Al Bhed Primers
Ultimate Equipment
Blue Magic and Overdrives
Aeons
Achievements
Zanarkand
- Speak to a woman on the way to the Blitz stadium 3 times to obtain two potions.
Submerged Ruins
- 200 gil over to the right
- 2 potions over to the left
- After the save sphere take a left to reach the hi-potion.
- x-potion in the room with the second save sphere.
- Ether and a hi-potion in the hallway with the withered bouquet.
Boss: Klikk
Rikku will join you after you've taken 750HP off the thing. This is the first battle you can actually lose. Make free with the potions and steal some more grenades.
-
Al Bhed Primer I on deck.
Achievement Unlocked - Speaking in Tongues
- You can gain 3 potions by talking to the Al Bhed holding the gun. If you dive into the water and come back up, he'll give you another 3, up to a maximum of 99.
Boss: Tros
Not a great deal of strategy needed; throw grenades, use a pincer attack when you can.
Besaid
-
Moon Crest in an alcove to the right of Besaid Beach.
- 2 antidotes at the left of the beach
- speak to Aurochs for 200 gil, 2 hi-potions, and a total of 5 potions
- Phoenix Down, hi-potion, and 2 antidotes underwater
- Save at least one ability sphere until Wakka (standard) or Yuna (expert) have learned ability break.
- Phoenix down outside item shop; 400 gil, hi-potion, 2 potions behind shop.
-
Al Bhed Primer II in Crusader's Lodge
Besaid Trials
- Use Glyph Sphere to reveal Destruction Sphere; ignore for now and place Besaid Sphere in the pedestal.
- Place Destruction Sphere in place of Besaid Sphere to unlock
Rod of Wisdom.
Achievement Unlocked - The Right Thing
- Return to the shop; speak to the lady and then look for the dog in the north-east hut. Valefor will learn
Energy Blast.
- Sell all of your potions.
Boss: Kimahri
Once everyone has boarded the ship speak to the people on the dock to obtain a Seeker's Ring, an Ether, 400 gil, 3 Phoenix Down, and a Remedy.
SS Liki
- Give O'aka 1001 gil.
-
Al Bhed Primer III in the Power Room.
- Remedy in cabin. Kick the suitcase in here until your inventory holds 20 potions.
Boss: Sin and Sinspawn Echuilles
The Sinspawn will respawn ad infinitem. Use Dark Attack and Cheer to defeat Sinspawn Echuilles.
Kilika
- 3 potions in the house near where you save the kid.
- Al Bhed Primer IV and an Ether in the tavern.
Kilika Woods
-
Seed Cannon: automatic.
- 2 Mana Sphere, Scout, and a Luck Sphere available in chests.
- Talk to crusaders for a remedy and a Hi-Potion.
- Speak to Luzzu before fighting Lord Ochu to obtain 4 antidotes.
- Approach Lord Ochu from the west and flee to obtain 3 phoenix downs.
Boss: Lord Ochu
Weak against fire. Will fall asleep and heal itself when its HP gets low.
- Speak to Luzzu after the battle to obtain an Elixir.
- Speak to the Crusader to the west to obtain a Nulblaze shield.
Boss: Sinspawn Genaux
Take out the tentacles first.
Kilika Trials
- During the trials you will find three Kilika spheres. Insert the Glyph sphere into the hole you take the second Kilika sphere from to find the Destruction sphere. Insert the destruction sphere into the hole you took the third Kilika sphere from to obtain the
Red Armlet.
SS Winno
- Hi-Potion behind the Aurochs.
- Give O'aka 2000 gil.
-
Al Bhed Primer V on the bridge.
- After eavesdropping on Wakka and Lulu approach the Blitzball on deck to earn the Jecht Shot.
Achievement Unlocked - Striker.
Luca
-
Al Bhed Primer VI and 2 Hi-potions in Basement B.
- Lend 3000 gil to O'aka.
- 600 gil and Tidal Sphere on Dock 1.
- Phoenix Down x 2 on Dock 2.
- HP Sphere and Magic Sphere on Dock 5.
-
Al Bhed Primer VII in the theatre.
- 1000 gil on the steps to the Mi'hen High Road.
