Plants vs. Zombies: The Final Showdown

 Plants vs. Zombies: The Final Showdown is a spinoff in the PvZ series. It is designed to be much harder than the regular games in the PvZ series, aimed at the experts of PvZ.

NOTE: The picture style is PvZ1, not PvZ2.

Subpages

 * Almanac
 * Technical Stuff
 * Achievements
 * Custom Waves
 * Wall-nut Bowling Info
 * Boosts
 * /Locked and Loaded/
 * /Last Stand/
 * /I, Zombie/
 * /Vasebreaker/
 * /Vs. Mode/
 * /Co-op Mode/

Description
Dr. Zomboss was defeated, the zombies almost entirely wiped out, but now, a new threat is here, a new leader of the zombies. We are losing the war with the Zombies. Your mission is to find and defeat their leader, but it won’t be easy. Crazy Dave and Burt will help you out, but there are new, tougher zombies. Some make the Gargantuars look like pussycats. This isn't for the feint of heart. Only the experts should try this game.

Areas

 * Campsite: The first two levels are a kind of tutorial, although nowhere near as easy as the tutorial levels in the other games in the PvZ series. Starting with Day 3, at least one campfire is located somewhere. Each campfire cannot be planted on, but causes zombies on top of it to lose 1nds of health every second. It also defrosts chilled or frozen zombies. Campfires can be damaged by plants (they have 60nds of health), but cold plants will do double damage and hot plants will do half damage.
 * Misty Pond: Now you get thrown into the thick of it. This stage is all water and it has fog (although it's called mist in this game), as well as being night-time. You start with five columns of Lily Pads in the first level (as you can't plant any more, you get Sea-shrooms before Lily Pads), but only two columns in the levels afterwards.
 * Icy Rink: Tricky, tricky, tricky. You have to plant in Flower Pots (you start with two columns), as plants can't survive on ice, and the Pots sometimes slide into an adjacent empty space because of the slippery ice. This only has a 10% chance of happening to each Pot every minute, but if you have lots of Pots, it's likely that they will slide quite often.
 * Dark Volcano: This is where it gets REALLY hard. This is night-time again, and the middle row is lava, so only a few zombies can go in that row safely, but NO plants can be planted in that row, making it hard to defend.
 * Rainy Forest: As the name implies, this is a rainforest. Rainclouds are located above certain spaces, and any plant on these spaces gains 2x attack speed and performs their Plant Food effect twice when given Plant Food. Since the effect of the area is so helpful, the waves are tougher, similarly to how Far Future works.
 * Hidden Base: You infiltrate a base of operations for the zombies, and need to plant in Flower Pots (you start with two columns). It's technically night-time because you're indoors with no windows, so mushrooms are a good idea. In this stage, there will be a blackout in each level after a few minutes, which lasts until the level ends. Make sure to get Planterns to light up the area before that happens. Lastly, during huge waves, some zombies will teleport onscreen, acting like ambush zombies from Misty Pond.
 * Doom Dungeon: You eventually get captured and taken to a dungeon. You need to escape, but as the floor is stone, you need to plant in Flower Pots (you start with two columns), and there are only small windows letting in sunlight. Only 15 sun falls from the sky at a time and mushrooms fall asleep! Also, six rows to defend makes this even harder.
 * The Great Graveyard: The last full stage, tombstones block your shots like campfires did, but they also spawn zombies every fifth wave (that means every Flag and every wave halfway between Flags). This also takes place at night, making it even trickier. On top of that, this is where the hardest zombies are introduced.
 * Zombie Castle: This stage has only five levels, but all are very hard. You plant in Flower Pots (you start with two columns), and it's night-time, but the zombie combinations are deadly and lethal. On top of that, trapdoors will cause your plants to fall to their doom during Huge Waves. Expect lots of failed attempts at the levels in this stage.

Stars, Gates and Level System
Explanations about the level and map system.

Stars
For regular choose-your-seeds levels, there are three goals: Don't lose any Lawnmowers, and two others which vary from level to level. You'll be told all the goals, even if it's your first time playing the level, and you get one star for each goal you complete. Complete all three on one playthrough, and you'll get three stars for that level. For special levels (Conveyor-belts, Last Stand, Save Our Seeds), you only have one star, which is for not losing Lawnmowers.

