# A skull-teasing question **URL:** \ **Category:** Gameplay Chat (PC/Mobile)\ **Created:** [October 8, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458 "2016-10-08T20:40:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![captain\_video](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/db5fbb/32.png) [@captain\_video](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/captain_video)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/1 "2016-10-08T20:40:07Z")
If a transform changes the board to 64 skulls, how many skull matches does that count as? I scratch my head at this because… My primary invasion team uses Treant as its tank. Mythic, fully traited (d’oh). I have max kingdom stat bonuses and max guild stat bonuses, so he has pretty fat armor to start. As most people know, his spell buffs three stats including armor. Recently I’ve come up against a couple of defense teams that have [whatever] as tank, two fully-traited Courage, and a fully-traited Bone Dragon in the rear. Courage’s third trait gets him +3 in three stats for every skull match. If the AI gets its Bone Dragon to go off while my Treant is sitting there with fat armor, the board will nearly fill with skulls. In the past, it might be enough to take out my tank, it might not, but even if not I can usually beat AI’s last three with my last three. Now Courage presents a problem. A nearly full board of skulls is bumping their attack/armor/life by 30 or more without a single cascade happening yet, and to me the result is more than a bit OP. I say this even though I have yet to lose to a team of this type. However, I think I have been a bit lucky on the skull counts, plus I am concerned about what happens when I see a Courage scaled to mythic. Any thoughts from other metagame players are appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![TaliaParks](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/taliaparks/32/11738_2.png) [@TaliaParks](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/TaliaParks)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/2 "2016-10-08T20:44:42Z")
An entire 8x8 board of Skulls counts as one giant Critical Hit So Attack +2 damage dealt ---
**Author:** ![captain\_video](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/db5fbb/32.png) [@captain\_video](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/captain_video)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/3 "2016-10-08T20:46:00Z")
Then it’s bugged. I don’t see how a board with 50+ skulls on it can be broken down to 10 or more separate skull matches before a cascade occurs. ---
**Author:** ![DonBoba](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/donboba/32/25457_2.png) [@DonBoba](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/DonBoba)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/4 "2016-10-08T20:58:37Z")
Talia is right. You can test this easy doing a challenge on highest diff. Use bone dragon, break enemy armor and make the whole board full of skulls. Take some challenge where enemy has a troop that boosts armor. ---
**Author:** ![captain\_video](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/db5fbb/32.png) [@captain\_video](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/captain_video)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/5 "2016-10-08T22:24:14Z")
But the real question is what happens when the board is just a few skulls short of being full. What I’m seeing with the interaction between Bone Dragon and Courage is that it’s being counted as 10+ separate skull matches. ---
**Author:** ![TaliaParks](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/taliaparks/32/11738_2.png) [@TaliaParks](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/TaliaParks)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/6 "2016-10-08T22:33:21Z")
There’s no way to tell without a video ---
**Author:** ![Esoxnepa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/esoxnepa/32/1837_2.png) [@Esoxnepa](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Esoxnepa)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/7 "2016-10-08T22:33:53Z")
There’s never been a great example of where certain skull patterns count as just the +2 critical hit, or where they count as some set of multiple hits. I know this isn’t the most helpful. I used to try and pin down how some of that patterns counted, but basically, when you skull spam, try not to spam the whole board. ---
**Author:** ![TaliaParks](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/taliaparks/32/11738_2.png) [@TaliaParks](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/TaliaParks)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/8 "2016-10-08T22:48:48Z")
> [@Esoxnepa](#): > > basically, when you skull spam, try not to spam the whole board. Exactly, try to make no more than 40-45 Skulls at a time to maximize damage ---
**Author:** ![Kurokazna](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/kurokazna/32/11246_2.png) [@Kurokazna](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Kurokazna)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/9 "2016-10-09T00:51:15Z")
> [@captain\_video](#): > > If a transform changes the board to 64 skulls, how many skull matches does that count as? I scratch my head at this because… > [@TaliaParks](#): > > Attack +2 damage dealt ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/gemsofwar/original/2X/1/18523f88cade52d978dd68aa41706f2ce627ec2a.jpg) This dealt 43 damage. Can confirm. ---
**Author:** ![Kurokazna](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/kurokazna/32/11246_2.png) [@Kurokazna](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Kurokazna)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/10 "2016-10-09T01:13:16Z")
[](https://i.gyazo.com/8a7c0227cd6e34b41c999517daad9e3c.gif) ---
**Author:** ![captain\_video](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/db5fbb/32.png) [@captain\_video](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/captain_video)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/11 "2016-10-09T19:03:24Z")
People are combining Courage with Bone Dragon for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![TaliaParks](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/taliaparks/32/11738_2.png) [@TaliaParks](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/TaliaParks)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/12 "2016-10-09T19:32:58Z")
> [@captain\_video](#): > > People are combining Courage with Bone Dragon for a reason. The massive Attack boosting while looping and Skull spamming ---
**Author:** ![captain\_video](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/db5fbb/32.png) [@captain\_video](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/captain_video)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/a-skull-teasing-question/13458/13 "2016-10-09T21:24:53Z")
> [@TaliaParks](#): > > The massive Attack boosting while looping and Skull spamming Yes, but it should take a lot more loops to pump the Courage(s) as high as I’ve seen them. Which is why I posted this thread in the first place, to see if anyone understands how a near-full board of skulls is broken down and counted as however-many matches. It appears nobody really knows.