~~ The Enigmatic Rose ~~
Today I'd like to discuss with you all (Or monologue rather) the incredible mystery that is the Plant-Side Engineer/Support character... Ms. Enigmatic Rose.
To the inexperienced player, Rose is deceptively fragile. Her 100 Health and slow-hovering movement speed will actually set her in a position to get destroyed by one keen-aim sharpshooter, multiple barrages of splash effect cannon shots/engineer projectiles/any zombie splash that hurts. Her attack projectile is slow moving, the tracking can fail on tight turning and poor accuracy is punished by causing your slow moving shot to do nothing more than show people where you are firing from.She has a learning curve with her aim, and an even deeper learning curve with her jump.
Her clip size is small for some of her variants (Party Rose for example, but Default and Druid seem to be the Ammunition dump). Rose, out of all characters in Plants vs Zombie is the most heavily punished for unpreparedness.
This means that IF YOU ARE CAUGHT WITHOUT A FULL CLIP IN A CLOSE RANGE FIGHT, you're gonna have a hard time.
This means that IF YOU ARE USING YOUR SLOW AND GOAT SPELLS ON LONG RANGE BECAUSE YOU CAN, you're gonna have a hard time.
This means that IF YOU ARE SPACING OUT AND NOT WATCHING OUT FOR PEOPLE WHO AIM FOR ROSES BECAUSE IT NULLIFIES TELEPORTERS, you're gonna have a hard time.
Before I truly begin I want you to know that I used the words DECEPTIVELY FRAGILE for a reason. The reason being that after you have become acquainted with her aiming style and the "Uh oh" moment use of her skillset, you'll be well on your way to playing one of the most out of whack characters in the game. Boasting incredible offense, ludicrous self-survivability, top-notch mid-range overwatch (Roof top) capability, Rose is perhaps one of my favorite go-to's when it comes to laying down the hurt to teams of 5+ Zombie defenders in a game of Turf Takeover. Let's dive in!
~~ Beginning Advice: Dainty Little Flower ~~
With 100 Health you are -EASY- to Vanquish. Here's a fun kicker though, Rose has a stick for a body with a medium sized head. She also has a higher-than average jump that implements a slight slow-fall which will reduce the rate you float to the ground.
Combining these two factors is one of your first steps in learning to survive as Rose. The mere act of jumping while moving around from side to side will make you terribly difficult to hit. It will also pan your view and change where your projectile is firing from, sometimes leading to extra hits that would otherwise have hit a roof or something that was in your way.
Practicing randomized left and rights then left left's and right right's while mid air and firing can really make an impact in Rose survivability. Many times I've found myself overlooking a large fight, beginning the spell flinging and getting noticed right away. Once you get melted in a split second once or twice, it WILL demoralize you from trying to assault with a Rose. Think again!!
Hopping around and firing makes Rose's already small hitbox even harder to land a hit on. Yes you will be hit, but with proper movement and attempted guessing at where the enemy will ASSUME you're gonna hop to CAN lead to lasting long enough to get more than just 30 shots out. When things get hairy and you notice you're at 60 or so health, you're going to want to leap off from wherever you're firing at and take cover. When I see the 60 and start to back off I can escape with 50-20 health. Players often do not know what Rose is capable of and will cease firing on you if they see you run away. Some will persue you. But that's what the next section is for
~~ Surviving with Cooldowns ~~
Rose has an incredible Arsenal of large-radius Crowd Control abilities. Pity that many Roses just fling them out whenever they can because slowing people down makes them late by about 2 seconds.
The fact of the matter is that: When a Zombie is slowed down by a Rose, they cannot turn faster than she can circle them. If you have attract one or even two or maybe even three zombies to your location, your choice to fight and run can depend entirely on how well versed you are in Roses cooldowns.
Example: Turf Takeover. Zombopolis, Third Stage dance party area. Right Side plant teleporter. You can assault the point by jumping around on the stairs and shooting over the wall. This works well in many cases (Those darn walls they can hide behind...!!!) and often you will find yourself drawing attention to your stairwell (Either from the building far across the way within the Zombie spawn or from the point itself.) -- In this very case let us assume I have attracted a Foot Soldier Scientist and Engineer to me from the point. There is also a Fire Crossbow Soldier on the building way over behind their spawn. What am I gonna do? Run away?
