darkSpyro

Update 1: Guide update with the inclusioms of Gill Grunt and Flip wreck. Swarm has been moved to the "Flying Skylanders with limitations". Other corrections and observations.

Update 2: Provisional Poll results table has been published, just below the guide.


Hi everybody,

I want to complete the guide for flying skylanders which you can see below. Since I do not own all of those, I would need your opinions and information contributions regarding the power of flight of all of these so I can complete the table, especially regarding the two new superchargers which seem to have the power of flight.

Additionally I think is a good opportunity to decide which are the best three flying Skylanders. For this purpose let’s make a contest where you are allowed to award a bronze, silver and gold medal to the ones you think deserve it providing reasonable arguments. For instance this is my vote:

- Bronze Medal: Knight Light. In flight mode his speed gets increase and the flapping wings animation is beautiful.

- Silver Medal: Drobot: Dramatic speed increase and great manoeuvrability.

- Gold Medal: Dune Bug. Not only the flight control is precise and there is a huge speed increase, but this skylander is able to shoot magic balls from his wings, making him very difficult to be attack by the back while dealing a lot of damage in flight mode.

Once the votes are done, the ranking of skylanders will be done the same way as the Olympics: a gold medal accounts for more than any number of silver medals (the same with bronze and silver medals).

You can award your vote to skylanders which are supposed to fly but do not (blades, sunburn, scratch, flashwing, etc) and your reasons maybe both from a gameplay point of view (speed, defense) or from the canon story (high five was a flying champion for instance).

Let’s get started!



POLL RESULTS UP TO 27/08 (08/27 for Americans)

Blades is a he.

Flip Wreck and Gill Grunt can fly too.
Also pretty sure Swarm's ability to fly is limited even if it does last for a loooong amount of time.

Would also like to point out Blast Zone (his dash could be considered a form of flight I guess) and Boom Jet which constantly drives his reactor but can jump off of it at times (unlike other characters such as Night Shift, Lightning Rod or Thunderbolt which constantly hover).
Also Double Trouble's can hover over hazards such as lava or poisonous goo.

Don't know if they count just wanted to mention them in case they do.

Pop Thorn should be able to flight according to its backstory (and he does flap his wings when jumping while deflated) but I'm not absolutely sure about it.

I'll give my Gold Medal to Dune Bug too, my Silver one to High Five and my Bronze one to Chopper.
Really nice and useful topic!

Shouldn't constant hovering be considered a form of flight? Technically they fly the most. And yeah, Swarm's flight definitely has a time limit.


Also I think it should be mentioned whether or not a character's flight uses up one of their skill tree upgrades.


Cool idea, btw.

Gold Medal: Knight Light

Silver Medal: Dune Bug

Bronze Medal: High Five

I didn't know Blackout could fly! What i this Cloud gravity move you speak of?

Quote: Luminous35

Gold Medal: Knight Light

Silver Medal: Dune Bug

Bronze Medal: High Five

I didn't know Blackout could fly! What i this Cloud gravity move you speak of?

Yes.
It is a form of flight after all even if it's not a move per se but rather a part of another attack.

Quote: Kevin16

Blades is a he.

True, I don't know why I wrote "her", caz I know he is male. Will fix that with tomorrow update.

Quote: Muffin Man

Shouldn't constant hovering be considered a form of flight? Technically they fly the most. And yeah, Swarm's flight definitely has a time limit.


Also I think it should be mentioned whether or not a character's flight uses up one of their skill tree upgrades.


Cool idea, btw.

I know what you mean; I had a dilenma when making the guide about including the "hovering" characters like lightning rod, ninjini, etc. However I decided not to do so, because you don't really have the choice "not to fly". On the other hand the ones included in the list you can either make them fly or not, which is important in terms of deciding which strategy you are gonna use. For instance SPyro becomes faster when he flies but he's also more unprecise, so you have to take a decision on which strategy you are gonna follow and I want the guide to help take this decision.

Yeah, you are right about determinig if a character uses an skill sloth to fly or if he simply uses double jump tap. The fourth and fifth columns of the table show this features.


Quote: Luminous35

Gold Medal: Knight Light

Silver Medal: Dune Bug

Bronze Medal: High Five

I didn't know Blackout could fly! What i this Cloud gravity move you speak of?

