Pruner

MeleeSupportTiers I–IV

Spawns a garden that creates a fruit every 15/14/12/10 seconds

Unlock: Available from the start
Starting weapon for: 23 characters

Community builds that use it

ChefBurning is the core: Spoon crits on burning enemies and scales with Max HP, so pair it with Scared Sausage and Snake or a Flamethrower/Wand; Flaming Brass Knuckles from a Fist start are another route. Do not level Elemental Damage.
ChunkyMax HP is both defence and damage, so stack Max HP and Armor and heal through consumables; Chopper, Spiky Shield, Rock and Pruner are the recommended weapons. Speed upgrades do nothing, which makes items with a Speed penalty attractive.
DruidPicking up fruit grants Luck, so Lutes (Luck and Harvesting) or Pruners (more fruit) are the main weapons, with Baby Elephant and Cyberball turning Luck into damage. Healing is limited to fruit, Cute Monkey and similar items.
EntrepreneurThe -50% Damage modifier pushes most guides to an Engineering build with Wrench turrets, which ignore it; Support weapons such as Sickle and Pruner exploit the boosted Harvesting. Spend all materials every shop because they are lost at the start of the next wave.
FarmerStart with Pruners, whose Gardens feed the full-health Harvesting bonus, then add Sickles, which scale with Harvesting; buy Crown and give Sickles extra Range.
GluttonSix Pruners spawn Gardens whose consumables trigger Glutton's explosions; stack Luck and Melee Damage and stay at full HP so each pickup adds Explosion Damage. Spicy Sauce merges into the innate explosion, and Lemonade or Weird Food help heal.
OldThe small map favours Engineering: Wrench turrets and Landmines stay on screen, so stack Engineering and defensive stats. Double Barrel Shotguns are the gun alternative because enemies bunch up; guides also report Taser/Wand elemental builds.
PacifistSix Hands for knockback, Dodge and Support Harvesting, then put everything into Harvesting and defence because weapons only deal 1 damage; Pruner and one Taser are optional additions. Crown is the key economy item.

Stats by tier

Tier I Common
Damage
10 (+50% Melee Damage)
Cooldown
1.14s
Crit
x1.25 (3% chance)
Range
150
Tier II Uncommon
Damage
15 (+65% Melee Damage)
Cooldown
1.06s
Crit
x1.5 (6% chance)
Range
150
Tier III Rare
Damage
20 (+80% Melee Damage)
Cooldown
0.98s
Crit
x1.75 (9% chance)
Range
150
Tier IV Legendary
Damage
25 (+100% Melee Damage)
Cooldown
0.89s
Crit
x2 (12% chance)
Range
150

Damage in brackets is added from your stats before %Damage multiplies the total; see the damage formula or the calculator.

DPS at tier IV

31.5 DPS with no stats, 56.6 at 20 Melee Damage and 94.4 at 50 (single target, every projectile hits, crits averaged): #36 of 58 weapons that scale with Melee Damage. Full ranking or your own stats.