Anyone new to the series, and veteran players, will want to know the basics of the game before getting started. I’m here to do just that and guide you on your way to total garden warfare.
This guide will go over everything you need to get started in Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2 including:
Getting Started - The basics of the game. Characters - Basic info on the different plants and zombies that are playable in the game. Backyard Battleground - Everything you need to know about the game’s main hub.
Getting Started
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2 is a game where, you guessed it, plants fight zombies. If you are expecting the gameplay from the apps, you are in for quite a surprise.
The Garden Warfare series plays like a 3rd-person shooter and you control one plant or zombie at a time. Each character has their own play style, main weapon, and abilities.
You can move around, shoot your primary weapon, jump, and use 3 different abilities. These abilities have cool-down times where you have to wait between each use. You can also interact with things like arming bombs, raising flags, and more.
Characters
All 8 base classes from the last game are available, as well as 6 new ones. Each class also has several variations that change the way the class works, such as adding fire damage to primary attacks, or changing how an ability works.
All characters, including the different variants of each character, have their own levels. As you use a character, you gain experience points exclusively for that character. If you get enough, you’ll level up. Leveling up can unlock new abilities. You can complete quests to increase the amount of experience you get.
Plants
Peashooter - Shoots peas obviously, chili bean bomb ability that explodes like a grenade, hyper-ability to move faster and jump higher, and a Gatling turret.
Sunflower - Heals teammates with heal beam and potted plant abilities, sunbeam attack that deals high damage, but makes them stationary.
Chomper - Melee/stealth character who can instantly kill zombies by swallowing them if you get behind the enemy. They can also bite or spray at close range depending on the variant you use. They can burrow underground to escape danger and swallow an enemy if they get underneath them. They can also spit goop on a zombie to slow them down and make them easier to get behind for a kill. Cactus - Long range plant that can snipe. It has a drone it can send out to shoot and send down airstrikes, tallnuts to place as barriers, and potato mines that explode and kill zombies that walk over them.
Rose - Magic support plant that has a lot of control abilities. She can turn zombies into goats for a short time, slow down zombies in an area, and disappear into the mist to keep her safe for a short time. She can also make portals to teleport teammates during Herbal Assault.
Citron - Orange bounty hunter that uses a laser to attack. He can deploy a shield that stays in front to block projectiles, roll around in a ball that can also use a charged attack, and an EMPeach ability to stun zombies.
Kernel Corn - Shoots with dual, rapid-fire corn cob guns. He has a charged shot called Shuck Shot, can send then a small airstrike with Butter Barrage, and can leap over enemies while shooting with Husk hop.
Zombies
Soldier - He uses an Assault rifle, but this changes depending on the variant. He also has a rocket launcher ability, jet pack jump, and stink cloud bomb.
Scientist - He is the healer for the zombies. He can now use a heal beam like the sunflower, or place a healing station down. He can teleport, throw a damaging or healing grenade, and uses a shotgun for his default weapon.
All-Star - This zombie has a lot of health and a Gatling-style main weapon. He can place a stationary shield, punt an exploding imp, and charge at plants with his tackle ability.
Engineer - This zombie can travel by jumping on a jackhammer and build portals in the Gardens and Graveyards game mode. They use a launcher as their main weapon that does splash damage and can stun plants with their sonic grenades/mines. Instead of the drone from the last game, they have a turret they jump on called the Big Bolt Blaster.
Imp and Z-Mech - This class is 2-in-1. You start as the Imp with a low health, but uses two blasters, and whirlwind ability that shoots while spinning, and a gravity grenade to stops all plants from doing anything but shoot their main weapon. His last ability calls down a mech. When in the mech, the health goes up a lot and he has access to new abilities. These abilities depend on the variant you have but the default one can shoot missiles, stomp, and eject with an explosion. Captain Deadbeard - This pirate zombie has a main weapon that can be used close-range, or long-range when aimed. He has a Barrel Blast ability that puts him in a barrel and explodes after a short time to deal area damage. He can also send his parrot out like the Cactus drone, and get on a stationary cannon to shoot enemies. Super Brainz - This zombie looks like a super hero and uses punches as his main attack. He has a lot of health, can shoot out a ranged attack with Super Ultra Ball, kick through enemies with Heroic Kick, and spin around to hit multiple enemies with Turbo Twister.
Backyard Battleground
This is the main hub of the game and where you’ll go to do anything. You can choose to play as plants or zombies and can switch at anytime by going to a sign in the base, or the customization booth. You can also play with up to 3 other players for 4-player co-op. I’ll go over the main features at the base.
Mailbox - This is where you’ll find the latest news, import characters from GW1 if you played, and get your rank rewards if you played the last game. You have until February 2017 to import characters. Customization Booth - This is where you can view and customize all your available characters in the game. You can also switch the character you use in Backyard Battleground and even switch between plants and zombies. Quest Board - You can pick up quests for plants, zombies, or general multiplayer from here. Completing quests gives you stars, coins, and pins. Stars can be used for various things around the backyard, such as placing cosmetics. When you collect enough pins, you’ll get an experience multiplayer to help level up faster. Multiplayer Portal - This lets you play with other people online, set up private matches, or play solo against A. I. This is where you need to go each time you want to play one of the online matchmaking game modes. Just select which mode you want to play, then go through the portal to begin matchmaking. Sticker Shop - This is where you can buy sticker packs using in-game coins. There are multiple sticker packs and they are used to unlock characters, upgrades, consumables, and more. You get coins from playing different game modes and completing quests.
Split-Screen - You can use this to add a player on the same console to play through any of the game modes. Only works on Xbox One and Playstation 4.
Stats Room - You can view the characters you’ve unlocked as well as overall stats in the game. When you get a character to level 10, this is also where you go to promote them. Promoting resets the character to level 1, but unlocks a special title that players will see when you vanquish them. You can promote up to 5 times. Story Quests - You can also complete story quests for both plants and zombies in the Backyard Battleground. These will always be listed on your quest log.
Flag of Power - In the center of the Backyard Battleground is a flag that you can raise. You can do this as either plants or zombies and when you do, you’ll fight waves of enemies. If the enemies get to the flag and you aren’t in the area, they will raise the flag until they fully take it over. Boxes appear throughout the waves that grant A. I. allies when you break them open. If you make it to the end, and Endless Wave starts that keeps going until they take over the flag.
That’s all for my Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2 Beginner Tips and Tricks. Let me know if you have any questions!
