Badge Dojo Water stage 1

The Water Dojo opens on a board where most of the team stands at the very back. Lineup 1 puts Sealing in row 4 of lane 1, Skinklet in row 1 of the middle with Frostpaw in row 4, and Shellshy in row 1 of lane 3 with Droppit in row 4.

What makes the first stage tricky is that only two units meet enemies early, and neither is a heavy tank. Shellshy is a guardian that fires a wave of bubbles over an area, and Skinklet is a specialist that also fires area bubbles. Lane 1 has no front unit at all, so enemies there walk down to Sealing.

The back row does the real work. Frostpaw, the only second form on the board and the evolved form of Frostnip, throws a slowing ice block that breaks into smaller fragments on impact. Droppit releases a mist that keeps damaging an area and slows enemies. Between them, the middle and right lanes are slowed for most of the walk. Sealing bounces a ball between enemies, which helps clear groups once they bunch up.

Skinklet has one more trick: after taking enough damage it turns invisible and goes after back-line enemies while hidden, so it survives longer at the front than its health suggests.

If lane 1 leaks, a few levels on Sealing usually fix it.

The grid changes here and then stays the same for seven stages. Lineup 1 fills lane 1 with Shellshy in row 2, Sealing in row 3 and Frostpaw in row 4. The middle lane has Skinklet in row 2 and Lullely in row 4, and nobody stands in lane 3.

The idea is one strong column with a lighter lane beside it. Lane 1 has a guardian at the front, a bouncing ball behind it and a slowing ice block at the back, so every enemy coming down that side meets the whole column. The middle has Skinklet to hold and Lullely to hit from range.

Nobody stands in row 1. Both front units start in row 2, so enemies take a little longer to reach them, and the back units start hitting earlier.

The open lane 3 is the obvious weakness. Enemies there drift toward the middle and end up attacking Skinklet, which is a specialist rather than a guardian. Skinklet's habit of turning invisible after taking enough damage helps it survive that pressure.

The pages that follow take each unit in turn: Shellshy, Sealing, Frostpaw, Skinklet and Lullely, then the empty lane and levels. If you are new to Water, this grid is a good place to learn how slowing and area damage stack.

On the 1-2 grid, this page is about Shellshy in row 2 of lane 1, the only guardian on the board.

Shellshy fires a wave of bubbles that damages an area. It is a guardian, so its main job is to stand at the head of lane 1 and take hits, but the bubble wave means it also contributes damage to every group it holds. Sealing and Frostpaw stand directly behind it, so the enemies Shellshy stops are exactly the ones they hit.

Row 2 gives it a little room. Enemies have to cover one extra row before contact, and Frostpaw's slowing ice block often lands before they arrive, so Shellshy meets slowed groups rather than fresh ones.

Shellshy is also the reason lane 1 is the strong side. Without it, Sealing would be at the front with little health, and the whole column would fall quickly.

The weakness is that Shellshy has no healing and no backup. If it falls, Sealing takes over the front, and the run usually turns. Levels on Shellshy are therefore the safest investment on this grid. Its evolved form, Boldclaw, fires a stronger bubble wave that also slows, which makes the front much sturdier once you have it.

Still on the same grid, this page covers Sealing in row 3 of lane 1, directly behind Shellshy.

Sealing bounces a ball between enemies. The bounce is what makes it useful in this cell. Shellshy holds enemies in a bunch at the front of lane 1, and a ball that jumps from one enemy to the next does its best work on a tight group. Every bounce lands on something Shellshy is already hitting with bubbles.

Row 3 is close enough to the front that the ball reaches groups as soon as they arrive, and far enough back that Sealing is rarely attacked while Shellshy stands. Frostpaw behind it slows those same enemies, which gives the ball more time to bounce before the group spreads.

Sealing's damage is modest at first form, so it is a finisher rather than a main damage dealer. Its role is to clear the small enemies that survive the ice and bubbles, so Shellshy does not have to hold them for long.

If lane 1 is holding but waves take too long to clear, Sealing is the unit to level. Its evolved form is Sealoon. On the first stage of the Dojo it stood alone at the back of lane 1; here it has a guardian in front, which suits it much better.

Halfway through this grid, the focus is Frostpaw in row 4 of lane 1, the strongest unit on the board.

Evolved from Frostnip, Frostpaw is the only second form in Lineup 1. It throws a slowing ice block that breaks into smaller fragments on impact, so each throw slows its target and scatters damage around it. That combination is the backbone of lane 1.

The slow is the important part. Enemies hit by the ice reach Shellshy later and attack it less often, which is how a first-form guardian survives the bigger waves of this chapter. The fragments then add damage to the group that Sealing's ball is already bouncing through.

Row 4 is the safest cell in the lane. Shellshy and Sealing stand between Frostpaw and the enemies, so it throws for the whole fight. The cost is reach: Frostpaw's ice stays mostly in lane 1, so the middle and the empty lane 3 get little help from it.

Because Frostpaw is the main damage, levels on it pay off on every stage of the grid. Its evolved form is Frostique, followed by Frostluna, and that evolved form becomes a central unit in the later chapters of the Water Dojo.

The grid is the same once more, and this page looks at Skinklet in row 2 of the middle lane.

Skinklet is a specialist. It fires bubbles for area damage, and after taking enough damage it turns invisible and goes after back-line enemies while hidden. That second habit shapes how it plays here. Skinklet is not built to hold a lane, but it stands at the front of the middle anyway, and turning invisible is what keeps it alive when the pressure gets too high.

The middle lane is where pressure builds. Lane 3 is empty, so enemies from that side drift inward and end up attacking Skinklet as well as those coming straight down lane 2. While Skinklet is visible it soaks those hits and returns area bubbles. Once it disappears, the enemies in front of it lose their target and move on toward Lullely.

That is the risk to watch. If Skinklet vanishes early in a big wave, Lullely in row 4 is suddenly exposed. Shellshy in the next lane cannot cover the middle.

Levels on Skinklet raise the threshold before it hides, so it holds the middle longer. Its evolved form, Skinkoon, creates currents for area damage and gains range while hidden.

Late on this grid, the focus is Lullely in row 4 of the middle lane, and with it the open lane 3.

Lullely fires a water orb for area damage, and it draws health from healthy allies nearby to strengthen the orb and to heal allies who are low. On this board that makes it a quiet support as much as a damage unit. When Skinklet is low after holding the middle, Lullely can top it up, using health from allies who can spare it.

Row 4 keeps it out of reach while Skinklet holds, and its orbs land on the groups that Skinklet is fighting, adding area damage to the middle.

The empty lane 3 is the board's weak point. Enemies there have no unit to stop them and drift into the middle, so Skinklet and Lullely take more than their share. Shellshy and Frostpaw are a lane away and cannot help much.

There are no recorded alternatives for this grid, so the fixes are levels and patience. If the middle keeps breaking, levels on Skinklet and Lullely help most. If waves are surviving to the end, the damage is short and Frostpaw is the better target. Lullely's evolved form is Yawnelly.

The last stage on this grid is the hardest version of the board, and it mostly comes down to levels.

Lineup 1 has one second form, Frostpaw, and four first forms. A sensible order starts with Shellshy, since lane 1 collapses without it. Frostpaw comes next as the main damage and the source of the slow that keeps Shellshy alive. Skinklet follows, because it holds the middle against enemies from two lanes. Lullely and Sealing come last.

The way a run ends tells you what to fix. If Shellshy falls, lane 1 needs levels or more slowing. If Lullely is reached in the middle, Skinklet went invisible too early or the empty lane is sending too much inward. If everything survives but waves are still alive at the end, the damage is short.

Evolutions change the picture more than levels do. The evolved form of Shellshy is Boldclaw, whose stronger bubble wave also slows. Skinklet becomes Skinkoon and Frostpaw becomes Frostique, and those evolved forms are core units in the second and third chapters. If you have them, try them here.

Losses can also be partly luck. A narrow loss with the front still standing late is worth retrying before changing anything. The next two stages change the grid again.

The grid shifts again, keeping the same five units but moving them around. Lineup 1 still fills lane 1, now with Shellshy in row 2, Lullely in row 3 and Frostpaw in row 4. Sealing stands alone in row 4 of the middle, and Skinklet moves to row 2 of lane 3.

The biggest change is that lane 3 is no longer empty. Skinklet at its front means every lane now has something in it, so enemies from the right have a target instead of drifting inward. The cost is that the middle has no front unit; enemies there walk all the way down to Sealing.

On this board, Lullely in row 3 of lane 1 is the interesting placement. It sits directly behind Shellshy, so its water orb lands on the groups Shellshy holds, and its healing reaches the guardian when it is low. With Frostpaw behind them both, lane 1 is a sturdy column again.

Sealing alone at the back of the middle is the weak spot. Its bouncing ball handles small groups, but nothing slows enemies before they reach it.

The tip is to watch the middle. If enemies keep reaching Sealing, it needs levels, or Skinklet and Shellshy need to kill faster on either side so less comes down lane 2.

The chapter ends with a new face: Capypapa, the first healer of the Water Dojo. Lineup 1 fills lane 1 with Skinklet in row 2, Sealing in row 3 and Lullely in row 4. Frostpaw stands alone in row 4 of the middle, and Capypapa stands alone in row 4 of lane 3.

Capypapa is the next form of Capywata. It fires a citrus shot and peels oranges that heal allies. From row 4 of lane 3 it is as far from the front as the board allows, which keeps it safe, but it also means its healing has to reach across to the units that need it.

The board has no guardian at all. Skinklet is the only unit near the front, and it stands at the head of lane 1 with Sealing and Lullely behind it. Its invisibility after taking damage, Lullely's healing from row 4 and Capypapa's oranges are what keep that column alive.

The middle and right have only back-row units, so enemies there walk a long way before reaching anyone. Frostpaw's slowing ice makes that walk longer and thins the groups as they come.

The tip is to protect the back row. If enemies reach Frostpaw or Capypapa, damage is short; levels on Frostpaw help most.