Badge Dojo Grass stage 3

Chapter 3 of the Grass Dojo runs ten stages on one grid, and it brings lane 1 back into play. Pearpair stands in row 2 of lane 1 with Budboo behind it in row 3. Stalkerix holds row 1 of the middle with Frugagon in row 3. Jarachnid holds row 1 of lane 3.

The shape is a front of two blockers plus a slightly recessed left lane. Stalkerix and Jarachnid meet enemies at once in rows 1 of their lanes, while Pearpair starts a row back, which gives Budboo a little more distance from the fight.

Compared with the deep middle stack of the chapter before, the damage is now split. Frugagon sits closer to the front and works the middle, and Budboo adds a second ranged source on the left. Nothing on the board heals, so the run is again about clearing waves before the front units wear down.

What to watch for across these stages is that every lane now has exactly what it needs and no spare. If any front unit falls, the unit behind it, or the empty space behind Jarachnid, is exposed at once. The pages that follow look at the left pair, Frugagon's new row, the hard stages and the alternatives.

The grid is the 3-1 one, and this page is about the left pair: Pearpair in row 2 of lane 1 and Budboo directly behind it in row 3.

Budboo is the base form of the line that becomes Snapshade. It fires seeds at one target and sometimes a poisoned seed that hits a small area. That makes it a steady, mostly single-target damage source, which suits lane 1: Pearpair holds enemies in place and Budboo picks them off one by one, with the occasional poison catching the rest.

Pearpair is the wall that makes this work. It is a sturdy tank and the last form of the Solpear line, and starting one row back gives the left side a little extra time before contact. Its job is simply to outlast whatever lane 1 sends while Budboo deals the damage.

The pair's weak point is Budboo's level. As a first form it is the least developed damage unit on the board, so on stronger stages lane 1 can drag on, and Pearpair takes hits for longer than it should.

An alternative layout puts Pearpair in row 1 of lane 1 instead and drops Budboo, with Frugagon moving to row 2 of lane 3 and Pandaroot and Cactobloom stacked behind it there.

On the third stage of the run, the focus is Frugagon in row 3 of the middle, one row closer to the front than it stood in the previous chapter.

Frugagon hurls a spiky pink fruit that bursts often, hurting everything nearby and slowing it. With only Stalkerix ahead of it and an empty row 2 between them, its fruit lands on the enemies Stalkerix is holding from the start of each wave. The slow keeps those enemies from hitting Stalkerix as often, so the two protect each other: Stalkerix holds, Frugagon slows and damages.

The closer row is a trade. Frugagon starts dealing damage earlier, but it also has less distance if Stalkerix goes down. There is no second wall in the middle any more, so a broken front reaches Frugagon quickly.

Its bursts also spread into the neighbouring lanes. Enemies bunched near Pearpair or Jarachnid can be caught by the edges of the blast, which helps both outer lanes.

An alternative layout drops Frugagon and Jarachnid, putting Pandaroot in row 1 of lane 1 and Pearpair in row 1 of lane 3 instead, with Snapshade and Cluckeroo stacked behind Pearpair. With Lineup 1, Frugagon's level is still the biggest factor in how quickly the middle clears.

This is one of the stages in the chapter that people most often get stuck on. The grid is the 3-1 one, and the usual point of failure is the front row wearing down before the waves are cleared.

With no healer, every hit on Stalkerix and Jarachnid is permanent, and Pearpair on the left has only a first-form Budboo behind it. When the enemies here get tougher, the lanes with the least damage, the left and the right, start to slip first.

The alternatives on this stage change that balance. One alternative puts Snapshade in row 1 of lane 1 with Pearpair behind it and Frugagon in row 3 of that lane, and replaces Jarachnid with Pandaroot at the head of lane 3. Snapshade is the evolved form of Budboo, so this is the same left-lane idea with more damage.

Another uses Sackling in row 1 of lane 3 instead of Jarachnid with Pandaroot behind it, while Pearpair takes row 1 of lane 1 with Cactobloom and Frugagon stacked behind. A different alternative keeps Budboo but moves Stalkerix to the head of lane 3 with Sackling behind it, placing Frugagon in row 3 of the middle and Pearpair with Budboo in lane 1.

If Lineup 1 keeps failing, levels on Frugagon and Stalkerix come first.

Still on the 3-1 grid, this page looks at the right side, where Jarachnid holds row 1 of lane 3 with nothing behind it.

Jarachnid shoots green bubbles for area damage, pauses to make a liquid shield when it has none, and stuns nearby enemies when that shield breaks. On this board it is the right side's entire defence. While it pauses to rebuild, lane 3 deals no damage of its own, so the wave there only shrinks through Frugagon's bursts spilling across from the middle.

That is why the alternatives on this stage tend to move a sturdier tank to the right instead. One alternative places Pearpair in row 1 of lane 3, Snapshade in row 1 of lane 1 with Pandaroot behind it, and Frugagon in row 2 of the middle behind Stalkerix. Another alternative uses Sackling at the head of lane 1, Stalkerix in row 2 of the middle with Frugagon behind it, and Pearpair on the right with Cactobloom behind it.

A third alternative keeps the left as in Lineup 1 but puts Stalkerix in row 1 of lane 1 in front of Pearpair, with Frugagon in row 3, and Sackling with Pandaroot in lane 3.

