Leopard Seal

The leopard seal, also known as the sea leopard, is a DPS-oritented Seal build. This build is the Antartic counterpart to the Polar Bear build. Unlike their northern counterparts, these builds are not nerfed as hard in the Climate Change balance patch.

## Overview

It has a great Mobilitystat, which allows them to catch up to their prey. It is also really bulky, possesing a good Health stat. It has powerful jaws, which are really effective at griefin endothermic builds, giving it a high Power stat. It does not have much Stealth, as it is not needed. However, what they have is countershading. Lastly, despite being solitary, they have a high Intelligence stat.

## Moveset

**Death Roll (Active, Attack)**- Use your [Bite] move and combo it to a highly damaging finishing move!

**Aquatic Ballet (Passive, Mobility)**- Improves flexibility and agility underwater.

**Cold Resistance (Passive, Support)**- No HP or Stamina debuff in the Polar server.

**Iron Jaws (Passive, Attack)**- Provides one of the best bite attacks among mammalian players.

**Filter (Active, Attack)**- Allows looting from Microscopic weight classes.

**Beachhead (Passive, Utility)-** Although primarily a marine build that usually rests on sea ice, leopard seal players can also rest on land, or storm up a beach to pick off prey from the shore. This makes them far more versatile than the polar bear, which depends almost entirely on sea ice. In an age where human players are warming up the overworld, this ability may be the most important one of all.

## Tier Placement

A tier. These builds have great stats overall as well as abilities. It can switch to different XP sources easily thanks to their [Filter] ability. They also have one of the highest DPS moves in the entire game, the Death Roll. There only bad matchups are orcas and larger seals. And this build is also better suited to the Climate Change balance patch than the Polar Bear since it has the [Beachhead] ability and is less reliant on marine ice.

## Summary

### Pros:

* Well-rounded base stats.
* Above-average Health, Intelligence and Defense.
* High Power and Mobility.
* Powerful jaws, which can also be used to filter-feed.
* Capable of conducting death rolls.
* Resistant to cold-based debuffs.
* Relatively agile underwater.
* Can storm beaches to attack other players.
* Generalist diet makes it less vulnerable to climate change.

### Cons:

* Below-average Stealth.
* Even if you can storm beaches, it still has terrible terrestrial Mobility at best.
* Low respawn rate (follows k-strategy respawning).
* If caught unaware, they can be bodied by Orcas.

## Referrences

1. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/animal/leopard-seal
2. ↑ http://antediluviansalad.blogspot.com/2014/06/lessons-from-leopard-seal.html
3. ↑ http://psc.apl.uw.edu/education/science-information/
4. ↑ https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/research-highlight-peeking-underwater-world-leopard-seals
5. ↑ https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/to-do/wildlife/leopard-seal
6. ↑ http://science.sjp.ac.lk/zsjp/2020/07/12/a-fierce-predator-in-the-southern-ocean-leopard-seals/
7. ↑ https://www.auroraexpeditions.com.au/blog/wildlife-fact-file-leopard-seal/
8. ↑ https://animals.net/leopard-seal/
9. ↑ https://interestingengineering.com/drone-captures-leopard-seals-sharing-a-meal
10. ↑ https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/are-leopard-seals-dangerous.html
11. ↑ https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Hydrurga\_leptonyx/
12. ↑ https://www.polarholidays.com/leopard-seals
13. ↑ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/leopard-seal
14. ↑ https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2013/11/leopard-seals-filter-feed-like-whales/
15. ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mms.12309
16. ↑ https://a-z-animals.com/animals/leopard-seal/
17. ↑ https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/blog/danger-beneath-the-water-10-facts-about-leopard-seals