Impatiens hawkeri
A soft, low-damage annual-forb that leads on turn one and pools defence from its benched ruderals, playing either arena role — an Oceanian native or a South American invader.
Impatiens is a fleshy, low-growing Annual forb that fights as a quick opener: it leads the first exchange but does little damage, and it borrows what armor it has from the ruderals behind it. It is native to Oceania and invasive in South America, so the arena can field it either way — as a native buffer or as an invasive attacker — but it is a weak card either way. It is best treated as a collection or coin piece.
Its starter attack, Yolo, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 44 damage as a native and 46 as an invasive. The free once-per-battle ability, Founder Effect, arrives at level 25: One founder, a whole population: heal 55% and +5 ATK. The advanced attack, Somnolent Smell, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (22 native / 23 invasive). Most of your impatiens sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Impatiens 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 impatiens is knocked out a fresh Seedling token steps up in its place, the annual-forb signature. See Abilities.
Impatiens 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.
At level 40 impatiens reads 103 HP native and 89 invasive, with ATK of 17 native versus 20 invasive — the invasive gap is narrow, and its raw attack is low in both roles, which is the plainest reason it is a weak card. 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 instead. Unusually for this set its tempo runs the other way: turn 1 runs on a high initiative (52) and every turn after on a slightly lower SPD (51), so it leads the opening exchange and is only just out-paced afterward. 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.
Matured to level 100, impatiens swells to 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 30 / 36 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 24 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature card acts last against almost anything younger.
As a ruderal, impatiens 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.
Play impatiens for its one edge — it opens fast, so it can land the first hit or claim a lead before a slower opponent moves — and keep a couple of live ruderals behind it so Duff Stuff props its armor up. Its damage is low in both roles, so it will not close games on force; use it as a native buffer that stiffens while your other weeds are alive, or as a chip attacker that gets in early. On economy, impatiens is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as a quick-opening, slightly slower-cruising skirmisher that leans harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 39 as a native and 43 as an invasive — 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.