Survival: Roof (Endless)/Strategies
This is a strategy page about Survival: Roof (Endless). Feel free to add your strategies, but see the rules page first.
Beginner's Guide: Survival: Roof (Endless) builds
Roof 10 cob
This strategy is both suitable for Survival: Roof (Endless) and Survival: Night Roof (Endless).
You should launch a pair of Cob Cannons every 7 seconds, in other words, when the zombies appear, you should launch a pair of cobs in 1 second.
There aren't any Digger Zombies or Dancing Zombies on the roof. Jack-in-the-Box Zombies and Catapult Zombies can be killed when they appear.
In the even flag, you need Ice-shroom to kill ambush zombies. When on the roof stage, you should wake up the Ice-shroom 5 seconds after "A HUGE WAVE OF ZOMBIES IS APPROACHING!". When on the night roof stage, you should plant the Ice-shroom when the "A HUGE WAVE OF ZOMBIES IS APPROACHING!" disappears.
Asymmetrical 8 cob
This is adapted from the strategy by Nor_st and 平渊.
The timing of the Cob Cannons is faster than the traditional pool 8 cob. Launch a pair of Cobs every 8 seconds. For every 4th wave, use an Ice-shroom to freeze the zombies, wait for an extra 4 seconds, and launch a pair of Cobs. The tempo is Cob | Cob | Cob | Ice - Cob; 8 | 8 | 8 | 12. In contrast, the tradition pool 8 cob's tempo is Cob | Cob | Cob | Cob; 9 | 9 | 9 | 9
You still need Ice-shroom to kill freeze the sky at every even flag, so the ambush zombies won't come.
The Structure of Traditional Builds and Common Variants
Cob Cannon
Because there are no Dancing Zombies or Digger Zombies, it is safe to put the Cob Cannons on rows 1-2 and 6-7. It takes at least 5.46 seconds for Catapult Zombies to throw their basketball, but with the 10-cob (Cob 5) tempo, they are killed 5 seconds after they spawn, so the Cob Cannons are safe.
Gloom-shroom
Gloom-shrooms are vital in cobless builds. The group-gloom structure in Survival: Day (Endless) still applies on roof. Group-gloom optimizes the use of Ice-shroom and Cherry Bomb and alleviates the stress of rows 1 and 5, but rows 2 and 4 are vulnerable against Giga-Gargantuars, Zombonis, and Football Zombies. Rows 2 and 4 are often accompanied by two or more Winter Melons to deal extra splash damage and slow down the zombies.
Modern builds for skilled players
Group-gloom cobless
Strategy by narpo
This is a very difficult cobless strategy for advanced players.
Slow tempo
The tempo is either Card 4 + DPS (C4IO: Doom-shroom | Squash - Ice-shroom | Jalapeno - Ice-shroom | Cherry Bomb) or Card 3 + DPS (C3IO: Doom | Squash - Ice | Jalapeno - Ice - Cherry) If the Jalapeno wave spawns too slowly, use the Cherry Bomb to activate the spawning and play C3IO, otherwise play C4IO.
- Doom-shroom: crater sequence: 2-8, 2-7 (4-7), 4-7 (2-7), (3-9 on wave 9 if you play C3IO), 4-8, 2-7 (4-7), 4-7 (2-7), 2-9 (3-9). To put a Doom-shroom right underneath a Gargangtuar, press SPACE to PAUSE THE GAME. It takes 1.99 seconds to wake up a Doom-shroom, and 2.68 seconds for a slowed-down Gargangtuar to smash a plant, so if you can put a Flower Pot, pause, unpause, pick the Doom-shroom, pause, unpause, put the Doom-shroom on the Flower Pot, pause, unpause, pick the Coffee Bean, pause, unpause, and put the Coffee Bean on the Doom-shroom in 0.69 seconds, you should be able to wake the Doom-shroom. However, you cannot make a single mistake.
- Squash: if playing C4IO, use it immediately. If playing C3IO, delay it a little, giving time for the Jalapeno to recharge. After the Gigas disappear, the tempo becomes quicker, and other instants may not have recharged. In these cases, use a Squash to kill the Zombonis and use the instant on the next wave.
- Ice-shroom: You can store Ice-shroom during the day and use them if necessary. Normally, use an Ice-shroom when Football Zombies are about to reach column 7. However, in some emergency cases (Giga is about to smash Gloom-shroom, Jalapeno's CD is not ready, or Gigas on row 1 or 5 are not slowed down), use an extra.
- Jalapeno: same as Squash. If its CD is not ready, use the Ice-shroom on 3-2 and put the Jalapeno there.
- Cherry Bomb: During the Jalapeno wave, if the Doom-shroom is about to recharge and the Jalapeno has recharged at least 1/3, or Gigas are about to smash the Gloom-shrooms, use it on 3-8 and play the C3IO tempo. Otherwise, wait for a new wave to spawn and use it on 3-9.
