Shroomstalker Zombie

Shroomstalker Zombie is a zombie in Plants vs. Zombies 2 that is introduced in Morel Judgement, a special-type event in Penny's Pursuit. You may also encounter him in Arena, Thymed Events, and Piñata Parties.
Every time Shroomstalker Zombie goes through a phase of degradation, his spores will be propagated and shot towards a plant that is near to him. The spores will either have one to multiple effects or none at all depending on what phase of degradation he has reached. Each phase will be explained below:
Phase 	Ability
Phase 1	Shoots a spore that deals 250 damage towards the nearest plant.
Phase 2	Shoots two spores that are shot at the two nearest plants, will deal 500 damage.
Phase 3	Gains more range and shoots a massive spore that deals 1000 damage towards the nearest plant. The explosion leaves behind a poisoned puddle that damages any plant that gets planted on the tile by half of their health. The same applies to plants that survive the massive spore.
If his mushroom cap is fully destroyed, he will gain a permanent speed boost that makes him have the Speedy stat.
==Origins==
Shroomstalker Zombie is based on alot of media relating to mushrooms. Firstly, the zombie's name is a compound word, combining the word "shroom", which is the shortened version of the word "mushroom", and the word "stalker", which means a person that obsessively pursues somebody, usually somebody with a higher status. The aforementioned word may refer to the stalk of a mushroom or allude to the Stalker, the second phase of the infected in The Last of Us franchise. Per their name, they stealthily pursue their newfound prey and quietly ambushes them when it is the right moment.
Then, let's talk about Shroomstalker Zombie himself. His design is themed around mushrooms, a fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, as well as it takes some design elements from both designs of Nightcap and Cordelius, the former is a recurring plant that appears in Plants vs. Zombies: Heroes, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, the pre-2021 version of Plants vs. Zombies 3, and Plants vs. Zombies 2 chronologically, meanwhile the latter is a legendary assassin brawler in Brawl Stars that weaponizes mushrooms.
==Overview==
Shroomstalker Zombie absorbs 600 damage per shot before being defeated. When he absorbs 100 damage per shot, his mushroom cap would have damaged holes and he would perform his first phase ability. When she absorbs 290 damage per shot, the upper half of the mushroom cap is ripped off and he would perform his second phase ability. His cap would then be destroyed and he would perform his third phase ability when he absorbs 400 damage per shot. When he absorbs 520 damage per shot, his arm is eventually detached, and then he ultimately gets rendered defeated when he absorbs 600 damage per shot.
==Almanac Entry==
==Encounters==
*Penny's Pursuit(Morel Judgement and other events)
*Arena (Certain Tournaments)
*Epic Quest: Inzanity!
==Strategies==
Shroomstalker Zombie is a dangerous zombie that focuses more on the offensive side than the defensive or supportive one. If he enters your lawn and advances towards your house, he will attempt to infiltrate your defenses by shooting his spores, which makes it easier for the zombies to assault your plants. While his first phase ability may not be quite threatening, you should pay more mind to his second one because the damage dealt to your plants by this is higher, as well as the radius of effect has expanded one tile more. Shroomstalker Zombie's third phase ability is even more dangerous as he shoots a huge spore that destroys most plants and also leaves behind a health-halving puddle that weakens the plant that you plant on the tile, even though the radius is decreased, you should still be careful as his range is increased, making him shoot at a farther distance than before.
To deal with Shroomstalker Zombie, you must make quick work of him to avoid your strategy being sabotaged. You may need to use high-damage dealers in order to destroy Shroomstalker Zombie while trying to stop him from performing any of his phase abilities, but if the damage dealers that you selected do not kill him instantly, it is best if you utilize them along with stalling plants like Snow Pea because of their slowing trait and also because of Shroomstalker Zombie changing his speed, Hurrikale is recommended to use against Shroomstalker Zombie due to his ability of pushing back zombies. If you're aiming to not use these type of plants while having non-instant damage dealers, you may have a lot of trouble dealing with the coming zombies once the damage is already done, so it is needed to use sacrificial plants or defensive plants to act as a meatshield for both his spore shots and the spore puddle.
==In other languages==
==Trivia==
*This page is Miss Pembroke's submission for the Against All Odds contest.
*This is probably her shortest page to date (07/10/2024)