darkSpyro

Just got back from picking up my collector's guide.

I have some serious cons with the guide.

The first con, is more game related. We've been hornswaggled into thinking there are 17 chapters, when there isn't... persay. Certain chapters are nothing more than boss fights. No map in the guide, very few objectives. I was looking forward to a longer game than Giants, but that may not be the case.

Also, Legendary Treasures do not boost your Skylanders Speed, Armor, etc. You get those from charms, which are earned throughout the game. Seems like there are 44 charms to collect to boost stats which apply to ALL Skylanders and are activated as soon as you get them, no matter what.

Another HUGE con to the guide, is they totally ignore the forgotten Skylanders. They only show them when it talks about the first two gams, but it doesn't show their upgrades like it did in the Giants guide. So, only expect to see the upgrades for the Skylanders that are being released in this game. This is a bad move in my opinion, as some people may want to ditch past guides in favor of a guide that has all of the info they need.

It has a wealth of information. I guess that's my only pro. However, ditching the upgrade information for Skylanders that are now forgotten, was a bad move. They're still part of the series, yet the guide shows them no love.

Does it have a checklist for all the skylanders and varients this time

Please post Trap Shadow and Dune abuts upgrades!

Two questions.

1. Then how many levels are there not including boss fights?
2. Does the guide tell you where the charms are?

Is there a list of in game variants like the last guide, and if so what are they? I would like to know so I can budget accordingly

Quote: johnsonsteven86

Does it have a checklist for all the skylanders and varients this time

To a point. It's very incomplete. For instance, when it shows the characters released for Giants, it only shows 4 of the 8 Lightcores. It doesn't show LC Prism, Hex, Drobot, and Eruptor. Only the LC newlanders.

However, it does show the alt decos for SSA and Giants, oddly. HOWEVER, it doesn't show all of the alt decos for Swap Force. For instance, it doesn't show World Cup Countdown, Jade Fire Kraken, Spring Time Trigger Happy, etc. So, the lists seem very incomplete. A huge flaw with this book.

Quote: ninja9351

Please post Trap Shadow and Dune abuts upgrades!

I can when I get back from grabbing some din din.

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Two questions.

1. Then how many levels are there not including boss fights?
2. Does the guide tell you where the charms are?

I'll answer 2 first. It says to get the charms, you need to beat Bonus Missions and Survival Arenas. I did a bit more looking into the charms and the Legendary Treasures, and they give you some pretty useless stats in my opinion. Looking at the both combined, there are a total of 3 Speed charms/treasure, and that Speed would total a whopping *sarcasm* 8 Speed increase. That's a fatal flaw if you ask me. Heroics, and beefing up Skylanders stats weren't broken... until VV got a hold of it and broke something that was never broken. HUGE FATAL FLAW! If TFB picks up on this crappy method of upgrading Skylanders, my interest in this franchise may just cease. I liked Heroics. I see no logical explanation as to why they were removed. I don't want my Skylanders walking so slow, but they can increase their Speed by only 8, which wouldn't make them walk any faster.

Some of the new stats are useless crap like Luck (why would you need luck in this game) and Pickup Range. This game will make my Skylander's stats feel the same, thus Skylanders no longer feel unique.

As for number 1, 5 of these so called chapters, are nothing more than boss fights. So, the whole 12 chapters thing was right, which is a serious letdown. 14 (that's including Sheep Wreck and Tower of Time) measly chapters for the hundreds of dollars worth of figures we're going to be buying is a serious buzzkill.

Quote: bluerosedruid

Is there a list of in game variants like the last guide, and if so what are they? I would like to know so I can budget accordingly

Somewhat. Refer to my first quot on this post for more info.

Hopefully stats will carry over, I plan on using S2 Spyro more than Mega Ram Spyro.

Honestly, with how much VV messed up this game in my opinion (lower amount of levels, no way to permanently upgrade Skylander stats) I wouldn't be surprised if they made it so S2 Skylanders from Giants didn't have their Wow Pows, all the while their stats won't carry over.

