The newest update in Universal Tower Defense X finally added Garp, and many players are trying to unlock him as fast as possible. The process is not exactly simple because you need to clear several trial quests, evolve multiple units, and grind the Admiral Defense mode many times. Still, if you know what to do beforehand, the entire process becomes much easier and faster. In this guide, we are going over every step needed to unlock Garp, including the trial quests, best farming methods, and tips for clearing Admiral Defense efficiently.
How to Start the Garp Trials
To begin unlocking Garp, open the Quest menu and head into the Trials section. Inside, you will see the Marine Hero questline. This contains all the objectives required before you can claim Garp and his evolution item.
The very first mission is simple. You only need to speak to the Marine Hero NPC in the lobby. The NPC is located near the Gold Shop area, so just walk over there and interact with him once. After that, the first trial will immediately complete.
Evolve Revolutionary Chief
The second task requires players to evolve Revolutionary Chief. Luckily, this is one of the easier parts of the grind because Revolutionary Chief is a banner unit that many players can obtain quickly through summons.
Once you get the unit, head to the crafting section and create the evolution materials needed. After crafting everything, go into the Evolutions menu and evolve the character. The materials are fairly cheap compared to other late-game units, making this quest very beginner friendly.
After evolving Revolutionary Chief, the second trial will clear automatically.
Evolve Strongest Swordsman
The next step is very similar. You need to evolve Strongest Swordsman, another banner unit available through summons. If you already have the materials prepared, this part can be completed in only a few minutes. Go to the evolution menu, use the required materials, and finish the evolution. Once done, the third trial is completed and the real grind finally begins.
Complete Admiral Defense 25 Times
This is the hardest and longest part of the entire Garp questline. Players must clear the Admiral Defense event mode 25 times before moving forward.
To access the mode, click the Events section and select Admiral Defense. Since the mode can be difficult with random teammates, it is highly recommended to play with a proper team or use global matchmaking until you find reliable players.
One of the best strategies for faster clears is focusing on farming early. Maxing out economy units first helps your team scale much faster during later waves. After farming, many players use Luffy because his full AoE attacks can hit multiple bosses at once, making the runs significantly quicker.
Best Units for Admiral Defense
Several units work especially well inside Admiral Defense. Luffy is considered one of the strongest picks because his AoE coverage reaches multiple enemies and bosses at the same time. This helps speed up the runs tremendously.
Knockback units like Akainu and Nei are also very useful because they can slow enemies from reaching the end. These units become extremely valuable during the later Garp section where enemies become much more dangerous.
If your team has several players using similar setups, runs can be completed in around two minutes, making the 25 clears much less painful.
How to Find the Pirate King Straw Hat
After finishing the 25 clears, there is still one final mission remaining. You must find the Pirate King Straw Hat inside Admiral Defense. This item has a low spawn chance and appears randomly during Wave 1. Many players believe the spawn rate is around 5%, which means you may need multiple resets before finding it.
The easiest method is:
- Start Admiral Defense
- Wait until Wave 1 begins
- Check all known spawn locations
- If the hat does not appear, restart immediately
- Repeat until it spawns
This method saves a huge amount of time compared to fully clearing the mode every attempt. Eventually, the Joyful Captain Straw Hat will appear and you can pick it up to complete the final trial.
Claiming and Evolving Garp
Once every trial is finished, head back to the lobby and claim your rewards. You will receive Garp along with his evolution materials. After unlocking him, many players immediately reroll stats to get better traits. SSS stats are considered excellent if you are planning to use Garp for late-game content. To maximize his performance, players commonly use:
- Warlord equipment set
- Soul Reaper Necklace
- Ruler trait
- Ethereal upgrades using Secret Shards
These upgrades greatly improve his damage and overall boss-killing potential.
Unlocking Garp in Universal Tower Defense X takes time, especially because of the 25 Admiral Defense clears and Straw Hat farming. However, the reward is definitely worth it if you need a powerful late-game damage dealer.
The grind becomes much easier when you have a reliable team, strong farming units, and a fast strategy for Admiral Defense. Once fully upgraded, Garp can perform extremely well in boss stages and difficult content thanks to his Hybrid attacks, critical damage scaling, and powerful passives.