Stelae Cactus

Stelae Cactus is a Lost City based plant that was introduced in 11.7.1 update of Plants vs. Zombies 2 as part of "Stelae Cactus's Lost and Found" Arena Season.
Stelae Cactuses shoot heavy rocks at zombies which can break down normally unbreakable items such as Shovels. Stelae Cactuses also spawn in unique stelae depending on what plant family any eaten or destroyed plants in a 5x5 by area were. Mini Stelaes would rise depending on each class with there being a total of 14 unique stelaes that can spawn with varying abilities.
==Origins==
Stelae Cactus is based off of the typical Cactus that features frequently throughout the Plants vs. Zombies franchise. The type of cactus that Stelae Cactus is based off of is hard to tell as the spikes are covered up but it most likely is the Saguaro Cactus which commonly grows in deserts and dry arid places and would've be very common back in the Mayan Era.
Stelae Cactus is also mainly based off the stelae. Stelae (singular: stela) are upright stone slabs or pillars that are often inscribed, carved, or painted with texts, symbols, or reliefs. They have been used throughout history by various cultures for a variety of purposes. The ancient Maya civilization is well-known for its elaborately carved stelae, which often depict rulers and historical events. These stelae are rich in iconography and hieroglyphic texts that provide valuable insights into Mayan history and culture. Also in lots of other cultures, stelae are used as gravestones or tomb markers, inscribed with information about the deceased. This is represented on Stelae Cactus as one of his main abilities spawns in stelaes to commemorate fallen plants around him.
Stelae Cactus has various murals of plants carved into him to represent them being fallen or dead and needing to remember them for the future. Stelae Cactus' small hat has a sun emblem on it which references the Lost City of which he is based off of.
File:Carnegiea gigantea in Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona during November (58).jpg|An image of a group of various cactuses of which Stelae Cactus is based from.
File:Image 2024-07-25 080846585.png|A traditional Mayan stelae with unique and intricate carvings.
== About ==
Stelae Cactus shoots out heavy rocks every 3 seconds which is the firerate of a Cabbage-pult and also deals 60 damage per hit which is 50% more than the damage done by a pea from a Peashooter. Stelae Cactus also costs 250 sun and has a recharge time of 20 seconds.
However, Stelae Cactuses main ability is his ability to be able to spawn Stelaes in a 5x5 area when nearby plants are destroyed or eaten. The stelaes last roughly 45 seconds. The stelae that is spawned depends on the plant class with the types of Stelae being listed below;
* Fila-mint, Electric Stelae: Releases a small static charge to zombies Infront of the stelae stunning them for a second.
* Pepper-mint, Fire Stelae: Occasionally flings a flaming rock that slightly burns zombies.
* Winter-mint, Chilling Stelae: Emits a light chilling breeze to zombies 2 tiles Infront of the stelae, giving them the chilling effect.
* Enlighten-mint, Bright Stelae: Increases sun production of nearby sun producers by 1.2x in a 3x3 area.
* Reinforce-mint, Reinforcing Stelae: Randomly gives a nearby plant 1000 extra toughness every 15 seconds.
* Bombard-mint, Explosive Stelae: Once the stelae disappears after 45 seconds, it explodes dealing 900 damage to zombies in a 3x3 area.
* Ail-mint, Poisoning Stelae: Plants in a 3x3 area have a 10% chance to apply the poison effect.
* Enchant-mint, Hypnotizing Stelae: Hypnotizes a random zombie every 9 seconds, prioritizing weaker zombies.
* Contain-mint, Stunning Stelae: Leaves a Slowing Cloud in a 3x3 area that slows zombies down by 15%.
* Enforce-mint, Enforcer Stelae: Boosts 3 random plant's firerate by 25%.
* Arma-mint, Armament Stelae: Nearby lobbing plants in a 3x3 area now deal splash damage equal to half their regular damage.
* Conceal-mint, Concealing Stelae: Randomly despawns 3 random zombies.
* Spear-mint, Piercer Stelae: Projectiles that pass through the stelae now deal piercing damage.
* Appease-mint, PeaPea Stelae: Plants in a 3x3 area have a 10% chance to shoot 2 projectiles instead of one.
==Almanac entry==
== Upgrades ==
===Plant Food effect===
When fed with Plant Food, Stelae Cactus creates a giant stelae in the nearest available tile that acts as a mix of all of the unique family types of stelaes however with lower stats.
