Citron Feedback (Needs to be reworked) warning - this is very thorough ]:P

*This is all just my opinion. Not trying to upset anyone. If I do it's completely on accident.

I have been a Citron main since Gw2 and have mained BFN Citron since founders. I do play other plants and zombies. Citron has always just been my favourite. I have played a fair bit of this latest ttk patch. I've given pretty much all the characters a fair go. But I feel Citron in this latest patch is quite blatantly underpowered and no one seems to be bothered. I figure Citron is just an unpopular plant. Hated by zombie players as he is perceived as "cheap". People are writing this guy off and they don't even play him. Always just experience Citron from the receiving end, leaving sour tastes in their mouths. Compared to most other characters in this game, Citron is severely lacking in the damage department. The argument "b-b-but h-he's a defence c-character" is in no way good enough. And I only see that point being made against Citron. You have the 2 other defence plants and all the defence Zombies loaded with weapons and abilities that deal more dmg and can be fully utilised from safe distances. So I thought, if no one else wants to speak up I guess I'll have to. Here is my feedback/thoughts/etc. on Citron.

Things I will be discussing:

1. Things I like/ think PopCap has done well with BFN Citron
2. His ability kit - Peel Shield, E.M. Peach, Spin Dash, Naval Laser, Peel Shield
3. How I play Citron - how do I use my abilities, who do I focus, how I feel like he is MEANT to be played after playing him for so long
4. General facts about the character - Size, Dmg output, counter picks
5. Upgrades - Best (imo), bad, overrated
6. Bugs - hit detection, audio, mobility
7. Rework suggestions

1. Things I like/ think PopCap has done with well BFN Citron

Citron is still quite mobile. His whole gimmick in Gw2 was that he was able to turn into a ball with very high mobility. I'm glad they didn't touch his mobility when they implemented the sprint nerfs. Everyone else gets reduced jump height and movespeed except Citron. He has retained his increased jump height in ball form aswell. Transforming in and out of ball form is much easier now as it's just a sprint. In a way, despite not having hyper ball, bfn Citron is kinda more mobile than gw2 Citron. With the emergency upgrade, spin dash becomes a mini hyper ball upgrade anyways.

His visual overhaul is great. Managed to keep the futuristic aesthetic while making him look more like an orange. His gun sounds cool and is satisfying to shoot. 

Citron is still heavily anti-Imp. Can actually Oneshot Imp with Spin dash now (If that imp has 0 over health). 

Spin dash can now be used to escape from any cc in the game (not including stuns). Making stuns cancel Spin dash is also a nice improvement. Spin Dash can't be used easily as an escape ability. 

2. His ability kit - Peel Shield, E.M. Peach, Spin Dash, Naval Laser

E.M. Peach:

Looking at this ability is kinda weird tbh. You have given him this utility ability? Yes, it's quite useful (despite currently being very VERY underpowered) but no other defence characters really have a cc ability. You would expect to see that kind of ability on a support. I understand that he had it in Gw2, but it was actually useful back then. For some unknown reason, Zombies can still use abilities even after clearly being stunned by the E.M. Peach in BFN. The Stun does NOT last long enough for the Citron to really do anything solo (unless he has his other abilities spin dash up).

Spin Dash:
This is pretty much Citron's bread and butter now. Hitting these is often vital if you want to make any impactful plays. It is a direct improvement from the Gw2 version of Spin dash so there isn't much to complain about here. 1 thing I will point out is that Citron is VERY ability reliant (probably more so than pre-ttk patch 80's Action Hero). If he doesn't hit this ability he kinda doesn't get to kill anyone. He needs either support from a nearby plant to secure kills or pray that maybe the zombie is reloading and has all their abilities on cooldown. Very strange seeing that many of the other characters can now just use their primary fire alone for kills.

