=============================================================================== =============================================================================== PENANCE FAQ =============================================================================== =============================================================================== Author: Sophie Ellis Username: Beatrix the Goddess Email: intradance@hotmail.com Version: 1.0 This guide 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. Copyright 2005 Sophie Ellis ----------- CONTENTS ----------- 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Who Is Penance And Why Bother Fighting Him? 1.2 What's In This FAQ? 2.0 General 2.1 Whilst You Are Playing The Game 2.1.1 Besaid 2.1.2 S.S. Liki 2.1.3 Kilika 2.1.4 S.S. Winno 2.1.5 Mi'ihen Highroad 2.1.6 Djose 2.1.7 Thunder Plains 2.1.8 Macalania 2.1.9 Bikanel 2.1.10 Bevelle 2.1.11 Calm Lands 2.1.12 Cavern of the Stolen Fayth 2.1.13 Mt.Gagazet 2.1.14 Zanarkand 2.2 Before You Start... 3.0 Monster Arena Creations 3.1 Monsters You Will Need To Breed 3.1.1 Area Conquest 3.1.2 Species Conquest 3.1.3 Original 3.1.4 Summary Table of Fiends to Capture 3.1.5 Summary Table of Items 4.0 Celestial Weapons 4.1 Activating The Weapons 4.2 Tidus 4.3 Wakka 4.3.1 Blitzball 4.3.1.1 The Players 4.3.1.2 The Rules 4.3.1.3 The 18 Situations Of Blitzball 4.3.1.4 Techs 4.3.1.5 Your Team 4.3.1.6 Basic Tactics 4.4 Rikku 5.0 A Steady Income 6.0 Covering The Sphere Grid 6.1 The Weapons 6.2 The Strategy 6.3 Key Spheres 6.4 Other Spheres 6.5 Vital Abilities 6.6 The Goal 7.0 Temporary Armour 8.0 Maxing Stats 8.1 General Points 8.2 Magic Defence 8.3 Evasion 8.4 Accuracy 8.5 Agility 8.6 Defence 8.7 Strength 8.8 Magic 8.9 Luck 8.10 HP 9.0 Final Armour 9.1 Beating Dark Yojimbo 9.2 Customising 9.3 Here We Go... 10.0 The Dark Aeons 10.1 Dark Valefor 10.2 Dark Ifrit 10.3 Dark Ixion 10.4 Dark Shiva 10.5 Dark Bahamut 10.6 Dark Yojimbo 10.7 Dark Anima 10.8 Dark Magus Sisters 11.0 What You Will Need To Do Before Fighting Penance 11.1 The Ideal Setup 12.0 Penance Strategy 12.1 The First Form 12.2 The Second Form 13.0 Credits To navigate this FAQ look at the section number of the section you want to refer to, then go to the Edit menu and select "Find". Type in the section number and keep pressing Enter until you find it. ----------------- 1.0 Introduction ----------------- Well, this is the first ever FAQ I've written, so I'll start off by apologising for what I'm sure is going to be only amateur quality of this guide. Feel free to email me if you spot any glaring errors that annoy you or if I haven't made something clear. I hope this will help people with what is, in my opinion, the most difficult boss that Squaresoft has ever produced. I decided to have a go at writing this because when I was busy trying to beat Penance, I couldn't find a single strategy that was detailed enough for my liking; most were vague and missed out a lot of important information. Who knows- maybe it's because everyone else doesn't need a strategy, or maybe I'm too stupid to make use of basic ones but anyway; I decided to fill a gap with what I hope will be a detailed and realistic strategy for beating Penance. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.1 Who Is Penance And Why Bother Fighting Him? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I'd generally assume that you've come to this FAQ because you've been repeatedly defeated by Penance and so you know exactly who he is, but just in case you don't, I'll give a brief description: Penance will appear above the Calm Lands in a brief scene, once you have defeated all the Dark Aeons and hangs around waiting to crush anyone who dares challenge him. Presumably his name is a play on words: he is Tidus & Co.'s "penance" for daring to reject Yevon. In order to fight Penance you must select him from the list of destinations on the airship, and your party will fight him whilst standing on the deck. He consists of a main body and two arms; all of which have their own attack patterns. His stats are as follows: MAIN BODY: HP: 12,000,000 (12 million). Overkill: 99,999. Strength: 255 Defence: 240 Magic: 255 Magic Def.: 200 Agility: 255 Luck: 10 Evasion: 0 Accuracy: 255 Elements: Absorbs all. Status Effects: Immune to all except the positive ones. Zanmato: Lv. 4 Steal: Elixir x 1 (Normal) Megalixir x 1 (Rare) Drops: Master Sphere x 3 (Normal & Rare) Bribe: No. Ability Slots: 3-4 Abilities Attached: 1-2 Weapon Abilties: Break Damage Limit Armour Abilities: Break HP Limit, Ribbon RIGHT ARM/LEFT ARM: HP: 500,000. Overkill: 99,999. Strength: 200 Defence: 200 Magic: 150 Magic Def.: 200 Agility: 150 Luck: 10 Evasion: 120 Accuracy: 255 Elements: Absorb all. Status Effects: Immune to all except the positive ones. Zanmato: Lv. 4 Steal: Dark Matter x 1 (Normal) Master Sphere x 1 (Rare) Drops: Dark Matter x 1 (Normal) Master Sphere x 1 (Rare) Bear in mind that you will be killing the arms repeatedly and will get an item for each time you do. I got 80 Dark Matters at the end of the battle. He's not as powered up as you will be when you fight him, but he packs a punch where it counts, and that's what you'll be facing. But what exactly is the point? You might as well know now that you won't get an extra scene once you've beaten him; it cuts right back to the airship. The characters standing around don't even say anything different; it's like he never existed. The spoils of battle will basically be Dark Matters, Master Spheres and (hopefully) an armour with Ribbon. But by the time you fight Penance you'll have already beaten all the bosses who you'll need Ribbon for, and you won't need Master Spheres because you'll be maxed out. And one more point; my game clock stood at 150 hours 42 minutes after I'd beaten him. And you thought it took ages to level up to fight Ruby and Emerald Weapon in FFVII? Start thinking bigger. So what's the point? Well as far as I'm concerned; the point of beating him is because he's there to be beaten. I've beaten every adversary that Final Fantasy has ever faced me with, I've never come up against anything that could best me. And when I came across this bruiser, there was no way I was going to stand defeated. Defeat Penance and you can truly call yourself the Final Fantasy King/Queen. There's no doubt that Penance is the toughest superboss ever, and that's not just because he can do more damage either. Just because FFVIII's Omega Weapon couldn't do more than 9,999 damage didn't make him a pushover. Judging by the 18 months I've spent trying to beat Penance, he is proportionally the toughest superboss; even if you scaled him down he'd still be the toughest. What I'm saying is that Penance is there for those of you who consider yourself Final Fantasy champions, for those of you that can't leave a superboss untouched. He is the ultimate challenge. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1.2 What's In This FAQ? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This FAQ may appear to be quite large for just a single boss, but personally I get annoyed with in-depth guides that say: "Right you've got to do this- other guides on this site will tell you how. Ok now that you've done it.." And you have to go off & search for another FAQ which will be out of sync because it's not related to your actual goal, you have to print bits off here there & everywhere, etc. The aim of this FAQ is to walk you through a Penance centred game, i.e. you start a new file with the objective of beating Penance from the beginning. So for example when I tell you to get the Celestial Weapons, I won't just tell you- I'll tell you exactly how, so hopefully you'll only need this one guide for the whole time. I'm not in any way trying to be derrogatory to other people who have written detailed guides on other parts of the game; I'm sure they are far better than mine will be, but I'm eager for this walkthrough to be comprehensive and a convenient reference for everything that relates to beating Penance. What's NOT in this guide is a basic walkthrough for the game. This guide is aimed at players who have played the game at least twice before and are competent with it's mechanics; the battle system, customising etc. However if there is something that you're having a problem with, feel free to email me. I'm a new FAQ writer so I haven't got tired & irritated with constant emails yet. ------------ 2.0 General ------------ Specific focus on Penance will not start until you have reached the final Save Sphere in the game, so relax and enjoy it until then. However these are just a few things you MUST do during the game in order to beat Penance. I've divided the game into sections and detailed what you need to do in each. This is not a complete walkthrough- you shouldn't need one- it only mentions the tasks related to Penance. But first, here are several things you should bear in mind generally throughout the course of the game: - It does not matter which Sphere Grid you use. - If you're not hot on levelling up, then concentrate on Tidus, Wakka & Rikku. I must stress that THESE ARE THE ONLY CHARACTERS YOU WILL BE USING TO FIGHT PENANCE. If you don't usually bother giving all your characters a turn each battle & so on, always give these three priority. - From now on, for conveneience I'll be referring to these three characters as TWR, whenever I'm talking about them collectively. - Leave Blitzball well alone until stated otherwise. You want all players free for when you start blitzing properly. - Having said this; make sure you get the Jecht Shot on board the SS Winno, if you want to have any chance at Blitzball. Just keep resetting until you have. - Teach Kimahri Steal at the earliest opportunity. He must be able to use it before you fight Biran and Yenke. - Don't attempt any parts of this guide except 2.0 until you have reached the Save Sphere named Sin- Tower of the Dead. Once you are here your full range of options within the game are available. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2.1 Whilst You Are Playing The Game ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Here are the tasks you need to complete in each section of the game, few of them are essential; they just concern getting items that will make your life easier later. ************* 2.1.1 Besaid ************* Nothing vital here, just proceed with the story. ***************** 2.1.2 S. S. Liki ***************** Head to the back of the boat and down the stairs. You'll find a merchant named O'aka here. Talk to him and eventually you'll get the option of giving him some Gil. Think of this as an investment and do so whenever you find him in any other location. You don't have to give him vast amounts- 100 Gil is fine. This ensures that his brother Wantz will sell you the essential four slot armour later in the game. ************* 2.1.3 Kilika ************* Nothing vital here. ****************** 2.1.4 S. S. Winno ****************** O'aka will be in the same place that he was on the S. S. Liki. Lend him some Gil again. Once night falls, save your game (very important) and go up on deck. Approach the blitzball and follow the instructions in order to obtain the Jecht Shot. If you can't get it the first time, reset and try again. It is imperative that you get this, otherwise you're unlikely to have any success with blitzball. *********************** 2.1.5 Mi'ihen Highroad *********************** As you travel up the Highroad look out for a chest containing a Lv.1 Key Sphere in the screen before the Agency. Also, talk to the person standing in front of the counter in the Agency to obtain a second one. Finally; hire a Chocobo and ride it down the Oldroad, examining the two chocobo feathers you find. The second one (final screen of the Oldroad on the right hand side in a little niche) will lead you to a Fortune Sphere which will be useful at a much later point. ************* 2.1.6 Djose ************* Nothing important here. ********************* 2.1.7 Thunder Plains ********************* In order to make fiends named Quactuars appear here, you must activate at least one Quactuar stone. Activating two will make them appear in groups of two and activating three will make them appear in groups of three. Considering that you'll be wanting to capture five at at later point, activating three stones will save time later. To activate a stone, stand in front of it until it starts glowing, then press Square. Tidus will perform the prayer and the stone will glow. 1st Stone: Hug the left wall as soon as you enter the Plains and you'll come to it. 2nd Stone: Cross over to the right after the first stone and hug the right wall. The second stone is in a niche which is obvious on your map. 3rd Stone: Hug the left wall in the North section of the Plains. **************** 2.1.8 Macalania **************** Several treasures to be had here; all in the latter half of Macalania; i.e. beyond the woods. There is a Lv1 Key Sphere in the screen with a Save Sphere. Run forward and take the right-hand path over the crevasse to find it. However it only appears after the battle against Crawler. It's not necessary to get Anima for a Penance orientated game, but it is worth getting the Destruction Sphere treasure in Macalania- a Luck Sphere- since they are few and far between. Here's how to get it: - Your aim is to rebuild the ice bridge. - Go down the ramp and push the pedastal into the ice formation on the right. - Remove the Macalania Sphere from the right-hand wall. - Insert it into the pedastal and then push it into the remaining ice formation. - Remove the Glypth Sphere from the central pillar and follow the pedastal down the ramp. - Push the pedastal to the right to re-form one section of the ice bridge. - Go back up the ramp and head to the left. Insert the Glyph Sphere into the recess you find. This will cause a block containing a Macalania Sphere to rise from the floor. - Remove the Macalaniia Sphere you just made appear and insert it into the central pillar on the lower level (down the ramp). This will re-make another section of the bridge. - Go back up the ramp and remove the Macalania Sphere from the top of it. Insert this into the pillar on this level that you got the Glyph Sphere from. This fully restores the bridge and makes a pedastal teleporter switch appear at the top of the ramp you originally came down. - Go back to the central pillar (where you got the Glyph Sphere from), and remove the Macalania Sphere. Go to the right and insert it into the wall. - Now go up to the top level and step on the glowing switch. This will make the pedastal appear beside you. Take out the Macalania Sphere then push it down the ramp. - The pedastal will crash to a halt in a pillar with ice, and will now contain the Destruction Sphere. - Walk down and insert the Macalania Sphere into the recess by the other ramp. - Find the glowing switch on the level you are currently on (bottom left of the screen) to get the pedastal. - Remove the Destruction Sphere and push the pedastal onto the lower levels, using the ice formations like you did before. - Follow it down & insert the Destruction Sphere into the recess to the left of the bottom of the ramp. - Take the Luck Sphere from the chest that appears. - Go back up to the middle level and take the Macalania Sphere from the right hand wall. Then go back down and insert it into the pedastal. Push the pedastal into the pillar on the right again. - Go back up & remove the Macalania Sphere from the recess next to the ramp and insert it into the central pillar. - The bridge will be fully restored again and you can escape. DON'T step on the glowing switch again or you will destroy it. When you've sunk to the bottom of the lake you'll find a Lv 2 Key Sphere in the corner of the area where Kimahri is guarding Yuna. ************** 2.1.9 Bikanel ************** The order of screens from where Tidus starts in Bikanel is Oasis, East, Central, West. In Sanubia Desert- Central, head in a North-West direction and you will come to a Save Point. Head to the left into a large dell where stronger fiends lurk. You'll find a pair of chest in the middle among the ruins, one of which contains a Lv 2 Key Sphere. There is also an extremely important item here. Hug the left wall of Sanubia Desert- West. In the first niche that you come to is a chest containing the Mercury Crest, a vital item for activating Rikku's Celestial Weapon. I also mention this later but you might as well get it while you're here. In the Al Bhed Home, take the left hand passage just before the second save point. After the scene, explore the edges of the room to find a Lv 2 Key Sphere & a Lv 4 Key Sphere. *************** 2.1.10 Bevelle *************** Nothing special here, apart from the fact that the Highbridge is an excellent place to level up. The robot fiends give great EXP and you have O'aka & a Save Point for all your healing needs. Don't miss this oportunity to power up TWR. ****************** 2.1.11 Calm Lands ****************** There's a Lv 2 Key Sphere on the hill just behind the Travel Agency. If you feel strong enough to fight without any enhancing abilities on your weapons, visit the Monster Arena to buy Capture weapons. You may as well get ahead on your capturing. ********************************** 2.1.12 Cavern of the Stolen Fayth ********************************** Take the downward path to the right of the bridge as you exit the Calm Lands to reach this area. At the end of the third right hand turn you reach, there is a Lv 2 Key Sphere. At the second four-way junction go straight across to find a Fortune Sphere. ******************* 2.1.13 Mt. Gagazet ******************* There's a great opportunity to get Lv 3 Key Spheres here; Biran & Yenke Ronso will yield two or three per steal (I mentioned that you should have Kimahri learn Steal by this point). Try stealing at least six or eight times from both of them. In the third screen of the Mountain Trail there's a tiny twisting path just after you enter, at the end of which is a Lv 4 Key Sphere. After completing the first Trial of Gagazet (Wakka & the ball) you'll see a chest containing a Lv 1 Key Sphere. Similarly, after the second Trial (swimming through the different coloured holes) you'll see a chest containing a Fortune Sphere. ***************** 2.1.14 Zanarkand ***************** A little way along the path, to the left, is a Fortune Sphere. After seeing the vision of Seymour you'll cross a narrow bridge. If you look carefully there is a small ramp leading downwards from it, at the end of which is a Lv 3 Key Sphere. In the screen after the vision of Seymour there is a Luck Sphere on the right. VERY VERY IMPORTANT- Immediately after fighting Yunalesca, take the downward staircase at the top of the screen. You will emerge on the left hand side of the same screen. A chest will have appeared at the "top" of the staircase containing the Sun Crest. You MUST get this now otherwise you'll have to fight your way through Dark Bahamut. ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2.2 Before You Start... ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Be prepared for a lot of this to be very boring and tedious. Covering the Sphere Grid & maxing your stats mean doing a lot of the same thing, so you'll need something that helps you grit your teeth and carry on. My personal method is to switch the sound off and stick on an audiobook- it gives you something interesting to concentrate on, whilst your subconscious reflexes are doing the work for you. Otherwise you could put on some of your own music, & I even know someone who reads- book in one hand & controller in the other. Just find something. Turbo controllers are a no. All your serious levelling up will be in the Monster Arena & will need to be done manually unless you want to be permanently fighting a Dingo from Besaid. I've listed the tasks in what I believe to be the optimum order, and this should be followed as accurately as possible. However it is a bit of a strain on any person's sanity to play all the Blitzball you need to in one go, so its perfectly alright to intersperse this with covering the Sphere Grid. You should have done it all by the time you start maxing your stats though. Try to avoid using special items that appear in the "Use" menu; most are infinitely more useful for customising- in some cases they are essential. The only example I can think of offhand that are ok to use are Al Bhed Potions, and also Shadow Gems for enemies you are finding difficult to capture. Hoard Lv.1/Lv.2 Key Spheres since you will eventually need a combined total of 99. Don't get disheartened. It really doesn't take as long as it looks to do all this! ----------------------------- 3.0 Monster Arena Creations ----------------------------- The Monster Arena is central to your strategy; you can find it through an opening on the right hand side of the Calm Lands. The Airship doesn't list it as a destination but you can get to it easily by selecting the Calm Lands, running south, talking to the Chocobo woman & riding a chocobo over, but you need to be able to ride one: When you first arrive at the Calm Lands, head up to the North-West ridge (careful of those Malboros), where you'll find a woman on a Chocobo. Talk to her and say that you want to train one. She'll then lead you to the training ground where you'll have to complete four challenges. To ride a Chocobo whenever you want to you'll only have to complete the first challenge, but you'll need to complete all four before you can get Tidus's Celestial Weapon and Sigil, so you might as well do it now. 1. Wobbly Chocobo "Simply" guide the chocobo over the finish line within the time limit. Actually it's not simple at all since the chocobo is very disobedient. Teach it some discipline & just yank it sharply every time it veers to the side. 2. Dodger Chocobo Your chocobo will now behave, but you'll have to dodge balls that are hurled down the track at you. Chocobos are not built to dodge swiftly so the best tactic to adopt is a gradual weaving motion. The balls go straight so start moving to one side or the other as soon as one comes into sight and you should be ok. 3. Hyper Dodger Chocobo Same as before except you are now also divebombed by some birds. Again- weave; don't rely on quick manouvres. 