 | 10.5 | 14 | | 9 | 21,474 | 56,429 | 470 | 1.24/s | 583 | 11 | 16 | | 10 | 34,359 | 90,788 | 510 | 1.32/s | 673 | 11.5 | 17 | **Hoses**1 at levels 1-2, 2 at levels 3-4, 3 at level 5 and 4 from level 6. Each new hose lets one volley put out one more Inferno. **Gold**Once it has all 4 hoses, upgrades add only fire rate and range, and they get dear (level 10 alone costs 34,359 gold). Water around it is the cheaper way to more of both. ### Research Research (main menu, Upgrades & Research) makes every Water Pump you build stronger. Each item has 5 levels for 250, 750, 2,000, 6,000 and 15,000 XP (24,000 XP for all 5). #### Water Pressure +10% damage a level, +50% at level 5. Water puts an Inferno out in one hit whatever the damage, so this changes nothing in a fight: research range and fire rate first. #### Pump Speed +6% spray rate a level, +30% at level 5: more volleys, more Infernos put out. #### Hose Reach +6% range a level, +30% at level 5, counted on the level's own range (water around it adds on top). #### Height and ground - Each level of height: **+8% damage** and **+0.5 range**. - No hills: it stands on water. - Platforms (small +1, medium +2, large +3) stack up to 3 high: up to 9 more levels, on flat ground or on a hill. Research unlocks the sizes and stacking. - Highest it can stand: 9 levels, **+72% damage, +4.5 range**. - On grass: **−5% damage**; no penalty on rock, or on a platform (it stands on steel, even over grass). - Each water tile beside it: +25% damage, +10% fire rate, +0.25 range. ### Water Pump FAQ Why is my Water Pump not spraying? It only sprays Infernos. With no Inferno in range it does nothing, even with other enemies walking right past. It can also be short of power: LOW POWER means it can track but not fire, NO POWER means it does nothing. It needs 6 power at level 1 and 17 at level 10. How much damage does it do to an Inferno? Enough, always: a stream of water that lands puts an Inferno out in one hit, whatever its health, armour or shield. The damage number on the tower panel does not matter. A stream only misses if its Inferno is already gone when it gets there. Does the Water Pump have to stand on water? Yes. Placed on a dry tile, that tile is dug to water first and you pay for the work on top of the tower: Dig (250 gold), plus clearing a tree or rock, digging a hill down or levelling a ramp if the tile needs it. The ghost shows the price plus the dig before you build. That work is never refunded. How does the water around it help? Each of the eight tiles around it that is water, corners included, gives +10% fire rate and +0.25 range: up to +80% and +2 with water all round. While you place it, the ghost shows how many water tiles that spot has. The pump counts its water when it is placed, so dig the water around it first, then build. How many Infernos can it put out at once? One per hose: 1 at levels 1-2, 2 at levels 3-4, 3 at level 5 and 4 from level 6. Each hose aims at a different Inferno in range. With fewer Infernos than hoses, the spare hoses spray the same ones and are wasted. Can a Cold Snap hold Infernos in range for it? No. Slow and freeze do nothing to an Inferno, and its heat clears the slow off enemies near it and melts the Cold Snap's snow. Turn it the other way round: let the Water Pump put the Infernos out first, so your slows work on the rest of the pack. Is it worth upgrading my Water Pump? Up to the levels that add hoses, yes: 1 at levels 1-2, 2 at levels 3-4, 3 at level 5 and 4 from level 6. After that, upgrades only add fire rate and range, and water around it gives you both for less. Damage never matters, so skip damage research and cards. How much power does a Water Pump use when it has nothing to shoot? Only 1: with no target it stays on standby, lights and radar on. It uses its full power only while it has a target: 6 at level 1, 17 at level 10 (the tower panel says "uses N when firing, 1 on standby"). If the grid cannot give it that, it stays on standby too: it keeps tracking enemies but cannot fire (LOW POWER). The panel's Switch off button turns it off completely: it draws nothing and does nothing until you Switch on again, so you can choose which towers run when power is short. --- About the whole site: https://blockadebrigade.com/llms.txt