darkSpyro

Hey all, I've about decided to take the plunge and get Imaginators. There are a few deals, and now's the time.

I'm curious about how powers/upgrades and upgrade paths are determined and chosen for your creation. I've watched a couple videos, but I can't tell if there are a few basic options you choose from that will be your upgrade path, or is this the part of the game where you get better moves the more chests you buy/find?

Are the options different for every element and battle class (so 80 unique upgrade paths/movesets for a creation, depending on the element and battle class), or are the attacks basically the same regardless your chosen element/class? (because that'd kinda suck. I care a lot more about cool attacks than cool looks.)

It looked like you could choose options for each attack button. Does that unlock depending on upgrades you've gotten?

Any explanation you folks would be willing to give would be most appreciated, and probably help me decide how many creation crystals I'd like to get.

Thanks in advance!

All Imaginators of a battle class will have the same 2 primary attack options, the same 4 tertiary attack options (2 are unlocked by experience level, one is unlocked by beating the Doomlander of that class [only needs to happen once per profile] and one is unlocked by having a Sensei of that class), and the same Soul Gem ability.

All Imaginators of the same element will have the same 4 secondary attack options (2 immediately upon creation, and the other 2 are unlocked by experience level).

Example:
A Fire and Dark Quickshot will have the same primary and tertiary attack options, but different secondary attacks.
A Fire Quickshot and Smasher will have different primary and tertiary attacks, but the same secondary attacks.

Also, you can change your Imaginators' attacks on the fly, even during battle, which is really handy hecause some attacks work better than others in some situations; primary attacks sometimes have a single target and multi-target version, or a fast-but-weak or slow-but-strong version. Each attack (except for the Soul Gem) can be upgraded once using the money you collect in your adventures.

Wow. Succinct and perfectly clear. Thank you!

So if I have a fire crystal, no matter which battle class I choose, my secondary attack will be the same, and, regardless the element crystal I use, every brawler, f.ex., will have the same primary and tertiary attacks, and the same soul gem power. Have I got that right? So there are basically 10 different movesets, they just are mixed and matched depending on the element and battle class you choose?

Are imaginator battle class soul gems found in the game like regular characters?

Thanks so much for your help.

Is there anything else I ought to know before going out and buying stuff? Do I really not need to buy any chests? Game play will get me all the same stuff (just slower, I imagine)?

Do the villain sensei do anything functionally different in the game (places they can/can't be used), or are they now for all intents and purposes regular skylanders?

You understand correctly.

Soul Gems for Imaginator battle classes are found in levels, yes.

Purchasing a chest (either physical or digital) is just a shortcut to unlocking parts you can already find in the game, yes. The bronze, silver and gold chests are all random draws. The exceptions are the blue chests that come with the Cursed Tiki Temple and soon-to-be-released Lost Imaginite Mines level packs, as they contain a static collection of parts that can ONLY be unlocked through those blue chests. (The parts unlocked by the blue chests were not in the game at launch in Oct 2016, but were added in through a free DLC patch in Feb 2017.)

Villain Senseis are treated the same as non-villain Senseis in this game. They can utilize Battle Gongs, activate Sensei Shrines, unlock Sensei Elemental Realms on the M.A.P., and you can play them all the way from the game's start to finish if you want.

Semi-related question, so I figured I might as well add it to this thread rather than starting a new one. I've now got the game, a bunch of senseis and a regular fire crystal.

One thing I'm not exactly clear on is all of the things creation crystals do for you. I know that putting a new crystal on the portal will unlock a new set (for fire it was the fire dancer set), but if I get a second fire crystal (different mold), is there another fire-themed set that gets unlocked, or does it just not give you anything (or, does it just give you something random you haven't already found yet)?

Also, the sets that come with a specific element crystal, are they ONLY unlockable from a crystal, or will pieces of them be found at random eventually through the course of playing the game? McMurderpaws said above that the special expansion pack blue chests DO contain sets/items completely exclusive that are not found in the game randomly, so I wondered if the crystals' sets were the same way?

I've also reset my crystal once (thank you Wii Giants!), so I've been a fire ninja and a fire quickshot so far. What I'm curious about is that there doesn't appear to be a collection screen for imaginator types, just the crystals themselves. Am I missing something? I thought I read that registering an imaginator of each element and battle class counts toward something big, but I don't recall what.