4. Catcher Chocobo This is a race between you & the trainer, but the winner is not merely determined by who crosses the finish line first. Balloons are distributed along the track and, as in the previous challenge, birds will fly at you. Popping a balloon (by running into it) will take three seconds off your time, and getting hit by a bird will add three seconds, as well as delaying you by about 1.5 seconds. At the end your time & the trainer's will be calculated and the one with the lowest total wins. As before: slow weaving not quick dodging. Also; the chocobo runs by itself without holding forward so leave it alone. Sometimes holding forward can affect your direction. When weaving, TAP left & right rather than holding them down- this is really the key to mastering this. The challenge does get easier with practice, and you'll be getting a lot of that. Now that you can ride a chocobo whenever you want; you'll find the woman standing just South of the Travel Agency. Before the arena will open the owner wants you to catch one example of every monster in the Calm Lands. Buy the special Capture weapons for TWR, and get out there & do it. These are what you're looking for & where to find them. The monster listed in brackets is the one that this particular fiend will contribute to breeding in the Species Conquest. You'll eventually need to capture the number listed in the brackets so you might as well do it now. Skoll: Very common- they're everywhere. *(Fenrir - Capture 3) Nebiros: Common *(Hornet - Capture 4) Flame Flan: Common *(Jumbo Flan - Capture 3) Shred: Uncommon. I found the most just by the entrance to the Monster Arena. *(Tanket - Capture 3) Anacondaur: Uncommon, but not too difficult to find. Try around the centre. Ogre: Uncommon. Best place is the hill behind the Travel Agency. Couerl: Rare. North-West area. Chimera Brain: Rare. North- West area. Malboro: Rare. North-West area. Once that's done the Arena will open for business. The chest containing Yuna's Celestial Weapon will also appear, but that's not directly related to Penance so I won't cover it here. The basic concept of the arena is this: you capture monsters with special weapons; any monsters you capture will be available for you to fight (for a fee) at the Arena, arranged into location headings. Fulfilling certain criteria will breed new more powerful enemies (all bosses), that will be listed under the Area Conquest, Species Conquest and Original headings. You can also fight these for a fee. You may fight any monster in the arena- including ones you have bred- as many times as you like, providing you pay each time. You will receive a reward every time you breed a new monster, as well as the Mars Sigil when you have bred a combined total of ten monsters in the Area & Species Conquests, but this isn't important as it relates to Auron. Some of the prizes are once-in-a-game opportunities so you MUST leave them strictly alone until the guide tells you to use them, unless otherwise stated. Refer to the summary table further on if you want to check exactly which items you can/cannot use. Oh and one last thing: captured monsters are extremely useful because they are there for you to fight whenever you want and you don't have to roam areas for ages looking for them. If at any point in this FAQ I tell you to go and get something from a certain monster go and fight it at the Arena if you can. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3.1. Monsters You Will Need To Breed +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For this section, I could just state that you need to capture five of each fiend (except Iron Men & Geminis, of which you need to capture ten each), which will breed all the monsters you need. However, it's better to leave breeding Vorban (Area Conquest - Omega Dungeon), Bomb King (Species Conquest) and Ultima Buster (Original - five of every fiend) until you are covering the Sphere Grid, since capturing the necessary fiends is a useful way of replenishing your Spheres until you are powerful enough to defeat Kottos easily. Below I've set out the necessary monsters in their correct sections together with what you need to capture to breed them. Note: It is an extremely good idea to either keep a list on paper of your monster totals, or frequently check them at the arena. At the end of the Monster Arena section is a summary table which you can print off and fill in. ******************** 3.1.1 Area Conquest ******************** Monsters in this section are bred when you capture one of each monster from a certain area. Capturing more of certain fiends will also result in monsters being bred for the Species Conquest. When this applies, I've listed in brackets which Species Conquest creation this fiend will contribute to, and how many you'll need to capture to breed it. Completing some of the Species Conquest at the same time as the Area Conquest will save you time, but isn't compulsory. You need to breed the following: KOTTOS Capture one of every monster from Mi'ihen Highroad. Specifically: Mi'ihen Fang [New Road] *(Fenrir - Capture 3) Ipiria [Old Road] Floating Eye [New Road] *(One-Eye - Capture 4) White Element [New Road] Raldo [New Road] *(Tanket - Capture 3) Vouivre [Old Road] *(Fafnir - Capture 4) Bomb [New Road] *(Bomb King - Capture 5) Dual Horn [New Road] *(Juggernaut - Capture 5) You'll also find Thunder Flans here, but they are listed under Mushroom Rock Road. Reward: 99 Soul Springs (may use). Reason for Breeding: At later stages Kottos is very useful for replenishing your Sphere supply. COUERLREGINA Capture one of every monster on Mushroom Rock Road. Save before you go there, in case you run into the Dark Magus Sisters. Just try and sidle past the woman and the boy in the middle of the road. You will need to capture: Raptor Gandarewa Thunder Flan *(Jumbo Flan - Capture 3) Red Element Lamashtu *(Fafnir - Capture 4) Funguar Garuda- you are most likely to find one of these round the Save Sphere at the Command Centre, so be prepared for a trek. Reward: 99 Candles of Life (may use). Reason for Breeding: An optional way of gathering Dark Matter. CACTUAR KING Capture one of every monster on the Thunder Plains. Do this in the South to avoid Dark Ixion. You'll need: Melusine Aerouge Buer *(One-Eye - Capture 4) Gold Element Kusariqqu *(Fafnir - Capture 4) Larva Iron Giant- you'll have to creep into the North for these, but don't go far. *(Ironclad - Capture 10) Quactuar Reward: 99 Chocobo Wings (do not use). Reason for Breeding: The Chocobo Wings are vital for customising Auto-Haste. DON TONBERRY Capture one of every monster in the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. Yowie Imp Dark Element Nidhogg [also on Mt. Gagazet] *(Fafnir - Capture 4) Thorn Valaha- these can sometimes be awkward; try the far North chamber, BUT: when you want to leave use the teleporter, otherwise you'll be trapped by Dark Yojimbo. *(Juggernaut - Capture 5) Epaaj- you'll find more of these just outside the entrance, near the save point. Ghost Tonberry- very rare; don't bother looking anywhere except the far North chamber and around the chest where you found the Lv 2 Key Sphere, and again- teleport out unless you want an abrupt end. Reward: 40 Silver Hourglasses (may use). Reason for Breeding: You will use the Don to cover the Sphere Grid. ABADDON Capture one of every monster from Inside Sin. All fiends appear in both areas, but are mostly common in one and rare in the other. The area listed in square brackets is where you will find that particular fiend more often. If there are no brackets then the fiend populates both areas equally. Exoray [Sea of Sorrow] Wraith [City of Dying Dreams] Gemini *(Ironclad - Capture 10) Gemini - although the two Geminis that appear look the same, they are actually separate fiends, so you will need to capture one/ten of each. *(Ironclad - Capture 10) Demonolith [City of Dying Dreams] Great Malboro [City of Dying Dreams] Barbatos [City of Dying Dreams] Adamantoise Behemoth King Just to clarify- Sea of Sorrow is the bit before Seymour and City of Dying Dreams is the bit after. It can sometimes be easier to find Demonoliths. Great Malboros and Adamantoises in Omega Ruins. Use the Search option in the airship to find it, but be prepared for tough fights. The co-ordinates are X: 69 - 75, Y: 33 - 38. Reward: 99 Lunar Curtains (do not use). Rrason for Breeding: The Lunar Curtains are vital for customising Auto-Shell. *********************** 3.1.2 Species Conquest *********************** To breed monsters in this section you will need to capture monsters that are all of a similar type. For example the eyeballs or the flans. Once done you'll get a super version of that particular species. If you've followed my advice above you should have already bred a good many of these: FENRIR Fenrir is one of the dog species- the ones that Tidus is best at killing. You'll need THREE of each of the following. You should have already captured those from Mi'ihen Highroad and the Calm Lands. Dingo (Besaid) Mi-ihen Fang (Mi'ihen Highroad- New Road) Garm (Djose Road) Snow Wolf (Macalania- Outside Travel Agency) Sand Wolf (Bikanel) Skoll (Calm Lands) Bandersnatch (Mt. Gagazet- Mountain Path) Reward: 99 Chocobo Feathers (do not use). Reason for Breeding: Used for maxing Agility, and you may be using the Chocobo Feathers for a while when you're covering the Sphere Grid. PTERYX Pteryx is a bird- the small kind that are Wakka's speciality. You'll need FOUR of each of the following. Condor (Besaid) Simurgh (Djose Road- near the place where you found the Al Bhed Primer; will take a while to encounter) Alcyone (Bikanel) Reward: 99 Mega Phoenixes (do not use). Reason for Breeding: Used for maxing Evasion and the Mega Phoenixes are vital for customising Auto-Phoenix. HORNET Hornet is, surprisingly, one of those flying insects. You'll need FOUR of each of the following. You should have already captured the ones from the Calm Lands. Killer Bee (Kilika) Bite Bug (Djose Road) Wasp (Nacalania- Woods) Nebiros (Calm Lands) Reward: 60 Mana Tonics (may use). Reason for Breeding: Used for maxing Accuracy. ONE-EYE The ultimate eyeball. You'll need FOUR of each of the following. You should have already captured those from Mi'ihen Highroad. Floating Eye (Mi'ihen Highroad- New Road) Buer (Thunder Plains) Evil Eye (Macalania- Outside Travel Agency) Ahriman (Mt. Gagazet- Cave) Floating Death (Omega Dungeon) Reward: 60 Stamina Tablets (may use). Reason for Breeding: Used for maxing Magic Defence & for gaining weapons for covering the Sphere Grid. JUMBO FLAN Exactly what the name implies- a gigantic wobbly flan type. You'll need THREE of each of the following. You should have already captured those from Mushroom Rock Road and the Calm Lands. Water Flan (Besaid) Thunder Flan (Mushroom Rock Road) Snow Flan (Djose Road) Ice Flan (Macalania- Outside Travel Agency) Flame Flan (Calm Lands) Dark Flan (Mt. Gagazet- Cave)- it may be easier to find these in the first area of Zanarkand that you get random encounters in. Reward: 60 Twin Stars (may use). Reason for Breeding: Used for maxing Magic. TANKET One of those shelled creatures that you need Piercing for. You'll need THREE of each of the following. You should have already captured those from Mi'ihen Highroad and the Calm Lands. Raldo (Mi'ihen Highroad- New Road) Bunyip (Djose Road) Murussu (Macalania- Woods) Mafdet (Macalania- Outside Travel Agency) Shred (Calm Lands) Halma (Omega Ruins) Reward: 99 Golden Hourglasses (may use). Reason for Breeding: Used for maxing Defence. FAFNIR A souped up version of the armoured dragon-like creature. You'll need FOUR of each of the following. You should have already captured those from Mi'ihen Highroad, Mushroom Rock Road and Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. Vouivre (Mi'ihen Highroad- Old Road) Lamashtu (Mushroom Rock Road) Kusariqqu (Thunder Plains) Mushussu (Bikanel) Nidhogg (Cavern of the Stolen Fayth) Reward: 99 Purifying Salts (do not use). Reason for Breeding: Fafnir is useful for gaining extra Light Curtains for Auto-Protect and you may be using the Purifying Salts against Penance, as well as possibly using them to customise No Encounters. BOMB KING Need I explain? You'll need FIVE of each of the following. You should have already captured the basic Bombs, but it would be wise to leave off breeding the King until you're much stronger, otherwise you'll find it exceptionally difficult to capture Puroboroses (Purobori?!). I started capturing them once Wakka's Strength reaches 85. Don't forget you should only start gathering the necessary fiends if you're low on Spheres. Bomb (Mi'ihen Highroad- New Road) Grenade (Mt. Gagazet- Mountain Path) Puroburos (Omega Ruins) Reward: 60 Turbo Ethers (do not use). Reason for Breeding: You'll be using the Turbo Ethers against the Dark Aeons. JUGGERNAUT I'm not sure how you describe the species, but you'll recognise it. You'll need FIVE of each of the following. You should have already captures those from Mi'ihen Highroad and Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. Dual Horn (Mi'ihen Highroad- New Road) Valaha (Cavern of the Stolen Fayth) Grendel (Mt. Gagazet- Cave) Reward: 99 Light Curtains (do not use). Reason for Breeding: The Light Curtains are for customising Auto-Protect. Also Juggernaut is used for maxing Strength. IRONCLAD A formidable Iron Giant/Man. You'll need TEN of each of the following, although you should already have them all: Iron Giant (Thunder Plains- North) Gemini (Inside Sin) Gemini (Inside Sin) Remember you'll need one of EACH type of Gemini. Reward: 60 Mana Tablets (may use). Reason for Breeding: Used for maxing HP. *************** 3.1.3 Original *************** These monsters are more powerful than previous ones, and have varying criteria. You'll have inadvertently bred many of them already. EARTH EATER You'll need to have bred two monsters in the Area Conquest in order to breed Earth Eater; you've already done this. Reward: 60 Three Stars (may use). Reason for Breeding: Used for raising Luck. GREATER SPHERE Breed two monsters in the Species Conquest. Again; you've done it. Reward: 60 Supreme Gems (may use). Reason for Breeding: Used for raising Luck. CATASTROPHE Breed six monsters in the Area Conquest. Done. Reward: 99 Doors to Tomorrow (do not use). Reason for Breeding: The Doors to Tomorrow will be used in customising Overdrive --> AP. NESLUG Here comes the tedious bit. To breed Neslug you'll have to capture one of EVERY SINGLE monster in the world. Below are the lists for the areas not yet covered, although you should have gained many through the Species Conquest - check your table: Besaid: Dingo Condor Water Flan Kilika: Dinonix Killer Bee Yellow Element Ragora Djose Road: Garm Simirgh (Quite rare- try round where you found the Al Bhed primer) Bite Bug Snow Flan Bunyip Basilisk Ochu (Road to Moonflow only) Macalania: Snow Wolf (Outside Travel Agency) Iguion (Woods) Wasp (Woods) Evil Eye (Outside Travel Agency) Ice Flan (Outside Travel Agency) Blue Element (Woods) Murussu (Woods) Mafdet (Outside Travel Agency) Xiphos (Woods) Chimera (Woods) Bikanel: Sand Wolf Alcyone Mushussu Zu (In the area full of ruins next to Sanubia Desert- Central) Sand Worm (As above) Cactuar (Rare until you open the Valley of the Cactuars- see section on Rikku's Celestial Weapon. It's perfectly ok to leave off capturing Cactuars until you've done this). Cactuars will be hard to capture because they are so hard to hit, and run away most of the time. However, it's not impossible. The best way to capture them is to start the Valley of the Cactuars sidequest. This way the risk of them running away is eliminated. Refer to section 4.4 and capture the first five Cactuars listed, using Aim on Wakka, who's the only one with any chance of hitting them at the moment. Beforehand, have Rikku use a couple of Shadow Gems so that Wakka's first hit will capture the Cactuar. Mt. Gagazet: Bandersnatch (Mountain Path) Ahriman (Cave) Dark Flan (Cave) Grenade (Mountain Path) Grendel (Cave) Bashura (Mountain Path) Mandragora (Cave) Behemoth (Cave) Splasher (Cave- Water) Achelous (Cave- Water) Maelspike (Cave- Water) Omega Ruins (co-ordinates: X: 69-75, Y: 33-38): You'll find all these monsters right near the Save Sphere, so stay there. But again; you may want to leave it until when covering the Sphere Grid. Zaurus Floating Death Black Element Halma Puroburos Spirit Machea Master Couerl Master Tonberry (don't give up- they are there somewhere) Varuna Reward (for breeding Neslug): 99 Winning Formulas (do not use). Reason for Breeding: The Winning Formulas are used for customising Triple Overdrive. You'll also receive rewards for the extra creatures you've bred in the Area Conquest, all of which you can use: 99 Poison Fangs 99 Petrify Grenades 60 Shining Gems 99 Shadow Gems Blossom Crown 60 Designer Wallets ULTIMA BUSTER Capture FIVE of every monster in the world. Off you go. Best to leave until when covering the Sphere Grid. Reward: 99 Dark Matter (do not use). Reason for Breeding: The Dark Matter is used to customise Ribbon. SHINRYU Capture TWO of each of the underwater monsters in Mt. Gagazet's cave. These are: Splasher Achelous Maelspike Reward: 30 Megalixirs (do not use). Reason for Breeding: Shinryu drops Wings to Discovery, which you'll use for customising Break HP Limit. ***************************************** 3.1.4 Summary Table of Fiends to Capture ***************************************** Print this table off & use it to tally up the fiends you've captured so far, to avoid wasting time running back & forth to the Arena. On the left is the name of the fiend and the number you need to capture to breed the necessary creations for Penance. You'll need to refer to previous parts of the guide for extra notes about each fiend. