Nobody has to justify why they rack up wins in Evil Dead: The Game using Eligos. The puppeteer has access to the Demi-Eligos as an elite unit, the very same elite unit that has been destroying players in the campaign missions. If it's bad there, just imagine it buffed up and possessed by an intelligent gamer.
Even so, this is a team of four survivors banding together, more than enough to take out these elite units. That is, until skills are factored in. With the right skill allotment, the puppeteer is a force to be reckoned with and the one demon who can make players quit the match in Evil Dead: The Game before the loading screen ends.
10 Rock Steady: Elite
- Increases the balance bar length of elite units.
Getting staggered is a problem for many reasons. First, it's a time period where damage isn't being done. Second, it's a time when the enemy can get very easy headshots. Finally, and this is the most important thing to consider, losing balance opens the unit up to finishers. The best warriors will kill expensive units if this happens. Protect the valuable elites by making this bad situation an irregularity.
9 Easy Access
- Reduces the amount of Infernal Energy required to possess any unit.
At first glance, a 15% reduction in possession may seem like chump change. But it does add up. If played correctly, the puppeteer should be possessing an elite unit every time that the cooldown is available. Throughout a full match, this reduction can add up to two full energy bars worth of extra attacks. Elite support units will be trying to heal up their squads, more attacks push back on their resource limitations.
8 Puppet Master: Elite
- Increases the maximum health gained and damage dealt by possessed elite evil units.
Getting two benefits for the puppeteer's best unit is a no-brainer. Increasing its ability to regain health will give Demi-Eligos a buff to his lifestealing, making him even harder to take out. The increase in damage dealt will have squads feeling the pain as this unit's appearances become more frequent. Ideal leaders give bonus damage to their allies, this skill counters this aura nicely.
7 Health Raiser: Elite
- Increases the maximum health of elite units.
When the Demi-Eligos was destroying players in the campaign, it's no question that the most frustrating part about it is the number of hits it takes to kill it. Bullets bounce off without any visible effect on the health meter, and melee attackers will take on way too much damage before it goes down. Considering this is the best feature of the unit, why not beef it up even more?
6 Heavy Damage: Elite
- Increases damage dealt by elite units.
It's fair to wonder why this skill is listed higher than the Puppet Master: Elite skill, which increases damage in addition to health regeneration. It comes down to this effect being permanent, working even when the elite creature is not possessed. Even the best puppeteer build won't be able to guarantee Infernal Energy is high enough to possess creatures all of the time. But the AI does a good enough job and will do even better with extra damage.
5 Gates Of Hell: Elite
- Reduces the cooldown period between the placing of Portals: Elite.
Since Eligos currently tops the demon rankings due to his elite unit, it's probably best to have this guy on the battlefield as often as possible. Already, survivors will have a difficult time killing one Demi-Eligos before another one is ready to come up. With this skill, it's easily possible to place multiple units on the field at once.
4 Relentless Evil
- Reduces the cooldown time of your active skill.
At ninety seconds, the cooldown for the puppeteer is high. One might say excessive, but its power, giving a possessed unit 40% more health and 10% more damage, is so ridiculous that the cooldown has to be high to keep the puppeteer from automatically winning the game. Shave twenty-seven seconds off of the cooldown with this skill and circumvent the one barrier stopping this ability from dominating the match.
3 Possession Extension
- Reduces the amount of Infernal Energy required to maintain possession of any evil unit.
Getting killed by a band of survivors is acceptable, but getting killed because some mysterious bar got drained cannot be tolerated. With all that is invested into the puppeteer's units, they should not be permitted to perish when Infernal Energy runs out. Slow down the timer and get off every bit of damage possible before meeting an end. Keep in mind that even if the possessed unit is killed, the excess Infernal Energy saved by this skill will be immediately ready for the next attack.
2 Insane Clone Posse
- Increases the damage inflicted by your clones.
Although the ranged attack from the Demi-Eligos is terrifying, it's the clones that have the greater upside. Capable of making an army on its own, the elite can overwhelm survivors with a series of clone creations. Beef up their damage and survivors will have a choice with no right answer: focus on the Demi-Eligos and get ripped apart by clones, or kill the clones and allow the Demi-Eligos to do burst attacks from range.
1 Kandarian Fury
- The longer you spend possessing a unit, the more damage they can inflict.
It feels like somebody missed a comma or a fraction at some point. Three percent bonus damage for every second a unit is possessed? That's absurd. At a mere ten seconds, it's already 30% more damage. Survive for seventeen seconds and it's 50%. Just after thirty seconds, this becomes full-blown double damage, wiping out players in a single hit or crushing them to death with a mob of souped-up clones.
Evil Dead: The Game was released on May 13th, 2022, and is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.