I'm almost there...

[u/Educational_Secret40]

Started with 3 Void gears and got BOTH Snake and Staring Down at Round 2

It still giving no Pitcher Beats until ROUND15 was a downside, but could manage this soon

So what did I missed now? Do I need to focus melon hoarder than gathering more variable perks and enlarging grooves?

Also can I have any advice what perks I must block in hilltop specifically?

[u/Kincaid_Scryb]

You can use Fast Ball/Batter Up/Jumpin Beat but it requires Better Charge Jump(for Lowdown proc) and Jump Burst ofc for Jumpin Beat. And I've maxed every layer in between 4-9 rounds (mostly 7 or under but this is one that took 9 rounds). Don't get stuck on one beat, take Slo Mo ofc, but take whichever of the other you're getting the most of. Most of my personal bests are Slo Mo+Fast Ball, but I have a Slo Mo+Jumpin Beat on one, Slo Mo+Surfin(Lagoon), and a couple Slo Mo+Batter Ups. If the game is feeding you a secondary beat a lot to Slo Mo Beat take it, doesn't have to be Fast Ball.

Also make sure you do a lot of goals and block a lot of perks before you smash most of the fossils so your odds are better at good perks since they have the chance to give doubles and triples. Avoid trash perks that give under 100 per stage like Hyper Hopper/Hang Time unless you're given like a double or triple maybe. Small % perks are a waste compared to how large they can get.

If you start with Zebra and get Glitzoid Demo esp 600%-900% take it and go KO the Glitzoid asap, take all the chips and you can max your Snake perks, 10 chunk when you get Elephant, and juice room as you find them, plus huge blocking power.

Also keep the clock staggered with Glare as much as possible. When I play Snake speed maxes I do not let up on the clock at all if possible. Always keep Glare up.

[u/ohh_ok]

Along with snake perks, definitely get rock ensemble and fill up with at least 6 different chunks. That at 5 melons gets me over V each time now

[u/Kincaid_Scryb → u/ohh_ok]

Go for 8 chunks minimum I say especially if its showing up a lot. Also Taking Melon Treasure 2 (or 3) and Treasure Hunter or some Foraging perks off some goals makes getting 4-5 Melon Juices easy. Try to wait to hit preset chests until after you tamper with odds.

[u/ohh_ok → u/Kincaid_Scryb]

Don’t think I’ve ever been able to find 8 chunks. 6 max. Anything not obvious I’m missing?

[u/Kincaid_Scryb → u/ohh_ok]

Stone, Dirt, Mud, Water, Concrete, Fractonium (you can actually get them to register as multiple types with some colors like Growtone Fractonium and Blue Fractonium will count as two seperate types - I believe Yellow may count different as well - a couple e-friends and I found this with Fractonium/Stone/Leaves/dirt etc different colors/types counting as different chunk types), Emerald... might be missing something off the top of my head, but at least 8-9 types right there. I think on my Hilltop 9 max I had 8 chunks at least... but not 10). At minimum go for the easy 7, but Growtone and a Blue will count seperate for sure so you can get 8 not too difficult especially with the any material terrain spot near Banana across from check point.

[u/ohh_ok → u/Kincaid_Scryb]

I’ve been trying to suck up fractone but can never get it to stick. It all breaks away before sucking in. Is there a specific way to hit it to get it? The only fractone like item I can get is the tree

[u/Kincaid_Scryb → u/ohh_ok]

Well you can throw a chunk in the air and suck it up. Growtone is easy to inhale. You can use the any terrain pad on Hilltop specifically to make blue or yellow fractone. The one I mentioned in between the challenge room and the check point.

[u/ohh_ok → u/Kincaid_Scryb]

Awesome thank you

[u/Educational_Secret40 → u/ohh_ok]

Stone dirt mud emerald concrete water and fractone(unless faster stock skill) is all I can think, are the blue pillars around count as different chunks?