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | BESAID | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Dingo (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Condor (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Water Flan (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | KILIKA | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Dinonix (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Killer Bee (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Yellow Element (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Ragora (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | MI'IHEN HIGHROAD | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Mi'ihen Fang (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Ipiria (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Floating Eye (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | White Element (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Raldo (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Vouivre (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Bomb (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Dual Horn (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | MUSHROOM ROCK ROAD | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Raptor (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Ganderewa (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Thunder Flan (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Red Element (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Lamashtu (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Funguar (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Garuda (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | DJOSE ROAD | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Garm (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Simurgh (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Bite Bug (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Snow Flan (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Bynyip (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Basilisk (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Ochu (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | THUNDER PLAINS | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Melusine (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Aerouge (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Buer (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Gold Element (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Kusariqqu (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Larva (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Iron Giant (10) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Quactuar (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | MACALANIA | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Snow Wolf (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Iguion (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Wasp (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Evil Eye (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Ice Flan (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Blue Element (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Murussu (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Mafdet (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Xiphos (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Chimera (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | BIKANEL | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Sand Wolf (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Alcyone (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Mushussu (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Zu (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Sand Worm (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Cactuar (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | CALM LANDS | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Skoll (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Nebiros (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Flame Flan (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Shred (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Anacondaur (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Ogre (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Couerl (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Chimera Brain (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Malboro (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | CAVERN OF THE STOLEN FAYTH | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Yowie (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Imp (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Dark Element (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Nidhogg (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Thorn (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Valaha (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Epaaj (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Ghost (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Tonberry (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | MT. GAGAZET | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Bandersnatch (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Ahriman (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Dark Flan (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Grenade (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Grat (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Grendel (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Bashura (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Mandragora (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Behemoth (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Splasher (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Achelous (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Maelspike (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | INSIDE SIN | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Exoray (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Wraith (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Gemini (10) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Gemini (10) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Demonolith (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Great Malboro (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Barbatos (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Adamantoise (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Behemoth King (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ | OMEGA DUNGEON | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Fiend (#) | No. Captured. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Zaurus (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Floating Death (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Black Element (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Halma (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Puroboros (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Spirit (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Machea (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Master Couerl (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Mstr. Tonberry (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Varuna (5) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ***************************** 3.1.5 Summary Table of Items ***************************** Print off this table too, and refer to it whenever you feel like using an item you've gained through the Arena. It will tell you whether the item is needed for Penance- if it is then don't use it until stated in the guide. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Item | Useable? | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Stamina Tonic x 99 | Yes | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Poison Fang x 99 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Soul Spring x 99 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Candle of Life x 99 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Petrify Grenade x 99 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Chocobo Wing x 99 | No. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Shining Gem x 60 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Shadow Gem x 99 | Yes. Pick them up as soon as | | | possible since they will make | | | certain battles easier (Cactuars).| ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Farplane Wind x 60 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Silver Hourglass x 40 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Blossom Crown | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Lunar Curtain x 99 | No. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Designer Wallet x 60 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Chocobo Feather x 99 | No. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Stamina Spring x 99 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Mega Phoenix x 99 | No. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Mana Tonic x 60 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Mana Spring x 99 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Stamina Tablet x 60 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Twin Stars x 60 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Star Curtain x 60 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Golden Hourglass x 99 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Purifying Salt x 99 | No. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Healing Spring x 99 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Turbo Ether x 60 | No. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Light Curtain x 99 | No. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Mana Tablet x 60 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Three Stars x 60 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Supreme Gem x 60 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Door to Tomorrow x 99 | No. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Gamblers Spirit x 99 | Yes. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Winning Formula x 99 | No. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Dark Matter x 99 | No. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | Megalixr x 30 | No. | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------- 4.0 Celestial Weapons ----------------------- For some reason Squaresoft decided to change "Ultimate" Weapons to "Celestial" Weapons, but they are essentially the same thing. None of the tasks involved are related to your prowness in battle, so it makes sense to get them now since you're probably sick of battling for the moment. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 4.1 Activating The Weapons +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To fully activate a Celestial Weapon you will need three things: 1. The Weapon itself, which until activated will only have the "No AP" ability. 2. The Weapon's Crest. Each character has a planet related to them which are reflected in the names of the Crests & Sigils (see next object), for example Rikku's is the Mercury Crest, Lulu's is the Venus Crest & so on. Using a Crest on the right weapon will merely give it the Double Overdrive ability without getting rid of No AP, however you need to use the Crest before you can use the Sigil. 3. The Weapon's Sigil. Again, these have planet names that relate to the characters. They are usually the hardest part of the weapon to obtain. Using them on the weapon will remove No AP and Double Overdrive and replace them with four much better abilities, which vary between characters. Celestial Weapons do what normal weapons with Piercing do, except that Piercing is not listed as an ability. This is what makes them superior to ordinary weapons that have identical abilties customised on them. It's no good using weapons of this kind against Penance; only Celestial ones will suffice. You cannot activate the weapons merely be selecting the Crests/Sigils from the menu- in fact you can't even get the weapons themselves without completing a short sidequest detailed below: Get on your Chocobo and run up the ridge to the South (where you initially entered the Calm Lands) and go right to the Eastern end. Here you will find a chocobo feather on the ground. Examine it and the Chocobo will fly down to a spit of land that you couldn't get to previously. Through here is Remiem Temple where you can do several things but the one we're interested in lies to your left after you have crossed the bridge. Examine the Sphere here for instructions, then mount the Chocobo on the other side. You understand what to do? Open the chests, avoid the rods & get to the middle first. You want to aim to open four chests, but don't expect to do it first time. This is one of the best ways to complete this: When you start off, hug the right hand wall until you get to a chest and let the chocobo jump. Now run up the slope on your right, go right around the rod (like an about turn) and get another chest. The chocobo will jump again and from there go up the slope again except this time carry straight on to get the third chest. From your landing position hug the right wall again to get the fourth chest, then all your concerned with is finishing, but it can be a bit tricky from this position. Run forward and down the slope, straight past the first rod. When you come to the second rod, go right around it (another about turn), then quickly do another about turn round the next rod on your right. When you come to the fork take the left and you're done. If you got all 4 chests you will receive: Cloudy Mirror Elixir Megalixir 30 Wings To Discovery 30 Pendulums. However the catch is that you can only get one prize per race, so you'll have to win a total of five times, getting a different number of chests each time. Spend the first race concentrating on getting to the middle first so that you get the Cloudy Mirror, then use the strategy above, making towards the middle once you have one, two, three or four chests. The Wings to Discovery and Pendulums will be very important later, but right now we're concerned with the Cloudy Mirror. Board the airship and go to Macalania. Go right down to the last area of the Woods (the one that connects to the Thunder Plains) and you'll see a woman and a boy there. Talk to them, then go and find the woman's husband. You'll find him if you head right into the next screen, then right again, then upwards. Basically he's where you camped before going to the Calm Lands. Talk to him then head back to his family. Badger them until they finally notice that their son has run away. Head up the twinkly crystal path to your left (no random battles, yay) and go up the first turnoff. Examine what you find up there and the Cloudy Mirror will turn into the Celestial Mirror. This will be used each time you find a chest with a Celestial Weapon in it. Also, each time you wish to use a Crest or Sigil on a weapon you must do it at this spot. A faster way to get there is to enter the Woods at the North end, then if you look on the map you'll see there are four paths shown. Take the one on the bottom right and you can get to the place from the other side. Now that you have everything necessary to starting gathering the weapons, lets go and do it. You can get them in any order you like; if you want to start off with an easy challenge, get Rikku's first. Alternatively if you want to get the hardest part over and done with, start with Tidus's. ++++++++++ 4.2 Tidus ++++++++++ Weapon: Caladbolg Crest/Sigil: Sun Abilities: Break Damage Limit Triple Overdrive Evade & Counter Magic Counter CALADBOLG: At the very back of the Calm Lands there is a guard blocking access to a downward slope. However he will leave his post every time you win a Catcher Chocobo race, so visit it right after you have done so. You'll find a glyph on the wall; touch it to reveal the chest containing the Caladbolg. SUN CREST: I emphasized earlier on that you should get this right after fighting Yunalesca, so you should already have it. If not, leave this for now and get the other two, then when you are fighting Dark Bahamut use Tidus for healing only. SUN SIGIL: I won't lie to you; this is a nightmare. You have to win a Catcher Chocobo race in under 0.00 seconds. Now it's not impossible; all you have to do is pop enough balloons and avoid birds, but it does demand a bit of skill. However that skill WILL come through practice, so don't give up if you think you're not doing well. I'd estimate that it takes about an hour. Just remember the tips from the previous Chocobo training: don't hold forward, only tap left/right, and do long weaves, not quick dodges. Now take all three to the place in Macalania, if you want to do that now. ++++++++++ 4.3 Wakka ++++++++++ Weapon: World Champion Crest/Sigil: Jupiter Abilities: Break Damage Limit Triple Overdrive Double AP Evade & Counter Getting Wakka's stuff involves getting heavily into Blitzball, which again may seem nightmarish at first, and that all the odds are set against you. However all it takes is some getting used to, and with the right team you will start surviving tackles, blocking passes & scoring goals. The initial game that you first played in Luca really isn't any indication of how difficult Blitzball is- that parricular match is by far the hardest gae you'll ever play. Once you get the right team it becomes much easier. To access the Blitzball menu, select "Play Blizball" when you touch a Save Sphere. You will be given the choice of League, Tournament or Exhibition matches, plus the option to view your players. Never EVER select "Reset Data" since this will eliminate everything you have previously done. After completing a Tournament you can only participate in another one of the Blitzball menu has been opened six times, so just continue opening and closing the menu until the Tournament option becomes available again. To close the menu and return to the Save Sphere location just press Cancel. WORLD CHAMPTION You should start the quest for the Jupiter Sigil before you can get this. Go into Luca Cafe and talk to the person behind the counter. If you have gained at least third place in a League or Tournament (of course you have), they will give you Wakka's weapon. JUPITER CREST Go into the Locker Room at the Blitzball Stadium and you'll find the Jupiter Crest in a locker. JUPITER SIGIL Your precise tasks for the Jupiter Sigil are: 1. Win a Tournament in which the Attacks Reels are offered as first prize. 2. Complete two Leagues and finish the second one in first place, for which you'll earn the Status Reels. 3. Win another Tournament in which the Aurochs Reels are offered as first prize. 4. There is a 50% chance that the Jupiter Sigil will be offered as first prize in the NEXT League season. Hence what you must do is play the first nine matches in the first League (each Leagues has ten matches), save your game, play the last match then check the prizes for the next League. If the Jupiter Sigil isn't there, reset, play the final match again and take another look. Incidentally Step 2 won't trigger unless you have fought at least 250 battles during the course of the game, and Step 3 won't trigger unless you have fought 450. You should have done this by miles but if you find that some Reels aren't being offered, go and fight in Besaid where you can win lots of battles quickly. **************** 4.3.1 Blitzball **************** Before you start playing any matches, you'll need the right people on your team. After signing three players you'll have to start discarding some. The discard option will appear if you try and recruit a new team member when you already have eight others. You won't be using any of the original Besaid team except Tidus & Keepa, so sack anyone else from that team. You can try recruiting someone by pressing Square. Don't try playing any games before recruiting your team, otherwise you run the risk of people you want being recruited by other teams. If you leave Blitzball playing strictly alone until you've recruited everyone you want, you won't have a problem. These are the players you'll need: ==================== 4.3.1.1 The Players ==================== WEDGE Location: Outside the Stadium in Luca (on the higher platform). Make sure you hire Wedge and not Biggs, since they look very similar. TATTS Location: Kilika Port- Docks. Run left from where the airship drops you off and then take the first junction towards the screen. Tatts will be sitting at the end. ROPP: Location: Mi'ihen Highroad Travel Agency (behind the counter). ZALITZ Location: Luca Theatre, sitting on the wall just outside. In addition to Tidus & Keepa this makes a full team, and the only team you'll ever need. This is how they should be set out: Left Forward: Tidus Right Forward: Wedge Midfielder: Tatts Left Defence: Ropp Right Defence: Zalitz Goalkeeper: Keepa It's very important to keep Tidus and Ropp in the Left positions and Wedge and Zalitz in the Right positions, because for some reason the players on the Left side always seem to get more action. Participating in game actions earns the players EXP and Tidus and Ropp are the superior players so you want them more beefed up. Not that Wedge and Zalitz aren't any good: they're brilliant players and will serve you well, but Tidus and Ropp have just that bit extra. ================== 4.3.1.2 The Rules ================== The rules of blitzball as described in the in-game tutorial are hideously complicated, so I'll try and simplify them down here. - Each game is ten minutes long, split into two five minute halves, however each time a confrontation between players takes place the clock will stop, so it's actually nearer 15 minutes. - The object of the game is to score more goals than the other team. Not exactly a difficult concept. - Your team is made up of two forwards (who score goals), a midfielder (who passes the ball to the forwards), two defenders (who stop the other team's forwards from scoring goals), and a goalkeeper (duh). At the start of play, they are arranged like a five on a dice, and the goalkeeper in goal. Before play, when you are asked who you want on your team, the order will be forwards, midfielder, defenders, goalkeeper, hence why you must follow the order listed above. - At the beginning of a half, and after a goal is scored, the ball is thrown upwards and each midfielder has a 50% chance of catching it. - The default Blitzball mode is Auto, which means that you can't control where your characters swim. The only times you can control them are a) when they are confronted by another player b) if you press Square, which will stop them in their tracks and give you a list of possible actions. Both the