Homing Thistle

*Homing Thistles fire seeking shots at targets that are closest to home.*

**Don't even think about trying to pull one over on Homing Thistle. He's got a bead on you. He sees right through your facade. It's like he has a laser beam ... aimed at your soul.**

**Homing Thistle** is a plant in *Plants vs. Zombies 2: Reflourished* and the seventh plant obtained in Big Wave Beach. He is unlocked at Big Wave Beach - Day 38.

Homing Thistle attacks by shooting spikes every 1.7 - 2 seconds that home in on the zombie or grid item nearest to the Player's House. Homing Thistle's attack is triggered by a zombie appearing in any lane, and he prioritizes attacks zombies over grid items.

## Almanac entry

**Homing Thistle**

Homing Thistles fire seeking shots at targets that are closest to home.

Don't even think about trying to pull one over on Homing Thistle. He's got a bead on you. He sees right through your facade. It's like he has a laser beam ... aimed at your soul.

## Plant Food effect

When fed with Plant Food, Homing Thistle spins himself continuously and shoots cyan needles that aim at multiple zombies and obstacles on the lawn. If there are too many targets, he will lengthen his Plant Food duration to shoot more projectiles, but if there is only a single target on the board, that target will take all of his Plant Food needles. The cyan projectiles deal 240 damage each, and they sometimes encircle zombies for a long period of time. If there are no zombies present on the screen, all of the spikes will be fired in a spiral pattern.

## Strategies

While Homing Thistle has considerably inefficient damage for his cost, this is made up for by the ability to target zombies that are anywhere on the lawn. A single Homing Thistle is capable of defending early waves thanks to his limitless range, although doing so will also make it impossible to stall for time when building an initial defense, instead guaranteeing that new waves arrive much sooner.

Being able to attack the leftmost zombie on the lawn makes Homing Thistle an effective deterrent of hard-advancing zombies such as surfing Surfer Zombie and Octo Zombie's octopi, as well as flanking zombies such as Prospector Zombie and the sewers of Steam Ages. This effectiveness becomes apparent when planting multiple Homing Thistles, as their damage quickly accumulates onto a single target for swift elimination.

Homing Thistle functions much in the same way as Cattail, so which of the two is used will depend on the needs of the level. Unlike Cattail, who has a range limited to 3 columns in each direction, Homing Thistle's full map range guarantees that he will always have a target, sharing that target with every Homing Thistle on the field. This allows him to be planted anywhere on the lawn, from the very front column to the far back.

On the other hand, Cattail is capable of dealing more damage in spite of her short-sighted range. Her range can itself prove to be a blessing, allowing Cattail's targeting to be somewhat controlled based on her position in the lawn, especially when it comes to either prioritising zombies that reach the back of the lawn, or instead focusing on zombies at the frontline. Cattail also has the ability to be planted in the waters of Big Wave Beach, ironically making her a more versatile pick for besting the tides, despite Homing Thistle being unlocked there.

## Trivia

* Homing Thistle's "Navarch of the Beach" costume is based on the Monkey Buccaneer's outfit as the Navarch of the Seas paragon from *Bloons TD 6*.