Prospector Zombie

*Launches over your defenses when his fuse burns down.*

"There once was a zombie who got old, spending all his days looking for gold. 'Til one day in the rain, he finally ate the brains… and, wait, where's his other shoe?"

**Prospector Zombie** is the first special zombie encountered in Wild West in *Alternate UniverZ*. His dynamite detonates after the zombie reaches the second column from the right, launching him behind the player's defenses. He then turns around, and after 2.5 seconds, he eats his way back to the right side of the screen.

## Almanac entry

**Prospector Zombie**

TOUGHNESS: Average

SPEED: Stiff

Launches over your defenses when his fuse burns down.

Health: 190
Speed: 0.86
Special Ability: his dynamite explodes after 10 seconds, launching him to the leftmost column facing the opposite side, stunning him for 2.5 seconds
Weakness: cold attacks extinguish the dynamite

"There once was a zombie who got old, spending all his days looking for gold. 'Til one day in the rain, he finally ate the brains… and, wait, where's his other shoe?"

## Overview

Prospector Zombie absorbs 190 damage and degrades upon an absorption of 95 damage before dying at 190 damage.

## Encounters

* Player's House: Piñata Party

* Wild West: WW-I, WW-II, WW-IV, WW-V, WW-VII, WW-VIII, WW-IX, WW-X, WWX-I, WWX-III, WWX-IV, WWX-V, WWX-IX and WWX-X

* Summer Splashdown: SS-IV

* The Breakroom: TB-I

* Plant Showcase: Ultimate Destruction

* Timeless Avenue: Netronome and Birthday Blowup

* Invaded Levels: Invaded AEX-VIII, Invaded WW-IV and Invaded WWX-IX

* Endless Zones: Big Bad Butte

* Veteran Quests: Old Noon Flashback and Defuse Chaos

## Strategies

Alone, Prospector Zombie does not pose much of a threat as he does not have much health. However, he is very dangerous in huge waves as he can easily utilize his speed as an advantage to hide behind other strong zombies, such as Pianist Zombie, Buckethead Cowboy and Zombie Bull, ensuring that they absorb all of the plants' projectiles. You should kill this zombie as fast as possible or he will end up destroying your backmost defenses. Good choices to destroy this zombie include Split Pea, Starfruit, Rotobaga or Bonk Choy, since they can attack forward and backward. In fact, Split Pea is given right after this zombie appears. You can also disable the dynamite's fuse by cooling it using chilling plants like Iceberg Lettuce, Winter Melon, or Snow Pea. However, take note that Poncho Zombie is immune to chill, protecting Prospector Zombies effectively from chilling. You can also stun him with butter from a Kernel-pult, giving you more time. Using Plant Food on any lobbing plant can be a last resort, as they target every zombie on screen. While they are blasted to the left, you can use Blover to blow them away, as they count as flying zombies when blasted. Blocking him with defensive plants while his dynamite is active is not a good idea, as it will not stop him from being blasted. Laser Beans and Fume-shrooms are a good idea as they can target all zombies in their lane or damage area, which allows them to eliminate this zombie before he is able to launch himself. Two columns of Spikeweeds or a column Spikerocks also neutralise all Prospector Zombies from being blasted.