Nest Guard: Merge Tower Defence Strategy Guide

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How a stage works

Critters walk along a winding path toward the nest. Beside the path are stone pads. Tap Summon to place a random defender from your squad onto a pad, and it will attack critters on its own.

Drag a defender onto an identical one to merge them into a stronger defender, one star higher, up to seven stars. Survive every wave before the nest loses its three hearts to clear the stage. Nest Guard has 200 stages, with boss waves every 10.

Merge early

One strong defender usually beats two weak ones. Because merging frees a stone pad as well as making a stronger unit, merging early gives you both more power and more space for new summons.

The exception is when a big wave is about to arrive and you need coverage along the path right now. In that moment, it can be better to keep two defenders spread out than to merge them into one.

Know the six defender types

There are six defender types: Archer, Wizard, Frost, Chef, Spark and Knight OvOs, and each fights differently. Rather than memorising exact numbers, think in two broad roles:

• Splash defenders, which hit several critters at once, shine against big groups.
• Single-target defenders shine against bosses and tough critters.

A balanced squad has both. Watch how each defender behaves in your first stages and note which ones handle crowds and which ones handle bosses best.

Preparing for boss waves

Boss waves arrive every 10 stages and test whether your squad has enough single-target power. In the waves before a boss, focus on building one or two high-star defenders rather than many low ones. Place your strongest defenders where the path passes close by for a long time, such as bends, so they can attack for longer.

Re-roll, Meteor and Golden summons

Summons are random, so luck plays a part. The Re-roll booster turns a defender into a different type, which is very useful when you have one odd defender that will never find a twin, or when you need a specific type for a boss. Meteor and Golden summon are the other two boosters, useful when a wave is about to overwhelm your defenders.

Between stages: cards and squad building

Between stages you can upgrade cards and build your squad. Your squad decides which defenders can appear when you tap Summon, so it is worth thinking about it before a stage rather than during it. If a stage is giving you trouble, change your squad to include more of the role you are missing, for example more splash damage for stages with large groups.

Where to play

Nest Guard is free in any modern web browser at ovo.games and in the OvO.games app for iPhone, iPad and Android. The first 40 stages are free for everyone with ads; OvO Pass unlocks every stage and removes ads. If you like action with more movement, OvO Survivors is a one-thumb roguelite with a similar critter cast, and our one-tap arcade guide covers quicker games.

Questions