Naval Laser:

This one is honestly hilarious to me. I find myself giggling like an idiot every time I use it. You temporarily trade your primary weapon for this beam that shoots microscopic lasers that deal less dmg than actual primary fire for the first few seconds, only dealing slightly more dmg than primary fire before it ends. You also cannot jump or cancel the ability. In this game. Where everyone has Skintight hitboxes. And Citron is huge. You gave him an ability that shoots micro lasers that deal forgettable dmg until the last few seconds. I honestly need someone else who plays Citron thoroughly to explain this one to me. All the times I have died trying to make use of this weapon I think:

"I mean I probably woulda killed you had I just stuck with normal primary fire lol'.

No joke even with upgrades this thing isn't worth using. I have tested multiple combinations of upgrades. Even just using both of the naval laser upgrades (that are way overpriced btw). Honestly, this is easily the most useless ability in the entire game. Everyone else has abilities that are useful whenever, wherever. Naval Laser doesn't work whenever OR where ever. So WHAT is it doing on CITRON. The guy either Shielding allies or getting in close to set up kills. By simply activating this ability, you are telling your teammates "aight imma take a break from being useful, I wanna try out this cool looking laser gun". Why does this ability force me to think about my positioning and timing? Not 1 single other character in this entire game has to worry about positioning their abilities. Not even 80's Action Hero (his rocket ride damage got mega buffed it's safer to just run from it instead of try shoot him down).

Peel Shield:

It's not terrible. Is it a fun/engaging/interesting move? Not at all. Not for the Citron or the person shooting at it. Citron sits there and does absolutely nothing but sponge damage. There are characters in similar games with similar shields but at least they are good without the shields. I'm usually all about tanking stuff and making plays but standing in between plants and zombies shooting each other gets kinda boring. I still do it. But I can't always expect the plant I'm protecting to land any shots. And I can't really carry myself seeing that my whole kit isn't built for solo carrying. It's built for helping. If I'm Citron and my plants aren't very good at the game I kinda auto lose. Citron also doesn't get any assists for shielding allies getting kills. I keep getting notified on the bottom left of my screen that I'm getting xp for peel shield assisting by soaking dmg and getting a plant behind me a kill. I look at the scoreboard and my assist score won't even move. I have to shoot faraway people for assists on a close-range character? Shield assists where you protect a plant from damage and then that plant gets a kill should give the Citron full assist credit. not this half assist thing I keep getting. It just discourages properly using the peel shield.

3. How I play Citron - how do I use my abilities, who do I focus, how I feel like he is MEANT to be played after playing him for so long

How I think abilities are supposed to be used:

E.M. Peach: Spam off cooldown. It always helps during fights. If I catch a distant ally plant fighting someone in the distance I usually chuck an E.M. Peach their way to help them out. I use it to slow down people trying to run away. Can also use it to very briefly slow enemies when they all group on you. Most of the time during 1v1's, Citron has to use E.M. Peach at some stage of the fight. If E.M. Peach and Spin Dash aren't up or have completely missed Citron cannot fight enemies. The E.M. Peach doesn't stun them long, but every second counts. You get to maybe pull off 1.4 seconds of extra damage you or someone else otherwise may not have been able to deal.

Spin Dash: This is a great engage, escaping ability. Here be the list of ways I think Citrons should be using Spin Dash-

• Destroy All-star shields instantly - All-Star Shield is ridiculous. Covers a wide area and allows the all-star and nearby teammates to get free damage off with little punishment. The catch is it dies instantly should anything make contact with the soft dummy inside the shield. Engineer turrets are also usually set up inside turrets. Spin Dash is very effective siege "battering ram" like ability. Citron can split zombie defences up relatively easily.
• Ram an Engi turret away from a choke point - On turf maps especially. Engis like to set up shop around corners. Its always good to ram the turret away from engis. forces them to move away from the spot they were in (they usually just place another turret down immediately afterwards. Still a worth trade imo. Lets your team quickly move forward from that point).
• Oneshots nearby Imps - If you catch an imp running around, it's always good to try line up a spin dash. The imps will usually hear the Spin Dash coming but I find most of the time I hit the Imps anyways. Imp hops seem to have no vertical. Keeping Imps out of the fight is always good for your team. Imps wreak havoc if left unattended (especially with explosive escape on the mech. Plants can't seem to be able to tell whether a mech is self-destructing or breaking so they stay close and die to it). 
• Can be used to execute low hp zombies - During fights when you think the guy is low enough try hit a Spin Dash. Lets you end the encounter faster. Allows you to move on to the next guy :P
• I spam it off cooldown when traversing the map to get around quicker. 

