Skylanders Research: Eon's Elite Gill Grunt Upgrade Paths and Attack Damage Numbers

Elite Gill Grunt Base Upgrades

Elite Gill Grunt Harpooner Upgrade Path

Elite Gill Grunt Water Weaver Upgrade Path

Elite Gill Grunt Attack Damage Numbers

Skylanders Research: Eon's Elite Eruptor Upgrade Paths and Attack Damage Numbers

Elite Eruptor Base Upgrades

Elite Eruptor Magmantor Upgrade Path

Elite Eruptor Volcanor Upgrade Path

Elite Eruptor Attack Damage Numbers

Skylanders Trap Team Eon's Elite Complete Set and Bonus PanoramicBackgrounds

Skylanders Trap Team Eon's Elite Complete Set

Eon's Elite Panoramic Picture via 3D Lenticular Backgrounds

Skylanders Trap Team McDonald's Happy Meal Toys

As of today, you can now score some sweet Skylanders Trap Team toys in McDonald's Happy Meals!  The good folks at Activision have sent out a complete set for me to showcase for you.  Each figure has unique articulation...Additionally, as in the past, each toy has a coupon for $10 off a Trap Team Starter Pack, or $1 off a Single Figure.

Here is a numerical list for collectors:

1: Wallop
2: Food Fight
3: Pain Yatta
4: Wolfgang
5: Snap Shot
6: Wildfire

Once I get home from work I will get an unboxing video up...Stay tuned!

Which are your most anticipated figures?  How would you rate them overall?

Skylanders Trap Team Research: Enigma Upgrade Paths and Attack Damage Numbers

Enigma Base Upgrades

Enigma Chief of Staff

Enigma Invisible Invader

Enigma Attack Damage Numbers

Skylanders Trap Team Research: Flip Wreck Upgrades and Attack Damage Numbers

Flip Wreck Base Upgrades

Flip Wreck Sword Specialist Upgrade Path

Flip Wreck Fish Commander Upgrade Path

Flip Wreck Attack Damage Numbers

Skylanders Trap Team Research: Fling Kong Upgrades and Attack Damage

Fling Kong Base Upgrades

Fling Kong Disc Jockey Upgrade Path

Fling Kong Carpet Captain Upgrade Path

Fling Kong Attack Damage Numbers

Skylanders Trap Team Wave 5 Introductions: Enigma, Fling Kong, and Flip Wreck

Skylanders Trap Team Introduction #58 Enigma

Skylanders Trap Team Introduction #59 Fling Kong

Skylanders Trap Team Introduction #60 Flip Wreck

Skylanders Trap Team Wave 5 Unboxing Videos: Enigma, Fling Kong, and Flip Wreck

Skylanders Trap Team: Unboxing Enigma

Skylanders Trap Team: Unboxing Fling Kong

Skylanders Trap Team: Unboxing Flip Wreck

Skylanders Research: Wallop Upgrades and Attack Damage Numbers

Wallop Base Upgrades

Wallop Tantrum Thrower Upgrade Path

Wallop Hammer Handler Upgrade Path

Wallop Attack Damage Numbers

Conclusion

I opted not to write out my usual detailed analysis for several reasons.  First off, I am super tired,  Second, I'm not sure who all takes the time to read them (now is a great time to comment if you do, or if you prefer the write-ups OVER the videos).  And lastly and most importantly, Wallop's upgrades are just really, really straight forward.

I will offer my personal opinion though....Tantrum Thrower is in my opinion the better path.  The damage numbers are better and the fact that they occur in such rapid succession makes it a no brainer.  Toss in (ha, literally toss in) the Soul Gem and how it upgrades the Hammer Toss that is addressed by Hammer Handler and all the stars align to take Tantrum Thrower.  It is simple, plays easy, and will be an asset to both veterans and rookie players.

The only real reason to take Hammer Handler is if you either A-love the Hammer Toss (or equally hate the base hammer attack), or B-prefer long range combat.  Obviously, this path is geared to keeping a long range, at least if you play the path to it's full potential.  However, what I have seen in Trap Team rarely lends you to a true "distance" battle.  You almost always have multiple enemies at varying distances.  The other weakness with this path is that Wallop is simply not quick enough to retreat from said enemies to re-establish the path's benefits.  It seems to always evolve into a scenario where Tantrum Thrower would be your best option.