above apply only to the player that has the ball. It is possible to switch to Manual, where you can use the Analogue Stick to control their direction, but Auto mode is absolutely fine and less hassle to play with, so just leave it as it is. Your players aren't stupid- they'll swim where you want them to go. -Each time you stop or are confronted, you'll get a choice of Pass, Shoot or Dribble. Once you select, the stats and actions relevant to that situation will appear. Any players you are in a conflict with will have their stats displayed under yours. - Every player has stats, just like in battle, and these are used to determine the outcome when two players are pitted against each other. So basically the player who has the higher stat will normally win the conflict. There is a small random factor involved, but if there is at least 3 points difference betwen the two stats, the player with the higher stat can be sure of winning. If you're confronting a player on the opposite team who has a higher stat than you, but only by 1 or 2 points, it's worth taking them on because you might still win. Rather than go through each stat individually, which can be very confusing, I'll go through each situation where stats are compared, and tell you what you need to look at. You can see your stats in the top right hand corner. It might be worth printing off this part to refer to whilst you're actually playing and refer to the relevant situation that you are in. If you don't understand this explanation then refer to the short stat summary at the end. ======================================= 4.3.1.3 The 18 Situations Of Blitzball ======================================= YOU HAVE THE BALL AND YOU WANT TO SHOOT. THERE ARE NO PLAYERS CHALLENGING YOU. In this situation you are concerned with your player's Shooting Accuracy (SH in your screen) and the goalkeeper's Catching (CA). You want your SH to be higher than the goalkeeper's CA to have any chance of scoring a goal. The further you are away from the goal, the bigger the difference between the two stats will need to be, since the SH figure will gradually decrease as the ball travels, due to water resistance. For this reason; try to get as close to the goal as possible before stopping to shoot (remember you can stop by pressing Square). YOU HAVE THE BALL AND YOU WANT TO PASS TO ANOTHER PLAYER. THERE ARE NO PLAYERS CHALLENGING YOU. In this situation the only stat you are concerned with is your player's Passing Accuracy (PA). This will gradually reduce as the ball travels between players (again; water resistance). If the stat is reduced to 0 before it reaches the player you have passed to, that player will fumble the catch and drop the ball. Hence if your PA is low (1-12), don't make long passes from one end of the sphere to the other. If your player's PA is low then make a chain; pass to another player closer to you, who can then pass to the player that you want to have the ball. YOU HAVE THE BALL AND YOU WANT TO PASS TO ANOTHER PLAYER. THERE IS ONE PLAYER CHALLENGING YOU. As soon as any player challenges you, you will get "Break" options. Don't worry about Breaking now, we'll come to that later. This situation describes what will happen if you should select "No Break". The stats you are concerned with here are your player's Passing Accuracy (PA) and the opposing player's Blocking (BL). Once you pass, your opponent will attempt to intercept the ball. As usual; the player with the higher stat will triumph. However, if you take this option your PA must be considerably higher than your opponent's BL. If there is only a slight difference then there is a chance that your opponent will "get a hand" on the ball, which will reduce your PA even though he won't actually get the ball. If you remember from the last situation; your PA is gradually reduced by water resistance anyway, an extra decrease may mean that your PA reaches 0 before the ball gets to the intended player. Hence you must be pretty certain that your PA is high enough to survive this. YOU WANT TO SHOOT. THERE IS ONE PLAYER CHALLENGING YOU. This works in a similar way to the above situation, except you are concerned with your player's SH instead of their PA. The opposing player will attempt to intercept the ball. If he gets a hand on it your SH will be reduced. Bear in mind that as well as water resistance, you also have to still overcome the goalkeeper. YOU WANT TO PASS. THERE IS MORE THAN ONE PLAYER CHALLENGING YOU. Again this is if you select "No Break". Lets say there are two players opposing you. You are still concerned with your player's PA figure and your opponents' BL figures. Since both players are trying to stop you, your PA must be above their TOTAL BL figure. I.e. if one player has a BL figure of 6 and the other has a BL figure of 8, your PA must be higher than 14 (6 + 8). YOU WANT TO SHOOT. THERE IS MORE THAN ONE PLAYER CHALLENGING YOU. Same as above, except this time you are concerned with your SH figure. This must be higher than the total figure made by combining your opponents BL figures AND the goalkeeper's CA figure. YOU HAVE THE BALL AND YOU WANT TO PASS/SHOOT/DRIBBLE. THERE IS ONE PLAYER CHALLENGING YOU. YOU CHOOSE TO BREAK. Now we come to breaking. This starts the same way as the previous four situations, except this time you choose to break. Breaking is essentially the Spiran word for tackling (because bones usually get broken?). If you have the ball, the Break menu comes up and you select "Break to [opposing player's name]", you are essentially agreeing to let them tackle you and try to grab the ball. Why do this? Because if you survive the tackle then there is no-one else in your way to stop you taking whatever action you want (except the goalkeeper if you are shooting). Once a tackle situation is arranged, the stats you are concerned with are your player's Endurance (EN) and the opposing player's Attack (AT). Highest stat will normally win. You will now be free to carry out whatever action you chose. YOU HAVE THE BALL AND YOU WANT TO PASS/SHOOT/DRIBBLE. THERE IS MORE THAN ONE PLAYER CHALLENGING YOU. YOU CHOOSE TO BREAK TO ALL OF THEM. If there is one than one person challenging you, you get a choice of how many you want to break to. For now lets say that you are opposed to three players. The Break menu will look like this: No Break Break to [Player 1] Break to [Player 2] Break to [Player 3] If you wish to only break to one person, you must select ONLY break to Player 1. You can't choose which single player you wish to break to after analyzing their stats. Similarly, if you wish to break to two players, you must select Player 2, and select Player 3 if you wish to break to three. As you can see; breaking is done in the order of the players listed, because that's how they're lined up in front of you. So if Player one has an AT stat of 15 and Players 2 & 3 only have AT stats of 3 and 4, you can't choose to skip Player 1 because he has a higher AT stat; if you only want to break to one person it must be him. Lets assume you wish to break to all three players (allow them all to tackle you). Which stats are we concerned with? Like in single tackles; it's your player's EN and the opposing players' AT. To have any chance your EN figure must be more than the COMBINED AT figures of your opponents. For example if Player 1's AT figures is 5, Player 2's is 8 and Player 3's is 3, you are looking at a total AT figure of 16 (5 + 8 + 3), which your EN figure must beat! YOU HAVE THE BALL AND YOU WANT TO PASS/SHOOT/DRIBBLE. THERE IS MORE THAN ONE PLAYER CHALLENGING YOU. YOU CHOOSE TO BREAK TO SOME BUT NOT ALL. In earlier games it's very unlikely you'll be able to break to three players and still hang on to the ball. So lets say your EN figure is only high enough to break to two players. Your EN figure will be pitted against their combined AT figures. If you get through them, this leaves Player 3 still hanging around (incidentally you can't select Dribble if your path is still blocked). From here, play will be similar to the No Break situations described above. If your are passing, it is your PA figure against Player 3's BL figure. If you are shooting it is your SH figure against the sum of Player 3's BL figure and the goalkeeper's CA figure. YOUR OPPONENT HAS THE BALL AND WANTS TO PASS. THERE ARE NO PLAYER'S CHALLENGING HIM. Now we come to situations where your opponent has the ball. This won't need any of your input. The opponent's PA figure will determine whether the ball reaches his chosen team mate. YOUR OPPONENT HAS THE BALL AND WANTS TO SHOOT. THERE ARE NO PLAYER'S CHALLENGING HIM. The important stats here are the opposing player's SH and YOUR goalkeeper's CA figure. Incidentally, there are two things that can happen if a goalkeeper's CA figure wins. If there is a substantial difference between the two stats, the goalkeeper will catch the ball and throw it to a team mate (but you can't choose who it is). If there is only a slight difference the goalkeeper will knock the ball away from the goal and the nearest player (regardless of the team they are on), will pick it up. YOUR OPPONENT HAS THE BALL AND WANTS TO PASS. ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS IS CHALLENGING HIM. HE CHOSES NOT TO BREAK. In this one your opponent has chosen not to break. He is pitting HIS PA figure against YOUR player's BL figure. This will happen automatically without any input from you, but it's best to understand what's going on. Again, the highest stat will normally win. YOUR OPPONENT HAS THE BALL AND WANTS TO SHOOT. ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS IS CHALLENGING HIM. HE CHOOSES NOT TO BREAK. The important stats here are the opposing player's SH, and the sum of your player's BL and your goalkeeper's CA. Again; no input here. YOUR OPPONENT HAS THE BALL AND WANTS TO PASS, MORE THAN ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS IS CHALLENGING HIM. HE CHOOSES NOT TO BREAK. Opponent's PA against the sum of all your player's BL figures. No input. YOUR OPPONENT HAS THE BALL AND WANTS TO SHOOT. MORE THAN ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS IS CHALLENGING HIM. HE CHOOSES NOT TO BREAK. Opponent's SH against the sum of all your player's BL figures and the goalkeeper's CA. No input. YOUR OPPONENT HAS THE BALL AND WANTS TO PASS/SHOOT/DRIBBLE. ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS IS CHALLENGING HIM. HE CHOOSES TO BREAK. You can have input here, but only if your player has a special tackling tech (we'll cover techs later), otherwise they will do a normal tackle automatically. You should know the drill by now: the opposing player's EN against your player's AT. YOUR OPPONENT HAS THE BALL AND WANTS TO PASS/SHOOT/DRIBBLE. MORE THAN ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS IS CHALLENGING HIM. HE CHOOSES TO BREAK TO ALL OF THEM. Each of your players will either do a special tackle you have selected, or a normal tackle. The opposing player's EN against the sum of your players' AT. YOUR OPPONENT HAS THE BALL AND WANTS TO PASS/SHOOT/DRIBBLE. MORE THAN ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS IS CHALLENGING HIM. HE CHOOSES TO BREAK TO SOME BUT NOT ALL. In the first half of this situation, the opposing player's EN is pitted against the total AT of the ONLY THE PLAYERS THAT ARE TACKLING. If he still has the ball after all the tackles are performed, it is now either his PA figure against the total BL figure of your remaining players, or his SH figure against the total BL figure of your remaining players plus the CA of your goalkeeper. And that concludes the list of all situations you will ever encounter during a Blitzball game. Here's a brief summary all stats, including the ones not specifically mentioned in the above situations: AT: Attack. Determines the strength of tackles. Is always compared to opposing players' EN. BL: Blocking. Determines the likelihood of blocking attempted passes/shots. Is always compared to opposing player's PA (for passing) or SH (for shooting). CA: Catching. Determines the likelihood of blocking goals when playing as goalkeeper. Isd always compared to opposing player's SH. EN: Endurance. Determines the likelihood of keeping the ball after being tackled. Is always compared to opposing player's AT. HP: Hit Points. Are used up when player in possession performs any action. A player cannot perform any actions of their HP is at 0. HP is regenerated when a player is not in possession of the ball. PA: Passing. Determines how far a player can pass the ball and the likelihood of it surviving attempted blocks. Is always compared to opposing player's BL. SH: Shooting. Dtermines the success of attempted shots. Is always compared to opposing goalkeeper's CA and opposing player's BL, if they are present. There is also Speed, which determines how fast a player swims, but there's no need to worry too much about that. ============== 4.3.1.4 Techs ============== Nothing in life is ever simple is it? An added factor in passing, shooting and tackling (and various other aspects), is that players can learn and equip special techniques that can be used in a game. All players come with some techs learnt, but most you will learn during your Blitzball quest. Techs are learnt by marking (observing) players on the other team. Before play you will get a succession of three menus: 1. Selecting Team Members 2. Equipping Techs. 3. Marking Opposing Players. During the third menu, select one of your players, then scroll down the list of opposing players and you can see lists of their equipped techs. Techs highlighted in blue are ones your player can learn. Select the appropriate opposing player and repeat for all the rest of your team. More than one of your players can mark the same opposing player. Using Techs in the game will use up HP, as will normal Passing and Shooting. HP is regenerated whilst the player is not in possession of the ball. During play, if an opposing player that one of your team has marked, uses a tech that your player can learn, the word "TECHCOPY!" will flash in the top left corner. Bash X as soon as you see it and you'll get a message stating whether your player has learnt it or not. Your player will not learn the tech if their level is too low or if you didn't press X at the right moment. I'm not going to list every tech available, but in the next section I'll detail useful techs for each individual player. Also; each player has something called Key Techniques (just to make things difficult)- three of them. Basically learning Key Techs enables players to learn a wider range of techniques. For example; Level 1 Techs can only be learned if that player has learnt one of their Key Techs. They can learn Level 2 Techs if they've learnt two key ones, and so on. The other two kinds of tech are Starting Techs (techs which players have already learnt when you recruit them) and Normal Techs (techs you can learnt without previously learning any of the key ones. I'll detail exactly how to learn each tech that I reccommend for your players. ================== 4.3.1.5 Your Team ================== TIDUS Position: Forward. Tidus is your main goal scorer. ~You should always try to get the ball to him and only try to score with Wedge if he HAPPENS to get the ball. Tidus should have the Jecht Shot, which will be your only way of scoring goals at first. There are two things the Jecht Shot does: 1. Gives a substantial boost to Tidus's SH figure. 2. Removes two defenders without affecting any of Tidus's stats. Because of the last function, you should never break if you are being challenged by only 1 or 2 players. Let the Jecht Shot do it for you. If you're being chalenged by more than 2 players, break until there are only two left in your way. Always try and get as close to the goal as possible before shooting. If Tidus is challenged before he is close enough to the goal, always choose to break to everyone and then dribble. It won't always work, but his EN stat is much higher than his PA stat (which is just plain awful), so take the more hopeful option. Tidus won't need any other shooting techs like Wither Shot or Drain Shot. However the one shooting-related thing that will be useful is Spin Ball. This tech makes the ball spin during a shot, which apparently put the goalkeeper off. There is never a visible change in the goalkeeper's stats, but the tech certainly seems to improve your chances of scoring, so have Tidus mark a player with this as soon as you see someone with it. Tackle Slip is another important tech for Tidus; it grants a chance of the tackling player missing him completely, hence not affecting his EN. This is useful if you're being challenged by four players near the goal. There is also Tackle Slip 2 but I've never seen any player equipped with this so don't hold out much hope. At the beginning of the game, if the opposing team's midfielder gets the ball (happens more often than not), your forwards and midfielder find themselves defending. Since your ultimate goal in any game is to get the ball to Tidus, it helps if he has some strong tackling techniques so he can get the ball early on. I've always favoured Wither Tackles for Tidus, but any tackle that raises his AT is fine. Talking of Wither, it is important for Tidus to learn Anti-Wither (and eventually Anti-Wither 2), since it can be disastrous if his SH is affected. To learn any Anti techniques one of your players must use a relevant Tech on the one equipped with the Anti technique. For example; if the opposing team's midfielder has Anti Wither, try to have Tidus use a Wither Tackle on them. You won't need much for Tidus beyond these techs; especially not passing techs since he should always be receiving passes, not throwing them. Key Techniques: Anti-Venom 2 Drain Tackle 2 Venom Tackle Techniques Tidus Should Learn: Jecht Shot: Starting Tech if you learnt it on board the S.S. Winno. Spin Ball: Level 1 Tech. Tackle Slip: Level 1 Tech. Wither Tackle: Normal Tech. Wither Tackle 2: Level 1 Tech. Wither Tackle 3: Level 3 Tech. Anti- Wither: Normal Tech. Anti-Wither 2: Level 2 Tech. WEDGE Position: Forward Although Tidus is the better forward, Wedge is still pretty good, so if he happens to get the ball, have him try to shoot rather than passing to Tidus. Give him lots of status related Shot techniques, so even if he doesn't score (although he quite often will) he can inflict the goalkeeper with something, to clear the way for Tidus. Wedge also starts off with quite a good AT stat, so exploit this with tackling Techs. After all, it's better for you to gain possession at the end nearest the opposing goal, rather than letting an opposing player get near your goal before getting the ball. And again; Tackle Slip is always good for a forward. Finally; you should allot him one passing tech, which will up his PA enough to take advantage of the passing trick described at the end of this section. Key Techniques: Anti-Venom 2 Nap Tackle Wither Tackle Techniques Wedge Shoulld Learn: Venom Shot: Starting Tech. Venom Shot 2: Normal Tech, Venom Shot 3: Level 2 Tech. Wither Shot: Starting Tech. Wither Shot 2: Normal Tech. Wither Shot 3: Level 3 Tech. Nap Shot: Normal Tech. Nap Shot 2: Level 1 Tech. Nap Shot 3: Level 3 Tech. Venom Tackle: Normal Tech. Venom Tackle 2: Level 2 Tech. Wither Tackle: Level 1 Tech. Wither Tackle 2: Level 3 Tech. Nap Tackle: Normal Tech. Tackle Slip: Normal Tech. TATTS Position: Midfielder Tatts is perhaps the most integral player on your team, apart from Tidus. If he catches the ball first after it is released (unfortunately this is based entirely on luck so don't count on it) and passes it immediately to Tidus, half your work is already done. Even if he doesn't, he will almost always be the player that is responsible for getting the ball to Tidus, because the defenders PA isn't nearly enough to get the ball to him from where they are, so they pass to Tatts who is capable of making long passes right across the sphere. Tatts's EN is ok, but not brilliant, but after you've played a league his PA should rocket, meaning that it is usually better not to break, but to pit his PA against the opposing player's BL. Because of this, his most important techs are passing techs. The ultimate one you should aim to get him is Nap Pass 3, which can sometimes put two or three players to sleep. Otherwise, try to get him Anti Wither, because again it's disaster if his PA is affected. One or two tackling techs would be nice, since he is often involved in tackles at both ends of the sphere, but always favour Passing techs. Another vital tech for Tatts is Golden Arm, which halves the water resistance on the ball whenever he passes (or shoots, but he won't be doing that). This makes him capable of passing to practically anyone anywhere in the sphere. Key Techniques: Nap Tackle Nap Tackle 2 Venom Tackle Summary: Golden Arm: Starting Tech. Nap Pass: Starting Tech. Nap Pass 2: Normal Tech. Nap Pass 3: Normal Tech. Wither Pass: Level 3 Tech. Wither Pass 