darkSpyro

This question applies to all Skylanders games, I just put it here since it'll get the most traffic here.

How much would I actually miss out on if I only played the base game? I like to reach 100% in my games and there are tons of awesome characters, especially in Trap Team, but it's just so prohibitively expensive to even buy all the toys needed to get into all the areas and mini games. So if I bought the base game and nothing beyond that, how much real content would I miss out on? Just scenery and some collectibles or are there some proverbial gems hidden behind those locked gates?

Well to put it on perspective, the Elemental gates need one skylander of each element for every game except Trap Team and Superchargers, so from SSA to Swap Force you can open a good chunk of the gates using the starter pack toys you get(By the time you reach Swap Force, if you kept all the starter toys, you'll have 7 elements at least.)
Elemental Gates have a puzzle or two and you get collectibles from them.
Swap Force introduces dual element gates which contain collectibles and force you to A) Have a swap force that combines those two elements or B )Use one Skylander of each element on Co-op mode.
Swap Force also has Swap Zones, which contain minigames on them and unlock more minigames or collectibles.

There are also Adventure Packs, which contain extra stages AND Battle packs which contain new arenas.

Trap Team and Superchargers tho' you need one Trap Master of each element to open the gates, so no way of opening any gates other than buying Trap Masters. You also will miss quite a bit on the villain gimmick, since most of the game involves defeating and collecting villains.

Superchargers has vehicle gates, no elemental gates or anything else, you just need the three vehicle types and you can play pretty much everything of the main game

On the original game you'll miss a few collectibles, and four stages.
Giants, you'll miss a few collectibles again and some battle arenas.
Swap Force, collectibles, battle arenas AND two stages.
Trap Team, Collectibles and four stages.
Superchargers, chunks of the main stages, but most of them are vehicle only chunks of the game so I don't think you miss that much, and racing tracks, where you can beat and collect new racers.


So overall SSA you won't miss that much, Giants you won't miss almost anything, Swap Force, the stages are already long enough without all the gates and zones so you'll probably want to skip them anyways, Trap Team you won't miss anything for the main game but lose some fun without some extra traps, and Superchargers, you won't miss almost anything like Giants.

Cool, thanks RK. About the traps though, does one trap hold one enemy? Can you release an enemy at any time to free up your trap? Do I need at least one trap of each element?

Quote: ClassicSpyroLUV

Cool, thanks RK. About the traps though, does one trap hold one enemy? Can you release an enemy at any time to free up your trap? Do I need at least one trap of each element?

Traps can hold one enemy at the time, but can be used for all of them. The limitation is that you can only switch in the hub, so whoever you pick up there you'll use the whole chapter unless you have more traps for extras.

Quote: Bifrost

Quote: ClassicSpyroLUV

Cool, thanks RK. About the traps though, does one trap hold one enemy? Can you release an enemy at any time to free up your trap? Do I need at least one trap of each element?

Traps can hold one enemy at the time, but can be used for all of them. The limitation is that you can only switch in the hub, so whoever you pick up there you'll use the whole chapter unless you have more traps for extras.

Wait a minute, so I only need one trap for the whole game; they're not element specific? For example I can put an undead villain in a water trap? Cool!

Ah I thought so.

However, just Life and Water are pretty good if you want to dip your toes in villain gameplay. Getting both gives you 12 villains and a few are pretty good too.

Quote: RK

Well to put it on perspective, the Elemental gates need one skylander of each element for every game except Trap Team and Superchargers, so from SSA to Swap Force you can open a good chunk of the gates using the starter pack toys you get(By the time you reach Swap Force, if you kept all the starter toys, you'll have 7 elements at least.)
Elemental Gates have a puzzle or two and you get collectibles from them.
Swap Force introduces dual element gates which contain collectibles and force you to A) Have a swap force that combines those two elements or B )Use one Skylander of each element on Co-op mode.
Swap Force also has Swap Zones, which contain minigames on them and unlock more minigames or collectibles.

There are also Adventure Packs, which contain extra stages AND Battle packs which contain new arenas.

