Rocky Roll was one of my most anticipated Skylanders in Trap Team and someone who I think holds the mining light well for my beloved Earth Element.  Speaking of which, do you not agree he would be a good candidate for a Light Element figure should they return?  Anyway, further enhancing my interest in this character is the fact that we have a 2-for-1 with Rocky AND Roll teaming up to become one evil crushing tandem!

Base Upgrades

Rocky Roll’s Base Attacks are very nice.  Spit Ball delivers a really promising 82-123 and the Boulder Dash offers up a quick bit of speed and 25-37.  Also of note, just moving about Rocky Roll will do 5-7 effortlessly…I guess that is the perk of being a giant boulder!  Boulder Barrier is a killer upgrade that allows you to pursue 1 of 3 actions: You can utilize the boulders as a shield, launch them as projectiles, or consume them to deal more damage in Bouncy Attack Mode.  Bouncy Attack Mode is playful, yet devastating…unique and practical.  I feel it is good enough at this point to completely forgo the Rolling Rumbler Path.  Rock On delivers increases to Spit Ball and Boulder Barrier while Moh Boulders allows you to have 6 boulders instead of 3 in Boulder Barrier, and that of course translates to the same previously cited options.

Rolling Rumbler Upgrade Path

This path is geared for the player who loves Bouncy Attack Mode.  I think BAM is solid, but I can live with it in standard form due to that solid state.  Let’s Roll makes the dash last a few seconds longer and ups the damage, but not to a significant level and it remains a bit hard to control.  I personally feel that using the standard Boulder Dash would allow me to escape, or hit and run just as effectively.  “Roll with the Punches” let’s you execute a spinning fist combo, but it only deals 19-28 damage.  “Rocky Boxing” does the same with a quick 4 hit ground pound from Roll, but it delivers 57-85, which is a nice increase.  Neither of these attacks breaks the bank, but they are very nice additions to the already happening “BAM.”

Geological Grandmaster

This is the path for me!  Rocky Roll is already sufficient for me on the secondary and tertiary sides and Geological Grandmaster’s upgrades to the Primary Spit Ball are super solid!  Super Spit Ball only requires a 2-3 second charge, during which we are still mobile, and rewards us with a rock solid 166-249!  Rock Hardest is a key component to this path as it increases the damage on all of the boulder attacks, including the Boulder Barrier!  This moves the base Spit Ball from 98-147 to 118-177!  Furthermore, the Super Spit Ball graduates from 166-249 to an earth shattering 200-300!  The unsung hero though is that the Boulder Barrier that was ding 32-48 on impact and 82-123 on launch is now delivering 46-69 TWICE on impact and 118-177 on launch.  Let me elaborate on that for you…Where the Boulder Barrier spawned 3 orbiting boulders that dealt 32-48 ONCE, Rock On took that to 38-57 ONCE, but Rock Hardest bumps the damage to 46-69 TWICE.  Essentially what I am saying is that instead of the 3 boulders colliding with a tough enemy and going 38-38-38 and being gone, this lets Boulder 1 do 46, then Boulder 2 do 46, and then Boulder 3 do 46…However, none of them crumbled, so right after Boulder 3 deals damage, Boulder 1 is back to carve off another 46 before dissipating!  That is effectively doubling a 3x attack!  Each orbiting boulder, in effect, is not doing 46-69 but rather 92-138!  Lastly, Triple Spit Balls lets Rocky Roll use his standard attack to triple the damage and increase the coverage!

Soul Gem

Boulder Posse takes the already formidable Boulder Barrier, enhanced with Moh Boulders from 3 to 6 to 9.  3x the carnage, 3x the fun!  This plays in well for the Bounce Attack, launching the boulders, and of course just having them orbit.

Rocky Roll Attack Damage Numbers

(Click to Enlarge)

Conclusion

For my play style, Geological Grandmaster reigns supreme!  I am a fan of Armor and the way Rock Hardest doubles the life span of the orbiting boulders while increasing their damage is about as close as we can get to the old school Earth Element +40 Armor.  While you can launch the boulders or consume them for the Bouncy Attack Mode, my inkling is to let them orbit (3,6, or even 9 via the Soul Gem) and use it as a literal shield.  While dealing great damage to enemies in any direction of me, I am able to shoot out Triple Spit Balls, or charge up a Super Spit Ball.  It fits my play style perfectly because of this!  If you are not of the same mindset and don’t like the thought of relying on the boulder barrier to protect you, you might prefer Rolling Rumbler.  The increased roll time is nice and you get some cool moves for Roll.  In the end, Geological Grandmaster is just rock solid for my personal play style and reminds me of the glory days of SSA with Dino-Rang, Bash, Prism Break, and Terrafin!