80s Action Hero

80s Action Hero is a playable zombie class in Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville. He is an Attack class who specializes in explosive attacks.

Descriptions

In-game description

80s Action Heroes are all about explosions. Explosions from afar, from above, from behind cover, and even where they are standing.

Primary Weapon

“	Charged bow that increases in power and accuracy. Special - Hold [Zoom] to charge Bow Blaster. Landed shots create lock on targets for Can't-Miss-ile ability that fires extra rockets	”
—In-game description

80s Action Hero's primary weapon is the Bow Blaster, a powerful bow that increases in damage and accuracy depending on how long the 80s Action Hero charges it. While charging, 80s Action Hero moves at slightly reduced speeds. It has 3 charges. The first charge fires 5 projectiles in a flat horizontal line, dealing 23 damage if they all hit 1 target (27.6 critical). The second charge fires 3 projectiles when released, dealing 40.2 damage to a single target (57.89 critical). The third charge (fully charged) fires 1 big projectile that deals 65 damage (75 critical) along with 15 splash damage. In addition, shots also carry a tag effect, which correlates with Can't-Miss-ile; each shot that hits an enemy counts as one tag, with up to three tags that can be applied to an enemy. The Bow Blaster does not use any ammunition, nor does it overheat.

Abilities

Left abilities
Dynamite Dodge	Evade in any direction while a dropped explosive covers your tracks.
Center abilities
Rocket Ride	Fly into the air and launch a large volley of explosive missiles.
Right abilities
Can't-Miss-ile	Deploy homing rockets that track the nearest target if no lock-on targets are provided.

Upgrades

	Improved Tracking		● 3
	Earn a tag on an enemy by dealing damage with Can't-Miss-ile.

	Combo		● 2
	Faster refresh time for all abilities by earning multiple vanquishes rapidly. Reduces ability cooldown by 5x for 2 seconds (10 seconds total) for earning multiple vanquishes.

	Refreshing Revive		● 1
	Faster refresh time for all abilities by reviving an ally. Reduces ability cooldown by 5x for 2 seconds (10 seconds total) when a teammate is revived.

	Rough Patch		● 1
	Spawn with more health after suffering multiple vanquishes in a row. After dying three times in a row, spawn with the maximum amount of overhealth for the currently used class after respawning or being revived.

	Leg Day		● 2
	Action Hero Zombie jumps farther and higher when activating Dynamite Dodge.

	Low Life		● 2
	Gain health by earning a vanquish when at low health. Grants 1.666667 health every 0.2 seconds for 3 seconds (25 total health) upon vanquishing an enemy at 20% HP or lower.

	Track Star		● 3
	Earn a tag on an enemy when dealing damage with Dynamite Dodge.

	Targeting Arrows		● 1
	Tags on enemies remain after suffering a vanquish.

	Free Ride		● 3
	Fire additional rockets by earning a vanquish with Rocket Ride. Vanquishing enemies with Rocket Ride extends its duration by 3 second.

	Leveling Up		● 2
	Earn XP faster. Increases the amount of XP earned by 10%. Does not affect the XP Machine in Giddy Park.

	Bow Master		● 4
	Charge Bow Blaster faster for short time by earning a vanquish. Bow Blaster charges 75% faster upon earning a vanquish. Lasts for 3 seconds.

	Fearless		● 2
	Regenerate health when near multiple enemies. When near one-four enemies within a 10m radius, regenerate 2 HP every 0.2 seconds. Can grant overhealth if no health is lost. Bug: On zombies, this upgrade only gives 0.2 HP every 0.2 seconds.

	Critical Blow		● 3
	Faster refresh time for all abilities by earning a critical vanquish. Reduces ability cooldown by 5.5 seconds upon critically vanquishing an enemy.

	Critical Tag		● 3
	Earn three tags on an enemy when dealing critical damage with Bow Blaster.

	Remarkable Rockets		● 3
	Earn a tag on an enemy by dealing damage with Rocket Ride.

	Speedy		● 3
	Move faster, except when sprinting. Increases walking speed by 12.9032%.

