Solar Sage

*Solar Sages illuminate zombies, causing them to make better choices and depart, leaving behind a trail of sun.*

## In-game statistics

### Codename alias

solarsage

**"Ommm," Solar Sage hums softly to herself. But she's not kidding anybody. We all know her mind is filled with race cars and bulldozers.**

**Solar Sage** is a premium plant in *Plants vs. Zombies 2: Reflourished*. She costs 75 gems to purchase.

Solar Sage activates when touched by a zombie, transforming zombies on her tile into Illuminated Zombies before disappearing. She also hovers above the ground, allowing her be planted on water tiles in Big Wave Beach without the aid of a Lily Pad and sewers in Steam Ages, just like Rotobaga and Ghost Pepper.

Illuminated Zombies make 25 sun when transformed, then wander off towards the right side of the lawn, making another 25 sun every 5.5 seconds. Illuminated Zombies also have a 10% chance to illuminate another zombie as it makes sun. Neither Solar Sage nor the Illuminated Zombies can illuminate all types of zombies; mechanized threats, critters and Gargantuars will bypass the effects and eat or destroy Solar Sage instead.

## Almanac entry

**Solar Sage**

Solar Sages illuminate zombies, causing them to make better choices and depart, leaving behind a trail of sun.

Special: vulnerable to critters and mechs

"Ommm," Solar Sage hums softly to herself. But she's not kidding anybody. We all know her mind is filled with race cars and bulldozers.

## Plant Food effect

When fed with Plant Food, Solar Sage will illuminate all zombies in a 3x3 area. If there are no zombies in range, Solar Sage will still play her animation, but nothing will happen.

## Strategies

Solar Sage is capable of both generating good amounts of sun and clearing out packs of zombies at the same time. In a similar way to Potato Mine and Squash, she only affects zombies that are near her tile, making her most effective with plants that can bunch zombies into a tight group. Sweet Potato and Hot Date can pool zombies together from three lanes, while Sap-fling and Snow Pea slow down the front of the horde and allow zombies behind them to catch up and bunch up.

The more zombies there are, the greater the profits, but keep in mind that Illuminated Zombies make additional sun every few seconds. Because of this, Solar Sages that are utilised near the back of the lawn will generate much more sun per zombie, returning greater profits. Feeding Plant Food is also very handy, with a 3x3 illumination effect that can substitute a Cherry Bomb against standard hordes, with the added bonus of receiving a kickback of extra sun.

However, successfully using Solar Sage is far from foolproof. Her limited health pool makes it possible for zombies to eat/destroy her mid-activation, wasting the plant if recklessly planted among the horde. Stunning effects from plants such as Stunion and Dazey Chain are thus incredibly helpful, allowing Solar Sage to be safely planted in the zombies' midst, illuminating them all at once. Avoid using Solar Sage against any zombies immune to illumination; they will simply eat/destroy Solar Sage, again destroying the plant.

Solar Sage's abilities make her notably comparable to Squash. Both are capable of clearing out small packs of zombies, but which of the two to use depends on the level. While Solar Sage can make lots of sun, her high base sun cost makes her more difficult to use in the early waves of a level, compared to the low cost of a Squash. Squash also can't be eaten by normal means, allowing him to be planted among dense hordes where Solar Sage typically cannot. When it comes to targets with very high health, Squash's damage-based squashing will only be able to weaken them, not destroy them. While this makes Solar Sage's illumination abilities superior for some targets like Brickhead Zombie, any zombies that are immune to illumination are better handled using Squash instead.

## Balance changes

### Initial launch

* ▼ +125 sun
* ▼ +10 second recharge
* ▼ -25 sun produced per Zombie
* ▼ No longer creates sun when planted, nor when defeated
* ▼ -100 health
* ▼ No longer has a starting cooldown

### Version 1.1.4

* ▲ Enlightened Zombie Sun Production Rate: 7s -> 5.5s
* Target audience: General
	+ Developer note: To accommodate Solar Sage with the Secondary Sun producer glow-up, we've gone the route of simply giving their enlightened zombies better sun production. Now, when you manage to catch a group of zombies and enlighten them all, it's going to be an extra lucrative payday.

## Gallery

Seed packetBoosted seed packetA Solar Sage planted on top of a sewer