Skylanders Research: Fist Bump Upgrades and Attack Damage Numbers

Fist Bump seems to fly under everyone’s radar, and after upgrading him I have no clue why there hasn’t been more chatter about him!  Great story, unique abilities, and an awesome upgrade tree!

Box Stock

Fist Bump is one of those classic, “Eh, not that great” characters box stock.  While I appreciate the proficiency of the primary attack and found a nice tie in with the primary and secondary, most seem to see the numbers and be unimpressed.  The Panda Pound does 50-75 and the Fault Line Slam deals 32-48 when up close on impact, or 35-52 from a distance with a nice 44-66 uprising when a fault line is hit with Panda Pound.  However, it is important to note Fist Bump has a nice jump slam attack from the get-go with a 175-262 hit!  There is also a 1-2-3 Combo that deals 50-75, 50-75, 140-210 you have to factor in…Since a lot of people overlook the jump slams and combos, it is very important to make note of them.

Base Upgrades

Seismic Slide is the tertiary attack and it deals 72-108 on impact and actually generates a fault line…The fault line remains the same as the standard secondary attack and will deal 44-66.  Panquake is up next and while it keeps the Panda Pound at 50-75, it also makes mini fault cracks that come in handy later.  If you jump attack it, you now create instant fault lines to go with the powerful 175-262.  Hold the Line simply extends the reach of the fault lines, which is always nice.  Don’t Bump Fist Bump is almost like armor, but falls more in the self-defense field.  When you are hit by an enemy and have fault lines on the field you will see the faults are triggered and generate the 44-66 uprising damage.

Rowdy Richter Upgrade Path

This is a pretty solid path, particularly because of A Bolder Boulder (doesn’t that sound like a Rocky Roll Upgrade?).  Fault Lines in Glass Houses adds small stones that can shoot up from pounded fault lines…they are more visual than anything as they only deal 10-15 damage.  Quake’N’Bake is a two-fold increase of the standard fault line.  The usual 35-52 impact damage is now 49-73 and the 44-66 uprise damage is bumped to a very nice 62-93.  A Bolder Boulder wraps up the path and it interjects the possibility of having a spiked boulder.  You still have the small stones that deal 10-15 damage, but every 4-6 small stones you will see one of the spiked boulders…the spiked boulders do an incredible 100-150!  It is also worth noting that this looks really cool…The most functional way I saw to play this path was to fire off a few fault lines and then start Panquake.  In addition to getting the 62-93 from the risers and additional damage from the small stones and spiked boulders, if an enemies are left after the fault lines expire you can keep spamming Panquake and take advantage of the small fault cracks generating the stones and spiked boulders…You will miss out on the uprising damage, but that is easy to offset with a moderate ground pound coupled with the stone projectiles.

Bamboo Bonanza Upgrade Path

Man, what a path!  I had the pre-drawn conclusion that Rowdy Richter would be the hard hitting path and was simply holding hope that the bamboo explosions did more than 16 damage and the health regen was more than +5 at a time…Both fears were put to rest!  Healing Bamboo is up first and it spawns within fault lines you create…The bamboo deals a very respectable +15 Health!  The game stays you have to “slide into it” which would imply the tertiary attack, Seismic Slide must be used but that is no the case.  You can simply walk into it, or I found that often times the bamboo spawns so close to you, you just auto absorb the health increase!  Sliding into it is advantageous though as it will generate even more fault lines with bamboo!  So what if you are at full health, or need the damage output more than gaining a little back?  Well, Bamboo Harvest takes that into consideration.  If you have created a few fault lines and have bamboo all across the screen, you can do your jump slam attack and create bamboo explosions to the tune of 80-120 damage with each go around!  Lastly, “Jump For It!” makes the jump slam attack much quicker and generates 2 fault lines, which yes…have bamboo!!  Overall this is an awesome combination of offense and defense and a path I can’t help but prefer!

