Earthquake

Earthquake is a radius-damage ball that detonates a 3×3 grid AoE (up to 9 tiles) every time it lands. Unlike most balls that deal single-target damage, Earthquake applies 5–13 damage simultaneously to every enemy caught in the blast zone. In a clustered wave that's effectively 45–117 total damage on a single pass — an absurd efficiency advantage.

The 5–13 damage range scales with damage multiplier passives, and the multiplier applies to both the direct hit and the AoE. Solo tier is A — it performs at a high level immediately without evolving. Magma (S-tier) is the evolution ceiling; Swamp and Landslide are both strong A-tier alternatives.

• Earthquake is a reliable high-priority early pickup — AoE works in any build
• If aiming for Magma: collect Fire/Burn balls simultaneously
• For Swamp: prioritize Poison ball collection alongside Earthquake
• For Landslide: gather Stone balls; the Stone+Earthquake combo is highly efficient

Magma [S-tier · Lava Zone]

The apex Earthquake evolution. Transforms the AoE blast into a lava pool that persists on the field for several seconds, dealing continuous burn damage to any enemy that steps into or through it. In high-density late-game waves, a single Magma shot poisons the entire battlefield with persistent fire. S-tier.

Overgrowth [A-tier · Plant Spread]

Landing triggers plant growth that slowly covers the impact zone, applying Poison stacks and root effects to enemies that enter the area. Strong sustained-pressure evolution for mob-heavy stages.

Swamp = Earthquake + Poison [A-tier · Poison Field]

Combines Earthquake's area impact with Poison's DoT. Impact creates a swamp field that automatically applies Poison stacks to every enemy that enters the zone. The ground-based poison effect persists, covering larger areas as successive shots overlap.

Landslide = Earthquake + Stone [A-tier · Rolling Rocks]

Spawns a rolling rock formation in a line from the impact point, hitting enemies along the path for high physical damage. Efficient at clearing a lane of elite mobs and deals well with lined-up formations.

Glacier [A-tier · Freeze Field]

Converts the impact zone into a Freeze field. Enemies caught in the 3×3 area receive Freeze stacks simultaneously — locking down groups for Assassin back-stabs or coordinated burst windows.

Sandstorm [B-tier · Wind Chips]

Post-impact sandstorm persists for a few seconds, dealing chip damage to enemies in the area. The sustained effect is real but the per-tick damage is low enough to keep this at B-tier.

Brimstone [B-tier · Sulfur Burst]

A chemical-reaction variant of the Earthquake + Poison space. Shorter duration than Swamp but higher peak damage in a smaller area. Situational; Swamp generally performs better unless you specifically need burst over sustain.

• Sisyphus — 4× AoE × 3×3 area = enormous zone; every shot becomes a screen-wide event
• The Tunneller — wall wrap increases landing frequency; AoE fires more times per second
• The Ascetic — right-angle bounces re-enter the same zone; back-to-back AoE detonations on one cluster

• Aim for the center of enemy clusters; the 3×3 zone covers the most enemies when positioned centrally
• Corner shots still trigger AoE at full radius — use walls to angle into clusters
• After evolving to Magma, place shots strategically to create overlapping lava pools along enemy paths
• Swamp and Glacier work best as "traps" — shoot slightly ahead of moving enemies

Earthquake is A-tier immediately and scales to S-tier with Magma. The 3×3 AoE makes it one of the most efficient crowd-damage balls in the game without any setup. Seven evolutions span fire, poison, stone, and freeze archetypes — pick it up early and commit to an evolution path.