Plant Guide - Guide for Plants vs. Zombies

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    A D V A N C E D  &   S T R A T E G Y   P L A N T   G U I D E

by Cyrad

VERSION 1.01 - Last modified on March 17th, 2011

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 T A B L E  O F  C O N T E N T S
--------------------------------

To instantly go to a section, search (CTRL+F) for the code inside the brackets.

[S10] Introduction

[S20] Glossery of Terms

[S30] About Damage

[S40] Plants (ordered alphabetically)

      [P28] Blover            [P21] Jalopeno          [P10] Sun-shroom
      [P33] Cabbage-pult      [P17] Lily Pad          [P24] Tall-Nut
      [P27] Cactus            [P32] Magnet-shroom     [P20] Tangle Kelp
      [P44] Cattail           [P39] Marigold          [P42] Twin Sunflower
      [P03] Cherry Bomb       [P40] Melon-pult        [P19] Threepeater
      [P07] Chomper           [P01] Peashooter        [P23] Torchwood
      [P48] Cob Cannon        [P26] Plantern          [P38] Umbrella Leaf
      [P36] Coffee Bean       [P05] Potato Mine       [P04] Wall-Nut
      [P16] Doom-shroom       [P09] Puff-shroom       [P45] Winter Melon
      [P34] Flower Pot        [P31] Pumpkin
      [P11] Fume-shroom       [P08] Repeater
      [P37] Garlic            [P14] Scaredy-shroom
      [P41] Gatling Pea       [P25] Sea-shroom
      [P43] Gloom-shroom      [P06] Snow Pea
      [P46] Golden Magnet     [P22] Spikeweed
      [P12] Grave Buster      [P47] Spikerock
      [P13] Hyno-shroom       [P29] Split Pea
      [P35] Kernel-pult       [P18] Squash
      [P15] Ice-shroom        [P30] Starfruit
      [P49] Imitater          [P02] Sunflower

[S50] F.A.Q.

[S60] Version Information

[S60] Credits & Special Thanks

[S70] Contact & Legal

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 I N T R O D U C T I O N
--------------------------------

Plants vs Zombies is a tower defense game where you must defend your lawn and
your brains from a horde of zombies using a garden of mutant plants.

The purpose of this guide is to give detailed information about plants, the
units of the game, and explain example strategies for its use. By reading this
guide, you will not only know the ins and outs of every plant, but also to
convey an understanding of each plant's potential.

One of my personal goals of writing this guide is not merely to parrot the
in-game plant guide, but rather provide information the in-game guide does NOT
mention. More specifically, I aim to clarify misconceptions caused by the
in-game guide vague and misleading descriptions.

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 G L O S S E R Y  O F  T E R M S
--------------------------------

Throughout the guide, I may use several terms to denote some concepts of the
game. While most of their meanings are obvious, this glossery should help clear
up any possible confusion.

Almanac - The Subburban Almanac, given to you by Crazy Dave during Adventure
    Mode. The Almanac serves as a basic guide to all plants and zombies you
    encounter. While it serves its purpose, I've found that some of the
    information in the almanac to be misleading. Vague descriptions and its
    tendency to be inconsistent in comparing plants to other plants can make it
    difficult for players to know exact information.

Column - a vertical range of spaces of the game grid.

Damage unit - a measurement of power that causes zombies to die.
    Pea = 1 damage unit. See Damage for more detail.

Flag wave - a wave of zombies that is led by a flag zombie. They're indicated
    by a brain flag on your level progression bar and heralded by a
    "A huge wave of zombies is approaching!" message. Flag waves not
    only have a lot of zombies, but also you can expect the toughest
    zombies in the level to spawn here. Also, expect zombies to spring
    from graves and the bottom of the pool, covered in seaweed.

Game grid - the field of play in the game wherein you can plant. Placement of
    units in Plants vs Zombies is grid-based. Frontyard and Roof levels are
    5x9 grids while Pool levels are 6x9.


Headwear zombie - a zombie wearing something on its head that increases its
    health. Not to be confused with shield zombies, the headwear is actually a
    symbol of the zombie's health and is not a separate entity from the zombie.
    If the zombie loses the headwear for any reason, this indicates the zombie
    has 10 health remaining. Headwear zombies include Cone Zombies, Bucket
    Zombies, Football Zombies, and others.

Jumping zombie - any kind of zombie capable of jumping over plants. This
    includes Polevaulting Zombies, Dolphin Zombies, and Pogo Zombies. This,
    however, does NOT include Balloon Zombies.

Lane - a horizontal range of spaces of the game grid. Used interchangeably with
    "Row" in this guide, the game's text uses this term instead.

Row - a horizontal range of spaces of the game grid.

Shield zombies - zombies carrying an object that protects them. Not to be
     confused with headwear zombies, the objects the zombies carry have
     health that is separate from the zombies that carry them. This also means
     that ailments such as Butter and ice will not affect the zombie.
     Fume-shrooms and Gloom-shrooms, however, can attack the zombie directly.
     Shield zombies include Newspaper Zombies, Screendoor Zombies, and Ladder
     Zombies

Sun - the game's fundamental resource. You need sun in order to plant.

Upgrade plants - plants that must be planted ontop of pre-existing plants to
     'upgrade' them. Upgrades tend to vary. Some of them are merely improved
     versions of their base plants while others become entirely unique plants.
     All upgrade plants, however, are offset by having a very slow recharge
     time and being unable to be mimiked by the Imitater. Everytime an upgrade
     is planted in Survival Endless, the cost of the upgrade plant will
     increase by 50 sun. Upgrades are indicated by a purple seed package rather
     than a green one.

Vehicle zombies - zombies that ride wheel'd vehicles. In particular, the term
    refers to Catapult Zombies and Zombonis. They can crush plants effortlessly
    but can be destroyed instantly by Spikeweeds and Spikerocks.


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 A B O U T  D A M A G E
--------------------------------

Before I go on to describe the zombie killers, let me explain how damage works
in PvZ. The game's almanac can be rather misleading at times because it
considers firing rate when naming damage, and for some plants, like
upgradeables, it won't tell what the damage is at all.

The base damage for everything is Peas, doing lowest unit of damage in the
game.

Damage Facts:
-------------
- Peas do exactly one unit of damage, fire peas doing two units of damage.

- It takes 5 units of damage to make a normal zombie's arm fall off.

- It takes 10 units of damage to make a normal zombie's head fall off, killing
  it.

- Zombies can still absorb some damage with their bodies after they die
  (again), before they disappear from the screen.

- Any plant labeled as doing "massive" damage will kill any zombie instantly
  with exception to Gargantuar, Giga-Gargantuar, and Zomboss.

- It takes two "massive" damages to kill a Gargantuar, three for a
  Giga-Gargantuar.

- Cabbages do NOT do the same damage as peas. The almanac accounts for firing
rate when saying a Cabbage-pult does "normal" damage. While Cabbages do twice
the damage as peas, Cabbage-pults fire twice as slow as Peashooters. Since the
damage-per-second ratio is the same, the almanac says both Peashooters and
Cabbages do the same damage.

- Kernels do the same damage as peas. Despite it being called 'Light" while
  peas are described as "normal" damage, they do the same damage. However,
  Kernel-pults have half the firing speed of peashooters.

- Butter does the same damage as cabbages and fire peas.

- Ice-Shrooms do the same damage as peas, despite it being described as "very
  light" damage.

- Frozen melons do the same damage as melons.

Amount of Needed Projectiles to Kill a Normal Zombie:
-----------------------------------------------------
10 Peas
10 Needles
10 Kernels
10 Shroom Spores
10 Fire peas (splash damage)
10 Ice Peas
5 Fire Peas (direct hit)
5 Cabbages
5 Butter
5 Watermelons (splash damage)
3 Watermelons (direct hit)
5 Frozen melons (splash damage)
3 Frozen melons (direct hit)
1 "Massive" damage

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 P L A N T S
--------------------------------

Now the part that you've been waiting for. Here's a little clarification on
the guide.

Types:
------
Offense - a unit that typically fires projectiles at regular intervals.

Defense - a unit whose purpose is to stall the zombies' progression by forcing
   them to literally eat through it.

Passive Offense - a defensive unit that, while not attacking directly, will
   only damage or kill a zombie if it has a direct confrontation with it.

Grenade - a unit, typically instant-use, that will cause damage to zombies
   in its damage radius.

Sun Production - a unit that produces sun resources.

Support - a unit that performs some kind of special function or effect without
   actually harming the zombies.

Gold Farming - a unit that takes no role in lawn defense, serving only to help
   you get gold.


Layout Labels:
--------------
Cost - The amount of sun needed to plant the unit

Recharge: The amount of delay after planting a unit before it can be planted
   again.

Damage - The amount of damage the plant does or how much each projectile
   does individually.

Firing Rate - How frequently the projectiles or attacks are fired

Firing Range - How close the zombies need to be in order for it to attack

Special - Brief description of any special effects the plants can do

Description - What the plant does and how it works

Strategy - How to use the plant effectively and example strategies

Other Notes - Extra information not necessarily related to the plant's
   function

____________
 Peashooter \_____________________________________________________________(P01)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 100     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense  |
--------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 1 pea per second
- Firing Range: Spaces on or in front of Peashooter.
- Special: None

Description:
------------
Fires a pea horizontally every second.

Strategy:
---------
Since Peashooters have no limit to their horizontal range, try to place them
back as far as they can go, usually right in front of your Sunflowers. They're
decent in levels with basic zombies, but you'll pine for better firepower later
on.

Other Notes:
------------
Peas that pass over Torchwood turn into Fire Peas, doing double the damage.
Peashooters behind a Torchwood will not be able to attack zombies on the same
space the Peashooter is on.

____________
 Sunflower  \_____________________________________________________________(P02)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 50     Recharge: Fast     Type: Sun Production  |
--------------------------------------------------------

- Special: Produces 25 Sun at random intervels.

Description:
------------
The staple sun producing plant in the game. A glowing Sunflower indicates that
it's going to produce another sun. Its sun production rate does not appear to
be consistent, but a newly planted Sunflower seems to create one sun 10 seconds
after it has been planted.

Strategy:
---------
Sunflowers are the most valuable plant in the game. As long as you have one,
there's still hope to save your brains. Unless there's special circumstances
such as night levels, you should always have Sunflower seeds in your roster.
Plant Sunflowers in the back where they'll be protected.

I advise prolonging your offense as long as possible in order to build up at
least 2 columns of sunflowers, even if it means using some cheap instant-kill
plants like Squashes or possibly sacrificing a lawnmower. Levels get
expontentially more difficult as time passes. If you wait later to build up
your sun-producing masses, your sun is going to dry up fast when zombies start
appearing in bunches and that column of Peashooters you planted isn't going to
be enough to ward them off.

