Overview
A guide for the fourth Starstorm DLC naut Skree, the techno shaman. BOOM SHAKALALAKA!Updated 18/6/14: Sections for teammates and what Skree counters now looks a bit more organized. Also added a new section about Utility. Small edit about Scruffy Towel and Air Freshner in Sawblade section. A new Tip is also added. Thanks for all comments and help! A new guy add2ed to thanks too!
Introduction to da Techno Shaman
Yo mon! (mon is Skrees way of saying man I believe).
This guide is here because I wanted to write it. I hope that I can help some people to play as Skree too, or against him. I am not saying that the ways I will teach here are the best ways of playing Skree, but I find it fun to write this and I hope its useful. Now I started with this the same day as Skree got released in puvblic so it may have some faults or mistakes. If ya see any then ya can point them out in tha comment section mon. Then lets dive deeper into the secrets of the Techno Shaman!
How to use da badboy Skree mon!
Well Skree can be used in different ways. You can use him to block pushes with your totem and give your mates more time to rush in and defend. You can also use Skree to push, using the Totem again for blocking the fire from the turret. You can use Skrees Sawblade toclear droids and lanes quite effectively. And at last, you can use him for getting kills. Skree is pretty versatile and he can be split up in two different playstyles:
1. Totem focused playstyle
2. Sawblade focused playstyle
The Totem focus is more for support and and defending. It involves pushing and stopping pushes.
Sawblade focus is for clearing lanes and slaughtering enemy nauts.
So you should not try to merge these playstyles according to my experiennce. Both abilities needs focus and many upgrades to be good. If you try to focus on both at the same time you will most likely have two half good abilities. But this is just my opinion.
Because of that his abilities needs upgrades to be good, Skrees early game is pretty bad. So farming solar is quite important. Now, I am no master at farming so I will not talk much more about it except saying that the earlier Skree comes out of his early game, the better.
BOOM SHAKALAKA: Lightning Rod
Skrees basic attack is the Lightning Rod. With that he can hit multiple enemies at once(up to three without upgrades). The attack has rather low damage though so you can not rely on it to take away loads of health fom enemies in combat like for example Derpls Cats, Teds Shotgun or Leons Blades.
Here are the Lightning Rod upgrades:
*Magic Sunballs 1/3 : Increases target amount for your Lightning Rod. +1 targets.
*Lashes of the Godess 1/3 : Increases damage of Lightning Rod by +2. Fork damage(damage to other than the first one hit I think)increased by 1.
*Pills for the Mind: Adds Slow to Lightning Rod. +10%, duration 0,5 s.
*Ceremonial Mask: Allows the Lightning Rod to hit one target multiple times.
*Device of the Heavens 1/2 : Increases attack speed with +10%.
*Soul Connectors 1/2 : Adds Damage over Time(DoT)to Lightning Rod. DoT + 4, +2 fork damage.
Thats the upgrades. I usually run Pills for the Mind, Lashes of the Godess and Device of the Heavens. Pills for the Mind gives slow which is fantastic to chase someone down with, Device of the Heavens can give moree attack speed and Lashes of the Godess increases daamage. Without it Lightning Rod is quite weak. Tis combo IMO outclasss the other upgrades, at least for the strateegiees in this guide. That is why I use them.
Without Totem or Sawblade the Lightning Rod is mostly pretty useless I assume(I have not tried focusing only on Lightnng Rod). But I know that together it can be geat with Totem or Sawbladde. To check out how it ffits in to the different playstyles of Totem respective Sawblade you can go to respective section.
How to build ya Totem of Power mon!
So the first playstyle we will go through with Skree is the Totem one. This focuses much on Attacking and Pushing opposed to the Sawblade one which is about killing as many enemies as possible. With the totem you will not get that many kills. Instead you will be able to defend and help ya allies mon! Da Totem lesson starts mon!
Thhe Totem of Power is a high Totem thaat Skreee rises from the ground. It blocks the path of your enemies while your riends can walk through it. Enemies can jump over it though. The totem disappears after 7s.
So the Totem has six upgrades. Here they are:
*Mask of Fear 1/2 : Increases Skrees damage when he is nearby the Totem of Power by 10%.
*Book of Medicine 1/2 : Shortens the cooldown of Totem of Power by -1,5 s.
*Ornamented Pipe: Increases height of Totem of Power by +3.
*Closed Coffin 1/2 : Increases the Heealth of Totem of Power by +20.
*Voodoo Doll 1/2 : Adds slow to Totem of Power. Slow is +15% for 1 s.
*Trial Elixir Of Knowledge: Adds a knocckback pulse when the Totem of Power is summoned. Knockback +1,5.
So, the Totem upgrades. When I use the Totem style(which I only used once in online battle as of writing this)I use Ornamented Pipe, Closed Coffin and Voodoo Doll. Ornamented Pipe is great as you can make it much harder for enemies to pass your Totem. Closed Coffin makes the Toteem harder to take down which is great in combination with Ornamented Pipe. Voodoo Doll is great as a support thing and makes your enemies regret that they tried to cross the Totem of Power. If ya want thogh I guess that you can exchange Voodoo Doll for Book of Medicine. I have not tried this however but it could be nice. Trial Elixir of Knowledge sfeels outclassed on paper though(di not try it)and Mask of Fear is not as good as the others(tried it).