	Vampiric		● 3
	Gain health by earning a vanquish. Grants 1.666667 health every 0.2 seconds for 3 seconds (25 total health) upon vanquishing an enemy hero. Can grant overhealth if no health is lost.

	Ready Up		● 2
	Use weapons and abilities faster just after sprinting. Reduces sprint exit delay by 6.67x.

	Super Payload		● 4
	Fire two additional missiles with Can't-Miss-ile. Can't-Miss-ile fires 4 additional missiles per lock-on target in range.

	The Huntsman		● 4
	Earn three tags on an enemy when dealing damage with fully charged Bow Blaster shot.

Related achievements

	Blast From the Past Earn 200 vanquishes as an 80s Action Hero.

	Giddy Up Earn 20 vanquishes using Rocket Ride as an 80s Action Hero.

Strategies

With

80's is incredibly versatile and is effective at any range, this is as at long range 80's can take advantage of his bow blaster with it's incredibly low TTK and high accuracy whilst having a very high DPS at close range due to the uncharged shots having additional bullets on the side. although being able to hit your shots reliably is helpful and will greatly improve performance as this character 80's is strong enough that you can afford to make some mistakes. Due to his high versatility and power you usually won't have to focus too hard on the general flow of the game to find some amount of success with this character, however paying attention to enemy pushes and openings then advancing or retreating accordingly will allow you to fully optimize 80's, getting the most out of the character, potentially allowing you to wipe out enemy pushes single-handedly.

His versatility extends to his abilities with Can't-Miss-ile being a good tool for punishing a misplay on your opponents' part or chasing a kill which you barely missed out on given you have 3 tags. Rocket Ride by itself is a high DPS tool best used against large, tanky characters such as Oak but keep in mind you are quite vulnerable whilst using it and can be easily cheesed by smaller characters. Dynamite Dodge pairs nicely with rocket ride, as it can be used to cancel the Rocket Ride early, avoiding the vulnerability and providing instantaneous burst mobility in any direction that let's 80's reposition, engage, or disengage any fight at a whim, even without this combo Dynamite Dodge still provides decent burst mobility that can be used to avoid significant damage or reposition to a better spot. This combo may also be used immediately after respawning to quickly get back to the fight, keep in mind jumping can conserve the momentum this tech gives you.

To fully take advantage of 80's it is useful to start engagements with your max charge shot, which will reduce your TTK significantly, giving you a better chance of getting a clean vanquish where the opponent had no time to react or fight back, leaving you with plenty of resources to engage with another enemy without significant down time. If it is not possible to start an engagement with this max charge shot it is a good idea to focus on hitting middle charge shots instead as although the uncharged shots have a higher DPS the middle charged shots are far easier to consistently hit and have a good tempo that balances ease of use and TTK.

80's is the only character in the game with exactly 150 hp, which makes him somewhat tanky, allowing you to confidently make aggressive pushes in a lot of cases whilst also being vulnerable enough to where the enemy can easily punish you if your positioning is bad. Even in this circumstance, 150 hp leaves you plenty of time to realize you're out of position, and use the Rocket Ride Dynamite dodge combo to quickly alter your position to a less vulnerable one, from which you can utilize 80's strength at range to safely pressure the enemy.

Due to 80's having the best TTK in the game, enemies will rarely be able to escape you by sprinting, this strength compounds with sprint nerf, which reduces enemy speed and jump height shortly after taking damage. Despite this, you may find that the enemy is able to take cover before you finish them off, however as 80s they are not safe from you, tagged enemies can be seen through walls so even though they may have temporarily escaped you now know exactly where they are at all times until they either get vanquished, or get heals. You can leverage this to either chase down the weakened opponent by sprinting, dashing towards them with the Rocket Ride Dynamite Dodge combo, or simply firing your Can't-Miss-ile if there is an angle which the Can't-Miss-iles can hit them from, be careful when you do this though, as this will make the tags disappear. BFN health regeneration is quite fast, especially if your opponent has either the hp regeneration delay or hp regeneration upgrades, so if you're going to attempt this chase, do it quickly.

