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The Toad Gear is a set of Armor exclusive to the XBOX One and PC versions of Shovel of Hope. In order to obtain it, the Curious Map's sidequest must have been completed and the Battletoads defeated. Once attained it can be equipped by talking to Zitz or by visiting the Armorer or Goatarmorer. The Toad Gear turns Shovel Knight's armor green, similar to Rash.
Proprieties[]
While the Gear is equipped, all Shovel Blade upgrades purchased from the Shovel Smith are disabled and Shovel Knight regular Dig Slashes become a three-hit thrusting combo; these hits inflict 0.5 damage and briefly stun their target, unless the enemy is shielding itself. This is the only damage source that does this amount of damage in the game and as such there's no visual indicator for it on boss health bars.
If the enemy is exactly at certain health thresholds (every 25% of the enemy's health if they have 4 or more max health, or if they have 0.5 hp remaining), attacking will cause the Shovel Blade to transform into either a huge version of itself or a boot with which Shovel Knight will perform a kick motion. Both of these attacks deal 2 damage, much like the Charge Handle attack, and can dig up Dig Piles completely. They also make Shovel Knight invincible while performing them.
While performing a Shovel Drop, the Shovel Blade becomes huge; in this state it digs through Dirt Blocks in one single motion without bouncing on it, much like with a Sand Block, but if the Shovel Drop is instead performed on an enemy, a meal platter or a Light Orb, it will bounce reverting to its smaller state after the initial hit. Pressing down while in the small state reverts the shovel to the huge state. Unlike the Armor of Chaos modified Shovel Drop, the Toad Gear's Shovel Drop does not affect at all Dig Piles, with the exception of the ones stuck on walls, in which case Shovel Knight will bounce on them.
While equipped the Toad Gear also enable a running animation by double-tapping [LEFT] or [RIGHT], which will temporarily increase the default walking speed. If [ATTACK] is pressed while running, Shovel Knight will do a Shoulder Bash-like attack, which will destroy any Dirt caught it its path but ignore any floor Dig Pile. However if an enemy is present in front of Shovel Knight, the shoulder bash will be replaced: Shovel Knight helmet's horns will morph into big ram horns and he will instead perform a plunging ramming attack, dealing twice the damage to any enemy caught in his path, all the while remaining completely invincible during it.
Lastly, by standing still and pressing [DOWN], the Toad Gear will make Shovel Knight strike a cool, confident pose instead of crouching.
Overall the Toad Gear allows Shovel Knight to play similarly to the Battletoads, much like the Armor of Chaos allows him to play like Kratos.
Trivia[]
- The Toad Gear's cool pose is similar in concept to the dance unlocked by the Troupple King for Plague Knight and Specter Knight's Cold Shoulder.
- If Shovel Knight is wearing the Toad Gear while striking a pose with the Battletoads, instead of his usual pose, he will be doing the Toad Gear specific [DOWN] button pose; this way bringing the total of possible poses scenarios to 10.
- The Toad Gear/Armor of Chaos share similarities with the Pandemonium Cloak and the Donovan Set, as each of these garments cannot simply be purchased, but instead are rewarded after completing a side task, such as collecting every single one of a specific collectible (Cipher Coins or Red Skulls) or find a secret item (Curious Map) and defeating a boss.
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