Karatea

Karatea is the seventh plant unlocked in The Sanctuary in Plants vs. Zombies: Lost World, after beating Level 17A. Karatea is a melee plant that punches zombies ahead and behind him (dealing 20DPS worth of damage for every punch), just like Bonk Choy, except he attacks with a rate of 0.8 seconds per punch. Unlike Bonk Choy, however, Karatea has the ability to switch to a meditating state (by clicking/tapping on him) where he stops fighting zombies and gradually powers himself up. To fully power up, Karatea needs to meditate for 40 seconds before he automatically goes back to his attacking state. Karatea can switch back from his meditating state to his attacking state and vice versa at any time if he has not finished meditating for 40 seconds yet (you can do this by clicking/tapping him again).
When Karatea is meditating, the following will happen every second in his meditation state:
*Karatea's attack rate becomes 0.015 seconds faster, with the maximum fastest rate being 0.2 seconds per punch (this takes 40 seconds to reach).
*Starting from a 0% chance, Karatea has an additional 1% chance to kick instead of punch a zombie, with the maximum chance being 20% (this takes 20 seconds to reach). Kicks damage zombies for 60DPS and also stun a zombie for 0.5 seconds.
Additionally:
*When Karatea has meditated for at least 20 seconds, Karatea gains a 20% chance to counter a zombie's attack (only if the zombie starts attacking Karatea or a plant in front or behind him), which causes the zombie's attack to fail and get stunned for 0.5 seconds.
*When Karatea has meditated for 40 seconds, he fully powers up and gains a 10% chance to pick up a zombie (excluding vehicles and Gargantuars, and only if the zombie starts attacking Karatea or a plant in front or behind him) and body slam them, damaging that zombie and all zombies in front of Karatea for 200DPS.
Karatea is also able to equip a maximum of two tea plants instead of one like most other plants, allowing him to utilize them more effectively.
==Origins==
Karatea's name is a portmanteau of the words "karate" and "tea". Tea refers to the plant that Karatea is based on, specifically the tea plant (scientific name Camellia sinensis). Karate is a Japanese martial art influenced by indigenous and Chinese martial arts, which is what Karatea's abilities are based on.
==Almanac entry==
Karatea
Sun cost: 225
Recharge: Fast
Uses martial arts to attack zombies ahead and behind. Can switch to a meditation state to gain more attack power and new abilities.
Special: Can equip a maximum of two tea plants
As a world-renowned karate master, Karatea is as proficient in martial arts as he is wise. "Always remember that the true purpose of martial arts is to instill confidence in one's own capabilities, and to improve one's own physical well-being," he quotes. "And zombie-butt kicking. Most importantly zombie-butt kicking."
==Upgrades==
===Plant Food power===
When fed with Plant Food, Karatea immediately powers up to full and punches the ground, unleashing a quake down his lane that damages all zombies for 900DPS and knocks them all back 3 tiles. However, if Karatea was already at full power before he was given Plant Food, Karatea will then instead send all the zombies down his lane flying off the lawn. Vehicles and Gargantuars would, however, be damaged for 1800DPS and be knocked back 5 tiles instead.
===Stat tiers===
Stat 	Tier 1 	Tier 2 	Tier 3 	Tier 4	Tier 5
Strength 	
Punch - 10 DPS
Kick - 30 DPS
Body slam - 75 DPS	
Punch - 15 DPS
Kick - 50 DPS
Body slam - 150 DPS	
Punch - 20 DPS
Kick - 60 DPS
Body slam - 200 DPS	
Punch - 25 DPS
Kick - 70 DPS
Body slam - 250 DPS
(Unlock cost: 1 Strength Token)	
Punch - 30 DPS
Kick - 90 DPS
Body slam - 325 DPS
(Unlock cost: 2 Strength Tokens)
Toughness	50 DPS 	200 DPS 	300 DPS 	400 DPS
(Unlock cost: 1 Toughness Token)	550 DPS
(Unlock cost: 2 Toughness Tokens)
Sun cost 	325 	275 	225 	175
(Unlock cost: 1 Sun cost Token)	125
(Unlock cost: 2 Sun cost Tokens)
Recharge 	10 seconds	7 seconds	5 seconds	
3 seconds
(Unlock cost: 1 Recharge Token)	N/A
More about the upgrading system here.
==Strategies==
Like Bonk Choy, Karatea is a useful frontline plant for dealing high damage to zombies at close range that are either right at your defenses or have managed to get past them (since Karatea can also attack behind them). Because of this, Karatea is best used behind your defensive plants. On their own, however, Karatea costs more sun and also has a slightly lesser damage rate compared to Bonk Choy, so the key to utilizing Karatea effectively is to allow him to gain power using his meditation state. In this way, you would be able to increase Karatea's damage rate and even give him new abilities that eventually make him a much more cost-effective plant.
Since Karatea's meditation renders him unable to attack zombies, you will have to wait for him to properly power up before you can use him effectively, so planning when to have him meditate or attack is crucial. Plus, you'll need to make sure you also have other offensive plants that will help you to deal with the zombies while Karatea is in their meditation state. Because of this, you should effectively use Karatea by having other plants to support him until Karatea is powerful enough to also support the rest of your defense. Only allow Karatea to meditate if your defenses are not currently overwhelmed by zombies and there are only few that may have already reached your frontline. Otherwise, it would be a good time to allow Karatea to attack to utilize their damage output and strengthen your defense until the threat dies down. Additionally, it is best to plant Karatea near the early game, so that as the level progresses, you are able to give time for Karatea to power up and become more effective in dealing with stronger hordes of zombies in the late game.
At full power, Karatea gains a 10% chance to body slam a zombie and damage all zombies within range of Karatea. Since, at full power, Karatea attacks 5 times a second, you can expect him to be able to do heavy AoE damage once every 2 seconds, which makes him extremely effective against dense hordes of zombies that may be at your frontlines, demonstrating Karatea's use as a melee plant that needs time to grow, but becomes extremely powerful and cost-effective once given enough time. Because of this, time and patience is key in order to make the most out of this plant, which is somewhat similar to how Morning Glory and Touch-me-not are meant to be utilized. In the case where you somehow may not be able to fully power Karatea, however, being able to at least power him halfway (meditated for at least 20 seconds), still makes him reliable enough of a melee plant, being able to attack 2 times a second and also having a 20% chance to counter a zombie's attack, preventing them from doing damage and even stunning them slightly. This helps in stalling zombies near your frontlines in the case that your defenses might be threatened.
==Gallery==
Karatea.png|Karatea (HD)
Karatea's costume.png|Costume
Karatea's seed packet.png|Seed packet
Karatea fully powered up.png|Karatea fully powered up
Karatea kicking.png|Karatea kicking
Karatea meditating.png|Karatea meditating
==Art credits==
*Credits to Bean for making Karatea's art.
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Category:Fast recharge plants
Category:Offensive Plants
Category:Melee plants
Category:Passive attacking plants
Category:PvZ:LW content
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