Other Notes:
------------
Can be upgraded to a Twin Sunflower at the cost of 150 sun.

_____________
 Cherry Bomb \____________________________________________________________(P03)


Statistics
------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 150     Recharge: Very Slow     Type: Grenade |
------------------------------------------------------

- Damage: "Massive"
- Range: Planted space and adjacent spaces next to it in every direction.
- Special: None
- Usage: Single-Use when planted

Description:
------------
Denonates one second after it is planted, instantly killing all zombies in a
3x3 area, with exception to Gargantuar and Zomboss.

Strategy:
---------
These are essentially plant versions of grenades. Plant these when an
especially large clustered group of zombies may threaten your defenses. Though
it can affect zombies offscreen, it's best to wait until all zombies in a wave
are on the lawn before using it. Garlics and Wall-Nuts can help cluster zombies
together for maximum effectiveness.

Unfortunately, Cherry Bombs are not very useful for Roof levels. You need a
Flower Pot to plant it, but since the ideal use of Cherry Bombs is to plant it
in a cluster of zombies, the zombies will likely eat the Flower Pot before you
can plant the Cherry Bomb. For those situations, it's better to use a Jalapeno.

As the first "Massive" damaging plant you receive, Cherry Bomb sets the trend
for "Massive" damaging plants having very slow recharge time. So, make sure
you use your Cherry Bombs well.

Other Notes:
------------
In the Steam version of the game, killing 10 zombies with a Cherry Bomb will
award you an acheivement.

___________
 Wall-Nut  \______________________________________________________________(P04)


Statistics
------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 50     Recharge: Slow     Type: Defense |
------------------------------------------------

- Toughness: High
- Special: None

Description:
------------
Wall-Nuts force zombies to have to eat through it to progress towards the rest
of your plants and your brains. With its high endurance, it keeps zombies at
bay while your offenses take them out. It takes roughly 45 seconds for a
single zombie to eat the Wall-Nut.

The Wall-Nut's health is indicated by its expression:
* Smiling - Good health
* Uneasy expression with chips missing - Medium health
* Frowning with large pieces missing - Low health

The Wall-Nut will not stop zombies from jumping over it.

Strategy:
---------
Wall-Nuts are vital to a lawn defense. For most levels, you should have
Wall-Nut seeds on hand. Not only will they stop the hordes from progressing
towards your plants, but also it can help you bide some time to get more sun
for the bigger guns.

However, a Wal-Nut and a Peashooter won't keep a lane secure for long. If too
many zombies attack the Wall-Nut, it'll die quickly. Thankfully, Wall-Nuts
work excellently in combination of many other plants because it can protect
powerful plants while grouping zombies together for plants with area of effect
attacks.

For example, a good combination is a Wall-Nut with a Spikeweed in front of it
and possibly a Fume-shroom behind the Wall-Nut.

Make sure you keep an eye on your Wall-Nuts for when they need to be replaced.
Unfortunately, the Wall-Nut's biggest downfall is its annoyingly slow
recharge time.

Other Notes:
------------
You can plant new Wall-Nuts ontop of old ones if you purchased Wall-Nut First
Aid from Crazy Dave's shop for $2000.

______________
 Potato Mine  \___________________________________________________________(P05)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 25     Recharge: Slow     Type: Passive Offense |
--------------------------------------------------------

- Damage: "Massive"
- Range: All zombies in a single space.
- Special: None
- Usage: Single-Use, but not armed until after 15 seconds.

Description:
------------
After planted, the Potato Mine remains submerged for 15 seconds, completely
defenseless until then. Afterward, it will emerge. While emerged, it'll
explode if any zombie steps it, killing the zombie and possibly any zombie
overlapping with it.

Potato Mines cannot be planted on Lily Pads, but they can be planted in Flower
Pots.

Strategy:
---------
The Potato Mine is a defensive "massive" damage dealer. Because of the delay,
they're better off planted in front of your Sunflowers but behind your offense
as a last resort before the zombies start biting the petals off of your
precious sun producers. They can also be useful behind Wall-Nuts to take care
of zombies that eat them, considering the Wall-Nut will have caused zombies to
overlap each other and allow the explosion to kill more than one zombie.

While the Potato Mine is dirt cheap and has a faster recharge than Cherry Bombs,
it has a terribly small area of effect, usually only killing one brain muncher.

I personally prefer Squashes. At the cost of 25 extra sun, the Squash has no
activation delay, can be planted on Lily Pads, and can not only attack zombies
a space away, but also can attack a zombie behind it. This also allows the
Squash to kill zombies that can jump over Potato Mines.

Other Notes:
------------
In the steam version, you get an acheivement for killing a zombie with the
Potato Mine. Potato Mines also cannot be planted on Lily Pads, but they can,
however, be planted in Flower Pots or Flower Pots ontop of Lily Pads.

__________
 Snow Pea \_______________________________________________________________(P06)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 175     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense  |
--------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 1 frozen pea per second
- Firing Range: Spaces on or in front of Snow Pea.
- Special: Halves the speed of zombies the frozen peas hit

Description:
------------
Fires a frozen pea horizontally every second. The frozen pea will cause the
zombie to move and attack twice as slow. The effect seems to persist for a long
duration.

The freezing effect will not occur if the zombie is carrying an object that
has health, such as ladders, newspapers, and screen doors. It will, however,
work on zombies with headwear.

Strategy:
---------
Snow Peas make excellent support fire. They essentially double the time it
takes for zombies to get to you, allowing your offenses to double the damage
they normally would have done in the zombies' progress. The frozen effect seems
to persist unless the zombie is hit by a fire pea.

While nearly twice the cost of a Peashooter, a single Snow Pea is actually more
economic than a single Peashooter because slowing the zombie allows double
the damage. However, having more than one Snow Pea is a waste, since the frozen
effect doesn't stack.

Later in the game, Snow Peas are only useful for "death march" strategies
that involve forcing zombies down a path full of AoEs. In this strategy, Snow
Peas can slow zombies to force them to take more damage.

Do not use Snow Peas in any pea plant strategy involving Torchwoods. Torchwoods
remove the slow effect, rendering the plant useless.

Other Notes:
------------
Frozen peas passing over Torchwoods will revert to normal peas. The frozen
effect can be negated by fire peas.

_________
 Chomper \________________________________________________________________(P07)


Statistics
-----------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 150     Recharge: Fast     Type: Passive Offensive |
-----------------------------------------------------------

- Damage: "Massive"
- Range: One zombie on or one space in front of Chomper
- Special: None
- Usage: Kills one zombie, then requires roughly 40 seconds to be armed again

Description:
------------
Instantly eats one zombie and then spends roughly 40 seconds to finish eating
it. The Chomper will not just attack zombies right next to it, but can attack
zombies at least a full space away.

Strategy:
---------
I personally find Chompers to be great, but many other PvZ players I've seen
consider them fairly useless. The issue is that the almanac is rather
misleading about its attack range. Chompers can eat zombies that are attacking
plants in front of it. This makes Chompers excellent when placed behind
Wall-Nut, something that even the Tree of Wisdom agrees. They're even better
when behind Tall-Nuts or have a Pumpkin on them or sit at the back column to
eat sneaky miners.

Chompers will also eat zombies that try to jump over it, but if you're dealing
with jumping zombies, it's good to have a Pumpkin on your Chomper anyway.

Being one of the massive damage-dealing plants that can be used more than once,
Chompers can have their uses. Because of their fast recharge, you can
quickly line your defenses with them.

Love them or hate them.

Other Notes:
------------
None.


__________
 Repeater \_______________________________________________________________(P08)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 200     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense  |
--------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 2 peas per second
- Firing Range: Spaces on or in front of Repeater
- Special: None

Description:
------------
Fires a two peas horizontally every second. Essentially a Peashooter with
double the firing rate.

Strategy:
---------
Like the description says, a Repeater is two Peashooters in one space. However,
you typically don't have spacing troubles until later in the game where other
offensive plants will appear more appealing. Despite so, Repeaters are
essential to Torchwood strategies and become very attractive later in the game
where Survival mode is unlocked and when you can buy Gatling Peas. Repeaters
are one of the few "more peas per space" plants that don't charge extra sun
for its space efficiency.

In Survival, Repeaters are preferred over Peashooters. Both cost the same, but
unlike Repeaters, Peashooters cannot be upgraded. Considering the nature of
Survival where both the threat and your defenses are evolving through each
round, Repeaters allow you to upgrade your lawn defense without having to dig
up old plants, which can be greatly inefficient.

In Survival, plant Repeaters in the first round or second round, and upgrade
them to Gatling Peas in later rounds. If you're worried about not having
enough sun to protect all your lanes, then use Garlics to divert zombies into
lanes with offensive plants.

Other Notes:
------------
Peas that pass over Torchwood turn into Fire Peas, doing double the damage.
Can be upgraded to Gatling Peas.

_____________
 Puff-shroom \____________________________________________________________(P09)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 0     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense    |
|------------------------------------------------|
| Sleeps during the day                          |
--------------------------------------------------


- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 1 spore per second
- Firing Range: Spaces on or 3 spaces away from Puff-shroom
- Special: None

Description:
------------
Fires a short ranged spore projectile.

Strategy:
---------
Puff-shrooms are a must-have for any night level. Being one of the only free
plants, they're offset by their poor attack range. Puff-shrooms are useful in
early night time levels when resources are scarce.

As soon as the level starts, plant a Puff-shroom on a fourth space from the
right of the screen. If the Puff-shroom seed is not recharging, you should
always be placing one down and trying to build columns of them. After you
start accumulating some sun and space starts to run out, start replacing
your Puff-shrooms with better firepower.

Unfortunately, despite its cheap price, Puff-shrooms are not worth using a
Coffee Bean on.

Other Notes:
------------
Puff-shrooms can be used in the daytime if you plant a Coffee Bean on it at
a cost of 75 sun.

____________
 Sun-shroom \_____________________________________________________________(P10)


Statistics
-------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 25     Recharge: Fast     Type: Sun Production |
|-----------------------------------------------------|
| Sleeps during the day                               |
-------------------------------------------------------

- Special: Produces 15 sun at random intervels, 25 sun later on

Description:
------------
Produces 15 sun at inconsistent intervels. After a couple of minutes, it will
grow in size and start producing 25 sun instead. A glowing Sun-shroom indicates
it is about to give off a sun.

Strategy:
---------
Sun-shrooms are a night time alternative to Sunflowers. They may seem worthless
at a glance with its meager 15 sun production, but if you do the math, they're
actually better in the beginning when sun is scarce. With the 50 sun you start
off with, you can make two Sun-shrooms, which make more sun than Sunflowers at
the same cost.

