This guide is all about getting your hands on every Legendary variant in the game and which ones you should focus on if you want the easiest time slaying every hero in your path.
How to Get Legendary Skulls
There are two types of Legendaries: the upgrade kind and the pure kind.
The upgrade version is exactly as it sounds: you have to spend bone fragments to improve your skull to the maximum rarity. You can only get pure Legendaries out of the random bone pile at the end of green-door rooms.
How long it takes to upgrade to Legendary depends on its rarity when you acquire it. After all, they don’t just come in Common and Legendary variants. There are Rare and Unique versions, as well.
Here’s how many bone fragments it takes to upgrade these varieties:
Common (140) Rare (130) Unique (100)
Whenever you come across one you don’t want, you have the option to destroy it for a set number of fragments:
Common (5) Rare (11) Unique (23) Legendary (44)
You’ll know which will drop depending on the visuals of the bone pile.
Common ones drop from a small, unimpressive mound. Rare ones are larger and lack the Common pile’s helmeted skull. Unique ones come from a large bone pile with a single standing skeleton. Legendary heads are in a huge pile, with a skeleton crucifix on top.
If you’re set on improving a Common version all the way, you’ll forego certain options in favor of fragment farming. As we talked about in our Skul tips guide, you want to focus on a single damage type. You’re better suited destroying magic skulls on a physical damage run even if they would otherwise be solid choices.
As hard as it might be to dismantle a Grim Reaper, it’s better to have the fragments and assure the upgrade than waste your build to have a shiny new Legendary that does no damage.
Free the Harpy Warrior Prisoner
Also, be on the lookout for the Harpy Warrior prisoner. She has long silver hair with a red and black outfit and gives between 20 and 30 fragments if released from captivity. You don’t even need to clear the room to acquire the Harpy fragments. Just break her cell and talk to her for the easiest upgrade materials in the game.
The Best Legendary Skulls in Skul: The Hero Slayer
You know what you want your build to be. You’re ready to gather the fragments. Your only choice now is which Legendary do you want?
These are the best-in-class Legendaries for each rarity regardless of damage type. I’m basing these choices on two primary factors: room-clearing efficiency and boss damage output. You’ll need both to survive through all five worlds and make it to the final encounter with enough health to succeed.
Common: Werewolf
The Werewolf starts this list because it has a strong suite of abilities and, if you get the right combination at Legendary, you can clear entire rooms in seconds without taking a single hit. The real winner here is the dash attack with up to three uses when fully charged.
If you’ve taken your physical damage to its maximum, the entire first level, including the boss, is a cakewalk. Even if Werewolf comes with its close-range abilities, it’s still a force to be reckoned with because of its speed and raw damage output potential.
Rare: Rider
If there’s any ability that puts Rider above the rest, it’s Hell Bike. It deals physical damage, but when it comes to clearing entire rooms in seconds, it makes almost every other ability in the game look inefficient. Some of the Unique and Legendary powers aren’t as immediately effective, even if they are technically safer.
That’s because Hell Bike lasts about 10 seconds, sends you across the screen at high speeds, pushes back and staggers smaller enemies, and deals damage to everything it hits. You can make it to and from both ends of the largest rooms and have time to spare.
If you can control the ability, Hell Bike can also deal massive damage to bosses, even if dodging attacks are a little awkward.
Hell Bike is good enough on its own, but if you want a good chunk of fire-and-forget DPS, pair the bike with Flame Boots, which leaves a trail of magic fire behind for about five seconds. One use of the two abilities can melt both phases of the first world’s boss. Later worlds take a little more effort, but taking Rider to Legendary only makes these two abilities more powerful.
Unique: Predator
Every Unique type has its benefits, and unless you’re going for a specific build, all of them can turn a run on its head. This choice came down to Predator and Great Warlock. Still, ultimately I settled on Predator because while Great Warlock is technically better at clearing rooms, activating any of its powers leaves you vulnerable.
Predator also puts you in danger, since it’s physical damage focused. However, because you can control how your attacks function, you have more freedom to get out of danger. Predator also deals more damage in less time over more attacks, meaning your build can revolve around physical damage and attack-based upgrade items.
Lastly, Predator’s swap ability affects every enemy on screen, slowing them and giving you a chance to reposition as necessary. The utility there is unquestionably best-in-class.
Legendary: Grim Reaper
Surprising no one, Grim Reaper is the top choice of pure Legendary. There’s no bad ability combo, though if you can combo Harvest with Sentence, you’ll have a full screen-clear and a mop-up attack on the same character. Add in the seeking orbs spawned by dead enemies, and you’ve got damage to spare.
Grim Reaper’s attacks also have a long reach. As a Magic-user, damage output is one of the highest you’ll find, and several of its abilities, including its swap, leave it invulnerable for a time. You have both the ability to deal death while having some “Get out of jail free” cards up your sleeve.
Also, Grim Reaper looks cool. Which is always nice.
There are optimal options when it comes to Legendary shells, but don’t be fooled. Get your hands on any of them, and you’ll have a strong chance at making your way deep into a run. That’s how to get legendary skulls and some of the best variants across types in the game. What are your favorite combos? Let us know in the comments below!
