Pepper-pult

*Pepper-pults lob flaming peppers at zombies and keeps nearby plants warm.*

**Some say Pepper-pult is a hot head. Some find his fiery disposition off-putting. But the truth is, he's just very focused and determined. He loves what he does. He appreciates everything he has. "I came from the weedy side of the lawn," Pepper-pult explains. "I worked hard to pull myself up by my roots. I'm a self-made pepper and I don't take a single thing for granted."**

**Pepper-pult** is a plant in *Plants vs. Zombies 2: Reflourished* and the second plant obtained in Frostbite Caves. He is unlocked at Frostbite Caves - Day 6.

Pepper-pult lobs flaming peppers at the rate of a Cabbage-pult (once every 2.75-2.9 seconds) that deal splash damage in a 3x3 area. A direct hit from a flaming pepper deals 60 damage, while the pepper's splash effect deals 10 damage.

Pepper-pult is also a heating plant, which is capable of emitting heat every 6 seconds that gradually thaws frozen or chilled plants in a 3x3 area surrounding him, as well as being immune to all freezing effects himself.

## Almanac entry

**Pepper-pult**

Pepper-pults lob flaming peppers at zombies and keeps nearby plants warm.

Special: immune to frost
Special: warms nearby plants

Some say Pepper-pult is a hot head. Some find his fiery disposition off-putting. But the truth is, he's just very focused and determined. He loves what he does. He appreciates everything he has. "I came from the weedy side of the lawn," Pepper-pult explains. "I worked hard to pull myself up by my roots. I'm a self-made pepper and I don't take a single thing for granted."

## Plant Food effect

When fed with Plant Food, Pepper-pult launches three giant flaming peppers at random zombies on screen, each pepper dealing 10 direct damage and 300 + 50 splash damage in a 3x3 area.

Unlike other lobbed-shot projectiles, the giant peppers cannot be deflected or blocked by any means but can be negated by Imp Dragon Zombies.

## Strategies

Pepper-pult offers a unique style of damage for plants at his price point: Where plants like Red Stinger and Rotobaga provide cost-effective, single target damage, Pepper-pult instead brings an additional splash damage effect. While usually insignificant against individual targets (other than Zombie Chickens), this splash damage adds up with multiple plantings, allowing Pepper-pult to better deal with hordes of low health zombies.

As he is a fire plant, Pepper-pult can be used to thaw plants in Frostbite Caves, an ability that is practically mandatory if no other warming plants are available. His splash damage also nullifies any chilling and freezing effects applied by ice-based plants like Snow Pea and Iceberg Lettuce, so avoid using them with Pepper-pult. Instead, consider using plants like Sap-fling, who slows zombies without ice-based effects, or Iceweed, who chills zombies frequently enough to keep the zombies from staying thawed.

Beyond Frostbite Caves, Pepper-pult's fiery traits are also handy for ashing zombies. Ashed zombies are unable to trigger on-death effects, making it possible to prevent zombies like Imp Porter, Egg Stealer Imp and Kid Zombies from dropping a grid item, for example. Pepper-pult's style of attack favours dealing with low health targets, but mind what other plants are being used to deal damage - any zombie that is defeated without being ashed cannot be ashed afterwards.

A notable offensive upgrade to Pepper-pult exists in the form of Melon-pult. While much more expensive and lacking in any fire-based specialty, this also comes with much greater splash damage, allowing him to clean low health hordes with multiple plantings.

## Balance changes

### Version 1.1.2

* ▲ Sun Cost: 200 -> 175
	+ Developer Note: Pepper-pult's higher price has resulted in him not being picked outside of Frostbite Caves often. A slight price reduction should give a nice consideration to use him elsewhere!

### Version 1.1.4

* ▲ Fire Rate: 2.85-3s -> 2.75-2.9s
* ▲ Damage: 50 -> 60
* Target audience: General
	+ Developer note: Pepper-Pult has historically been overshadowed by many plants and underutilized by many players due to a low damage output for his decently high cost and recharge. Increasing his splash damage by even a smidge quickly proved overwhelming during testing, threatening to tread into Melon-Pult's territory of high area splash damage. Instead, we’ve chosen to increase his direct damage, giving him a respectable DPS for his price tag and serving as a sort of “inverse Melon” instead (high direct DPS, low splash DPS).

## Trivia

* Pepper-pult's "Pinchess Mask" costume is based on StickyGrapes' OC, one of *Reflourished's* developers.