2: Level 3 Tech. Wither Pass 3: Level 3 Tech. Venom Pass: Normal Tech. Venom Pass 2: Level 2 Tech. Venom Pass 3: Level 3 Tech. Nap Tackle: Normal Tech. Nap Tackle 2: Level 2 Tech. Nap Tackle 3: Level 2 Tech. Venom Tackle: Level 1 Tech. Venom Tackle 2: Level 2 Tech. Venom Tackle 3: Level 3 Tech. Drain Tackle: Starting Tech. Drain Tackle 2: Normal Tech. Drain Tackle 3: Level 3 Tech. ZALITZ Position: Defender A problem with defenders can be that if your forwards and midfielders are good, there will never be any action for your defenders to take part in, meaning they won't get much EXP. So if occasionally an opposing forward does get to your defenders, they won't be a match for them. A way to reduce this is to use the passing trick outlined later - don't forget to use it. This way Zalitz will get at least a little EXP. Obviouslty being a defender his most important techs are tackles; pile him up with them. He'll also need some pass techs since often once he gets the ball from a tackle, he'll be challenged as soon as he tries to pass to Tatts. His EN isn't brilliant at first, so load up his PA with passing techs- Venom is by far the best to go for with both tackles and passes, since it will stop the opposing forwards using shooting techs. Specific defending Techs that he should learn are Elite Defence and Brawler, both of which enable him to take part in more tackles. Key Techniques: Anti-Venom Tackle Slip Venom Pass Summary: Venom Tackle: Normal Tech. Venom Tackle 2: Normal Tech. Venom Tackle 3: Normal Tech. Venom Pass: Level 1 Tech. Venom Pass 2: Level 3 Tech. Elite Defence: Starting Tech. Brawler: Level 1 Tech. ROPP Position: Defender Ropp, given a short period of time, will be an absolute powerhouse, but again- remember to get him EXP by using the passing trick. You want to pile Ropp up with tackling Techs, so that he will almost always get the ball. Also try to get him Tackle Slip for when he gets confronted. His EN is pretty good, but it's worth giving it that extra boost. Also, Elite Defence and Brawler since he's a defender. You'll want him here there & everywhere because he's so good. Favour Wither type tackles for Ropp, since Zalitz specialises in Venom. Ropp is superior to Zalitz so is unlikely to need passing techs. Also; Ropp starts with Drain Tackles, so use those until you get some more powerful Wither ones. Key Techniques: Anti-Venom 2 Nap Tackle Venom Pass 3 Summary: Wither Tackle: Starting Tech. Wither Tackle 2: Normal Tech. Wither Tackle 3: Level 1 Tech. Elite Defence: Normal Tech. Brawler: Starting Tech. Tackle Slip: Normal Tech. KEEPA Position: Goalkeeper. Many people try to get the Al Bhed Psyches goalkeeper on their team, but I've found that Keepa is a pretty good goalkeeper himself. He's never let in any goals unless the odds were hopelesly against him, which isn't often. There are relatively few techs he needs to learn. He'll need the two special goal techs: Super Goalie and Grip Gloves, but you should learn these pretty quickly from other goalkeepers. Otherwise, he should learn all the Anti techniques, to prevent him being affected by shooting techs with status effects. Key Techniques: Anti-Wither Super Goalie Volley Shot Summary: Super Goalie: Normal Tech. Grip Gloves: Level 1 Tech. Anti-Venom: Normal Tech. Anti-Venom 2: Normal Tech. Anti-Wither: Level 2 Tech. Anti-Nap: Level 3 Tech. ====================== 4.3.1.6 Basic Tactics ====================== I've listed previously what you need to do to get the Jupiter Sigil, so just follow that, but here are a few things to bear in mind generally: - Save before every game, but ESPECIALLY save before playing the Al Bhed Psyches, because at first, and for quite a while, they will give you trouble. They are by far the hardest team to play. Not only do they have strong forwards, but their intitial goalkeeper is a genius. Get Tidus as close to the goal as you possibly can before attempting to shoot. Ideally you should reset if you ever lose a game just so you can be sure of winning a League, and obviously in Tournaments you have to win the two or three games you play. - In every game you should always be thinking about getting the ball to Tidus, and in the early games getting it to him via Tatts. This should always be your strategy. However as I've said before; if Wedge does happen to get the ball then leave it with him because he might score. - Use the passing trick. Once your team is fairly strong and you're playing a weak team (e.g. the Kilika Beasts), score a couple of goals to win you the game, then pass in a circle from Tatts, to Tidus, to Wedge, to Tatts (Wedge's PA is too low for him to accurately pass to Zalitz), to Zalitz, to Ropp. Repeat this until the half ends or the other team gets the ball and you'll have earnt lots of EXP for all your players. - Don't worry about the new team formations you learn as you progress, there's no need to touch them. - Don't get disheartened if you find your first few games difficult; they will get much easier as your team levels up. ++++++++++ 4.3 Rikku ++++++++++ Weapon: Godhand Crest/Sigil: Mercury Abilties: Break Damage Limit Triple Overdrive Double AP Gillionaire Before you do anything, find any one piece of armour that has a blank slot and customise No Encounters onto it using 30 Purifying Salts. You should have got 99 from the Arena- go and pick them up if you haven't already done so. This will make the following quest much easier. GODHAND At the airship menu, go to the Passwords section and enter GODHAND (all capitals) and you'll be dropped off in a crevasse at Mushroom Rock Road, where you'll find the Godhand in a chest. MERCURY CREST Head to Sanubia Desert- West and check all along the left hand side (don't take the path to Central, though); the Crest will be in one of the chests you find. DON'T go & talk to the lone woman you see in the North, otherwise you'll find yourself in a battle with Dark Ifrit. MERCURY SIGIL This isn't difficult, just rather long. Head to Sanubia Desert- West. You've probably already discovered the valley that is cut off by a sandstorm. Just South of that is a stone with a Cactuar on it. Your task is to find ten Cactuars that are hiding throughout the desert, win Spheres from them, and bring them back to put in the stone. What makes this so time consuming is that each time you find a Cactuar and get his Sphere you have to run ALL the way back to the stone and put the Sphere in before the next one will appear, but you've got to have perseverance before even considering fighting Penance, so here we go. Incidentally; if you're having trouble capturing Cactuars, as I mentioned earlier, they won't run away in any of these special battles, so use the opportunity to capture five of them. Each time you find a Cactuar, it'll want to play a little game with you. Ever played Hot Chocolate/Grandmother's Footsteps in primary school? Well it's that. The Cactuar will turn away from you and you must run towards it. When it turns round you must stop dead. If it sees you move or if you don't reach it within the time limit you lose. You get three attempts at this, but don't worry if you mess up all three because you'll still get a Sphere, just a different kind. You can still get the Mercury Sigil without winning the game once; the only difference winning makes is that it affects the extra prize you get once you've completed the quest, but that isn't the aim here so it doesn't matter. Certainly don't bother resetting if you lose. The locations of the Cactuars are as follows: 1. Oasis- Next to the Save Sphere. 2. Sanubia Desert East- In the North West, beside the chest that contained four Hi-Potions (last chest in the area). 3. Sanubia Desert West- Examine the sign stating 20% off all goods to the South of the chest containing eight Hi-Potions, which is just East of where the Mercury Crest was. 4. Sanubia Desert Central- Two Cactuars are running around West of the chest that contained 10,000 Gil (in the areas full of ruins). 5. See above. 6. Sanubia Desert East- Examine the Save Sphere in the tent. 7. Sanubia Desert Central- In the South West, examine the chest that contained two Mega-Potions (hug the left wall as soon as you enter the area from Sanubia Desert East). The Cactuar is inside it. 8. Sanubia Desert Central- Hang around in the Sanubia Desert Central for two or three minutes, then examine the quicksand pit thing where the chest containing three Megalixirs was. 9. Oasis/Airship Deck- You'll see the Cactuar next to the Oasis Save Sphere, from which he will teleport himself onto the airship (cheeky sod!). You'll then find him on the roof of the airship (where you fought Evrae), right at the end. 10.Sanubia Desert West- While you're examining the Cactuar stone, the final Cactuar will appear behind you. Open Sesame; you can now get into the valley and find the chest with the Mercury Sigil in it. The other chest's contents will vary according to how many games you won, but none of the prizes are very exciting. Take any weapons you haven't activated yet to the secret place in Macalania and deal with them. Congratulations! Your Penance weapons are ready for action. -------------------- 5.0 A Steady Income -------------------- The drawback of doing all your powering up in the Monster Arena is that you have to pay for each and every battle, which can drain your finances very quickly. This can be very bothersome at the start of your training, but don't be disheartened because eventually you will fall into a pattern that gives you a regular income. When you start maxing your stats you'll be fighting some very powerful adversaries, who subsequently drop some very powerful equipment, which you should sell regularly. Only keep what is absolutely necessary. The only weapons you'll ever need are your Celestial Weapons and your levelling up ones which we'll cover in the next section, so sell any others. As for armour, I'd suggest keeping the following for Tidus/Wakka/Rikku: Couerlregina/Fenrir: any armour that has three or four "[Status]proof" abilities. Jumbo Flan/Fafnir: any armour that has three "[Element] Eater" abilties on it, and one spare slot (you'll never get one with four "[Element] Eater abilities). Customise the missing one onto it. You'll be customising all your other armour from scratch, so sell everything else. However, this regular income won't happen for a while, due to the fact that when you're covering the Sphere Grid you won't actually be defeating any monsters (all will become clear later), so you won't get any equipment to sell. Also, despite selling equipment later, it is best to have a solid amount of capital to begin with, to cover any one-off expenses (e.g. Tetra armour at 100,000 Gil a piece, or bribing). For these two reasons, you're off to Omega Ruins. Come back here every time you're running low on Gil. As I mentioned previously, use the Search option on the airship on the Eastern side of the map to find Omega Ruins. This dungeon is quite expansive and contains Ultima and Omega Weapon, but for Penance, it's not necessary to go more than three steps beyond the Save Point, so I'm not going to cover it here. In Omega Ruins you'll find yourself fairly frequently in battle with one Zaurus (lizardy type thing) and a chest. Use Steal on the chest-NOT Mug- and hopefully instead of just getting an item, which can sometimes happen, you'll get a message saying "Nothing to steal" or something to that effect. Then a special monster called a Mimic will pop out. There are various kinds of Mimics; the general rule is the bigger they are the nastier they are. Why are these monsters so special? Because if you strike them with a weapon that has Gillionaire (how convenient- Rikku's Celestial Weapon has it), it will very kindly drop 100,000 Gil. Keep fighting here until you have accumulated about 1,200,000 Gil, which means 12 Mimics if you're starting from scratch, but you shouldn't be. This gives you a nice base of capital to keep you going. If at any point during covering the Sphere Grid you find yourself running on lower than 500,000 Gil go and fight a few more Mimics. When fighting Mimics, it is vital to hit them with Rikku at some point in the battle- it doesn't necessarily have to be the killing blow, but the weapon with Gillionaire must make contact with the Mimic. There are several types of Mimic, and the general rule is the bigger they are: the tougher they are. You will not be able to make any impression at all on the toughest Mimic (the one that causes the screen perspective to change) except with anyone equipped with their Celestial Weapon, but you should have all of them by now, or at least Tidus & Rikku's. It's forgivable if you don't play all your Blitzball in one go. Be prepared to use lots of Phoenix Downs & make regular use of Hastega. Mimics don't pose any serious threat since they can only attack one character at a time, but you can still expect regular KO of one party member. Mimic's HP varies, but all will take a little time to kill at first. However you'll notice a difference every time you come back to replenish whilst covering the Sphere Grid. I strongly suggest you run away from other fiends in the Ruins, since many will be too tough for you at the moment. If you're finding the whole thing too tough, including the Mimics, sell what equipment you can and go on to the next section. Come back to this once you have powered up a bit more. ----------------------------- 6.0 Covering The Sphere Grid ----------------------------- Now you can get down to business and start on your way to uber-powerfulness. This is the "fun" part. TWR have got to cover the entire Sphere Grid, lighting up every node, EXCEPT LUCK NODES WHICH ARE LESS THAN + 4 and empty nodes which you needn't worry about at the moment. Sound like a Herculanean task? Don't worry; you'll be levelling up a lot faster than you ever have before. You can expect to be earning between 10 and 99 Sphere Levels per battle. Note: You shouldn't activate Luck nodes because Fortune Spheres are very hard to come by and should not be spent on anything except Luck + 4 nodes. If you come across a Luck + 4 node and you don't have any Fortune Spheres, just leave it and come back to it when you are specifically increasing your Luck. ++++++++++++++++ 6.1 The Weapons ++++++++++++++++ To make this strategy work, you'll need to put together some weapons. The abilities you need are: Overdrive --> AP Triple Overdrive Triple AP. There are a number of ways you could do this, but I think the one I favour is the quickest and least painful. In your current state, it's next to impossible to give your characters weapons that have all three of these abilities, but luckily the only ability that is essential to the strategy is Overdrive --> AP. So for now, just customise Overdrive --> AP (10 Doors to Tomorrow) onto any of TWR's weapons (all of them must have it) that have a blank slot available, EXCEPT your Capture weapons, then refer to the strategy below after reading the rest of this section. With these weapons you can expect between 10 & 30 Sphere Levels per battle. Although not essential, the abilities Triple Overdrive and Triple AP will greatly enhance the effects of this strategy, giving your characters between 80 and 99 Sphere Levels per battle, making covering the Grid a breeze. The easiest way to get weapons with all three abilities is to fight One-Eye in the Species Conquest. One-Eye will sometimes drop weapons with the Triple AP ability and two spare slots, onto which you can customise Triple Overdrive and Overdrive --> AP using items you already have. Customising a weapon with these three abilities from scratch isn't a viable option so don't try it - One-Eye is by far your best bet. Obviously he won't always drop what you want - sometimes he'll drop armour, stuff for the other characters or Triple AP weapons that don't have enough blank slots; you'll probably fight him about twenty times before getting all that you want. Hence you need to be able to defeat him easily before attempting this. No point have twenty epic boss battles and using up all your healing items. In order to assess whether you're ready to take him on, initiate a battle with him every now & then and try out Attack Reels. Once a perfect Attack Reels from Wakka does 9,999 or more damage per hit and Rikku has learnt Entrust (have her head towards it on the Sphere Grid as soon as possible), you're ready. The battle should run like this (after first filing Wakka and Rikku's Overdrives): Tidus: Hastega. Wakka: Perfect Attack Reels. Rikku: Switch to Yuna. Yuna: Summon any aeon (to bear the brunt of One-Eye's attack). One-Eye: Kills the aeon. Tidus or Yuna: Switch to Rikku. Rikku: Entrust Overdrive to Wakka. Wakka: Perfect Attack Reels. One-Eye dies. Repeat this until you have three weapons with Triple AP & two blank slots for Tidus, Wakka & Rikku. Then customise Overdrive --> AP and Triple Overdrive onto them and get lots more Sphere Levels. +++++++++++++++++ 6.2 The Strategy +++++++++++++++++ Ok, equip those weapons and I'll explain what to do and how the strategy works. To gain AP to cover the Sphere Grid, you'll be fighting Don Tonberry, in the Area Conquest, but never actually defeating him. The reason for using Don Tonberry is that he does a counter-attack which deals damage based on how many enemies the character in question has defeated, which is massive damage. The Overdrive --> AP ability will convert this damage into AP, and in combination with Triple AP and Triple Overdrive this leads to earning huge amounts of AP per battle. First of all you must choose the character who you think has killed the most enemies during the course of the game. 99.9% of the time this will be Tidus, so put him in the middle with the other two either side (no reason- it just looks nice :-p). Set his Overdrive mode to Stoic, and the other characters' to Comrade. This ensures that each character receives AP. Even if the character who has killed the most is not Tidus, you should make him the Stoic character anyway because then you can give Wakka Auto-Phoenix on a blank armour which becomes the start of his final armour. This helps greatly when you are maxing your stats since Wakka is your best offensive character. Now you need to customise Auto-Phoenix onto an armour for Wakka. Not just any armour though; because you need to be economical with your Mega Phoenixes. Go to the Southernmost part of Macalania Woods and buy a Tetra armour from Wantz for Wakka, and customise Auto-Phoenix onto it. Then buy 99 Phoenix Downs. Save your game, then enter into a battle with Don Tonberry. The Don will not attack you (apart from the counter attack), until he has walked forward four times. Keep a strict count and use Flee as soon as he's moved for the fourth time. There's no point staying any longer because he'll start attacking and stop counterattacking, making the trick invalid. Each time Tidus dies, whoever has Auto-Phoenix will revive him, saving you a turn which you will need to cast Haste on him, if you want. Use Chocobo Feathers if none of them have learnt it yet. This way you will give Tidus as many turns as possible (hence more AP), before your time is up. Your need for Haste will decrease as your Agility gets higher. ++++++++++++++++ 6.3 Key Spheres ++++++++++++++++ To unlock many areas of the Sphere Grid you'll need the various levels of Key Spheres. Also, before fighting Penance you'll need a combined total of 99 Lv 1 and Lv 2 Key Spheres so start accumulating them now. LV. 1 KEY SPHERES You should have plenty of these already, but if you need some more (not including ones dropped from bosses and found in chests throughout the game): - Rare Steal from Earth Eater (Original section). Buy a blank armour for Rikku and customise it with Master Thief (the 30 Pendulums you won at Remiem Temple). - Bribe an Imp (Cavern of the Stolen Fayth) for 22,000 Gil. - Dropped by Master Couerl (Omega Ruins). LV 2 KEY SPHERES Again, you should have plenty, but eventually you'll need many: - Rare Steal from Catastrophe (Original section). Master Thief. - Bribe a Behemoth (Mt. Gagazet Cave) for 575,000 Gil. - Dropped by Defender Z (Zanarkand Ruins- Last Area). This is the best way to accummulate these, since in the area just outside the Cloister of Trials you'll meet Defender Z's in almost every battle. LV 3 KEY SPHERES Many forms of Seymour and Sin drop these, as well as Yunalesca and Ultima Weapon. You don't need that many of these on the grid, but just in case: - Rare Steal from Ultima Buster (Original section). Master Thief. - Bribe a Demonolith for 1,125,000 Gil. - Dropped as a Rare Item by Defender Zs, Demonoliths and Behemoth Kings. LV 4 Key Spheres Dropped by a few of the later bosses, but you'll be needing quite a lot, so: - Venture into Omega Ruins, hugging the right wall until you come to an alcove containing three chests. Open any one of them. If you get a battle, reset. Hopefully you should get a Lv 4 Key Sphere. I thought I'd include this