As a Default Rose (With all of my cooldowns ready, since all I've been doing is spamming on the point), I am going to jump onto the left railing (Since rose can jump high enough to get onto that thin little strip), I'm gonna jump around left and right, making sure to land on this railing (It's a tough jump but very rewarding. Each jump seems like you intend to fall down). I'm going to be attempting to dodge the Fire Soldier most, since he has the biggest chance to kill me. I'm gonna fling my slow onto the Scientist and engineer (Foot Soldiers don't ever seem to be in range of a group snare), I'm gonna unload on the scientist while hopping around on this railing (Takes 10 shots of homing to take him out). By the time the Scientist Vanquish has dinged, the Foot Soldier is attempting to Rocket jump up to me, the Engineer has lost his Jackhammer and is stumbling at the bottom of the stairs to get to me, I'm gonna JUMP onto the wall that is to the right of this railing. I goat the foot soldier, and play "Can you splash me while I jump from tree to wall to rail" with the engineer.
If I'm stunned I'm dead. If I vanquish the engineer before the soldier is done being goated, I've already won. If I decide I will not fight the engineer during my jumping trip of defense, I'm gonna use my arcane enigma right after goating the soldier.
From there I can hop away using the truck while invulnerable, I can stand still for about 20 secs and wait for help, or I can try to flood the Engineer with 60 damage before getting destroyed for being reluctant.
The moral from this entire story? I had each and every cooldown ready for this panic moment. In the worst case scenario I will only ever use slow on a point. And that is to stop a Scientist and vanquish him. I will also throw a slow spell on a point if I know it will hit 3+ people. Just... because. I mean no matter how useful it is being annoying like that can sometimes lead to a hidden cactus grabbing a vanquish! In a normal 4 on 1 situation you can kiss your butt good bye if you don't have the sense to run. With her cooldowns, Rose is capable of singling enemies out of groups (For just a second or so which is all she needs to unload 5-8 shots). Let's go into some tips about her weapon...
~~ The Rose Shot ~~
Magic Thistles is deadly. And the tracking it receives makes it the leading Nightmare for Scientists who are unaware of an in-range Rose. Unfortunately for many, the learning curve for knowing how to aim with Rose is just a tad bit too perplexing in a game as fast paced as "You got chomped outta nowhere!!!" as PvZ. Well let me try to change that.
First off, Rose will only shoot a homing bullet if your targeting reticule (crosshair) is red-colored (when you have crosshair over enemy it will change to red).
Second off, Homing Bullet has a range to it. If you put your crosshair on an enemy and it doesn't turn red, you aren't in range to fire a homing shot.
Third off, Every Rose gets an upgrade to her Homing Bullet at Prestige Plate SILVER level 9. This will effectively double the range at which you can initiate a Red-Reticule homing shot.
Because of this third reason, many people will confuse Rose with a close range fighter. Let me sway you from that and help you stay back from the fight by enlightening you to a couple more of her quirks.
First off, Rose's projectile moves very slow. This means that if you start shooting on a point, by the time you shoot 8 to 15 shots, the first shot is gonna make it on point. If nobody saw you start firing, you can usually reload and start firing before people begin running around. This does not apply to players who are alert to being damaged.
Second off, Rose's projectiles explode. Get that? They deal small AoE damage. It's very small, but I've been able to hit 3 players at once (I think it was 2 and a heal station). Constantly firing on groups of enemies when you cannot launch homing shots can lead to some cheap & easy vanquishes
Third off, In order to aim Rose's weapon particularly well at longer ranges (With improved homing) will require you to begin leading your targets. (Effectively predicting which direction they will go). This isn't as tough at it may seem, though I can understand why it would be. Just remember that when aiming at someone, they can really only go left or right. If they don't do that, they have to run in a straight line backwards or forwards.
