- For the version in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, see Rotobaga (PvZH).
Rotobaga is a plant appearing in Plants vs. Zombies 2. She is unlocked in the Frostbite Caves in the international version, and in the Sky City in the Chinese version.
Rotobaga hovers above the ground and shoots three tiny rutabagas diagonally at a fire rate identical to Peashooter (once every 1.35-1.5 seconds). Because of her flying abilities, Rotobaga can also be planted on water tiles in Big Wave Beach without the aid of Lily Pad and on-air tiles in Sky City.
Contents
Origins

A real-life example of Brassica napobrassica, the plant Rotobaga is based on
Rotobaga is based on the rutabaga (Brassica napobrassica), a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip. Her leaves also function as the rotors of a helicopter.
Her name is a portmanteau of the aforementioned "rutabaga" and "rotor" (or "rotate"), referring to her hovering nature based on the leaves on her head function like helicopter rotars.
Rotobaga is internally named "xshot" in the files of the games, referring to her firing pattern.
Almanac entry
Note: The stats shown below only apply to Level 1
Rotobaga
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Rotobaga
SUN COST: 150
RECHARGE: 5
TOUGHNESS: 300
DAMAGE: 10
RANGE: 4 Way
PLANT FOOD POWER: Duration
FAMILY: Appease-mint
Rotobagas shoot projectiles along the four diagonals, in each direction that has a target.
Sometimes Rotobaga hears the plants gossiping about each other. "Did you notice so-and-so has been putting on weight?" they might say. Or "I hear that so-and-so is dating so-and-so. Can you believe it?" But Rotobaga isn't the kind of plant to engage in idle gossip. She's not interested in talking about anyone behind their leaves. She does her best to just rise above it.
Upgrades
Plant Food effect

Plant Food ability (animated)
Rotobaga fires 15 huge rutabagas in her usual four directions that each deal 70 DPS.
Appease-mint effect
When boosted by Appease-mint, each of Rotobaga's rutabagas will do an additional 150 DPS.
Costumed (China only)
When given Plant Food, Rotobaga will now shoot a large number of large pink rutabagas that deal double the damage of her regular effect.
Level upgrades
Level | Seed Packets | Coins | Upgrades | ||||||
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Sun Cost | Recharge (Fast) |
Toughness (Typical) |
Damage* (Normal) |
Projectile Velocity |
Plant Food Power (Projectile Count**) |
Range | |||
1 | 0 | 0 | 150 | 5 seconds | 300 dps | 10 dps | Normal | 15 | 4 Way |
2 | 10 | 1,000 | 150 | 5 seconds | 350 dps | 15 dps | 15 | ||
3 | 75 | 5,000 | 150 | 4.5 seconds | 400 dps | 20 dps | + 1.3x | 20 | |
4 | 200 | 10,000 | 125 | 4.5 seconds | 450 dps | 25 dps | 20 | ||
5 | 400 | 20,000 | 125 | 4.5 seconds | 550 dps | 30 dps | 25 | ||
6 | 750 | 30,000 | 125 | 4 seconds | 600 dps | 35 dps | 30 | ||
7 | 1,000 | 40,000 | 125 | 4 seconds | 650 dps | 40 dps | + 1.6x | 30 | |
8 | 1,250 | 50,000 | 125 | 3.5 seconds | 700 dps | 35 | |||
9 | 1,500 | 60,000 | 100 | 3.5 seconds | 800 dps | 40 | |||
10 | 2,000 | 75,000 | 100 | 3 seconds | 900 dps | 45 |
*Per projectile
**Per direction
Level upgrades (China only)
Strategies
Rotobaga shares her role in the player's plant arsenal with Starfruit: as a projectile plant that specializes in attacking adjacent lanes rather than in the lane they are placed on. Rotobaga and Starfruit can go hand to hand in usage. Compared to Starfruit, Rotobaga deals more damage and therefore will be able to deal with a larger amount of enemies more easily. However, Starfruit's firing pattern allows him to attack zombies from a further range, as well as give it an edge in combating Prospector Zombie and enemies deployed by pterodactyls compared to Rotobaga. Regardless, both plants are relatively similar in function and have little difference in terms of usage. However, Starfruit's Stars have a higher velocity.