Considering you have Puff-shrooms to set up your offenses at no cost, invest
all your sun into making at least 2 columns of Sun-shrooms as quickly as
possible. By the time the zombies start raining in the numbers, your lawn
will be covered with Puff-shrooms and your Sun-shrooms will grow to start
producing 25 sun a pop. Then you can get out the big guns.

Though 2 columns can suffice, I personally prefer 3 or 4 columns of Sun-shrooms
to take full advantage of their cheap price. I find myself having tons of sun
later on when I do this and capable of building a superb lawn defense when the
zombies start becoming tough.

Other Notes:
------------
Sun-shrooms can be used in the daytime if you plant a Coffee Bean on them, but
with Sunflowers available, it's completely worthless.

_____________
 Fume-shroom \____________________________________________________________(P11)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 75     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense   |
|------------------------------------------------|
| Sleeps during the day                          |
--------------------------------------------------


- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 1 fume cloud per second
- Firing Range: All zombies in an area of 4 spaces in front of Fume-shrooms
- Special: Area of effect that penetrates through screen doors, ladders,
           and newspapers.

Description:
------------
Fires an area of effect 4 spaces in front of it that not only damage all
zombies in range, but also damages shield-wielding zombies directly rather than
damage the shield itself.

Strategy:
---------
Fume-shrooms are an incredible offensive plant. The game introduces them as a
counter to screendoor zombies but they have much more potential. Where
pea-shooting plants excel at damaging single targets with plants that fire
multiple peas that can be buffed with Torchwoods, Fume-shrooms excel at
damaging multiple targets at once. This makes them excellent for hordes as
they can kill multiple weak zombies at once, take care of the shield-users,
and soften the tougher zombies for the pea plants to finish off.

To utilize Fume-shrooms fully, try to find ways to keep zombies clustered in
groups in front of it. Garlics and Wall-Nuts are perfect for this. Don't
underestimate Fume-Shrooms range. You can plant two fume-shrooms behind a
Wall-Nut that's on the third space from the right, and plant Spikeweeds on
the path leading to it. This will do 4 damage every second to each zombie
in front of the Wall-Nut. Increase the punishment with Spikerocks and
a Snow Pea, and most zombies won't even make it to the Wall-Nut.

Fume-shrooms are also one of the only nocturnal plants that make Coffee Beans
worthwhile. Even at the total price of 150 sun, Fume-shrooms carry the
potential to have a higher damage output than compareable daytime plants
like Repeaters. To make them more worthwhile, Fume-shrooms can be upgraded to
Gloom-shrooms, which are very useful plants in their own right.

Other Notes:
------------
Fume-shrooms can be used in the daytime if you plant a Coffee Bean on it at
a cost of 75 sun. They can also be upgraded to Gloom-shrooms if you plant a
Gloom-shroom seed on one.

_____________
 Grave Buster\____________________________________________________________(P12)


Statistics
---------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 75     Recharge: Fast     Type: Support (Instant)|
---------------------------------------------------------

- Special: Removes a grave from the lawn
- Usage: Single-use, must be planted on a grave


Description:
------------
After planted on a grave, the Grave Buster will gradually start eating. After
about 3 or 4 seconds, the grave will be removed unless a zombie eats the Grave
Buster beforehand.

Strategy:
---------
Only useful on night time levels where you expect graves to appear. Graves
prevent you from planting on that space. They aren't too bad at first, but
they can throw a monkey wrench into an advanced lawn defense strategy.
They're especially annoying when they're closer to your house because zombies
can pop out of them. Thankfully, Grave Busters are here to save the day.

Don't plant a Grave Buster in front of a zombie or on graves where a zombie is
emerging out of it. Some PvZ players forget that ANY plant in the game can be
eaten by zombies, including instant-use ones. If a zombie eats your Grave
Buster, then you pretty much wasted 75 sun. Zombies can still pop out of graves
while the Grave Buster is busy munching.

More graves can still emerge, even after you Grave Busted them all. Typically,
this happens when a flag wave appears. The only sure-fire way to prevent
graves from ever appearing on your lawn is to have a plant on every space on
the game grid.

Other Notes:
------------
Grave Busters aren't nocturnal, but...you would only need them on night levels
anyway.

______________
 Hypno-shroom \___________________________________________________________(P13)


Statistics
------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 75     Recharge: Slow     Type: Support |
|----------------------------------------------|
| NOCTURNAL - Sleeps during the day            |
------------------------------------------------

- Special: Causes zombies that eat it to
- Usage: Planted, but eaten after a single bite from a zombie


Description:
------------
After a zombie eats the Hyno-shroom, they will change hue, turn around,
and start moving in the opposite direction. The zombie will then act as though
it's on your side, unaffected by plants, but other zombies will attack it. It
will also attack other zombies.

Strategy:
---------
Hypno-shrooms can be incredibly fun plants to use. Rather can killing a zombie
like most plants of its caliber, it will make the zombie become your minion.
This can be rather effective when used on a tough zombie like a football zombie.
Even better, Hypno-shroom a Dancing Zombie and not only will it become your
minion, but also its summoned dancing zombies will, too. These might be useful
on certain Zobanty zombies, but I've never tried it myself.

Of course, Hypno-shroom only work if the zombie actually EATS it. It won't work
if they jump over it or crush it.

Other Notes:
------------
Hypno-shrooms can be used during the day by planting Coffee Beans on them. In
the Steam version of the game, you can get an acheivement for Hypno-Shrooming a
Dancing Zombie.

________________
 Scaredy-shroom \_________________________________________________________(P14)


Statistics
-------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 25     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense  |
|-----------------------------------------------|
| NOCTURNAL - Sleeps during the day             |
-------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 1 spore per second
- Firing Range: Spaces on or in front of Scaredy-shroom.
- Special: Stops firing if zombies are in any adjacent space.

Description:
------------
Fires a spore horizontally every second. It is very similar to a Peashooter,
but at a fourth of the cost. However, if any zombie is within the 8 spaces
surrounding the Scaredy-shroom, including lanes above and below it, the shroom
will cower and quit attacking.

Strategy:
---------
Scaredy-shrooms are almost exactly like Peashooters. Use them as a long range
counterpart to your mid-range Fume-shrooms and your short-range Puff-shrooms.
However, make sure they're in your back columns with something to attack any
zombies that get through in case the Scaredy-shroom cowers. They're not
recommended where zombies can slip through your defenses easily, like
Pogo Zombies and Balloon Zombies. Miner Zombies can be devastating as not only
can they eat the scaredy-shrooms on their lane, but also will cause all other
scaredy-shrooms near it to stop firing at oncoming zombies.

Other Notes:
------------
At the cost of 75 sun, Scaredy-shrooms can be used during the daytime using a
Coffee Bean. However, Peashooters are much better and come at the same cost in
daytime levels.

____________
 Ice-shroom \_____________________________________________________________(P15)


Statistics
----------------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 75     Recharge: Very Slow     Type: Support (Instant)  |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| NOCTURNAL - Sleeps during the day                            |
----------------------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 1
- Range: All zombies on screen
- Special: Immbolizes zombies temporarily, then halves their movement speed
- Usage: Single-Use when planted

Description:
------------
Causes all zombies to quit moving or attacking for about 3 seconds. When
freed from their paralysis, the zombies have a frozen ailment similar to
Snow Pea's projectiles.

Ice-shroom's paralysis power has no effect on Pogo Zombies and Balloon Zombies,
but it still slows them.

Strategy:
---------
Being one of the only plants that can immobilize zombies, these are fairly
useful when dealing with hordes and flag waves. With these, your offense
gets a free 3 seconds to deal. If you have a lot of offensive plants, then this
should be enough time to kill lots of zombies. Even after the paralysis ends,
all the zombies will have their speed cut in half, taking twice as long to
get to your plants.

Ice-shrooms may be valuable when up against Gargantuars as you'll not only get
more time to kill them but you could end up saving a couple of columns of
plants.

Though I personally never use Ice-shrooms in the daytime, they can actually be
useful then. In some ways, they could even be MORE useful. Sleeping Ice-shrooms
stay planted on the lawn, so you can create a column of these buggers and then
use Coffee Beans on them whenever you want. This way, you don't have to wait
for the dreadfully long recharge time between uses.

Ice-shrooms are also useful for finding invisible zombies in the Invisi-ghoul
mini game, and dealing with the boss.

Don't forget the fact that Ice-shrooms do damage. Only 1 unit, same as a pea,
but it can kill a few zombies at once that are an inch away from death.

Other Notes:
------------
Can be used in the daytime at a cost of 75 for a Coffee Bean. The frozen effect
can be negated by fire peas.

_____________
 Doom-shroom \____________________________________________________________(P16)


Statistics
------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 125     Recharge: Very Slow     Type: Grenade |
|----------------------------------------------------|
| NOCTURNAL - Sleeps during the day                  |
------------------------------------------------------

- Damage: "Massive"
- Range: All zombies 3 spaces away in every direction
- Special: Leaves its space unplantable after use
- Usage: Single-Use when planted

Description:
------------
Kills all zombies in 7x7 area of effect. However, doing so leaves the space
it's on unplantable for a long duration. Lawn spaces become craters,
pool spaces become a murky patch of water, and roof spaces become a damaged
area of roof shingles. If a Pumpkin, Lily Pad, or Flower Pot also share its
space, they will be destroyed as well. Damaged spaces will eventually be
useable again, but not after a long while.

Strategy:
---------
Doom-shrooms are the god of all bomb-like plants, being cheaper than
Cherry Bombs on night levels. However, the main issue is its space destruction.
For short levels, it won't be an issue as the level will end quickly anyway.
However, longer levels will generate problems as space becomes more scarce.
For this reason, I recommend them for short and possibly survival modes.

You may be able to incorperate them as part of your strategy in daytime
survival modes. Because doom-shrooms remain planted when sleeping, you can
gather up a column of them to use as a last resort when the waves get too rowdy.
Because it's survival, the spots will eventually heal so you can use them again.

However, remember to plant the Doom-shrooms on the side of the screen the
zombies are on. A common misconception is that they can damage all zombies on
screen.

Other Notes:
------------
Can be used in the daytime at a cost of 75 for a Coffee Bean.

__________
 Lily Pad \_______________________________________________________________(P17)


Statistics
------------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 25     Recharge: Fast     Type: Plant Surface       |
|----------------------------------------------------------|
| AQUATIC - Must be planted on water                       |
------------------------------------------------------------

- Special: Non-aquatic plants can be planted ontop of it.

