Callitropsis nootkatensis
A neutral conifer support piece — no native or invasive card exists — that heals in sun and shields your active once mature.
Nootka Cypress is a Conifer that heals itself in sun and shields your active from the bench once mature. No native or invasive card exists for it, so it always fights off its neutral base line — with neither the native HP cushion nor an invasive attacker's edge. It is a slow, patient support body more than a threat.
Its starter attack, Branch Bash, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 27 damage and splashing some onto the enemy bench. The free once-per-battle ability, Resin Seal, arrives at level 25: Seals the wound with resin: heal 40%. It is a mid-fight attack boost. The advanced attack, Duff Dive, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (about 25 damage) as a straightforward hit. Most of your cypress sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Nootka Cypress keeps two always-on traits. Photosynthesis arrives on the level 10 riser and heals it in sun, but as a sustain trait it fires only about 60% of the time, so treat the mend as frequent rather than guaranteed. Network arrives on the level 68 riser: as a canopy tree it projects a gold Sun overshield onto your active from the bench. Below the level 10 riser it leans on its stats alone. See Abilities.
Nootka Cypress is non-toxic — no contact recoil and no poison rider, so nothing punishes an attacker for striking it. Its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. Defensive field gear — a Cloche, or a calcium/magnesium amendment for a little DEF — helps it soak hits. See statuses.
At level 40 Nootka Cypress reads 140 HP with ATK of 18. DEF is 19, in the firmer conifer band — better than a soft weed but no tree wall. Its tempo is even and low: turn 1 runs on its initiative (7) and every turn after on its SPD (7), which match, so it acts late either way. Retreat costs 20 Sun. With no native or invasive card, it carries neither the native HP cushion and overshield nor the invasive self-damage — it fights off its base line. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, Nootka Cypress climbs to 276 HP and 30 ATK, and its DEF reaches 42 — a real step up in the conifer band, firm though not a broadleaf wall. Retreat rises to 44 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature cypress acts last against almost anything younger. Maturing buys bulk and armor at the cost of tempo.
As a conifer, Nootka Cypress sits in the Specialist succession group. It hits Competitor plants (perennial herbs, shrubs, trees) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Specialists and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play Nootka Cypress as a neutral support body: bench it to feed a gold Sun overshield to your active and heal in sun while it soaks conifer-band DEF. Without a native or invasive form it gets no role bonus, and its own attack is soft, so it is a patient team piece rather than a carry. On economy, it is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as a slow, even-tempo body that leans harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 1 — but it is always stronger at higher levels, so there is no reason to hold it back.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plant’s tempo (SPD + INI, the turn-order edge) fades as it grows, while its power (HP + ATK + DEF, net of the rising Sun cost to retreat) climbs. The crossover is the level where power overtakes tempo: below it the plant is a fast skirmisher, above it a heavyweight. Shown for each stance this plant can actually hold — native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither — with the card at its crossover and fully grown at Lv 100.