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Skylanders: Swap Force - Free Ranger
Score: 95%
Developer: Activision
Device Type: Accessory


Stats:

Free Ranger
Element:Air
Health:280
Speed:43
Armor:18
Critical Hit:8
Elemental Power:25

Attacks:

Free Ranger starts with one attack for the top half and one for the bottom half. For his top half, he has blades that he slashes enemies with. Once you get some money, I recommend upgrading him as Free Ranger is a decent character as he comes, but with a few upgrades, he is a powerhouse. The first upgrade I’d recommend for him is Eyes of the Storm, which lets him shoot lightning with the secondary attack button. It is a good attack because it will get enemies that are a bit further away from you. The next two upgrades affect your blades. Charged Blades makes his primary attack more powerful and Gale Slash adds a bit of a ranged attack for Free Ranger. After buying it, when you press the primary attack button three times, you will then shoot out a blast of air that will hit enemies at a distance. After those upgrades, you will have to choose a path for his top half (the "Free") half. The upper path has two attacks which will benefit his blades' attacks and the lower path has upgrades for the lightning attacks. Choose whichever you think will benefit you more. Either way, you will still have his Soul Gem attack as the final purchase available. Storming Stormblades, as it is called, will really give you a powerful primary (Blades) attack.

Like all of the swappable characters, the bottom half (in this case the "Ranger"), has its own attacks and upgrades. The money to buy these upgrades is all carried on the top half, which can be useful because you can put a rich top on it and use the money to upgrade someone else’s bottom. Free Ranger’s bottom attack is a tornado attack. Until you level him up, it is really weak though. The first upgrade for it is called Approaching Storm, which will let you hold the button and become a tornado, which is a lot more effective. The next upgrade, Wind Powered, makes the tornado last longer. You can also buy Tornado Vacuum Boost which will make it more powerful and suck in enemies from further away. The two different paths you can take will affect your tornado. The upper path makes it so that you will shoot lightning bolts while a tornado. The lower path makes it so that when your tornado is over, you will spin off tornadoes that will attack your enemies briefly. Finally, the Soul Gem for the bottom half is called Charged Winds. It basically super-charges your tornado so that you continually produce lightning as well.


Features:
  • Series 1
  • Compatible with: Skylanders: Swap Force

Comments:

I am pleased that Free Ranger was available when Skylanders: Swap Force was first released. He is a very good character to have. He’s a solid melee fighter from the beginning, but when you upgrade him, you’ll really see his power come out. He is the first character from Swap Force that I maxed at level 20 because I just kept going back to him when I needed a steady fighter.

Free Ranger is from the "Spin" class of Swap Force, so he can unlock the Spin Zone challenges. These challenges are a bit like a pinball machine except you are the ball. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to really control the "ball" but I find them quite enjoyable to play now. If you find yourself frustrated with the lack of control, I found that the easiest thing to do was to really hold the controller in the direction I wanted. The Spin Zones are pretty much the opposite of the Rocket Zones in my book. In the Rocket Zones, very tiny movements work best. In the Spin Zones though, I found forceful movements to be the way to go, myself.

I found that I keep going back to Free Ranger because he is such a good melee character, but he’s also got some fun talents. Sweeping up enemies in his tornado and dragging them around is so very amusing to me, among other talents. Put a bit of time into Free Ranger and you won’t regret it!


-Cyn, GameVortex Communications
AKA Sara Earl

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