Blover


 * For the version in Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars, see Blover (PvZ: AS).

Blover is a single-use plant appearing in both main series Plants vs. Zombies games, Plants vs. Zombies: Journey to the West and Plants vs. Zombies: Great Wall Edition. In the first game, it can be used to blow away fogs on screen, along with any Balloon Zombies, instantly killing them in the process. This makes it an environment modifier. Note that any physically airborne zombies such as airborne Imps will not be blown away in Plants vs Zombies, but will be in Plants vs Zombies 2. However, in the second game, it is used to blow away airborne zombies and to blow away Dandelion's seeds. This leaves the Dandelion defenseless for 10 seconds until its seeds grow back.

Origins
Blover is based on the shamrock, a young sprig of the clover, a group of plants belonging to the genus Trifolium. Its name is a portmanteau of the words "clover," the plant this is based on and "blow," referring to Blover's ability to generate wind that can blow airborne threats away.

Plants vs. Zombies
Blover is obtained by completing Level 4-3. Shortly after being planted, Blover will generate a strong burst of wind by using its leaves as fans, blowing away and instantly killing all Balloon Zombies as well as repelling present fog from the screen for 15 to 20 seconds. Blover does not work against other technically flying enemies, such as Imps thrown by Gargantuars.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Blover is unlocked after beating Far Future - Day 3. Due to the improvements of the physics in Plants vs. Zombies 2, Blover is now capable of propelling all airborne enemies - this includes normally grounded zombies bounced by Spring Bean, Chard Guard, level 5+ Stallia, propelled by Breakdancer Zombies or dinosaurs, temporarily airborne by Primal Peashooter or flicked by Power Toss. Under normal conditions, Blover can blow away the following enemies:
 * Seagull Zombie
 * Zombie Parrot
 * Prospector Zombie (while flying)
 * Jetpack Zombie and Disco Jetpack Zombie
 * Blastronaut Zombie
 * Dodo Rider Zombie (while flying)
 * Bug Zombie
 * Balloon Zombie
 * Swashbuckler Zombie (while swinging)
 * Airborne Imps
 * Relic Hunter Zombie (while swinging)

In Far Future - Day 25, Far Future - Day 35, and Far Future - Ultimate Challenge, Blover can be used to stop Zombot Tomorrow-tron's charge attack. In the Chinese Dark Ages, Blover can also repel fog, like in the first game.

Plants vs. Zombies
Blover

Blovers blow away all balloon zombies and fog.

Usage: single use, instant

Special: blows away all balloon zombies

When Blover was five he got a shiny new birthday cake. Blover made his wish, huffed and puffed, but was able to extinguish only 60% of the candles. Instead of giving up, though, he's used that early defeat as a catalyst to push himself harder ever since.

Cost: 100

Recharge: fast

Plants vs. Zombies
Blover serves two primary objectives: As a defensive method against approaching Balloon Zombies, and as a tool for clearing fog obstructing the player's field of vision. While each task can be done by other standing plants, Blover's relatively quick recharge rate as well as its ability to do the two aforementioned tasks at the same time makes Blover a very useful instant-use plant, especially in Fog levels.

Compared to other plants that can also shoot down incoming Balloon Zombies such as Cactus and Cattail, Blover suffers from being an instant plant and therefore requiring significantly more sun to maintain over time. On the other hand, Blover is the only plant that can defeat an infinite amount of Balloon Zombies, and does not require a (permanent) planting space that can otherwise be devoted to more powerful offensive plants. This also applies when Blover is measured against Plantern - while two Planterns only require 50 sun and can give full vision of the lawn, using Blover will save the player up to two tiles for planting more useful plants.

Whether to use Blovers or not in normal levels is mostly a matter of preference. This does not apply in Survival: Endless however, as zombie density will rapidly increase over time and Cactus and Cattail will get overwhelmed at higher flags - in this case, Blover will be the player's only effective solution.

It should be noted that Blover is not invulnerable, and Gargantuars, Giga-gargantuars, Zombonis and Squash Zombies can destroy Blover like any other plant.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
As the physics engine has been updated, Blover has been made much more flexible in that it can kill all airborne threats - a clever player can use this to subjugate entire hordes of zombies, including Gargantuars, with a single Blover. In addition, the amount of flying zombies has also been increased. Due to these reasons, Blover's significance in the player's plant arsenal has been greatly raised.

In Far Future, Blover is introduced as a counter against Jetpack Zombie and his disco counterpart, giving breathing room for other offensive plants and temporarily nullifying Disco-tron 3000's ability. Blover is also an effective plant in Pirate Seas, as most of the threats in this world such as Seagull Zombies, Swashbuckler Zombies and Zombie Parrots are naturally airborne. It is suggested that the player unlocks Blover first in the Far Future before attempting to play Pirate Seas, as Blover will make the latter world much easier. In Frostbite Caves, Blover is useful in defeating Dodo Rider Zombie.

