=============================================================================== FINAL FANTASY X - TIDUS ONLY CHALLENGE FAQ v2.0 =============================================================================== by cool like me coollikesuck@juno.com April 20, 2003 TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- 1. Author's Notes 2. Version History 3. Rules 4. Overdrives 5. Leveling Up 6. Quick Fix (Getting Out Of A Sticky Situation) 7. Walkthrough 8. Nemesis 9. Credits 10. Copyright ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AUTHOR'S NOTES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This guide it written for Final Fantasy X for the PlayStation2. This guide is based on the North American release of the game. This should be mostly compatable with the International release. Please file all complaints to the 'Will Never Get Answered Department'. For friendly advice, or sugestions, please e-mail me. Please play the game at least once before attempting this challenge, or even reading this FAQ. This is your one and only **** SPOILER WARNING **** I have played the game several times, (even once trying the No Sphere Grid Challenge) and I found that they were fun, but not quite challenging enough. So I tried to beat the game using only Tidus. This may sound easy compared to the NSG Challenge, but it takes quite a bit longer to get things moving. This is a basic strategy walkthrough. I will assume you have played this game before, and will not go in depth on the story. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version History ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- v2.0 (4-8-04) OK OK, so i lied! I said that a Monster Arena FAQ was coming soon but due to my upcoming marrage, and many new games over the Christmas season I have not had the time. I have mad a small, but sufficient guide to beating Nemesis with just our guy. Enjoy! v1.2 (9-2-03) Forgot to tell everyone to talk to Rin on your first Airship trip v1.1 (8-31-03) First update. Thanks Darktemplar20, luckylink17. Spelling & Blitzball revisions. Other stuff clairified. v1.0 (8-26-03) It is finally here. If it needs fixing, e-mail me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rules ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With any challenge, there should be rules. Since the only known rule is "use only Tidus," other principles can be generated from this, and then bent. Rules: 1. Only use Tidus! There are 4 instances when Tidus can not be used. One is a battle with Sin on the S.S. Winno. This is a ranged attack, and it is too early for Tidus to compete. The other three are story battles, where Tidus is not available. 2. Do not revive fallen party members. Their presence can draw enemy attacks away from Tidus that would otherwise kill Tidus. 3. In battle, have other party members "escape" As above, their presence can draw enemy attacks away from Tidus that would otherwise kill Tidus. In most boss battles, "escape" is not an option, but the other party members should die off fairly quickly. 4. No customizing. It has been argued that Rikku does the customizing, and you cannot use her, therefore, customizing is illegal. I just think this rule is crap. My theory: It was a convenient time in the story to introduce customizing. Besides, you can customize even when Rikku is not in your party. This rule shall be thrown out. This leaves us with 3 simple rules. 1. Only use Tidus! 2. Do not revive fallen party members. 3. In battle, have other party members "escape" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OVERDRIVES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidus' overdrive, Swordplay has 4 different attacks: Spiral Cut, Slice and Dice, Energy Rain, and BlitzAce. Spiral Cut: This is the initial overdrive. It attacks 1 target and causes about x2.5 normal damage, with normal recovery Slice and Dice: This is earned after completing 10 (successful, or not) overdrives. It attacks all enemies one-at-a-time, for 6 hit at x0.4 normal damage. If there is only one enemy, it receives all 6 hits. It has a recovery of about 1.5 turns. Energy Rain: Attacks all monsters to do about 2.5x normal damage. This is earned after completing 20 more (successful, or not) overdrives. Its recovery takes about 2 turns. BlitzAce: Attacks 1 enemy for 8 hits at 10% normal damage, then a final blow of about 2x normal damage. This is earned after completing 50 more (successful, or not) overdrives. Its recovery takes about 2.5 turns. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVELING UP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because Tidus is the only one who can fight, hs is going to have to be 3x stronger than normal. He will have to do the work of all three of your pary members, therefor, he must level up atleast three times as much. OVERKILL is key to leveling up. You gain about 1.2xAP to 1.5xAP for an overkill With the amount of leveling up you must do, this adds up, and makes things go faster. OVERDRIVE to get OVERKILL. When your guage is full, don't be afraid to use an overdrive. OVERDRIVES are stronger than your normal attack, and some can kill multiple targets. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUICK FIX (Getting Out Of A Sticky Situation) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are stuck in on a boss, here are a few simple hints that just might help you through: TIMING is everything. Watch the timing list window (CTB) on the right hand side of the screen. Some moves allow you to squeeze in an extra turn or two before the boss strikes again (like DEFEND), while others (like BlitzAce) might cause the boss to have three turns before you get your next turn. If you need just one more turn to fill your overdrive, CHANGE WEAPONS. Don't really change weapons if you have the optimul one selected, just push right to acess the in-battle-change-weapon menu, and select the weapon you already have on. This is the fastest recovery. For timing sake, Spiral Cut is the best overdrive to use on a single boss. It takes as long as a normal turn. This will be the best overdrive until you can deal about 7500 damage with Spirial Cut. At this point BlitzAce is now the best because it will now do over 10000 damage. To combine the play TIMING and the OVERDRIVE timing, set your overdrive mode to LONER, and start the battle. Slow the boss if you can, then Haste. Use SpiralCut. Continually CHANGE WEAPONS until your overdrive is full. Rinse and repeat. CAUTION!! This may not be the best strategy for every boss. Further, although CHANGING WEAPONS may have a faster recovery than pressing triangle (defend), DEFEND reduces physical damage received by 50%. If the CTB shows that the boss will go after you CHANGE WEAPONS, it may be better to DEFEND to reduce the damage taken. