Crazy Joe HQ Wave 20 (100% Marksman)
Losing HQ wave 20 is a damage problem, not a tanking one. There are only three turns, and everything rests on wiping Joe's Infantry on turn 1 - which is why every defender runs 100% Marksman.
The premise — why you lose
Losing HQ wave 20 is a damage problem, not a tanking problem. Wave 10 is easy because the troop count is low; wave 20 is dramatically harder. Put Infantry into this stretch and you will kill 10% of Crazy Joe's troops.
Gen 3–4 accounts start collapsing at difficulty 18–20, Gen 4–5 around level 30. If a mixed composition is already clearing it for you, leave it alone — this is for people who have started to stall, and it takes them from 10–20% to about 70%. (Irrelevant if you are in a Gen 15+ whale alliance.)
⚙️ Combat mechanics three turns, that is all
Each turn runs "pick target → trigger skill → attack". The target is chosen once at the start of the turn, in a fixed order: Infantry (always, if any survive) → Lancer → Marksman.
Joe's Infantry
wiping them here is the whole game
Joe's Lancers
Joe's Marksmen
🎯 The key — wipe Joe's Infantry on turn 1
With only three turns, failing to clear the Infantry on turn 1 means you hit Infantry again on turn 2 → Lancers on turn 3 → you never touch the Marksmen, and the report stalls at ≈70%. Turn 1 Infantry wipe → turn 2 Lancers → turn 3 Marksmen is what 100% looks like.
The report does not say outright whether turn 1 cleared the Infantry — if the Lancers and Marksmen also died, it did.
| Class | Its skill in a Joe fight |
|---|---|
| Lancer Ambusher | 20% chance to strike the Marksmen behind the Infantry directly (it changes the target). The only skill that picks a different class |
| Marksman | Double damage, damage reduction and the like — no target-changing skill |
| Infantry | Mostly defensive → pointless against Joe |
※ The injuries Joe inflicts on your troops are small enough to ignore → do not plan around survival.
🎯 The core strategy everyone in the HQ runs 100% Marksman
Why Marksmen? Infantry produce no damage (the cause of the failure), and Lancers deal less than Marksmen. Marksmen are the highest damage plus the best-upgraded heroes. The higher the base damage, the more the attacking joiners' buffs amplify. Because Joe's injuries are negligible, this is the one event in the game where 100% Marksman works.
🧱 Filling the HQ, and the buffs
- Everyone at 100% Marksman. Infantry engage first and steal the kills (it is not that they score higher — they simply go first) → mixing loses you damage. Empty the Infantry and Lancers out of the city first.
- Troops per person = the rally capacity of the strongest rally leader who will garrison ÷ 15. (At Gen 11, roughly 120k each × 14 people plus 100–110k for the last → the HQ fills reliably.)
- Buffs that work: attack, damage and Lethality up, enemy defence down, plus pets, state office titles and deployment capacity. Whales add the 10–20% gem buffs (Frostfire Mine on Tuesday, for instance).
🦸 Heroes by generation judged purely on how much they amplify turn-1 Marksman damage
Infantry slot (placed because of how the garrison leader combination works — the skill raises Marksman damage)
| Hero | Gen | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Hector | Gen 5+ | The answer Marksman damage +100% on turn 1 (double) → 85% on turn 2 → ≈75% on turn 3. Twice what Flint or Geronimo give (≈50%), plus a garrison defence widget. Use him forever |
| Flint | Gen 2–4 | The best option before Gen 5. The skill is Geronimo-tier, but his garrison +5% attack widget does fire → strong. 4-star (skill 5) with the widget maxed recommended |
| Geronimo | Gen 1 | Use him if you have him. His widget is an attacking one, so it does not fire on garrison |
Lancer slot
| Hero | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Molly | Irreplaceable A dependable 25% damage plus a garrison +15% Lethality widget. Use her forever |
| Philly | 15% and a health widget → well behind Molly |
Marksman slot — where the generation gap really shows
| Gen | Hero | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 3–4 | Alonzo or Greg | Alonzo = a 40/50% chance skill (fires on turn 1 if you are lucky; widget does not apply) / Greg = no Joe-relevant skill but higher stats and consistency. Pick luck or consistency |
| Gen 5 | Lynn | Recommended The skill is unremarkable, but her defensive Lethality widget fires and her stats are higher → better than Alonzo or Greg |
| Gen 5 alternative | Gwen | Avoid Her skill is "every 4th or 5th attack", so it never fires in three turns, and her widget is an attacking one → Lynn is ahead |
| Gen 6 | Wayne | No-brainer Lethality for every class → damage up from turn 1, higher stats, and a garrison Lethality widget |
| Gen 6+ | Victor and Wayne → Bradley at Gen 7 | Once you are here, Joe stops being a concern |
⭐ Final combination by generation
| Gen | Infantry | Lancer | Marksman |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gen 3–4 | Flint (or Geronimo) | Molly | Alonzo / Greg |
| Gen 5 | Hector | Molly | Lynn |
| Gen 6 | Hector | Molly | Wayne |
🤝 Joiners, and stopping a buff-source hijack
Running your joiners
Recommended: ideally a mix — 1 Reina + 2 Jessie/Jasser + 1–2 Seo-yoon. Below Gen 4 (no Reina), substitute 2 Jessie/Jasser and add Reina later. The point is mixing different joiner skills.
Selection rule: only the top 4 below the garrison captain are chosen (skill level 5 first). Cycling: promote the joiner you want out to captain → then promote your intended leader (Hector, Molly, the Marksman hero) back to captain, and that joiner drops to the back of the queue. Skip the joiners you want to keep.
⚠️ Jessie and Jasser share the same skill (Geronimo can substitute). Seo-yoon is a Gen 1 Marksman.
🚨 Buff-source hijack (garrison only)
The leader shown on screen and the actual buff source can differ — the strongest hero combination becomes the source. If a whale sends three fully-equipped Gen 4–5 heroes as a joiner, your setup gets hijacked. It is especially bad when Seo-yoon (Gen 1 Marksman, no widget) becomes the source: the whole 100% Marksman composition falls apart.
- Everyone sends only one joiner hero (remove the other two)
- Anyone too strong sends zero heroes (you only need 4 joiners out of 15 people)
- The designated leader puts their best gear on their own heroes (Hector, Molly) to be as strong as possible
If it fails, open the details of the Joe report and check whether the hero at the top is the one you intended.
✅ Summary
- Everyone in the HQ at 100% Marksman, and empty the Infantry and Lancers from the city first (they engage first and steal kills)
- Garrison leader = the largest rally capacity; divide that capacity by 15 for troops per person
- By generation: Gen 5 Hector, Molly, Lynn / Gen 6 Hector, Molly, Wayne
- One joiner hero each, zero if you are strong → prevents the hijack. Turn on every buff that works
- The goal is wiping Joe's Infantry on turn 1 → killing the Lancers and Marksmen too means it worked
This is not a guarantee — some levels are unclearable without maxed widgets and heavy spending. But it is the best version of using the mechanics as they are, and 10% → 70% is real.
Specific to HQ wave 20 on early generations (Gen 3–6). For the event as a whole — wave structure, scoring, city defence, the Baldur Expert — see the Crazy Joe event guide.
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