Being able to place your shots with your reticule red while SLIGHTLY in front of where your target is heading will ensure you land those hits on the players who take tight turns or make circles to try and beat your homing shot. Let's dicuss class on class basic
~~ Matching Up The Rose ~~
Rose vs Foot Soldier
Rose vs Foot Soldier is a fun debate. When holding the aim and firing, the Rose can actually place accurate shots over long ranges. I have hassled snipers with Druid rose from across the map because her shots will go in a straight line if you aim while shooting them. (Works for me at least). Soldier is a power house and being vanquished by ZPG is probably the most embarassing way to go for someone who can glide around as Rose can. However....
12-13 homing shots is nothing for a Rose with upgraded homing. It's also nothing for a Rose to get these shots in on a Foot Soldier who isn't aware of her presence. By the time shot 6 homes in, you have 6 more going right for 'em. Most times you'll get a Foot Soldier in the air because they panicked and thought they could jump away.
In a close confrontation with a Foot Soldier, remember that Slow has a radial impact (Affects people around the impact zone) much like chomper goop. Landing a slow will ensure close range circling of the foot soldier. If you cannot vanquish him while circling him as he is slowed, the foot soldier can jump and cause confusion with a smoke cloud. His ZPG on the ground can finish you off if he's damaged you before approaching. I would not suggest goating unless you can avoid the ram, can use Arcane Enigma to escape after he ungoatifies, or can jump on top of something and shoot him when he decides to run.
Rose vs. Scientist
Rose can destroy a Scientist with 10 magic thistles. From mid-range, a minimal of fuss and possibly even to the confusion of the Scientist himself. Slowing a Scientist Mid-range almost signs the death certificate for the Scientist if you are able to home in while he's slowed. What's worse for the Scientist is that at long Range, he will have to pull off over 5 shots to the head at long range to panic the Rose!!! It's not all bad for the Scientist however.
Palentologist (Fire Variant of Scientist) can make life very difficult for the rose. A long range shot and upgraded fire damage can mean as little as 3 spaced shots. Usually it will only take 2 before a Rose must hide for cover.
When faced with Computer Scientists, Close Range Beaker Blasters Procupine Shooters and Goo Blaster 77 damage critical hits, you are in a difficult position.
The field is 50/50 when charged with these Variants, and charge-roses (Fire Necro Ice) are at a Disadvantage because you are REQUIRED to charge up that shot during the slow in order to perform the vanquish. (I will slow these particular zombies and jump over them to shoot them from behind. If they are engaging me as I slow them, I know they can hit me as I jump over them. I will run backwards while firing and prepare to jump over something to escape. Shotgun style DPS is very effective against a Rose. But damaging them before they approach you can ensure a successful Arcane Enigma Vanquish if you feel you do not need to use slow to stop them.)
The squirrely Scientist who can jump, Warp, shoot, throw heal bombs -AND- camp their stations with ease will give you trouble. Use homing shots on them and do not risk the slow game on them, though the victory is sweet IT WILL attract them to you. These types of players often seek vengeance on those who end delicious Scientist-Style vanquish streaks, and when you're in charge of spamming your clip onto a point, one of the last things you want to worry about is a shotgun that can teleport, move quicker than you AND possibly come at you from your blind side..
Goating a Scientist is effective. Just remember that aiming the homing shots on a goat can sometimes lead to a lost vanquish, since the stinky goat ram can lead to an escape for smart players who know to hop while moving and firing the ram, which leads to a a Stinky Goat Ram devoid of the standing still to charge.
Rose vs Pirate
The first thing you need to know is that no matter how accurate you can make your shots from long Range, only the Ice and Druid Roses stand a chance at long-range firefighting of Pirates. A fully charged Ice Shot to a Pirate results in 50 Damage, and the following shots you should be firing after shooting the charged shot will only serve to freeze him in place. Keep in mind you will normally only get one of those on a really good pirate before he watches for you to come out charging a shot.
If a Pirate has decided he wants you, he will know if you're being damaged. He will send his parrot if he spots you backing off from getting hurt. Starting a fight with a pirate means you're either messing with someone who thinks the Pirate is cool, or someone who intends to camp a streak waaaaaaay in the back where no one can touch him -- Vanquishing him may make him aim specifically for you the entire game. Some players get like that.