Naval Laser: Naval Laser is only to be used on oblivious engis or their turrets. If the Citron wants to troll his team, he uses it when zombies can see him. I keep catching players trying to use this ability as a last resort type thing. It simply isn't able to help him outside of being anti engi turret in its current state. Does not have the damage output or projectile size needed to be of any use in open close to mid-range fights.

Peel Shield: You pretty much need to use this 24/7. It breaks very fast now and takes a fairly long time to regen so use it wisely. Obviously while using Peel Shield, you are to stand in front of an allied plant and protect them from frontal damage. This ability best synergises with Sunflowers and PeaGatlings performing their rooted abilities. Hold it up so they don't have to worry about being sniped or zpg'd. The shield can take a fairly decent amount of punishment from 80's Action Hero's Rocket Ride, but only very briefly. Usually gives allies enough time to reposition themselves away from the rocket ride. It's also very handy after killing someone. I find that once other zombies see that I've blown all my abilities on trying to get some zombies killed they go in to try to kill me.

Who do I focus:

*This is just who I find myself fighting the most.

Imps - As Citron, It is pretty much your job to keep Imps out of the game. You are doing the team a huge favour by killing them. Teams of Imps get out of control very quickly (especially with mech hunter). Imps can wipe out your backline with extreme ease and when in danger, can just summon the mech and get free damage off.

 I fight everyone else a lot aswell. Citron just hard counters Imp's so hard. It'd be silly of a Citron to not go for them.

How I feel like he is MEANT to be played after playing him for so long:

Looking at his overall kit. His abilities, mobility, size, this character is quite CLEARLY a supportive defence character. His whole purpose now is solely to help his team get kills. He doesn't have to be played in this fashion, but I have found that this is the most effective way to play the character. Like you have Rose for example. Rose is a lot like Citron in the sense that they provide ally buffs. Rose increasing zombie dmg taken, Citron reducing plant dmg taken. Rose turning zombies into speedy goats for a few seconds, Citron slowing enemies for 1.4 seconds. I see Citron as more a defensive support. Rose being an offensive support. Just my opinion. Do I like it like this? kinda. Should life be like this? yeah no. The problem is Citron isn't a support (well I'm pretty sure he's not supposed to be one). They have labelled these characters with roles but they don't even have to play by them? Citron is amazing at supporting the team on the attack. As a defence class. Other defence characters actually fend off enemies rather easily solo. Current patch Citron is only really viable/ being more useful when he is with the team. Makes me question why these characters have these labels at all.

4. General facts about the character - Size + Dmg output, Counter Picks

Size + Dmg output:

Pre-ttk patch Citron did a lot of damage. For me, it was ok. I had to get right up to them and put myself in danger for the best damage possible. Citron is a massive character. Bigger than most of the plants and zombies. He is easily the 2nd easiest playable character to land shots on in the entire game. So allowing this big orange guy to actually dish out impressive damage seemed completely fair to me. The pre-ttk patch stun was op, but his damage was COMPLETELY justified. Nowadays, Citron is just big and hits slow dmg. There is no balance anymore. No pros with *. Its just * now. I am this HUGE target. Covered in neon lights for all to see. Making loud orange bounce and rolling noises. With audio and visual signals on all abilities. And I get nothing for using my shotgun at its intended range. You WILL get out dps'd by characters even if you get the jump on them (if the enemy has above average aim). You are pushing this image of Citron SOLELY being a bullet sponge. This is not fun gameplay. No one else has to play like this. Not even All-Star, the Citron equivalent for the plant team has to do this. All-Star can at least shoot his extremely high damage Football Cannon with his shield up (also you need to look into that Football Cannon it doesn't have dropoff for some odd reason).

This should just be obvious, but for a character of that shape and size, he should at least hit good damage.

