Pangeon (UP)

Arena Mode consists of 25 waves of enemies which you have to survive in one life in a single sitting. There are no level ups in this mode, so you're going to be locked at Level 1 for the entirety of the run, with strength potions and equipment being the only augmentations you'll obtain. There is a pause between each wave where you'll be allowed to purchase things from the vendor in the back cave. The following is a bullet point list of recommendations and tips that I found made my run easier:

1: In my experience, using the Thief class was the best option out of the 4 for this mode. You'll begin with a stronger weapon (the pike) and you start with an innately higher Luck stat, which is important because of the need for gold and item drops.

2: Always keep a sizeable stack of Small Healing Potions on hand. Your hit points are low enough that the cheapest pots will be a full heal most of the time. If it comes down to a choice between replenishing your pots or purchasing a new item, the pots are the better investment.

3: Don't skimp on healing. It's easy to get overwhelmed. If you accidentally get critted when not at full health or hit by multiple attacks in a bad predicament, your run is over. Use your potions liberally and keep your progress moving forward.

4: Don't bother with Leather Armor. The damage mitigation doesn't really become effective until later waves when you start getting magic users and goblins. Save your money and invest in the Iron Armor and keeping your potions stocked. About halfway into the run, I was able to upgrade from the Pike to the Axe. After that, the only thing you'll need money for is to buy potions.

5: You're going to be doing A LOT of circle strafing in this mode and your first instinct will be to run against the walls, but I encourage you to not cling to the walls too much. The geometry is janky in this game and you will consistently lose gold and items in the walls the more you cling to them.

6: Prioritize killing bats when it gets into the larger groups. They're faster than you, have a large attack radius and can hit quickly. They can easily chip away at your health and are frustrating in the first 5 waves.

7: The 25th wave is just a single enemy. It is the boss from the first level of the game. He was fairly simple to kite around one of the pillars in the arena and pick him off. Avoid his blasts the best you can and keep healed. Once you beat him, you've completed the arena.

- Hopefully these pointers have helped to make your arena run easier. Good luck!