Arthur's Challenge

**Arthur's Challenge** is the seventh Endless Zone in *Plants vs. Zombies 2*. It is Dark Ages' Endless Zone, unlocked after beating Night 12 of Dark Ages. As the name says, the entire level itself are much more challenging than the ordinary levels as one may not know the number of flags in a level. No tombstones in this Endless Zone contain Plant Food.

The player gets Sun-shroom, Puff-shroom, Fume-shroom and Wall-nut at the first level instead of getting Peashooter, Sunflower and Wall-nut. This makes it the first Endless Zone not to start the player out with those three plants, and the first Endless Zone to have four plants upon starting. It also made the Wall-nut to be the only plant that is at the beginning of all the Endless Zones until La Brainsa Tarpits.

## Origins

Arthur's Challenge is named after Arthur Pendragon (also known as King Arthur), a British leader in the median time frame of fifth and sixth century who lead the defense of Britain against the Saxons in the early sixth century.

Its appearance resembles Excalibur, which was Arthur's legendary sword.

## Dialogue

*(Crazy Dave appears)*

Crazy Dave: Hi neighbor! Welcome to Arthur's Challenge!

Crazy Dave: Here you'll find that day is night and knights are zombies!

*(Crazy Dave leaves)*

## Strategies

Jester Zombies are a very annoying zombie in this Endless Zone, as they greatly limit the variety of offensive plants you can use against the zombies. It is best to prioritize offensive plants that do not shoot projectiles, such as Snapdragon, Cold Snapdragon, and Laser Bean. Grave Buster should be another high priority plant, as they will make short work of the tombstones that come closest to the house. Unlike the tombstones in Ancient Egypt, the tombstones in the Dark Ages are more aggressive, and can spawn zombies deep into your defense if they are not dealt with. If you find the tombstones hard to manage, using Imitater on Grave Buster is an option, as that will greatly hasten the time it takes to remove the tombstones, and it can help fend off tombstones that spawn later in the level. Keep in mind though that if you do this, you are sacrificing two seed slots. Be sure to pay attention to any tombstones that spawn later in the level, as if they are left unattended, they can spawn zombies deep into your defense.

As mentioned previously, Jester Zombie is a very annoying zombie to face due to the limitations it brings on the player. If one does not prepare for them, the Jester Zombies will deflect every projectile back at ones plants, causing massive damage and can even result in the loss of lawnmowers, or even the Endless Zone in worst case scenarios. Dark Ages Gargantuar is another massive threat, as the limited variety of plants combined with its high HP make it very difficult to defeat. Wizard Zombie is also a great threat, as their effect can often leave entire portions of the lawn useless. Finally, Zombie King is the last threat one will face. His effect can quickly overwhelm your defense if unprepared, and often gets blocked from your offensive plants by the Knight Zombies he creates. If all of the aforementioned zombies are in a level at once, then the level will be extremely difficult. Even more so with the limited variety of offensive options.

If one wants to boost plants to beat a level, consider the following; Magnet-shroom in order to reduce the threat level of Buckethead Peasants and Knight Zombies; Iceberg Lettuce or Kernel-pult to stall the horde of zombies all at once, allowing for some free hits from your offensive plants; Snapdragon and Cold Snapdragon can be used to eliminated a bunch of zombies quickly; Sun-shroom, Sunflower or Primal Sunflower to immediately give an edge an establishing your defenses. Keep in mind that since sun doesn't fall from the sky, Twin Sunflower is generally a poor idea.

If one is struggling against Wizard Zombies, then it might be a good idea to bring Cherry Bomb, Bombegranate or Ghost Pepper, since the former two can instantly destroy all of them in a 3x3 area, while the later one can destroy them in a 1x4 area, before exploding and potentially destroying more. Grapeshot can also be used, but keep in mind that Jester Zombies can deflect their grapes back towards the plants, causing massive damage to ones offenses, so it is strongly recommended not to bring Grapeshot in levels with Jester Zombies. Due to the large amount of immanent threats in this Endless Zone, one might be forced to use Plant Food early in order to handle them. If the player has Power Lily, then it could be used to easily circumvent this problem. This becomes even more effect of you use bring Imitater with it as well. Power Lily combined with Imitater will become an invaluable pair in later levels, since Plant Food becomes pretty scarce. Gold Bloom is a great plant to get in this Endless Zone, since the sun it gives is much more appreciated due to the lack of sun from the sky.

