Rotobaga

Rotobaga is a plant appearing in Plants vs. Zombies 2. It is unlocked in the Frostbite Caves in the international version, and in the Castle in the Sky in the Chinese version.

Rotobaga hovers above the ground and shoots three tiny rutabagas diagonally at a fire rate identical to Peashooter. Because of its flying nature, Rotobaga can also be planted on water tiles in the Big Wave Beach without the aid of Lily Pad, and on air tiles in the Castle in the Sky.

Origins
Rotobaga is based on the plant Brassica napobrassica, also known as the rutabaga in English. Rutabagas are root vegetables that are a cross between turnips and cabbages, also known as "Yellow Turnips." Its name is a portmanteau of the aforementioned "rutabaga" and "rotor" (or "rotate"), referring to its hovering nature based on the rotors on its head.

Rotobaga is internally named "xshot" in the files of the games, referring to its firing pattern.

Almanac entry
Sun cost: 150

DAMAGE: Normal

RANGE: 4 Way

RECHARGE: Fast

Rotobagas shoot projectiles along the four diagonals, in each direction that has a target.

Range Details: fires in four directions

Sometimes Rotobaga hears the plants gossiping about each other. "Did you notice so-and-so has been putting on weight?" they might say. Or "I hear that so-and-so is dating so-and-so. Can you believe it?" But Rotobaga isn't the kind of plant to engage in idle gossip. She's not interested in talking about anyone behind their leaves. She does her best to just rise above it.

Plant Food effect
Rotobaga fires 15 huge rutabagas in its usual four directions that deal 3.5 damage each.

Costumed
When given Plant Food, Rotobaga will now shoot a large number of large pink rutabagas that deal double the damage of its regular effect.

Strategies
Rotobaga shares its role in the player's plant arsenal with Starfruit: as a projectile plant that specializes in attacking adjacent lanes rather than in the lane it is placed on. Compared to Starfruit, Rotobaga deals more damage and therefore will be able to deal with larger amount of enemies more easily. However, Starfruit's firing pattern allows it to attack zombies from a further range, as well as give it an edge in combating Prospector Zombie and enemies deployed by pterodactyls compared to Rotobaga. Regardless, both plants are relatively similar in function, and has little difference in terms of usage.

Another important feature of Rotobaga is that it can float over water in the Big Wave Beach, allowing it to be deployed without the need of Lily Pad. This makes Rotobaga a decent choice for stalling Fisherman Zombies, though using Infi-nut's Plant Food ability is clearly still a more favorable choice for the task. Rotobaga can also help other plants against Octo Zombies, as its attacking pattern and high damage output allows it to defeat thrown octopi quickly.

Because of its firing pattern, Rotobaga should be planted in a concave formation to maximize its potential. Rotobaga can also be used in conjunction with ice floes in the Frostbite Caves, or with plants that can divert enemies away from Rotobaga such as Garlic and Sweet Potato - however, it should be remembered that Ice Weasels and Dodo Rider Zombies can still bypass ice floes, and zombies that can crush or circumvent defense can override Garlic and Sweet Potato with little trouble. In the Dark Ages, Rotobagas should not be used against Jester Zombies as they can reflect Rotobaga's projectiles and turn them against the plants.

Rotobaga should also be kept in mind in the Wild West, as it's volleys of 3 projectiles can be useful against Chicken Wrangler Zombies

Trivia

 * Rotobaga and Ghost Pepper are the only non-aquatic plants that can be planted directly on the water in Big Wave Beach, as they can hover above ground and water.
 * When shooting, it will only shoot projectiles in the directions where there are zombies, unlike Threepeater and Starfruit that will send projectiles in all directions all the time as long as one zombie is in their range.
 * Rotobaga's leaves do not go over its seed packet in the Chinese version.
 * Sometimes when Plant Food is used on it, it makes the same noise that Starfruit makes when Plant Food is used on it.
 * Jester Zombie can deflect the Rotobaga's projectiles forward, but the projectiles will be facing downwards.
 * In the Chinese version, it was a monthly special plant, but it is now a Castle in the Sky plant. This makes it the only monthly special plant to be available normally later on.
 * As a result, it is one of the few plants to be obtained in a different area internationally, with most countries obtaining it in Frostbite Caves, but China obtaining it in Castle in the Sky.
 * In some cases on Frostbite Caves - Day 30, when the player plants a Rotobaga on certain tiles, it may shoot in a wrong direction instead of hitting Zombot Tuskmaster 10,000 BC's ice barriers.
 * It, A.K.E.E. and Fume-Shroom are the only plants that can reach a DPS (Damage per second) of 1.5.