Badge Dojo Grass stage 1

The Grass Dojo opens with a ten-stage run on one grid, and the layout puts a blocker at the head of every lane. Pearpair holds row 1 of lane 1. Stalkerix holds row 1 of the middle, with Frugatoad far behind it in row 4. Sackling holds row 1 of lane 3, with Goonbug right behind it in row 2.

That front row is the whole idea. Enemies meet a unit in every lane the moment they arrive, so nothing walks through an empty column, and the backline has time to work.

Each lane has a different character. The left is pure defence. The middle pairs a front-line attacker with the board's main ranged damage. The right is a small brawling team, with Sackling's area bubbles and Goonbug's invincible dashes.

The units are a mix of first and second forms, so the run is built for an early roster. The following pages take the units one at a time, then look at the weak spots, levels and evolutions. A good habit for the whole run is to keep the front three roughly level with each other, since a lane that breaks early sends its enemies into the next one.

The grid is unchanged from 1-1, and this page is about Pearpair, alone in row 1 of lane 1.

Pearpair is a sturdy Grass tank whose job is to soak up hits. It is the evolved form of Solpear, and it is already the last form of that line, so there is no later version to wait for. What you see at this level is the unit you will use for the rest of the run.

Standing alone means it has no damage behind it in its own lane. Enemies in lane 1 are not killed by Pearpair so much as held there while the rest of the team works. Stalkerix's slashes reach nearby enemies, and Frugatoad's exploding fruit can land on groups that bunch up near the middle, so some of that help spills across.

The practical point is that lane 1 is a waiting game. As long as Pearpair stands, the left side is closed. If it falls, enemies walk an empty lane all the way to the back, where nothing is waiting for them.

That makes Pearpair's level about survival rather than speed. Raise it until it outlasts the waves on the left, then put further levels into the units that do the killing.

Same grid as the opening stage. This page is about Stalkerix in row 1 of the middle lane, the unit that does the most work at the front.

Stalkerix is the evolved form of Manteeny. It slashes nonstop, and every strike hits several nearby enemies, so it deals damage while it blocks instead of only absorbing it. In the middle of row 1 it has Pearpair on one side and Sackling on the other, which means enemies bunched near either neighbour can be caught by its slashes too.

That cell is chosen for exactly that reason. A tank in the centre with area attacks helps every lane at once, and it also protects Frugatoad three rows behind it in the same lane.

The weakness is that Stalkerix has no way to heal itself, and nothing on this board heals it either. Its slashes keep waves short, which is how it survives, so a Stalkerix that is underlevelled for its stage tends to fall in the middle of a long wave rather than at the start.

Its evolved third form is Serrabloom, which strikes over and over in a small area and makes enemies fragile so they take more damage. For this run, though, levels on Stalkerix are the fastest way to make the whole board stronger.

The layout is the same as 1-1. This page is about Frugatoad in row 4 of the middle lane, the board's main ranged damage dealer.

Frugatoad is the evolved form of Frugling. It throws a spiky fruit that sometimes explodes for area damage. From row 4 it has three empty rows ahead of it in its own lane, so it throws over Stalkerix and has plenty of distance before anything reaches it.

That distance is the point of the cell. Frugatoad is the unit you least want enemies to reach, and putting it at the very back of the lane with the strongest front-line unit gives it the most protection the board can offer. Its fruit lands on whatever Stalkerix is fighting, and the occasional explosion catches the rest of the group.

The risk is the same distance working against it. If Stalkerix falls, nothing in lane 2 slows enemies down before they reach row 4, and Frugatoad has no way to defend itself.

Its evolved third form is Frugagon, whose fruit bursts more often and slows everything nearby, and it becomes the back-row damage dealer of the next chapter. Until then, Frugatoad's level decides how fast waves die across the middle, so it is usually the second unit worth raising after Stalkerix.

The grid has not changed since 1-1, and this page turns to Sackling in row 1 of lane 3, the front of the right side.

Sackling is a base form. It shoots green bubbles that deal area damage, and it carries a liquid shield. When that shield is down, it stops attacking to make a new one. That pause is the thing to understand about this unit: Sackling alternates between fighting and protecting itself, and during the pause the lane loses its front-line damage.

The board covers that pause with Goonbug directly behind it, which keeps attacking while Sackling rebuilds. Together they make lane 3 the most active side of the board, since both units deal area damage.

Because Sackling is still a first form, it is usually the front-row unit with the least health to spare. If the right side breaks first, this is the reason, and a few levels on Sackling fix it more reliably than levels on Goonbug.

Its evolved form is Jarachnid, which keeps the bubbles and the shield but adds a stun on nearby enemies when the shield breaks. The evolved Jarachnid takes the head of lane 3 in the next chapter, so raising Sackling now pays off later as well.

