How to Beat the Kicking Zombie: A Comprehensive Guide
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The dreaded kicking zombie, often a Breakdancer Zombie or a similarly-behaving foe, can be a real pain in any zombie-themed game. Their ability to punt your defenses away makes them a unique challenge that requires specific strategies to overcome. The core of defeating a kicking zombie lies in understanding their mechanics: they kick plants and sometimes even other zombies out of the way, often towards the back of your line or off the lawn entirely. This disrupts your setup and allows other zombies to advance. To effectively counter them, you need a combination of prevention, disruption, and counter-kicking tactics.
Core Strategies for Handling Kicking Zombies
Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of the best strategies to use:
Slow Them Down
- Slowing Plants: Use plants that slow down zombies to give you more time to deal with the kicking threat. Plants like Iceberg Lettuce or Stunion can temporarily freeze or stun a kicking zombie, preventing it from kicking anything. These are especially useful if placed right in front of the kicker, as a stunned or frozen zombie cannot kick. This gives you time to damage or destroy it with other plants.
Block or Redirect the Kicks
- Repelling Plants: Employ plants such as Primal Peashooters, Chard Guards, or Hurrikales to repel any zombie kicked by the kicker. These plants will either push kicked zombies back or blow them away completely, negating the disruptive effects of the kicking action.
- Strategic Plant Placement: Anticipate the kicking zombie’s path. If it kicks to the left, and you have a strong defense line at the left, it is good to let it keep kicking to the left. Make sure that the left is a “no-go” zone for the zombies.
Exploit Weaknesses
- Instant Kill Plants: Some kicking zombies have specific weaknesses that can be exploited. For instance, if dealing with the Breakdancer Zombie, you should know that it can be killed instantly by Magnet-shroom, which pulls its metal head off, making the use of Magnet-shrooms very effective when fighting these zombies.
- Area of Effect Attacks: Use plants that inflict area damage to bypass the kicking mechanic, preventing the zombie from kicking altogether, especially if the area-effect attack does enough damage to destroy the zombie.
The Power of Garlic
- Redirecting the Kicker: For a kicking zombie that is connected to another object like a machine, such as the Arcade Zombie, using Garlic directly on the kicking zombie will often separate it from the machine, making it vulnerable. This disrupts their synergistic abilities and makes it easier to pick them off.
Additional Tips and Tricks
- Preemptive Defense: Build a solid defense line that can withstand a few kicks. Don’t rely solely on single-use or vulnerable plants, which the kicking zombies can quickly eliminate.
- Focus Fire: When a kicking zombie appears, prioritize it over other threats, at least temporarily. Concentrated fire from your most powerful plants can quickly eliminate it before it causes too much disruption.
- Adapt Your Strategy: The specific type of kicking zombie and the game environment can alter which plants are most effective. Pay attention to the specifics and adjust your strategy accordingly.
- Use Plant Food Wisely: Save your Plant Food for critical moments when you need a burst of power or immediate stun/freeze.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What makes kicking zombies so difficult to deal with?
Kicking zombies are challenging because they disrupt your carefully planned defenses by moving plants out of their placement or by repositioning other zombies. This forces you to react quickly and adapt your strategy, instead of continuing a good defense or offense that you had set up previously.
2. Can a kicking zombie kick other zombies?
Yes, in some cases, kicking zombies can kick other zombies, including those that are very strong. This can sometimes lead to unexpected offensive formations by the zombies if the kicker is not managed properly.
3. Are all kicking zombies vulnerable to Magnet-shroom?
No. While the Breakdancer Zombie is specifically vulnerable to Magnet-shroom due to its metal head, not all kicking zombies will share this weakness. You need to know what zombie you are dealing with to apply the proper counter strategy.
4. How can I counter the damage caused by kicked plants?
Focus on using plants with high durability or area-of-effect attacks, or plants that can quickly re-grow after being kicked. Also, remember that sometimes a plant will be kicked to another location that will be more effective for it.
5. Is it worth using a single-use plant against a kicking zombie?
It depends on the situation and how vulnerable other parts of your line of defense are. A strategically placed single-use plant like a Potato Mine right in front of the kicker can be worthwhile to buy time or to take it out quickly. However, do not solely depend on this strategy.
6. What are the best “repelling” plants against kicking zombies?
Primal Peashooters, Chard Guards, and Hurrikales are effective repelling plants. Primal Peashooters push zombies back and deal good damage, while Chard Guards can block and push, and Hurrikales can blow away multiple zombies.
7. Does freezing a zombie prevent it from kicking?
Yes, a frozen zombie cannot kick. Using plants such as Iceberg Lettuce or Stunion to freeze or stun a zombie before it kicks is a useful strategy to mitigate the harm that they can inflict.
8. How do I handle a wave with multiple kicking zombies?
When you face a wave of multiple kicking zombies, spread your defense with slow, repetitive damage in order to focus on the main threats. Make good use of area-of-effect attacks, and have plants available to act as buffers, or use the plants that can push back or blow the zombies.
9. Does the kicking distance of a zombie vary?
Yes, the kicking distance of a zombie can vary depending on the type of kicking zombie you are facing. It’s important to understand the specific ranges for each foe in order to properly protect your line of defense.
10. Can I use walls to stop kicking zombies?
Walls can be used to buy time, but kicking zombies can still kick the wall. It is best to use the walls to have the wall block other zombies while the area attack and/or instant-kill plants do their work.
11. How can I make the most of a Magnet-shroom?
Magnet-shrooms should be placed strategically near kicking zombies with metallic parts to instantly remove their heads and/or eliminate their kicking abilities if their metallic parts are necessary for their kicking actions.
12. What is a good early game strategy against kicking zombies?
Use slow-down or stun plants as your first layer of defense against the kicking zombie. It will buy you time to set up a more permanent strategy.
13. Are there special levels or modes where kicking zombies are more common?
Yes, some game modes will have an increased frequency of kicking zombies. Be prepared to adapt your strategy based on your game mode.
14. Does Garlic work on all kicking zombies?
No, garlic only affects zombies that bite them. If you are fighting a kicking zombie that doesn’t eat the garlic, then it will have no effect on it. However, if the kicking zombie is attached to a machine, garlic can separate it from the machine.
15. Can kicked plants be recovered or replanted?
Yes, once plants are kicked they can often be re-planted to be used again in the same game. Use instant planting plants to recover more quickly from a kicking zombie attack.
By understanding the mechanics of the kicking zombies and employing the right strategies, you can effectively counter this type of threat and successfully defend your lawn!