Badge Dojo Water stage 3

The third chapter opens with a third form in Lineup 1. Swaystroll stands alone in row 2 of lane 1; the middle has Cribbler in row 2 with Maskfry in row 3; and lane 3 has Skinklet in row 2 with Frostique in row 4.

Frostique is the reason the board works. It is the third form of the Frostnip line, a damage dealer that throws a block of ice to slow its target, after which the block breaks into sharp fragments that keep travelling through the enemies behind. From row 4 it has the whole of lane 3 in front of it, so one throw can slow the leading enemy and then hit the group behind as the shards fly on.

Here, Skinklet in row 2 shields that column. Its bubbles soften groups before Frostique's ice lands, and when it turns invisible after heavy damage, Frostique still has two empty rows to slow enemies before they reach it.

The middle repeats the pull-and-swipe pair of the second chapter, now in lane 2, while Swaystroll's shield covers the left on its own.

Two alternatives exist. One alternative drops Skinklet and Maskfry, putting Ripplewing in row 3 of lane 3 and Capypapa in row 4 of the middle. The other alternative stacks the middle with Swaystroll in row 1, Cribbler in row 2 and Frostique in row 3, with Ripplewing at the back of lane 1 and Bubbit at the back of lane 3.

A new grid starts here and holds for three stages, built around one strong middle column. Lineup 1 puts Swaystroll in row 2 of lane 2, Capypapa in row 3 behind it and Frostique in row 4. Skinklet stands alone in row 4 of lane 1, and Maskfry alone in row 3 of lane 3.

Capypapa is the unit that changes the shape of the board. It is the evolved form of Capywata, a healer that fires a citrus shot and peels oranges that heal allies. Standing directly behind Swaystroll, it keeps the tank alive through long waves, which matters because Swaystroll's crystal burst hits harder the longer its ice shield holds. A healed Swaystroll charges longer and hits harder.

Meanwhile, Frostique at the back of the same lane finishes the stack. Its slowing ice keeps enemies in front of Swaystroll's shield, and the fragments fly on through the queue behind them. The middle column is a tank, a healer and a damage dealer in a straight line.

The sides are thin by design, and the next page covers them.

As a substitute plan, one alternative swaps the roles: Swaystroll moves to row 2 of lane 1, lane 3 gets Cribbler, Maskfry and Frostique, and Lullely stands in row 4 of the middle.

With the 3-2 grid in place, the question is how the thin sides survive. Skinklet is alone in row 4 of lane 1, and Maskfry is alone in row 3 of lane 3, so neither wing has a front unit.

Both sides work by sending enemies toward the middle rather than stopping them. Maskfry is a support whose waves pull enemies in, and from lane 3 it drags groups toward the column where Swaystroll, Capypapa and Frostique wait, with its whirlpool adding light damage on the way. On this board, Skinklet in row 4 of lane 1 fires area bubbles from the back. If enemies reach it, it turns invisible and goes after the back line, but nothing else in lane 1 will stop them.

That makes the wings the usual place a run fails. If enemies leak down lane 1, Skinklet needs levels. If lane 3 leaks, Maskfry is not pulling hard enough.

The recorded alternatives for this page fill the sides instead. One alternative puts Swaystroll, Frostique and Bubbit in lane 1, Cribbler in row 2 of the middle and Maskfry in row 2 of lane 3. Another alternative uses Swaystroll with Sealing and Frostique in lane 1, Dazopus in row 3 of the middle and Cribbler in row 2 of lane 3. In those substitutes, Sealing bounces a ball between enemies, and Dazopus fires water orbs and summons a buddy that bursts for area damage when it falls.

The last stage on this grid is mostly about levels, because Lineup 1 depends on one column.

The order follows the middle. Frostique is the main damage and should be the strongest unit on the board. Capypapa comes next, since every second it keeps Swaystroll alive is extra charge for the crystal burst. Swaystroll itself is third: as a tank it gains less from levels than the units relying on it. Skinklet and Maskfry come last unless a wing keeps leaking.

A useful check is to watch the middle at the end of a loss. If Swaystroll is still standing, the run was lost on a side. If it fell first, Capypapa needs levels before anything else.

In one alternative recorded for this stage, lane 1 has Cribbler in row 2, Swaystroll in row 3 and Lullely in row 4, the middle has Frostique alone in row 4, and Maskfry stands in row 2 of lane 3. As the substitute here, Lullely is a damage dealer that fires a water orb for area damage, drawing health from healthy allies nearby to strengthen it and to heal allies who are low. Placed behind Swaystroll, it plays a role close to Capypapa's.

The other recorded alternative is the Sealing and Dazopus layout from the previous page.

This stage is a demanding one. The very same team has cleared this stage and also failed it, so luck and level differences matter more than usual, and stronger second forms are welcome.

Lineup 1 puts Skinklet in row 1 of lane 1 with Maskfry in row 4 behind it, Frostique alone in row 2 of the middle, and Swaystroll in row 2 of lane 3 with Cribbler behind it in row 3.

The risk is Frostique's cell. On earlier grids it threw from row 4; here it stands in row 2 and row 1 of the middle is empty, so its slowing ice and fragments hit sooner but it is exposed. Swaystroll to its right and Skinklet ahead on the left take some of the pressure, but enemies that come straight down the middle reach Frostique quickly.

The other two lanes are set to protect it. Here, Skinklet in row 1 meets enemies first on the left, and Maskfry at the back of lane 1 pulls groups toward it. On the right, Cribbler behind Swaystroll adds claw swipes on whatever the shield holds.

