Thugs is a Tier 1 () Unit of the Fire faction. This common card was released with the Twilight Edition and has no affinity variants, nor a promo version.
In Skylords Reborn this card is available to all players as a starter card.
This card has been changed already, compared to its original appearance in BattleForge.
Thugs are regarded as an iconic unit in the arsenal of Fire. Noteworthy for their high damage output paired with a modest power cost, they are the workhorse of the Fire Faction in the early game.
Lore
Legend
I know of many honorable warriors who have faced marauding orcs with blind arrogance born from a misguided feeling of moral superiority. Let me tell you, of all the creatures created by the elemental powers, it is the orcish Thugs I envy the most. They combine two traits which make them the most effective of killers: an insatiable lust for battle and, how can I put it plainly? Extreme stupidity. |
— Speech of Hegart the Elder before the 3rd War Council |
Card Info
Notes & Strategies
Thugs are characterized by their massive damage output for the cost, which is stronger than most T1 Squads off its stats alone, only able to be outmatched by Burnout, making these the most consistently powerful and efficient of the early game squads. Their low health however, requires upgrades to offset the weakness, making this card far more difficult to use in more difficult missions and scenarios for a fresh skylord.
, , and while inThugs, while certainly capable of unleashing havoc and mayhem on their own often come alongside other creatures of fire to support them and cover their weaknesses. The
are a common sight to see alongside these orcish marauders.Their special ability is quite a potent one: Gang up!, which allows the Thugs to attain an innate -like effect, causing damage received to be split amongst each squad whilst in proximity in addition to reducing incoming damage. The more thugs you stack in one place, the more the damage is divided and this can turn a swarm of Thugs into an extremely tanky mass. This however, requires significant power and time investment.
Their passive effect: Group Pressure prevents the spell from affecting them and stacking the effects to create invulnerable masses of thugs.Campaign PvE
Thugs are at their strongest when on the attack and properly supported, either with their own kin or allies of flame. Their slow speed makes them adept at conquering the early game in missions that do not require rapid movement or quick action, and when upgraded they are incredibly versatile, capable of covering offensive and defensive situations, though they are not optimized for the latter.
With their enhanced strength (1080 ATK) against Small foes, thugs excel at taking down enemy squads from both the Wasteland Bandits and the Twilight and can often win most fights on their damage output alone. That said, unless upgraded stronger ranged squads like the Twilight Slayers will quickly decimate them from a distance.
Several groups of Thugs can become quite a resilient force once Gang up! has been triggered, and can even defeat some armies bigger than them in the right circumstances.Random PvE
Thugs are very capable of clearing out the initial camps in most difficulty levels, though they will likely require support in the higher levels. With Gang up!, Thugs can reliably tank while or fire away with impunity, and will do massive damage themselves against opposing squads.
So long as you are able to maintain a swarm and keep Gang up! active, they can still serve as a strong blob of resilience and aid in tanking through several more camps, even as you move into Tier Two. By the time you reach Tier Three, however, you would likely be better served recycling them for their void power.Card Upgrades & Drop Locations
Displayed below are the card's upgrades and where to obtain them.
Upgrade I | Upgrade II | Upgrade III | |
---|---|---|---|
Upgrade Card | Thugs Lifepoints +5x6 Gang up! +2% damage reduction | Thugs Lifepoints +10x6 Gang up! +3% damage reduction | Thugs Lifepoints +15x6 Gang up! +5% damage reduction |
Drop Location | Mo | Mo | Mo |
Scenario Difficulty | Standard | Advanced | Expert |
Gallery
Patch History
- Adjusted the card's upgrade drop locations:
- Increased the average damage dealt over 20 seconds from 720 to 750.
- Passive ability Gang up!:
- Changed dependency from other Thugs to units with the classification
Orc
.
- Changed dependency from other Thugs to units with the classification
- Passive ability Gang up!:
- Changed the displayed status bar icon whilst the effect is active from Unity to Thugs.
- Removed the passive ability Looter.
- Old description: As long as the unit attacks a building, a certain amount of the target's original power costs depending on its current life points are gained as power.
- Added a new passive ability Gang up!:
The unit will join a gang with other Thugs within a 25m radius. When being surrounded by at least 3 Thugs, all incoming damage will be spread among all gang members relative to each unit's current life points. Each gang member will receive at least 10% of the damage dealt to any other gang member, with up to 10 gang members being affected in total. Additionally, affected units take 5 / 7 / 10 / 15% less damage. - Added a new passive ability Group Pressure:
Unit is immune to Unity and its effects.
- Increased the average damage dealt over 20 seconds from 660 to 720.
- Passive ability Looter:
- Has been changed to no longer work against units, but only against buildings.
- Fixed a crash which happened when killed themselves due to Damage Reflection like .
See also
Basic Info[]
Thugs can be found on Battlegrounds in the fire preset. These melee units are capable of dealing large amounts of damage, but are somewhat fragile. They can be deadly to small human squads, which they will deal double damage against.
Abilities[]
- Against any unit that classifies as a Human, Thugs deal bonus damage to them. If they are small, this damage bonus is amplified to 100%, raising attack power to 1440.
Tips & Strategies[]
Try to avoid engaging Thugs with small human squads like
, as they will be quickly shredded by the immense damage output. is a strong, effective counter here, but using non-human units is best, particularly units like and , but non-human squads can also remain useful like and your ownTrivia[]
- Non-Player Thugs share the same stats as upgraded .
- Misanthropy is a unique passive only found on Thugs in the Battlegrounds, as Gang Up! would be too powerful here.