Shadow Peashooter


 * Not to be confused with Shadow of the Peashooter, a mission in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes.

Shadow Peashooter is a plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2. It attacks by shooting peas at zombies. It can also can pull a zombie into the ground when they get close, similar to Grimrose. When powered by a Moonflower, it shoots piercing bolts that slow down zombies similar to Stallia and its laser is fired down the entire lane like Laser Bean.

Plant Food effect
Shadow Peashooter has three Plant Food effects depending on the number of Moonflowers on the lawn.

If there are none or one Moonflower on the lawn, it shoots a small, shadowy pea in its lane that deals 900 damage to zombies in a 3x3 area.

If there are two Moonflowers on the lawn, it shoots a medium, shadowy pea that deals 900 damage to zombies in a 4x4 area.

If there are at least three Moonflowers in the lawn, it shoots a giant bomb with glowing white eyes and smile, named Spirit Bomb that makes an explosion that deals 900 damage to all zombies onscreen.

Strategies
Without Moonflower, this plant shoots shadowy peas that do as much damage as a normal pea. However, there are other straight shooters that do a better or just as well as a job, some just being a little bit cheaper in sun. On the other hand, this plant shines a lot when powered by Moonflower. Instead of a shadowy pea that hits the closest zombie in the lane, it fires a laser that damage all zombies in the lane, topped with a stalling effect. The laser can help defeat zombies grouped in lanes much quicker and the stalling effect of course slows zombies down.

This plant also has the ability to hide when a zombie gets close and then drag that zombie underground. When powered by Moonflower, it can drag down more zombies. There are benefits to this such as being able to deal with some of the high-health zombies, as well as being a saver when a zombie is going through your defenses. This can also have Shadow Peashooter be used as a substitute for Grimrose. However if you would rather want to use the plant as a shooter, it should be recommended to place this plant at the back behind other plants: even placing it behind one defensive plant would risk it hiding. Remember that Plant Food cannot be used when hiding.

Speaking of Plant Food, it is recommended to use Plant Food for powered Shadow Peashooters to damage more zombies, especially if you are facing large groups of zombies.

Shadow Peashooter makes for an interesting choice when dealing with large groups of Zombie Chickens and Ice Weasels. The laser it can shoot can do good enough damage to them but the previously said ability of hiding can hurt it when those zombies are too close. Another downside is that Shadow Peashooter will usually not be able to drag down very fast zombies in time, an example being unslowed, angered Newspaper Zombies. You will also notice that its projectiles when powered by Moonflower cannot be guarded by certain zombies such as Jester Zombies (they cannot deflect Shadow Peashooter's powered attacks) and Excavator Zombies (their powered attacks pierce through Excavator Zombies' shovels as they cannot block their powered attacks). Remember that their attacks do not damage zombies protected by Glitter Zombie's rainbow, just like all projectiles.

Although it can instantly defeat zombies by dragging them underground, remember that Shadow Peashooters cannot drag certain zombies to defeat them instantly such as Mecha-Football Zombies, Zombie Bulls, and Gargantuars , though it can deal damage when they approach it. Do note that Shadow Peashooters also disappear when these zombies approach it, as it will disappear while dealing against these zombies, not defeating them instantly.

It is not advisable to use this plant in levels where you cannot lose plants. Although it can drag certain zombies defeating instantly, it instantly disappears which counts as losing a plant, thus this is Shadow Peashooter's greatest weakness.

Trivia

 * Its powered Plant Food effects' explosion is the same as Nuclear Cucumber's but recolored from green to purple.