Another important feature of Rotobaga is that she can float over water in the Big Wave Beach, allowing her to be deployed without the need of Lily Pad. This makes Rotobaga a decent choice for stalling Fisherman Zombies, though using Infi-nut's Plant Food ability is clearly still a more favorable choice for the task. Rotobaga can also help other plants against Octo Zombies, as her attacking pattern and high damage output allows her to defeat thrown octopi quickly.
Because of her firing pattern, Rotobaga should be planted in a concave formation to maximize her potential. Rotobaga can also be used in conjunction with slider tiles in the Frostbite Caves, or with plants that can divert enemies away from Rotobaga such as Garlic and Sweet Potato - however, it should be remembered that Ice Weasels and Dodo Rider Zombies can still bypass slider tiles, and zombies that can crush or circumvent defense can override Garlic and Sweet Potato with little trouble. In the Dark Ages, Rotobagas should not be used against Jester Zombies as they can reflect Rotobaga's projectiles and turn them against plants in that zombie's lane.
Rotobaga should also be kept in mind in Wild West, as her volleys of 3 projectiles can be useful against Chicken Wrangler Zombies, and she is also a good choice for being planted on the minecarts. In addition, she can also serve as some damage for Prospector Zombies that manage to get to the back of the lawn.
Rotobaga works well with Primal Peashooter because if a zombie gets out of Rotobaga range, then Primal Peashooter will push it back into her range attacking it again
Gallery
Plants vs. Zombies Wiki has a gallery for Rotobaga.
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Trivia
- When shooting, she will only shoot projectiles in the directions where there are zombies, unlike Threepeater and Starfruit who will send projectiles in all directions constantly as long as at least one zombie is in their range.
- Her leaves do not go over her seed packet in the Chinese version.
- Sometimes when Plant Food is used on her, she makes the same noise Starfruit makes when Plant Food is used on him.
- Jester Zombie could deflect her projectiles forward, but the projectiles would be facing downwards. This was fixed in an update.
- In the Chinese version, she was a monthly special plant, but she is now a Sky City plant. This makes her the first monthly special plant to be available normally later on.
- In some cases on Frostbite Caves - Day 30, when the player plants her on certain tiles, she may shoot in a wrong direction instead of hitting Zombot Tuskmaster 10,000 BC's ice barriers.
- As of the 5.9 update, Rotobaga's Plant Food effect was bugged. She dealt insane amounts of damage, enough to take out a Zombot's health by 2 phases. It was fixed in the 6.0 update
- She is the first international plant to be featured in a China-exclusive world, which is Sky City, with the second being Gold Bloom in Steam Ages.
See also
V · T · E |
Plants vs. Zombies | |
---|---|
Day | Peashooter · Sunflower · Cherry Bomb · Wall-nut · Potato Mine · Snow Pea · Chomper · Repeater |
Night | Puff-shroom · Sun-shroom · Fume-shroom · Grave Buster · Hypno-shroom · Scaredy-shroom · Ice-shroom · Doom-shroom |
Pool | Lily Pad · Squash · Threepeater · Tangle Kelp · Jalapeno · Spikeweed · Torchwood · Tall-nut |
Fog | Sea-shroom · Plantern · Cactus · Blover · Split Pea · Starfruit · Pumpkin · Magnet-shroom |
