Skye is a swift sniper able to dance at the edge of fights or dive deep into the enemy backline to kill key targets. Skye’s unique strafing attacks change the complexion of fights, and her ability to chase down and catch opponents is unparalleled. Let’s take a look at Skye’s abilities and lore, and stay tuned for Vainglory’s newest hero in update 1.8!
TARGET LOCK (HEROIC PERK)
Skye locks onto and reveals the target she most recently basic attacked. Basic attacks and Forward Barrage on that locked target grant her bonus move speed. This speed bonus is dramatically reduced while moving backward. Target Lock is lost if the target moves too far away from Skye or if she doesn’t attack her target for too long.
FORWARD BARRAGE
Skye fires her guns while strafing. (She can move freely but cannot change her facing direction.) Reactivating this ability will cancel it. Forward Barrage deals damage to her locked target (but less damage to non-heroes). The duration increases with Skye’s crystal power up to a max.
SURI STRIKE
Passive: Each ability point in Suri Strike increases the amount of time Skye can keep her target locked without attacking it.
Active: Skye dashes to a chosen location near her locked target. While dashing, she fires a volley of missiles that lead her target. This ability can only be activated when Skye has a locked target.
DEATH FROM ABOVE
Passive: Each ability point in Death from Above increases Skye’s target-lock range.
Active: Skye fires a salvo of missiles at a chosen location near her locked target. After a brief delay, the missiles rain down on that location, stunning enemies. Enemies still in the area afterward are slowed and take crystal damage. Aiming directly on your locked target rains down the missiles in a cluster. Aiming away from your locked target rains them down in a line across the target’s path. This ability can only be activated when Skye has a locked target.
OFFICIAL LORE: ‘SKYE’S PROMISE’
by SugarVenom
“You aren’t supposed to be here today.” The general’s long shadow stretched into the hangar from the rolled-up garage door.
Skye peeked out from the cockpit of a mech with half its front armor blown out, metal blackened and curling in from the impact point. With a screwdriver between her teeth, she tossed a charred actuator onto the ground and called out, “I’m glad you’re here, Appa. I want to show you my plans for the decommissioned exosuits.”
“You promised your mother.”
“The engines are okay. The shields cause all the issues.” She hunched down behind what was left of the front armor, only slices of her showing in the blasted-out hole. “Every new generation of these machines, we add more armor, which means more weight, which means bigger engines and more crystal power …”
“…which means more dependence on the crystal mines, which means more war.” The general’s face was hard-lined, but his eyes and voice softened. “This is not the time for this discussion.”
“The mechs take fire because they’re too slow.” Loosened screws tink-tink-tinked to the ground, then Skye kicked at the wrecked armor from the inside. “We’re going about it the wrong way. We need … more… mobility.” A word for every kick with her combat boots, until the front armor crashed to the ground, exposing her in the cockpit. “We should be going lighter on the mechs and heavier on the firepower. I put the 25-millimeter autocannons on this one. With the vectored thrust jet nozzles on an integrated airfoil on the back, it’s light enough for halcyon-tipped rockets. I know it’s a risk, but …”
“Skye. She is coming.”
“Where? Here?”
“Ah. Here she is. Go to work, people.” A dozen clattering footsteps accompanied a shrill voice from the garage door. Two men dragged a full-length mirror to a workbench. A dressmaker and his assistants, pins poking from their pressed lips, set up a mannequin. The manicurist, hairstylist and makeup bot took over the workbench. The voice followed behind, barking out orders; it belonged to a small woman with tall, upknotted hair and black eyes. “Mind the grease. That silk cost more than your monthly wages.”
“Umma, what are you doing here?” Skye whined, slumping in the cockpit.
“Your name will be chosen from the tiles tonight. Get out of that thing.” Skye’s mother stood next to her husband at a stern parade rest.
“I don’t want to be chosen. There’s a war happening.” But Skye obeyed, climbing down to join the crowd, casting a betrayed glance at her father.
He shrugged. “There is always war. You cannot be a soldier forever.”
“I’m a pilot, Appa. And I’m the best pilot you’ve… ow!” She winced as the makeup bot attacked her eyebrows with tweezers. The manicurist sat on a stool beside her and clucked under her breath at the broken nails and calluses. The hairstylist pulled Skye’s hair out of its knot and yanked through the tangles with a comb.
“No black around her eyes,” Skye’s mother said to the makeup bot. “It makes them small. And overdraw her lips; they are too thin.”
The makeup bot bowed and rummaged through its box of powders and creams while Skye scowled. “What happens if you’re lucky tonight, and some high-placed family chooses me for their son? What will he say when he sees me without all this stuff on my face?”
“A fish is not kept the same way it is caught.”
“Great,” grumbled Skye. “So men are fish.”
“Gold rings and orchids for her hair,” mused Skye’s mother, peering down at a velvet-lined box of decorations. “You know, Skye, Baron’s mother will choose a tile tonight.”
Skye went still. “She … she would never choose me. There are many highborn girls in the tiles this year.” The hairstylist stood on a stool behind her and pulled Skye’s hair into braids, weaving in the rings.
“The politics of the choosing are complex. A choice for the general’s daughter would send a message,” replied her mother.
“It would be an overt act of war not to join Baron with one of the marriageable girls of Silk or Tiger House.” The general’s brow wrinkled with worry.
“If it is war they want, my new mech design will win it.” Skye’s flight jacket was removed, and the dress draped around her. The dressmakers knelt, pins sticking out from their mouths, to correct the hem.
“Stand up straight,” barked her mother. “Your overcoat will be hemmed too short.”
To be continued …
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Keep an eye on the in-game News section for more Skye lore and update 1.8 reveals!
