Cactus

Cactus is a playable plant in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 and the member of the Plant team. She serves as a playable character on the Plants faction. Cactus is the sniper of the plants side. Her long range attack allows her to provide long range support to the plant team. Cactus also has the ability to plant Potato Mines around the map which deal 175 damage to any zombie. She can also place down Tallnut Battlements to block zombies, protect her teams and protect herself. These abilities allow Cacti to create a safe haven for plants and prevent zombies from entering it. She can also fly a Garlic Drone to scout ahead, fight zombies from other angles and call a Corn Strike dealing huge damage in a small area. However, Cacti are ineffective at close combat range due to their rather low mobility and a lack of accuracy without scoping.

Stickerbook description
''Cactus is the long-range specialist of the Plant team, able to shoot high velocity needles at faraway Zombies. In her rooted form, she can dispatch his flying Garlic Drone to call in Corn Artillery strikes from above.''

In-game description
Explosive Potato Mines, defensive Tallnuts, and a super-accurate Spike Shot make Cactus the ultimate long-range specialist!

AI Health (Garden Warfare 2 only)

 * Easy: 75
 * Normal: 100
 * Hard: 125
 * CRAAAAZY: 150

Variants

 * -|GW2=

Primary weapon
Spike Shot is the primary weapon of Cactus, all info below is when fully upgraded.
 * The base damage per hit at all ranges is 27 and the critical is 33
 * The max DPS at all ranges is 84.6.
 * The weapon deals no splash damage at all.
 * The ammo in a clip is 15.
 * The reload time is 2.0 seconds.
 * The projectile speed is fast.
 * The weapon is a Semi-precision weapon.
 * The bloom is medium.

Abilities

 * -|GW2=

Fast Load Cactus Training
Prickle Academy provided free reload training, enhancing reload speed.

Extra Spike Growth
Extra needles growth offers an increased ammo capacity.

Pointier Spikes
Pointier cactus needles provide a more damaging impact.

With
Cactus should play far from normal combat, as he is very outclassed by All-Star in closer encounters. Finding vantage points and camping at them will allow Cactus to snipe off their opponents in a (usually) safer environment. Place down Potato Mines and Tallnut Battlements to protect yourself, since both make large noises upon destruction (alerting Cactus of nearby threats). Cactus should also be wary of nearby Scientists, who may be able to Warp next to him and vanquish him. Staying out of sight is suggested in that aspect, such as hiding behind obstacles. Cactus can be used strategically, he can provide helpful support to all nearby plants by severely wounding or killing nearby zombies and using his Garlic Drone to clear objectives with a Corn Strike.

In any defensive situation (most preferably Gardens & Graveyards) Cactus could place Potato Mines behind Tallnut Battlements, hiding the mine from players. This strategy can be very effective, since impatient players would jump over the blockade, only to be KO'd by the mine. Smarter players will either destroy the wall (alerting Cactus of their presence) or take another route to their objective.

Mines and battlements could also be used as a last resort when under attack by a Zombie. Backing up while placing walls and mines can block off the attacking zombie, allowing you to escape or use the created gap to vanquish them.

Against
When up against Cactus, it is important to keep behind cover. Making quick shots at Cactus by randomly popping out of cover can confuse him, and allow the zombies to deal more damage to him than he can to them.

Scientists pose the least and the most threat against Cacti; at point-blank range, Scientist's Warp allows for sneak attacks, and his weapon is brutal up close. At long range encounters, Cactus can take down Scientist much faster. For long ranged fights, Astronaut and Paleontologist are the ideal Scientists, as their weapons specialize in distanced encounters.

All-Star's Long Bomb is great against Cacti that are too far away. Foot Soldier's ZPG is also effective against Cactus that's busy shooting down another target.

Watch out for Potato Mines, impatient players can overlook them easily, and damage may not be the only reason they are positioned where they are. They can act as bait to alert Cactus of your location. Tall-Nut battlements should always be destroyed, because Cactus could've placed a Potato Mine there.

Garden Ops
In Garden Ops, Cactus is a useful defensive support class on the plant team. Cactus' Spike Shot is long range, making him effective against zombies from afar. Finding a suitable location to snipe is the key in Garden Ops. Due to his low health, he can be vanquished easily if ambushed from behind (especially using the Garlic Drone). Potato mines can vanquish most zombies instantly. Try to place them around the objective. His Tallnut Battlement can block zombies from entering certain locations. Garlic Drone is able to shoot needles at high rate, dealing high damage to zombies, The Garlic Drone can call out a Corn Strike, dealing massive damage to group of zombies, making it effective against special waves or boss waves. Planting a Heal Flower and protecting it with Tallnut Battlements is a good idea, since its fragility would be resolved with the protection provided.

Team Vanquish/Vanquish Confirmed!
Cactus is best just staying behind in this mode. He should sneak around the map until he finds a safe spot where he can safely snipe zombies. Cactus should be weary of any zombies around him, as if a single zombie makes it into their sniping spot, they are likely to be vanquished very quickly. Cacti should remember to make good use of their Potato Mines and Tall-nut battlements to make getting to them difficult for zombies. If Cactus absolutely has to fight zombies at close range, he should not bother with potato mines, but instead use Tall-nut battlements. It is useful for guarding against many strong attacks that the Zombies have, such as the ZPG and Sprint Tackle. In Vanquish Confirmed!, it is recommended to use the Garlic or Artichoke Drone to collect orbs, rather than Cactus putting themselves in danger to get one.

Trivia

 * In a commentary (pre-release), a game developer pointed out its similarities to Battlefield. Cactus is the recon with a sniper like attack, Garlic Drone an MaV, Tallnut Battlement an MaV block, and Potato Mine a M18 Claymore.
 * The official Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare strategy guide released by Prima refers to Cactus as a male character, using pronouns such as "him", "his" and "he."
 * He is also referenced as a male in its Almanac entry in Plants vs. Zombies and Plants vs. Zombies 2.
 * He and his variants are currently the only plant classes who use plants for all of their abilities.
 * He was originally going to have 100 health.
 * If one zooms in fully and then places a Potato Mine while still zoomed in, then the zoom will be instant when they zoom in again. This can come in very handy with variants such as Camo Cactus.
 * He is the only character class to have two armored variants; Jade Cactus and Petrified Cactus.
 * In Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, all his variants have a lazy right eye.

ru:Кактус (Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare) pl:Kaktus (Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare)