Badge Dojo Rock stage 2

Chapter 2 asks for a stronger team: three of the five units are second forms now, and the board has no healer apart from Snoozebo's own snoring.

Lineup 1 puts blockers at the front of lanes 1 and 2. Snoozebo holds row 1 of lane 1 with Shardsnail far behind in row 4, and Cobbledon stands by itself in row 1 of the middle lane. Lane 3 has no front unit at all: Gopher waits in row 2 and Rockhog in row 4.

Cobbledon is the piece that carries the stage. It is the evolved form of Rubblet, and its beams split as they travel, so one shot covers a wide patch of the board. From the middle front it reaches enemies that are heading for either side, which matters because lane 3 has nobody to stop them.

Several alternatives replace pieces with similar roles. Gemsnail can take Shardsnail's cell instead, adding a crystal block that makes passing shards ring out for area damage. Humbleetle can stand in for Rockhog, leaving dung that slows and keeps dealing damage on the ground.

This grid carries into 2-2, which looks closer at the open right lane.

The grid is unchanged from 2-1, so this page is about the open right side. Lane 3 starts with Gopher in row 2 and Rockhog in row 4, and neither of them is built to block.

Gopher fires mud balls, but when enemies come close it stops attacking and burrows to take less damage. That keeps it alive, yet it also means lane 3's damage drops right when enemies arrive. Rockhog, two rows back, keeps shooting quick mud that slows, and that slow is what gives Gopher time before it has to dig in.

The usual fix is a sturdier body on that side. In one alternative, Cobbledon moves over to row 1 of lane 3 instead of the middle, Turtuff stands in row 3 of lane 1 and Humbleetle replaces Rockhog. Another swaps Snoozebo for Drilleroo up front, puts Turtuff at the head of lane 3 and moves Gopher into the middle behind Cobbledon. As a substitute, Turtuff throws a spinning shell and gives itself a protective shield, so it can stand at the front where Gopher would burrow.

If you keep Lineup 1, the simplest improvement is more levels on Rockhog: the longer enemies stay slowed, the longer Gopher keeps firing.

From here the middle lane becomes a stack. Lineup 1 keeps Snoozebo in row 1 of lane 1 with Shardsnail in row 4, but Gopher moves into row 2 of lane 2, directly behind Cobbledon. Lane 3 is left with Rockhog alone in row 4.

The stack is the reason the stage works. Gopher's weakness is that it stops shooting and burrows once enemies get close. With Cobbledon standing one cell ahead, the enemies stop at Cobbledon first, so Gopher can keep throwing mud balls for much longer than it could at the head of a lane. Cobbledon's splitting beams thin the crowd while that happens.

Gopher is also the cell the alternatives change most. Rattlecoil, the evolved form of Taptail, can take that spot instead: it alternates slow and fast sound waves, and the fast ones deal small area damage with a chance to stun. Rockwu is the other swap, spinning a staff around itself and calling clones that strike in time with it, which gives the middle a second body rather than a second gun.

This grid runs through 2-5. The next page looks at the lane with nobody at its head.

Same board as 2-3, and the weak spot is easy to find: lane 3 has Rockhog in row 4 and nothing else. Every enemy that walks down the right side has three empty cells before it reaches anything.

Evolved from Mudrump, Rockhog fires mud quickly, slowing whatever it hits. That slow is the lane's only defence. It buys time for Cobbledon's beams to spread across from the middle and catch enemies as they pass, but if the slow is not enough, Rockhog gets caught and the right side collapses all at once.

The alternatives all put a body at the front of lane 3. One moves Cobbledon there instead of the middle, with Humbleetle in place of Rockhog at the back; Humbleetle's dung stays on the ground, slowing and chipping away at anything that steps in it. Another fields Turtuff in row 1 of lane 3, and a third swaps in Puncharoo, whose fist swings grow stronger and longer as it charges and leave enemies fragile on a full charge.

If you are sticking with Lineup 1, levels on Rockhog and Cobbledon matter most, since they are the pair covering this side.

This is the last stage on the 2-3 grid, and the best place to judge whether your team is strong enough for it. Lineup 1 needs Snoozebo, Cobbledon and Rockhog at their second forms; Gopher and Shardsnail can stay as base forms.

Lane 1 acts as the steady lane. Snoozebo blocks row 1 and recovers health while it dozes, and Shardsnail fires shards from row 4 with its crystal block planted at the start. With a self-healing blocker up front, the left side rarely breaks first.

The alternatives show how far the board can stretch. One adds Rockfu in row 2 of lane 1, right behind Snoozebo, with Puncharoo and Turtuff on the right and Gemsnail at the back of the middle instead of the Cobbledon stack. The heaviest version leans on third forms: Rockshell in lane 1, whose spinning shell shields every ally it flies past, and Rockwu in the middle in place of Gopher, with Cobbledon pulled back to row 3 of lane 3 and Humbleetle behind it.

If you keep losing here with Lineup 1, it is a level problem rather than a placement one. The next stage moves Gopher into lane 1 and pulls the back row forward.

Lane 1 turns into a three-deep column on this stage: Snoozebo in row 1, Gopher in row 2 and Shardsnail in row 3. Cobbledon stands by itself at the front of the middle lane, and Rockhog sits in row 3 of lane 3 with no one ahead of it.

The column is the reason Gopher works here. Snoozebo takes the hits and heals itself, so enemies stall in row 1 while Gopher keeps firing from right behind it instead of digging in. Shardsnail one more row back adds shards, and its crystal block is already out when the first wave arrives. That makes the left side a steady source of damage.

The cost is the right side. Lane 3 again has no blocker, and Rockhog is now a row closer to the enemy than on the previous stages, so it gets reached sooner. Cobbledon's beams cover some of that lane from the middle, but not all of it.

Two swaps help. Humbleetle can replace Rockhog, trading quick shots for dung that keeps slowing and hurting on the ground. Gemsnail can take Shardsnail's cell instead, with Turtuff in row 3 of lane 1 in the version that moves Cobbledon over to lane 3.

For the first time in this chapter, every lane has a unit in row 1. Drilleroo leads lane 1 with Rockhog in row 2 and Shardsnail in row 3, Snoozebo holds the front of the middle, and Cobbledon holds the front of lane 3.

The left column is built for control rather than toughness. Drilleroo is still a base form, but its heavy claw blows throw enemies into the next row over or shred the ones it cannot move, and Rockhog's mud slows whatever is left right behind it. Enemies in lane 1 get pushed, slowed and then hit by Shardsnail's shards before they reach the back. Drilleroo is also the most fragile front unit here, so it is the one to watch.

Snoozebo in the middle is the sturdiest cell on the board, and Cobbledon on the right finally gets to block a lane instead of covering an empty one.

The alternatives mostly shift those blockers around. One puts Cobbledon at the head of lane 1 and Gopher behind it in place of Rockhog. Another alternative moves Cobbledon to the middle with Rattlecoil behind it and Turtuff at the head of lane 3. A third swaps in Puncharoo on the right and Rockfu behind Snoozebo, who moves to lane 1.

The board flips here. Lineup 1 puts Cobbledon in row 1 of lane 1 with Rockhog two rows behind it, Snoozebo in row 1 of lane 3 with Gopher two rows behind, and Shardsnail alone at the back of the middle lane. The 2-9 stage uses the same grid.

The difficulty is the middle. Shardsnail sits in row 4 with three empty cells ahead of it, so enemies that take lane 2 meet no blocker at all. Its crystal block appears when the fight starts, which helps a little, but it cannot hold the middle on its own and it is the most fragile unit here.

The outer lanes are well built for this. Each has a blocker in row 1 and a shooter in row 3, so they are rarely the problem; what matters is how fast they clear their own lanes so that the middle does not get swamped.

Most alternatives give the middle a body instead. One alternative fields Cobbledon at the head of lane 2 with Rattlecoil behind it, Drilleroo moving to lane 1 and Turtuff to the front of lane 3. Another alternative stands Turtuff in row 2 of the middle, and Rockwu takes that cell in a different version, both replacing Shardsnail's role with something that can block.

The grid from 2-8 stays, so this page turns to the outer lanes and what they need from you.

Lane 1 is Cobbledon in row 1 and Rockhog in row 3. Cobbledon has no healing, so it depends on Rockhog's slowing mud to keep the pressure manageable while its split beams hit groups. Lane 3 is Snoozebo in row 1 and Gopher in row 3. Snoozebo heals itself as it dozes, which makes the right side the sturdier one, and Gopher two rows back has enough distance that it rarely needs to burrow.

That gap in sturdiness tells you where to spend upgrades. Cobbledon is the outer blocker most likely to fall, and when it does, Rockhog behind it goes soon after.

The alternatives on this stage go further than before. One builds the middle from scratch with Cobbledon in row 1, Humbleetle in row 3 and Gemsnail moving to the head of lane 3, while Turtuff stands in row 1 of lane 1 instead. Another drops the front row entirely and fields Cragolin, Turtuff and Puncharoo across row 2 instead, with Rockfu and Gemsnail behind them. Cragolin, the evolved form of Drilleroo, lands heavy blows that can stun as well as shove.

With Lineup 1, levels on Cobbledon are the safest choice.

Chapter 2 closes with a variation on 2-8: Cobbledon still leads lane 1 but now has no one behind it, and Rockhog has moved into row 3 of the middle lane, just ahead of Shardsnail in row 4. Lane 3 keeps Snoozebo up front with Gopher two rows back.

Moving Rockhog to the middle changes where the damage sits. Enemies taking lane 2 are slowed by mud before they reach Shardsnail, so the middle is no longer the free road it was on 2-8 and 2-9. Shardsnail's shards and crystal block then work on enemies that are already crawling.

The price is lane 1. Cobbledon stands alone there with no slow behind it and no way to heal, so it soaks every wave on the left and is the unit most likely to fall first. If it goes, enemies walk straight down an empty lane.

The alternatives answer that in different ways. One moves Cobbledon to the head of lane 2 and fills lane 1 with Rockshell in row 2 and Rockhog in row 3 instead, with Rockwu behind Cobbledon and Humbleetle in place of Gopher on the right. Another alternative fields Turtuff up front in lane 1 and Gemsnail at the head of lane 3.

Levels on Cobbledon are the first fix with Lineup 1.