Soul Gem

Riding the Rails transforms Fist Bump into quite the juggernaut.  It is quite possible you could take out hordes of garden variety enemies like Chompies and some mid-tier enemies without actually doing anything aside from moving!  You might think that this Soul Gem would suit Rowdy Richter better, but I would gladly debate that.  While Rowdy Richter will get more results from the uprisings and stones and boulders launching, Bamboo Bonanza lets you cash in on +15 Health, or great access to ready made bamboo to detonate with an Air Panda Pound!  The Soul Gem plays beautifully into either path and truly does make Fist Bump a force to be reckoned with!

Attack Damage

Conclusion

Fist Bump upgrades very well down either path.  Personally, I would have to rate Bamboo Bonanza as the better option.  Rowdy Richter is great for those who want to spam the primary attack, or simply approach enemies with a base skill (Seismic Slide or firing off a few fault lines) and the revert back to the tandem compatibility of using Panda Pound.  The spiked boulders are lethal and you can make quite a dent on most enemies before they are up close for melee combat.  Bamboo Bonanza really isn’t that far behind Rowdy Richter’s damage output and offers health regeneration!  The versatility of Bamboo Harvest, which lets you blow up the bamboo if it will better function in that manner than in regenerative fashion really seals the deal.  Having the jump slam sped up and spawning fault lines with bamboo encourages you to utilize Fist Bump’s most powerful attack AND make use of his tertiary attack for quick recovery.  It is one of the better paths I have seen in Trap Team and I truly believe he is in the running for being the most versatile of all the core Skylanders in this game!

Skylanders Trap Team Research: Gusto Upgrades and Attack Damage Numbers

I have never really heard much chatter about Gusto, aside from people saying they don’t like him…I have used him a lot in my blind playthrough and actually really like him.  Then again, I tend to be both a boomerang and weather fan, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Box Stock

Gusto’s primary attack, Traptanium Boomerang, is straight forward and simple.  It deals 80-120 2-3x.  If you tap the primary attack button while it is out, the boomerang will return quicker.  Inhaler is his secondary attack.  It allows you to inhale enemies (16-24 damage) and then spit them out.  Your impact exhale does one instance of 64-96 and if you hold it down, you can deal 16-24 multiple times over about 8 seconds, which is also how long you can hold inhale.  They combine for a good tandem in my opinion and each one has pretty good range.

Base Upgrades

 The Breath of Life seems more like a Soul Gem to me.  It allows you to inhale enemies AND gain HP.  However, it is the amount of HP you gain that strikes me as “soul gem” territory.  I expected 3-8 to the range, and was shocked to see +20!  That means 5 enemies can regen 100 Health!  Nothing to argue about with this being our first base upgrade!  Twistin’ in the Wind is Gusto’s tertiary attack.  You can press, or hold the button and do 2 or 3 counts of 33-49 respectively.  This is a cool move just because of how fun it looks.  Electro-Rang is up next and it really delivers.  This is a progressive, charged attack.  You have three tiers of damage based on the hold time: 1 Second=104-156, 2 Seconds=136-204, and 3 Seconds=200-300!  That is a lot of damage!  Plus, if you have to stop short of a full 3 seconds, you’ll still deal damage greater than the original 80-120.  Lots of Lungpower is hard to document as I saw no change in the inhale damage, exhale damage, or duration of inhale and exhale.  That said, I assume you can simply hold more enemies, which might come in handy when you spit them out.

Air Ace

Gusto’s Air Ace Upgrade Path addresses the Traptanium Boomerang.  Boom-erang is a three-fold enhancement!  The regular boomerang throw goes from 80-120 to 100-150.  The Electro-Rang also sees increases across all three tiers: 1 Second=130-195, 2 Seconds=170-255, 3 Seconds=250-375.  Lastly, and not advertised or mentioned is the fact that our tertiary attack, Twistin’ In the Wind, will now deal 66-99!  This is a really big deal because the 33-49 doesn’t even change on Dizzy Destroyer, a path dedicated to the tertiary attack!  Next up we have Rang Me Like a Hurricane.  Anytime the boomerang hits an enemy, it will spawn a mini hurricane that lasts about 8 seconds and does 15-22 damage.  Boomerang Buddies finishes the path off and allows you to have up to 3 orbiting Boomerangs that act as a shield.  They deal 10-15 damage and run for 25 seconds each if they take no damage.  If you have  3 active and trigger a 4^th, the previous three will shoot out in all directions.  Sadly, there is no “boom” factor, but they will still do the same 10-15 as when they orbit you.

