Ice Bloom

*Ice Blooms freeze, chill, and damage all zombies on the board, and more so in a 3x3 area around where they're planted.*

## Almanac statistics

### Special

Weak zombies in 3x3 area are iceblocked when defeated

### Price from shop

20

**The last time Ice Bloom had pancakes for breakfast, she wasn't satisfied. She can't say why, exactly, but there was something subtly wrong with them. The shocking reason? Substandard maple syrup.**

**Ice Bloom** is a Timeless Avenue gauntlet plant in *Alternate UniverZ*. When planted, she freezes and damages every zombie on screen, then despawns. Zombies will be chilled once they've thawed. Ice Bloom freezes/chills for longer and does more damage to zombies in a 3x3 area around it, compared to zombies elsewhere on the lawn.

Zombies defeated by Ice Bloom in a 3x3 area around her will be frozen solid, creating an ice block that acts as an obstacle for zombies. These obstacles absorbs 900 damage. Unlike frozen blocks in Frostbite Caves, ice blocks created by Ice Bloom can be planted on normally, and zombies must destroy them to get through.

Frostbite Caves zombies and all other zombies that are immune to freezing will not be encased in a block if they are defeated by her. All flying zombies are completely immune to her effects and damage. She also cannot damage any grid items such as tombstones.

## Almanac entry

**Ice Bloom**

SUN COST: 150

RECHARGE: 60

FREEZE DURATION: 5

CHILL DURATION: 10

DAMAGE: 20

3x3 DAMAGE: 200

ICEBLOCK HEALTH: 900

Ice Blooms freeze, chill, and damage all zombies on the board, and more so in a 3x3 area around where they're planted.
Special: weak zombies in 3x3 area are iceblocked when defeated
The last time Ice Bloom had pancakes for breakfast, she wasn't satisfied. She can't say why, exactly, but there was something subtly wrong with them. The shocking reason? Substandard maple syrup.

## Strategies

Ice Bloom is a useful plant that can help the user in delaying the horde and maximizing the plants' efficiency. She is very helpful when there are hordes of weak zombies such as Zombie Chickens, Imps, or Basic Zombies, as they will immediately get turn into ice blocks, though she is not as useful against themed zombies in Frostbite Caves, as these zombies cannot be iceblocked due to having an immunity against freezing.

You can use Ice Bloom in Neon Mixtape Tour as most of the zombies with special abilities have low health, and this means that Ice Bloom can convert lots of dangerous zombies compared to some other worlds. However, she cannot affect zombies in Glitter Zombie's trail, so it is best for them to be taken out beforehand. She cannot freeze Bassist Zombies either, as they are immune against chilling or freezing of any kind.

Ice Bloom is also good against Explorer Zombies or Prospector Zombies, as they have generally low enough health to be iceblocked, and should they survive, the chilling effect will extinguish their torches and dynamites, preventing them from using their abilities.

Ice Bloom's stalling abilities can make it a viable choice in many Endless Zones (except for Icebound Battleground). Her ability to turn weaker zombies into ice blocks can help you stall stronger zombies, buying you time to set up your offensive plants. However, its slow recharge time means that it shouldn't be relied upon as a consistent means of holding back hordes.

## Balance Changes

### Version 1.6

* Sun cost: 150 > 125
* Freeze (3x3): 10 > 15
* Chill (3x3): 15 > 20
* Freeze (full lawn): 5 > 10
* Chill (full lawn): 10 > 15
	+ Dev Note: Ice Bloom was a bit too niche, so we're fixing that.

### Version 1.6.2

* Ice block HP: 900 -> 450
* Global freeze/chill reduced back to 5/10
	+ Dev Note: Endless Zones are Ice Bloom's playground, but we woke up and felt like kicking Ice Bloom in the face. She will still excel at home, just not as overwhelmingly.