Bonk Choy

*Bonk Choys rapidly punch nearby enemies that are ahead or behind them.*

**A freelance dentist on the side, he's offering a special this month - he'll knock two of your teeth out for the price of one!**

**Bonk Choy** is the first plant unlocked in Ancient Egypt Extra in *Alternate UniverZ*. He rapidly punches zombies in front or behind him, but always prioritizes the closest zombie in front.

Bonk Choy is unlocked after beating AEX-I.

## Almanac entry

**Bonk Choy**

SUN COST: 225

RECHARGE: 30

TOUGHNESS: 300

DAMAGE: 25

RANGE: Straight

Bonk Choys rapidly punch nearby enemies that are ahead or behind them.
Special: can attack ahead or behind

A freelance dentist on the side, he's offering a special this month - he'll knock two of your teeth out for the price of one!

## Plant Food effect

When given Plant Food, Bonk Choy rapidly punches in a 3x3 area around himself for 3 seconds, dealing 720 damage.

## Costumes

* Current
* Skins
* Pre 1.5

## Strategies

Compared to other offensive plants, Bonk Choy trades effective range for more damage, being capable of dealing more than five times as much damage as a regular Peashooter. Its ability to punch backwards means that Bonk Choy can be used to attack stray zombies that get past defenses, as well as to catch Prospector Zombies and Short-fused Prospectors lurking in the back. By himself, Bonk Choy's damage is sufficient to kill a Conehead Zombie.

Bonk Choy is also useful against Mecha-Football Zombie and Punk Zombie as they generally cannot eat it and will push it back, allowing Bonk Choy to punch them continuously. It can also be good against Bug Zombie because when Bonk Choy kills the bug, the zombie will also be killed as well, instead of getting released. On the other hand, Bonk Choy's limited range means that he is greatly vulnerable to the horde, particularly enemies that can instantly kill or neutralize plants from afar.

Bonk Choy should ideally be placed behind defensive plants or Infi-nut's force field to protect it from being attacked by zombies. Chard Guard is a notable exception however, as it will push zombies out of range.

Avoid using Bonk Choy behind Explorer Zombie (unless chilling plants are used), Excavator Zombie, MC Zom-B, Turquoise Skull Zombie, Wizard Zombie and Hunter Zombie as they can easily kill him, immobilize him or allow him to be vulnerable to other zombies before he can even have the chance to attack.

His fast attacks means that he could deal with Zombie Chickens easily. Zombie Chickens come in hordes but they could only take one hit, so Bonk Choy could continuously punch them without a sweat.

During an incoming zombie wave, it is a good idea to plant him in the middle of the horde, and feed him Plant Food to turn him into a makeshift Cherry Bomb. He will do great damage in the heavily clustered 3x3 area, devastating (if not destroying) the zombies in that area. However, the real Cherry Bomb does much higher damage and doesn't require Plant Food (you can even use instant recharge if necessary), so the effectiveness of this is questionable.

Bonk Choy can be used with in tandem with stalling plants like Snow Pea, Kernel-pult or Sap-fling to slow down zombies, allowing him to attack multiple times and potentially neutralizing hordes of zombies.

## Balance Changes

### Version 1.0.1

* Starting recharge: 15 > 20
* Damage: 30 > 25
* Toughness: 300 > 400

### Version 1.1

* Toughness: 400 > 600
* Starting recharge: 20 > 15
* Plant Food effect nerfed.