Blooming Heart: Infatuating Zombies in Plants vs. Zombies 2
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The Blooming Heart is a unique plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2 that doesn’t attack directly but instead uses an intriguing mechanic: infatuation. Rather than dealing raw damage, Blooming Heart lobs projectiles that, upon impact, infatuate zombies. This infatuation effect causes zombies to take increasing damage with each subsequent hit from the same Blooming Heart. In essence, the more a zombie is targeted by Blooming Heart’s projectiles, the more vulnerable it becomes, creating a snowball effect of damage. This makes Blooming Heart particularly effective against stronger, higher-health zombies that can withstand the initial assault, requiring multiple hits to become more susceptible to her damage.
How Blooming Heart Works
Blooming Heart’s primary function is to infatuate zombies, not directly destroy them. This distinction is crucial in understanding its strategic value. Her projectiles fly in a high arc and will only affect the first zombie that the projectile collides with. Infatuated zombies become more vulnerable to the accumulative damage that is applied by additional projectiles lobbed by the same Blooming Heart. It’s important to place her strategically on the lawn, in areas where the infatuated zombies will be taking fire from her as frequently as possible. In short, she operates on a hit-based damage escalation.
The mechanics of the infatuation damage are quite interesting. The initial hit does minimal damage and applies the infatuated debuff. Subsequent projectiles launched by that same Blooming Heart will increase the damage inflicted onto the same zombie target. The damage multiplier is specific to the individual Blooming Heart and the targeted zombie, which means if a second blooming heart hits the same infatuated target, she will start her attack at the lowest damage multiplier. This allows multiple Blooming Hearts to focus down specific tough zombies and defeat them rather quickly, making her invaluable against tanks. This makes Blooming Heart an asset in protracted engagements, where zombies endure multiple hits and she has ample time to scale the damage.
Blooming Heart’s Strategic Advantages
- Progressive Damage: Blooming Heart excels against high-health zombies, such as Gargantuars or Knights. Because it does more damage the more a zombie is hit by its projectiles, it is very effective at taking down bulky targets.
- Area Denial: While not dealing area-of-effect damage directly, by infatuating one zombie, Blooming Heart can create a focal point for other plants, making it very effective at zoning and creating kill zones.
- Synergy: Blooming Heart works best when paired with other offensive plants. The cumulative damage from Blooming Heart complements the steady DPS of other plants.
- Lane Control: When placed near the front lines, it encourages zombies to slow down and take more damage while more damaging plants can take down the bulk of zombies in other lanes.
Blooming Heart’s Limitations
- Initial Low Damage: The starting damage is low, making it unsuitable for quick swarms of weak zombies, at least on her own.
- Single-Target Focused: Blooming Heart’s damage is heavily focused on one zombie target, this makes it less effective against groups of zombies than plants that deal AoE damage.
- Requires Strategic Placement: Blooming Heart needs a proper setup to take full advantage of her progressive damage. Poor placement leads to the projectiles being wasted.
- Vulnerable to Fast Zombies: Faster zombies can get too close to Blooming Heart before the damage can properly ramp up.
- Ineffective against Melee Units: Because of the projectiles arcing, she can be fairly ineffective at targeting melee units that are close by.
- Ineffective on Multiple Targets: Damage is specific to her hits, as such, she is less effective on multiple targets at once.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the base cost of Blooming Heart?
Blooming Heart costs 200 sun to plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2.
2. What is the recharge time for Blooming Heart?
Blooming Heart has a moderate recharge time.
3. Can Blooming Heart’s projectiles miss?
Yes, Blooming Heart’s projectiles can miss, particularly if the target moves out of range or is taken down by other plants before the projectile lands. However, the projectiles will never miss if they are directly in the line of the projectile.
4. Does Blooming Heart’s infatuation work on all types of zombies?
Blooming Heart works on the vast majority of zombies, but may be ineffective against very fast zombies that can rush past the projectile and not allow for the damage escalation.
5. How many hits does it take for Blooming Heart to reach maximum damage?
The number of hits it takes to reach maximum damage varies, but it’s generally around five to seven hits per zombie, though this is only an estimation.
6. Does Planting multiple Blooming Hearts on one target increase the damage faster?
No, the damage escalation is specific to each Blooming Heart. Planting multiple Blooming Hearts on one target will cause each Blooming Heart to start at its base damage multiplier. This does not increase the speed at which an individual Blooming Heart will escalate her damage.
7. How is Blooming Heart different from other projectile-based plants?
Blooming Heart differs from other projectile plants by not doing direct damage; instead, she focuses on infatuation and progressive damage, making her more of a support attacker.
8. Does Blooming Heart’s infatuation have any visual effect on zombies?
Yes, infatuated zombies are surrounded by a pinkish glow, indicating their vulnerability to further hits from the Blooming Heart that infatuated them.
9. What is the best strategy to use Blooming Heart effectively?
The best strategy is to place her at the front or middle lane, allowing her to infatuate zombies for the longest period of time while other offensive plants eliminate the rest of the threat.
10. How does Blooming Heart fare in endless mode?
Blooming Heart is highly valuable in endless mode due to its ability to ramp up damage against high-health zombies and tanks, which are prevalent in the later levels.
11. Can Blooming Heart be boosted by plant food?
Yes, when boosted by plant food, Blooming Heart launches a rapid barrage of infatuating projectiles at all the zombies on the lawn. The damage still only applies to the single target zombies she hits with each projectile.
12. What is the origin of Blooming Heart in real life?
Blooming Heart is based on the bleeding heart flower (Lamprocapnos spectabilis), which is known for its heart-shaped flowers. Her name is also a portmanteau of “bloom,” the name for one or more flowers on a plant, and “bleeding heart”.
13. Is the Bleeding Heart plant poisonous?
Yes, bleeding heart plants contain isoquinoline alkaloids which are toxic to humans and animals. Although it’s not common, this can cause damage when ingested.
14. What worlds in PvZ 2 is Blooming Heart most effective?
Blooming Heart is versatile and can be effective in most worlds, but is particularly useful in worlds with tougher, higher-health zombies that take multiple hits to destroy.
15. Can Blooming Heart’s damage be enhanced by other plant abilities?
While her damage isn’t directly boosted by other offensive abilities, the synergy with other offensive plants make her more viable on the field, so she can have an easier time ramping up her damage on her target zombie. Her overall damage can be increased by boosting her with plant food, which will allow her to hit more targets much faster, increasing the damage output.