~B
-- Final Fantasy X (US) Sphere Grid FAQ --
-- by CB! (Christine Bomke, circe@san.rr.com) --
-- Version 2.0, 5/18/02 --
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This FAQ is for PERSONAL USE ONLY, copyrighted to me,
Christine Bomke. Do not put this FAQ on your site without first emailing me
for permission. If permission IS granted, you are not permitted to change a
single word of this FAQ when you post it, and must leave it as a .txt file
unless I've explicitly told you otherwise that you may change it. Do not
steal information from this FAQ for your magazine, or other form of media -
printed, online, or otherwise. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200. If you
violate this disclaimer anyway, know that I have the means and mettle to
pursue this matter legally, and you _will_ regret it.
NOTE TO WEBMASTERS: If permission is granted to post this document on your
site, it is _your_ responsibility to get the most recent version from my site
or GameFAQs.com periodically. If you can't be bothered to keep it current,
then please do not post it.
Avast ye matey, thar be spoilers ahead.
-- Table 'o Contents --
I. Version History
II. Foreword / Contact Information
III. Frequently Asked Questions
a. Just what is the Sphere Grid?
b. So how do I increase my stats and learn abilities from the grid?
c. Which nodes do these spheres activate?
d. I still don't get it, can you give me an example or two?
e. Are there any other spheres besides Power, Mana, Speed, and Ability?
f. Where can I find the rare spheres from question e?
g. Can any character learn any ability?
h. What about Enemy Skills, aka Ronso Rages?
i. If one character activates a node on the grid, is it used up forever?
j. If one character uses a Key Sphere to erase a Sphere Lock, is it gone
from everyone else's grid?
k. How can I tell if a character has activated a particular node on the
grid? Is the only way to go to their grid and look?
l. What's wrong with Kimahri's part of the Sphere Grid?
m. How can I gain AP - and therefore S.Lv - faster?
n. What do Sphere Distiller items do? And what's the Sphere Distiller
trick?
o. Is it possible to make a character lopsided?
p. Is it possible to max out stats?
q. Can I use a Clear Sphere to erase ability nodes?
r. Where can I find a map of the Sphere Grid?
s. Why do some people call it the Sphere Board?
t. I'm at [insert location], and I'm out of Ability Spheres! Where can I
get more?
u. I heard there's a new Sphere Grid in Final Fantasy X International? And
is there any benefit of using the International Grid over the Original
Grid?
v. Are there any new abilities in the Final Fantasy X International
Sphere Grid?
w. Besides the new Sphere Grid, are there any other differences in Final
Fantasy X International that I should know about? And how can I get my
grubby little mitts on it?
x. What are the three questions the game asks you in Japanese at the
beginning of FFX International?
y. Which stats are worth raising?
z. If I keep activating HP nodes after I've reached 9,999 HP, will the
game "remember" later when I equip armor with [Break HP Limit]?
IV. Thanks, Credits, Shameless Plugs
-- I. Version History --
v2.0 5/18/02: Rewrote several answers, most importantly the pro's and con's of
using the International Grid over the Original Grid. Added a translation for
the three questions at the beginning of FFX International, for
Japanese-illiterate importers. Happy birthday, pickles.
v1.75 2/11/02: Updated FAQ with more information about FFX International
changes.
v1.7 2/6/02: Updated FAQ with information about the new FFX International
Sphere Grid. Questions n, t, and v have been revised, and questions w, x, and
y are new. I'm running out of letters here. Also revised the Foreword, and
switched around the "Skill" and "Special" in question c that I'd had juxtaposed
since the very first version.
v1.5 1/13/02: Rewrote pretty much every answer for clarity, added a couple of
new frequently asked questions pertaining to Final Fantasy X International,
fixed yet even more translational errors, added a pointer to my "walkthrough"
of the Amazon Japan checkout in question r, and revised the thankyous.
v1.3 12/11/01: Converted some names to the North American release, and added
a few more FAQs. PLEASE NOTE MY CHANGE OF EMAIL ADDRESS - I may not be using
cb@positronrecords.com very much longer. If you definately want me to recieve
your email, use circe@san.rr.com.
v1.2 12/2/01: Added a couple more questions, and gave another, more complex
example of grid movement in question d. Ph33r my 1337 ASCII 5killZ!!
v1.01 11/25/01: Fixed some typos, grammatical errors, and a mistake about
where the branching paths of Kimahri's part of the Sphere Grid lead.
v1.0 11/24/01: Began FAQ, since there seems to be a lot of confusion on
various message boards as to how the Sphere Grid works.