Description:
------------
It allows most non-aquatic plants to be planted on pool spaces. The only plants
that cannot be placed on a Lily Pad are Spikeweeds, Potato Mines, and
aquatic plants.

Strategy:
---------
Lily Pads are vital in nearly any pool level. They should be the first plant to
select in your roster, after your sun producer. Remember that the Lily Pad
itself is considered as a plant. After a zombie eats the plant ontop of it, it
then must eat the Lily Pad to proceed. You can also use a dummy Lily Pad to
make a Dolphin Rider waste his dolphin before running into a Wall-Nut or a
Garlic.

However, don't worry too much about planting these right away in the beginning
of a level. Pool zombies usually don't start appearing until after a few
land zombies trot through the lawn.

Other Notes:
------------
They can be destroyed if a Doom-shroom is planted ontop of them.

________
 Squash \_________________________________________________________________(P18)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 50     Recharge: Slow     Type: Passive Offense |
--------------------------------------------------------

- Damage: "Massive"
- Detection Range: Zero to one space in front of or behind Squash
- Damage Range: Any zombies that it lands on
- Usage: Stays planted until it attacks

Description:
------------
After planted, Squash remains on the lawn until it detects a zombie. It will
then leap over the zombie and crush it and any other zombie clustered with it,
disappearing afterward. Squashes can detect zombies on its space, in front of
it, and behind it.

Strategy:
---------
Squashes are pretty epic. They're cheap instant-killers that, while not having
as much damage radius as Cherry Bombs and Jalopenos, they recharge faster. I
personally like using them to deal with zombies at the start of a level while
I try to build up my sunflower squad.

Use them to handle zombies that slip through your defenses where other choices
would not be as reliable.

Other Notes:
------------
None.

_____________
 Threepeater \____________________________________________________________(P19)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 325     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense  |
--------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 1 pea in 3 lanes per second
- Firing Range: Spaces on or in front of Threepeater on lanes above, below,
                and on the Threepeater's position.
- Special: None

Description:
------------
Fires a pea in front of and on the lanes above and below it every second.

Strategy:
---------
Threepeaters are basically a combination of three Peashooters arranged
vertically. While simply having three Peashooters can save you 25 sun, the
space it saves it worth it.

While expensive, Threepeaters are awesome in many strategies. Combine
them with three Torchwoods to double the damage. They are particularly useful
for pool levels as a Threepeater below and above the pool can cover the entire
game grid (probably the reason the game gives them to you on the pool level).

I discourage placing Threepeaters on the top and bottom lanes because one of
its peas will go offscreen.

Other Notes:
------------
Peas that pass over Torchwood turn into Fire Peas, doing double the damage.

_____________
 Tangle Kelp \____________________________________________________________(P20)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 50     Recharge: Slow     Type: Passive Offense |
|------------------------------------------------------|
| AQUATIC - Must be planted on water                   |
--------------------------------------------------------

- Damage: "Massive"
- Detection Range: Zero to one space in front of or behind Tangle Kelp
- Damage Range: A single zombie
- Usage: Stays planted until it attacks

Description:
------------
After planted, Tangle Kelp remains in the water until a zombie gets near it.
It then drags that zombie into the depths, killing the zombie and itself.

Strategy:
---------
Tangle Kelps are basically like aquatic Squashes that can only kill one zombie.
While being able to target only one zombie is a limitation, this is offset by
the fact that not many zombies go into the water anyway. Also, Tangle Kelps
can kill ANY zombie, considering that Gargantuars cannot go into water.

I personally recommend these for any pool defense. Because of their cheap price
and slow recharge speed, you should be planting these whenever you can.
If you need to be picky where to put them, place them 3 to 4 spaces away from
the edge of the screen so they can catch zombies that spring from the depths
of the pool, covered in aqua weeds. Sometimes, a pool defense of just Tangle
Kelp can be sufficient for warding off pool zombies.

Other Notes:
------------
None.

__________
 Jalopeno \_______________________________________________________________(P21)


Statistics
------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 125     Recharge: Very Slow     Type: Grenade |
------------------------------------------------------

- Damage: "Massive"
- Range: All zombies in the lane it's planted on
- Special: Melts trails of ice made by the Zomboni
- Usage: Single-Use when planted

Description:
------------
Denonates one second after it is planted, instantly killing all zombies in a
lane. It will also get rid of trails of ice made by the Zomboni, preventing
Zombie Bobsled Teams from spawning.

Strategy:
---------
Jalopenos are very powerful and useful instant-killers. Many PvZ I know use
them all the time. There isn't much strategy needed to use them other than
try to maximize the amount of zombies they kill. I also highly recommend
having them when Zombonis are expected. Not only will they kill the Zomboni,
but it will clear the ice. Clearing ice not only has the benefit of preventing
Bob Sled Team from appearing, but also lets the ice spaces be plantable again.


Other Notes:
------------
None

___________
 Spikeweed \______________________________________________________________(P22)


Statistics
---------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 100     Recharge: Fast     Type: Passive Offense |
---------------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 1 unit per second
- Range: All zombies on the space it's planted on
- Special: Cannot be attacked by most zombies. Instantly kills Catapult Zombies
           and Zombonis.

Description:
------------
Any zombie that is on Spikeweed's space will take damage. It will also pop the
tires of Zombonies and Catapult zombies, instantly killing them at the cost of
killing the Spikeweed as well.

Strategy:
---------
Don't underestimate Spikeweeds. While they can only attack zombies on it, they
damage ALL zombies on it. Spikeweeds are perfect when placed in front of
Wall-Nuts, because zombies will keep standing on the Spikeweed while attacking
the Wall-Nut.

To understand the Spikeweed's usefulness, consider a Peashooter and Wall-Nut
combination. Despite the fact that both combinations cost the same sun,
Spikeweed+Wall-Nut combo is actually a better choice. Not only will the
Peashooter only be able to hurt one zombie at a time, but the peas also need
some time to travel across the screen. If 10 normal zombies were to spawn in
the lane it would take the Spikeweed+Walnut combo 10 seconds to kill them all.
The Peashooter+Wallnut combo, on the other hand, would take a over ten times
that long: a minute and 40 seconds. By then, the Wall-Nut would likely be dead.

To Spikeweeds effectly, put the zombies in a situation where they're either
A) Forced to stay ontop of the Spikeweed, or
B) Forced to walk along a path of Spikeweeds as slowly as possible.

For the former, use Wall-Nut variants to stop zombies from progressing. For the
latter, use Garlics to lead zombies into a lane of Spikeweeds. Snow Peas and
Winter Melons can help by doubling the time the zombies are on the Spikeweeds.

Other Notes:
------------
Can be upgraded to a Spikerock at the cost of 125 sun.

___________
 Torchwood \______________________________________________________________(P23)


Statistics
-------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 175     Recharge: Fast     Type: Support |
-------------------------------------------------

- Special: Turns peas that pass over it into fire peas, doubling the damage

Description:
------------
Torchwoods transform peas that fly through it into fire peas, and frozen peas
into normal peas. Torchwoods also will light up a very small area of fog.

Fire peas not only do double the damage, but also cause a small radius of
splash damage to zombies clustered near the target. Fire peas therefore do
2 units of damage, its splash damage doing 1 unit to every other zombie hit
by it.

Fire peas will negate the slowing effects caused by Snow Peas, Ice-shrooms,
and Winter Melons.

Strategy:
---------
Torchwoods effectively double the damage output of every peashooting plant in
a lane, making them essential for an offense. Place them near the frontlines,
behind the Wall-Nuts. However, remember that Torchwoods only work on peas and
render frozen effects useless. Therefore, they're not recommended unless your
entire offense consists of pea-shooting plants.

Plants that shoot peas are...
Peashooters     (1 pea per second)
Repeaters       (2 peas per second)
Threepeaters    (1 pea in three lanes per second)
Split Peas      (1 pea forward and 2 peas backward per second)
Gatling Peas    (4 peas per second)

Obviously, work best with Repeaters, Threepeaters, and Gatling Peas.

Other Notes:
------------
None.


___________
 Tall-Nut  \______________________________________________________________(P24)


Statistics
------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 125     Recharge: Slow     Type: Defense |
------------------------------------------------

- Toughness: Very High
- Special: None

Description:
------------
Tall-Nuts force zombies to have to eat through it to progress towards the rest
of your plants and your brains. Tall-Nuts are essentially Wall-Nuts, but
stronger and cannot be jumped over by Polevault Zombies, Dolphin Riders, and
even Pogo Zombies.

The Tall-Nut's health is indicated by its expression:
* Sturn expression - Good health
* Has chips missing - Medium health
* Has tear running down its eye - Low health

Strategy:
---------
Tall-Nut is literally Wall-Nut's big brother. Use the same strategies as
Wall-Nuts. Your decision to use Tall-Nuts should depend on three factors:
- Types of Zombies: If there's Dolphin Riders and Pogo Zombies, I HIGHLY
                    recommend using a Tall-Nut.
- Amount of Zombies: If you're dealing with a lot of hordes or tough zombies,
                     Wall-Nuts will NOT be sufficient.
- Amount of Sun: Tall-Nuts have more than twice the cost. If you don't have to
                 worry about tough zombies or jumping zombies, use an Imitater
                 Wall-Nut instead.

Because of the slow recharge time, it's actually not a bad idea to have both
Wall-Nut and Tall-Nut seeds in a level. It's a good way to make sure all your
lanes are well maintained. Start your defense with Wall-Nuts and when you get
a surplus in sun, replace your Wall-Nuts with Tall-Nuts

Other Notes:
------------
You can plant new Tall-Nuts ontop of old ones if you purchased Wall-Nut First
Aid from Crazy Dave's shop for $2000.

____________
 Sea-shroom \_____________________________________________________________(P25)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 0     Recharge: Slow     Type: Offense    |
|------------------------------------------------|
| NOCTURNAL - Sleeps during the day              |
| AQUATIC - Must be planted in water             |
--------------------------------------------------


- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 1 spore per second
- Firing Range: Spaces on or 3 spaces away from Sea-shroom
- Special: None

Description:
------------
Aquatic plant that fires a short ranged spore projectile.

Strategy:
---------
Sea-shrooms are aquatic Puff-shrooms, the only aquatic nocturnal plant in the
game. As with Puff-shrooms, place them on the 4th space from the right side
of the screen and try to fill up your pool. Later in the level, start replacing
them with more powerful plants.

Take note that Sea-shroom take much longer to recharge. For this reason, it's
more important than ever to make sure you constantly try to plant Sea-shroom.
Always keep that Sea-shroom seed recharging. A Sea-shroom not planted is a
wasted Sea-shroom.

Other Notes:
------------
Sea-shrooms can be used in the daytime if you plant a Coffee Bean on it at
a cost of 75 sun. However, they're not worth the cost.

