Spyro's Attacks

Attack 1: Flameball

Flameball is slower than most ranged attacks, but it deals better damage than average and has an excellent knockback. It also has plenty of upgrades, increasing range, damage, and number of fireballs. Daybringer Flame is the upgrade to save for last. Attacking with regular Flameballs actually deals more damage in the amount of time it takes to charge and release Daybringer Flame.

Attack 2: Charge

Charge is one of the best dash-type attacks in the game. Once Spyro hits full speed, the damage from the attack more than doubles. Charge also has two great secondary effects. First, Stun Charge unlocks a stun effect. Any enemy hit by the Charge cannot move for approximately 3 seconds. The second effect is a huge knockback. Charge is a fantastic power for crowd control and knocking enemies off of ledges. However, due to its low damage, its tough to unconditionally recommend the Blitz Spyro path over the higher-damaging Sheep Burner Spyro path.

Attack 3: Spyro's Flight 

Flight increases Spyro's speed and can be helpful when navigating dangerous level hazards. While flying, Spyro can use Flameball, but not Charge attacks.

Wow Pow Power: Fireslam

This is a fantastic power that keeps Spyro out of harm's way while slamming enemies with blasts of fire and kinetic energy. This power fundamentally changes how Spyro is played, since flight becomes a much more effective tactic. Use Fireslam against large groups of enemies and against single tough monsters alike.

Soul Gem Ability: Spyro's Earth Pound

This dive bomb attack is a great addition to Spyro's arsenal. It's not quite as good as Fireslam, but it's a great area-of-effect attack with excellent range.

Sunburn's Attacks

 

Attack 1: Flamethrower Breath

Flamethrower Breath starts out as a decent, medium-range attack. Hold down the attack to fire a continuous stream on nearby enemies. To realize its full potential, you need to upgrade it and use the Blaze Dragon Path. When you have fully upgraded Flamethrower Breath, Sunburn goes through three stages. Each time he increases his stage he gains 100% extra damage per second from Flamethrower Breath. Another nice advantage to Flamethrower Breath is that Sunburn can still move around while using it.



Attack 2: Immolation Teleport

Initially, Immolation Teleport is a difficult power to use effectively. It's difficult to aim against larger enemies, and even if you hit, it does low damage. The key to this attack is the vast number of upgrades available for it. The first important upgrade, Guided Teleportation, automatically shoots 4 lava bursts out in different directions. Select which one you want Sunburn to teleport to and then release Attack 2. Each subsequent upgrade increases the amount of secondary damage the attack does. Eventually, the way you should be using this power is to set up a surprise attack against a nearby enemy by dashing right into them. However, that still leaves that upgrade path inferior to Blaze Dragon. Even with all the upgrades, Immolation Teleport remains hard to use effectively.

Attack 3: Phoenix Dash

While there are no upgrades for Phoenix Dash here, you do get an upgrade via the Soul Gem ability. Phoenix Dash is a good attack that makes Sunburn hard to hit. It also does good damage compared to his other attacks.

Soul Gem Ability: Flight of the Phoenix

This is a fantastic upgrade for Phoenix Dash. Not only does it double the damage the dash attack normally does, but the explosion at the end tacks on extra damage on top of the dash. So if you use the dash against a tough enemy, you can hit them twice with each dash.

Bash's Attacks

Attack 1: Tail Swipe

Bash's mace tail is his strongest feature. This powerful swipe inflicts massive damage; only some of the Giants inflict as much damage right out the gate. It's so good, that the Granite Dragon Path isn't even necessary. If you do choose the Granite Dragon Path, Gaia Hammer is one of the highest-damage attacks in the game. It can dish out over 200 damage! The charge takes a moment, but against bosses, it should be your primary attack.

Attack 2: Rock and Roll

For a dash-type attack, Rock and Roll dishes out serious damage. While it's not as fast as other dash attacks, the extra damage more than makes up for it. The end result after buying all the upgrades is a dash-type attack that does more damage than the basic mace tail attack, has excellent range (Bash turns into a giant ball once he gets Continental Boulder), and dramatically increases Bash's defense.

Attack 3: Summoning: Stone Projection

Stone Projection is an interesting power that gives Bash some range. It does a high amount of damage whether you use the projection as a mid-range area-of-effect attack, or smash the stone to launch a ranged stone. One difficulty of Stone Projection is that it's difficult to aim the ranged attack. It's long-range, but it doesn't have much utility since it's so hard to aim correctly.

Wow Pow Power: Rolling Thunder!

When you activate this ability, Bash uses his stone projection to create a ramp, and moments later, he slams into the ground with a very wide-range area-of-effect attack. Enemies caught directly in the blast take a lot of damage (approximately double a normal roll attack).

Soul Gem Ability: Triceratops Honor Guard

One of Bash's weaknesses is his low armor. When you purchase this ability, Bash's base Armor stat goes from 12 to 52! That's a huge improvement, and lets him hang in tough close-range combat situations for longer periods of time.        