The other goals that you can get are:
 * Save up at least >insert number here< sun by the final wave.
 * Don’t spend more than >insert number here< sun.
 * Slay every zombie within >insert number here< seconds of it appearing.
 * Don’t plant more than >insert number here< plants.
 * Don’t lose any plants.
 * Don’t plant any plants that cost more than >insert number here< sun.
 * Don’t destroy any campfires (Campsite only).
 * Don’t remove any mist (Misty Pond only).
 * Don’t use any Sun Producing plants (Campsite, Icy Rink, Rainy Forest and Doom Dungeon only).
 * Don’t use any Mushroom plants (Misty Pond, Dark Volcano, Hidden Base and The Great Graveyard only).
 * Don’t destroy any tombstones (Great Graveyard only).

Gates
For the gates that lead to side paths, you need to complete certain goals to unlock the gates, rather than collecting keys. However, there are also gates on the main path. The third, sixth, ninth, twelth and fifteenth levels in each stage have gates that block you from playing them, and these gates are unlocked by collecting a certain amount of total stars (in the entire game, not just the one stage). Usually, this will be more than 50% of the amount of stars it's possible to collect by that point, not counting side paths.

Leafy Hell Mode
When you get all the stars on a regular level, you can earn a gold medal on top of that when you replay the level, as you get the option to replay in Leafy Hell Mode. In this mode, Seed Packets take 10% longer to recharge, Zombies are 10% faster and do 10% more damage, and the waves are harder.

Bonus Modes
Bonus Modes are unlocked after beating Zombie Castle Night 5, and are not found on the map, they are found in a different menu.

Castle Crush Mode
Try to destroy the zombie's castle before they eat your brains! Simple, but pretty hard!

Puzzle Mode
The Zombies need something to eat, so make your brain smarter and tastier in these modes!
 * /Locked and Loaded/: Survive tough levels with a selection of plants chosen by Crazy Dave himself! Chance of good plants: Low.
 * /Last Stand/: Play some unique Last Stand levels where you change your plants each flag and the zombies change each flag too!
 * /I, Zombie/: Train your brain and help the zombies eat it at the same time in this mode!
 * /Vasebreaker/: Smash vases to reveal various plants, zombies and other things.
 * L&L Endless: Endless fun with pre-chosen plants that change each flag!
 * Last Stand Endless: Perhaps the toughest mode, this will test your defenses to the limit to see how many flags you can survive on a limited income.
 * I, Zombie Endless: Eat as many brains as you can before you run out of sun to plant zombies!
 * Vasebreaker Endless: How many vases can you smash before the zombies eat your brains?

Boss Rush Mode
In Boss Rush Mode, you fight every boss (except the bonus boss in the bonus level) one after another. There are five different modes in this mode (modes inside a mode, lelwut), which each provide their own unique medal upon completion.
 * Regular: All bosses are the same as the first time around. Green medal for beating this.
 * Time Attack: You must beat each boss under a time limit. Clock medal for beating this.
 * Last Stand: Set up your defenses beforehand, then you begin the fight. After each phase, you'll get some additional sun to repair your defenses. Wall-nut medal for beating this.
 * Choose Your Seeds: Plays out like a Choose Your Seeds level. The boss appears after one minute, but will spawn zombies at a lower rate and attack less frequently until it's been onscreen for one minute. Seed Packet medal for beating this.
 * Leafy Hell: The bosses have doubled health, the conveyor-belt is 10% slower, there are no lawnmowers and the bosses can spawn more types of zombies. Gold medal for beating this.

Vs. Mode and Co-op Mode
Vs. Mode is unlocked after beating Night 12 of The Great Graveyard stage. It's totally different to Vs. Mode in PvZ1. You connect to the internet and are put up against a player of similar skill level, and each player plays a mostly normal game of PvZ but with no lawnmowers (or equivalents), and the players choose five zombies for the other to fight before they choose their plants.

Those zombies will appear along with Browncoat Zombies (or Ducky Tube Browncoats in Misty Pond), and the player that survives the longest wins. However, each player can spend sun to send additional zombies to the opponent, with the stronger zombies being unlocked later on in the level and costing more to send.

