Elemental Strategy:
Pummel Weed

Pummel Weed is a quick, brutal melee fighter, but has no ranged attacks. Get the Razor Top upgrade as soon as possible, which turns Pummel Weed’s Weed Creeper power into a damaging attack. This in turn makes Weed Creeper extremely useful for escaping large swarms of enemies (or killing large groups of beetles), inflicting damage and buying Pummel Weed time to move into a better position to use his Uprooter or Weedkill attacks. Don’t let Pummel Weed get surrounded by large groups of enemies, which leaves him very vulnerable. Stick and move!

After the Razor Top upgrade, we recommend getting Uprooter, Weedkill, and Spirit up, in that order. Pummel Weed needs the Uprooter to give him a high-damage attack early on, and the Weedkill power is good for scoring Brutal bonuses.

You may find by the time you have Ash and some of the later Elemental Warriors, that you won’t be making much use of Pummel Weed's pugilistic prowess. In the early game, however, his powers work well in conjunction with Rubble. Use Pummel Weed’s Weed Creeper (upgraded with Razor Top) for speedy escapes from hordes of enemies, and to gain a good position to fire off Rubble’s Gravel Blast and hit as many enemies as possible.

Expert Tip: Use the Weed Creeper power in the Treasure Cave (located in Mountain Falls) to slip through a crack in a wall and get to the hidden treasure!

Remember, the Gravel Blast can hit enemies multiple times: both on the explosion and when the boulders return to Rubble. However, the Gravel Blast leaves Rubble vulnerable (and very slow) for a short while, so you may need to switch back to Pummel Weed after Rubble recovers from his Gravel Blast and quickly move to a new position before getting swarmed by enemies.

As you gain additional Elemental Warriors, you’ll probably make less use of Pummel Weed as a primary fighter, but his Weed Creeper power will continue to be useful throughout the game as a speedy method of crate destruction, beetle killing, sliding under gates, and as a quick escape from enemy hordes.