-- II. Foreword / Contact Informatiom --
First, this is not a gameplay FAQ. This is an explanation of how the Sphere
Grid works, and answers to the most commonly-asked questions about it. If you
need a walkthrough, a beastiary, a Mix list, or anything else not pertaining
to the Sphere Grid, look elsewhere.
If you have a question or submission about the Sphere Grid, you may email me
at circe@san.rr.com. If your question is already answered in this FAQ, or one
of my FAQs, I will delete your email. I hate to be strict like this, but I
currently recieve between 20-40 letters per day about Final Fantasy X, most of
which are from people who didn't read a FAQ well enough. I'm not a free tip
line, and I've done my best to make this document as complete and
self-explanatory as possible, so please respect that, and don't ask me to
regurgitate material from it. Pretty please? The latest version of this FAQ,
and all the other ones I've written, can always be found at GameFAQs
(http://www.gamefaqs.com/) and my site (http://home.san.rr.com/circe/). Please
look at them before finding fault with what may be an out-of-date version.
Thanks, and enjoy.
-- III. Frequently Asked Questions --
a. Just what is the Sphere Grid?
Final Fantasy X has done away with the RPG standard of "levelling up", and
replaced it with a gigantic virtual board filled with incrimental stat
increases, and battle abilities that may be learned. To put it another way,
the Sphere Grid is the means by which your characters learn non-Overdrive
abilities, and their statistics like HP, MP, Defense, Attack Power, etc, go
up. Each character starts at one place on the board, and through gaining AP
in battle, may move along the board picking up stat increases, and learning
battle abilities as they go.
b. So how do I increase my stats and learn abilities from the grid?
After every battle, you'll receive AP. When you recieve enough AP, your S.Lv
(Sphere Level) increases. For every S.Lv, you may move one space forward on
the Sphere Grid, or four spaces back. ("Forward" is defined as a space you
haven't previously visited or activated, and "back" is defined as a space you
have.) However, it's not enough to simply move to a node - you must activate
it with one of four kinds of sphere: Power Sphere, Mana Sphere, Speed
Sphere, and Ability Sphere. Monsters always drop at least one of these four
spheres throughout the entire game, so don't worry about running out.
c. Which nodes do these spheres activate?
(1) A Power Sphere activates the following kinds of nodes on the Sphere Grid:
- Strength stat increase
- Defense stat increase
- HP stat increase
(2) A Mana Sphere activates the following kinds of nodes on the Sphere Grid:
- Magic stat increase
- Magic Defense stat increase
- MP stat increase
(3) A Speed Sphere activates the following kinds of nodes on the Sphere Grid:
- Agility (aka Speed) stat increase
- Accuracy stat increase
- Evade stat increase
(4) An Ability Sphere activates the following kinds of nodes on the Sphere
Grid:
- Skill (ie: Wakka's Blind Attack, Rikku's Mug, Auron's Armor Break)
- Special (ie: Kimahri's Lancet, Rikku's Bribe, Lulu's Focus)
- Magic spells (ie: Lulu's Blizzaga, Tidus' Slow, Yuna's Protect)
d. I still don't get it, can you give me an example or two?
Sure. Say you'd accrued enough AP to increase your S.Lv to two - you may move
two spaces forward on the sphere board, and activate any surrounding nodes.
If you were currently on an Accuracy node, with an Evade node after that, a
Magic Power node after that, and a Haste spell node after that, you could
move as far as the Magic Power node, and still activate Haste, because it's
immediately after your destination. Moving from left to right, here's a crude
ASCII rendering:
_____ _______ __________ _______
| | ____ | | ____ | | ____ | |
| Acc | ---- | Evade | ---- | M. Power | ---- | Haste |
|_____| |_______| |__________| |_______|
To activate all of these nodes, you would need two Speed Spheres (for Accuracy
and Evade), one Mana Sphere (for Magic Power), and one Ability Sphere (for
the Haste Spell). Make sense?
