Bowling Bulb


 * For the Brain Buster, see Bulb Bowling.

Bowling Bulb is the third plant obtained in Big Wave Beach in Plants vs. Zombies 2. It can roll one at a time up to three types of bulbs with varying damage and recharge rate that bounces between zombies similar to Wall-nuts in Wall-nut Bowling. The order of the bulbs is aquamarine first, then blue, and finally orange.

The aquamarine bulb is the weakest and has the shortest recharge time, and the orange one is the strongest and has the longest recharge time. However, the Bowling Bulb will only use its blue and orange bulb if enough time is given in between each time a zombie enters the lane that it is in, except for submerged Snorkel Zombies which the plant will ignore and proceed to recharge its bulbs if they are the only zombies in the lane. If there is a consistent line of zombies approaching the Bowling Bulb, it will only use its aquamarine bulb.

Almanac entry
Sun cost: 200

DAMAGE: Heavy RANGE: Multi-Hit RECHARGE: Fast

Bowling Bulbs rolls shots that can bounce into multiple zombies.

Damage Details: larger bulbs do more damage

Guess which team has won the League Championship for five years running now? Team Bowling Bulb, that's who. They are on a ROLL. You and your pals think you got what it takes to stop 'em? Yeah sure. Keep dreamin, bub.

Overview
Aquamarine bulbs deal 2 normal damage shots and take 2.5 seconds to recharge, blue bulbs deal 6 normal damage shots and take 5 seconds to recharge, and orange bulbs deal 9 normal damage shots and take 10 seconds to recharge.

Plant Food
When given Plant Food, Bowling Bulb will get supercharged and armed with three explosive plasma bulbs. It will then proceed to rapidly fire them, unless there is no valid target in its lane. Each plasma bulb explodes on impact and deals 30 damage to all zombies in a one tile area, and can also bounce like normal bulbs. After firing all three plasma bulbs, Bowling Bulb will regain its normal bulbs back.

Costumed
Any zombies that are in a 3x3 radius around it while is "charging" will be killed. Then it will shoot out some projectiles: first, a fiery orange bulb which is the biggest and undoes slowing effects, then a white bulb that gives a slowing effect and has a medium size, and a electricity bulb which is the smallest compared to the other bulbs that stuns zombies.

General
Bowling Bulb is an interesting plant, as its damage capability actually increases with zombie density. This means that while it will struggle early on against lone Buckethead Zombie, Bowling Bulb can prove devastating against hordes of enemies at the end of the level. It can also last well into later Endless Zone levels unlike other projectile plants. Its Plant Food follows the same trend: It does not deal much damage to a lone Gargantuar, but will be able to devastate a horde of them with little trouble.

Bowling Bulb can be used early on in Ancient Egypt or Dark Ages to break a field of tombstones quickly, especially if the tombstones are in adjacent rows. Bowling Bulbs are also useful on minecart rails, as you can move the Bowling Bulb into a lane clear of zombies so it can regenerate its stronger bulbs instead of firing the weaker one repeatedly.

Avoid using Bowling Bulbs against Chicken Wrangler Zombies or Weasel Hoarders when the Bowling Bulb has only the aquamarine bulb (unless you feed it Plant Food). That is because when the Chicken Wrangler Zombies or Weasel Hoarders release flocks of Zombie Chickens or Ice Weasels, since the Bowling Bulb's firing time is slow, Zombie Chickens or Ice Weasels will eat up your plants rapidly. Another zombie to not use it against is Jester Zombie, which can deflect the bulbs and bounce through your plants, dealing serious damage to the player's defense. Do note, however, that it cannot deflect explosive bulbs back at your plants.

Bulb Bowling
In the Brain Buster Bulb Bowling, you must use the four types of Bowling Bulbs against the incoming zombies (like in Wall-nut Bowling in the original Plants vs. Zombies). Save the charged and orange bulbs for dangerous zombies (Surfer Zombies and Deep Sea Gargantuars) to deal more damage. Use weaker bulbs for everything else.

Trivia

 * Its name is a portmanteau of "bowling ball" and "bulb."
 * Bulbs deflected by Jester Zombies will bounce between multiple plants.
 * If the player feeds Plant Food on a Bowling Bulb and there are no zombies in that lane, the Bowling Bulb will wait until a zombie appears in that lane. This is similar to how Citron acts, as it will hold the plasma ball until zombies appear in its lane.
 * Its facial features look like the three holes on a bowling ball.
 * When Bowling Bulbs are used in Pirate Seas and Big Wave Beach, they will cross directly over a path of water rather than falling in.
 * Bowling Bulbs are physically connected to the soil but still can be planted on Lily Pads. It shares this same attribute with Potato Mines, Spikeweeds, Spikerocks, and Phat Beets.
 * Although it is buried in the ground, it can still be planted on planks in Pirate Seas.
 * Bowling Bulb and Strawburst are the only plants that can shoot three different projectiles.
 * Bulbs normally cannot damage submerged Snorkel Zombies. The exceptions are Bulb Bowling levels.
 * Additionally, energized bulbs can damage submerged Snorkel Zombies only when it is a part of the splash damage.
 * All bulbs can damage submerged Snorkel Zombies in Bulb Bowling.
 * Bowling Bulb, Fire Peashooter, and Laser Bean are the only plants to have their damage output changed in a subsequent update.
 * Bowling Bulb, Coconut Cannon, Oak Archer, and Guacodile are the only plants to have a Brain Buster with them as the central plants, not counting Special Delivery levels for new plants.
 * Bowling Bulb, Kernel-pult, and Strawburst are the only plants to launch different projectiles and deal different normal damage shots.