Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is out now. We might have trouble at launch given that this is an EA game and therefore… popular. Garden Warfare also uses EA's online servers which can be shaky. Don't rage, be patient. Try the Welcome Mat playlist or play Garden Ops to earn more coins anyway.
The maximum player count is 24 and the release is limited to Xbox One and Xbox 360 at the moment. If you still can't connect, stick with us and we'll keep you updated. If you're in the battle yourself, study up! Check out our tips for every playable character.
Plants – Tips for Peashooter, Chomper, Cactus, and Sunflower
Peashooter
I like Peashooter a lot because he plays a little like Soldier from Team Fortress 2 with splash damage on every goopy round blasted at zombies. You can aim at the ground to pop brown coats in groups, but you'll want to avoid sticking to that. Direct hits or head-shots only. Take your time and aim down the leaves, I guess, and you'll do a lot more damage to grunts and bosses and other players alike.
Even Peashooter's hyper ability gives him rocket jump-height, so avoid enemies and take the higher ground all at once. Be very careful with where you put roots down for the Gatling gun, but remember to stymy enemy assaults with the chili bean which almost always incites some fear in Team Vanquish and Gardens and Graveyards.
Quick tactics:
- Use the hyper ability at the start of the match to get to a vantage point and call out enemy movements.
- If you know where the zombies spawn, you can toss a chili bean near there to scatter respawning forces.
- Experiment with the Gatling-pea mode in different placements.
Chomper
Chomper does best when seemingly the least important threat, whether in an objective match or Team Vanquish. Chomper should always be aware of cover he can use against threats like an All-Star's charge and use weed traps to stop enemy advances. Weed traps should be used defensively, not offensively. They can help your teammates probably more than they will Chomper given the amount of time it would take to trap and eat three enemies.
Remember to always splash your prey with purple goop to slow down their retreat or retaliation. Goop is the most useful tool in Chomper's arsenal when it comes to adding points on the board. The best strategy when dealing with multiple enemies and no team mates is to hit one baddie with goop while you eat the other, hopefully with enough time for digestion and a second chomp.
Quick tactics:
- Recognize enemy players. It’s not enough to chomp anyone and everyone. You gotta prevent the biggest threats from hurting your friends.
- Goop and run away. Leave your enemy confused and unaware so you can eat them later.
- Put trap weeds outside of the control point. Trapped zombies can still capture your garden when inside the point.
Cactus
I don't like Cactus very much because I don't like feeling vulnerable with my garlic drone up in the air. The drone can deal heavy damage if you find enemies laying around on the job, but I found that greater damage is dished by long-range head-shots with Cactus needles.
Cactus is especially deadly in objective game modes when you know you'll be able to line up head shots on the capture point. Rotate between laying Tallnut and Potato Mine fields, calling in corn cob air strikes with your drone, and sniping the enemy team.
Quick tactics:
- Use Tallnuts to create unique choke-points out of enemy floodways.
- Put potato bombs on your side of the Tallnut so zombies who jump over get blasted.
- Switch to your Garlic drone to use the corn cob strike every once in a while, even if you don’t like using the drone.
Sunflower
Always be tethered with a teammate. Sunflower's ability to heal others will help you score more points than anyone else if you play your role right. Sunflower can attach with another plant directly, but you can heal a lot more with the deployable pot of marigold.
The sunbeam can deal quite a lot of damage, but I'd recommend trying to avoid using the sunbeam in versus mode multiplayer. When you're up against other players, the beam of light can draw others to you like a fly zapper. In Garden Ops, the sunbeam will be a lot more useful and less dangerous to use against AI zombies and bosses.
Quick Tactics:
- Check-in with all fronts. Don’t just stick to one group of Cacti or a single Chomper. You can score more points than anyone if you heal a lot.
- Sunbeam enemies from far away as getting stationary will make Sunflower an easy target.
