1-2 MARS
×10 
×10 
×3 
×4 Spawns in groups of three. Area attackers clear them fast.
Hippoe variant — 7000 HP, 200 dmg Area Attack at 222 range. Tough first encounter in ItF Norway but a glorified Hippoe once you have Valkyrie / Bahamut and ItF Treasures.
Second enemy introduced. Slightly tougher than Doge but still functions as fodder. Red variants are separate enemies (Ginger Snache, etc.).
Doge variant — first Alien enemy you face. 900 HP, 150 dmg, low movement, hits for solid damage at melee range. Easily killed by Lion Cat / Crazed Sexy Legs / Bahamut.
Faster, stronger Shibalien with 35% Warp chance back 750 range. Slowable/freezable like other Aliens. Bahamut can one-shot in its first appearance.
Hermit-crab Alien — 9000 HP, 300 dmg Area Attack at 170 range, 100% chance to Survive a lethal strike (one-time). Meatshields + ranged DPS handle it cleanly.
First rarity-restriction stage — Specials banned. Wiki-verified enemy mix: Snache, Those Guys, Shibalien, Helmut Krabbe, Shibalien Elite, Hyppoh. Easy with most ItF Anti-Alien Treasures collected.
First gate stage in CotC: No Specials. r/battlecats's universal advice for this one is 'this is where you find out if you've been one-tricking with Bahamut Cat.' Bahamut Cat, Awakened Bahamut, Crazed Bahamut — all Specials, all banned. (Mohawk Cat is Normal and Manic Mohawk is Super Rare; both stay legal.) Suddenly you're playing with Normal/Rare/SR meatshields and your Uber/LR roster. Standard loadout: Normal Cat + Tank Cat + Wall Cat + Crazed Wall (Super Rare, legal here) as meatshields → Anti-Alien Ubers as the entire damage stack (Bazibastra, Lumina, Mighty Reza, talented Anti-Alien Rares like Boogie Cat). Common failure: realizing mid-stage that your favorite meatshield is Special and you can't deploy it. Build your no-Specials lineup before queueing.
BAZIFENIX S Anti-Alien Uber primary — 100% Barrier Breaker + 100% Weaken vs Alien handles every Alien threat on the stage 
LUMINALIA S Anti-Alien LR tank — ~1.9M effective HP vs Alien + Warp Immunity, stalls anything the stage spawns 
MANIC ERASER CAT S 1310-HP cheap fast meatshield — cornerstone of any CotC frontline rotation 
MACHO LEG CAT A Macho Leg Cat — only Normal-tier with Strong vs Alien; the carry pick when Specials are gated