Hellblaze

Hellblaze

Hellblazes are fierce, hulking Demons who serve as foot soldiers in the armies of Hell. Their large bodies resemble a mixture between a gorilla and a bull, with menacing curved horns and shards of obsidian protruding out of their flesh as a protective set of scales.

Although they are smarter than any feral beast and possess some oddly humane features, they are not quite capable of articulate speech. For this reason, their place in the Demonic hierarchy is quite low, with them either serving as expendable warriors or as slaves. Due to their imposing strength, they are often used to haul materials or aid Human slaves in the construction of various edifices.

In battle, they are equipped with magic Hellclaws that allow them to shoot projectiles on top of savagely ripping their prey apart in melee combat. Much like other evolved Demons, Hellblazes have short tempers and do not hesitate to turn on their allies if they happen to accidentally hit them.

Traits

Hellblazes have a claw melee attack dealing electric damage and a hellball sustained ranged attack dealing magic damage.

Hellblazes drop their Hellclaws when killed.

Hellblazes are resistant to fire damage, highly resistant to lava and have a slight vulnerability to ice damage.

Hellblazes infight with any monster (including their own species on the Brutalizing difficulty).

Tactics

Because their melee attack deals electric damage, the Potion of Stoneskin or Shield Block don't reduce any of the damage. Instead, the player should use Elemental Rings, which can also protect against the magic damage of their ranged attack.

Hellblazes can be very dangerous in large numbers due to their ability to spray projectiles at the player and their high amount of hitpoints preventing fast-reaction kills.

Lonely Hellblazes are great targets for replenishing the Hellclaw's ammo. On top of their guaranteed ammo drop, the player can effectively drain them with the special attack for an extended duration thanks to their high hitpoint pool.

Because of their broad stature and relentless ranged attacks, Hellblazes will often cause infighting that can be used to the player's advantage.

On most difficulties a direct hit from a Crushbow alternate-fire projectile is enough to instantly kill a Hellblaze at full health, making for a fast, ammo-effective way to deal with them.