As an example, there is this character in this game called Overwatch. His name is Reinhardt. He is a huge guy. Very easy to hit. And has a BIG shield to defend his teammates with (kinda like Citron :o ). BUT, Reinhardt is only able to deal good damage at his intended range - melee. This character is basically Citron. The difference here between Reinhardt and Citron is that Reinhardt actually performs well at his intended range and doesn't have to rely on his abilities to get kills. Using overwatch to compare characters is kinda bad but I think you might get my point here? The games are quite similar. 

Here is a comparison between Citron and another BFN character just in case. Super Brainz. Super Brainz is quite the big man. Also quite agile with his super hops. Super brainz, when he gets up close can turn plants into a fine paste. Very effective at his intended range, balanced out by being a big man.

Key points here:

1. Large = easy to hit
2. Needs to get in close to deal dmg
3. Gun barely does dmg fast enough to keep up with zombies dmg output
4. Performs better/ is more useful when hanging out with the backline

Counter Picks:

This is just from my experience playing Citron. For some people, maybe fighting (and managing to finish off) a Scientist with 3 warps up is easy.
Citron is strong against:

• Imp + Mech
• Space Cadet
• Super Brainz
• All-Star Dummy Shield

Problems here? None. I think It's fine for Citron to be effective against certain characters.

Citron is weak against:

• All-star
• Scientist
• Engineer
• Foot Soldier

Any problems here? Yes actually. All-Star. He is supposed to be zombie Citron no? Why does he do more damage at every range while being a harder target to hit. Yes he can't Bunnyhop but he ain't no Citron when it comes to hitbox sizes.

Unlisted characters go pretty even with Citron. They can counter each other with their abilities.

5. Upgrades - Best (imo), Bad, Overrated

Best:

Upgrades that imo are the only REAL good ones for every playstyle.

• Emergency Exit - Lets you play a Lil more aggressively with your Spin dashes. Makes it much easier to break zombie shields and turrets and get away. Also good for exiting bad fights. Only costs 1 point
• Best Defense - The damage reduction is especially useful now that everyone deals crazy damage. Only costs 2 upgrade points
• Health regeneration - negates the need for sunflowers to pocket you 24/7. Works great with the health Regeneration Delay Upgrade. only costs 2 points
• Health Regeneration Delay - same reasons as the upgrade above.

Bad:

Upgrades that don't do much but are expensive

• Bowling - costs 4 whole points. what do I get? Knock enemies farther away with spin dash... hold up... 4 points? All I'm doing is knocking them back further why am I giving up 4 points for something like this??? That doesn't do anything. Knocking them further back might look flashy, but it is in no way worth the 4 points you are charging me.
• Peachy - Gain Peel Shield health by stunning with E.M. Peach. Costs 4 points. again. Unnecessarily overpriced for an upgrade that can only proc when an ability can be used

Overrated:

Upgrade that are commonly perceived as very good or even op, despite being completely useless

• Peached - I kinda blame this upgrade for some of the Citron hate. It promotes toxicity. It's such an unneeded upgrade. There only to make people hate Citron even more. Even then, it costs a whopping 3 points, so you are trading actually useful upgrades for this one. The bonus stun time isn't even that good. It's like you+noncitron players are scamming Citron players out of their upgrade slots by convincing them that E.M. Peach is "op". Not worth the price. Again, it's an upgrade that can only be procced when the ability if off cooldown, and it only increases the stun duration by 1 second or so.
• Juiced - Is a naval laser upgrade. That's not all. it also wants to take 3 of your upgrade slots... mate. who do you take me for? I ain't falling for none of that. It barely increases the naval lasers dmg and gives naval laser an actual semi-decent projectile size. Still suffers from the same * as base naval laser. just deals slightly more dmg and has slightly larger lasers. and wants half your upgrade points
• Pulp Powered - Another naval laser upgrade. This actually want 4 points (more than juiced? why?). Looking at the costs you'd think that it would have some amazing playstyle changing effect. yeah nah no it actually forces you to use naval laser longer should you actually kill a guy with it. 😕 ... "hold up.. that's bad". yes. you are correct. We don't want that 🙂 psychopath upgrade actually want 4 of my upgrade slots. yeah no thanks get lost m80