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Walkthrough ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ZANARKIND---------------------------------------------------------------------- These monsters are easy, and almost never attack. Just have Auron defend, while Tidus attacks. BOSS STRATEGY: SINSPAWN AMMES - ???? HP You are forced to use Auron's overdrive. This will destroy the fiends. The boss' only attack is Demi. This can NOT kill you. Just keep attacking, and have Auron DEFEND. It should only take 6 hits. BAAJ--------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is 200 Gil on the right, potion x2 on the left. When you get to the next area, on the catwalk, there is a Hi-Potion on the left Once you fall in the water, you must kill 2 fish to trigger the semi-boss fight BOSS STRATEGY: GEOSGAENO - 32767 HP Each hit he does only takes away 50% of your HP. Once again, it is impossible to die. Don't bother healing. Attack 2 to 3 times, and you will end the battle. Go to the top floor to get a Hi-Potion. Then light the fire to start the next boss fight. BOSS STRATEGY: KLIKK - 2300 HP Each attack deals around 100 damage, so it IS possible to die in this battle. Inflict about 800 damage, and "????" should enter your party. Do 1500 more damage to end the fight. Use a potion when your health falls below 200 HP. BOAT--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talk to the Al Bed guy on the left to get potion x3. UNDERWATER SHIP---------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS STRATEGY: TROSS - 2000 HP He deals about 50-70 HP of damage. Use your special: CHEER to raise your strength. Attack until he runs away. Then use your COMMAND TRIGGER to follow. After he runs away again, you should be able to COMMAND TRIGGER: Pincer. Don't do that, because it is technically using Rikku. BESAID VILLAGE----------------------------------------------------------------- There is not much here but story. Once you finally leave the village, return to it and go to the first hut on the left. Talk to the clerk, and she will tell you about her dog. I also recommend that you sell all your potions to the clerk. Go find the dog in the top right hut, and talk to it. You will get Valfor's second overdrive. BOSS STRATEGY: KHIMARI 800 HP He can only cause 90 to 110 damage. You can kill him fairly quickly. Leave the village and fill the overdrive for Valfor and Yuna and Tidus. When you reach the beach talk to people to pick up items before entering the boat. S.S. WINNO--------------------------------------------------------------------- Search the ship for items. In the passenger room there is a box that you can kick to fill you potions, up to 20. (That is why you had to sell them all) BOSS STRATEGY: SIN - 2000 HP (This battle is impossible for Tidus to do by himself. Distance attacks are required. I recommend Yuna's Grand Summon Valefor; or use Lulu and Wakka. If any of them get low on health, swap that person for Khimari and use Lanset. BOSS STRATEGY: SINSPAWN ECHENILLES - 2000 HP Blender = 110 Drain = 55 Sinscale = 60 Ignore the Sinscales (100HP) concentrate your attack on the Sinspawn Use Tidus's Overdrive and normal attack. When his HP is around 200-250, use a potion to heal. KILLIKA------------------------------------------------------------------------ WARNING!! If you have Antidotes, do not use them here while leveling up. You will need them for the upcoming boss fight. Avoid fighting Lord Ochu. You will not be able to beat him now, besides, you can always come back later. You will have to do a lot of leveling up here. It will be tough at first, but just keep using your overdrive to get OVERKILL. (OVERKILL is important, because it will give you about 1.2x AP) Also use overdrives as soon as the gauge is full. You want to learn new overdrives as soon as possible. Search the area to find a Luck Sphere, but don't use it yet. BOSS STRATEGY: SINSPAWN GENEAUX - 3000 HP If you have armor with poison ward, put it on. Cast HASTE, and then use CHEER 3x. Ignore the hands, and attack the shell. 600 damage, and the hands will retreat as the shell opens. Save your overdrive for the end to try to get an overkill. Before leaving Kilika Forest, make sure you have at least 3050 gil and your overdrive is full. S.S. WINNO PART II------------------------------------------------------------- Save your game and win the Jecht Shot Challenge. When the quotes of Jecht pop up in white, push the pad to the appropriate position and press X. If you fail, restart your game, and try again. LUCA--------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you leave the locker room, search dock 4 for a HP Sphere, Magic Def Sphere. You will find 1600 gil. Find 2 Hi-Potions in front of the Goers' locker room. O'aka is at the docks. Buy Stunning Steel from him. It's a weapon with Slowtouch for 3050 gil BOSS STRATEGY: OBLITZERATOR - 6000 HP Set your overdrive to WARRIOR. This boss does little damage, but it sometimes counters with Blind Ball, which will blind you. If you are blind, CHEER or use the CHANGE WEAPONS technique as outlined in the QUICK FIX section. BLITZBALL---------------------------------------------------------------------- It is most important that you win the tournament. If you win, you get a strength sphere; with out this, you will not be able to get past any of the upcoming bosses. To WIN, follow these instructions: As soon as you have the ball, press square to change your movement. Select "MANUAL A", otherwise the computer will move where you don't want to be. The ball carrier is the person on the small map with a circle around him. You want the ball carrier to be to the far left with no one from the other team in that circle. As soon as an opponent touches your circle, you need to pass the ball. If there is someone in his circle, and you must confront them, try to break on that person. Before you break, look at the opponents AT, if it is greater than or equil to your EN, than don't break. Think about passing to someone really close. Pass to someone close who does not have anyone in his circle (preferably Tidus) The main objective is to get Tidus the ball