Witch Hazelnut

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Witch Hazelnut is a plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2. She is a seasonal plant, tied to Witch Hazelnut's Focused Season in . Witch Hazelnut is a dark magical plant who flings dark magic bolts down the lane with each bolt inflicting a Jinxed status effect that increases the damage taken by the victim. In addition, when the Jinxed zombie is defeated, it turns into a friendly Free Spirit.
Witch Hazelnut fires a dark magic bolt down the lane every 1.35-1.5 seconds, just like , with each bolt dealing 5 damage. The bolts also inflict a magical Jinxed status effect that increases the amount of damage the zombie takes by 100% and lasts for 10 seconds. The Jinxed effect does not increase the damage of the Witch Hazelnut that inflicted it, but other Witch Hazelnuts can be affected, if you're stacking them up for whatever reason.
When a Jinxed zombie is defeated it will turn into a Free Spirit. The Free Spirit walks rightward and functions like a Zomboid from . The difference being that its Toughness is based on the Toughness of the formerly Jinxed zombie, being 60% of the zombie's maximum. For the calculation, armor is combined with the true Toughness of the zombie. The Free Spirit also dissolves in the air after being around for 30 seconds.
Starting at level 5, Witch Hazelnut gains splash damage which allows her to both damage and Jinx multiple zombies at once.
==Origins==
	Witch Hazelnut's name is based on a witch, which is a practitioner of witchcraft. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic or supernatural powers to inflict harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning.
	Witch Hazelnut is also based on a hazelnut, which is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus Corylus, especially the nuts of the species Corylus avellana.
== Almanac Entry ==
== Upgrades ==
===Plant Food Effect===
When fed Plant Food, Witch Hazelnut deals 1800 damage to all zombies who are currently Jinxed by any Witch Hazelnut. Zombies that are on the same tile as those who were damaged will be Jinxed in their own right for 10 seconds. The duration of the secondary Jinxing effect is the same as the normal Jinxing effect, meaning that it is increased as the plant is upgraded.
=== Enchant-mint Effect ===
When boosted with , Witch Hazelnut's Jinx Damage Increase is increased by 60%, her Jinx Duration is increased by 40%, her Free Spirit Toughness is increased by 80%, and her Free Spirits will not expire for the duration of the mint.
==Upgrade Levels==
Level	Seed packets	Coins 	Upgrades	Upgrades	Upgrades 	Upgrades	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades
Level	Seed packets	Coins 	Sun Cost	Recharge	Toughness	Damage 	Area 	Jinx Damage Increase	Jinx Duration	Free Spirit Toughness	Free Spirit Duration	Plant Food Power(Damage)
1 	0 	0 	250 	10 sec 	300 	5 	Single Target	100% 	10 sec 	60% 	30 sec 	1800
2 	10 	1,000 	250 	10 sec 	350 	5 	Single Target	105% 	10 sec 	65% 	30 sec 	2000
3 	100 	5,000 	225 	10 sec 	400 	5 	Single Target	110% 	10 sec 	70% 	30 sec 	2200
4 	200 	10,000	225 	10 sec 	450 	5 	Single Target	115% 	15 sec 	75% 	35 sec 	2400
5 	400 	20,000	200 	10 sec 	550 	5 	0.5 tiles 	120% 	15 sec 	80% 	35 sec 	2600
6 	750 	30,000	200 	10 sec 	600 	5 	0.5 tiles 	130% 	15 sec 	85% 	35 sec 	2800
7 	1,000 	40,000	175 	10 sec 	650 	5 	0.5 tiles 	140% 	15 sec 	90% 	40 sec 	3000
8 	1,250 	50,000	175 	10 sec 	700 	5 	0.5 tiles 	150% 	15 sec 	95% 	40 sec 	3200
9 	1,500 	60,000	150 	10 sec 	800 	5 	1 tile 	165% 	15 sec 	100% 	40 sec 	3400
10 	2,000 	75,000	150 	10 sec 	900 	5 	1 tile 	180% 	20 sec 	105% 	45 sec 	3600
===Mastery upgrades===
* Chance to Boost 
*Toughness Bonus
==History==
===January 21st, 2024===
*
==Strategies==
Witch Hazelnut does practically no damage on her own, and she's not even able to take down a even at the maximum distance. The only real purpose her damage serves is dealing with , but there are better options for dealing with those. However, that's not really the point. Where Witch Hazelnut shines is not her raw damage output, or lack thereof, but rather her special Jinxing effect's powers.
