[HO] Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2

Hello again, everyone!
It's hard to believe summertime is already around the corner. We’ve been hard at work since launching our first free content update in March, Graveyard Variety Pack, and today I’m thrilled to finally reveal the next chapter in the battle of doom and gloom. Trouble in Zombopolis: Part One, the next free major content update, is coming to all players this summer!
Trouble in Zombopolis: Part One has some incredible new content to play - including the biggest zombie city we’ve ever created: Zombopolis. In the streets of Zombopolis, Dr. Zomboss and the zombies are plotting to build a Mega Zombot that, when charged, may put the fate of plant-kind in grave danger.
We’re also introducing two crazy new characters, Toxic Citron and Breakfast Brainz. Toxic Citron must emerge from the shadows of toxicity to save the plants from Dr. Zomboss, but before he does that, he must defeat the watchful bacon-caped crusader - Breakfast Brainz.
That’s not all. We’re also adding over 1,200 crazy new customization items for you to outfit your plant and zombie heroes however you want. You’ll also notice the Boat Blast shooting gallery is back in the Backyard Battleground, along with leaderboards. Lastly, there are also plenty of new character balancing and gameplay improvements, the details of which you can find below.
As always, thank you all for your feedback and support. It’s with your help that we continue to make this the biggest and best game possible, so please continue to send us your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.
Enjoy your summer! Maybe you’ll hear from us again sooner than later…
Justin Wiebe,
Creative Director – Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2
@JA_WIEBE
New Features
Added the new Herbal Assault Map and capital city for the zombies, Zombopolis – now featuring an all-new Mini-Boss Battle
Added two new characters to collect:
Breakfast Brainz: He smells as good as he fights!
Toxic Citron: Rolls into battle with his toxic toxicity!
Numerous tuning and balancing updates, including improving Sunflowers’ damage output, damage reductions for Electro Brainz and more
Added a Zany Zombopolis Pack with over 1,200 all-new crazy customization items
Added Leaderboard improvements to keep track of your friends’ accomplishments, as well as your own
Updates to the Boat Blast Mini-Game. Head to the docks in the Backyard Battleground to check out the updates, including the improved Boat Blast Leaderboards: Compete with friends for the highest score in Boat Blast
Note: you still need to qualify for the Mini-Game by completing the three initial Boat Blast quests
Added Legendary Background to Legendary Items in the Customization Menu
Added item rarity to borders in the sticker book
Story Quests no longer appear in the Players Quest Log when all Story Quests have been completed
Allows players to hold two extra Quests
Added some audio stingers during reloads for some Party Characters
AI now runs back to defend the flag if enemies are capturing it in Flag of Power Mode
Added wave number information to HUD between waves
Legendary Characters get some health back when triggering their Legendary Mode in low health
Added a bind key on PC for Drone Self Destruct
Added Aqua Center Quests to Quest Board
Critical Fixes
Numerous stability improvements
Fixed issue where players in game groups would occasionally not hear music upon joining Ops Mode
Fixed issue where Infinity Time Match would not start due to Privacy Settings
Fixed issue where players would lose functionality in Infinity Time looting area if time was destabilized by the Gnome King
Additional stability improvements to Infinity Time Mode
Fixed some latency conditions when players would enter the server
Fixed rare issue where Quest Board would sometimes leave players in a hang after accepting Quests
Fixed issue where players would sometimes lag in the Backyard Battleground when Gnome Cave would open
Fixed occasional crash when accessing Leaderboards

