Ready to join the hunt with Skullbreaker, the Slayer champion with the most powerful attack in Godtear?

Wait — the most powerful attack? More powerful than Rangosh? 

Yes, that’s what we said! In the right hands, Skullbreaker is a lean, mean, slaying machine. And in today’s Ultimate Guide courtesy of lead developer, Steve Margetson, we’ll deep dive into how you could use this Dragon Slayer in your Godtear warband.

(New to Godtear? To find out more about this factionless fantasy skirmish game where two players go head-to-head to fight for the powerful tears of perished gods, click here!) 

Meet Skullbreaker, the Dragon Slayer

By Steve Margetson

A master hunter earns their tool. Skullbreaker’s dragon jaw blade is as strong a statement as it is a weapon, drawing power-hungry followers to his pack like vultures to carrion. Prove their worth, and they’ll gain a tooth from the fabled blade. Disappoint? Then they’re fated to be bait!

Cunning, powerful, and able to cut down even the toughest champions, Skullbreaker is a slayer champion that faces his opponents head-on.

Skullbreaker is the third orc champion we’ve seen in the game, with a massive jaw blade to hew the heads of his foes. He’s also the third champion to hail from the desert region, alongside Blackjaw and Rattlebone.

With this new addition, you could finally field a full orc warband and bring down a desert sandstorm on your opponents! If you do give this hunting pack a whirl, let us know how it goes on Discord or in the Facebook fan group. 

Back to Skullbreaker. His four followers, the Tooth Bearers, form his hunting pack, helping him get into position to deal the lethal blow.

Of course, they’re capable hunters in their own right. Skullbreaker only bestows the teeth of his fabled jaw blade on the worthy — hence their ‘Tooth Bearer’ name. If they’ve got the title, you can bet they’ve done something to deserve it!

Skullbreaker’s Stats and Traits

Being a Slayer, Skullbreaker gains bonus steps on the battle ladder whenever he knocks out enemy champions. 

As you might expect from a cunning hunter, Skullbreaker has a rapid movement 3 in the Plot Phase and a more conversative 2 in the Clash Phase. That’s not the whole story, however. Skullbreaker and the Tooth Bearer’s traits tell a more truthful (toothful?) tale of this champion’s ability to close distance on his prey. But we’ll get to that later. 

At 8 health, Skullbreaker is one of the most resilient champions in the game, but his lower protection suggests his focus should be on cutting down his enemies before they attack. According to this champion, the best defence is a good offence!

Headstrong as he is, Skullbreaker hunts only the biggest prey. He cares not for the tiny followers, passing through their hexes as if they weren’t even there. There’s no glory taking down a mere mortal but plenty to be gained from cutting short a champion’s path to ascension. 

Though he can pass through small followers, Skullbreaker does need to finish his movement in an empty hex. If your opponent’s abundance of followers is stopping Skullbreaker from reaching his prey, pair him up with an effective Maelstrom champion to take those followers out.

Top Tip: Scenarios that feature a lot of objective hexes, like Life, are perfect for Skullbreaker. He can sit right in the middle of the action, place his banner, and enjoy the follower-free pathways created by the objective hexes. In addition, his warband can be a great way to lure an unsuspecting champion into a jaw-blade-sized trap.

Skullbreaker’s Skills and Ultimate

Plot Phase Skills

Skullbreaker’s Plot Phase skills are straightforward, mainly serving to feed his more appetising Clash Phase. Think movement, banner planting, and clearing any pesky blights. 

‘Hunting Call’ is a little more special, though. If he’s feeling generous, Skullbreaker can choose to improve the accuracy of his followers — the only skill in the game that can bestow accuracy on multiple followers at once. 

Clash Phase Skills

Finally, the bit we’ve all been waiting for. The Plot Phase fades away and the jawblade comes out to play!

‘Jawblade’ may be Skullbreaker’s only attack but, with a mighty damage of 7, it’s really going to sting. Still, it does come with the downside of slowing Skullbreaker down. Why is that?

Some say it’s because Skullbreaker really likes to savour the moment when his blade hits flesh. Most likely it’s because dragon jaws are heavy and difficult to swing. 

Whatever the answer is, we still don’t have the full picture of Skullbreaker’s abilities. ‘I Smell Blood…’ and ‘Go For The Belly!’ are where his Slayer powers really come into focus. 

