Shoulders Of Giants is a roguelite game where you control two different characters at the same time. Which abilities should the Robot that Frog rides on have?
Shoulders of Giants is the first big “timed-exclusive” roguelite game from Epic Game Store in 2023. Along with their free game of the month, it seems to have a lot of promise and even more charm so far. In it, players take control of both a Frog and a Robot (named GERM).
So, when players move Frog, they also move GERM, which means they are basically controlling two characters at once. This is important for new players to know because it means that whenever the player presses “Aim Down Sights,” they are controlling Frog and can use Frog’s abilities. This creates a balance between using two characters at the same time. But for now, let’s just talk about how overpowered GERM’s abilities are, despite how cute this robot is, and which ones you should watch out for the most, from lowest to highest.
Robot Chakram
The first ability is obviously for GERM since it has the word “Robot” in it. Robot Chakram is pretty self-explanatory: it is a Chakram that a robot throws.
But players don’t really have to “aim” it because it automatically flies to the nearest enemy, spins in place, and deals constant damage before flying back to GERM. Overall, it’s a great way to deal damage to bosses and bigger enemies. With this, GERM can just use the ability and forget about it while the Chakram slowly takes away an enemy’s health.
Big Shoe
Big Shoe, the first of the game’s comedic abilities. Shoulders of Giants has its own unique sense of humor, and a number of abilities do a good job of showing how funny it is.
One of them is Big Shoe, an ability that lets GERM pull a big shoe that looks like a low-cut Chuck Taylor out of thin air and stomp it down in front of it. Overall, this move does a moderate amount of damage in a short amount of time, but it also makes GERM stand still for about a second while it summons it, which can be deadly on planets with a lot of heat.
Banner of Order
Banner of Order is another passive ability that’s good to have if a player already has a high-damage ability they’re relying on. It basically creates a “area” around where the flag is placed that makes enemies inside do less damage and take more damage from Frog (there sure are a lot of animal heroes lately) and GERM.
This ability is fine on its own, but to get the most out of it, the player needs to stay in a fairly small area. But if it’s found at level 2 or 3, it’s a lot better because killing enemies inside it gives more energy and covers a bigger area.
Dash & Glide
This next one actually consists of two separate abilities, Dash and Glide, and both of them serve the same purpose, so it’s up to the player which one they prefer. Dash is a skill that comes with the default GERM Core, so players are probably already very familiar with this teleport dash and probably even more familiar with air-dashing in general. While Glide is active, it basically stops gravity for GERM, so it moves forward (not up or down) based on momentum.
Both abilities are great for moving quickly around maps, but Dash is better for combat and Glide is better for exploration.
Blink
There are a lot of abilities in Shoulders of Giants that sound amazing, but aren’t all that. Blink is an example of a skill that sounds “okay” but is really great. Being able to immediately close the distance to the enemy of choice is a godsend against certain enemies (like sniper enemies that run away when approached), and the stagger is usually long enough for GERM to pull off a weapon combo, which usually kills the enemy in question anyway.
Also, if the player finds or upgrades it to level 2, Blink becomes much more useful because its cooldown resets every time GERM kills an enemy it has Blinked to.
GERM Quake
Germ Quake is probably the only one on this list that is here because of its level 2, 3, and 4 versions and not because of its default abilities. It is helpful but not amazing by default. It has GERM “stomp” three waves of energy around it, hurting anyone in the area pretty badly.
But it doesn’t take height into account, and trying to get the most out of it usually causes the player to take damage they don’t need to. But if a player finds it at even level 2, it’s much more useful because the damage, area of effect, and energy waves are bigger and more spread out, so players don’t have to get as close to their opponents.
Light Shield
When players get their Heat Levels above 2000, especially 3000, the planets become a lot harder. Enemies start to appear in large numbers, they do a lot of damage when they hit, and there are a lot more long-ranged or unique enemies. So, having a power that makes GERM (and Frog) literally unbeatable for a few seconds is amazing. And that is exactly what Light Shield does.
This is great for big groups of enemies and boss fights, but it also makes it much easier to move quickly through levels. Especially in Conquest levels, players can just run up to the smaller monoliths, turn on Light Shield, and lay into the floating eyes while ignoring any enemies that may be attacking them. Anyone who has played a roguelite knows that an ability that just “ignores” damage is always too strong in some way. This is true whether the roguelite is old or new.
Sumo Slam
Sumo Slam is the last game and the best one. Some SoG players might not agree with this pick, but they probably just don’t know how to use Sumo Slam right. Now, let’s start with the bad news: This skill isn’t very good against bosses. But it’s amazing against a normal enemy in Happy Wheels. Sumo Slam basically makes GERM drop to the ground with a buttslam from midair, dealing damage around the point of impact.
Not only that, but GERM also knocks enemies to the ground and stuns them for a long time if it hits them. But the best part is that it works on almost every type of enemy. Up against enemies with shields that are spread out and take a while to circle and hit from behind? Somo Slam them. How to deal with enemies that turn into harmful goo if you leave them alone? Somo Slam them. Is a group of enemies giving an ally in co-op mode trouble? Give them some room to breathe by doing a Sumo Slam on them.
Shoulders of Giants can be played on Xbox and PC right now.
