darkSpyro

Every Skylander game thus far I've always made sure to get the minimum to unlock all game content. For SSA that meant 1 Skylander of each element and all the adventure packs. Giants didn't need anything extra after doing that with S:SA (since all you needed besides 1 core character of each element was a single Giant and it came with one). I was a bit annoyed that in Swap Force I had to buy 8 Swap Force figures, which are more expensive than core figures, just to unlock all the Swap Zones, but I did it anyway (and got the 2 Adventure Packs).

At first it sounded like TT would be like Giants where you just needed the pack-in Trap Master to smash Traptanium crystals, plus a Trap of each element to get all the villians, but now I found out that all the Elemental Gates will only open with Trap Masters...

For this game I just feel like asking me to buy 7 Trap Masters, in addition to 6 traps and 2+ Adventure packs, in order to see all the game's content is just more than I can take. I'll buy the traps and the Adventure Packs, but only a few of the Trap Masters actually look interesting to me, and I don't care for their large size, so I was only planning on getting a couple of them.

So I'm thinking... well, what if I don't fall for it this time? What am I missing out on exactly?

Obviously I would miss out on the following:

- Small sections of levels behind the Elemental Gates
- Several Hats
- One of the 3 Stars from each Story Mission

Anything else? Or is it just Hats behind gates this time? In past games there were sometimes other things behind the Gates like mini-boss fights, Treasure Chests, etc. Are there any Villians hidden behind Elemental Gates? Any Story Scrolls or Soul Gems or whatever other collectibles? 'Cause if its just hats and short little platforming segments, I think I might be able to convince myself to just live without unlocking everything this time...

there are soul gems, treasure chests and hats behind the elemental gates.
i haven't come across any legendary treasures, story scroll or winged sapphires behind any gates.

there are no villains to trap behind any of the elemental gates.

There's Soul Gems behind Elemental Gates? Crap! Uh, hopefully only Soul Gems for characters that could have opened the gate in the first place...right?

i'm not sure what soul gems are behind the gates i can't open, though having a tech trap master's soul gem behind a tech gate would make sense, but i'm still working through collecting all the collectables, so i can't be 100% sure

Yeah it would really suck if a Core Skylander I get has a Soul Gem that's stuck behind a Trap Master-exclusive Gate that I can't open. I'd have to imagine they would avoid doing that though, that would just be evil.

Quote: Zauron

Yeah it would really suck if a Core Skylander I get has a Soul Gem that's stuck behind a Trap Master-exclusive Gate that I can't open. I'd have to imagine they would avoid doing that though, that would just be evil.

I reeeeeally hope that's not the case, considering I'm not interested in many trap masters but want a ton of the cores. It'd be pretty gross if they did that.

Did that happen in any of the earlier games?

Quote: Charlio

Did that happen in any of the earlier games?

Sort of in SSA. A few miscellaneous Soul Gems were hidden behind Magic, Tech and Water gates (the starter pack elements), and some others were hidden in gates of their own element. I'm somewhat worried some of Trap Teams' Soul Gems might be hidden in Life gates, or cores behind Traptanium gates of their element, since the game was originally made without the Trap Master necessity if early interviews can be believed.

But yeah, seconding OP's question, since I only plan on definitely getting one Trap Master outside the Starter Pack.

They're random soul gems, sadly.

Quote: AusLander

They're random soul gems, sadly.

WOW.

Whoever made that decision is an evil, evil person, and doesn't deserve the raise they are probably going to get. With that and the treasure chest thing (hats were a given), it looks like I'm going to actually have to use a guide so I know what I can get and what is a lost cause. *Flashbacks to that INVISIBLE LIFE GATE in SSA where I was trying EVERYTHING I could to get that Legendary Treasure only to read a guide and realize I needed a Skylander I didn't have at the time*

I guess I can wait until Skylanders 5 to get the Soul Gems of some of the characters, but really. If I hadn't already made up my mind based on a mechanic unaffected by this, I'd probably not get this game at all.

Quote: AusLander

They're random soul gems, sadly.

So... are you saying its possible to buy a character whose Soul Gem can never be obtained if you don't happen to also own another, different character in order to open a gate for them? 'Cause that would be a first in the series I'm pretty sure, there's never been a case where if you bought a character and had the starter pack that you couldn't eventually get that character's Soul Gem without having to buy anything else.