since Omega Ruins isn't a compulsory area of the game, so you're unlikely to have opened any chests there. - Bribe a Chinmera for 230,000 Gil. This will be your main method of gaining these spheres, and the rate is actually very reasonable, when you compare it to the bribe rate of a Demonolith (1,125,000 Gil) for Lv 3 Key Spheres. Reset if you only get one sphere for money; you should be getting three. ++++++++++++++++++ 6.4 Other Spheres ++++++++++++++++++ Since so you will be activating almost all the nodes on the Sphere Grid and not earning any battle plunder, eventually you will run out of Power/Mana/Speed/ Ability Spheres. However, this can be remedied. Kottos (Area Conquest) usually drops 40 Healing Springs after an Overkill (15,000 damage). However, if you use the ability Extract Power/Mana/Speed/Ability he will instead drop 40 of the Sphere of your choice. He can be a headache to defeat at first, even though he only does one move- a very powerful physical attack. The problem lies in the fact that he counterattacks anything you do to him, killing the character in question, until you're more powerful. To prevent this battle being too protracted, aim for big damage in few turns. What does this mean? Attack Reels, whenever you can. Set all Overdrive modes to Comrade to keep them filled, and use Enrtrust with Rikku if necessary. DON'T forget to use the relevant Extract command. If the battle is taking a long time, use the ability again because the effect wears off after a while. Rely on Auto-Phoenix for revival, and if the character with this ability gets KO'ed, revive them manually. However when you first start covering the Grid defeating Kottos will not be economical, hence why you left breeding the Bomb King, Vorban and Ultima Buster until now. You'll be stronger and capable of capturing the tougher fiends, and at the same time you'll replenish your stocks of Spheres. Stop your capturing once you have 99 of each Sphere and carry it on when you need some again, until you're strong enough to defeat Kottos easily. +++++++++++++++++++ 6.5 Vital Abilties +++++++++++++++++++ Frankly, to even think about taking on Penance, you should be the kind of player that doesn't bat an eyelid at the thought of getting every ability for every character, but in case you're not, these are the abilities that it is absolutely necessary for all three characters to learn: QUICK HIT Left hand side of the Standard Sphere Grid, at the end of Tidus's section. Bottom left corner of the Expert Grid. EXTRACT POWER Centre of Standard Grid, near Auron's starting point. Just above the centre on the Expert Grid. EXTRACT MANA Centre of Standard Grid. Centre of Expert Grid. EXTRACT SPEED North of centre on Standard Grid. North of centre on Expert Grid. EXTRACT ABILITY Just South-East of centre on Standard Grid. Centre of Expert Grid. STEAL Just South-West of centre on the Standard Grid. Centre of Expert Grid. USE South-West of the centre of the Standard Grid, where Rikku starts off. Centre of the Expert Grid. ENTRUST Extreme top centre of the Standard Grid. Bottom-left on the Expert Grid, just above Quick Hit. FLEE North of centre on Standard Grid. North of centre on Expert Grid. QUICK POCKETS Extreme South-West corner of the Standard Grid. Extreme North on the Expert Grid. CURAGA South-West corner of the Standard Grid. North- East corner of the Expert Grid. FULL- LIFE South edge of the Standard Grid. North edge of the Expert Grid. AUTO- LIFE North-West section of the Standard Grid. North edge of the Expert Grid. +++++++++++++ 6.6 The Goal +++++++++++++ Even if you don't want to activate all abilities, you MUST activate all stat nodes (except Luck) with the three characters, so carry on with this strategy until you have achieved this. All stats except Luck should be well into the hundreds, making you considerably more powerful. --------------------- 7.0 Temporary Armour --------------------- Now you're almost ready to move on to maximising your stats, but the monsters you'll be fighting are very tough, so you're going to need some decent armour. You can't make all your Penance armour yet because you need to be considerably more powerful, but you still need something decent. You CAN make one set of Penance armour since you have all the relevant items, so this will start you off. The character whom you gave Auto-Phoenix to is the lucky receiver of this, and it should be Wakka. Add the following to it: Break HP Limit: 30 Wings to Discovery which you won at the Chocobo Race at Remiem Temple. Ribbon: 99 Dark Matters which you got for breeding Ultima Buster. Auto-Haste: 80 Chocobo Wings. You got 99 for breeding the Cactuar King. Auto-Phoenix: 20 Mega Phoenixes. Already customised. That makes your chosen character kitted out for Penance. However the others aren't so lucky. Buy blank armour for the two remaining characters and carry out the following: CHARACTER 1 Auto-Protect: 70 Light Curtains. You got 99 for breeding Juggernaut. Auto-Shell: 80 Lunar Curtains. You got 99 for breeding Abaddon. Auto-Phoenix: 20 Mega Phoenixes. You should have 79 left. Auto-Med: 20 Remedies. You can buy these from Rin on the Airship. CHARACTER 2 Auto-Protect: 70 Light Curtains. You should have 29 left, but you need 41 more. Since you've got two characters all armoured up, have a go at defeating Fafnir (Species Conquest) who will drop 20 Light Curtains, or 40 for an Overkill (13,000 damage). Do this twice and steal the odd one from an Iron Giant (Thunder Plains). If you cast Hastega, Fafnir will only get one turn before you're done, and that won't kill you. His elemental attack will do about 300 damage to each character and the Triple Attack will do 1000-3000 to one character. Auto- Shell: 80 Lunar Curtains. You should have 19 left but you need 61 more. Unfortunately there is no Fafnir equivalent, but there are a variety of things you can steal them from: Defender Z (Zanarkand Dome). Two per steal. Gemini (Inside Sin). One per steal. Larva (Thunder Plains). One per steal. One- Eye (Species Conquest). Three per steal. Jumbo Flan (Species Conquest). Four per steal. Tanket (Species Conquest). Master Thief. Four per steal Juggernaut (Species Conquest). Four per steal. I would personally go for Jumbo Flan, who won't pose much of a threat. Rikku should have an armour with Master Thief on it. Auto-Phoenix: 20 Mega Phoenixes. You should have 59 left. Auto-Med: 20 Remedies. Buy them from Rin on the Airship. This set of armour should be enough to let you survive the Arena. ----------------- 8.0 Maxing Stats ----------------- Getting your stats maxed out involves filling empty nodes with Spheres for different stats (Strength Spheres, Defence Spheres etc.). All these will make [Stat] + 4, which is more than most of the nodes that are already there, so your stats will rise quite quickly. To be economical you should get all three characters to the same point on the Sphere Grid; it doesn't matter where, just get them together using Friend Spheres, Teleport Spheres or whatever. If you haven't got anything that will do this then fight Chimergeist for Return Spheres, which should get you into the general vicinity. Use spare Sphere Levels to get them all to the same node. Now fight Don Tonberry one last time (if you can bear to :-p ), so that you have plenty of sphere levels for moving about. +++++++++++++++++++ 8.1 General Points +++++++++++++++++++ I'm going to list the stats in what I feel to be the optimum order for maxing- i.e. maxing one stat will give you a better chance against the monster you'll be fighting to max the next stat. However if you wish to commence in a different order or are finding a particular monster difficult then go ahead. The one stat you WON'T be maxing is MP, because it will go up to 999 just from covering the Sphere Grid, and you certainly don't want to waste an armour slot on Break MP Limit. I've never found myself running low on MP once it's at 999, so it's perfectly sufficient. From now onwards money should not be a problem. Sort your equipment so there are no gaps. Now any new equipment will list itself neatly at the bottom. All arena creations drop decent equipment which sells well, and you'll be getting loads of it. Sell all the stuff that you gain to the Arena guy and you'll soon be rolling in money. Keep anything you particularly like of course, but you should be selling the majority. Sometimes, instead of dropping the stat Sphere that you want, an Arena creation may drop Dark Matter. Don't moan that it's not what you want- it's precisely what you'll be very thankful for later on. Don't do anything with it and certainly never use them. In some cases it may be more economical to teleport to another area full of empty nodes rather than travel there manually using up your valuable sphere levels. To do this, continue to fight Chimerageist for Return Spheres. ++++++++++++++++++ 8.2 Magic Defence ++++++++++++++++++ The only reason I'm listing this first is because, if you've followed my reccommendations, you should have a nice supply of Magic Def Spheres from One-Eye to use up. If these don't make all of their Magic Def stats 255 then fight him for some more. This is also first because One-Eye is one of the easiest stat maxing monsters. ++++++++++++ 8.3 Evasion ++++++++++++ Having max Evasion will make life a lot easier in later battles, since many potentially fatal physical attacks will miss you entirely, allowing you dedicate much more time to attacking. You'll be fighting Pteryx for Evasion Spheres. Pteryx isn't too tough - his Beak of Woe attack will do about 2,500 damage and inflict Curse and his regular attack will do around 4,000. Your Accuracy stat should allow you to hit Pteryx two times out of three, but if you're having problems just use Attack Reels. +++++++++++++ 8.4 Accuracy +++++++++++++ Maxed Accuracy will also make your life easier since you will no longer have to resort to Overdrives all the time in order to hit various foes. However, Hornet, who you'll be getting Accuracy Spheres from, is even nastier than Pteryx. His regular attack inflicts Death, and if that doesn't work you'll still be stuck with Silence and Blind. Venomous Stab inflicts Poison. Hornet has more HP than Pteryx but is much easier to hit. Use Hastega, keep attacking and Auto-Med & Auto-Phoenix will see to the rest. Hornet can cast Curaga but he will only do it occasionally and it won't inhibit you much. ++++++++++++ 8.5 Agility ++++++++++++ Agility is vital in this game, and because of the CTB having maxed Agility allows more tactical planning since you will have many turns to play with. You'll be fighting Fenrir for Agility Spheres. Fenrir, appropriately, is very fast. However you will almost always evade Fangs of Hell, so that's not a problem. You're less likely to evade Fangs of Chaos, which will inflict Confuse and about 4000 damage, but a quick Esuna will sort that out. Cast Hastega to make things easier. Fenrir has quite a lot of HP but now your Accuracy stat is maxed you can hit him easily and just use Overdrives when they happen to be full. He is tougher than those you have fought so far because of Confuse, but not impossibly so. ++++++++++++ 8.6 Defence ++++++++++++ This is important to max next because with maxed Defence and Magic Defence you're not as likely to be killed by anything a monster does to you, allowing battles to proceed faster and more smoothly. You'll be fighting Tanket to get Defence Spheres. He has considerably more HP but he's also quite slow, which means you'll get lots of turns. You'll need them because you cannot inflict maximum damage. Tanket can only attack one character at a time, and will inflict 4000 damage and Berserk. Use Esuna. Be vigiliant in reviving because Tanket will get very excited if only one character is left alive. So just be careful. +++++++++++++ 8.7 Strength +++++++++++++ All your defensive stats except HP are now maxed, so you shouldn't have much problem with Juggernaut, who will drop Strength Spheres. One of his attacks: Salvo; is elemental but is not a problem. Mostly you will be able to kill Juggernaut before he has a turn, if you use Hastega. ++++++++++ 8.8 Magic ++++++++++ You think this has been boring so far? Then stop following this guide now. Magic is an absolute headache to max because you'll be fighting Jumbo Flan. This monster has three characteristics that will give you migraine: 1. He absorbs all elements. 2. He has Auto-Reflect. 3. He is IMMUNE to physical attacks! However, he can be beaten in under ten minutes. Set everyone's Overdrive mode to Ally. You can kill Jumbo Flan with Doublecast and Ultima, but this won't give you an Overkill, so you must use Attack Reels. Use Hastega and defend until all three Overdrive gauges are full, then get Wakka to use all three by using Entrust. Doing this twice more will kill the Flan. ++++++++++ 8.9 Luck ++++++++++ This will take the longest because you have to fight for Fortune Spheres to activate Luck nodes, as well as Luck Spheres to make them in the first place. Any existing Luck nodes that are less than Luck + 4 should be cleared and refilled, in order to conserve space on the grid. You do not need to max out your Luck to 255- there isn't enough space anyway. You are aiming for 130. To gain Clear Spheres, defeat Ultima Buster once. This will not be a problem at your current level. Use one Attack Reels to kill the arms and the head, then just keep hacking away at the body with physical attacks. You only need to do this once, then the Arena guy will sell them under Items at 10,000 Gil each. Whenever you come across a Luck node that is less than Luck + 4, clear it & refill it as below: To gain Fortune Spheres you'll be fighting the Earth Eater in the Original section. After you hit him once he'll counter and kill one character, but Auto-Phoenix will take care of that. Another hit will push him onto his back, similar to the Chocobo Eater, and from now on he'll only counter with a weak Flare. Use the Ally Overdrive mode and defend to fill your gauges quickly. You can either kill the Earth Eater with two rounds of Attack Reels or one round plus six regular hits, it's up to you. To gain Luck Spheres you'll be fighting Greater Sphere in the Original section, who is rather annoying since he counters Overdrives with Hydraulic Press which will do 2,500 damage to Tidus and Rikku but much more to Wakka who doesn't have Auto-Shell. There is no need to cast Auto-Life so long as your HP is at maximum though. The real problem lies in the fact that he counters anything else with Ultima which doesn't do that much damage but is a long sequence. The best strategy is to use the Ally mode + Attack Reels trick again. Either two rounds of Attack Reels or one round and four regular hits will kill him. An interesting point about Greater Sphere is that he will sometimes drop armour with Auto-Phoenix and three blank slots. If you are lucky enough to get one of these for Tidus or Rikku, hang onto it since they can form the basis of their final armour. The best pattern to adopt when raising Luck is to fight Great Sphere once and Earth Eater three times. This gives you two Luck Spheres and six Fortune Spheres which is enough to raise each character's Luck by eight. +++++++ 8.10 HP +++++++ I left this until last since only Wakka actually has Break HP Limit at the moment so it didn't really make a difference, but obviously when you're fighting Penance you'll need a lot more. You can keep track of how much HP your characters without Break HP Limit have by looking at Wakka's - his will be about the same as the others. The actual amount of HP gained is something that doesn't appear to be set in stone. More testing needs to be done in order to determine an average, but obviously not a lot of people will work their way up to this level, so evidence is fairly sparse. One fact is certain though: it is perfectly possible to get sufficient HP to beat Penance with either of the Sphere Grids. From all the Penance games I've seen and heard about, the lowest total reached was about 25,000, and a friend of mine reached the highest, which was 37,000. In the particular test game for this guide, I reached 31,000 on the Standard Grid, which is what this guide is based on. However Penance can be beaten with much less than this. The minimum levels are 25,520 for Tidus, 25,618 for Wakka and 25,360 for Rikku. But if there are still any empty nodes on the Grid, carry on until you have filled them all, since the higher your HP is, the safer you will be. If by any chance you run out of empty nodes and have not reached the minimum levels, you will need to use Clear Spheres again. Clear HP + 200 nodes and fill them to make them HP + 300 (hence your characters bebefit by 100). But you don't need to bother with this unless your characters haven't reached the minimum levels by the time all the empty nodes are filled. To gain HP Spheres you'll be fighting Ironclad in the Species Conquest section. Ironclad has a lot of HP but Attack Reels is actually rather weak against him, so it's quicker to just cast Hastega and keep attacking. He'll counter every attack with Repageki but you'll always evade it. He's not too fast but when he does attack, Bushinzan will do 800 damage to both HP and MP on all characters, and Shinryudan will do 700 damage to a single character. Neither of these is anything to worry about. ----------------- 9.0 Final Armour ----------------- Now that you're close to fighting the Dark Aeons, your temporary armour is no longer much good. Your aim is to get everyone armour like Wakka (Break HP Limit, Ribbon, Auto-Haste & Auto-Phoenix), to fully kit them out for Penance. The two main methods are customising and beating Dark Yojimbo. There are two realistic combinations you can choose according to your preference: 1. Getting both armours from Dark Yojimbo. 2. Getting one armour from Dark Yojimbo and customising the other. If you choose the second combination you MUST get the armour from Dark Yojimbo first, purely for reasons of logic and probability. If you want armour for both Rikku and Tidus, you have a 2 in 7 chance of getting an armour you want, whereas if you only need armour for one of them you only have a 1 in 7 chance of getting it. In reality the chances are actually less than that since he also drops weapons and armour with Curseproof, but its the same principle. +++++++++++++++++++++++++ 9.1 Beating Dark Yojimbo +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Why Dark Yojimbo? Have you even got a chance of beating him? Actually yes, you have, and there are several reasons why it has to be Dark Yojimbo. 1. Financial reasons. Dark Yojimbo is slightly different to the other Dark Aeons, because to beat him properly you must beat him five consecutive times without saving. This means that if you beat him once you can save, reset, and beat him again whilst still retaining the items/equipment that you won from your first victory. Hence you can fight him as many times as you like whilst accumuating a nice stock of equipment to sell and Dark Matter for customising (if you want to). You can also use him for getting more than one armour. 