How to ball out of control as Citron

Greetings, fellow comrade

Since you're reading this text, I'm guessing that you want to become a smarter and better performing Citron or maybe even a Citron main just like me. To improve as a Citron, you need to understand your key roles. You are the hard counter to the the Imp class, his Z-Mech, and to some degree Scientist. Despite being very good at capturing objectives when you are in the ball form, you are far from being a traditional tank like the All-Star. You no may ask why the Citron is no traditional tank, and the answers are quite simple. The first one is your vulnerability, because you are one huge critical hitbox and the peel shield is nowhere near as strong as the tallnut or tackling dummy. Second to that is the citrons poor reaction time in a close quarter battle, because you can't drag your laser around the screen in order to take out a strafing Scientist. And third point, ball mode makes you way more mobile than any other plant, bar the Peashooter. If you want to do well as Citron, you need to play in a fashion very similar to Bastion from Overwatch. Use your ball mode to roll around the map, search a good location to lay down support fire and suppress the enemy's tactical options. Don't stay in one spot for too long and change your point of attack every so often to drive the zombies nuts and focus more on you than your team. Your shield will be stronger at longer ranges, because almost every weapon in the game suffers from drop-off over ranges. Only use your EMPeach if you're getting rushed by Super Brainz, a Scientist or a Z-Mech or when you're on very low HP. Trust me, you'll regret wasting it to stun somebody and then get attacked by a Z-Mech. Once your team is moving in to capture the objective, you can either spin around with the ball mode and the hyper ability to capture the point and push enemies off the point with your spin dash. If that doesn't suit your style, move in with a bunch of teammates and use the shield to provide cover with your shield. If you can, get a Sunflower to pocket you, it can make you a very hard to deal with threat. Only use your EMPeach if you can stun at least two Zombies and/or a Z-Mech, because Imps or Super Brainz usually wait until the very last moments until they attack with their Mechs or Turbo Twiste, which you can then shut down. If your teams is getting ripped appart and the Zombies regain control of the point, get the out of their with your ball mode, regain your HP, search an new spot to harass the enemy team to prepare the next push. DO NOT TRY capture on your own since you are a high priority target. AND NEVER, NEVER try to get out off ball form and spam your EMPeach and shield. You cannot use any ability in a period of 5 seconds after going from ball to attack mode and I see way to many Citron players trying to do this and then dying because they smash their L1 and R1 buttons instead of shooting the enemy. Now, enough basic strategies for right now, let's go to the fun part, your weapon and ability.

Your primary weapon is the mighty Orange Beam. It is very similar to Quake's Lightning Gun and it is the most damaging full auto primary that the plant team can offer you. Some of you now may shake their head and call me an idiot, because it only deals only 6-4 points of damage without the damage upgrade and 7-5 with said upgrade. However, the default and Party variant have splash damage on their primary weapon. Default Citron does 5 additional points of damage for every direct hit, or 5 if you shoot at somebody's feet. This can be very useful when giving fire support, since you don't need to land direct hits in order to damage the zombies or steal their attention. It can deal devastating amounts of damage at close range as well as long range, outperforming both the All-Star and Super Brainz's lazer at every range. As already mentioned, it suffers from a slow turn speed, so don't use it like a shotgun or the All-Star's weapon. It is best used to deal damage at a mid to long range. Don't get too reliant on the splash damage though, since the radius of it is minor compared to the Engineer and Peashooter.

You can alsoo unlock a bunch of upgrades: Her is the list:
Level 5: Regeneration delay
Level 9: Weapon zoom
Specialist Level 5: Regeneration Speed
Specialist Level 9 Speed boost
Advanced Level 5:Weapon cooldown speed
Advanced Level 9: Weapon overheat reduction
Elite Level 5: Damage upgrade
Super-Elite Level 5: Hp increase
Note that these are only for the default variant, the other variants may have different upgrades

As for abilities, you can choose between five different one's, making you one of the most versatile characters on the plant team. You can use the EMPeach and the Peel Shield in assault mode, switch between your different modes, and use Hyper mode and Spin Dash in your ball form. The EMPeach is your most important ability. You can use it to stun players and Z-Mechs alike and deal a substantial amount of damage (25 points, to be exactly). It is your big red panic button, since you can use it to stun an ambushing attacker and buy you time to shoot back and activate your Peel Shield or to use ball mode and escape. I usually save it up to fend of incoming Super Brainzs, Scientists and Z-Mechs, but if you've got less than 75 Hp, you can use it to stun every foe that wants to vanquish you. The Peel Shiel is very simple. You can frontally block an additional 75 points of damage. Note that this ability doesn't protect you from piercing rounds like the ones fired from Captain Flameface. This ability is very useful against Scientist, since you can take 2 additional shots from almost every variant, which may very well turn the tide of the gunfight . It can also be a pain to every Imp since they need a lot of bullets to take it down. You may need to consider that Imps can instantly deactivate the shield with a gravity grenade and that the default ZPG will punch trough it, still dealing a massive amount of 175 points of damage. In your ball mode, you can use Hyper to move around even faster, and with some practice and a good eye, you can find ways to reach spots nobody expects a Citron to access. The Spin Dash is basically a worse version of the Sprint Tackle, but you can still use it to push Zombies out of objectives. Hitting a Zombie will send them flying backwards, disabling their current ability and dealing 50 points of damage.