- Save your Marigold pot for healing yourself. Don’t immediately drop the flower as you can’t heal yourself with Sunflower’s beam.
Zombies – Tips for Foot Soldier, Mad Scientist, Engineer, and All-Star
Foot soldier
If you like finding precarious perches to rain death from, foot soldier will give you the boost you need. Foot soldier has a high rocket jump and good range for his machine gun, making him very deadly from mid to long range. Burst fire or alternate character variants will add to foot soldier's power and range, but make sure to stay out of the fray.
The ZPG rocket launch does great splash damage, but try to hit your opponent with your machine gun first. That way you'll ensure a kill with the ZPG blast. Foot soldier seems dumb, but with his moves you can always have better drop on the competition. Play smart and his well-rounded attributes will allow you to be the biggest contributor on your team.
Quick Tactics:
- Try tossing a smoke grenade on the point in Gardens and Graveyards to drive enemy plants from the garden.
- The ZPG is loud and obvious, so try to fire from far away and continue shooting while it travels to the target.
- Work with All-Star and the other zombies to finish enemies off. Coordinate and foot soldier can steal the points!
Mad Scientist
With his healing stations spraying pink goo onto heavily damaged zombies, you might compare Mad Scientist to Sunflower, but his shotgun-like blasts pack quite a punch and he can't tether to other zombies. Mad Scientist is a classic hit-and-run style character. Use the warp dash to both out maneuver the competition and escape sudden death.
While other Mad Scientist variants increase his speed or the spread of his shotgun, the base character has excellent balance with a long-range blaster that can hit targets slightly further away, in addition to heavy damage to those up close. Just be aware of enemies as even with a healing station, Mad Scientist can go down quick.
Quick Tactics:
- The best players will use Mad Scientist to consistently surprise the opposition. If a Foot Soldier engages head-on, try to warp from the side or warp behind and pinch the other player.
- Mad Scientist shouldn’t trade offense for support as healing stations are crucial to keeping the zombies undead.
- Make use of all of Mad Scientist’s abilities. It can be easy to only use warp or only use healing stations. You have to play both roles well to excel.
Engineer
The engineer's butt crack aside, this character can be very powerful and level the competition with constructed turrets, a drone capable of calling in air strikes, and the powerful cement launcher. Riding the jackhammer into battle might be enticing, but be smart about when and where you decide to charge ahead.
Use the jackhammer to get around enemies and the control point. You can run into enemies to bump them out of the way or confuse them. Basically I only took the jackhammer into the point, blasted a few plants with the cement launcher, and then rode back out of danger's way. Engineer moves kind of slow so be wary when using his abilities. Too soon or too late and it could be a brand new funeral for you.
Quick Tactics:
- Build turrets and drones behind the action to prevent enemy plants from bum rushing your team around spawn.
- Always use the drone to harass and airstrike the competition near their defenses. It’s a safer way to help capture points.
- Jackhammer into and out of control points to do your best Batman impersonation and rack up vanquishes. Engineer is not the zombie we need right now, but he still gets the job done.
All-Star
The All-Star has powerful tools at his disposal. The foam football blockers can cut off crucial paths to enemies, allowing you to lock down entire areas of the map with just one ability and your football canon. Add in the imp and All-Star's rush attack and you've got a serious threat to any plant.
Use the imp defensively, tossing at enemies in retreat or stifling an enemy push against All-Star's part of the map. Use the rush down attack offensively to run over enemies on your way to the capture point or to avoid burrowing Chompers looking to end your reign of terror. All-Star can be difficult to play because he has a target on his back, but learn each special ability and you'll put the team on your back to carry the win.
Quick Tactics:
- Use the foam blockers to make your presence on the map seem larger or like you could be hiding reinforcements just outside of view.
- Don’t waste All-Star’s charge attack getting to the control point, you’ll probably need it to run away from a Chomper.
- Try to get a drop on enemies where they can’t retreat to cover. All-Star will finish the job every time.
Read our Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare review.
