The 'Shroom:Issue 174/Strategy Wing

Director Notes

Surprise! Welcome in, beautiful 'Shroom readers, to another edition of Strategy Wing! With Pitohui out of the office this weekend for his vacation, it's time for me to step up to the plate and lead this team. I have a success strategy written up right here, so nothing can go wrong! Here, take a look at what I've penned:

Don't screw up

Good strategy, right?

Onto the news! Local Waluigi and cereal enthusiast Waluigi Time (talk) has come into Strategy Wing's loving embrace with a walkthrough section for Toy Story 2 on PC, while local shoe Chester Alan Arthur (talk) has returned under a new moniker and with a section focused on Ogre Battle for the SNES! Make sure to check both of these new sections out!

Additionally, the user once known as RabbidYoshi2 has renounced their status as a Rabbid and as a Yoshi, and are now going by The Shamancer (talk). If you're confused on who the new face is writing I Choose You, don't fret, it's the same writer you know and love.

Finally, a little birdy told me that a little birdy has accompanied Koops for this month's adventure... Wait a second, you mean to say that Pitohui is using his 'Shroom salary to just casually play Fire Emblem with people?! Boy, he's getting a piece of my mind when he comes back...

That's the end of my announcements over here. Please enjoy the rest of this September Strategy Wing!

Section of the Month

Congratulations to Yoshi876 (talk) and ZelenPixel (talk) for their first place finishes in Section of the Month! Thank you to the rest of our writers for continuing to contribute, and readers, make sure you vote this month!

STRATEGY WING SECTION OF THE MONTH
Place	Section	Votes	%	Writer
1st	Racing Like the Staff	2	28.57%	Yoshi876
1st	On the Origin of Species	2	28.57%	ZelenPixel

Tips and challenges

An Ogre Battle Section

Chester Alan Arthur (talk)

We start the SNES Ogre Battle with a lesson on the basics!

Dr. Mario World Check-Up

winstein (talk)

The doctor is back in!

I Choose You

The Shamancer (talk)

Secrets of the jungle? Not so much with this guide to Zeraora!

Koops, Your Emblem is on Fire

Koops (talk)

It's time to see what the Dread Isle has in store!

On the Origin of Species

ZelenPixel (talk)

society...

Racing Like the Staff

Yoshi876 (talk)

I hope 876 doesn't have to baby any of you for this section...

To Infinity and Beyond

Waluigi Time (talk)

A guide to Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue!

History and facts

Mach Speed Mayhem

Superchao (talk)

Draq fans are living out their dreams this month, so find out how Draq lives out his dreams!

SIMulation

Baby Luigi (talk)

This edition is too hot to handle!

An Ogre Battle Section

By: Generalissimo Shoe (talk)

Hello, 'Shroom readers, it is I, the brilliant military strategist, Generalissimo Shoe, here with another 'Shroom section for you. Many of you will remember that after my last glorious exploits in the Land of Japan, I promised you I would return with another section about another obscure SNES game. And I, Generalissimo Shoe, would never betray a promise or client, so here I am, back to offer my military expertise in the SNES cult classic, Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. The game was developed by Enix and released in March of 1993.

For a little context of our campaign, Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen is a tactical RPG about a group of freedom fighters attempting to overthrow the evil Empress Endora and to end her reign of tyranny of the continent of Zetegenia. One of the unique things about Ogre Battle is that combat takes place in a more freeform setting, where the enemy sends out a number of units (each consisting of three to five creatures) and you form your own units out of the resources you have in order to combat them. With that said, it is also important to know that you can explore previously seen maps looking around for treasure and wild creatures, because you have the chance to recruit any wild creatures that you find to your cause, thus allowing them to be put into a unit. In this section, we are going to look at the various pros and cons to different types of creatures, focusing on how useful they are, where they should be placed, and if they're worth messing with at all.

But in this first issue, we're actually going to go over some basics first (because, let's be real, none of you have ever played Ogre Battle before). Ogre Battle has a very simple mission structure: deploy your units and slaughter the enemies in your way until you get to the enemy's base, where you can wipe out the boss and win the level. Along the way, there will be towns for you to liberate and you'll want to liberate towns for a few reasons. Reason number one is that each town you take pays you a certain amount of money at the beginning of each day, and, hey, war ain't cheap. The other reason is that each town you capture allows you to pick a tarot card, but we'll get into those a little bit later. In addition, some towns have story events and recruitable characters in them, and you don't want to miss out on those by missing a town! One thing to note is, as long as you haven't slayed the boss, days will keep cycling, which means, in theory, you could just get paid forever. But do note this game has an alignment system, and, eventually, if you do this it starts to go down because the townsfolk think you're being a dick for extorting them for money.

For your units, Ogre Battle has an interesting system where units are actually made on a 3x2 grid and, depending on where you place each component of a unit, that will determine what attacks they do and how many they do.

Our beautiful army

For example, a Knight will do two attacks in the front row but only one in the back, while an Archer will do two attacks in the back and only one in the front. Now a typical unit can be composed of up to five creatures, but there are some limitations to that. Each creature has a size, and that size can work to limit how much can go in each unit. For example, a full-grown dragon counts as two creatures for the purpose of unit count, so if you want a dragon, you'll only be able to throw three medium to small creatures with it, and if you want two dragons you'll only be able to throw one medium or small creature with it. This is an important thing to take into consideration, because, obviously, the more creatures in your unit, the more attacks you get, and the more attacks you pull off, the easier victory is.

TAKE THE HIGH GROUND, MY MEN!

Ogre Battle runs kind of a weird battle system where each battle only lasts a maximum three turns before it ends and a winner and a loser is declared. The way victory is determined is based on total damage output, with the amount of kills also being weighed in. Now losing a fight doesn't mean you can't keep using that unit; it only sends them back, allowing the enemy to keep advancing. Now one other important thing to note is that each unit has to have a humanoid medium sized character as its leader. Basically, the leader is the most important part of the unit because, if the leader dies, the unit will break formation and retreat back to base.

Now, let's talk about combat in a little more detail, because even this is pretty different from most games. As stated earlier, when you make contact with a unit (which is achieved by simply running into them on the map), you start a battle, and, as stated, each battle consists of only three turns. That in mind, you need to maximize your damage output in each turn in order to achieve victory and destroy enemy units.

YOUR ORDERS, MY SOLDIERS!

In a battle there are four ways you can set your men to attack, and those are:

Best, where they attack the unit they can most easily attack
Strong, which will cause them to attack the unit with the most heath
Weak, which will cause them to attack the unit with the least amount of heath
Leader, which means that they'll attack the leader if they can

The way you win battles is to constantly change the way you're attacking. For example, if a fighter in front of you is low on health, you'll want to wipe that one out. If you've got a wizard that can attack the back row of units, you might want to consider using your wizard to weaken up the back row for a future fight. The important thing to remember is you'll rarely be taking out full units in one battle, so you have to constantly be thinking of ways to do better in the next fight.

