Opuntia humifusa
A native-only cactus that heals in the sun and, once mature, regenerates in any weather, trading armor for a deep health pool.
Eastern prickly pear is a hardy Succulent that fights as a self-healing tank: it soaks damage with a big health pool and slowly mends itself back up. It is native to eastern North America and has no invasive form, so it only ever plays the native buffer role; there is no attacker scenario for it. It is a dependable, low-damage staller that outlasts more than it out-hits. See nativity.
Its starter attack, Deadly Surprise, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 29 damage as a straightforward strike. The free once-per-battle ability, Barb Priming, unlocks at level 25: Raises its barbs — Poison and Wither the foe. The advanced attack, Sunscald, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (29 damage) and lands as multiple smaller hits, which chews through shields and overshields better than one big blow. Most of your prickly pears sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See moves.
Prickly pear keeps two always-on traits, both healing. Photosynthesis arrives on the level 10 riser and mends the plant in sunny weather; Succulence arrives on the level 68 riser and lets it regenerate in any weather. Each fires only about 60% of the time, so the healing is steady but not guaranteed. Neither is dropped once earned. See abilities.
Prickly pear carries no special trait keywords, and despite its spines it is non-toxic in the arena: nothing poisons an attacker for hitting it, and it lays no poison. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native tank, defensive field gear such as a Cloche or a Ca/Mg amendment stretches its already long life. See abilities for how the two heals stack.
At level 40 prickly pear reads 121 HP and 22 ATK. DEF is just 1, at the soft floor of the succulent band, so despite its bulk it has almost no armor; its survival comes from raw health and healing, not from blocking. Its tempo is even: turn 1 runs on its initiative (44) and every turn after on its SPD (44), which sit at the same value. Retreat costs 13 Sun. It only appears as a native, so it always carries the +15% HP cushion and a bench HP overshield. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, prickly pear swells to a huge 233 HP and 40 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 1: as a succulent it becomes a near-armorless sponge, all health and no plating, so heavy hitters still cut it but must do it many times over. Retreat rises to 25 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature prickly pear acts last against almost anything young.
As a succulent, prickly pear is in the Specialist succession group. It hits Competitor plants (perennial herbs, shrubs, trees) for x1.5 and is hit for only x0.667 by them; it is weak to Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs), which strike it for x1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Specialists and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play prickly pear as a native wall that wins by not dying: lead it into Competitors to press its type edge, let its heals top it up between hits, and use the multi-hit advanced to grind down shielded targets. Its own damage is low, so it is an anchor, not a closer, best paired with a real hitter. On the economy it is an edible fruit plant, so feeding it Phosphorus pays x1.25 coins (any other nutrient banks x1.25 XP instead), making it a steady coin-earner. Its bulk only grows with levels, so there is no reason to hold it back.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plant’s tempo (SPD + INI, the turn-order edge) fades as it grows, while its power (HP + ATK + DEF, net of the rising Sun cost to retreat) climbs. The crossover is the level where power overtakes tempo: below it the plant is a fast skirmisher, above it a heavyweight. Shown for each stance this plant can actually hold — native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither — with the card at its crossover and fully grown at Lv 100.