Boss: Oblitzerator
Use the crane!
-
Beat the Luca Goers and win a Strength Sphere.
Achievement Unlocked - Teamwork
Blitzball
- Hire Jumal (Luca square), Zev Ronso (Dock 3), and Wakka (guarding the stadium). They make a good goalie, midfielder, and forward, respectively.
- Open and close the menu until the
Attack Reels show up as the prize for a tournament. Go ahead and win them.
Achievement Unlocked - Show Off!
You can either play the current league or reset (from the Blitzball menu) to generate another. I always choose to play. Either way, save before the next one to ensure Status Reels are offered, which will only be after you've fought a total of 250 battles.
Mi'Hen Highroad
- Kimahri can learn
Self-Destruct, and
Fire Breath from Bombs and Dual Horns respectively.
- Speak to people on the first part of the Highroad to obtain a Hi-potion, a Hunter's Spear, and 2 antidotes.
- Chest containing an Ice Brand behind Maechan.
Boss: Belgemine's Ifrit
Speak to Belgemine in the first part of the Highroad to begin.
- In the second section, passers-by will give you a Red Ring and 3 Softs (don't kick the ball first!). There's a remedy in a chest.
- In the third section, passers-by will give you a Lv 1 Key Sphere, 4 Antidotes, 600 Gil, an Ether, and a Hi-potion. There are 3 eye-drops and 400 gil in chests.
- On the way out of the travel agency you'll receive
Al Bhed Primer VIII, 2 Megapotions, and a Lv 1 Key Sphere. Hire Ropp, behind the counter, as your new Blitzball defender.
Boss: Chocobo Eater
Use Fira, Auron's Piercing attacks, cheer, and focus.
- Ride a chocobo the rest of the way. Examine a yellow feather on the newroad to obtain a Heat Lance. You can do the same thing twice on the oldroad to obtain 2 softs, a thunderblade, and a fortune sphere. You can also find
Al Bhed Primer IX on the newroad and the
Mars Crest at the very end of the oldroad. Finally, there's a chest containing 2 Hi-potions at the north end of the Mi'Hen Highroad.
- You can donate gil to the man standing under the left of the arch at the end of the Old Road to obtain a Scout with sensor (100 gil), and Ice Lance with Piercing (1000 gil) or a Moon Ring with SOS Protect and SOS Shell. You can donate as many times as you like, for multiple items.
Mushroom Rock Road
- Speak to people near where you start to obtain an ether, two phoenix downs, a remedy, a tough bangle, and a hi-potion.
- You can now purchase items and weapons from O'aka, with prices dependent on the total amount of money you gave him. If you donated the same amounts I did, prices will be at 70%.
- You can pick up a hi-potion on the next screen.
- After going up on the lift you can pick up 1000 gil in the chest and 10 potions from the guy standing next to it. Further on you can collect a remedy and a hi-potion from chests.
- After the next lift, passers-by will give you an x-potion and 400 gil. You can pick up a serum armlet by going down on a nearby lift, and
Al Bhed Primer X by following the little path to the side.
- You can get a mega-potion from the guard near the Savepoint.
- After seeing Maester Kinoc you can obtain a Serene Bracer and a Mega-potion from the chests near Yuna and Lulu.
Boss: Sinspawn Gui
The arms will block attacks to the Torso, so take those out first. One second level spell should do it.
You can find a hi-potion on the beach after the battle.
Djose High Road
- You can pick up a Variable Steel, a Stone Ring, a Mega-Potion, a Hi-Potion, and an ether from people walking the High Road.
- You can find Al Bhed Primer XI behind a pillar.
- Finally, you can find 2 Phoenix Downs and a Bright Bangle in chests.
- Kimahri can learn
Stonebreath from Basilisks.
Djose
- You can find 4 Ability Spheres and 4000 gil in chests outside the temple.
- Inside the temple, you can find an Ether, a Mega-Phoenix, and a Remedy.
Djose Cloister of Trials
- Take the two Djose spheres in the first room and insert them into the door.
- In the next room, take the two Djose spheres in front of you and put them in the recesses on the right. Push the pedestal to the right.
