Gameplay discussion: Toxic variants

Feel the poison! These characters are referred to as "elemental characters" and they have the ability to deal continuous and lingering toxic damage to the enemies. The toxic damage will deal 2 damage to the enemy at a continuous rate while they are inflicted with it, which will stop their natural regeneration in addition. You can reset the toxic effect on an enemy by hitting them with your primary weapon again.

This toxic damage can spread to multiple enemies if an enemy that is inflicted with the toxic effect gets close to their allies. Most characters have a toxic aura which will instantly inflict the toxic effect on nearby enemies without even needing to hit them with a primary weapon. These characters will generally deal less damage, although the toxic abilities should more than make up for this.

Toxic Pea: Dealing damage with your attacks will inflict toxic damage on the enemy for a few seconds, dealing 2 damage each time. He has a toxic aura as well, which will immediately inflict the toxic effect on enemies that get too close to you. Your shots will deal 17-25 damage, depending on distance from you and the enemy, and you can deal 10 splash damage as well. Any direct hit that you inflict is a critical hit as well. You can inflict the toxic effect on enemies by dealing damage with a direct shot, splash shot or with your toxic aura. You deal significantly less damage compared to regular Peashooter.

Toxic Chomper: Dealing damage with your attacks will inflict toxic damage on the enemy for a few seconds, dealing 2 damage each time. He has a toxic aura as well, which will immediately inflict the toxic effect on enemies that get too close to you. Your weapon is limited to only close range, and you have a spray attack instead of a chomp. You will deal 8 damage at a continuous rate to any enemies caught in your spray, along with dealing the toxic effect which will linger on enemies. You can inflict the toxic effect on enemies by dealing damage with your spray or using your toxic aura. You will overheat after a while of continuous shooting, so try to take a small break from shooting occassionally to prevent this.

Druid Rose: Dealing damage with your attacks will inflict toxic damage on the enemy for a few seconds, dealing 2 damage each time. She does not have a toxic aura, so you will need to deal damage with your attacks to inflict the toxic effect. Your shots will deal 5 damage each and they have a small area of effect as well, making it easier to land hits on enemies. Your shots have homing capabilities when you are close enough to enemies, making it easier to land shots and inflict the toxic effect on enemies. You can only inflict the toxic effect on enemies by dealing damage with your primary weapon, but use the homing to assist with this. You deal significantly less damage compared to regular Peashooter.

Toxic Citron: Dealing damage with your attacks will inflict toxic damage on the enemy for a few seconds, dealing 2 damage each time. He has a toxic aura as well, which will immediately inflict the toxic effect on enemies that get too close to you. You will not get this toxic aura while you are in ball form. Your shots will deal 2-7 damage or 3-8 critical damage, depending on the distance from you and the enemy. He is a cloud on impact character variant as well, so each shot will leave temporary poison clouds which will deal 2 damage at a continuous rate to any enemy while they are caught in it, which will inflict the toxic effect as well. You can inflict the toxic effect by hitting your enemies with direct shots, by dealing damage to an enemy caught in a poison cloud, or using your toxic aura when not in ball form. You deal less damage and shoot at a slower rate compared to regular Citron, but the toxic effect is greatly useful.

Dr. Toxic: Dealing damage with your attacks will inflict toxic damage on the enemy for a few seconds, dealing 2 damage each time. He has a toxic aura as well, which will immediately inflict the toxic effect on enemies that get too close to you. Your shots deal 15-20 damage, depending on the distance from you and the enemy, although when extremely close to an enemy, you can deal an additional 25 damage to nearby enemies if they are close together. You can inflict the toxic effect on enemies by dealing damage with a direct shot, a blast shot at extremely close range or with your toxic aura. You deal much less damage compared to regular Scientist, although the toxic effect can be great when there are multiple enemies around.

Sanitation Expert: Dealing damage with your attacks will inflict toxic damage on the enemy for a few seconds, dealing 2 damage each time. He does not have a toxic aura, so you will need to deal damage with your attacks to inflict the toxic effect. Your shots will deal 35 damage each and you can deal 18 splash damage. Any direct hit that you inflict is a critical hit as well. You can inflict the toxic effect on enemies by dealing damage with a direct shot or a splash shot. You deal slightly less damage compared to regular Engineer, although remember that you do not have a toxic aura.

Captain Squawk: Dealing damage with your attacks will inflict toxic damage on the enemy for a few seconds, dealing 2 damage each time. He has a toxic aura as well, which will immediately inflict the toxic effect on enemies that get too close to you. You have 2 different attacks, which both deal toxic damage. Your close range spray is limited to close range, of course. It will deal 7 damage at a continuous rate to enemies caught in front of it, and inflict the toxic effect as well. You will overheat if you spray for too long. Your scoped attack will deal 39 damage or 46 critical damage along with inflicting the toxic effect, although you only have a single shot, meaning you will need to reload after every shot. You can inflict the toxic effect by dealing damage with either weapon or with your toxic aura. 

Toxic Brainz: Dealing damage with your attacks will inflict toxic damage on the enemy for a few seconds, dealing 2 damage each time. He has a toxic aura as well, which will immediately inflict the toxic effect on enemies that get too close to you. You have 2 different attacks, which both deal toxic damage. Your punches deal 10, 20 and 30 damage respectively if you manage the 3-punch combo, and your beam deals 2-4 damage, depending on distance. You are a legendary character variant as well, so you have a legendary meter called "Toxic Overload". Landing about 10 successful punches without being vanquished will give you "Toxic Overload", which will approximately triple your damage, give you damage reduction and improve your movement speed during this time. During Toxic Overload, your punches will deal 30, 60 and 90 damage respectively if you manage the 3-punch combo, and your beam will deal about 10 damage. Dealing damage to enemies with your beam will not add to your legendary meter. You can inflict the toxic effect by dealing damage with either weapon or with your toxic aura. You deal less damage compared to regular Super Brainz by default, but you will deal double his damage instead while you have Toxic Overload active, and you will keep all toxic effects.

Basic Notes

• The Toxic upgrade is exclusive to Toxic characters, which improves the area of your toxic aura and increases the toxic damage or duration. These effects can vary based on the toxic character. I absolutely suggest using this upgrade on the eligible toxic characters as it will make their toxic effects much more powerful against enemies. However, characters that do not have a toxic aura do not get the Toxic upgrade, and they get the Damage upgrade instead, which I do think you should use instead because it can make them deal almost as much damage, if not more, than their basic variants without this upgrade. Druid Rose and Sanitation Expert are affected by this!
• You should always try to attack enemy groups, as the toxic effect will easily spread through the group and allow you to deal much more damage. Continue reapplying the toxic effect against groups of enemies for even greater damage and to reset the duration of the toxic damage.
• You can use the toxic aura to deal toxic damage to enemies more efficiently, although you should be mindful as you do not want to get vanquished while close to enemies. Either sneak behind the enemy group and leave after applying toxic damage, or utilise this feature when enemies either get close to you or if you are a character mostly limited to close range.
• If you want to spread your toxic damage more effectively, aim to deal damage to multiple different enemies that are spread apart. It will be easier to start spreading the toxic effect once their allies start to group up or when an affected enemy gets close to an ally.
• As you will apply the toxic effect to enemies when dealing damage, regardless of how much damage you actually deal, you can attack your enemies from a long range to safely apply the toxic effect and to weaken your enemies, and then you and your allies should be able to finish your enemies more easily after that. You can quickly inflict the toxic effect on enemies as well to stop their natural regeneration.

Well, I absolutely enjoy the elemental characters and they are fun to play around with!