Several years ago, PopCap had a sleeper hit on its hands with Plants vs. Zombies, a tower defense game that had attracted many a casual gamer and made them fans of the franchise. Since then, we’ve seen Plants vs. Zombies 2 and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, and now we’ve got Plants vs. Zombies Heroes for Android and iOS devices. Unlike the previous titles in the franchise, Plants vs. Zombies Heroes is a trading card game (TCG), and this game is all about collecting heroes “with outrageous and incredible super powers” and building your deck accordingly. You can discover new characters and fight mighty opponents, and unlike in previous titles, you also have the option to play as the Zombies.
The mechanics are different and so is the game genre: there’s another kind of critical thinking required here, and instead of placing different plant characters in such a way that you get the upper hand over the zombies, you can play as either faction and choose which cards to play against the enemy. This is a whole new gaming experience for PvZ fans, and that’s why we’ve come up with our own Plants vs. Zombies Heroes strategy guide for all kinds of players. We’ll mainly be dealing with beginner tips, though you might learn something new if you’ve been playing this particular game for some time.
1. Complete The Hero Quests
The game offers two types of quests, namely the general quests and your Hero Quests. You want to complete both types, but the Hero Quests should be easier for you, particularly once they allow you to unlock new characters. Check the requirements for each quest, play as the hero specified under the requirements, and keep on collecting the rewards. You can win diamonds, which are the game’s premium currency, by completing the Hero Quests, so play as many of them as possible as they’re surprisingly easy to complete.
2. General Quests Are Also Important
While you want to complete the Hero Quests, the general ones should also be looked into and completed as quickly as possible. Despite their name, they will allow you to collect even better rewards, and get you up to speed as far as the game’s main objectives are concerned. The game gives you the option to refresh missions, but it isn’t a very good idea to refresh the missions unless it’s one that you’re definitely unable to complete within a solid timeframe. The kicker, as it turns out, is that the new missions you’ll get may be more difficult to complete.
3. Follow The Story
The game will only allow you to play as the Plants when you’re just starting, and at some point you’ll be able to unlock the Zombies as well, allowing you to play as the traditional brain-eating bad guys in the game. But on a general basis, you’ll have to follow the main stories for as long as you could before you move on to the multiplayer card battles. That’s going to be pretty much like learning on the job – you’ll be shown how the cards work once played, and you can also win resources for new card packs and more chances to improve on your deck. You will, however, reach a point where you’ve done all you could in the single-player missions, and your options at that time would be to improve on your deck or to play as the opposing faction. Just take it easy and don’t move on to the player-vs-player battles too soon.
4. Keep Replaying The Missions
The mechanic of Plants vs. Zombies Heroes is such that you can either get some uninspiring common cards or exciting rare cards once you draw, even when you refresh them. That’s especially true when you’re playing single-player missions. But the simple workaround here is that you can replay single-player missions and get completely different results. Don’t panic if you lose a single-player mission that seems easy to beat at first, because the luck factor in this game may allow you to win the mission and complete it once it’s replayed. This might be a symptom of the game being quite new, but for the meantime, go ahead and replay the missions you lose, as the next draw might yield much better luck for you.
5. Should You Play As Plants Or Zombies?
This is a very interesting question, as this is the first PvZ game where you can play as Plants or Zombies. Both factions have some well-balanced and powerful cards, but based on what we’ve seen, the Zombies appear to be the more powerful faction. That’s because they come with some special effects that can be played after the Plants have made their move, and those effects can be used to turn the tide and help you win a game that looked like a lost cause at first. So once you’re able to play as the Zombies, give them a try when you could.
6. Use The Brains For The Tricks
Speaking of the Zombies faction, you’ll want to hang on to your brains. Why should you do this? Going by what we told you earlier, you should save your brains for the tricks/effects you use in the second stage. Don’t always try to fill the lanes by playing more than one card – that’s the obvious strategy, and that’s actually a good way to ensure yourself of a win. But it also leaves you with no brains for the special tricks, which you don’t want to happen when all is said and done.
7. Win Games For More Cards
Building a strong deck is the main key to success in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes. That’s a basic mechanic in TCGs/CCGs/deck builders/battlers or whatever you want to call them. So with that in mind, you should try to unlock as many cards, and the best way to do this is to keep playing the game, may it be those single-player missions or games against human opponents. And if you win more games, you’ll earn the money you need to buy Card Packs. Open the Card Packs once you can afford it, and you might end up with some rare and effective heroes.
8. Trial And Error May Come Into Play
Plants vs. Zombies Heroes also happens to be one of those TCGs where you won’t get much mileage from your default decks. That means you should do away with those stock cards and replace your common cards with rarer, stronger ones as soon as possible. You’ll need to have a good knowledge of the cards you have, as well as their strengths and weaknesses, and that may require some trial and error. But that’s why we mentioned above that single-player missions are like learning on the job. And when it comes to the whole trial and error thing, you may have an easier time doing this by choosing the faction that you prefer and keep using that faction instead of frequently alternating between Plants and Zombies.
9. Use The Deck Editor And Prepare For Future Matches
The Deck Editor is another key feature which you should use in this game. Tap on the Edit Deck button from the missions screen, and use the Deck Editor to create your deck and optimize as much as you could. You want to come up with a balance between cheaper, common cards and more powerful, more expensive cards. And when talking about rush strategies, which are oftentimes effective in TCGs, they don’t appear to be very effective in this game. That means you should prepare for longer, more intensive games. One good way to prepare for future opponents is to have some real competition, with real meaning human opponents – see what decks they’re using and observe how they play the cards they have on them.
This completes our guide for Plants vs. Zombies Heroes. Stay tuned, as we will update this guide whenever we discover more hints! Also, if you know more tips and tricks, let us know in the comment section!