Here's another, more complicated example - if your S.Lv were three, and you
began at a Strength node, followed by an Evade node that branched into two
Agility nodes, then a Magic Defense node after that, and finally an empty
space after that which branched off into another Evade node, with another
Agility node immediately after the empty space, it would look like:
_______ _______
| | | |
| Agil. | | Evade |
|_______| |_______|
| || | | |
| || | | |
| _______ | | /
| | | | | Bonus node
| | Agil. | | |
| |_______| / /
/ (S.Lv = 1) Destination node
Starting node | (S.Lv = 0 after
(S.Lv = 3) / moving to the
(S.Lv = 2 after empty node; no
moving to the reduction in S.Lv
Evade node; no for activating
reduction in S.Lv the Evade node
for activating or Agility node
surrounding immediately after.)
Agility nodes.)
To activate all of these nodes, you would need one Power Sphere (for Strength),
five Speed Spheres (for two Evade and three Agility), and one Mana Sphere (for
Magic Defense).
e. Are there any other spheres besides Power, Mana, Agility, and Ability?
- Fortune Sphere: activates a Luck node on the Sphere Grid
- Attribute Sphere: activate any statistic node that's already been
activated by another character
- Special Sphere: activate any Special node that's already been activated by
another character
- Skill Sphere: activate any Skill node that's already been activated by
another character
- White Magic Sphere: activate any White Magic node that's already been
activated by another character
- Black Magic Sphere: activate any Black Magic node that's already been
activated by another character
- Master Sphere: activate any node that's already been activated by another
character
- Level 1-4 Key Spheres: permanently remove any Sphere Lock of the
appropriate level from the Sphere Grid (ie; a Level 1 Key Sphere will
remove a Level 1 Sphere Lock, a Level 2 Key Sphere will remove a Level 2
Sphere Lock, etc.)
- HP Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "HP +300" node
- MP Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "MP +40" node
- Strength Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Strength +4"
node
- Defense Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Defense +4" node
- Magic Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Magic +4" node
- Magic Defense Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Magic
Defense +4" node
- Agility Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Agility +4" node
- Evasion Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Evade +4" node
- Accuracy Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Aim +4" node
- Luck Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Luck +4" node
- Clear Sphere: erases any statistic node on the Sphere Grid **
- Return Sphere: allows one character to return to any node they've
previously activated
- Friend Sphere: allows one character to move to the node which another
character is currently occupying on the Sphere Grid
- Teleport Sphere: allows one character to teleport to any node which anyone
has previously activated
- Warp Sphere: allows one character to warp anywhere on the Sphere Grid,
whether the node has been activated or not
** Do not use Clear Spheres unless you know exactly what you're doing -
erasing a previously activated node makes it like you never activated it in
the first place. For example, if everyone had visited a particular Strength
+3 node, and you used a Clear Sphere on that space, everyone's attack
power would drop by 3. See question p for more on this.
f. Where can I find the rare spheres from question e?
You can acquire these most reliably through Bribe, but some enemies drop them
as rare items, and some can be bought. In the same order as the preceding
question, these are the ones I know of:
- Fortune Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Earth Eater
- Attribute Sphere: bribed from Maelspike
- Special Sphere: bribed from Adamantoise
- Skill Sphere: bribed from Zuu
- White Magic Sphere: bribed from Dark Flan
- Black Magic Sphere: dropped by Seymour, dropped by Evrae, dropped by Evrae
Oltana, bribed from Black Element
- Level 1 Key Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Chocobo Eater,
dropped by Sand Worm, dropped by Master Coeurl, dropped by Puroboros,
stolen from Earth Eater, bribed from Imp
- Level 2 Key Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Spherimorph,
dropped by Seymour Natus, dropped by Defender X, dropped by Tonberry,
dropped by Defender Z, dropped by Varuna, stolen from Catastrophe, bribed
from Behemoth
- Level 3 Key Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Defender Z,
dropped by Yunalesca, dropped by Sin's right fin, dropped by Sin on the
airship, dropped by Behemoth King, dropped by Seymour Omnis, dropped by
Demonolith, dropped by Machea, dropped by Ultima Weapon, stolen from
Ultima Buster, stolen from Biran Ronso, stolen from Yenke Ronso, bribed
from Demonolith
- Level 4 Key Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Seymour Flux,
dropped by Spectral Keeper, dropped by Land Worm, dropped by Omega Weapon,
stolen from Nemesis, bribed from Chimera Brain
- HP Sphere: dropped by Lost Ochu, dropped by Sin's left fin, dropped by
Ironclad
- MP Sphere: dropped by Lost Ochu, dropped by Sin's Core, dropped by
Vidatu
- Strength Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Juggernaut
- Defense Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Tanket
- Magic Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Jumbo Flan
- Magic Defense Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by One-Eye
- Agility Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Fenrir
- Evasion Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Pteryx
- Accuracy Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Hornet
- Luck Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Greater Sphere
- Clear Sphere: bought from the trainer at the Monster Arena after capturing
at least five of every monster (ie; when Ultima Buster is unlocked)
- Return Sphere: won from Blitzball games, dropped by Biran Ronso, dropped by
Yenke Ronso, dropped by Sanctuary Keeper, dropped by Sinspawn: Genais,
dropped by Barbatos, dropped by Black Element, dropped by Chimerageist,
stolen from Greater Sphere, bribed from Dark Element, bribed from
Mandragora
- Friend Sphere: dropped by Biran Ronso, dropped by Yenke Ronso, dropped by
Spirit, dropped by Master Coeurl, dropped by Vorban, stolen from Neslug,
bribed from Coeurl
- Teleport Sphere: dropped by Master Tonberry, dropped by Sleep Sprout,
stolen from Th'uban, bribed from Barbatos
- Warp Sphere: found in the Omega Ruins if you open all of the treasure
chests there in the correct randomly-generated order, bribed from Master
Coeurl, stolen from Nemesis
For the locations of these monsters, and exact gil cost to Bribe, see my
Monster Encyclopedia, or my Bribe FAQ.