- Take the charged sphere from the pedestal and insert it to the right of the door. Take the two spheres out of the right corridor and place them into the pedestal. Use the switch to the left to transport it back to the middle of the room and push it through the door straight ahead.
- Jump over the electric field and push the other pedestal straight into the wall.
- Bring the first pedestal back by stepping on the switch again, and put the two spheres in the empty recesses in the first room. Put the sphere from the door into the gap on the left and take the elevator up.
- Push the five pedestals into the walls and go back down. Examine the glyph that's appeared near the pedestal switch. Pick up the Destruction sphere.
- Go back up on the lift and insert the Destruction sphere into the pedestal to unlock a chest containing a
Magic Sphere.
Moonflow
- you can now pick up a Switch Hitter in the inn.
- on the way down the Djose High Road, speak to passers-by for a Halberd, 2 Hi-Potions, and 10 Potions.
- Head back down to the beach; you can now cross the barrier to pick up a chest containing 4 Softs.
- In chests along the Moonflow you can find 3 Level 1 Key Spheres, an X-Potion, another 3 Level 1 Key Spheres, a Magic-Defence Sphere, and 2 Phoenix Downs, next to O'aka.
- You can also challenge Belgemine to earn a
Summoner's Soul.
Belgemine's Ixion
Speak to her on the Moonflow to begin. I took it out with one of Ifrit's limit breaks.
- You can pick up 5000 gil from the chest near the save point on the South Bank.
Extractor
Weak against Lightening.
- You can find
Al Bhed Primer XII and an ether on the North Bank.
Achievement Unlocked - All Together
- You can find 4 Antidotes and a Mega-Potion on the road to Guadosalam.
Guadosalam
- You can pick up an Elixir and a Mega-Potion in the corners of Guadasalam. In Pah Guado's home on the left you can pick up
Al Bhed Primer XIII and 3000 gil.
- In Seymour's house, you can pick up 2 Hi-potions at the top of the stairs.
- You can pick up eight lightening marbles on the way to the Farplane.
Thunder Plains
- You can find 2 Phoenix Downs, 2 Hi-Potions, 5000 gil, and a Water Bill in chests in the southern half of the Thunder Plains.
- Tell Rin your studies are going well for
Al Bhed Primer XIV. You can also pick up a Yellow Shield outside the travel agency.
- In the Thunder Plains North you can pick up a X-potion, an ether, a remedy, and 2000 gil.
- examine up to three thunderstones in either half of the thunder plains to make Cacuars appear in fights.
Macalania Woods
- Kimahri can learn
Aqua Breath from Chimeras.
- In the first area you can pick up a Sleepy Cait Sith and 2000 gil.
- In central, you can pick up 3 phoenix downs. You can also hunt butterflies for an MP Sphere.
- In the nothern area, you can pick up a remedy and hunt butterflies for an ether.
- Finally, you can pick up
Al Bhed Primer XV near O'aka. If you tell him his prices are too high he'll drop them.
Boss: Spherimorph
It will counteract physical attacks with spells and undergo an elemental shift when hit with magic. Hit it to figure out what element it is currently, and counter with the opposite. Use aeons for lots of elemental damage.
Achievement Unlocked: Power Strike
- you'll receive your first
Jecht Sphere automatically.
- You can go replay the butterfly game now, for 2 Elixirs in the north and 2 Megalixir in central.
- There's a second
Jecht Sphere back at the entrance, near the path to Bevelle.
Lake Macalania
- Pick up
Al Bhed Primer XVI from outside the travel agency . Tell Clasko he should be a Chocobo breeder.
Boss: Crawler and Negator
You can take out Negator with long-range attacks, if you want to use magic or summons. Crawler is weak against lightening.
- Open the chest for a Megapotion.
- Speak to the Al Bhed on the stairs for 400 gil.
Macalania Temple
- You can find 2 X-Potions and 5000 gil in the hall. Tromell will give you a Shell Targe.
- There are 3 Phoenix Downs, an Ether and an Elixir in the Monk's Chamber.
- There are 2 Remedies and 2 Hi-Potions in the Nun's Chamber.
Boss: Seymour and Guado Guardians
Steal Hi-Potions from the guardians to prevent them healing damage. The battle will move on when Seymour is at less than 3000 HP.
