Shelly

Shelly has the highest Skill Check stat available at 5 stars, giving her a natural aptitude for extraction. Her active ability, Inspiration, is capable of drastically increasing the Extraction Speed of a selected Toon by a whole 75% for 15 seconds, making her an exceptional Extractor Supporter. As Shelly, you can either find an extractor using or near a Machine and boost them, or go off on your own and extract Machines, boosting those that pass you on the off-chance they stumble across a Machine before the boost wears off. Upon any Machine's completion, her passive ability Problem Solver solves one of her other problems — her slightly-below average movement stats — by giving her a 25% boost in Movement Speed for 10 seconds (18.75 Walk Speed / 31.25 Run Speed). This boost can stack when multiple Machines are completed in quick succession, and with five Machines completed at once, Shelly can actually outwalk Twisted Dyle outside of Panic Mode.

Shelly's Inspiration boost is remarkably effective, being able to make 1-2 Star Extraction Speed Toons extract almost as fast as a 5 Star Extraction Speed Toon. Generally, unless you are duoing, it is best to boost anyone extracting that you can find on low Floors. However, with multiple targets available, you must think carefully about who you are boosting. Prioritize a Toon that has just started a Machine over one that is nearly completing it, as the time savings are greater. Toons with high extraction stats get more out of the buff since it lets them find another Machine to complete faster, but if most Machines are done, the Floor will finish faster if you buff a slow extractor or the person with the least completion on their Machine. If you are being chased, you can buff a teammate who is almost done with a Machine to trigger your Problem Solver speed boost. Shelly's boost also stacks with other Extraction Speed buffs, so it can turn Items like Instructions or Stress Ball into a real force if someone has brought them or if a Machine is in a risky spot. Importantly, do not buff a Toon that is priming, as it could disrupt their timing. To make the best use of her active ability, memorizing Machine placements on each Floor is very helpful, as it allows you to predict when a Toon notices and wants to extract a Machine, giving them the boost earlier.

In organized runs such as Mach Crushers (runs with four or more Shellies), a strategy called Duoing is used to capitalize on Shelly's strengths and cooldown management. Duoing has pairs of Shellies stay together, prioritizing one side of the map (left or right) to cover the most ground without being redundant. They try to only boost each other unless there is a Machine near the distractor in need of completing, they cannot find their duo partner or an extraction Machine, or other teammates are doing the last Machines. This strategy becomes very productive if Vee's Remote is used, as the Shellies can combo with each other early on. Generally, one Shelly leads by using Vee's Remote first while the other finds their own Machine. Then, when the leader finds another Machine, they boost each other and the second Shelly finds their own Machine. This helps avoid confusion and utilize cooldowns efficiently. Additionally, Shelly's passive ability reduces the need to prime, speeding up Floors further. Duos can also match Skins to coordinate better, with matching colors reducing ambiguity — for example, green for Fall Stroll and Prehistoric Peppermint.

Shelly's main weakness is her low Stamina stat at just 2 stars (125 units), which results in troubles with Stamina management if you are not careful. It is recommended to not get below 50 units unless you have some sort of support such as an Item, support Toons, experience, or reliable distractors. However, the Stamina problem becomes mitigated once she gains the 70 extra units from Dyle's Floor and both Stamina Cards, putting her at 195 units. Even though her Movement Speed is average while ignoring her passive, she will have trouble running from Twisteds that outpace her in prolonged chases. Her maximum of 2 Health as a Main Character further limits her margin for error.

For Items, because Shelly leans towards extraction, picking and using Extraction Items is the most obvious choice, allowing her to extract Machines faster for the team. Stamina and Speed Items are also good choices, helping her extract Treadmill Machines with or without her passive and maintain Stamina while searching for Machines or in urgent situations like needing to reach the Elevator while extracting far from it. Shelly benefits from all Items generally, so do not hesitate to pick some up if you do not have a Sprout on the team. Like every other Toon she benefits from healing, but as a Main Character, Bandages are preferable over Health Kits since the additional healing from Health Kits would be partially wasted due to her 2 Health cap. Unless you can rely on others for support, it is a good idea to preserve at least one Item slot for escape Items.

For Trinket combinations, survivability-focused builds often center around Pink Bow paired with options like Speedy Shoes for additional Run Speed, Clown Horn or Ribbon Spool for conditional Movement Speed boosts, Vanity Mirror to outrun every Twisted except Twisted Dyle during Panic Mode, or Cooler to expand her Stamina pool. Star Pillow is another strong option that lets her regenerate Stamina faster while extracting, taking advantage of her slower extraction pace. For extraction-focused builds, Magnifying Glass is a core choice that enhances both her 3-star Extraction Speed and 5-star Skill Check, pairable with Vee's Remote for quicker Floor progression, Participation Award to maximize Skill Check extraction, or Stress Ball for gradually increasing Extraction Speed with each successful Skill Check hit. For ability support, Ghost Snakes In A Can reduces Inspiration's cooldown to 55 seconds, and adding Sweet Charm can reduce it further to approximately 50.2 seconds.