Unlisted upgrades aren't worth mentioning. They make such minor changes it's barely noticeable. Some have unique gimmicks but they aren't actually needed. Or improving anything that needs improving. (e.g. Kinetic energy - Gain Peel Shield health by dealing damage, 3 points. I have to get in close to do damage to heal my shield. I'll end up using up that shield I just finished healing immediately because I'll be trying to disengage the enemy I just threw myself at, weird abilities like this)

6. Bugs - Hit detection, Audio, Mobility

Hit Detection, Audio:

This Imp was good. Wanted to get him before he reached my team. I hit up a nice flank and managed to catch the guy off guard. As you can clearly see, my aim was dead on. That imp should be dead. Even the sound team was convinced I hit the Imp and played the smack noise. The Imp was even knocked up from being struck. This is not the first time this has happened. For some odd reason, when using Spin dash sometimes I will make direct contact with a guy, numbers show up, the enemy flies into the air from the attack. I look at them. Full health. ok then. guess I die. This happens way too much. You could say I deserved it. I can see why. I'm in no way bming this imp. He is good. I wanted him away from team. I just so happened to have 2 abilities I could combo to kill him with. I went for it. Many other characters do this. Like how an all-star imp tackles a nightcap or acorn and oneshots them (only citron gives the enemy time to react). Game needs to stop making out like I'm hitting guys when I'm not. It's ok to be honest 🙂

Mobility:
This bug is very minor. Not big a deal. Still, it slightly inconveniences me and it's an issue every other class doesn't have to deal with. Citron actually moves slow while rolling up hills. At least fix this when you guys have the time :o

7. Rework suggestions

*I am not a balance team video game designer. These are just rows of words to maybe spark better ideas for a Citron buff or rework coming from a person who plays the character a lot.

Juice Cannon:
1. Increase fire rate to be closer or possibly even match Allstar's fire rate.

2. Maybe increase his spread + increase dmg or fire rate a lot

E.M. Peach:

1. Stun duration increased, BUT the duration varies depending on the distance the peach travelled. Solves the whole issue with Selfish Citrons using it for themselves while simultaneously encouraging Citrons to use it for their teammates.

Is this fair? In my mind yes, this is completely fair. If you give all other defence characters high dmg abilities and primaries at least let the E.M. Peach be more effective.

2. Stun duration stays as it is, but is increased depending on how much health is missing on the zombie. That way Citrons aren't using it as an engage tool to get free shots in. He has to fight the enemy a fair bit, get them low before they are decently stunned. 

(If not replacing base default E.M. Peach with one of these ideas maybe consider making these replace the current upgrades?)

Naval laser:

1. Replace with Peel Shield. Reduce peel Shield Health. Keep the movement speed reduction of naval laser when he holds the shield up. Let him shoot. This frees up the aim button, allowing Citron to aim, also getting rid of a useless ability. (this would also make the "move faster with peel shield" upgrade more appealing)

2. Make it like the gw2 Hover-goat 300's beam ability, allowing the Citron to choose when to fire it, greatly reduced movespeed

3. Let Citron aim while using it

4. make it so it's projectile size is larger

5. Allow Citron to move around normally while using this ability. there's no need to have him grounded to the earth while firing this weapon

6. Replace one of the bad, forgettable overrated upgrades with something actually interesting. something new. maybe "Citron has peel shield out while firing naval laser - 5 points" or something

7. Give it Gw2 Citron mechanics. has a larger projectile size. has small splash damage. Deals 1-2 dmg at range but ramps up to 20's point blank. maybe allow citron to have his usual mobility while it is firing (let him jump)

Peel Shield:

1. Reduce hp, decrease regen delay, increase regen rate, allow citron to shoot with it up

This took way too long to write yikes. 

I only do this cuz I genuinely feel the character needs some tuning bad. The character is close to being kinda good. just not quite their yet. as a citron player, just wanted to let you guys know.