__________
 Plantern \______________________________________________________________(P26)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 25     Recharge: Slow     Type: Support   |
--------------------------------------------------

- Special: Lights up an area to let you see through fog

Description:
------------
It lights up an area of fog so you can see. Though the Suburban Almanac says
it's limited to one lane, it seems to also illuminate a  3x5 area around it
as well.

Strategy:
---------
Ideal Plantern positions are as follows:
- Horizontally: Third space from the right
- Vertically: Second space either from the top or bottom

Two Planterns are usually sufficient to light up all of the fog. However,
make sure they're protected either with a Wall-Nut, Garlic, or Pumpkin.

Of course, Planterns are useless if there's no fog.

Other Notes:
------------
None

________
 Cactus \_________________________________________________________________(P27)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 125     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense  |
--------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 1 needle per second
- Firing Range: Spaces on or in front of Cactus.
- Special: Pops balloons to make Balloon Zombies drop down.

Description:
------------
Fires a needle horizontally every second, but if it spots a Balloon Zombie, it
will stretch itself upward and shoot a needle to pop the balloon.

Strategy:
---------
Cacti are essentially Peashooters with an added ability to shoot down Balloon
Zombies. If the Balloon Zombie is over water, it will cause the zombie to fall
into the water and die instantly.

Unfortunately, Cacti are unnecessary unless you expect Balloon Zombies. If
you're in a pool level, Cattails are a superior choice.

Other Notes:
------------
None

________
 Blover \_________________________________________________________________(P28)


Statistics
------------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 100     Recharge: Fast     Type: Support (Instant)  |
------------------------------------------------------------

- Special: Temporarily blows away all fog and kills all balloon zombies on
           screen.
- Usage: Once, instant

Description:
------------
Once planted, the fog will be blown away for 10 to 20 seconds, also killing
all Balloon Zombies in the process.

Strategy:
---------
Use them when a flag wave approaches or you hear the Balloon Zombie's distinct
inflating sound, but don't know where it's coming from. Because the fog
destruction is temporary, it's not really a valid replacement for Planterns.

Blovers are useless if there's no Balloon Zombies nor fog. Even so, Cattails
are a superior choice for dealing with Balloon Zombies and Platerns make for
a more reliable anti-fog plant. It's one saving grace, however, is that it
recharges faster than Planterns.

Other Notes:
------------
None

___________
 Split Pea \______________________________________________________________(P29)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 125     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense  |
--------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 1 pea forward and 2 peas backward per second
- Firing Range: Spaces on, behind, or in front of Split Pea
- Special: None

Description:
------------
Fires three peas every second: one in front of it and two behind it.

Strategy:
---------
Split Peas are literally a Peashooter and a backwards Repeater combined into
one plant. They're introduced as a counter to Miner Zombies and that's pretty
much they're only usefulness: killing zombies that get behind your defenses.

When using Split Peas, place them as close to the front lines as possible.

Other Notes:
------------
Peas can be doubled in damage using a Torchwood, but it would take a Torchwood
in front of and behind it to maximize all its damage.

___________
 Starfruit \______________________________________________________________(P30)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 125     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense  |
--------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 5 stars per second, each of them in different directions
- Firing Range: Spaces forwardly diagonal, below, above, and behind Starfruit
                Will also attack zombies right in front of it.
- Special: None

Description:
------------
Fires five stars in a different direction each:
1 diagonally upward in front
1 diagonally downward in front
1 above
1 below
1 behind

However, Starfruit is unable to fire at zombies in front of it on the same lane
unless the zombie is so close that it can start eating the plant.

Strategy:
---------
For its price, Starfruit packs a lot of power. Unfortunately, a lot of that
power goes in directions you likely don't want it to go. For this reason, use
Starfruits for support fire combined with other projectile plants. They can be
extremely useful clustered together if you're dealing with zombies that can
easily slip through your defenses, like Pogo Zombies, Balloon Zombies.

Other Notes:
------------
None

__________
 Pumpkin  \_______________________________________________________________(P31)


Statistics
------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 125     Recharge: Slow     Type: Defense |
------------------------------------------------

- Toughness: High
- Special: Can be planted ontop of other plants to protect them

Description:
------------
Pumpkins are basically Wall-Nuts that can share a space with another plant.
Zombies are forced to eat the Pumpkin before they can start devouring the plant
it protects. You can plant a Pumpkin ontop of another plant or a plant inside
a Pumpkin. You can remove the plant inside of it using the Shovel Tool, just
make sure you click on the plant and not the Pumpkin.

Pumpkins have the same durability as a Wall-Nut. They can be used on all plants
except Tangle Kelp, Cob-Cannons, and Sea-shrooms (speculated). Using a Pumpkin
on a Doom-shroom will result in the Pumpkin's destruction.

Pumpkins will not protect plants from Bungee Zombies. The Bungee Zombie will
steal the plant inside and leave the Pumpkin alone unless the Pumpkin has no
plant inside of it. Catapult Zombies also slip inside the Pumpkin and eat the
plant inside.

Note that jumping zombies can still leap over it.

Strategy:
---------
Pumpkins are extremely useful regardless of the strategy at hand. They're
highly versatile, capable of giving defense to a defenseless lawn or strengthen
a defense already in place.

Common uses for them include:
- Planting ontop of a Tall-Nut or Wall-Nut to nearly double the defensive power.
- Replacements for Wall-nuts for highly offensive strategies or when space is
  limited.
- Alternate strategy for handling Polevaulters by Pumpkining the plant behind
  the Wall-Nut.
- Protecting the back column plants from Miners, Catapult Zombies, and the
  Gargantuar's Imps.
- Protecting vital support plants that need to be near the frontlines, such as
  Planterns and Magnet-shrooms.
- Protecting short-ranged offensive plants such as Fume-shrooms and
  Puff-shrooms.


Other Notes:
------------
You can plant new Pumpkins ontop of old ones if you purchased Wall-Nut First
Aid from Crazy Dave's shop for $2000.

_______________
 Magnet-shroom \__________________________________________________________(P32)

Statistics
---------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 100     Recharge: Fast     Type: Support   |
|-------------------------------------------------|
| NOCTURNAL - Sleeps during the day               |
---------------------------------------------------

- Special: Removes metal objects from zombies

Description:
------------
When the Magnet-shroom detects a zombie carrying a metal object, it will steal
that object away. The Magnet-shroom must wait to recharge, usually about 20
seconds, before it can steal another metal object

The objects they can steal and the effects it has are:
- Buckets: Reduces the zombie's health down to its base value of 10
- Football Helmets: Reduces the zombie's health down to its base value of 10
- Screendoor: Makes the zombie vulnerable to taking damage and being affected
              by ice, butter, and other ailments dealt by plants.
- Ladder: Makes the zombie vulnerable to taking damage and being affected
          by ice, butter, and other ailments dealt by plants. It also disables
          the zombie from placing the ladder on a plant. If the ladder was
          placed on a plant, zombies will no longer be able to climb over that
          plant.
- Pogo Stick: Disables the Pogo Zombie from jumping over plants.
- Pick Axe: Causes the Miner Zombie to emerge to the surface and progress
            towards the left as usual.

I haven't confirmed exactly what the Magnet-shroom's range is. I've seen
Magnet-shrooms steal objects a long ways away while others ignored metal
objects right next to them. I think their range is about the same as a
Plantern, but how soon it'll steal the object depends on how close it is.

Strategy:
---------
Magnet-shrooms are extremely useful when dealing with Ladder Zombies and
lots of zombies with protective gear. It can cut down a Bucket Zombie to 1/5th
of its maximum health! It essentially makes it MUCH faster to kill zombies that
would otherwise take awhile to kill.

However, as useful as they are, Magnet-shrooms have three major flaws:
- They're extremely fickle when they wish to steal the object
- Stealing an object causes them to be useless for a duration.
- They're nocturnal and require a Coffee Bean to use in the daytime.

The best way to remedy these problems is increase the amount of Magnet-shrooms
on the lawn, spread them out, and make the Coffee Bean more worthwhile.

I do not recommend using Magnet-shrooms if Miner Zombies are afoot. While it
will stop the Miners from ripping your defenses from behind, the problem is
that the Magnet-shrooms will usually not steal the pick axe until they're
somewhere in the middle of your lawn where they can eat your valuable offensive
plants. They can also eat your brains since they move towards the left. It's
better they run their course because that way, they're more predictable and
can be defended against using a Pumpkin and some kind of backshooting plant.

Other Notes:
------------
Magnet-shrooms can be upgraded to Gold Magnets at a cost of 50 sun.
Magnet-shrooms can be used in the daytime at the cost of 75 sun using a Coffee
Bean.

______________
 Cabbage-pult \___________________________________________________________(P33)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 100     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense  |
--------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 2
- Firing Rate: 1 cabbage every 2 seconds
- Firing Range: Spaces on or in front of Cabbage-pult.
- Special: Bypasses obstructions (roof, shields, and water)

Description:
------------
Fires a cabbage every two seconds. It can hit zombies beyond the angle of the
roof, damage shield zombies directly, and target Snorkle Zombies while
submerged.

Strategy:
---------
Cabbage-pults are the first catapult plant you receive. They're essentially a
replacement for Peashooters in roof levels. Place Cabbage-pults in front of
your Sunflowers and let them fire away.

Take note that while catapult plants have half the firing rate of other plants,
their projectiles are usually more powerful. Cabbages do double the damage as
peas.

Cabbage-pult offers little usefulness on non-roof levels. However, it may be
more useful than a Peashooter on a level with Snorkle or shield zombies.

Other Notes:
------------
None

____________
 Flower Pot \_____________________________________________________________(P34)


Statistics
------------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 25     Recharge: Fast     Type: Plant Surface       |
------------------------------------------------------------

- Special: Allows plants to be placed on the roof

Description:
------------
Plants obviously cannot be planted on roof, so the Flower Pot allows you to do
so. They work like Lily Pads, except Potato Mines can be planted on them.
However, Spikeweeds and aquatic plants obviously cannot be planted on them, and
Doom-shrooms will destroy the Flower Pot it's on.

Flower Pots are plants themselves, so zombies will have to eat it to progress.
Make sure you plant something there before they eat it!

Flower Pots can be planted

Strategy:
---------
Flower Pots are vital for Roof levels because they're the only things you can
plant ontop of! Gradually increase your planting area by adding Flower Pots
if you can spare the sun. An empty Flower Pot can also make Polevaulters
waste their poles.

Other Notes:
------------
Flower Pots can be planted on the ground, but having them on a non-roof level
is pointless anyway.

