Spring Bean

*Spring Beans bounce back zombies that get too close. Will bounce them into water if nearby.*

## In-game statistics

### Codename alias

springbean

**He's the strong, silent type and little is known about Spring Bean. What is known though: his fan club is a million followers strong. And the ladies love him.**

**Spring Bean** is a plant in *Plants vs. Zombies 2: Reflourished* and the fourth plant obtained in Pirate Seas. He is unlocked after beating Pirate Seas - Day 9.

If zombies are near Spring Bean, he will be in his "about to bounce" state. In this state, Spring Bean is invulnerable to damage, and cannot be moved by most zombies.

Spring Bean will then bounce the first zombie that steps on him back by 3.125 tiles or, if close enough, into nearby water, instantly killing the zombie in question. After bouncing, he will take a nap for 20 seconds during which he becomes vulnerable.

## Almanac entry

**Spring Bean**

Spring Beans bounce back zombies that get too close. Will bounce them into water if nearby.

Speical: pushes zombies back, or into the water
Weakness: gets sleepy after springing

He's the strong, silent type and little is known about Spring Bean. What is known though: his fan club is a million followers strong. And the ladies love him.

## Plant Food effect

When fed Plant Food, Spring Bean will jump into the air then back onto the ground to unleash a great impact, bouncing every zombie on screen back 3 tiles or in nearby water in Pirate Seas. He will also wake up if he was taking a nap.

## Strategies

In most worlds, Spring Bean acts as a method for stalling early waves, using his cheap price and powerful knockback to keep zombies at bay for an extended time and make it easier to grow an early defense. Compared to other plants of this calibre like Iceberg Lettuce and Stunion, Spring Bean has the advantage of being able to reactivate after a small resting period. Unfortunately, most zombies are fast enough to catch up to him and take a few bites between bounces, meaning he will eventually get eaten if used alone. Because of this, Spring Bean greatly benefits from slowdown factors such as Sap-fling and tar, giving enough room for him to rest safely.

In his home world, however, Spring Bean transforms into an extraordinary instant-kill. In Pirate Seas, any zombie that is near open waters can be bounced into the water, allowing Spring Bean to regularly destroy zombies while paying next-to-nothing - even the mighty Gargantuar isn't privy to being destroyed in one bounce. That being said, any lane that isn't near open waters will be unaffected by his instant-kill effects. In these cases, lane redirection such as Garlic and Hot Date can be used to send zombies into lanes where Spring Bean will work effectively - just keep in mind that several zombies in this world have ways to deal with most lane-redirecting plants.

Speaking of, certain zombies are left unaffected by Spring Bean's bounces. Flying zombies will safely glide over an awake Spring Bean, with the latter flattening himself as the former passes through. As for Jurassic Bully and his variants, their immunity to knockback allows them to waste Spring Bean's bounce if triggered and promptly eat him. Fast zombies, such as Torchlight Zombie and enraged Newspaper Zombie, are able to quickly power back to their original position after being bounced, making Spring Bean ineffective against them.

Spring Bean's Plant Food effect is the epitome of his bounciness. In most levels, the bounce effect provides a strong level of knockback that works best on slower zombies - especially used with standard stalling plants like Sap-fling and Snow Pea - but is again ineffective against fast targets. In Pirate Seas, on the other hand, the effect morphs into a powerful field clear, destroying any zombie that is near open waters - Gargantuars and all. If any lanes are far from open seas, lane redirection becomes especially valuable for repositioning more zombies into zones of destruction.

Spring Bean is commonly compared to Chard Guard. While the latter can only toss zombies three times, his ability to knock back any number of zombies at once (including into the Seas in lanes with no planks), and with minimal cooldown between throws, makes him the superior choice in general defense situations. That being said, his higher sun cost, limited uses and more maintenance-heavy Pirate Seas specialty allow Spring Bean to remain useful as the cheap, early-game and Sea-plundering specialist.

## Balance changes

### Initial launch

* ▲ -25 sun
* ▲ Increased knockback
* ▼ +5 second recharge
* ▼ +10 recovery time