Z-Mech (PvZ:LW)

Z-Mech is the second mini-boss in The Sanctuary in Plants vs. Zombies: Lost World, appearing on Level 20A. As a mini-boss, Z-Mech does not have the ability to instantly clear lanes of plants and zombies or spawn zombies on his own (zombies will appear normally from the right side of the lawn during his battle). During his battle, Z-Mech works together with Electric Boogaloo and exploits Lightning Ridge's gimmicks to attack your plants, namely the lightning, alternating darkness and rain puddle gimmicks.
Z-Mech is able to perform two different rocket attacks: The first attack releases a flurry of small rockets whereas the second releases a single giant rocket. These rocket attacks can be prevented if Z-Mech is attacked with an electric-based Plant Food effect while he is preparing either of his attacks, where Z-Mech will get briefly stunned (for 2 seconds) and his rockets will go haywire and fire off of the lawn.
The first attack performs somewhat similarly to Rustbolt's flamethrower, where 3 - 5 rockets are released onto random tiles on the lawn, and each rocket has a 20% chance of straying off and hitting the corrupted seed pods in the level instead, which can spawn The Wilted. The amount of Wilted that spawn depends on how many of the rockets hit the seed pods, with each hit spawning 2 - 3 Wilted plants. The rockets will instantly defeat any plant or zombie they land on.
Z-Mech's second attack releases a giant rocket on a random area on the lawn, which instantly defeats all plants and zombies in the 2×2 area it lands on. This area will also now have a permanent 2×2 crater which will fill up with the rainwater during the level to make a new 2×2 puddle. Both of Z-Mech's attacks, unlike Rustbolt's flamethrower, are completely random and don't prioritize aiming for plant targets.
In this mini-boss fight and other mini-boss fights in The Sanctuary, large amounts of corrupted energy will concentrate on the battlefield and create rifts similarly to how this occurs during levels in level path E's (more about level paths here). See more about the possible reality rifts that can be created in the Reality rifts section of this page. Unlike normal boss fights, mini-boss fights like the one against Z-Mech is a normal level without a conveyor belt, but the moon in the background will enlarge due to the large amount of corrupted energy present, causing more moon to fall for the player to collect which should make the level somewhat easier. The moon, however, will drop in occasional outbursts rather than gradually due to the alternating darkness gimmick, where the bursts of moon will occur when the lawn starts to brighten up.
==Almanac entry==
Z-Mech
Toughness: Undying
Speed: Hungry
A famous superzombie that will terrorize your plants with a flurry of rockets and his giant walking robot.
Special: Fires multiple rockets that destroy plants or disturb seed pods that create more Wilted plants
Special: Fires a giant rocket that creates a permanent medium-sized crater
Contrary to popular belief, the Z in "Z-Mech" actually stands for zucchini. Back then, one day Dr. Zomboss decided to discriminate the zucchinis in particular and build a mech that was specifically made to destroy them (he still hates all the plants, but he hated on the zucchinis more just because he could). What didn't occur to him only until he finished building the mech was how pointless the endeavour was, because only one zucchini plant actually existed throughout the entire PvZ franchise.
==Reality rifts==
During Z-Mech's battle, large amounts of stray corrupted energy surrounding the area can spontaneously create reality rifts. These rifts, unlike those from levels in level path E, are temporary, and, unlike previous corrupted boss fights, these rifts don't activate during certain phases but can activate and deactivate spontaneously at anytime. The following are the possible rifts that can be created:
* Lightning rift - Also used by the Zombot Electric Leviathan. Plants and zombies will randomly swap places with each other when they are struck by lightning rather than getting defeated (or powered for electric plants).
* Rocket rift - The small rockets can now transform plants into random Wilted plants, and the big rockets can create Fairy Rings (see The Wilted for info) that enclose its explosion radius.
==Phases==
Z-Mech is able to perform one of the following actions:
* He can launch a flurry of smaller rockets onto random tiles that instantly defeat plants and zombies. Some of the rockets may also have a chance to hit the corrupted seed pods instead, disturbing them and making more Wilted plants depending on how many rockets hit the seed pods.