### Strategy 1

*Created by Cookiepower*
This strategy is built to work without premiums and with only seven seed slots. It has been tested up to level 100. You should also have obtained the Instant Recharge upgrade.

#### Plants needed

* **Required plants:**
	+ Primal Sunflower
	+ Winter Melon
	+ Gold Bloom
	+ Primal Wall-nut
	+ Primal Potato Mine
* **Backup plants:**
	+ Banana Launcher
	+ Fume-shroom
	+ Coconut Cannon
	+ Cherry Bomb

#### Instructions

* If you only have seven seed slots, you should always pick the first five plants and then the right two plants from the "backup" plants above.
	+ Bring Banana Launcher id you see a Dark Ages Gargantuar and Fume-shroom if you see Jester Zombie in the seed selection screen. If the mentioned zombies are not there, bring Coconut Cannon and Cherry Bomb.
	+ If you have an eighth seed slot, use it on whatever plant you see that would fit.
* Plant a Primal Sunflower, then plant Gold Bloom. Use a Plant Food to instantly recharge Gold Bloom and plant it again.
* **Do not** immediately plant Winter Melon, as the damage from the melons will trigger the next wave of zombies to spawn, giving you less time to set up in other lanes. Also, immediately planting Winter Melon will make it harder to plant new Primal Sunflowers. Hold off until you have several Primal Sunflowers.
* Use Primal Potato Mine to kill the first few zombies. Plant it in the location that destroys the most tombstones and kills the zombies. The tombstones will be a problem especially if you need to get Fume-shroom up to deal with Jester Zombies.
* Fume-shroom should always be placed behind a Primal Wall-nut as otherwise the Jester Zombie will likely kill it anyways. It is also a good idea to place Winter Melon in a lane adjacent to a Jester Zombie, as the Jester Zobmie will be slowed and take splash damage, allowing the Fume-shroom to kill it. Try to get a Fume-shroom and a Primal Wall-nut in every lane.
* Use Primal Wall-nut to stall Dark Ages Gargantuars, as they take three hits before being destroyed. This gives time to kill them with bananas or slow them down.
* Once you have an entire column of Winter Melons, start planting Banana Launchers and/or Coconut Cannons. To kill Dark Ages Gargantuars, fire three bananas at the square they are on, as this will kill any full-health Dark Ages Gargantuars as well as any other zombies that may be on the tiles. If there are no Dark Ages Gargantuars, simply start planting and firing Coconut Cannons, and as the number of Coconut Cannons grow the level will become easier.
	+ Do not plant the Banana Launchers in the third column of the house as this is where thrown Imp Monks will land.
	+ Using Plant Food on a Primal Potato Mine in the middle of a group of Dark Ages Gargantuars will likely kill most of them.
* The worst levels are levels with both Dark Ages Gargantuars and Wizard Zombies. Dark Ages Gargantuars by themselves are relatively easy, and Wizard Zombies need to walk on screen far enough to use their magic. However, when both are together, Dark Ages Gargantuars can tank hits long enough for the Wizards to start disabling your plants. When this happens, it is important to use Banana Launcher shots to kill the Wizards in the back as well as manage the Gargantuars at the front. Focusing on one group without monitoring the other will likely result in a loss.

### Strategy 2 TESTED AT LEVEL 200+ (Contains premium content)

*Created by Rororoxor*
* **Required plants:**
	+ Sun-shroom
	+ Iceberg Lettuce
	+ Power Lily
	+ Imitater
	+ Tile Turnip
	+ Winter Melon
	+ Primal Potato Mine/Explode-O-Nut
	+ Hurrikale/Chard Guard (levels preferred but not necessary)

This strategy is especially for Wizard Zombie/Gargantuar combos because this is the most difficult combination in this Endless Zone.

Start by laying down a few Sun-shrooms, an Iceberg Lettuce, and three Tile Turnips. Use Plant Food on the Sun-shrooms to get enough sun for this. The Tile Turnips should be planted under the Sun-shrooms and the Iceberg Lettuce. Keep feeding Plant Food to the Iceberg Lettuce until you have enough sun for another tile turnip, upon which you place another Sun-shroom. Spam Primal Potato Mines throughout the middle columns in a checkerboard pattern, and use Hurrikale to push back zombies if necessary. Also spam Sun-shrooms in the second, third and fourth. The Sun-shrooms and Primal Potato Mines will serve as wizard fodder.

