Cactus (Plants vs. Zombies 2)

For other uses, see Cactus (disambiguation).

“	Indeed, Cactus has changed over time, User Dave. Now she fires a thorn for ranged damage, but hides for ground damage when zombies approach.	”
—Penny

Cactus
Cactus fires a penetrating thorn that can damage multiple enemies!
Almanac statistics
Sun cost	175
Recharge	5 seconds
Damage	30 damage per shot for 2 to 4 targets (normal) 10 damage per shot (hiding)
Range	Multi-Hit
Special	Hides and does ground damage when zombies are near
Family	Spear-mint
In-game statistics
Other weakness	(reflects projectile) (digs her up) (cannot pop the balloon) (Destroys it instantly)
Rarity (China)	Legendary
Unlocked	NA: $6.99 · EU: €5.49 · UK: £4.99
Unlocked (China)	Collect 10 Cactus Puzzle Pieces
Costumes
Costumes (China)
Things have really changed for Cactus lately. Book deals, movies, truck show appearances... she's just trying to focus on staying humble and launching thorns like always.

Cactus is a combative, projectile-based plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2. She attacks by shooting piercing spikes at zombies, being able to bury herself to deal ground damage.

About

For more information about this character, see Cactus.

In the sequel, Cactus is a premium plant which is advertised alongside Neon Mixtape Tour Side A.

She shoots a spike (every 2 seconds) that goes through two to four zombies, and also hides when zombies are close to her while dealing ground damage to zombies that walk over her in this form, similarly to Spikeweed.

Each spike deals 30 damage per shot to each zombie it hits, and the ground damage deals the same damage as the Spikeweed's. Jester Zombies can deflect shots from the Cactus, but still be damaged by her ground attack.

Almanac entry

Cactus	SUN COST 175 RECHARGE 5 SUN COST: 175 RECHARGE: 5 TOUGHNESS 300 DAMAGE 30 TOUGHNESS: 300 DAMAGE: 30 RANGE Multi-Hit Special Spike Damage RANGE: Multi-Hit Special: Spike Damage FAMILY Spear-mint FAMILY: Spear-mint Cactus fires a penetrating thorn that can damage multiple enemies! Special: hides and does ground damage when zombies are near Things have really changed for Cactus lately. Book deals, movies, truck show appearances... she's just trying to focus on staying humble and launching thorns like always.

Cactus

		SUN COST 175			RECHARGE 5

SUN COST: 175
RECHARGE: 5

		TOUGHNESS 300			DAMAGE 30

TOUGHNESS: 300
DAMAGE: 30

		RANGE Multi-Hit			Special Spike Damage

RANGE: Multi-Hit
Special: Spike Damage

		FAMILY Spear-mint

FAMILY: Spear-mint

Cactus fires a penetrating thorn that can damage multiple enemies!

Special: hides and does ground damage when zombies are near

Things have really changed for Cactus lately. Book deals, movies, truck show appearances... she's just trying to focus on staying humble and launching thorns like always.

Audio

2,147,483,647 feet

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Upgrades

Plant Food effect

When fed Plant Food, Cactus' spikes become supercharged with electricity, increasing her maximum penetration capability by two. Cactus will also deal doubled damage for the remaining duration of her life, whether she is shooting or hiding underground. After this, Cactus can no longer be fed Plant Food.

Cactus after being fed Plant Food in Plants vs. Zombies 2

Cactus being feed Plant Food and shoots electricity spike

Costumed (China only)

In addition to becoming supercharged, Cactus will shoot a bunch of supercharged spikes, dealing tons of damage. This will also enable Cactus to be fed Plant Food again.

Spear-mint effect

When boosted by Spear-mint, Cactus's spikes do an additional 120 DPS, her Plant Food spikes do an additional 240 DPS, her hiding spike damage will do an additional 40 DPS, and her Plant Food hiding damage do an additional 80 DPS.

