China Aster

Overview

China Aster is a showy Annual forb that fights as a light skirmisher: soft on its own, it carries a mid-fight mend and borrows armor from the ruderals behind it. It is native to East Asia and invasive across Europe, Eastern North America, Oceania, South America, and South Asia, so the arena can field it either way — as a native buffer or as an invasive attacker.

Moves

Its starter attack, Yolo, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 46 damage as a native and 54 as an invasive, and it carries an initiative rider: in a wild encounter it seizes the initiative and strikes first, while in the arena it instead finishes a kill and keeps going. The free once-per-battle ability, r-Selected Riot, arrives at level 25: All-out reproduction: +8 ATK and speed, kept. It is a mid-fight mend. The advanced attack, Ragweed Burst, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (46 native / 50 invasive). Most of your China Aster sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. See Moves.

Abilities

China Aster keeps two always-on traits. Duff Stuff arrives on the level 10 riser: while it is your active plant its effective DEF rises by half the summed DEF of your alive benched ruderals — annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, and bulbs. It is recomputed live, so the bonus shrinks as those allies faint, and the donors keep their own DEF; it is a genuine, always-on defence, not a chance-based one. Reseed arrives later, on the level 68 riser: when China Aster is knocked out a fresh Seedling token steps up in its place, the annual-forb signature. See Abilities.

Features

China Aster is non-toxic, so it has no contact recoil and no poison rider — striking it costs an attacker nothing. Its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear — a Cloche, or a calcium or magnesium amendment for a little DEF — shores up its thin armor; as an invasive, offensive gear pushes its aggression. See statuses.

Stats

At level 40 China Aster reads 103 HP native and 89 invasive, with ATK of 20 native versus 31 invasive — the invasive gap is real, though its raw attack is low even so. DEF is just 1, at the soft floor of the annual-forb band, so on its own it takes hits with almost no armor and relies on the Duff Stuff pool and its mend instead. Its tempo is uneven: turn 1 runs on its initiative (33) and every turn after on its higher SPD (39), so it is out-paced on the opening exchange but relentless once the fight settles. Retreat costs 12 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active; as an invasive it pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.

At Level 100

Matured to level 100, China Aster swells to 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 35 / 63 ATK, but its DEF stays at 1 — as a soft weed it buys bulk in health and none in armor, so it stays exposed to any real hitter and depends on the benched-ruderal pool for real toughness. Retreat rises to 23 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature card acts last against almost anything younger.

Weaknesses & Resistances

As a ruderal, China Aster sits in the Ruderal succession group. It hits Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Competitor plants (perennial herbs, vines, shrubs, broadleaf trees), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Ruderals and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.

Gameplay uses

Play China Aster as a bench-backed skirmisher: keep it active with a couple of live ruderals behind it so Duff Stuff holds its armor up, then trade with the mend to stretch each exchange. As a native it is a fine buffer that stiffens while your other weeds are alive; as an invasive its higher ATK lets it push, though its base damage is low, so it wins by attrition rather than force. On economy, China Aster is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as a slow-opening, fast-cruising skirmisher that leans harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 27 as a native and 27 as an invasive — but it is always stronger at higher levels, so there is no reason to hold it back.