Character Guide - Kernel Corn!

Hey everyone,

This guide series aims to cover each playable character in the game with some depth and detail involved. In this guide, I will be covering the Kernel Corn.

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

Overview of the Character

Kernel Corn is an Attack character on the Plants faction that uses Cob Busters to shoot down their enemies, and has 125 health by default. Its primary weapon is "Dual rapid-fire assault cobs".

"Great attacker who is dangerous at all distances. Highly lethal with Shuck Shot, or can reveal enemy positions with Butter Beacon."

Primary Weapons and Abilities

Primary Weapon

Primary Weapon: Cob Busters. It is a weapon that fires Cob projectiles, with a rapid rate of fire. It deals 5 damage for regular hits and 6 damage for critical hits. The rate of fire of Kernel Corn's primary is fast. The maximum default ammo capacity is 52.

Abilities

Butter Beacon: This ability throws out some butter. When it lands on a surface, it reveals enemies that are close to where it originally landed, even if the enemies are behind walls. This allows you to find hidden enemies and hunt them down if you are trying to get vanquishes. Your allies can also see enemies that are revealed by Butter Beacon, giving your team an advantage. While enemies are affected by Butter Beacon, your attacks also deal about 25% more damage to those enemies. Your Cob Busters deal about 1 more damage for regular hits and 2 more for critical hits. Your other abilities which deal damage are also increased. This makes it easier to track down an enemy or enemies and vanquish them.

Butter Beacon Character Upgrades:

• 20/10 (2 upgrade points): The Butter Beacon affects a larger area overall, by about 25%, which means you can see enemies from a further distance away. This can be useful if you like to attack at long range but still wish to see enemies from further ranges.
• Re-Corn-naissance (3 upgrade points): If you vanquish an enemy that is affected by your Butter Beacon, you get a 12 second cooldown on the ability. This is great if you like the ability, like to increase your damage using this ability or if you wish to constantly know where your enemies are.

Husk Hop: This ability makes you launch into the air and fire explosive kernels underneath you, which can deal high damage to enemies which are below you, with some splash damage in there as well. You can either stay put and use this as a way to reduce being hit by enemy attacks, while dealing damage to enemies below you, or you could use it as a form of mobility to get to other places or away from enemies, while also dealing damage to enemies that happen to be in your way. This can be used quite well when enemies get too close to you, or you can approach enemies and use this ability. Just note that you are quite vulnerable after using this ability, so considering when you should use it is a good idea.

Husk Hop Character Upgrades:

• Reaping Leap (1 upgrade point): Your Husk Hop gets a larger area of damage, which means you can deal damage to enemies that are more spread out. If your enemies cluster or you wish to deal more damage to your enemies, this is a good upgrade to use.
• Hopscotch (3 upgrade points): When directly hitting enemies with your Husk Hop kernel projectiles, you are able to deal more damage than normal, approximately 12 damage now. If you can hit your enemies directly quite easily or you wish to get vanquishes with your Husk Hop often, this upgrade can be really good to use.

Shuck Shot: This ability deploys 2 cobs that are really explosive, at your enemies after a medium delay. Each explosive cob deals nearly 100 damage for direct impacts upon enemies, and around 35 or so splash damage that are not directly hit by this. This ability is excellent when your enemies cluster, as you are able to deal really significant damage to them. Even if you miss one of the explosive cobs, your other one may hit enemies and you may still be able to get a vanquish with it. While this ability is in use, you cannot attack or move very fast, so it is wise to decide when the best time is to use this ability.

Shuck Shot Character Upgrades:

• Happy Feet (2 upgrade points): When your Shuck Shot is in use and is being resolved, you gain a movement speed bonus of 50%. This is really useful if you want to reduce how vulnerable you are while using this ability.
• Cornucopia (3 upgrade points): When dealing damage to multiple enemies or getting multiple vanquishes with your Shuck Shot, the cooldown time of your Shuck Shot is reduced, by about 4 seconds if dealing damage or 7 seconds if getting a vanquish. If you like to deal lots of damage with Shuck Shot, your enemies group often or you wish to get vanquishes with it, this is a really decent upgrade to use.

Legendary Upgrade: Shogun-Guard!

