Chucker Alternatives
by Rggcd
8 min read
For artillery units, the Chucker is the primary workhorse for the F2P player. Its low cost and damage output make it a no-brainer to rank and mass produce. Guides universally recommend it as the backline damage dealer for Boss Strike (for good reason!).
Unfortunately, its dominance leads to a lack of variety. Every encounter being done with Chucker + Heavier + Wimp sounds like the most boring time imaginable. As such, I started on a journey to look for other powerful backline units.
Chuckers are Used for a Reason
Unfortunately, there is no unit right now which objectively beats the Chucker. However, there are a few units which can surpass the Chucker in some relevant areas. Whether their benefits justify their downsides is another issue entirely.
The Chucker fulfills two important roles:
- Indirect damage dealer
- Priority target eliminator
These features let it not only eliminate dangerous artillery units, but also shred even the most durable of frontliners.
The Chucker relies on its 70% crit rate to perform both these roles. When it crits, just about every enemy damage dealer is destroyed in one hit. RNG is a fickle thing, and you may find your Chuckers refusing to crit on key targets.
Note: If you are wondering if you should mass Chuckers, just do it. They are cheap, easy to rank, and very effective.
Chucker But Not Really
There are three units that provide advantages over the Chucker while retaining its roles:
- Turtlesheller
- Wolf Grenadier
- Pelican
While they all have their intricacies, all three can (somewhat) perform both of the Chucker’s roles.
Damage Dealer
The Chucker is a strong single target damage dealer. How do our alternatives stack up?
| Chucker | Turtlesheller | Wolf Grenadier | Pelican | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average Damage | 215.33 | 204 | 211.63 | 233.71 |
| Average Damage with 1 Extra Turn DoT | 215.33 | 272 | 258.02 | 285.09 |
| Average Damage with Full DoT | 215.33 | 306 | 281.48 | 311.01 |
Even with its 75% chance to hit, Pelicans are by far and away the best... is what I would say if they didn’t have a tendency to miss entirely. While the Chucker failing to crit sucks, it at least does some damage. If any of the Pelican bomb tiles are not on a unit, there is a chance for the bomb to not do any damage whatsoever.
This also doesn’t take into account attack cooldowns. Although Pelicans have the greatest average damage, they suffer from an extra lengthy cooldown.
| Chucker | Turtlesheller | Wolf Grenadier | Pelican | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average Damage | 215.33 | 204 | 211.63 | 233.71 |
| Cooldown | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| Damage per Turn | 71.775 | 40.8 | 105.81 | 29.21 |
The Wolf Grenadier comes out on top with its exceptionally short 1 turn cooldown. Although a lower damage per turn can be remedied by adding more units, doing so comes at the cost of reduced versatility.
Despite the Wolf Grenadier’s advantage, Boss Strike does not solely consist of attacking an idle target. There are a mix of threatening and non-threatening enemies which necessitates target prioritization.
Priority Target Eliminator
The second key use of the Chucker is to eliminate dangerous enemies. These can be anything, ranging from enemy artillery to tanks. This section looks at the odds of one-shotting the enemy unit.
Common priority targets have health between 160-220 HP. Examples below:
- 160 HP
- Wolf Bombadier
- 190 HP
- Wolf Grenadier, Raider Boom Boom, Earthshaker
- Also kills Raider Bombadier (180 HP), Raider Cannoneer (165 HP), Wolf Devastator (170 HP), Tough Outcast (170 HP), Arch. Bullfrog (180 HP)
- 220 HP
- Peacemaker, Adv. Bullfrog
Though the average damage of all units exceeds 200 HP, all suffer from various issues that prevent them from consistently passing that threshold.
- The Chucker must roll its 70% crit
- The Turtlesheller and Wolf Grenadier must not low roll on damage
- The Pelican has to hit the desired target (75% chance)
| Enemy HP | Chucker | Turtlesheller | Wolf Grenadier | Pelican | Pelican (Perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 160 | 70.00% | 86.78% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 170 | 70.00% | 78.51% | 90.73% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 180 | 70.00% | 70.25% | 79.15% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 190 | 70.00% | 61.98% | 67.56% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 200 | 70.00% | 53.72% | 55.98% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 210 | 70.00% | 45.45% | 44.39% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 220 | 70.00% | 37.19% | 32.80% | 73.59% | 98.13% |
While the Turtlesheller has a higher average damage, its wide damage range causes it to fall behind the Chucker beyond 180 HP. The Wolf Grenadier performs better at lower HP values, but falls off at around the same point. The Pelican performs exceptionally, never falling behind the Chucker (It better, considering its cooldown).