General Bug Fixes
Made some additional Hit Detection improvements
Made some minor performance improvements
Fixed issue where sometimes music wouldn’t play between waves
Fixed timer issue when extra time was not being awarded when lowering bridge in Time Park Map
Added V/O for idle animations to all characters
Fixed camera going into an unwanted orientation when Kernel Corn uses Husk Hop from an elevated position
Fixed issue where Superhero bobble heads wouldn’t make noise
Fixed issue where the default region would occasionally be set incorrectly
Fixed exploit when the drone could enter Crazy Targets when started by another user
Fixed Gnome Bomb issue where Gnome Bomb location would not be shown to the player that joined in-progress
Fixed issue where XP scoring would not properly trigger for players in Suburbination Mode, when multiple players capture a point simultaneously
Fixed several instances of audible popping while playing the game
Fixed bad frame when selecting Solo Play from the Backyard Battleground
Fixed issue where characters would sometimes play taunt after entering Pots and Bots UI
Fixed issue where sometimes the last Zombie would not spawn in the Retrieve the Chickens Bonus Challenge
Fixed issue where only the host would see the ‘Game Over’ message after losing the flag in Flag of Power Mode
Fixed issue with Air Horn audio not playing when a match is won during overtime
Fixed issue where difficulty would change when a player joins other players’ Backyard Battleground
Fixed issue where Infinite-Ammo would not apply to some characters when using Crazy Settings
Shared vanquish now counts when assisting in the vanquish of Zen Sensei
Fixed incorrect character names showing in several instances when playing Solo-Ops
Fixed issue where revive audio would continue to play after player is vanquished mid-revive
Fixed some matchmaking enhancements to ensure players are matchmaking to closest region server
Fixed Break all Vases Bonus Challenge in Garden Ops on Boney Island where it sometimes wouldn’t complete properly
Fixed objective UI not appearing during Turf Takeover sessions for players that join in-progress during that Mini-Game
Fixed UI issue where ability bar would flash every time an ally would spawn
Fixed issue where Flag of Power XP modifier would carry into Ops, if launched during an active Flag of Power Mode
Fixed some stat tracking issues with Healing category on Stats Board
Fixed issue where players who didn’t open chests at end of Infinity Time would not be auto-granted their loot
Fixed multiple Boss Spawn sequences in Aqua Center Map
Fixed exploit where players would throw a chili or sombrero bean into the targets area - resetting Crazy Targets before exploding
Fixed issue where primary player in Split Screen had stars removed from their inventory, when the second player used the Star Fish to earn XP
Added more audio to countdown timer in Turf Takeover to signal to players the match is nearing its end
Fixed issue where music would stop playing in Infinity Time if one player gets vanquished
Fixed UI issue where secret note in Backyard Battleground would be shown to both players when in Split Screen
Fixed issue where Hidey could be destroyed by several abilities in Backyard Battleground
Fixed issue where player is no longer randomly teleported at end of a Boat Blast Mini-Game
Fixed matchmaking issue where a non-friend was able to join your HUB under certain conditions
Fixed issue where Pop Smarts no longer spawns on the ground for the legendary Pop Smarts Hat
Fixed a few instances where characters would fall off the end podiums in Herbal Assault Mode
Fixed UI when the trophy art wasn’t being displayed when Plants would win Team Vanquish Mode
Fixed Legendary Orbital Cube Hat for Scientist where the red dot VFX appeared under the character
Fixed Sticker Shop UI staying on the screen when the host enters a match from Backyard Battleground
Fixed a few issues where AI wouldn’t spawn in some Ops Bonus Challenges
Fixed issue where switching Citron to ball form in Customization menu before the model loaded would cause him to look crumpled
Fixed Leaderboard UI to correctly show friends’ names in blue
Fixed some weapon switching issues with the Butter Hawk in Zero Bark Thirty Mission
Character Bug Fixes:
Fix for several characters being unable to trigger impact VFX when shooting Pirate or Engineer on Turrets
Fixed a bug where electric arcs were sometimes being applied extra times
