CACTUAR VILLAGE
You can only do this sidequest after you've gotten the airship. Go to the Sanubia Desert. Inside, near the valley which you can't enter because of the sandstorm, is a boulder with a picture of a Cactuar on it. Examine this boulder, and you'll find a clue to help you catch one of the 10 special Cactuars in the Desert. Upon finding each one, you'll play a game of "Red Light, Green Light" with it. It's a game whereby you have to reach the Cactuar within a certain time limit (which differs for each Cactuar). You can only move when its back is turned; when it is facing you, you have to keep still. If the Cactuar catches you moving, you have to start over and try again. If this happens thrice, you lose the game but you'll receive a Sphere del Perdedor anyway. If you reach the Cactuar within the time limit, you'll get to fight it. You may want to take this chance to steal some Chocobo Wings to get the Auto-Haste ability for your armour, provided you've got someone with the Master Thief ability. Anyway, whatever the outcome of the battle, you'll get a special Sphere with the name of the Cactuar you fought. Return to the Cactuar boulder and set whichever Sphere you got into it, and you'll receive a clue to the whereabouts of the next Cactuar. The table below shows the locations of the Cactuars. Note that they may not necessarily appear in the order below; I'm not sure if their order of appearance is fixed.
Cactuar Locations
| Cactuar 1 |
At the Oasis, near the first Save Sphere. |
| Cactuar 2 |
Eastern area of the Desert, north of the tent with the Save Sphere. |
| Cactuar 3 |
Western area of the Desert. Search the sign near the Cactuar boulder that says '20% off'. |
| Cactuars 4 & 5 |
Central Sanubia Desert, near the ruins to the west. Look out for two Cactuars running around (two at one go!) |
| Cactuar 6 |
Eastern area of the Desert, investigate the Save Sphere under the tent. |
| Cactuar 7 |
Central Sanubia Desert, it's in a treasure chest far to the west. |
| Cactuar 8 |
Western area of the Desert, inside one of the sand whirlpools. |
| Cactuar 9 |
Go back to the Oasis, near the Save Sphere where you'll see an event, then go to the deck of your airship (where you fought Evrae). |
| Cactuar 10 |
Return to the Cactuar boulder, and the last Cactuar will appear behind you. |
Note that when you play the game with Cactuar 7, there are three treasure chests you can get. It's almost impossible to get all the treasures AND reach the Cactuar within the time limit in one go, so you may want to use your first two chances to concentrate on getting the treasures first, then catch the Cactuar with your last chance. The treasures you can get are: Shadow Gem x 2, Shining Gem and Blessed Gem.
After you've placed all the Spheres (of whichever type) in the Cactuar boulder, the sandstorm preventing access to the valley will stop, and you can now enter the Village of the Cactuars. Inside the Cactuar Village, the encounter rate for Cactuars is much higher than elsewhere in the Desert, so you can fight the little guys to your hearts' content ^_^ You'll also find the Mercury Sigil for Rikku's Godhand in a treasure chest, as well as one other treasure which varies according to how many named Spheres you obtained in the mini-game above:
| 0 ~ 2 named Spheres |
Potion |
| 3 ~ 5 named Spheres |
Elixir |
| 6 ~ 7 named Spheres |
Megalixir |
| 8 ~ 9 named Spheres |
Friend Sphere |
Go back to the Sidequests page.
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