Buddy Rush: Skully's Skill Guide (1.8.0)

Skully is a range character who attacks twice with each regular attack. Each of the two attacks are at half Att. Since she attacks twice, she has twice the opportunity to inflict status effects like Stun or Bleed.

All of her Active Skills leave her vulnerable for a short amount of time so some care should be taken if Oblins are close enough to do harm.

Spiral Shots

With 'Spiral Shots', Skully shoots all around her with more bullets fired towards the front. This skill is best used when surrounded by Oblins or next to a boss to maximize the number of shots that hit. Better yet, be right on the same spot as the boss. However, since most bosses have collision zones, they would have to be lured towards Skully for this to happen.

Because of the number of bullets flying, this skill is good for inflicting status effects. In addition, the damage of each bullet has been improved (they were puny when Skully was first introduced) so 'Spiral Shots' has good damage dealing potential, making it good against Raid Bosses.

The only reason 'Spiral Shots' is not one of 'The Almighty Skills' is because it is difficult to use to its full potential.

Don't move

With 'Don't move!', Skully tosses a net that catches all Oblins in the area of effect, immobilizing them and potentially inflicting Stun (see 'Be Stock on Her') below. Oblins wandering into the net later are not affected.

Despite what the description says, I have not noticed any reduction in Hit Speed of effected Oblins.

'Don't move' is good as a defensive skill to hinder the Oblins' ability to deal damage. The skill can prevent melee Oblins from coming into range to attack. It can also keep Oblins away from battle. It can Stun. And it can prevent skills that depend on movement like YA-86's and Betty's charge attack.

One cheap trick is to net an Oblin then run away, leaving buddies to finish the Oblin. The Oblin will stare after Skully while the buddies do their work.

The area of effect and the duration of the net increases with level. However, the Stun duration may not last as long as the net. Also, if a boss is caught within the net, the duration of the net is reduced by a lot.

Without a boss caught in the net, the net can potentially last longer than the CoolTime of the skill (equip Skill CoolTime items!). This makes it possible to net a target for a long time (until someone gets bored). This fact makes 'Don't move' deadly in Arenas when used creatively.

Update 13 March 2013:
When 'Dont move' is used a second time, Oblins caught in the first net do not have the duration of their immobility renewed. That is, those Oblins will be released when the first net expires.

Update 22 May 2013:
'Dont move' does not work on Orangutan of Chapter 12, Doppelia. The net disappears almost immediately after it hits Orangutan.

Hand Bomb

With 'Hand Bomb', Skully pulls out a cannon (presumably from Hammerspace) and fires a bomb in a trajectory. A bomb will fly out and land on the target, exploding into a Skully's signature skull-explosion (plagiarized by the Pelicano brothers, honest!).

Previously, the bombs do damage on contact, potentially doing damage at launch and at impact since the bomb flies in a trajectory. Then this effect was removed in Chapter 12, Allizwall (now Chapter 11). I have not witness this effect since (in earlier levels, Oblins die immediately so, I could not test it out).

Currently, each bomb does damage on launch and at impact, without the potential of dealing damage twice. Note that I mention 'each' - 'Hand Bomb' can shoot more than one bomb. So far, I have noted 1 bomb at skill level 3, 2 bombs at skill level 5 and 3 bombs at skill level 7. The second bomb will land to the left of the first. The third bomb will land to the right.

'Hand Bomb' is highly inaccurate when used untargeted due to its small area of effect and trajectory flight pattern. It is best to use the skill with a target selected.

Against bosses, 'Hand Bomb' is good at point blank range where each of the bombs will do damage at lanuch (not applicable if only one bomb is launched).

Skully Shots

Skully's Ultimate Skill, 'Skully Shots', deal damage to a fan-shaped area in front of Skully. Unlike her Active Skills, 'Skully Shots' is a lot easier to use - simply point and fire.

Lots of numbers are thrown up during the confusion of this skill so it is hard to gauge its effectiveness. Bleed is guaranteed to be inflicted. Also, due to the large number of shots, if Skully has decent Stun, there is a very good chance of inflicting Stun.

Despite the fact that Skully backs due to recoil, her contact area remains where she was originally. Thus, 'Skully Shots' cannot be used as a dodging technique. Besides, timing the use of the skill to dodge an attack is difficult.

The number of shots from 'Skully Shots' do not seem to be consistent. I noted a lot of numbers flying when used against a single Raid boss. However, when there are several targets or the target is not at the center of the fan-shaped area of effect, I notice fewer numbers flying. At least, I think I do.

'Skully Shots' used to be one of The Almighty Skills, for a few days. When 'Skully Shots' was first introduced, a glitch allowed the skill to do huge amounts of damage. It was quickly fixed.

Bleeding

Bleeding gives Skully a chance to inflict Bleed with her regular attack and with 'Spiral Shots' ('Skully Shots' already guarantee Bleed). Increasing the skill level increases the chance and duration of Bleed.

When an Oblin is afflicted by Bleed, it will continuously lose HP and there is an animation of red droplets falling off him.

In my observation so far in the Ninth Wave, Bleed damage depends on Att only. Skill Pow has no effect.

Note that not all opponents are affected by Bleed.

Be Stock on Her

I still have no idea what sort of name 'Be Stock on Her' is.

Anyway, this Passive Skill increases Skully's Stun potential. It also dramatically increases the possibility of Stun for the 'Don't move' Active Skill.

Sharp Shooter

'Sharp Shooter' increases Skully's Hit Speed, giving her more chances to inflict Stun and Bleed. As an added bonus, it also decreases her chance of being targeted.

No idea what logic has some good shooting to do with reducing the chance of being targeted. Anyway, this aspect of the skill is not very noticeable when Skully is the main character during a Mission since she is in front and will usually be the first to be targeted. When Skully is a party member, however, it does appear that she is less often targeted.

Keen Attack

'Keen Attack' is an Aura that increases the Critical of everyone in the party. This is helpful for buddies with skills that depend on Critical like Vivich and Nagne.

***

Originally, one build for Skully is to maximize the number of bullets flying to inflict Stun. However, due to the latter Raid Bosses being immune or resistant to Stun, this build is not as useful. This build still annoys in the Arena, though.

One other build was to maximize damage. Specifically, doing the most damage with Skully right under the Raid Boss and using 'Spiral Shots'. For this build, 'Spiral Shots' should be improved to the limit. Equip lots of Skill CoolTime items so the skill can be spammed. Do not neglect Att and Skill Pow, though. Also, do not neglect defenses since Skully has to be near the target for maximum damage-dealing potential.

It is also possible to focus on Skully's regular attacks since she potentially has high Hit Speed. Equip Stun and lots of Att. Use 'Don't move' to stop Oblins and shoot them while they are immobilized, maybe drop in a 'Hand Bomb'. Since Skully would not be going near Oblins with this build, defenses can be neglected (not recommended with the latter Raid Bosses, especially Genzir the Storm!).

When Skully is a party member, lure Oblins close to her so her 'Spiral Shots' and 'Hand Bomb' are more effective (Worrier is good for this).

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