The Jade Cactus is based off of a cactus like the usual Cactus, though she is made out of jade. Jade is a mineral often used for jewelry or ornaments and occasionally weapons and tools. It is commonly green in color. The description for the Mystical Energy weapon upgrade references jade's supposed mystical powers in pseudoscience and spirituality. Her appearance and underground origins also seem to be based on terracotta soldiers of the terracotta army. Terracotta soldiers were sculptures depicting the soldiers of Qin Shi Huang's army that were buried with his corpse.
Descriptions
Stickerbook description
Formed from ancient, mystical rock, the Jade Cactus slumbers deep beneath the desert. Legends speak of a stoic, green guardian who would return to us, in a time of great need. Can she save us from Dr. Zomboss' schemes? Where exactly did she get that cool armor? Did Crazy Dave make the whole thing up? Only time will tell.
In-game description
Jade Cactus' armor plating gives her extra health at the expense of speed.
The Jade Cactus's primary weapon is Shatter Shot. With the damage upgrade it deals 22-27 critical damage and 21-25 non-critical damage depending on distance, with her splash dealing 15 damage. If her shots hit a surface other than a zombie, they have a delayed explosion which activates after 1 second, dealing 15 damage.
Potato Mines force Zombies to look down. If a Zombie sets foot on a Potato Mine, it will explode and they will experience the full force of a "SPUDOW!"
These little nuggets are small, have a great sense of humor and enjoy sitting around waiting to blow Zombies sky high. While not as damaging as their potato cousins, these little nuggets still pack a spudow!
The Artichoke Drone has a really thick skin. This gives it more health and helps it last longer in a fight. However, it does not have the same firepower as its Garlic counterpart.
Tallnut Battlements have many uses. They can be shields and they can block paths to stop the Zombies in their tracks. They're terrible card players, though.
Encased in iron armor, these Iron Maiden Tallnuts will stare at Zombies with an unmatched intensity. They are very hard to destroy and enjoy getting in the way.
Potato Mines force Zombies to look down. If a Zombie sets foot on a Potato Mine, it will explode and they will experience the full force of a "SPUDOW!"
These little nuggets are small, have a great sense of humor and enjoy sitting around waiting to blow Zombies sky high. While not as damaging as their potato cousins, these little nuggets still pack a spudow!
The Artichoke Drone has a really thick skin. This gives it more health and helps it last longer in a fight. However, it does not have the same firepower as its Garlic counterpart.
Tallnut Battlements have many uses. They can be shields and they can block paths to stop the Zombies in their tracks. They're terrible card players, though.
Encased in iron armor, these Iron Maiden Tallnuts will stare at Zombies with an unmatched intensity. They are very hard to destroy and enjoy getting in the way.
This Tallnut is encased in solid bling gold armor! How did a Tallnut even afford such expensive armor though?
Weapon upgrades
Improved Mining
Diamond saws produce jade shards at an accelerated rate, resulting in quicker reload times.
Rock Tumbler
Jagged jade fragments are rounded and smoothed, resulting in more shots per clip!
Mystical Energy
Imbued with mystical energy, each jade core is destabilized at a molecular level, resulting in more damaging shots.
Strategies
The Jade Cactus is useful for players who like to take on the role of "counter-sniping." That is done by shooting down any zombies that are attacking your teammates from a high vantage point like a cliff or a rooftop this can deal some good damage to the enemy. The extra 25 health is useful as even if you do happen to get shot at, you are less likely to die to enemy fire, allowing you to duck behind cover to recover health. The Iron Maiden is good for this purpose as it allows you to create a semi-solid object to duck behind if there is nothing else available.
The Jade Cactus may be tougher but she moves even slower than before, meaning if you get caught in an enemy's line of fire and there is no cover to get behind, you are likely going to die unless you can kill the attacking enemy. The Jade Cactus is less useful when sniping near the front-lines as the 25 extra health does not offer much of an advantage, and the Jade Cactus' even slower foot speed will put you at a disadvantage against speedier opponents. Because of this, it is important to learn how to use your abilities to escape such situations, and camouflaging yourself to avoid altercations. Though she is a cactus she doesn't have very good damage falloff, so it's overall more beneficial to attack closer-ranged targets, which is aided by her weapon having good accuracy while not zoomed in. She is best played on defense as her higher health allows her to hold ground better.
The explosive needles (and the splash damage that comes with them) on the other hand have many uses. The splash damage allows you to deal damage around corners (allowing you to attack something that you would normally not be able to) in addition to allowing you to attack zombies that are hiding behind cover. The splash damage also allows you to "check" around corners to see if there is something there. Shoot at the ground near the object and wait for the needle to explode. If it deals damage, then there is something behind the object, if you keep shooting needles at the ground near the object you may (if it is a zombie player) eventually force the zombie to reveal himself (as otherwise it will die if it does not have an escape route).
This Cactus also has excellent camouflage capabilities due to her coloration. The dark green color can blend in well with certain foliage or shadowy areas. If a player finds the correct place and applies appropriate customization (such as a dark colored tattoo, non-glowing hats, etc.), enemies will have a hard time finding you.
Take advantage of the Cactus's long-ranged capabilities and try to be as far from the main fight as possible. Memorize the best places to do this in as many maps as possible, especially those in Turf Takeover. This camouflage is most effective against distracted, far-off targets, and can be used very effectively in objective-based modes. However, do note that when in hiding you may be too focused on your front and could be ambushed from other sides, becoming vanquished faster than you can get away. Always be aware of your surroundings, or be sure you are well protected behind and around you by using your nut barricades and Potato Mines.
Please note that only official translations are used.
Language
Name
Description
English
Jade Cactus
French
Cactus de jade
"Jade Cactus", lit. "Cactus of Jade"
German
Jade-Kaktee
Italian
Cactus giada
"Jade Cactus"
Japanese
ジェイドサボテン
"Jade Cactus", "Jade" is transliterated, while the Japanese word for "Cactus" is used
Brazilian Portuguese
Cacto de Jade
"Jade Cactus", lit. "Cactus of Jade"
Spanish
Cactus jade
"Jade Cactus"
Trivia
If one looks closely at one of her projectiles after it hits an object like a wall, one can see that it actually grows and then explodes, hinting at the notion that they expand from the inside before exploding.
She is the only plant in the game based on a precious stone (the Zen Cactus also appears visually to be stone-based but it is unknown whether or not this is true).
She is the first armored variant of the Cactus, with the second being the Petrified Cactus.
She can do large amounts of damage very quickly to Dummy Shields and Tallnut Battlements. This is because each shot deals both the impact damage and then the explosion damage afterwards.
She is much shinier in Garden Warfare 2.
However, applying any tattoos will severely diminish the luster of both her armor and body.
English
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Brazilian Portuguese
Spanish
