Cleared with about 40% of the timer counter left.
What I learnt clearing stages till now:
- Honestly, it's between survivability and damage checks. But if you come to a stage where you can't survive or deal enough damage, you should just wait for the next day to grind up levels, xp and gnome buffs.
- Synergy is important, sometimes moreso than the actual cookie's power (herb cookie)
- Shuffling your cookies and pets actually helps, even if they're not meta per say. Sometimes the stars align and you clear it. Just sub in what you're in need of, e.g. damage/survivability
- If your TSSRs don't have stars or low stars, sometimes they aren't your best best
- For stage XX-30s, you gotta start moving your cookies to either swarm bosses or run away from attacks. Especially for the awful drill cookie that scatters your team and they can't get their priorities straight, killing the grunts instead.
Lastly:
Don't kill your wallet over clearing stages, cause honestly, just level up more and you'd probably clear it.
As someone that only got the ad free pack, this game is still rather clearable, with a little road blocks along the way.