Hot Potato

Hot Potato
Hot Potatoes melt the ice blocks they're planted on.
Almanac statistics
Sun cost	0
Recharge	Mediocre
Usage	Single use, instant
Special	Melts an ice block
Rarity (China)	Common
In-game statistics
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.

Template:Plantpic Hot Potato is the first plant obtained in Frostbite Caves in Plants vs. Zombies 2, and it is the worlds exclusive plant. It is a single-use plant capable of thawing frozen blocks, freeing the zombie or plant that is trapped inside it, which makes it an environment modifier. As of the 5.7.1 update, from level 2 onwards, Hot Potato is able to deal damage to all zombies within the tile Hot Potato is planted on.

Origins

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.

Almanac entry

Note: The stats shown below only apply to Level 1.

Hot Potato
	SUN COST 0 RECHARGE 10 TOUGHNESS 300 DAMAGE 0 AREA Single Usage Single, Instant Pepper-mint Plant Food: No Plant Food effect. Hot Potatoes melt the ice blocks they're planted on. 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 TOUGHNESS 300 DAMAGE 0 AREA Single Usage Single, Instant Pepper-mint Plant Food: No Plant Food effect. Hot Potatoes melt the ice blocks they're planted on. 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.

Level upgrades

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

*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.

Strategies

Hot Potato will be the first thawing option that is from Frostbite Caves available to the player. On earlier levels in Frostbite Caves, it will prove sufficient, as it can thaw single plants significantly faster than other warming plants and there is little pressure from the wind and Hunter Zombies. However, it is incapable of preventing plants from freezing in the first place, and its status as an instant plant means that it 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.

If the player owns a level 2 (or above) Hot Potato after the 5.7.1 update, it can be used strategically to deal damage to zombies walking on the tile Hot Potato is planted on.

As of the 6.0.1 update, the Hot Potato may now be used in Big Wave Beach and Modern Day levels where there are Octo Zombies, but only if it's upgraded to level 5. It has the ability to remove octopi as long as it is upgraded to that level, so if you are having trouble with Octo Zombies, it is recommended to bring the Hot Potato if you can't destroy hard to reach octopi.

Gallery

Almanac entry part 1

Almanac entry part 2

Hot Potato unlocked

Seed packet

Imitater seed packet

Hot Potato cannot be used

A Hot Potato melting a frozen Sunflower

HD Hot Potato

Getting its costume

Hot Potato's sprites

Travel Log quest

Hot Potato on the map

Hot Potato on the map with its costume

Old

Seed packet

Seed packet without sun tag

Imitater Hot Potato seed packet

Hot Potato cannot be used

Chinese version (China only)

Puzzle Piece

Hot Potato on the new Frostbite Caves map

Old

Puzzle Piece

Trivia

• When thawing a plant, it lets out a deep sigh, and steam from the melting ice block rises up.
• It is the fifth plant based on the potato plant in the entire series. Others are Potato Mine, Imitater, Sweet Potato, Potato Nugget Mine, Primal Potato Mine, and Hothead.
  • It is also the second female potato plant, with the first being Sweet Potato.
• It, Sun-shroom, Sun Bean, Lightning Reed and Explode-O-Nut are the only plants which have a glow around them on their seed packet.
• It, Iceberg Lettuce, and Grave Buster are the only free plants that can be used in certain Last Stand levels.
• It, Lily Pad, Tangle Kelp, Gold Leaf, Thyme Warp, and Perfume-shroom are the only plants selectable only in the worlds they are obtained in.
• It, 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.
• It 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.

See also

• Grave Buster

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