2. For reasons unknown, Dark Yojimbo is more likely to drop armour with the combination of abilities you want (Break HP Limit, Ribbon and two blank slots), than any of the other Dark Aeons. Each Dark Aeon has an ability specific to them - for example Dark Valefor's is Auto-Regen and Dark Ifrit's is Fire Eater - and these are more likely to turn up on armour together with EITHER Break HP Limit OR Ribbon. But for some reason Dark Yojimbo will often drop armour with both these and two blank slots, rather than one of them with his special ability: Curseproof. Hence you will get the right armour more quickly if you fight him. Before doing anything, a little bit of preparation is needed. If you haven't already got a Return Sphere, fight Chimerageist to get one. Now customise First Strike onto a weapon that belongs to any character except TWR. Equip the weapon and replace Wakka with that character. The reason for this is that Dark Yojimbo always ambushes you, and if he first move is Wakizashi, you're dead. Also, set all your Overdrive modes to Comrade. That's all the prep you need, apart from checking that you have sufficient Phoenix Downs, but you should always be doing that. You can find Dark Yojimbo in the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. Go into the farthest chamber, run up to the teleporter and then back towards where you came in. A rather angry summoner will appear and set Dark Yojimbo on you. You'll get the first turn regardless of the ambush. Swap that character for Wakka who should cast Auto-Life on himself. If his first move is anything but Wakizashi, use your next three turns for Hastega and Auto-Life. If he does use Wakizashi, immediately recast Auto-Life with Wakka (DON'T try to revive the other two) and continue to do so until he does Daigoro, which will only do about 6,000 damage and Wakka is protected from Petrify by Ribbon so he'll survive. Then proceed to revive, cast Auto-Life, cast Hastega, & heal, in that order. Incidentally Auto-Life is always more important than healing. I know that sounds like a lot, but your maxed Agility gives you lots of turns. However he won't always open with Wakizashi so don't worry about it. Once everyone has Auto-Life & Haste you can start attacking. Use physical attacks which will do maximum damage, until you have three full Overdrives, then use Attack Reels. Four lots of Attack Reels and two regular hits will kill him. His attacks are respectable but nothing you can't handle. Daigoro does about 6,000 damage to a single character and will cast Petrify in Tidus and Rikku, but Esuna will quickly cure that; just remember to recast Auto-Life. It does have the potential to shatter the character in question, but this is a rare occurrence. Kozuka will do about 6,500 damage and cast Full Break. Ironically, it is better not to get rid of this by using Dispel because the next attack to that character will do maximum damage, filling up the Overdrive gauges of the other two instantly. The victim won't come to much harm because they are protected by Auto-Life which you just have to recast. A regular pattern of attacking, Attack Reels + Entrust and healing with Curaga will have you beating him easily. Its better to use Curaga every time someone gets hit rather than wasting items. With your maxed Magic stat it will heal about 13,000 HP. The only sticky point is when he does Wakizashi. Auto-Life will revive you and you'll have exactly three turns to recast it. The trouble is that Yojimbo is fond of doing Wakizashi three or four times in a row, but you'll always get three turns afterwards to recast Auto-Life. Just wait until the chain breaks. You may want to use a Megalixir after this happens, since Auto-Life costs 97 MP a go. You got 30 from breeding Shinryu. I know this sounds long, but the above strategy involves solutions for every possible scenario. In actuality you can easily beat Dark Yojimbo in about three minutes, since your Overdrive guages will fill up very quickly even without Wakizashi. Incidentally; use Attack Reels every time you can, since you want to avoid his Overdrive filling - it does maximum damage and dispels Auto-Life so there's nothing you can do. But 99% of the time this will never fill before you kill him. The armour you're looking for is the Sanctuary for Tidus and/or the Impervious for Rikku. Just double check it has Break HP Limit as well as Ribbon and the right number of blank slots. Personally, it only took me five tries to get the Sanctuary but its taken me up to twenty-five times before, so don't be surprised if it takes a while to turn up. ++++++++++++++++ 9.2 Customising ++++++++++++++++ If you're absolutely sick of fighting Dark Yojimbo by now you can customise the third armour. If you got an armour for that person with Auto-Phoenix and three blank slots from Greater Sphere then use that, otherwise buy a blank one from Wantz. Then customise the following IN THE STATED ORDER: AUTO-PHOENIX (20 Mega Phoenixes) You may already have this on the armour, or if not, you have enough Mega Phoenixes left to customise it. AUTO-HASTE (80 Chocobo Wings) You'll need to get some more of these by bribing a Machea (Omega Ruins). 600,000 Gil should get you between 70 and 80, which is more than enough since you should still have 19 spare. BREAK HP LIMIT (30 Wings to Discovery) It is very important that you get these before trying for Ribbon, because you'll be fighting Shrinryu, who drops Wings to Discovery (two for an Overkill) as his common item and Dark Matters for his rare item. The more Dark Matters you collect without meaning to, the less hassle you'll have trying to gather the remaining number later. Shinryu is in the Original section. He's not too difficult; he counters, but only with a very weak physical attack that will barely tickle you. Shining is a multi hitter, but at 38 damage per hit its another tickler. The only dangerous attack is Eraser which will shatter one character without fail; even those with Ribbon. But you'll have killed him before he has time to shatter more than one of them. Two rounds of Attack Reels will kill him, so use the Ally/Defend/Entrust trick to fill your gauges quickly. Or physical attacks work too. RIBBON (99 Dark Matters) This is the big daddy of abilities; 99 of the rarest item in the game. The good news is that you should have gathered between 60 and 70 from since you started maxing your stats. The bad news is that 20 or 30 are still hard to get. To obtain them, you can fight any Arena Creation since they all drop Dark Matter as their rare item, but I'd reccommend Couerlregina in the Area Conquest. She goes down in four hits and doesn't counter, meaning you can win battles quickly and hence accumulate more Dark Matter. You'll find that once you get into your stride you'll be getting it about once every six battles. Another possibility is Chimerageist who goes down in two hits, but for some reason I found he was less likely to drop Dark Matter than Couerlregina, but there's no logical reason why this should happen. If you find Couerlregina isn't working for you then feel free to experiment; you just need a monster that goes down quickly. ++++++++++++++++++ 9.3 Here We Go... ++++++++++++++++++ WHEW, well that was a marathon - and not just for you; I beta tested the whole thing, its not just from memory. Before you go on to the whole point of this guide, you should check that your characters (TWR) meet the following criteria, just in case you've missed anything. If you have, then refer to the section listed before continuing: - TWR's Celestial Weapons fully activated and equipped (Section 4.0). - All TWR's stats except Luck should be at 255. Luck should be at least 130 (Section 3.0, 6.0, 8.0). - TWR's HP should be at least 25,520, 25,618 and 25,360 respectively. The higher the better. 31,620, 31,718 and 31,460 is preferable and perfectly possible on the Standard Grid (Section 3.0, 6.0, 8.0). - TWR should each have armour with Ribbon, Break HP Limit, Auto-Haste and Auto-Phoenix on it, and have them equipped (Section 9.0). - You should have at least 2,000,000 (two million) Gil (Section 5.0). - You should have retained the 30 Megalixirs that you got for breeding Shinryu and the 60 Turbo Ethers you got for breeding the Bomb King (Section 3.0). This is just the checklist for the Dark Aeons; there will be another more comprehensive one before you face Penance. You're ready. Good luck. -------------------- 10.0 The Dark Aeons -------------------- The Dark Aeons are basically "evil" versions of all Yuna's aeons. They look the same except they're mostly black and grey, and a lot tougher than Yuna's aeons could ever be. They have many similar moves but with some nasty extras added such as Mega-Graviton which hits you for 7/16 of you maximum HP. There are many theories about their existence in relation to the storyline, but in reality there isn't much relation at all since they were put in the European version to make the game harder. Judging from the small scenes that you see before and after each battle, I'd say that they're merely the aeons of devout Yevon summoners who are trying to kill Yuna because she's an infidel. But if they're there, they have to beaten, right? Before you go anywhere, equip your No Encounters armour. Incidentally, at this point Attack Reels becomes slightly less useful; you won't be relying on it so heavily now. This is because although it does a lot of damage it pushes Wakka right down the CTB bar and out of action for a while. Considering that you can now do 99,999 damage per hit, it is far better to have Wakka do many hits and also be available for healing, rather than sacrifice all that for one Attack Reels. Since this is the case, I won't be expecting you to fill your Overdrives before each battle. There are a couple of exceptions to this, but I'll indicate when this is the case. Finally; you should now set your Overdrive mode to Comrade rather than Ally. ++++++++++++++++++ 10.1 Dark Valefor ++++++++++++++++++ You can find Dark Valefor at the entrance to Besaid Village. Unfortunately the airship drops you off at the other end of the island so you have to trek across it first. Save at the top of the hill leading down to the village in case you die, but that's very unlikely. Walk into the village to initiate the battle. This Dark Aeon is an absolute piece of cake. You have exactly the right number of turns before her to kill her off. Just keep physically attacking - there's no need to even bother with Auto-Life. If you happen to be unlucky (probably about a 0.000001% chance) and she evades one of your hits, she'll use her first turn to do either a physical attack, Sonic Wings or Energy Ray if her Overdrive is full. None of these are a worry to you; just keep on attacking and she'll go down before her second turn. Bu don't be lulled into a false sense of security; she is the easiest of the Dark Aeons. ++++++++++++++++ 10.2 Dark Ifrit ++++++++++++++++ Fill your Overdrives before this one. To find Dark Ifrit, head to Sanubia Desert - West. Make sure you visit the Save Point in Central first. At the end of the screen you'll see a woman. Go over and talk to her & select "Yes" when prompted. After the scene, run forwards towards the cliff to initiate battle. Dark Ifrit is a much tougher cookie than Dark Valefor, mainly because he'll counter anything you do with a physical attack which does about 9,000 damage and you can't evade it. This slows you down considerably, so the best way to go about it is simply two rounds of Attack Reels (use Entrust for the second, obviously), which should kill him. If not then a third one definitely will. A very easy battle. ++++++++++++++++ 10.3 Dark Ixion ++++++++++++++++ To find Dark Ixion, go to Thunder Plains - North and run straight ahead. You'll see a Yevon soldier standing under one of the towers. Talk to him, and battle will begin after a brief scene. Like Dark Ifrit, Dark Ixion will counter but you will always evade it. Otherwise, Thundaja will do about 4,500 damage to a single character and his Overdrive will do 12,300 damage to all. You still get frequent turns in this battle, but you'll probably be hit with two Overdrives before you defeat him. Incidentally I think there's a game glitch here, since he does Aerospark for his Overdrive rather than Thor's Hammer. As long as you keep using Curaga there's no need for Auto-Life and the battle should be over quickly. Just keep using physical attacks since Attack Reels is pretty weak against him and pushes Wakka down the CTB bar. However, things aren't over yet. After you get back to the field screen, dash to the Save Point on the right. Then wait for Dark Ixion to reappear as the lightning strikes; just run into him to start the second battle. This is even easier since he has lost his ability to counter, meaning you can defeat him more speedily. Just keep physically attacking and keeping up the Curagas. He'll probably only get one turn and he certainly won't get to use his Overdrive. Again; an easy battle. ++++++++++++++++ 10.4 Dark Shiva ++++++++++++++++ From now on the difficulty level increases: Dark Shiva can actually kill you, so be prepared for a tougher battle. You can simplify it with Attack Reels, but personally at this point I was beginning to feel that Attack Reels was almost as bad as Zanmato, so there are two strategies here: one with Attack Reels, one without. Its up to you how much you want to prove your prowness. To find Dark Shiva simply try to enter Macalania Temple and she'll be set on you by the Guado. ATTACK REELS STRATEGY Fill at least one person's Overdrive before battle. Use one round of Attack Reels and one physical attack. Ba-boom. You're done. NON-ATTACK REELS STRATEGY Only for the hardcore :p Start the battle with casting Auto-Life on everyone, since her Overdrive (Diamond Dust) can kill you. But we'll worry about that later. For now; her physical attack will do 4,500 damage and dispel Auto-Life. Make sure you recast it immediately. Heavenly Strike is instant death for one character, regardless of Ribbon. Recast Auto-Life then heal the character immediately. Auto-Life is ALWAYS more important than healing in this battle. You should manage ok until she lets loose a Diamond Dust. After Auto-Life revives you you'll get precisely three turns. Use it to recast Auto-Life. After her move, recast Auto-Life on the character who no longer has it. Your number of turns will decrease sharply here since you've taken a battering, but you mustn't get bogged fown in healing otherwise you're at a stalemate and won't beat her. Your two priorities are to keep everyone Auto-Life'd and above 5,000 HP so that her physical hits can't kill you. I suggest that when you have Auto-Life'd everyone after Diamond Dust you simply use a Megalixir, then concentrate on attacking. This will also restore your MP which is swiftly depleted by continuous Auto-Life. Unless your two priorities aren't fulfilled, you should be attacking at least once every round. Keep this up and you'll eventually overcome her; she doesn't actually have that much HP. You'll be chased by Guado after the battle, but this stops once you exit the temple area. ++++++++++++++++++ 10.5 Dark Bahamut ++++++++++++++++++ After some thought, I've decided that you should fill your Overdrives before this battle. It is possible to beat him without Attack Reels, but even with it this is a long and arduous battle. If I had to say which Dark Aeon was the most difficult, I'd say Dark Bahamut. To find him, go to Zanarkand and head to the area where you fought Yunalesca. Dark Bahamut lies in wait for you. First of all I'll explain why Dark Bahamut is difficult without Attack Reels. It is because he counters with Impulse, and although he doesn't counter every time (about 1 in 4 times), when he does Impulse does 6,800 damage to all and casts Full Break, so anything after that will kill you. This means that you have to cast three Curagas and three Dispels: six turns altogether. On the whole you don't tend to get much more than six turns between his attacks, so you barely ever get a chance to really go on the offensive. However with Attack Reels, you can do more damage per hit, and you'll have plenty of time to devote to healing while you're waiting for your gauges to fill up. You'll still have to get rid of Full Break occasionally, but don't worry: it won't dispel Auto-Life. So, start the battle with Auto-Life as always. Dark Bahamut's physical attack will do 13,100 damage but one shot of Curaga deals with that. Impulse, when he uses it, will do 6,800 damage apiece and Full Break. You should devote six turns to remedying this and save your Megalixirs for real emergencies. Keep using Attack Reels with Wakka and have the other characters use Entrust, Curaga and Dispel. Don't forget that you'll also be doing damage through counterattacks with Tidus and Wakka. Ironically, your best chance to go on the offensive is when his Overdrive gauge is full. Mega Flare will kill you even if you are on maximum HP, so just forget about healing and attack; although make sure each character is above 7,000 HP so that Impulse doesn't kill you before Mega Flare. Once he's done Mega Flare and Auto-Life has revived you, unfortunately you'll only get two turns before his next attack. Nevertheless you should use them to recast Auto-Life on two characters. Its not too much of a problem since even if his next physical targets the non Auto-Life'd character, Auto-Phoenix will revive them. Get Auto-Life recast on everyone and then use a Megalixir, to get you back on track more quickly. The good news is that all three Overdrive gauges should be full afterwards, so you can get your revenge with three rounds of Attack Reels. Keep to this pattern, paying specific attention to Auto-Life and you'll eventually beat him, although it takes a long time. It took me twelve rounds of Attack Reels and nine counterattacks before he fell. ++++++++++++++++++ 10.6 Dark Yojimbo ++++++++++++++++++ Lets face it, you've already decked this guy several times. He's not a problem. You know where to find him. Just remember that although you may touch a Save Sphere to heal, you mustn't save. Once you've defeated him in the first round, keep running back through the cave and his summoner will ambush you at four more intervals. However it can be easy to miss one of these. The second attack will be at the first four-way junction. At the second four-way junction you should run to the right into the passageway where the chest containing a Lv 2 Key Sphere was, instead of South towards the exit. Keep heading out of the cave after this encounter and the fourth attack will take place in the middle of the next large cavern. Keep running out and the final attack takes place in the entrance cavern. This one looks like an ambush but it isn't. Remember that you must put in a character with First Strike for the first battle, but none of the subsequent ones are ambushes. Cast Auto-Life and then get cracking. Don't bother with Attack Reels; its easier just to hit him. Things will actually be easier this time. Although Kozuka will now do 12,000 damage to one character (no Auto-Protect anymore), Wakizashi will do around 26,000 damage, so if you are vigilant about keeping your HP at maximum (i.e. using Curaga after Daigoro and Kozuka) you should never die. After a Wakizashi use one Megalixir and three rounds of Curaga; you've got more than enough turns to do so. Go back and touch the Save Point after each battle to heal yourself. DON'T let his Overdrive fill up - use Attack Reels if it get more than three quarters full. ++++++++++++++++ 10.7 Dark Anima ++++++++++++++++ Dark Anima is another toughie, but not so difficult as Dark Bahamut. Even so, this battle will be very protracted. To make Dark Anima appear you must return to the Gagazet Mountain Cave and complete the trial where Wakka must throw a ball at a target. Unfortunately each time he misses you must fight a battle so be careful with your aims. Once you have succeeded Dark Anima will appear at the base of Mt. Gagazet. Teleport back there, save and run towards her. Again, don't bother with Attack Reels, jusy start the battle with Auto-Life and attack her physically. None of her attacks are devastating apart from her Overdrive: Oblivion. Her physical attacks are relatively weak; doing only 3,200 damage, but they will also inflict Curse. However you're not using any Overdrives so don't waste time getting rid of it. Pain is like Heavenly Strike - instant death for one character, no escape. Simply revive and cast Auto-Life. What is vitally important in this battle is keeping your HP at maximum. Always attend to this before attacking. This is because Dark Anima's third move is the infamous Mega-Graviton which hits you for 7/16 of your maximum HP. This results in about 13,000 damage to all. Admittedly you have 31,000 but if you're on any less than maximum it will take six rounds of Curaga to bring you up to speed, whereas three will suffice if you were on maximum when she did it. So the order of priority in this battle is Auto-Life, healing, attacking. Oblivion is devastating and rather annoying. It will kill you even if you are on maximum HP (so adopt the same tactics as with Dark Bahamut - forget about healing when her Ovedrive is full), but it will also reduce your MP to 0. Hence although you have three turns when you are revived, you have no MP to cast Auto-Life. The best thing you can do is use a Megalixir and then two rounds of Auto-Life. If she does Pain or a physical attack afterwards then its easy enough to get back on track but if she does Mega-Graviton you'll have to cast two rounds of Auto-Life again and wait until she does something you can deal with. If you are unlucky enough to get Mega-Graviton straight after Oblivion then use Megalixirs for healing. Keep to this pattern and you'll be fine, although this particular battle can sap your endurance more than the others because Dark Anima doesn't "droop" once she's lost half her HP, unlike the other Aeons. Well actually she does but its impossible to tell. Hence you have no way of telling how far you've got to go before killing her and the battle really drags out. But hey, she's not there to be beaten by just anyone. +++++++++++++++++++++++ 10.8 The Magus Sisters +++++++++++++++++++++++ Fill your Overdrives before this battle, and make sure you have enough Phoenix Downs. After very many tries, I've concluded that it is next to impossible to beat the Dark Magus Sisters. The fact that there's three of them gives you fewer turns and Delta Attack does over 99,999 damage to all and dispels Auto-Life. What can you do? Well of course you can do something! You couldn't get Penance to appear unless there was a way. Go to Mi'ihen Highroad and ride a Chocobo northwards. Save at the top of the