Gameplay and Mechanics

Information is one of the foundations of any good stage of warfare, and Gardens are no exception. Your screen is host to a wealth of personal information that will help you adjust to your current situation. Learn to recognize all of it at a moment’s notice.

Interface

Every single piece of information on your heads-up display (HUD) is there to let you know your personal status. Always keep track of it so that you can do whatever must be done to avoid being vanquished!

Health

Your health is represented numerically. Your job is to make sure it does not deplete to 0. You can do this by making sure enemy fire doesn’t hit you, and by using healers such as Sunflowers or Zombie Heal Stations to replenish it. Different types of weapons and enemy fire deal different amounts of damage to your Health—keep this in mind!

Abilities

These are the abilities that your character is currently outfitted with. Whenever you use an ability, its icon goes dark and you’ll have to wait a certain amount of time before you can use it again.

Weapons

Much like abilities, weapons are one of the things that make a character special. Each one operates in a different manner and can inflict different sorts of damage.

Ammo

This tells you how many more times you can fire your weapon before you absolutely must reload. Different weapons consume different amounts of ammo with each use.

Reticle

The crosshair in the center of the screen lets you know where your attacks will be aimed once you launch them. Moving yourself, moving the camera, or zooming in and out will have an effect on the reticle’s position, and in turn, your attack location.

Vanquish Notification

When a player is vanquished, this notification will briefly pop up saying who was vanquished, who did the vanquishing, and in what manner (weapon, ability, etc.) the vanquishing took place. If you see someone on a streak or using the same sort of weapon over again, try to counter it with a specific character or weapon of your own.

Objective

The objective is simply your goal in whichever Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare match you’re playing. This can vary from mode to mode, listed below.

Garden Health (Garden Ops)

The health of the Garden that the plants defend in Garden Ops. The more zombies inflict damage on the Garden, the more the health meter goes down.

Score (Team Vanquish)

Shows vanquish counts for plants and zombies in Team Vanquish mode. Plants and zombies vie for the center trophy from each side of the score bar shown.

Progress Meter (Gardens and Graveyards)

The progress that zombies have made toward completing their objective in Gardens and Graveyards. The closer zombies come to conquering a plant Garden or taking down a plant stronghold, the more this bar increases in their favor.

Team HUD (Garden Ops Only)

The upper-left of the HUD shows you the status of the players on your team during Garden Ops. Making sure your team isn’t in serious trouble is key to surviving this mode, so keep an eye on it.

Character Selection Screen

Before each match begins, whenever you are vanquished, or when you choose to respawn, you have the opportunity to choose a new character depending which team you are on (plants or zombies) from the ones you’ve already unlocked. This is where your knowledge of the battlefield comes into play—be sure to pick characters that you know are strong against the ones you’ve been facing!

Special Damage and Effects

Some character Classes inflict special types of damage using their weapons. Fire, for example, sets opponents aflame, causing them to lose health as they burn. Ice damage can freeze opponents in their tracks. There are many other types of special damage, and effects vary from character to character. To get a better idea of which character Classes do which type of damage and how that damage affects other characters, refer to the Characters chapter.

Spotting

When an enemy is spotted, an icon appears above their heads that you and all of your teammates can see. This is, of course, quite dangerous for the enemy, as this icon tracks them through walls and has little regard for distance, thus constantly providing your team with a general idea of where said enemy is. Hunt them down and vanquish at will, but always be wary of any support that the enemy might have!

To spot an enemy, simply gain a clear line of sight of them with your character. The rest takes care of itself.