Cob Cannon (PvZ)


 * For more information about this character, see Cob Cannon

Cob Cannon is an upgrade plant, which can be purchased from Crazy Dave at his shop. He is a manual multi-use instant kill plant. He must be planted on two side-by-side Kernel-pults, which must be placed one in front of the other in the same lane (horizontally). Cob Cannons cost $20,000 to buy in Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies. He takes exactly 36.41 seconds to give out a new corn cob. Once the corn cob is produced, the player can click on the Cob Cannon and can manually launch the corn cob onto an area that the player targets. The corn cob will explode and deal 1800 damage to all zombies in a 3x3 area, like the Cherry Bomb.

Suburban Almanac entry
Cob Cannon

Click on the Cob Cannon to launch deadly cobs of corn.

Must be planted on 2 side by side kernel-pults

What's the deal with Cob Cannon, anyway? He went to Harvard. He practices law in a prestigious New York firm. He can explode whole areas of zombies with a single corn launch. All this is common knowledge. But deep inside, what really makes him tick?

Cost: 500

Recharge: very slow

Main Game
The Cob Cannon costs 500 sun to place and does not fire automatically. Instead, it has a missile effect and animation. The missile itself is a corn cob which takes 36.41 seconds for the Cob Cannon to load. Once it is ready, the player can click (or press the / button in the console versions) on the Cob Cannon and then use the crosshair to aim the shot. One can also right click to cancel the launch or click on the shovel two times to cancel the launch. The cob has a devastating effect, much like that of a Cherry Bomb, but will still require two hits to kill a Gargantuar as all explosives do. The missile usually takes about two to three seconds between launching and detonating. The Cob Cannon, although highly expensive, is very effective and can dominate entire waves of zombies very quickly, as the cobs do not use up sun between firings. One can think of him as a reusable Cherry Bomb. If the player has no plan to use him often (i.e fewer zombies), then Cherry Bomb may be smarter to conserve sun. However, if there is higher zombie density (such as in Survival), then Cob Cannon would be a good choice.

The Cob Cannon is better than the Cherry Bomb in three ways. First, he is reusable. Second, his cob recharges faster than a Cherry Bomb. Third, its cob can be fired on plants (including itself) and ice (without the need of a Jalapeno) or the pool (without the need of a Lily Pad), while a Cherry Bomb needs a Lily Pad for Pool (Flower Pot for Roof) use and cannot be planted on other plants (besides the Pumpkin and Flower Pot) and ice. In a few words, he is a ballistic missile in corn-cob form.

One thing to note is the cost: 700 sun is a lot to pay for a plant. To make sure your sun was well-used, make sure to use your Cob Cannon plenty of times. To save more sun than repeatedly using Cherry Bombs, make sure to use the Cob Cannon at least five times (as 150 times five is 750, and Cob Cannons cost 700, meaning a saving of 50 sun), and the minimal time to make that up is exactly two minutes and 30.64 seconds, given the fact the first cob only takes about five seconds to arm. For more Cob Cannons, repeat as needed.

Note that the Cob Cannon can be eaten at the normal rate, despite his size, and cannot be protected with Pumpkins. Thus, they must be placed carefully. Fortunately, however, Bungee Zombies cannot target them, but still, you have to put the Cob Cannon in a safe area. Be careful when clicking on sun that appears or falls over a Cob Cannon, as you may accidentally engage it. If this happens, you can cancel it either by clicking on a seed packet, pressing the Esc button, clicking the shovel twice, or right-clicking. If you just click at a Cob Cannon thinking he may disengage, be warned as he will not only shoot (but not destroy himself) on himself, but also wastes your patience on waiting for some Cobs that appear after 36.41 seconds of recharging. They are good to use in almost every level.

Using the Cob Cannon in the Nintendo DS Version is not a good idea. Compared to other versions of the game, the time in between the cob firing and hitting is much longer, lags more and will often miss its intended target. However, aiming a bit to the left of the target can solve this problem.

Some Zombies are fast enough to evade Cob Cannon's projectiles. Remember to aim carefully when you are fighting against them, as you could waste your valuable shots.

Survival: Endless
Although it is not usually necessary in levels (except on occasion in the Survival: Hard levels), the Cob Cannon is one of the most helpful plants for Survival: Endless. Setups can be classified as either zero (meaning no Cob Cannons at all), two, four, six, or eight or more cob builds, and the highest number record now is a map-filling 24 (although its author admits that it is almost impossible to sustain without using a backup save file). Keep in mind, though, that along with every upgrade plant, the Cob Cannon will cost more sun for every one you currently have on the screen. The zero and two cob builds require a rotation of instants and/or double Ice-shrooms (Ice-shroom with Imitater Ice-shroom), while the six and eight cob builds use constant cob rotations. The four Cob build is quite flexible, with more space and more frequent cob rotation than other builds. Easier builds are six cobs and eight cob builds - six cob builds are the somewhat flexible as it can achieve a constant cob rotation or mixed with instants, the average time between cob launches being 12 seconds. The eight cob build is recommended for newer players who want to achieve a constant rotation without much trouble. Theoretically a 12-cob build is also quite easy to use, because it enables rotation by launching after every six to seven seconds, the most normal time between two waves of zombies. The main problem with these builds is that they require a constant barrage of cobs, making the game somewhat tiring.

