Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!
Act 2 is upon us and it introduces a whole new swarm of Mutants to attack…Sideshow Bob Clones! (they do make an excellent soup stock!)
And it wouldn’t be a TSTO Event unless Professor Frink came up with some kind of invention to save the day…and he hasn’t let us down this time! Frink Co presents….the Herbicide Squirter!
The Herbicide Squirter is a FREE item you’ll unlock once you’ve completed The Soup Thickens Pt. 4 and started The Science of Cooking (questline walkthrough is here) that will help you clear Clone Bobs quicker! And each time you upgrade the Squirter you’ll increase your tap radius (how many Bob’s you can get in 1 tap) and some increase the payouts of crafting materials (Fertilizer, DNA and Corn) for each one you tap.
So let’s take a closer look at this squirter and what happens when you upgrade….
So first, let’s cover the basics…
How Do I Get The Herbicide Squirter?
As mentioned above, you’ll get it for FREE once you’ve started The Science of Cooking questline (which starts after The Soup Thickens Pt. 4).
How Do I Upgrade the Squirter?
Much like Monsarno…you just tap on the Herbicide Squirter and you’ll see the box popup asking if you want to upgrade…
Tapping the Upgrade button will take you to the Upgrade screen (just like it does in Monsarno), where you’ll then have the option to upgrade or pass for the moment:
You can also access this menu from the Event Hub…simply tap on the Sideshow Bob Trophy in the bottom right of Springfield (which will bring up the Hub):
And scroll through the event Icons on the left until you find the Herbicide one:
That will bring up the same Herbicide Upgrade Menu.
If you see the Hammer and Saw icon over the Herbicide Squirter, that means you have enough materials to upgrade…
What’s Required to Upgrade The Herbicide Squirter?
Corn and DNA…the same items you’ll need for crafting…
How Do I Get Corn and DNA?
From completing character tasks at Monsarno, finishing Cecil’s Daily Tasks, tapping on Mutant Bobs or unlocking the prizes via Gas Masks.
What Does Tapping On a Mutant Bob Pay Out?
It’ll pay out a combination of Gas Masks and ONE of the crafting items.
You will always be awarded 5 Gas Masks for every Bob you tap…but the amount of crafting items will vary depending on your level (we’ll get to that in a minute)
Ok so now that we’ve got the basics down, let’s take a look at what upgrading actually does…
Upgrading will increase your tap radius when you’re going after Mutant Bobs (so a bigger area will be hit the higher you go) and some levels will increase the payouts of Corn, DNA and Fertilizer you earn. Here’s the chart to break it down at each level (with cost):
At the time I wrote this the gas mask Payout was 5, however something happened yesterday that caused the payout top drop to 3. Chart had been corrected to 3, and we’re looking into why it dropped. ..
| Level | Requirement | Gas Mask Payout |
Crafting Payout / / |
Radius Increase |
| 1 | n/a | 3 | 4 | n/a |
| 2 | 60 60 |
3 | 7 | Yes |
| 3 | 120 120 |
3 | 7 | Yes |
| 4 | 180 180 |
3 | 7 | Yes |
| 5 | 240 240 |
3 | 9 | Yes |
| 6 | 300 300 |
3 | 9 | Yes |
| 7 | 360 360 |
3 | 9 | Yes |
| 8 | 420 420 |
3 | 13 | Yes |
| 9 | 480 480 |
3 | 13 | Yes |
| 10 | 540 540 |
3 | 13 | Yes |
| 11 | 600 600 |
3 | 16 | Yes |
| 12 | 660 660 |
3 | 16 | Yes |
| 13 | 720 720 |
3 | 21 | Yes |
| 14 | 780 780 |
3 | 21 | Yes |
| 15 | 840 840 |
3 | 25 | Yes |
| 16+ | + 60 of Each for Each Level increase | 3 | 25 | Yes |
As you can see not every level increases the crafting rewards and once you reach Level 15 you’ve maxed out the crafting reward payout (any additional level upgraded to after 15 will only increase tap radius).
How Many Levels Are There?
No max. So if you’re upgrading to hit the max…you won’t.
When Should I Stop Upgrading?
That’s really up to you. You’re required by the questline to upgrade the Squirter at least to Level 3, after that it’s your call.