Blover can also be an effective plant in the Lost City, as it counters two zombies that can be otherwise dangerous without it; Bug Zombies, which fly past defenses and drop zombies when defeated, especially while carrying Buckethead Adventurer Zombies, and Relic Hunter Zombies which can drop down anywhere from the fourth to the sixth column and demolish offensive plants due to their high toughness. It should be remembered that Blover will also free trapped Lost Pilot Zombies, allowing them to walk earlier than usual.

A particularly deadly combination is to use Blover in tandem with a boosted Spring Bean. As Spring Bean will render all zombies airborne for a brief period, this combination can instantly defeat all enemies on the lawn, with the only exceptions of Imp Cannon, Fisherman Zombie and Zombie King. This strategy can be used in any normal level as well as Endless Zones excluding Pyramid of Doom, Arthur's Challenge, Icebound Battleground, and Tiki Torch-er, as Blover cannot be obtained there, as long as the player has access to Power Lily or the level provides sufficient Plant Food. The main challenge in utilizing this combo is precise timing; Blover should be planted right when Spring Bean is at its highest point. It should also be noted that this combination does not work in the Chinese version.

A Level 5 or higher Stallia is also excellent and extremely deadly combination with Blover. At level 5, Stallia knocks back a 3x3 area of zombies when triggered, the only zombies immune being those mentioned above. Combined with the Blover, this allows the player to instantly kill groups of zombies at a cheap cost, and without the need of Plant Food. The timing needs to be extremely precise, however, as the Blover must be planted as soon as the Stallia is planted.

There are several plants that Blover can team up with. Spring Bean (As mentioned above), Level 5+ Stallia (mentioned above), Primal Peashooter and Chard Guard are the most common three. Chard Guard can be used against a group of zombies or a Gargantuar, as it will fling them in the air, allowing Blover to quickly dispatch of them. Primal Peashooter is the least effective, because it costs more than the other two, has a slow fire rate, it requires several Primal Peashooters to be effective, which is costly, and it has a chance of stunning them, rather than pushing them back, which is the effect that the Blover needs to push them back, so it is not preferred.

One thing to be careful about is with Blover's delay, as the wind effect only takes place when Blover starts to blow. Because of this, precise timing and plenty of practice is advised, especially when the player is attempting to kill zombies with little airborne time, such as zombies lifted by Chard Guard, Primal Peashooter's peas or Spring Bean, or Imps launched by Gargantuars or Imp Cannons. You can also use it with Dandelion for a combo.

General

 * It, Four-Leaf Blover, Shamrock, Shamrockstar, Plucky Clover, and Fan Blover are all based on clovers.
 * It, Ice-shroom, and Thyme Warp are the only plants that have a "Full Board" area.
 * Homing Thistle and Cattail technically have it too, but they only affect one zombie at a time.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * Unlike most plants, whose out-of-combat animations have two beats (up and down or side to side movement), it has three (left, middle, and right). This also happens to Gold Magnet, but much slower and shorter.
 * It and Flower Pot are the only level-specified plants that can also be used and planted in other levels (But considered useless in other levels without Balloon Zombies).
 * However. Blover isn't highlighted as "Not Recommended" plant in non-fog or stage without Ballon Zombies.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * It is not obtainable in Pyramid of Doom, Arthur's Challenge and Tiki Torch-er, due to the lack of airborne zombies to blow (except Imps thrown by Gargantuars, zombies bounced by Spring Beans, zombies thrown from Chard Guards and zombies knocked back by Primal Peashooters).
 * In the older versions, it was not obtainable in Icebound Battleground.
 * This makes it the first plant to have had its Endless Zone availability changed. The second one is Thyme Warp.
 * It is the only Far Future obtained plant that returned from the first game.
 * In its Almanac entry, Bulb Fiction is a reference to Pulp Fiction, Rooty is a parody of Rocky, and Finding Flower is a parody of Finding Nemo.
 * In the earlier updates, it would instantly blow zombies away when planted. This was later changed and zombies will now only get blown off when its leaves start turning. However, this has not been changed in the Chinese version.
 * In the Chinese version, it cannot be used in Sky City levels. The same applies to E.M.Peach, Bamboo Shoot, Freeze Mushroom, Sap-fling, Hurrikale, Agave, and Jackfruit.
 * The likely reason it is not allowed in Sky City is because all zombies in the world are airborne, which is what Blover is meant to counter. Thus, if it was allowed, it would blow away all zombies, making it the easiest world in the series.
 * Octopi (thrown by Octo Zombie) and Zombot Tomorrow-tron (while jumping) are the only airborne objects that can't be blown away by Blover.
 * Using Blover while Lost Pilot Zombies are hanging in the air will make them fall to the ground.
 * Blover's recharge time is shown to be "Sluggish" in the almanac even though it's in-game recharge time is "Fast."

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies Online

 * It uses its blowing sound from the first game.
 * It is the only Far Future plant that cannot be obtained in Adventure Mode.