After shooting, he will continue moving towards the player's house, and then repeat the process randomly again and again if there is any plant in front of him, as long as it is not a low plant like Spikeweed. Hunter Zombie cannot throw snowballs at plants behind a frozen plant, but he can throw snowballs if the plants are behind a frozen zombie, thus making him an environmental modifier.
Like all Frostbite Caves zombies, he cannot be frozen, and attempting to do so will only chill him.
Hunter Zombie pretty much has the same body structure as a regular zombie. He has a dark brown beard and, like all zombies in Frostbite Caves, has the same Neanderthal-like forehead. He dons a dead saber-tooth tiger-like hat on top of his head, a brown furry coat with white furry frills, and his feet are wrapped in leather. He carries a large bone on his left hand and carries a bag of snowballs strapped around his shoulder.
Audio[]
Sound
Description
Throwing snowball.
Snowball thrown.
Snowball hits a plant.
Defeated Hunter Zombie.
Almanac entry[]
Hunter Zombie
TOUGHNESS
Dense
SPEED
Creeper
Zombie that can throw snow balls at range to cool down plants until they freeze into blocks.
Shhhhh ... Hunter Zombie didn't actually kill that sabertooth tiger. He found the skin at a thrift store. Also, he's a vegetarian. Tell no one.
Hunter Zombie
TOUGHNESS
Dense
SPEED
Creeper
Zombie that can throw snow balls at range to cool down plants until they freeze into blocks.
Shhhhh ... Hunter Zombie didn't actually kill that sabertooth tiger. He found the skin at a thrift store. Also, he's a vegetarian. Tell no one.
Overview[]
Hunter Zombie absorbs 700 damage. His appearance changes upon absorbing 350 damage before dying at 700 damage.
Hunter Zombies is a dangerous zombie. But, unlike Wizard Zombie or Octo Zombie, his ability is quite limited, meaning he cannot freeze a plant behind a frozen plant until he passes through the frozen plant. Regardless, Hunter Zombies are very difficult to defeat without lobber plants, thawing plants or plants that are immune to snowballs, especially since they come in groups in later levels (and in Icebound Battleground). He uses his disadvantage, which is his speed, as an advantage against your defenses. This allows him to "hide" behind other, stronger zombies, protecting him from damage while he freezes your plants. Therefore, thawing plants are vital to prevent these zombies from overrunning your defenses.
It is best to kill him quickly, as he can freeze the frontmost plants. This could result in many plants within an open range being frozen and many other zombies passing through frozen plants causing either your brains to be eaten or you having to use countless coins to thaw plants. These zombies are especially deadly if plants are not properly defrosted. When combined with the freezing winds of the Frostbite Caves, this zombie can cause entire swaths of plants to be frozen and disabled.
You can use Guacodiles against this zombie if planted right next to him, although two are needed to instantly kill him. It is crucial that you plant the Guacodiles close to a Hunter Zombie, as if you do not, the Hunter Zombie may freeze it since the attack does not trigger his rushing ability.
Among the introduced plants in Frostbite Caves, use Pepper-pult or Fire Peashooter against this zombie, as they are immune to snowballs and can warm nearby plants. You can also use Pepper-pult to deal splash damage against him. Placing the Pepper-pult at the front of your defenses is a smart idea, as it blocks everything behind it from being frozen by Hunter Zombies, this idea you can also apply it with Fire Peashooters. When in a pinch, use Plant Food on the Pepper-pult.
Torchwoods and peashooting plants like the Repeater can do fast and high damage to this zombie. Lava Guavas are also effective against this zombie. Since Lava Guavas are immune to their snowballs and can cause much damage to the zombies that are behind the Hunter Zombie. However, with Snapdragon gaining warming properties in 9.0.1, the viability of these strategies are now under severe competition, as Snapdragon, a cheap and fast-recharging plant that's already good with his area attacks, is not only immune to frost but also warms nearby plants.
Meteor Flower is a good choice. Not only can it warm plants nearby but the projectiles that they fire will spread from tile to tile, creating a thawing chain reaction without requiring you to plant other fire based plants in the front most tiles, as long as there are frozen blocks around the molten tiles.
Cold Snapdragon and Missile Toe cannot thaw plants, but they are immune to his snowballs, so they could also be used to protect other plants. Beware that other ice-based plants are not immune, and the zombie is unable to be frozen at all.
If you are going to beat this zombie without his weaknesses, it is recommended to use Plant Food on an Infi-nut, whose barrier covers an entire lane and blocks all snowballs. In addition, lobber plants such as Cabbage-Pult, Kernel-Pult, A.K.E.E. and Spore-shroom can ignore the frozen plants or zombies and attack him directly. Laser Beans, Fume-shrooms, Cactus and Shadow Peashooters are also useful since their attacks can damage both frozen blocks and Hunter Zombie himself.
If you are playing Icebound Battleground, try to have the aforementioned plants boosted in the Zen Garden so that none of your plants will get frozen. Also, while this isn't immediately obvious, Hunter Zombie does eat plants, and has an enforced delay between his attacks, which he cannot use while eating something, so putting a defensive plant right in front of him or supporting it with a thawing plant will eventually force him to eat the plant anyway. His snowballs also don't affect hypnotized zombies and he has to eat them, so these may be effective against him also.
Please note that only official translations are used.
Language
Name
Description
English
Hunter Zombie
Simplified Chinese
猎人僵尸
From lièrén and jiāngshī
French
Zombie chasseur
German
Zombie-Jäger
Italian
Zombi cacciatore
Brazilian Portuguese
Zumbi Caçador
Spanish
Zombi cazador
Trivia[]
His thrown snowball can travel the length of the entire lane. This can be observed easily if there was only 1 plant in his lane and it was removed as soon as he attacks.
If one looks closely under his saber-tooth tiger skin, he has the same forehead that most of the Frostbite Caves zombies have.
When throwing a snowball, his right arm gets separated from his body.
He throws snowballs four squares away from the plant. Prior to an unspecified update, the attack was triggered when he was 3 tiles away.
He will also attack plants that aren't supposedly valid targets like Torchwood, Cold Snapdragon or other frozen plants even though his snowballs do nothing to them.
According to Hunter Zombie's Almanac entry, he is a vegetarian (which explains why he eats plants), which contrasts with his occupation in a humorous way, as hunters usually pursue wild game instead of plants.
It also directly contrasts the fact that he pursues the player's brain for food, which he cannot eat.
English
Simplified Chinese
French
German
Italian
Brazilian Portuguese
Spanish