The Shovel Drop is one of Shovel Knight's special motion introduced for the first time in Shovel of Hope. When performed, he holds his Shovel Blade below himself while in midair, allowing him to bounce off most enemies and breakable objects.
Gameplay[]
The Shovel Drop can be used to bounce off enemies and certain platforms. Once the move is initiated, by pressing [DOWN] while in midair, Shovel Knight remains in the Shovel Drop position until he lands, takes damage, or performs an attack of any kind. Shovel Dropping has the same damaging power as a normal Dig Slash of the Shovel Blade.
Shovel Dropping can be very useful for staying above enemies, like during fights against The Enchantress and other bosses, but also against many common enemies throughout The Valley. There are however enemies throughout the stages that can counter Shovel Dropping, such as the Blazorb, which will damage Shovel Knight and take no damage from a Shovel Drop.
With the Dynamo Mail equipped, two consecutive Shovel Drops will result in a Charge Slash: Shovel Knight blinks repeatedly and his next Dig Slash (on the ground or in the air, doesn't matter) will be a charge slash attack, which deals double damage. The effect disappears if Shovel Knight isn't bouncing on anything for a few seconds. Both the version exclusives Armor of Chaos and Toad Gear have their own unique ways to alter the Shovel Drop's properties.
Furthermore, Custom Knight has a special move, the Diagonal Drop, that alters the Shovel Drop trajectory.
Both Black Knight and Polar Knight display personal variations of the technique, respectively called Shovel Dive and Shovel Slam as revealed by Shovel Knight Showdown, and all three knights make effective use of the technique while battling inside the Mirror of Fate. Interestingly, the Shovel Dive and the Shovel Slam behave the exact opposite to one another, with Black Knight's Dive momentarily lodging itself into the ground if it doesn't hit an opponent but bouncing into the air otherwise, and Polar Knight's Slam bouncing on Dirt Blocks but lodging into the ground if it hits a target.
While initially absent from the base game, one of the Pocket Dungeon Puzzler's Pack's Quandary challenges at Castle Quandary for Shovel Knight, Shovel Drop, marks the return of the Shovel Drop ability for the blue burrower. The Shovel Drop allows Shovel Knight to bounce on enemies, and becomes more powerful the more consecutive bounces are performed, but it does not make the blue burrower immune to trade-off damage, making it a risky maneuver when facing particularly bulky enemies. Alternatively, the Shovel Drop can be used to quickly reach the bottom of the screen, as a makeshift quick dash.
In Shovel Knight Dig, the Shovel Drop is initiated each time a jump is performed, requiring extra planning and attention when traversing destructible obstacles; this feature was changed with the Fate and Fortune expansion, adding the option to toggle off the auto-Shovel Drop in the options menu. Multiple upgrades for the Shovel Drop are available for purchase from Master Argus.
Trivia[]
- A common misconception is that the Shovel Drop was based on Scrooge McDuck's pogo jump from the video game DuckTales. It was actually based on Link's sword drop from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.[1]
- In the Village, Shovel Knight can shovel drop on the Hoop Kid's hoop. He is rewarded with the Hooper Feat if he manages to bounce on it for a consecutive five seconds.
- The Shovel Drop is one of the four core movement mechanics around which the level design specific for the campaign it appears in is build upon, in this case Shovel of Hope. The others are the Bomb Burst, the Dash Slash, and the Shoulder Bash.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Game Dev Recipes: Shovel Knight on VG247