Lightning Strike
First of the Kraken’s main abilities in Evolve is the Lightning Strike. This attack can be thrown into enemies at incredibly long range, smiting them where they stand as you hover many meters away from the stench of their sparking skin. The power of Lightning Strike is not one to be forgotten about. It can unleash merry havoc among the ranks of even the most stubborn of Hunters no matter what Stage you’re currently at.
Lightning Strike enters the fray in a pillar of lightning (no shocks there then) which has a somewhat lengthy charge time. You may need to set aside a couple of seconds in any attack plan to allow yourself time to line this terrifically powerful blast. When the attack is fully charged, the column of electrical hell bursts from the clouds above. This large amount of preparation does mean that intelligent Hunters in Evolve are going to be able to see what you’re doing and get the heck out of the way quite frequently. It does come down from the stars rather than streaking from your tentacles though, so if an enemy is flying up above you can still ruin their day.
The Kraken’s ability to summon a fork of electrical death from the sky isn’t just useful against Hunters. It can be used frequently and easily to kill wildlife which itself will boost the speed of your evolution or armor recharging attempts. Smaller groups of beasts fall in moments to the damage from this crack of light and even the larger opponents will find an unhealthy, for them, lump of their health pool is ripped away from them. Softening up the wildlife of Evolve is the only surefire way to succeed as a monster, never forget this.
A key aspect of successful monster play in Evolve is using abilities together to deal maximum damage to Hunters. Kraken are unique in their abilities to throw huge amounts of damage into the group of Hunters right from the off with the use of a simple display of synergy. By throwing down a bunch of Banshee Mines (coming up next) around the landing point of their group, you can instantly put them on the back foot. Add in a Lightning Strike or two from a safe distance while your enemy is grouped up and still unsure of its direction to play a few mind games with the squishy meatbags.
Before we move on Lightning Strike is also incredibly useful when playing in the Defend mode of Evolve. Throwing one of these from a distance into the enemy turrets will deal incredibly amounts of damage to their structure, making them less of a threat.