Fast tempo
Fast tempo is a lot easier. You only have to deal with Football Zombies on rows 2-4 and Zombonis on row 3. Because the tempo is faster, bring Imitater Cherry Bomb instead of Imitater Ice-shroom. The tempo is Card 5 + DPS: Doom | Squash | Imitater Cherry | Jalapeno | Cherry.
Sometimes when there is an emergency, you can put Cherry Bomb on 2-7 or 4-7, Jalapeno on 3-2, and Doom-shroom on 1-5, 1-6, 5-5, or 5-6. This will delay time and slow down the tempo. Also, because Squash recharges faster than other instants, you may use it whenever it is recharged.
Extreme fast tempo
This one is very similar to fast tempo. One way to play it is to bring Imitater Jalapeno. Use the Imitater Jalapeno when Zombonis are on the border between column 8 and 9. Use the normal Jalapeno when they are between column 7 and 8.
Variable tempo
Bring Imitater Cherry Bomb. For the first half, the tempo is Card 4 + DPS: Doom | Squash - Ice + Imitater Cherry | Jalapeno | Cherry. Use an Ice-shroom to protect the Imitater. Before using the Imitater Cherry Bomb, make sure 3-8 is empty. Otherwise, Gigas may smash it.
With two Cherry Bombs, the Gigas on rows 2 and 4 are easier to deal with. However, on rows 1 and 5, the Winter Melons may spend too much time on the Imps. Then, Gigas are not slowed down, and they may smash the Fume-shrooms. If that happens, use an Ice-shroom immediately and remove the Pumpkin on the Fume-shroom.
After Gigas disappear, it is the same as the fast tempo.
Extreme variable tempo
Bring Imitater Cherry Bomb. This is probably the only choice, since Imitater Jalapeno/Squash can't deal enough damage to Gigas during the first half, and Imitater Ice-shroom can't kill Zombonis during the fast second half. Also, it is incredibly difficult to protect Imitater Doom-shroom in day levels.
The first half is very similar to the extreme fast tempo, but the tempo heavily depends on the density and distribution of Gigas. It is usually Card 4 + DPS.
Because of the absence of Football Zombie, the second half is a lot faster. However, you can optimize the card rotation by using Doom-shroom on 1-5 and Cherry Bomb on 2-7/4-7.
Major threats
- Giga: biggest threat. Usually, they need 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 instants on each row, but on rows 2 and 4 they generally need 2. If only 1 is used, they have to be frozen within the range of the Gloom-shrooms. The Winter Melons can slow most Gigas down, but on rows 1 and 5, Winter Melons may waste too much time on Imps, and the Gigas won't be slowed down. In that case, click an Ice-shroom immediately.
- Zomboni: second biggest threat. They are naturally killed on rows 1 and 5, and they won't crush plants on 1-5 and 5-5. On rows 2 and 4 they are barely killed (not mathematically 100%, depending on how many times Winter Melons can hit the them). On row 3 they need a proper rotation of instants. To delay time, you may put Jalapeno on 3-2 and Cherry Bomb on 2-7/4-7.
- Football: may bite Gloom-shroom on 2-6 and 4-6 if they are not frozen on Column 7, but as long as they don't inflict too much damage, you can always replace the Gloom-shrooms at an easier level.
- Jack-in-the-Box Zombies: unfortunately this build does not have good Jack suppression. Theoretically, if not slowed down, Jacks on 1 and 5 will be naturally killed by Fume-shroom and Gloom-shrooms. If slowed down, that means the suffer splash damage from the Winter Melons on row 2 or 4, which is greater than the damage of a Fume-shroom. This is roughly equal to 2 Fume-shroom natural suppression. On rows 2-4, they follow the "7-column Gloom + Winter Melon suppression". However, this structure only protects the Gloom-shrooms, not your instants, especially Squash. They can be taken out by Jacks even if you put them before Jack opens his box.
- Balloon Zombies: you have to bring blover against it. It occupies 1 seed slot and costs extra sun.
Sun balance
Can this build survive endlessly? Some very advanced players can play for more than 50 flags, but they have to use save/load (save the gamedata file so you can revert back if you make a mistake). Sun is also a problem, although this build fits the "6 Sunflower -1500 Sun" Principle (if there are 6 Twin-Sunflowers, and on 2 "max difficulty" flags (usually with Giga, Zomboni, Football, and Balloon), less than 1500 Suns are lost, then the build can survive endlessly). This is a very vague rule, because different builds have different combinations of difficulties and different regeneration abilities. Also, if this build faces 20 consecutive "max difficulty" flags, there won't be enough sun to use the instants.
References: https://tieba.baidu.com/p/6621127630?pn=1, https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1xc411h7aF?p=4
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