As Drek mentioned, is only possible when using this skill, look carefully from 3:26 to 3:32

I would give Cynder a silver medal as her maneuravility was very slick and precise in SSF (don't know in STT)

Might be worth pointing out that Drobot's maneuverability issues are different to the rest of the SA gang - he's always moving forward when in flight unless you hold down a button to hover (which is a separate upgrade), and he'll automatically stop flying if he bumps into something. I love Drobot's flight but barely use it because of the aforementioned issues. I'm constantly bumping him into stuff.

As for whose flight I like the best... well, I haven't tried everyone yet, but out of who I've got I use the flying abilities of Chopper, Spyro (sheep burner path only) and Whirlwind the most. Chopper and Sheep burner Spyro is because of the way I play them; I like to fight by flying around the enemies spamming rockets/fireballs. This works best with Chopper. Whirlwind is mostly for when I want to get somewhere fast; she's one of my speediest SA characters while in flight. I sometimes fight in the air with my tempest Whirlwind but the loss of maneuverability is noticeable. I also like High Five's flight but the timer means that I don't use it that often. Blackout's cloud gravity is pretty rad but it's a pity that's the only time he can fly.

I don't like how you can't use some moves while in flight with Warnado and Spyro. I hardly ever fly with 'charging path' Spyro for this reason.

For now, I guess my votes would be:

• Gold for Chopper as his flight ability is essential for the way I play him, and I don't have any issues with maneuverability (I know he's hard to turn, but I guess my brain compensates for that?).
  


• Silver for Blackout because cloud gravity is just that good.
  


• Bronze for High Five because his flying style is great fun - I love how it's jumpy like dragonfly's. I really wish it didn't have a timer though.

I don't want to lock those in, however, as reading this thread has made me want to try out Dune Bug and Knight Light's flight - they former sounds really good, and I didn't even realise the latter could fly!


Also, I agree with not including hovering in the list, as their 'flight' is just like every other character's walking except for the animation. But if people want them, perhaps include a separate hover section in the image?

(Edited formatting to make this wall o' text a bit easier to read)

And you can double jump to do it?

I think i have to go with that path now

Quote: Drek95

Flip Wreck and Gill Grunt can fly too.
Also pretty sure Swarm's ability to fly is limited even if it does last for a loooong amount of time.

Would also like to point out Blast Zone (his dash could be considered a form of flight I guess) and Boom Jet which constantly drives his reactor but can jump off of it at times (unlike other characters such as Night Shift, Lightning Rod or Thunderbolt which constantly hover).
Also Double Trouble's can hover over hazards such as lava or poisonous goo.

Don't know if they count just wanted to mention them in case they do.

Pop Thorn should be able to flight according to its backstory (and he does flap his wings when jumping while deflated) but I'm not absolutely sure about it.

I'll give my Gold Medal to Dune Bug too, my Silver one to High Five and my Bronze one to Chopper.
Really nice and useful topic!

You are right about Swarm, he's time limited. I do not have his figure so I watched a video where he seemed to be flying for a long time, but a few posters have already make me aware of this time limit, and will be include in the tomorrow guide update.

About gill grunt and flip wreck, is true they can certainly enter into a sort of flying mode. However, this is were the "actual background" of the characters comes in: if we get to know these Skylanders in real life, we would probably notice gill grunt and flip wreck would able to move fast but only a few meters above the ground, while others like Spyro would probably soar the skyes up to the mountains, just like superman. So being very "strict" with the term "flight", gill grunt and flip wreck shouldn't be included. However I'm open to include them if more users consider they should be.

Pop thorn and Double Trouble: True they should be put into "candidates" list. I hope somebody will be able to clarify if they are able to fly and give some details about it. IS true pop thorns has wings he, however these seem a bit small for his body mass. Are double trouble and pop thorn able to enter flight mode at any time?

I would say Blast zone and boom jet belong to the "all time Flying/hovering" characters. You don't really have the choice to make them fly or not. However, Blast zone case is pretty unique, just like Fling Kong, because those two are obviously "true flyers", however they can't go on foot. I'm thinking of making another guide for these kind of Skylanders.

You could count characters such as Gill Grunt and Flip Wreck as "gameplay flight" characters, meaning that they act as all the other flying characters in-game but aren't like them as a whole (as you said Spyro, Cynder and Drobot would truly fly from island to island and I doubt those two could do the same).

Technically Double Trouble "flies" all the time but it only becomes a gameplay variation when he passes over an obstacle such as lava or toxic waste.
Pop Thorn definitely doesn't fly in-game and I don't think he's seen flying in other media (he kinda flies while dashing in the 3DS games) but he should still be a candidate since he most likely has that ability.

