Plants

Throughout the world of Niche, there are a variety of plants that your nichelings can interact with. Some provide benefits, while others can pose a threat to your tribe. The flora varies between different biomes and reflects the environment in which it is located.

## Edible Plants

   Some plants provide food sources for nichelings. Some food resources require a specific ability in order to gather them, though if a creature lacks a necessary ability, they can still attempt the action with a low chance of success.

### **Oak Tree**

Location:

* Grassland

Resource:

* Nuts

Gathering:

* 2 food points per fallen acorn; Cracking ability needed
* Perched nichelings can collect 1 food point per nut if gathered directly from the tree

Regrowth:

* Drops one acorn per day naturally
* Creature can shake the tree for more acorns to fall
* Can drop up to 6 per shake; will drop less if shaken every day

### **Mangrove Tree**

Location:

* Swamp

Resource:

* Snails

Gathering:

* 1 food per snail
* Snails only be harvested by perched (flight-capable) Nichelings

Regrowth:

* Two snails every time it rains
* when to many snails are on one tree they disappear

### **Acacia Tree**

Location:

* Savannas

Resource:

* Nuts

Gathering:

* 1 food point per nut, doesn't need an ability to harvest
* Nuts only be harvested by perched nichelings

Regrowth:

* One per day

### **Ape Tree**

Location:

* Jungle

Resource:

* Nuts

Gathering:

* Needs Cracking ability to harvest
* 2 food per nut

Regrowth:

* Nichelings can shake the tree for more nuts to appear
* Can drop up to 6 per shake

### **Palm Tree**

Location:

* Beach

Resource:

* Coconuts

Gathering:

* Requires Cracking ability to harvest
* 2 food points per coconut

Regrowth:

* Creatures can shake the tree for more coconuts to appear
* Drops one coconut per day
* Can drop up to 6 coconuts per shake
* If dropped on an animal, the creature will be stunned for the day and the following day. The creature will take 1 day of damage (regardless of defense). The player's nichelings are not the only creatures that can be stunned; wild nichelings, Rogue Males, Apes, Bearyenas, Rabbils, Crabbits, Balance Bears, and Walrus Deer can also be stunned.

### **Berry Bush**

Location:

* Grassland
* Can be found in swamp and savannas but it's very rare

Resource:

* Berries

Gathering:

* Needs Collecting ability to harvest
* 1 food point per berry; number of berries collected at once depends on the nicheling's Collecting level and the number of berries remaining on the bush
* Can be destroyed by a nicheling with 4+ Strength to obtain 5 berries and 2 nesting material, no matter how many berries were on the bush
* Rabbil and Wild Nichelings (with collecting ability) can take berries
* Berries gathered by Wild Nichelings will not be added to your food if added to the tribe

Regrowth:

* Normal weather: 2 berries per day
* Full regeneration of berries as of the first day of it starting to rain
	+ Can hold a total of 7 berries
* If destroyed, the plant will regrow after 4 days

Other effects:

* Attracts Rabbils and Wild Nichelings

### **Bare Berry Bush**

Location:

* Savanna

Resource:

* Berries

Gathering:

* Needs Collecting ability to harvest
* 1 food point per berry; number of berries collected at once depends on the nicheling's Collecting level and the number of berries remaining on the bush
* Can be destroyed by a nicheling with 5+ Strength to obtain 5 Food, no matter how many berries were on the bush
* Rabbil and Wild Nichelings (with collecting ability) can take berries
* Berries gathered by Wild Nichelings will not be added to your food if added to the tribe

Regrowth:

* Normal weather: 1 berry per day
* Full regeneration of berries on first day of it starting rain
	+ Can hold a total of 3 berries
* The plant itself does not regrow if destroyed

Other effects:

* Attracts Rabbils and Wild Nichelings

### **Cactus**

Location:

* Savanna

Resource:

* Berries

Gathering:

* Needs Collecting ability to harvest
* 1 food point per berry; number of berries collected at once depends on the nicheling's Collecting level and the number of berries remaining on the cactus
* Inflicts 2 damage if the creature collecting. Can be damage can be mitigated/reduced by having defense.
* Can be destroyed by a nicheling with 5+ Strength to obtain 5 Food, no matter how many berries were on the bush

Regrowth:

* Normal weather: 0-1 per day
* Rain: full regeneration of berries on first day, increased regeneration after that
	+ Can hold a total of 3 berries
* The plant itself does not regrow if destroyed

Other effects:

* Attract Rabbils

### **Smelly Fruit Tree**

Location:

* Jungles
* Whale Island
* Grass Adventure
* Grass Mingle

Resource:

* Smelly Fruit

Gathering:

* Requires Collecting ability to harvest
* 1 food point per fruit; number of fruits collected at once depends on the nicheling's Collecting level and the number of fruits remaining on the tree
* Wild Nichelings (with collecting ability) can take fruit
* Fruit gathered by Wild Nichelings will not be added to your food if added to the tribe
* Nichelings with 0 collecting cannot even attempt to gather from these smelly fruit trees.
* Cannot be destroyed

Regrowth:

* 2 fruit per day
	+ Can hold a total of 6 fruits

* Complete regrowth with rain

Effects:

* Covers your creature in smelly juice for three turns, removing all scentless stats from creature and giving it the 'Smelly' status affliction
* Packmates can lick the syrup off, returning status to normal; requires two actions to fully clean off (If wanting to remove it on the same day)

### **Toxic Berry Bush**

Location:

* Swamp

Resource:

* Toxic Berries

Gathering:

