Inspired by The Gingerbread Man, the original mobile runners of the Cookie Run franchise got a gacha RPG city builder in Cookie Run Kingdom, eventually evolving into a rather intense strategy experience where the right selection of Cookie fighters may dictate the pace of battle. Such an example of a crucial Cookie is Crunchy Chip Cookie, an Epic Cookie who leads the Cream Wolves of Dark Cacao Kingdom with his wolf companion.
Once serving as the bodyguard of the Ancient Hero Dark Cacao Cookie, players who obtain Crunchy Chip Cookie in the Cookie Run game can get quite a formidable Charge character. However, using the right Toppings in Cookie Run Kingdom should transform Crunchy Chip Cookie into a Frontline juggernaut.
Enter Wolf Squadron
Before fans get into deciding what Toppings work best with Crunchy Chip Cookie, it helps to understand his overall combat style as a Charge Cookie in Cookie Run Kingdom. Crunchy Chip’s rather edgy appearance suits his combat role well, with his accompanying Cream Wolf on the prowl for threats. However, where Crunchy Chip Cookie shines, in particular, is his Wolf Squadron Skill, wherein he gets a massive boost to his overall regular attacks as well as other special effects such as summoning wolf companions as well as additional resistances. Before building Crunchy Chip Cookie with specific Toppings, here’s how his Skill affects his combat performance:
- Cooldown: 15 Seconds
- Tamer (Status): Crunchy Chip gets 25% of Summoned Creature Buffs
- Single Hit DMG: 88.6% + 185% of CRIT%
- Extra Single Hit DMG: 100% ATK
- Other Buffs: Crunchy Chip and his Wolves get resistance to Knockbacks and Flying, as well as a short resistance to Interrupts
Claw Mark
The core part of the Wolf Squadron Skill is how this bestows a debuff to stronger enemies in the gacha title. When Crunchy Chip hits enemies with his regular attacks, they have a chance of getting a Claw Mark. Opponents who have three stacks of Claw Marks will trigger its effects, debilitating their combat performance while leaving them open for the kill. Here are the overall effects of Claw Mark:
- Claw Mark (Status): Crunchy Chip’s regular attacks leave a Claw Mark on the enemy with the highest ATK value
- Claw Mark Effect: Activates on 3rd Stack, 217% DMG, -25% ATK Speed for 18 seconds (up to 2x Stack)
Wolf Pack
The secondary aspect of the Wolf Squadron Skill in Cookie Run Kingdom gameplay is how it enhances Crunchy Chip’s role as a summon-reliant unit that needs a bit of support to sustain attacks. When activating Wolf Squadron, Crunchy Chip also enhances the effects of his Cream Wolf mount on top of creating up to two Summoned Wolves. Here are the basic stats of each Summoned Wolf on top of the buffs that Tamed Wolf receives whenever Wolf Squadron is activated.
- Tamed Wolf (Buff): 102.9% ATK, 138% DEF, 230% HP, 100% CRIT% taken from Crunchy Chip Cookie’s stats
- Summoned Wolf: 70% ATK, 60% DEF, 85% HP, 100% CRIT% taken from Crunchy Chip Cookie’s base stats
- If Crunchy Chip Dies: Upon death, Tamed Wolf continues to fight with increased resistance to CC until Crunchy Chip revives. When he’s back on the battlefield, Crunchy Chip climbs back onto the Tamed Wolf and resumes combat.
Toppings Considerations
Before outfitting Crunchy Chip with specific Toppings, players of the gacha RPG may want to consider his overall combat style before selecting primary buffers to go in tandem with Treasures. With Wolf Squadron in mind, Crunchy Chip cements his overall ATK and DMG sources with his Wolf Summons, making him heavily reliant on his Skill to boost his DPS.
Not only that, his focus on inflicting debuffs with his Regular Attacks means his primary method of securing the advantage is through basic offense with no fancy effects. With this in mind, here are certain considerations when customizing Crunchy Chip with specific Toppings:
- Front Position: As a Front Cookie, Crunchy Chip is touted as a vanguard unit capable of either defending the squad or being powerful enough to start a frontal assault. Most of the time, Front Cookies lack ATK but make up for decent HP and DEF, especially in the case of Defense Cookies that tend to sponge damage and give the rest of the team time to strike a counter-attack.
