Character Overview

Crystal is the second character in the game and one of the two unlocked by default. She has a normal starting loadout with the Revolver. Her B-Skin is unlocked by reaching 4-? (Cursed Crystal Caves) which is done by exiting 3-3 with any cursed weapon found by running a crown.

Crystal A Sprites
	Icon	Crystal B Sprites	Icon
	Idle		Idle
	Walk		Walk
	Death		Death

Abilities

• Crystal can hold down RMB to create a shield that lasts for about 1.5 seconds which protects from enemy projectiles.
• Pressing RMB will create the shield for only a moment, and can be done repeatedly.
• Once her shield goes down there is an extremely brief cooldown that she cannot shield again for.
• Weapons cannot be fired while shielding. However, they will still reload at a normal rate during this time.
• Enemies may lose sight of Crystal while she is shielded; particularly noticeable during the Throne fight as it may walk down directly onto her if it cycles attacks while she is shielding.
• Gamma Guts can damage any enemy that manages to make contact through the shield.
• Crystal's shield works a lot like IDPD shields. If a Shielder can deflect it, there is a good chance Crystal can too.

• Crystal starts with 2 extra max HP, for a total of 10.
• This can be stacked with Rhino Skin for 14 max HP.

• Crystal will shield for roughly 1 second and then will teleport to the location of the player's cursor.
• If the player's cursor is over a wall, Crystal will simply not teleport.
• Cannot teleport out of an exit portal.

Ultra A: Fortress		Ultra B: Juggernaut

• Crystal will gain 6 more max HP which stacks with her passive, giving 16 max HP.
• Can be stacked with Rhino Skin for a total of 20 max HP.

• Crystal shields for the same amount of time but can move during this in any direction.
• Thronebutt will still reduce the amount of time shielding for.
• Hammerhead can used while in this state.

Preloop Strategy Guide

As Fish and Crystal are both characters unlocked by default, they both make for great starter characters to learn the game with. In Crystal's case hers is all around extra defense, which is useful while learning to avoid taking damage.

Active Ability
Rating: Very Useful
Crystal's active may seem like a mixed power as she is forced to stay stationary and cannot fire her weapon, however this is still a very useful ability as she can choose at any time to undo the shield. Correct shield usage is all about timing - Crystal can time her shield to deflect enemy bullets, then let go of her shield once the projectiles are dealt with and continue on. If an enemy ever fires in close quarters Crystal can panic shield, or she can use it in opportunities to get easy damage back if an enemy telegraphs their attack well such as Snipers.

Passive Ability
Rating: Useful
Having 2 extra HP is a nice little boost as Crystal can take some more damage before getting killed. There is still plenty of use taking Rhino Skin at this stage of the game, as having 14 HP gives her a lot of breathing room for mistakes, something that is seldom given to other characters. In this situation having healing mutations is particularly recommended, as playing without any of Bloodlust/Rabbit Paw/Second Stomach will mean that Crystal will struggle to climb back up to full health given sparse preloop drops.

Thronebutt Ability
Rating: Somewhat Useful
Crystal's Thronebutt is a bit gimmicky, but can still find its use at this point of the game. She will sacrifice a bit of her shield time in order to teleport anywhere on-screen, which could put her out of danger or directly into it. This is a mutation that requires constant concentration in order to utilize properly, and can be skipped if that does not sound appealing.

Summary
Crystal's preloop guide is fairly short as she basically just gives better defense during the run. Some practice should be put into shielding efficiently, otherwise gameplay will be very vanilla.

Loop Strategy Guide

Crystal is given the choice between two ultras upon entering loop, which easily propels her from being a good character into one of the best ones.

Fortress
Rating: Meta Defining
Fortress is easily one of the best ultras in the game as Crystal reaches 16 max HP, which is a significant advantage over any other character who only has 12 HP max. While she is not fully invulnerable and will still die to sources such as Vans or Laser Crystal contact in one hit, many other common sources of damage she can shake off. Another perk is that she doesn't need to take Rhino Skin and can use that mutation slot for something else (unless if Rhino Skin is the best option, 20 HP is very good). Any healing mutation is strongly suggested at this point, especially if running Strong Spirit as trying to heal back up to 16 HP to recharge Spirit may still be difficult.

If running Fortress then that means Crystal will just have her default shield, this is still a fairly useful tool in loop but should be used carefully. This is most useful during boss fights such as Throne and Throne II, it's more of a risky decision to use when surrounded by dozens of enemies unless if she has a melee weapon ready to swing the moment shield is up.