So Treasure Chests, Hats, some Soul Gems (hopefully only Soul Gems for characters that could open the gate in the first place), and of course getting all the Stars/Portal Master ranks is what I would be missing. Is that it? Can anyone else confirm that all Story Scrolls, Winged Sapphires, Legendary Treasures, Villains, or Soul Gems for characters that couldn't open the gate themselves are locked away behind these gates?

I might be able to live with that...

Kinda hoping someone finds a glitch in the game that lets you bypass the gate collision somehow though. In the past games I didn't mind the blocked off content but this time, with the Trap Masters being expensive yet offering no new interesting gimmicks like the Giants or Swappers, and just the fact that for several elements I don't like either choice from them as a character, makes me annoyed enough that I would totally use a glitch to get around it if it were possible.

The Pay Gates of TT really annoys me, I thought I'd be fine with them but there just seems to be so many of them. It truly made the corelanders useless for this game, I let my kids get a trapmaster and a new corelander each and both of them have not used the new corelanders at all because the levels all seem tailored to the Trapmasters (Trap Master pay gates and Trap Master generic crystal areas).

Quote: Zylek

The Pay Gates of TT really annoys me, I thought I'd be fine with them but there just seems to be so many of them. It truly made the corelanders useless for this game, I let my kids get a trapmaster and a new corelander each and both of them have not used the new corelanders at all because the levels all seem tailored to the Trapmasters (Trap Master pay gates and Trap Master generic crystal areas).

I agree, it feels like the worst one so far.

In SSA I was a bit miffed when I discovered I needed one Skylander of each element to unlock everything, but I quickly got over that when realizing that 3 of the 8 came with the game anyway, and of the remaining 5, there were 4 characters of each element available and there was at least one of each element I really want to play as anyway.

In Giants you didn't need anything at all if you already did SSA - you could use the included Tree Rex for all the Giant stuff and then the same 8 from the last game. You didn't need all 8 Giants or anything. Heck you didn't even need to buy a full priced starter kit, they released a cheaper version without a portal for those that owned the last game (that's the route I went).

Swap Force's system did start to annoy me. The swappers were expensive and they added an extra thing to them besides element. Fortunately, the only thing you missed without them was Swap Zones (and their hat rewards), you could still open Elemental Gates, and although the swappers made it more convenient, Dual Gates were also open-able without them by just briefly bringing in a second dummy player (fortunately the game has drop-in-drop-out co-op). Still, even when I gave in and got all the travel powers, at least it still felt like a pretty decent deal because each new Swapper I got gave me a bunch more possible combinations to play with, so I looked at each new one as an exponential increase in possibilities.

This game though... One trap of each element is fine, they are pretty cheap and the 3-packs are arranged to happen to have every element that isn't in the starter pack, so starter pack + 2 triple-packs is all the elements (not including Kaos and upcoming Dark and Light). If that was it, plus the pack-in Trap Master to break stuff (like using only Tree Rex as your sole Giant for Giants-only stuff) it would be great, and better than Swap Force's pay wall. But no, they decided to make elemental gates Trap Master-only, and the Trap Masters offer nothing unique and cool like the Giants and the Swappers did (they are basically just slightly larger Cores with a stat boost when they attack a boss - big whoop! They don't even light up like the Giants did, and clear plastic pieces like their "crystal weapons" have been available on many Skylander toys in the past). There's no real justification for them costing $17, they should be $12 at the most since they offer no new tech like lighting up or being swappable. And since there's only 2 per element, good chance you won't have one you like for every element (as is the case for me). Plus the majority of them are big slow things like the Giants, and we already did Giants.

Making the elemental gates require a Trap Master feels like a late dev decision pushed through by Activision as a pure money grab. I realize the series has always had several tricks up its sleeve to get more money out of us, but it never really bothered me because I felt like the devs themselves (Toys for Bob) really did think the things they were selling were cool and valuable and that fun toys and games was what it was really all about, and that they wanted you to feel you got something worthwhile for each purchase (in the original game, that meant a new character, possibly new gates to open, and even a new Heroic Challenge to play!). The Traptanium Elemental Gates and the overly priced Trap Masters to open them does not at all feel like it was in the interest of adding fun and wonder (and hence why I assume the decision came from Activision rather than TfB). It feels like one step removed from just making a pop-up screen that says "please enter credit card data in order to open this gate!".

Quote: ladala

Quote: AusLander

They're random soul gems, sadly.

WOW.

