Introduction
New week, new ability deep dive! This list is getting pretty long, but I still enjoy writing about these abilities. Hopefully, you all reading this enjoy it too, and maybe we can learn a thing or two together.
Funny thing—while writing these posts, I sometimes stumble upon details I never even noticed before, even after three years of playing! 🤣
This week’s ability spotlight is Shatter. It’s a pretty straightforward one: if your attack lands on an enemy with armor, their entire shield (armor) is instantly destroyed. No matter how much they have, it’s gone. Poof. Vanished.
Why Is Shatter Good?
Armor can be a massive problem in battles, especially against Tank Heal and Repair strategies. Some monsters stack up large amounts of armor, making them almost unkillable—unless you have Shatter. Instead of chipping away at the shield little by little, Shatter just removes it completely in one hit.
Imagine going up against a fully armored opponent, thinking it will take multiple rounds to break through—then bam, one hit from a Shatter unit and all that armor is history. Suddenly, your next attacks start dealing damage directly to health.
Ability
Successful attacks destroy the target's armor.
100% chance of activation upon successful strike
Notes:
- Armor will Shatter upon the first successful hit even if the unit does not take damage like with Shield or Divine Shield.
- Armor that is Shattered can be Repaired.
- If a Unit has its armor Shattered then dies and is Resurrected, it will return with full armor.
Official ability information from splinterlands: List abilities
Synergies / strategy
Abilities benefits
Scattershot - I like a shatter with scattershot this is pruned for taking multiple unit their armor down. this can be achieved by using Conqueror Jacek
Ruleset benefits
Armored Up - All unit gain some extra armor so the shatter will have great effect.
Weak Magic - Also magic units have to eat trough the armor. In this your opponent often bring heavy armor units to the battle. Take advantage of this knowledge to bring your own shatter unit.
Select / favorite
Here are mine shatter units:
And my summoner that give all units shatter:
Now i have to chose, which unit do i chose purely for its shatter ability. I select the Venari Marksrat very often but more for its martyr so that one is off the table.
Here a my current stats on my shatter units:
I have chosen this unit because the double strike combines nicely with the shatter. This unit has potential 4 attacks. First strike take down the armor second and potential third and fourth attack can be to the core health.
My stats for Drybone Raider:
Lets have a look into a match with the Drybone Raider in action.
Strategy
This time we have a brawl match. this is always special with the gladius unit that you can use.
Its a high mana match Drybone raider is a valid choice, one of the down sides of this unit is that it is very high mana (12).
Slow unit are in favor with the reverse ruleset and only natural units.
Rulesets
Shades of Gray:
Only neutral units can be selecte.
Reverse Speed:
Units with the lowest speed attack first and have the highest chance to evade attacks.
Aim True:
All units will gain the true strike ability. Meaning all units will hit 100% of the time. This neglect the reversed evade rules.
The Lineup
Summoner
| Card | Reason |
|---|---|
 | Mine only maxed rebellion summoner which i love to play in brawls. The magic and melee boost is already great you can can choose two unit that will have life leech. |
Units Lineup
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  | |  |  |
Mantaroth (lvl 1)
Strong tank unit, which i only have 1 bcx off. Most of the time enough and better then 0 bcx 🤣
Legionnaire Alvar (lvl 4)
I expect some melee units to the demoralize is great to have. Also this match is a high mana match do there is high change on unit that cost more than 10 mana so the giant killer can do some double damage
Tatiana Blayde (lvl 1)
My gladius unit for this brawl. Love Tatiana its also has two attack possibilities. Hope it get some kills because it doe not have a lot a health.
Drybone Raider (lvl 3)
Start of this week. The double attack with shatter can be very useful in many occasions.
Gem Meteor (lvl 6)
Not a unit that i chose very often i had 5 mana left and filtered on unit that i could use in this position.
Doctor Blight (lvl 4)
One of my first picks in the lineup. With Lorkus i like to give it the life leech, then it get extra health when it hits and when other die so double gaining of health while it cannot be targeted (camouflage)
The Battle
Reference
Link to the battle:
Link to battle
Rounds
Start :
Before diving into the battle, let's break down the lineups. This match has a "Neutral Only" rule set, meaning no splinter-specific monsters—just the neutral crew. As expected, there’s a bit of overlap in our choices.
I have a solid advantage with Lorkus, especially since two of my units have Life Leech. That’s a huge deal in a long fight because they’ll keep growing stronger as the battle goes on.