GLORY UNTO THE LIBERATION FORCE

The most important thing I can tell you is, unless you've got another unit deployed that can flank the enemy, do not eliminate the leader before taking out the rest of the unit, because doing that causes the unit to retreat quickly back to their base and come back out fully restocked. While that's great for grinding, it's really annoying if you're just trying to finish the mission. The only exception to this rule is boss fights, where all you need to do is kill the leader and you'll win the fight.

Now let's talk about the Tarot card mechanic. In this game, every time you liberate a town (and sometimes you can find them on the map themselves), the game gives you a Tarot card. These Tarot card primarily function as special attacks, with each one doing something different in battle. For example, the Emperor card gives each character in a unit an extra attack, while a Chariot card summons a mighty warrior to strike your foes. Tarot cards are an extremely powerful part of this game and can quickly turn the tide of a losing battle or make a boss fight much easer. Now, some tarot cards don't do any damage, such as the Magician, which instead gives you a magic shield, which, while useful against wizards and magic users, is useless in any fights without them. This is important to note because you can only hold so many Tarot cards, and, if you surpass the amount that you can carry, you have to throw one away, so keeping track of what Tarot cards you want can really help you decide with ones you keep. With that, I believe we've covered the basics of Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. Tune in next month when we begin to take a deep dive into things that you can craft your units out of.

Dr. Mario World Check-Up

Written by: winstein (talk)

In this issue's article, we'll be going through the versus mode for Dr. Mario World, which is tucked at the bottom-right corner where you can see the trophy icon. This mode is unlocked after beating stage 10 after an in-game download, so it isn't long before you can start playing it. While the gameplay for versus mode seems similar to stage mode, in practice it is played differently due to some differences, such as a smaller playing field and the fact that you are playing against a human opponent.

Overview of Versus

In versus mode, both players start out with the same opening layout. From there, they will need to work their way through them to clear the viruses, which allows them to attack their opponent. Even though both players have the same layout, they don't get the same capsules. The asymmetry can be a bit one-sided for either player, but managing the capsules smartly could go a long way. Once one of the players clear all the viruses in the stage (other objects are not necessary), three rows of viruses will appear on the side of the field while the opponent gets three rows of viruses in an unblockable attack.

If one of the players have an object or virus reach past the bottom line, they lose while their opponent wins. This includes any objects pushed down if the player clears their side of the field, so it's important to manage the stray objects closer to the bottom before that happens. If neither of the players have won for a while, the stage will eventually shrink. There will be a warning when it begins, and when it does, a row of gray Empty Blocks will push the stage down after every 10 seconds until there are only two rows left. Bonus viruses from clearing all viruses stop appearing when three lines are left, meaning that the only way to beat the opponent is to attack.

As mentioned, versus mode is a different beast compared to stage mode. This basically comes down the objective, because in versus the objective is simpler: players aim to clear viruses to overwhelm the opponent to force them into losing. Many of the doctors and assistants have different effects to better suit the frantic nature of versus, which is faster in general, due to not needing to worry about capsules running out. The playing field is also smaller and you can even the opponent's screen (which is much smaller than yours), which can be a good way to know what the opponent is up to.

Stats

Attacking

Every doctor has one out of four possible bomb types, which determines the amount of lines of viruses sent to the opponent. The number labeled on the bomb indicates the amount of lines, so a bomb with a "1" on it allows a doctor to send one line of viruses to the opponent. If you look at the doctor's versus stats, you will also notice a bar that is partially filled with a rainbow colour. That is basically the speed in which the attack metre fills. The more it is filled, the faster they attack. Generally, doctors with weaker bombs attack faster while doctors with stronger bombs attack slower.

In order for the attack metre to fill, the player must make capsule matches to do this. For every virus or capsule piece that you eliminate, the attack metre fills by one point. So for example, if you use a half-capsule piece to eliminate two viruses (forming three in a row), the attack metre will fill by 3 points. Note that the virus itself must be eliminated in order for the attack metre to fill by each point. That means that if a virus is hidden inside an object like ice or Brick Blocks, making a match that destroys the object while leave the virus intact will not count when filling the attack metre. Using the previous example, if a piece of half-capsule is used to eliminate two viruses inside ice, the ice will be broken and the attack metre will only fill by 1 point because the capsule still fills the attack metre but the viruses are not eliminated. The fact that viruses must be eliminated has some implications: the first is that if the stage has many viruses hidden in objects, the attacks won't come immediate; the second is that some doctors who specialise in hiding viruses in objects like Dr. Ludwig's ice skill will indirectly slow down the opponent's attacks. Dr. Iggy's floatie virus skill do in fact increase the attack metre like usual because floatie viruses still count as viruses.

There is another thing with the attack metre that you need to know: if you clear your playing area of viruses, the opponent's attack metre will become empty, which can really save your bacon especially if the opponent's attack metre is close to being full. This can mess up slower-attacking doctors like Dr. Rosalina or Dr. Wario, but it might not affect fast-attacking doctors like Dr. Lakitu or Dr. Toad too much.

Defence Percentages

Every doctor has four percentages corresponding to the bombs. Each percentage represents the chance the opponent's bombs are blocked, so for example, if a doctor has a 50% on 3-bombs, they have a 50% chance in nullifying attacks from doctors who use 3-bombs to attack, like Dr. Toadette or Dr. Lemmy. Of course, if the doctor has 0% defence, it is guaranteed that they will take the attack from that bomb type. Generally, doctors who attack fast proportionally to their bomb strength have lower defences, while doctors who attack slow proportionally to their bomb strength have higher defences.

The defence percentages generally determine the advantage in a match up between certain doctors. As an example, Dr. Waluigi (a 3-bomb attacker) has high 1-bomb and 4-bomb defences, which puts him at an advantage against 8-bit Dr. Mario (a 4-bomb attacker), as the latter has low 3-bomb defence. Of course, it is still up to the player to play well and to use the doctor's skill well, and also being lucky that the attacks don't land very often.

Skill Metre

The doctor's skill metre is not as obvious as the other two stats, because the only thing that the player can see is the skill's description. The description may mention keywords to the effect of "fills skill meter" followed by whether it's low, medium, or high, or it doesn't mention them at all. Obviously, if this is mentioned, the skill metre will fill faster than before, and it's generally advantageous that it does so.

The skill metre is filled different from the attack metre. While the attack metre only counts for viruses and capsules, the skill metre is filled for any object affected in a match. To simplify explanation, the following will help in filling the skill metre, where each object affected will fill by 1 point:

Eliminating viruses and capsules
Breaking objects that the viruses are hidden inside of (e.g. ice, barrels, bubbles)
Breaking objects adjacent to the capsule match (Brick Blocks, crates, colourful crates).
Any indestructible Empty Blocks (the blocks that push the stage up) next to the capsule match.

