Beekeeper (PvZ: BfN)

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Beekeeper is a playable zombie class in Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville. She is a Defend class who specializes in dealing tons of damage at range, and crippling tanks with high-damage shots. Her plant counterpart is Cattail as part of the Sniper Set.
==Description==
===In-game description===
Best used at long, long range. Each consecutive Stinger Shot does more and more damage, making her a high-priority threat.
==Primary Weapon==
Beekeeper's primary weapon is the Stinger Shot, which launches a fast-speed bee stinger that deals 14 damage (19 critical) and fires at a rate of 85 RPM (rounds per minute) or RPS (rounds per second) with an average of DPS ( critical). Each consecutive shot deals 12 more damage, with a maximum of 50 damage (70 critical) on the fourth shot. Stinger Shot can hold 4 ammo and must reload for 2 seconds once it is depleted.
==Abilities==
===Sticky Situation===
When activated, Beekeeper throws a honey pot which has very short range. When the honey pot lands, it covers an area with a radius of 9 meters in sticky honey for 5 seconds. The honey slows plants in it by 40%, prevents them from jumping, and stops them from sprinting. However, they can still use abilities, including abilities such as Acorn Dash to escape the honey. It takes 14 seconds to recharge.
===Hive Mind===
When activated, Beekeeper sends an angry swarm of bees, similar to Mouseflies in Mount Steep. The bees travel at a speed of 30 m/s, and have a fairly big size with a radius of 6 m. The bee swarm rapidly deals 5 damage to enemies touching it (at a rate of 600 RPM), with DPS. The swarm lasts for 8 seconds, or until it collides with a solid barrier such as a wall. It takes 16 seconds to recharge.
===Honey Coating===
When activated, Beekeeper creates a shield of honeycombs on the ground in front of her. The shield is a semi-circle shape with a radius of 8 meters. It has 100 health and will last for 25 seconds before vanishing. Both allies and enemies can walk through Honey Coating, but enemies can't shoot through it. Beekeeper can hold up to 2 Honey Coatings at once, with a 1-second delay between uses. Up to 2 can exist at once in total. It takes 20 seconds to recharge.
==Upgrades==
==Strategies==
===With===
Beekeeper is a very strong character at any range. Using Hive Mind to vanquish enemies that get too close to you, or to weaken enemies at any range is very effective. Hive Mind can also be used as area control to keep enemies at bay with its huge damage output and slow speed. Sticky Situation can be used to keep enemies from running away from you to use Hive Mind, or to keep them still to take them out with Stinger Shot. Honey Coating is a very good sniping tool, helpful in dogfights against other snipers or just to have some cover while you pick enemies off far away.
===Against===
Beekeeper is a very powerful foe, as she can deal tons of damage very quickly and at long range. Try to avoid rushing her head-on, as it'll be easy for her to nail you with Stinger Shot after Stinger Shot. Make use of cover or shields if you want to get up close, but beware of Hive Mind's close-range dominance. Taking Beekeeper out from a distance is recommended as, while she is designed for long-range combat, most of her abilities are ineffective at very large distances. Beekeeper's best matchups are against low-health characters or glass cannons, so try to avoid confronting her with those kinds of characters.
==Balancing changes==
December 11, 2020 (1)While Beekeeper has been doing well as a sniper character, she has been overperforming in both her intended long range but also unintentionally in close range. Her Stinger Shot now requires more precise timing to land those bigger shots, her Sticky Situation can now be used to slow enemies down enough to be able to land more hits on them more effectively, her Hive Mind has had its rate of damage toned down, making it much less deadly for plants and deal a lot less damage on average, and her Honey Coating shield is no longer as consistently available for use. Her upgrades have been significantly changed to support her role as a backline fighter, but to also offer more interesting plays and mechanics to make playing Beekeeper feel more interesting than ever before!
*Stinger Shot
**Decreased rate of fire from 97 RPM -> 85 RPM
**Increased reload time from 2 -> 2.3 seconds
*Sticky Situation
**Increased slow from 20% -> 40%
**Increased area from 6 m -> 9 m
**Decreased refresh time from 15 -> 14 seconds
*Hive Mind
**Decreased rate of damage from 685 RPM -> 600 RPM
*Honey Coating
**Increased refresh time from 17 -> 20 seconds
*Upgrade Speedy Stingers
**Dealing critical damage with Stinger Shot reloads 1 ammo
**Increased equip cost from 1 -> 3
**Removed increased projectile speed
*Upgrade Slowmode
**Increased slow effect from 35% -> 50%
**Decreased equip cost from 2 -> 1
*Upgrade Iron Hive
**Decreased rate of fire from 805 RPM -> 750 RPM
*Upgrade The Bee's Knees
**Increased speed boost from 21% -> 50%
**Only triggers when reloading Stinger Shot
*Upgrade Hardened Honeycombs
**Increases shield size from 8 m -> 10 m
*Upgrade Never-Ending Nectar
**Gain a charge of Honey Coating by critically vanquishing an enemy
**Removed faster reload time
*Upgrade Dissolve
**Decreased damage from 8 -> 4
**Decreased total damage from 100 -> 50
**Decreased equip cost from 3 -> 1
*Upgrade For The Colony
**Vanquished enemies gain slow aura
**Removed ammo gain on vanquish
*Upgrade Bee Happy
**Decreased health gained from 25 -> 15
**Health is gained over a period of 3 seconds
**Decreased equip cost from 3 -> 2
**Only triggers on critical damage
*Upgrade Swarm Span
**Increased equip cost from 3 -> 4
**Increased radius from 9 m -> 10 m
*Upgrade Sugar Rush
**Allies gain 15% armor for 6 seconds
*Upgrade What's The Buzz About?
**Decreased equip cost from 4 -> 2
**Honey Coating flies forward instead of being stationary
**Removed increased Stinger Shot ammo
December 11, 2020 (2)
*Upgrade Dissolve
**Increased equip cost from 1 -> 2
Category:Sani's Stuff
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