Plants vs. Zombies: Wildside/More Chapters

Here's the last 10 Chapters in Wildside. If you want to go back to the previous 10 Chapters, you can go here. Happy reading, again!
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|-|Boneyard Badlands=
BONEYARD BADLANDSCHAPTER ELEVENA barren wasteland long forgotten, littered with the remains of prehistoric creatures.
These are the gimmicks for this chapter:
*Tectonic Plates:
**Tectonic plates lie under your lawn, each of them containing a portion of the lawn's tiles. Their configuration changes in different levels.
**Every so often (think like every 20-35 seconds), there's some shifting that goes on. Some of the tectonic plates move around and take tiles with them.
**This means that you could have a Peashooter at the top left of the lawn and then after a few shifts that Peashooter could be all the way towards the right.
**When a really loud sound, such as an explosion from a Cherry Bomb or a shriek from Shrieking Leek, goes off nearby tectonic plates have a chance to be triggered.
**When tectonic plates shift and collide with other tectonic plates, some cracked tiles are generated near the collision site to give some additional impact.
*Cracked Tiles:
**Cracked tiles are, well, cracked tiles. They can't be planted on, but have no impact on plants already there.
**They are created from tectonic plates shifting into the edge of the lawn or into other tectonic plates.
**They only last for a short period of time, but that time depends on the tectonic plate's size.
**At the absolute minimum, they will last for 3 seconds. At maximum, they last for up to 15 seconds.
*Boney Leftovers:
**Boney leftovers are the remains of ancient creatures that have long since wilted away.
**Boney leftovers come in a few different sizes and can stack together in interesting and boney ways.
**Boney leftovers are destroyed in just a couple attacks and block planting, so they're just a small annoyance.
**Boney leftovers have a chance to be destroyed when the lawn shifts, or some new ones might resurface as well.
This chapter also has an Endless Zone:
*This chapter's Endless Zone is the Downtrodden Dunes, unlocked after completing level 11-35 and defeating the Draconic Remains.
*Endless Zones are largely unchanged from Plants vs. Zombies 2, except here you can only get plants (no sun or anything) and you can see all four choices all the time.
*Endless Zones don't have any direct additional rewards, but do have an elevated chance for Gear Frags to be handed out, as well as part of Seed Slot IX after beating the 50th stage.
*After clearing out 90 stages in this chapter's Endless Zone, powerful and threatening veteran zombies will start gradually trickling in. They're pretty tough, but clearly you're also tough for making it so far. Good work!
This chapter has a special Brain Buster:
*This chapter's Brain Buster is Boneyard Bowling, played on some levels throughout the chapter.
*Boneyard Bowling is like Wall-nut Bowling from the first game, but since there's additional wall-like plants there's extra bowlers thrown into the mix. For example, you can bowl with Endurians who launch spikes in all directions on impact but don't bounce, or you can bowl Tall-nuts who plow down two lanes but also don't bounce, instead just crushing zombies outright.
This chapter takes place during the DAY
|-|Riptide Island=
RIPTIDE ISLANDCHAPTER TWELVEKnown for its rolling waves and soft sands, this island has never known evil.
These are the gimmicks for this chapter:
*Rain:
**Rain is an almost constant gimmick in Riptide Island levels. It shifts over the course of a level, changing intensity from Clear to Light to Heavy gradually. Each intensity of rain has a different effect on the lawn.
***Clear: No effect on gameplay. Rain isn't falling, so there's nothing particularly special happening.
***Light: Zombies are slowed down slightly, fire-based plants gradually take damage, sun falls from the sky significantly slower.
***Heavy: Zombies are slowed down significantly, all plants gradually take damage, sun doesn't fall from the sky.
*Wind:
**Wind is also an almost constant gimmick and functions independently of Rain in Riptide Island levels. Wind either pushes to the right or left and isn't always there. It varies between Light and Heavy.
***Light: Projectiles traveling in the same direction as the wind are slightly sped up and zombies traveling in the same direction as the wind are also sped up. The inverse happens when projectiles or zombies are going against the wind.
