Pepper-pult

Pepper-pult
Pepper-pults lob flaming peppers at zombies and keeps nearby plants warm.
Statistics
Sun Cost	200
Recharge	20 seconds
Toughness	300 damage
Damage	50 damage
Range	Lobbed
Warming Radius	3x3
Family	Pepper-mint
Plant Food effect	Lobs several giant fire peppers at random zombies that deal moderate splash damage on impact.
Special	Immune to frost
Special	Warms nearby plants
Statistics (China)
Sun Cost	200
Recharge	5 seconds
Toughness	300 damage
Damage	50 damage
Attack Rate	2.9 seconds
Range	Whole Lane to the Right
Area	3×3 AoE
Class	Ranged
Quality	Rare
Tags	Damage, catapult, ash
Plant features	Orange plant, full of fiery aura
In-game statistics
Other weakness	(can deflect Pepper-pult's projectiles) (immune to it)
Unlocked	Beating Frostbite Caves - Day 6
Unlocked (China)	Collect 10 Pepper-pult Puzzle Pieces Collect 90 stars
Costumes
Code name	pepperpult
Some say Pepper-pult is a hot head. Some find his fiery disposition off-putting. But the truth is, he's just very focused and determined. He loves what he does. He appreciates everything he has. "I came from the weedy side of the lawn," Pepper-pult explains. "I worked hard to pull myself up by my roots. I'm a self-made pepper and I don't take a single thing for granted."

Pepper-pult is the second plant obtained in Frostbite Caves in Plants vs. Zombies 2. He lobs flaming peppers at the rate of a Cabbage-pult (once every 2.85-3 seconds) that deal splash damage in a 3x3 area. A direct hit from a flaming pepper deals 50 damage, while the pepper's splash effect deals 10 damage.

Pepper-pult is also a heating plant, which is capable of emitting heat every 6 seconds that gradually thaws frozen or chilled plants in a 3x3 area (2x2 to be exact, the area can be larger through level upgrade) surrounding him, as well as being immune to all freezing effects himself.

Origins

Pepper-pult is based on the real life bell pepper, a cultivar group of the plant Capsicum annuum. His name is a portmanteau of the word pepper and catapult, a ballistic device used to hurl large stones for warfare purpose during ancient times.

While his ability is based on the perceived spiciness of most peppers, ironically, Pepper-pult is based on the only species of chili pepper that carries a recessive gene that prevents any capsaicin from being made, causing it to lack the heat most peppers are famous for.

Almanac entry

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

Pepper-pult
	SUN COST 200 RECHARGE 20 TOUGHNESS 300 DAMAGE 50 RANGE Lobbed Special Warming Radius Pepper-mint Plant Food: Lobs several giant fire peppers at random zombies that deal moderate splash damage on impact. Pepper-pults lob flaming peppers at zombies and keep nearby plants warm. Some say Pepper-pult is a hot head. Some find his fiery disposition off-putting. But the truth is, he's just very focused and determined. He loves what he does. He appreciates everything he has. "I came from the weedy side of the lawn," Pepper-pult explains. "I worked hard to pull myself up by my roots. I'm a self-made pepper and I don't take a single thing for granted."

Pepper-pult

SUN COST 200 RECHARGE 20 TOUGHNESS 300 DAMAGE 50 RANGE Lobbed Special Warming Radius Pepper-mint Plant Food: Lobs several giant fire peppers at random zombies that deal moderate splash damage on impact. Pepper-pults lob flaming peppers at zombies and keep nearby plants warm. Some say Pepper-pult is a hot head. Some find his fiery disposition off-putting. But the truth is, he's just very focused and determined. He loves what he does. He appreciates everything he has. "I came from the weedy side of the lawn," Pepper-pult explains. "I worked hard to pull myself up by my roots. I'm a self-made pepper and I don't take a single thing for granted."

Chinese version  (China only)

辣椒投手向僵尸投出火焰辣椒还能冰释其周围的植物。 特点：温暖其身边的格子 植物特征：橙色植物、浑身浴火 有人说，辣椒投手有点容易头脑发热。有些人觉得他火热的性格让人倒胃口。但事实是，他只是比较专注和执着而已。他爱他所做的事情。他感谢自己拥有的一切。 “我来自草坪的野草区，”辣椒投手解释。 “我努力扎根令自己立足。我是一个自力更生的辣椒，我认为任何事都不是理所当然的。” In English: Pepper-pults lob flaming peppers at zombies and keep nearby plants warm. Special: warms nearby tiles Plant feature: orange plant, full of fiery aura Some say Pepper-pult is a hot head. Some find his fiery disposition off-putting. But the truth is, he's just very focused and determined. He loves what he does. He appreciates everything he has. "I came from the weedy side of the lawn," Pepper-pult explains. "I worked hard to pull myself up by my roots. I'm a self-made pepper and I don't take a single thing for granted."