Boss: Anima
You probably don't need an Aeon here, unless she manages to gain an overdrive.
Boss: Seymour
This is where I used my aeons. He has 6000 HP, and will cast two nasty spells per turn, on two characters.
Macalania Trials
- At the bottom of the ramp, push the pedastal into the ice to the right. Go further right and take the Macalania sphere from the wall.
- Insert the sphere into the pedestal and push it forwards, into the other ice formation. Grab the gylph sphere from the column and follow the pedestal down the ramp.
- Push the pedestal right and insert the glyph sphere into the recess in the far left.
- See the pillar next to you? Go get the Macalania sphere that just rose, and put it in there.
- Take the Macalania sphere from the top of the ramp and put it into the central column, where you got the glyph sphere from. Immediately take it out and insert it into the far right wall.
- Go all the way back up to the bridge and step on the switch there to bring the pedestal to you. Take the Macalania sphere out of the pedestal and then give it a shove down the slope.
- Put the Macalania sphere into the opening near the lower ramp, allowing you access to the bottom level. Step on the switch on this level to bring the pedestal back; take the destruction sphere, and shove it back down to the lower level.
- Follow the pedestal down and put the destruction sphere into the empty opening, to the left. Open the chest for a
Luck Sphere.
- Go back up and take the Macalania Sphere from the wall on the right. Put it into the pedestal downstairs, and shove it to the right to recreate that section of bridge.
- Come back up, and put the pedestal near the ramp into the central pillar to finish the bridge. Don't step on any switches on your way out!
- On your way back to Macalania Woods, grab the Level 1 Key Sphere in the chest.
Lake Macalania
Boss: Wendigo and Guado Guardians
Steal from the Guardo Guardians to prevent them from auto-healing. The Wendigo is weak against Power Break and Dark Attack.
After Yuna wakes up, check the chests near Kimahri and Auron for a Level 2 Key Sphere, and an Avenger.
Sanubia Desert
- Use Bio and Demi on the larger enemies to whittle their HP down faster
- You'll find a chest containing 4 Remedies in the water where you start. You can find
Al Bhed Primer I nearby if you missed it earlier.
- Near Wakka you can find 8 Al Bhed potions and the
Al Bhed Primer III if you missed it earlier.
-
Al Bhed Primer V is near Kimahri.
- you'll find another 8 Al Bhed Potions and two ethers near Rikku. You can also find 4 Hi-Potions to the north.
- In the next area, you'll find a chest containing 2 X-Potions near the large rock northwest from the entrance. There are 2 Mega Potions west of here, in the corner.
- North-east of the entrance, you'll find 4 Hi-Potions, and there are another 8 Al Bhed potions near the save point.
- From the save point, you'll find a Level 2 Key Sphere, 10,000 gil and
Al Bhed Primer XVII to the west.
- You'll find
Al Bhed Primer XVIII north of the save point.
- In the central part of the desert, you'll find a Mercury Quest, 8 Hi-Potions, 3 Mega-Potions, 3 Megalixers, 2 Teleport Spheres, and 2 X-Potions.
Home
- Outside, you can pick up 2 Hi-Potions from Kayakku and
Al Bhed Primer XIX in the corner.
- Inside, you can grab 4 Al Bhed Potions after the scene. Downstairs, you can find 6 Al Bhed Potions in the middle corridor.
- The right corridor contains
Al Bhed Primer XXI and a door to a room containing a Special Sphere and a Skill Sphere.
- Back upstairs, you can now go into the room to grab
Al Bhed Primer XX, a Friend Sphere, and an optional item chest. I normally go for the Elixir.
- Down the right corridor, after a few scenes, you can grab a Level 2 Key Sphere and a Level 4 Key Sphere.
- Finally, before boarding the airship you can grab 10,000 gil.
Airship
- You can pick up 4 Al Bhed potions from the guy near the Save Point.
Boss: Evrae
Tidus and Rikku can ask Cid to move the airship away to dodge some attacks. Close-up attacks only work when Evrae is nearby.
Bevelle
- Kamahri can learn
Thrust Kick from the YKT 63.
- You can find
Al Bhed Primer XXII at the bottom of the stairs before the trials.