NOTE: If a skill immediately destroys a multi-layered object, every layer will fill the skill metre by 1 point.

The following will NOT count in filling the skill metre:

Objects transformed through doctor skills, such as Dr. Baby Mario and Dr. Baby Luigi's skills. If the object is contained in another object like ice and bubbles, it will fill based on how many layers the transformed object is hidden inside of.
Eliminating the skill charger itself, unlike in stage mode where it fills by 1 point by doing so. However, the skill metre will still fill by 60 points if it is collected.
Breaking a crate but it is still intact. This is unlike stage mode where the skill metre still fills by 1 point even when it is not fully destroyed.

Doctor stats

Finally, here is the rundown for the doctor's stats in more detail:

No.	Doctor	Bomb	AP	Defence% by Bomb Type				SP by Level
No.	Doctor	Bomb	AP	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	5
1	Mario	2	23	30	25	20	15	72	72	50	40	30
2	Bowser	4	53	45	40	15	10	81	81	81	60	45
3	Peach	1	17	60	60	70	75	40	40	30	20	20
4	Luigi	3	45	75	70	45	40	81	60	50	40	40
5	Yoshi	2	19	0	0	10	10	40	40	40	40	40
6	Toad	1	9	0	0	0	0	42	42	42	42	42
7	Toadette	3	25	0	0	0	0	40	40	40	40	40
8	Bowser Jr	3	36	30	30	30	20	60	60	60	60	60
9	Ludwig	2	31	35	70	45	35	58	58	58	58	50
10	Wendy	2	29	30	30	70	20	58	58	58	58	50
11	Waluigi	3	34	65	30	30	60	55	55	55	55	45
12	Wario	4	60	70	70	55	55	50	50	50	50	40
13	Daisy	2	32	70	70	60	55	35	35	35	35	35
14	Baby Mario	1	15	75	50	30	30	35	35	35	35	35
15	Baby Luigi	2	22	15	60	15	15	35	35	28	22	17
16	Baby Peach	3	31	10	10	60	10	62	62	50	40	30
17	Baby Daisy	4	29	0	0	0	0	62	62	50	40	30
18	Rosalina	4	57	75	75	40	40	58	58	58	58	50
19	Luma	1	16	20	80	40	15	49	49	40	30	20
20	Donkey Kong	3	31	10	10	10	10	81	60	81	60	46
21	Diddy Kong	2	14	0	0	0	0	62	62	45	35	25
22	Baby Rosalina	1	15	55	55	30	30	35	35	35	35	35
23	Kamek	3	33	40	30	20	10	50	50	50	40	30
24	Dry Bowser	4	39	20	20	15	10	89	89	89	66	50
25	Fire Mario	2	18	20	20	15	10	79	79	55	44	33
26	Fire Peach	1	15	50	50	55	60	50	50	32	24	24
27	Roy	3	40	50	50	15	15	58	58	58	58	44
28	Larry	1	14	15	15	50	50	58	58	58	58	44
29	Fire Luigi	3	40	60	50	20	10	82	58	44	58	44
30	Fire Rosalina	4	50	55	35	25	25	56	56	56	42	28
31	Nabbit	2	16	0	0	0	0	35	35	35	35	35
32	Lakitu	1	7	0	0	0	0	20	20	20	20	20
33	Goomba Tower	3	25	0	0	0	0	22	22	22	22	22
34	Koopa Troopa	1	13	20	50	20	20	32	32	32	32	23
35	Dolphin	4	37	15	15	10	10	32	32	32	32	32
36	Baby Wario	1	14	40	40	15	5	58	58	58	58	50
37	8-bit Dr Mario	4	50	45	40	10	50	100	80	70	60	60
38	Lemmy	3	31	0	0	50	60	58	58	58	58	50
39	Blooper	2	18	10	20	20	30	28	28	28	24	20
40	Boo	1	11	30	40	10	5	28	28	28	22	17
41	King Boo	4	37	5	5	10	50	44	44	44	44	44
42	Morton	2	40	65	60	75	70	58	58	58	58	50
43	Iggy	3	26	0	5	5	0	50	50	50	50	40
44	Piranha Plant	1	15	10	60	50	60	20	20	20	20	20
45	Petey Piranha	4	47	20	40	60	0	66	66	58	50	40

Specialists

Usually lasting every seven days, four or five doctors will be chosen to receive certain advantages. There are five types of possible advantages, though you basically only see four of them. The possible bonuses are as follows:

Skill level up: The most common of the boosts is to level up the doctor, so that you can use an upgraded skill. This practically gives the doctor a better advantage, especially if their skills are already good. For example, Dr. Fire Luigi is viable at a minimum at level 4, but if you have him at level 3 and this boost is active, this is the best time to use him. There is no downside for this perk, since level 5 doctors also get a bonus, where their skill metres are reduced by 20% (rounded up).
Attack speed up: This reduces the AP metre of the doctor by 10%, rounded up. The advantage granted by this is minor, but this advantage can accumulate since this allow them to attack more often. Note that only Dr. Lakitu and Dr. Toad don't benefit from this perk as their attack metres are very low.
Defence up: This increases the defences of the doctors by a flat 10% across the board, allowing them to more reliably defend against attacks. It's always good to be able to defend against more attacks, especially for doctors with little to no defences.
Extra keys: If you win with this doctor, you get 2 keys instead of 1. Although not much of a perk in battle, the fact that it reduces the amount of battles required to open battle boxes meant that you can open your battle boxes in a shorter time.
Battle points up: Although this boost never gets used for a long time, it is worth mentioning. This allows a doctor to win more points, which is especially significant in higher tiers where the amount of points gained and lost are equal. Because a certain group of people abused this perk to reach a point where they can no longer be battled against, this perk is unlikely to ever appear again.

Skill Chargers

In Season 6, skill chargers appear in the rainbow tier in not only the starting layouts, but also sometimes during attacks, where one may appear per attack. Before this, skill chargers may only appear by using one assistant (Honey Queen), but after this change, there are more chances to use skills thanks to these objects. Season 7 upped the availability of this perk by making it available during attacks in lower tiers (tier 4 to tier 10), meaning that lower tiers might be able to use skill chargers too.

One of the best applications with skill chargers is to chain skills with it. For example, if you use Dr. Mario and there is a skill charger in the lowest row after you skill metre is filled, you can use your skill to clear the lines and the skill charger, subsequently using the skill again. Dr. Daisy can also do this, where you can fill her skill metre, then tap the area with a skill charger to use it to clear a different area. Doctors that send or hide objects to the opponent can chain the skill by sending twice the amount of objects, by way of using it when the skill is filled, followed by using it again after using a skill charger.