If there is an incredibly large number of enemies it may seem tempting to Rocket Ride them, however this will most likely simply get you killed, so instead try to either find a good angle from which you can consistently apply pressure to them without them being able to fire back or try to tag as many of them as possible then fire your Can't-Miss-Ile, which will not only damage the tagged opponents, but also do immense collateral splash damage to anyone nearby.

Do not be afraid of one-on-one encounters as 80's, 80's is strong enough where he almost always has the upper hand, or at worst, a neutral standing against enemy plants, he can out-snipe cacti, duel peashooters, and punish citrons who push him, it is a good idea to learn how to effectively utilize 80's entire kit to properly dispatch every plant in a variety of situations.

To summarize, 80's is a very powerful, and versatile character with a very high skill ceiling who can reliably pressure any plant, thrive in any circumstance, and take any position he needs due to his strong burst mobility. These factors combine to make 80's a highly dominant character that is always a good pick no matter the circumstances.

Against

Due to 80 action hero's nature as an incredibly versatile and powerful character he lacks any major weaknesses that can be exploited. It is not useful to think about the range 80's is least effective, as he performs well at every range, rather, you should think about the range at which your own character likes to play, as engaging with 80's in a spot where fighting him is awkward due to how far away or close you are gives the 80's a massive advantage which you cannot afford to give them in the context of how powerful 80's is overall. You should not make extremely obvious/vulnerable pushes into 80s or his area of influence as he can very easily punish them, especially if that push can be predicted in such a way where the 80's will prepare a max charge shot for when you enter his line of sight. Additionally, if you ever take damage from the 80's immediately seek healing, as you will be tagged, a state from which the 80's will be able to see exactly where you are at all times, getting healed will remove these tags, under no circumstances should you hide behind cover and think you're safe unless the 80's is actively dealing with significant pressure from other members of your team, because he can, and will chase you forcing an interaction that's almost impossible to win. Always stay aware of the 80's position and status, due to his incredibly low TTK if you aren't paying attention he can vanquish you before you have any time to react.

Due to 80's ability to use instantaneous burst mobility with the Rocket Ride Dynamite Dodge tech you must always be prepared to deal with an 80's that comes flying towards you to force a direct engagement, additionally, this also means you often won't be able to secure a kill on 80's as he can instantly disengage from a fight with the same tech or change positions to somewhere you cannot pressure him. As such you should use abilities that will either disable the 80's ability to escape such as grody goop on chomper or an ability that will end the fight fast enough where the 80's cannot react in time such as sap trap.

Bow Master is an upgrade that all good 80s players use, when an 80s with this upgrade gets a kill it makes his charge up significantly faster, as such when you know an 80s has recently gotten a kill you should not under any circumstances attempt to fight them or even enter their line of sight.

Beyond this the only practical advice for playing against 80s is advice that's universally applicable against any character, such as effectively playing around your supports, or maintaining consistent pressure on positions that 80s likes to stand to prevent him from doing the same to your team.

Builds

Shock and Awe — by Slapaslime

You can land 1 headshot and then use Can't-Miss-ile to take down plants instantly.

	Super Payload		● 4
	Fire two additional missiles with Can't-Miss-ile. Can't-Miss-ile fires 4 additional missiles per lock-on target in range.

	Critical Tag		● 3
	Earn three tags on an enemy when dealing critical damage with Bow Blaster.

Aggressive Bows — by Drek'TharSuperSword

This is a build that allows you to use your Bow Blaster more effectively. Bow Master helps charging your bow faster after killing an enemy, and Ready Up lets you charge your bow immediately after sprinting, improving mobility. (Note: this build was made on an earlier patch and is no longer possible)

	Bow Master		● 4
	Charge Bow Blaster faster for short time by earning a vanquish. Bow Blaster charges 75% faster upon earning a vanquish. Lasts for 3 seconds.

	Leg Day		● 2
	Action Hero Zombie jumps farther and higher when activating Dynamite Dodge.

	Low Life		● 2
	Gain health by earning a vanquish when at low health. Grants 1.666667 health every 0.2 seconds for 3 seconds (25 total health) upon vanquishing an enemy at 20% HP or lower.

	Ready Up		● 2
	Use weapons and abilities faster just after sprinting. Reduces sprint exit delay by 6.67x.

