Noxious

Tier C

Poison × Wind = Noxious

Effect

Poison gas spreading with wind

Damage Multiplier

1.5x

How to Unlock

Level Poison ball to Level 3
Level Wind ball to Level 3
Collect a rainbow orb (XP level-up reward)
Select "Evolution" option from the menu
Choose Poison + Wind combination

Strategy & Tips

Area poison DoT. Wind spreads the poison gas across wider area. Good for sustained damage over time.

Strategic Tips & Synergies

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🟢 Wave timing: Deploy Noxious during waves with continuous spawns (Waves 10+, 20+, 30+) where enemies funnel through chokepoints—poison lingers in these zones for 5-10 seconds, damaging every enemy that passes through

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🟢 Stacking synergy: Combine with other DoT evolutions (Virus, Burn-based) to create compound damage zones—enemies take poison + burn simultaneously, effectively doubling or tripling sustained damage per second

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🟡 Positioning strategy: Stand near enemy spawn points when Noxious activates—the wind spread creates poison clouds directly where enemies materialize, ensuring every new spawn takes immediate damage before reaching combat range

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🟡 Cost efficiency: At 1.5x multiplier, Noxious delivers 400-600 total damage per activation across 8-12 poison ticks (assuming 50-60 base damage)—this matches single-target evolutions' burst while hitting 4-8 enemies simultaneously in spread radius

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🔴 Enemy movement: Noxious loses effectiveness against fast-moving enemies (charging types, speedrun-focused enemies in later floors) who exit poison clouds before accumulating significant tick damage—reserve for stationary or slow-moving formations

Best Character Pairings

These characters create exceptional synergies with Noxious:

The Embedded (S-Tier Pairing): Embedded's Poison starting ball guarantees immediate access to half of Noxious recipe. The Embedded's passive (assuming poison-related bonuses) amplifies DoT effectiveness, potentially increasing poison tick damage by 10-25%. Build path: Start with Poison → acquire Wind by Wave 3-5 → create Noxious by Wave 6-8 → focus on poison multiplication builds for late game.

The Repentant (A-Tier Pairing): Repentant's assumed sustain/defensive mechanics pair well with DoT strategies that require surviving prolonged engagements. Noxious provides passive damage while Repentant focuses on survival, creating a 'outlast and poison' playstyle effective in boss rushes and endurance modes. Lower immediate damage acceptable when defensive stats compensate.

Lantern Knight (B-Tier Pairing): Lantern Knight's AoE specialization means Noxious competes with more powerful AoE options (Magma 1.9x, Storm 2.1x) available later. However, early-game Noxious provides reliable crowd control before premium evolutions become accessible. Use as transitional evolution (Waves 5-15) then pivot to higher-tier AoE when resources allow.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

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❌ Over-prioritizing against single targets: Noxious's 1.5x multiplier underperforms compared to burst evolutions (Bomb 1.8x, Blizzard 2.0x) in 1v1 scenarios—reserve for waves with 5+ enemies to maximize wind spread value

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❌ Ignoring poison tick duration: Poison typically lasts 8-12 seconds after application. Players often move to new areas immediately, wasting remaining tick damage. Stay near poisoned zones for 5-8 seconds to ensure enemies remain within DoT effect

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❌ Neglecting wind spread radius: Wind component spreads poison in ~2-3 tile radius from impact point. Positioning shots to hit enemy cluster centers (not edges) maximizes spread coverage, potentially poisoning 8-12 enemies vs 2-3 from edge hits

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❌ Using in boss-only waves: Noxious's strength lies in multi-target sustained damage. Boss waves (10, 20, 30) with single high-HP targets waste the evolution's AoE potential—switch to single-target burst evolutions (Blizzard, Holy Laser) before boss encounters

Advanced Strategy

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Expert-Level Optimization

⚠️ Advanced strategy combining 🟢 verified mechanics + 🟡 general principles: Noxious's C-tier rating reflects moderate standalone power, but strategic deployment unlocks A-tier effectiveness through 'poison zone layering.' The core technique: create overlapping poison clouds in enemy pathways by timing Noxious activations 3-4 seconds apart rather than rapid-firing. Each cloud persists 8-10 seconds, meaning three consecutive activations create 24-30 seconds of continuous poison coverage in a single chokepoint. Enemies traversing this 'poison corridor' take 60-90 total damage from multiple overlapping clouds (3 clouds × 20-30 damage per cloud), effectively tripling the evolution's damage output compared to isolated single-cloud hits. Optimal positioning: stand at the midpoint between enemy spawn and your position—this forces enemies to spend maximum time inside poison zones while traveling toward you. Against wave compositions with continuous spawns (Waves 15+, 20+, 30+), Noxious transitions from direct damage tool to area denial weapon: place poison clouds at spawn exits, forcing every new enemy to spawn directly into DoT effects and take 40-60 damage before engaging. Compound synergy maximization: combine Noxious with Virus (Poison + Ghost) or other poison evolutions to stack multiple DoT types—enemies simultaneously take poison + virus damage, with total DoT reaching 80-120 per second from combined sources. This stacking strategy transforms C-tier individual evolutions into S-tier combined systems. For character builds: prioritize Intelligence (if it affects poison damage) or evolution count increases (more balls = more poison clouds). Wind's spread radius benefits from positioning rather than stats—master circular movement to maintain optimal cloud placement without stats investment. Late-game adaptation (Waves 25+): Noxious loses relative power as enemy HP reaches 500-1000+, but retains value as 'passive background damage.' Primary evolutions handle direct combat (Holy Laser, Black Hole) while Noxious provides 40-60 DPS constantly, accounting for 10-15% of total damage output with zero active management. This 'set and forget' quality makes Noxious valuable in builds where attention focuses on dodging/positioning rather than damage execution. Economic efficiency: Noxious's 1.5x multiplier delivers premium value per ball invested—two common balls (Poison + Wind, typical shop cost 50-75 gold total) produce evolution comparable to mid-tier options requiring rare balls. In gold-constrained runs (speedruns, challenge modes), Noxious provides 70-80% effectiveness of premium evolutions at 40-50% of the resource cost, making it optimal for budget-efficient builds that reserve gold for late-game upgrades.