Torch – Skylander Review
Torch is a new Fire core Skylander making her debut in Trap Team. As a child, Torch worked with her grandfather as a dragon keeper. They tended to a stable of dragons which protected their village. One year they were attacked by an evil Snow Dragon. The dragon unleashed a blizzard that froze her entire village in an ice glacier! Torch was the only one to escape. She immediately went to rescue her village and her dragons armed with her Firespout Flamethrower. She fought long and hard and eventually defeated the Snow Dragon in an epic battle. Once the village was free she returned home looking for her grandfather. But he wasn’t there, he was missing. All that Torch found was her grandfather’s lucky flaming horseshoe. Now that Torch is a Skylander, she uses her powerful Firespout Flamethrower and her grandfather’s lucky horseshoe to battle evil and hopefully one day will find the grandfather she lost.
Torch is one of the smallest non-mini Skylanders you will find. She is a relatively short human figure with a skinny body. Even her arms and legs are skinny without much muscle tone. Her skinny body is protected by a light leather apron and a pair of heavy leather gloves which she needs to protect her from some of the heat she must generate. She wields a flaming flamethrower which in comparison to her body, is almost as big as she is. What really stands out about Torch is her flaming hair, and the flames coming out of the barrel of the flamethrower. Combine that with her reddish orange skin and red eyes and there is no mistaking that she is a Fire element Skylander. She looks a little delicate but with all of the flames she holds, you can bet she packs quite a fiery punch.
Punch might not be the right word, as most of Torch’s attacks are ranged attacks. She never really hits anyone with anything physical, except maybe her hair, but even that is on fire. Her main attack comes from her flamethrower which shoots out a stream of burning damage. Just hold down the attack 1 button and let the burning begin. 
It starts off acting more like a melee attack with it’s short length and narrow stream of flames. But after a few upgrades it can be turned into a massive wider and longer range faucet of fiery destruction. With good placement Torch can burn enemies before they even get in close to her. However, should some enemies surround her, she does have an upgraded third attack which whips her flaming hair around damaging and knocking back and nearby enemies. Once that move is upgraded it acts more like a protective circle around her to keep enemies from getting too close. She does have another attack, but we found it to not be very useful. Her second attack throws a flaming horseshoe that sticks to enemies. This is her true ranged attack as it can be thrown quite a distance from the beginning. It was most useful before the flamethrower got upgraded. Once the flamethrower is upgraded though there is little use to throw something that might miss, when you can just open a stream of damage that travels almost as far. Of course there are two upgrade paths to choose from and we chose the Forged in Flames path which upgrades the flamethrower and hair whip attacks even more. The other path is called Maid of Metal and has upgrades to the Flaming Horseshoe attacks. That path sounds more interesting as the Flaming Horseshoe can actually be made to come to life to help attack enemies. But it ultimately doesn’t seem as easy as having a massively powerful flamethrower. Torch’s Soul Gem ability is called The Incinerator. It will cause the flamethrower to do triple the damage of the regular attack. However, you will loose some of the benefits of the Forged in Flames upgrade path and it has limited use before needing activated again. So while you may not use the attack often, it will be helpful against the toughest of enemies.
Overall Torch is another core character with one major but powerful attack: the Flamethrower. However, you can choose to add a bit more diversity to her attacks by choosing the Maid of Metal upgrade path. If you don’t then get ready to hold down one button and dish out a ton of pure fiery damage. She is as pure of a fire Skylander as you will find and one of the easiest to use. Her streaming damage though is not a unique concept. Gill Grunt has had the same kind of attack using a stream of water, and Blast Zone had flaming breath. Even Trigger Happy can shoot endless gold from his guns, but none of them do it as powerfully and as easily as Torch. She is also a good choice for the youngest gamer in the family as she is easy to understand and use. Though she might not be terribly unique her power and ease of use make her a Skylander worth considering.
SkylanderNutts gives Torch…
7.5 out of 10
Torch Video Review
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