Holly Barrier

*Bring BIG SURPRISE!*This item is only obtainable during certain events. However, it can still be used if you have already obtained it. It is currently ***not available***.

## **Holly Barrier**

* PvZ2
* PvZ2C

Holly Barrier deals damage to zombies attacking him, and can launch 3 prickly barrier leaves to knock back and damage zombies.

## Almanac statistics

###  Sun cost

150 (international version)450 (Chinese version)

## In-game statistics

###  Unlocked

NA: $6.99 **·** EU: €5.49 **·** UK: £4.995 normal damage shots in a 1x1 area (berries)

### Costumes

Holly Barrier would like to advise folks not to eat his berries. "*It's rude to eat somebody's berries without asking*," he says. "*In addition, they are highly toxic.*"

**Holly Barrier** is a premium plant in *Plants vs. Zombies 2* that is tied to the 2017 Feastivus event. He acts like an Endurian, damaging zombies that attack him, as well as having the same amount of health as an Endurian. He also blocks flying zombies. Like Banana Launcher and Missile Toe, he can launch one of his small berries to a selected tile on the lawn when interacted with. The berries will damage and knock back zombies in a 3x3 area one tile. Tombstones hit by this blast will be heavily damaged, while zombies will only be lightly damaged. If the berries land on a tile free of obstacles like tombstones, it will leave a spiky barrier leaf on said tile that acts like an Endurian, but with half its health. Unlike Banana Launcher and Missile Toe, however, the berries don't recharge over time. Similar to Chard Guard’s leaves, though, the player can manually plant a Holly Barrier on top of one to restore his berries if they have Wall-nut First Aid or use Aloe to heal him.

The barriers count as plants, and add up to a maximum plant total, cannot be planted on water and can be revived by Intensive Carrot, but can still be launched at Imp Cannons to deal impact damage. Exclusive to the international version, zombies knocked back by the barriers can be instantly killed by Blover.

It was released in the Chinese version in the 2.3.5 update along with Alarm Arrowhead.

## Origins

He is based on both holly, a genus of flowering plants, and a barricade, an object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction.

His code name, Holly Knight, is a reference to the Christmas carol Silent Night (more specifically, the line "holy night"). It also references how Holly Barrier is both based on holly and is a defensive plant.

## Almanac entry

**Holly Barrier**

SUN COST: 150

RECHARGE: Sluggish

TOUGHNESS: Elevated

DAMAGE: Normal

SPECIAL: Knockback

SPECIAL: Barrier Strength

FAMILY: Reinforce-mint

Holly Barrier deals damage to zombies attacking him, and can launch 3 prickly barrier leaves to knock back and damage zombies.

Usage: tap to arm, tap on target tile to fire; can fire up to 3 barriers
Special: projectile knocks back, deals damage, leaves barrier on empty tiles

Holly Barrier would like to advise folks not to eat his berries. "It's rude to eat somebody's berries without asking," he says. "In addition, they are highly toxic."

## Upgrades

### Plant Food effect

When given Plant Food, Holly Barrier will regain all lost berries, and will launch four berries on random tiles. If they land on a tile without an obstacle, the spiky leaf will have metallic spikes attached to it, making it do more damage to zombies and giving it more health. And finally, it will heal to full health.

### Reinforce-mint effect

When boosted by Reinforce-mint, Holly Barrier can absorb an additional 5000 DPS, its leaves can absorb an additional 3000 DPS, its plant food leaves can absorb an additional 5000 DPS, and its plant food effect will activate.

### Level upgrades

\*This shows its damage to zombies attacking him, and the berries' damage after launching and exploding on impact, for both its normal and Plant Food berry, respectively.

^This shows the spiky barrier leaf's damage and toughness, respectively.

†This shows the Plant Food spiky barrier leaf's damage and toughness, respectively.

