At its very coreSkul: The Hero Slayeris a roguelike action platformer. It stands out amongst its brethren in the genre due to its unique class-based mechanic. Along each run, the titular Skul will pick up skulls belonging to other famous warriors. Some of these classes turn him into a ranged fighter while others beef him up into a brutal behemoth.
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There are over thirty skulls in the game and finding them all, or getting the best ones, is going to take a lot of luck. Each transformation sort of acts likethe power-up suitsinMario’svarious adventures. They are wild, but the big question is which ones inSkul: The Hero Slayershould players invest time into?
Updated February 9th, 2022 by Russ Boswell: Skul: The Hero Slayer continues to impress with its adorable and addicted roguelike gameplay. Players that have yet to dive into this heroic adventure should snag it whenever they get the chance as it’s every bit as enthralling as releases like Dead Cells and Curse of the Dead Gods. Those that are just now jumping into this indie darling for the first time may be asking themselves, “what are thebest skulls in Skul: The Hero Slayer?” To better answer that question the following list has been updated and includes even more entries to give players a good idea of what to seek out.
15Rock Star
The Rock Star skull is more than just a heavy-metal hair-banging costume. This unique find can be incredibly useful during a run, especially early on, thanks to its powerful toolkit. The Rock Star variant will give Skul the ability to stun and create an AOE damage-over-time effect by placing down Amps.
This particular skull is very useful against stationary enemies and bosses (like Yggdrasil) as the Amp can dish out serious damage while leaving players free to dodge incoming attacks. Those that awaken the skull will be given the Super Rock Star, a mohawked version that’s capable of placing down two amps at one time to double the damage output.
14Hunter
This rare-level skull is ideal for those that enjoy a ranged playstyle and even comes equipped with a charged attack that can inflict additional critical damage. The Hunter comes with an array of skills that can shoot multiple projectiles, making it perfect for whittling down bosses and keeping groups of enemies at bay.
It’s especially useful when it levels up and awakens, giving it access to a powerful swap ability at the Sniper tier. Players can swap to this skull, which will then set a stunning trap, dodge backward, and rain arrows.
13Gambler
Players that manage to snag a Gambler skull during their run should consider themselves extremely lucky, as the head has a rather low drop rate since it’s a legendary-tier item. It’s legendary for a reason, though, as the Gambler is capable of clearing large rooms of enemies effortlessly thanks to its skills.
Its passive gives thrown cards a 30 percent chance to turn into a Joker variant which explodes and deals magic damage. It has a few solid skills to choose from but the best by far is Blackjack, which will throw forward 21 cards that can pierce through enemies.
12Mummy
A lot of the unique and legendary skulls found in Skul: The Hero Slayer are incredibly powerful and useful but there are some rare-tier skulls that can shine just as brightly in the right hands. A great example is the Mummy, which has a nice long-ranged attack (with a gun, of all things) and is useful for getting past traps thanks to its passive (doesn’t take damage from traps).
Where the Mummy really shines, though, is in its Swap Skill, Arise. When players swap to this skull from another one they will gain a 100 percent movement speed bonus for five seconds. This makes the Mummy incredibly useful for helping to maneuver around enemies and through more difficult boss battles. Even if players don’t use the Mummy as their primary skull, just having it to swap to for a quick speed bonus makes it a diamond in the rough.
11Gargoyle
The Gargoyle Skull turns Skul into a gargoyle if that wasn’t obvious. Its attacks are not that strong. The reason why it’s one of the better Skulls to get though is that it can legitimately fly. This will give players an advantage in battle in case they need to recover.
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It’s a more strategic Skull than anything else. The first boss, which is a giant tree, for example, can barely touch players if they fly around.
10Frost Skull
The Frost Skull encases Skul into an icy mold. It has iced daggers as weapons. As far as raw power and speed go, this Skull is average. Like the Gargoyle, the Frost Skull is a more strategic class to take on.
That’s because there are several abilities it can gain that can freeze enemies. Putting enemies on ice is an obvious advantage in battle since players can whack them without retaliation for a set amount of time. It’s a great skill to have in any game roguelike or not.
9Skeleton-Pike
One of the common skulls that players can find during their journey, the Skeleton-Pike can actually be quite useful for players that find themselves dodging attacks often. This unknown soldier comes with four skills that all revolve around dodging and increasing dodge distance and range. It also turns all dodges into attacks, providing extra damage to enemies when players are dancing around them.
The upgraded and awakened versions of this skull further these abilities, growing their additional damage values and increasing the amount of time that players have to dodge attacks.
8Ghoul
The Ghoul is one of the creepiest Skulls in the game as it gives Skul flesh. It almost looks like one of the demons in the Hellraiser franchise. This class can have several nice abilities such as a chain that can whip enemies toward players. This is kind of likeScorpion’s classic attackin theMortal Kombatfranchise.
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The Ghoul is slow and hard to maneuver. However, if players are lucky enough to get the passive ability to eat flesh then they can make Skul grow. In this heightened state, Skul’s attack power will increase.
7Gene
Gene turns Skul into a genie. There are even moves that place Skul into a lamp. Sadly this Genie doesn’t break into song and dancelike the genieinAladdin. When it does emerge from the lamp, Skul can unleash some devastating attacks.
One of the best abilities the Gene Skull can sometimes have is one that makes it grow huge for one giant strike. It’s like the Ghoul’s flesh-eating passive ability but more concentrated.
6Ninja
The Ninja is the first Skul on the list that is all around a great class to have. There are no gimmicks to it like the previous classes. Its attack power is decent but the best thing about the Ninja is its speed.
Being able to whip around enemies fluidly is like a dream. Having the Ninja Skull equipped will keep players safe from harm as long as they learn the maneuvers. The class also has a few funninja-related abilitiessuch as throwing giant throwing stars at enemies.