Scientist Energy Warp is no longer affected by Goatify, Time Snare, Spikeweed, and EMPeach
Fixed a bug where the Rock Pea would sometimes apply knockback to enemies
Fixed a bug where AC Perry was applying freezing buff twice on impact hits
Toxic Chomper no longer deals toxic damage while burrowed
Chomper Burrow dispels Turbo Twister damage
Fixed a bug where Revive UI wasn’t displaying while All-Star was shooting
Fixed a bug where the Scientist’s heal beam wasn’t dispelling while in Energy Warp
Fixed issue where some Party Characters were missing bullet-impact audio
Fixed VFX for Disco Zombie Ball
Fixed animation issue for Kernel Corn where Husk Hop animation would not play properly if used directly after Butter Barrage ability
Fixed issue where players could not use abilities for a few seconds after getting hit with Roadie-Z’s primary weapon
Fixed animation issue where Junkasaurus would get stuck in running animation if wave ended while using Mega Blaster
Fixed issue where for Player Two Rose aimer would not turn red in Split Screen when targeting AI
Fixed issue where Vampire flower wouldn’t damage Engineer if critically hitting him while he’s on the Big Bolt Blaster
Fixed UI flashing for Party Pirate when using Cannon Rodeo
Imp will no longer deal damage when getting knocked back while using Impkata
Fixed issue where Imps were only taking primary weapon damage when calling in their Z-Mech
Fixed some instances where the critical hit backer wasn’t being displayed
Fixed missing controller rumble when captured by Spikeweed/Spiky Spikeweed
Fixed issue where Chomp Thing spray wouldn’t cause damage to destroyable objects
Added controller vibration to some characters that have charge up primary attacks
Fixed Heroic Kick and Sprint Tackle abilities not having impact to the soccer ball
Fixed issue where Rose was unable to deal damage to Lil’ Drake’s Flap Shield
Fixed issue when boom box VFX would play on Peashooter when Gatling Mode is active
Fixed the Cosmic Brainz charge attack not damaging reinforcement crates during Flag of Power
Fixed issue where Super Brainz Turbo Twister ability would slow burrowed Chompers
Fixed issue where Super Brainz Heroic Kick would not deal damage to boss AI
Fixed issue where AI in Solo Ops would not use some alternate abilities
Fixed issue where Sunflower was unaffected by Gravity Grenade when using Sunbeam ability
Fixed issue where Roadie-Z could not damage some walls
Fixed issue where plant AI heroes would not display health bar to Sunflower characters
Fixed issue where players were not awarded Mech Vanquish XP event for destroying Imp Mech
Fixed issue where Citron would not take damage when hit by All-Star Tackle if in mid-transformation
Fixed rare issue where the Potato Mine would not deal damage to Zombies
Fixed issue where Butter Barrage and Bigger Better Butter would have friendly fire if Kernel Corn was vanquished at a specific time in the sequence
Fixed issue where Impkata and Turbo Twister abilities continued to deal damage while character was getting chomped
Fixed issue where Husk Hop didn’t display correctly after warping home in Backyard Battleground
Fixed issue where Mech deployment message was playing too frequently
Fixed exploit where some abilities could be used immediately again after using the Taunt button
Fixed issue with player being unable to use abilities for a few seconds after getting knocked back
Fixed issue where Vampire Flower VFX extended to the back of the character
Fixed issue where the Husk Hop ability would fire forward after passing through portal or teleporter
Fixed animation where Engineer’s arm would clip into body when using jackhammer
Fixed issue where Super Brainz Turbo Twister caused too much damage to Super Bean Shield
Fixed some VFX issues with Electric Characters that have charge VFX
Fixed occasional issue where Iron Citron would block his own shots with shield deployed
Fixed issue where Soldier Zombie could reload instantly if using ZPG or Multi Rocket ability after emptying clip
Player can no longer be attacked by AI while playing Boat Blast Mini-Game
Fixed Chomper burrow transition camera
Fixed damage indicator not appearing for opponent when shooting them from behind as Rose
Fixed issue where Soldier Zombie AI would sometimes get stuck in ZPG priming animation
Fixed issue where Citron could occasionally use Ball Form abilities when in Assault Form


