Betsy the Leshy

Betsy the Leshy is a Forest boss who has protected the woods for longer than anyone can remember. She is an ancient forest spirit that defends the Forest by trapping intruders in brambles and crushing them with vines, and her presence is tied to the bushes and hedges that grow throughout the area. Touching those plants can draw her wrath.

The fight begins with Betsy positioned at a distance and immediately involves her bramble mechanics. On odd turns she applies Bramble, causing vines to grow between pegs and turn those pegs into vine-covered hazards. On even turns she uses a ranged attack that deals 5 damage. Starting on turn 4, and then every 2 turns after that, she summons a hound to act as a meat shield; these hounds have 20 health normally and 45 health on C10+, and they attack for 3 melee damage. Each hound defeated strengthens Betsy by increasing the amount of debuffs she applies, so the fight becomes more dangerous as her minions are cleared.

Vines are the core of the battle. They deal 1 damage when touched and can capture orbs that make contact with them. Captured orbs lose their special effects while trapped, though their size remains unchanged, and an orb captured once will not be damaged again if it is captured again. Destroying connected vines deals 10 damage to Betsy and releases the orb with the damage value of the current shot, so it is possible to set up strong follow-up turns by breaking vines at the right time. A critical or refresh peg will not turn into a vine, and two vines do not grow from the same peg.

Several tools are especially effective in this fight:

• Intentional Oboe is strong because Betsy’s damage reduction is applied per hit, making multi-hit attacks scale well.
• Infernorb is excellent because it can pierce through vines.
• Ball Lightning can safely activate Brambled Pegs from a distance by zapping, which helps clear vines without moving close.
• Concentrication, Lazorb, and similar piercing or multi-hit options are useful for the same reason.
• Blind prevents Betsy’s ranged attack damage, but it does not stop vine damage.
• Spinfection gives reliable damage even when the board is crowded with vines.
• Orbs with Overflow, enemy targeting, or piercing can help handle the hounds and other blockers, and bombs are also useful.
• Multiball can be risky if the board is heavily trapped, since captured orbs can cause extra damage when released, but it can also create many hits later once the vines are cleared.

Because Betsy has relatively low direct damage, the real challenge is surviving the vines, minions, and debuff pressure long enough to keep attacking. If you can outlast the hounds, her battlefield eventually opens up, and she becomes much easier to finish off.