I feel sorry for the newlanders, seeing as they will be way nerfed compared to S1/2 Skylanders from SSA and Giants, if that's the case.

If possible could you post what smolderdashes attacks are? Not the upgrades but I mean attack 1,2, and 3.

Quote: GameMaster78

Honestly, with how much VV messed up this game in my opinion (lower amount of levels, no way to permanently upgrade Skylander stats) I wouldn't be surprised if they made it so S2 Skylanders from Giants didn't have their Wow Pows, all the while their stats won't carry over.

I feel sorry for the newlanders, seeing as they will be way nerfed compared to S1/2 Skylanders from SSA and Giants, if that's the case.

Well, apparently TfB and VV are working on Skylanders 4 together, so hopefully Heroic Challenges will come back.

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: GameMaster78

Honestly, with how much VV messed up this game in my opinion (lower amount of levels, no way to permanently upgrade Skylander stats) I wouldn't be surprised if they made it so S2 Skylanders from Giants didn't have their Wow Pows, all the while their stats won't carry over.

I feel sorry for the newlanders, seeing as they will be way nerfed compared to S1/2 Skylanders from SSA and Giants, if that's the case.

Well, apparently TfB and VV are working on Skylanders 4 together, so hopefully Heroic Challenges will come back.

Where`d that info come from?
(if true that better be the best dang skylander min the whole series)

I'm still not concerned with the level count since they said they levels will take longer to complete. I also thought they said the stat scaling was different. So the Speed stat cap might be 20 in which case 8 would be a lot. Does the guide say what the max stat is?

An entire chapter being nothing more than a boss fight? Whoa. I'm now thinking I scale back figure purchases to compensate.

I'm guessing they heard SO MANY COMPLAINTS that they merely "added" chapters just for the boss battles. I remember that 12 magically became 17 one day.

All of the stat dancing we've seen for the last several months tells me they dorked with everything.

I like the METHOD of stats in SSA/SG, but in reality other than speed non of them were REALLY necessary since the game was too easy. I hope this game is a challenge enough you feel YOU NEED to upgrade to stand a fighting chance..at least at higher difficulties.

So GM, is there a portal rank that is based off of BLUE skylander count? What does the portal rank give you? I'm trying to find out if there's any purchasing strong arming going on.

Lastly, is there any content that gets unlocked per figure?

I really wanna see Grim Creeper's upgrades!

Quote: GhostRoaster

An entire chapter being nothing more than a boss fight? Whoa. I might just hold off on my purchase until I know more about the game. I've been groaning all year about their focus on content. I have no problem telling them by going cold turkey if they didn't deliver. Or buy the game when it's $40 and only buy the swappers when they are on sale for $10 each.

Homey not playin' that.

Well I doubt it's that simple. I've always skipped those guides because their coverage of the level content has always been poor. I'm only paying $50 for day 1 so I'm not that concerned. The content will be there I have no doubt. I would still get it within the launch window for the $50 launch and keep it unopened until you get a better feel for it...I thought you were getting your for Xmas anyway?

Quote: GhostRoaster

An entire chapter being nothing more than a boss fight? Whoa. I might just hold off on my purchase until I know more about the game. I've been groaning all year about their focus on content. I have no problem telling them by going cold turkey if they didn't deliver. Or buy the game when it's $40 and only buy the swappers when they are on sale for $10 each.

Homey not playin' that.

IN LIVING COLOR!!!!

Anyway, on topic. It's too late for me, I've already nearly paid for my dark starter. At least I'm not getting everything. Only about the swappers, 2-3 reposes, roughly have the newladers, and LC or regular, not both unless I like the cahracter.

Even then day 1 will only be like $30-$50 spent.

Quote: Tigorus

Quote: GhostRoaster

An entire chapter being nothing more than a boss fight? Whoa. I might just hold off on my purchase until I know more about the game. I've been groaning all year about their focus on content. I have no problem telling them by going cold turkey if they didn't deliver. Or buy the game when it's $40 and only buy the swappers when they are on sale for $10 each.

