REWARD: Mercury Sigil
NEW AREAS OPENED: Cactaur Valley on Bikanel Island
WHEN: Once airship is available
ITEMS, ETC. NEEDED: None :)
OTHER: It is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that you equip one character (does not need
to be in your active group) with a No Encounters weapon before beginning this
Sidequest.
To begin the sidequest, go to Bikanel Island after you get the airship. You can
start step one before you get the airship, but won't be able to proceed any
farther. Anyway, the first thing you must do is go to the Cactaur glyph
statue. Before that, however, let's get a little geography straight.
SCREEN ONE:
This is the first screen, with the pond, where the airship deposits you.
The menu describes it as "Sanubia Desert--Oasis."
SCREEN TWO:
This screen is a winding path, with open areas at each end, and a save point
near the center. The menu describes it as "Sanubia Desert--East."
SCREEN THREE:
This screen is the big open desert, and the ruins to the left. The menu
describes it as "Sanubia Desert--Central."
SCREEN FOUR:
This is the last screen, which contains the sand pits and the big sandstorm.
The menu describes it as "Sanubia Desert--West."
All compass directions in this guide refer to the top of the screen as "North"
and the bottom as "South." That is, moving from screen one to screen four, you
will enter each screen at the south, and leave at the north.
Now, the Cactaur glyph is in screen four. Enter Screen Four at the rightmost
entrance (that is, from the desert in Screen Three, not the ruins). Then, go
straight North-East. You should arrive at a cliff overlooking a valley with
a sandstorm. Approximately in the center of this cliff top is a rock with a
picture of a Cactaur on it. Just stand in front of it and talk to it. It will
have words for you, and then your quest will begin. You cannot continue past
this point until you have the airship.
Now, you must catch ten cactaurs on Bikanel Island. In order to catch them, you
must first find them. Once you find them, you will play a little mini-game.
In this game, your goal is to sneak up on the Cactaur within a certain amount
of time. Essentially, while the Cactaur has its back to you, you can move
around, but when it is facing you, you must stay completely still or you will
lose. If you run out of time, you also lose. Should you catch it, you must now
fight it. I suggest this sidequest as a good opportunity to catch your ten
Cactaurs for the monster arena, if you haven't yet, so you might want to equip
Capture weapons. Don't worry, Cactaurs are pretty easy to beat by this point in
the game, unless you're playing a NSG game or something. You can also steal
Chocobo Feathers from them; a rare steal is Chocobo Wing.
Whether you win or lose, you get a sphere. If you win, it's a sphere with the
Cactaur's name on it. If you lose, it's a "Sphere del Perdedor" (Loser Sphere,
I think). Then you take the sphere back to the glyph, it takes it and gives
you a clue for the next Cactaur. Here's a summary for each Cactaur, in order.
LOCATION is where you find him; COURSE describes the area you will try to sneak
up on him in (the area of the mini-game); and then there is my assessment of
this mini-game's difficulty, plus any tips. NOTE: All difficulties are based
relative to the other Cactaur minigames; compared to the butterfly-catching,
these are all as easy as a warm apple pie.
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TOMAY
Glyph Clue: Tomay's gone. Gone to fetch the water.
Location: At the oasis in the first screen. He is toward the right side of that
little shore, you really can't miss him.
Traits: Duties: Fetching water. Takes his time and, as a result, is often left
behind.
A little dim.
Time: 10.0 seconds
Course: You start off on a hill in the back left of the screen. Tomay is in the
front right, under a tree.
Difficulty/Tips: Easy. You just run straight toward him, watching his movements
and stopping when he turns around. Or, instead of watching his movements, you
can wait for the Al Bhed word "Needletime!" to appear onscreen. Stop when you
see it, as this word means he is looking at you. However, I recommend watching
his movements as the best strategy. Time is not an obstacle.
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ROVIVEA
Glyph Clue: Rovivea's gone walkabout.
