Candy Kingdom Defense units: Best Picks and Evolution Guide

Compare Candy Kingdom Defense units, find promising upgrades, learn how evolutions work, and plan your Lich grind with community-based advice.

Which Candy Kingdom Defense Units Are Worth Upgrading?

A powerful-looking hero can still let enemies slip through, so choosing the right Candy Kingdom Defense units matters more than chasing the biggest damage number. Your upgrade materials go further when you compare attack coverage, crowd control, and evolution requirements before investing. This guide to Candy Kingdom Defense units highlights promising picks, explains how to recruit and evolve heroes, and separates player experience from confirmed progression information.

The short answer: Lich, evolved Princess Bubblegum, and evolved Jake and Finn receive strong praise in the available community showcase. Regular Magic Man also deserves attention, while Lemongrab offers summons and control.

However, this is not a complete, statistically tested tier list. The available gameplay reference features upgraded units with differing traits, and its presenter acknowledges not owning every character. Recommendations below reflect that limitation rather than pretending every hero was tested equally.

Unit or form	Main appeal in community reports	Investment takeaway
Lich	Strong area-of-effect attacks	Promising long-term farming target
Evolved Princess Bubblegum	Highly praised wave-clearing performance	Worth checking evolution requirements
Evolved Jake	Broad attack coverage	Strong candidate for an established team
Evolved Finn	Full-area attacks in the showcase	Another promising evolution target
Regular Magic Man	Wave clearing and transformation-based control	Test before replacing with its evolution
Lemongrab	Summons, with added control shown for its evolution	Useful option to evaluate alongside direct attackers
Rainicorn	High damage but more limited coverage	Compare practical clearing performance
Billy	Negative assessment from the presenter	Lower priority based on limited player experience

These assessments come primarily from the Candy Kingdom Defense community unit showcase, not official developer rankings.

Best Unit Picks: What the Gameplay Actually Shows

The most useful way to compare Candy Kingdom Defense units is by what they accomplish during a wave. Large individual hits matter, but so do attack frequency, coverage, and the ability to stop survivors.

Lich: A promising area-damage target

Lich receives repeated praise for its area-of-effect damage. The showcase follows several upgrades, with changing attack animations and a later upgrade described as increasing damage without substantially changing the attack.

That supports treating Lich as a desirable wave-clearing option. It does not establish a universal damage figure, best trait, or guaranteed position above every other unit.

Practical tip: Judge whether Lich improves your actual clear rate before committing every available resource. A strong endgame target should not prevent you from upgrading the team that gets you through current stages.

Evolved Princess Bubblegum, Jake, and Finn

Evolved Princess Bubblegum stands out positively in the showcase, while evolved Jake and Finn receive praise for broad or full-area attacks.

There is an important qualification: the player explicitly notes that one showcased unit has extensive investment and a strong trait. Those results should not be treated as the baseline for a fresh evolution.

Evolution names reported in the accompanying written guide include Alien Jake and Adult Finn. Check your in-game evolution menu to match the exact form and requirements before farming.

Regular Magic Man versus evolved Magic Man

One of the clearest lessons from the player experience is that an evolution should not automatically be assumed to improve every role.

The showcased evolved Magic Man delivers large hits, but the players criticize its slower attacks and narrower coverage. Regular Magic Man is then praised for clearing enemies and transforming survivors, apparently interrupting their movement.

The footage mentions approximately 200,000 damage and a 4.7-second attack interval for the evolved example. Those are showcase-specific observations, not universal base stats: upgrades, traits, and balance changes can affect the comparison.

Lemongrab, Rainicorn, and Billy

Lemongrab’s placement is disputed within the video itself. The presenter argues that it deserves better than a low ranking, highlighting its summons. Its evolved version is described as producing stronger summons and briefly stunning enemies.

Rainicorn receives mixed feedback: its damage is acknowledged, but coverage is criticized compared with stronger area attackers. Billy receives a strongly negative assessment, although the video does not provide a controlled comparison sufficient to prove it is always the worst choice.

Comparison factor	What to watch during a run	Why it matters
Attack coverage	How many enemies an attack actually reaches	Narrow attacks can leave groups alive
Attack interval	Time between useful attacks	Slow hits may allow smaller enemies through
Crowd control	Whether survivors stop or slow down	Control gives your other units more time
Upgrade cost	Whether key upgrades arrive before difficult waves	Late power is less useful if you lose early
Investment level	Traits, levels, and upgrades on each unit	Unequal investment can distort comparisons

How to Get Candy Kingdom Defense Units

For standard recruitment, the written references describe spending Gems through the Summon system, with the Treasure Hoard identified as the place to summon heroes.

Start by completing or skipping the tutorial and choosing your first hero. Then build around what you actually obtain rather than planning a team entirely around rare characters you do not own.

Eurogamer’s Candy Kingdom Defense recruitment and code guide confirms that Gems are used to summon new units and explains how to reach Jake’s Code Corner through the Areas menu.

Use free resources before spending heavily

Codes can provide Gems and other progression items. The supplied guides list rewards including Trait Crystals and XP Candies, which support different parts of unit development.