Homey not playin' that.

Well I doubt it's that simple. I've always skipped those guides because their coverage of the level content has always been poor. I'm only paying $50 for day 1 so I'm not that concerned. The content will be there I have no doubt. I would still get it within the launch window for the $50 launch and keep it unopened until you get a better feel for it...I thought you were getting your for Xmas anyway?

I'm committed to Dark Starter (already paid for my son)...edited post to make more clear---I'll cut out figure purchases even further--especially if replay isn't there. I also need not pick up MY PS3 starter kit at TRU--I can wait until it's even cheaper and let my pre-order slip.

No one is playing the game until Christmas, so I'm in no rush for starter--I do however want to get the figures--but if content is a problem I'll scale back my purchases to strictly be new characters only---in this case...the 32. I'll cut out lightcores and reposes for their transgression.

I'll show the upgrades requested after dinner.

GR, I can say that Portal Master rank goes all the way up to 80, at the very least. That's what it takes to get a certain hat in the game. It may go higher. I will look at your question more after dinner.

Thank you. I wait with baited breath.

I really liked the completeness of the Giants guide for the characters. Keep in mind special in game variants were not covered there either-so that you know it wasn't EVER really complete.

Moving forward, if BradyGames wants my money for the guide, they need to include EVERY character known in the guide. lI can see not including in game variants not announced yet. At least from a historical perspective all of the old ones should be included.

Yeah, but this guide doesn't even attempt to cover characters like Voodood, Wrecking Ball, Bash, and any other Skylanders who didn't make the cut.

I thought with every guide, they would. It's like Pokemon forgetting certain Pokemon exist, just because they're in older games.

Quote: GameMaster78

Yeah, but this guide doesn't even attempt to cover characters like Voodood, Wrecking Ball, Bash, and any other Skylanders who didn't make the cut.

I thought with every guide, they would. It's like Pokemon forgetting certain Pokemon exist, just because they're in older games.

Only with pokemon it's more forgiveable, considering there are over 600 of them. With skylanders, it's no problem to remember them all.

Quote: GameMaster78

Yeah, but this guide doesn't even attempt to cover characters like Voodood, Wrecking Ball, Bash, and any other Skylanders who didn't make the cut.

I thought with every guide, they would. It's like Pokemon forgetting certain Pokemon exist, just because they're in older games.

Make sure Bradygames and VV gets this feedback...I do feel like someone dropped the ball. I know it's not a page count issue as my GTA 5 book weighs a ton.

Could you also post the upgrades for pop thorn when you get the chance?

Quote: GhostRoaster

An entire chapter being nothing more than a boss fight? Whoa. I'm now thinking I scale back figure purchases to compensate.

I'm guessing they heard SO MANY COMPLAINTS that they merely "added" chapters just for the boss battles. I remember that 12 magically became 17 one day.

All of the stat dancing we've seen for the last several months tells me they dorked with everything.

I like the METHOD of stats in SSA/SG, but in reality other than speed non of them were REALLY necessary since the game was too easy. I hope this game is a challenge enough you feel YOU NEED to upgrade to stand a fighting chance..at least at higher difficulties.

So GM, is there a portal rank that is based off of BLUE skylander count? What does the portal rank give you? I'm trying to find out if there's any purchasing strong arming going on.

Lastly, is there any content that gets unlocked per figure?

Okay, to answer the bolded. EVERYTHING you do in this game gives you stars. This game has a metric ton of accolades, unlike the past two games. A TON! There are 158 accolades in this game. All give between 1-3 stars.

There are accolades for registering blue base figures, like Giants before it. Infact, there's an accolade for registering 32 green, 8 giants, 30 orange, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 40, and 48 blue base.

There are accolades for playing with 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, and 256 Swap Force combinations.

I guess one good thing about this game, is 158 accolades will add to the longevity of the game. This game allows for each chapter to net you 9 stars, instead of 3, due to Time Attack and Score modes being unlocked after finishing any given level.