It should be noted that since the skill charger can appear after each attack, doctors with weaker bombs have a higher chance of making more skill chargers appear, while doctors with stronger bombs wouldn't have as many skill chargers. This creates a sort of balance where you can use the higher amount of skill chargers against less-strong doctors who can attack often, while at the same time stronger doctors take a longer time to build their attacks but the rarity of skill chargers won't make them appear as often.

Do note that skill chargers can also appear after you clear all viruses, and if you happen to use some of the doctors that can take advantage of this, you are sure to be advantageous. As an example, Dr. Bowser and Dr. Dry Bowser can eliminate three random rows, and they can clear them all and possibly chain them until they overwhelm their opponent. Finally, Dr. Donkey Kong's virus attack skill won't have skill chargers.

Miscellaneous tips

Add extra capsules to the play area: In versus mode, there is no danger in running out of capsules. Because of this, one thing a player could do is to add several capsules into the field if they so want to, especially if a specific capsule combination is wanted. The game will occasionally not give a specific colour, so the player could keep adding capsules to get the colour. You should still manage the existing capsules so that they don't clutter or overflow. In other words, this should be done if the player needs a specific colour but there isn't one.
Pull capsules inside gaps sparingly: One of the possible things you can use capsules is to drag a capsule piece into a gap that is big enough for it, which can be helpful, but it is also a bit slow. Perhaps for lower tiers the games don't go by very fast, but if you are in a higher tier, it is better to muscle past viruses from the bottom. If a capsule match through dragging into a gap is more efficient, then go for it.
Push capsules down with another capsule: Sometimes the player might mess up the capsule's alignment, which can be annoying if it got in the way of a match. One way to prevent this from happening is to place a capsule to line up with a match, and then use another capsule to push the first capsule down so that the alignment doesn't waver. If a valid capsule is made as a result of pushing capsules, the match will immediately be made, meaning that it is one way of speeding up a capsule match.
Time skills properly: Most of the time, there is a time and place to use the skill as it's not always the best idea to use it immediately when you can. For example, Dr. Mario should hold off the skill button if there are stray capsules or easily-cleared rows at the bottom-most rows, and Dr. Ludwig should only use his skill if the opponent has several viruses that can be targetted. Certain doctors can stand to spam their skills as much as they can, such as Dr. Wario and Dr. Luigi, which pretty much make them exceptions.

Doctors

Instead of listing down every single doctor, I will organise them in a subjective tier list because this will allow me to organise my thoughts for each one better, specifically on their overall usefulness. The characters are not necessarily ordered by their usefulness within the specific tier.

Of note is the "Min. Viable Level" column, which lists the minimum level for the doctor at their most viable, and it's a level where I felt they reached the potential where they can prove their usefulness. Of course doctors are better at higher levels than that. If their level is lower than the listed viable level, that means they would've been ranked a bit lower than the designated tier.

