To get things started let’s take a look his moves.

Starting with his basic attack, Earth Swipes. Earth Swipes deals earth melee damage to a single target up to three times in quick succession. One thing to keep in mind with this attack is that it is very slow and will lock you in the animation for the attack giving your opponent an easy free attack on you, as such I would only recommend using this in trades with other shovlets or when you have your opponent stuck in your quicksand.

Next up we have Bite.
Bite deals heavy damage and staggers the target. With a quick cooldown, good damage and range for a melee attack this power can be used for some nice extra damage with shovlet when he does not have many options for damage. It is much easier to use than your basic attack and so you don’t need to be as careful with this one. Once again this is a very good combo with quicksand as it will be hard for your opponent to get away from it.

Now we have my favourite move with shovlet and maybe the whole alpha so far, Dig.
Dig tunnels underground, making the user untargetable for up to 5 seconds. When they emerge, they deal damage to any character they collide with and stun them for 2 seconds. The attack can be reactivated while the user is underground, allowing them to reemerge early. This ability also allows the user to tunnel under obstacles. There are so many ways you can use this ability, As a defense power you can avoid pretty much any incoming attack if you time it right, as an offense power you can use it to close distance with your opponent and then quickie switch kinfolk for a surprise attack.

Next we have the buff moves, Fortify and Meditate.
Fortify raises the user's physical defense by two stages and Meditate raises the user's special defense by two stages. The way you use them will be the same, the only thing that changes is when you use them which will be based on what kinfolk your opponent is using. When using any buff you want to make sure you have some distance and cover between you and your opponent, Dig can help with this. Once you get away maybe after you trap them in quicksand, you can take cover and buff. Just be aware that your buffs will go away if you change kinfolk.

Next up is Quicksand, What is likely a must have on any shovlet build.
Quicksand summons a circle of quicksand on the ground that damages and slows down multiple targets in an area. This is useful for keeping enemies in place for your own attacks, Combo attacks by switching to other kinfolk, and getting away when you are in trouble. It can even slow down a shovlet using dig! While it's not a ton of damage it can be used to finish off running kinfolk as well. It can also be used defensively by hiding in the middle making it hard for melee focused kinfolk like Mehcid and slyphur to do anything to you.

Moving on to Rest.
Rest gives the user the Sleep status for 10 seconds and restores 50% of their health and cures you of all status effects like burn and poison. Like a buff you need a safe place to pull this one off or your opponent can attack you stop you mid cast. The sleep status for 10 seconds is a heavy price to pay for this power so I highly recommend you using the coffee bean item with it to wake yourself up from the sleep as soon as your cast gets done.

Now we have shovlets only debuff move so far, Roar.
Roar lowers the target's physical and special attack by one stage. Once again this power goes very well with quick sand as it makes it hard for the target to dodge and get away. Other than that using this power right after dig could give you the drop on your opponent as well. I do not recommend just running after your opponent trying to hit them with this power as with shovlets slow speed they will likely outrun you.

And not last but not least we have Rock Slide.
Rock Slide causes a rock slide in an area, all enemies hit with the attack will take damage and get slowed down. This is a very strong attack but a little random with its damage as the opponent will likely dodge right out if it and it's hard to tell how many rocks will hit them. However if you find them with low stamina, with slow or in quicksand you can get much better results, the best I have seen is about 75% hp of damage dealt at once and the worst was no damage at all. So while it is good for zoning it's a real throw of the dice as for how much damage it will do.

The number 1 thing I want to point out is that shovlet is very slow, You need to be sure you play around this making use of dig and quick sand or reading your opponents moves and knowing when the right time to dodge is. As for shovlets strengths he is very tanky and so you don’t have to worry about taking a couple of hits here and there as it's not super hard to recover from them, Lets you get away with trading some hits that will be brutal for most other kinfolk.

This segment was recommended to me by Pexann from discord so thank you for that!

If you plan on using rest I would say that the Coffee bean is a must have item on your shovlet. This also has the added benefit of stopping Kodoki from putting you to sleep.

If you decide not to use rest then rations is another great pick. Combined with shovlets survivability rations can give you some really great staying power.

Now we come to Shovlets best and worst match-ups

I think the worst match up for Shovlet at this time is probably Embear, And when I say “Worst” I don’t mean shovlet is not good vs embear just that embear stands the best chance vs Shovlet. This is thanks to well timed scorch and explosion that can catch an unprepared shovlet off guard when they pop out of dig.

As for the best match up I would have to say is slyphur, Once again not by a lot here, This mostly stems from shovlets use of quicksand making it hard for slyphur to do good damage with being willing to hop into the quicksand and take some damage himself.

But I think this about covers what I wanted to say about Shovlet! Please leave a comment if you have any questions or tips of your own to leave! This has been monster tamer bloba, Thank you checking my guide out, I hope you all have a wonderful day, Goodbye and Godbless!