However, I would NOT upgrade past Level 15, as the increase for 16+ just isn’t worth it.
What’s More Important Upgrading Monsarno or Upgrading the Squirter?
After you’ve hit Level 3 (since it’s required), upgrading Monsarno. No question. (at least until you get to Level 19)
Should I Focus on Crafting or Upgrading the Squirter?
Again, that’s really up to you…you’ll have to look to see if the increase in crafting payouts are worth what’s spent to upgrade. And remember they don’t payout the same each time, sometimes you’ll get corn sometimes fertilizer and sometimes DNA…so it could take you a bit of time to recoup what you spent.
And that my friends concludes the details on the Herbicide Squirter!
What are your thoughts on the Squirter? Plans for upgrading? What Level are you currently on? What do you think about the Mutant Bob Clones? Sound off in the comments below, you know we love hearing from you!
Alissa I am so confused. 🙁 I read your post but did not understand which you recommended to focus upgrading on. The squirter or Monsarno? Currently, my squirter is level 5 and Monsarno is level 14. There are so many levels for both. I feel like all I am doing is upgrading and getting the generic looking, boring buildings. I don’t see how I am ever going to have enough for Farmers Market and the Gas n Grub if everything I earn goes back into upgrading. :/
Monsarno is way more important to upgrade.
Oh darn it. I just used up everything the squisher. Monsarno was taking so much longer to upgrade. :/ Sigh. Back to square one.
Don’t feel bad, savorycook! Both are beneficial to upgrade, and with the higher payouts you’ll get from squishing Sideshow Cobs, you’ll have enough to upgrade Monsarno sooner than you think. 😉
My Monsarno’s at 19 and squirter’s at 14 (well, 20-something DNA shy of 14, but within the hour…) During the upgrade process, the two help each other a lot, so no worries!! 🙂
Such a helpful post!
I upgraded to 15 so it’s done and I can benefit from higher drop rates ASAP. I’ll be stopping there; as you note, it’s not worth going higher as the return on investment just isn’t there.
Thanks for the great work TSTO peeps; you make the game so much more fun!
The Herbicide Squirter, I haven’t upgraded past Level 4 because upgrading the Monsarno Building is more of a priority for this Tapper (it is a cool device since you can increase the radius of your “tapping mutant corn stalks”) 🙂
I haven’t gotten any donuts from friends since I got the herbicide squirter. Is this a coincidence?
I’d say coincidence since I just got a donut about an hour ago and I have the squirter.
I’m a little lost here. I dont have the sprayer. What do I need to do? Im on level 12 for Monsarno. My quest line is the devil wears blue. I’m not even sure if I did the soup quest. How do I know where I am in the game and what I can do to get the sprayer? Do I need the Farmers Market to get the sprayer? I’m SOOOO confused.
How ironic! I posted this earlier, and a few hours later, I got the sprayer, so alls good!
Agreed. I think I’m going to upgrade to 15 (and to 19 with Monsarno) and hopefully I can rack up plentty of fertilizer, corn, and DNA (and whatever else) by the end of the event.
I’m seeing problems with the herbicide squirter when I visit my neighbors. About half the time I just get a regular tap and not the squirt. And sometimes (~1/3rd?) when I do get a squirt, it doesn’t zap at least three mutant corn and Bob clones within the radius.
That’s because the squirter only works on mutant Bobs, not on mutant veggies.
Also, it’s still restricting you to 3 actions per day. Regardless of how many are inside your radius, only 3 per day will be squished.
Is it just me, or does this whole event seem a LOT more complicated than the previous ones? Maybe it’s just me being slow to catch on to things, but it actually took some concentration and research (thanks to this blog–you guys are terrific at breaking this stuff down!) to figure out the best strategy to go about getting everything and even navigating the event in general. There’s like four or five complex aspects of this event on top of the usual daily tapping needs of characters not used in the event. That’s a lot of effort.
That’s not to say that I’m not enjoying the event to a degree–I mean, I am, it’s fun in it’s own convoluted way–but it actually makes me miss the bygone days of a simple event with one sort of currency to focus on the entire time. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually miss the simplicity of the holiday wheels. I don’t particularly mind the different acts in each (the Superheroes event was a lot of fun for that) but the layers upon layers of currency and prizes and crafting is a little much. Seems like the programmers would have a far easier time with it, too, if it were less complex. There’s often so many bugs that come with these events. My wife also plays, but doesn’t get to her Springfield nearly as often as I do, and she won’t even get close to crafting any of the prizes. In fact I don’t think she even got through the main questline from act one. It’d be really nice if EA could figure out a way of simplifying these events so they aren’t as off-putting for the casual player.