Tuning/Balance Notes

Mode Tuning
Super Boss Waves in Garden Ops and Graveyard Ops are now more likely to appear
Turf Takeover: Re-tuned the time it takes to capture each base, based off difficulty of capturing specific locations:
Great White North:
Mini-Game is slightly harder for attackers (Iceblock has six per cent more health)
Starting Base defender playable bounds moved further back to avoid spawn camping
Moon Base Z: Starting Base defender playable bounds moved further back to avoid spawn camping
Zomburbia:
Starting defender playable bounds now in-line with the wall to avoid spawn camping
Fixed issue with forward attacker spawns not moving attackers closer to the objective after a period of time
Fixed missing Rose Turret in objective 5
Made interactions during final Mini-Game longer to complete to make it harder for attacking team to win

Character Tuning

Citron Class:

All:
Made bone-collision changes to reduce size of Citron’s critical hit area
Citron can now fire sooner after coming out of Ball Form
Removed movement speed penalty from transition into and out of Citron Ball Form Mode

Citron:
Increased close-range impact damage from 5 - 6
Increased explosion damage from 5 - 6
Reduced damage falloff start/end distance from 25/35 – 20/30
Reduced heat generated when firing so it now takes longer to overheat
Reduced reticle bloom

Ice Citron:
Increased long range damage from 5.5 – 6.5
Reduced heat generated when firing so it now takes longer to overheat
Reduced reticle bloom

Electro Citron:
Standard Shot: Increased close range/long range damage from 4.5/2.5 - 8/6
Mid-Charged Shot:
Reduced close range/long range impact damage from 25/15 - 20/10
Reduced falloff start/end distance from 30/60 - 20/50
Max-Charged Shot:
Reduced close range/long range impact damage from 35/25 - 30/20
Reduced falloff start/end distance from 40/80 - 30/60

Kernel Corn Class:

Kernel Corn:
Increased magazine capacity by 5
Reduced reticle bloom
Increased accuracy slightly

BBQ Corn:
Reduced magazine capacity by 5

Pops Corn:
Increased magazine capacity by 3

Mob Cob:
Increased damage by 0.5
Reduced reticle bloom
Increased accuracy slightly

Party Corn:
Increased magazine capacity by 5
Increased long range damage from 3.5 - 4.5
Increased damage falloff start distance from 10m to 20m
Reduced reticle bloom
Increased accuracy slightly
Rose Class:

All:
Increased maximum tracking angle by 5 degrees
Increased lock-on distance by 5m
Slightly increased reticle to target lock-on angle

Fire Rose:
Increased rate of fire
Reduced movement speed penalty while charging

Frost Rose:
Increased projectile movement speed
Increased damage of mid-charged shot from 20-25
Increased damage of max-charged shot from 35-40
Increased rate of fire
Imp Class:

All:
Increased server-side bone collision size to make the Imp slightly easier to hit while he’s moving
Reduced initial and regular cooldown times for Mech deploys by 30s
Increased stamina for all Mechs by 20s

Z7 Imp/Mech:
Increased knockback for Omni Blade
Reduced reload time for Omni Blade by 5s
Increased homing effectiveness of biotic pull projectile
Increased Biotic Pull force so that enemies get pulled in faster
Increased blast radius of Biotic Pull projectile so that there’s a better chance multiple enemies will get pulled at once
Reduced reload time for Biotic Pull by 5s

Super Brainz Class:

All:
Reduced damage absorption for Turbo Twister by 15%
Slightly increased Turbo Twister cool down
Slightly reduced Turbo Twister movement speed
Removed ability to cancel Super Brainz Turbo Twister

Electro Brainz:
Significantly decreased damage and range of electric arcs
Slightly decreased rate of fire for punches

Captain Deadbeard Class:

All:
Added the ability to cancel out of the barrel without lighting the fuse (ability still goes on cool down)

Captain Sharkbite:
Reduced explosion damage from 16 – 10

Captain Cannon:
Increased projectile movement speed
Increased inner blast radius for manual detonation
Removed falloff for impact damage

Peashooter Class:

Electro Pea:
Increased projectile movement speed
Increased manual detonation explosion damage

Chomper Class:

All:
Tuned Chomper camera to be closer to the camera in GW1
Improved all digestion time upgrade multipliers

Chomp Thing:
Chomp Thing now begins to regenerate health almost immediately after taking damage
Sunflower Class:

All:
Increased all of Sunflower’s damage by 10-20%
Reduced cooldown time for heal and dark turrets by 10s

Mystic Flower:
Increased ammo depletion for charged shots

Stuffy Flower:
Increased health gained from sun drops from 5-8 per drop

Cactus Class:

Jade Cactus:
Reduced magazine capacity by 2
Reduced impact damage from 10 – 8.5

Foot Soldier Class:

Tank Commander:
Reduced impact damage by 5
Reduced reload speed upgrades by 5%

Scientist Class:

All:
Increased cool down on Warp by 4s

Chemist:
Reduced damage from 40 – 36

Zoologist:
Reduced magazine capacity from 9-6
Reduced projectile distance by 0.5m

Marine Biologist:
Reduced damage from 30-25