Whoever made that decision is an evil, evil person, and doesn't deserve the raise they are probably going to get. With that and the treasure chest thing (hats were a given), it looks like I'm going to actually have to use a guide so I know what I can get and what is a lost cause. *Flashbacks to that INVISIBLE LIFE GATE in SSA where I was trying EVERYTHING I could to get that Legendary Treasure only to read a guide and realize I needed a Skylander I didn't have at the time*

I guess I can wait until Skylanders 5 to get the Soul Gems of some of the characters, but really. If I hadn't already made up my mind based on a mechanic unaffected by this, I'd probably not get this game at all.

Know how you feel. None of the previous games have had paywalls THIS bad.

Considering I don't like the look of plenty of the trap masters (plus they're too expensive at $20), I'm not going to be getting very many over the course of the year. I think sadly this'll be the first Skylander game I have no motivation to 100%. The more little disappointments like this I'm finding, the more I'm getting excited for Sky 5 instead.

Damn, according to min8or, there's a Legendary Treasure behind a Gate:

Quote: min8or

Reveal Spoiler

the tech gate in level 18 has the legendary treasure behind it

So that means Treasure Chests, Hats, at least one Legendary Treasure, and of course Stars/Portal Master Rank will be missed out if don't get a Trap Master of each element.

But Story Scrolls, Winged Saphires, trappable Villains, and Soul Gems for characters that can't open the gate themselves won't be missed? Anyone find any of these locked behind an Elemental Gate? I know there have been a few claims of Soul Gems being behind Elemental Gates which can't be opened by the character that needs that Soul Gem, but so far all of these claims have turned out wrong when the poster later found the Soul Gem somewhere else after all.

Also there are 4 Adventure Packs (well 2 have a different name) but are basically the same, and add a new element too.

Quote: darkrai848

Also there are 4 Adventure Packs (well 2 have a different name) but are basically the same, and add a new element too.

I'm fine with buying Adventure Packs, I always buy those, I just don't like a lot of the Trap Masters and think they are over-priced for what they do, so want to know what I'm missing without buying one Trap Master of each element. I'm going to buy everything else you need to unlock content though (traps and adventure packs).

So with the other thread about Soul Gems being locked off now closed, and it finally concluded that it seems Soul Gems aren't an issue after all...

That means assuming I buy everything else that unlocks content (adventure packs, traps, light/dark stuff, at least one mini, etc) but do NOT buy one Trap Master of every element, I'm missing out on:

• Hats
  
• Treasure Chests
  
• A single Legendary Treasure (needs Tech Trap Master)
  
• Story Mission completion Stars
  
• Max Portal Master Rank
  
• The bonus presents you get from the highest Portal Master Rankings (likely more free level-ups, Hats, and Trinkets).
  
• The actual platforming segments themselves (and their occasional cool references to past Skylanders games)
  

I will NOT be missing out on:

• Story Scrolls
  
• Winged Saphires
  
• Trappable Villains
  
• Villain-evolving Quests
  
• Soul Gems
  
• Legendary Treasures (except the one that requires a Tech Trap Master)
  
• Trinkets (other than those from getting Max Portal Master Rank)
  
• Arena Challenges
  
• Mini-boss fights (like those seen in Giants)
  

Does that cover everything? Anything inaccurate in that breakdown?

Thanks for the help, to those that have guides or have played the game with Trap Masters to check this!

Quote: Zauron

So with the other thread about Soul Gems being locked off now closed, and it finally concluded that it seems Soul Gems aren't an issue after all...

That means assuming I buy everything else that unlocks content (adventure packs, traps, light/dark stuff, at least one mini, etc) but do NOT buy one Trap Master of every element, I'm missing out on:

• Hats
  
• Treasure Chests
  
• A single Legendary Treasure (needs Tech Trap Master)
  
• Story Mission completion Stars
  
• Max Portal Master Rank
  
• The bonus presents you get from the highest Portal Master Rankings (likely more free level-ups, Hats, and Trinkets).
  
• The actual platforming segments themselves (and their occasional cool references to past Skylanders games)
  

I will NOT be missing out on:

• Story Scrolls
  
• Winged Saphires
  
• Trappable Villains
  
• Villain-evolving Quests
  
• Soul Gems
  
• Legendary Treasures (except the one that requires a Tech Trap Master)
  
• Trinkets (other than those from getting Max Portal Master Rank)
  
• Arena Challenges
  
• Mini-boss fights (like those seen in Giants)
  

Does that cover everything? Anything inaccurate in that breakdown?

Thanks for the help, to those that have guides or have played the game with Trap Masters to check this!

Thanks for the summary!