Class Discussion: Peashooter
And we come to the last original character; the Peashooter.
One cannot discuss this character without addressing the thing most people dislike about this plant; pogo-peas. Other characters can do this too, especially other characters and variants with AoE weapons like many Engineers, but none can also combine this with an ability like Hyper and chili bean bombs and be as annoying as the notorious pogo-pea. What exactly to do about this, I’m not sure, but one of the rare times where the foot soldier finds themselves at a disadvantage is when they get a hyper, madly jumping Peashooter in your face. Some Peashooters pull this off better than others, Toxic is great at this for example, while Agent Pea is not so hot (although if you have great aim and can do this, you’ll be a terror), but most are pretty powerful when they do this.
The main weapon is the classic pea, a staple of the games since the original. Crits on a direct hit and splash damage that makes near misses quite valuable and part of why pogo-peas are so common. It’s a solid performer and a big reason why Peashooters are common in all 3 games to this day. Variants can really change this up and some like Toxic Pea in GW1 (adjusted to be less obnoxious in GW2), and the dreaded Electro-Pea in GW2 (detonation characters are all annoying but E-Pea is usually considered the worst), Agent Pea and Berry Pea got nerfed in GW1 (and Berry Pea did not make it to GW2), and we have some like Rock Pea and Ice Pea that aren’t considered as good as the others, but all in all the Peashooter is a powerful and flexible character. Not a fan of the homing upgrade in BfN, but then homing in BfN seems like it’s got issues so the upgrade isn’t all it’s cracked up to be either. I’ve always been partial to Commando Pea and Fire Pea myself.
Pea Gatling and Retro Pea Gatling (and bling version). Retro Pea has been parsed out to be worse than the basic Pea Gatling more than once and I stopped using it long ago. This ability can be extremely powerful, and especially so in BfN with the Gatling crit upgrade where you get ammo for critting, I used it to tear through an elite Yeti Boss in Ops with the buff needed to damage it! Normally it’s a tradeoff; lose mobility to gain a powerful weapon, with little armor (maybe none?) in GW1, and more in GW2 and BfN, while BfN also makes you very obvious when you use it. It can be super annoying when Peashooters get super high up, higher than you’re supposed to actually go in some cases, and in Time Park. Toxic Peas also using Gatling mode on those tall rocks on the 1st point of Cactus Canyon in GW1 are a likely a large part of why many people don’t like that map; they are a major pain! Pea Gatling isn’t all that bad to deal with, and while they can be nasty if they catch you off-guard, that’s part of the point and they are quite vulnerable, especially the camping ones that don’t move for a long time.
Chili Bean Bomb, Dark Bean Bomb, and Sombrero Bean Bomb, I’ve used all 3, dark is unavailable in GW1 and BfN, and only the basic one is available in BfN, although upgrades can tweak it a bit. I’ve never sat down to compare these but tend to use the sombrero version in GW1 and dark in GW2. The dark bomb lacks damage but I like option of 2 of them, and I love the extra effects they added to it as well. While I know many of us have been annoyed by this ability taking us out for various reasons (stuck in spikeweed, gooped, frozen, just not paying enough attention, and so on), it’s main issue isn’t how it works so much as it has plenty of warning before it goes off, but how it is often spammed. I play G&G/TT modes the most by far (both from it being my favorite mode and for being on PC), and since you have objectives to fight over, the bean bombs come flying often! Very handy when you’re on the plant team, but a bit of a nightmare if you’re a zombie! Still, barring how much it’s spammed, I don’t feel it’s a problem ability.
Hyper, Pea Suped, and Super Pea Jump. Super Pea Jump isn’t a good alternate ability, it needs to be adjusted for a new game, hyper is so much better and pea suped is more versatile. Pea suped is essentially Hyper that also gives you faster shooting. I have no idea if it’s too good or not as I haven’t seen data parsed for it, but it sounds like it might be. I don’t use the hovering portion of pea suped all that much as it leaves you a fairly obvious target, but assuming its numbers don’t make it OP, it’d be my favorite of the 3 and would love it in a new game. If it is OP, bring it in line with Hyper (and super pea jump if that one isn’t dropped), and have it as an alternate ability. Peas using this ability while also jumping around and spamming their (usually) AoE peas and bean bombs have already been mentioned, but they are an issue in the games for certain. I really can’t see how to fix this, beyond reducing their AoE effect while in hyper or something like that. Don’t want to make the ability(ies) useless but it’s frustrating to deal with, especially seeing as it’s so common.
As far as the character models. Some were unhappy with the change to plasma pea from GW to GW2 as it became darker to use the lighter effect on the E-Pea. The BfN model has its lovers and haters, I’m largely ok with all versions. While I’m not a fan of sprinting, I do like the Roadrunner style animation the Peashooter has in BfN. I’ve always enjoyed its voice lines too, there’s even YouTube videos about how the character sounds like a trumpet!
Peashooter seems to fare better in BfN than Foot Soldier did, but that’s largely from the basic weapon being more forgiving of misses since a foot soldier’s rifle has no splash and peas not only have splash, but they crit on any direct hit, whereas most (not all) other weapons only crit on headshots. Beyond doing something about pogo Peas (although I have no idea what exactly to do about it, or if it’s just something we have to deal with), adjusting variants to be more balanced with each other (especially E-Peas), Peashooter is a solid, popular character, and unless they drastically alter the character’s effectiveness, I don’t see that changing.