I agree, Blast Zone and Fling Kong are indeed two oddballs since they both constantly fly but then also have ways to enhance those abilities.
Blast Zone even touches the ground while performing his flame breathing attack but I understand it's not enough.
A similar character could be Sunburn: he does dash and it could be considered a form of flight but it's really debatable.

You may also want to create a 3DS section since many characters have some "flight" abilities there.
I'd love to help tracking them down if you wish to.

Quote: Quid

Might be worth pointing out that Drobot's maneuverability issues are different to the rest of the SA gang - he's always moving forward when in flight unless you hold down a button to hover (which is a separate upgrade), and he'll automatically stop flying if he bumps into something. I love Drobot's flight but barely use it because of the aforementioned issues. I'm constantly bumping him into stuff.

As for whose flight I like the best... well, I haven't tried everyone yet, but out of who I've got I use the flying abilities of Chopper, Spyro (sheep burner path only) and Whirlwind the most. Chopper and Sheep burner Spyro is because of the way I play them; I like to fight by flying around the enemies spamming rockets/fireballs. This works best with Chopper. Whirlwind is mostly for when I want to get somewhere fast; she's one of my speediest SA characters while in flight. I sometimes fight in the air with my tempest Whirlwind but the loss of maneuverability is noticeable. I also like High Five's flight but the timer means that I don't use it that often. Blackout's cloud gravity is pretty rad but it's a pity that's the only time he can fly.

I don't like how you can't use some moves while in flight with Warnado and Spyro. I hardly ever fly with 'charging path' Spyro for this reason.

For now, I guess my votes would be:

• Gold for Chopper as his flight ability is essential for the way I play him, and I don't have any issues with maneuverability (I know he's hard to turn, but I guess my brain compensates for that?).
  


• Silver for Blackout because cloud gravity is just that good.
  


• Bronze for High Five because his flying style is great fun - I love how it's jumpy like dragonfly's. I really wish it didn't have a timer though.

I don't want to lock those in, however, as reading this thread has made me want to try out Dune Bug and Knight Light's flight - they former sounds really good, and I didn't even realise the latter could fly!


Also, I agree with not including hovering in the list, as their 'flight' is just like every other character's walking except for the animation. But if people want them, perhaps include a separate hover section in the image?

(Edited formatting to make this wall o' text a bit easier to read)

Super helpful post, thanks. All the info regarding Drobot, Chopper and Spyro will be summarised and included in the tomorrow guide update.

IS true Spyro can't make the charge move while in flight, however you can profit to make the "slam the ground" move which is pretty useful. I choosed the fire path for Spyro so I wasn't really aware of this disadvantage.


When I play as Knight Light I use the same strategy for powerful enemies: I flight in circles around them while making combos with the sword. Since while flying Knight Light is faster, enemies usually struggle to face him and hit him. Unfortunately Knight Light's speed while flying does not increase as much as others do, and you gotta be careful with dodging the range attacks. However the flapping wings animation is amazing, 2:59-3:12



What I found weird about Whirlwind is the way she moves her wings, she flaps them quite a lot. I was expecting her to be sort of an eagle, flapping only from time to time but she's a middle point between a hawk and a sparrow.

Honestly in Trap Team I feel most infinite flying detriments the character.
I don't have Dune Bug, Knight Light, or Bat Spin, but I have the rest.

Quote: Luminous35

And you can double jump to do it?

I think i have to go with that path now

Unfortunately you can't double jump to make that move. You gotta hold down the circle button (ps3 and ps4).


Quote: weebbby

Honestly in Trap Team I feel most infinite flying detriments the character.
I don't have Dune Bug, Knight Light, or Bat Spin, but I have the rest.

In which sense you think it detriments the character? I guess is because it feel a bit unrealistic or maybe becauseit means an advantage when compared to other Skylanders?

Quote: angelg

Quote: weebbby

Honestly in Trap Team I feel most infinite flying detriments the character.
I don't have Dune Bug, Knight Light, or Bat Spin, but I have the rest.

In which sense you think it detriments the character? I guess is because it feel a bit unrealistic or maybe becauseit means an advantage when compared to other Skylanders?

I feel it detriments the character for most infinite flights as they are hard to control, and for those like Chopper, it feels way slower. Back in the first two games, it seemed like it actually made them slightly faster.