After four flags you enter Sudden Death, where all zombies, natural or sent, have increased health, and sent zombies have an Instant recharge. The health increase begins at 25% extra health, then 50% after another minute, and so on. Four minutes after the fourth flag, all zombies would have double health!

Co-op Mode is unlocked after beating Misty Pond night 12 and has various different levels you can play (unlocked as you progress), which are:

Co-op Campsite: A three-flag Campsite level.

Co-op Campsite Hard: A five-flag Campsite level.

Co-op Misty Pond: A three-flag Misty Pond level.

Co-op Misty Pond Hard: A five-flag Misty Pond level.

Co-op Icy Rink: A three-flag Icy Rink level.

Co-op Icy Rink Hard: A five-flag Icy Rink level.

Co-op Dark Volcano: A three-flag Dark Volcano level.

Co-op Dark Volcano Hard: A five-flag Dark Volcano level.

Co-op Rainy Forest: A three-flag Rainy Forest level.

Co-op Rainy Forest Hard: A five-flag Rainy Forest level.

Co-op Hidden Base: A three-flag Hidden Base level.

Co-op Hidden Base Hard: A five-flag Hidden Base level.

Co-op Doom Dungeon: A three-flag Doom Dungeon level.

Co-op Doom Dungeon Hard: A five-flag Doom Dungeon level.

Co-op The Great Graveyard: A three-flag Great Graveyard level.

Co-op The Great Graveyard Hard: A five-flag Great Graveyard level.

Co-op Camper: A Co-op version of the Camper Zombie boss.

Co-op Poseidon: A Co-op version of the Poseidon Zombie boss.

Co-op Zomdolph: A Co-op version of Zomdolph the red-nosed Zomdeer boss.

Co-op Dragon: A Co-op version of the Zombie Dragon boss.

Co-op Camper Rematch: A Co-op version of the Camper Rematch boss.

Co-op Commander: A Co-op version of the Base Commander boss.

Co-op Jailor: A Co-op version of the Jailor Zombie boss.

Co-op Baron: A Co-op version of the Baron Von Bats boss.

Unlocking Other Stuff

 * You unlock a Challenge Zone for a stage by beating level 15 in that stage.
 * You unlock a Survival: Endless mode for a stage by getting every star in that stage.
 * There are four Treasure Chests in most stages, which give you 1,000 coins and are collected after beating levels 3, 6, 9 and 12.
 * You get plants or boosts after BEATING a side path, not at the start of a side path.
 * If you collect every star and gold medal (and all the Boss Rush medals) AND beat every non-endless puzzle, you'll unlock a special bonus level in the Zombie Castle Stage! But I'm keeping details about that bonus level secret for now.

Recharge Timers

 * Instant: Not quite instant, it's 1sec. 1.1sec in Leafy Hell Mode.
 * Very Fast: 8sec. 8.8sec in Leafy Hell Mode.
 * Fast: 15sec. 16.5sec in Leafy Hell Mode.
 * Slow: 30sec. 33sec in Leafy Hell Mode.
 * Very Slow: 60sec. 66sec in Leafy Hell Mode.
 * Ultra Slow: 150sec. 165sec in Leafy Hell Mode.

Plants
^ - Battle style changed.

Zombies
Note: The "type" is usually used to indicate weaknesses, strengthes and abilities.

Helmet types are vulnerable to Snap Peas and Thief-shrooms.

Shield types are vulnerable to Snap Peas, Thief-shrooms, fumes, lasers, weeds, rocks, pults and probably more that I forgot about.

Machine types are vulnerable to EMPeashooters and Magnet Traplants.

Wheeled types are vulnerable to weeds and rocks.

Big types are immune to Chompers, resistant to Celekinetics and only a limited number can be sucked into Black-Hole-Berries.

Metal types are vulnerable to magnets.

Jumping types jump, and are blocked by tall plants.

Flying types fly over plants and are immune to most attacks.

Ranged types have long-ranged attacks.

Weapon types have a weapon, and are vulnerable to Thief-shrooms.

Summoner types summon other zombies.

Healer types heal zombies.

Support types can't eat your brains.