Wonderful

Doctor	Min. Viable Level	Explanation
Dr. Mario	2	Dr. Mario in versus is best described as all-around. His defences are not spectacular but they get the job done, and his attack speed is average for 2-bomb attackers. Where Dr. Mario shines though, is his skill: their skill is to clear the lowest line(s) of objects, where it is one line at level 1 and two lines starting from level 2. The fact that this skill is not random makes it reliable, and clearing the lowest line(s) per use of this skill has a few key applications. For one, it can save the player from losing by clearing any objects that are dangerously close to the bottom of the field, and it can also clean up all the viruses if there is one line or two lines close to each other. He may be a slower attacker and has a less destructive skill compared to Dr. Fire Mario but is still solid and has a few advantages compared to him.
Dr. Fire Mario	2	Dr. Fire Mario is a much more aggressive attacker, as while his defences are marginally lower than Dr. Mario's he makes up for it with a faster attacking speed. Dr. Fire Mario has the same skill as Dr. Mario and is just as versatile, except that it has the benefit of incinerating the objects, ensuring that those multi-hit ones are completely gone, unlike Dr. Mario who only hits them once. The only drawback is that is that its skill charge speed is slightly slower. Because of the high attack speed and great skill, this doctor is commonly-used by skilled players for a reason.
Dr. Yoshi	3	A combination of the skill's high clearance and fast attacking speed is the reason Dr. Yoshi is one of the more common picks in versus, especially if the player has a high level Dr. Yoshi. Dr. Yoshi is best described as a glass cannon because he has practically little to no defences, but it is made up by a relatively fast attacking speed. The 10% defences against 3-bombs and 4-bombs aren't the worst thing to have, which might even be handy to have. His skill synergises with the glass cannon nature by being able to eliminate objects, allowing for quick clears. The way this skill works is that random objects on the play area are targeted, but it will always prioritise viruses if there are any. Because of this, the best way to use Dr. Yoshi is to basically clear out any non-virus objects in order for Dr. Yoshi to do the rest, and the focus must be the ones nearer to the bottom. This should be done since if the opponent attacks through Dr. Yoshi's low defences, there will be new viruses and so the stray objects won't be considered a target anymore. Even if there are only viruses to clear, it is a good idea to eliminate any easy-to-clear viruses.
Dr. Daisy	4	Basically, Dr. Daisy's wonderful skill and great defences makes up for her slower attack. Dr. Daisy' skill is to eliminate an object that you tap on the screen, which causes anything within the range to be eliminated. The range is 1x1 for level 1, and it is increased for every level, up to 5x5 in level 5. Also, any object that you tap will be instantly eliminated, making it a very good cleanup skill. Similar to Dr. Mario and his fiery counterpart, this skill is versatile for how reliable it is, as there are many things you can do. One way to use this skill is to clear any viruses or objects that are close to the bottom in order to prevent the player from losing, and another is to clean up the play area of viruses in order to reliably attack the opponent. Of the characters, Dr. Daisy probably has a high skill ceiling by virtue of being the only character in versus to have a manual-targeting skill, which is an unusual trait that no other doctor has. Another unusual thing with this skill is that after you activate it, you can still move capsules around even though the skill meter is empty. As long as a finger shows on the screen, this skill hasn't been used, so you can fill up the meter to be able to use it a second time immediately. A delayed use of this skill can even come in handy depending on what happen in the battle, so for example if the opponent had a surprise attack you can save yourself from losing. The many ways this skill can be used is why Dr. Daisy is very good.
Dr. Fire Luigi	4	Dr. Fire Luigi's stats are decent, as he has good defences against weaker bomb types, though he is a bit slow as a 3-bomb attacker. His skill makes up for some of the drawbacks for his stats. Dr. Fire Luigi functions similarly to Dr. Fire Mario in this his skill can clear the lowest row(s), but there is the addition of clearing the leftmost column(s). Between the two of them, Dr. Fire Mario's skill is more instantaneous compared to Dr. Fire Luigi, who has to wait for the column(s) to clear first before the row(s) are cleared. Dr. Fire Luigi do have overall better defences compared to Dr. Fire Mario, but his attack speed is on the slow side.
Dr. Petey Piranha	2	While Dr. Petey Piranha is the last doctor to be added, it is a very solid one to boot. The attacking speed is somewhat average as a 4-bomb attacker, while the defences are an interesting mix, with the 3-bombs having the most defence while the 4-bomb having no defence at all. The biggest thing going for Dr. Petey Piranha is the skill, because it has better clearing potential compared to Dr. Fire Mario where every column will have two bottom-most objects (level 2+) cleared in each column. The only catch with it is that it takes a bit more time to finish executing.
8-bit Dr. Mario	3	This doctor's defences are fairly good except for a weak 3-bomb defence, and he has a relatively slow attacking speed. What makes 8-bit Dr. Mario very good is his skill, because it renders all the half-capsules uncontrollable, where you can't even drag them down unless it's pushed by a full-sized capsule. This is even more disruptive than Dr. Luigi's skill in locking capsule rotations, mainly because it removes control from the flexible half-capsule pieces from the opponent and effectively slows them down. Because of how great 8-bit Dr. Mario was, he is the only character to receive nerfs within this game's history. His skill and attack metre charge slower than from release, but the skill will still be very useful despite that. The only thing is that 8-bit Dr. Mario is hardly available, where he is mainly available through referrals or from free gifts last year in 2020.
Dr. Larry	2	While Dr. Larry is a 1-bomb attacker with average speed, his colorful crates are what makes him a solid choice. These obstacles are trickier to clear because of a need of a specific colour, and the fact that it fills gaps make it quite deadly in the hands of a player that can use them successively. His defences are quite good for stronger bombs, therefore assistants that guard against weaker bomb types are recommended.
Dr. Peach	5	Dr. Peach is more of a wall, because her defences are high on average, although her attack speed is on the slow side. Because of Dr. Peach's slower attack for 1-bomb attackers, the high defences are helpful for her. At the highest level, she clears 3 columns, which when combined with how fast this skill charges (no doubt making up for the skill's lower clear potential), is when the skill is at its most useful. This allows her to potentially chain the skill for another use. To use this skill efficiently, it is a good idea to clear any columns with few viruses so that no viruses remain, in order to increase the chances of a desired column to be targeted by this skill. If there is a skill charger in that column with a virus, it's a good idea to leave it there so that the skill may target it, allowing her skill to be used again.
Dr. Fire Peach	5	Dr. Fire Peach is similar to Dr. Peach in terms of stats and skill. The difference is that her defences are slightly weaker but has a slightly faster attack speed, and her skill chargers slightly slower but can immediately eliminate all the objects within it. Between the two of them, Dr. Fire Peach is a bit less useful but not significantly so, mainly because of the slower skill charging and the the slightly longer skill animation.
Dr. Baby Mario	3	As a 1-bomb attacker, Dr. Baby Mario is a bit slow, but his defences are solid, especially against 1-bombs where he can more easily defend against. With a skill that converts many objects into exploders, Dr. Baby Mario can easily cause chain reactions by setting up exploders in close proximity to each other. These exploders can even be used to clear all viruses so that you can push the stage up, and you can trigger an explosion immediately before the stage moves up so that you can clear the new viruses with explosions. Note that if the opponent attacks while the explosion is triggered, it might not hit the intended target, which is why you should trigger the lower bombs instead of the higher bombs.
Dr. Baby Rosalina	3	Simlar to Dr. Baby Mario, Dr. Baby Rosalina is a 1-bomb attacker that attacks a bit slow, but she comes with good defences. Her defences are a bit more balanced for weaker bombs. Her skill converts many objects into rainbow capsules, which can then be used to make even more matches to clear more objects. Due to this, it is very easy to clear the field. There is a bit of a delay before the viruses are transformed into rainbow capsules, so make sure you use it a bit ahead of time.
Dr. Iggy	4	Dr. Iggy's defences are almost non-existent, but his attacks as a 3-bomber come quite fast. His skill also covers a lot of gaps, where you can put up to 15 viruses on the opponent's side of the field. With that quantity and a somewhat fast charge speed, you can chain the skills more quickly to more easily overwhelm the opponent. Do note that because Dr. Iggy adds viruses, the very same viruses can be used to fill the attack metre to target his very low defences.
Dr. Donkey Kong	3	Dr. Donkey Kong is all about playing aggressively. His somewhat fast attacking speed is complemented with a skill that adds even more viruses to the opponent's side of the field. The strategy with using this doctor is pretty simple, but it can be effective if you play fast enough. Just be sure to remember that this doctor's defences are pretty low, even if it's there.
Dr. Dry Bowser	3	Dr. Dry Bowser is overall one of the faster 4-bomb attacker, though unlike Dr. Bowser his defences are on the low side. Much like Dr. Bowser, his skill is where he shines. It can cover up to 3 rows, but is a bit slow in charging. If you are left with three topmost rows, this skill will target them all, but if one of the rows even has an object so that there are four or more rows, it can also target them. Also, if the topmost row has a gap even if there are multiple rows close to each other, not all of them may be targeted. Dr. Dry Bowser is overall superior compared to Dr. Bowser despite the former's slightly slower skill charging speed and lower defences, mainly because his skill is comparatively instantaneous, so you can clear those rows more quickly. The biggest hurdle with Dr. Dry Bowser is the fact that you can only obtained him as rewards, referrals, or purchasable pack, so it is not very easy to obtain him at a high level. If you somehow end up with a high-levelled Dr. Dry Bowser, you have a powerhouse in your hands.