when he is right at the goal, with no more than one person in his circle. Tidus MUST swim all the way up to the goal, if he wants to make it in. You should score at least one goal in the first half, but if the Goers get more than one goal, think about restarting the match. If you have the lead at the start of the second half, once you get the ball, just swim to your side of the court (the right side) and play keep away until the clock runs out. If you are tied, give Tidus the Sphere Shot. As soon as the second half starts, give Tidus the ball and let him "Shoot like crazy" Use the Sphere Shot. With the Sphere Shot, you should be able to make 2 goals before the clock reads 3:00. The Jecht Shot is good for one use. It just take up too much time to use. At 3 minutes into the second half, Wakka takes Tidus' place. Just play keep away on your side of the court for the last 2 minutes. Avoid confronting the Goers. Here is the kicker... Defensive Stats (AT, BL, CA) are randomized from 50%-150%. Offensive stats (EN PA, SH) are not (as you can see them go down by the random amount, then decrease more as they go through the water in PA and SH's case.) -lucklink17 Example: YOU have an EN (endurance) of 10 OPPONENT has an AT (attack) of 8 The OPPONENT tackles you and takes the ball even though you have an EN higher than his AT. This is because of the random factor. This random factor will work for and against you. Keep this in mind when thinking of breaking on an opponent For more extensive help, read a BlitzBall FAQ at GameFAQs.com LUCA PART II------------------------------------------------------------------- MINI-BOSS STRATEGY: SAHAGIN CHIEF - 170 HP They come in many waves, but it is all one battle, so Haste carries over to the next wave. Start by casting HASTE. Attack whichever fish is going to attack next. You should be able to kill them in one hit. When your HP is low (around 300), use a potion. Try to fill your overdrive here, if you can. MINI-BOSS STRATEGY: GARUDA - 1800 HP Cast HASTE, and switch to your Stunning Steel if you don't have it on. Start attacking, and use your Energy Rain, or Slice and Dice if you have a full overdrive. MI'IHEN ROAD------------------------------------------------------------------- Talk with people along the road to pick up items. There is a treasure chest on the left, behind a ruin that has a sword with Icestrike. Make sure you get it. On the third screen, talk to the first man you see to get a LV 1 Key Sphere. Save your game at the inn, and then go back to the road to level up, before you face the Chocobo Eater. Use the Strength Sphere you got from the Blitzball tournament to add to your strength. Ideally, you want your strength to be 25, and have about 1420 HP minimum. BOSS STRATEGY: CHOCOBO EATER - 10000 HP Set your overdrive to warrior, because your other party members wont die in this fight. I recommend Yuna and Lulu for their high evade. Equip Stunning Steel. Give Yuna or Lulu a weapon with sensor of you what to know what Chocobo Eater's status is. There are 4 possible outcomes for this match. 1) You die. 2) You get pushed off the cliff, and have to make a long walk. 3) You push the Chocobo Eater off the cliff (reward: LV 1 Key Sphere x2, 90 AP) 4) You kill the Chocobo Eater. With a little luck, we are gonna go for 4. Cast HASTE and CHEER x2 Hope that Chocobo Eater points at Yuna or Lulu and says "You're next!" Use DELAY ATTACK As soon as he is on his back, use CHEER one last time, and use your Spirial Cut (his defences are lower for his butt than his face) Continue to use DELAY ATTACK until you are out of MP, then just normal attack. Once your overdrive is full again, save it until he is on his back with less than 1500 HP Use it. It takes 1250 damage to knock it on its back. Once on its back, it will not attack for three rounds; do 500 damage and the Chocobo Eater will get on its feet. After this fight, talk to the Chocobo lady to get a free rental. Follow the Mi'ihen Road up and around to the right. This will put you on the Old Road. There places where you can find a yellow feather. Press X and the chocobo will reach a hidden area and open chests. One of them is a Fortune Sohere to go with the Luck Sphere you got in Kilika. MUSHROOM ROCK ROAD------------------------------------------------------------- Talk to the people along the road to pickup items like Hi-Potions. When you reach the command center, O'aka has Avenger, with COUNTER ATTACK. Buy it. Also buy about 20 Antidotes, if you don't have them. Level Up at the far end of the road. There is a mechanical lift and a save sphere, this is where you want to level up. Use your overdrive to overkill the giant birds. If you have armor with FIRE WARD, put it on b/c many creatures in this area use fire attacks. BOSS STRATEGY: SINSPAWN GUI - 12 000 HP This can be one of the hardest bosses. The trick to defeating him is to use only overdrive Spiral Cut, and nothing else. Refer to my QUICK FIX section. Set overdrive mode to LONER. Equip your new Counter Attack sword. If you picked up any armor with POISON WARD from Kilika, put it on. "The best offence is a good defence." That is what we are gonna do. This is a speed battle. Cast HASTE, CHEER x3 When it is your turn, push right to get the in-battle-change-weapon menu. Change your weapon to the one you already have on. Watch the battle order window before you confirm your weapon change. If the BOSS will get a chance to go next, DEFEND instead by pressing TRIANGLE. If BOSS1 (the head) gets a turn, change weapons anyway. Use Hi-Potions to keep your HP above 800 If the head uses VENUM, use an antidote if you are poisoned, and cast HASTE again (it removes haste) As soon as your overdrive is full, use Spiral Cut on the BOSS. Spiral Cut has the fastest recovery rate. BOSS STRATEGY: SINSPAWN GUI, TAKE 2 - 6000 HP (Body) Just have Seymour use Magic on the head, then the body. If you feel courageous and want to see something cool, just use Seymour to heal everyone, and have the others DEFEND. Keep Seymour's health maxed. This way, DEMI does more damage to him, filling his overdrive faster. Once it is full, release REQUIEM. After the battle there is a Hi-Potion in a chest to the far left of the beach. DJOSE ROAD--------------------------------------------------------------------- Talk to the first man that walks by to get a STONEPROOF ring for Yuna. Equip it and put her in your party. If you get ambushed, this will decrease the odds of seeing a "Game