Hmmmm. On one hand I don't like that there are only the 12 'real' levels.
On the other hand, I do like having the bosses in their own level so you can go straight to them, and speed run the other levels without panicking about time spent putting down the boss.

I have enough figures from the first 2 games to cover all the elements, so unlocking areas shouldn't be an issue. As for the figures I don't buy every single one, just the ones I like.

For this game I will get several but not not all. I am getting the Dark Edition, Star Strike, Smolder Dash and Grim Creeper. I also like Zoo Lou so will get him, and I want the Nitro exclusive at Target with Rattle Shake. I will get Tower of Time because I want Pop Thorn, he's adorable.

I also ordered the exclusive Enchanted Hoot Loop from Walmart.

I'll get the LC Flashwing after I get these, I will probably be done for awhile. I am not sure how many others there are after that but those are the ones I am looking for. I rarely get guides but I may get this one.

As for game length, it's all good. I am looking forward to playing it and I still play SSA and Giants. I play through a level and tend to go back and play again with another character. I enjoy the game and the characters I get are fun. Plus I play with my family so there's more play time as well. So I will do that with Swap Force as well.

Most every game I own I go back to at some point that's why for the series I don't mind investing in figures I like. I use them again. I am used to spending on figures anyway since I collect Star Wars figures so at least these do something compared to little R2s just sitting on a shelf lol

Do you think you can post a list of the upgrades, now?

Wow, It seems like with nothing even close to comparable to HCs (and even the HC work done with prior Skylanders possibly becoming moot) that there won't be very much to play for once the game is beaten on nightmare. It seems like when you think they would be thinking of ways to make people WANT to keep playing the game into the cycle, they are reducing it. I'm glad I'm not planning on dumping as much $$$ into this game as SG and SSA, the replay value doesn't seem to be there.

Well I look forward to hearing the upgrades for and my two favorite Skylanders in Swap Force. They must be super powerful.

Well, getting to the max Portal Master rank won't be easy. It will take a while. You need rank 80 and to beat the game on Nightmare, to get the hat normally gotten from beating Nightmare. Just to hit rank 80, you would need 480 stars.

What do you mean by upgrades, Mrm? People asked me to post Smolder, Grim, and Pop Thorn's upgrades. I took pics and am going to post those instead. If you mean a list of what every charm and Legendary Treasure gives stat wise, that would take a very long time, as there are 48 Legendary Treasures and 44 Charms.

If you mean upgrades for a specific character, I think I can manage that.

Quote: GameMaster78

Well, getting to the max Portal Master rank won't be easy. It will take a while. You need rank 80 and to beat the game on Nightmare, to get the hat normally gotten from beating Nightmare. Just to hit rank 80, you would need 480 stars.

What do you mean by upgrades, Mrm? People asked me to post Smolder, Grim, and Pop Thorn's upgrades. I took pics and am going to post those instead. If you mean a list of what every charm and Legendary Treasure gives stat wise, that would take a very long time, as there are 48 Legendary Treasures and 44 Charms.

If you mean upgrades for a specific character, I think I can manage that.

I, (and I assume Ghostroaster617) was talking about upgrades for a specific character

Quote: Tel Prydain

Hmmmm. On one hand I don't like that there are only the 12 'real' levels.
On the other hand, I do like having the bosses in their own level so you can go straight to them, and speed run the other levels without panicking about time spent putting down the boss.

I hope this means the boss battles are more involved.

Quote: GameMaster78

Okay, to answer the bolded. EVERYTHING you do in this game gives you stars. This game has a metric ton of accolades, unlike the past two games. A TON! There are 158 accolades in this game. All give between 1-3 stars.

There are accolades for registering blue base figures, like Giants before it. Infact, there's an accolade for registering 32 green, 8 giants, 30 orange, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 40, and 48 blue base.

There are accolades for playing with 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, and 256 Swap Force combinations.