Great

Doctor	Min. Viable Level	Explanation
Dr. Bowser	3	Dr. Bowser is basically a tank, for he has 4-bombs. It comes with a slower attacking speed, though he has good defences against 1-bombs and 2-bombs. Where Dr. Bowser shines is his skill, because it can cover up to three rows of viruses at level 3. The skill may be on the slower side in skill charge, but is made up by a higher potential to clear more objects, because viruses tend to be clumped in rows. If you are left with three topmost rows, this skill will target them all, but if one of the rows even has an object so that there are four or more rows, it can also target them. Also, if the topmost row has a gap even if there are multiple rows close to each other, not all of them may be targeted. Basically, this skill is most reliable when you are at an advantage of having less rows, but if you are overwhelmed, it can become unreliable. What makes Dr. Bowser not as good as Dr. Dry Bowser is that not only does the skill not immediately clear everything it targets, his skill also has a bit of delay before the viruses are incinerated, making him a bit of a slower choice.
Dr. Dolphin	2	While not having the best defences, Dr. Dolphin is one of the faster 4-bomb attackers. Its bubble skill is also quite disruptive due to the potential in messing up a row or by making viruses unable to be cleared due to floating, and it is helped by how often you can use them compared to Dr. Bowser Jr.'s skill. Because of the frequency of this skill's activation, you should spam them unless the opponent has next-to-no viruses left, and eventually it will cover the opponent's entire field if they can't keep up.
Dr. Fire Rosalina	3	The range in which Dr. Fire Rosalina's skill can clear is enormous, especially at level 3 where it randomly targets a 5 x 5 area. The drawback is that it is a random targeting skill, so you can't control where it clears after you use it. It also prioritises viruses, so if a stray object is not near a virus, that stray object may not be cleared. That is why you still need to clear the non-virus objects, lest it will become too much of a problem. As far as stats go, her defences are decent to good (and notably lower than her regular counterpart), plus her attack speed is relatively slow. Even then, the skill makes up for the stats especially at higher levels due to the somewhat fast charge speed.
Dr. King Boo	3	He can completely remove viruses which is very powerful against certain doctors, plus he attacks relatively fast for a 4-bomber, but it only targets viruses and he has not much defence outside 4-bombs. Due to this, it is important to clear non-virus objects before they get pushed up. However it is only available as rewards, referrals, or purchasable pack so not as many high-levelled Dr. King Boos.
Dr. Ludwig	2	Dr. Ludwig's greatest asset is a high 2-bomb defence, because this is the type of bomb that is used by some of the best doctors, which might also include himself. Another thing he has is a disruptive skill that covers viruses in ice, making them more difficult to clear. Since the ice doesn't contribute to the attack metre, this also slows down the opponent. It is best to use this skill if there is a sufficient amount of viruses on the opponent's side to maximise potential. Although Dr. Ludwig was originally one of the better doctors in the early days, he didn't do so well nowadays due to a combination of other viable doctors existing to more easily combat his decent defences and slow attacking speed, as well as some of them having skills to easily clear viruses even when they are covered in ice.
Dr. Roy	2	Dr. Roy has good defences against 1-bombs and 2-bombs, though his attacks are bit slow for a 3-bomb attacker. His skill is one of the best, as his crates each take two hits to remove, and there's also the fact that they can cover gaps so it can overwhelm the opponent if you use it enough times. The skill charges decently fast as the maximum level. The crates can also slow down the opponent's skill charging because the crates won't contribute to the skill gauge unless it is completely destroyed.
Dr. Lemmy	2	Dr. Lemmy has great defences against 3-bombs and 4-bombs, while maintaining a somewhat fast attacking speed. The barrels that are created to cover viruses are also more difficult to get rid of, since they come in two layers. The drawback with this skill is that not as many viruses are covered by it, though it is made up for how well they can disrupt rows or columns of viruses as they can be more easily scattered. The biggest drawback with Dr. Lemmy is his non-existent 1-bomb and 2-bomb defences, which makes him overall more difficult to use against popular doctors that use those type of bombs.
Dr. Kamek	4	Dr. Kamek eliminates viruses of the most common colour, and the amount of objects is a lot. He is a 3-bomb attacker with an alright attack speed. One of the main issues with Dr. Kamek is that his skill has the combination of only working with viruses and having a delay before it takes effect. Because of the effect delay, one can use the skill and then follow up with grabbing a skill charger to immediately fill it up to use it again. Even then, it is important to clear other objects since this skill can't target them. Because of this, Ant Trooper is a good assistant to ward off some opponent's skills that introduce non-virus objects. Porcupuffer or Scaredy Rat can also be used to make opponent's attacks the same colour, thereby synergising well with this skill's effect.
Dr. Piranha Plant	3	It has high defences except for 1-bomb, and the ability to clear non-viruses are welcomed. Viruses are still prioritised so the player will need to set up in a way that the skill can screen-clear, unlike Dr. Yoshi who can clear more objects. The interesting thing with Dr. Piranha Plant is that if it is a specialist at level 5, it becomes broken when combined with a max leveled Boo. That is because this combinations will result in 9 SP, which is the same amount of objects it clears at that level. This allows it to spam the skill in a way that outpaces the opponent.
Dr. Nabbit	3	While Dr. Nabbit has no defences, he attacks pretty fast as a 2-bomb attacker. Moreover, his skill does the heavy lifting because it can easily set off a chain reaction between the rainbow capsules, exploders, and shells. The rainbow capsules can be used to set off one of the two other types of objects, and if you clear fast enough you can chain it again. You should be mindful of where the exploders and shells end up, because if you don't pay attention and clear them, they could easily reach the bottom and put the user in danger, due to Nabbit's lack of defences.
Dr. Toad	3	With no defences, Dr. Toad is vulnerable to attacks from the opponent. Fortunately for Dr. Toad, he is one of the fastest attackers, despite only having 1-bombs. Dr. Toad's skill is to target random objects, even if there is nothing in the spot. If you are worried that this skill might not hit anything: there's no need to worry as this skill will always eliminate at least one object per use. The skill also has another property that makes it deadly: it will never target objects that cannot be eliminated, so any empty blocks will not be targeted. What does this mean? That means if the stage shrinks, Dr. Toad can hit more of the field with his skill. At level 5 where it clears 50 objects, this skill can even target the entire play area when it shrinks to 7 rows (leaving 49 spaces left), and that would be enough to grant the player an advantage if they didn't already have it. The huge potential of Dr. Toad's great skill is offset by his low defences, so it is important to keep the opponent's attacks at bay by clearing enough viruses or objects. If the player persevere, the stage will shrink and that would be when Dr. Toad's skill gets progressively more useful as time goes by.

