Threepeater (PvZ)

Threepeater is a peashooting plant appearing in Plants vs. Zombies, Plants vs. Zombies: Journey to the West, and Plants vs. Zombies: Great Wall Edition. Threepeater shoots peas in three lanes: the one in which it is planted, the lane above it, and the lane below it. If a Threepeater is planted on the top or bottom row, it will only shoot peas in two lanes instead of the usual three due to no lanes being above or below its position. Its attack is triggered when a zombie or Zombie Gravestone appears anywhere within its area of effect (i.e. in any one of the three lanes).

About

 * For more information about this character, see Threepeater.

Threepeater is unlocked after defeating Level 3-2, and costs 325 sun to plant. In Versus Mode, Threepeater costs 200 sun instead, and has a slower recharge rate.

Plants vs. Zombies (DS)
In this version (and possibly some others) Threepeaters will fire two peas on his lane and one pea on the adjacent one if he is placed on the edge of the map.

Almanac entry
Threepeater

Threepeater shoots peas in three lanes.

Damage: normal (for each pea)

Range: three lanes

Threepeater likes reading, backgammon and long periods of immobility in the park. Threepeater enjoys going to shows, particularly modern jazz. "I'm just looking for that special someone," he says. Threepeater's favorite number is 5.

Cost: 325

Recharge: fast

Strategies
Compared to other peashooting plants, Threepeater stands out for having the second highest amount of shots possible per tile, second only to Gatling Pea. Threepeater can also shoot enemies on adjacent lanes, and this allows the plant to stay helpful even when there is nothing on the lane it is planted on. These advantages however is offset by a great amount of drawbacks that may reduce Threepeater's efficiency in the battlefield. Firstly, Threepeater's attack pattern heavily restricts the player's planting option, as planting Threepeater on the edge lane will reduce the plant's power by a third. Secondly, the firing pattern also means that Threepeater is exceedingly poor at guarding the edge lanes, due to firepower being concentrated at the central lanes and reduced on the edge lanes. Finally, the steep price tag means that Threepeater will find issue being used effectively in the early-game, as well as compete with more powerful plants of similar price later on.

Threepeater's animation is somewhat misleading: It actually shoots one pea straight ahead from the square above, one from its square, and one from the square below. Because of this, Threepeater works better with Torchwood than the animation might suggest: if a Torchwood is planted directly above or below the Threepeater, the pea will be lit immediately when it is shot. Likewise, if a Torchwood is planted in the row above or below a Threepeater but one column ahead of it, the Threepeater's peas will be lit despite apparently not having fully moved into the row and not having gone through the Torchwood.

Ways to plant Threepeaters where every row gets ammunition
There are 17 ways to plant Threepeaters where every row gets at least 20 DPS. Here is a list of ways you can plant them (numbers represent rows you plant them in, from top to bottom).


 * (2, 4)
 * (2, 5)
 * (1, 4)
 * (2, 3, 4)
 * (1, 3, 5)
 * (1, 2, 4)
 * (2, 3, 5)
 * (2, 4, 5)
 * (1, 3, 4)
 * (1, 2, 5)
 * (1, 4, 5)
 * (1, 2, 3, 4)
 * (1, 2, 3, 5)
 * (1, 2, 4, 5)
 * (1, 3, 4, 5)
 * (2, 3, 4, 5)
 * (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Pool's Closed/Don't Drink the Water
Threepeater is a possible offensive option if the player plans to get the Pool's Closed/Don't Drink the Water achievement, as it can help defend the pool lanes. However, Starfruit and Gloom-shroom are often better choices for this task, since the former is cheaper and easier to plant while the latter does a lot more damage. Also, not using Threepeater gives the Don't Pea in the Pool achievement.

I, Zombie
Threepeaters are encountered in various I, Zombie levels, including I, Zombie Endless. Like Starfruit and Magnet-shroom, Threepeater is one of the few plants capable of affecting other lanes than the one he is placed in, requiring the player to consider adjacent lanes while attempting to assault a particular one. For example, an Imp about to walk down a seemingly undefended lane might still get killed by a Threepeater, wasting sun. Bungee Zombies and Football Zombies are possible choices, but they are both highly expensive while the latter may get its helmet removed by Magnet-shroom.

Trivia

 * It is one of the twelve plants that appear in the seed selection screen after obtaining Grave Buster on the online version; the others are Ice-shroom, Lily Pad, Potato Mine, Doom-shroom, Tangle Kelp, Jalapeno, Spikeweed, Torchwood, Tall-nut, Cactus, and Blover.
 * It cannot be used in the free version, but it still can be seen after the player gets Squash.
 * It and the Starfruit are the only plants that have a different cost and slower recharge speeds in Versus Mode.
 * It is the most expensive plant that is not an upgrade plant, with the second closest being Melon-pult.
 * It is the only plant in the game whose Almanac Entry tells its favorite number.
 * Ironically, it states that its favorite number is 5, despite having 3 heads.