Skeleton

Many of the maps used on The Gazebo are created by members of the community, and we are happy to accept submissions for new maps. However, creating a DvZ map can be a big undertaking, so before you get started please read this page carefully. This page sets out the main requirements for DvZ maps on The Gazebo, as well as important information you will need to be aware of while building. If you've not played our version of the game yet, we'd recommend playing a few games first so you can get a better feel for it.

Mechanics

Skeletons are given three items, the first being the Bone Tooth Bow:

• With a left click, the Skeleton will start a cast time to create 8 Bone Arrows in their inventory.
• With a right click, it will fire an arrow, the more a Skeleton hold right click, the further an arrow will go, however regardless of how much the bow is pulled back the arrow will have the same damage.

The ammo for the Bone Tooth Bow are Bone Arrows:

• Skeletons spawn with a few of these initially, though more can be obtained by left clicking their Bone Tooth Bow or upgrading the initial amount they start with.

The final item Skeletons spawn with is the Healing Tonic:

• Drinking this will give the Skeleton Regeneration.

Monster Role

• While the upgrade path a Skeleton follows almost entirely dictates their role in the game, all Skeletons do follow a couple of universal rules: they rely heavily on keeping large amounts of distance between themselves and the dwarves, and need to evade any damage as they typically take 1-2 bow shots to kill.
• Positioning in towers or on walls, shrineboxes, and towers can make Skeletons hard to hit, but make it easier to hit shots.

Fire Skeleton

• Fire Skeletons are effective for Skeletons which cannot typically hit shots, whether it be due to their own ability, location, or because of the location the dwarves are taking. They rely heavily on their volley from fully drawn bow shots to rain fire from places which make them hard to hit.
• Continually annoying the dwarves with damage ticks from the fire can eventually pose a drain on their mana while they also take damage from other sources.
• The speed Fire Skeletons get also allows them to position themselves quickly after dying, returning to their location faster than other Skeletons can.

Wither Skeleton

• Wither Skeletons produce the highest raw damage per shot of any Skeleton. Repeatedly hitting their shots on the same dwarf over and over can drastically reduce their armor durability, mana, and possibly even their life.
• Wither Skeletons' repeated damage buff is only produced from hitting the same dwarf over and over, switching targets will make the first shot hit do less damage before returning to its buffed state. Bow spamming a dwarf running straight at the Skeleton can make it easy to quickly deal a ton of damage in a short span of time.
• With Wither Skeleton's final upgrade: Nether Skeleton; hitting shots on dwarves to keep its health up can make a Wither Skeleton especially durable, but also makes them stand out in a crowd.

Infiltrator Skeleton

• Infiltrator Skeletons revolve around snaring dwarves and catching them off-guard, as well as constructing vineways to get to higher locations or impede dwarf movement.
• Infiltrator skeletons get most of their killing value from catching dwarves behind shrine protection. These dwarves are typically weak from battle, repairing their armor, or simply not paying attention enough to fight off a Skeleton who can slow their attempts to melee them down and backpedal to keep distance.
• Infiltrator Skeletons can also break lights in the keep and setup vineways to quickly bypass chokepoints on certain maps, making them an extremely valueable as a support monster.
• With Infiltrator Skeleton's final upgrade: Potent Formula; shooting dwarves in a huge crowd of AI Zombies which are trying to start a rampage can cause them to be unable to do so, possibly resulting in their death.

Impact Skeleton

• Impact Skeletons excel at knocking dwarves out of position and destroying their defenses. Knocking dwarves off of high ledges can readily cause their death.
• Positioning in such a way to knock dwarves off of precarious positions on maps is especially effective, however even knocking them back can cause them to find it difficult to re-aim a shot or to be able to run down a hallway with a rampage.
• Nearly all shots as an Impact Skeleton will destroy torches in the area that is fired upon, making it hard for dwarves in those areas to see. Firing at Defenses as well can open up alternative pathways and make it easier to knock around dwarves.

Dwarven Strategy

• Hallways should be a reasonable size for both dwarves to build in and defend, and for monsters to get past the dwarves.
• Use Hidden Valley hallways as a baseline - if yours are significantly larger in width or height you need to make them smaller. If your hallways are smaller than Hidden Valley's, make sure there are plenty of other options for monsters to take to reach the shrine.

Upgrades

Tier 1 Upgrades

Upgrade Name	Description	Mana Cost
Elven Force	Increases a Skeleton's base damage.	Upgrade Level x 10 mana
Elven Quiver	Increases the amount of arrows Skeletons spawn with.	Upgrade Level x 10 mana

Tier 2 Upgrades

Upgrade Name	Description	Mana Cost
Fire Skeleton	A Skeleton's arrows now light dwarves on fire.	250 mana
Wither Skeleton	A Skeleton's arrows now wither dwarves.	250 mana
Infiltrator Skeleton	A Skeleton's arrows will now poison dwarves.	250 mana
Impact Skeleton	A Skeleton's arrows now knock back dwarves.	250 mana

Tier 3 Upgrades

Fire Skeleton

Upgrade Name	Description	Mana Cost
Dragon's Flame	Gives a Skeleton speed upon spawning. Subsequent levels increase the duration of the speed.	50, 100, 125, 150, 200 mana
Volley Shot	Gives a Skeleton a chance to fire a volley of arrows from fully drawn shots.	50, 100, 125, 150, 200 mana

Wither Skeleton

Upgrade Name	Description	Mana Cost
Sniper	Gives a Skeleton increased damage after hitting a dwarf for a short time on that same dwarf. Subsequent levels increase the amount of damage dealt.	50, 100, 125, 150, 200 mana
Darkness Devours	Gives a Skeleton health when hitting a dwarf. Subsequent levels increase the amount of health gained.	50, 100, 125, 150, 200 mana

Infiltrator Skeleton

Upgrade Name	Description	Mana Cost
Crippling Poison	A Skeleton's arrows now slow dwarves. Subsequent levels increase the amount dwarves are slowed.	50, 100, 125, 150, 200 mana
Infiltrator	Gives a Skeleton's vines. Subsequent levels increase the number of vines. The final level also allows a Skeleton to pass through shrine protection.	50, 100, 125, 150, 200 mana

Impact Skeleton

Upgrade Name	Description	Mana Cost
Siege Cannon	A Skeleton's arrows have a chance to destroy walls which scales with how far they pull the bow back. Subsequent levels increase this chance.	50, 100, 125, 150, 200 mana
Arrow Barrier	Gives a Skeleton absorption hearts upon spawning. Subsequent levels increase the number of hearts.	50, 100, 125, 150, 200 mana

Tier 4 Upgrades

Fire Skeleton

Upgrade Name	Description	Mana Cost
Conflagration	Fire caused by a Skeleton's arrows spreads from dwarf to dwarf.	500 mana

Wither Skeleton

Upgrade Name	Description	Mana Cost
Nether Skeleton	Increases a Skeleton's health to 15 hearts and changes their model to be a Wither Skeleton with a regular Skeleton skull.	500 mana

Infiltrator Skeleton

Upgrade Name	Description	Mana Cost
Potent Formula	A Skeleton's arrows will now give dwarves Weakness II.	500 mana

Impact Skeleton

Upgrade Name	Description	Mana Cost
Demolisher	Gives a Skeleton a 15% chance to fire an explosive arrow from fully drawn shots. These arrows will not deal additional damage, but does still deal knockback and destroys blocks.	500 mana