Iceweed

*Iceweeds damage and chill zombies that walk over them.*

**Iceweed is excited to get the call-up to the big leagues and can't wait to start refrigerating zombies whilst inflicting damage on them. He insisted we say "whilst."**

**Iceweed** is a plant in *Plants vs. Zombies 2: Reflourished* and the tenth plant obtained in Pirate Seas. He is unlocked after beating Pirate Seas - Day 31.

Iceweed, like Spikeweed, is a grounded plant and therefore he cannot be eaten by most zombies nor can he attack flying zombies. Iceweed damages and chills zombies that step on him, with each tick dealing 6 damage. The chilling effect wears off after 5 seconds once the chilled zombie moves away from the tile he's planted on.

Iceweed can instantly destroy a piano from a Pianist Zombie or a barrel from a Barrel Roller Zombie, but he will immediately be crushed in the process. He can also only withstand one Gargantuar smash without a Plant Food.

Iceweed cannot be frozen by the freezing winds of Frostbite Caves, as he is an ice plant.

## Almanac entry

**Iceweed**

Iceweeds damage and chill zombies that walk over them.

Special: can't be eaten by zombies
Special: immune to freezing winds
Special: main attack becomes more powerful after being fed Plant Food

Iceweed is excited to get the call-up to the big leagues and can't wait to start refrigerating zombies whilst inflicting damage on them. He insisted we say "whilst."

## Plant Food effect

When fed Plant Food, Iceweed materializes a sawblade before rolling it down the lane in which he is planted, dealing 190 damage to any Zombies|zombie]] it encounters as well as freezing for 3 seconds and pushing them back. The sawblade also removes any grid items on its way instantly, and will disappear after traveling 8 tiles. The speed of the blade will reduce if at least 10 zombies are being pushed by it.

Iceweed will also be empowered for as long as he stays on the lawn, dealing 12 damage per attack to zombies stepping on him and doubling his health to 1200. He also gains the ability to withstand 3 rolling objects and Gargantuar smashes, in the same manner as Spikerock.

## Strategies

At its simplest, Iceweed is a self-sustained combination of a Spikeweed and a stalling plant like Snow Pea or Sap-fling. Zombies that step on him will be chilled, slowing down affected zombies to buy time for other plants to attack. This also effectively doubles Iceweed's damage output, putting him on par with the damage output of Spikeweed.

Iceweed is noticeably cost-inefficient compared to most stalling plants, as he can only slow down zombies on his tile. However, using Iceweed to stall zombies means there is no need to use stalling plants within the main defense, which will then give more room for other types of plants.

Like other ice-based plants, Iceweed's chilling effects can be removed by fire-based plants like Pepper-pult and Fire Peashooter. However, his rapid attack rate allows him to quickly reapply the chilling effect, making him one of the few ice-based plants that can be used in tandem with fire-based plants. This becomes especially important in Frostbite Caves, where it is mandatory to bring fire-based plants to keep other plants warm.

Unlike his Spikeweed and Spikerock counterparts, which can be frozen and disabled by the freezing winds of Frostbite Caves, Iceweed is immune to the freezing winds. This, combined with Iceweed's ability to work with fire-based plants, makes him the best choice of the three weeds for use in Frostbite Caves.

Keep in mind that Iceweed otherwise shares the same strengths and weaknesses as the other weeds. He can't be eaten due to being a grounded plant, allowing him to be planted near the front of the lawn to damage and slow zombies. However, he can also be crushed by rolling zombies like Barrel Roller Zombie, the ice blocks of Troglobite, the arcade machine of Arcade Zombie and the smash attack of Gargantuars, or shoveled and sheepified by Excavator Zombie and Wizard Zombie.

## Balance changes

### Initial launch

* ▲ +6 damage granted permanently after Plant Food
* ▼ +125 sun
* ▼ -4 damage

### Version 1.1.2

* ▲ Sun Cost: 250 -> 200
	+ Developer Note: Iceweed was underperforming, mainly due to its quite high sun cost, and lukewarm payoff. Being inspired from the dynamics between the melons and dragons, a portion of it was cut down in order to make it more of an appealing choice, now he's really excited to make the zombies chill out whilst saving you some sun!