* He can launch a single giant rocket that destroys all plants and zombies in a 2×2 area, while also creating a permanent crater in that area which rainwater in the level can fill up to make a new puddle.
Phase	Health 	Summoned zombies	Attacks
1 	8000DPS 	 	Launches a flurry of rockets that destroy plants and zombies and occasionally disturbs corrupted seed pods.
2 	10000DPS	 	Launches a giant rocket that destroys plants and zombies and creates a permanent crater.
3 	12000DPS	* 	Launches a flurry of rockets that destroy plants and zombies and occasionally disturbs corrupted seed pods.
Launches a giant rocket that destroys plants and zombies and creates a permanent crater.
* - Froggo Zombie appears in their corrupted form in this phase.
==Strategies==
Given that the battle against Z-Mech will involve Lightning Ridge's gimmicks, and the fact that his attacks can be prevented by using the Plant Food effects of electric plants, utilizing a defense with electric synergy should make it easier the level somewhat easier to deal with. Ensure that you also bring plants that will make it easier for you to fight the zombies in the darkness and with puddles all around (e.g. Planterns and Lily Pads).
As mentioned earlier, both of Z-Mech's rocket attacks can be interrupted by having an electric plant attack Z-Mech with their Plant Food effect, so it's recommended to try saving your Plant Food up if he's targeting your plants. Since his rockets target random tiles on the lawn rather than always targeting plants, however, you can wait to see where Z-Mech is going to target first before deciding whether you want to interrupt his attack, but you'll have to be quick about it. If his rockets aim for tiles which don't really contain any plants, you don't need to waste your Plant Food to stop his attack. Plus, it's even better if Z-Mech happens to randomly target tiles with zombies, since it'll benefit you and make it easier to deal with the zombie horde.
Specifically for Z-Mech's giant rocket attack, you'll need to be wary if you are unable to stop it or decide to allow him to continue with his attack. Due to the rain in the level, the craters that are created right after the rocket makes its impact on the lawn will fill up with water, which effectively creates more water tiles. Unless you are confident enough in your aquatic defenses, you'll need to focus on controlling the number of craters that gets created by this attack, especially when zombies in the level like Piranha Catcher Zombie can make full use of the increasing number of water tiles. Hence, it's better to try and save more of your Plant Food for stopping the giant rocket attack if possible.
To deal with the lightning rift in the level, you can use the same strategy as the one used during the Zombot Electric Leviathan battle. If you utilize Lightning Reed* in your defenses and strategically plant them around your defense to cover as much area as possible, this can encourage the lightning to strike these Lightning Reeds instead of other plants or zombies. This effectively negates the 'swapping' effect of the reality rift because lightning would essentially just swap the same Lightning Reed plants and render the rift ineffective.
In order to counter the rocket rift, you can use the exact same strategy as was already described when trying to stop Z-Mech's rocket attacks, where you save up Plant Food and use it on your electric plants when Z-Mech is about to attack. Since the small rockets and the giant rocket are able to now make more Wilted plants, you'll need to be much more cautious about allowing the rockets to fire. Ensure that, if the small rockets happen to target any of your plants, either use your Plant Food or make sure that your defense is prepared enough to fight the Wilted plants that spawn. As always, prioritize using your Plant Food to stop the giant rocket attack, and, if you want to use an alternative, you can try bringing in a shadow plant like Moonflower into the level and utilize their shadow aura to get rid of the Fairy Rings that spawn from the giant rocket.
*Lightning Reed has an altered ability in Lost World, where he can attract all lightning in a 3×3 to and encourage it to strike him instead of other tiles around him, effectively acting as an Umbrella Leaf against lightning.
==Gallery==
Z-Mech (PvZ2).png|Z-Mech (HD)
Z-Mech firing multiple (regular) rockets.png|Z-Mech about to fire multiple small rockets 
Z-Mech firing giant rocket.png|Z-Mech about to fire a large rocket
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