Still on the 1-1 grid, this page is about Goonbug in row 2 of lane 3, directly behind Sackling.

Goonbug is a base form with an unusual attack. It becomes invincible and dashes forward, damaging an area as it goes. Being untouchable during the dash means it can throw itself into a crowd without taking damage for that moment, which suits a unit that starts one row behind the front.

Its cell matters because of Sackling. When Sackling's shield breaks and it stops to make a new one, Goonbug is the unit still hitting enemies in lane 3. Its dash carries it into the same group Sackling is holding, so the lane keeps dealing area damage through the pause.

The weakness is that Goonbug is fragile outside its dash. If Sackling falls, Goonbug becomes the front of the lane without the sturdiness for it.

Its evolved form is Capobeetle, which turns invincible and charges in the same way but also makes enemies fragile, so everything else hits them harder. The evolved Capobeetle takes row 3 of the middle lane in the next chapter's layout, which is a good reason to keep Goonbug's line levelled even though it is not the unit that decides this run.

Seven stages into the run on this grid, the weak spots become clearer as the enemies get tougher.

The board has no healer at all. Every unit loses health permanently, so the plan is to kill waves before the front row wears down. That puts the weight on the damage units, and there are not many of them: Frugatoad at the back of the middle, Stalkerix's slashes, and the right-side pair.

The left lane is the quietest problem. Pearpair holds lane 1 with nothing behind it, so enemies there die slowly, mostly from damage that spills over from the middle. On harder stages this means Pearpair spends a long time under attack.

The middle has the opposite problem. Frugatoad is three rows behind Stalkerix with nothing in between, so if Stalkerix goes down, the back of the lane is exposed at once.

There are no recorded alternatives for this run, so the fixes are about levels rather than swaps. Keep Stalkerix strong enough to protect Frugatoad, and Pearpair strong enough to outlast lane 1. If the right side is falling, raise Sackling first.

The grid is unchanged, and by this stage of the run the question is mostly where to spend levels.

A sensible order follows the board's weak spots. Stalkerix comes first, because it blocks the middle, deals area damage to enemies near both of its neighbours, and protects Frugatoad. Frugatoad comes next, since it is the main source of ranged damage and every wave dies faster when it is stronger.

After that, the choice depends on which side is breaking. If the right side falls first, raise Sackling, the first form at the front of lane 3. If the left side falls first, raise Pearpair. Goonbug matters least of the five for survival, because Sackling holds lane 3 in front of it.

It also helps to look at how a run is lost. A loss where enemies reach the back of the middle points to Stalkerix. A loss where a whole wave is still alive at the end points to Frugatoad's damage. A loss on one edge points to that edge's front unit.

Because Lineup 1 uses the same five units for the whole run, every level you add here keeps paying off until the run ends.

With the run nearly done, this page looks at evolutions, since four of the five units here have later forms that the next chapter uses.

The evolved form of Sackling is Jarachnid, which keeps the area bubbles and liquid shield and adds a stun on nearby enemies when the shield breaks. The evolved form of Goonbug is Capobeetle, whose invincible charge also makes enemies fragile. The evolved form of Frugatoad is Frugagon, whose fruit bursts more often and slows what it hits. Stalkerix keeps its role, and Serrabloom is its evolved third form.

Pearpair is the exception. It is already the last form of the Solpear line, so it stays as it is, and it keeps a place in the next chapter's layout as well.

For this run, an evolved unit simply does the same job better in the same cell. A Jarachnid in place of Sackling holds lane 3 longer, and a Frugagon in place of Frugatoad clears the middle faster while slowing enemies on the way in.

If you are choosing between levelling and evolving, evolving the front-right unit and the back-middle unit gives the biggest gain, because those two cells carry the board's weakest point and its main damage.

The last stage of the run uses the same grid as the first nine, so the board you have been refining is the one that has to win here.

The difficulty comes from the enemies, not from a new layout. Lineup 1 is still a front row of three blockers, Pearpair, Stalkerix and Sackling, with Frugatoad at the back of the middle and Goonbug behind Sackling. Nothing on it heals, so the stage is a test of whether your damage can finish the stronger waves before the front row wears down.

If it is close, look at where the run breaks and level that unit before retrying. Small gains on Stalkerix or Frugatoad usually matter more than anything else, because they shorten every wave.

On 2-1 the board is rebuilt around the middle lane, keeping Pearpair and Stalkerix: Stalkerix in row 1 with Pearpair, Capobeetle and Frugagon stacked behind it, and Jarachnid at the head of lane 3. Lane 1 is left empty there. That is a different style of play, with one deep column instead of a wide front, so it is worth evolving Goonbug and Frugatoad before moving on.