Location: You will find Rovivea in Screen Two. When you enter from Screen Three
there is a large open depression to the left side of the screen, it's not hard
to see Rovivea.
Traits: Has no patience for certain dim-witted friends.
Not a progressive thinker.
Time: 13.6 seconds
Course: Rovivea is at the very front of the screen, you are at the far back.
Setup is similar to Tomay.
Difficulty/Tips: Easy. Same strategy as for Tomay.
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CHAVA
Glyph Clue: Little Chava likes big numbers.
Location: There is a narrow point in Screen Four. On either side of this narrow
area, there is a signpost facing each other horizontally. Go to the left sign
and press X to read it; it should say something about an Al Bhed 20% off sale.
(What a deal!) After you read the sign you will see little cutscene in which
you find Chava.
Traits: Recently learned to count to 50.
A little needy.
Attention deficit.
Time: 13.0 seconds
Course: You are at the back near one sign, Chava is in the front near another.
A straightaway.
Difficulty/Tips: Easy. Same strategy as for Tomay.
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ALEK/ALOJA
Glyph Clue: Alek and Aloja play tag in the ruins of men.
Location: They are running around in Screen Three, among the ruins on the far
left side of the screen. You will easily spot them in the lowest part of the
valley, running back and forth.
Traits: Two brothers, rarely separated.
They move as one, their closeness a paragon of brotherhood.
Time: 13.0 seconds
Course: The two brothers are at the front of the screen, you are in the far
back. A straightaway course.
Difficulty/Tips: Medium. Again, just run straight at them and watch their
movements; this is a little more difficult than previous ones, you have to use
your time to its fullest to reach them within the time period.
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VACHELLA
Glyph Clue: Vachella seeks the shining blue.
Location: The "shining blue" refers to a Save Sphere. Just go to the save point
in Screen Two (it's approximately in the center of the area, under a tent) and
examine the sphere. You will have the chance to save, etc. Once you cancel out
of the Save Sphere menu, Vachella will appear.
Traits: Loves new things.
Hard on others, easy on self.
Stingy.
Time: 14.0 seconds
Course: You are standing by the Save point, Vachella in the front of the
screen. Another pretty straight course.
Difficulty/Tips: Medium. Vachella likes to turn around very quickly. After he
turns for the first time, he will turn around three more times right in
succession. If you want to win, you must take full advantage of your opening
period to run, then take at least a small step between each of his next four
turns. He makes 8 spins total during the time; you'll need quick reflexes.
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ROBEYA
Glyph Clue: O, Robeya's stuck inside.
Location: Robeya is in a treasure chest, in the far southwest corner of the
main desert area in Screen Three. Just follow the south wall westward, or
follow the fence southward, it's up to you. Try to open the chest and Robeya
will hop out.
Traits: A real needle brain.
Likes cramped spaces.
Check out his great collection!
Time: 14.0 seconds
Course: A straightway course, but there are four treasure chests, two on each
side. The back one on the left is open. The back right one contains two Shadow
Gems. The front left contains two Shining Gems, and the front right a Blessed
Gem. You can open the chests to get the prizes; if you lose a trial, you can
still keep your prize, but you can only open each chest once.
Difficulty/Tips: Easy. The challenge is to get all three items, and still beat
Robeya. However, since this is quite difficult, I suggest you just choose two
of the three prizes, get them, and then beat Robeya with trial #3. I usually
grab the Shadow Gems and the Blessed Gem.
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ISRRA
BUG ALERT!! Apparently, if you do not leave Screen Four after giving the glyph
Robeya's sphere, Isrra might not appear. However, don't worry, just leave the
screen and come back, and all will be well. (Thanks to CB! for the solution to
this bug, though I'm sure many others have discovered it as well.)
Glyph Clue: A fiery description--The lord of the hole is gone, Isrra thinks.
Location: In Screen Four, there are three antlion pits (little whirlpools of
sand). You will find Isrra running around in the middle one of them.
Traits: The philosopher about town. Today, he digs holes. Again.
A cautious sort.