The Jinx effect raising the amount of damage that zombies take pairs exceptionally well with instant-use plants such as the formidable or the cunning , as it will allow them to take out even the most gargantuan of in a single go. Unless they're a variant of with extra Toughness, they're going in the <choose uncached><option weight="20">stupid</option><option weight="20">voluptuous</option><option weight="20">unfriendly</option><option weight="20">rather uncouth</option><option weight="20">unreasonable</option><option weight="20">bin</option><option weight="1">fucking</option></choose> bin. The more damage the attack does, the more benefit you're going to get from your Jinx effect. Plants that can dish out high single-target damage will generally synergize better with Witch Hazelnut than lighter splash damage dealers las she can only Jinx a single zombie at a time anyway.
When the Jinxed zombie is taken down, it'll turn into a Free Spirit - this is basically a slower-moving Zomboid that inherits 60% of the former zombie's Toughness. While each individual Free Spirit doesn't do a whole lot, keep in mind that Witch Hazelnut will continue to Jinx zombies it approaches to boost its damage, and will most likely be a lot of Free Spirits on the lawn at once. Especially if all lanes have a Witch Hazelnut, you should expect a fair few of them to get by. Anything can be turned into a Free Spirit, including or other "weird" zombies such as , since the only thing that matters for that is their Toughness.
The stronger the Free Spirit, the better. Try to see if you can prioritize getting high Toughness zombies like Jinxed in order to get the most durable Free Spirits possible. If you pair Witch Hazelnut with a slowing plant like , multiple zombies can be Jinxed at the same time as they attempt to catch up to one another, which can stop weaker zombies from getting too far ahead of bulkier ones. Plants like who can deal with weaker swarms but are ineffective against beefier targets can also be useful for weeding out the weaklings. Do keep in mind that with tougher zombies you'll still need to take them down somehow, as Witch Hazelnut is not doing anything on her own.
Witch Hazelnut's Plant Food effect allows her to damage all Jinxed zombies and then Jinx other zombies around those targets. This is incredibly powerful, especially considering how much damage the ability does, and allows you to use her in a bit more of an offensive way. It can be a little tricky to pull off well, since she can only target the first zombie in her lane and will almost never Jinx other zombies behind them, but if you bring a stalling plant or something like a you can let her hit more zombies and take advantage of the free Plant Food damage. Since the Plant Food affects ALL Jinxed zombies, not just those Jinxed by the Witch Hazelnut in question, it's a good idea to have as many lanes covered by a Witch Hazelnut as possible before using it.
In conclusion, the Witch Hazelnut is a great supporting plant due to its ability to work well with basically every other plant in the game thanks to the Jinx effect weakening zombies, and its ability to generate Free Spirits that can help compensate for the Hazelnut's nonexistent damage. Just keep in mind that neither the Witch Hazelnut nor the Free Spirits do splash damage, so they may struggle with crowds.
==Demonstration==
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==Costumes==
== Gallery ==
Witch HazelnutHD.png|Witch Hazelnut HD
Witch HazelnutCostume1.png|Witch Hazelnut's first costume
Witch HazelnutCostume2.png|Witch Hazelnut's second costume
Free Spirit.png|Free Spirit HD
==Trivia==
*The shiny gem on her mischievous hat is the source of her dark powers.
*Witch Hazelnut lives on her own in a hut deep within the Enchanted Woods.
Category:Enchant-mint Family plants
Category:Premium plants
Category:Premium plants
Category:Arena related
Category:Arena Exclusives
Category:Sani's Stuff
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