Fire Bandit Class: 200 Diamonds for a Weapon You Could Already Get Free (and Two Counters That Do Not Move Together)

The Fire Bandit is the only 200-Diamond class in the shop whose entire Level 1 is an item grant. It costs 200 Diamonds, it spawns you holding an Infernal Crossbow and a Wildfire potion, and it does nothing else until Level 2.

That is not a criticism. It is the thing you should decide on, because it means 200 Diamonds here buys you a weapon, not a mechanic — and that exact weapon can be farmed for free in the Volcanic Biome. This page is about the parts the perk table does not show: the two counters and why one of them is the wall, what actually counts toward them, what Wildfire's lava does to your teammates, and the arithmetic of whether this is the better 200 Diamonds than the Poison Master or the Blacksmith.

At a Glance

What You Are Actually Buying

Read the first level correctly and the whole class falls into focus: Level 1 is not a perk. Every source we trust — the game's own wiki page, Deltia's Gaming, Sportskeeda — lists Level 1's requirement as none and its perk as "start with an Infernal Crossbow and a Wildfire potion." Two guides go further and say it explicitly: the Level 1 row "only confirms that starter kit," it adds no combat effect of its own.

So on night one your class ability is a rifle-shaped object. A few consequences worth knowing before you pay:

• Nothing sets things on fire except your two starter items until Level 2. When the Wildfire is thrown and the crossbow is reloading, you have no fire capability.
• The crossbow is the class's whole early game. Infinite reserve ammo, burning on every hit, and animals it kills drop already-cooked meat. That is a food engine that does not need a campfire — the single biggest quality-of-life win in the class, and the one that costs nothing.
• The class does not buff the crossbow. One wiki line puts it bluntly: if you obtain an Infernal Crossbow on any other class, "you basically turn into a fire bandit," because the perks hang off your other tools, not the crossbow. That is a single-source claim, but it matches everything else here, so treat the crossbow as a weapon you own rather than a special effect.

Which raises the obvious question: you can get that crossbow for free. The Volcano ritual pays it out at roughly 24 charges, the Infernal Chests can carry it, and the Cultist King drops one or the other at random. None of those are cheap in time. The class is the instantaneous route, not the exclusive one.

The Two Counters, and Why Only One of Them Matters

This is the part every guide glosses over. The Fire Bandit levels on two separate meters, and they are not the same kind of work:

Both must be filled. They are not interchangeable, and the second one is the problem.

Our reading of the arithmetic: every fire kill requires that the enemy was set on fire at some point before the killing blow, so one fire kill is worth at least one ignition. If the ignition that starts the fire also ticks the ignition counter — which no source confirms either way — then a player who grinded purely for fire kills would fill 250 of the 500 ignition slots and stall. There would be nothing left to do.

The same sources show the fix, and they file it under tips rather than mechanics: setting the same enemy on fire repeatedly does count. Re-igniting a foe that is already burning ticks the ignition counter again. That turns the ignition meter from "number of distinct things you set on fire" into a number of ignition events, which is farmable without finding extra bodies. It also tells us the counter counts events rather than enemies, otherwise re-igniting would be pointless advice.

So the level-2 grind is not two parallel quests. It is one quest where the kill meter is easy and the ignition meter is the wall — and the wall is only passable if you accept that most of your ignitions will not be kills.

How long this takes. No source publishes a time. What we can do is total the meter. Read as a running total — the same reading we use on the Poison Master — the full climb to Level 3 is 350 fire kills and 700 ignition events. If each level keeps its own meter that resets, it is 250 and 500, which is 150 fire kills and 200 ignitions cheaper. Whether the counters carry across runs is not stated anywhere, and that single fact decides whether this is a two-night job or a ten-night job. We record it as unknown rather than pick one.

The Three Levels

Level 1 — the product, not an upgrade

Covered above. Its value is entirely at the start of the run and decays from that moment.