Roof | Cabbage-pult · Flower Pot · Kernel-pult · Coffee Bean · Garlic · Umbrella Leaf · Marigold · Melon-pult |
Upgrades | Gatling Pea · Twin Sunflower · Gloom-shroom · Cattail · Winter Melon · Gold Magnet · Spikerock · Cob Cannon |
Others | Imitater · Explode-o-nut · Giant Wall-nut · Giant Sunflower · Giant Marigold · Sprout |
Plants vs. Zombies Social Edition | |
---|---|
Normal | Peashooter · Sunflower · Cherry Bomb · Wall-nut · Potato Mine · Chomper · Repeater · Puff-shroom · Scaredy-shroom · Snow Pea · Sun-shroom · Fume-shroom · Grave Buster · Lily Pad · Squash · Spikeweed · Tangle Kelp · Torchwood · Sea-shroom · Jalapeno · Coffee Bean · Tall-nut · Pumpkin · Magnet-shroom · Blover · Melon-pult · Cactus |
Premium | Pickled Pepper · Icy Fume-shroom · Fire-shroom · Flamewood · Vine-nut · Gatling Pea · Twin Sunflower · Gloom-shroom · Winter Melon · Super Chomper · Future Star · Calm Chuck |
Plants vs. Zombies Adventures | |
---|---|
Normal | Peashooter · Sunflower · Aspearagus · Wall-nut · Cherry Bomb · Popcorn · Beet · Snow Pea · Jalapeño · Magnet Plant · Flaming Pea · Shamrock · Bamboo Shoot · Repeater · Chilly Pepper · Twin Sunflower |
VIPs | Sweet Pea · Beeshooter · Hard-nut · Acespearagus · Power Flower · Beetboxer · Ice Queen Pea · Shamrockstar · Bamboom |
Others | Trees |
Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version) | |
---|---|
Ancient Egypt | Peashooter · Sunflower · Wall-nut · Cabbage-pult · Bloomerang · Iceberg Lettuce · Grave Buster · Bonk Choy · Repeater · Twin Sunflower · Snow Pea · Torchwood |
Pirate Seas | Kernel-pult · Snapdragon · Power Lily · Spikeweed · Spring Bean · Coconut Cannon · Spikerock · Lightning Reed · Tall-nut |
Wild West | Threepeater · Squash · Split Pea · Chili Bean · Jalapeno · Pea Pod · Melon-pult · Winter Melon · Imitater |
Kongfu World | Radish · Fire Gourd · Heavenly Peach · Bamboo-shoot |
Far Future | Laser Bean · Blover · Citron · E.M.Peach · Infi-nut · Magnifying Grass · Tile Turnip · Starfruit |
Dark Ages | Hypno-shroom · Sun-shroom · Puff-shroom · Fume-shroom · Sun Bean · Pea-nut · Magnet-shroom · Oak Archer · Coffee Bean · Plantern |
Big Wave Beach | Acidic Citrus · Lotuspot · Lily Pad · Bowling Bulb · Banana Launcher · Guacodile · Tangle Kelp · Homing Thistle |
Frostbite Caves | Hurrikale · Fire Peashooter · Hot Potato · Pepper-pult · Chard Guard · Stunion · Rafflesia · Tornacorn |
Sky City | Rotobaga · Cycloque · Aspiragus · Saucer Squash · Board Beans · Lantern Cherry · Ampthurium · Spinnapple |
Lost City | Lava Guava · Red Stinger · A.K.E.E. · Stallia · Gold Leaf · Toadstool · Jackfruit |
Neon Mixtape Tour | MC Glory · Phat Beet · Thyme Warp · Celery Stalker · Spore-shroom · Garlic · Intensive Carrot · Cactus |
Jurassic Marsh | Primal Peashooter · Primal Wall-nut · Perfume-shroom · Primal Sunflower · Primal Potato Mine · Primal Rafflesia · Dinonip · Thorns · Mastercane |
Modern Day | Shadow-shroom · Caulipower · Moonflower · Grimrose · Nightshade · Dusk Lobber · Blooming Heart |
Steam Ages | Gold Bloom · Flat-shroom · Passionflower · Lotus Root · Fanilla · Lily of Alchemy · Berry Blaster |
Renaissance Age | Aloe · Kinnikannon · Wax Guard · Oil Olive · Ruby Red · Dartichoke |