Upgrades

Plant Food effect

Plant Food ability (animated)

Pepper-pult when fed with Plant Food launches three giant flaming peppers at random zombies on screen, each pepper dealing 10 direct damage and 300 + 50 splash damage in a 3x3 area.

Unlike other lobbed-shot projectiles, the giant peppers cannot be deflected or blocked by any means but can be negated by Imp Dragon Zombies.

Pepper-mint effect

When boosted by Pepper-mint, Pepper-pult will do an additional 200 damage (with an additional 40 damage added to his splash damage), and he will warm plants in a larger area as if he was at level 15.

Costumed (China only)

Pepper-pult launches four giant flaming peppers instead of three.

Level upgrade

Level	Seed Packets	Coins	Upgrades
			Sun Cost	Recharge (Sluggish)	Toughness (Typical)	Damage (Moderate)		Projectile Velocity	Special (Warming Radius)	Range
						Direct	Splash
1	0	0	200	20 seconds	300 damage	50 damage	10 damage	Normal	Normal	Lobbed
2	10	1,000		19 seconds	325 damage	60 damage	12 damage
3	50	2,000	175		350 damage	70 damage	14 damage
4	100	4,000			375 damage	80 damage	16 damage	+ 1.3x	+ 1.7x
5	125	6,000		17 seconds	400 damage	90 damage	18 damage
6	175	8,000			450 damage	100 damage	20 damage
7	250	10,000		16 seconds	500 damage	110 damage	22 damage		+ 2.3x
8	350	15,000	150		550 damage	120 damage	24 damage
9	450	20,000		15 seconds	600 damage	130 damage	26 damage
10	800	30,000			650 damage	140 damage	28 damage	+ 1.6x	+ 3x
11	1,000	40,000		14 seconds	700 damage	150 damage	30 damage
12	1,250	50,000	125		750 damage	160 damage	32 damage
13	1,500	60,000		12 seconds	800 damage	170 damage	34 damage		+ 3.7x
14	1,750	80,000	100		850 damage	180 damage	36 damage
15	2,000	100,000		10 seconds	900 damage	200 damage	40 damage		+ 4.3x

Mastery upgrades

• Chance to Boost
• Damage Pierce

Level upgrade (China only)

Level	Upgrades	Description
	Burn 燃烧	The flaming pepper thrown by Pepper-pult can cause 75/s continuous damage to zombies, and repeated attacks will refresh the burning time. 辣椒投手投出的火焰辣椒可以对僵尸造成75/s的 持续伤害，重复攻击会刷新燃烧时间。
	Combat Training 战斗训练	Pepper-pult gains 50% more attack power and health (150% of initial).
	Will-o'-the-Pepper 鬼火辣椒	The blue flame pepper thrown by Pepper-pult can cause 100/s continuous damage to zombies, and repeated attacks will refresh the burning time. 辣椒投手投出的蓝色火焰辣椒可以对僵尸造成100/s的 持续伤害，重复攻击会刷新燃烧时间。
	Cell Activation 细胞活化	Pepper-pult gains another 50% more attack power and health (200% of initial).
	Ability Awaken 能力觉醒	Pepper-pult may be boosted when planted.
	Fighting Power 战斗能力	Pepper-pult gains another 50% more attack power and health (250% of initial).

Strategies

By himself, Pepper-pult is a moderately powerful offensive plant and can hold himself against most threats. His attacks can inflict area damage as well, similarly to Melon-pult (though not as powerful). What's also notable about the Pepper-pult is the fact its sun cost synegies well with his damage output, being just in the middle between Melon-pult and Kernel-pult. His full potential however is unlocked in Frostbite Caves, his own homeworld, as he has the ability to warm nearby plants preventing them from being disabled by the wind and Hunter Zombies. His greatest weakness is his slow recharge rate, which prevents the player from quickly covering the lawn against the cold and against huge waves of zombies, although Imitater can be used to remedy this.