One alternative instead uses Cribbler with Ripplewing in lane 1, Capypapa in row 3 of the middle, and Swaystroll with Frostique in lane 3, which puts a healer back on the board. Another alternative is the Sealing and Dazopus layout from the previous grid.

The final grid of the chapter begins here and runs through 3-10. It differs from 3-5 in one cell: Frostique moves back to row 4 of the middle. Skinklet stays in row 1 of lane 1 with Maskfry in row 4, and Swaystroll and Cribbler hold rows 2 and 3 of lane 3.

That one move answers the exposure problem of the previous stage. From row 4, Frostique has three open rows ahead of it, and its fragments travel down the whole middle before anything can reach it. The trade is that the middle now has no front unit at all, so enemies walking down lane 2 are slowed and shredded rather than blocked.

The two wings do the blocking. Skinklet is the furthest-forward unit on the board, and Swaystroll with Cribbler behind it is the sturdy side. Maskfry from the back of lane 1 pulls enemies away from the open middle toward Skinklet.

One alternative recorded for this stage goes the other way and stacks lane 1 with Swaystroll in row 1, Frostique in row 2, Lullely in row 3 and Ripplewing in row 4, with Cribbler in row 1 of the middle. In that alternative, Ripplewing's water bombs slow enemies and sometimes put them to sleep, and the unit hurts them again as they wake.

Players have been stuck on this stage for days, and the grid is the same as 3-6.

The hardest part is usually lane 3, where Swaystroll in row 2 and Cribbler in row 3 form the board's only two-unit wall. Cribbler standing directly behind the tank is the point of the pair. While Swaystroll's ice shield holds and charges, Cribbler's area claw swipes hit the enemies crowding against it, so the group is thinned before the crystal burst lands. If Swaystroll falls, Cribbler takes over in the same lane, but as a first form it cannot hold for long.

If you are stuck, compare against the recorded alternatives, which move the tank to the middle. In one alternative, the middle has Swaystroll in row 1, Skinklet in row 2, Ripplewing in row 3 and Frostique in row 4, with Cribbler in row 1 of lane 3. In another alternative, Ripplewing stands in row 2 of lane 1, Swaystroll and Frostique hold rows 2 and 3 of the middle, and Skinklet takes row 2 of lane 3.

Both versions put Frostique in the same lane as Swaystroll, so its slow protects the tank directly. That is the main difference from Lineup 1, where Frostique and Swaystroll are a lane apart.

Most clears here took a couple of tries, and one layout has carried players through both this stage and the next one. The grid is unchanged.

The page's focus is lane 1. Skinklet stands in row 1, the most forward cell on the board, with Maskfry far behind it in row 4 and two empty rows in between. Skinklet's job is to meet enemies first, hit them with area bubbles and survive. When it takes enough damage it turns invisible and goes after back-line enemies, which keeps it alive but lets the front group walk past.

Maskfry is what keeps that from being fatal. Its waves pull enemies back together, often toward Skinklet or into its own whirlpool, so the groups that slip past arrive packed and slowed for Frostique's fragments in the middle.

If lane 1 is where a run breaks, the fix is usually levels on Skinklet, so it can take more before going invisible. Its evolved form, Skinkoon, gains range while hidden and is a natural upgrade here.

Another alternative brings healing back: Maskfry and Frostique hold rows 2 and 3 of lane 1, the middle has Ripplewing in row 3 and Capypapa in row 4, and Cribbler stands in row 2 of lane 3.

The grid holds again, and this page looks at the alternative built from evolved forms, which shows what a more developed Water team can do here.

In that alternative, the middle has Stoodbeak in row 1, Maskfry in row 2, Skinklet in row 3 and Frostique in row 4, and Clawzor stands alone in row 1 of lane 3. Lane 1 is empty.

Evolved from Swaystroll, Stoodbeak is the third form of the Waddledo line. It keeps the ice shield, fires its crystals at full power when the shield breaks, and leaves an ice sculpture behind when it is knocked down, so even its fall keeps blocking for a moment. Clawzor, the evolved form of Cribbler, slashes for area damage and leaves enemies shredded.

The idea is to stack everything in one lane behind the strongest tank. The substitute stack puts Maskfry right behind Stoodbeak to pull enemies into the shield, Skinklet adds bubbles from row 3, and Frostique's fragments travel the full length of the lane. Clawzor, as the replacement for Cribbler, covers the right.

For Lineup 1, the levels that matter most are Frostique, then Swaystroll and Cribbler as a pair. The same layout has cleared this stage and the previous one, so a team that passed 3-8 has a strong chance here.

The chapter closes on the same grid, and the exact team that cleared 3-9 has also cleared this one, so if you just passed the previous stage, try the same board first.

If it fails, the most useful trick recorded here is mirroring. Moving the right-side units to the left while keeping the centre in place has cleared this stage. With Lineup 1 that means Swaystroll and Cribbler move to lane 1, Skinklet and Maskfry move to lane 3, and Frostique stays at the back of the middle. The units and their jobs are the same; only the side that faces the heavier waves changes.

The alternatives from 3-7 apply as well, with a few variations. One replaces Ripplewing with Bubbit in the stacked middle. Bubbit, the evolved form of Droppit, releases a fog that damages an area, slows enemies and makes them fragile. Another alternative puts Swaystroll in row 1 of the middle, Maskfry in row 2, Bubbit or Ripplewing in row 3 and Frostique in row 4, with Cribbler in row 1 of lane 3. A third swaps Skinklet out of lane 3 for Maskfry in the layout where Ripplewing stands in lane 1.

Across the chapter, Frostique is the unit to level hardest. The final page of the dojo, 4-10, moves to a board of higher forms.