Highroad and head into Mushroom Rock Road. Talk to the two summoners there and allow yourself to be chased down the left hand path. Resist the urge to use the Save Sphere here because if you die & restart from it, you won't find the Sisters. Take the platform upwards and start running. The summoners will follow you and a mini-game will commence. Its not a difficult concept; all you have to do is run down the road as fast as you can. If you get far enough you will lose one pursuer, meaning that you will only have to fight two of the three Sisters. If you can lose two pursuers then hats off to you; I couldn't, so this strategy is based on fighting Sandy & Mindy, and then fighting Cindy separately. You shouldn't need a strategy for beating Sandy/Mindy separately. Be warned this mini game may take a bit of practice; Mushroom Rock Road is deliberately set out awkwardly. Reset if they catch you before you lose one pursuer. Start the battle with Sandy & Mindy by casting Auto-Life. For some completely illogical reason it is impossible to hit Mindy with normal physical attacks, therefore you must use Attack Reels whenever you can and concentrate normal hits on Sandy. Without their third, the Sisters aren't that dangerous since they cannot do Delta Attack. To compensate for this they will wait until both their Overdrives are full and unleash two consecutive rounds of Mega-Graviton. You will only survive this if you are on full HP, hence healing is again a bigger priority. Afterwards, use two Megalixirs and Curaga to get back on track. As far as other attacks are concerned, Passado does instant death on one character so make sure you recast Auto-Life and heal to maximum. Razzia will do 99,999 damage to a single character AND dispel Auto-Life; hence why you need a sufficient number of Phoenix Downs. Auto-Phoenix will handle the reviving, but you must again heal to maximum. Both Sandy and Mindy's physical attacks will do around 12,000 damage which isn't a problem. Just keep Auto-Life'd and completely healed, then use Entrust and Attack Reels where possible, otherwise just use physical atacks on Sandy. Life will be much easier once one Sister is dead. The only other attack you have to watch out for is Calamity, which Mindy will cast occasionally. This doesn't do any damage but inflicts Full Break. Use Dispel to get rid of this (it won't dispel Auto-Life). After this battle, run back the way you came until you run into Cindy. She isn't a problem; you'll get loads of turns. She does Mega-Graviton as her Overdrive but only one round so its not so serious. But err on the side of caution and keep Auto-Life'd with HP at maximum. Her physical attack will do 12,000 damage and also dispel Auto-Life, so be vigilant about recasting it. Camisade will do 99,999 damage and 999 MP damage to a single character. Recast Auto-Life, use Curaga and then use a Turbo Ether after this. It won't be long before she dies. Congratulations! You've just beaten ten of the toughest superbosses Square has ever produced. A scene will trigger and you can view the arrival of your ultimate adversary... ------------------------------------------------------ 11.0 What You Will Need to Do Before Fighting Penance ------------------------------------------------------ Now although Penance has appeared; you can't just go rushing in head first. There's some preparation to be done. The "ideal" situation takes a while to set up, and I'll admit that I didn't fulfill every single item criteria. The ideal situation merely means that during that battle you are absolutely 100% safe as far as items are concerned. You can get away with less, but if the battle goes badly you may run out of certain things and be in big trouble. Its your call how much prep you do. I'll list what you ideally need as far as items are concerned, and then list how many I started and ended with in my battle; to give you a guide. I'd say the battle I had was about medium - things can get much worse. But its up to you how well you prepare. +++++++++++++++++++++ 11.1 The Ideal Setup +++++++++++++++++++++ The ideal setup before the battle includes: - TWR's Celestial Weapons fully activated and equipped (Section 4.0). - All TWR's stats except Luck should be at 255. Luck should be at least 130 (Section 3.0, 6.0, 8.0). - TWR's HP should be at least 25,520, 25,618 and 25,360 respectively. The higher the better. 31,620, 31,718 and 31,460 is preferable and perfectly possible on the Standard Grid (Section 3.0, 6.0, 8.0). - TWR should each have armour with Ribbon, Break HP Limit, Auto-Haste and Auto-Phoenix on it, and have them equipped (Section 9.0). - Rikku's Overdrive mode should be set to Comrade. - Rikku's Overdrive gauge should be full before the battle. - You should have 99 Phoenix Downs. [I had 99 and had 17 left] - You should have 99 Hi-Potions. [I had 99 and had 42 left]. - You should have 99 Lv 1/Lv 2 Key Spheres [I had 99 and had 42 left] This doesn't mean that you should have 99 of each; but the combined total should be 99 or more. For example you could have 63 Lv 1 Key Spheres and 36 Lv 2 Key Spheres. You can get Lv 1 Key Spheres by bribing Imps (Cavern of the Stolen Fayth). 300,000 Gil will get you 20. Do the maths and alter the amount if you want more. You can get Lv 2 Key Spheres by bribing a Behemoth (Mt. Gagazet). 800,000 Gil will get you 40. - You should have 69 Purifying Salts. [I had 69 and had 68 left] You don't really need 69 of these but you already have them from breeding Fafnir. - You should have 99 Healing Waters. [I had 63 and had 22 left] This is where gaining the items gets harder. To get these you can bribe Anacondaurs (Calm Lands). One million Gil will net you 60. You should have amassed about 5 million Gil by this time so you could get 99, but read the next item criteria first. If you choose just to get 60 you could steal maybe an extra 15 from Adamantoises (Inside Sin) who yield one per steal, giving you 75. - You should have 99 Megalixirs. [I had 86 and had 14 left] The Megalixirs are crucial during Penance's second form (yes he has one of those), but they are very expensive to get. You should have 15-20 left over after fighting the Dark Aeons which is a good start. To gain more you'll have to bribe a Varuna (Omega Ruins). Three million Gil will get you 30; they don't come cheap. Try to spend at least six million Gil on them, even if you have to go back and fight some more Mimics for the money. Also; sell any superfluous equipment. All you need are the Celestial Weapons, your final armour, your Capture weapons, your sphere levelling weapons and one weapon/armour apiece for each other character. Sell absolutely everything else. Even so, your funds will be completely cleared out, but its not as if you'll be using them for anything else. If you have delusions of making all seven characters powerful then that's your problem. If you get 60 Megalixirs from bribing and have 15 left that gives you 75 which is cutting it very fine. Try to have at least 85, if you can't be bothered to get 99. That's it. After you've done all that, you're ready. Board the airship and save. Then talk to Cid and select Penance as your destination in order to enter battle.... ---------------------- 12.0 Penance Strategy ---------------------- Before proceeding to the blow-by-blow strategy I'll outline some general points. Somewhat ironically; you won't be using Attack Reels in this battle, nor Entrust. The only Overdrive you'll be using is Rikku's Mix. Commit this combination to memory: Final Elixir = Hi-Potion + Lv 1 Key Sphere/Lv 2 Key Sphere. This is the only combination you'll be using, simply because it's the only move in the game that will heal more than 9,999 HP in one round for all characters. You won't have the time to be messing around with Curaga like before. Also, you will no longer be using the "Attack" command. Whenever physical attacks are referred to during the strategy, it means using Quick Hit in the Skill menu. DO NOT FORGET THIS. The key to beating Penance is not simply being powerful; it's the way you use your turns and making efficient use of your time. If you learn how to use them correctly you can have almost perfect control throughout the battle; and that includes predicting Penance's attacks. This is greater control than you had in any of the Dark Aeon battles, however it has a flipside; make one wrong move and you'll be dead before long. That's why this battle requires sustained concentration for over an hour. Don't try to do it when people are talking to you or you're having to get up and down, because you'll lose your concentration and forget what stage you're at. Also; be prepared for the battle to take a very long time; much longer than any other superboss you've ever faced. Finally; a summary of exactly what you'll be facing. Penance is made up of three parts: the body and two arms. In the CTB bar the body is represented by the normal Boss symbol, the right arm is Boss 1 and the left arm is Boss 2. It is vital to kill off the arms before paying attention to the body since otherwise they will combine to perform Judgement Day - an attack that will kill you regardless. The arms have three attacks apiece. The Left Arm does a physical attack, Slowga and Mega-Graviton and the Right Arm does a physical attack, Calamity or Mighty Guard. Mega-Graviton is the most deadly attack here, therefore the Left Arm is a greater danger. The body only has two attacks - Obliteration (26,000 damage to all) in his first form and Imoliation (29,000- 99,999 damage + 999 MP damage to a single character) in his second form. None of these attacks are deadly by themselves; in fact the only reason that Penance is so difficult is because he has three parts. In a way he is actually easier than the Dark Magus Sisters when you fight them together. The only other thing that makes the battle so difficult is that you get NO RESPITE from Obliteration or Imoliation; the body will use each one on every single turn. Whereas although Dark Yojimbo's Wakizashi did more damage than Obliteration, he wouldn't do it every time. Oh and Obliteration also casts all status effects that Ribbon protects against (so everything except Death, Curse & Full Break), so if you've been made enough not to give one character Ribbon, your good luck ends here. If all three have Ribbon then all you need to worry about is the damage. I've decided that the best way to demonstrate that the strategy for this battle is to outline the first few moves that will happen and that will establish your regular pattern of movements. Remember that you MUST use Quick Hits instead of regular attacks, and the combination for Rikku's Final Elixir Overdrive. You must use Quick Hits even if they don't make any difference in the visible part of the CTB bar, because they will still make a difference further down. ++++++++++++++++++++ 12.1 The First Form ++++++++++++++++++++ At the beginning of the battle you will have exactly six turns before Penance. This is convenient since it takes exactly six hits to kill one arm (remember this for future reference). There is no need to cast Auto-Life in this battle since you shouldn't ever die. Get straight in there with six Quick Hits to the Left Arm. Remember that the Left Arm is more deadly than the Right Arm. You should have three turns left over to begin attacking the Right Arm. Penance will now do Obliteration, reducing you to critical HP. DON'T panic and use Rikku's Overdrive as soon as she gets a turn; remember that the arms will never get a chance to attack you so you don't need to heal until Rikku's last turn before Penance's next attack. Simply land three more hits on the Right Arm to kill it. You will now get a few spare turns to attack the body (remember that the ONLY time you can attack the body is when neither of the arms are present and it isn't Rikku's last turn before Penance). When you get to Rikku's last turn before Penance this time, test whether a Quick Hit will squeeze her in another turn before him. If it will then do a Quick Hit now and use her Overdrive on the extra turn. This way you are maximising the number of turns you can use to attack the body. Now you'll be hit by another Obliteration and the Left Arm will regenerate. Kill it off, by which time the Right Arm will also have regenerated. Attack it until you have TWO TURNS left before the next Obliteration. You may have noticed that the last one didn't quite fill Rikku's Overdrive gauge. Hence you must use the two turns to use two Healing Waters; healing everyone by 19,998 HP. It doesn't get you up to maximum but its enough to survive on. Why not use Entrust? Because Entrust pushes a character further down the CTB bar than Use. Again; it's all about economic use of turns. Now its another Obliteration. Finish killing off the Right Arm, hit the body if you can (you will not always get a chance), start again on the Left Arm, and when you need to heal you'll find that the last Obliteration filled up Rikku's Overdrive ready for you to use. This strategy forms itself into a basic pattern of attacking and healing that will repeat itself until Penance changes to his second form (after you've taken off three million HP). If you use it correctly, the arms will never get a turn. For reference, here is a summary of what you need to do and the points you need to bear in mind: - Kill the arms first (at the beginning of the battle start with the Left Arm). They must be killed before they get a turn. You MUST attack the arms if a) they are present and b) you are not on Rikku's last turn/the last two turns before Obliteration. - You must alternate between Final Elixir and two Healing Waters for healing. Only use these on Rikku's last turn/the last two turns before Obliteration. - ONLY attack the body if a) neither of the arms is present and b) you are not in one of the two situations where you must heal. - This is somewhat obvious but don't start attacking one arm then change your mind and attack the other. - Keep a constant eye on the CTB bar. Turn calculation is a vital part of this. - ALWAYS use Quick Hits to attack. +++++++++++++++++++++ 12.2 The Second Form +++++++++++++++++++++ After you've taken off three million HP, the part of Penance that does Obliteration will drop off (never will I forget my feelings when I thought this meant I had beaten him). Since he still has three quarters of his HP this could be considered as his main form. Unfortunately things start to get a bit more dodgy here. The strategy for the first form is absolutely 100% safe. I'd give this one about 98%. The new & improved Penance will open with Immolation. The good news is that this only targets one character. The bad news is that about 75% of the time it will kill its victim, and will also rob them off all their MP, which complicates things somewhat. There seems to be no logic in how much damage the attack does. I've beaten Penance three times and overall the attack has varied between 29,000 and 99,999 damage. So whether the character dies is a question of luck. UPDATE: As several people have pointed out (stupid me for not noticing: the reason Immolation's damage varies is because it inflicts Full Break. However, this makes absolutely no difference to the successful strategy and you're better off if you ignore it and let it kill a character, then follow the instructions here, because it makes better use of your turns. For this strategy I'll take the worst case scenario: the character does die. Auto-Phoenix will revive him/her, but he/she won't have any MP and hence will be unable to use Quick Hit and will be pushed down the CTB bar as a result of dying. In contrast to the strategy with the first form, you should heal as soon as possible; i.e. the first turn after the character has been revived. You now have a new method of healing since Rikku's Overdrive will no longer fill at a regular pace. You should now use Quick Pockets and one Megalixir. Why use it as soon as possible? Because Quick Pockets will give you even more extra turns than Quick Hit. Why only one Megalixir? Given the damage that Immolation does, its not worth healing up to maximum HP only to be killed anyway. You only need MP for Quick Hit so theoretically you could just use a Turbo Ether, however this would mean that Immolation would definitely kill one character per round, which puts strain on your stock of Phoenix Downs. Using a Megalixir has a gradual Regen effect on the whole party; leaving some of them on full HP and standing a small chance of not dying by Immolation. For example take this scenario below: Tidus was hit by Imolation this round. He is on 9,999 HP. Wakka was hit by Imolation last round. He was healed by a Megalixir and is now on 19,998 HP. Rikku is on full HP. Using a Megalixir to heal Tidus will result in the following: Tidus: 19,998 HP. Wakka: 29,997 HP. Rikku: Full HP. Wakka's HP has increased enough to give him a chance of surviving the next Immolation - a very small chance admittedly, but still a chance. So yeah; you should now use Quick Pockets + a Megalixir the turn after Immolation, even if the target character doesn't die. Once you've done this, resume the normal pattern of killing the arms then attacking the body; only heal on the turn after Imolation, although sometimes you will have to adjust this now. If using that particular turn is not going to leave you enough turns to kill the arm you are currently attacking, then don't heal until you have killed that arm. It is still just as important that the arms don't get a turn. That's it: just keep this pattern up until he dies. Never let your attention wander away from the pattern; you should always know exactly what stage you are at (e.g. how many hits you have landed on an arm). Provisional Note: There is a small chance that during the transitional period between the first form and the second form, the Right Arm may unavoidably sneak in one turn. This will either by Calamity, a physical attack or Mighty Guard. You can only allow one turn to deal with whatever it does, and that turn should come AFTER you've killed it. If the Left Arm regenerates as soon as you've killed the Right Arm then check in the CTB bar that you've got eight turns (six to kill the arm before its turn, one to use a Megalixir before Immolation and one extra to deal with what the Right Arm did). If it did a physical attack then you only need the normal seven turns, so all you need to do to remedy this is a Megalixir as normal. If it did Calamity you should use the extra turn for Dispel on the affected character. If it did Mighty Guard you should use the extra turn to use a Purifying Salt on Penance. If you haven't got that extra turn then just keep going as normal until you have. Sacrifice a turn you would normally use to hit the body if necessary. And if all this goes right, then congratulations!! You've just beaten the toughest superboss Square has ever come up with. You can now look forward to absolutely no extra scenes and generally nothing being different to how it was before. It was so worth it, wasn't it? Well, you have the pride. If there is anything in this FAQ that you're having trouble with or don't understand then please don't hesitate to email me at intradance@hotmail.com I'm eager for all feedback on this since its my first ever FAQ. I hope that its been useful to you. ^_^ ------------- 13.0 Credits ------------- Inanimate objects before people: the most credit goes to the European Final Fantasy X strategy guide, published by Piggyback, for providing me with countless bits of information that are essential to this FAQ. And I'd also like to thank them for writing a Penance strategy that was no use to anybody, since it gave me the chance to write a decent one ^_^. This strat guide really is an invaluable reference book for anyone attempting this FAQ; I'd definitely reccommend it. You can buy it for about £9.99 on Amazon now, I think. Somewhat obviously; many thanks also go to Squaresoft for creating such an utterly brilliant game with far more diversity and challenge than any other Final Fantasy to date. Next, many many thanks to my partner Dominic for his neverrending patience with my obsession for this challenge, also for encouragement when I thought everything was going to fall apart, and for preventing several controller breakages. I love you sweetheart ^_^ Also I'd like to say a big thanks to my good friend Karl (or Ozma Omega) for being my patient and determined beta tester which provided a lot of feedback that improved this FAQ. And also thanks for listening to my ramblings on minor strategy points which I'm sure weren't interesting to anyone but me. You've been a real help, Karl. Finally, many thanks to the people on the forums at the UFF Site (www.uffsite.net) for endlessly interesting Final Fantasy conversation that encouraged me to write such an in-depth FAQ; you guys are all great. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Final Fantasy X is a trademark and copyright of Squaresoft