Ruffian

The Ruffians are a group of menacing Piñata poachers led by Professor Pester on the island. They are humanoid characters who will do their worst to spoil your garden and should be dealt with as soon as they're spotted.

Behavior

• Ruffians will show up and take away your helpers if they become trapped in your garden.
• They will open gates and destroy fences in your garden.
• If there is water in the way of a Ruffian, it will "throw up" land to make a bridge in order to leave the garden.
• Usually if one Ruffian has entered the garden, there will be another in your garden as well. Be sure to keep your eyes open whenever a Ruffian comes in.
• They will fight with your pinatas or helpers and never lose.

Ways to deal with Ruffians

• You can scare them away by whacking them with an upgraded shovel.
• If you bribe them with chocolate coins (as soon as they enter your garden), they will temporarily leave.
• You can direct a Mallowolf to howl at them in order to scare them off.
• You can direct a S'morepion to a Ruffian to temporarily stun them with its stinger.
• Buying a Captain's Cutlass from the general store (available at level 35) for the garden will keep them away for good.
• Watering some Ruffians--particularly the one with green grass-like pigtails--seems to pause their tour of terror, but only while you're still watering them. Once you stop watering, they'll continue where they left off.

Ways to deal with Professor Pester

• In Trouble in Paradise, Professor Pester is not afraid of the Captain's Cutlass. In fact, he'll often break it...
• If you pay Pester 500 coins in time, he will go away.
• If you don't get to him in time he will break something in your garden, usually the most expensive item or pinata.
• You can trick Pester by keeping a decoy horstacio pinata in your garden, available from the General Store, in case you don't pay him off in time.
• A dragonache or choclodocus in your garden will scare Pester away.
• A Limeocerous, once tamed, will attack Pester.
• Another way to deal with Professor Pester is to run a fence along the outer perimeter of your garden from the base of the Tower of Sour, out two spaces and down about 8 units. Pester will enter this small portion of your garden, whinge a bit, then eventually leave without injuring any of your pinatas.