Character Guide - Imp!

Hey everyone, 

This guide series here intends to cover every playable character in the game with some depth and detail in it. In this guide, I will be covering the Imp (and his Mech).

I used the following link for some of the information in this guide, the rest of it is my own information, you can also refer to the link if you would like to know more about Imp, go here: https://plantsvszombies.fandom.com/wiki/Imp_(PvZ:_BfN)

Overview of the Character

Imp is an Attack character on the Zombies faction that uses Imp Blasters to gun down their enemies, and has 75 health by default. Its primary weapon is "Dual short-range automatic blasters".

"Imps are close range attackers that can be hard to hit and excel in chaos. When riding a Z-Mech, they gain more explosive weapons and better ways to deal damage."

Special: Briefly hover in air by double jumping.

Primary Weapons and Abilities

Primary Weapon

Primary Weapon: Imp Blasters. It is a weapon that shoot lasers, at a very rapid rate. It deals 4 damage for regular hits and 5 damage for critical hits. The rate of fire of Imp's primary is very fast. The maximum default ammo capacity is 56.

Abilities

Gravity Grenade: This ability launches a grenade that lifts any enemies that it catches into the air. Any enemies that are caught are unable to move for a short time, however they can still attack and use their abilities. Some enemies have abilities that allow them to escape, but they must have those abilities recharged and they need to decide whether they wish to use them or not. This gives you and your allies a chance to shoot at your enemies more easily. This ability is able to capture several enemies at once, so this ability is useful against groups of enemies, if they cluster. 

Gravity Grenade Character Upgrade:

• Supermassive (2 upgrade points): The size of your Gravity Grenade is increased, which means it will be easier to capture enemies and you can capture more enemies at once, and more easily. You can use this to capture enemies that are not as close to each other.

Robo Call: This ability calls in a powerful Mech for you to control. While using this ability, you cannot move, attack or turn around, for quite a decent amount of time as well, so be mindful of when you use this ability. Once inside your Mech, you have 350 health and you have 15% Armor, which means you take 15% less damage from enemy fire. You gain a new primary weapon and new abilities while in your Mech, which are different to regular Imp's weapons. If you would be vanquished, while inside your Mech, instead you get ejected and become regular Imp again, essentially giving you a bonus life. Your Mech will expire after some time and you will automatically be ejected if this happened, but your Mech will last over a minute. However, you may eject yourself at any time, and if you leave your Mech this way, it explodes, which can damage or vanquish enemies close by.

Robo Call Character Upgrade:

• Mech Hunter (4 upgrade points): Whenever you deal damage to enemies, your Robo Call refresh time is reduced. This is great if you like to use your Mech more often. You can focus on hitting enemies that are easier to hit, and that have more health, with this upgrade, to reduce the Mech cooldown even faster.

Impkata: This ability makes you spin around where you are and fire your blasters in all different directions, which deals low damage, but constantly damages enemies that are close to you. While you are using this ability, you cannot cancel it, your movement is greatly reduced and you are unable to jump, so you need to be mindful of where you wish to use this. This can be extremely useful if lots of enemies are in the area, especially if you use this ability on them by surprise. If you aim while using this ability, you deal extra damage to enemies where you are aiming. If an enemy's health is low, and they are trying to retreat, using this ability is an effective way to finish them off and get your vanquish.

Impkata Character Upgrades:

• Ripcord (3 upgrade points): Your Impkata's rate of fire is increased by 25%, meaning the ability will deal damage to your enemies faster, as well as resolving faster. You can use this in order to perform a surprise attack on enemies, or if you want to be vulnerable for a shorter amount of time.
• Centripetal Force (4 upgrade points): When you use your Impkata, you move around much faster than normal, and you are allowed to jump at any point during the Impkata. This is an excellent way of catching up to retreating enemies, or to massively reduce your vulnerability during this ability. You will become a force of nature!

MECH ABILITIES

You get new abilities while you are inside your Mech, along with 350 health and 15% Armor. Also, if you would be vanquished while in your Mech, you are ejected instead, and become regular Imp. However, enemies can use this to their advantage.

Missile Madness: This ability makes the Z-Mech fire missiles at enemies. There is a delay before the missiles start firing, but they deal decent damage each and can also deal splash damage to enemies. This makes this ability quite useful against groups of enemies. If your Mech is destroyed while using this ability, the ability is cancelled, otherwise the ability cannot be cancelled.

Missile Madness Character Upgrade:

• Multiplying Madness (2 upgrade points): Whenever you get a vanquish using your Missile Madness, the refresh time of the ability is reduced by 9 seconds. If your enemies keep grouping, or you love or are good at using this ability, this is an excellent upgrade. Try to surprise your enemies with this ability as well.