That ‘Jawblade’ attack that’s already near-lethal? Why not bump its accuracy up to 9 and add a wound hit effect! Perfect for taking out those pesky high-dodge champions. (Looking at you, Sneaky Peet.)

Maybe your prey is packing some armour? Well, let’s crank that 7 damage up to 9 and add a hit effect that pushes the target — ideal for taking down the Helena’s and Rhodri’s of the Godtear world. 

Sure, having just one attack means Skullbreaker’s only going to attack once a turn. But with his ability to tailor that attack to hit his opponent right where it hurts, you can bet he’ll make it count. 

Skullbreaker’s Ultimate: Finisher

Sometimes you just need to throw as many dice as possible at a problem until it goes away. Nothing embodies that more than ‘Finisher’, which is exactly what it sounds like. 

Once per battle, ‘Finisher’ gives Skullbreaker his dream ending to a successful hunt. With it, he can stack ‘I Smell Blood…’ and ‘Go For The Belly!’ before going for the big swinging ‘Jawblade’ finish. To top it off, he can even make a movement before or after, to get into position or out of the way. 

That all adds up to a 9 accuracy attack with 9 damage, before any boons. When the attack hits — because it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion* — it’ll wound the target and let you move them 2 hexes before any damage is even rolled. Knock them out and you’ll get 2 more hexes of movement!

Top Tip: Moving after using ‘Jawblade’ attack will get rid of that movement blight before your next Plot Phase. 

*Assuming a baseline expertise in rolling dice.

Skullbreaker’s Followers: The Tooth Bearers

Always eager to please their leader, the Tooth Bearers are here to help Skullbreaker take down his prey. 

Tooth Bearers in the Plot Phase

First off, let's talk about how fast this pack of orcs is. They’ve got a movement of 3, and that’s before you give them a boost with ‘Rush’ to bring their movement up to 5. Perfect for hemming in Skullbreaker’s next target!

Their ‘Feral Howl’ offers some support, applying a dodge blight to the target that increases in accuracy as the pack closes in on its prey.

Top Tip: Worried about Skullbreaker getting knocked out? Use the Tooth Bearer’s high movement in the Plot Phase to form a wall of followers in front of him to keep him safe. If at any point they’re in his way, Skullbreaker can just walk straight through. 

Tooth Bearers in the Clash Phase

Not wanting to disappoint their boss, the Clash Phase is where the Tooth Bearers bring the pain.

To kick things off, if ‘Club Bash’ hits, it’ll deal an automatic wound to the target as well as any damage rolled. 

This skill triggers their ‘Set Up The Boss!’ trait, letting them move Skullbreaker or provide him with a boon, getting him ready to strike in his next activation. If ‘Club Bash’ comes off perfectly, you could even trigger this trait twice — once from the hit effect and a second time on the damage roll!

The damage can be supplemented with ‘Skullcracker’, which is perfect for softening up enemies before Skullbreaker wades in.

Top Tip: Club Bash can be the perfect way to get both an accuracy and damage boon on Skullbreaker to go for the fabled 10 accuracy and 10 damage attack.

Tips and Tricks for Skullbreaker

Make Those Followers More Accurate: Pair Skullbreaker with champions that rely on followers for their output, such as Keera and Shayle, to get the most out of his ‘Hunting Call’ skill.

Skullbreaker Delivery: Skullbreaker’s ‘Jawblade’ attack is intimidating to any champion across the table and can be used to pressure enemies into activating. Use the Tooth Bearer’s ‘Set Up The Boss’ trait to position him next to a champion, forcing that champion to either activate or be cut down. You can create a similar effect with champions like Shayle and Sneaky Peet, bringing enemy champions in range of Skullbreaker. 

Banner Trap: Trade your 4 step banner for a 5 step champion knock-out! Position Skullbreaker beside friendly banners ready to retaliate after they’ve been crushed. 

Skullbreaker Pros and Cons

Pros

• Access to the most powerful attack in the game
• Able to tailor Skullbreaker’s attack to perfectly suit your opponent’s champions
• Improves the accuracy of all of the followers in your warband

Cons

• Can be hindered by enemy skills that move him
• Only access to one attack
• Lower durability compared to most champions