Miner

How to unlock: The Miner's drop-pod is found in the Magma Barracks, Stage 4. It has a chance to spawn at the right of the map, at the end of a lava tunnel. After reaching his area, a miniboss Elder Lemurian (called Direseeker) will spawn. Defeating the Lemurian will unlock the Miner.

The Miner has short range but many dashes. In order to survive, you will have to balance both dashes and your extra jump to avoid enemy fire. Remember that Crush does a lot of damage!

The Miner gains 2.5% attack speed per level.

In the ending cutscene, the miner-specific text says: "..and so he left the planet, adrenaline still rushing through his veins."



Tactics

 * The Miner's primary attack, CRUSH, is one of the strongest, and most useful in the game. Unlike most other melees (Acrid/Merc), he isn't forced to budge forward while swinging, so he can sit on top of ledges and batter helpless foes on a slightly lower platform.
 * Additionally, CRUSH has a much longer range than its animation would imply. To get an idea of exactly how far it can reach, simply spend a few seconds battering a Lemurian in the first stage without moving and watch how the creature is pushed back before your attacks cease to hit him.
 * This range is increased to insane levels when combined with the Heaven Cracker.
 * In fact, CRUSH(as its description would imply) can hit all nearby enemies, even ones slightly behind the Miner.
 * The Miner is all about crowd control. His attacks work okay on single targets, but are truly meant for huge crowds since they damage all foes in range equally. Because of this, the Miner excels at wiping out large groups of enemies, rather than dealing with them one-at-a-time.
 * A typical combo with the Miner is using TO THE STARS on a considerably large crowd of enemies, landing right behind said crowd and using the BACKBLAST to propel yourself right back into it. A quick, non-charged DRILL CHARGE can be chained onto that for additional damage. This does equal damage to everything happening to be in range of your attack.
 * Acquiring items that inflict status debuffs on enemies is absolutely vital as the Miner, for your crowd control attacks will inflict all foes you damage with it, giving you and your teammates a much easier time handling hordes of foes.
 * Items that increase mobility, especially the Rusty Jetpack, will greatly increase your effectiveness. Rusty Jetpack can be combined with your ultimate ability to form an extremely effective double jump.
 * Using TO THE STARS mid-air lets you jump a second time. Use this to reach places otherwise hard or time-consuming to reach.

Trivia

 * To The Stars is a reference to the anime "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann".
 * Interestingly enough if you haven't yet unlocked the Miner and find yourself facing Direseeker, activating the Jar of Souls and waiting for it's ghost to die counts as killing Direseeker and will unlock the the Miner. (can anyone else confirm?)