Spikerock


 * For the Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars version, check Spikerock (PvZ: AS).

Spikerock is a plant with double the power of a normal Spikeweed and can take multiple smashes of damage. He is a passive attacking plant, dealing high damage to any zombie that walks on him. He usually deals five attacks to every normal speed zombie that passes unimpeded over him (exceptions include zombies that come in a group, when one zombie gets on just after the Spikerock fires). Since the Spikerock attacks from below, he bypasses shields. Spikerocks will pop tires, up to a different number of vehicles before dying in different games, with one of his large spikes breaking off with every one-third of health. When a Gargantuar attacks him, he will have the same effect as when vehicles roll over him, hurting the Gargantuar.

Plants vs. Zombies
Spikerock is the upgrade of Spikeweed, and is purchased from Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies for $7500. He costs 125 sun to upgrade a Spikeweed to a Spikerock, for a total cost of 225 sun. He takes nine smashes before dying, and his appearance changes every three smashes.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
In this game, Spikerock is no longer an upgrade plant, which is unlocked after finishing Pirate Seas - Day 18. The Spikerock now costs 250 sun. In the original game, he costs 225 sun to plant, as Spikeweed costs 100 sun and Spikerock 125 sun, which means it needs 25 more sun in this game. He takes three smashes instead of the previous nine before dying and changes his appearance every time he gets smashed.

Plants vs. Zombies
Spikerock

Spikerocks pop multiple tires and damage zombies that walk over it.

Must be planted on Spikeweeds

Spikerock just got back from a trip to Europe. He had a great time, met some wonderful people, really broadened his horizons. He never knew they made museums so big, or put so many paintings in them. That was a big surprise for him.

Cost: 125

Recharge: very slow

Plant Food effect
When fed Plant Food, he temporarily fills the row with other spikes poking up from the ground and pulls zombies to where the Spikerock is. This does 72 normal damage shots over 4.5 seconds. Like the Spikeweed, the secondary spikes can destroy rolling objects and damage zombies being pulled towards the Spikerock. When in effect, if the Spikerock is in a minecart, the minecart cannot be moved.

Costumed
His Plant Food ability can now stun zombies.

Level upgrade
Note: Spikerock cannot be upgraded to level 4.

Overview
In Plants vs. Zombies, Spikerock absorbs nine smashes and his appearance changes at the third and sixth smash before finally being dead at the ninth. He loses one of his large spikes when smashed three times. He will damage zombies at ten health of damage per a regular zombie's patch speed. He will automatically kill Zombonis and Catapult Zombies by popping their tires.

In Plants vs. Zombies 2, Spikerock absorbs three rolling objects and his appearance changes after one rolling object, and two rolling objects before being crushed at three rolling objects. He loses one of his large spikes each time he's rolled over. He will damage zombies at ten normal damage shots per a Basic Zombie's speed. He will automatically destroy a barrel from a Barrel Roller Zombie and kill a Pianist Zombie by destroying them. Also, when a Gargantuar smashes a Spikerock, he also degrades. It takes three smashes for a Gargantuar to kill him.

General
Using slowing plants like Snow Pea, Winter Melon, or Sap-fling can provide a great damage increase to ones Spikerocks, because zombies will be walking over them for twice the amount of time. Kernel-pult can also be a good option because of his stun.

Planting defensive plants behind Spikerock is another good idea, as zombies will stop to eat the defensive plant while taking damage from the Spikerock.

Plants vs. Zombies
Spikerock is uniquely capable of withstanding multiple strikes from Gargantuars. This considerably slows Gargantuars and allows extra time for your other defenses to attack, since, unlike other zombies, Gargantuars will stop to destroy Spikerocks.

Spikerock can also damage Newspaper Zombies, Screen Door Zombies, and Ladder Zombies without destroying their shield first.

