Rotobaga

For the version in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, see Rotobaga.

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 1.5 seconds). Because of her flying abilities, Rotobaga can also be planted on water tiles in the Big Wave Beach without the aid of Lily Pad and on-air tiles in the Sky City.

Origins

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

Rotobaga	SUN COST 150 RECHARGE Fast SUN COST: 150 RECHARGE: Fast TOUGHNESS Typical DAMAGE Normal TOUGHNESS: Typical DAMAGE: Normal RANGE 4 Way PLANT FOOD POWER Duration RANGE: 4 Way PLANT FOOD POWER: Duration FAMILY Appease-mint 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.

Rotobaga

		SUN COST 150			RECHARGE Fast

SUN COST: 150
RECHARGE: Fast

		TOUGHNESS Typical			DAMAGE Normal

TOUGHNESS: Typical
DAMAGE: Normal

		RANGE 4 Way			PLANT FOOD POWER Duration

RANGE: 4 Way
PLANT FOOD POWER: Duration

		FAMILY Appease-mint

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

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.

Level upgrade

*Per projectile
**Per direction

Level upgrade  (China only)

Level	Upgrades	Description
	Strong Fire	Rotobaga has a 25% chance to shoot big projectiles that deal double the damage.
	Combat Training	Rotobaga gains 50% more attack power and health (150% of initial).
	Strengthen Fire	Rotobaga has a 50% chance to shoot big projectiles.
	Cell Activation	Rotobaga gains another 50% more attack power and health (200% of initial).
	Ability Awaken	Rotobaga may be boosted when planted.
	Fighting Power	Rotobaga gains another 50% more attack power and health (250% of initial).

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.

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.

Gallery

Plants vs. Zombies Wiki has a gallery for Rotobaga.

Visit this page to see it.

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 that Starfruit makes when Plant Food is used on him.
• Jester Zombie can deflect her projectiles forward, but the projectiles will 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.
  • However, she is actually from Frostbite Caves in the International Version.

See also

• Starfruit
• Threepeater