Deep Dive Gill Grunt Review with Reef Ripper
Deep Dive Gill Grunt is a new SuperCharged version of Gill Grunt for Skylanders SuperChargers. He has had a new version of his character in each Skylanders game. Unlike his other versions, this version for SuperChargers has a brand new set of attacks. He is still the same Gillman searching Skylands for the pirates that stole his mermaid. He even uses the same Trident style weapon and uses a water jetpack to move around. His new attacks though make him more powerful and faster than ever. Villains of Skylands beware! You will definitely want to “Fear the Fish”.
Deep Dive Gill Grunt’s new figure is ready for action. His jet pack is shooting two streams of water at the ground which appear to be lifting him off the ground. His Trident is raised and he’s poised to throw it. That’s a little odd, since he doesn’t have a Trident throwing attack this time, but perhaps he is just ready to slam it into the ground for an electric shock. He is all decked out in the diving gear you would expect. He has some kind of diving suit on, along with a lightweight, slender diving helmet and a pair of flippers on his feet. It’s a very good looking figure, and is probably the best one of Gill Grunt yet.
Deep Dive Gill Grunt does use his trident as his basic attack. Unlike in previous years, he no longer shoots tridents from a gun. This year it’s an actual three pointed rod. The Trident Thrust attacks enemies with the Trident and the thrust gives Gill Grunt a little extra reach on the attack. His other attack is the Power of t
he Seas and this is a long range lightning attack. The attack shoots a bolt of lightning all the way across the screen. You do have to have your enemy lined up well as the lightning bolt is a very straight shot. His cheapest upgrade will get you his third attack. By pressing the Attack 3 button you’ll be able to use the Typhoon Turbine Jetpack. All this does is let Gill Grunt hover over the ground thanks to his water jetpack on his back. It’s a lot like the flying dragons of the past such as Spyro, Cynder, and others. Once in the air, the Attack 1 button gives Gill Grunt a bit of a dash attack where he rides a wave quickly into an enemy. Using this move can also give Gill Grunt more speed to move around the level making him faster than he’s been in the past. The Attack 2 button will also create a wave, but this will send the wave out across the screen and leave Gill Grunt where he was. One of his basic upgrades enhances this attack. The Wild Whirlpool attack allows you to hold the Attack 2 button while using the jetpack to create a large whirlpool that damages nearby enemies. The Trident True upgrade might be the best upgrade Gill Grunt can get. With this upgrade you can hold the Attack 1 button down to allow the Trident Thrust to continually attack nearby enemies. This can make short work of many enemies as long as Gill Grunt is fighting up close. As good as that attack is, it will get even stronger with the Trident Unleashed upgrade which gives all Trident attacks more damage.
To specialize Deep Dive Gill Grunts attacks even more, you can choose between the Torrent Tamer Path which increases the wave attacks, or the Storm Summoner Path which adds electricity to the attacks. The Torrent Tamer Path includes the Wave Jumper upgrade which adds a water explosion when entering or leaving the Jetpack Mode. 
The Tubular Tidal Wave upgrade allows three waves to fire out from Gill Grunt when pressing the Attack 2 button while in Jetpack mode instead of the previous one. Finally, the Drive the Wave upgrade enhances the dash attack to create a huge tidal wave for Gill Grunt to ride. It’s hard to say if this path is worth it because we did not choose this path. It sounds like it could be good if you like the dash attack. We chose the Storm Summoner Path because we already saw how strong Gill Grunt’s attacks were, so we thought why not make them even stronger with lightning. That’s exactly what the Lighting Strikes upgrade does. It adds lightning to the Trident True attack for an amazingly powerful attack. Boss battles last only seconds with this attack. The Shocking Transition upgrade adds a lightning explosion when entering the Jetpack mode. It seems to spiderweb across the screen damaging most of the enemies nearby with lightning. Unfortunately since our Trident True attack is so powerful, we almost never use the jetpack. The final upgrade is called Lightning Build-Up which causes lightning attacks to do more damage. This will upgrade the two previous attacks as well as the Soul Gem attack. The Storm of the Seas Soul Gem ability allows you to hold the Attack 2 button down while on the ground which summons a powerful lightning storm. It’s pretty fun to do and will rain down the damage in a wide area of the screen. It’s great for large numbers of smaller enemies.
Deep Dive Gill Grunt’s signature vehicle is the Reef Ripper. It’s a Water elemental Sea vehicle. The Reef Ripper matches the color scheme of Gill Grunt with its blue-green paint and gold accents. Unfortunately, we just don’t think it’s very exciting looking. It’s a round submarine which looks like a fish as it has two yellow windows for “eyes” and a tail fin which actually moves from side to side. It interesting looking for a submarine, but it doesn’t really look powerful or fast. There is no indication of weaponry and it doesn’t look like it will be fast. Once it’s in the game though, it does pack quite a punch when powered up, and it can hold it’s own in a race mostly due to it’s attacking power. The Reef Ripper’s main attack is called Ocean Upheaval. 
Pressing the Attack 1 button will shoot a trident at enemies. You can’t really tell it’s a “trident” but it is a straight shooting projectile which does a fair bit of damage when it hits it’s target. The Reef Ripper’s main strength though is the Electrify the Tail attack. This attack electrifies everything near the Reef Ripper, and it does tremendous damage once all upgrades have been purchased. If you can get the Reef Ripper near enemies and bosses, this attack can make short work of them. Otherwise the Reef Ripper is pretty balanced between speed, acceleration and handling.
Overall Deep Dive Gill Grunt is a much improved version of Gill Grunt. His Trident True attack is one of our favorite attacks of all characters that we’ve played with so far. It’s quick and extremely damaging once completely upgraded. A fully upgraded Reef Ripper is also very powerful against enemies which makes this combo a great combo to take on the Boss Battles of Skylanders SuperChargers. There are better vehicles for Sea racing, but you can still perform pretty well with the Reef Ripper. Deep Dive Gill Grunt might be a hard sale if you are just tired of seeing Gill Grunt year after year, but his new attacks will be a big help and the fact that you can get him and the Reef Ripper with the Sea Racing Pack makes buying the pack worth while investment.
SkylanderNutts gives Deep Dive Gill Grunt…8.0 out of 10
SkylanderNutts gives The Reef Ripper… 8.5 out of 10
Deep Dive Gill Grunt Review with the Reef Ripper
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