Kernel Corn has a unique legendary upgrade called Shogun-Guard! This changes Kernel Corn's primary, so that it deals more damage to enemies and it is generally more accurate, however you lose ammo and fire rate. You also gain a personal shield that does not count as an ability, and you can fire your primary weapon while holding it. The primary weapon deals about 11 damage (or 13 for critical hits), has a medium fire rate, 25 ammo and the damage can be increased with Butter Beacon. The shield has about 75 health.

Find out more about this legendary upgrade, including some gameplay, in my guide devoted to this upgrade here: https://answers.ea.com/t5/General-Discussion/Legendary-Upgrade-Shogun-Guard-Guide/m-p/9420334/highlight/true#M25506

Exclusive Character Upgrades

Kernel Corn's exclusive character upgrades are as follows:

Buttered Branches (2 upgrade points): While you are aiming, you move 100% faster, meaning you can reduce your chances of being damaged while shooting at enemies, if you are aiming. This can be really useful to use if you like to aim at your enemies before shooting, or if you want more mobility.

Mob Cobs (2 upgrade points): Your Cob Busters can do piercing damage. If your Cob Busters successfully pierce an enemy, they deal 50% more damage to other enemies that are hit, as well as gaining ammo. Your primary weapon ammo size is increased by about 25% as well. This is great if you can hit through groups of enemies, or as a way to greatly increase your damage output, if your enemies are close to each other.

Rapid Recob (4 upgrade points): When you reload your Cob Busters weapon, whether automatically or manually, they reload so much faster, that it only take about 25% or 1 quarter of the normal time it takes to reload. It will almost feel like you do not even need to reload in the first place. If you want to constantly fire at your enemies or to stop yourself from being vulnerable during fights, this upgrade will be excellent to use.

Super Spin (4 upgrade points): Whenever you get a vanquish, the rate of fire of your Cob Busters is increased by about 7% for 10 seconds. This upgrade can be stacked up to 3 times at once, for a maximum of approximately a fire rate increase of 21%. If the buff is already in effect and you get another vanquish, it stacks and the timer resets to 10 seconds again. This is great if you can get vanquishes often or you want to be able to deal damage more rapidly to your enemies.

Usefulness in Situations

General

More effective against larger enemies and single targets, due to being able to hit them easily and being able to deal lots of damage quickly.

Reviving Allies

• You can use your Butter Beacon just before you start a revive, to identify which enemies are close and to deal extra damage at enemies that you would shoot at.
• You can activate your Shuck Shot before you a start a revive, as it will work as the revive is beginning. You can deal lots of damage to enemies and possibly vanquish enemies in front of you.
• If you have the Shogun-Guard upgrade equipped, hold your shield out during the revive as you can block some attacks coming your way and can fire back at enemies as well.

Contesting the Objective

• Use your Primary weapon to focus on one target at a time. Try to take them out quickly.
• Use your Butter Beacon to increase damage against enemies you try to damage.
• Use your Husk Hop to make yourself harder to hit and to vanquish enemies below you or getting close to you.
• Use Shuck Shot against groups of enemies. This should weaken them or possibly net you some vanquishes.

When Abilities are Negated

• You can still use your primary weapon. Try to focus on one target at a time or target larger enemies.
• Throw your Butter Beacon first before collecting an item to identify any enemies that are in front of you.
• Activate your Shuck Shot before collecting the item, if enemies are in front of you, to try and vanquish them, or at least to deal additional damage to them.

Tips

• Attempt to attack enemies that are ungrouped for relatively easy vanquishes, or a group if using Shuck Shot. 
• Try to deal critical hits on your enemies. Your Cob Busters tend to deal fairly low damage but they have a high fire rate. You can increase your damage significantly by dealing critical hits.
• Use your Butter Beacon if you need to vanquish an enemy faster, to help your team spot enemies or to hunt enemies down.
• Use your Husk Hop if enemies get too close to you, or if you manage to get close to your enemies. If you try to approach them, target a group of enemies, then use this ability.
• Use your Shuck Shot to deal significant damage to or weaken groups of enemies. Use Butter Beacon first if you want to deal even more damage.

These are my Kernel Corn tips. Thanks for reading!

@TheSprinter85