Cherry Bomb

By default, Cherry Bomb's normal sequence consists of two blasts. The first resolves about 100 cs after planting, the second resolves about another 100 cs later, and Cherry Bomb then leaves the board. Each blast reads target positions at the moment of resolution, so the same zombie can be hit by only one blast, or by both in succession after movement, knockback, or grouping.

The blast is centered on the plant's center with an approximately 150 px radius. On standard lawn spacing, this usually covers the current row plus the adjacent rows above and below; on edge rows, missing neighbors do not generate extra checks. Hits are decided by collision-box intersection with the circular radius, so wider or taller targets are easier to catch near the edge.

Each normal blast deals 2000 “ash damage.” If a target remains inside both blasts, the theoretical total is 4000. Ash damage uses a single threshold: a target whose current HP is at most 1.25× the ash-damage value is handled as an ash kill (removed outright); above the threshold, it resolves as fixed damage instead. Ordinary zombies are usually removed by a single blast, while bosses and high-HP units take it as one large fixed-damage burst.

While waiting to resolve, Cherry Bomb is still a plant on the board. Shoveling it discards any unresolved blast, which matches the tutorial's “do not shovel right after planting” hint. Certain collisions or heavy contacts trigger any remaining blasts to resolve immediately, referred to as compressed resolution.

Compressed resolution also gives Cherry Bomb a collision-insurance role. When Hurriclover's dash collides with Cherry Bomb, the bomb detonates at once and interrupts the dash: if the first blast has not yet occurred, both stages are usually compressed near that trigger point; if the first blast has already resolved, only the second remains to be compressed.

Note: “immediate resolution” of remaining stages does not erase the independence of the two blasts. Each still reads the radius and targets at the moment it triggers; compression only collapses both reads onto a near-coincident point in time.

When CocoBottle Shine is shattered by Cherry Bomb's explosion, it adds its own rupture resolution based on the stored liquid. The interaction does not rewrite Cherry Bomb as a liquid plant; it stacks a bottle layer on top of Cherry Bomb's own area damage. The stored liquid releases over a wider area, so the burst carries control or terrain processing alongside damage.

CD-shroom amplifies Cherry Bomb's value from the opposite direction: it stores an area containing Cherry Bomb and overwrites that area back onto the board on load. Because Cherry Bomb is a long-recharge, one-use payoff plant, its relative value as a storage target is higher than that of ordinary sustained attackers; the loaded Cherry Bomb still follows its own state and countdown, and does not bypass the two-stage sequence.

Interactions with Flag Zombie, Hurriclover, Starcone Master, Pine Zombie, and similar units follow the same principle: at the correct position and time, Cherry Bomb provides high-certainty resolution, but its recharge is long, its uses are few, and some targets actively dodge it or require a specific window.

Cherrynest rewrites each blast into 16 volatile baby cherries. They launch from Cherry Bomb's center, bounce, and perform multi-hit collision checks; the full two-stage sequence therefore spawns them twice. Single-hit damage scales with each cherry's own size s, with s∈[0.7, 0.9), giving a peak single-hit damage of 200·s; the average per-hit value is lower than a normal blast, but the spread, repeat hits, and lingering movement make the variant stronger against high-HP single targets and multi-hit environments.

Cherry Festival rewrites each blast into a lasting explosive cloud. The cloud still centers on the original blast point, but its approximate total of 2000 damage is split into repeated tick resolutions; the two clouds are independent. The form is useful for holding three lanes under pressure for a window, repeatedly intercepting dash movement, or applying ongoing ash-type interference to a boss, but it no longer offers the instant-clear rhythm of the normal blast.

Note: variant rules apply only to non-charmed Cherry Bombs that meet the current route / Glory condition; charmed or ineligible Cherry Bombs still resolve as the normal two-blast sequence.

In the tutorial, Ghastasaucey introduces Cherry Bomb as the early one-use clearing tool and explicitly notes that it explodes twice. Later story text repeatedly ties it to first-strike handling of high-threat units: removing the Flag Zombie source before its invulnerability aura matters, or interrupting Hurriclover's dash with a single guaranteed answer.

Systemically, Cherry Bomb converts long recharge into certainty. Sustained firepower handles most threats over time, but when threats have already stacked, a lane is about to break, or a single target must disappear at once, Cherry Bomb is the most direct in-radius reply; its advanced forms expand the shape of that reply, while the underlying rule of two independent resolutions stays unchanged.