Though the Pelican is the best when it comes to killing on the initial turn, it will always suffer from a 6.25% chance to miss two turns in a row. Two non-crit attacks from the Chucker will kill any of the common targets and the other two units can let DoT do the work.
Tables for the entire damage range are included below.
Chance to One-Shot Enemy (All Thresholds, One Tick DoT)
| Enemy HP | Chucker | Turtlesheller | Wolf Grenadier | Pelican | Pelican (Perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 110 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 120 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 130 | 90.36% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 140 | 79.64% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 150 | 70.00% | 95.04% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 160 | 70.00% | 86.78% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 170 | 70.00% | 78.51% | 90.73% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 180 | 70.00% | 70.25% | 79.15% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 190 | 70.00% | 61.98% | 67.56% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 200 | 70.00% | 53.72% | 55.98% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 210 | 70.00% | 45.45% | 44.39% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 220 | 70.00% | 37.19% | 32.80% | 73.59% | 98.13% |
| 230 | 60.00% | 28.93% | 21.22% | 66.56% | 88.75% |
| 240 | 47.50% | 20.66% | 9.63% | 59.53% | 79.38% |
| 250 | 35.00% | 12.40% | 5.00% | 52.50% | 70.00% |
| 260 | 20.00% | 4.13% | 5.00% | 45.47% | 60.63% |
| 270 | 7.50% | 0.00% | 5.00% | 38.44% | 51.25% |
| 280 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 5.00% | 31.41% | 41.88% |
| 290 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 5.00% | 24.38% | 32.50% |
| 300 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 5.00% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 310 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 4.63% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 320 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 4.33% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 330 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 3.96% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 340 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 3.66% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 350 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 3.35% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 360 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.99% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 370 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.68% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 380 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.32% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 390 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.01% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 400 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 1.71% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 410 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 1.34% | 17.81% | 23.75% |
| 420 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 1.04% | 16.64% | 22.19% |
| 430 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.67% | 15.23% | 20.31% |
| 440 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.37% | 14.06% | 18.75% |
| 450 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.06% | 12.89% | 17.19% |
| 460 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 11.48% | 15.31% |
| 470 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 10.31% | 13.75% |
| 480 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 8.91% | 11.88% |
| 490 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 7.73% | 10.31% |
| 500 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 6.56% | 8.75% |
| 510 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 5.16% | 6.88% |
| 520 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 3.98% | 5.31% |
| 530 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.58% | 3.44% |
| 540 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 1.41% | 1.88% |
| 550 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
Chance to Kill Enemy (All Thresholds, 2 Tick DoT)
| Enemy HP | Turtlesheller | Wolf Grenadier | Pelican | Pelican (Perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 110 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 120 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 130 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 140 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 150 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 160 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 170 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 180 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 190 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 200 | 95.03% | 98.10% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 210 | 88.82% | 88.60% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 220 | 82.61% | 79.10% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 230 | 76.40% | 69.60% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 240 | 70.19% | 60.10% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 250 | 63.98% | 50.60% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 260 | 57.76% | 41.10% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 270 | 51.55% | 31.60% | 72.70% | 96.94% |
| 280 | 45.34% | 22.10% | 66.96% | 89.29% |
| 290 | 39.13% | 12.60% | 61.22% | 81.63% |
| 300 | 32.92% | 5.00% | 55.48% | 73.98% |
| 310 | 26.71% | 5.00% | 49.74% | 66.33% |
| 320 | 20.50% | 5.00% | 44.01% | 58.67% |
| 330 | 14.29% | 5.00% | 38.27% | 51.02% |
| 340 | 8.07% | 5.00% | 32.53% | 43.37% |
| 350 | 1.86% | 5.00% | 26.79% | 35.71% |
| 360 | 0.00% | 5.00% | 21.05% | 28.06% |
| 370 | 0.00% | 4.90% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 380 | 0.00% | 4.60% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 390 | 0.00% | 4.35% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 400 | 0.00% | 4.10% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 410 | 0.00% | 3.80% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 420 | 0.00% | 3.55% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 430 | 0.00% | 3.25% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 440 | 0.00% | 3.00% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 450 | 0.00% | 2.75% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 460 | 0.00% | 2.45% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 470 | 0.00% | 2.20% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 480 | 0.00% | 1.90% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 490 | 0.00% | 1.65% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 500 | 0.00% | 1.40% | 17.98% | 23.98% |