Bobsled Bonanza Mini-game
As he can pop multiple tires, Spikerock is an incredibly useful plant to use in the mini-game Bobsled Bonanza. It is a good idea to plant a column of Spikeweeds at the edge of the ice to deal with Zombonis, but they should be upgraded to Spikerocks as soon as possible. To deal with the Zombie Bobsled Teams, there should be an additional Spikeweed behind the Spikerock (as the zombies can only take one normal damage shot after passing over the Spikerock, although when first setting up it is best to plant three).

Survival Mode
Though useful on the early waves, Spikerock is not recommended for Survival: Endless due to overlapping Zombonis, Catapult Zombies, and assorted Gargantuars. Often, a Spikerock may be killed shortly after he was placed down. However, Spikerock is ideal for any normal Survival Mode level, easy or hard. The ability to kill multiple Zombonis, that if left alone, will crush your setup, is a superb one by any fact. He can also save your offensive plants some time, as one Spikerock can kill a regular zombie without help. Many strategies use Spikerocks planted on the back most column in Survival: Endless to kill Digger Zombies.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Spikerocks are a great way to stop the zombie horde as peashooting plants alone are only capable of dealing with zombies that are in the front lines. This, along with the Winter Melon or Melon-pult, Coconut Cannon, and Tall-nut or Wall-nut can immediately hold off massive zombie incursions, especially in Dead Man's Booty because he will stop Imp Cannons from detonating. However, it is not advised to bring him when Gargantuar Pirates or Barrel Roller Zombies come into greater concentrations.

In Neon Mixtape Tour, Spikerock is a good choice against Punk Zombies, Glitter Zombies, MC Zom-Bs and Boombox Zombies, since they all have low health and can get whittled down by Spikerock quite easily, but beware of Arcade Zombies and Hair Metal Gargantuar.

In Endless Zones, Spikerock is a good way to deal with Imps thrown from Gargantuars. One can place Spikerocks in the third column, and when a Gargantuar throws his Imp, they'll land on the Spikerocks, only to take damage and get defeated. Spikerocks can also be used to hold off hordes of early zombies while ones sun production is being built up.

In Big Bad Butte, the player can use Spikerocks to stall Wild West Gargantuars by placing them in minecarts through the use of dragging up or down. Also, it serves as a temporary block-off against Zombie Chickens (although this may have to require manipulating more than one minecart).

It is not advised to use Spikerocks against Troglobites, Arcade Zombies and Excavator Zombies, as the former can instantly kill him by pushing ice blocks or arcade machines onto his square, and the latter will shovel him up without stepping on him.

Spikerock is very useful for levels where you have to not let zombies trample the flowers, as planting them on the flowers will make it so that the zombies can't trample the flowers. However, the flowers have to be on the tile for this to work, instead of being in between columns. The same thing occurs with Spikeweed, Celery Stalker, and Cactus.