Level 2 — where the class becomes a class

"Your other tools have a chance to set enemies on fire" is the real perk. Sportskeeda and The Illuminiate both note the intended target: your starting axe included. Anything you swing can now start a burn, and the chance rises the more hits you land on the same target — two independent sources agree on both details.

This is what makes the class a fire class instead of a crossbow class. From here you can run a melee build and still be a pyro, which is why Level 2 is the level worth planning for and Level 3 is mostly a rounding error on a long run. BreezeWiki's only real criticism of the perk is that the burn it applies is not dramatic damage — which is a fair description of what a "chance to ignite" perk is.

Level 3 — 10% extra Wildfires from chests

One chance in ten that any chest you open also gives you a Wildfire. Two things about it:

• It is a supply trick, not a combat perk. You are converting chest openings into limited explosives. Nothing about your damage changes.
• One source adds an exception we could not corroborate: the bonus reportedly does not trigger on Diamond Chests. Single source, no second opinion. We pass it on because it changes where you farm, not because we can confirm it.

What Counts, and What Does Not

The counting rules are where this class gets surprising, and they are mostly undocumented:

• Bunny kills do not count. Neither counter can be filled by bunnies, which are the easiest thing on the map to kill in bulk. If you have been grinding rabbits, you have been grinding nothing. This is the same quirk the Assassin has with its no-damage kills.
• You do not need the fire weapon equipped to get the kill credit. Landing most of the damage with any weapon and finishing with a fire weapon counts as a fire kill. So the crossbow's role is to start burns, not necessarily to close them.
• Re-igniting the same enemy counts — see the counter section. This is your ignition farming method.
• Cooked food comes from the kill, not the class. Any animal dying to fire drops cooked meat or cooked morsels, so the ignition counter and your hunger are being filled by the same action. You are never doing a chore that is not also grinding.

Wildfire: What It Actually Does

Wildfire is a thrown explosive, closest to a Molotov: it lands, forms a temporary lava pool that lasts several seconds, and anything standing in it takes burn damage. It is a crowd tool, not a boss tool.

Three details that decide whether it is good or a liability:

1. It damages your teammates. Three separate sources state it plainly — enemies and allies standing in the lava get burned. Do not throw it into a brawl you intend to win by standing in.
2. Only enemies standing on the ground take the lava damage. BreezeWiki adds the stronghold detail: cultists stack on each other's heads, which is common, and only the bottom one is actually hit. So the same throw that looks like a five-cultist nuke can hit one body.
3. It is scarce by design. One starter charge, plus the Level 3 chest chance, plus luck from the biome's Hot Chests. There is no merchant and no reliable craft. Treat it as a panic button: a night invasion, a pack of animals between you and the campfire — not as a weapon you fire on cooldown.

One trick worth stealing: throw a Basketball first and watch where it lands, then throw the Wildfire at that spot. You get a free trajectory preview for your scarcest item.

How to Grind the Counters Fast

• Borrow a Flamethrower. Two guides give the same answer: run with a friend on the Pyromaniac and ask for their Flamethrower, then set and kill with it. This is by far the fastest documented route, and it is the one authentic reason to fire-bandit with a crew. (Pyromaniac has no page on this site yet.)
• Farm the Cultist Stronghold. The stronghold spawns more cultists the more players are in the run, which scales both counters at once. Use cover so you are throwing into a crowd rather than drawing the whole place onto you.
• Ignite, then switch. Land the ignition, then finish with something else if you need the kill meter more than the ignition meter — the two fill on different schedules.
• Do not waste Wildfires on the counters. The Wildfire kills fire-themed enemies, which fills the kill counter, but the Wildfire supply is the scarce resource and Level 3 exists to replenish it. Burn the crossbow and your melee.

