Plant file · Maple Falls — Middle
Hygro Plantago
Absorbs liquids, then turns them into elemental smoke.
Lore
A Maple Falls native, Hygro Plantago is used to the wind, altitude, and waterways. When the team wants to rest halfway up, another stretch seems quite manageable. Stories from the well-traveled neighbor Pujiang have made the wider world enticing; joining the voyage turns those stories into a route to follow.
Hygro Plantago shares holiday soups and cakes with Pujiang and Hurriclover. Fluid absorption helps with cooking, although a rushing lake cannot simply be swallowed: Hurriclover first blows some water ashore. In their everyday life, plants and a friendly zombie already share the same table.
That care also appears in small acts, such as absorbing a spilled drink or noticing an unwell companion. Homing Thistle wonders how the three fluffy tails feel but considers touching them impolite. There is more than a soft appearance behind this approachable traveler.
Mechanics
Role
Liquid handling · Smoke conversion
Base data: 125 sun; 30s recharge; 400 HP; about 20s rest after successful absorption.
Click to absorb 3×3 liquids centered on itself and create effect smoke in the same area.
Standing on a Corchid-supported tile expands both absorption and smoke range to 5×5.
Can absorb field fluids, bottle liquid, bucket liquid transferred by Magnet-shroom, and gathered fluid before release. Version 0.17r makes simultaneous absorption of one fluid by two Hygro Plantagos more forgiving.
One absorption reads available fluids in range, then creates smoke effects by fluid type. Source, resolution time, and rest state determine the result. 100 cs = 1 second.
Absorption area and supported tiles
By default, the absorption check is centered on Hygro Plantago's own tile and covers 3×3. If that tile is supported by four Corchid corners, Hygro reads the support flag and changes the footprint to 5×5; smoke range uses the same n value as absorption range.
Absorption does not choose one liquid from the footprint. It resolves every absorbable fluid currently inside it. Puddles, lava, dirt, swamp fluid, honeydew, and rotten honeydew each become their corresponding smoke module when present together.
Corchid's bonus is not a proximity aura. The range changes only when Hygro itself stands on the supported tile; merely standing near Corchid, or placing Corchid inside the smoke area, does not rewrite the check.
Smoke effects by fluid type
At present, visible fluid effects can be read as E(ℓ): puddles supply slow and freeze, lava supplies 400 ash damage, dirt or mud supplies knockback, swamp fluid advances dispersal or clearing, and honeydew or rotten honeydew deals damage while moving targets by row.
When several sources are absorbed at once, each E(ℓ) resolves inside the same smoke event; several copies of the same fluid are handled as several copies of that module. Mixed smoke is not an overwrite rule, but a composition of field states in one timing window.
Since 0.17o, honeydew, rotten honeydew, and swamp fluid vanish when they enter water tiles. For Hygro Plantago, whether such liquid can be absorbed depends on whether it still exists as a readable object when the absorption check occurs.
If Hygro Plantago is charmed, the same E(ℓ) conversion still executes, but the target side becomes the zombie side. Damage, freezing, knockback, and row movement all read ownership from Hygro's current allegiance.
Containers and interrupted gathering
A Bucketholder Zombie spills liquid when its bucket breaks. If Magnet-shroom steals the bucket first, the bucket liquid can be passed to nearby Hygro Plantago. The input is still bucket liquid; it simply did not first become ground liquid.
CocoBottle Shine supplies another container source. When Hygro absorbs bottle liquid, the bottle remains empty; if Honey Bamboo filled the bottle, its day or night state decides whether the module is honeydew or rotten honeydew.
While Hurriclover is charging, an unlaunched wind shot is handled as gathered fluid. Hygro Plantago must complete the absorption check before launch to interrupt that gathering; the fired projectile no longer uses this path.
Resolution, empty attempts, and healing
By default, a click near the end of recharge can be queued. The actual absorption occurs about 145 cs after the action starts, and the full action lasts about 250 cs. The check is inside the action, not at the click frame.
If the attempt absorbs no object, recharge is refunded immediately. If it absorbs at least one object, Hygro Plantago enters about 2000 cs of rest; during rest, the leaves close and it cannot absorb again.
Rest healing reads current HP by segment: at or above one-third of maximum HP, it restores 1 HP every 3 cs; below one-third, it restores 3 HP every 4 cs. Ordinary Hygro Plantago has a 400 HP maximum.
Journey notes
Hygro Plantago learns about Bucketholder Zombie from its neighbor Pujiang, a friendly zombie at Maple Falls who later brings the lost Cuscata to the party.
Maple Lake dialogue identifies Hurriclover’s gathered water as absorbable before launch. Mysterious Swamp dialogue extends the same fluid treatment to mud pits.
Interactions & counters
- Corchid
Expands both absorption range and smoke range.
- Magnet-shroom
After stealing a bucket, Magnet-shroom can pass the liquid to nearby Hygro Plantago.
- CocoBottle Shine
Absorbs the bottle liquid, creates matching smoke, and leaves the bottle empty.
- Hurriclover
Can absorb and interrupt an unlaunched gathering wind shot.
In-game tooltip
Click Hygro Plantago to absorb liquid within a 3×3 range, then convert it into effect smoke within a 3×3 range.