Over" screen. Talk to other people to pick up various items along the way, but don't bother leveling up here. DJOSE TEMPLE------------------------------------------------------------------- Find 4000 Gil in a chest to the left. Left of the steps inside, there is an Elixer and a Remedy in the left waiting chamber. There is a Megaphoenix in the right waiting chamber. When you are ready start the Chamber of Trials. Be sure to use the destruction sphere to get a Magic Sphere. MOONFLOW PATH------------------------------------------------------------------ Do some leveling up here if you want, but it is not necessary. There is LV 1 Key Sphere x3 in a box on the right. After the scene with the Ronsos, there is a X-Potion in the next box, so be sure to get it. It could save your life some day. The next box has another LV 1 Key Sphere x3. Hidden off to the left, there is a Magic Defense Sphere. Fill your overdrive before you leave. Equip the Stunning Steel Ride the Shoopuf, and soon you will be in a battle. BOSS STRATEGY: EXTRACTOR - 4000 HP By far, the easiest boss up to this point; easier then the ones that couldn't even kill you. CHEER x3 then BlitzAce. That should over do it. You get 2 Megaphoenix for overkill. MOONFLOW PATH PART II---------------------------------------------------------- Welcome Rikku. Now she might throw you the ball if you are so luck to have miffed both Yuna and Lulu so far. Shortly after the dialog, a battle starts with Rikku. Steal BOMB CORE x2 from the chest, then MIX 2 Power Spheres (although it tells you to mix the items you get the Power Spheres have the same result, and you should have 99 to spare). GUADOSALAM--------------------------------------------------------------------- Rikku tells you that you can now CUSTOMIZE. When you fist start to the Farplanes, make sure you find the hidden treasure chest to the left of the path. It has Lightning Marble x8. In the actual Farplane, there is a scene with Wakka and the sword he gave you. Brotherhood now has its full power. It now has Strength +5%, Strength +10%, Waterstrike, and Sensor. This will be the weapon of choice for most upcoming boss fights. THUNDERS PLAINS---------------------------------------------------------------- Run from all battles for now. Just survive to Rin's Travel Agency. After leaving the Agency, Wantz will run by and take your picture. Once he is go, pick up the shield on the ground. It has LIGHTNINGPROOF. With the Yellow Shield, and Brotherhood, you should easily be able to kill most monsters here. Now you can level up safely. I advise going to the next save sphere in the middle of the plane and try to overkill the Iron Giant in this immediate area. Once you reach a LV 2 Sphere Lock that connects your path with Yuna's, I recommend that you wait there for one more minute. MACALANIA---------------------------------------------------------------------- You will find O'aka where you can buy Sonic Steel for 9075 gil. It has First Strike. BOSS STRATEGY: SPHERIMORPH - 12000 HP Equip you new sword. HASTE and CHEER x3 Fight Spherimorph like Sinspawn Gui. This time, only use BlitzAce. If your heath is below 300 hp, use a potion (not a hi-potion) His PRESS attack does 50% damage, and his normal attack does about 230 damage. He will counter with an element. If he counters with Lightning, think about buying a lottery ticket b/c you are lucky. Just equip your LIGHTNINGPROOF. Otherwise, the magic attack will do about 190 HP of damage. You gain Level 2 Key Spheres x2 for overkill. You can use one to access Yuna's path. You can now learn CURE and PRAY and other slightly useless stuff if you want to. I recoment staying on Tidus' path for now, but the option is there. MACALANIA SNOWFIELD------------------------------------------------------------- I suggest you stock up on Hi-Potions, atleast 20. You might not be able to get any for a while. Charge up your overdrive, end equip Brotherhood. BOSS STRATEGY: CRAWLER - 16000 HP This is difficult if you did the minimum of leveling up. You can not cast HASTE because the boss negates magic. Set your overdrive to LONER CHEER x2 then SPIRIAL CUT DEFEND, and if your HP falls below 600, use a Hi-Potion. When the overdrive is full, and your health is above 600, use SPIRIAL CUT After the battle, you should get two Elixirs for an Overkill. MACALANIA TEMPLE--------------------------------------------------------------- You can level up just out side the temple door after the sceen with Jyscal. I recomend getting your strength higher. When you think you are strong enough, equip Brotherhood, and fill your overdrive. You will only use your overdrive once in the upcoming battle. BOSS STRATEGY: SEYMOUR - 2000 HP HASTE TALK CHEER x2 Attack the Guado guards to start. They will just block your attacks on Seymour. Once they are gone, you only have to do 4000 damage to Seymour. Although it says his health is 6000, @ 2000, he summons Anima. ANIMA - 18000 HP Sneek in another CHEER or 2 if you feel weak. She is in BOOST, which means that she is taking more damage. Try BlitzAce to kill Anima in one hit. SEYMOUR PART II - 6000 HP He should only take one or two hits , and you will get an overkill You get Black Magic Spheres x2 for the overkill. Learn what you want. I suggest Fire and Ice. MACALANIA SNOWFIELD------------------------------------------------------------ Make sure Tidus' Stunning Steel is equipped and start running away. At the next save point, fill your overdrive, and save your game. BOSS STRATEGY: WENDIGO - 18000 HP Like all bosses: HASTE CHEER x3 Attack the Guados (you should kill them in one hit.) Use the loner - weapon change method to use BlitzAce. If Wendigo raises his fists, just use a Hi-Potion or two to heal. He wont attack, but he will counter. UNDER THE LAKE----------------------------------------------------------------- There is a LV 2 Key Sphere behind Khimari, but you cannot get it right away. You have to wait for him to move. SANUBIA DESERT----------------------------------------------------------------- MINI-BOSS STRATEGY: ZUU - 12000 HP HASTE Attack or QUICK HIT untill it lands, then BlitzAce. If you BlitzAce when the battle starts, Zuu will retain 1 HP so it can land. Fighting the machina in this area is a good idea. They drop several Hi-Potions. With a little fighting, you will soon have 99 Hi-Potions. MINI BOSS STRATEGY: SANDRAGORA - 12750 HP An easy way to beat the Sandragoras is to fill your overdrive. Customize a weapon with PIERCING (requires 1 LV 2 Key Sphere) IF you don't want to use a LV 2 Key for some reason, you should atleast use a counterattack weapon. HASTE CHEER x3 Try to kill all 3 Sandragoras; for they leave good items. The Southern most one leaves MEGALIXER x3, and the middle one leaves TELEPORT SPHERE x2 (you will need both later, so don't use them just yet) HOME--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talk to Ka'aku's dead body to get 2 more Hi-Potions if you need them. Equip your ICESTRIKE sword, and save. MINI BOSS STRATEGY: BOMBS - 2200 HP x3 SLOWGA if you have it HASTE Kill the Guado first. Before you kill the last bomb, equip your SONIC STEEL. MINI BOSS STRATEGY: DUAL HORNS - 3795 HP x2 SLOWGA if you have it HASTE Equip your AVENGER Kill the Guado and keep your health up. Run to the next save point and save. Equip SONIC STEEL if you haven't already. Fill your overdrive and FLEE from the next few battles. From the save sphere, go to the door on the far right of the room. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE If you have collected all the Al Bhed primers in a previous save, I suggest that you compile them onto this game. If you have not collected them all, barrow a friends memory card who has collected them all, and compile it onto your own. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After a small battle open the box closest to you. It will ask you for a 4 digit number. This should be 5633. Inside you will find a SPECIAL sphere. Use it to learn STEAL. For the second box, these are the answers: The third option Brother Bikanel The first option Inside is a SKILL sphere. Go back to the save sphere and save. Equip SONIC STEEL if you haven't already. Try to get in a fight with the BOMBS. Now that you can STEAL, get atleast BOMB CORES x8 Once you have eight bomb cores, customize your YELLOW SHIELD that you found in the THUNDER PLAINS (the one with LIGHTNING PROOF) to now have FIRE PROOF. This shall be called your ELEMENTAL SHIELD Go to the far door at the bottom of the room. Same thing as the last closet. For the first box, select the top middle option. On the other box, select: Bottom middle Right middle Center you will get a FRIEND sphere Now return to the save sphere and LEVLE UP. At the bottom of the stairs, you will find a LV4 and a LV2 Key Sphere AIRSHIP------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you have all Al Bhed primers, talk to Rin to get UNDERDOG'S SECRET x99. This is good for DOUBLE OVERDRIVE. BOSS STRATEGY: EVRAE - 32000 HP This is another fight that will take a little bit of luck. If Evrae turns you into stone, you are unluck. Equip Brotherhood and have a full overdrive, set to Loner. HASTE Don't bother to CHEER just yet BlitzAce If Evrea INHALES, cast SLOW, then TRIGGER COMMAND: PULL BACK While you are away from Evrea, if the other party members are alive, kill them off. Heal your self, then CHEER all you want to wast time. Once Evrea EXHALES, TRIGGER COMMAND: MOVE IN, and CHEER untill you are within range again. Hit Evrea a few times, and it will cast HASTE on itself. At this point, you should be able to kill it with BlitzAce no problem. You get BLACK MAGIC SPHERE x2 for overkill (learn what you want) BEVELLE------------------------------------------------------------------------ Once the FMV is over, equip the ELEMENTAL SHIELD you created earlier, and the SONIC STEEL. When fighting, kill the flamethrower munks last. BEVELLE TEMPLE----------------------------------------------------------------- Before you take the path opened by the Distruction Sphere, make sure you have 2 BEVELLE Spheres in your pedistool, then take the new path. Grab a BEVELLE Sphere and go to the top of the stairs. Put the sphere in the hole, then open the box on your right. Step on the flashing light, then turn around and push the pedistal. Open the box here to get Knight Lance (an important weapon for Khimari for the future). VIA PURIFICO------------------------------------------------------------------- Ah, Yuna... Thus begins the GAME OVER sequence. Save your game!!! Run from every battle. Move forward to the next room. Step on the TILE when it points up. Auron is now in your party. Save your game, again. Ride the TILE down, then down again. Follow the path to the right, and take a left at the "T" Talk to Khimari and then open the box. Go Back to the save sphere, and guess what... save your game. follow the path to the left and then left at the "T" open the box and touch the TILE go back to the save sphere. Ride the TILE up once then left. You should find Lulu to your right in a dead end. The box has a WHITE MAGIC SPHERE. Take the TILE back to the right, then walk up and to the right. Open the box, then step on the TILE. Walk back to the save sphere and save. Now go left, then rith at the "T" Continue to go streight untill you find the working TILE. Ride it to the left for some boxes. Ride the tile backand walk to the right. Save your game here, and fill the overdrives of the aones and Yuna. Go up when you are ready. You will have to fight 2 water fiends. Just summon Ixion and use Thunder to heal yourself Issaru's Aones: BOSS STRATEGY: GROTHIA (AKA IFRIT) - 8000 HP Summon Valefor and do her second Overdrive (9000 damage) BOSS STRATEGY: PTERYA (AKA VALEFOR) - 12000 HP Summon Ixion and use his overdrive THOR's HAMMER (9800 damage), and then attack till it is gone. BOSS STRATEGY: SPATHI (AKA BAHUMUT) - 20000 HP Grand Summon Shiva and shield against Mega Flare. Use Shiva's Overdrive Diamond Dust twice and continue healing and attacking. WATER PURIFICO----------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: EVREA OLTANA - 16,384 HP This is so easy you can do it in your sleep. Equip SONIC STEEL Use a Pheonix Down on Evrae to do 8192 damage (wow, that is exactly 1/2 of Evrae's health) Use a second Pheonix Down. You get BLACK MAGIC SPHERE x2 for overkill (learn what you want) HIGH BRIDGE-------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the best place to level up in the entire game (untill you unlock bosses in the Monster Arena) You want to fight and overkill the three machina battles. You will get about 8500 AP for that. After 2 to 3 fights, you will have another skill level. I suggest that you level up untill you atleast have QUICK HIT. (You may want to even stock pile some extra skill levels) Once you get QUICK HIT, you are now finished with Tidus' path. I recomend that you use a TELEPORT SPHERE or a FRIEND SPHERE and go to