Versatility — by IronCitron21

As the name suggests, this build is for players who prefer a more versatile setup rather than a specialized one. Bow Master improves the Bow Blaster by doubling its charge speed for a short time, Critical Tag allows you to gain three tags on an enemy with one critical hit (even from an uncharged shot), and Leg Day and Low Life are good cheap upgrade that are still beneficial. (Note: this build was made on an earlier patch and is no longer possible)

	Leg Day		● 2
	Action Hero Zombie jumps farther and higher when activating Dynamite Dodge.

	Low Life		● 2
	Gain health by earning a vanquish when at low health. Grants 1.666667 health every 0.2 seconds for 3 seconds (25 total health) upon vanquishing an enemy at 20% HP or lower.

	Bow Master		● 4
	Charge Bow Blaster faster for short time by earning a vanquish. Bow Blaster charges 75% faster upon earning a vanquish. Lasts for 3 seconds.

	Critical Tag		● 3
	Earn three tags on an enemy when dealing critical damage with Bow Blaster.

Team Wiper — by Otterlier

Build designed to wipe out teams, Bow Master will snowball small wins into domination over your entire line of sight by dramatically reducing the time required to charge your bow blaster and leg day will allow you to instantly reposition wherever you can vanquish the most enemies, or retreat if necessary and get back into the fight as soon as possible on the occasion that you get vanquished, targeting arrows is more of a filler upgrade than anything else as the other two upgrades leave you with 1 remaining point.

	Bow Master		● 4
	Charge Bow Blaster faster for short time by earning a vanquish. Bow Blaster charges 75% faster upon earning a vanquish. Lasts for 3 seconds.

	Leg Day		● 2
	Action Hero Zombie jumps farther and higher when activating Dynamite Dodge.

	Targeting Arrows		● 1
	Tags on enemies remain after suffering a vanquish.

Tips & Tricks

You can use Rocket Ride or Dynamite Dodge to evade a burrowing Chomper.
You can vanquish a Chomper whilst they are swallowing you with a well timed Dynamite Dodge, Rocket ride, Can't-Miss-Ile, or even the max charge shot of the Bow Blaster's splash damage.
If you begin charging up your Bow Blaster behind cover, you can pop out from your cover and launch the fully charged shot before your enemies can react.
Using Rocket Ride and immediately cancelling it with Dynamite Dodge will provide burst mobility that can be maintained by jumping, this is especially effective if you equip Leg Day

Balancing changes

October 2019 patch

▲ Rocket Ride Blast radius 1.6->1.8m
▼ Rocket Ride Direct damage 10->8
▲ Rocket Ride Blast damage 10->12
▲ Fix camera that was not hooked up properly with the Leg Day upgrade

Early December 2019 TTK Changelist

▲ Increase center bolt damage on Bow Blaster 1st charge 7->17
▲ Increase small bolt damage on Bow Blaster 1st charge 1.1->1.5
▲ Increase center bolt damage on Bow Blaster 2nd charge 22.8->32
▲ Increase small bolt damage on Bow Blaster 2nd charge 3.8->4.1
▲ Increase direct damage on Bow Blaster Full charge 45->50
▲ Increase splash damage on Bow Blaster Full charge 12->15

January 2020 patch

Rocket Ride
- ▼ Decreased maximum lock-on range from 50m (146.04 ft) to 10m (32.81 ft)
- ▼ Decreased maximum lock-on angle from 0.1 to 0.01

May 2020 patch

▲ Increase full charge blast radius 2.5->2.75 m
▼ Decrease full charge blast radius 3.5->3 m
Dynamite Dodge
- ▲ Increase blast radius 3->4 m
- ▼ Decrease shockwave radius 5->4.25 m
Rocket Ride
- ▲ Increase blast radius 1.8->2 m
- ▼ Decrease shockwave radius 4.75->2.25 m
Can't-Miss-ile
- ▲ Increase blast radius 1.5->1.75 m
- ▼ Decrease shockwave radius 2.25->2 m
Upgrade Leg Day
- Fix incorrect refresh time