Time: 15.0 seconds
Course: The course is a basic Isrra front/Tidus back setup, however your vision
is slightly hazy as it from the heat.
Difficulty/Tips: Hard. Isrra looks at you for seconds at a time, so you must
be very precise with starting and stopping--don't waste a single tenth of a
second that he is looking away.
EASY WAY TO BEAT ISRRA:
There is a pit next to Tidus on the screen. Run into it when you first have a
chance to move, and once you are in just keep running toward Isrra, even when
he is looking at you. Apparently there is a tunnel connecting the two pits,
because after a few seconds you will be standing at the bottom left of the
screen, right next to Isrra! Then just run over and touch him and you will
have caught him.
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ELIO
Glyph Clue: Much-curious Elio has left on a journey.
Location: Go to the pond in Screen One again. To find Elio, you must simply
enter the pond area from the north (not the screen, just the area around the
pond.) Basically, if you morph in at the Save point, you need to go up and then
come back down again. After this, you will see a cutscene in which Elio beams
up to the roof of the airship. Head to the airship roof to find him.
(I love the cinematography, when you see Tidus' back, and then it rises up to
show Elio. Sorry, back to the guide.)
Traits: To what lies beyond the sands, he travels far to distant lands.
Hyper-reactive and a bad poet.
Time: 11.0 seconds
Course: You are at the door of the roof, and Elio, in the forefront of the
screen, is at the prow. Be warned, the ship will tilt when you are trying to
get to him, so be prepared and keep your reflexes sharp.
Difficulty/Tips: Hard. You just need to watch both Elio and the ship and
pray you will succeed. Even I, having had a lot of practice, still sometimes
fail to get him; 11 seconds is very short to achieve this in. Also, you
don't actually fight Elio. If you reach him, he just falls off the edge, and
apparently dies. Oh well.
PROBLEM WITH ELIO: If you have gone to the "Sin" destination on the airship,
but have not fought the battle with Sin there, you will automatically be forced
into that battle when you go outside to meet Elio. So, you have to fight Sin
and get that over with before you can continue with the sidequest. I don't know
of any other solution. If you haven't gone to the Whitebridge to talk with
the people in Bevelle yet, then you'll be fine, since you can't fight Sin yet.
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FLAILE
Glyph Clue: Flaile is always behind.
Location: After you take Elio's sphere to the glyph, Flaile will automatically
jump out and initiate the minigame.
Traits: The guy you never invite but he always shows up anyway.
Cheeky.
Time: 13.0 seconds
Course: A basic straightaway; you are standing be the glyph rock, he is in
the front ground of the screen.
Difficulty/Tips: Hard. Ignore the sounds and the words that appear onscreen, as
they are meaningless for this one. However, it is not that hard to just look
at his movements and time your running. Flaile gives you a special red sphere
when you are done with him.
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Once you beat Flaile, take the red sphere to the glyph and there will be a
lengthy sequence in which the glyph repeats the clue for each of the 10
Cactaurs' locations. Then, the sandstorm in the valley will disappear.
Now that the sandstorm is gone, you can go get your prizes. There are two
treasure chests in the area revealed by the sandstorm; both are toward the
southern end of the valley. In the left one is the Mercury Sigil. The prize in
the second chest varies, depending on how many Cactaurs you successfully
defeated:
1 Named Sphere= Potion
2 Named Spheres= Potion
3 Named Spheres= Elixir
4 Named Spheres= Elixir
5 Named Spheres= Elixir
6 Named Spheres= Elixir
7 Named Spheres= Megalixir
8 Named Spheres= Megalixir
9 Named Spheres= Friend Sphere
10 Named Spheres= Friend Sphere
NOTE: I've tested these results myself, and they assume that all the spheres
are worth the same. If anyone knows a contradictory result, contact me by
e-mail.
None of these prizes could be classified as great, so don't feel a lot of
pressure to beat every Cactaur, but it isn't difficult, and an extra Friend
Sphere never hurt anybody.