Robo-Stomp: This ability makes the Z-Mech stomp the ground in front of him. Any enemies that are caught in this really short area in front of the Mech takes 75 damage, and take some knockback, meaning this can be useful if enemies are attacking you from close-range. If you approach enemies or enemies approach you in your Z-Mech, this is a great ability to use. However, enemies getting close you or you getting close to them is not always a great situation to be in.

Robo-Stomp Character Upgrade:

• Energize (3 upgrade points): If you successfully deal damage to enemies with your Robo-Stomp, you gain over 12 seconds of fuel for your Mech, and you gain 25 health (these stack as well if you hit multiple enemies). Normally, while in your Mech, you cannot gain fuel for your Mech or heal or gain health, so if you wish to use your Mech for long periods of time, or as long as possible, this upgrade is a must.

Explosive Escape: This ability allows the Imp to manually eject from the Z-Mech. If the Imp leaves the Z-Mech this way, the Mech self destructs shortly after, dealing up to 250 damage to enemies that are too close to it. This damage drops off with range. If you jump out of the Mech this way, enemies will not be able to take advantage of you leaving the Mech as easily, and they will probably need to focus on not being blown up. Your Mech being vanquished or running out of battery will cause you to eject from the Mech, and it will not trigger the Explosive Escape.

Explosive Escape Character Upgrade:

• Pod Powered (1 upgrade point): When you use Explosive Escape to eject from your Mech, you gain a 25% boost to your movement speed for 5 seconds. This allows you to do a nice rapid Impkata, or to get away from a situation where your enemies are swarming you and there is not much way out.

Exclusive Character Upgrades

Imp's exclusive character upgrades are as follows:

Butt Booster Booster (1 upgrade point): When you use your second jump, you hover in the air for an extra 2 seconds. This is good if you like to stay airborne, to reduce your chances of being hit, or you like to be very unpredictable when you attack.

Arm Day (3 upgrade points): Your Imp Blasters have 25% less recoil on them, which means you can make your shots more accurate, and you can become more effective at long range. You should hit more shots, overall, if you use this upgrade.

Usefulness in Situations

General

More effective against enemies at closer ranges and against groups of enemies, due to being hard to hit, shots becoming more accurate, and abilities being effective against grouped enemies.

Reviving Allies

• Use your small size to your advantage, enemies may not notice you and you can make yourself quite hard to be hit.
• You can throw your Gravity Grenade before starting a revive to restrict enemies in front of you and to assist your team further.
• If you are in your Mech, you have 350 health and 15% Armor (however, you can easily be hit). This makes for quite easy revives. Even if you are in the process of being ejected from your Mech due to running out of fuel or being destroyed, your revive continues. However, once the Mech is gone, you have to continue the revive as Imp, if it has not been completed, or leave it, so do take care if you use this strategy.

Contesting the Objective

• Move and jump around unpredictably to make it much harder for enemies to hit and vanquish you, while you blast away and your team can focus on the enemies.
• Use your Gravity Grenade to stop enemies from getting back to the objective, or to restrict them while in the objective.
• Use your Robo Call, behind cover preferably, to put yourself into your Mech. Your Mech has high health and has Armor, so enemies will need more firepower to destroy you and your Mech, while you create havoc.
• Use Impkata to try and vanquish enemies grouped in the objective, but only activate this ability if you feel you can get a lot out of it. You sacrifice a lot of mobility when using this ability.
• If you are in your Mech, use Missile Madness to deal with crowds of enemies. Use Robo-Stomp to damage enemies that get too close to you, or enemies you get close to. Use Explosive Escape if your Mech's health or fuel is getting low, and to deny enemy space. If enemies do not move for the explosion, they will probably get vanquished.

When Abilities are Negated

• Jump and move around constantly while firing at your enemies in front of you, but be sure to focus on the objective.
• Throw a Gravity Grenade before you collect an item, to trap enemies close to you for yourself and your team.
• Use your Robo Call before you collect an item. You can then collect an item in your Mech, however you cannot use Explosive Escape to get away, so keep that in mind. However, your high health, along with your Armor, can help you survive. Also, if your Mech is destroyed, you can continue the journey as regular Imp.

Tips

• Aim to attack enemies that are closer to you if you are using your Imp Blasters or Robo-Stomp for easier attacks, or grouped enemies if using your abilities.
• Deal critical hits when possible. Your Imp Blasters deal fairly low damage, but they have a high fire rate. By dealing some decent critical hits, you can improve your damage output significantly and get some faster vanquishes.
• Use your Gravity Grenade to land easier shots on your enemies. Try to capture multiple enemies at once to restrict your enemies, and to help allies land easier shots on them as well.
• Use your Robo Call when going into the heat of combat. Use Explosive Escape if you are about to run out of fuel or are taking heavy fire. Use your abilities to cause even more chaos.
• Use your Impkata when there are enemies in multiple directions around you. Try to surprise enemies when you use this ability, but most certainly be mindful about when you decide to use this ability.

These are my Imp and Mech tips. Thanks for reading!

@TheSprinter85