For Sawblade and Lightning Rod upgrades in this set I usually use the three upgrades from Secrets of Sawblade section on the Sawblade together with the Lightning Rod upgrades from BOOM SHAKALAKA: Lightning Rod section.
The upgrade order I think can be good to use for Totem of Power style is this:
1. Totem of Power
2. Ornamented Pipe
3. Sawblade
4. Closed Coffin 1/2
5. Closed Coffin 2/2
6. Voodoo Doll 1/2
7. Lashes of the Godess 1/3
8. Pills for the Mind
9. Voodoo Doll 2/2
Then I have no straight order for the rest.
The Sawblade comes quite early here, despite this being the Totem style. That is because of that Skree has a hard time doing much damage to something without it and as a bonus placing the Sawblade at the pushing enemies trying to break the Totem is good idea to weaken a push. Anyways when pushing you can place your Totem at the turret in front of the droids to give you more push time, a bit like Lonestars Bull. When defending you simply place the totem in front of your turret and sendaway Lightnings and Sawblades at the enemies.
You can also use Totem to cover your retreat or save a friend by blocking the path of enemies chasing you.
Also remeber that Skree has a quite weak early game so the full Totem potential appears in mid game- late game.
Thanks to helpful users I have learned that Skree can block Snipes and other non-piercing attacks with the Totem.
Secrets of the Sawblade
So here we go in for a closer look at the Sawblade, Skrees primary way of doing damage. With the Sawblade, you press the button to fire it and it flies away, damaging everything in its path. You can stop it whenevr you wish using the same button as you sent it away with, just as Cocos Lightning Ball. If yo dont stop it it will stop by itself after a while and spin aound for some seconds before returning to Skree, damaging everything in its path once again. You can return it to you with a third press whenevr you want after it stopped. if used right, this can be very deadly. Lets check the upgrades:
*Steeldrum 1/3 : Increases damage. +5 Flying damage and +1 damage when spinning around.
*Scruffy Towel: Lifesteal 20%
*Air Freshner 1/3 : Adds homing particles to the Sawblade. Bullets +2 and Damage +2. I believe thhat the damage here are for the homing particles and not for the Sawblade itself. Not sure though.
*Suitcase monster: Increases size of Sawblade by +50%
*Spare Blade: Adds a second sawblade that moves backwards and deals lesser damage. Deals 50% damage from the usual damage of the first Sawblade.
*Alien Hula Girl 1/2 : Adds slow to the Sawblade. 12,5 % slowing power. 0,5 s duration.
Thats the upgrades for Sawblade. So, how to use them? When I use Sawblade I use to focus on it and not buy Totem until very late, if at all during the game. Sawbladde is for damage and some area denial.
I use to run the Steeldrum, Air Freshner and Suitcase Monster. Steeldrum is a pretty obvious choice since more damage is always great, especially for burst damage. Air Freshner is something I run because of the extra spin damage the Sawblade gets thanks to the homing particles. Suitcase Monster is great to have thanks to the extra size which makes it harder to avoid. I did not notice this until another guy pointed that out though. Thanks to you. Spare Blade sounds good on paper but is mostly good for area denial IMO. The Alien Hula Girl and the Scruffy Towel are outclassed by the three others, I believe(without testing any of them).
EDIT: I saw on a forum that Air Freshner aint that good so switching it for Scruffy Towel might be an idea(which I believe someone used in a match). Thanks to that guy and thanks to forum users.
So when fighting other nauts with this it is important to stay mobile. Skree can avoid things like Lightning Ball so try to do that. Also it is important to stop the Sawblade when it touches an opponent to give the spin damage. When the Sawblade has done its job you chase the damaged naut with your Lightning Rod and kill him/her.
The order of upgrades I use with this is usually:
1. Sawblade
(Piggy Bank)
2. Steel Drum 1/3
3. Steel Drum 2/3
4. Lashes of the Godess 1/3
5. Pills for the Mind
6. Steel Drum 3/3
7. Lashes of the Godess 2/3
8. Device of the Heavens 1/2
9. Device of the Heavens 2/2
Thats how I start. Now remeber that this Skree is weak at his early game so wait until late mid-game or late-game to see his full potential.
Utility for da Skree mon!
I forgot adding something about utility! So I should probably do. I believe that everyone knows the utility items but I will list them here anyways:
*Power Pills Turbo 1/3 : Icreases maximum health with 12%.
*Med-i´-can 1/2 : Regenerate health with +70 health per minute.
*Space Air Max: Increases movement speed with +1,2.
*Solar Tree: Get more solar over time. +17 solar per minute.
*Piggy Bank: Gves 130 solar for free.
*Starstorm Statue 1/2 : Increases all damage you do with 5%.
