Ash Williams is, of course, the undisputed protagonist of the Evil Dead franchise and he's got a starring role once again in Evil Dead: The Game. But what about the best antagonist? Well, that's a role once against filled by Ash. Or, more accurately, Evil Ash. He's the final boss of the game and a steep challenge.
He's available in the multiplayer for Evil Dead: The Game and, with the right skill investment, he's a complete pain to battle against. He's tough enough in the campaign, but after adding abilities and a few key skills, Evil Ash, the necromancer, has the potential to win the match with every appearance.
10 Gates Of Hell: Boss
- Reduces the cooldown period between the placing of Portals: Boss.
The toughest obstacle for any demon is attacking before the healers can bring the team back up to full health. The best support survivors can get the team on its feet fast, so the necromancer has to be faster. Take down the cooldown of the boss, the most important unit, and suddenly the team starts to get hit before they've recovered from the last wave. Keep up the pressure and soon they'll be out of Shemp's Colas and ripe for the killing.
9 Portal Authority: Boss
- Reduces the amount of Infernal Energy required to place a Portal: Boss.
One of the biggest mistakes new players to the demon make is popping into the boss form without enough energy. Highly-ranked warriors aren't even the biggest problem when the transformation is over so quickly. Decreasing the cost of becoming a boss increases the possession duration, ultimately, allowing Evil Ash to do all the damage he possibly can before needing to refuel.
8 Expanded Skeletal Support
- Increases the area of effect of Evil Ash's Skeleton Resurrection skill.
A well-balanced survivor squad will be sure to have an ideal leader with a strong aura, but that's nothing compared to what Evil Ash's aura can do. By bringing back all the minions who die around him for a time, Evil Ash creates an undying army that can't be dispatched until he's been eliminated. The area of effect is rather small and AI-controlled skeletons don't always like to die in convenient locations, sometimes forcing the necromancer to move around inconveniently. Expand the range and focus on attacking instead.
7 Widespread Skeleton Resurrection
- Increases the duration of Evil Ash's Skeleton Resurrection skill.
This is another key boost for the Skeleton Resurrection move. The aura can usually only be cast once per life unless the team is pathetically bad at the game and forgets to attack Evil Ash. Making the most of this one cast is, therefore, critical to the success of the attack. With a few extra seconds, skeletons will keep coming back to life, giving demons even more time to get an army going.
6 Speed Summoner
- Reduces the cooldown of Evil Ash's summoning ability.
Though some might argue that the necromancer is the best demon in the game, the boss, itself, is not all that terrible. He's strong, to be sure, but he's also quite slow and ineffective at any range but melee. His true strength is in the army he summons and resurrects while he is alive. Getting those summons off of cooldown faster multiples his lethality for his strongest move.
5 Heavy Damage: Boss
- Increases damage dealt by boss units.
Despite the boss relying mostly on minions for damage, he should certainly protect himself. The best offense is a good defense, as they say, and it's very true for Evil Ash. If he hits hard enough, melee attackers will have to back off or die and either choice works to the benefit of the necromancer. For the warriors to run off, Evil Ash is then free to engage the ranged attackers. With this skill, no matter how good the hunter is, they won't survive more than a swing or two.
4 Rock Steady: Boss
- Boss units are more resistant to balance bar damage.
The boss unit has a very specific weakness. Explicitly stated in his description, Evil Ash can't be pushed back, but he can be stunned by depleting his balance bar. This is in addition to the usual penalties when having the balance bar get depleted. Specifically, by allowing easy headshots from range, melee attackers get a finishing move, and survivors during the finishing move are immune and have their stamina refill. That's a hefty bag of troubles, reduce the likelihood of them happening with this skill.
3 Health Raiser: Boss
- Increases the maximum health of boss units.
It should be self-explanatory by now that Evil Ash is the main contributor to victory. His death isn't the end of the world, but it does effectively halt the current onslaught, making the Necromancer pool up resources until the next cooldown arrives. Keeping the boss alive is a priority, his very presence, even if just for a few more seconds, significantly damages player groups as they suffer attacks from his army.
2 Buffed Bones
- Increases the health and damage dealt by skeletons that Evil Ash summons to battle.
By now, the strategy should be clear. Evil Ash has a full range of abilities, all of which are useful, but the road to victory is paved by summoning units and resurrecting them if they die. A skill that both increases their health and damage is, very directly, crippling the odds of victory for opponents.
1 Come Back Stronger
- Resurrected skeletons have increased maximum health, come back with full health, and can deal more damage.
There is no contest for the best skill in the game. With an extra 40% to health and damage for resurrected units, players are going to be absolutely brutalized by Evil Ash's army. A smart team might recognize this buff and direct all attacks at Evil Ash, but this doesn't mitigate all of the harm; they'll be allowing units to attack them without fighting back. It's a lose-lose scenario for the survivors and an easy win for the necromancer.
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.