Pineclone (PvZ: BfN)

Pineclone is a playable plant class in Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville. She is a Defend class that specializes in creating holographic clones of herself, diverting the enemies' attention towards them and consuming their ammo to slowly overwhelm them.
Similarly to Rose, she can hover in the air for a short time by holding [Jump].
==Description==
===In-game description===
Pineclones can project holograms to attack enemies and to protect herself and allies.
==Primary Weapon==
:Charged beam that grows in power.
:— In-game description
Pineclone's primary weapon is the Clone Beam. It has 2 charges and fires at 150 RPM when uncharged. Uncharged shots deal 12 damage (14.4 critical). The first charge takes 0.5s, consumes 2 ammo and deals 25 damage (30 critical). The second charge takes an additional 1s, consumes 4 ammo and deals 55 damage (66 critical). Pineclone has no movement or jump penalty when charging up this weapon. Clone Beam can hold 16 ammo and must reload for 2s once it is depleted.
==Abilities==
=== Pocket Clone===
:Throw a portable clone that guards the nearest ally.
:— In-game description
When activated, Pineclone throws out a projectile that spawns a mobile Holo-Pineclone with 75 health. The Holo-Pineclone follows the nearest ally and attacks nearby enemies with a weapon identical to Pineclone's uncharged Clone Beam. Up to 2 of these Holo-Pineclones can exist at once; if a third one is placed, the oldest one will disappear. It takes 20 seconds to recharge.
===Self-Reflection===
:Create a hologram for self-defense and more offense.
:— In-game description
When activated, Pineclone creates a two-dimensional Holo-Pineclone with 25 health which orbits around her. Up to three clones can orbit around her at a time. They can absorb direct attacks like a shield, however area-of-effect attacks will damage both the Holo-Pineclones and Pineclone. For each of these Holo-Pineclones, Pineclone's Clone Beam increases in damage by 25% (of its unboosted damage). It takes 10 seconds to recharge.
===Creation Station=== 
:Place a station which spawns static clones.
:— In-game description
When activated, Pineclone places down a flat projector with 50 health. After 1 second, it spawns a Holo-Pineclone with 25 health that stays in place (on top of the projector) and attacks enemies. The weapon it uses is identical to Pineclone's uncharged Clone Beam. If the Holo-Pineclone is taken out, the projector spawns a new one after 6 seconds. If Pineclone places down a new projector, the older one will be destroyed, alongside its Holo-Pineclone. It takes 15 seconds to recharge.
==Upgrades==
==Strategies==
===With===
Pineclone may seem rather weak at first, however she has many tricks in her arsenal that make her quite stronger than she appears. Her base DPS, though one of the lowest in the game, can be supplemented with the various types of Holo-Pineclones she creates. Pocket Clone and Creation Station can provide support fire, while Self-Reflection greatly increases her damage output, allowing her to deal over 100 damage with a fully charged critical hit with 3 Self-Reflections. Keep in mind that she can move and jump normally while charging up her attacks, making her an effective wall-peeker. Pocket Clones can also be used as bodyguards for other plants, protecting them from some attacks and attacking back on their own. They are especially effective when paired up with squishier plants, such as Acorn, Sunflower and Rose. Creation Station is great at applying constant pressure and defending an objective or a chokepoint. Try placing it behind a slope or a short wall so that the zombies can't take out the projector from a safe distance, forcing them into an uncomfortable position if they want to destroy it.
===Against===
Pineclone can be extremely dangerous when surrounded by her various Holo-Pineclones, but she does have some exploitable weaknesses. One of them is her lack of mobility, as the only ability that really helps her in this sense is her longer jump. As such, she can't escape if trapped in a bad position unless there are lots of heights (like the houses in Daisy Drive). Her other weakness is her inability to deal with multiple targets or tanks without her Holo-Pineclones. Therefore, you should prioritize taking her out before she gets to set up her clone army. She becomes harder to snipe the more Self-Reflections she has, so Deadbeard's Spyglass Shot and abilities like ZPG and Big Bang Beam might often fail to vanquish her. Instead, characters who have weapons with splash damage should be used against Pineclone. Electric Slide can zap multiple Holo-Pineclones and move Pineclone herself out of position if she hangs around her clones too much. Engineer can hit Pineclone and her Self-Reflections all at once and can deploy his Heavy Helper to distract her other clones. Super Brainz is also great against her as he can take advantage of Pineclone's poor mobility and easily chase her down and get rid of her when she is vulnerable.