Success in The Battle Cats Pop! comes from finding respectable felines

The Battle Cats Pop! is a silly, frivolous game. It’s a Swords & Soldiers-inspired RTS that has managed to surpass its predecessor. It’s not bad, but lacks some of the nuance of similar games. Instead, it promotes the usage of characters because they’re weird, funny or sometimes even lewd. While there is a temptation to cave to those base desires, and nothing wrong with it if you do, you can actually pull together a rather competent team when getting serious about the game.

To start, you need to be concerned about your cash flow. Money is everything in The Battle Cats Pop!. While this can be accumulated naturally, by defeating enemies, investing in-battle to increase the amount earned per second and using experience to acquire permanent upgrades, there are also certain cats that can boost the amount of money you earn for fighting foes. The rare Thief Cat and its upgraded Phantom Cat form are the best option for bringing in that dough. Each one earns extra money for defeating enemies, which is better for your bottom line. It isn’t a terribly expensive unit, with the Phantom Thief costing 330 in Chapter One, in Chapter Two and 660 in Chapter Three. The Thief Cat can come up in any of the gachas, so it isn’t too difficult to find. It’s best to deploy a number of these as quickly as possible, to raise funding for your better cats.

You’ll also want one or two cheap units, which you can use to act as filler as you attempt to work up to those larger, better cats. There are two units I recommend working with as cannon fodder. In Chapter Two, you’ll unlock the Boogie Cat as you play. It can be upgraded to the Samba Cat. This is often the cheapest unit in the game, has a fast recharge time and can be deployed in swarms. It isn’t the strongest, but it gives you something to help stem the tide of enemies. The Samba Cat is 50 in Chapter One, 75 in Chapter Two and 100 in Chapter Three. Moneko and Miss Moneko is another option. I ended up getting Moneko from The Dynamites machine. She’s similarly cheap, but stronger and more likely to inflict critical hits. Her downside is, she has one of the longest recharge times for a unit with her price. She’s 99, 148 and 198 in each of the three chapters. Both are good for when you need to get things out in The Battle Cats Pop! while waiting for your big guns.

Speaking of which, let’s go to the characters you should be considering as speedy or heavy hitters. You want a variety of cats that will get you in a good position to wipe out enemies. I recommend at least one speedy cat on your team. Early on, the Cats in the Box and Cat Gang are a good option. They unlock in the second chapter, are one of the fastest units in the game and have an area attack. It’s 750, 1,125 and 1,500 for the Cat Gang, depending on the chapter. Later, you can bring in the Sengoku Wargods Vajiras gacha’s Yukimura. Again, he’s one of the fastest units in the game and deals additional damage to black-colored enemies. He’s more costly, at 2,050, 3,075 and 4,100, but I genuinely think he’s worth it. Both of these cats can make a big difference.

Having powerhouses is important too. There are tons of strong cats in The Battle Cats Pop!, so you should have no problem. Personally, I like Baby Cat and Cat Babies best. The Baby Cat comes in The Dynamites gacha and has a knockback area attack against floating and alien enemies. It’s also incredibly strong, being able to do and take quite a bit of damage. It is a more costly unit, with the upgraded version coming in at 2,100, 3,150 and 4,200, but is also the sort that will remain effective in every chapter. Its one of the more practical units in the game.

Finally, you should round out your roster with a ranged attacker. One of the earliest units you can get is the Nerd Cat and Hacker Cat. I found the Nerd Cat when playing The Dynamites machine. Despite arriving so early, he’s a unit that remains practical throughout The Battle Cats Pop!. Make sure some strong units are up in front, holding the line, then deploy a Hacker Cat. He’ll stay safely in back, using very strong ranged attacks. This unit does come at a cost. His best form costs 2,500 in the first chapter, 3,750 in the second and 5,000 in the third. We don’t get many cats capable of attacking from such a distance, so it’s good to take advantage of him.

Of course, these are only a few of the cats you’ll encounter in The Battle Cats Pop!, but they also have the benefit of mostly being rather commonly acquired units. When building up a roster, you want to have a good balance. Especially when you start getting into the last few fights or tackling the Challenge Mode. Playing units for giggles is fun, but there’s a time to be practical too. Make sure you have some capable characters shuffled in to handle more hazardous situations.