Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster
The Cactuar Connection: Every Gatekeeper in Final Fantasy X-2
Updated 2026-10-10
Full spoilers.
“The Cactuar Connection” begins in Chapter 3 and finishes in Chapter 5. The cactuars’ mother, Marnela, needs her ten Gatekeepers back. They have scattered across Spira, and you fetch them one clue at a time. Six can be found in Chapter 3. The other four, a cave dungeon and the Jumbo Cactuar fight wait for Chapter 5. The main prize is the Covenant of Growth garment grid.
Starting it
In Chapter 3, fly to Bikanel. A scene plays as you land: Nhadala asks the Gullwings to take Benzo to the cactuars. Talk to the hover operator and pick Cactuar Nation. When Marnela asks whether you believe her, answer “That makes perfect sense!”. Then walk up to her. She is the big cactus marked on the minimap. The arrival scenes are worth about 0.4% Story Completion.
How each catch works
- Get the clue. A cactus in Cactuar Nation tells you where the next Gatekeeper went, and Benzo translates. The clues come strictly in order, so a Gatekeeper won’t show up until its clue has been given.
- Find it. A Gatekeeper glows green in the field and shows as a green mark on the minimap.
- Win it over. Touching it starts a short shooting minigame.
- Go back to Cactuar Nation for the next clue.
The minigame
- Cross fires. R1 dodges.
- Fire the moment the cactuar shows itself. Shooting early or late gives it an opening to counter.
- Hold R1 after every shot. You won’t have time to see whether a counter is coming.
- A counter costs you bullets equal to the cactuar’s HP. Run dry before it falls and you lose the round.
There are no retries, and losing doesn’t matter. The Gatekeeper comes home either way, and nothing that matters rides on winning.
The ten Gatekeepers
| # | Gatekeeper | Chapter | Where the clue sends you | The spot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lobivia | 3 | The Bikanel Oasis | Take the hover to the Oasis and talk to the Hypello there first, then the cactuar. |
| 2 | Toumeya | 3 | Besaid | Sunbathing on the beach. Don’t walk into the village, or a story mission starts. |
| 3 | Lobeira | 3 | Guadosalam | Inside a treasure chest in Ormi’s room, off the hidden passageway behind the Chateau Leblanc living room. |
| 4 | Areq | 3 | The Calm Lands | Riding a chocobo with Arroja on the snowy stretch at the north-east edge, where the Calm Lands meet the road to Mt. Gagazet. |
| 5 | Arroja | 3 | The Calm Lands | Caught together with Areq. One minigame, and it counts as two Gatekeepers. |
| 6 | Islaya | 3 | The Thunder Plains | Beside a cactuar stone. Look for the green glow. |
| 7 | Chiapa | 5 | Kilika Woods | Cross the bridge, turn right, and climb the fallen tree that leans out over the water. |
| 8 | Erio | 5 | Mt. Gagazet | Down from the summit on the Prominence, the ledge where Seymour fought you in the first game. |
| 9 | Bartschella | 5 | Kilika Port | Inside Dona’s house, at the foot of the stairs. |
| 10 | Frailea | 5 | Under Cactuar Nation | The last one. See Cactuar Hollow below. |
Islaya’s spot is the hard one to pin down. Every account puts it beside a cactuar stone on the Thunder Plains. They disagree about which half: east of the waiting shed as you come in from Macalania, out in the north, or under an overhang on the south plains. Walk both halves and watch for the green glow on the minimap.
Where Chapter 3 stops
After Islaya, the next clue points at Chiapa. When you talk to the cactus, it more or less tells you to leave him alone for now. That is the end of the hunt for this chapter. Nothing you do will bring Chiapa out before Chapter 5, and because the clues run in order, the other three wait too. Nothing from the Chapter 3 half can be lost. Anyone you skipped is still there in Chapter 5.
Chapter 5: the siege
When you land in Bikanel in Chapter 5, Nhadala and Benzo report fiends swarming Cactuar Nation. Marnela needs all ten Gatekeepers to raise a barrier. Deal with this before anything else in the desert.
Pick up any of the first six you missed, then Chiapa, Erio and Bartschella in that order, going back to Cactuar Nation after each one. Bring the ninth home and talk to the cactus marked on the minimap, then answer “We’ll look for him.” Frailea has run off underground.
Cactuar Hollow
Save first. The cave opens with three forced fights. You can run from the first two. The third is a Heavy Sallet, a fiend revived bigger and tougher than normal, so be ready for it.
- The sand chamber. The passage fills with sand in 60 seconds. When time runs out, or if you drop into the pit, you pop out unhurt somewhere else. Use that to reach the ledges you missed.
- Chests: an Ether across the platforms by the waterfalls. Along the sand path, Faerie Earrings, Mega Phoenix, Hi-Potion and Megalixir. On the platforms after the path narrows, Twist Headband, an Ether, Mute Shock, Beaded Brooch and Phoenix Down.
- Frailea sits alone on a ledge at the east end. Approach her for the last minigame. As soon as she agrees to come home, the rogue cactuars merge into the boss.
Clear the Hollow on the way in. Accounts differ on whether you can get back in once the Bikanel episode wraps up.
Boss: Jumbo Cactuar
| Jumbo Cactuar | Cactuar (×2) | |
|---|---|---|
| HP | 22,222 | 2,002 |
| Steal | Stamina Tonic (rare: Stamina Tonic x2) | — |
| Drop | Stamina Tonic (rare: Rabite’s Foot) | — |
The Jumbo itself never attacks. All it does is cast Hastega on its two escorts. The escorts are the real fight. They kick, they dodge most physical attacks, and 1000 Needles hits for exactly 1,000. Kill them first with spells or with a Dark Knight’s Darkness, which hits everything and ignores evasion. Then take apart the Jumbo at your leisure.
If it shows up oversouled, it has 33,333 HP and casts -ga spells and Flare, and its escorts get much nastier. Put Reflect on the party at once and its spells bounce off.
Rabite’s Foot (Luck +100) is a rare drop. Reload for it only if you care about Luck.
What the hunt pays
| Reward | When |
|---|---|
| Covenant of Growth garment grid | Bringing Frailea home and beating the Jumbo Cactuar |
| Stamina Tonic, rare Rabite’s Foot | Jumbo Cactuar steal and drop |
| Cactuar Hollow chests (Megalixir, Faerie Earrings, Twist Headband, Mute Shock and more) | Chapter 5 |
| Story Completion | The Chapter 3 arrival scenes, the Chapter 5 siege, and Yuna’s line back at Cactuar Nation |
When you leave the Hollow, a scene plays at Cactuar Nation, and the fiend that was driven out heads for the Al Bhed camp. That is the start of the next Bikanel mission, a much bigger fight. Prepare for it on the Celsius. Go back to Cactuar Nation afterwards for Yuna’s last line about Marnela. It counts toward Story Completion and closes the Bikanel episode.
Deadline: everything in Chapter 5 stays open until you take the portal to the final battle.