Hot Cocoa (Chickenwastaken)

Hot Cocoa is a seedium plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2. He is tied to the Feastivus event and was first introduced on the 10.1 update.
He is a defensive plant, but with a lower health than most defensive plants. Upon defeat, he will spew out hot chocolate on the tiles around him, covering them with chocolate puddles. These chocolate puddles last for 5 seconds, and boost the attacking speed of plants by 25%; non-attacking plants, such as defensive and sun-producing plants, and manually controlled plants are not affected. 
Hot Cocoa also has three different temperature states. These are the Hot, Warm, and Lukewarm states. Hot Cocoa will thaw and deal damage differently depending on what state they're in: 
*Hot State: Hot Cocoa enters this state upon planting or when plant fooded. He will emit heat every 3 seconds and is completely immune to frost. Chocolate puddles deal 20DPS/s.
* Warm State: Hot Cocoa enters this state 30 seconds after he enters his Hot State. He will emit heat every 5 seconds and is still immune to frost. Chocolate puddles deal 10DPS/s.
*Lukewarm State: Hot Cocoa enters this state 30 seconds after he enters his Warm State. He can no longer emit heat and is no longer immune to frost. Chocolate puddles deal no damage. He will also stay at this state unless plant fooded.
The player can tell which state Hot Cocoa is on by looking at his appearance. He has a different facial expression for each state and has some minor changes to the glow he emits and the smoke he produces.
Hot Cocoa, like other fire plants, are immune to frost and warm nearby plants.
Hot Cocoa can be unlocked by getting 500 crowns during his Arena Tournament named "Hot Cocoa's Cozy Season!" which runs from December 7th to January 7th, 2023, or by getting 250 seed packets for him, that can be obtained through his Arena Season, Frostbite Caves piñatas, or during a Plant of the Week feature.
==Origins==
Hot Cocoa is based off of the cocoa bean, also known as cocoa, cacao bean, and cacao. It is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. 
In his almanac entry, Hot Cocoa thinks it's cannibalism to drink the hot chocolate he contains. This is because hot chocolate consists of, well, chocolate, and chocolate is made from... you guessed it; cocoa beans!
Hot Cocoa is a portmanteau of hot cocoa, also known as hot chocolate or drinking chocolate, a heated drink consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener like whipped cream or marshmallows, referring to his ability to create chocolate puddles, and cocoa, the plant he is based on.
==Almanac Entry==
== Upgrades==
===Plant Food Effect===
Hot Cocoa launches ten large chocolate balls on ten random tiles on the lawn. These chocolate balls will still increase plant attack speed by 25% but with a longer duration of 10 seconds, as well as healing that plant by 50% of its missing health. Zombies on the other hand are heavily damaged, dealing 300DPS as well as slowing down that zombie by 25% for 5 seconds. Hot Cocoa also returns to his Hot State afterwards.
===Reinforce-mint Effect===
Hot Cocoa activates its Plant Food ability, and gains an additional 1000DPS to its toughness (2000DPS). His chocolate puddles deal 50DPS more damage during his Hot State (70DPS), and deal 20DPS more damage during his Warm State (20DPS). His Plant Food deals an additional 300DPS (600DPS) to zombies.
==Strategies==
Hot Cocoa is best paired with slow-firing plants such as Winter Melon and Ultomato, as his chocolate puddles will allow them to fire more projectiles in a shorter amount of time.
Hot Cocoa is also best paired with stalling plants and Spikeweed and Spikerock, as they allow Hot Cocoa to deal even more damage to zombies. Avoid using ice stalling plants and Iceweed, as their chilling effect is cancelled out by him.
Hot Cocoa's low health is actually more of an advantage than a disadvantage, as it allows him to be planted in the middle of a large horde, getting eaten quickly and allowing him to create puddles during his Hot or Warm State which damages zombies.
A good strategy would be to use Sweet Potato and Hot Date. Place it behind Hot Cocoa, and after getting eaten, use a stalling plant to maximize his damage. This strategy is good when dealing with large hordes of zombies.
Because of Hot Cocoa's 3x3 area, attacking plants will have to be planted further to the front, near Hot Cocoa, in order to take advantage of his attack speed boost. However, this will put them at a higher risk because of Hot Cocoa's low toughness. And when he is eaten, your attacking plants are left defenseless, and will most likely get eaten as well unless if the player immediately places down a stalling or another wall plant, or if his puddles manage to defeat the zombie before it gets to do so.
Hot Cocoa is not a great pick in Frostbite Caves, because even though he is immune to frost and is able to warm nearby plants, it only lasts during his Hot and Warm State; when he reaches his Lukewarm State, he will be quite useless.
Don't use him with ice plants, as he will cancel out their chilling effect on zombies.
==Gallery==
=== General ===
File:HotCocoaHD.png|HD Hot Cocoa (doesn't appear in-game; used in almanac, promo content, etc.)
File:HotCocoaCostumedHD.png|HD Hot Cocoa (Costumed) (Reindeer)
File:HotCocoaPREBG.png|Hot Cocoa on the premium almanac background
=== States ===
File:HotCocoaStates.png|All of Hot Cocoa's states
File:HotCocoa-Hot.png|HD Hot Cocoa (Hot State)
File:HotCocoa-Warm.png|HD Hot Cocoa (Warm State)
File:HotCocoa-Lukewarm.png|HD Hot Cocoa (Lukewarm State)
=== Puddles ===
File:HotCocoaPuddles.png|All of Hot Cocoa's puddles
File:HotCocoaPuddle-Hot.png|HD Hot Cocoa puddle (Hot State)
File:HotCocoaPuddle-Warm.png|HD Hot Cocoa puddle (Warm State)
File:HotCocoaPuddle-Lukewarm.png|HD Hot Cocoa puddle (Lukewarm State)
=== Seed Packets ===
File:HotCocoaSP.png|Hot Cocoa's seed packet
File:HotCocoaFullSP.png|Ditto, but with mint symbol and sun cost
== Trivia ==
* This is an entry for the Feastivus 2022 Contest.
* Hot Cocoa was supposed to have other abilities, but were scrapped, such as:
** Dealing damage to nearby zombies.
** Chill zombies during his Lukewarm State.
** Luring zombies from adjacent lanes towards him.
* Hot Cocoa was also supposed to have other Plant Food abilities, such as:
** Encasing himself in a thick chocolate shell.
** Releasing a piercing, slowing, chocolate stream on his lane.
** Spewing out slowing hot chocolate on all zombies on the lawn.
* The creator had no plans in joining the contest, just like last year, but he came up with this last-minute idea before going to sleep.
*When Hot Cocoa is wearing his reindeer costume, his nose will change appearance based on what state he's currently in.
Category:Uncleared page