AURON's path. BOSS STRATEGY: SEYMOUR NATAE - 36000 HP Once again, you need a little luck to win this battle. Equip you ELEMENTAL SHIELD and your SONIC STEEL. Set your overdrive to Loner. HASTE CHEER x3 then TALK You should be able to do all this before Seymour gets a chance to go. After Seymour attacks, use a Hi-Potion if you have to, then BlitzAce. QUICK HIT 3 or 4 times, and he should go bye-bye. CALM LANDS--------------------------------------------------------------------- Go to the Northwest corner of the Clam Lands. (To get there from the entrance, follow the ridge to the left; then go up, keeping the cliff to your left.) You will see a lady on a Chocobo. Talk to her and train a Chocobo. Only do the first exercise for now. Now hop on the Chocobo and ride back to where you entered the Calm Lands. Continue past the enterance to the back corner, where you will find a CHOCOBO FEATHER. Press X on the feather, then get off your chocobo and exit to the right. REMIEM TEMPLE------------------------------------------------------------------ Go left of the save sphere and examine the sphere on the ground. Go back to the save sphere and to the right to talk to another chocobo. This will start the race (nothing at all like the FFVII Chocobo races). To win, just keep running and merge left (downward) when you can. Don't bother opening any chests, and try not to hit any poles. You will get the CLOUDY MIRROR when you win the first time. Do the race again, but this time open 1 chest and win without hitting any poles You will get an ELIXER Do it again, but open 2 chests for a MEGALIXER Do it again, but open 3 chests for 30 WINGS TO DISCOVERY (This will give you BREAK HP LIMIT; required to beat optional bosses.) Do it again, but open 4 chests for 30 PENDLUMs (This will give you MASTER THIEF; required to beat optional bosses.) To get 4 chests and still win, follow these steps: Go straight to start and there is a chest in front of you. After the Chocobo jumps, go up and make a u-turn After the Chocobo jumps again, go to the same place, but don't make the u-turn (continue straight) After the Chocobo jumps, continue straight. The Chocobo will open the chest and then hop forward. At this point, you will probably see the other racer below you. To get to where he is, continue straight, and make the first left you can, (this will be a u-turn) then make a u-turn at the bottom. You may have to fight your way past the other racer, but be weary of the pole ahead on your right. If the other Chocobo is just too fast for you, race again. The other Chocobo changes speed for every race. It finishes in the following time patern: 30, 35, 40, 45. You may have to race 2 or 3 times to get it right. Now exit Remiem and return to Macalania forest (Go to the enterance to the Calm Lands and backtrack 3 screens) MACALANIA FOREST--------------------------------------------------------------- Find the woman and son standing at the base of the crystal path and talk to them. Her husband is missing! Go towards the Calm Lands 2 screen and then go up (this is the 4-way intersection, not the 3-way). Talk with the man here and tell him his family is "waiting over there". Go back to where the woman was and talk with the man until he tells you that his son ran off to look for him. Take the crystal path. At the T-intersection, go left and talk to the kid. Your CLOUDY MIRROR will become the CELESTIAL MIRROR. Return to the Calm Lands CALM LANDS PART II------------------------------------------------------------- Talk to the Chocobo lady again, and train some more. Do the DODGER CHOCOBO, then the HYPER-DODGER CHOCOBO, then she will challenge you to a race, so win the CATCHER CHOCOBO. This race can be very difficult because you need to get a time of less than 0.0 TO achieve this almost impossible goal, follow these simple steps: 1) Do not get frustrated. 2) At the start, if you have to move to get the first balloon, then you have already lost the race. The start is critical. Here, you can get up to 7 balloons if you are lucky, but at least 4. We need about 14 to win, so this helps. 3) At the end of the ridge, make sure you stay to the right to take the u-turn as tight as possible. There will be several balloons here, but the birds will start to attack. An easy way to avoid the birds is to not run directly towards a balloon, instead run slightly to the side, and when you are close, or if a bird is coming, then make your move. 4) You should make it past this section without getting hit by a bird. Go wide at the end of this leg, and you should be lined up to collect several balloons in a row. 5) This third and final leg of the race, the birds flock like Backstreet fans Avoid the birds at all cost When you BEAT (not tie) 0.0; the trainer will give you the SUN SIGIL. For beating the trainer, you can go to the Northwest corner and there is a small area here where you can get the Caladbolg (Ultimate Weapon) This was blocked by a guard previously. NOTE: you only have to beat her, not 0.0 to get the sword, but to give the sword its full strength, you NEED the SUN SIGIL. Once you are ready to move on, go to the east (right) side of the CALM LANDS There is a small area here that is the MONSTER ARENA. Talk to the old man and agree to all his demands. (You do not have to capture all the monsters in the CLAM LANDS right now.) Buy the TAIMING SWORD for Tidus and customize it with EVADE & COUNTER (a teleport sphere) With this weapon, you should almost never get physically hit again. I will refer to this weapon as the TAIMING SWORD, or your CAPTURE WEAPON. After the Monster Arena, head north to the Northeast exit of the Calm Lands. Save your game because a tough boss fight is comming up. BOSS STRATEGY: DEFENDER X - 65000 HP This can be one of the hardest fights in the game His attacks deal 1900 damage, an dhe sometimes counters with BLAST PUNCH, dealing 50% damage. HAYMAKER is one of his uncommon attacks that does about 3100 damage, so always keep your HP above 3100. Equip Brotherhood and any armor with HP + any % if you have it. Set your overdrive for loner. HASTE CHEER x3 BlitzAce Use QUICK HIT if you have it, otherwise do the change weapons trick. Defend when it is Defender X's turn. It should take about 4 BlitzAce's to kill him. Alternate Strategy pointed out by MagicSam: "For Defender X, this is possibly the easiest battle (after Evrae Altana). Use Provoke [found near the begining of Auron's path] and he will always attack with