General

 * Somehow, he, Spikeweed, and Cactus in Plants vs. Zombies 2 damage helmets from headwear zombies, despite them logically hurting their feet. This also apply to straight-shooting plants, as they logically hurt the zombie's torso, not their head.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * Jack-in-the-Box Zombies, Zombonis, Catapult Zombies, Bungee Zombies, Jalapeno Zombies, Gargantuars, and Giga-gargantuars are the only zombies capable of damaging or killing Spikeweeds and Spikerocks.
 * Of these, only Jack-in-the-Box Zombies, Bungee Zombies, and Jalapeno Zombies are capable of destroying a Spikerock in one attack.
 * When he is planted in one of the two bottom right squares, he will be higher up than other Spikerocks. This is so the player can see them over the level progress bar.
 * He is the most durable plant in the game, because he can withstand nine Gargantuar's smashes and nine tire pops of the Zomboni and Catapult Zombie. Despite his resilience, he still only takes take one Jack-in-the-Box Zombie or Jalapeno Zombie explosion or Bungee Zombie grab to destroy a healthy Spikerock.
 * Jalapeno Zombie cannot destroy something biologically rock, as his melting point would be massive and take temperatures vastly beyond the output of a Jalapeno Zombie, and the fact that rock is not flammable makes the very brief blast of the Jalapeno Zombie seem even less able to destroy or melt rock.
 * He can still harm Bungee Zombies, despite them being an airborne zombie.
 * He is one of four plants that have names which do not involve plants, with the others being the Grave Buster, the Gold Magnet, and the Chomper.
 * He is one of only two plants that change appearance but cannot be healed with Wall-nut First Aid, the other being Garlic.
 * He and Squash are the only plants that can survive Gargantuar smashes and a vehicle running over them.
 * He is the only upgrade plant that cannot be eaten.
 * On the iOS and Android versions, He does not visually degrade, making it harder to tell if a Spikerock is weak or not.
 * Spikeweed, Spikerock, Potato Mine, Grave Buster, Tangle Kelp, Sea-shroom, and Flower Pot are the only plants that cannot be planted on a Lily Pad.
 * Spikeweed, Spikerock, Cattail, Grave Buster, Tangle Kelp, Sea-shroom, and Lily Pad are the only plants that cannot be planted on a Flower Pot.
 * The Almanac entry of Cob Cannon, Garlic, and Spikerock are the only ones where real world places are mentioned (Harvard, New York, the Uni Brüssel, and Europe).
 * Despite being an upgrade to Spikeweed, he is not an actual plant, as rocks are not living organisms.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * He deals 1.9 damage for each attack (twice that of Spikeweed).
 * His Almanac entry says his body is made of metal, even though he is called the Spikerock. Plus, his health has changed from nine times being rolled over and/or smashed by a Gargantuar to three times being rolled over and/or Gargantuar smashes. This is actually ironic because metal is normally more resistant than rocks (nine times). The Almanac also says his toughness is Typical, despite the fact that he can't be eaten by zombies in normal way (bite). Additionally, he can take three hits from a Gargantuar, much higher than most other plants, including some whose their toughness can be stated as Elevated, High or Very High.
 * He makes a different sound when stepped on by a zombie. The sound is similar to air being leaked out of a bag.
 * Before the 2.7 update, exiting and entering a level would allow all Spikerocks on screen to become almost indestructible and be able take repetitive smashes from Gargantuars.
 * He cannot pop Imp Cannon's wheels or Shield Zombie's treads, but can normally damage them, as long as they are stepping on the Spikerock.
 * This is most likely due to the fact that their wheels/treads are made of metal, not rubber like most tires.
 * Unlike Spikeweed, his costume disappears when he hurts a zombie normally. However, this was fixed in the 4.6 update.
 * He can now be planted on Lily Pads.
 * However, if the player plants him on a Lily Pad and the water comes in, the zombies are going to eat the Lily Pad, ignoring the Spikerock, making the player lose 275 sun.
 * He, Spikeweed, Kernel-pult, Magnet-shroom and Shrinking Violet are the only plants that can instantly kill some zombies but only damage others.
 * He can instantly destroy pianos, despite the fact that they do not have any visible wheels. This also happens to Spikeweed and Cactus.
 * Hair Metal Gargantuar's shockwave can instantly kill him, regardless of his current degrade level.
 * Using Plant Food on him will not replenish his spikes.
 * He is voiced by Taz the Dog according to the credits.
 * He, along with Nightshade and Red Stinger, are the only three plants that cannot be repaired with Wall-nut First Aid, despite visually degrading.
 * He is vulnerable to Excavator Zombies, which will simply uproot him, and potentially throw him off the lawn.

Specific to the Chinese version

 * His costume will affect his Plant Food by making the duration of the Spikerock bringing zombies to him longer, and when the zombies are pulled to the Spikerock, he will make the zombies dizzy and confused and eat their allies, similar to Hypno-shroom and Spikeweed's Chinese costume effect.
 * He cannot be healed by Heavenly Peach.