Ehretia dicksonii

Overview

Ehretia dicksonii is a broadleaf tree — a heavy defensive plant with a deep health pool and real armor. It is native to East Asia and South Asia and has no introduced range, so it only ever plays the native buffer role — there is no attacker scenario for it.

Moves

Its kit unlocks in three stages. Its starter attack, Deathshadow (unlocked at level 1, 2 Sun), deals 26 as a native: Casts a shade nothing recovers in — the foe can't heal. Its once-per-battle ability, Old-Growth Reaction (level 25, free), is pure utility: Centuries of shade — the foe stalls and withers. Its advanced attack, Buttress Bash (level 40, 6 Sun), deals 34 native: Swings a buttress root and pins the foe.

Abilities

These are the always-on traits this card actually keeps, and the level each one arrives at (a plant draws at most one trait per growth stage). From level 10, Tannin Load turns its bark against attackers: any plant that lands a melee hit on it is Withered, losing attack power (the oak's souring tannins). It fires on the striker every damaging hit. From level 68, Heartwood Core adds a flat block of DEF that grows with the tree's level, so the older the trunk the harder it is to dent.

Features

On the field it draws on field gear to shore up its weaknesses. As a tree it takes best to a Calcium/Magnesium amendment that stacks flat DEF onto an already-hard trunk, and to Mulch for staying power.

Stats

Read at level 40, where every move is unlocked, it holds 103 health and 22 attack as a native, with 23 DEF. That is a wall-class defense for a plant this size — armor is diminishing rather than flat, so a big attacker still gets through, but a small one is turned away. Its retreat costs 16 Sun. On tempo it opens at 32 initiative (which orders the first turn) and cruises at 34 speed (which orders every turn after). Its opening and sustained tempo are close, so it holds a steady place in turn order across the fight. As a native it carries a 15% health cushion (103 versus 89 as an invader), and while benched it projects a green overshield bar onto your active plant, sized by how threatened it is.

At Level 100

Grown to level 100, this card hardens into a wall: its DEF climbs to 52 and its health to 190, with attack reaching 38. Retreat rises to 33 Sun as the older plant grows more rooted, and its once-quick tempo has sunk to a sliver — it goes late in turn order now. Maturing buys it raw bulk and hitting power; it costs it the speed edge it had as a seedling.

Weaknesses & Resistances

In the succession type chart, Ehretia dicksonii's category (broadleaf tree) belongs to the Competitor group. Ruderal, Competitor, and Specialist form a wheel: Competitor hits Ruderal plants (annual-forbs, grasses, aquatic plants, and bulbs) for 1.5× damage, and takes 1.5× from Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, and epiphytes), resisting each the other way at about two-thirds. The off-wheel Weird categories are neutral both ways.

Gameplay uses

As a defensive anchor it is genuinely good: high health, a hardening trunk, and a shade attack that stops the foe healing. It is slow, so pair it with a faster teammate to open exchanges. With no introduced range it never plays the attacker. Off the battlefield it earns money: it has an edible fruit, so feeding it Phosphorus fertilizer pays 1.25× coins (any other nutrient banks 1.25× experience instead). On the power curves below, it fights as a fast skirmisher until about level 19, after which its growing bulk and attack take over from its fading speed — a shift in which edge dominates, not a sign it is weaker when grown.