Armored Skeleton

Armored Skeleton
A fast zombie whose military gear protects it from bullets.
Main Stats
Health 44 Melee Damage 5
Crit. Chance	0%
Speed	12
Rage Drop	2
Behavior Stats
Agility	80
Aggression	25
Morale Stats
Charisma	-64
Charisma Radius	100
Resistances
Bullet	90%
Knockback	30%

Armored Skeleton (AS) is a Dark Skeleton dressed in an armored vest and a black combat helmet.

Overview

Armored Skeleton is a regular mid-game enemy. It possesses resistance to bullet damage, along with some resistance to knockback. Its movement speed is relatively high for an enemy resistant to ranged attacks.

Once defeated, there's a 50% chance that Armored Skeleton will "transform" into a Dark Skeleton. If that doesn't happen, then it falls to the ground and dies properly.

Strategy

While not being the first bullet-resistant enemy in the game, AS is certainly the first of them to possess a bigger threat for low and some medium level players simply because of its quicker movement speed. Although it has a chance to turn into another zombie after being defeated, this is usually negligible as it becomes a more fragile enemy.

The most efficient way of dealing with AS is with melee units and fire. Melee units, preferably fast ones, work well when swarms of AS are lined up or arrive one by one. Molotov and Red Barrel are very efficient when it comes to fighting large groups of AS. Additionally, ultimately killing AS with fire will guarantee it won't turn into Dark Skeleton after degrading.

It should be noted that their appearance on some missions doesn't mean that using ranged units is a bad idea. In fact, they can help get rid of other zombies present on the battlefield without bullet resistances and allowing melee units to focus on AS. Bigger groups of decently upgraded ranged units can even chip away at their health and kill AS themselves, more so if they are able to bypass its resistance somehow.

Trivia

• Although Armored Skeleton doesn't die when it degrades into Dark Skeleton (its armor simply breaks off), it still technically counts as a "kill" due to the game treating them as separate enemies. The same holds true for Sapper when it degrades into Armored Skeleton.
  • Due to this, Austin is still able to earn coins from degrading it into Dark Skeleton. A degraded Armored Skeleton will also drop item pickups and red aura boosted ones will grant extra rage points, just like any other defeated enemy.
• Internally, Armored Skeleton is referred to as "Millitary Skeleton". The double "L" is a possible typo.

Gallery

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  Journal entry.