Skylords Reborn
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Thugs is a Tier 1 (Tokenslot Orb Fire) Icon UnitUnit 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

Gang up!
Card Icon Passive Passive: The unit will join a gang with other Orcs within a 25m radius. When being surrounded by at least 3 Orcs, 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.
Group Pressure
Card Icon Passive Passive: Unit is immune to Unity and its effects.

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 Strikers Card Icon Strikers, Spearmen Card Icon Spearmen, and Wrathblades Card Icon Wrathblades while in Wrathblades Burnout Ability Icon 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.

Thugs, 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 Sunstriders Card Icon Sunstriders are a common sight to see alongside these orcish marauders.

Their special ability is quite a potent one: Card Icon Passive Gang up!, which allows the Thugs to attain an innate Unity Card Icon Unity-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: Card Icon Passive Group Pressure prevents the Unity Card Icon Unity 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 Entity Icon Twilight Slayers will quickly decimate them from a distance.

Several groups of Thugs can become quite a resilient force once Card Icon Passive 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 Card Icon Passive Gang up!, Thugs can reliably tank while Sunstriders Card Icon Sunstriders or Firesworn Card Icon Firesworn 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 Card Icon Passive 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.

Thugs Card Icon Thugs 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 Minimap Mo Mo Minimap Mo Mo Minimap Mo
Scenario Difficulty Standard Advanced Expert

Gallery

Patch History

Patch #400042
Card Name Former Scenario Drop Locations New Scenario Drop Locations
Upgrade 1 Upgrade 2 Upgrade 3 Upgrade 1 Upgrade 2 Upgrade 3
Thugs Card Icon Thugs Blight Blight Blight Mo Mo Mo
Patch #400039
  • Increased the average damage dealt over 20 seconds from 720 to 750.
  • Passive ability Card Icon Passive Gang up!:
    • Changed dependency from other Thugs to units with the classification Orc.
Patch #400035
  • Passive ability Card Icon Passive Group Pressure:
    • Added a visual effect underneath affected Thugs.
Patch #400031
  • Passive ability Card Icon Passive Gang up!:
    • Changed the displayed status bar icon whilst the effect is active from Unity to Thugs.
Patch #400030
  • 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 Card Icon Passive 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 Card Icon Passive Group Pressure:
    Unit is immune to Unity and its effects.
Patch #400022
  • 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.
Pre-Release Patch #400010
  • Fixed a crash which happened when Thugs Card Icon Thugs killed themselves due to Damage Reflection like Life Weaving Card Icon Life Weaving.

See also

Orbs
Number of Orbs
Type
Rarity

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[]

Misanthropy
Card Icon Passive Passive: Deals 50% more damage against Human units

  • 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 Northguards Card Icon Northguards, as they will be quickly shredded by the immense damage output. Frost Mage Card Icon Frost Mage is a strong, effective counter here, but using non-human units is best, particularly units like Scavenger Card Icon Scavenger and Dreadcharger Card Icon Dreadcharger, but non-human squads can also remain useful like Wrathblades Card Icon Wrathblades and your own Thugs Card Icon Thugs

Trivia[]

  • Non-Player Thugs share the same stats as upgraded Thugs Card Icon Thugs.
  • Misanthropy is a unique passive only found on Thugs in the Battlegrounds, as Gang Up! would be too powerful here.

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