Monthly special | Pyro-shroom · Carrotillery · Cryo-shroom · Dandelion · Aggro Brocco · Pomegunate · Chomper · Sweet Potato · Lord Bamboo · Sap-fling · Ghost Pepper · Chest-nut · Bambrook · Zorrose · Magic-shroom · Electric Blueberry · R.A.D Missiles · Endurian · Pumpkin Witch · Sunflower Singer · Snowy Cotton · Guerrequila · Monkeyfruit · Plumping Plummy · Dragonfruit · Angel Starfruit · Gatling Pea · Match Flower · Firebloom Queen · Cattail · Grapeshot · Cold Snapdragon · Shrinking Violet · Cob Cannon · Apple Mortar · Witch Hazel · Escape Root · Electric Currant · Sumo Melon · Wasabi Whip · Explode-O-Nut · Parsnip · Missile Toe · Kiwibeast · Electric Peashooter · Hot Date · Icy Currant · Trump Tulip · Auberninja · Banana Dancer · Dual Pistol Pinecone · Narcissus · Alarm Arrowhead · Holly Barrier · Shadow Peashooter · Snap Pea · Frostbloom Queen · Sling Pea · Zapdragon · Electrici-tea · Imp Pear · Strawburst · Egrett Flower · Goo Peashooter · Bud-minton · Curling Corms · Pokra · Dollarweed Drummer · Ultomato · Shadow Vanilla · Bromel Blade |
Others | Potato Mine · Tactical Cuke |
Removed plants | Rotten Red |
Plants vs. Zombies Online | |
---|---|
Player's House | Sunflower · Peashooter · Wall-nut · Potato Mine |
Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum | Bruce Bamboo · Carrot Rocket · Pomegranate-pult · Dandelion · Venus Flytrap · Wax Gourd · Sod |
Ancient Egypt | Bloomerang · Bonk Choy · Grave Buster · Iceberg Lettuce · Cabbage-pult |
Pirate Seas | Snapdragon · Spikeweed · Spring Bean · Kernel-pult · Coconut Cannon · Narcissus · Endurian · Spikerock · Pineapple Cannon · Threepeater |
Far Future | Laser Bean · Blover · Citron · E.M.Peach · Tile Turnip · Ganoderma · Banana Tree · Nitration Mushroom · Infi-nut · Magnifying Grass |
East Sea Dragon Palace | Oxygen Algae · Garlic · Bubble Flower · Electric Anemone |
Upgrades | Twin Sunflower · Repeater |
VIPs | Winter Melon |
Power Ups | Cherry Bomb · Jalapeno |
Premium | Squash · Snow Pea · Tall-nut |
Adventure Mode only | Magic Vine · Split Pea · Chili Bean · Lightning Reed · Pea Pod · Melon-pult · Starfruit · Chomper · Fire Peashooter · Cattail · Zorrose · Clivia · Sap-fling · Acidic Citrus · Magic-shroom · Ghost Pepper · Guacodile · Hurrikale · Plantern · Oak Archer · Homing Thistle · Pepper-pult · Radish · Toadstool · Blooming Heart · Red Stinger · Electric Blueberry · A.K.E.E. · Moonflower · Guerrequila · Aspiragus · Pumpkin Witch · Mine Fruit · Sea Anemone · Lychee Drill · Sea Starfruit |
Plants vs. Zombies 3 | |
---|---|
Common | Puff-Shroom · Buttercup · Garlic · Potato Mine · Pushywillow · Wall-Nut · Chard Guard · Peashooter · Spikeweed · Cabbage-Pult · Kernel-Pult · Bonk Choy · Caramel Popcorn · Lightning Reed · Melon-Pult |
Rare | Shuffle Truffle · Blockbuster · Butternut Squash · Ragweed · Sawgrass · Squash · Fire Peashooter · Pine Needler · Snow Pea · Bamboo Shoots · Night Cap |
Epic | Aloe Vera · Sweet Potato · Hydrangea · Dogwood · Chomper · Gravitree · Flak Seed · Lemon-Aid · Gloom-Shroom · Snapdragon · Starfruit |
Legendary | Fairy Ring Mushroom · Kalestorm |
Others | Sunflower · Cherry Bomb · Star Tree · Magic Beans |
- Plants
- Plants vs. Zombies 2
- Plants vs. Zombies 2 plants
- Uncommon plants (Plants vs. Zombies 2 Chinese version)
- Appease-mint Family plants
- Frostbite Caves
- Frostbite Caves obtained plants
- Multi-directional plants
- Fast recharge plants
- Monthly special plants
- Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version)
- Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version) plants
- Flying plants
- Plants obtained with Puzzle Pieces
- Sky City obtained plants
- Sky City