Juggernaut
Rating: Very Useful
Juggernaut is often overlooked due to how powerful Fortress is, however this is still a good option in loop. The main downside of a stationary shield is that if it's mistimed an enemy projectile could hit Crystal just as the shield wears out, however in Juggernaut's case Crystal will already be on the move making this unlikely. It also lets her push towards some enemies to close the gap, such as Big Bandits or Elite Grunts. Less specific advice applies to this ultra as it's basically up to player's judgement on how to best use Juggernaut, it provides a lot of flexibility.

Thronebutt Ability
Rating: Somewhat Useful
Due to the volume of enemies, Crystal's TB is best used in order to retreat from situations rather than throw her into the middle of the fray, although it could still support aggressive playstyles for an otherwise defensive character. This is a niche mutation that may be useful only to specific players, while others may opt to use the mutation slot on something they find more useful instead.

Summary
The crux of Crystal's benefits is just that she has better defense, which lets her respond to situations better. This makes her advice less specific than other character guides, but still should be overstated that she is a very great character at this point of the game.

Meta Strategy Guide

Note that this is an advanced guide, it is meant to be used by those primarily looking at loops 3+. This builds off of content shared in the meta guide.

Crystal holds the global world record and is widely considered to be the best character in the game. She is undoubtedly a great character at any point of the game, and is extremely useful for anyone learning meta or wanting to push their personal best as far as possible.

Fortress
Rating: Meta Defining
Fortress is widely considered to be one of the best ultras in the game, if not the best. Having 16 max HP means that Crystal is able to shrug off damage in far more situations than other characters and makes deeploop far more forgiving/easier. This is especially true during boss fights which are the biggest skill checks in the game, that extra HP can often make all the difference.

Another reason on why Fortress is so good is because it makes Rhino Skin an optional mutation, which gives the choice of taking either another very good mutation or leaning into 20 HP.

Mutations

Crystal's P7							Choose 2 From:

Characters typically take eight 'necessary' mutations and then give the 9th spot to either a healing mutation or Back Muscle. In Crystal's case, she gets to take two of these instead. Be aware that this is NOT advice for getting WR, just advice on Crystal's deeploop gameplay in general;

• Rhino Skin: 20 HP means Crystal may run just single heal (or single damage) but even furthers her defensive capabilities. Particularly useful in letting her survive a single IDPD explosion (16 damage), and during Mom fights (10 contact damage) as Crystal would only need to heal once after getting hit to survive a second hit.
• Bloodlust: Amazing healing mutation that lets Crystal push heavily into crowds while being able to ignore lots of damage taken. Also very useful to have at long range while low on health to play it safe, or if trying to recharge Spirit as 15/16 HP is very annoying to recharge otherwise.
• Rabbit Paw: Allows for SPC to be spammed even more, for as quickly as the player can click on some levels. Also helpful for boss fights.
• Back Muscle: Also allows for much more SPC spam and is particularly helpful during boss fights, such as having extra SPC shots prepared for the Throne II fight.
• Second Stomach: More useful on Crystal than other characters as it may take her a lot longer to heal up otherwise.

Many combinations have been run even in very later loops, the winning combination seems to be Bloodlust + Back Muscle, although other options like 20 HP or Paw + Stomach ('Pawmach') have their strengths as well.

Active Ability
Rating: Useful
Crystal's shield can still get some usage in deeploop.
First is Throne II, who has a laser attack that shoots out more laser orbs and have them last longer with every passing loop. Crystal can shield during this to stall as long as possible which helps conserve rads.
This also has some use during Big Bandits fights, such as if some Bandits have Crystal in their line of sight and are firing while the others are trying to charge to close in. Shield is a good way to stall until the charging ones are close enough.
One other particularly useful point is the Throne's fight. It can lose track of Crystal's position if she is shielding, so she can stand directly in front of the Throne (with some distance) and wait for it to walk forward (when it cycles between attacks). The moment it starts to walk she can unshield and shoot SPC at a diagonal angle to make the Throne walk directly into it, which will cause it to take most/all SPC damage. This is a more risky strategy, so practicing on NTT with debug is suggested.

Juggernaut
Rating: Useful
Because Fortress is one of the best ultras in the game, Juggernaut simply cannot hold up in comparison. It still can have a few moments to shine in deeploop, but the winner is clear here. If opting for Juggernaut will then Crystal will still have an easy time during boss fights as she can get away from boss attacks without having to spam Ultra Shovel quite as much, as well as seeing the best usage during the Throne and Throne II fights.

Thronebutt Ability
Rating: Neutral
This is a niche mutation that does not have a spot in meta at all given Crystal's potential, making this a waste of a mutation slot.

Summary
Crystal basically just makes the game easier due to extra HP without heavy strategizing needed, and her shield gives more breathing room at some important moments. This basically just makes the game more forgiving and gives far more flexibility in set building; sometimes the best characters are the simplest ones.