Spore-shroom

Spore-shroom is a mushroom and the fifth plant obtained in Neon Mixtape Tour in Plants vs. Zombies 2. It was first revealed in the Neon Mixtape Tour Side B developer diary. It was then shown in the Neon Mixtape Tour Side B trailer, along with some gameplay.

When a zombie is killed by Spore-shroom's projectile, its body will shrink and disappear and another Spore-shroom will be spawned in its place, in the Chinese version, if Spore-shroom is level 2 and above, it will create another random mushroom, provided that the tile it died on is unoccupied by other plants or lawn obstacles. Spore-shrooms spawned in this method do not provide sun when dug up.

Origins
Spore-shroom's name and ability are references to how mushrooms reproduce by spores and how they tend to multiply quickly in a proper environment, such as rotting excrement or the decaying carcass of a flat land animal.

Plant Food effect
When fed with Plant Food, Spore-shroom fires three giant projectiles at three different zombies, each doing 90 damage and if a spore defeated its target, it will spawn a new Spore-shroom on the tile occupied by the target.

Costumed
Spore-shroom fires four giant projectiles instead of three.

Strategies
Because of its ability to create copies of itself from defeated zombies, Spore-shroom will allow the player to quickly build up defenses without having to spend sun that could be used for more expensive plants such as Winter Melon. Spore-shrooms are useful against Imp Cannon as defeated Imp Pirate Zombies will turn into new Spore-shrooms, allowing more attacks to destroy it. It is also useful when many Imps appeared at the beginning of the level. Its spores can bypass frozen blocks and arcade machines (unless these obstructions are right in front of it, blocking its attack), attacking the zombies and eventually defeating them. However, Spore-shroom in actuality will rarely be able to utilize its ability to its full potential, as its spawning mechanic means that newly created Spore-shrooms can be placed right next to the horde and usually get eaten in seconds.

Spore-shroom can prove itself useful is Lost City - not only can it defeat Excavator Zombies, but the newly spawned Spore-shrooms will also serve as distraction as the Excavator Zombie will continue to shovel them up. Spore-shroom can also counter Imp Porters and Bug Zombie because when it defeats them, they, along with what they carry, turn into Spore-shrooms, rather than dropping their equipment. Of course, like most lobbed-shot plants, Spore-shroom is ineffective against Parasol Zombies even if it were boosted.

It is not a good idea to use Spore-shroom on levels with either a limit on present or defeated plants as it can make copies of itself, even on unwanted spots where it will likely get destroyed very fast. Last Stand levels and levels with a sun quota however, are great levels to use Spore-shroom due to the fact making copies of themselves does not count as using sun.

It is not recommended to use Spore-shroom in Big Wave Beach levels, as when it defeats a zombie from water, the newly created ones will sink in the waves, rendering the ability useless. However, it can be useful if the player has Lily Pads all over the lawn, as the newly created Spore-shrooms will stay on the Lily Pads and will not fall in the water.

Trivia

 * It is the only plant that is able to produce copies of itself without Plant Food.
 * It is the first mushroom to be introduced in a world outside of Dark Ages. It shares this trait with Perfume-shroom and Shadow-shroom.
 * It is the third to last mushroom introduced to the series. The last mushroom introduced is the Shadow-shroom and the second to last mushroom is Perfume-shroom.
 * Its Almanac entry is a reference to its ability, and how it "adds" more plants on the lawn or how it "multiplies" in numbers.
 * If there is an obstacle in front of it and there are zombies in its lane, its projectile will be blocked and absorbed by the obstacle instead. The same problem is applied with Strawburst.
 * This is also true if the player feeds it with Plant Food when there are zombies right in front of it before the 4.1.1 update.
 * It is the first, and currently only, lobbed-shot plant that is a mushroom in the series.
 * This also makes it the second lobbed-shot plant not to have an characteristic catapult shape, with the first being A.K.E.E.
 * If the zombie defeated by it is standing between two tiles, the new Spore-shroom will always spawn on the left tile.
 * In the 4.0.1 update, despite being obtained after Garlic, it was positioned before it on the seed selection screen and the Almanac.
 * It does not turn objects like tombstones, surfboards, frozen blocks, tents, backpacks, and arcade machines into additional Spore-shrooms. In some cases, when it kills a zombie that is on the same tile as the object, a Spore-shroom may spawn on top of the aforementioned objects.
 * This is a glitch that may sometimes happen if a zombie is killed while being on the same tile as the object.
 * The face on its paper bag costume resembles the character Plank from Ed, Edd n Eddy.
 * If a spawned Spore-shroom is revived by Intensive Carrot, it will still refund sun when dug up.
 * This is most likely because sun is still spent when the Intensive Carrot is planted.
 * However, it refunds the amount of sun relative to Spore-shroom's sun cost, rather than Intensive Carrot's.
 * When it attacks a zombie that has lost its head, but that zombie is technically not dead yet to the game's engine, the zombie will still shrink but will not produce a Spore-shroom.
 * It is one of the six mushrooms not to be obtained in the Dark Ages, with the others being Hypno-shroom, Toadstool, Magic Mushroom, Perfume-shroom, and Shadow-shroom.
 * It produces a spore cloud each time it fires.
 * This makes it the second plant that can create spore clouds, the first being Alien Flower.
 * However, the spore clouds made by it are purely for aesthetic purposes and do not affect the zombies.
 * It's plant food ability does not target the Zombot Multi-stage Masher and Zombot Aerostatic Gondola (Modern Day - Day 34).


 * At level 2 and up (Chinese version), Spore-shroom can spawn all other mushroom except Hypno-shroom, Toadstool and Perfume-shroom.
 * The reason Hypno-shroom and Toadstool can't be spawn is still a mystery, while Perfume-shroom is a world-exclusive plant so it can't be spawned.

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