The Sinister Squashling was, for a long time, the iconic non-combat pet for the Hallow’s End holiday. He was exceedingly rare, and only dropped from the Horseman, which each character could only summon once per day (giving you theoretically 5 chances for disappointment in each cobbled together 5 man). He was also Bind On Pickup.

Like so many things, this has changed. The Squashling now not only drops from your daily prize bag from queuing for the Horseman, but from nearly every container associated with the holiday. As a result, if you do nearly anything during the holiday, you’re sure to collect several. They’re both cageable and Bind On Equip now too, so you might be able to AH one of your half-dozen for 5g or so during the off-season.

It shares moves with several others in the Elemental family, namely the other shrubs. No other plant has his exact moveset, because of the ability rather dangerous to most plants, Burn. It makes sense for the Squashling though. Homeboy’s got a candle! All the other abilities in his moveset are echoed across other (mostly elemental) plant-type Elemental pets. Thorns, Poison Lash and Leech Seed could find themselves at home in a DoT team, maybe. Stun Seed is akin to Geyser, but lacks a bit of the offensive firepower that makes Geyser so popular.

Plant is a very interesting ability with an offbeat mechanic. Theoretically, you could heal for nearly your entire health bar… as long as your Squashling can stay alive, active & planted for 10+ rounds. If you go up against a force swap though, you’re still swapped out and lose that healing. With 2 ‘down’ rounds for activation & deactivation plus being rooted in place like a sitting duck, it’s really more a liability than anything, especially for pvp.

What it lacks in battling, it makes up for with cute animations, including a ghoulish laugh when you click on him out in the world. Even better, he’ll root himself to the ground when you’re idle, so if you happen to be walking through a pumpkin patch, someone may not realize what’s in their midst, until it’s too late.