- Charge Type: Unlike Defense Cookies, Crunchy Chip is a more offensive Charge Type that relies on heavy-hitting skills that primarily target other front enemies. As noted with his toolkit, Crunchy Chip as a Charge Type relies on debuffing foes as soon as possible and zoom in for the kill.
- Regular Attacks: Unlike other heavy damage-dealers, Crunchy Chip doesn’t rely on elemental statuses to increase his damage output. Being reliant on regular attacks to confer debuffs means players should equip him with Toppings that either boost his overall DPS and ATK SPD.
Build: Hard ATK Focus
- 5x Searing Raspberry (+15% ATK with +5% ATK Bonus)
With Crunchy Chip being a Charge unit in the gacha RPG, fans may want to focus on his key strength as a DPS. This objective in mind could be accomplished with Hard ATK Focus via Searing Raspberries, as giving him a full kit can boost Crunchy Chip's overall ATK up to 20%. With the right setup, Crunchy Chip can be a juggernaut on the battlefield, tearing opponents apart without requiring a tank to accompany him all the time.
Given Crunchy Chip's status as a Physical DPS unit, this Hard ATK Focus makes for a sensible build that taps into his inherent strengths. While the lack of CRIT% means Wolf Squadron won't have as many debilitating effects, the pure ATK buff could definitely rake in high base DPS before receiving further buffs.
Build: Swift Cooldown
- x5 Swift Chocolate (-9% Cooldown + -5% Cooldown Bonus)
Unlike other characters in the gacha RPG, Crunchy Chip of Cookie Run Kingdom depends greatly on his Skill to secure his status as a premier Physical DPS among other Charge Cookies. It's only thanks to Wolf Squadron's Claw Mark debuff that he can procure relatively high damage numbers, which means the 18-second gap between the Skill's activation could be the difference between a performing Crunchy Chip or a unit waiting for a revive.
In this case, a Swift Cooldown Build could be a life-saver for players who want to make Crunchy Chip a central part of their team. At its core, getting up to -14% Cooldown could drastically alter the speed at which Crunchy Chip can get his damage boosts, potentially increasing his combat performance further or securing opportunities to damage stronger foes.
Build: Defensive Compensation
- 5x Solid Almond (8.5% DMG Resist +5% DMG Resist Bonus)
One of the biggest risk elements in having a Physical DPS like Crunchy Chip as a frontliner is his lack of basic defenses. Against the wrong stack of opponents, even Wolf Squadron can't give Crunchy Chip enough of an ATK boost to outperform them in combat. With Defensive Compensation, Crunchy Chip can get much-needed DMG Resist to grant him a decisive defensive advantage, especially when Cookie healers have to focus on other members of the party.
While not as combat-boosting as other Toppings in Cookie Run Kingdom, Defensive Compensation ensures that Crunchy Chip's DPS capabilities remain viable for much longer on the battlefield as he gets an emergency sustain. Although not necessarily a heal, a Physical DPS unit being able to fend off a bit of damage can stall for time as they wait for much-needed recovery.
Build: Hard CRIT Boost
- 5x Juicy Apple Jelly (+15% CRIT% with +5% CRIT% Bonus)
Players who want to maximize the effects of Wolf Squadron should consider maxing out on Juicy Apple Jellies as Toppings. This Hard Crit Boost build in a player's Cookie Run Kingdom experience has a hard focus on boosting Crunchy Chip's CRIT%, which is also Wolf Squadron's stat to scale its overall effects.
However, the focus on Crit% is not immediately ideal for Crunchy Chip's kit, especially if he's left alone against tougher bosses. The inherent lack of HP and DEF might make Crunchy Chip fragile with a pure-CRIT Toppings setup should consider having Crunchy Chip accompanied by a healer like Eclair Cookie or an off-tank just to ensure he has backup.
Cookie Run Kingdom was released in 2021 for iOS and Android