Micro Boss types usually have no weaknesses, are immune to Lawnmower-style defenses and have long-ranged attacks.

Boss types usually have no weaknesses, are immune to Lawnmower-style defenses, have long-ranged attacks, summon other zombies and don't eat your brains.

Soundtrack
Here I'll list the different music tracks I find which I think would fit well in this game. I take no credit for any of the following music, the music belongs to its respective owners and My Little Pony: FiM and its characters are trademarks of Hasbro Inc.

Trivia

 * The game is similar to earlier versions of Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time, with sun being worth 25 again, and the map design is similar too.
 * I copy-pasted the source from Plants vs. Zombies 3: Dimensional Travels and changed what I needed in order to make this page, cause I'm lazy like that.
 * Plants that were upgrades in the original PvZ are no longer upgrades, but there are five upgrades that weren't in the original PvZ.
 * These upgrades don't all have the same "Very Slow" recharge either, and they can be imitated.
 * In this game, certain zombies are classed as "big zombies". These can't be eaten whole by Chompers, aren't pushed as far back by Celekinesis, and a Black-Hole-Berry can only suck in three of these zombies maximum.
 * These zombies are Elite Zombies, Gargantuars, Z.O.M.B.I.E.s and Juggernaut Zombies.
 * Note that Coffin Zombies also cannot be eaten whole by a Chomper, as it will eat the Coffin but not the Zombie.
 * EMPeashooters cannot disable all the vehicle zombies, as some of them (like Pianists and Catapults) don't use machinery that can be disabled by an EMP blast. It can however disable speedboats, zambonis, Zomdeers (they are actually robots), Zombie Heal Stations, Zombot-Mech Walkers (both types), Zombot Drones (if on a Flowervator), Mini-Zomtanks, the Elite Zombie's energy shielding, Zombie Bulls (which are still robots), Z.O.M.B.I.E.s and the Juggernaut Zombie's energy shielding.
 * Due to the Undying Zombie's low speed, it has less columnpoints than a Diamondhead Zombie (not counting health regeneration).
 * Many plants are given minor or major changes (aside from sun cost or recharge alterations), marked by a ^ next to their names. Changes are:
 * Sun-shroom can grow twice, not once.
 * Plantern affects three rows, not five.
 * Ice-shroom slows nearby zombies instead of freezing everything onscreen (which is now its Plant Food effect).
 * Lily Pads and Flower Pots have massively reduced health, taking only one bite. This is to stop their near-instant recharge from making them into cheap, OP stalling tactics.
 * Coffee Bean can speed up plants which are already awake.
 * Snapdragon's damage is increased from 1.5 to 2.
 * Chomper chews faster.
 * Pea Pod grows heads automatically over time.
 * Celekinesis can push zombies back three spaces instead of one space, except for big zombies, which still get pushed one space.
 * Berridot won't pop spores that hit it (due to being introduced in a night-time stage).
 * O-range will always increase a plant's range to let it target multiple rows, and can only be used once per plant.
 * Magnifying Grass deals 25 damage instead of 27.5 and costs less sun to launch the attack.
 * Watercress is semi-aquatic, shoots faster, does less damage, has a max of ten on one space and they don't die automatically.
 * Magnet Plant has a shorter cooldown and smaller range.
 * Bananarang deals 30 damage instead of 15.
 * Lightning Reed deals doubled damage to zombies with metal objects, vehicles or robots.
 * Pult-shrooms are similar to Puff-shrooms, whereas according to tcrf.net, the Pult-shrooms in Dark Ages lob more projectiles over time (so they grow and do more damage each time they grow).
 * Grow-shroom simply gains attack strength, not health, and gains this strength over time, not when it kills zombies.
 * Black-Hole-Berry is based off of the old version by Partylover, rather than the version by Electronic Pea.
 * Marigolds now grow after a couple of minutes, producing silver coins before they grow and gold coins after they grow.
 * Gigas in this game don't have double health and some special ability, they generally have a variety of improvements and sometimes increased (but rarely doubled) health.
 * Only one type of Giga can appear in each level, and only in Survival: Endless modes, and the non-Giga version will always appear in that same level.
 * Zombie Heal Stations are the only "zombie" that isn't sped up in any way in Leafy Hell Mode.