Solid

Doctor	Min. Viable Level	Explanation
Dr. Boo	3	Its attacks come out relatively fast for 1-bomb attackers, while maintaing OK defences for weaker bomb types. Much like Dr. Fire Rosalina, its targeting skill is random, and areas with viruses are prioritised. Because of this, the user should clear objects that are closer to the bottom, and this includes viruses due to the skill's lower range. It is helped by the fact that this skill can be used more often.
Dr. Toadette	1	Dr. Toadette is a fast attack for a 3-bomber, and with no defences this makes her a glass cannon. Her skill to distract the opponent with clouds can come in handy, since the clouds cannot be removed. If there are a lot of clouds on the opponent's side, it might even distract them to slow them down, allowing Dr. Toadette to more reliably build attacks.
Dr. Goomba Tower	3	Dr. Goomba Tower is similar to Dr. Toad in that they are vulnerable to attacks from the opponent, but the difference is that Dr. Goomba Tower is a 3-bomb attacker which means that when they attack it will hurt more. The attack speed is relatively fast for the bombs they throw. The other difference is that their skill targets less than Dr. Toad's, though the skill metre fills faster in exchange.
Dr. Koopa Troopa	2	Dr. Koopa Troopa has an average attacking speed for a 1-bomb attacker, and has a good 2-bomb defence. His skill charge speed is also quite fast, especially at the maximum level, allowing you to cover more viruses inside Brick Blocks. This should be enough as a 1-bomb attacker as you can potentially cover all the viruses from the attack inside blocks. The disadvantages are that his other defences are not very high, and the lower quantity of blocks compared to Dr. Wendy meant that they don't disrupt as easily as her.
Dr. Wario	3	Dr. Wario is the slowest attacker, but he is backed up by high defences and possesses the strongest bomb type. His skill in preventing the opponent from filling up their attack metre is decent even if the duration isn't that long. Because of the combination of slow attack, a skill that prevents the opponet from attacking, and high defences, Dr. Wario is the best candidate for carrying the Fly Guy or Mechakoopa assistant since it speeds up attacks, where you have more chances to attack while being able to defend well, and you can even stop the opponent from taking the same advantage through using his skill.
Dr. Baby Peach	2	She has great 3-bomb defence and rainbow capsules, and is a somewhat fast attacker for that bomb type. The skill also takes effect instantaneously, so it can be used in an emergency in the case of a missing colour. Her other defences are lacking, so it would be recommended to equip defence assistants to patch this disadvantage.
Dr. Baby Daisy	1	While Dr. Baby Daisy has no defences, she is proportionally the second-fastest attacker (after Dr. Lakitu and Dr. Diddy Kong, both tied). Because of this, her 4-bomb attacks can land pretty often if the opponent is not prepared for it. Even her skill has some uses, given how single colour capsules are simpler to use. Moreover, the first capsule being rainbow coloured makes it handy. The only thing you have to contend with for this skill is that there is a delay before the skill takes effect.
Dr. Blooper	4	Dr. Blooper eliminates viruses of the most common colour, where it charges faster compared to Dr. Kamek. It is also a pretty fast 2-bomb attacker with usable defences. One of the main issues with Dr. Blooper is that its skill has the combination of only working with viruses and having a delay before it takes effect. Because of the effect delay, one can use the skill and then follow up with grabbing a skill charger to immediately fill it up to use it again. Even then, it is important to clear other objects since the skill can't target them. Because of this, Ant Trooper is a good assistant to ward off some opponent's skills that introduce non-virus objects. Porcupuffer or Scaredy Rat can also be used to make opponent's attacks the same colour, thereby synergising well with this skill's effect.
Dr. Luigi	3	Dr. Luigi is blessed with overall solid defences at the expense of a slow attacking speed (slowest of the 3-bombers). It is his skill that shines the most, because preventing oponents from rotating their capsules can slow them down as they adapt to the restricted controls of not able to rotate their capsules. The skill and his high defences work in tandem with each other, as it lowers the speed in which the match is played. Do note that half-capsules can still be moved around, and that skilled opponents can easily play around this skill, so while this skill is good in less-skilled matches, it is not as debilitating at higher-skilled matches, especially if the opponent is using a doctor with a skill that can clear the screen easily.
Dr. Wendy	2	She has excellent 3-bomb defence and the Brick Blocks can block out matches, but is a bit lacking in other defence types (especially against 2-bombs) and is on the slow side for a 2-bomb attacker. The best time to use this skill is when the opponent has enough viruses, in order to maximise this skill's potential. Due to Dr. Wendy being a 2-bomb attacker (the most prepared-for bomb type) and slow attacks, it is a bit more difficult to use this skill after you attack.
Dr. Bowser Jr.	2	Dr. Bowser Jr's defences are somewhat average, though he is a bit below average for a 3-bomb attacker. His bubbles is the greatest asset, as the bubbles can disorient viruses by making them float, making them immune to being eliminated until they land. Due to Dr. Bowser Jr.'s 3-bombs, it is easier to use this skill to cover the opponent's viruses after your attack lands. Unlike most doctors who affect the opponent, Dr. Bowser Jr. doesn't get a skill metre speed increase at the maximum level, making his skill charge rather slowly even at the highest level.
Dr. Baby Wario	2	Dr. Baby Wario's has average attacking speed for a 1-bomber, and has decent defences for weaker bombs. His skill can send a lot of coins to the opponent, and that amount is pretty substantial. While coins are easy to get rid of, it can disrupt doctors whose skills are geared towards virus-clearing. What makes him a bit of a weaker choice is the weak defences against stronger bomb types.

Decent

Doctor	Min. Viable Level	Explanation
Dr. Morton	2	Dr. Morton has overall high defences, which complements his disruptive skill of covering viruses inside ice and bubbles. The covering of viruses allow Dr. Morton to slow down the opponent's attacking and clearing the field, but it should be used if there is a sufficient amount of viruses, since it can be wasted on a cleared field. Another issue with Dr. Morton is that his attack is the slowest, and is overall the slowest attacker for a 2-bomber. The fact that 2-bomb are the most prepared-for group meant that his slow attacks can be more difficult to connect. If the opponent uses a doctor that can clear viruses quickly, it would be difficult for Dr. Morton to catch up with them.
Dr. Waluigi	1	With Dr. Waluigi's decently-fast attack metre for a 3-bomber and solid defences, his stats are overall on the high-end, and this makes him pretty good against 1- and 4-bomb doctors who have little 3-bomb defence. The skill can also provide a form of distraction, which is best used after an attack is connected to give the opponent less time to remember the viruses. The only issue is that this distraction is temporary, as the dust clouds can be removed by placing a capsule above it or to eliminate any viruses next to the dust. Because of the skill's overall slowness, Dr. Waluigi is at a disadvantage against doctors whose skill has a more significant impact.
Dr. Baby Luigi	2	Dr. Baby Luigi has high defence against 2-bombs coupled with a decently fast attack, and a skill that transforms up to two objects into shells (it charges faster at higher levels). The main issue is that shells are difficult to use effectively as they are slower to fulfill their purpose of row clearing, and the shells don't react to each other. 2-bombs are also the most prepared-for group, so the fast attacking perk is caught in a crossfire of Sushi being more common.
Dr. Lakitu	1	Dr. Lakitu's advantage is that he's the fastest attacker at 7 AP, allowing you to dish out attacks pretty often. This is especially useful against opponents who are unlucky to have a doctor with low 1-bomb defence, as he's best at pressuring those types. The main issue with Dr. Lakitu is the lack of defences. Moreover, his skill provides a minor distraction since it covers fewer of the opponent's viruses inside clouds, despite it charging rather quickly. Compared to Dr. Toadette who has higher bomb power and cloud power, Dr. Lakitu doesn't apply much pressure on the opponent.
Dr. Rosalina	2	Dr. Rosalina has overall high defences, defending well against weaker bombs and decently against stronger bombs. Her bomb power is also the highest, at the cost of being the second-slowest attacker after Dr. Wario. Her skill is to randomly transform opponent's viruses into a random form, and not all of them are useful. The most useful ones are bubbles, ice and blocks, while clouds and dust are not very useful. Between the random effect and the overall slow power, Dr. Rosalina is difficult to use effectively in fast games, even if her advantages shine in a slower game.
Dr. Diddy Kong	1	Dr. Diddy Kong has attack power on par with Dr. Lakitu, where he is the fastest 2-bomber attacker. This allows him to exert some pressure on opponents that don't have much 2-bomb defence. However, Dr. Diddy has no defences, and his skill is very awkward to use. Getting rainbow capsules from it is great, but it's controlling the broken capsules after it that is tricky. Ironically, Dr. Diddy Kong's versus skill for level 1 is more tolerable compared to the other levels since you only have three of them, as opposed to six at other levels. 2-bombs are also the most prepared-for group, so the fast attacking perk is caught in a crossfire of Sushi being more common.
Dr. Luma	2	The major advantage with Dr. Luma is that it has the highest 2-bomb defence, putting it at an advantage against 2-bomb doctors by shrugging off most of their attacks. It is even better if the opponent's 1-bomb defence is low, so it has an advantage against some opponents like Dr. Yoshi or Dr. Blooper. The skill in pushing viruses down has its uses, like if you want to push the viruses away from the bottom, and it has a lot of range, where you push up to 10 rows of viruses. The problem with this skill is that one, if there is a non-virus object, the viruses will be blocked by it and two, it might interfere with lining up viruses in a row. Dr. Luma also attacks slow for a 1-bomber while having less impressive defences in other areas. As Dr. Luma doesn't clear viruses with its skill, certain 2-bomb doctors can eventually push through Dr. Luma because of their skill advantage, such as Dr. Fire Mario and Dr. Daisy.

