Starter Guide - Skylanders Trap Team Guide - IGN (2024)

Are you new to the world of Skylanders? Perhaps you have children that want to jump into the world of Skylanders. Don't worry, this Starter Guide will teach you everything you need to know.

Is Skylanders a video game series or a set of toys? The answer is: both! The Skylanders series features a number of toys with special chips inside of them that bring the Skylanders to life within each Skylanders video game.

If you're just starting out, you will need to buy a Starter Pack to get things rolling. Each starter pack comes with a few Skylanders toys, a Portal of Power, and a Skylanders video game for the platform of your choice.

What is the Portal of Power?

The Portal of Power is a small base that connects to each gaming platform. It's the item that transports every Skylander toy into the video game world. Once the portal is plugged in and the game is running, up to three toys can be placed on the Portal of Power at once: two Skylanders and one Adventure Pack, or Battle Pack.

Each Skylander's Starter Pack comes with a new Portal of Power. These Portals of Power are backwards compatible with previous Skylanders games, but only the original is forwards compatible one generation. Furthermore, only select Portals of Power are compatible with different consoles (e.g. PS3 with Wii), but a new game will be needed if you plan to play on a different console.

Skylanders can be switched out on the Portal of Power at any time during the game. In fact, the only way to lose in the game is if all of your Skylanders lose their health

Before playing Skylanders Trap Team, you will need to pick up one of the new Starter Packs. There are two versions you can choose from when playing on one of the many consoles, but only one version for the 3DS and one version for Tablets.

Standard Console Pack

The Standard Starter Pack for consoles is available on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii, and Wii U. The price for this pack is $74.99, and will include the following items:

• Skylanders Trap Team for a specific console
• 1 Traptanium Portal
• 2 Skylanders Figures (Snap Shot and Food Fight)
• 2 Traptanium Crystals (Water and Life Traps)
• 2 Character Sticker Sheets with secret codes
• 2 Trading Cards
• 1 Character Poster

Dark Edition Pack

The Dark Edition Starter Pack is only available on consoles: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii, and Wii U. The price for this pack is $99.99, and will include the following items:

• Skylanders Trap Team for a specific console
• 1 Traptanium Portal
• 3 Unique Dark Edition Skylanders Figures (Snap Shot, Food Fight, and Wildfire)
• 3 Traptanium Crystals (Water, Life, and Ultimate Kaos Traps)
• Dark Edition Trap Collection Tray
• 2-Sided Collection Poster
• Trading Cards and Sticker Sheets

3DS Starter Pack

The Standard Starter Pack for the 3DS only works with the Nintendo 3DS. The price for this pack is $64.99, and will include the following items:

• Skylanders Trap Team for the 3DS
• 1 Traptanium Portal
• 2 Skylanders Figures (Gusto and Barkley)
• 2 Character Sticker Sheets with secret codes
• 2 Trading Cards
• 1 Character Poster

Tablet Starter Pack

The Standard Starter Pack for Tablets are compatible with the Apple iPad, Android Tablets, and Amazon Fire Devices. The price for this pack is $74.99, and will include the following items:

• Skylanders Trap Team for Tablets
• 1 Wireless Traptanium Portal
• 1 Wireless Game Controller
• 2 Skylanders Figures (Snap shot and Food fight).
• 2 Traptanium Crystals (Water and Life Traps)
• 2 Character Sticker Sheets with secret codes
• 2 Trading Cards
• 1 Character Poster

Optional Items

Unfortunately, you will not be able to access all areas in the game without more toys. You do not need these toys to play the game and complete the story, but they are needed to access all areas and find all Collectibles.

Skylanders Trap Team features Elemental Gates that can only be opened after using a new Trap Masters of the same element. For example, a Water Elemental Gate can only be opened by Snap Shot or Lob-Star.

In addition to Elemental Gates, there are now Villain Quests that can be completed after capturing a Villain and taking it to a character during the story mode. Sometimes completing a Villain's Quest will open up a new area or give you a new item.

There are also new Villain Stashes which are the same as Treasure Chests, but only Villains can open them. Like Skylanders, Villains are made up of a certain element. You must use a trap of that same element to capture the Villain.

Below are lists of items you will need for each starter pack, along with their US prices without tax.

If you own the Console and Tablet Starter Packs

If you own the Dark Edition Starter Pack

If you own the 3DS Starter Pack

The 3DS version of the game is an entirely different game. You cannot use Traptanium to trap villains, and you can open Elemental Gates with any type of Skylander. The Skylander does not have to be a trap master, but it needs to be of a certain element.

Unknown Element

Skylanders Trap Team features a new "Unknown Element" throughout the story mode. There are locked elemental gates that can only be unlocked by a Trap Master of an Unknown Element, and there are some Villains that can only be captured with this Unknown Element Traptanium.

At this time, we just know that these gates cannot be opened, nor can these Villains be captured. Even the announcer in the game says more information will be given at a later time. It looks like more toys will be released at a later date. It is impossible to 100% the game at this time.

Skylanders are the toys and creatures featured in every Skylanders game. With each game's release, a new set of Skylanders become available for purchase. These Skylanders fall under one of eight different elements. Some optional areas in the Story Mode will be locked unless you have a Trap Master Skylander of each element.

Memory

Each Skylander toy comes equipped with an RFID card inside. This stores a small amount of information in the toy instead of the system's memory, allowing you to use the same Skylander toy at your friend's house, across different platforms, and on previous Skylanders games! The information that is saved includes the following:

• Experience Points and Level. If the Skylander is at a higher level than a previous game's level cap, their level will be shown as the max level. Skylanders Spyro's Adventure's level cap is 10, Giants' level cap is 15, and Swap Force's and Trap Team's level caps are 20.
• The amount of Gold collected
• The Outfit your Skylander is currently wearing (Magical Hats, Accessories)
• The Nickname that you give to your Skylander
• Upgraded Powers and Statistics

Compatibility

Skylanders Trap Team is compatible with all Skylanders toys from the previous games. However, the new Skylander characters will not be compatible with the previous Skylander games unless it's a new version of a returning character.

Example: Snap Shot is a new Skylander in Skylanders Trap Team and does not work with past Skylanders games, but Tidal Wave (Series 4) Gill Grunt will work with Trap Team and past Skylanders games.

There is a small exception to the compatibility rule – pun not intended. The new mini Skylanders are both new and alternate versions of existing Skylander characters. All mini Skylanders will only work on Skylanders Trap Team. Also, Lightcore Skylanders are backwards compatible as far as their original character can go, but they will not be able to use their special Lightcore power unless the Lightcore figure was introduced alongside the original character figure.

Skylanders Trap Team is the first Skylanders game that allows you to capture defeated Villains and have them fight alongside your Skylanders. A total of 46 villains can be captured during the Story Mode of Skylanders Trap Team, including the evil Portal Master, Kaos!

Each Villain is comprised of a certain element, just like a Skylander. You must use Traptanium of the same element to capture the Villain you are fighting. For example: use a water Traptanium crystal to capture Gulper, a water Villain. After defeating the Villain in battle, place a Traptanium trap in the new Traptanium Portal of Power to instantly capture it.

Only one Villain can be stored in each crystal at a time, but you can switch out the Villains using the Villain Vault at the Skylanders Academy, or you can buy multiple Traptanium toys to store multiple Villains.