Blog Poll #24 asked, "Which Upgrade Path Do You Prefer for Fire Element Skylanders?" We had a ton of feedback on this one with a sum total of 639 Votes! Many thanks to everyone who chimed in and cast their vote. Also, it was unique in the fact that we had 3 Skylanders who were very close compared to most of these polls. Let's take a look at the results:
What I liked best about this poll was the vote count. Flameslinger and Eruptor,who have been available the longest and are thus the most likely to be owned, had the most votes. Granted, Ignitor has been available since Day 1 in the 3DS Starter Pack, but a lot of folks didn't have him until recently, or are still looking for that illusive single pack.
Flameslinger netted the most votes and we saw a narrow 11% margin of victory for Marksman. In all honesty, Flameslinger is one of the few Skylanders who has two upgrade paths that are both very solid. In the end, more folks seem to select the option to upgrade his primary attack. This is probably because it is quicker to deploy and offers more "instant" benefits than Pyromancer. That said, Flameslinger can be devastating going down that path and either will serve you well.
Eruptor, who is slightly less popular than Flameslinger, netted an impressive 164 votes. He also joins the ranks as one of the very few Skylanders who you have selected as having a better secondary upgrade path with a 15% margin of victory. I think the reason for this is twofold. First, Eruptor's early upgrades make his primary attack, the lava balls, do a crud ton of damage as is. The complaint about his secondary attack would have to be it is slow. Well, Phase 1 of Magmantor takes care of that with "Quick Eruption." Follow that up with more damage, and then the extra, small volcanoes and you have a totally unique upgrade path that compliments the already lethal base upgrades.
Fittingly, Ignitor came in 3rd with 154 votes...a likely reflection of his 3DS status and of course the fact he has just started to become attainable for retail prices in single pack form. He follows the status quo with 63% of voters agreeing that his Blademaster path is the one to pick. I think this is attributable to the fact having a flaming sword is pretty freaking awesome on its' own merits, but having the chance to upgrade that is probably a bit too tempting to resist...That said, I believe his secondary upgrade path, "Soul of the Flame" could be just as good, but isn't as flashy (see also, long, burning sword). Again, I don't think you can regret either path here, and he might be worth getting a second figure of just to have both.
Sunburn, who is scorching the "Favorite Adventure Pack Character Poll" came in with 153 votes...a fitting spot given the fact not everyone has gotten to land Dragon's Peak. His results were much more one sided with a whopping 7 in 10 voters selecting his "Blaze Dragon" path. I will be honest here, Blaze Dragon just seems to be far better than Flame Lord. With the base upgrades you get the "after fire" effects seen post teleportation. Flame Lord just basically expands on that. Oh, and the fact that you have INFINITE Flamebreath as your first upgrade on Blaze Dragon kind of says a lot too...That is limitless, never ending, etc. Imagine just getting to hold the A-Button down with other Skylanders primary attacks and never having to wait for a reload etc. Pretty hot...and most everyone agrees.
I was very pleased with the voting on this one not only for the great sampling, but also because it reflected the likely vote totals based on how long the Sklyanders have been out and their attainability. That said, the Fire Element Upgrade Paths are very close as we have three characters with compelling cases for both...one that wound up "secondary" and the other two that are honestly great paths either way you go.
Thanks again to everyone for voting. I'll get some new polls up soon...likely based on the "most popular" by element categories etc. I may even deploy a Tournament Poll soon...more on that later.