Your homing shot can easily stop any Parrot. A pirate will attack a Rose with a parrot if the Rose does not fight back. If the Rose can turn and throw homing shots at the Parrot, the Pirate quickly changes tune and will (Most often) fail at evading your fire. If you do not show the Pirate you can shoot his parrot down at a moments notice, he is going to shoot you with it and drop bombs on you. And those bombs just seem to do more damage to Rose, personally. Expect around 3 or so Parrot attempts before a Pirate begins to lose interest in you.
Goat is very useful against the Pirate (That ol' Mannerless goat!!) and I'll tell you why. Goatify will neutralize the cannon Rodeo. Goatify will neutralize the Barrel Blast. In general, Goatify will stop anything a pirate can do to you and may also result in him being vanquished by someone else since Pirates are often a Priority target if they've made some enemies.
His shots hurt very much. Do not underestimate him and don't fear him. He's about as squishy as you are and with enough harassment is forced to bench himself. Long range snipers tend to overextend as well, making Frost Rose prime with her impeccable accuracy to be Pirates true contender.
(I got nothing for you Pirates. If I see a Rose giving people trouble I shoot at it and change spots to shoot at it again)
Rose vs The All-Star
I do not recommend fighting with All-Stars. As a Druid Rose your shots deal 5 damage to Tackle Dummies. A smart All-Star can camp his dummy and soak your shots for the longest time. The same goes for Fire Rose and Nec'Rose. However....
All-Stars are very slow. Using the environment to jump on top of Tackle dummies with your super-magical Rose jump will actually take most All-Stars by surprise. Remember that spamming your bullets is the only sure way to win as it's going to take more than 20 shots at close range to do the trick for you if they are at full health. Accuracy is important when dealing with All-Stars as almost every shot counts. Their Tackle and Imp Punt will vanquish you in a single hit (Assuming you are below 80 health upon engagement)
At long range it works best to leverage a height advantage in your favor, as jumping while already taller than the All-Star can lead to your bullets bypassing a tackle dummy completely. Be wary of an ice All-Star variant as being frozen in place by anyone can usually mean the end of your run. Removing the All-Stars teammates from play will cripple the All-Star entirely as your allies will have more breathing room to give the All-Star something else to worry about. If you're the only attacker, you will find great trouble when dealing with All-Stars as when they fire, people look to see what it's at. And it will be you.
Rose vs Super Brainz
I sometimes feel as though Super Brainz is the counter to Rose. He has a very high Health Pool, his ultra ball will deal considerable splash damage to you if he's accurate, his kick will stun you until you land and his twister can slow you down. Nearly every one of his moves can reduce you to a matter of 2-3 punches for a vanquish. Couple this with trying to launch homing shots onto him as he hops up and down like the big lovable goofball he is and you've got a problem.
However, Super Brainz is manageable with awareness. Knowing a Super Brainz is coming for you can be your only real defense. His 200 health will ensure he absorbs the brunt of your assault in time to get in your face. If he's smart with kicks and jumps he may even get there with more than 100 health. You may even find yourself having to use every cooldown to deal with him.
DO NOT LET MOMENTS WHERE YOU HAVE BURNED DOWN A SUPER BRAINZ TRICK YOU INTO THINKING HE CANNOT DEFEAT A ROSE
Super Brainz is a Chomper with jumping capability. He can move very fast with his heroic kick, can make it onto Rooftops to line of sight your fire. What's worse? If he closes his gap on you, you're finished if you cannot perform your slow. If you goat him he's gonna run around and come back, oftentimes dodging fire and staying near you so he doesn't have to re-close the distance. If you eat his entire tornado attack without using enigma, you're gonna be in a lot of pain. Most Super Brainz do not care to wait out an entire Arcane Enigma. They know you're theirs if you don't get away. Keep your cooldowns close at hand and don't go wasting them.
Slowing a Super Brainz and making distance between him while damaging him is a very good choice when fending him off. Remember also he cannot hurt you when jumping around except with his cooldown abilities. So changing your altitude by hopping to and from things like cars, on top of and behind low fences and of course onto and off of rooftops can lead to lengthy periods where the Super Brainz can do nothing more than try to jump with you and predict where YOU will be landing next.
Be VERY wary of Electro Brainz and Cozmic Brainz. Their Ranges capabilities are very able to make a Rose cry for their mommy. Most so if you're near other players against an Electro Brainz? You can't escape that damage no matter how much you jump.