Before the crowd of Wizard Zombies becomes too dense, SHOVEL UP THE SUN-SHROOMS FROM THE POWER TILES. This is extremely important in order to make effective use of the tiles. It is not necessary to shovel up the Iceberg Lettuce as it cannot be transformed.

As the zombies start to approach your house, quickly use a Plant Food on the Iceberg Lettuce and place a Sun-shroom and Winter Melon on the power tiles. You must plant these BEFORE the power effect of the original tile travels to these tiles, and you only have one to two seconds to do this. You should be able to freeze the zombies, bomb them with melons, and get extra sun in just one Plant Food. Normally, one Winter Melon Plant Food projectile is not enough to kill a Wizard Zombie, but with the huge crowds in later levels, splash damage takes care of this.

When the Wizard Zombies are defeated, the Primal Potato Mines should be freed and immediately kill the frozen Gargantuars. If there are any remaining, use hurrikale to push them back. Before the zombies unfreeze, shovel the Winter Melon and the Sun-shroom from the tiles. Repeat till the end of the level. Good luck :).

### Toxic Fire (Contains premium content)

*Created by Gjhikf*
This DOES NOT WORK AT ALL on levels with Gargantuars.

* **Required plants:**
	+ Snapdragon
	+ Sun-shroom
	+ Fume-shroom
	+ Wall-nut
	+ Grave Buster
	+ Imitater Grave Buster
	+ Magnet-shroom (on levels with Zombie King, Cherry Bomb otherwise)

Plant two columns of Sun-shrooms while busting tombstones. Kill the first zombie with two Snapdragons. Plant three columns of Fume-shrooms behind the Snapdragons and a column of Wall-nuts. If there are Zombie Kings in the level replace the middle column of Fume-shrooms with Magnet-shrooms. Keep busting tombstones until the level is done. Use extra Plant Food on Snapdragons.

### Spore-Shrooms Galore! (Contains premium content)

*created by A minion of Nightmare Freddy*

Note: This does not work at all with levels with Jester Zombies and/or Dark Ages Gargantuars.

* **Required plants**
	+ Gold Bloom
	+ Sun-shroom (preferably boosted)
	+ Spore-shroom
	+ Winter Melon
	+ Magnet-shroom
	+ Grave Buster
	+ Iceberg Lettuce

Place a Sun-Shroom in the first column and a Gold Bloom anywhere. When the first zombie comes, use a Spore-Shroom to kill it. The Spore-Shrooms should be in the second column. But, whatever you do, DON'T LET THE ZOMBIES DIE BY A SPORE-SHROOM IN THE 3rd/4th COLUMN!!! It could waste time while you're placing Magnet-Shrooms in the 4th column or Winter Melons in the 3rd because you need to dig up the Spore-Shrooms. Use the Grave Buster to destroy the graves and the Iceberg Lettuce to slow the horde of zombies.

Plant Food should be used on plants in the following situations:

Magnet-Shroom: Use if the level is overflowing with Knight Zombies and Zombie Kings. It can also do a lot of damage in its lane.

Winter Melon: Use for crowd control if the zombies start to really pile up on the lawn. They should all be slowed by the effect of the giant melons.

Iceberg Lettuce: Use in case of emergency with zombies all over the lawn in random places.

## Trivia

* Like Big Bad Butte, new and powerful zombies like Zombie King and Wizard Zombie are encountered at early levels if the player wishes to try it after unlocking.
* Arthur's Challenge and Pyramid of Doom are the only Endless Zones to have Grave Buster as an obtainable plant because they are the only worlds that contain tombstones.
* This, Icebound Battleground, Temple of Bloom and Greatest Hits are the only Endless Zones which none of the words in the name have to do with death or evil. (Pyramid of **Doom**, **Dead** Man's Booty, Big **Bad** Butte, **Terror** from Tomorrow, Tiki **Torch-er (torture),** La Brainsa **Tarpits** (Note that tarpits are places where prehistoric animals such as mammoths die.) and Highway to the **Danger** Room.)
	+ Temple of Bloom is a pun on Temple of Doom however.
* Arthur's Challenge, Terror from Tomorrow, Tiki Torch-er, and Greatest Hits are the only Endless Zones where its name does not present specific places.
* Only Imp Monk Zombies are spawned from Necromancy in this level.

\*: Removed ~: Epic Quest