What Are Prickly Pears and Why You Need Them

Prickly Pears serve two purposes in Arc Raiders. During raids, you can eat them to restore stamina. More importantly, you need six of them to upgrade Scrappy the Rooster, which increases how many crafting materials he collects between your raids.

Don't let the lack of rarity markers fool you. Prickly Pears are some of the hardest items to find in the game. Food items spawn less frequently than weapons and ammo, so depending on your luck, you might spend several hours farming just to get the six Prickly Pears you need for Scrappy.

Prickly Pear spawning near cactus plant in Arc Raiders — Prickly Pears spawn on the ground around cactus plants

How Prickly Pear Spawning Works

Prickly Pears spawn on the ground around cactus plants. Look for cacti with distinctive cactus leaves that set them apart from other plants. The spawning system makes farming tricky for a few reasons:

Prickly Pears appear randomly around cacti, so you might find a cactus with nothing nearby
The spawn rate is pretty low
Other players might grab them before you arrive
You'll probably need several raid runs before finding even one

One thing to watch out for: on low graphics settings, cacti look like regular plants from a distance. Get close to properly identify them.

Map Availability

You can only find Prickly Pears on two maps: Dam Battleground and Buried City.

Every map lets you harvest fruits and plants, but Prickly Pears exclusively spawn near cacti, which only show up on these two locations. The source material has some conflicting information about which map works better. Dam Battleground gets called the best spot for farming in one source, while another claims Buried City is much better. Both maps have good cactus concentrations either way.

Critical Farming Tip

Bring a loadout with a safety pocket before you start farming. Safety pockets let you store Prickly Pears securely, so you'll keep whatever you collect even if bots or hostile raiders take you down during extraction. Without a safety pocket, you lose everything if you fail to extract.

Using one means you'll make steady progress toward those six Prickly Pears, even if you die across multiple runs. This matters most if you're not confident about extracting successfully every time. If you consistently make it out alive, a free loadout works fine.

Dam Battleground Prickly Pear Locations

Dam Battleground has two main areas where cacti cluster together:

Northern Location

A large group of cacti spawns on the northern side, positioned left of the Power Generation Complex. Check your map for where the two main roads connect at the top. This spot sits next to an extraction zone, so you can get out fast once you've collected enough.

Northern cactus location on Dam Battleground map — Northern cactus cluster near Power Generation Complex

Southern Location

The second cluster appears beside the Research & Administration area, just below it once you exit the red line boundary. Like the northern spot, this one's also next to an extraction zone.

Both locations sitting near extractions makes Dam Battleground efficient for farming. You won't waste time running across the map after you grab your items.

Buried City Prickly Pear Locations

Buried City offers three spots worth checking:

Southern Edge Location

The biggest cactus concentration sits on the very southern edge of the map. Head to Old Town and keep going south past its southernmost yellow boundary. You'll find a giant group of cacti here, and the source material specifically calls this a great spawn location. This area's on the sandy outskirts of the map, described as a proper cactus patch.

Southern cactus patch in Buried City — Massive cactus concentration at the southern edge of Buried City

Eastern Spawn Area

Another group of cacti appears near the eastern spawn point. The source doesn't give specific landmark details beyond that location.

Northeastern Location

More cacti show up on the northeastern side near some buildings. The source doesn't specify which buildings or their names.

General Farming Strategy

The locations above give you the best chances because of their high cactus concentrations. But cacti also appear scattered in smaller groups throughout both maps without specific spawn areas.

Check the ground around any cactus you pass during your raids. These isolated plants offer lower odds than the concentrated areas, but you might find the occasional Prickly Pear that helps reach your total of six.

The low, random spawn rate means you won't collect all six in one raid. Plan for multiple runs, and always stash any Prickly Pears you find in your safety pocket to guarantee progress.

Additional Requirements

Scrappy needs more than just Prickly Pears for upgrades. You'll also need olives (found the same way as lemons and apricots) and a cat bed. Make sure you've collected enough Prickly Pears before heading back to Speranza, your base area. You need all the required items to complete Scrappy's training.

Scrappy the Rooster upgrade interface — Upgrade Scrappy to increase passive resource collection

Summary of Key Points

Six Prickly Pears needed to upgrade Scrappy the Rooster
They spawn randomly on the ground near cacti with low rates
Only available on Dam Battleground and Buried City
Always use a safety pocket to protect your finds
Best spots are the concentrated cactus areas: northern and southern edges of Dam Battleground, southern edge of Buried City
Multiple raids required due to low spawn rates
Check every cactus you pass for bonus finds
Cacti look like normal plants from far away on low graphics