Cactus

*Cactus fires a penetrating thorn that can damage multiple enemies!*

**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 the second plant available in Neon Mixtape Tour in *Alternate UniverZ*. She attacks by shooting piercing spikes at zombies, and being able to bury herself to deal ground damage.

Cactus is unlocked after beating NMT-III.

## Almanac entry

**Cactus**

SUN COST: 175

RECHARGE: 7.5

TOUGHNESS: 300

DAMAGE: 25

SPIKE DAMAGE: 10

FIRING RATE: 1.4

RANGE: Multi-Hit

Cactus fires a penetrating thorn that can damage multiple enemies!
Damage Details: thorn has a 50% chance to pierce through a zombie; powered thorn always pierce a zombie and have a 50% chance to pierce another
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.

## Plant Food effect

When fed Plant Food, Cactus' spikes become powered, guaranteeing pierce for the first hit and increasing her maximum penetration capability by one. Cactus will also deal doubled damage until she is defeated or removed, whether she is shooting or hiding underground.

## Costumes

* Current
* Skins

## 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. The ablity to hide into the ground also make her invulnerable to most zombies, making her a hard to destroy plant, even against ambushes. Compared to other piercing plants such as Bloomerang or Laser Bean, 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 and Barrel Roller Zombie, as her spikes can pierce through each of the zombie's barricades. Because when she hides she acts like a Spikeweed, she can instantly destroy Barrel Roller Zombie's barrel and Pianist Zombie; however, Cactus will be destroyed in the process, 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 frozen blocks and multiple Ice Weasels (similar to Zombie Chickens). Watch out for Dodo Rider Zombie as he will fly over hiding Cacti. She can also helps with the three Imps thrown by Sloth Gargantuars if placed at the back.

In Neon Mixtape Tour, Cactus has an advantage on zombies encountered in this world, as their jams do not have a major effect on the Cactus: Punk Zombie cannot kick her, Glitter Zombies cannot instantly destroy the Cactus and Breakdancer Zombies and the zombies they kick 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 MC Zom-B's mic attacks (as he outranges Cactus' hiding range, as well as being able to attack any Cacti on other lanes), Hair Metal Gargantuar (as even their shockwaves will instantly destroy Cacti, hiding or not), Arcade Zombie's arcade cabinet (as it can still crush Cacti, hiding or not), Boombox Zombie's boombox (as it stuns all Cacti not hiding) and Bassist Zombie's speaker and shockwaves. However, Cactus's pierce can directly hurt Arcade Zombie and Bassist Zombie, as well as any MC Zom-Bs hiding behind other zombies.

It is 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, causing you to lose Cactus for nothing.