g. Can any character learn any ability?
Yes, any character can learn any ability, except for Overdrives and Aeons.
For a sizable portion of the game, each character will be confined to their
own part of the Sphere Grid due to a) Sphere Locks, and b) a lack of
excessive amounts of AP, but once you start getting Key Spheres and cheat
like mad using the AP trick (or level up the old-fashioned way, if that's
your bag), you can traverse the board in several hours' time. Filling all of
the empty spaces with stat bonuses is a much bigger undertaking, however...
h. What about Enemy Skills, aka Ronso Rages?
No. Ronso Rages are solely used by Kimahri, and technically an Overdrive.
See above question. Any character may use Lancet, but only Kimahri may learn
the enemy skills from it.
i. If one character activates a node on the grid, is it used up forever?
No. There are seven characters, and each may activate a node one time. Your
stats would be awfully low if Sphere Grid nodes were consumable...
j. If one character uses a Key Sphere to erase a Sphere Lock, is it gone from
everyone else's grid?
Yes, once you've erased a Sphere Lock with a Key Sphere, it's gone
permanently from the same grid which everyone shares. In its place there
will be an empty space, which you can then use a node creation sphere on to
create a new unactivated node. And remember, Key Spheres are consumable, so
use them wisely.
k. How can I tell if a character has activated a particular node on the grid?
Is the only way to go to their grid and look?
Around each node on the Sphere Grid, there are seven tiny circles which light
up a certain color when a different character activates the space. These are
visible no matter whose grid you're on. Starting from the top clockwise, they
are:
- Tidus: light blue
- Yuna: white
- Auron: red
- Kimahri: dark blue
- Wakka: yellow
- Lulu: purple
- Rikku: green
l. What's wrong with Kimahri's part of the Sphere Grid?
In the Original Grid (not the International Grid), Kimahri begins with a very
small available area of the Sphere Grid, fenced in by several Level 1 Sphere
Locks. By the time you reach Mi'ihen Highroad, you'll have recieved a few
Level 1 Key Spheres to use, which will release Kimahri from his tiny grid.
The top path leads to Tidus' part of the Sphere Grid, the left path leads to
Rikku's part of the Sphere Grid, the lower center path leads to Lulu's part of
the Sphere Grid, and the lower right path leads to Wakka's part of the Sphere
Grid. It all depends on whether you want a well-rounded fighter, a thief with
high HP and speed, a second black mage, or a heavy hitter with a great hit %
and status-ailment specials. I recommend taking Rikku's path, because this
makes Use, Steal, and Mug available to you MUCH earlier in the game. On the
other hand, if you send him up Tidus' path on the Grid, you'll have two people
who know Haste, then with Yuna's healing spells immediately after, this will
make some of the later bosses much easier. Other people find having two
characters with Wakka's high strength and hit accuracy useful, while still
others like having two black mages with high magic power and magic defense.
m. How can I gain AP - and therefore S.Lv - faster?