Anyway, all that aside, thanks again to all of you behind this site. I’m consistently amazed at how you guys have these updates broken down and strategies suggested before I even see them pop up in my game. Being a bit of an OCD kind of guy, I love figuring out all the details before I jump into anything, and this blog has been invaluable in helping me play this silly game the way I like to do it. Dunno how you all maintain regular jobs and families and such while still finding the time to put all of this together and even respond so often to comments! I’m very appreciative. Great job, all of you.
Hey everyone,
What level do you suggest it’s best to level up to? Is 15 the smartest way to go? Is it worth it compared to level 14? Also, should monsarno be level up to 19? I already got the farmers market but now I don’t have much crafting supplies. My sprayer is up to level 9. Right now the only things I want to craft are the welcome to springfield sign and the gas station/convenience store. Act 3 will prob add one or two more cool things to craft. The outdoor opera stage needs to be upgraded, also, is that correct? Or is that act 3?
I am a very frequent player and other events I always felt ahead but this event, I feel like I’m behind. I know I’m not, but the crafting feature just feels slow. Overall, I like that this event is different and by the end I’m sure I’ll be happy but right now it’s a little nerve wracking. That’s one of the fun things about events. I would rather it be a little hard than too easy.
Anyway back to my original point, what does everyone think? Level 15 for the sprayer and 19 for monsarno? Thanx and have fun.
Doesn’t sound to me like you’re behind! i’d love to be where you are now, with the farmer’s market already acquired and your building and sprayer at levels 14 and 9, respectively. I’ve been playing pretty faithfully (except for a reduced schedule for a couple of days, when I was away) and I don’t have the farmer’s market yet and am only at levels 11 and 3.
Hope that makes you feel at least a tiny bit better! 🙂
Here’s how I calculated out if the squirter upgrades would be worth it for me. I thought I’d post it here as it might help other players make a decision.
I’m trying to save for the Gas and Grub, so I need as many DNA strands as I can get my hands on. Since upgrading costs DNA, I really want it to pay off in the end and give me more DNA than I spent on the upgrades. It seems that upgrading to Level 3 will be mandatory if I want to progress through the storyline, so that’s a given that I’ll upgrade that far. Is it worth it for me to upgrade past that point?
By my rough estimates, I’d say I get a DNA payout from a Bob Clone approximately once every half hour. If I log in regularly, that can come to 48 DNA payouts per day, but let’s round that down to 40/day to be conservative. If I want to make sure I make back the DNA I spend in the next 10 days (since I don’t know what I’ll need to spend DNA on in Act 3), then that gives me 400 DNA payouts that can pay back what I spend.
Upgrading to the next crafting payout upgrade (from Level 3) costs an extra 420 DNA, and will give me 2 extra DNA in each payout. If I’m getting 400 DNA payouts over the next 10 days, that means that spending 420 DNA now will give me 800 more DNA over the next 10 days, so that seems worth it.
Getting to the next payout increase from there is a costly 1080 DNA, but it will give me 4 extra on each payout. So I’ll be spending 1080 but getting back 1600 over the next 10 days. Again, this is worth it, especially considering that it also increases my payouts of Corn and Fertilizer, which are more frequent than DNA.
I didn’t increase my calculations past that point since I currently don’t have the DNA to upgrade past that point. When I do save up enough to upgrade to the next payout increase, I’ll run the calculations again with the reduced number of remaining days but I have a feeling it won’t be worth the upgrade.
Hopefully my calculations will help someone else figure out if the upgrade is worth it for them. 🙂
Amazing! That’s exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!
Well, I’ve upgraded to level 12 already and the DNA accumulation seems to be coming thick and fast now.
Helpful analysis! I just have to also make sure that I don’t deplete my corn so far that it puts my farmer’s market acquisition in jeopardy. But going up to at least level 5 became a no-brainer after reading your analysis!
