The Chemist: Understanding Garden Warfare's most hated character.

Back on a few of my previous posts, I briefly discussed the situation in which the Chemist stands, but never did I really go into full detail.

To fully understand the Chemist, we need to go back in time, to when the original Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare was released.

Back then, The Chemist's Chemical Beaker Blaster was a very powerful weapon. It packed 10 shots (12 with the ammo upgrade), had a large close range spread, and fired as fast as a Peashooter could. It dealt 40 damage to all plants in its range.

The Chemist was thought by most to be overpowered, and eventually saw a decrease in his clip size to 6 (8 with the ammo upgrade), and a slight decrease to his range.

From there, players would have to conserve their ammo supply a bit more and get a little closer to hit their enemies. Honestly, things should've just stopped here, and they did, at least, in the first game.

Some time passed, then Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2 was introduced at E3 2015. Everyone was hyped.

We were introduced to a new Scientist variant in the E3 gameplay: The Zoologist.

In the game's beta, The Zoologist could be unlocked and played. He functioned similarly to the Chemist in the way that he was limited to close range. He had a faster firing rate, more ammo and his weapon was fully automatic, at the cost of less range and damage.

The game eventually launched, and times were good for the Chemist. Scientists got a buff in movement speed since the game's beta, and Chemist got a damage upgrade that actually worked.

This, of course, sparked an issue. Chemist could now three shot 125 health classes.

After constant complaining, Chemist's damage was reduced from 40 to 36 in the Trouble in Zombopolis: Part One update.

It dealt with him vanquishing 125 health classes with the damage upgrade equipped, and that was good.

The Zoologist was nerfed as well, decreasing his ammo from 9 (11 with ammo upgrade) to 6 (7 with ammo upgrade) and slightly decreasing his range.

But even then, some STILL though of him to be too good, and Trouble in Zombopolis: Part Two sought to deal with player's complaints once more.

Chemist's damage was brought down from 36 to 35, and slightly decreased his firing rate from 100 to 95.

While the damage upgrade still brings his damage up to 40, the Chemist now has more drawbacks than upsides.

He still has no method of dealing with longer ranged enemies, and his weapon is now dealing less damage than ever.

Come to think of it, almost every plant has a method of dealing with Chemist now.

Peashooters have good enough range to leave some damage on the Chemist. Should he get close, Peashooter can use Hyper, jumping around, making it extremely difficult for Chemist to land a hit, while showering him with splash damage. You can also activate Pea Gatling, which will shred right through his health, all the while making you more resistant to his Beaker Blaster.

Chompers will destroy Chemist if they are aware of his presence. Once gooped, all the Chemist can do is watch as the Chomper runs behind him and swallows him, burrows underground to eat him, or even lay a spikeweed at his feet.

There isn't much Sunflowers can do to take out the Chemist, but they can beat him at range any day. If he's unaware, he can be taken out with a Sunbeam. If Chemist tries to get close, Sunbeam can give you enough damage resistance to tank a few hits.

Cactus can try to take Chemist out from a safe distance, but if he gets close, there's nothing they can do other than hope he steps on a Potato Mine. Chemist can't do anything about drones, as long as you stay out of his reach. From there, he should be an easy target.

Citron has enough health to take a quite a beating from the Beaker Blaster and live. His Peel Shield will absorb even more damage, and if his laser's firepower isn't enough, the E.M.Peach will leave him almost defenseless for a short time.

If Rose can Time Snare Chemist from a bit of range, Her Magic Thistles will make quick work of him. Goatify works well if he tries to warp close.

Corn has more than enough firepower to deal with Chemist at any range. Should he get close, you have the Shuck Shot and Husk Hop to fall back on.

Torchwood, being even more of a tank than Citron, can survive many, MANY shots from the Beaker Blaster, and has the Leaf Shield to absorb even more damage. All he really needs to do, though, is use Blazin' Blast.

Sure, Zoologist is limited to an even closer range than the Chemist, but at least he is capable of a massive amount of damage at that close range to make up for it. Chemist, on the other hand, has a much slower firing speed, resulting in a much lower DPS.

It'll take a few shots to vanquish your foes, and being up closer makes it easier for them to hit you as well. It's very difficult to do well with this guy, considering how fragile you are, and that most of your enemies have more firepower than you, or can take quite a beating from your weapon before falling.

The only upside I can see to using the Chemist is that you don't have to be accurate to deal damage to your enemies. As long as you're at least in their face and looking in their direction, you'll hit them.

It all makes sense once you look at it in that regard. People hate the Chemist because he doesn't take skill to use.