Flashwing's Attacks

Attack 1: Crystal Shards

This is a great long-range attack. Not only does the Crystal Shard inflict above average damage for a rapid fire attack, but it also proves significant knockback against charging enemies. Once Flashwing unlocks the ability to stick Crystal Shards into nearby walls, this power becomes interesting. Use the crystal embedding to hit tough enemies from behind (Inhuman Shields don't stand a chance!). Unlock Healing Crystals and you can get some extra health whenever you need it (provided you are patient enough; each shard only heals 5 HP every few seconds). Armored Aura increases Flashwing's base armor by 40.

Attack 2: Shimmering Spin

Shimmering Spin is a deadly dash attack that can be used both offensively and defensively. When you get Reflection Deflection, Flashwing's base armor goes over 100 while spinning! The last upgrade in the Super Spinner Path, Lights, Crystal, Action! doesn't add much to Shimmering Spin. The damage output from the laser is low, and you can't aim it. Definitely purchase Crystal Lighthouse first.

Attack 3: Surrounded by Shards

The best part about this power is that it's cheap. While hitting enemies behind Flashwing can come in handy, Surrounded by Shards is not a power you will use often.

Soul Gem Ability: Crystal Lighthouse

This is an astoundingly awesome addition to Flashwing's arsenal. Crystal Lighthouse requires Flashwing to be stationary, but once it's set up, it flashes the battlefield in a huge arc, damaging enemies within the light's radius every few seconds. Even after other powers are upgraded, this is Flashwing's highest-damage attack.   

Cynder's Attacks

Attack 1: Spectral Lightning

Spectral Lightning is a powerful ranged attack that has a good spread and good range and hits any enemies in front of Cynder. You can press the Attack 1 button when using this power, or press and hold it. Cynder suffers reduced movement while the button is held. This power works well with Shadow Dash once you invest in the Unstable Forces power. Hitting ghosts causes them to blow up, which then knocks back enemies. This is good for interrupting any enemy attacks, but a straight lightning attack actually does more damage.

Attack 2: Shadow Dash

Cynder's Shadow Dash doesn't directly damage enemies as she dashes into them. Instead she leaves behind a trail of ghosts that hurt any nearby enemies. This effect is automatic, and is a great bonus to the powerful inherent defensive nature of dash attacks. The cool thing about this power is that Cynder can dash right through enemies. While this doesn't affect the enemies at all, if you invest in Shadow Strike further down the line, it deals a moderate amount of damage on enemies without putting her at risk. The Shadowdancer Path has additional options for Shadow Dash. With a fully upgraded Shadow Dash, the ghosts aggressively attack enemies, slow them down, and do moderate damage. This isn't a great power to use against bosses (except as a defensive maneuver), but it's fantastic against large groups of enemies and in arena fights.

Attack 3: Cynder Flight

Like most other dragons, Cynder has this standard flight ability. Flight is great for increasing speed to help hit level time dares, as well as for avoiding level hazards.

Wow Pow Power: Lightning Rain!

Lightning Rain! is a great addition to Cynder's arsenal. The lightning attack is a medium range area-of-effect and inflicts high damage to everything in the area. This is a great power to use when faced with many smaller enemies, or when fighting enemies while flying.

Soul Gem Ability: Haunted Ally

When you unlock this power, a small purple ghost constantly floats beside Cynder. Whenever enemies get in close range, the Ghost automatically attacks them. The damage and speed of the attack isn't high, but it's automatic, so there's no drawback to using it.     

Whirlwind's Attacks

Attack 1: Rainbow of Doom

Rainbow of Doom starts out as a normal ranged attack. It does low damage, but the explosion at the end of the rainbow can hit multiple enemies grouped tightly together. While most of the upgrades for this power are straightforward, Rainbow Singularity stands out. Fully charging Rainbow Singularity takes three seconds, but you can move around (at reduced speed) while charging it. Once the attack is charged, releasing the Attack 1 button sends out a small black hole. When it hits an enemy, it creates a gigantic rainbow vortex that sucks in and damages all nearby enemies!

Attack 2: Tempest Cloud

Send out one of these rain clouds, and it slides to a stop a few feet from Whirlwind. Any enemies near the cloud automatically take damage every few seconds as lightning juts out from the cloud. This is a great power because you can release the cloud, then focus on evading enemies. Initially, you only get one cloud, but Triple Tempest is an early upgrade that allows Whirlwind to shoot out three clouds at once, filling the battlefield with damaging dark clouds. Improving the damage via Tempest Tantrum transforms Tempest Cloud from a low/medium damage attack to a high damage attack. Once you get Tempest Matrix, you can actually create a wall of Clouds with arcing electrical blasts that serve as a defensive barrier against charging enemies.

Attack 3: Dragon Flight

Dragon Flight can be helpful for avoiding traps and slime on the ground, and also allows Whirlwind to speed through timed puzzles.

Wow Pow Power: Cloudbursting!

This is a great add-on for Tempest Cloud. The clouds fire off arcing rainbow shots. These rainbow shots are the same power as Whirlwind's regular Rainbow of Doom, so if you upgrade Whirlwind's Rainbow of Doom damage, the Cloudbursting damage increases as well.

Soul Gem Ability

This is a great power to purchase if you are playing Skylanders with a friend in co-op mode. Just shoot a rainbow at a friend to give them some extra health. If you are playing by yourself, it doesn't have any use.