Rose vs The Engineer
Skill for Skill these two are the same class.
Engineer Big Bolt Blaster can make your life a living nightmare. Neutralized by Goatify, but it can still lead to am embarassing loss of your own life simply by its incredible damage output. You also deal less damage to an engineer who is astride one of these terrible creations.
Engineer splash damage will make your life difficult. A smart engineer can utilize walls to hit you if you are too close to them. Really smart Engineers know it only takes 5 concrete shots to your feet to make you go down. And as a Rose you really aren't paying attention to concrete shots when you're too paranoid watching for pirates, long range foot soldiers and sneaky super brainz.
Simply spamming your primary weapon on an Engineer will make him go away, as is the case in any confrontation. If the Engineer is on his jackhammer, slow him immediately. It will stop him from stunning the people he is fighting and will usually cause them to give up right away, since your homing shots are gonna take him out before the slow even wears off. When he decides to engage you himself he is going to take AC Perry, the Welder or the Roadie to fight with you. Especially if you stop Concrete Blaster before he even gets to try and vanquish you with him. He'll think you're some hot shot and completely overlook gratuitous splash.
AC Perry is manageable with any Rose if you are good with the jump. He is going to hit you more than once and if you get frozen it's over. Your movement speed is your only defense against him and every successful splash will slow you down even more. DO NOT allow AC perry or Roadie Z to close the gap on you. Close Range AC Perry can freeze you just by looking down and shooting. Roadie Z can blast you away before you can activate Arcane Enigma. Especially if he rams you with the jackhammer first.
Very fun competition.
Rose vs Imp
Rose and Imp is simple. If the Imp doesn't see you, you will vanquish him with minimal of fuss so long as you can hit him with homing bullets.
If the Imp sees you, he is GOING TO USE HIS GRAVITY GRENADE. DON'T KID YOURSELF, HE HAS IT. AND IT'S COMING YOUR WAY.
This turns the Rose v Imp fight into a Race between slow and Gravity Grenade. If an Imp has gotten close enough to you that there is no chance you can escape the grenade, use Arcane enigma and stand still. Gauge your situation. Assess it. You get 1-2 seconds to decide to run or hit the imp with all of your Arcane Enigma Charges. Remember, you can jump in Arcane Enigma at the cost of some of its timer. Sometimes YOU can close the gap or even jump up onto where the imp is at and chase him down. I would suggest relying heavily on taking him and all other targets out at mid range however.
If the Imp uses his Mech, you are going to have to Slow it. If you are unable to kill the Mech (Because it wasn't damaged before you engaged it) before slow is over you better make a plan to book it because he's gonna getcha.
~~ Final Tips for Rose ~~
Do NOT activate Arcane Enigma after successfully reviving someone, making a teleporter or building a turret. Doing so causes Arcane Enigma to cancel out and expend the cooldown. BE VERY AWARE WHEN PLACING A TELEPORTER AS SOMETIMES WHEN I PUT A TELEPORTER UP WHILE ZOMBIES ARE ATTACKING IT I WILL ACTIVATE ENIGMA AS SOON AS I PUT THE PORTAL UP, IT WILL CANCEL MY ENIGMA, AND I WILL DIE. I'LL ALSO LOOK STUPID.
Rose can sometimes make jumps it seems like she shouldn't be able to by moving the camera around as she jumps. Sometimes her sides catch ledges and pulls her up. I have gotten onto trains in Zombopolis, statues in Zomburbia... play with it!
Rose requires Homing Upgrade to be useful. I will usually use Speed Upgrade, Homing Upgrade, Damage/Fire/Ice upgrade.
Jumping really makes a difference. Jumping and firing is a game changes. Jumping, firing and attacking multiple targets at once causes a panic.
Aim for Scientists.
If you slow a target, it better be to Vanquish them!!
I mentioned earlier I jump over targets with Charge variants after slowing them? That's because you can start charging your shot in mid-air after you jump, allowing you to come out from behind cover half way charged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope this helps someone in some way as well as gives a Rose Enthusiast out there (at least one!!!!) some insight into how better to enjoy this beautiful character. Thanks everyone and happy vanquishing!