***Heavy: The effects of wind are heavily amplified. Wind Gusts can sometimes occur in maintained Heavy wind, which blows projectiles and zombies into other lanes.
*Tide:
**The Tide is a mechanic where the lawn will gradually be filled with water, which will move in towards the left side and then back away from it.
**Tidal shifts occur over the course of a level, so the tide can go all the way up to column 2 and potentially all the way back multiple times.
**Not every level will have such drastic changes in tidal positioning. Some might only have a column or two, but every level comes with some kind of tide.
This chapter also has an Endless Zone:
*This chapter's Endless Zone is the High Tide Hijinks, unlocked after completing level 12-35 and defeating the Floating Dutchman.
*Endless Zones are largely unchanged from Plants vs. Zombies 2, except here you can only get plants (no sun or anything) and you can see all four choices all the time.
*Endless Zones don't have any direct additional rewards, but do have an elevated chance for Gear Frags to be handed out, as well as part of Seed Slot IX after beating the 50th stage.
*After clearing out 90 stages in this chapter's Endless Zone, powerful and threatening veteran zombies will start gradually trickling in. They're pretty tough, but clearly you're also tough for making it so far. Good work!
This chapter has a special Brain Buster:
*This chapter's Brain Buster is It's Raining Seeds, played on some levels throughout the chapter.
*It's Raining Seeds is a Brain Buster in which, well, seeds rain from the sky. It's raining seeds. Quite literally. Random plants from Riptide Island (even ones unlocked toward the end, potentially, enjoy the sneak peek) or earlier worlds will descend from the heavens free of charge. Use this hodgepodge of nonsense to create a sensible defense. The random plants include plants that are useless here, like Hot Potato or Flask Frond as well.
This chapter takes place during the DAY
|-|Lavamolt Steep=
LAVAMOLT STEEPCHAPTER THIRTEENSurrounding a beating heart of superheated magma lies an impenetrable shell of solid stone.
These are the gimmicks for this chapter:
*Hot Rocks:
**Hot rocks will constantly fall from the sky, falling every 6-12 seconds. Hot rocks fall faster in later levels.
**Hot rocks generally try to avoid landing directly on plants, but can sometimes do so, instantly destroying it and making the tile unfit for planting for 10 seconds. Even if they don't hit a plant, they'll still mess up the tile.
**Hot rocks can also destroy zombies on the tile they land on, but it isn't a guarantee. They'll only do 150 damage (non-armor piercing) to them, allowing the toughest of the tough to survive a rock hit.
*Magma Moat:
**The magma moat takes up the center lane, converting it into a ravine of bubbling lava and despair.
**Plants that end up in the moat are instantly defeated, and the same applies to zombies as well.
**This basically splits the lawn in two - nothing happens in this center lane, it's all above and below.
*Remnants:
**The ancient remains of stone structures can be found in this world, littered across the lawn.
**There's a few different versions with different health, but they're basically just standard grid items.
**They cannot be removed with Grave Buster or anything, so you'll have to burst them down with normal damage.
*Lava Crystals:
**Lava crystals grow out of the ground and sometimes remnants, but more often than not it's just the ground.
**Lava crystals can be tapped to make them erupt in an area around them, dealing light damage and setting things on fire.
**The lava crystals will grow up over time so you'll either want to wait a while or hit them very early.
**Zombies can "eat" the lava crystals to cause them to erupt prematurely, so there is some risk involved.
This chapter also has an Endless Zone:
*This chapter's Endless Zone is the Smoldering Spire, unlocked after completing level 13-35 and defeating the Dominus Knight, Dominus Guard, Dominus Archer, and Dominus Mage.
*Endless Zones are largely unchanged from Plants vs. Zombies 2, except here you can only get plants (no sun or anything) and you can see all four choices all the time.
*Endless Zones don't have any direct additional rewards, but do have an elevated chance for Gear Frags to be handed out, as well as part of Seed Slot IX after beating the 50th stage.