* Requires Collecting ability to harvest; number of berries collected at once depends on the nicheling's Collecting level and the number of berries remaining on the bush
* Can be destroyed by a nicheling with 4+ Strength to obtain 5 berries and 2 nesting material, no matter how many berries were on the bush.
* Poisons nichelings who attempt to collect without Poison Resistance
	+ Destroying a toxic berry bush will not poison the nicheling who attacked it

Regrowth:

* Normal weather: 2 berries per day
* first day of Rain: full regrowth of all berries
	+ Can hold a total of 4 toxic berries
* Doesn't regrow if removed

## Utility Plants

### **Grass**

Grass is one of the primary obstacles to player expansion. Nichelings in tall grass can only move through it one tile at a time, and it obstructs visual observation, concealing anything within it. It is opaque until it is next to a nicheling and in it's` range of vision, upon which it becomes translucent enough to see through. Provides +2 Camouflage to nichelings within the grass. A variant on swamp tiles are reeds.

Location:

* All land biomes

Gathering:

* Does not require an ability to collect/clear
* Small chance to gain 1 nesting material

Regrowth:

* Grass comes in regrowing and non-regrowing varieties, which have slightly distinct art. Regrowing varieties have a bluish cast and will reappear after a short time or after it rains.
* Grass in jungle and swamp biomes does not regrow.

### **Jungle Foliage**

Similar to grass, but impassable.

Location:

* Jungle

Gathering:

* Small chance to add one nesting material.

Regrowth:

* Comes in regrowing and non-regrowing varieties; the former has blue tips on the vines.

### **Blocking Vine Root**

Location:

* Special Jungle island in story mode (Overgrown Jungle)

Gathering:

* Adds +2 food and nesting material
* Removes a vine from the northern port of the island; five roots are required to be removed in order to completely clear the port

Regrowth:

* Does not regrow

Other:

* Clearing five roots, and thus clearing all five vines from the island port, unlocks the 'Root of the Problem' achievement.

### **Healing Plant**

Location:

* Grassland, Jungle, Swamp

Gathering:

* Does not require an ability to harvest
* Will heal 5 days of damage when harvested

Regrowth:

* Flower will regrow after 5 days.

### **Water Healing Plant**

    Location:

* Ocean

Gathering:

* Does not require an ability to harvest
* Adds +2 Water Breathing for two days
* Heals 1 day of damage to the creature

Regrowth:

* Flower will regrow after 7 days

### **Alga**

Location:

* Rivers and oceans

Gathering:

* Does not require an ability to gather
* Provides 2 nest material per collection

Regrowth:

* Will regrow after 4 days

### **Twig Bush**

Location:

* Mountain and swamp

Gathering:

* 1 nest material per collection
* Requires at least 1 collecting to harvest
	+ Nichelings without collecting are unable to even attempt at a low chance of harvesting

## Dangerous Plants

### **Meat Eating Plant**

* Before attacking.
* After attacking.
* When eating a nicheling.
1/3
Location:

* Jungle

Gathering:

* Requires at least 1 Collecting to harvest
* Requires at least 1 strength to open successfully
	+ Nichelings with 0 strength are able to attack (and obtain genes related to attacking) meat eating plants but have a 0% chance of opening them.
* 1 food per strand; holding up to 7 strands when first opened
* Strands do not individually regrow, one must harvest the last strand so that the meat eating plant will regrow after 2 days.

Effects:

* Plants are either non-hostile (green on smelling view) or hostile (red on smelling view)
* Non-hostile plants can be attacked to open up and reveal the fruit that can be collected from within
* Non-hostile plants do not regrow fruit and start to regrow when all the fruit is picked
* Hostile plants will snatch your creature if they move adjacent to it
* Snatched creatures are paralyzed for as long as they are inside the plant and start taking 3 damage per day (Defense does not reduce damage).
	+ Once a snatched creature starts taking damages, they are likely to start bleeding and take an additional 1 or 3 damage per day depending on their blood clotting gene.
	+ Rescuing a snatched nicheling requires 10 damage (can be done over a number days) to be dealt to the hostile plant.
* Wild nichelings and Rogue Males will not be attacked by carnivorous plants
* Has a 50/50 chance of regrowing as a hostile or a non-hostile plant

Regrowth:

* Regrows after 2 days of when the last strand was harvested or when the hostile plant was destroyed.
* Meat eating plants cannot be removed and are permanent obstacles
	+ The best way to ensure that they stay green (non-hostile) permanently is to keep them with at least 1 strand of food.

### **Thorns**

Impassable plants that harm nichelings when destroyed.

Location:

* Swamp

Gathering:

* Deals 4 damage to an unprotected nicheling
* Yields no nesting material
* Having points in defense can negate some/all of the damage from gathering thorns.

Regrowth:

* Does not regrow

## Strategy

The berry bushes are a good source of food, but the cactus is not worth getting, as it damages your creature just as much as starvation would. Use them only as a last resort.

Oak trees are a great source of food, as they can be shaken to produce 1-3 acorns, which is 2-6 food a day. Combined with a few berry bushes, the player can get tons of food a day.

Meat Eating Plants are detectable by smell, and by the time you see one it will generally be too late. Make sure to have nichelings with at least 2 smelling scouting ahead so that you don't accidentally move a nicheling into a meat eating plant.

## Trivia

* Berry bushes used to look like the traditional bush, but after test update 0.1, they got a huge graphical update and resemble a small tree.
* Acorns are the first added edible plant to exist in real life.
* The Meat Eating Plant is so far the deadliest plant in the game, as it is virtually unavoidable if not detected ahead of time.