Blast Punch (50% damage). I think you'll have to re-Provokeevery 4 or 5 turns. You can not die, so just attack" You have 2 options now, you can continue on the journey, or you can make a side treck. For the side treck, go to the SUNKEN CAVE. You can capture monsters here if you wish. Be sure to open the treasure chests. You will find a FORTUNE SPHERE and a MP SPHERE here. You will also have to fight the aeon, Yojimbo. BOSS STRATEGY: Yojimbo - 33000 HP HASTE CHEER x3 QUICK HIT He should be easy When he hunches over, use BlitzAce Once you are done screwing around, continue up the mountain. MOUNT GAGAZET------------------------------------------------------------------ Charge Khimari's overdrive, if it is not already full for some reason. BOSS STRATEGY: BIRAN / YENKE - (Proportional, but greater than Khimari's HP) Biran & Yenke are proportional to Khimari in all stats. Although your Khimari is weak, so are they. Equip Knight Lance you got from Bevelle Temple Single out one Ronso and use SEED CANNON on him. Lancet to learn a new overdrive, and refill your overdrive guage Repeat Once one has died, do the same to the other. If you Lancet several times from a Ronso, and don't learn a new overdrive, try the other Ronso, if he is dead, just ATTACK. Once the fight is over, continue up the mountain. Just run form all battles. You will find Wantz somewhere in here. Buy several HOLY WATERS from him. (I had enough Gil to spurge, so i baught 99, but you only need about 40 at most) Not far from Wantz are some valuable items in treasure boxes. Open the treasure boxes to find a HP Sphere and a LV 4 Key Sphere. When you reach the save sphere, be sure to save. BOSS STRATEGY: SEYMOUR FLUX 70000 HP / MORTIORCHIS - 4000 HP He is about as hard as Defender X You may have to fight him 3 or 4 times just to get a desent start to the fight. You want his first attack to hit the other party members, to give you time to set up. If he uses LANCE OF ATROPHY, immediatly use a HOLY WATER to cure ZOMBIE. If you do not cure Zombie, he will use FULL-LIFE to kill you. Set overdrive to LONER Equip Brotherhood HASTE CHEER x3 QUICK HIT BlitzAce when your overdrive is full You get LV4 Key Sphere x2 for overkill Go into the cave where you will need to level up a bit. In the chests scattered throughout the cave, you will find a Fortune Sphere and a Return Sphere If you are not on Auron's path, use the return sphere and go to the point where the paths of Tidus and Auron intersect with a LV2 Key Lock. Auron should have several STRENGTH +4 stat spheres here. Fighting the Mandragoras, it may drop armor with CONFUSE WARD if you are lucky. Keep It. It is critical that you get your STRENGTH to 62 (+or-) Once you have leveled enough, exit the cave. BOSS STRATEGY: SANCTUARY KEEPER - 40000 HP This is not fun... It counters with TAIL SWEEP, which does about 850 damage and casts slow. PHOTON WINGS, a somewhat uncommon attack will do about 1700 damage, plus provide a plethera of status effects, including sleep, confuse, and curse MAGNA BREATH, an uncommon attack does 3100 damage Once Sanctuary Keeper's HP falls below 10000, it uses REGEN, and casts CURAGA for 9999 HP. Have your overdrive set to LONER Equip Brotherhood Equip Confuse Ward armor (if you have it) Fill your overdrive Start the battle by casting HASTE Then CHEER untill its first attack, (it should use PHOTON WINGS) Use a HOLY WATER to cure CURSE, and then BlitzAce Switch to your Taiming sword, and use HI-POTIONS to cure yourself. Just keep your health up, and the EVADE & COUNTER of the sword should do the rest. Once Sanctuary Keeper uses REGEN or CURAGA, you know it is low on HP. Use your BlitzAce to finish it off for the overkill. You'll get RETURN SPHERE x2 ZANERKEND DOME----------------------------------------------------------------- There is a Fortune Sphere off to the left on the way to the dome. Level up is easy inside the Dome. Get your STRENGTH to about 80 Save your game after solving the Zanerkend trial, and before re-entering the room BOSS STRATEGY: SPECTRAL KEEPER - 52000 HP You may have to fight several times, just to not get infected with Berserk charge up Tidus' Overdrive Equip Taiming Sword Armor with Berserk Ward if you have it HASTE MOVE to its back BlitzAce If you are uneffected by its BERSERK TAIL, move to its back again, and QUICK HIT For Overkill you get LV4 Key x2 After beating this boss, go back outside and charge up Tidus' Overdrive Equip Brotherhood Set overdrive to LONER BOSS STRATEGY: LADY YUNALESCA - 24000 HP Cast HASTE QUICK HIT Your 2 party members BlitzAce Yunalesca (that should kill her in one try) If not, QUICK HIT BOSS STRATEGY: LADY YUNALESCA PART II - 48000 HP Use the Change weapons method to fill your overdrive. (This will avoid her counter) This time, it will take 2 BlitzAces to Kill her. Before you go killing everything, make sure she uses HELLBITER on you. This causes ZOMBIE making you Immune to DEATH BOSS STRATEGY: LADY YUNALESCA PART III- 60000 HP She will ambush you with MEGA DEATH, and kill everyone not in ZOMBIE. After she uses MEGADEATH, use a HOLY WATER, and some much needed HI-POTIONS From here on, she will only use Hellbiter, and deal 200 on the counter. Just Quick Hit, and don't forget to use a HOLY WATER before you use any curative items. You will get LV3 Key x2 for overkill After the battle walk to the back of the room and go down the stairs. You will be teleported to the front of the room Now go to the back of the room again to find a box with the SUN CREST in it. Now leave Zanerkend HIGHBRIDGE--------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you can fly the ship, go to the Highbridge to talk to Mika. After about 57 hours of talking, you are now granted acess back into the temples.You should go to each temple, to each chamber of the faith. Each fayth should give you a gift, plus have treasure chests with fun stuff inside. You don't really have to. MACALANIA FOREST--------------------------------------------------------------- Now that you have all the parts to make your ULTIMATE WEAPON, go to Macalania Forest, to the crystal path, where you used the Celestial Mirror. Charge up your sword (remember you have 2 charges for the crest and the sigil) Now Equip your Taiming Sword, and your Elemental Armor. Go to the left from where you charge up you weapons. Now go down to find WANTZ. Buy 1 armor and 1 sword from him then continue on your way and you should be in the THUNDER PLAINS. THUNDER