*After clearing out 90 stages in this chapter's Endless Zone, powerful and threatening veteran zombies will start gradually trickling in. They're pretty tough, but clearly you're also tough for making it so far. Good work!
This chapter has a special Brain Buster:
*This chapter's Brain Buster is Column Like You See 'Em, played on some levels throughout the chapter.
*Column Like You See 'Em copies plants that planted onto every lane in the column they're planted in. Since there's a big boiling moat of lava that takes up the middle lane, obviously plants can't go there. That much is obvious. So it just politely ignores the middle lane.
This chapter takes place during the NIGHT
|-|Abyssal Aquifers=
ABYSSAL AQUIFERSCHAPTER FOURTEENDeep below the surface lurks the remnants of luminous cave-dwelling corals.
These are the gimmicks for this chapter:
*Submerged:
**The entire lawn, and entire chapter even, is underwater. Plants can survive for a short time underwater if they are not protected by Cave Algae, which is long enough that in case of emergencies a panic plant can maybe get the job done. The idea with this is that you don't necessarily have to bring Cave Algae if you don't want to, but it makes your defense more effective long-term.
*Abyssal Chasms:
**The ground in Abyssal Aquifers is far from stable. Great big cracks will appear in the ground that destroy some tiles and render them unplantable, while still allowing for zombies to traverse them just fine due to all the cool lift-y bubbles flying up and out of them. They have the added benefit of swallowing up lobbed shots or ground-based things because, well, it's an enormous chasm in the ground. Would you expect them to not swallow things up?
*Differed Elevation:
**The ground in Abyssal Aquifers is far from stable. Certain parts of the lawn are elevated up due to volatile volcanic tectonics beyond our understandings. This works in a similar fashion to how elevation has worked in previous chapters and in future ones, and it just adds a touch of depth to the chapter. Usually the elevated pieces will be quite large as it would be visually disruptive if there were many smaller pieces. Zombies will climb up the elevated pieces to get past them, which slows them down a bit.
*Jagged Rocks:
**The ground in Abyssal Aquifers is far from stable. Jagged rocks jut out of the ground sometimes, and those rocks have a significant amount of health while also preventing planting. Truly an insurmountable barrier! You've seen these kinds of rocks or debris gimmicks in many other chapters at this point. It's just a fun tack-on that makes things more challenging. Get over it.
*Luminous Corals:
**The ground in Abys- there are glowing corals and other mysterious lifeforms that appear on the lawn. These corals can be tapped to unleash special powers, such as stunning everything nearby or producing a small amount of sun. The corals can have positive or negative effects, and zombies touching them will trigger them without player input. It's your job to keep them under control, as they are very helpful for tackling this chapter's challenges.
This chapter also has an Endless Zone:
*This chapter's Endless Zone is the Big Bubble Beatdown, unlocked after completing level 14-35 and defeating the Giant Squid.
*Endless Zones are largely unchanged from Plants vs. Zombies 2, except here you can only get plants (no sun or anything) and you can see all four choices all the time.
*Endless Zones don't have any direct additional rewards, but do have an elevated chance for Gear Frags to be handed out, as well as part of Seed Slot IX after beating the 50th stage.
*After clearing out 90 stages in this chapter's Endless Zone, powerful and threatening veteran zombies will start gradually trickling in. They're pretty tough, but clearly you're also tough for making it so far. Good work!
This chapter has a special Brain Buster:
*This chapter's Brain Buster is Rockjack, played on some levels throughout the chapter.
*Rockjack is a funny sort of Blackjack spoof Brain Buster with regards to its gameplay, because it's important to mix things up every once in a while. There is a button to play Rockjack, which is just Blackjack with sea creature-themed cards. Winning a round of Rockjack gives you sun to plant your plants, and that is the only way to collect sun in these levels. Losing the round will spawn a number of zombies that waltz in and make your life much more difficult. At the start of each flag, there is an additional higher-stakes game of Rockjack that dictates how bad the wave will be - winning keeps it the same as normal, but losing makes it much more difficult.
