Hunter Zombie

* Cave
* Chili

*Zombie that can throw snow balls at range to cool down plants until they freeze into blocks.*

## Almanac statistics

### Special

Throws barrages of 3 snowballs every 9-12 seconds

## In-game statistics

### First seen

FC-II

Shhhhh... Hunter Zombie didn't actually kill that sabertooth tiger. He found the skin at a thrift store. Also, he's a vegetarian. Tell no one.

**Hunter Zombie** is the second special zombie encountered in Frostbite Caves in *Alternate UniverZ*. He throws chilling snowballs at plants within a range of four tiles, freezing them in frozen blocks after three hits, with the exception of several plants, which include:

* Snow Pea
* Winter Melon
* Inferno
* Lava Guava
* Pepper-pult
* Fire Peashooter
* Jack O' Lantern
* Torchwood

After shooting, he will continue moving towards the player's house, and then repeat the process randomly again and again if there is any plant in front of him, as long as it is not a low plant like Potato Mine or Spikeweed. Hunter Zombie cannot throw snowballs at plants behind a frozen plant, but he can throw snowballs if the plants are behind a frozen zombie.

## Chilifest Vendor

*Throws beans at his fellow bean enjoyers to buff them.*

## Almanac statistics

### Special

Throws a bean at a zombie every 11 seconds, prefer to target rightward zombies

## In-game statistics

### Health

700 damage

Life dedicating to the chili faith isn't as easy as what it seems. Sometimes, the pressure gets to chili believers, and if a lack of action is taken, they lose all motivation in spreading the everlasting wisdom of Chili Bean. Thankfully, new substances for solving this crisis are in business! Get your Zombucks and head on down to the alleyway for the purest product on the market, with our secret ingredient - chili powder! And do not alert the authorities like last time.

**Chilifest Vendor** is a zombie in *Alternate UniverZ*. He throws a bean at a random zombie every 11 seconds, boosting their health and speed permanently. He will repeat the process again and again as long as there is an available target, prioritizing rightward zombies.

## Almanac entry

* Cave
* Chili

**Hunter Zombie**

TOUGHNESS: Dense

SPEED: Creeper

Zombie that can throw snow balls at range to cool down plants until they freeze into blocks.

Health: 700
Speed: 0.64
Special Ability: throws barrages of 3 snowballs every 9-12 seconds
Extra Ability: snowballs freeze plants after 3 hits, ice blocks can be healed by more snowballs

Shhhhh... Hunter Zombie didn't actually kill that sabertooth tiger. He found the skin at a thrift store. Also, he's a vegetarian. Tell no one.

**Chilifest Vendor**

TOUGHNESS: Dense

SPEED: Creeper

Throws beans at his fellow bean enjoyers to buff them.

Health: 700
Speed: 0.78
Special Ability: throws a bean at a zombie every 11 seconds, prefer to target rightward zombies

Life dedicating to the chili faith isn't as easy as what it seems. Sometimes, the pressure gets to chili believers, and if a lack of action is taken, they lose all motivation in spreading the everlasting wisdom of Chili Bean. Thankfully, new substances for solving this crisis are in business! Get your Zombucks and head on down to the alleyway for the purest product on the market, with our secret ingredient - chili powder! And do not alert the authorities like last time.

## Overview

Hunter Zombie and Chilifest Vendor absorb a total of 700 damage. They lose his left arm at 350 damage, before dying.

## Encounters

### Hunter Zombie

* Player's House: Piñata Party

* Frostbite Caves: FC-II, FC-III, FC-IV, FC-V, FC-VI, FC-VIII, FC-X, FCX-I, FCX-III, FCX-V, FCX-VI, FCX-VII and FCX-IX

* Neon Mixtape Tour: NMTX-V

* Lawn of Doom: LOD-IV

* Cheerful Return: HC-XI

* Fright Theater: FT-III

* Plant Showcase: Grinded by Gears, Sub-zero Shock and Spooky Loft

* Timeless Avenue: Roguelike Hunt, A Reflourished Crossover\*, Arctic Show and Flame of Unity

* Invaded Levels: Invaded DAX-III, Invaded DAX-VII, Invaded LC-V and Invaded FC-IV

* Endless Zones: Icebound Battleground

\*Appears as a boss

### Chilifest Vendor

* Player's House: Piñata Party

* Endless Zones: Celebratory Carousel Crash

## Strategies

Hunter Zombies will be very difficult to defeat without lobbing-shot plants, thawing plants or plants that are immune to snowballs, especially since they come in groups in later levels (and in Icebound Battleground). He uses his disadvantage, which is his speed, as an advantage against your defenses. This allows him to "hide" behind other, stronger zombies, protecting him from damage while he freezes your plants. Therefore, thawing plants are vital to prevent these zombies from overrunning your defenses.

It is best to kill him quickly, as he can freeze the frontmost plants. This could result in many plants within an open range being frozen and many other zombies passing through frozen plants causing either your brains to be eaten or you having to use countless coins to thaw plants. These zombies are especially deadly if plants are not properly defrosted. When combined with the freezing winds of the Frostbite Caves, this zombie can cause entire swaths of plants to be frozen and disabled.

Among the introduced plants in Frostbite Caves, use Pepper-pult or Fire Peashooter against this zombie, as they are immune to snowballs and can warm nearby plants. You can also use Pepper-pult to deal splash damage against him. Placing the Pepper-pult at the front of your defenses is a smart idea, as it blocks everything behind it from being frozen by Hunter Zombies, this idea you can also apply it with Fire Peashooters. When in a pinch, use Plant Food on the Pepper-pult.

Torchwoods and peashooting plants like the Repeater can do fast and high damage to this zombie while staying immune to his snowballs. Lava Guavas are also effective against this zombie, since Lava Guavas are immune to their snowballs and can cause much damage to the zombies that are behind the Hunter Zombie.

If you are going to beat this zombie without his weaknesses, it is recommended to use Plant Food on an Infi-nut, whose barrier covers an entire lane and blocks all snowballs. In addition, lobbing shot plants such as Cabbage-pult, Kernel-pult, A.K.E.E. and Spore-shroom can ignore the frozen plants or zombies and attack him directly. Bloomerangs Laser Beans, Fume-shrooms and Cacti are also useful since their attacks can damage both frozen blocks and Hunter Zombie himself.

While this isn't immediately obvious, Hunter Zombie *does*eat plants, and has an enforced delay between his attacks, which he cannot use while eating something, so putting a defensive plant like a Wall-nut right in front of him or supporting it with a thawing plant will eventually force him to eat the plant anyway. His snowballs also don't affect hypnotized zombies and he has to eat them, so these may be effective against him also.