Assistants

Viable Assistants

Sledge Bro & Monty Mole: These two a chance to make the player's attack metre fill by extra. This is by far one of the best effects you can ask for, because if they activate, the player can attack more often. The way this skill works is that, assuming that they activated at the start of the match, every elimination will fill the attack meter by an extra point, which basically means that making a lot of matches is encouraged because every match means an extra attack point filled.
Penguin: Penguin's is to grant a chance to bypass the opponent's defences when attacking. As you can guess, this is especially useful for players who want to have better chances for their attacks to land, and is especially useful if attacking is the main strategy, such as when using Dr. Fire Mario or Dr. Toadette, since they have relatively small attack metres.
King Boo: King Boo's effect is to grant a chance in giving two extra rows of viruses to the opponent. The chance is pretty small, where it's only 15% at maximum, but when it activates, the advantage granted is substantial that it's best used for faster attackers like every 1-bomb doctor or Dr. Yoshi.
Bullet Bill: Bullet Bill's effect is to grant a chance the skill metre is fully filled in the beginning. While the chance of activation is not quite high, the advantage of a full skill metre at the beginning of the match can be enormous. This is best used with doctors whose skills offer a serious advantage at the beginning, such as those that sends obstacles to the opponent's field like Dr. Larry or Dr. Iggy.
Bomb Boo: Bomb Boo's effect is to grant a chance half-fill the skill metre in the beginning. It's not as potent as Bullet Bill's effect, but it has the advantage of activating more often, where it's 90% at max level. having a bit more skill filled has its advantages, such as if the doctor has an skill that doesn't need to be used straight away, such as Dr. Daisy or Dr. Yoshi.
Honey Queen: Honey Queen's effect is to grant a chance an object is changed into a skill charger. Having a bit more chance than Bullet Bill, this effect comes in handy because many doctors have a skill metre that fully fills when it is collected. It is the middle group between Bullet Bill's immediate skill fill and Bomb Boo's delayed usage of the skill. You can either use the skill charger to immediately use a skill, or you can use a skill and then follow up with collecting the skill charger to chain the use of skills, which can grant an advantage depending on what type of skill is used.
Boo: Its effect is to reduce both players' skill gauges by a percentage. This is one of the several assistants with gambit effects, where you incur an advantage to yourself but the opponent gets the same advantage. What makes Boo useful is the fact that getting more uses of the skill is generally advantageous, especially if the doctor's skill is solid like Dr. Yoshi, Dr. Daisy or Dr. Larry.
Porcupuffer & Scaredy Rat: These assistants grant a chance that the opponent's attacks will have the same colour of viruses. When that happens, it will be easy to eliminate them due to the simpler layouts produced. It's very good for making comebacks for that reason. Note that non-virus objects are not affected by this effect, so a skill charger produced from the attack may not be the same colour as the viruses.
Dry Bones: This assistant's effect is to grant a chance to produce a rainbow capsule. Rainbow capsules are not normally available in versus, and what makes Dry Bones stand out is that the effect can activate after every capsule, so you can potentially have several of them to help in clearing viruses.
Ant Trooper: This assistant's effect have a chance to block opponent's skill effect. If you find it annoying for the opponent to disrupt your playing field, Ant Trooper can reduce the amount of times the skill takes effect. It can also be helpful for doctors that are at a serious disadvantage if disrupted, such as Dr. Kamek or Dr. Blooper who cannot clear non-viruses (so skills that produces obstacles are not easily dealt with).
Yellow Shy Guy, Sushi & Fish Bone: These assistants provide a significant percentage in block attacks of a specific number of rows. They are 1-line, 2-lines, and 4-lines respectively. While the effect may be useless if facing doctors that don't fall under the criteria, the usefulness is felt if facing a doctor that the assistant(s) can block. Of the three, Sushi is generally the best one because there are many useful 2-line doctors, though Yellow Shy Guy shouldn't be discounted as there are a few useful 1-line doctors. Fish Bone may seem like the least useful, but it provides protection against some powerful doctors, given how not many doctors have high defences against 4-line attackers.
Banzai Bill & King Bob-omb: Both of these assistants have a chance to increase the amount of rows per attacks by one. Though their effects are the same, Banzai Bill's percentage chance is generally higher than King Bob-omb, so you should generally use Banzai Bill unless King Bob-omb's level is significantly higher as to eclipse the percentage effect. Of course, there's the option of using both of them. Note that the former is a battle box reward from tier 5 onwards, while the latter is a battle box reward from tier 3 onwards.
Whomp King: His effect is to grant a chance to reduce the amount of rows sent by the opponent by one, so unlike the other three assistants available in versus, this is a defensive one. Since the effect works on any doctor's attacks (except virus clear attacks), it can be used as a sort of safety net. 1-row attacks can even be nullified by this effect, giving you a bit of advantage against them.

Niche Assistants

Goomba & Koopa Troopa: Their effects are to fill the attack metre if the opponent attacks, effectively counterattacking the opponent. The best application for these assistants are on doctors with high bomb power (4-bombs preferably) and a lot of defences, such as Dr. Rosalina and Dr. Wario. Do note that the chance