Chapter 6 teams: stages 6-10 to 6-80

6-10 lines everyone up in neat columns at the back of the board, each lane with its own front, middle and rear. That symmetry means no lane can lean on its neighbour, so each one has to hold by itself.

As for lane 2, it's the full Water lane. Swaystroll charges behind its ice shield at the front, Capypapa heals from the middle, and Frostpaw's ice block slows and shatters from behind. The longer Capypapa keeps Swaystroll's shield up, the bigger the crystal burst when it finally breaks.

The unit to guard is Cheerlet in lane 1. On top of healing and boosting attack and defence, it makes the area invincible the first time a nearby ally falls into danger. Sitting between Sackling and Tindercub, that safety net covers exactly the moment Tindercub would otherwise have to back off and meditate.

Lane 4 grinds enemies down over time with Manteeny's constant strikes, Cactobud's Sting stacks and Ignisnap's burn. Lane 5 opens with Cobbledon's splitting beams, while Turtuff spins its shell and shields allies ahead of Zapooch. At the back of lane 3, Cluckeroo covers Pearpair and Frugatoad, splitting its seeds between damage and healing.

The tip that comes up for 6-20 is to put a healer on the left side, the chicken or anything else that heals, and Lineup 1 does exactly that: Firecoil sits in lane 1 behind Turtuff, healing with its flame ring and giving the lane an attack boost. Behind them, Rockhog slows with mud, and Goonbug at the very back turns invincible and dashes forward when it joins in.

Consider lane 4, the clever pairing. Kitjitsu recovers HP when it hits Burning enemies, and Ignisnap right behind it is the one setting them alight, so the two keep each other going. That makes Kitjitsu the hardest piece to replace; a clear here did use Flameow in that lane instead.

Lane 3 holds enemies at bay. Zappur knocks them back, Zapooch chains lightning, and Sparkdoe's lance pierces the line and paralyses whatever it hits. Maskfry in lane 2 pulls enemies with its waves into a whirlpool in front of Frostpaw's ice. Lane 5 runs deepest, with Snoozebo at the front covering Frugatoad, Embertail's mines and Scorchwing's five-fireball bursts.

6-30 loads the middle and leaves the edges thin. Lanes 2 and 3 run four deep, while lane 1 has Waddledo with Frostpaw far behind and lane 5 has Ignisnap with Tindercub at the back. The bet is that the centre wins its fights fast enough to matter.

Then there's lane 3, the Rock lane. Rubblet's beam leads, Shardsnail drops a Crystal Cluster as the fight starts, Gibber's shell pierces down the lane and Rockhog's mud slows what's left. Lane 2 counts as the sturdier of the pair: Snoozebo heals itself at the front, Boldclaw's bubble wave slows, Sackling keeps regenerating its Liquid Shield, and Zapooch chains lightning from the rear.

The edges are where the swaps happen. Ignisnap leading lane 5 is unusual, and clears here have replaced Tindercub behind it with Pyrohound or Kitjitsu. Kitjitsu is the more natural swap, since it heals when it hits Burning enemies. In lane 1, one clear put Swaystroll in place of Waddledo for a bigger ice burst, and another used Capypapa instead for healing.

Stalkerix strikes nonstop in the middle of lane 4, between Pearpair at the front and Frugatoad at the back.

Waddledo is way out on its own at the front of lane 5, well ahead of everything else on the board, and that's the point. While it sits behind its ice shield, Ripplewing's water bombs slow enemies and sometimes put them to sleep, and Bubbit's mist slows them further and leaves them Fragile. Whatever reaches the penguin is already crawling.

Bubbit is the piece to keep. Slow and Fragile over an area, from the back row, does a lot of this lane's work; one clear did put Frostpaw there instead, trading the mist for direct ice damage.

Lane 2 hides Cheerlet between Boldclaw and Ignisnap, so the slowing bubble wave in front and the burn behind both get its healing, its boosts and the one-time invincibility. Lane 1 keeps enemies at arm's length: Electroar knocks them back while Sparkdoe's lance pierces and paralyses. Voltfawn, the unevolved form of Sparkdoe, and Kittazap have both been used instead.

