The Elder Kraken is an adaptation Monster in Evolve released on February 23, 2016. A variant on the Kraken, the Elder Kraken focuses heavily on close quarter combat and creating AoE damage zones while sacrificing his ability to control space with mines and knockback effects.
Lore
Elder Krakens are believed to be either one of two things: an ancient primordial species of Kraken that eventually diverged in evolution, becoming the typical Krakens seen at the beginning of the invasion; or simply Krakens that have managed to survive into old age, which would indicate that all Krakens would eventually turn into Elder Krakens.
Abilities
Lightning Strike
The Kraken channels for a short period before calling down a bolt of lightning, dealing a large amount of damage to all enemies caught within. The reticle for this ability is not maneuverable while charging unlike Kraken's, but is is visible to hunters, allowing them opportunities for escape.
- Damage: 400/412/440
- radius 4/5/6.4
- minimum radius 2.5/3/3.5
- length 20/22/25
- vertical offset 6/7/8
- 1.25 second strike delay
- 40 meter range
- 11/9/7 second cooldown
- Melee is enabled while casting
Banshee Missile
The Elder Kraken fires a sphere of plasma that travels until it collides with an object, where it explodes and deals damage.
- Damage: 500/500/550
- Radius: 5/6/7
- Speed: 37/46/55
- Cooldown: 8 seconds
Chain Lightning
The Kraken channels, preventing further traversal before unleashing an electric pulse that deals heavy damage to all nearby enemies. While in the channel, the Kraken maintains its current momentum and can press the crouch button to drop from the sky.
- Damage Stage 1: 200/300/400/500 (each consecutive target takes additional damage)
- Damage Stage 2: 206/309/412/515
- Damage Stage 3: 220/330/440/550
- 3 second cast
- range 7/8.8/11.2
- linked range 12/15/19
- 1.25 second charge duration
- 1.0 second firing duration
- 10 second cooldown
Death Spiral
The Kraken shoots a large energy wave that deals moderate, continuous damage in an area.
- Damage per second: 200/206/220
- radius 3/4/5
- length 30/38/48
- angle 15/19/24
- 4 second lifetime
- 8 second cooldown
Basic Attacks
- Heavy: 225/235/250
- Air Heavy: 200/215/230
- Light: 90/93/100
- Vs Incap: 112
Traversal - Air Burst
This traversal pushes the Kraken in the direction of the reticle before granting it temporary flight. Out of combat, the Kraken will gradually descend towards the earth; in combat, it will only sink when affected by slows, tranquilizers, and harpoons. Unlike the original Kraken, Elder Kraken does not have the ability to use ranged attacks when in the air, but may use all of its abilities and melee attacks as normal.
The Elder Kraken cannot burst upwards when he is more than 10 meters above ground.
- Max Traversals: 3
- Recharge Delay: 1 second
- Recharge (in combat): 4.66 seconds
- Recharge (out of combat): 6.66 seconds
Progression
| Lvl | Reward | Lvl | Reward | Lvl | Reward | Lvl | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Start | 11 | Badge | 21 | 50 Keys | 31 | 50 Keys |
| 2 | Badge | 12 | Insatiable Hunger - Major | 22 | Ferocious Bloodlust - Superior | 32 | Badge |
| 3 | Savage Nature - Minor | 13 | 50 Keys | 23 | Badge | 33 | 50 Keys |
| 4 | 50 Keys | 14 | Badge | 24 | 50 Keys | 34 | 125 Keys |
| 5 | 125 Keys | 15 | Mutated Senses - Major | 25 | 125 Keys | 35 | Elite Skin |
| 6 | Enhanced Senses - Minor | 16 | 125 Keys | 26 | 50 Keys | 36 | 125 Keys |
| 7 | Badge | 17 | Badge | 27 | Badge | 37 | 125 Keys |
| 8 | 125 Keys | 18 | Endurance - Major | 28 | Deadly Brawler - Superior | 38 | Badge |
| 9 | Brawler - Minor | 19 | 50 Keys | 29 | 50 Keys | 39 | 125 Keys |
| 10 | 50 Keys | 20 | 125 Keys | 30 | 125 Keys | 40 | Prime Skin |
Rewards for perks that are already at level 3 are replaced with a 200 keys reward.
Tactics
- Lightning Strike cannot be maneuvered while channeling like with the Original Kraken, however the player can control where the lightning will strike by holding the button that controls Lightning Strike. Use this to get the best placement for Lightning Strike.
- Banshee Missle is a straight projectile and cannot track the Hunters like with Kraken Banshee Mines, but the attack is much faster.
- Chain Lightning's Area of Effect is much smaller than Kraken's Aftershock, befitting Elder Krakens' close combat style. Because of this, Elder Kraken needs to be right next to his enemies for this ability to hit.
- Death Spiral fires a continuous beam of energy that lasts for several seconds, damaging anything that passes through it. The player can knock or lead the hunters into the beam, thus damaging them.
- The Elder Kraken is all about close combat, meaning that he can't fire projectile's from the air with the melee button like with the original Kraken.
Trivia
- Elder Kraken is the second Monster Adaption to be released for Evolve.