I guess one good thing about this game, is 158 accolades will add to the longevity of the game. This game allows for each chapter to net you 9 stars, instead of 3, due to Time Attack and Score modes being unlocked after finishing any given level.

Is there a reward for getting every single accolade---or do they temper it? In other words, do these things impact game completion (likely) and how much of a threshold will I have? I guess I need to concede I won't have game completion unless I buy every stinking character.

That's absolutely both nuts and cool that they added an accolade to MAKE YOU try all 256 combinations.

No content unlocked for a feature except it goes towards a stat to upgrade portal master status?

So, what do you get with your portal master status? A cookie

Quote: Zylek

Wow, It seems like with nothing even close to comparable to HCs (and even the HC work done with prior Skylanders possibly becoming moot) that there won't be very much to play for once the game is beaten on nightmare. It seems like when you think they would be thinking of ways to make people WANT to keep playing the game into the cycle, they are reducing it. I'm glad I'm not planning on dumping as much $$$ into this game as SG and SSA, the replay value doesn't seem to be there.

They appear to be focusing on a lot of in game tasks/accomplishments (aka Infinity) and less on figure upgrades (aka Toys to Life). I like the former, but I didn't want the later to go away. I'm confused.

I want someone to put a figure on that has been reset and compare it to a fully upgraded figure. I'd like to see the qualitative stat differences.

Doom stone wind up fire kraken trap shadow grim creeper dune bug night shift
If you gave us these upgrades i would love you forever... No homo lol

Yes I was referring to upgrades to characters. I just want to know what , , and upgrades were so I can have a better idea of their potential and attacks.

Now thats a huge letdown..... whatsoever, could you post Star Strikes upgrades?

Can you post a pic of the exclusive Topps card, GM?

Quote: GameMaster78

Yeah, but this guide doesn't even attempt to cover characters like Voodood, Wrecking Ball, Bash, and any other Skylanders who didn't make the cut.

I thought with every guide, they would. It's like Pokemon forgetting certain Pokemon exist, just because they're in older games.

Welcome to the flaw of guides, that's how they work. Imagine how I feel when I see those guides for games in general and gamers cite everything in that one book as the only facts in game.

On one hand, I like boss battles getting their own chapter because it means we will have more chapters filled with action and not bogged down by puzzles again. On the other hand, it seems like a lazy way to say that they have more chapters without actually designing anything extra, and the boss battles in Giants weren't strong enough on their own anyway.

And the huge lopside to in-game longevity, virtually REMOVING the longevity and customisation of EACH FIGURE and the point to them, is still a massive con to me. I think that they should have added more longevity to the game, but longevity with each character was just as, if not more important. I played the game because I loved how the figures were integrated and it seems like they have really nerfed that to hell.

I saw Wash Buckler and Blast Zone today at a demo at Target, Highpoint and it was pretty cool but it's not selling it for me.

I don't think I'll be collecting this game any more. I'll give it a shot by buying and returning it if I don't like it enough, but I get the impression that I'm not going to like it enough.

I know this post sucks because I haven't been writing to well lately, but basically...
Quote: GhostRoaster

They appear to be focusing on a lot of in game tasks/accomplishments (aka Infinity) and less on figure upgrades (aka Toys to Life). I like the former, but I didn't want the later to go away. I'm confused.

I think you guys are making your opinions way too soon. You should at least play the game, try it and see by yourself instead of making your opinion through a guide. Maybe the game is way more fun than what you can see from the guide?

It's like judging the game with a couple of screenshots instead of trying it to judge. It's not the same experience at all. Sometimes, something on paper seems really boring but ends up to be really fun and nicely done when you try it.

It doesn't mean that we can't share our impressions.

Sure, it's different from playing the game, but it does make an impact. Plus... There are plenty of games that made me really excited that I ended up incredibly disappointed with.