### Level upgrade (China only)

 Combat Training
 Cell Activation
 Fighting Power

#### Costume Plant Food

Same as the normal Plant Food effect, but one of the berries deal electric damage, dealing more damage.

## Strategies

Although Holly Barrier doesn't look great at first glance, Holly Barrier has a lot of hidden potential that can make the plant incredibly devastating. The main proponent of this is the fact that all of Holly Barrier's missiles knock back zombies around them in a 3x3 area when they land, in addition to leaving a decent HP wall that can also defend itself. Because of this, Holly Barrier is incredibly efficient at stalling zombies early in the game, and potentially stalling more dangerous groups of zombies, such as Gargantuars, later in the game. Due to Holly Barrier's minuscule offensive potential however, it should not be used in the same way as a Banana Launcher or Missile Toe, rather it should be used entirely on the merits of its utility and synergies. Due to the nature of Holly Barrier and its missiles, Holly Barrier can also function similarly to Endurian, but be weary that sometimes the knock back utility of its missiles might be a better option to utilize.

Holly Barrier has got quite a few synergies that really make the plant shine. Thanks to being a defensive plant, Wall-nut First Aid will work on Holly Barrier, allowing you to instantly replenish all of the leaves on the plant. Similarly to Chard Guard, Holly Barrier also has synergy with Aloe, whereupon Holly Barrier falling below half HP, Aloe will both heal him and restore any missing leaves, allowing Holly Barrier to both reutilize its knock back utility, as well as allowing it to better serve its role as an Endurian-like plant. Because Reinforce-mint triggers the Plant Food effects of all plants in its family when planted, Reinforce-mint can trigger the Plant Food effects of several Holly Barriers on the lawn, causing a ton of high-power barriers to be created, as well as causing several zombies on screen to both get knocked back and take a significant amount of damage. Finally, Blover has insane synergy with Holly Barrier thanks to Barrier's 3x3 knock back. When planted just before the barrier is about to drop on a group of zombies, Blover can instantly kill a 3x3 area of zombies as soon as the barrier drops, making this combo very efficient at clearing large amounts of zombies quickly, especially when comboed with other aforementioned synergies.

Although Holly Barrier can be quite self-sufficient, combining him with other defensive plants, such as Infi-nut and Primal Wall-nut, can create some incredibly devastating stalls that are often hard for the zombies to break. It's generally easier to use long-ranged plants with Holly Barrier, since its effect can be quite unpredictable, and can often block spots for close-ranged plants if used incorrectly.

Holly Barrier can be used to deal with Chicken Wrangler Zombies and Weasel Hoarders thanks to the barrier's high HP. Holly Barrier can also help stall zombies such as Excavator Zombies, Punk Zombie, or MC Zom-Bs due to their animations. If placed correctly, Holly Barrier can separate the Barrel Roller Zombie from its barrel. The barrier leaves can also be used as fodder for the All-Star Zombie.

Due to the nature of Holly Barrier, it is best not to use it in levels where you can't have more than a certain number of plants, or in levels where you can't lose plants. It also doesn't perform quite as well in Last Stand levels due to the limited amount of sun available.

The biggest weakness of Holly Barrier is that it can be difficult to use properly, due to the decision making needed, as well as knowledge of nuanced mechanics. Holly Barrier does also have a couple of weaknesses, namely that Breakdancer Zombies can kick past the barrier leaves and often into the Holly Barriers themselves, often creating problematic situations. Holly Barrier is also often a mediocre choice in Frostbite Caves due to the fact that both he and his missiles take space on the lawn, and since they're not immune to frost, they can often limit the space that you have to plant, a problem that can become exasperated if Troglobites are in the level.

## Trivia

* His internal name is "hollyknight", which references the popular Christian-Christmas song, "Silent Night".
* Even though has a sluggish recharge said in the Almanac, he has a mediocre recharge (15 seconds).

## See also

* Banana Launcher
* Missile Toe
* Endurian
* Cob Cannon

fr:Garde-houx