The Blaze (DLC 1)

> *"So... why are we here?"*
>
>

The Blaze is one of the new classes from Ruby Caverns in version 2.0. He plays aggressively, offensively, and has little regard for safety. His power can be huge, but not even himself is spared.

**Backstory**

After a rough, painful time through Emerald Chambers, the Blaze, the Spirit and the Evoker have finally returned to their civilizations and can rest in peace (but alive). Their playstyles slowly vanished, but the core personalities remained.

Of course, rest cannot take forever. Once the Ruby Lord decided to take over Ruby Caverns, the Warrior, the Mage and the Thief couldn't take him on alone. Because they did hear of three more legendary dungeoneers, they tried to contact them to seal the Caverns once more. After a bit of a hassle back and fourth, six dungeoneers ended up back in the caves, three familiar, three unknown.

**Abilities**

When at 2.5 hearts or below, gain Speed 2/Strength 3.
NOT immune for Fire rooms and Heat.
(even arrows)
 Unstable Crystal

Note: the Blaze starts with a Golden Sword instead of a Stone Sword.

**Strategy**

At first, the Blaze seems like a rather weak-ish class: as Rage Mode, the main gimmick, only useful is in risk area's on health, Ignited likely has no effect at all, and the Flame Buster *requires* damage to work properly! On top of all this, you start with a weaker attack... But when played, it all fits together better than it looks at first glance. The Blaze doesn't require taking hits to maximize strategy... but it does *encourage* it!

Let's shove all other gizmo's aside and take Rage Mode to start with. At under 5 hearts (including yellow hearts), your attack damage is higher, and at 2.5 hearts or less your damage is gigantic. You may start with a weaker weapon, but it becomes equally as strong with Rage Mode, if not even stronger. This essentially means **it's very viable to stay under 5 hearts** (under 2.5 is possible, but not recommended as some things deal enough damage to kill you instantly). Food is more useful, and while healing potions are somewhat less useful because they remove the Rage, they can still "save" you in a moment of rest and preparation for a floor or a boss.

Being so low on health, of course, is risky: one hit may not kill you, but a swarm might. That's where the Crystal comes into play: stronger than most Wands and Spells, can be used multiple times, and "only" requires 5 xp-levels to utilize, **it is a great weapon for panic swarms.** It creates a large explosion, killing most close enemies and at least heavily weakening everything else nearby. It has no cooldown, so if you have 15 levels, use it thrice to obliterate any mass, and keep yourself happily safe with an attack booster still.

Another problem is surprise enemies or stronger enemies (or both at the same time); taking hits is inevitable. Luckily you have the Flame Buster, which reflect damage (which is a nice start), but also decreases the damage taken so **there's a higher chance of surviving the hit, even at very low health.** Another benefit is that you don't have to spare up Iron to create a chestplate.

So obviously you're a blaze and therefore fire resistant. But why is it included? Very simple: on low health, with good armor, a mass regulator and speed and strength like crazy, only one thing could potentially end you: lava. But wait, **you're immune!** Any misstep into a pool isn't a problem at all, granting an enormous bonus in the Temple (no need to look at the lava on the floor) and the Hell (no damage from magma/fireballs). This allows you to be even faster, more reckless, and more devastating!

So it may look random, but the Blaze is carefully created to reflect the aggressive style. Don't get too reckless; then again, you have armor, strength, fire resistance, damage reflecting, and free explosions... who can stop you?