Dizzy Destroyer

This path focuses entirely on the tertiary attack Twistin’ In the Wind.  Spin Like the Wind takes the short life cycle of Twistin ‘ in the Wind and ups it to 8 seconds.  Furthermore, when you hit enemies, you now spawn mini hurricanes.  Just like in Air Ace they seem to last about 8 seconds and deal 15-22 damage.  They move very quickly, but also erratically.  Shocking Twist lets you shock enemies.  Shockingly (pun not intended) this seems to not register any additional damage, but looks to slow enemies down a little bit.  Oddly enough, the base attack is still doing 33-49 like when we first got it.  Lightning Ball is really the highlight of this path.  You now instantaneously turn into the Lightning Ball and have a run time of 11 seconds.  In this state you can move very fast!  You do the same 33-49 damage, but the lightning ball will trigger electrocution and hurricanes as you roll thru enemies.

Soul Gem

Boomerang’s 4 Breakfast seemed like it would favor Air Ace, but that was not the case.  Both paths do the same damage with this Soul Gem.  In order to execute it you need to throw the boomerang and then inhale it.  You will know this happens when you don’t see your boomerang and Gusto’s belly is swollen.  Upon exhale, the boomerang registers a hit of 160-240 and then lets you hold exhale for a familiar 8 seconds, but at a greater damage rate of 64-96!

Gusto Attack Damage (Click to Enlarge)

Conclusion

I am not quite sure why more people don’t seem to talk about Gusto, but I suppose that is the fate of a few characters each game.  Dizzy Destroyer is unique and a lot of fun.  You can obliterate groups of weaker enemies and seriously weaken heavier hitting foes.  Once your times is up, you just head back into it.  There is no reason to NOT be in Lightning Ball if you select this path.  The only exception would be if you are critically low on health and need to regen some HP via Inhale.  This is the path for you if you like speed, simplicity, and/or don’t see yourself using the boomerang or inhale much.  Air Ace is the path to take if you are a boomerang fan, or enjoy the spectacle that is inhaling and spitting out your opponents.  I personally prefer Air Ace and not just because I like the boomerang.  Air Ace offers nice damage, a defensive ability, and actually increases the tertiary attack’s damage numbers!  It is mind boggling that Dizzy Destroyer maintains the same 33-49 the entire path for the one attack it is focused on!  I think Lightning Ball is great, but wouldn’t you like it better if you were doing 60-90 damage?  I also find it somewhat odd that the electrocution doesn’t do damage over time to enemies.  I see a lot of potential for Dizzy Destroyer and feel like it was cut short on that front.  I will continue to maintain that you can wreck a lot of enemies with Lightning Ball, but for something the encourages you to use 1 attack exclusively, I would have expected something more in terms of a damage count exceeding the debut numbers in our base upgrades.  That said, I would overall recommend Air Ace, but if you love the look of Lightning Ball, or just don’t like the primary/secondary (or feel that they are good as is), then you will not be disappointed with Dizzy Destroyer.  I can’t stress enough I like the path, but I find it very odd that the 33-49 perpetuated thru all the upgrades and electrocution was so lackluster.  As nit-picky as that sounds, I played around with both Gusto’s after the upgrades and took Dizzy Destroyer up a few levels just rolling thru enemies, lol.  I’d l just prefer to do so at a higher damage number.

Skylanders Trap Team Research: Echo Upgrades and Attack Damage Numbers

Echo has continued to impress me since I unboxed her.  She looked much better out of the packaging, delivered better damage than we expected (my Nephew helped in her Introduction), and continued that through her Base Upgrades and Upgrade Paths!

Box Stock

Echo’s Siren Scream deals out an impressive 111-166 over 5 Hits, or 8 Seconds.  The Bubble Bombs home in on enemies and deal 40-60, with a max of 2 Active at a time.  This makes a for a very solid, stock pairing!

Base Upgrades

Echo’s base upgrades themselves evolve her into a very formidable Skylander.  Sonic Slam is her tertiary attack and offers up a quick and instantaneous 140-210!  Pitch Control ratchets up both the damage and duration of Siren Scream.  The attack now deals 133-199 and lasts about 13 seconds and sends off 15 instances of damage if you are on target.  4-Beat is straightforward…you can now have 4 Bubble Bombs active at once AND they do more damage at 56-84.  Lastly, Subsonic creates an aftershock after Sonic Slam that covers a nice radius and deals 28-42, sometimes twice.

