Hot Potato

Hot Potato
Hot Potatoes melt the ice blocks they're planted on.
Almanac statistics
Sun cost	0
Recharge	10 seconds
Usage	Single use, instant
Special	Melts an ice block
Family	Pepper-mint
In-game statistics
Rarity (China)	Common
Unlocked	Beating Frostbite Caves - Day 1
Costumes
How does Hot Potato stay so positive and even-peeled all the time? Yoga, that's how. She never misses a class. Also, regular meditation. It's the only way she can handle the hard work of fighting zombies, day in and day out, without melting down.

Hot Potato is the first plant obtained in Frostbite Caves in Plants vs. Zombies 2, and she is the world's exclusive plant. She is a single-use plant capable of thawing frozen blocks, freeing the zombie or plant that is trapped inside it, taking 2.5 seconds to do it, which makes her an environment modifier.

Origins

The real-life Solanum tuberosum in which Hot Potato is based on

Hot Potato is based on the real life potato, the starchy, tuberous root portion of the plant Solanum tuberosum.

The term "hot potato" refers to a children's game in which players attempt to pass an object to each other while music plays, in an attempt to not be the one holding the object when the music suddenly stops. It's also a slang for dangerous items that will cause devastating effects if not handled with care.

Almanac entry

Hot Potato		SUN COST 0 RECHARGE 10 SUN COST: 0 RECHARGE: 10 TOUGHNESS 300 DAMAGE 0 TOUGHNESS: 300 DAMAGE: 0 AREA Single FAMILY Pepper-mint AREA: Single FAMILY: Pepper-mint Hot Potatoes melt the ice blocks they're planted on. Usage: single use Special: melts an ice block How does Hot Potato stay so positive and even-peeled all the time? Yoga, that's how. She never misses a class. Also, regular meditation. It's the only way she can handle the hard work of fighting zombies, day in and day out, without melting down.

Hot Potato

		SUN COST 0			RECHARGE 10

SUN COST: 0
RECHARGE: 10

		TOUGHNESS 300			DAMAGE 0

TOUGHNESS: 300
DAMAGE: 0

		AREA Single			FAMILY Pepper-mint

AREA: Single
FAMILY: Pepper-mint

Hot Potatoes melt the ice blocks they're planted on.

Usage: single use
Special: melts an ice block

How does Hot Potato stay so positive and even-peeled all the time? Yoga, that's how. She never misses a class. Also, regular meditation. It's the only way she can handle the hard work of fighting zombies, day in and day out, without melting down.

Upgrades

Pepper-mint effect

When boosted by Pepper-mint, Hot Potato will do an additional 60 DPS per tick (or do 60 DPS if she is at level 1) to zombies on her tile. She will also gain the ability to melt octopi from Octo Zombies if she at level 5 and above.

Level upgrades

Level	Seed Packets	Coins	Upgrades
			Sun Cost	Recharge (Mediocre)	Toughness (Typical)	Damage*	Area
1	0	0	0	10 seconds	300 dps	0 dps	Single
2	10	1,000		10 seconds	350 dps	10 dps
3	75	5,000		9 seconds	400 dps	20 dps
4	200	10,000		9 seconds	450 dps	30 dps
5	400	20,000		8 seconds	550 dps	40 dps
6	750	30,000		8 seconds	600 dps	50 dps
7	1,000	40,000		7 seconds	650 dps	60 dps
8	1,250	50,000		7 seconds	700 dps
9	1,500	60,000		6 seconds	800 dps
10	2,000	75,000		5 seconds	900 dps

*This column will show the proximity damage-per-second it deals to zombies and obstacles in its tile while melting.
Note: At level 5, Hot Potato gains the ability to melt Octopi from Octo Zombie.

Mastery upgrade

• Toughness Bonus

Costumed (China only)

Recharge reduced by 20%.

Strategies

Hot Potato will be the first thawing option that is from Frostbite Caves available to the player. On earlier levels in Frostbite Caves, she will prove sufficient, as she can thaw single plants significantly faster than other warming plants and there is little pressure from the wind and Hunter Zombies. However, she is incapable of preventing plants from freezing in the first place, and her status as an instant plant means that she will be quickly overwhelmed in later levels and in the world's Endless Zone, Icebound Battleground.

In Special Delivery levels, try to save Hot Potatoes given to melt down important plants, such as heavy damage plants like Repeater and Bonk Choy. Avoid using Hot Potatoes on plants adjacent to a Pepper-pult or other thawing plants, as they already have the ability to melt frozen plants.

Another thing to remember is that Hot Potato can also thaw blocks with encased zombies. This makes Hot Potato a useful plant against the frozen Yeti Imps pushed by Troglobites and Zombot Tuskmaster 10,000 BC's ice barrier. It is recommended that the player only thaw zombies when sufficient firepower is present - a Weasel Hoarder freed at the wrong moment can quickly overrun the player's defense with Ice Weasels, though a Snapdragon can rectify that with sufficient Wall-Nuts.

If the player owns a level 2 (or above) Hot Potato or it is boosted by a Power Mint, she can be used strategically to deal damage to zombies (except Imp Dragon Zombie) walking on the tile Hot Potato is planted on. The Hot Potato may be used in Big Wave Beach and Modern Day levels where there are Octo Zombies, but only if she's upgraded to level 5. She has the ability to remove octopi as long as she is upgraded to that level or boosted by a Power Mint.

Balance changes

Update 5.7.1

• ▲ New ability: Starting at level 2, Hot Potato is able to deal 10-60 damage to all zombies within the tile Hot Potato is planted on every second

Update 6.0.1

• ▲ New ability: Starting at level 5, Hot Potato is able to melt octopi thrown by Octo Zombie.

Related achievement

	So Thawful Thaw 13 ice blocks in a single level

Gallery

Plants vs. Zombies Wiki has a gallery for Hot Potato.

Visit this page to see it.

In other languages

Language	Name	Description
English	Hot Potato
Simplified Chinese	烤马铃薯
French	Patate chaude
German	Heiße Kartoffel
Italian	Tubero ardente
Brazilian Portuguese	Batata Quente
Spanish	Papa caliente

Trivia

• When thawing a plant, she lets out a deep sigh, and steam from the melting ice block rises up.
• She can be seen frozen during the Frostbite Caves part 1 trailer, despite the fact that she cannot be frozen in any way. This trait is also shared with Hurrikale.
• She, Perfume-shroom, and Lily Pad are currently the only plants without Endless Zone cards. This is due to the fact that the player will start their respective Endless Zones with those plants, and other Endless Zones do not allow them.
  • However, If Hot Potato is at level 5 and up, she has her Endless Zone card.
• She reappears in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 as the marker for Kernel Corn's Butter Barrage ability and its alternate ability, the Bigger Better Butter.
• In older versions of Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, the plant summoned by Tater Toss was also called Hot Potato. This was later changed to Hothead for unknown reasons.
• Similar to other world-exclusive plants, Hot Potato cannot be used in stages with cold winds and ice blocks outside of Frostbite Caves. The only exception is if the player has her at level 5+, she can also be used in Big Wave Beach.

See also

• Grave Buster