This chapter takes place during the NIGHT
|-|Saltrock Slates=
SALTROCK SLATESCHAPTER FIFTEENAs the water drips down, the ancient world stirs beneath your feet with every step.
These are the gimmicks for this chapter:
*Balancing Board:
**The entire lawn is a giant slab of slate balancing quite precariously. When more or heavier plants and zombies are on one side than the other, the board will tilt in that direction. This introduces an elevation mechanic where plants might not be able to see as far if they're lower than the rest of the lawn, or they might be too high up and their projectiles could fly over zombies' heads. This also has a rather dramatic effect on rolling projectiles and zombie movement speeds: they increase/decrease by up to 33% depending on whether they're going uphill or downhill. If you end up getting swarmed and everything's on your side, you're in deep trouble.
*Stalagmites:
**Stalagmites are grid items which are dotted across the Balancing Board and which block planting. They can be removed by Grave Buster and depending on their size have 100, 200, or 300 health. They can be destroyed normally with projectiles or other plant attacks, and they're a generally minor gimmick: they're there to add to the confusion and chaos that is Saltrock Slates. Compared to other worlds with similar mechanics, Saltrock Slates tends to have quite a few Stalagmites.
*Waterfalls and flowing water:
**Waterfalls target random tiles, submerging them in water from directly above. Normally, this just creates a single puddle tile in which you can plant some sort of aquatic plants. However, when the board tilts in a direction, that puddle becomes flowing water which flows in the direction the board is tilting, and the distance the water stream travels is dependent on how heavily the board is tilted. Rolling projectiles and zombie movement speeds are increased/decreased by an additional 33% depending on whether they're fighting or going along with the water stream's flow. Plants that can't normally survive in water will be pushed downstream by flowing water, even off the lawn if there's no room.
*Minecarts and ruined tracks:
**Minecarts work differently than you're probably thinking. Minecarts and their respective ruined tracks are remnants of ancient mineshafts and railways, now long gone. Lines of ruined tracks generate horizontally on the lawn with up to three minecarts on them (usually one). Plants on the minecart cannot be manually moved around and plants can't be planted on the ruined tracks themselves. When the board tilts, the minecart will slowly - or quickly if it's heavily tilted - move in the direction of the board, down the ruined tracks and stopping at the end. Zombies hit by maximum-speed minecarts will take some damage and be pushed back a short distance. It's a heavy minecart, after all.
This chapter also has an Endless Zone:
*This chapter's Endless Zone is the Sinister Slate, unlocked after completing level 15-35 and defeating the Regolith Warden.
*Endless Zones are largely unchanged from Plants vs. Zombies 2, except here you can only get plants (no sun or anything) and you can see all four choices all the time.
*Endless Zones don't have any direct additional rewards, but do have an elevated chance for Gear Frags to be handed out, as well as part of Seed Slot IX after beating the 50th stage.
*After clearing out 90 stages in this chapter's Endless Zone, powerful and threatening veteran zombies will start gradually trickling in. They're pretty tough, but clearly you're also tough for making it so far. Good work!
This chapter has a special Brain Buster:
*This chapter's Brain Buster is High Finance, played on some levels throughout the chapter.
*High Finance is a bit of a slower, longer-term Brain Buster which is played on a larger lawn than usual: instead of the regular 5x9, the lawn is 6x11 for this Brain Buster only. Basically, how it works is a large amount of the lawn is covered in "debris", and the player must spend sun to remove the debris in order to gain more planting space. Debris can constitute single tiles for cheap or several connected tiles for a larger price. The lawn starts off with maybe five or six tiles available for planting, but eventually the entire lawn can be cleared of debris and becomes available for the player to plant. These levels ramp up in zombies intensely later on.
This chapter takes place during the NIGHT
|-|Grimstone City=
GRIMSTONE CITYCHAPTER SIXTEENYour journey ends here, brave adventurer. But beware, these ancient caverns house a dark secret...