I've also done the selfie thing for the two characters, and hung them in the academy, and it says any character of the same battle class will get a boost for a selfie of every imaginator I put up. Cool, so far so good. (Does that include senseis, by the way?) Obviously it won't give me double the boost if I just use the same fire ninja for a second selfie, though. Am I to assume that when I get a different element crystal and I make it a ninja, I can selfie that imaginator, hang it up, and IT will double the boost for that battle class? Have I got that right? Can I really get the boost 10 times over?

Also, is the selfie hall the (only) area/screen that "counts" your different battle class/element combos? Is the boost you get the big thing I heard about?

I guess part of what I'm asking is, what does having at least one of each element crystal actually do for me, besides having an elemental attack to pair with the battleclass attacks I've chosen? I'd love to collect a crystal of each element just for sake of completeness (plus, that way I may actually have enough that my kids won't constantly pester me to reset it so they can be a different battle class - no, haven't given them the game yet, but it's not too hard to see that issue coming a mile away), BUT, if the most I have to look forward to is only one element themed attack out of four that the imaginator can do at a time, is that really "all I'm paying for"? I mean, regardless the element, you can make an imaginator look the exact same, right? There aren't any element-specific looks or shades or colorations that the other elements don't have access to, are there?

Again, thanks to any and all who are willing to catch a slowpoke up!

There is only one costume set per element, regardless of how many different "molds" that element has. For example, there are 5 different Life crystals, but still only one costume set (based around a Treant).

Costume pieces associated with an Imaginite Crystal's element are only accessible by having a crystal of that element in your collection. You will not get any Werewolf costume pieces without putting an Undead crystal in your collection.

There are no specific bonuses for registering different Imaginator battle classes, though you can take selfies of an Imaginator or Sensei of that class an post it in the "Hall of Selfies" to give all other Imaginators of that class stat bonuses--oh wait, you mention this in your very next paragraph. The only bonus for having one of each element of Imaginite Crystal is that you get to unlock all the costume pieces associated with each element; there's no extra bonus for having them all.

I don't believe, off-hand, that Senseis get selfie bonuses... but I don't play with my Sensei figures much (custom characters are just too damn much fun!), so I admit that I could be wrong. Each picture frame in the Hall of Selfies corresponds to a specific battle class, and it won't let you post other images in them... so no, you can NOT double up on bonuses for one class.

Here's a quick breakdown of what you get by collecting:
* Each elemental Imaginite Crystal = 1 costume set only available to crystals of that element
* Imaginite Crystal of all 10 Elements = no extra bonus beyond the above
* Imaginator of each Battle Class = no bonus
* Sensei of specific Battle Class = extra tertiary attack for any Imaginators you create using that class (1 per class)
* Sensei of all 10 Battle Classes = no extra bonus beyond the above
* Sensei of specific Element = new elemental zone added to M.A.P. (1 per element)
* Sensei of all 10 Elements = no extra bonus beyond the above
* Unique Sensei figure = new costume item, new weapon available (from that class' Sensei Shrine), +1 to maximum Imaginator level
* Duplicate Sensei figure = increased stats on costume item

Also, if you have a Sensei and its variant figure (ex. Candy Coated Chopscotch), you get the increased stats on the costume item and +1 to maximum Imaginator level, but still only get the weapon from the Sensei Shrine once. (Unlocking a Sensei's weapon puts it in the pool for potential drops from Imaginite chests, so you can still get duplicates and increase the stats that way.)

And as with all Skylander games, more characters = more lives, or at least chances to finish a level without resetting.

Actually, one of the bonus goals (others include grind rail challenges and racing) is to create Imaginators of each Battle Class. It just rewards you with random parts, though.

Senseis do appear to get the boosts too, but you don't need Imaginators to activate the boosts. Selfies of Senseis work just as well. Of course, neither of these apply to Kaos.

P.S.: You can color any Imaginator in any color, but specific elements have specific presets. You can of course recreate those preset color schemes in the other elements, but it takes more time.

Thank you both so much for your help! McMurderPaws, I feel like I should buy you a beer or something for how much time you put into this thread for me. Very much appreciated!

I guess I stumbled upon one question from your explanation:

Quote:

* Each elemental Imaginite Crystal = 1 costume set only available to crystals of that element (my emphasis)

Does this mean my firedancer costume pieces are ONLY available to an imaginator of the fire element? I can't put the tribal tatted legs on a life imaginator, f.ex? I mean, I could understand why they might go this route, but I hope they don't. Options are important, right?