Dune bug
Knight light
Flip wreck

Quote: weebbby

I feel it detriments the character for most infinite flights as they are hard to control, and for those like Chopper, it feels way slower. Back in the first two games, it seemed like it actually made them slightly faster.

I suppose before the 'double jump to fly' thing they had to make the flying worth a whole upgrade slot. Maybe they deliberately made the free infinite fliers not as good to compensate? As much as I love the faster flying of the SA crew, I think I'd prefer if it was free from the start... Oh well.

blades cant fly

What about Blast Zone and Boom Jet?
Boom Jet is pretty fast when the bottom half is activated

Quote: Drek95

You could count characters such as Gill Grunt and Flip Wreck as "gameplay flight" characters, meaning that they act as all the other flying characters in-game but aren't like them as a whole (as you said Spyro, Cynder and Drobot would truly fly from island to island and I doubt those two could do the same).

Technically Double Trouble "flies" all the time but it only becomes a gameplay variation when he passes over an obstacle such as lava or toxic waste.
Pop Thorn definitely doesn't fly in-game and I don't think he's seen flying in other media (he kinda flies while dashing in the 3DS games) but he should still be a candidate since he most likely has that ability.

I agree, Blast Zone and Fling Kong are indeed two oddballs since they both constantly fly but then also have ways to enhance those abilities.
Blast Zone even touches the ground while performing his flame breathing attack but I understand it's not enough.
A similar character could be Sunburn: he does dash and it could be considered a form of flight but it's really debatable.

You may also want to create a 3DS section since many characters have some "flight" abilities there.
I'd love to help tracking them down if you wish to.

Thanks Drek for all the info, extremely useful. I have indeed included Gill Grunt and Flip wreck in today's update, but clearly stating they are not flyers, despite being able to move similarly to them. They have been placed ina new cathegory to make the understaing of this issue easier.

As for Double Trouble, Blast Zone, Fling Kong and Pop thorn, I don't think they should be included since the portal master don't really have the option of swtiching between on foot and flight on these skylanders, which is really a pity IMO.

I would love to make a 3ds guide, but I don't own the console, so I'm not sure if will be able to do it without playing it myself I'll watch videos and see if I can make it. In that case your help would be super welcome.

Completely understand your motivations and yes it is indeed a pity.
All the winged characters should be able to fly without a time limit in my opinion.

The key would be making each Skylander fly in a really unique and special way (think about Drobot and High Five).

No problem about the 3DS, let me know.

Update 1: Guide Updated as you can see in first post

Update 2: Provisional Poll results here below. You can still cast your vote:




Quote: PopFizzMagic

blades cant fly

True, he can't fly in gameplay, but he is a winged dragon, and several of his moves highly implies he is able to fly. Therefore, is also possible to make observations about how his "implied" power flight helps perform his combos and how he use his wings to perform attacks. Is the same case as Scratch, Sunburn, Flashwing and Spotlight who despite having wings and being able to fly in Skylands, where decided to be flightless in game, but that doesn't mean they are not able to.

Quote: Skylander3112

What about Blast Zone and Boom Jet?
Boom Jet is pretty fast when the bottom half is activated

True, he's fast, however, since we are not able to switch "on foot" and "flight" modes for this character (since he's always hovering except when performing specific moves) he will not be included in the flying roster. If we were sure he's able to fly freely up to the Skyes (like Iron Man) maybe we could consider including him. But no clues about it.

Quote: angelg

Quote: PopFizzMagic

blades cant fly

True, he can't fly in gameplay, but he is a winged dragon, and several of his moves highly implies he is able to fly. Therefore, is also possible to make observations about how his "implied" power flight helps perform his combos and how he use his wings to perform attacks. Is the same case as Scratch, Sunburn, Flashwing and Spotlight who despite having wings and being able to fly in Skylands, where decided to be flightless in game, but that doesn't mean they are not able to.

Quote: Skylander3112

What about Blast Zone and Boom Jet?
Boom Jet is pretty fast when the bottom half is activated

True, he's fast, however, since we are not able to switch "on foot" and "flight" modes for this character (since he's always hovering except when performing specific moves) he will not be included in the flying roster. If we were sure he's able to fly freely up to the Skyes (like Iron Man) maybe we could consider including him. But no clues about it.