These are the gimmicks for this chapter:
*Long Board: Grimstone City has eighteen columns instead of nine, and the player must scroll to see the second half of the lawn. Plants that normally have "Lane" range will have their range translated to 9 tiles instead, because otherwise life would be too easy. Other than that, the extra columns act as you would expect. This does make the chapter considerably easier because you can stop zombies much sooner, but the other gimmicks and the general difficulty of the zombies in this chapter will counterbalance that.
*Second Story: Grimstone City has a second story to the lawn that means that it doubles up in some places. The second story is accessed through ladders up and down that zombies can choose of their own merit to traverse, and it is not a solid second layer. It prefers, as an independent voter, to generate in blotches or chunks to keep you on your feet.
*Tricks & Traps: Grimstone City contains a host of tricks, traps, and other minor gimmicks to flesh out the experience more.
**Launchers are special kinds of tiles that are activated when they receive power, and they launch a certain type of projectile up or down depending on where they are (first or second story) or the direction they're facing. Launchers can also protrude on top of the tile to face left, right, up, or down. Of course, only second story launchers can aim downward because there's only something below in that situation.
**Trapdoors are special kinds of tiles that appear only on the second floor, and they are activated when they receive power. Plants can be placed on closed trapdoors, and zombies can walk over them as well. When activated, they switch between open and closed state, and if they switch from closed to open anything on top will fall down below. They will take a small amount of fall damage, and also deal a little bit of damage to anything they land on as well.
**Screamers are special kinds of tiles that hang on top rather than being a true tile replacement in a similar fashion to how the other ones work. Screamers will emit a loud siren sound when they are powered, which can be detected by Poise Tendrils or the Gullet (and it will agitate the Gullet as well, because of course). Screamers can still be powered and unpowered, but they won't scream again for some time after being triggered.
**Pressure plates and levers are ways for the aforementioned traps to be powered and therefore activated. Pressure plates cover tiles but don't prevent planting, and will power their tile as well as any tiles they are hooked up to, which varies per level, when a plant or zombie ends up on top of them or when tapped by the player. Levers can be manually pushed by Activator Zombie or Gusters and work in the same fashion as pressure plates, only that the player has no control.
**Ancient debris is a blanket term for debris left behind from the Grimstone City's surprisingly industrial metallic past. You'll see a strange blend in the technology where there's ancient stone structures and candles and such combined with more industrial concepts like power and launchers and trapdoors. The debris works sort of like the remnants in the Lavamolt Steep, where they are basically glorified tombstones with varying health pools.
**Stone statues are similar to ancient debris in terms of how they work and just y'know what's going on there, but they can be removed by Grave Buster. They also have far more health than an individual piece of ancient debris, in exchange for there only really being a couple in the level. There are also rusty, dark metal variants that match the metal used in other places throughout the Grimstone City that cannot be removed by Grave Buster, just for even more variation. There's a lot of variation in this chapter.
**Candles are an incredibly minor gimmick present in Grimstone City where they are dotted around on the ground either lit or unlit. Who lit them? How are they still burning? They can be planted on to destroy them in a similar fashion to Bombegranate Seeds in Plants vs. Zombies 2. Up to six candles can exist on a certain tile, and the Gullet is just a smidge more likely to emerge on tiles that have fewer or no candles on them, giving the player a little more control and the candles a little more purpose.
*Dormant Poise: Dormant Poise is a sort of passive mechanic that explains why the death of several plants or zombies in a concentrated area leads to the generation of Poise in this chapter only. The idea here is that the Poise is always there, it's just hiding under the tiles in the ground, hiding in the walls, that its already kind of there. All it takes for some initial Poise Growths to generate is a big dump of food, in this case a large number of souls.