______________
 Kernel-pult  \___________________________________________________________(P35)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 100     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense  |
--------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 2 (butter) or 1 (kernel)
- Firing Rate: 1 projectile every 2 seconds
- Firing Range: Spaces on or in front of Kernel-pult.
- Special: Bypasses obstructions (roof, shields, and water).
           Butter immobilizes zombies for about 3 seconds.

Description:
------------
Fires a projectile every two seconds. It can hit zombies beyond the angle of
the roof, damage shield zombies directly, and target Snorkle Zombies while
submerged.

The projectile it fires is random, either being a stick of butter or
a kernel. Kernels do 1 unit of damage, same as a pea. Butter does 2 units
of damage (same as a cabbage) and has the added power to immobilize zombies.

The immobilization completely stops the zombie, rather than slowing them like
ice does. They stop moving regardless of what they're doing, and it works on
nearly any zombie in the game, including Gargantuars and vehicle zombies.

The paralysis lasts about 3 seconds.

Strategy:
---------
Kernel-pults make excellent support fire. The butter's effect is extremely
useful, one of the only things in the game that can stop a zombie dead in their
tracks, giving your offense extra valuable time to take them down.

Add in the fact that they can be upgraded to the god of all plants, Cob
Cannons, I even recommend Kernel-pults for non-Roof levels.

Kernel-pult's downfall, however, is that their damage is not reliable, so
they're better combined with other plants rather than by themselves.

Other Notes:
------------
At the cost of 500 sun, two Kernel-pults placed side-by-side in the same lane
can be upgraded to Cob Cannons.

_____________
 Coffee Bean \____________________________________________________________(P36)

Statistics
---------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 75     Recharge: Fast     Type: Support    |
---------------------------------------------------

- Special: Enables nocturnal plants to be used during the day.
- Usage: Instant, single-use, used on a shroom

Description:
------------
When nocturnal plants are planted during the day, they sleep and don't do
anything. Plant the Coffee Bean ontop of them, and they'll wake up. The
Coffee Bean's effect is permanent, but takes about 3 seconds for the plant
to wake up.

Strategy:
---------
Use these on useful shrooms when you want them during the daytime. Sadly, most
shrooms are designed to be cost-effective alternatives to other plants, so
the extra 75 sun negates that usefulness of them. However, a few shrooms can be
rather handy. My personal recommendations are:

- Fume-shrooms: While only able to hurt zombies 4 spaces in front of them, they
                do a considerably decent area of effect, making them far more
                effective at dealing with large groups of zombies than more
                expensive pea-shooting plants do. They also pierce shields and
                and can be upgraded to powerful Gloom-shrooms.

- Magnet-shrooms: While fickle, several Magnet-shrooms can drastically shorten
                  the time it takes to eliminate the toughest zombies. Great
                  when expecting lots of Bucket and Football Zombies.

- Doom-shrooms: An explosive that deals a very large area of effect in the game
                at the cost of making a space unusable. The nice thing is that
                you can have several of these already planted and sleeping
                before you decide to rouse it with a Coffee Bean.

- Ice-shrooms: Does light damage, slows zombies, and immobilizes all zombies on
               screen. Daytime levels allows you to build up a large amount of
               them before deploying with a Coffee Bean.

Other Notes:
------------
None

________
 Garlic \_________________________________________________________________(P37)

Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 50     Recharge: Fast     Type: Support   |
--------------------------------------------------

- Special: Diverts zombies into other lanes
- Usage: When a zombie bites into it.

Description:
------------
Garlic causes a zombie that takes a bite out of it to move either to the lane
above or below it. The zombie also moves slightly to the left as it changes
lanes.

The lane the zombie chooses is random but it will not go off screen or
into/out of the pool.

In other words...
- Garlics on the top lane always force zombies down.
- Garlics on the bottom lane always force zombies up.
- Garlics on a Lilypad always force zombies to the adjacent pool lane.
- Garlics adjacent to the pool always force zombies away from the pool.

Garlics are planted normally like other plants and are not single use. Instead,
they take damage like other plants when zombies take a bite out of them. This
means Garlics do eventually die and need to be replaced. Like Wall-Nuts and
Tall-Nuts, a Garlic's health is indicated by its graphic.

* Smiling - Good on health
* Frowning - Medium amount of health left
* Crying with big googly eyes - Low on health

Garlics will only affect zombies if the zombie takes a bite out of it. It won't
divert zombies if they jump over it, fly over it, or crush it.


Strategy:
---------
Garlics control the path of zombies, allowing for advanced strategies. These
strategies include forcusing all fire power to lanes the Garlic redirects to
and AoEs.

With the focus fire strategy, place Garlics on the far edges of the 2nd and 4th
lane. Behind the Garlics should be your sun producing plants, reserving lanes
1, 3, and 5 purely for offensive and defensive plants. Consider this map
for illustration:

o- - - - - - - - -o
|O O O O O O O D  |
|S S S S S S S G G|
|O O O O O O O D  |
|S S S S S S S G G|
|O O O O O O O D  |
o- - - - - - - - -o
G = Garlic
O = Offensive plants
D = Defensive plants
S = Sun-producing and support plants

With AoE strategy, you can force zombies down a "death march" through a lane
full of AoEs while a slowing plant such as Snow Peas force them to endure
the pain longer.

o- - - - - - - - -o
|P     F F S S S S|
|        L L L G G|
|P     F F S S S S|
|        L L L G G|
|P     F F S S S S|
o- - - - - - - - -o
G = Garlic
S = Spikeweed/rock
L = Gloom-shroom
F = Fume-shroom
P = Snow Pea

You can do a revised version of this for the pool level, which looks something
like this:

o- - - - - - - - -o
|              G G|
|P     F F S S S S|
|-----------------|
|      F F L L L  |
|      F F L L L  |
|-----------------|
|P     F F S S S S|
|              G G|
o- - - - - - - - -o
G = Garlic
S = Spikeweed/rock
L = Gloom-shroom
F = Fume-shroom
P = Snow Pea

As you see in the maps, it's beneficial to place another Garlic behind the
first in each lane. This not only protects you from jumping zombies (except
Pogos), but also the second serves as a backup in case the first gets eaten.

Other Notes:
------------
None.

_______________
 Umbrella Leaf \__________________________________________________________(P38)

Statistics
----------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 100     Recharge: Fast     Type: Support    |
----------------------------------------------------

- Special: Protects itself and plants near it from bungee zombies and
           basketballs

Description:
------------
Protects all spaces in adjacent spaces from Bungee Zombies and basketballs
fired from Catapult Zombies. It will stop the plants from being stolen in those
spaces as well as stop the bungee zombies from dropping zombies into the middle
of your defenses.

Strategy:
---------
Plant these around vital plants you need protected. They're valuable at the
frontlines behind your Tall-Nuts where not only would your defenses be
protected but also bungee zombies would be denied the ability to slip a zombie
behind your Tall-Nuts. Two well-placed Umbrella Leaves are sufficient for
protecting three columns of plants.

You do not need to protect Cob Cannons from being stolen. Bungee Zombies cannot
take them away.

Of course, Umbrella Leaves are useless if you aren't expecting Bungees and
Catapult Zombies.

Other Notes:
------------
None

__________
 Marigold \_______________________________________________________________(P39)

Statistics
---------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 50     Recharge: Slow     Type: Gold Farming     |
---------------------------------------------------------

- Special: Randomly produces either a gold or silver coin

Description:
------------
Occasionally produces a silver or gold coin, glowing before it's about to do so.
It doesn't seem to have any distinct pattern when it will produce the coin. It
seems to produce more often when there's more zombies on the screen, but that's
likely my imagination.

Strategy:
---------
Marigolds will do nothing to aid you in protecting your brains from zombies.
They will, however, allow you to literally farm for gold. The ideal situation
is to play a level that's long, easy, and allows you to plant many of them.
Last Stand mini game, easy survival modes, and the second run of the beginning
Adventure mode levels are good choices. Night levels may be a decent choice,
considering you have freebie Puff-shrooms and cheap shrooms to ward off zombies
while the rest of your sun can go towards covering the lawn with Marigolds.

Gold Magnets can make harvesting coins from large amounts of Marigolds much
easier.

Other Notes:
------------
None

______________
 Melon-pult   \___________________________________________________________(P40)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 300     Recharge: Fast     Type: Offense  |
--------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 4 (direct hit), 2 (splash damage)
- Firing Rate: 1 melon every 2 seconds
- Firing Range: Spaces on or in front of Melon-pult.
- Area of Effect: On the space it hits, the space above, and the space below
- Special: Bypasses obstructions (roof, shields, and water).

Description:
------------
Fires a projectile every two seconds. It can hit zombies beyond the angle of
the roof, damage shield zombies directly, and target Snorkle Zombies while
submerged.

Melons do double the damage of a cabbage to the zombie it hits as well as
inflicting splash damage to all zombies near the area of impact.

Strategy:
---------
Not surprising that Melon-pult is the last plant you get in Adventure Mode.
They're extremely powerful, doing four times the damage as a pea and having a
small area of effect. The area of effect is key as later in the game,
it becomes increasingly important to be able to deal damage to many zombies at
once rather than dealing lots of damage quickly to a single zombie in the front.

Melon-pults should be the kind of offensive plant you save your sun up for.
A single column of them can take care of the hordes rather effectively. However,
plant them in the middle lanes first to maximize the area of effect.

Because of the Melon-pult's raw power, I even recommend using them in non-roof
levels. However, I would recommend Torchwoods instead if your roster has a
lot of pea-shooting plants and the hordes aren't too thick.


Other Notes:
------------
None

______________
 Gatling Peas \___________________________________________________________(P41)


Statistics
-----------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 250     Recharge: Very Slow   Type: Offense  |
|---------------------------------------------------|
| PLANT UPGRADE - Requires Repeater                 |
| Total Cost: 450                                   |
-----------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 4 peas per second
- Firing Range: Spaces on or in front of Peashooter.
- Special: None

Description:
------------
Fires four peas horizontally every second, essentially 4 peashooters in one
plant.

Strategy:
---------
These are pretty much the most powerful pea-shooting plants in the game.
Replace your back column Repeaters with these puppies and let the peas fly!

However, Gatling Peas won't always justify the cost of using them, because it's
cheaper and faster to plant two repeaters. I primarily recommend using Gatling
Peas for survival mode and other long games where space becomes scarce and
having enough firepower to keep the hordes off the Wall-Nuts becomes a
priority.

It's logical to install Torchwoods in your defenses before installing Gatling
Peas. It's better to double the firepower of an entire lane of plants rather
than just one plant.

Other Notes:
------------
Peas that pass over Torchwood turn into Fire Peas, doing double the damage.
Gatling Pea upgrade must be purchased from Crazy Dave for $5000.

