Welderberry

Welderberry is a plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2 tied to the Wacky Western Welding Thymed Event. When a zombie or obstacle enters a 3x1 tile area in front of Welderberry, he'll activate his welding torch and deal 45 damage every 0.7 seconds to all targets in his range.
Depending on the type of target being attacked, Welderberry will also create fiery embers and/or electric sparks that get lobbed at each other zombie or obstacle in a 3x5 tile area in front of him. If Welderberry is torching down a zombie, he'll create more embers than sparks and vice versa for an obstacle, with a mix of both if he's attacking both at the same time.
==Origins==
Welderberry is based on the , more commonly known as the Elderberry, a genus of flowering plants in the family . Elderberries come in different colors, but the one that inspired Welderberry specifically is the same shade of bluish black seen in the image provided.
Welderberry's name, overall appearance and ability reference , a person - professional or not - that uses welding equipment to weld together two materials, namely steel, metal, glass and the like. Two basic welding necessities are the and , which Welderberry can be seen using.
His ability is a reference to the process of . While yes, nothing is being put together, sparks and embers being scattered all over the place is a normal thing in welding (hence the requirement of a mask).
Welderberry's name is a portmanteau of "Welder" and "Elderberry", the two things he's based on.
==Overview==
:Note: The stats shown below only apply to Level 1.
As mentioned before, if Welderberry encounters a zombie or obstacle in a 3x1 area directly in front of him, he'll use his torch to attack for 45 AOE damage every 0.7 seconds, and he'll create sparks and embers depending on the target(s) being attacked.
* If he's attacking a zombie, he'll make embers that do 20 fire damage.
* If he's attacking an obstacle, he'll make sparks that do 10 damage alongside making chain lightning that also does 10 damage.
* If he's attacking both, an equal mix of sparks and embers will be created.
Being a fire plant, he also comes with immunity to being frozen by Hunter Zombie, Frostbite Caves' Ice Winds, or by other means, as well as the ability to heat up and thaw out all other plants in a 3x3 area around him all free of charge.
Welderberry can be unlocked by obtaining 250 seed packets for him, which can be done by either progressing in the Wacky Western Welding Thymed Event, the Daily Calendar, Piñatas, and the Store.
==Almanac Entry==
:Note: The stats shown below only apply to Level 1.
==Upgrades==
===Plant Food Effect===
When fed Plant Food, Welderberry will flare up his torch and plunge it towards the ground, igniting the entirety of his lane while continuously making sparks and embers. The lanewide torch fire does 70 damage every 0.7 seconds, while the sparks and embers deal the same amount of damage normally.
===Pepper-mint Effect===
When boosted by Pepper-mint, Welderberry's torch fire and Plant Food effect do 20 extra damage, while his sparks and embers do 15 more damage.
===Level Upgrades===
Level	Seed Packets	Coins	Upgrades	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades 	Upgrades
Level	Seed Packets	Coins	Sun Cost	Recharge 	Toughness 	Damage 	Damage 	Damage 	Damage 	Range 	Range
Level	Seed Packets	Coins	Sun Cost	Recharge 	Toughness 	Torch Fire	Spark 	Ember 	Plant Food Power	Torch Fire	Spark & Ember
1 	0 	0 	225 	15 seconds	300 damage	45 damage 	10 damage 	20 damage 	70 damage 	Close 	Multi-Lane
2 	50 	0 	225 	14 seconds	350 damage	55 damage 	20 damage 	30 damage 	80 damage 	Close 	Multi-Lane
3 	100 	0 	200 	13 seconds	400 damage	65 damage 	30 damage 	40 damage 	90 damage 	Close 	Multi-Lane
4 	200 	0 	200 	12 seconds	450 damage	75 damage 	40 damage 	50 damage 	100 damage 	Close 	Multi-Lane
5 	300 	0 	175 	12 seconds	550 damage	85 damage 	50 damage 	60 damage 	110 damage 	Close 	Multi-Lane
6 	400 	0 	175 	11 seconds	600 damage	95 damage 	60 damage 	70 damage 	120 damage 	Close 	Multi-Lane
7 	500 	0 	150 	10 seconds	650 damage	105 damage	70 damage 	80 damage 	130 damage 	Close 	Multi-Lane
8 	600 	0 	150 	9 seconds 	700 damage	115 damage	80 damage 	90 damage 	140 damage 	Close 	Multi-Lane
9 	800 	0 	125 	8 seconds 	800 damage	125 damage	90 damage 	100 damage	150 damage 	Close 	Multi-Lane
10 	1,000 	0 	125 	7 seconds 	900 damage	135 damage	100 damage	110 damage	160 damage 	Close 	Multi-Lane
===Mastery Upgrades===
* Damage pierce
* Chance to boost
==Strategies==
Thanks to his added range via his sparks and embers, Welderberry is considerably better than his fellow melee plants. Though just because he has that extra coverage doesn't mean you should use him differently... Well, you could, but it's better if you don't stray too far from his roots. Place 2-3 columns of him behind wall plants or inside Pumpkins for maximum efficiency and protection.
Of course, being a fire plant, it's pretty much common sense to not pair him up with ice plants, as he'll just render chill and freeze completely useless. That being said, he is a fire plant, meaning he shines in Frostbite Caves and levels with Hunter Zombies.
Welderberry is also good against summoning zombies of all varieties. Tomb Raiser Zombies, Chicken Wrangler Zombies, Arcade Zombies, etc. The zombies and obstacles they create can really benefit Welderberry, especially zombies that have both like Troglobites, most especially Troglobites.
On the topic of obstacles, worlds like Ancient Egypt and Dark Ages, which have a plethora of obstacles per level, really help Welderberry further with his crowd control.
While Welderberry might seem like an absolute powerhouse at first, he actually struggles against groups on his own (up until Level 5+ anyway). Sure, a couple columns might do the trick, but that's not very effective nor interesting either. Use plants like Melon-pult or Pyre Vine to help thin out the zombie horde while keeping him effective.
Of course, zombies like everyone favorite menace Octo Zombie still exist, however the normally annoying and very obnoxious octopi actually help Welderberry quite a bit. Place some fodder in front of him to get octopus'd and let Welderberry work his magic.
==Gallery==
HD Welderberry.png|HD Welderberry
Welderberry Seed Packet.png|Welderberry's Seed Packet
Welderberry Boosted Seed Packet.png|Welderberry's Boosted Seed Packet
WB Spark.png|A spark
WB Ember.png|An ember
==Trivia==
<tabber>
|-|In-Game Universe=
* Welderberry is the first and currently only plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2 that can use 2 different elements at the same time, those being fire and electricity.
* Welderberry is currently the only plant confirmed to have a wife and kids, though it's unknown who they are. (Presumably other Welderberries.)
** Other plants are confirmed to have a family through siblings like Melon-pult and Sun Bean.
* While real life elderberries are poisonous if uncooked, Welderberry cannot poison zombies through any means.
** He shares this trait with several other plants like Nightshade.
|-|PvZCC & Creation=
* Coconut Shield.
* Welderberry borrows sprites from the following plants:
** Grapeshot for the main body and welding torch.
** Wasabi Whip for the visor and fire effect on the torch.
** Umbrella Leaf (PvZ: AS) for the leaf mask and strap.
** Jalapeno for the sparks, embers, and Plant Food demonstration.
</tabber>
==See Also==
* Elderberry
* Welder
Category:DartenApproved