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Brawl Stars Character Guide: Shelly (Ranged Melee)

It’s been a few days, but we’re not done with our list of Brawl Stars character guides. Far from it, in fact. But before we move on to our next character, we should give you a little backgrounder on this new game from Supercell. This is an urban MOBA with modern-day weapons and modern-day characters, but with the same rules, terminologies, and mechanics of the usual multiplayer online battle arena set in an old-style, fantasy setting. And like any other MOBA, there is a strong premium on variety of game modes, a solid, though not overwhelming roster of characters to play and unlock, and of course, multiplayer gameplay and social teamwork.

With that refresher out of the way, it’s time to move on to our first female character, Shelly. She is a ranged character by way of type, but as you’ll soon find out, she’s actually more of a melee Brawler in ranged Brawler’s clothing. Why is this the case? Read on, and we’ll tell you why, as well as anything else you may have wanted to know about playing as Shelly, and getting the most out of her abilities.

Overview

Shelly is, like the other Brawl Stars characters we’ve covered so far, a common character. She’s the kind of character you want if you’re an aggressive, close-contact player, so if you want to take it up close to the enemy, you’ll want her as your Brawler of choice. She’s ideal for offense-first players, and while her base HP stats of 800 aren’t that great, that’s not too bad if you compare her to other ranged characters such as Brock and Colt who have only 600 HP to start with. Her primary attack is the Buck Shot, which allows her to launch shells from her shotgun. Her Super Ability is the Grapeshot, which involves hepped-up shells that could destroy cover and enemies alike. Any Brawler who doesn’t get killed by the Grapeshot, at the very least, gets knocked back.

Strengths

Shelly’s ability to deal out a ton of damage is her primary strength. Her shotgun has decent range, even if it isn’t overwhelming, but her attacks could reach a wide range as the shells blast out in a cone shape. That helps improve her accuracy and does, in fact, make her one of the game’s most accurate Brawlers, while also helping her stop enemy attacks before they even begin, due to the wide (again, not necessarily long) range of coverage. She’s probably a good choice if you’re a new player, because it’s easy to hit your mark, though she’s not all easy offense. As her Super could knock back Brawlers that don’t get taken out, that allows her to protect her teammates.

While Shelly is a very easy character to use for newbies, her Super’s ability to take out cover and knock back enemies allows those who use her to let their tactical side shine. You can simply ambush enemy Brawlers once they’re in their comfort zone, thinking they’re safe behind cover, with no chance of getting busted.

Weaknesses

We did mention that Shelly has a fair range on her shotgun. But being that she is officially a ranged character, and not a melee Brawler, her range pales if you compare her to the other ranged Brawlers we’ve covered so far. Sure, you’ll get just what you expect from a shotgun, but you shouldn’t expect it either to allow you to hang back as far as possible, while taking out enemies from long range.

As Shelly is better as a close-contact Brawler despite her ranged status, she’s an easy character to kite. For those who aren’t familiar with RPG jargon, this means enemies can easily lure her into a trap, but she wouldn’t be able to damage them while they’re doing the same to her and chipping away at her health points. Again, the 800 HP is quite decent, all things considered, but if you’re using Shelly as she’s supposed to be used, you’ll find out that that 800 HP does run out fast. You’ll need to be on the mark most, if not all of the time, if you want to hang on to those hit points. It’s pretty much a case of “kill or be killed” if you’re playing Shelly, so your goal here would essentially be NOT to get killed. She doesn’t have any skills that could close gaps if she’s being chased, so that’s another thing to take into account.

That’s not the only thing Shelly is lacking, unfortunately. She doesn’t have any movement buffs that could help her get away, and that further compounds her lack of gap-closing abilities and her lack of range for, well, a ranged character. And if she’s able to let loose with a few quick hits on the enemy as they’re about to retreat, enemies will likely stay out of range once they escape Shelly’s limited range in terms of length, and may stay there until there’s some help on the way from their teammates.

Lastly, Shelly is lacking in support abilities — she’s not exactly one-dimensional in terms of being a primarily offensive Brawler, but suppressing fire is the only thing she can do well by way of support. That’s not to say that this couldn’t help your team control a part of the map, but this is something you’ll need to do while Shelly still has enough ammo.

When And Where To Attack

Unfortunately for those who prefer to use Shelly, she’s got a longer list of weaknesses than strengths — as is often the case in Brawl Stars, there’s a catch or two or more to be had here. But it is possible to maximize her strengths and minimize her weaknesses, again, much like any other Brawler in this game.

When using Shelly, you should expect some usefulness out of her in the early goings of the game. If you’re looking for a fast start, she can help by damaging all the opponents simultaneously; even if you get killed while using her, your teammates could pick up the slack and use her big assist to take out some severely-weakened enemies. Of course, that Super of hers, the Grapeshot, works beautifully when destroying cover and revealing hidden enemies.

It’s also a good idea to ambush your enemies at just the right time by destroying the walls they’re hiding behind; they would often think they’re on safe ground just because they’re hiding behind a wall, and it’s your job to prove them wrong. Feel free to ambush them after destroying the wall, but always make sure you’ve got enough ammo on you before you do this.