September 2020 patch

Bow Blaster
- ▼ Lvl 1: 550->350 m/s
- ▼ Lvl 2: 650->400 m/s
- ▼ Lvl 3: 850->450 m/s
- ▼ Lvl 2: 0.42->0.5 seconds
- ▼ Lvl 3: 1.6->1.75 seconds
- ▼ Decreased projectile speed
- ▼ Increased charge times
Dynamite Dodge
- Can be used to interrupt Rocket Ride
- Camera rework
Rocket Ride
- ▲ Decreased max dispersion angle of projectiles from 7->5 degrees
- ▲ Decreased accuracy loss per shot from 20->2.9 degrees
- ▼ Decreased accuracy re-gain per second from 20->10 degrees
- Allow movement while in air
- ▲ Increased projectile speed from 55->65 m/s
- ▲ Increased accuracy
Upgrade Targeting Arrows
- ▲ Decreased equip cost 2->1
Upgrade Bow Master
- ▼ Increased equip cost 2->4
- ▲ Decreased charge rate time, multiplier 0.5->0.25x
- ▼ Decreased duration 5->3 seconds
Upgrade The Huntsman
- ▲ Decreased equip cost 5->4
Upgrade Track Star
- ▲ Additional tags increased from 1->3
- Now tags nearby enemies
- ▼ Increased equip cost 2->3
Upgrade Leg Day
- ▼ Increased equip cost 1->2
Upgrade Remarkable Rockets
- ▲ Increased marks from 1->2
Upgrade Free Ride
- ▲ Increased duration extension from 1->3 seconds
- ▼ Increased equip cost 2->3
Upgrade Improved Tracking
- ▼ Increased equip cost 1->3
- ▲ Additional tags increased from 1->3
- Now also gain faster refresh time of Can’t-Miss-ile by dealing damage with Can’t-Miss-ile.
Upgrade Super Payload
- ▲ Increased additional missiles per target from 2->4

Gallery

General

80s Action Hero's full body
80s Action Hero in-game
Background for PC
Background for mobile
80s Action Hero on the official website
80s Action Hero's icon
80s Action Hero Shirt Design- "Deth Goat".png

80s Action Hero: Deth Goat

Concepts (Scrapped concept)

Concept model renders
Concept model structure
Concept model renders of the Judge Z skin
Concept model renders of the Lite Fighter skin
Concept model renders of the General D-Zero skin
Concept model renders of the General D-Zero skin
Concept model renders of Zero (part of the General D-Zero skin)
Concept model renders of the Mighty Mistake skin
Concept model renders of the Battlecat Blast Hat customization
Concept art for a "Robin No-Good" skin
Concept model renders of the Action Cam customization
Concept model render of the Masked Mayhem skin
Concept model renders of the El Luchador customization

Others

In other languages

Please note that only official translations are used.

Language	Name	Description
English	80s Action Hero
Simplified Chinese	80年代动作英雄
Traditional Chinese	80年代動作英雄
Dutch	Jaren 80 Actieheld
French	Héros d'Action
German	80er Actionheld
Italian	Eroe Degli Anni '80
Japanese	80年代アクションヒーロー
Korean	80년대 액션 영웅
Polish	Gwiazda Kina Akcji
Brazilian Portuguese	Herói Dos Anos 80
Russian	Зэмбо
Spanish	Héroe Ochentero
Latin American Spanish	Héroe de Acción

Trivia

When he sprints, a tune can be heard playing from his bow.
- The same tune is played by the Busbulance when the player enters Town Center in Pressure Pier.
Whenever he jumps whilst not sprinting, his jump animations resemble some 80s action movie covers and common scenes: characters kicking the bad guys and jumping out of explosions.
If one listens closely while they keep holding the bow charged all the way without firing yet, they could hear the speakers getting louder as 80s Action Hero struggles to maintain handling the bow while it is charged up, hence could be why he fires the shot automatically if the bow is kept charged for too long without firing.
Function-wise, he is similar to Hanzo from Overwatch as they are both use their bows as respective weapons that do not use any ammunition nor they can overheat, their main attack can be changed for higher damage output. Another thing they have in common is the way they hold their bows horizontally.