Because codes can expire, treat any list as time-sensitive. The written references were updated on October 21, 2026, rather than independently checked in-game for this article.

A sensible early routine is:

Claim available rewards at Jake’s Code Corner.
Use Gems to expand your roster.
Identify a reliable wave-clearing unit.
Level that unit before spreading resources across every new recruit.
Save scarce trait resources until you know which heroes you want to keep.

How to get Lich

According to community reports in the showcase, Lich is associated with portals obtained through Infinite Mode.

Reported mechanic	Community-reported figure	Important limitation
Portal opportunity	Every 10 waves in Infinite Mode	Not independently verified here
Portal appearance chance	30% at those opportunities	A chance, not a guaranteed interval
Lich chance from portals	5%	Exact reward conditions are not fully explained

These numbers describe separate steps. A 30% portal chance does not mean a 30% Lich chance, and a 5% reward chance does not guarantee Lich after 20 attempts.

Practical tip: Approach Lich farming as a long-term goal. Improve the team that can consistently reach portal opportunities instead of relying on a lucky early drop.

How Unit Evolutions and Upgrades Work

Strengthening Candy Kingdom Defense units involves several separate systems. Leveling a hero, rerolling its trait, buying upgrades during a match, and evolving it are not interchangeable.

The written reference identifies evolution forms such as Alien Jake, Adult Finn, and King BMO. However, it does not supply complete recipes or enough gameplay evidence to rank every one of those forms.

Progression system	What it changes	Best next step
Leveling	Develops the hero outside individual placement decisions	Focus on units you regularly use
Trait rerolling	Changes the unit’s trait	Reserve resources for longer-term picks
In-match upgrades	Improves a deployed unit during that run	Plan spending around approaching waves
Evolution	Unlocks an available evolved form	Check the recipe before farming materials

Step-by-step evolution process

The community showcase describes collecting evolution materials from challenges and bringing them to an evolution interface, referred to verbally as the Enchiridion.

Use this sequence:

Open the evolution menu and select the hero you want to improve.
Read its current recipe, including all required materials.
Check the listed material source instead of guessing which activity drops it.
Use the destination shortcut, if available, to reach the relevant stage.
Complete the required content, then return when the recipe is satisfied.

For Jake, the showcase points to winning Act 5 in the Ice Kingdom as a source for a required sandwich material. The player says they need six more sandwiches; that is their remaining requirement, not proof that the full recipe costs six.

The presenter also says Flame lacked an evolution at the time of recording. Since updates may add forms, check the current menu before concluding a unit cannot evolve.

How to Build a Better Team Without Wasting Materials

A useful roster is more than a collection of individually praised Candy Kingdom Defense units. Your team needs to survive the early waves, clear groups, and handle enemies that escape the first attack.

Start with a dependable damage dealer, then add something that addresses its weaknesses. For example, a slower attacker may benefit from control, while a narrow-area attacker needs help against dense groups.

Team need	Possible option from the references	What to test
Broad wave damage	Lich or evolved Jake/Finn	Whether coverage prevents leaks
Alternative evolved damage	Evolved Princess Bubblegum	Performance at your investment level
Enemy control	Regular Magic Man	Whether transformations buy useful time
Summon-based support	Lemongrab	Whether summons contribute consistently
Limited-coverage damage	Rainicorn	Whether damage offsets missed enemies

These are roles to test, not a mandatory lineup.

Compare units fairly

Before replacing a developed hero with a new pull, test both under similar conditions:

Use the same stage and difficulty.
Compare similar upgrade investment.
Note differences in traits and levels.
Watch which enemies survive, not just the displayed damage.
Record whether the replacement improves consistency across several attempts.

If your team loses before reaching expensive upgrades, prioritize early reliability. If it survives comfortably but stalls later, then an evolution or stronger damage option may solve the actual problem.

The best upgrade is the one that removes your current obstacle—not necessarily the one receiving the loudest praise in a showcase.

FAQ: Candy Kingdom Defense Units

What are the best Candy Kingdom Defense units?

Community reports favor Lich, evolved Princess Bubblegum, evolved Jake, and evolved Finn for strong wave-clearing performance. Regular Magic Man also receives praise. There is not enough controlled evidence in the supplied material to declare one unit the definitive best across every mode.

Is evolved Magic Man better than regular Magic Man?

Not necessarily for every task. In the community showcase, evolved Magic Man hits hard but is criticized for slower attacks and reduced coverage. Regular Magic Man appears more effective at clearing groups and controlling survivors in that comparison.

How do you unlock unit evolutions?

Check the hero’s recipe in the evolution interface, collect the listed materials from the indicated activities, and return to evolve it. Community footage demonstrates a destination shortcut and identifies Ice Kingdom Act 5 as a source of Jake’s sandwich material.

Is Lich guaranteed after a certain number of portals?

No guarantee is established by the supplied references. Community reports describe a 5% Lich chance from portals, but that does not establish a pity system. Keep expectations realistic and build a reliable Infinite Mode team while working toward the drop.