Fire Mage

"Quick to make rash decisions, and with a short temper, it's no wonder that Zane was drawn to fire from a very early age. Unknown to anyone, he was responsible for seven separate fires in his village by the age of nine.

When he reached sixteen, Zane discovered he could direct and control the flames with just his thoughts. He began to seek out treatises on fire magic. As his knowledge grew, he became a clear target for the Cult."

## Acquisition

Zane is available as a starting character prior to beginning Act 1.

## Skills

### Skill Analysis

Zane is a linear and powerful, yet fragile, Damage Dealer (DD) Mage. He is the epitome of a Glass Cannon and exemplifies the phrase "going out with a bang" in full force. His Focus scaling ratios on his Spells seem average in comparison to other Mages. When this average scaling is paired with multiple stacks of Overheat, he has no problem melting through enemy ranks with ease, and faster in comparison to his counterparts.

At max skill levels, his upfront mana costs seem daunting at a glance; however, in practice, his Flash Fire is able to thrive in these circumstances. As a result of reduced mana costs and increased damage by having low MP, Zane wants as little MP healing as possible in order to maximize his damage output; ideally, Zane wants to teeter on the edge of being able to cast Fire spells without needing to cast Ember Bolt.

With regards to Ember Bolt, this spell isn't bad by any means. It has no MP cost as a trade off for its below average Focus scaling. There will be moments where Ember Bolt is necessary to use due to having too little MP. Whether or not there is an optimal moment to use Ember Bolt outside of having no MP is up for debate. It gains the damage benefit from Overheat stacks, but not from Flash Fire, because it deals Physical damage. On the contrary, it does proc Melt Armor because it deals Physical damage. Hypothetically, if there is a moment to use Ember Bolt outside of MP regeneration, that moment could be at 10 Overheat stacks, in order to avoid "overcapping" Overheat and maximizing the damage dealt at low MP; however, this damage increase may be offset by Flash Fire accounting Zane having more MP, thus decreasing his damage.

Flame Jet and Fire Blast are your bread and butter AoE spells. Flame Jet is most effective on exactly two enemies in the same line, whereas Fire Blast will deal more overall damage when there are at least two frontline enemies and 1 backline enemy.

Flame Jet and Melt Armor pair well together for single target damage output; especially against bosses who will have higher toughness, in comparison to mob enemies. Due to Melt Armor's unique interaction with Physical damage hits, it's best to apply Flame Jet's DoT once, then begin accruing stacks of Melt Armor. This is because Melt Armor's debuff procs per hit, not per cast; the result of which is massive burst damage on behalf of the team overall, as opposed to only accounting for Zane's personal damage.

Combust, at face value, looks underwhelming and dismissable; however, this passive is not to be overlooked. Combust provides Zane with survivability that Flame Shield wishes in its wildest dreams it did (a Spell so niche that it's not worthy covering in this analysis). While the damage from Combust only procs once per combat, Zane is able to revive from Bleeding Out multiple times throughout an encounter, making him more resilient than meets the eye and saving your Healers/Supports important turns. Combust also has a unique interaction with a relic called Shattered Vanity, which will be expanded on in Relic Strategy.

## Relic Strategy

There are a variety of Relics that synergize well with Zane, but one Relic shines above all else:

* Shattered Vanity is a relic obtained from an Act 2 boss named Cursed Mirror. Shattered Vanity, as a passive, reduces Zane's attributes by 15%; however, it grants the wearer access to a summon skill called Mirror Image. Mirror Image is imperative on Zane because, while hindering his stats and worsening his survivability, practically doubles his damage prior to accruing any stacks of Overheat. What's more, when the Clone uses its last skill, it dies and triggers its own Combust. Mirror Image may be summoned over and over every three turns in order to make use of the Clone's Combust. Moreover, Mirror Image is a Bonus Action. It eats into Zane's mana with its high cost, which enables Flash Fire's damage increase sooner. This Relic is a must-have for DD Zane.

Other Relics that pair well with Zane:

* Primal Bond is a Relic obtained from Iana. It pairs well with Shattered Vanity by giving Zane 25% of his summon's attributes. Because Zane's clone is a copy of him, Primal Bond is effectively offsetting the attribute nerf imposed by Shattered Vanity.
* Zane's Passion, his own Relic, is a great option for Zane and Mages in general. A 20% chance to gain a free turn means he, theoretically, can accrue Overheat stacks faster.
* Dragon Tattoo is a Relic obtained from Kazuo, the Yakuza class. This Relic increases Fire and Stun damage by 25%, which pairs well with Fire Blast, which deals both, and Melt Armor, which is proc-based.
* Lucien's Might is a Relic obtained from Lucien, the Shaman Class. Lucien's Might provides a passive buff that gives your Summon (Zane's Clone) 50% of Zane's attributes. It's unknown if it's recursive with Primal Bond.
* Mage's Crystal is a Relic obtained from Elgeon, the Ice Mage class. Antithetical to Zane and his Passion, his relic still proves useful due to the fact that both Elgeon and Zane scale with Focus; however, it should be heavily noted that losing Free Turns is a huge downside. It turns off Zane's Passion, which should not be used alongside Mage's Crystal under nearly any circumstance (the one exception is if you want Fire Blast). It also disables the Free Turn granted by the Time Break Tech Haste. Overall, not the best choice, but may give the player Big Numbers dopamine for the trade off of less turns.

## Team Strategy

As a fragile DD Mage, Zane needs allies in order to get the job done. He will always love having a primary Tank around to soak the incoming damage, as well as a Support and Healer to buff his stats and top off his HP. Characters that can provide him with extra turns, such as Claire, Lucien (Shaman), and Igneo (Flame Spirit) may prove useful for ramping up his damage quickly. Igneo is also a nice pair with Zane because of Zane's other Relic, Inferno Gem, which reduces Fire damage taken. Overall, Zane is a powerful DD that can clear most enemies in the game, but will struggle versus enemies with resistance to or immunity to Fire damage.

## Quests

### Furious Flames

"Have Zane take 10 or more turns in a single winning battle." Reward: +2 Skill Points, Zane's Passion Relic gains infinite copies.

### Raging Inferno

"Deal 2000 total damage in a single use of Zane's Combust skill, and win the battle." Reward: +2 Skill Points, Inferno Gem Relic gains infinite uses.

### Firestarter

"Deal 10,000 total Fire damage to enemies with Zane, in winning battles." Reward: +2 Skill Points

## Trivia

* Zane's character design may be based on the Final Fantasy XIV Job "Black Mage" (BLM). Zane and the BLM job share many similarities, such as increased mana costs when casting fire spells, a stacking passive that increases damage (Overheat and Astral Fire), and a method of regaining mana quickly once the resource is depleted, in order to continue damage uptime (Ember Bolt and Umbral Ice). Moreover, Ember Bolt is comparable to Foul, Xenoglossy and Paradox.