Shadow Gao
Uber Super Rare
Description
Shadow Gao is an excellent Backliner with almost complete dominance against Traitless enemies. It has 97k HP with 4 KBs, 6300 DPS at 480 range, 6000 cost, 158s Cooldown and 9 Speed. It also has Wave and KB Immunities, as well as Massive Damage and Freeze for 1s against Traitless.
Shadow Gao's main strength lies in its immense power against Traitless enemies. Not only does it have an almost unrivaled 17k effective DPS and a bonus Freeze to mildly disrupt anything that survives, it also outranges most common Traitless enemies, and has high enough HP and endurance to sometimes tank and directly hit those that it doesn't. KB Immunity further helps it land attacks uninterrupted, giving it a rare and especially good matchup against Mr. Mole. All of this combined means it destroys most Traitless bosses throughout the game effortlessly, completely dominating Floor 30/40, and makes it essentially the top counter to high range Traitless bosses like Crazed Wall/Axe variants which can give even other Epicfest exclusives some trouble. Shadow Gao also works very well in general wave stages, especially those with Traitless wave enemies, and does quite well even in purely Traited stages thanks to solid base DPS and survivability.
While very strong, Shadow Gao isn't without its flaws. Its high cost could make it hard to spawn on cash-tight rush stages, and KB immunity could hurt it in high pressure stages where getting repositioned by an occasional KB would be preferable. While Shadow Gao's rather high HP somewhat justifies it, its high cooldown can also make it painful and hard to recover from when one does die. Within the anti-Traitless meta, its only real counters are Traitless bosses with Surge like Kappy or Uril, as these can bypass its range advantage while also shredding through its HP, though usually not before it lands a few hits and takes a good chunk of their HP anyway.
Shadow Gao is a strong and well-rounded backliner with extra abilities allowing it to counter Traitless and Wave enemies extremely well, which are 2 very desirable niches. While it does have a few flaws in its build, these do not stop Shadow Gao from being excellent at its job, and very desirable to own.
Changes
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XP Cost Curve
| Level | XP | Level | XP | Level | XP | Level | XP | Level | XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 11 | 15,600 XP | 21 | 23,400 XP | 31 | 27,300 XP | 41 | 31,200 XP |
| 2 | 9,800 XP | 12 | 19,600 XP | 22 | 29,400 XP | 32 | 34,300 XP | 42 | 39,200 XP |
| 3 | 14,800 XP | 13 | 29,600 XP | 23 | 44,400 XP | 33 | 51,800 XP | 43 | 59,200 XP |
| 4 | 21,800 XP | 14 | 43,600 XP | 24 | 65,400 XP | 34 | 76,300 XP | 44 | 87,200 XP |
| 5 | 42,500 XP | 15 | 85,000 XP | 25 | 127,500 XP | 35 | 148,750 XP | 45 | 170,000 XP |
| 6 | 64,300 XP | 16 | 128,600 XP | 26 | 192,900 XP | 36 | 225,050 XP | 46 | 257,200 XP |
| 7 | 93,200 XP | 17 | 186,400 XP | 27 | 279,600 XP | 37 | 326,200 XP | 47 | 372,800 XP |
| 8 | 118,000 XP | 18 | 236,000 XP | 28 | 354,000 XP | 38 | 413,000 XP | 48 | 472,000 XP |
| 9 | 197,400 XP | 19 | 394,800 XP | 29 | 592,200 XP | 39 | 690,900 XP | 49 | 789,600 XP |
| 10 | 513,500 XP | 20 | 1,027,000 XP | 30 | 1,540,500 XP | 40 | 1,797,250 XP | 50 | 2,054,000 XP |
| 1 - 10 | 1,075,300 XP | 11 - 20 | 2,166,200 XP | 21 - 30 | 3,249,300 XP | 31 - 40 | 3,790,850 XP | 41 - 50 | 4,332,400 XP |
| 1 - 10 | 1,075,300 XP | 1 - 20 | 3,241,500 XP | 1 - 30 | 6,490,800 XP | 1 - 40 | 10,281,650 XP | 1 - 50 | 14,614,050 XP |