Pueraria montana
The textbook Competitor climber β a Moss Pole bruiser that either anchors the bench as a Buffer at home or swings for brutal Faustian damage where it's the invader.
Kudzu is a vine, which makes it a Competitor with no passive ability β it lives and dies on its moves, its stats, and one big equipment perk: as a climber it can hold a Moss Pole. Everything else about how it plays hinges on one question every arena asks first: is kudzu native here?
Read the nativity rules before anything else. In its home range kudzu is a Buffer: HP Γ1.15, and while it sits on the bench it projects green HP overshield segments onto your active plant β pure upside, no cost. Deployed where it's the invader, kudzu flips to Attacker: ATK Γ1.75, hitting far harder β but every damaging attack costs it a "Faustian" chunk (~10 + level) dealt to its own lowest-HP benched ally, and KOing it hands your opponent a coin bounty (wild) or extra prizes (PvP).
Kudzu gets up to three move slots: a starter attack at L1 (2 Sun), a free once-per-battle ability at L10 (0 Sun), and an advanced attack at L18 (6 Sun). Like every vine, its advanced attack is damage-capped β big, but not the biggest.
Damage is round(dmg Γ ATK) β enemy DEF, minimum 1, and it drains the target's overshield before base HP. That ATK term is where nativity screams: an invasive kudzu's Γ1.75 turns a modest move into a wall-crusher, while a native kudzu leans on survivability instead of the swing. If kudzu is toxic in your record its attacks carry a poison rider β and note poison bypasses the overshield entirely. An empty Sun bar locks it out of attacking, so watch the bar.
None. Vines are Competitors with no passive β no Allelopathy, no Photosynthesis, no Network. What kudzu brings instead is the bench Buffer effect (native only) and its climber status. Don't wait for a checkup trick that isn't coming; kudzu's value is stats plus equipment.
Kudzu's signature is being a climber β the only category trait that matters at the shop. See field gear: kudzu is Moss Pole eligible, which grants +growth and, crucially, costs no amendment slot β so both of its NPK slots stay free on top of the pole. One thing to skip: Mulch. It only multiplies a network cluster, and a vine carries no Network passive for it to amplify, so it's dead weight here. Native Buffer builds want Ca-Mg for +2 flat DEF to thicken the tank; invasive Attacker builds want P (card XP) to reach that L18 advanced attack faster, or Sulfur for spore immunity so a fragile attacker doesn't get chipped out by ferns.
| Stat | Kudzu's read |
|---|---|
| HP | Γ1.15 when native β a genuinely tanky Buffer |
| ATK | Γ1.75 invasive (Γ1.4 if toxic) β the payoff, at a price |
| DEF | flat cut off every incoming hit |
| SPD | sets initiative order |
| Sun | cap 120, regen only out of battle (~+1/15 min) |
Retreat costs 10 Sun. Full stats breakdown on the guide page.
The succession chart is the only type chart (details). As a Competitor, kudzu hits Ruderal plants (grasses, annual-forbs, bulbs, aquatics) for Γ1.5 β and is weak into Specialists (conifers, succulents, ferns, epiphytes), who resist it to Γ0.667. Weird plants (carnivores, mycotrophs, carrion-aroids, vascular parasites) are neutral both ways. This holds whether kudzu is your Buffer or your Attacker; nativity changes the damage numbers, not the matchup wall.
Native kudzu is a patient bench anchor: leave it back feeding overshield, Moss Pole plus Ca-Mg, and let its Γ1.15 HP soak. Invasive kudzu is a glass wrecking ball β lead with it into a Ruderal-heavy field, land the Γ1.75 advanced attack, and cash out before the Faustian tax eats your bench. Never send it into a Specialist expecting a trade.