If you’re concerned about crafting before the end of the event and not just act 2, I would consider the values you projected to be only half of the amount gained by upgrading. The event ends on May 26, if i’m not mistaken. So, while I understand your process and think it’s a fairly reasonable assessment of how the benefits will pan out, I think you should consider the full 25 days (minus the few days it takes to get up to 15) of the event and not just a 10 day window when deciding whether or not upgrading is worth it. I enjoyed your input and it helped me decide that given the full scope of the event it is definitely worth it to upgrade to 15, especially considering the last 3 tiers require fewer steps reach.
I’ve pretty much lost all hope in getting the Famers Market or any other craft able prizes. They just seem so expensive. I’m upgrading my Monsarno to get the buildings from there. I’m a little sad about this. It would be one of my first events where I don’t get all the prizes.
Does everyone have a mixture of Sideshow Cob & the Act I walking veggies wandering in neighbors’ towns? I thought it was odd, but didn’t think much of it, except that the pesticide sprayer/blast does not trigger or kill the Act I veggies. Seems like an odd distinction. Is that how it’s supposed to work?
i don’t have the veggies in my town – but they’re there in my neighbors towns
I think everyone should update the squirter asap. So many clones giving you 4-5 times more than they did before? I get 13 of whatever drops right now and that has helped a lot in order to upgrade the squirter even more as well as Monsarno.
However I have to admit that Monsarno isn’t that important to me because I have just started to play a month ago so I don’t have that many chars to put on tasks yet. I am basically updating the Monsarno for the buildings only.
I am lvl 22 right now and just catching up on all the questlines hoping I get Krabappel soon.
Personally, my plan is to upgrade the squirter to the point where I’m getting maximum gas masks. I still plan on crafting the farmer’s market and the gas n’ grub (in my opinion the only things worth crafting), because they’re limited edition buildings, but to me gas masks seems the way to go. I’m already like 3 days ahead in collecting those (I easily get around 2500 a day) and you get free donuts for every extra 3000 gas masks you get!! DONUTS. As a freemium player, I’m all about the free donuts. I think I’ve only spent donuts on Otto and a few mystery boxes, but I still have 200 donuts, never having bought a one, just taking those free ones.
Just remember gas mask payouts don’t increase when you upgrade the Squirter, only crafting materials increase (fertilizer, corn & DNA)
Yeah, I noticed that today while tapping and came back to check the chart. Gotta admit I’m a litte disappointed.
Thanks a lot for your valuable information. This site rocks
Aw well thank you for the kind words! 🙂
Anyone else thriving on this event? Its really reminding me of whacking day (remember logging in every four hours to those hoardes of snakes?), just with more prizes. I like planning ahead and this upgrading and crafting is definitely something keeping on the edge of my seat. So much fun!!
There is nothing more disturbingly erotic than the sight of a SB clone pausing to rub butter into his belly.
hey hope you don’t mind if I used your data of the upgrades levels for M.Research and this one. gave full credits on all sites. thanks for the great job 😉
is there a way to follow the comments on a post without posting one yourself? always wondered lol
I honestly don’t know. Good question for Word Press
Yup, that’s fine. People want the payouts…helps them decide 🙂
Thanks 😉
This site should be required viewing when playing this event. Every time i’ve had a question, i came here and you had the numbers. I knew just how far i should upgrade both things to get to an optimal place! Just finished for now. Feel like starting the crafting now will be so much easier. Can’t thank you enough 🙂
🙂 Glad it’s helping you out!
Thanks for all the help Tapped Out friends! But I have to admit, I am not having too much fun with this event. Don’t get me wrong, some prizes are worth it, some. To be honest, this is the least amount of fun I’ve had with an event since Clash of Clones. EVERYTHING is this event is god awful expensive (I’m looking at you Monsarno Flower Wall) and that just means endlessly grinding out tasks for required materials to get SOME prizes. I feel like EA is asking a lot from players this time around, especially for the casual players. I play every hour on the hour for the tasks and I still feel like I’m lagging behind. I mean I hope I’m not prejudging the event so far, but I feel like most of its not worth it, like throwing that Minimum Security Prison at us. I see it as a waste of space to most players and not worth it because we literally just got a penitentiary last event. If players are dedicating countless hours of their lives to this game, I feel like they should better think some prizes for us to be worth it in my opinion. In a unrelated point, I haven’t seen anyone talking about the events real life reference to Monsanto, GMOs, and how they are bad. It be cool to see some conversations! Get educated about it but anyways thanks again for the help and fingers crossed on this event still. Playing almost 2 years and am very dedicated to the game!