________________
 Twin Sunflower \_________________________________________________________(P42)


Statistics
----------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 150     Recharge: Very Slow   Type: Sun Production|
|--------------------------------------------------------|
| PLANT UPGRADE - Requires Sunflower                     |
| Total Cost: 200                                        |
----------------------------------------------------------

- Special: Produces 50 sun at irregular intervels

Description:
------------
Produces two units of 25 sun at a time in inconsistent intervels. It functions
extremely similar to a Sunflower.

Strategy:
---------
Twin Sunflowers let you double your sunproduction without wasting extra space.
However, like most "two for one" type of plants, it won't justify the cost if
space is not an issue. I recommend Twin Sunflowers for Survival modes so you
can increase your sunproduction while saving space for offense, and Roof levels,
where your planting space is limited by how many Flower Pots you have.

Other Notes:
------------
Must be purchased from Crazy Dave at a cost of $5000.

______________
 Gloom-shroom \___________________________________________________________(P43)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 150     Recharge: Very Slow     Type: Offense   |
|------------------------------------------------------|
| NOCTURNAL - Sleeps during the day                    |
| PLANT UPGRADE - Requires Fume-shroom                 |
| Total Cost: 225 (300 if daytime)                     |
--------------------------------------------------------


- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 4 spores in each direction per second
- Firing Range: All zombies in neighboring spaces in all directions
- Special: Area of effect that penetrates through screen doors, ladders,
           and newspapers.

Description:
------------
Fires 3 waves of spores going in 8 directions surrounding it: above, left,
right, below, upper-left, down-left, upper-right, down-right. The spores will
damage zombies directly if they are carrying a shield. The Gloom-shroom's
range, however, is limited to spaces on or near it.

Strategy:
---------
Gloom-shrooms are drastically different from their previous selves. While their
area of effect is dimenished, they pack a lot more power.

The key to using Gloom-shrooms is to make zombies travel on the lanes above or
below it as slow as possible. Garlics and Snow Peas are perfect for this. Place
a Garlic in front of your Gloom-shrooms to force the zombies to lanes that a
Snow Pea fires. Add in Spikeweeds to increase the hurt.

If you're looking for a strategy with them in a typical Tall-Nut lineup, then
consider planting the Gloom-shrooms in the frontlines and with a Pumpkin on
them. In fact, if you had a whole column of Gloom-Shrooms with Pumpkins on them
and Spikeweeds in front, all zombies in front of each Gloom-shroom would take
7 units of damage per second. This would be an extremely powerful defense in
just two columns, needing just a few more additions to make it perfect.


Other Notes:
------------
Gloom-shrooms can be used in the daytime if you plant a Coffee Bean on it at
a cost of 75 sun. If used right, they're well worth the cost. Must be
purchased from Crazy Dave for $7500.


_________
 Cattail \________________________________________________________________(P44)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 225     Recharge: Very Slow     Type: Offense   |
|------------------------------------------------------|
| AQUATIC                   |
| PLANT UPGRADE - Requires Lily Pad                    |
| Total Cost: 250                                      |
--------------------------------------------------------


- Damage: 1
- Firing Rate: 2 needles per second
- Firing Range: Any zombie on the screen
- Special: Needles home onto zombies and can pop balloons

Description:
------------
Fires two needles each second, which move towards the closest zombie regardless
of their location on the field. It CAN be protected by Pumpkins, unlike most
other aquatic plants. The needles also typically prioritize on Balloon
Zombies if they appear, popping the balloons and grounding the zombie.

Strategy:
---------
These cute little kitty plants are BEASTS. They make excellent support fire
for ANY pool defense, because if there's no zombies in the pool, they can still
be useful. The needles prioritize based on proximity, so if the horde breaks
through the defenses of one lane, the Cattails will turn their needles towards
that horde. A few Cattails are also not bad for taking out zombies that slip
through your defenses, such as Miners. Don't forget the fact that Cattails can
pop balloons. A single Cattail can do the job of an entire column of Cacti
and kill the zombie faster.

Unlike most other upgrades, which I'd only recommend for survival and certain
situations, I recommend Cattails for any pool level, because of their power,
versatility, and cheap price compared to other offensive upgrades.

Careful not to plant them in the third or fourth column from the right of the
screen. Flag waves may beckon zombies from under the pool to start munching
on their poor kitty heads. If you must plant there, put Pumpkins on them.


Other Notes:
------------
Must be purchased from Crazy Dave for $10,000.

______________
 Winter Melon \___________________________________________________________(P45)


Statistics
----------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 200     Recharge: Very Slow   Type: Offense |
|--------------------------------------------------|
| PLANT UPGRADE - Requires Melon-pult              |
| Total Cost: 500                                  |
----------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 4 (direct hit), 2 (splash damage)
- Firing Rate: 1 winter melon every 2 seconds
- Firing Range: Spaces on or in front of Winter Melon.
- Area of Effect: On the space it hits, the space above, and the space below
- Special: Bypasses obstructions (roof, shields, and water). Slows zombies.

Description:
------------
Fires a projectile every two seconds. It can hit zombies beyond the angle of
the roof, damage shield zombies directly, and target Snorkle Zombies while
submerged.

Despite what the almanac suggests, it's exactly like Melon-pults, doing the
same damage at the same firing rate. The only difference is that all zombies
damaged also get afflicted with the frozen slowing effect that Snow Peas
and Ice-shrooms do.

Strategy:
---------
These are extremely powerful in strategies that focus on slowing zombies down
and pounding them with AoE attacks. They also reduce the drawback of catapult
plants' slow firing rate, so always have one if you're using catapult plants
as your primary damage. Upgrade the back column Melon-pults.

However, the slowing effect doesn't stack, so it's a waste of sun having more
than one Winter Melon in a lane. The high total cost may be a bit staggering
for some games, so they may be better for Survival mode. Again, they're better
off used in the middle lanes to maximize their AoE.

Other Notes:
------------
Must be purchased from Crazy Dave for $10,000.

_______________
 Gold Magnet   \__________________________________________________________(P46)

Statistics
-----------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 50     Recharge: Slow     Type: Gold Farming |
|---------------------------------------------------|
| PLANT UPGRADE - Requires Magnet-shroom            |
| Total Cost: 150                                   |
-----------------------------------------------------


- Special: Attracts money

Description:
------------
Rather than attracting metal objects, it sucks up all the money on the screen
so you don't have to click on the coins yourself to pick them up. After it
sucks up the coins, it must wait a few seconds before doing it again. It will
also pick up diamonds.

Like the Magnet-shroom, it seems like its detection is based on distance, so
the closer a coin is to the Gold Magnet, the faster it will start up its
ability.


Note that the Gold Magnet is NOT nocturnal, so using a Coffee Bean is not
necessary.

Strategy:
---------
Gold Magnets are purely for Marigold farming. A single Gold Magnet can handle
about 15 Marigolds before having trouble sucking up all the money. Try to
plant them between the Marigold field and behind your defenses so they can
detect the Marigold coins and the coins from the zombies faster.

Other Notes:
------------
Must be purchased from Crazy Dave for $3000.

___________
 Spikerock \______________________________________________________________(P47)


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 125     Recharge: Very Slow     Type: Passive Offense |
|------------------------------------------------------------|
| PLANT UPGRADE - Requires Spikeweed                         |
| Total Cost: 225                                            |
--------------------------------------------------------------

- Damage: 2 units per second
- Range: All zombies on the space it's planted on
- Special: Cannot be attacked by most zombies. Instantly kills Catapult Zombies
           and Zombonis.

Description:
------------
Any zombie that is on Spikerock's space will take damage. It will also pop the
tires of Zombonies and Catapult zombies, instantly killing them. The difference
between Spikerocks and Spikeweeds is that Spikerocks have double the firing
speed and can take multiple hits before death rather than instantly dying when
popping a vehicle zombie's tires. Gargantuars will also stop and keep beating
down the Spikerock, making it the only plant in the game that can withstand
more than one hit from the behemoth of all zombies.

While not confirmed, Spikerocks seem to be able to take 5 to 6 hits before
being destroyed. Its health is indicated by how many prongs it has.

Strategy:
---------
Spikeweeds are already awesome. Spikerocks make them even better. Use the same
strategies as Spikeweeds, such as placing them in front of Wall-Nuts. However,
they're more useful on the most right column where they can take down the
vehicle zombies. I especially recommend them if you're expecting a lot of
vehicle zombies or Gargantuars.

Other Notes:
------------
Must be purchased from Crazy Dave for $7500.

____________
 Cob Cannon \_____________________________________________________________(P48)


Statistics
---------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: 500    Recharge: Very slow     Type: Offense     |
|-------------------------------------------------------|
| PLANT UPGRADE - Requires two Kernel-pults side by side|
| Total Cost: 700                                       |
---------------------------------------------------------

- Damage: "Massive"
- Reload Time: About 20 seconds
- Firing Range: Any place you choose
- Damage Range: 3x3 Area of Effect
- Usage: Click on the cob and then click somewhere you want to fire.

Description:
------------
When the Cob Cannon's cob is loaded, click on it and then click on where you
want the cob to land. The cannon will then fire the cob into the air, causing
it to land with an explosion on the place you selected, killing nearly all
kinds of zombies in the blast radius.

There's a 3 second delay between selecting the target and the cob impacting.

The Kernel-pults must be planted side by side on the same lane.

After planting, the first cob loads in about 5 to 10 seconds. Afterward, it
will reload about every 20 seconds.

Strategy:
---------
Cob Cannons are arguably the most powerful plant in the game, having more
destructive potential and capable of damaging any zombie regardless of their
location. Their power, however, comes at the cost of two spaces and a total of
700 sun! They are the ultimate investment in lawn defense, but is it worth it?
That answer depends on whether or not you like Cherry Bombs.

Cob Cannons are compareable to Cherry Bombs as they possess the same power
and damage radius. Even though a Cob Cannon comes at nearly the cost of five
Cherry Bombs, they do have some advantages.

Advantages Cob Cannons have over Cherry Bombs:
- Reusable
- Reload time is half the recharge time of Cherry Bombs
- Target area does not need a space to plant on
- Target is not snapped to grid. In other words, you can aim between spaces
  rather than on spaces.
- Can be fired on unplantable places, such as the pool without Lilypads, the
  roof without Flowerpots, ontop graves, spaces destroyed by Doom-shrooms,
  and ontop other plants.
- Fired cobs cannot be eaten by zombies

Not only do they have these advantages, but a Cob Cannon used five times will
pay off its cost less than the time it takes for three Cherry Bombs to
charge. 700, however, is still a big cost to swallow at once. For this reason,
Cob Cannons are recommended for later stages of Survival modes, where sun
is plentiful and having enough fire power becomes a priority.