You will want to wait it out for a bit if you’ve got an opposing Brawler or two waiting in the wings to attack, or trying to kite you behind the wall or any other type of cover. Wait until you’ve got a teammate coming from the opposite direction. And once again, use that Super to destroy walls and other cover, and deal knock back damage right before the fight starts.

Don’t underestimate your own ability to knock back opponents — that could confuse opponents and slow them down, allowing your team to buy some time, or better yet, swoop in and take advantage of the enemy’s confused state.

Move into the bushes in high-traffic areas, and do this when you’re sure there aren’t any enemies watching your moves. If the action is generally taking place on the other side of the map, or if you’ve just helped wipe out all your opponents and forced them into re-spawning, the best thing to do would be to wait until your enemies approach you. That’s when you can let loose with that short-range shotgun attack; it’s powerful enough to take out some Brawlers in just one shot. And if there are enemies that are chasing after you, go ahead and fire at them — they’ll be retreating anyway after a couple of shells from your shotgun go off. Don’t worry about your solid-at-best range; opponents who chase after you would effectively extend the shotgun’s range.

When To Use Super

Generally speaking, you want to use Shelly’s super if you’ve got teammates that are fleeing from an enemy onslaught. If you’re playing as her, you can launch her Super — the Grapeshot — to knock back enemies at the very least, while doing a lot of damage and preventing them from giving further chase. Of course, the Grapeshot can destroy walls and other forms of cover, which makes her great in flushing out your opponents.

Best And Worst Game Modes

Smash and Grab, which is the mode where you try to gain control of a gem mine in the center of the map, is probably the best possible mode for anyone playing as Shelly. She’s a good character to use when rushing the mine as early on as possible, and since her shotgun has a wide range, she could discourage enemy Brawlers from moving closer to the center gem mine. You can also use Shelly in Showdown, as she’s strong enough and sturdy enough to hold her own in a game mode where it’s every Brawler for himself/herself. Just make sure you can find a place to hide and keep yourself as inconspicuous as possible; if you’re seen by a player controlling a ranged character, you may end up as an easy, inviting target before you’re even in range.

Bounty is a third good mode to choose when playing as Shelly. As a reminder, this is the death match-style mode where you compete in 3 vs. 3 action, and if you’ve got Shelly as your frontliner, she could be useful in throwing the other team off their guard.

Since Shelly is a good to great performer in three game modes, that means one thing — Heist is her biggest weakness in terms of game modes. She doesn’t have a lot of additional features or skills aside from the damage she deals out and the wide range her gun covers. But that, once again, is the operative word — “wide,” not “long.” Heist rewards long-range snipers who could destroy the safe from afar, so that makes Shelly an ill fit for the game mode.

Best Matchups

We would say that Brock, Dynamike, Mortis, and Ricochet are the best matchups for Shelly in Brawl Stars. Let’s take a closer look why.

Brock, as we explained in our character guide for him, deals out lots of damage through the missiles he fires, but he’s only capable of firing one missile at a time. If you’re able to avoid those missiles, you can start giving him chase, reducing his accuracy and allowing her a good chance to take him out. Dynamike, who’s also a ranged character, is a second easy match-up — you can charge in, straight to his dynamite range, and take him out without breaking much of a sweat.

Interestingly, Mortis is quite the easy matchup for Shelly; you’ve probably noticed that he’s the hardest matchup (or among the hardest) for many Brawlers, but not in Shelly’s case. Once Mortis is within her range, Shelly can use her damage-dealing abilities to take him out in just two shots or so. So if Mortis is giving you a hard time, it may be high time for you to switch to Shelly.

Lastly, Ricochet is similar to Brock in the sense that you only have to avoid the first few shots he fires and get into optimal range. He’s one of the squishier Brawlers in the game, so he should be easy pickings for you.

Worst Matchups

Talking about Shelly’s worst matchups, we’re also going to stick to four — Bull, Crow, Nita, and Spike. And here’s why you wouldn’t want to face any opponent who has one of these four (or more) on their team.

As Bull is cut from a very similar mold as Shelly, to the point that you can call the former a male version of the latter, it’s not a good idea if both face up with each other. They are very similar, but Bull has more HP than Shelly does, thus giving him the automatic edge whenever he and Shelly go up head-to-head.

Crow is a pick-and-pop character who can stay at a good distance from Shelly, and as he can do that damage over time, you’ll want to avoid him as much as possible. Though it’s not like you can get within range either, as it could be hard doing so while playing as Shelly.

Nita’s ability to spawn a bear and effectively transform herself into a tanky character makes her (and the bear) bad news to Shelly. Her Super Ability doesn’t help Shelly’s cause either, and more often than not, you’ll have to focus fire on the bear, while Nita remains alive and capable of dealing some solid damage on you while she’s in range.

Lastly, Spike is one of the best, if not the best character to use when trying to kite Shelly, and if you take his Super into account, that could further inhibit Shelly’s movement speed and make her more vulnerable to attacks. Taking Shelly’s movement out of the equation is pretty much the best way to get rid of her in a hurry, and Spike is a master at doing this.