I did address your comment about discussing GMOs in the previous post where you mentioned that. Did you read the newer comments before posting this one?
Thanks for all the help Tapped Out friends with this event! But I also have to say how much fun I’m not having with this event. I just hope I’m not judging too early. Don’t get me wrong, some prizes are worth it, some. To be honest, I haven’t had this least amount of fun since Clash Of Clones, and thats the only event I didn’t like. EVERYTHING is god awful expensive (I’m looking at you Monsarno Flower Walls) in required materials which means more time endlessly cranking out tasks. If everything was like 15% cheaper, it be perfect but I feel like EA is asking way too much this time of all players, especially if they are casual players grinding out tasks this time around and bare in mind, I play every hour on the hour for the tasks and still feel like I’m lagging behind in required materials. I also think that throwing that Minimum Security Prison at us was pointless and will be a waste of space to some. I mean we got a prison last event. I just see it as they could of gotten better inspiration for a different prize especially if players are dedicating hours of their lives to these events. And a totally unrelated note, I see no one talking about the real life reference of this event to Monsanto and how GMOs are bad! It be nice to see some conversations about that! But anyways, thanks everyone for the tips and such! Its been a awesome almost 2 years playing!
GMOs aren’t actually all bad – they are often more nutritious, can feed more people on a hungry planet, and help keep our food prices down, among other benefits. Genetically modifying produce is really nothing new…farmers and scientists have been doing it for well over a hundred years (or more), through careful cross-breeding, etc. Those processes were very slow though and not always as reliable. So now, scientists are just doing it at a more complex level. On the flip side, there’s some evidence that GMOs maybe be affecting our resistance to antibiotics (as are many other current practices, like the overuse of anti-bacterial products, the over prescription of antibiotics, etc.). I think there’s also a greater potential for problems for people with certain allergies and there are a couple of other “cons” to GMOs that I can’t remember right now.
It’s a pretty complex, multifaceted issue, which is probably one of the reasons that people aren’t rushing to get into a discussion about it here on a site about a (usually) fun little game! 🙂
I’m pretty sure that sideshow bob will have a task at the minimum security prison, and also one with the rakes. Or at least I hope so.
I just got into my game, squished all my Sideshow Cob (clones), then got Bart out of hiding in the Brown House. Free Herbicide squiter (placed it) than requests me to tap 15 clones….! (I squished them all just seconds ago.. Now I need to wait for them to slowly regenerate). To keep my mind off it all I came here. Question: What comes next? More importantly whom should I keep free in order to receive the Opera House and Bob himself? (I know somebody posted somewhere, But can’t find it) 🙁
http://tstoaddicts.com/2015/04/29/turbo-tappin-terwilligers-act-two/
Thank You, Thank You, Great work, Thank you again for responding. I’m waiting for 1 more clone to spawn. Bart’s free, just need Comic Book Guy to be task free. Wookiee you are indeed “Mostly Harmless” (back to the Hitchhiker Guide refrances). 🙂
😉
Did anyone else see a Bob clone spreading butter on his stomach? I just barely caught it and wanted to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.
i feel like i have a thousand things going on in my game right now. i need to slow down and pay attention because i keep sending people on tasks i’m not meaning to. i’ve got all the stuff going on with the event running concurrently with the level 51 quest which i had intended on ignoring but in my hurry to just click through all my characters, i started sending people on the tasks for that…so i may as well continue and argh. this event is frustrating with how long it’s taking to get anywhere (still no crafting for me :/) but that’s kind of fun? in a way? i have a lot of feelings you guys haha
I hit level 51 just after the event launched. I’ll admit I tend to let my gameplay slip a little between events.. and since Dr. Monroe is not a character that can advance my event performance, I’ve actually opted not to buy his building so I don’t have to worry about competing tasks.