The fair way to increase the amount of AP gained after battle is to Overkill
enemies - this will up the AP gained by one and a half to two times. For the
precise amount of damage in the killing blow needed to Overkill a particular
enemy, see my Monster Encyclopedia. The cheap and dirty way to get lots of
AP is to use the AP trick, as described in ChronoRye's, and Gamepro2817's /
ORCA782's AP Trick FAQs.
n. What do Sphere Distiller items do? And what's the Sphere Distiller trick?
If you're low on a particular kind of consumable Sphere (ie: Power, Mana,
Speed, or Ability), using a Sphere Distiller item on an enemy will force it
to drop that kind of Sphere. For example, the Snow Wolf always drops Power
Spheres - if you wanted it to drop a Speed Sphere instead, you would use a
Speed Distiller item on it.
Alternately, in Final Fantasy X International, there are Skills called
"Extract (name of Sphere)" which cost one MP each to preform, and serve the
same purpose as using a Sphere Distiller item. Also, there are weapon auto-
abilities that do the same called [Distill Power], [Distill Mana], [Distill
Speed], and [Distill Ability].
As for the Sphere Distiller trick, at some point in the game, especially if
you use one of the ubiquitous "AP Tricks", you'll probably run out one or
more of the common Sphere types. To get 20-40 in one fight, simply use a
Sphere Distiller on Kottos or Fafnir, who will then drop 20 after the fight
for a standard kill, and 40 for an Overkill. If they only drop two of that
type of Sphere, consider it bad luck - they would have dropped two Dark Matter
otherwise.
o. Is it possible to make a character lopsided?
All characters have porportionately more of one kind of stat nodes on their
part of the Sphere Grid than any other kind. Rikku's, for example, has lots
of HP, Agility, and Luck nodes. Auron's has lots of Strength and Defense
nodes. Lulu's has lots of MP, Magic Power, and Magic Defense nodes. Despite
this, unless you intentionally and habitually don't activate a particular
type of node while passing over it, no it is not possible to make a character
lopsided. The Sphere Grid is very well designed like that.
p. Is it possible to max out stats?
First, we need to define "max out". Without placing any extra spheres in
empty spaces on the Sphere Grid, if you travel the whole board, you'll have
19,700 HP, 1,250 MP, and the rest of your stats will be around 120-170.
(Note: you can only have more than 9,999 HP and 999 MP if you have the
[Break HP Limit] and/or [Break MP Limit] auto-abilities in your armor.) The
true stat maximums you can possess are 99,999 HP, 9,999 MP, and 255 for your
stats like Strength, Magic Defense, Evade, etc - but not all of these
simultaneously. Why not? Read on...
There are 828 nodes total on the grid. 500 of these are filled stat nodes,
191 are empty nodes waiting to be filled, 60 are Sphere Locks (which you may
erase with Key Spheres to become empty nodes), and 77 are ability nodes.
You can use Clear Spheres on shoddy stat nodes and replace them with better
ones, but this will take a VERY long time. Erasing a Magic +1 node and
replacing it with a Magic +4 node is an intelligent and proper use of Clear
Spheres. Just remember that if you use a Clear Sphere on a node, and replace
it with something else, all your characters will have to re-activate it.
JungleJim wrote a Stat Maxing FAQ addressing this very question, which I
suggest you read if you're gung-ho about seeing lots of 255's on your status
screen. You can find it at GameFAQs.com.
As for whether it's possible to have 99,999 HP, I haven't personally done
this, but if you erase EVERY node on the Sphere Grid and replace them with
HP +300, it's definately possible to have 99,999 HP. (Actually, you'll have
just over 171,000 HP, without even adding any [HP +x%] auto-abilities to your
armor. That's a lot of fights with Ironclad.) Bear in mind that by having
_only_ one kind of stat on the entire Sphere Grid, in this case HP, the rest
of your stats will be very very low. What's the point of having 99,999 HP if
you barely do any damage when attacking, and take tons of damage when you're
hit?
q. Can I use a Clear Sphere to erase ability nodes?
Despite lower level magics becoming useless once you have more powerful ones -
Cure and Curaga, or Fire and Firaga, for example - and certain Skills and
Specials having varying degrees of usefulness, you cannot erase any ability
node. For practical reasons, the size of the ability nodes are larger than
the stat nodes, and the game doesn't contain any code for redrawing these if
they've been deleted.
r. Where can I find a map of the Sphere Grid?