Lane 4 runs with Pyrohound's fire pillar in front of Humbug's lingering dung balls, with Tindercub at the back. In lane 3, other clears have replaced Goonbug with Cluckeroo and Manteeny with Stalkerix.

Lane 2 is close to empty on 6-50: just Zappur and Sparkdoe, both in the back rows. Enemies get a free walk down it until Zappur's wave knocks them back and Sparkdoe's lance pierces and paralyses the line. Keep Zappur in front of Sparkdoe, because the knockback is what stops that lane being overrun. A clear here put Zapuni there instead, trading the knockback for splash damage.

Consider lane 3, the damage engine. Snoozebo heals itself through its thorns at the front, Flametail's fireworks explode behind it, and Cheerlet heals and boosts that pair while also making the area invincible once when someone gets into danger. Ignisnap's burn finishes the job from the back.

Lane 1 borrows the 6-40 idea of parking Bubbit at the back, its mist slowing and softening enemies for Frostpaw's ice and Cobbledon's splitting beams. A clear here used Pyroprawn in Bubbit's spot instead.

Swaystroll's cell in lane 4 is the most flexible on the board: clears have used Stalkerix or Manteeny there instead. Consider lane 5, the safe corner, Sackling and Pearpair in front of Cluckeroo's damage-and-heal seeds.

6-60 puts its fire in one place. As listed, lane 1 has Pyrohound's fire pillar at the front, Ignisnap's burn right behind it, Embertail's mines further back and Cluckeroo at the rear keeping the lot alive with its healing seed. Anything that walks into lane 1 gets burned from several angles at once, so it rarely needs help.

Lane 4 is built to stall instead. Electroar knocks enemies back from the front, Droppit's mist from the very back slows the whole queue, and Sparkdoe's lance has time to pierce and paralyse the line between them. One clear swapped Droppit for Capypapa there, giving up the slow for healing.

Cheerling holds lane 2 together from between Snoozebo and Rockhog, healing and boosting the tank in front and the mud-slinger behind. If yours has evolved, Cheerlet in that lane works too and adds a one-time invincibility; Cobbledon has also replaced it.

Lane 3 is just Swaystroll and Frostpaw, the penguin charging behind its shield while Frostpaw slows from behind. Stalkerix keeps striking in the middle of lane 5, between Sackling and Frugatoad.

6-70 is the stage where Cheerling turns out to be optional: one player reported clearing it without one at level 120. That's worth knowing, because Lineup 1 gives it the most central job on the board, behind Electroar in lane 3, healing and boosting attack and defence while Electroar knocks enemies back and Sparkdoe's lance pierces and paralyses from behind. Without it, lane 3 keeps its knockback and its paralysis and simply loses some sustain.

The whole team sits in the front rows this time, so every lane meets enemies early, and the fronts are built sturdy for it. Stalkerix strikes nonstop at the head of lane 1, Voltkit and Turtuff pair up in lane 2 with a Shell Shield between them, and Pyrohound's fire pillar opens lane 4 ahead of Zapooch and Ignisnap.

Lane 5 has Swaystroll in front of Frostpaw, with Boltskipper binding from the back. Swaps are common here: Waddledo or Polarpaw in place of Swaystroll, Capypapa instead of Boltskipper, Cobbledon instead of Electroar, Snoozebo in place of Stalkerix.

Ospisces is the unit that defines 6-80. It stands right behind Swaystroll, in lane 5, and pulls enemies in with its waves, and when it drags in several at once its whirlpool stacks Weak on them. That bunches the crowd exactly where the penguin's ice crystals land when its shield breaks. It's also the piece that changed from 6-70, where Frostpaw held that cell, and some clears here use Frostpaw in its place if your Maskfry line hasn't evolved yet.

Lane 3 is a lightning gauntlet. Zappur knocks enemies back from the front, Zapooch chains, Voltfawn's lance paralyses and Boltskipper's orb binds, so anything walking that lane spends most of its time unable to act.

Lane 2 reuses the burn trick: Kitjitsu heals itself whenever it hits Burning enemies, and Ignisnap behind it keeps them burning, with Pyropup's pillar out in front. Buzzbeak leads lane 4, taking reduced damage and charging Manteeny and Frugagon behind it with an attack boost. Snoozebo heads lane 1 ahead of Cobbledon and Voltkit; other clears have replaced it with Gibber.