How to keep other plants warm and unable to be frozen by Hunter Zombie with Pepper-pult

The player should try to space out Pepper-pults in order to cover as much ground and reach as many plants as possible. When frozen zombies are near, the player should make sure their warm defenses are congregated nearby. Pepper-pult can also be planted at the front line to block Hunter Zombies and protect other plants, although this also makes him vulnerable against other threats.

In Dark Ages, Pepper-pult is not the best choice, given the fact that his normal projectiles can be thrown back at him by the Jester Zombie (although his splash attacks are still effective). Aside from that, Imp Dragon Zombies are immune to all fire-based attacks, making Pepper-pult useless in battle against them.

In Lost City, Pepper-pult can be used to deal with Excavator Zombies, though one should be wary if the Pepper-pults are placed towards the front, as if Excavator Zombies can shovel them, their sluggish recharge means Pepper-pult will not be available for a while. He is also risky to use them in levels with Parasol Zombies, since he is a lobber plant.

It is also not advised to use Pepper-pult in Jurassic Marsh, as his projectiles can easily miss their shots when they're suddenly kicked forward by dinosaurs, and this function is performed by three dinosaurs in this game.

He faces competition from Fire Peashooter because of the latter's slightly lower sun cost and superior recharge. However, Pepper-pult has the advantage of being a lobbed-shot plant, meaning he can ignore ice blocks and other obstacles like tombstones to attack zombies. Thawing frozen plants may be a higher priority than attacking zombies though, specifically in Frostbite Caves, so the choice is entirely up to the player.

He also faces competition from Snapdragon and Torchwood, as Snapdragon recharges 4x faster, costs 50 less sun, and if the frozen plant is in front of him, he will also start breathing fire, and as a result of all this can thaw plants more efficiently. Torchwood when equipped with Plant Food immediately becomes the best warmer and has a fast recharge, high toughness, and costs less than the Pepper-pult. Snapdragon is the main plant that outclasses Pepper-pult, and Snapdragon is short ranged so he can be used as warming plant with ice-based plants like Winter Melon too. He is the best choice for warming along with Hot Potato in most Frostbite Caves levels.

Chinese version (China only)

Due to Pepper-pult having a fast recharge, he is a solid plant here. The fact his level 2 and 3 upgrades are free (by collecting enough stars) helps his case.

Changes

Update 9.1.1

• ▲ Can now turn zombies to ash when defeated

Related achievement

	So Thawful Thaw 13 ice blocks in a single level

Gallery

Pepper-pult has a gallery!

Visit this page to see it.

In other languages

Please note that only official translations are used.

Language	Name	Description
English	Pepper-pult
Simplified Chinese	辣椒投手	"Chili pitcher", translation of pepper is 菜椒
French	Cata-poivron	Portmanteau of "catapulte" and "poivron"
German	Paprikatapult	Combination of "paprika" and "katapult"
Italian	Peperonpulta
Brazilian Portuguese	Pimentapulta	Portmanteau of pimentão and catapulta
Russian	Перцопульта	lit. Pepper pult
Spanish	Lanzachiles	Literally "Pepper Launcher"

Trivia

• In the 3.2 update, Jester Zombies could not deflect his projectiles.
• He has the least damaging splash damage when compared to the other splash-attack lobbed-shot plants.
• Sometimes when Plant Food is used on him, it makes the same noise that Cabbage-pult makes when Plant Food is used on him before he starts launching giant peppers.
• In the Chinese version, he uses his unused Valenbrainz costume from the international version as his costume.
• Like Lightning Reed, he is the only plant in his own family to have a maximum level of 15.
• Pepper-Pult was found in the files of Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars (albeit, with a slightly different design), seven months before his official reveal on January 6th, 2015. According to the former lead art designer for Plants vs. Zombies 2, Mark Barrett, Pepper-Pult was intended to be the premium plant for Dark Ages. Early into Dark Ages' development, many core team members left the PvZ2 dev team, leaving the development of the world to a skeleton crew on a short deadline. Pepper-Pult was scrapped as a result of this deadline and because there was still some hesitancy towards the idea of premium plants. The new lead art designer eventually found Pepper-Pult, redesigned him slightly, and put him in Frostbite Caves. The reason Pepper-Pult was in the files of PvZ: All-Stars was because Popcap Shanghai had access to the PvZ archives, containing every design for made for PvZ2, including scrapped ones like Pepper-Pult at the time.

View · Edit	Plants (Tower defense)	L · G