Fire Bandit Against the Other 200-Diamond Classes

The shop forces one choice at this price, and the three are three different purchases:

• Against the Poison Master — Poison Master sells you a defence and a mechanic; the armour punishes melee attackers and Level 2 spreads poison on death. Fire Bandit sells you damage and food. If enemies come to you, Poison Master is the engine. If you want to shoot your way out of the first night, Fire Bandit.
• Against the Blacksmith — Blacksmith is the camp half of the price and its value expires once your bench reaches Tier 4. Fire Bandit's value is fully front-loaded too, but nothing retires it: the level perks keep working all run.
• Against the Pyromaniac (600) — the real rival for your fire slots, and the comparison the game itself forces: until Pyromaniac arrived, the Fire Bandit was the only class doing fire damage. Pyromaniac buys the Flamethrower outright for three times the price; Fire Bandit buys the same damage shape for a third of it plus a crossbow. That claim that Fire Bandit used to be the unique fire class is single-source.

Is It Worth 200 Diamonds?

Yes, with one question you have to answer honestly first: do you already own an Infernal Crossbow, or are you willing to earn one?

• Yes if you want the weapon on night one without running the volcano, or you have never owned one. Nothing else at 200 Diamonds gets you a ranged weapon and a food engine and a crowd-control consumable in the first five minutes. Combined with Level 2 making every weapon you pick up set things on fire, this is the strongest starting kit in the 200 bracket by a clear margin.
• No if you already have a crossbow from a previous run, or you are the kind of player who will go do the 24-charge ritual eventually. In that case you are paying 200 Diamonds for a starter Wildfire and two later perks, and the second counter will make you regret the price. On the other side of that same coin, this class is the only one of the three whose purchase does not expire and does not need a teammate who builds.
• The catch that applies to everyone: it is a four-star class, so it does not sit in the shop waiting. You can spend 200 Diamonds and still be waiting for stock. Budget for the wait as part of the cost.

The one-line version: Fire Bandit is the 200-Diamond class you buy when you want a weapon tonight. Poison Master is what you buy when you want a mechanic. Blacksmith is what you buy when someone else in the run wants a base.

Tips That Change How It Feels

• Double-click to shoot and reload. First click fires, second starts the reload; swap weapons while it loads. BreezeWiki notes the crossbow's reload is slightly shorter than the time an enemy stays set on fire — so the crossbow is ready again the moment the burn ends. That is the whole weapon loop, and it is why the crossbow stays relevant all run.
• Reload happens while the weapon is unequipped. You can keep a burn going on one target and recharge on another without standing still.
• Never buy the class for the crossbow alone if you play solo melee. Level 2's ignition chance is what turns your axe into a fire weapon; without it you are just a person with a scoped crossbow in a melee game.
• Do not throw Wildfire where your team is standing. It burns allies.
• Level 2 before you judge the class. The first hour feels like a crossbow. The second hour is a fire build.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• 200 Diamonds for a ranged weapon, a food engine, and an crowd-control explosive in one kit
• Infinite reserve ammo, so night waves never shut your only weapon off
• Animals killed by fire drop cooked meat — hunger stops being a trip back to camp
• Level 2 makes any weapon set enemies on fire, so it fits melee and ranged builds alike
• The class never expires or outlevels itself, unlike the Blacksmith's Tier 4 wall

Cons

• Level 1 is just the starter kit — the first "perk" is not until 100 fire kills
• The ignition counter (500) is the wall, and reaching it means igniting far more enemies than you kill
• Bunny kills do not count, which removes the easiest grinding target in the game
• Wildfire is scarce, damages allies, and can hit only one body in a stacked crowd
• Four-star stock means you may wait a long time to spend the Diamonds
• Only three levels — the progression curve is short and mostly front-loaded

