Melon-pult


 * For other versions of the plant, see Melon-pult (disambiguation).

Melon-pult is a lobbed-shot plant available in both main series Plants vs. Zombies games. It attacks zombies by lobbing melons at the incoming horde at half the rate of a normal Peashooter, each dealing high damage to the initial target as well as splash damage in an area around it. Though, as with Threepeater, its area of effect covers three lanes, unlike Threepeater, Melon-pult's attack is triggered only when a  zombie or tombstone  appears in the lane in which it is planted in.

The catapulted melon can bypass most shields that can otherwise block straight-firing projectiles such as Ladder Zombie's ladder, Screen Door Zombie's screen door, Barrel Roller Zombie's barrel and Troglobite's frozen block, as well as targeting submerged Snorkel Zombies in water. It is the final plant unlocked in Adventure Mode, upon completing Level 5-8.

Origins
Both the Melon-pult's shape and projectile are based on Citrullus lanatus, the common watermelon. Its name is a combination of melon and catapult, a ballistic device used to hurl larges stones for warfare purpose in ancient times.

Plants vs. Zombies
Melon-pult is unlocked after completing Level 5-8, and costs 300 sun. Each melon deals 4 normal damage shots worth of damage to the initial target, and 1.5 splash damage to all enemies in a 3x1 area. Melon-pult can be upgraded to Winter Melon, which deals identical damage but can also chill affected enemies, decreasing their movement and attack speed by 50%.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Melon-pult is unlocked by finishing Wild West - Day 12, and it has received a significant amount of change compared to the version in the first game: Its sun cost has been raised to 325 sun, it can no longer be upgraded into Winter Melon, and the melon now deals 2 splash damage to all zombies in a 3x3 area.

Plants vs. Zombies
Melon-pult

Melon-pults do heavy damage to groups of zombies.

Damage: heavy

Range: lobbed

Special: melons damage nearby enemies on impact

Firing Speed: 1/2x

There's no false modesty with Melon-pult. "Sun-for-damage, I deliver the biggest punch on the lawn,"  he says. "I'm not bragging. Run the numbers. You'll see."

Cost: 300

Recharge: fast

Plants vs. Zombies
Melon-pults present on the lawn can be upgraded into Winter Melons for 200 sun, provided that the required seed packet is already purchased from Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies for $10,000. Winter Melons are effectively the same in terms of health and damage, but they can also chill zombies with their frozen melons.

Plant Food effect
When given Plant Food, Melon-pult will turn into a mortar cannon, before unleashing a barrage of giant melons separated into four waves to all zombies on the field; if there is no valid target, a single melon per volley will be fired on a random tile. Each giant melon deals 10 damage to the initial target, but only 1 splash damage in a 3x3 area.

Costumed
It can launch fire melons that deal quadruple the damage of normal melons.

Plants vs. Zombies
Overall, Melon-pult is a well rounded plant, neither excelling in fighting single targets like Gatling Pea nor neutralizing hordes of weaker threats like Fume-shroom or Gloom-shroom, and lacking any noticeable strengths or weaknesses. However, its projectile still deals a respectable amount of damage and does both job relatively well for its price tag of 300 sun, and suffers from neither the former's poor performance against shields and multiple targets, nor the latter's limited range. Melon-pult can consistently attack almost every enemy in the game, with the only exception of flying Balloon Zombies and underground Digger Zombies, and can bypass every method of shielding the zombies employ, such as Screen Door Zombie's door, Ladder Zombie's ladder and Snorkel Zombie's attempt at hiding underwater to avoid other offensive plants. Due to the aforementioned reasons, Melon-pult can be used to great effect both in normal, mini-games and Survival Mode levels.

Comparing two Melon-pults to a Gatling Pea and Torchwood combo: the former does 4 damage to single target and 1.5 splash damage per 1.4 second, while the latter does 8 damage to the initial target and 2.8 splash damage in the same time period. However, it should be considered that Melon-pult benefits greatly from its ability to deal splash damage to adjacent tiles, so two columns of Melon-pult will in fact deal 7 damage to the initial target, as well as 4.5 splash damage per 1.4 seconds to each lane. The first setup also takes noticeably less time to build, while costing 25 sun and a seed slot less. Besides, the latter combo cannot pass the roof's slope. Because of this, the first setup is more useful if the player is planning to place plants in column, while the second setup will find more use in Survival: Endless as a tool for guarding edge lanes, due to the constraint on planting space and the setup's high damage output per tile.

Melon-pult is useful in the Roof levels, since it (like the other lobbed shot plants) can shoot over the angle of the roof, in addition to being the strongest catapult plant not obtained from Crazy Dave. In Survival: Endless, a column of Melon-pults should be planted and converted into Winter Melon in order to suppress incoming zombie and give the player as much reflex time as possible, as it is generally Gloom-shrooms that are used instead to deal damage.

Plants vs. Zombies 2
Melon-pult retains its role as a well-rounded and reliable offensive choice, useful both in normal levels and in the Endless Zones. This is further cemented by improvements in both splash damage and radius, greatly increasing Melon-pult's crowd control capability in the progress. On the other hand, Melon-pult's reliability has taken a noticeable hit, as certain zombies can now block or reflect lobbed shots, such as Shield Zombie, Jester Zombie and Parasol Zombie.

Melon-pult can be used in conjunction with Cold Snapdragon, as the latter's chilling effect and high damage makes this combination similar to planting Winter Melons, with a cheaper price of 25 sun. In addition, Cold Snapdragon helps Melon-pult to take out the zombies that he normally can't, such as Jester Zombies and Parasol Zombies.

General

 * It and Winter Melon still do splash damage if their projectiles hit the ground instead of the original target.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies

 * If a zombie is in front of it, the zombie will instantly be hit by the melon.
 * In the old iPhone and Android versions of the game, it is seen with no eyebrows, no leaves below, no catapult, and no stem in its seed packet, just a melon with eyes.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2

 * If a zombie is in front of it, the zombie will not instantly be hit by the melon, unlike in Plants vs. Zombies. The only time it will be hit by a melon instantly if he was a zombie taller than the Melon-pult himself.
 * Its costume resembles a sailor's hat. In the Chinese version, it resembles Mario's cap, albeit without the 'M' on the front.
 * Its description mentions that he is the middle child of the Pult family. This would make Cabbage-pult the youngest and Kernel-pult the eldest.
 * It and Winter Melon both have the same watering animation.
 * It and Threepeater had their sun costs swapped between the first and second games.
 * After it defeats a zombie, the "brick-breaking" sound will not appear if its melon hits another zombie.

Specific to the Chinese version

 * Melon-pult, Agave, Pomegranate Machine Gun, and Speaker Flower are the only plants that cost 325 sun.