Inferno

When he sees zombies, he goes SPLAT!

This item is only obtainable during certain events. However, it can still be used if you have already obtained it. It is currently not available.

Inferno
Infernos swirl up devastating fire tornados that sweep zombies back, burning and damaging them.
Statistics
Sun Cost	200
Recharge	25 seconds
Damage	22 damage
Plant Food Power	12.5%
Tornado Duration	1.2 seconds
Family	Pepper-mint
Plant Food effect	Create [sic] a huge fire tornado that pulls zombies in the adjacent columns [sic], dealing heavy damage.
Special	Immune to frost
Special	Warms nearby plants
Statistics (China)
Sun Cost	200
Recharge	30 seconds
Toughness	300 damage
Damage	100 damage
Attack Rate	6 seconds
Range	3 Tiles to the Right
Area	Single Target
Class	Ranged
Quality	Legendary
Tags	Damage, displace
Plant features	Brown plant, full of anger
In-game statistics
Other weakness	(Immune to fire)
Unlocked	250 seed packets
Costumes
Code name	inferno
Inferno doesn't feel like he gets enough credit. "Of course I burn zombies," he fumes. "That's a given. But what about how I sweep them down the lane through the sheer force of hot air? Where's my prize for that?"

“	Plant Infernos to burn and push back zombies.	”
—Penny

Inferno is a plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2 introduced in the 8.9.1 update. Inferno swirls up fire tornadoes every 5.95-6.05 seconds, sweeping zombies up and moving them back and damaging them. The first zombie that encounters the fire tornado will take 5 times as much damage, while Frozen blocks they encounter are destroyed instantly.

Inferno is also immune to frost and warms nearby plants every 1.5 seconds.

Origins

Inferno is based on a fern, a plant famously known for reproducing via spores rather than flowers and seeds.

His name is a pun on "fern" and "inferno," which is a term used to describe a large fire, referencing his fire based abilities.

His overall appearance, that being a fiery bush, could be a reference to the burning bush from the Bible.

Almanac entry

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

Inferno
	SUN COST 200 RECHARGE 25 DAMAGE 22 PLANT FOOD POWER 12.5% Special Tornado Duration Pepper-mint Plant Food: Create [sic] a huge fire tornado that pulls zombies in the adjacent columns [sic], dealing heavy damage. Infernos swirl up devastating fire tornados that sweep zombies back, burning and damaging them. Inferno doesn't feel like he gets enough credit. "Of course I burn zombies," he fumes. "That's a given. But what about how I sweep them down the lane through the sheer force of hot air? Where's my prize for that?"

Inferno

SUN COST 200 RECHARGE 25 DAMAGE 22 PLANT FOOD POWER 12.5% Special Tornado Duration Pepper-mint Plant Food: Create [sic] a huge fire tornado that pulls zombies in the adjacent columns [sic], dealing heavy damage. Infernos swirl up devastating fire tornados that sweep zombies back, burning and damaging them. Inferno doesn't feel like he gets enough credit. "Of course I burn zombies," he fumes. "That's a given. But what about how I sweep them down the lane through the sheer force of hot air? Where's my prize for that?"

Chinese version (China only)

制造火龙卷 范围：前方1行 特点：制造火龙卷向前造成单体伤害。 植物特征：褐色植物、满腹怒火 有的时候有些事，越想越气，越气越急，越急就...烈焰火蕨气得想走，可是他走不掉，只能喷个龙卷风勉强解压一下。 In English: Makes fire tornadoes. Range: one row ahead Special: Creates a fire tornadoes to deal damage to a singe target Plant features: brown plant, full of anger Sometimes the more you think of things the angrier you get, the angrier you get the more anxious you get... Inferno gets so angry that he want to storm off, but he can't just leave, so he can only release tornadoes in order to lessen his stress.

Upgrades

Plant Food effect

Plant Food ability

When fed with Plant Food, Inferno will create a stronger fire tornado which can also attract zombies in the adjacent lanes.

Pepper-mint effect

When boosted by Pepper-mint, both Inferno's normal and Plant Food fire tornadoes will do an additional 48 damage per tick. He will also warm plants in a larger area as if he was at level 10 and the damage he deals to ice is increased to 500 damage.

Level upgrades

Level	Seed Packets	Coins	Upgrades
			Sun Cost	Recharge	Starting Recharge	Damage*	Toughness	Tornado Duration		Zombies in Tornado*	Warming Radius	Warming Damage
								Normal	Plant Food
1	0	0	200	25 seconds	10 seconds	22 damage	300 damage	1.2 seconds	3.2 seconds	6	Normal	200 damage
2	50			24 seconds	9 seconds	24 damage	350 damage					300 damage
3	100			23 seconds		26 damage	400 damage			7
4	200			22 seconds	8 seconds		450 damage	1.4 seconds	3.6 seconds
5	300		175	21 seconds		30 damage	500 damage			8		400 damage
6	400			20 seconds	7 seconds	34 damage	550 damage
7	500			19 seconds			600 damage	1.6 seconds	4.2 seconds	9		500 damage
8	600			18 seconds	6 seconds	38 damage	650 damage	1.8 seconds		10
9	800			17 seconds		42 damage	700 damage	2 seconds		11	+1.7x
10	1,000		150	16 seconds	5 seconds	48 damage	750 damage	2.2 seconds	5 seconds	12	+2.3x

*Per hit. Applies to both normal and Plant Food states.