| 510 | 0.00% | 1.10% | 16.84% | 22.45% |
| 520 | 0.00% | 0.85% | 15.88% | 21.17% |
| 530 | 0.00% | 0.55% | 14.73% | 19.64% |
| 540 | 0.00% | 0.30% | 13.78% | 18.37% |
| 550 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 12.63% | 16.84% |
| 560 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 11.67% | 15.56% |
| 570 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 10.71% | 14.29% |
| 580 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 9.57% | 12.76% |
| 590 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 8.61% | 11.48% |
| 600 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 7.46% | 9.95% |
| 610 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 6.51% | 8.67% |
| 620 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 5.55% | 7.40% |
| 630 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 4.40% | 5.87% |
| 640 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 3.44% | 4.59% |
| 650 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.30% | 3.06% |
| 660 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 1.34% | 1.79% |
| 670 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.38% | 0.51% |
| 680 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 690 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 700 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 710 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 720 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 730 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 740 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 750 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
Chance to Kill Enemy (All Thresholds, Full DoT Duration)
| Enemy HP | Turtlesheller | Wolf Grenadier | Pelican | Pelican (Perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 110 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 120 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 130 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 140 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 150 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 160 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 170 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 180 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 190 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 200 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 210 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 220 | 97.79% | 96.51% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 230 | 92.27% | 87.80% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 240 | 86.74% | 79.08% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 250 | 81.22% | 70.37% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 260 | 75.69% | 61.65% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 270 | 70.17% | 52.94% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 280 | 64.64% | 44.22% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 290 | 59.12% | 35.50% | 75.00% | 100.00% |
| 300 | 53.59% | 26.79% | 69.74% | 92.99% |
| 310 | 48.07% | 18.07% | 64.49% | 85.98% |
| 320 | 42.54% | 9.36% | 59.23% | 78.97% |
| 330 | 37.02% | 5.00% | 53.97% | 71.96% |
| 340 | 31.49% | 5.00% | 48.71% | 64.95% |
| 350 | 25.97% | 5.00% | 43.46% | 57.94% |
| 360 | 20.44% | 5.00% | 38.20% | 50.93% |
| 370 | 14.92% | 5.00% | 32.94% | 43.93% |
| 380 | 9.39% | 5.00% | 27.69% | 36.92% |
| 390 | 3.87% | 5.00% | 22.43% | 29.91% |
| 400 | 0.00% | 5.00% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 410 | 0.00% | 4.72% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 420 | 0.00% | 4.50% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 430 | 0.00% | 4.22% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 440 | 0.00% | 3.99% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 450 | 0.00% | 3.76% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 460 | 0.00% | 3.49% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 470 | 0.00% | 3.26% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 480 | 0.00% | 2.98% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 490 | 0.00% | 2.75% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 500 | 0.00% | 2.52% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 510 | 0.00% | 2.25% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 520 | 0.00% | 2.02% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 530 | 0.00% | 1.74% | 18.75% | 25.00% |
| 540 | 0.00% | 1.51% | 18.40% | 24.53% |
| 550 | 0.00% | 1.24% | 17.35% | 23.13% |
| 560 | 0.00% | 1.01% | 16.47% | 21.96% |
| 570 | 0.00% | 0.78% | 15.60% | 20.79% |
| 580 | 0.00% | 0.50% | 14.54% | 19.39% |
| 590 | 0.00% | 0.28% | 13.67% | 18.22% |
| 600 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 12.62% | 16.82% |
| 610 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 11.74% | 15.65% |
| 620 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 10.86% | 14.49% |
| 630 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 9.81% | 13.08% |
| 640 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 8.94% | 11.92% |
| 650 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 7.89% | 10.51% |
| 660 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 7.01% | 9.35% |
| 670 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 6.13% | 8.18% |
| 680 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 5.08% | 6.78% |
| 690 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 4.21% | 5.61% |
| 700 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 3.15% | 4.21% |
| 710 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 2.28% | 3.04% |
| 720 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 1.40% | 1.87% |
| 730 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.35% | 0.47% |
| 740 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| 750 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
Even if the Turtlesheller or Wolf Grenadier fail to kill a unit with 190 HP or less on the initial strike, the DoT guaranteeing a kill on the next turn means you can attack another unit rather than wasting another attack.
New Meta?
The only confident statement I can make is not to mass Wolf Grenadiers. They cut into your Chucker supply and lack durability. Unlike Turtleshellers which can somewhat survive on the front line, trying to alleviate the Wolf Grenadier’s inability to hit the enemy back row will get it killed.
Turtleshellers and Pelicans both have their niche advantages over Chuckers. Turtleshellers have exceptional durability and do more damage on average while Pelicans can ignore most attacks and do even more damage. While these two are not direct upgrades (and have clear problems), their benefits over Chuckers are undeniable.
If you find the current meta stale, try experimenting with different units and strategies.