I don't understand why gameplay isn't a factor in the former while it is the deciding factor in the latter. I mean, I'm pretty sure Fling Kong or Blast Zone could walk around in canon if they wanted to. It's just that in gameplay they choose to permanently levitate (and both Blast Zone and Boom Jet fly freely through the sky in the rocket Swap Zones, with the indication being that they are simply choosing to fly at that particular moment). Meanwhile Blades and Sunburn can fly in canon but in gameplay they choose to permanently walk.

Yes, I understand what you mean. If the main criteria for being in the list is "being able to switch between on foot and flight during gameplay" then neither of the red ones (sunburn, flashwing, etc) of the list should be included, or, another possibility is that all of the skylanders who levitate should be included since it is implied that they fly.

The problem is, IMO, that for most of the "levitating characters" we don't really have clues if they just levitate (when I say "levitate" I mean floating a few feet above the ground aka not being able to reach greater heights and speed) or in fact, they can soar the skyes up to the clouds, just like an eagle or superman would do.

On the other hand, the red colored characters of the guide (scratch, blades, etc) have strong clues towards possesing the power of flight. Not only all of them have wings which seem to be right in proportions, but their species (most of the dragons and phoenix are known to fly, not all of them, but most) also point towards this. Another strong clue is some of the canon stories, let's stake Scratch's for instance:"High in the peaks of Cats Eye Mountain sits a towering city of crystal and gold that can only be reached by creatures of the Air Element. It was here that Scratch spent her youth soaring playfully in the clouds" As you can see the canon sotries confirms her flight power.

However, Like I said beofre, I may have missed somethin: a canon story, a specific move or skill which could imply that character has the true power of flight. In that case I would glad to include that skylander.

Don't forget to cast your vote muffin man!

With 300 skylanders I think it's safe to assume the lower half of their body is inconsequential to their abilities while in a vehicle and/or how they do their thing while in a vehicle, although I like this line of thinking. Imagine Jet Boom putting the engine on the back of the vehicle and get an extra boost of speed...I know it's guaranteed not to happen, but I bet if they had more time they could've done stuff like this.

Gold Medal: Knight Light

Silver Medal: Flip Wreck

Bronze Medal: Dune Bug

Those are my votes

Well they'll have to deal with certain special characters somehow (Rocky Roll, Fright Rider, Fling Kong, Boom Jet, Tread Head...) and would be cool if they could somehow integrate their mounts or "vehicles".

For example what you said about Boom Jet or using Tread Head vehicle as a sidecar able to automatically shoot or even Fright fighting alongside you while Rider is driving.
I'm 100% sure it won't happen but would indeed be cool.

What I'm hoping for is that they will at least acknowledge them by making them appear somewhere inside the vehicles and not simply making them disappear... But they have been rather lazy thus far... Don't know...

Quote: angelg

However, Like I said beofre, I may have missed somethin: a canon story, a specific move or skill which could imply that character has the true power of flight. In that case I would glad to include that skylander.

What about the Rocket Swap Zones I mentioned? Aren't those canon? No other Skylander ever flies nearly nearly as high as Blast Zone and Boom Jet are shown to.

Quote: Muffin Man

Quote: angelg

However, Like I said beofre, I may have missed somethin: a canon story, a specific move or skill which could imply that character has the true power of flight. In that case I would glad to include that skylander.

What about the Rocket Swap Zones I mentioned? Aren't those canon? No other Skylander ever flies nearly nearly as high as Blast Zone and Boom Jet are shown to.

You are totally right, for me, that's enought proof they are flyers, will include them in the next update. Are these two (their bottom halfs) the only ones to be able to access these zones?

Quote: angelg

Quote: Muffin Man

Quote: angelg

However, Like I said beofre, I may have missed somethin: a canon story, a specific move or skill which could imply that character has the true power of flight. In that case I would glad to include that skylander.

What about the Rocket Swap Zones I mentioned? Aren't those canon? No other Skylander ever flies nearly nearly as high as Blast Zone and Boom Jet are shown to.

You are totally right, for me, that's enought proof they are flyers, will include them in the next update. Are these two (their bottom halfs) the only ones to be able to access these zones?

Yeah, only those two.

The bottom halves are indeed what makes you access those areas but I'd suggest you to add both characters as a whole and then add the gameplay information.

Quote: Drek95

The bottom halves are indeed what makes you access those areas but I'd suggest you to add both characters as a whole and then add the gameplay information.

Yes, I think its simplier if I give them a row, like the others and write in the observations section the possibility of exchaging their bottom half with the other swap force characters. I'l also talk about the rocket zones, as a 100% flying section is worth mentioning them.