Besides, they are doing things that really do make a massive impact and we may not even need to try to know it will be too big an issue. I. Absolutely. Hate. How. The. Figure. Customisation. Is. In. This. Game. And that's the reason I bought into the first two. It's not looking like they added anything to them to make up for it, and focusing more on in-game, which would be fine if this game didn't have that gimmick and was just a game.
But it does. It should focus on that, because it made it unique. Without much of a point to the figures, this just feels like a game, not a toys to life game. It's not a nessicarily bad game, but is it worth it for them to even have the figures with it at this point?

Maybe there's some surprise waiting for us, but we haven't seen it. So we share our opinions on what we have seen. That's an impression for ya...

It's just that judging that we won't play Skylanders anymore by judging by some impressions from a guide seems a bit extreme to me, and soon? I just wanted to calm down people and tell them they should at least try it before wanting to stop their passion due to some information in a guide.

I'm not telling you you can't share your opinions haha, it's a forum, it's its purpose, I just hope that the fans won't get dragged by some information from a guide.

Haha fair enough This forum needs as much calming-down as possible.

My questions are actually about the guide itself since I'm thinking of buying one. Since you're saying "collectors" I'm going to guess you got the more expensive one, but please feel free to correct me if my assumption is off.

1. If you did, in fact, get the more pricey guide, do you feel that it was worth the extra money?

2. Is the guide clear and legible, or does it have design flaws? (My aunt and I both pre-ordered the guide for Animal Crossing New Leaf back in June and that was HORRID. Black print on dark green backgrounds should *never* happen in a hand held guide. Never. -shudder- )

3. How complete is the guide? Does it tell where various items are collected in each level? Does it offer boss strategies (I'm guessing yes based on what I've read above.) How detailed is the information on each character's abilities and skill trees? Does it simply present the facts, or does it go into what might be smart ways to build the characters? (That last bit would be a bonus.)

4. How is the guide artistically? Does it have pictures of the characters? Are charts / tables / lists for information presented in ways that make sense and are they readable?

5. Overall, do you feel that the guide is a good value? What purpose(s) do you feel this guide could actually serve? Is it going to help someone play the game, find hidden things, and have an overall better experience (sort of like getting a tourist guide if traveling somewhere) or is it something for fans to purchase on an artistic level to complement the game? (Or does it just suck? )

Feel free to answer whatever you feel comfortable with here as some of these things are bound to be subjective. The hardcover guide is available for $22 on Amazon.ca and I'm tempted to grab it, but I *really* don't need another round of game guide buyer's remorse this year.

I don't know if it is what you were looking for Katallina for your first question, but on the Brady website, they state this:

Only in the Collector's Edition:

This hardcover guide includes swapable paper craft MegaModels of Wash Buckler and Blast Zone.
Exclusive Topps Rainbow Foil Character Card - a must-have for every fan!

I pre-ordered the Collector's Edition and I'll pick it up with my order sunday. I don't think the "extras" worth it, but I always prefered hard covers, so this is what I paid for mostly, the hard cover...

Arc of Archives: With the next Skylanders coming soon, I'm pretty sure it needs, we are all a bit excited and some are really reticent with all the changes that have been made in the game. I know how passionate many of us are about this game, which is why it's easy to understand that some might be pissed to see their favorite game changes so much as well, and be disappointed.

Can we have the upgrade pages now?

Ninja, GM has a life and those pages might be numerous, give him some time

Quote: Reimu

Ninja, GM has a life and those pages might be numerous, give him some time

Yeah, and when you get the chance can you show new wow pow?

Hey GM, I know you said you were having your dinner, but could you hurry up and scan in every page and PM me direct?
/sarcasm

Seriously guys, members who are generous enough to share info should not be harassed into doing it, and might not appreciate personal requests.

There was another topic where the OP got the game early but was so put off by our demands he didn't post anything. Have some respect, it is beneficial for the community in the long run.

BTW thanks for all the pics so far GM, much appreciated.

Wow he is eating a lot for dinner

I told people it's kinda like Disney Infinity now. The rank system on that is separate than the character system. Maybe more people will believe it now.