Where Sources Disagree or Are Silent

• The 10% Wildfire exception (Diamond Chests excluded) comes from a single source. We mention it; we do not lean on it.
• Only ground-standing enemies take lava damage is also single-source, and it is the claim most likely to change how you throw the item.
• Whether the two counters carry progress across runs is silent, and it is the single biggest unknown in how long this class takes.
• Whether the ignition that causes a fire kill also counts toward the ignition counter is silent. Our whole "the second counter is the wall" argument rests on that gap being closed by re-ignition tips, which is why it is labelled a reading rather than a fact.
• Nowhere do we find a published damage number for Wildfire or for the Level 2 burn. Both are described qualitatively. Any page telling you those numbers exactly is inventing them.
• One note on sourcing: the requirement numbers above (100/200 and 250/500) are corroborated by the game's Fandom page, Deltia's Gaming, Sportskeeda and The Illuminiate. We deliberately did not take class mechanics from 99nightsintheforest.wiki, which is on our blacklist for fabricating perks on other classes. For this class its numbers happen to match — we did not need it, and we would not trust it for the rest.

FAQ

Is Fire Bandit the best class for beginners? For night one, yes — it is the cheapest class that hands you a real ranged weapon with infinite ammo and solves your food. It is not the best class to learn the game in, because the ignition counter punishes the habits new players have (killing bunnies, killing fast).

Why is my Fire Bandit not doing fire damage? Before Level 2, only the Infernal Crossbow and the Wildfire start fires. You cannot set anything alight with your melee until Level 2 lands.

Do bunnies help me level up? No. Bunny kills do not count toward either requirement, on any source we found — the same exclusion the Assassin has.

Does the Wildfire hurt my friends? Yes. Enemies and allies both take the lava damage.

Is the Infernal Crossbow better than the regular Crossbow? For this class it is the reason to own the class. It is stronger, it burns, its reload is slightly faster, and it does not replace the standard Crossbow so you can carry both. See How to Get the Infernal Crossbow.

Should I pay 200 Diamonds for the crossbow or do the volcano ritual? The ritual is free and pays out at roughly 24 charges, but it costs a full sacrifice run and it gives you the crossbow or the Infernal Sword. If you already have a strong melee weapon and want the ranged one tonight, buy the class. If you are going to be in the Volcanic Biome anyway, do the ritual.

Does the class still work after Level 3? Yes — unlike a tier-skipping crafting class, nothing here expires. The crossbow, the cooking and the Wildfire supply all keep working; only Level 3's chest bonus is a scaling effect.

Sources

Checked 2026-10-02. The 200-Diamond cost, the four-star / occasional stock status, the Infernal Crossbow + Wildfire starter kit, the Level 2 requirement of 100 kills with fire and 200 enemies set on fire, the Level 3 requirement of 250 and 500, the 10% chest bonus Wildfire, the "other tools can set enemies on fire" perk and the 20 September 2025 Volcanic Biome Part 2 release are consistent across the 99 nights in the forest Fandom page, Deltia's Gaming, Sportskeeda, The Illuminiate and BreezeWiki. The chance rising with repeated hits, the Starter Axe being one of the "other tools" and the Wildfire damaging allies are corroborated by Sportskeeda and The Illuminiate. The re-ignition counts, the "finish with a fire weapon after damaging with anything" rule, the bunny-kill exclusion, the ground-only lava damage, the Basketball trajectory trick and the Pyromaniac-Flamethrower grind are single-source (BreezeWiki, with the re-ignition and bunny rules also appearing on the blacklisted 99nightsintheforest.wiki, which we do not otherwise rely on). The "you turn into a fire bandit with any Infernal Crossbow" line and the Pyromaniac-uniqueness claim are single-source. No source publishes numbers for the Wildfire's lava damage, the Level 2 burn's damage, or any daily rate for the counters — those remain unpublished, and we have not estimated them.

Related Pages

• All Classes — the Fire Bandit at 200 Diamonds, and every other class's starter kit
• How to Get the Infernal Crossbow — the weapon this class hands you, and the free routes to it
• How to Get the Infernal Helmet — the volcanic helmet one source says pairs with this class
• Volcanic Biome — where the Wildfire chests are, and what else the biome threatens
• The Cultist King — the boss route to the same crossbow
• Poison Master — the other half of the 200-Diamond bracket
• Blacksmith — the third name at 200 Diamonds