PLAINS----------------------------------------------------------------- Capture atleast one of every monster here. The best place to find all the fiends is between your next save sphere, and the Travel Agency. Don't forget to get the Qactuar, it is a rare encounter. (You can go back to the MONSTER ARENA now to get some items from the trainer. When he gives you 99 CHOCOBO WINGS, customize the armor you baught from Wantz to have AUTO-HASTE DO NOT PUT ANYTHING ELSE ON THIS ARMOR FOR NOW!!!!!) You should have atleast one of every monster in the THUNDER PLAINS and the CALM LANDS, just go do the same for 4 more areas. I suggest: BESAID, KILLIKA, SANUBIA DESERT, and DJOSE HIGHROAD w/ MOONFLOW Also, go to the Mt. Gagazet cave, to the under water area and capture 2 of each fiend here (there are 3 different types of fiends) Once you have done that, go to the MONSTER ARENA in the CALM LANDS CLAM LANDS--------------------------------------------------------------------- When you get to the CALM LANDS, buy a sword for Tidus at the Travel Agency. Once you meat the Monster Trainer, he will tell you he created several monsters and give you prizes. Decline the fights for now. Take the new, shiny weapon you just baught, and customize it with some of your new items. Give it: DOUBLE OVERDRIVE (Underdogs Secret you got from Rin way back when) OVERDRIVE -> AP (Door to Tomorrow you get for capturing all monsters in 6 areas)and DOUBLE AP (Mega Elixir for capturing 2 of each underwater monster near Zanarkand) This sword should be called SAVE THE QUEEN. Equip it. Equip your AUTO-HASTE armor. Set your overdrive to COMMRADE. Have Rikku and Lulu in your party. Talk to the trainer, and fight the AREA CREATION: CACTAR KING Wait till Lu or Rikku get hit with 99,999 damage, then flee. You should now have 99 Skill levels. Do this whenever you need AP. Without me having to say it, you should now cover the entire sphere grid. AIRSHIP----------------------------------------------------------------------- You can fight Sin now. BOSS STRATEGY: SIN LEFT FIN - 65000 HP Cast Holy 2 times HP Sphere x2 for overkill BOSS STRATEGY: SIN RIGHT FIN - 65000 HP Cast Holy 2 times LV3 Key x2 for overkill BOSS STRATEGY: SINSPAWN GENAIS - 24000 HP Attack once Return Sphere x2 for overkill BOSS STRATEGY: SIN CORE - 36000 HP Attack once MP Sphere x2 for overkill After the battle, go back to the deck to talk with Yuna. Then go back to the deck again to start the next fight. SIN-------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS STRATEGY: SIN - 140000 HP Caste Holy x4 and that sould do it or DOUBLE CAST: ULTIMA If you have NO ENCOUNTERS put it on, otherwise just run from all upcomming battles. END OF THE SEA OF SORROW----------------------------------------------------- BOSS STRATEGY: SEYMOUR OMNIS - 80000 HP uummmm... make sure you have the Caladbolg on, and hit him once LV3 Key x2 for overkill Follow the path to the next save sphere, and save. THIS IS NOW THE POINT OF NO RETURN (well, maybe it is about 10 meters in front of you, but close enough) SIN TOWER OF THE DEAD-------------------------------------------------------- When you go into the Tower, you will be in a room with ice crystals comming up from the ground. If you touch the pillars, you will end up fighting, but you can run away. To get out of this room you must touch 10 orbs. Orbs are formed by pfyerflies. each orb gives you an item. Once you get all 10 orbs you will travel to the final boss. BOSS STRATEGY: BRASKA'S FINAL AEON - 60,000 HP Hit him once, and he pulls a sword out of his chest. BOSS STRATEGY: BRASKA'S FINAL AEON - 120,000 HP Hit him twice, or DOUBLE CAST: ULTIMA, or use Slice & Dice, or BlitzAce That is it... really... The next few battles are impossible to loose. You are given AUTO-LIFE automatically. This is just a little bit of resolution to the story. Congratz. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEMESIS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What you need to do is follow a STAT MAXING FAQ, like JungleJim's. The ideal stats you need to defeat Nemesis should be as follows: Stats: It is important that you have less than 30000 of HP. I recomend 29020 (I'll explain later) and 999 MP. For the rest: Strength 255 Defence 255 Magic 255 Magic Defence 255 Agility 255 Evasion 255 Accuracy 255 Luck 110 Along the way, you will have to customize one weapon, and one pice of armor. Find Wantz at the enterance to Macilania Forest, and but a shield and sword for Tidus. Weapon & Armor Excaliber: Bread Damage Limit (60 Dark Matter) One MP Cost (20 Three Stars) Magic Booster (30 Turbo Ether) Magic + 20% (4 Supreme Gems) Genji: Break HP Limit (30 Wings to Discovery) Auto-Protect (80 Light Curtain) Auto-Potion (4 Stamina Spring) Auto-Haste (80 Chocobo Wings) Ok, time to pick a fight! But first, get 99 X-Potions, and sell all your Potions and Hi-Potions. If you havn't figured it out, this is going to be a magical battle. With your newly customized sword and shield, let the battle begin. Cast AUTO-LIFE. It is important to remember to recast it every time you get resurected, otherwise, you would have wasted a whole lot of time and X-Potions Next, DOUBLE CAST: ULTIMA Then COPYCAT untill you get ko'd and AUTO-LIFE brings you back. Just continue those steps, untill you run out of X-Potions, and the battle will be over. Actually, I only had 94 X-Potions when I tested this and ran out when I only had to hit Nemesis about 2 more times with DOUBLE CAST: ULTIMA. If for some reason you too shall run out, just cast AUTO-LIFE and you should come back to life with 10000+ HP. Because of the Auto-Protect, that will cut Ugly-Butt's physical attack down to 7000 damage. At that rate, you will have one extra turn before you get knocked down again. And after an hour of anguish, you will be given the MARK OF CONQUEST I know that is long and boring, but if you can find a better plan, drop me a line. Now, go kick some tail. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CREDITS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks to all my friends in the real world who help in some way, shape, or form: Robby Frye Luke Ske and my wife, Nancy Thanks to all my friends in the digital world who helped me in some way, shape or form: luckylink17 CB! MagicSam RcoolioK darktemplar20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ COPYRIGHT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2003 John Walker This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.