It’s definitely more complicated than usual to schedule. It doesn’t help that the current Cecil task shows up top for eligible characters even after one has been assigned to it. It wasn’t so bad in the beginning when many characters didn’t even have resource-earning jobs because I like to group as many as possible on the same task and end-time; but, now that so many do have those jobs available, it can make it difficult to rapidly assign tasks and easy to send a character off on a job that is not the best use of his time. 🙁
I’ve been deliberately avoiding crafting to upgrade Monsarno and Frink’s sprayer first as part of playing the long game, so I haven’t crafted anything yet either. I’m at Level 8 on Frink’s Sprayer and Level 17 on Monsarno and now really noticing the payoff.
Maybe this is obvious but if we upgrade will the increased payouts last for the rest of the event? I mean when act 3 hits and we get some new mutants (I’m assuming) to tap having upgraded won’t have been for nothing I hope. Or is this a wait and see thing?
Wait and see
It seems as if upgrading this would be way more profitable than the monsarno. I plan on getting this to either level 11 or 13 then stopping. It also seems like I’m getting Sideshow Cobs a lot faster than the mutant corn from Act 1.
I’m trying to enjoy this event. I think half of the letdown is coming from how awesome the superhero event was.
I thinks so too, but given that Corn is relatively more abundant, and is the only one used for both upgrades, I think you can upgrade both at the same time.
I agree, this event feels like there is a lot more grinding than the super hero event, so it feel a little less fun…
I’m so far behind. I don’t even have this yet to even worry about upgrading. I’m another who hasn’t crafted a single thing yet. I’ve found this event to be very frustrating so far.
I get your frustration, I haven’t crafted a thing yet either (and am about 4 hours away from getting my sprayer), but I think given how long this event it, and the fact that the craftable items stick around for the full event, I think that upgrading first and then crafting things closer to the end of the event is really going to be how this one works.
This is a fair bit different from previous events where the crafting was a lot more uniform throughout the event and there wasn’t a choice really between upgrading and crafting.
I’m still a full day from the sprayer. I only just sent Bart on the second 24 hour task. 🙁
Finally received enough fertilizer for the Farmer’s Market last night and it should be up and running before the next set of Cecil’s Daily Tasks. Now with that item off my mind I can go on frettin’ about how long it will take for me to get enough items for up grade either the Research Centre or giant “Mrs. Dash” Sprayer to double digit levels.
Heh.
As for the drop in Gas Mask drops, I’m glad to hear that there apparently really was a change and not a twisted figment of my memory.
How is anyone on the herbicide doofer yet? Act only been live for 2.5 days and requires like three and a bit days of tasks… Baffled.
Never mind, it’s 56 hrs of tasks. No idea how folk are managing Monsarno to 19 and upgrading squirter though. And I WAS ahead.
Impatience…the use of donuts to rush tasks.
My Monsarno is level 19 and I haven’t spent a single donut on rushing, I just get no sleep lol 😁. Having a lot of characters (some premium, from previous events, etc.) and checking in regularly for the tasks and squishing really helps a lot. I plan to stop at level 20 because like you said it’s not worth it to go further than 19 really but it’s gotta be an even 20 for me, and I’m gonna leave the herbicide squirted at 15 (I’m at 8 now). I plan to do all my crafting in act 3 given that there will probably be new offerings, then I’ll craft what I want most and go from there. I truly believe in the strategy of getting more currency from tasks by upgrading, then just grinding for the prizes.
Makes sense. You gotta do what works best for you 🙂
Yes we all have our own ways 🙂 I understand the angst of watching all that hard earned currency go into something you already have vs getting something new.
I’m not nearly as far ahead as most others seem to be, but I have to confess I caved and used donuts to speed up Bart’s 2nd 24hr task so I could get the squirter.
I got the squirter earlier today, with no donut usage. Thanks to our fabulous Addicts here, though, I did have the advantage of the heads up on whom to keep free when! 🙂
As for upgrades, I’ve temporarily paused upgrading Monsarno at Level 11 and the squirter at Level 3, until I get the #$@& farmer’s market (or until I get too nervous about not having upgraded more, whichever comes first).
Mind boggling maths posts here! Some real genius in our forum : ) …far too advanced for me but I do like reading them!
*more jelly blobs*
Seriously, I second that sentiment about the maths. Thanks to TSTO’s awesome trio for figuring it all out and giving us good advice (upgrading vs crafting) so that I don’t have to rip my hair out.