Despite having many cobs, reducing the space available for other plants, as long as the timing of the player is good, said other plants are not necessary. Beware, however, that some of the cobs will be quite vulnerable, since there is literally no safe place to put cobs after the first four (barring someone with extremely good timing who can time Imp landings, Digger Zombie surfacing, and/or underwater pool zombies surfacing (the ones that come up from the pool every two waves) apart from the front lines. Although this can be easily solved by using an Ice-shroom 5.5 seconds before the zombies show up, the safest cobs are the four cobs in the back of the pool lanes, as there will be no Digger Zombies and Imps (or Balloon Zombies that have made it very far before being popped). Moreover, in builds with more than 20 cobs, hitting Gargantuars with many cobs at a time before the Imps are thrown is actually preferred over timing the Imps landing.

However, arguably the easiest setup is the four cob setup, as it does not require perfect timing as the builds with more cobs do; nor does it require a large amount of instants as the builds with fewer cobs do. Most of the plants are not very vulnerable to zombies, in addition to the Cob Cannons being completely safe once the setup is complete. In addition to this, the four cob setup is easiest to build due to its relative ability to withstand zombies before it is completed. In fact, they are the safest ways as no zombies can come near them unless they eat the pool's front row plants, which is unlikely to happen.

Buttered Popcorn
The Cob Cannon is the only plant you can have in the iPad-exclusive mini-game Buttered Popcorn. It is a Pool level and there are no Lily Pads, so there are only four. Due to the slower cool-down of the cobs and the number of zombies, use butter to stall the zombies; watch out for Pole Vaulting Zombie and Dolphin Rider Zombie though, since there are no last line of defense weapons and they can eat your brains while leaving no damage to your cobs. If a Gargantuar appears, use butter to stun it first before hitting it with the cobs, or else the Imp will eat a Cob Cannon.

Popcorn Party and Defcorn 5
To unlock the achievements - Popcorn Party and Defcorn 5, you must kill two Gargantuars with Cob Cannons on a single level and have five Cob Cannons on a single level, respectively (easiest way is to play the Mini-game Last Stand). It makes sense to do them both on the same level. After you have all five Cob Cannons up and the first corn cob hits a Gargantuar, it will throw the Imp off its back (assuming that two cobs were not fired at once). If the Cob Cannons are in the same row as the Gargantuar, it is wise to put a Squash or a Cherry Bomb right in front of your Cob Cannons to kill any Imps that were thrown at it. Also, because it takes time for the Cob Cannons to load, the player should wait for multiple to load before trying to dispatch the Gargantuars. Keep in mind that a Cob Cannon has to deliver the killing blow, so a Squash could weaken Gargantuar, but Cob Cannon will have to get the kill for the achievement to count. Another Cob Cannon-related achievement, No-Cob-No-Explode, requires you to complete Last Stand without using any Cob Cannons. However, this achievement is scrapped.

Trivia

 * Plant projectiles or other instants do not hurt other plants, yet he needs to shoot up in the air rather than straight to the zombie.
 * If a Pole Vaulting Zombie tries to jump through him, he slides forward in midair, landing behind the Cob Cannon, because it would not make sense if the zombie lands up in the middle of a plant.
 * While for a Pogo Zombie, it has to jump four times before jumping over him.
 * Also, Dolphin Rider Zombies cannot jump over him, unless he is placed in the rightmost two spaces in the pool (since it ignores the rightmost space, it only has to jump over the back of the Cob Cannon).
 * When he shoots the cob of corn in the Nintendo DS version of the game, it will be slow to hit the zombies, slower than the other versions.
 * If a Kernel-pult is targeted by a Bungee Zombie and then the player quickly upgrades him to the Cob Cannon, the Bungee Zombie cannot steal him.
 * In his Almanac picture, he is placed irregularly instead of on two squares.
 * He is the second most expensive plant in Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies, the first being the Imitater.
 * In Last Stand, the Cob Cannon will generate a new ear as soon as the last wave has ended, even if the 36 seconds have not passed yet.
 * This may be because Last Stand allows you to wait an indefinite amount of time before starting the next wave, and therefore simply saving you time as you could wait for it to recharge anyway.
 * There is a glitch on the PlayStation Vita version of the game where the Cob Cannon cannot be fired on other plants. A simple solution is to keep a clear square near the zombies to deploy Cobs. However, disabling the touchscreen and going with PlayStation 3 controls will fix this.
 * He is the most expensive plant in Plants vs. Zombies, costing 500 sun (700 counting the two Kernel-pults needed for upgrading them).
 * However, Winter Melons are more expensive per space: Cob Cannons cost 350 sun per space, while Winter Melons cost 500 sun per space.
 * In the Xbox Live Arcade version of the game, the crosshair used to aim the corn cob looks different.
 * In the Plants vs. Zombies pinball table for Zen Pinball 2 for PlayStation Network and Pinball FX 2 for Xbox Live Arcade, a Cob Cannon is used to launch the ball.
 * Planting five Cob Cannons in a single level will earn the player the achievement Defcorn 5. Its achievement is a pun for the actual Defcon.
 * He looks more like a rocket launcher than a cannon.
 * His eyes are closed on the seed packet in the iPad version.
 * Although it has wheels, he never moves around.
 * In the online Almanac, he only has one wheel.
 * On the iPad version, one can fire multiple corn cobs from Cob Cannons at once as one can select two or more corn cobs at once in the iPad version.
 * The explosion of his projectile has the same sound as Doom-shroom exploding.
 * He can not be stolen by Bungee Zombie even without any Umbrella Leaf.