Mastery upgrades

• Chance to Boost
• Damage Pierce

Level upgrades (China only)

Level	Upgrades	Description
	Out Of My Way, I'm Angry 生气走了	Increases Inferno's tornado range by 1 tile 烈焰火蕨更加生气，火焰龙卷风的攻击距离增加1格
	Combat Training 战斗训练	Inferno gains 50% more attack power and health (150% of initial).
	The More I Think The Angrier I Get 越想越气	Increases Inferno's tornado range by 2 tiles 烈焰火蕨更加生气，火焰龙卷风的攻击距离增加2格
	Cell Activation 细胞活化	Inferno gains another 50% more attack power and health (200% of initial).
	Ability Awaken 能力觉醒	Inferno may be boosted when planted.
	Fighting Power 战斗能力	Inferno gains another 50% more attack power and health (250% of initial).
	Escalating Anger 怒气冲天	Inferno's tornadoes can affect large zombies, losing speed on contact with gargantuars. 火龙卷风可以卷起更大体型的僵尸，当卷起巨人僵尸时，火龙卷的移动速度变慢
	Fighting Power 战斗能力	Inferno gains another 50% more attack power and health (300% of initial).

Strategies

At first, Inferno is a seemingly powerful plant. At level 1 it's able to sweep up a zombie roughly 1.4 tiles every ~6 seconds. Compare this to Primal Peashooter who has a 50% chance to knock a zombie back 1 tile every ~2.925 seconds. However, there is an important downside when using Inferno, being that the tornado will fail to sweep up a zombie is stunned or buttered. This means using any sort of stuns alongside Inferno will come with the heavy risk of it failing to function properly from time to time.

With this in mind, a list of stalling plants that do not use a stun (or stun-adjacent mechanic) or chill/freeze contains the following:

• Stallia
• Chard Guard
• Sap-fling
• Hurrikale
• Shadow Peashooter (preferably boosted via a Moonflower)
• Goo Peashooter
• Pokra
• Olive Pit
• Explode-o-Vine
• Boingsetta (while she does use a chill, she is primarily here due to her potent knockback)
• Hocus Crocus
• Iceweed (while it uses a chill, the rate of fire will allow it to easily reapply said chill in very little time, making the potential loss of chill time minimal)
• Levitater
• Tomb Tangler
• Holly Barrier

However, it's important to note that not all plants on this list should be used alongside Inferno. Goo Peashooter in particular lacks any meaningful synergy with Inferno due to a lack of coverage on its slowdown. So the plants here that are most recommended to use with Inferno includes the following:

Shadow Peashooter can make for a surprisingly strong combo with Inferno. While by itself, the slowdown it gives has downtime issues, using multiple in a lane will make it far more likely for the slowdown to be reapplied quickly (especially to zombies towards the back). The wide area of affect on its attacks (covering the full lane!) even allows it to cover Inferno's weakness against grouped zombies. If you're planning to use Inferno in any capacity, it is highly recommended you pair it with Shadow Peashooter. However it's important to note that, due to the high coverage on its dps, it has a high tendency to cause the next wave of zombies to spawn more quickly. This can prove harsh for Inferno's 25 second cooldown. Thus it's important to pace yourself when you are using this combo.

In a similar vein, Snow Pea can be used alongside Inferno to slowdown the zombies. While it doesn't have as much coverage as Shadow Peashooter, its chance to freeze can readily halt entire waves in place, similar to a stun. However, since it's a freeze and not a stun, this still allows for Inferno to sweep up affected zombies, as the freeze is canceled on hit by the fire damage. This also makes for a better combo than most freeze plants (for example, Ice Bloom) as Snow Pea's high rate of fire makes losses to uptime on its chill or freeze far more minimal.

Sap-fling is an ever-important plant to any strategy, this includes those that utilize Inferno. The cheap, reliable slowdown it provides can make for a strong boost to any setup's effectiveness. Though when already using Shadow Peashooter, Sap Fling will be made redundant, so you will realistically not be using it much with Inferno.

Hurrikale is a powerful plant, as its pushback is powerful enough to push all zombies in its lane close to (if not fully to) the edge of the lawn. As this is one of the few instant use plants that doesn't get its stalling capabilities via a stun, it is highly recommended you use this whenever possible. The same can be said for Explode-o-Vine. While its knockback is often overshadowed by its burst damage and reasonably high health pool, it's still able to clear some significant space if used effectively.

Chard Guard is a notoriously strong plant, with its ability to store up powerful levels of knockback being able to easily shut down any zombie who gets to your frontline. Holly Barrier can also be used here, though if you find it hard to use or don't have it, it is more than reliable to still use Chard Guard.

Boingsetta can be a potent source of knockback, especially due to her covering her entire lane. Setting up 2 or 3 in a single lane will be up to shut down any zombie's advancements from then on out.

Lastly, Tumbleweed can be a surprisingly good combo for Inferno. While it can stun zombies, its high manual control and low cooldown compared to Inferno's rate of fire allows you to pick appropriate targets during Inferno's downtime, drastically reducing the risk to lineup its stun with Inferno's tornado. With its low sun cost, this also allows it to control the wave of zombies early on in the level as you wait for your Inferno seed packet to recharge. In the same vein, Bzzz Button, while it also stuns, stuns for such a short time that it will rarely line up with Inferno's tornados. It can then combo its slowdown capabilities with Inferno's ability to push back zombies.

Related achievement

	So Thawful Thaw 13 ice blocks in a single level

Balance changes

Update 9.4.1

• ▲ Inferno no longer leaves Zombies at 1 HP after attacking them

Gallery

Inferno has a gallery!

Visit this page to see it.

In other languages

Please note that only official translations are used.

Language	Name	Description
English	Inferno
Simplified Chinese	烈焰火蕨	"Blazing fire fern"
French	Feugère	cbt to "Firn"
German	Inferno
Italian	Inferno
Brazilian Portuguese	Incendiária
Spanish	Infierno

Trivia

• When Inferno attacks Newspaper Zombie and destroys his newspaper, the zombie is still slowed dramatically per usual, though its eating speed remains the same.

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