Imp Porter


 * For other versions, see Imp (disambiguation).

Imp Porter is the eleventh zombie encountered in the Lost City. It has the ability to set up tents on Gold Tiles that will spawn the three basic zombies of Lost City, however after setting, the Imp Porter also get killed as it is crushed by the tent. The time between two zombies spawning from a tent is approximately ten seconds. If an Imp Porter is killed before establishing a tent, it drops a backpack on a tile and it acts as a gravestone that Grave Busters cannot destroy. In the Chinese version of the game, the Imp Porter can set up tents on tunnels that appear when the Lost Guide Zombie opens them, making all zombies that spawn from the tent go straight into the tunnel, appearing from the other side. The tent is an environment modifier.

Almanac entry
TOUGHNESS: Protected

SPEED: Basic

Drops pack on Gold Tile; pack becomes tent from which zombies emerge.

Imp Porter is stronger than he looks. He's also more charming, smarter and has a better education.

Overview
Imp Porter absorbs 16 normal damage shots and degrades upon absorbing 8 normal damage shots before dying at 16 normal damage shots.

Encounters
Player's House: Piñata Party

Lost City: Days 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, Temple of Bloom, "Rescue the Gold Bloom" Epic Quest - Step 8, and "Aloe, Salut!" Epic Quest - Steps 6, 7, and 8

Modern Day: Days 6 and 34

Strategies
With the right strategies, Imp Porter ends up being one of the easiest zombies in Lost City to tackle. Certainly the best solution is to kill it before it deploys its tent. Gold Tiles in later Lost City levels, while close to the right side of the lawn, still give the player enough time to get rid of Imp Porter before it becomes a bigger threat. Ghost Pepper or Lava Guava are particularly good at dealing with it this way. Also, Blover can blow away it and its backpack if it is in the air. Garlic can direct it to lanes where there are no gold tiles, making their special ability useless. You also could use an Iceberg Lettuce or other plants with the ice effect to stop it in its tracks, or simply slow it down. Just make sure that it is in front when you do this.

It will be a rare situation where the player kills an Imp Porter before it encounters a Gold Tile. As this rarely happens unless the player has very strong plants, it is bound to leave its backpack behind which acts like a tombstone. It is not deniable that they are a smaller threat than camps, but the player should still take notice, especially if they are using straight-shooting plants without an area-of-effect. In higher levels of Temple of Bloom, however, they are one of the most dangerous things that can cause a game over, even in non-Gargantuar levels. The high amount of dropped tents will prevent planting on many tiles, and plants like Ghost Pepper get frequently killed because of them. The way to stop this is to set up a strong defense as soon as possible, even if it is limited to the left side of the lawn such as Winter Melons or instant kills. To counter this, you can go to the Zen Garden to take the Imp Porter away from the seed selection screen. Be wary that this may cause Gargantuars to show up, though. As a quick defense, using Chomper or Toadstool is a good idea as they can devour both the Imp and the pack.

Lastly, the camps Imp Porter sets up are its main highlight and most dangerous ability. As they can spawn Adventurer Coneheads and Adventurer Bucketheads, they can block the projectiles of most straight-shooting plants and even overrun defenses. Worse, if they reach to the third column or closer from the left (with the lawn mowers), they will make zombies much harder to kill that it will reach your lawn mowers or your house. The spawning rate of zombies is also not slow, so the player should act fast. Instant kills are good, but they are not reliable due to their usually slow recharge. Imitater may be able to slightly remedy this, but in Temple of Bloom, not even instant kills may be viable. More expensive plants like Winter Melon deal excellent splash damage which takes care of them rather quickly. Plants that can hit multiple targets such as Laser Bean, Fume-shroom, Snapdragon, Guacodile, or Cactus are great choices for destroying the tent and the zombies in front of it. Electric Currants can damage the tent while other offensive plants deal with the zombies spawned by it. Alternatively, the player should use slowing plants like Stallia or Stunion to delay the incoming zombies while their regular defense has enough time and firepower to destroy the camps.

Using Spore-shroom is a good idea against this zombie. Because of its ability to spawn newly Spore-shrooms instead of letting them drop their backpack making them a good use. However, you should watch out for Parasol Zombie. Better still, you should use Lava Guava to help you support Spore-shroom.

Due to its ability to set up its tent on tunnels in the Chinese version, it has become even more dangerous should the player should see the Lost Guide Zombie in a level. If this happens, block off the tunnels opened by the Lost Guide Zombie using a Jackfruit, to prevent zombies from appearing from the other end.

Offensive plants such as Wall-nut can blockade the Gold Tile, making it not be able to get to the tile, unless the plant is removed. Infi-nut's Plant Food effect is a good choice for this, as it also stops other Lost City zombies from going past the force field.

Trivia

 * Its name is a play on the word "importer."
 * It appears on Days 18 and 32 of Lost City, Day 34 of Modern Day, some Piñata Parties, and Step 7 in the Epic Quest, "Aloe, Salut!", even though there are no Gold Tiles on those levels or the player cannot use Gold Leaves.
 * The backpack might be a reason because when the Imp Porter drops it when it is killed, it will act like an obstacle for straight shot plants.
 * It is currently the Imp with the most toughness and the least speed.
 * Its noises are different compared to most imps. The sounds it makes are similar to when a Zombie Bull Rider is about to be launched by the Zombie Bull.
 * If it gets killed in the last column or before, where the zombies enter the lawn, the backpack will self-destruct or destroyed instantly. This also happens when there is a backpack or tent already behind it and the player plants any single use plants while they are setting a tent on a Gold Tile or on a tile where the backpack will drop.
 * A hypnotized Imp Porter will not drop his backpack on a Gold Tile, instead it will ignore the Gold Tile.
 * It is similar to Arcade Zombie, as both summon the basic trio with an object (on Imp Porter's case, its tent. In Arcade Zombie's case, its arcade machine).
 * Placing ground plants on the Gold Tiles does not prevent Imp Porters from setting camp.
 * If the player uses a Hurrikale when the zombie is dropping its backpack or switches to another lane and touches a Gold Tile by only a few steps, the tent could spawn on a regular tile.
 * This can also be done by Primal Peashooter's knockback effect.
 * The player can also kill the Imp Porter while it is dropping its backpack and setting up its tent.
 * In the Travel Log, it is called "Imp Porter Zombie".
 * If it is killed with an explosive plant such as Cherry Bomb or with electrical plants such as the Lightning Reed or a Power Zap, it will burn into ashes and its backpack will instantly disappear.
 * It will keep going while walking on the Gold Tile if there is another tent already occupying that tile.
 * If timed correctly, when they set a tent and the player plants on a Gold Tile, the plant that placed there will be killed.
 * It is one of two zombies that can be killed without damage from a plant or Zombot, the other being Announcer Imp, which is crushed by Zombie King. Coincidentally, they are all Imps, and the object that kills them can make other kind of zombies (Zombie King can make Knight Zombies, and tent can make Basic/Conehead or Bucket Zombies)