Skylanders: Giants/Time of the Giants

Kaos was banished to Earth but he has now escaped. You have rediscovered the Giants, the first Skylanders, who thought to be lost forever. But they lived in a time where Skylands was in peril. The robot race known as the Arkeyans reigned terror.

Forgotten Path
Once prompted by Eon, place a Skylander on the Portal of Power. It is most useful to use a Giant as they are needed for 100% completion on most levels. If you are just starting out and are purely relying on the Starter Pack, Tree Rex is the one you will be using. You need to use to move around. Before crossing the bridge, smash the grating in the wall using one of your two default attacks (As Tree Rex, press to smash the ground causing a shockwave or press  while walking to dash forwards). Go in and collect the Winged Sapphire. These give you a 2% discount on upgrades, which you can't access just yet. Go back out and go left along the bridge. If you see any boulders, pick them up and throw them, as they may have treasure underneath. (To pick up and throw boulders, you will need a Giant. Walk up to it and press to grab on. Mash  to lift it. At this point, you can walk around with it. Press  to throw it.) Follow the goats along the path and smash the debris (you can just walk into it as a Giant), as well as the wooden wall. Go through.

Mountain Peak
If you wish to stock up on gold (which I would highly recommend), pick up the boulder here. Use the bounce pad underneath it to get to the above bamboo platform which has some treasure on it. Drop down, then follow the coins until you get to a cannon. Press to fire it into the blockade. Push the turtle on the bridge completely out of the way.

Turtle Falls
Push the next turtle all the way left until it drops into the gap, forming a bridge. Walk over it to get to the 1st Treasure Chest. Go back, then push the last turtle all the way forward. Follow the path around then down onto some bamboo platforms. At the very bottom, some nasty critters are terrorising a defenseless Mabu, Norticus, who is wearing a turban and pale blue tribal make-up.

Hungry Plateau
These are ridiculously easy to kill. Finish them off.

Follow Norticus into the cave.

Ancient Mines
A friendly Giant named Gigantus enters.

He picks up and throws a boulder.

Before following Gigantus, go left and get rid of the two boulders blocking the path. Walk up and around onto a platform with lots of treasure as well as the Shroomboom Soul Gem. Drop off and get rid of the boulder here. Go to Gigantus.

He then drops through the floor, never to be seen again. Before jumping down, Follow the path to the right. Get rid of the boulder to get to the 2nd Treasure Chest. Go down to the bottom.

The Broken Bottom
Smash the wooden fence to get to the Story Scroll.

Go back up.

Ancient Mines (cont.)
Jump through the floor next to where Gigantus did.

Hungry Depths
Conveniently, the 3rd Treasure Chest is right here. Go into the pit.

You need to defeat 20 bone chompies. Once you have done that, there is another enemy to fight.

The tactic to defeat them is to either attack them from a distance or wait until they slam their weapon down (get out of the way first!), at which point they will be particularly vulnerable. Once it is defeated, the gate will open. Go through.

Use the first two but before jumping left, go right (also, if you lost some health, get the watermelon). Get rid of the boulder, then go back into the chompy pit. You will need to fight another 20 bone chompies, but not another Arkeyan jouster. When the gate opens, go up and circle back into the chompy pit again. Upon defeating the third lot of 20 bone chompies, the gate will open, and you will be rewarded with a Luck-o-Tron Wheel of Experience. More on the Luck-o-Tron to come later. Anyway, follow the bounce pads up to Norticus. Before exiting the cave, there is a Life Gate on the left. Elemental Gates require a Skylander of the matching element to open. If you are still using Tree Rex, you won't need to switch because his element is indeed Life. Simply walk up to the gate and it will magically open.

Zuchinni Grotto (Life Gate)
Push the turtle out of the path for you to get through.

These guys spawn chompies. You might not be able defeat this one as it requires a long-ranged attack to kill. So, unless you want to switch to Jet-Vac, just ignore it. Push the turtle back into the original gap from the other side. Go left then go up the slope. (Standing on the turtle is the best spot to attack the root runner from long range, if you choose to do so.) Cross to the other side of the gap. The present here contains the Flower Fairy Hat. Drop down out of the area.

Hungry Depths (cont.)
Exit the cave.

Arkeyan Worksite
There is an Air Gate to the left. Jet-Vac from the Starter pack will work perfectly.

Windy Worksite (Air Gate)
Drop down to where the 4th and final Treasure Chest is. Bounce up to the next platform then avoid the harmful air jets, following them anticlockwise. Drop down on the other side to the present which contains the Turban. Use the bounce pad to exit.

Arkeyan Worksite (cont.)
Go to the right, toward the first chain holding up the Conquertron. Either attack the chain until it breaks, or lift the support out of the ground with a Giant.

Continue to the right through the now-open gate.

The Planks
Take care of the bone chompies here. Push the front block two spaces left, then push the other block into the gap. A couple of Arkeyan Jousters await your arrival to the right. Finish them off and a bounce pad will reveal itself. Before using it though, go onto the stone platform to the left. Follow it around the corner to an open platform. In the far corner is an Undead Gate. You can use Series 2 Cynder from the starter pack to unlock it, if you wish.

Cursed Construction (Undead Gate)
Follow the path, then avoid the spikes coming out of the ground to get to the present on the other side. This contains the Paper Fast Food Hat. Turn around and go back the way you came.

The Planks (cont.)
Use the bounce pad you revealed earlier to jump up onto the bamboo platforms. The conquertron will smash away the tower blocking your path, most likely not intending to assist you. Drop down to where the second chain is. Before destroying it, drop down to the left to collect the Starry Night Paint Job. In this game, the Legendary Treasures you collect can be used to customise the Dread-Yacht, which you will encounter later. Also, each Legendary Treasure will grant you 100 gold. Bounce back up and destroy the chain.

Continue along the bridge until you get to an open area with some chompies and jousters to take care of. Once they are defeated and the gate opens, go through. The chain is covered in rubble that needs to be cleared first. Beware the conquertron's harmful eye-lasers. Once the rubble is cleared, destroy the third and final chain.

Congratulations, you have completed Chapter 1!

Story
The Giants sought to take down the Arkeyan leader. They won in a hard-fought battle. Without their leader, the entire empire fell to ruins. But the Giants' success came at a greater cost. The source of the leader's power, the Iron Fist of Arkus, sucked the Giants into a void. They had not been seen since. Until Now. Fast-forward to the present. Cap'n Flynn has got himself a new transport means: The Dread-Yacht. It is certainly not the prettiest thing in the world and doesn't work all that well. But Hugo spreads the news of the Giants' return, and Kaos' escape. He knows of an old Hermit living in the outlands who witnessed him springing back into Skylands, with residual energy from the Portal re-powering the Conquertron from 10000 years before. Kaos now had control. But before tracking him down, fixing the Dread-Yacht is the top priority.