1st wave I just TB. Can wheel or up if you want / have lower stats( I only 5* the buffbeams as I build and generally leave the rest as is)
I put in warden tower/hermit tower builders/whatever you wanna target. Never used guardians or anything else fancy - avg time about 3:05'ish build (im slow) and 7:30 combat.
Can build on either side of the crystals - both work fine. (where its shows on map or where "3" is)
Hermit: 4k 8k 4.5k 3k
Warden: 3.k 8.4k 5.2k 5.2k
Monk: 3k 2k 8.5k 4k
I have done withouth pylon and worked fine (add in extra whatever) - only issue is that if you need to "up" to make this build work due to lower stats you have to use a jester as they will die too far away for app to do so reliably.