Final Fantasy VIII
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Cactuar

Cactuar’s attack is mediocre at best. The damage that it does is equivalent to its level multiplied by 100. For example, at level 61, Cactuar’s attack will do 6,100 damage. But that being said, Cactuar also has quite a few useful abilities that it can learn, which is the primary reason why it’s important to pick it up using the Ragnarok as soon as you can.

Attack Name: 1000 Needles
Attack Effect: Normal damage attack

Cactuar attack cinematic

How to Obtain Cactuar

To obtain Cactuar as a Guardian Force, you must defeat Jumbo Cactuar on Cactuar Island. You can only do this after you have obtained Ragnarok and can fly to the island.

Approaching Jumbo Cactuar on the world map

List of Abilities

Ability AP Effect
Junction Ability IconEva-J 200 Junctions magic to character’s Evade stat.
Junction Ability IconLuck-J 200 Junctions magic to character’s Luck stat.
Command Ability IconMagic Enables the use of Magic in battle.
Command Ability IconGF Enables the use of GF in battle.
Command Ability IconDraw Enables the use of Draw in battle.
Command Ability IconItem Enables the use of Item in battle.
Command Ability IconDefend 100 Enables the use of Defend in battle. Defend adds the Defend status. Defend status reduces damage from physical attacks to 0 and reduces damage from magic attacks by half.
Command Ability IconKamikaze 100 Enables the use of Kamikaze in battle. Kamikaze inflicts major damage, but knocks the character out.
Character Ability IconEva+30% 150 Increases Evade by 30%.
Character Ability IconLuck+50% 200 Increases Luck by 50%.
Command Ability IconInitiative 160 ATB gauge is always full when battle begins.
Command Ability IconMove-HP Up 200 Recovers HP by walking on the world map.
Character Ability IconHP Bonus Whenever a character levels up, HP gains an additional 30 points.
Character Ability IconStr Bonus Whenever a character levels up, Strength gains an additional 1 points.
Character Ability IconVit Bonus Whenever a character levels up, Vitality gains an additional 1 points.
Character Ability IconMag Bonus Whenever a character levels up, Magic gains an additional 1 points.
Character Ability IconSpr Bonus Whenever a character levels up, Spirit gains an additional 1 points.
Menu Ability IconJunk Shop Call a Junk Shop from the Ability Menu.
Character Ability IconAuto-Potion 150 Uses recovery items like Potion, Hi-Potion, X-Potion, Potion+, Hi-Potion+ and Elixir automatically when damaged in battle. Uses Potion and Hi-Potion from item stock.
Character Ability IconExpendx2-1 250 Reduces the number of magic used in Double from the usual cost of 2 to 1.
GF Ability IconGFHP+10% 40 Increases GF’s HP by 10%. Learn multiple abilities for a cumulative effect.
GF Ability IconGFHP+20% 70 Increases GF’s HP by 20%. Learn multiple abilities for a cumulative effect.
GF Ability IconGFHP+30% 140 Increases GF’s HP by 30%. Learn multiple abilities for a cumulative effect.

- Ability is already learned when Cactuar joins you as a Guardian Force.