My opponent, on the other hand, made a crucial mistake: they brought Supply Runner—a great unit in most situations, but here’s the problem…
Rule Set: Reverse Speed
In this match, lower speed is actually better. The Supply Runner's speed bonus ends up hurting their team instead of helping, making my slower monsters even stronger. A big win for me!
Both of us saw the value of Drybone Raider, which makes sense. It’s a solid pick, especially with Shatter in play.
Looking at our setups, I don't see any major trouble ahead for my team. Let's see how it plays out!
Round 1:
Both tank units take a heavy beating right from the start, and by the end of the round, they're hanging on by a thread. Not much else happens in terms of eliminations, but one key thing is already working in my favor—
💀 My two Life Leech units are getting stronger!
Every attack they land adds to their health, and with Reverse Speed in play, they're attacking earlier than expected. This means they'll keep stacking health quickly, making them harder and harder to take down as the battle continues.
With both tanks barely holding on, it's clear that Round 2 will be decisive. Let’s see what happens next! 👀🔥
Round 2:
This round was a game-changer. My low-speed advantage paid off big time!
First Move, First Kill – Thanks to Reverse Speed, my units attacked before my opponent could even react. Two of their monsters were eliminated before they got a chance to strike. That’s a massive advantage, setting the pace for the rest of the match.
Tip: Speed is one of the most important strategies in Splinterlands.
Since I started playing, I’ve learned that controlling speed can decide matches. Normally, higher speed is better, but in Reverse Speed rule sets, low speed is king. Knowing when to build around speed (or lack of it) is a huge part of winning more battles.
Drybone Raider Did Its Job
This is exactly why I brought Drybone Raider to this fight. First strike? Check. Instant armor removal? Check. Heavy hit to core health? Check. Shatter made sure my opponent had no chance to protect their frontline.
Doctor Blight Keeps Growing
With every fallen enemy, my Doctor Blight's Scavenger ability boosted its health. By the end of this round, it was already sitting at 8 health—and it’s only going to get stronger from here.
At this point, my opponent is in serious trouble. Let’s see if they can turn it around in Round 3... but I doubt it. 😏
Round 3:
This round was all about control. My team continued its dominance, eliminating more of my opponent’s units. At this point, their lineup is completely falling apart.
Now a ranged unit is in the first position. These ranged attackers can’t fire from the front (they do not have Close Range), it’s now just sitting there, completely useless. That’s basically a free turn for me every round until it’s gone.
With my Life Leech monsters still gaining health and Doctor Blight sitting at an absurdly high HP, the match is all but decided. Now it’s just a matter of one or two more rounds before victory.
Round 4:
My opponents last unit is a ranged unit left with 1 health.
Round 5:
Victory!
Conclusion
This battle was a great demonstration of how powerful Shatter can be when used correctly. My Drybone Raider did exactly what it needed to do—strip away armor instantly, allowing my other units to deal direct damage from the very start.
Beyond Shatter, this match also showed the importance of understanding rule sets. By building my team around Reverse Speed, I was able to attack first, eliminating key threats before my opponent could even react. Their mistake of bringing Supply Runner only made things worse for them.
✅ Key Takeaways from This Match:
- Shatter neutralizes heavy armor strategies—it made my attacks much more efficient.
- Speed control wins games—understanding when to go fast or slow is crucial.
- Life Leech & Scavenger abilities snowball hard—by the end, my Doctor Blight was nearly unkillable.
- Forcing ranged units into the front position is a guaranteed way to weaken your opponent.
Overall, this was a clean, well-executed match where everything worked in my favor. Shatter played its role perfectly, and the rule set gave me an edge from the start.
Did you enjoy this breakdown? Have you had a battle where Shatter turned the tide in your favor? Let me know in the comments! 👇🔥
Previous ability strategy posts
Below you will find references to the other ability strategies / analysis posts.
Affliction
Amplify
Backfire
Blast
Blind
Bloodlust
Camouflage
Conscript
Close Range
Cleanse
Cripple
Deathblow
Demoralize
Dispel
Divine Shield
Dodge
Double Strike
Enrage
Flying
Forcefield
Fury
Giant Killer
Halving
Headwinds
Heal
Tank Heal
Immunity
Inspire
Knock Out
Last Stand
Life Leech
Magic Reflect
Martyr
Opportunity
Oppress
Phase
Piercing
Poison
Protect
Reach
Recharge
Redemption
Reflection Shield
Repair
Resurrect
Retaliate
Return Fire
Rust
Scavenger
ShatterThat's all for this week hope you enjoyed reading this ability strategy/analysis. See you all on the battlefield.
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