With Lineup 1, if lane 3 breaks first, level Jarachnid before anything else.

On this stage the page turns to Stalkerix in row 1 of the middle, the unit at the centre of the front.

Stalkerix slashes nonstop and hits several nearby enemies with every strike. In this layout it is the only front unit with real damage of its own, since Jarachnid pauses to rebuild its shield and Pearpair is purely defensive. That makes Stalkerix the busiest unit on the board. It also guards Frugagon, which stands two rows behind it with nothing in between.

Its cell is chosen for reach. From the middle of row 1 its slashes catch enemies near the lane boundaries, which helps Jarachnid on the right and Pearpair on the left, and keeps the front row from feeling like three separate fights.

The risk is that nothing heals it, so a long wave can wear it down even when it is winning. When it falls, Frugagon is next in line.

An alternative moves Stalkerix to row 2 of lane 1 instead, with Budboo and Cactobloom stacked behind it, Frugagon in row 2 of the middle and Pearpair in row 2 of lane 3. That pulls the whole front back a row and drops Jarachnid. With Lineup 1, Stalkerix is the unit to level first when the middle is where the run is lost.

This stage keeps the same grid, and the alternatives here are worth a closer look because they use Pandaroot and Snapshade in place of the left pair.

One alternative puts Snapshade in row 1 of lane 1 and Pandaroot behind it in row 2, moves Frugagon to row 2 of the middle behind Stalkerix, and places Pearpair in row 1 of lane 3 instead of Jarachnid. Snapshade is the evolved form of Budboo. It shoots seeds at one target and sometimes a spread of poisoned seeds that hit a small area, so it is a stronger version of what Budboo does in Lineup 1.

In that alternative, Pandaroot plants bamboo shoots that keep hurting and slowing enemies, and the shoots grow to hit harder. Placed behind the substitute Snapshade, those shoots slow the enemies it is fighting, so the left lane both deals more damage and takes fewer hits. Pearpair on the right also gives that side more bulk than Jarachnid.

The cost is that lane 1 now starts at row 1 with a damage unit at its head, which is less sturdy than Pearpair.

If your Budboo is still a base form but you have its evolved form and Pandaroot, this alternative layout is the natural upgrade for the left side.

On the eighth stage of the grid, the question is levels. Lineup 1 uses one third form, Frugagon, three second forms and a first-form Budboo, and nothing on it heals, so how fast it wins depends almost entirely on damage.

The usual order is Frugagon first, since it covers the middle and slows enemies for the units around it. Stalkerix comes next, because it is the front of the busiest lane and the only front unit dealing steady damage. Then Jarachnid if the right is breaking, or Budboo if the left is dragging on. Pearpair benefits least from levels.

The alternatives on this stage give other options if a unit is underdeveloped. One alternative places Stalkerix in row 1 of lane 1 with Snapshade behind it, Pandaroot at the head of the middle with Frugagon behind it, and Pearpair in row 1 of lane 3. Another alternative keeps Stalkerix in the middle and stacks lane 1 deep, with Pearpair in row 1, Budboo in row 2, Frugagon in row 3 and Cactobloom in row 4. As a substitute damage dealer, Cactobloom shoots spines that build Sting stacks, which explode for area damage when the enemy dies, so it suits a lane where enemies are held in a group.

Lane 3 is left empty in that version.

Near the end of the run, this page looks at how to cover the right side without Jarachnid, since several alternatives here replace it.

One alternative moves Pearpair to row 1 of lane 3 instead and rebuilds lane 1 around Sackling: Sackling in row 1, Frugagon in row 2 and Pandaroot in row 3, with Stalkerix alone in the middle. Sackling is the base form of Jarachnid. It has the same area bubbles and liquid shield but no stun, so it is a weaker front unit, but it pairs well with Frugagon's slows right behind it.

Another alternative leaves lane 3 empty, puts Pearpair in row 1 of lane 1 with Pandaroot and Cactobloom behind it, and keeps Stalkerix and Frugagon in the middle. That concentrates everything in the left and middle lanes, which works if your damage is strong enough to clear enemies drifting in from the right.

Both ideas address the same weak spot of Lineup 1. Jarachnid on its own pauses to rebuild its shield, and nothing in lane 3 covers that pause. Pearpair holds longer without needing to stop.

With Lineup 1 itself, a well-levelled Jarachnid is enough on most stages, and the stun it lands when its shield breaks buys the middle time to help.

The final stage of the run is a frustrating one, and it uses the same grid as the nine before it. The board has no healer and only Frugagon at third form, so the heaviest waves of the chapter test whether its damage is high enough.

The one change worth making is on the left. An alternative swaps Budboo for Snapshade in row 3 of lane 1, its evolved form, and changes nothing else. As a substitute, Snapshade shoots seeds one target at a time and sometimes fires a spread of poisoned seeds over a small area, so it does Budboo's job with more damage and clears lane 1 before Pearpair wears down.

Without that evolved form, the usual fix is levels. Raise Frugagon so the middle clears faster, then Stalkerix so it lasts through the longest waves. If the left drags on, raise Budboo. A run that ends with Pearpair still standing but enemies alive in lane 1 is a damage problem, not a defence problem.

On 4-1 the board is rebuilt completely, with a third-form healer and a third-form tank at the front, so a team that finally clears this stage is usually ready for the step up.