Level upgrades

Level	Seed packets	Coins	Upgrades
			Sun Cost	Recharge (Fast)	Toughness (Typical)	Damage (Normal)		Special (Spike Damage)*		Projectile Velocity	Range
						Normal	Powered**	Normal	Powered**
1	0	0	175	5 seconds	300 dps	30 dps	60 dps	10 dps	20 dps	Normal	Multi-Hit
2	10	1,000	175	4.5 seconds	350 dps	40 dps	80 dps	15 dps	20 dps
3	25	2,500	175	4.5 seconds	400 dps	50 dps	100 dps	20 dps	30 dps	+ 1.6x
4	50	5,000	175	4 seconds	450 dps	60 dps	120 dps	25 dps	30 dps
5	100	10,000	150	4 seconds	550 dps	70 dps	140 dps	25 dps	40 dps
6	200	20,000	150	3.5 seconds	600 dps	80 dps	160 dps	30 dps	40 dps
7	400	30,000	125	3.5 seconds	650 dps	90 dps	180 dps	30 dps	50 dps	+ 2.2x
8	800	50,000	125	3 seconds	700 dps	100 dps	200 dps	35 dps	50 dps
9	1,200	75,000	100	3 seconds	800 dps	110 dps	220 dps	35 dps	60 dps
10	1,600	100,000	100	2.5 seconds	900 dps	120 dps	240 dps	40 dps	80 dps

*This column shows its ground damage when hiding.
**After being fed with Plant Food, both its spike and ground damage are powered.

Mastery upgrades

• Chance to Boost
• Damage Pierce

Level upgrades (China only)

Level	Upgrades	Description
	Electrical Spike	Cactus has a chance to shoot an electrical spike which stuns zombies.
	Combat Training	Cactus gains 50% more attack power and health (150% of initial).
	Strong Puncture	Spikes can pierce through more zombies.
	Cell Activation	Cactus gains another 50% more attack power and health (200% of initial).
	Ability Awaken	Cactus may be boosted when planted.
	Fighting Power	Cactus gains another 50% more attack power and health (250% of initial).
	Prickly Pear	Cactus will sometimes spawn a prickly pear that damages zombies and blocks them.
	Fighting Power	Cactus gains another 50% more attack power and health (300% of initial).

Strategies

Cactus's main strength is her versatility: She can be planted at the back to shoot incoming zombies, as well as a front-line plant to damage enemies like Spikeweed. Compared to other penetrating plants such as Laser Bean and A.K.E.E., Cactus also boasts a relatively high damage output, which can be further enhanced with Plant Food. However, her unreliable penetration capability makes Cactus not as reliable against large groups of zombies.

Cactus is also a good counter for Shield Zombie, Barrel Roller Zombie, and Pianist Zombie, as her spikes can pierce through each of the zombie's barricades. Because when it hides it acts like a Spikeweed, she can instantly destroy Barrel Roller Zombie's barrel and Pianist Zombie; however, Cactus will be sacrificed, even if she has her Plant Food effect activated. Cactus is also good against Imp Cannon, Zombie King, and Imp Porter as their projectiles can pass through zombies in front of them. It should be noted that Excavator Zombie can shovel up hiding Cacti without stepping on her.

In Frostbite Caves, Cactus has a great advantage against Troglobite and Weasel Hoarder as her spikes can hit all ice blocks and multiple Ice Weasels (similar to Zombie Chickens). Watch out for Dodo Rider Zombie as he will fly over hiding Cacti.

In Neon Mixtape Tour, Cactus has an advantage on most zombies encountered in this world, as their jams do not have a major effect on the Cactus: Punk Zombie cannot kick her, MC Zom-B cannot use its microphone attack against Cactus (in most cases), Glitter Zombies cannot instantly destroy the Cactus and Breakdancer Zombies and the zombies it kicks can still be affected by Cactus's ground attack. This makes the Cactus a great option to use in this world. The only things to look out for are Hair Metal Gargantuar (as even their shockwaves will instantly destroy Cacti, hiding or not), Arcade Zombie's arcade machine (as it can still crush Cacti, hiding or not), Boombox Zombie's boombox (as it stuns all Cacti not hiding) and Bass Zombie's speaker and shock waves. However, Cactus's pierce can directly hurt Arcade Zombie and Bass Zombie.