Bubble Up!

This is a great defensive path.  Bubble Shield lets you hold the secondary attack button for about 2 seconds and enter into a bubble.  While in the bubble, damage is reduced big time!  In testing, I took about 1/3 of an enemy’s actual damage (27 standard vs 9 in the bubble).  That alone is huge!  It also seems that the stock, 1 bubble covers around 24 or so in terms of damage before bursting.  Also of note are a few important details the game and strategy guide leave out.  First, you just hold the secondary attack button long enough to enter the bubble…there is no need to continue holding.  Second, you can stay in this mode indefinitely if you are not getting damaged.  Third, you can both move AND execute both your primary and secondary attacks while IN the bubble.  I was under the impression you would be in pure “defensive” mode and not have access to these attacks.  If you try to do the Sonic Slam you break the bubble at this point in the path…that is what I thought was going to happen if I used Siren Scream or Bubble Bombs.  Power Pop is up next and it makes the Bubble Bombs to max damage at 80-120, which is a pretty big jump and DOUBLE what we had box stock!  Burst My Bubble lets you use the tertiary attack to blow up the bubble.  The result?  140-210!  Also of note, I believe if you collect more bubbles while in the shield you will increase the durability AND explosive force.  You can collect up to 4 Bubbles.  The biggest explosion numbers I saw were 313-469.

Singalong

Singalong is the opposite of Bubble Up; this one is pure offense!  Ultimate Pitch Control lets you spam Siren Scream indefinitely.  The damage stays at 133-199, but it is nice for those who like a steady stream of a solid attack.  Scream Out lets you do a scream attack after any Siren Scream.  I have only seen a critical 199 in testing, but I suppose you might sometimes see 133.  I was a bit disappointed this wasn’t a slightly higher number range to differentiate it from the Siren Scream, but 199 is 199.  Ultrasound is where things really get interesting.  If you charge up Sonic Slam for 3 seconds, Echo goes into a semi-shielded mode where she will deal 28-42 3 times before firing this attack off…Also of note, you can manually fire it off before she automatically does with no loss of damage.  And what is that damage you ask?  How does 700-1050 sound?  Yep, easily one of the highest, non-Soul Gem, non-Wow Pow, not Elite attacks in all of Trap Team!  The three seconds really isn’t that hard to allocate either, especially given the rewards for making the time!

Soul Gem

Echo’s Soul Gem is pretty cool.  If you fire off a Bubble Bomb and hit it with Siren Scream, it turns into this large, blue orb of light and music that causes enemies to become entranced.  They can’t help but stare at the bubble and it deals 28-42 (40-60 Bubble Up!) over time and finishes with an 84-126 (120-180 Bubble Up!) explosion!  It is important to make note of my parentheses there…The Soul Gem is benefitted by Bubble Up’s Power Pop, which accounts for the difference between the damage sets.

Echo Attack Damage Numbers

Conclusion

Echo was very surprising.  I kind of expected the least from her in terms of what we had in Wave 4 and I would say she has over delivered at every interval (unboxing, stock, base upgrades, and paths).  She has two great paths and is very formidable on either.  If you like to play defensive, or prefer a more challenging path, Bubble Up is what you will want to take.  If you are more into big, “wow” type numbers and simplicity, you can’t go wrong with Singalong.  I think Bubble Up is the more balanced path, plus it does a bit extra for the Soul Gem and you still have the same 133-199 for Siren Scream via Pitch Control in the base upgrades.  The Bubble Shield is not to  be underestimated!  Burst My Bubble’s damage output really helps validate the offensive side of this defense oriented path.  However, Ultrasound is not your run of the mill upgrade and has to be regarded in that light.  The ability to infinitely spam Siren Scream coupled with a killer upgrade to Sonic Slam make that path just as formidable.  Oh, and I don’t believe I’ve mentioned Ultrasound has a HUGE radius!  Overall, you can’t go wrong with either one…If you like offense and big numbers, go with Singalong.  If you prefer defense and a more unique/challenging path, take Bubble Up.  If funds allow it, Echo would be a great Skylander to have one for each path!