So I use to take Piggy Baank(I always take Piggy Bank)to be able to get a good start. Then I prefer to take boots to make Skree even faster and Solar Tree to help Skree out of his early game early. Though I suppose you can change Space Air Max for Starstorm Statue for some bonus damage. I dont use Power Pills or Med-i´-can because Skree s not very bulky or tanky so I want to build up on what he can do instead of making his weaknesses a little better.
“Im going to find ya mon” – What do Skree counter?
So which nauts fear Skree? How can he be used in combat to beat other naut strategies. Remeber that all this aint tried out and much is only theory. Here we go:
*Gnaw (part trried) : One thing I part guess and part tried out is Skree vs Gnaw. Skree should be able to take out/heavily damage a weedling nest built by Gnaw with the Sawblade(theory)and he can easily take out lone weedlings with his Sawblade(tried). So I guesss that Skree can counter weedling focused Gnaw.
*Lonestar (not tried): Skree also eliminates pushes quite effectively which makes him take out Lonestars main focus. And I dont think that Lonestar would appreciate a Sawblade but not sure.
* Derpl: Then, thanks to Exas, the ethernal golem I can inform about that Skree can deal huge damage to siege mode Derpls while they are inside the siege mode. And I want to add myself that you should watch out for snares.
*Raelynn: t0lkki informed me of that Sawblade also is great at countering Sniping Raelynn as she can not move while sniping. Thanks to both you mons. Skree can also use the Totem to block non-piercing attacks, such as Raelynns Snipe for example. Thanks Kavalee and Berries for tellling me this.
*Skolldir: You can outmanouver Skolldir pretty easy in a fight and your hoover helps evading Earthquake. And when he is close to you, you can easily hit him with Sawblade. This might not always work but I have pulled it off once.
My Coco theory was wrong.
Will be updated(if I remember)when I know more.
Good teamates for Skree
As every naut, Skree does very good if paired with the right partner. Here I will go through some partners for Skree. Remember that some of this is still theory.
*Sentry (theory) : I am just saying that Black Hole + Sawblade is something you probably dont want to get stuck in.
*Leon (tried) : The Sawblade does not have the best range in the world. Leon can easily pull opponents to him so that Skree can hit them with the Sawbade easier.
*Raelynn: I have received information about that she is a good team mate for Skree through helpful Steam users in the comments. These users are [KMOA] moderator-helper and marky1696. If you add Voodoo Doll to your Totem and put the Timerlift with the opponents trying to break it. They will get very, very trapped.
Will be updated when I know more(hopefully).
Countering Skree
So, what are the general counters to Skree?
*Leon: One thing I have found out is that Leon does very well against Skree. If Skree is ambushed by Leon he cant do much more than running away. And Leons Tounge can pull him back.
*Coco: I thought hat Skree would counter her but I was wrong. She counters Skree. Skree actually has troubles withe vading Blaze, at least when she attacks you. And Lightning Ball, if it hits does much damage to Skree who by then probably has DoT aand slow ffrom Blaze. And he does not have the health to turn that situation.
Snares are good too. Skree is frail and snare, slow, stun works well. Derpls Snares are great for catching him for example. And do not try to run through any Timerlifts unless you really have too. Skree is too frail for that.
If you gang up on Skree he will not live long too. Skree does best with his team or in 1vs1 fights. Expolit that and kill him when he is alone. Burst damage like Explosion from Clunk should do much damage to him since he has low health. But again, I have not seen a Skree getting hit by many Explosions. Also, to team attack him you can use Swiggins Anchor Drop or Sentrys Black Hole to keep him in place.
Sentry is also worth a special mention since the Sawblade is a great tool for him to charge his Black Hole.
Bounce mine build Yuri can take on Skree quite well. Skree is quite frail and a lot of bouncing mines is not fun.
All this aint tried out though. Some is theory.
Tips and tricks mon!
So here follows a list of small tips about Skree which I found out during my playing with Skree:
*If ya send a Sawblade at a turret it will bounce back directly to you. It can still damage enemies standing at the turret though.
*When fighting usual droids with Lightning Rod you should hover over them. Then you can easily take them down without getting hurt by them.
*This could be my own incompetence but it seems like Skree has some problems following nauts escaping through platforms. His Lightning misses and he takes more time than most nauts to move up through them. It can be me though.
*When standing on the glass platform at the lowest hiding place in Aguillion, the Totem of Power sinks down through the glass which makes it easy for opponents to cross it. So try to avoid placing totems on glass platforms(if ya dont want to block the way under the platform).
EDIT: I have not tried every platform in the game but it seems like this applies only to the bottom platforms in Aguillion.
*When your Sawblade is out and spinning you could try to position yourself so that the Sawblade hits things while returning too.
*The Sawblade kills a Super droid quite fast.
Will get updated(if remember)when I know more.
Conclusion and thanks
So, here the guide ends. If I remember and dont lose interest, I will update this when I know more about Skree. I hope that you learned something about Skree.
Information about upgrades are more or less copied from the Awesomenauts Wiki and the game. Also thanks to members of the Steam community Exas, the ethernal golem, [KMOA] moderator heelper, Berries, Kavallee, marky1696, [NRun)Jerry and t0lkki for their help.
Thanks for reading mon!