So, processing this (impressive amount of) information, it sounds like I can mostly "get the max" out of the game even if I only had the one crystal, as long as I have a reset trick (since that'd give me the bonus goal Nightmoon mentioned - though, even then, if that bonus reward is random, I'll eventually get all of it just by grinding, right?). I can snap and hang a selfie of my fire imaginator as each battle class so that I also get the stat bonus for all of them. Then (iiuc), all I'd be missing from the game are the nine other element-specific set pieces (that are only able to be used by an imaginator of their specific element?), and the specific secondary moves for the other nine elements as well?

Now, don't get me wrong, I love me some moves (shoot, like I said in the superchargers thread, I actually haven't played past the first couple levels in that game because I enjoy upgrading and upleveling everybody so much that I just did all the grinding and let the kids do the story), but 90 bucks is pretty steep for the use of only one of four attacks at a time, and one of dozens of imaginator sets, especially if that one is limited to that element's crystal.

With that in mind (shocker, I know, I have more questions), if I were to decide not to get one of all nine remaining crystal types and limit myself to two or three, which elemental move sets (aside from fire, of course) do you like best? Either from a geek-out-cause-it-looks-freaking-COOL perspective, or from a swift death-and-destruction perspective? I'm easily swayed by the merits of either.

Alternately, if I DO decide to get one of all ten, which elemental attacks "pair with" () battle class attacks best? I mean, for example, are some elemental attacks ranged where most/all battle attacks melee, so pairing them would make the imaginator more well-rounded, or are there some elemental attacks that are very similar to a specific battle class's attacks, so it'd be redundant to pair them? I realize that with the reset trick, I'd be able to do some of my own testing, but I'd also be interested to hear the board's suggestions. After playing around with them for a while, I'm guessing I'd settle in on specific battle-class and element pairs for each of my ten. If there are a few specific DEVASTATING elemental and battle attack combinations, I'd LOVE to know what they are!

I suppose another way to attack this is to figure out which element crystals I'll end up with depending upon which adventure packs I get new. I never have a problem getting figures aftermarket, but if it makes more financial sense to get the whole packs, I may just do that (oooh, that made me think of another question! Both the CTT and LIM chests are blue, correct? But they give different sets of imaginator parts? Do the chests look different enough to be able to tell them apart?). GPO has earth, EEF has air, CTT has life, and LIM has magic. I doubt they'd eventually offer single packs of Wild Storm or Ro-Bow, so if I want them, I'd probably need to plan on getting the life and magic crystals from them.

Hmm. Decisions. And thanks so much for all the help!

Quote: pjc613

Quote:

* Each elemental Imaginite Crystal = 1 costume set only available to crystals of that element (my emphasis)

Does this mean my firedancer costume pieces are ONLY available to an imaginator of the fire element? I can't put the tribal tatted legs on a life imaginator, f.ex? I mean, I could understand why they might go this route, but I hope they don't. Options are important, right?

Not at all. The parts are only unlocked by the crystals. Once unlocked, they're accessible to all Imaginators (except torsos for Ninjas and legs for Swashbucklers).

Quote:

So, processing this (impressive amount of) information, it sounds like I can mostly "get the max" out of the game even if I only had the one crystal, as long as I have a reset trick (...) Then (iiuc), all I'd be missing from the game are the nine other element-specific set pieces (that are only able to be used by an imaginator of their specific element?), and the specific secondary moves for the other nine elements as well?

You'll be missing the Creation Crystal rewards of the other nine Elements, but there are other exclusive parts as well. Sensei rewards, and exclusive parts from the Sensei Elemental Realms, Cursed Tiki Temple, and Lost Imaginite Mines. The bonus goal rewards are all pulled from the pool of normal parts, without specific unlock conditions.

And, like you said, you'll only have the four Fire Elemental Attacks, not the other 36, since they're completely linked to the Crystals.

I won't say too much about Elemental Attacks and combinations, as I haven't experimented too much with it. I just went for a roster and stuck to it. However, you may want to look at the upgrades page here to get an idea of the different Classes and Elements. One thing I find funny is that Magic Ninjas have two teleport options; one from their element, and one from their battle class.