You can import the Final Fantasy X Ultimania Battle Guide from Japan, or buy
the Bradygames strategy guide, both of which come with a foldout map of the
Sphere Grid, or you can go to GameFAQs for free and check out Zeric's and
DokiWaku's Sphere Grid gifs. If you choose to import the Ultimania book,
Amazon Japan carries it. And if you point your browser towards
http://home.san.rr.com/circe/amazon_japan.html, you can see a "walkthrough"
of the checkout process which I've written specifically for this purpose, as
well as links to all of the Ultimania books, and other Japan-only items you
may want to purchase while you're on their site. Who loves you, baby?
s. Why do some people call it the Sphere Board?
In the Japanese release of Final Fantasy X, the Sphere Grid was called the
Sphere Board, and the name seems to have stuck. Grid, board, does the name
really matter? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
t. I'm at [insert location], and I'm out of Ability Spheres! Where can I get
more?
Once you begin leveling up and moving around the Sphere Grid, you may find
that your demand for Ability Spheres outweighs the supply. Prior to Mi'ihen
Highroad, your only source of these will be predetermined boss fights, but
trust me when I say that at least _one_ monster in every region from Mi'ihen
onwards drops Ability Spheres. In Mi'ihen, that monster is the Dual Horn; in
Djose, it's the Basilisk; in Thunder Plains, it's the Larvae; in Macalania,
it's the Xiphos, Chimera, all of the Guado Guards; etc. I'm not going to
list every single monster in the game who drops these - if you run out after
Macalania, either use an Ability Distiller on a monster, or do a "Find"
(Ctrl + F) in my Monster Encyclopedia. Lastly, as stated in question n, there
are new skills and weapon auto-abilities in Final Fantasy X International
which will allow you to distill Ability Spheres very early in the game.
u. I heard there's a new Sphere Grid in Final Fantasy X International? And is
there any benefit of using the International Grid over the Original Grid?
You heard correctly. The layout of the new Sphere Grid is entirely new, and
unlike the standard grid found in the initial Japan and US releases, all of
your characters start relatively close together at the center of the grid.
This means that you could make Tidus a white mage, Lulu a powerful attacker,
or give Yuna all of Wakka's status ailment specials. The fact that most of
the paths are closely interwoven allows you to jump back and forth between
two characters' paths easily, giving Yuna a full complement of black magic,
for example, or Wakka Tidus' "Delay Attack" and "Delay Buster". However, due
to precisely that, I would recommend the new grid only to experienced players
who know exactly how they want to customize their characters, because it's
_very_ easy to lead someone down the wrong path and level poorly if you don't
plan ahead. (Case in point, I accidently made Rikku and Auron white mages -
they knew Curaga and Holy long before Yuna.)
At the beginning of the game, you'll be given the choice to use either the
standard grid for the remainder of the game, or the new grid designed for FFX
International. Once you choose one, you cannot switch to the other. Strangely,
even if you choose the new Sphere Grid, Rikku's tutorial takes place on the
old Sphere Grid.
The benefit of the International Grid over the Original Grid is that all of
your characters start close together at the center, meaning you can level them
up any way you like from the beginning of the game. However, there are about
fifty (!!) fewer nodes in the International Grid than the Original Grid,
which is counterproductive to maxing stats, so it's up to you whether having
customizable characters early is worth the tradeoff of a significant number
of nodes. If you plan on fighting the Dark Aeons, I would highly recommend
that you use the Original Grid, to get the most out of your level ups.
v. Are there any new abilities in the Final Fantasy X International Sphere
Grid?
Yes, several. Their functions, and English and Japanese names are as follows:
- Pilfer Gil or 'Kusuneru': Steal gil from enemies.
- Nab Gil or 'Makiageru': The Mug equivalent of Pilfer Gil.
- Full Break or 'Furu Bureiku': All four "Break" effects at once. **
- Quick Pockets or 'Jinsoku': The item-using equivalent of Quick Hit.
- Extract Power or 'Pawaa Atakku': Same effect as a Power Distiller item.
- Extract Mana or 'Majikku Atakku': Same effect as a Mana Distiller item.
- Extract Speed or 'Supiido Atakku': Same effect as a Speed Distiller item.
- Extract Ability or 'Abiriti Atakku': Same effect as an Ability Distiller
item.
** What differentiates this from Auron's Banishing Blade Overdrive, is that
Full Break has the same success rate as Armor Break, Power Break, Mental
Break, and Magic Break, while Banishing Blade _always_ works.
w. Besides the new Sphere Grid, are there any other differences in Final
Fantasy X International that I should know about? And how can I get my grubby
little mitts on it?
