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Skylanders: Swap Force - Lightcore Flashwing
Score: 79%
Developer: Activision
Device Type: Accessory
Compatible With:


Stats:

Lightcore Flashwing
Element:Earth
Health:260
Speed:43
Armor:24
Critical Hit:2
Elemental Power:25

Attacks:

Skylanders: Swap Force - Lightcore Flashwing is an unusual figure in that it is a Lightcore version of a character introduced in Skylanders: Giants, but doesn’t have a Series 2, non-Lightcore counterpart for Swap Force. What this means is that there is no additional Wow Pow attack. The same applies to Lightcore Wham-Shell and Lightcore Warnado, these characters don’t get an extra attack simply because they’ve been brought into a different game. They apparently need a non-Lightcore repose to have that honor. At least they all have the Lightcore effect that happens when they are first summoned in a level.

So what are Lightcore Flashwing’s attacks? She starts off with two attacks, Crystal Shards and Shimmering Spin. The latter shoots a projectile ahead of Flashwing, while the other spins her like a top, increases her speed, and chips away at enemy health pretty effectively.

Lightcore Flashwing’s initial upgrades include a third attack that shoots shards in all directions except in front of her. She also gets a charge on her Crystal Shard attack that turns the shard into a laser beam shot. She can also get an upgrade that lets her shoot the Crystal Shards faster and another that increases her armor.

The two upgrade paths will either power up her crystal projectiles or her spin ability. One path lets the shards stick to walls and when you press the first attack again, it will shoot another crystal out. This path eventually lets you get three Crystal Shards stuck in walls and the final upgrade allows those lodged crystals to regenerate Lightcore Flashwing’s health if she goes near them.

The Shimmering Spin upgrade path starts by increasing the length of the spin and letting it deal more damage. The next upgrade bounces enemy projectiles back and the final lets you tap the Crystal Shards attack while spinning to shoot lasers.

Lightcore Flashwing’s Soul Gem ability (ready for purchase in Swap Force, but found in Bringing Order to Kaos! in Giants) is called Crystal Lighthouse. Holding down the third attack, she shoots a massive beam of light and can rotate to damage any enemies in the beam’s path.


Features:
  • Compatible with:
    • Skylanders: Giants
    • Skylanders: Swap Force
  • Series 2
  • Lightcore

Comments:

Skylanders: Swap Force - Lightcore Flashwing, or rather, any version of Flashwing is a good character to have in your arsenal. She doesn’t really seem to lack in any one category and she has strong short and long-ranged attacks. While I find that I use the third attack more than the one with the single shard, I find most of my time spinning at my opponents - or more precisely, around them as I tend to circle the bigger enemies while the smaller ones throw themselves at the character.

Lightcore Flashwing is a hard character to recommend. On the one side, the figure looks good and the Lightcore ability is a nice one-off effect that can really help in a bind, but on the other hand, the Swap Force doesn’t add a lot to this character. Don’t get me wrong, Flashwing is a fun character and does really good no matter what level you have her upgraded to, it’s just hard to recommend getting the Lightcore version over one of the ones that came in the Giants release - especially given the price difference of a Lightcore versus a normal Core character. I feel like a player looking to add just the best characters to the roster and not looking for every version of every character should only pick up Lightcore Flashwing if either the original isn’t available, or comes out more expensive because of demand online.


-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer

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