In actual usage of Cob Cannons, try to use your cobs efficiently by trying
to kill as many zombies with the blast. While I don't recommend wasting the
cobs on single zombies, it may be necessary to take out priority targets
that pierced your defenses. When picking your target, make sure you compensate
for the fact that it takes 3 seconds before the cob hits.

My biggest complaint about Cob Cannons, however, is that zombies can eat them
as fast as any other plant, despite the fact that Cob Cannons are the biggest
plant in the game. I personally think that such a large, costly plant should
at least have the endurance of a Wall-Nut. But oh well. Just make sure you
keep your Cob Cannons protected, preferrably in front of the Sunflowers.

Other Notes:
------------
Cob Cannons are not only the only plant to use two spaces, but also are the
only plant that cannot be protected by a Pumpkin. Bungee Zombies seem to not
target Cob Cannons, so they cannot be taken away. They must be purchased from
Crazy Dave for $20,000.


__________
 Imitater \_______________________________________________________________(P49)


Statistics
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Cost: Same as imitation     Recharge: Same as imitation     Type: Imitater   |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Special: Allows you to have two seed pouches of the same plant during a level
- Usage: Planted on the ground and then transforms into the plant you selected

Description:
------------
During the Plant Selection Screen at the beginning of a level, selecting the
Imitator will bring up a menu to select a different kind of plant. If you
select one, an imitation of the plant you selected will be added to your seed
tray.

When the imitation plant is placed on the lawn, Imitater needs about 3 seconds
to complete its transformation into the plant you specified. Before it
transforms, it is vulernable to being damaged and possibly eaten by zombies.
However, it will have the same health as a fully healthy plant of its imitation
after it transforms (i.e. If it a zombie bites it a couple of times and it
transforms into a Wall-Nut, it won't have cracks in it or anything).

Imitater plants have the exact same cost and recharge time as the originals.
An imitater plant is characterized by its very pale colors.

Imitater cannot imitate plant upgrades.

Strategy:
---------
The Imitator is generally useful for plants with slow recharge time that you
want to use often, like Massive damage dealers and Wall-Nut variants. Having
the original and the Imitater will enable you to use the plant twice as often.

Recommended Plants to Copy (in order of usefulness)
- Pumpkin
- Wall-Nut
- Tall-Nut
- Jalopeno
- Squash
- Sea Shroom (Night Pool levels)

There are several reasons why Pumpkins rank top of the recommended list. Almost
any strategy can be aided by Pumpkins. They're useful at any stage of a level,
from using as a subtitute for Wall-Nuts in the beginning to layering over
Tall-Nuts when the hordes approach. Finally, you can NEVER get enough of them.

However, there is one major issue you need to keep in mind when using Imitater:
the transformation time. Imitaters need a couple of seconds to transform.
During this time, they can be eaten by zombies before they get a chance to
transform into the plant you want it to be! Make sure you plant the Imitater
ahead of the zombies.

However, many players may find using up an extra slot for a plant they already
have to be rather wasteful. I do admit it would be more worth it if Imitater
didn't have the transformation delay and could change into plant upgrades.

Other Notes:
------------
You can repair Wall-Nut, Tall-Nuts, and Pumpkins using an imitation if you have
the Wall-Nut First Aid ability, but doing so is not recommended if a zombie is
currently eating the damaged plant. Must be purchased from Crazy Dave for
$30,000.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [S50]

 F R E Q U E N T L Y  A S K E D  Q U E S T I O N S
--------------------------------------------------


1. Question: "Your guide contradicts the game's guide! The game's guides says
Winter Melons fire slower and do more damage than Melon-pults, but your guide
says it's the same! What gives?!"
---------
Short Answer: The game's almanac is misleading.

Long Answer:
When I did my testing for damage, one of the things I noticed was that the
game didn't quite meet the expectations I gained from the Suburban Almanac's
entries. Its value descriptions are vague, almost always using other plants
as a reference, but is not always consistent which plant it compares to.

The Cabbage-pult entry, for example, is compared to the Peashooter. Kernel-pult
and Melon-pult entries are compared to the Cabbage-pult. This makes sense in
theory, but what throws off the whole thing is that the almanac doesn't tell
you that Cabbage-pults fire twice as slow for double the damage, making it
'equal' to the Peashooter. The result: the guide suggests that kernels,
labeled as doing "light" damage, are less powerful than peas, despite the fact
it takes the same amount kernels as the same amount of peas to kill same zombie.

The almanac also makes the mistake of comparing Winter Melon's entry to
Peashooters rather than the plant the Melon-pult entry was compared to. Winter
Melons fire twice as slow as Peashooters and do 4 times the damage. This is
also true for Melon-pults, but the Melon-pult entry was compared to
Cabbage-pults, Melon-pults doing twice the damage of Cabbage-pults but at the
same firing rate. The result is that it can make some players think that
Winter Melons are more powerful than Melon-pults.

The game's internal plant guide is not written well, which is why there's a
discrepancy between it and this guide.


2. Question: "Is it worth using catapult plants on levels other than the Roof?"
---------
Short Answer: Yes, if you need Watermelons or if there's shield zombies.

Long Answer:
Let's consider the characteristics of pea plants and catapults.

Pea Plants:
 + Fires projectiles every second
 + Peas can be buffed by Torchwoods
 + Great lane coverage
 + Large variety

Catapults:
 + Damages shield zombies and Snorkle Zombies directly
 + Great crowd control with Winter Melon's AoE slow and Kernel-pult's stun
 - Fires projectiles every two seconds
 - Poor variety

Generally, pea plants provide more sustained damage, but catapults have the
ability to bypass zombie shields and hit Snorkle Zombies while they're
underwater.
In addition, Winter Melon's AoE slow is awesome, and Kernel-pult's butter can
even
stun a Gargantuar.

If shields will be a problem or you need the crowd control, consider catapults
over pea plants.


3. Question: "What is 'area of effect' and why do you emphasize them in your
strategy listings?"
---------
Short Answer: Area of effect attacks hurt zombies at once. I like them because
it's better to kill two birds with one stone.

Long Answer:
Area of Effect (AoE) attacks are extremely beneficial in Plants vs Zombies
because
you're always against many enemies at once. A Fume-shroom, for example, can
kill 4 zombies faster than a Repeater, despite the fact the Repeater has a
higher damage output and is more expensive. I like AoE's so much that sometimes
I make my lawn defense be nothing but AoE plants.

The downside of AoE plants is that the non-"Massive"-damaging ones have a
considerably less damage output. Nearly all of them only do 1 unit of damage
per second and the projectiles that do more damage (melon splash damage for
example) have a limited damage-radius. The best AoE plants, such as
Fume-shrooms and Spikeweeds, also have a limited attack range. As a result,
AoEs are not effective against tough zombies like vehicle zombies and
Gargantuar.

The best strategy is to integrate both hard-hitters and AoE plants into your
lawn defense. However if you're only up against normal zombies, cone zombies,
bucket zombies, and football zombies, then a defense purely of Magnet-shrooms
and AoE plants will suffice.

4. Question: "What are the best plants for taking out Balloon Zombies
and Pogo Zombies?"
---------
Short Answer: Cattails if possible for the Balloon Zombies. Tall-Nuts for the
Pogo Zombies.

Long Answer:
Balloon Zombies usually appear on pool levels, and a single Cattail can do
the job of 6 Cacti at less the cost. Pogo Zombies are like polevaulters that
never lose their pole, so a Tall-Nut will stop them dead in their tracks.


5. Question: "What are the best plants for taking out Gargantuars?"
---------
Short Answer: Spikerocks with Kernel-pults + Melon-pults, Repeaters/Gatling
Peas + Torchwoods, Cob Cannons, and/or Jalopeno + Cherry Bomb

Long Answer:
Strong plants can do the job if you have enough of them with the right kind of
support. Kernel-pults and Snow Peas make excellent support because they slow
down the Gargantuar while your plants can keep hammering at them. If you want
to kill the Gargantuar quickly, have two massive-damagers at the ready.
Jalopenos, Cherry Bombs, and their Imitaters will do the job. If you're
expecting a lot of them, Cob Cannons are highly recommended.


6. Question: "Why did it take you so fricken' long to update this guide?!"
---------
Short Answer: Life

Long Answer: I finished the first version right at the end of the summer I got
PvZ. I was surprised to receive so much feedback, especially regarding catapult
plants. I went off to play other games, do academics, and work on my game
development projects. I never got around to updating a guide for a game I quit
playing long ago.

However, Popcap won't stop milking its cashcow. I still love the game and know
many new players will, too. So, I forced myself to finish this update.

I'm glad you enjoyed reading my guide, and I hope it will continue to serve
you!


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [S60]

 V E R S I O N  I N F O R M A T I O N
-------------------------------------

Version 1.01 - March 17th, 2011
-----------
+ Fixed several typos
+ Fixed reload time for Cob Cannons. Cob Cannons take 30 seconds, not 20.
+ Made various minor edits
+ Revised FAQ question regarding Pea Plants vs Catapult Plants
+ Revised Cabbage-pult, Kernel-pult, Melon-pult, and Winter Melons to state
    they bypass shields and hit Snorkle Zombies.
+ Updated that Giga-Gargantuars need 3 massives to kill
+ Revised Snow Pea strategy, discouraging use of them in any Torchwood strategy
+ Finished the cut-off Squash section
+ Revised Garlic strategy section for better clarity
+ Added Question #6 to F.A.Q.
+ Added section thanking all people who contributed and supported this guide

Version 1.00 - September 19th, 2011
-----------
+ All plant descriptions finished and damage section written.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [S65]

 C R E D I T S  &  S P E C I A L  T H A N K S
-----------------------------------------------

Special thanks goes to the following individuals for their contributions

- Sean for confirming that Gold Magnets pick up Diamonds
- Randomguy for Catapult Zombies being capable of slipping through Pumpkins
- geofreymartin
- X_stickman
- Albavar
- Anyone else that confirmed catapult plants can damage shield zombies and
     Snorkle Sombies.

And the Plants vs Zombies GameFAQs community!


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [S70]

 C O N T A C T   &  L E G A L
-----------------------------------------------

Plants vs Zombies, its characters, and names are copyrighted 2000-2009 PopCap
Games, Inc. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned
by their respective trademark and copyright holders.

All information, unless stated otherwise, was derived from gameplay of Plants
vs Zombies by myself or contributors with their consent.

This guide copyrighted 2009 - 2011 "Cyrad" cyrad1{A.T}gmail.com.
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web
site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation
of copyright.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or want to contribute
something to the guide, you can email me at cyrad1.game{A.T}gmail.com.


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