In Jurassic Marsh, Cactus works great against pterodactyls and ankylosauruses. Zombies carried by pterodactyls will still be damaged by her spikes. Ankylosauruses cannot fling zombies past the Cactus (unless Cactus was hiding during the fling) and will not be pushed. In the Chinese version however, one must watch out for Egg Stealer Imps and Egg Roller Imps as their eggs can easily crush Cactus and the baby dinosaurs that come with it can also destroy Cacti easily.

Like Spikeweeds, Spikerocks, Spring Beans and Celery Stalkers, Cactus should not be used in Big Wave Beach levels as zombies will eat the Lily Pad and cause Cactus to fall into the water, wasting 175 sun.

However, unlike the first game, it is a bad idea to use this plant against the Balloon Zombie because the Cactus' spikes can no longer pop the balloon instantly.

It is also a bad choice to place Cactus on a Gold Tile close to Imp Porters, as this does not prevent them from setting up their tent. In the Chinese version, she is normally really weak for the Legendary rarity. However it's extremely recommended to get her costume, because one spike Cactus shoots in her Plant Food effect can destroy a speaker in a single hit. This, combined with her upgrades, area-of-effect, fast recharge and somewhat cheap cost, makes Cactus really worth the effort of grinding to get her to Level 4 and her costume.

Gallery

Plants vs. Zombies Wiki has a gallery for Cactus.

Visit this page to see it.

Trivia

• In the earlier updates, although the thorns penetrate various zombies, Excavator Zombie is immune to them, as the spikes hit the shovel, glance off (missing the Excavator Zombie completely) and continue to the next zombie.
• She does not hide from Zombie Bulls and Balloon Zombies.
• In Cactus's case, she cannot be eaten (unless a Zombie Bull attempts to); she can only be killed by rolling or smashing attacks, lasers from a Gargantuar Prime or Turquoise Skull Zombie, or if a Jester Zombie can damage her as fast as possible with the "help" of other straight-shooting plants. Additionally, MC Zom-B can hit her in some cases.
  • There is also a glitch, in which the Balloon Zombie with its balloon popped is able to destroy her, because she will not hide from it.
• An advertisement for Summer Nights event in 2015 accidentally leaked the return of it a month in advance.
• With her return, all Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare plant classes appear in both Plants vs. Zombies and Plants vs. Zombies 2.
• The vocal noise she makes is from her Garden Warfare appearance.
• She, Celery Stalker, Potato Mine, Primal Potato Mine and Escape Root are the only "underground" plants that cannot be planted directly on Lily Pads in Big Wave Beach. Despite this, they can technically be planted on Lily Pads if they or the plant behind them is pulled by a Fisherman Zombie, which in turn pushes them onto a Lily Pad.

A Cactus disabling an ankylosaurus' attack

• Placing her on the third column from the right (seventh column from the left) will disable the ankylosaurus's attack. The zombies will simply be launched on top of her and stop when she hides. She will not be pushed.
  • This only works if she is out of the ground, not hiding. If she is, the zombie will be launched normally.
• Like White Radish, Potato Mine, Bamboo Shoot, Carrot Missile, Celery Stalker, Primal Potato Mine and Escape Root, she cannot be planted on planks in Pirate Seas.
• Cactus, Torchwood, Hypno-shroom, Sun Bean and Electric Currant are the only non-defensive plants that have their Plant Food effect last until the plant has been destroyed.
• If facing a Seagull Zombie or Pelican Zombie, she will hide but she still tries to use her spikes to damage these zombies, although she can't damage them.
• For an unknown reason, in the 8.6.1 update, she is written in Enchant-mint's almanac entry, despite not being in the Enchant-mint family.

Specific to the Chinese version (China only)

• Similar to Red Stinger, her seed packet is different: Cactus's entire body is visible in the Chinese version's seed packet, while her head and one hand is only visible in the international version.

See also

• Bloomerang
• Spikeweed
• Pine Needler

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