*Poise Spreading: When a large number of casualties occur in a small area, Poise Growths (the final stage of the Poise spreading process) appear. This is, from a gameplay perspective, because they're the most spread-happy stage. That's why the Poise that starts off on the board is generally between Poise Veins and Poise Growths - they're more effective and spread easier. Before we really dive into everything, let's get you familiar with the different stages/types of Poise first:
**Poise Blotches: Poise Blotches are the first stage of Poise spreading. When Poise spreads from something dying on top of a Poise Growth, it spreads points around to form Poise based on the max health that plant or zombie had with a minimum point value of 1 and a conversion ratio of 100 zombie health to 1 point or 250 plant health to 1 point (both cap at 25 points). These Poise Blotches turn into Poise Clumps when they receive a point from spreading, though it is more likely to have another tile gain Poise Blotches first. The general rule is that Poise prefers to have things spread somewhat evenly.
**Poise Clumps: Poise Clumps are the second stage of Poise Spreading. If they receive another point they become Poise Veins.
**Poise Veins: Poise Veins are the third stage of Poise Spreading. If they receive another point they become Poise Arteries.
**Poise Arteries: Poise Arteries are the fourth stage of Poise Spreading. If they receive another point they become Poise Growths.
**Poise Growth: Poise Growth is the final main stage of Poise Spreading. If they receive another point they have an 80% chance to become a Poise Overgrowth, a 15% chance to become a Poise Tendrils, and a 5% chance to become a Poise Chute.
**Poise Overgrowth: Poise Overgrowth works sort of like a forking sixth stage for Poise Spreading. When a Poise Growth turns into a Poise Overgrowth, it will not change unless banished with a flashy plant or something, and it's effectively just a stronger version of Poise Growth that is more difficult to remove. Poise Overgrowths can't have flashy plants such as Solar Tomato directly planted on them, making it just a bit harder to clear it out.
**Poise Tendrils: Poise Tendrils work kind of like a sensor for new plant life. When a plant is planted that isn't a Shadow Plant or planted in an invisibility shroud created by a plant, the Poise Tendrils will pick up on it and vibrate menacingly, and then spreads Poise from that tile as if 3 points had been bestowed upon it. In addition, the Poise Tendrils cause a pulsating darkness effect when triggered which fades the screen in and out of pitch black darkness for a few seconds. If Poise Tendrils are next to a Poise Chute, they will also help trigger the Poise Chute to summon the Gullet, which is the only way for the Gullet to naturally spawn into your chapter.
**Poise Chute: Poise Chutes are the rarest Poise organism, but the most dangerous. They're quite unlikely to generate if you're managing the Poise well and are able to clear out a decent amount of the new growth coming in, which is how you can avoid the Gullet spawning. When a plant is defeated or planted on top of a Poise Chute, it emits a loud heartbeat sound and gains +1 anger. When 4 anger is reached, the Poise Chute summons the Gullet somewhere in a 3x3 area around and then turns into a Poise Overgrowth. Poise Tendrils activating adjacent to a Poise Chute adds +2 anger which is half of the way there.
This chapter also has an Endless Zone:
*This chapter's Endless Zone is the City Center, unlocked after completing level 16-35. It's also uniquely much, much more difficult than other Endless Zones. At least four times harder. Fun endgame challenge?
*Endless Zones are largely unchanged from Plants vs. Zombies 2, except here you can only get plants (no sun or anything) and you can see all four choices all the time.
*Endless Zones don't have any direct additional rewards, but do have an elevated chance for Gear Frags to be handed out, as well as part of Seed Slot IX after beating the 50th stage.
*After clearing out 90 stages in this chapter's Endless Zone, powerful and threatening veteran zombies will start gradually trickling in. They're pretty tough, but clearly you're also tough for making it so far. Good work!
This chapter has a special Brain Buster:
*This chapter's Brain Buster is I, Zombie, played on some levels throughout the chapter.
*I, Zombie works like the minigame in the first game, where plants are set up in particular configurations and you must deploy zombies to take them out. The twist here is that since there's only four levels with this Brain Buster, each level has multiple stages. The first I, Zombie level has five stages, and that increases by two each time until you reach the fourth and final level where there are eleven consecutive stages (think I, Zombie Endless but not randomized) you must take down in order to win.
This chapter takes place during the NIGHT
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