Skunkbush sumac

Overview

The Skunkbush sumac is a shrub in Supplant. It carries no recorded native or invasive range, so the arena never grants it a nativity bonus: it always fights as a plain neutral card, with neither the native HP cushion nor the invasive attacker's edge.

Moves

Its kit fills in across three slots, and most of your copies will be well below the snapshot level of 40 where all three are live — the plant unlocks them as it grows. Frère Brer is the starter attack, available from level 1 for 2 Sun. The free once-per-battle ability, Shrubland Sere, unlocks at level 25: Settles the slope: heal 35%, and the foe withers. The advanced attack, Thorn in the Side, comes online at level 40 for 6 Sun — A thorn that festers — Poison the foe.

Its attacks land for about 29 (starter) and 31 (advanced) at the snapshot level — plain base numbers, since no nativity bonus applies.

Turn order splits across two stats: initiative (32) decides who moves first on turn 1, and SPD (13) decides every turn after. This one is the quicker starter — it tends to land the opening blow on turn 1, then cede the pace as the fight wears on. See turn order for how the two interact.

Abilities

Skunkbush sumac holds two working traits. Sclerophylly (level 10) takes a flat 3 off every direct hit. Drupe Mast (level 68) turns its sticky red drupes into a parting heal of 8% max HP for every surviving ally. See Abilities.

Features

For field gear, a Calcium/Magnesium amendment adds flat DEF (most worthwhile on a bulky front-liner, least on a soft body), and the N/P/K fertilizers drive its economy (see Gameplay uses). This species is not Moss-Pole-eligible: that gear is keyed on a climbing growth habit (vine, epiphyte or hemiepiphyte), and its species record carries no growth-habit tag.

Stats

At the snapshot level (40) it reads roughly HP 89 (its plain, un-cushioned base), DEF 13, with a retreat cost of 16 Sun and tempo pips of 32 initiative / 13 SPD. Its DEF sits in the firm shrub band — better than a weed, well short of a tree. With no nativity bonus its HP and ATK sit at base — no native cushion, no invasive ATK ramp — so it is a middle-of-the-road body on every stat. Sun refills at +1 every 15 minutes up to a cap of 120; an empty bar attack-locks the plant. From level 52 it regenerates Sun mid-battle, and a level 85 capstone drops its starter to free. See stats.

At Level 100

It firms into a solid mid-armor bruiser: DEF around 28 and HP toward 165 — tougher than a weed, still short of a tree. Retreat rises to 33 Sun (an older plant is more rooted and costlier to pull), and the inverted tempo has sunk to its floor by now — the fast opening it had as a seedling is gone, so a mature copy leans entirely on power rather than turn order.

Weaknesses & Resistances

In the succession wheel it is a Competitor. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs) for extra damage (×1.5), and takes extra damage from Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes). Against its own group and the off-wheel "Weird" categories it is neutral. See the type chart.

Gameplay uses

With no nativity role it is a straightforward neutral body — no cushion to lean on, no attacker's edge to exploit. A shrub sits in the middle of the armor table — firmer than a weed, nowhere near a tree. It is a serviceable mid-line body rather than a carry. It is edible (the game tags the fruit as the eaten part), so feeding it the matching Phosphorus fertilizer pays ×1.25 coins — a steady earner between battles; any other nutrient banks ×1.25 XP instead. In the Total power gallery below you can watch it trade a fast-skirmisher opening for raw bulk as it levels: it leans on speed until about level 12, after which its power takes over. It is monotonically stronger the higher it goes, so there is never a reason to hold it back.