Now, finally, match-ups with the different zombie classes.
Citron vs All-Star
A fight between the Citron and the All-Star usually comes down to the distance between the players. The Citron might deal higher damage at any range and has the ability to stun the All-Star, but at close range, due to the Imp-Punt and the Sprint tackle, the All-Star will usually win. It is best to avoid close range engagements with All-Stars. At medium range, Citron might have a slight advantage due to his higher damage and the Peel Shield, but skilled All-Stars will use their dummies as cover and some my use the Long Bomb to turn the battle int their favor. At longer ranges, the All-Star usually loses due to his projectile falling of and the fact that the Citron now wastly outdamages him.

Citron vs Engineer
Usually, the Citron is able to outtank the Engineer, even if you get stunned, IF the battle is becoming a close call or you start an engagement while weekend, you can win the fight by getting the first stun. Outside of close ranges, Engineers usually can't hit you with ease and gave to relie on their splash damage. If they use their Gatling-Turret, they recive a powerful long range attack and a 35% damage resistance. Don't face him directly, but rather peak out of cover and slowly lower his health before he can shoot back. Play it safe and don't risk your life for a seemingly easy kill

Citron vs Footsoldier
You generally should be able to outtank most Footsoldiers at any range. However, you can be a very easy target for their ZPG, and the Tank Commander and Scuba Soldier can do some mean damage up close, while the Super Commando and Camo Ranger are threat at longer ranges. The Park ranger can be an annoyance over any range, but his damage is to low ro pose a serious threat.

Citron vs Scientist
Outside of close range, most scientist are basically harmless, but they can easily take you out at close range. If you get ambushed, use your EMPeach, start shooting the Scientist and activate your Peel Shield at the last moment before the stun wears off and kill him. Timing is key and what may be difficult to pull of at first will later become routine. If your EMPeach isn't charged, but you are at full HP, go into ball mode, use Hyper to get to an elevated position that the Scientist can't reach with his warp an then shoot him down. Alternativly, you can use the spin dash, but you could die or take some serious damage whike you charge it up. If you get caught alone and with your ability on cooldown, you will probably die . Nevertheless, Citron's skill set and these tactics make you one of the best counters to scientists one your entire team. So go out and let some Scientist rage at you.

Citron vs Deadbeard
The Captain is the sniper of the zombie team, so he will outgun you at long ranges, but with your high HP, you should be able to transform into ball mode and get away. At medium range, the winner usually is the player with better aim, but use your ability to hip-fire and strafe at decent speed, while Deadbeard has to aim, which makes him slow and vulnerable. At close range, as long as you stay far enough away to avoid the shotgun, you will almost certainly win. If Deadbeard uses Barrel Blast, just use Hyper to get away and take an elevated position to shot at Deadbeard when he leaves the barrel, which leaves him vulnerable for a short time. If he uses his canon ability, use the same tactics as with an Engineer. Try to bait him into wasting his precious 6 rounds and then easily take him out. Citron is generally good to deal with drones since you only need three hits to take one out, so don't bother to much. I generally think that Deadbeard is the weakest Zombie and that he rarely poses a threat to you.

Citron vs Super Brainz
Super Brains may be tough and he seems hard to beat at first, but with a bit of practice and tactics he's easily eliminated. As long as he can't deploy his melee attack, you can easily beat him by outdamaging him. If he trys to close the gap, shoot him until he's in your face. After he used his first fist combo, stun him and activate the shield as soon as he's able to punch back. If he uses Turbo Twister, stun him immediately, than shoot and use the shield. If he uses Turbo Twister after you've stunned him, use the ball mode and maybe Hyper to gain distance and finish him.

Citron vs Imp/Z-Mech
You're the hard counter to Imps an Z-Mechs, so you can easily take out some Imps. Their are three golden rules to fight Imps: 1. Avoid the gravity grenade at all cost, since it makes you an easy target for the Imp and his friends. 2. Height advantage gives you a huge advantage since you can use your splash damage way more effectively. 3. If the Imp bounces to much or you have to fight in close quarters, always EMPeach if possible. It take 1/3 of his health and makes him an easy target. Battling Mechs is much harder, but with the right tactics, you can severely damage the Mech, so that the Imp is forced to abandon his Mech or even 1v1 him. Generally speaking, always have the height advantage and be in a spot that is hard to reach for their primary. Eventhough you can 1v1 Mechs, help from other plants, especally Kernel Corn, is always great to have. Start to deal some damage before you EMPeach the Mech. Preferably after you've taken 50-75 points of damage. Keep shooting the Mech, preferably on his weak spot. Once the Imp regains control, use the shield and possible cover to avoid as much damage as possibly. With good timing and a bit off luck, usually, every Z-Mech will go down surprising fast. One key trick is to avoid the Mech's damaging ability at all cost. So make some undead babies cry.

So this has been it for my Citron guide. I hope that you're now able to perform better as Citron. I wish you the best of luck in our fight to regain Suburbia, and now, roll out, ball out of control and make me proud