Trap Team and Superchargers tho' you need one Trap Master of each element to open the gates, so no way of opening any gates other than buying Trap Masters. You also will miss quite a bit on the villain gimmick, since most of the game involves defeating and collecting villains.

Superchargers has vehicle gates, no elemental gates or anything else, you just need the three vehicle types and you can play pretty much everything of the main game

On the original game you'll miss a few collectibles, and four stages.
Giants, you'll miss a few collectibles again and some battle arenas.
Swap Force, collectibles, battle arenas AND two stages.
Trap Team, Collectibles and four stages.
Superchargers, chunks of the main stages, but most of them are vehicle only chunks of the game so I don't think you miss that much, and racing tracks, where you can beat and collect new racers.


So overall SSA you won't miss that much, Giants you won't miss almost anything, Swap Force, the stages are already long enough without all the gates and zones so you'll probably want to skip them anyways, Trap Team you won't miss anything for the main game but lose some fun without some extra traps, and Superchargers, you won't miss almost anything like Giants.

IDK why I didn't ask earlier, but what exactly do you mean by stages? Levels, a part of a level as in a new area? How much game play do you miss time wise?

Adventure Packs unlock entire new levels, not part of already exsisting ones.

SA's (Pirate Seas, Empire of Ice, Darklight Crypt and Dragon's Peak) are more or less the same lenght of one of the game's basic levels.
SWAP Force's (Tower of Time and Sheep Wreck Island) are much quite longer because the basic levels themselves are longer.
Trap Team's (Mirror of Mystery, Nightmare Express, Midnight Museum and Sunscraper Spire) vary in terms of lenght and content: the former two are shorter and "faster" while the others are longer and have more things to do and places to explore.

They all come with Elemental Gates of some kind, collectables and in case of Trap Team a few new villains.

You might want to grab at least them since they all come with one new Skylander (the last two come with the Light and Dark Trap Masters instead of Cores like the others) and two Magic Items (in case of the last two they come with Light and Dark traps).

SuperChargers' "Adventure Packs", called Racing Action Packs simply improve the racing-related part of the game but they do come with new characters and vehicles (even if I'm pretty sure you can find the majority of them as Single Packs by now).

I have another question about Trap Team, can traps be used by non-Traplander Skylanders, or just Traplanders? If only Traplanders can use traps, do the elements have to match up? Do I need a Tech Traplander to use a Tech trap and catch a Tech villain or can I do it with a Water Traplander and a Tech trap?

Quote: ClassicSpyroLUV

I have another question about Trap Team, can traps be used by non-Traplander Skylanders, or just Traplanders? If only Traplanders can use traps, do the elements have to match up? Do I need a Tech Traplander to use a Tech trap and catch a Tech villain or can I do it with a Water Traplander and a Tech trap?

Anyone can use traps, no elemental bonuses either. Trap Masters only interact with villains by dealing double damage when in a boss battle, which only really matters in Nightmare Mode.

Thank God! Which traps are best? I know life and water were mentioned, but any others? I like a good balance of speed in my characters and I absolutely HATE slow characters if that helps. Also do the different trap designs hold any meaning or is it purely cosmetic and only in place to encourage collectors to empty their wallets?

Trap designs are purely cosmetic, though there are a few that hold Variant villains - only difference is color of ONE villain that comes with it,don't worry.
On villains, it really depends on who you like. Most of them you can bet are pretty slow since they're supposed to be meat shields and 'I win' buttons, but it's all evenly spread out in the elements and there's always someone that most people say is kinda worth it.
Except Slobber Trap,but he's in Water along with Threatpack who is amazing so it cancels itself out.

I have a similar question about Superchargers, can I use Spitfire for example with any vehicle for any terrain or element, or do I need a magic or water character for a magic based boat? Or can I definitely use Spitfire with the Air Slicer or Soda Skimmer for example? Also how do the vehicles differ? Are some faster, do they have weapons, which are the fastest/strongest?

Any character can drive any vehicle. Except for Supercharging-related events, the driver doesn't matter.

They differ slightly in stats like speed and handling, and some are very much better than others. Can't help with that though, I just have the digital one the game provides.