===Appease-mint effect===
When boosted by Appease-mint, Stelae Cactus' rocks would now deal an additional 40 damage each, 100 damage if Stelae Cactus is level 1, permanently and temporarily has a 10% chance to spawn a random stelae after defeating a zombie.
===Level Upgrades===
Level	Seed packets	Coins	Upgrades	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades
Level	Seed packets	Coins	Sun Cost	Recharge 	Rock Damage	Chance To Instantly Destroy Object	Toughness
1 	0 	0 	250 	20 seconds	60 Damage 	0% Chance 	300
2 	50 	0 	250 	20 seconds	62 Damage 	0% Chance 	350
3 	100 	0 	250 	19 seconds	62 Damage 	0% Chance 	350
4 	200 	0 	250 	19 seconds	64 Damage 	0% Chance 	400
5 	300 	0 	250 	18 seconds	64 Damage 	0% Chance 	400
6 	400 	0 	225 	18 seconds	64 Damage 	5% Chance 	400
7 	500 	0 	225 	17 seconds	66 Damage 	5% Chance 	450
8 	600 	0 	225 	17 seconds	66 Damage 	5% Chance 	450
9 	800 	0 	225 	17 seconds	70 Damage 	5% Chance 	450
10 	1,000 	0 	200 	15 seconds	70 Damage 	5% Chance 	500
===Mastery upgrades===
*Solid Stelaes
*Boulder Launching
==Strategies==
Stelae Cactus is a viable attacking plant with his main use being able to create stelaes and destroy normally unbreakable objects such as Shovels. Stelae Cactus clearly works best in levels with Excavator Zombie as Stelae Cactus can completely remove the threat of him as he can no longer dig up plants or block projectiles. Stelae Cactus also works well against zombies with other unbreakable objects as he stop the threat of that zombies and helps other plants to deal with the other zombies on the lawn.
Stelae Cactus has the unique ability of being able to spawn in stelaes depending on the plant family of the dead plant. This gives Stelae Cactus synergy with every plant as he can help every plant around him based on his family. One strategy could be to use a variety of plant families in order to get lots of unique stelae types on the lawn at once. Another strategy could be to purposefully place plants in more dangerous areas in order for them to die and allowing Stelae Cactus to spawn a stelae there. Stelae Cactus also has a large area for spawning stelaes with it being 5x5 which allows the majority of plants on the lawn being available to Stelae Cactus.
Stelae Cactus needs to have tiles around him in order to spawn stelaes so spawner plants such as Spore Shroom or Witch Hazel may limit the amount of Stelaes that are able to be spawned. Stelae Cactus should also be placed further up the lawn where plants are more likely to die in order to spawn more stelaes. Stelae Cactus can also be supported by using Appease-mint in order to boost him or he can be boosted just be using Plant Food.
In terms of worlds, Stelae Cactus works well in most worlds due to being ability to adapt his stelae type depending on the plant loadout which is usually based on the world and it's gimmicks. Stelae Cactus being based off of Lost City is very good in Lost City as the sun tiles on the floor allow Stelae Cactus to be placed on the lawn early to quickly deal with any Excavator Zombies' shovels. Stelae Cactus also deals a good amount of damage per shot which makes him useful for destroying grid items so it will be of use in worlds such Ancient Egypt, Dark Ages and Frostbite Caves as they all have grid items that block plant projectiles or have zombie threats within them. Stelae Cactus would not be that useful in Big Wave Beach due to the reduced amount of non-water tiles which limits the amount of stelaes that Stelae Cactus can spawn.
== Gallery ==
File:Stelae blank.png|Stelae Cactus being shown on a premium tile lawn.
File:Stealereg.png|Stelae Cactus on a regular lawn.
File:Stelae Zoompng.png|A zoomed in image of Stelae Cactus on a regular lawn.
File:Stelae lost.png|Stelae Cactus on a Lost City lawn which is where he is based from.
File:Stealee22 blank.png|A blank image of Stelae Cactus.
==Trivia==
*Stelae Cactus was an entry for the WACKY WORLDS 2024!
*The following plants are represented on Stelae Cactus in the form of being carvings;
**Some form of a Peashooter, Sunflower, Potato Mine, Wall-nut, Sun-shroom, Bonk Choy, Cherry Bomb, Spikeweed, Banana Launcher and Chili Bean are all carved into Stelae Cactus' body.
Category:Plants vs Zombies: Rift of the Taco