Besides the new Sphere Grid, and Skills and Specials outlined in the question
above, there's a few new optional bosses, an option to switch the language
between English and Japanese, a handful of new weapon and armor auto-abilities,
various statistical changes to some monsters (most notably the Omega Weapon,
who was toughened up), and a sublimely magnificent DVD bonus disc with an
epilogue that takes place two years after the game's ending. The new optional
bosses are "dark" versions of your Aeons which make the Monster Arena bosses
look like Water Flans and Dingos in comparison. Yes, they're really that hard.
There's also a new hulking brute of a boss called Der Richter ("The Judge" in
German) if you've set the language option to Japanese, or called Penance if
you've set it to English, who becomes available to fight after you've defeated
the "dark" Aeons. The bonus DVD includes some sweet trailers from upcoming
Square games, aaaand I'm not going to spoil the extended ending for anyone who
hasn't already beaten Final Fantasy X, so if you're desperate to know what
happens, drop me a line. What I _can_ say without divulging spoilers, is that
I don't know why Square would tease us with the 'Eien no Nagisetsu' epilogue
if they weren't making a direct sequel, but nothing's confirmed yet.
As for how you can get your own copy, there are several places online who
carry Japanese import games - Tronix (www.tronixweb.com), National Console
Support (www.ncsx.com), Lik-Sang (www.lik-sang.com), and Himeya
(shop.himeya.com). I've personally never had a bad experience ordering from
Tronix or Lik-Sang. The PAL territory release is also based on FFX
International, so you could import that as well for the same goodies. However,
because FFX International is Japanese-region, and the European release is
obviously PAL-region, if you have an unchipped US Playstation 2, you cannot
play it. Consider this before you import.
x. What are the three questions the game asks you in Japanese at the beginning
of FFX International?
1. "Which Sphere Grid would you like to use?"
- Original version
- International version
(After choosing "Original version"...)
2. "Original version Sphere Grid, is this okay?"
- Yes
- No
(Or after choosing "International version"...)
2. "International version Sphere Grid, is this okay?"
- Yes
- No
3. "Please select which language you'd like to play in?" (Note: The language
may be changed later by going to the Config menu, this question solely
influences which language the Zanarkand sequence is played in.)
- Japanese
- English
y. Which stats are worth raising?
Raising pretty much everything except Luck will help you tremendously. The
Luck stat affects rare Steals, critical hits, and possibly how often a
[... Ward] armor auto-ability will protect you from a status ailment. The
frugal player who doesn't want to take on Greater Sphere and Earth Eater
repeatedly will realize that they can compensate for a lousy Luck stat by
simply customizing certain auto-abilities into their armor. Always making a
rare Steal can be accomplished by putting [Master Thief] on an armor, maxing
out your strength and accuracy, and obtaining the Celestial Weapons eliminates
the need for making critical hits, and [...proof] or [Ribbon] on an armor
will always protect you from that status ailment. So although 255 Luck is nice,
it's really icing on the cake.
z. If I keep activating HP nodes after I've reached 9,999 HP, will the game
"remember" later when I equip armor with [Break HP Limit]?
Yes, after you reach 9,999 HP or 999 MP, the game will "remember" any
additional HP or MP nodes you activate. When you equip armor with [Break HP
Limit] or [Break MP Limit], your HP and MP will reflect your true totals.
-- IV. Thanks, Credits, Shameless Plugs --
Thanks to Muni Shinobu (muni_shinobu@yahoo.com) for his excellent FFX
walkthrough and numerous other guides on the game. Without him, we would not
know wairo from Shinola.
Much respect to Alexander O. Smith for his fantastic localizations of Vagrant
Story, Parasite Eve 2, Final Fantasy X, et al, and for not calling me an idiot
when I misunderstood his contribution to Final Fantasy IX. Oops.
Extra special thanks to Square (http://www.playonline.com/) for creating FFX
and many other quality titles, GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com/) for hosting
FAQs on every game imaginable, and respecting FAQ author's rights, and most
importantly to everyone who encouraged me to keep writing.
Extra extra EXTRA special thanks to Jeei on the GameFAQs message boards for
coining the term "Sphere Board Bus", and providing endless hours of amusement.
Some people think the theme of FFX is love and sacrifice, but I think it's
public transportation. Ride the bus, get HP +200. Am I alone?
If your name isn't here and it should be, blame the memory and not the heart.