Bevelle Trials
- Push the pedestal onto the ramp. You'll then be on an automatic track. Ignore the first arrow, then hit confirm when the second points left. Grab the Bevelle Sphere from the wall, then push the pedestal back onto the track.
- Stay on the track until you come back to this turning, and hit confirm when the arrow puts to the other niche, to the right. Put the Bevelle Sphere in the wall here.
- Ride the track to the other arrow - the one you ignored earlier - and use it to go down a level. Turn left to move along the middle level, and take the second right (you can just hammer on confirm; the other option will just move you along the path you're already on). Take the Glyph Sphere from the wall and add it to the Pedestal.
- Get back onto the pedestal and take the next right, at the end of this path. Put the Bevelle Sphere in the wall, then take the Glyph Sphere and put it into the wall at the end of the new path. Take the destruction sphere, put that and the Bevelle Sphere from the wall back into the pedestal, and then head back to the middle path on this level, where you got the Glyph Sphere from. Put the Destruction Sphere into the wall.
- Back at the start of this level, head down. Put the second Bevelle Sphere into the Pedestal and head up to the middle level. Go down the first right path. Push the pedestal across to carry on when you need to.
- Put a Bevelle Sphere into the wall and open the chest to obtain a
HP sphere. Step onto the Glyph where it was, then use the pedestal to go left to obtain a
Knight Lance.
Bevelle - Via Purifico
- To the east, you'll meet Kimahri near a Mega-Potion, and you'll find an Elixir, a White Magic Sphere, and Lulu to the west. Press the Glyph near the chest containing the Elixir, then head north from the save point where Yuna started for a Black Magic Sphere. Step on the platform here.
- Head north to meet Auron and find another Save Point. Go west and take the teleporter further west for a Lucid Ring, 10,000 gil, and a Skill Sphere. I could only get this platform to work after I'd used the platform to the south to travel there, so try that if you have problems. Build up your aeons overdrives while you're exploring.
Boss: Grothia, Pterya, Spathi
Aeons only. I'd suggest, Shiva, then Bahamut, then Ixion. Grothia has 8000hp, Pterya has 12,000 and Spathi has 20,000.
Boss: Evrae Altana
You can kill him by throwing 2 Phoenix Downs at him, if you like.
- After the fight you can find two chests containing a Rematch and an Avenger. You'll lose these if you chose to open the locks.
Boss: Seymour Natus and Mortibody
Mortibody will absorb HP from Seymour when reduced to 0. Seymour will dismiss all Aeons after one move, so only call them if you plan to use their overdrive.
Macalania Woods
Achievement Unlocked: Heartstrings
- Pick up a Lucid Ring before you leave.
Calm Lands
- Kimahri can learn
Bad Breath from Maloboros,
Aqua Breath from Chimera Brains and
Stone Breath from Anacondaurs, if you missed those last two previously.
- Head down to the slope and to the Travel Agency in the centre. There's a chest containing a Level 2 Key Sphere just behind it. Belgemine is just southwest of here, in the circle.
Boss: Belgemine's Shiva
Two of Ifrit's overdrives will take her out (15,000HP). Try using Grand Summon.
- You will obtain the
Aeon's Soul, which will allow you to increase your aeons stats directly. As they increase in line with Yuna's, I generally don't do much until she's pretty high-leveled.
- You can find
Al Bhed Primer XXIII in the north-west corner of the Calm Lands, near the Chocobo Trainer.
Achievement Unlocked: Chocobo License
- Before you attempt to beat the race in under 0:00 seconds, choose to quit. Ask to ride a chocobo. You can ride it to the southeastern corner of the Calm Lands to open two chests containing a total of 15,000gil, then ride it up the southern ramp and examine the chocobo feather right at the top, to the east. That'll get you to Remiem Temple.
Remiem Temple
You'll find Al Bhed Primer XXIV to the left. You'll be able to take part in the Chocobo race by talking to the chocobo on the right. Completing the race and having touched the following numbers of chests (and no poles!) will give you these prizes;
0 -
Cloudy Mirror
1 - Elixir
2 - Mega-Elixir
3 - 30 x Wings to Discovery
4 - 30 x Pendulum
5 60 x Three Stars
Achievement Unlocked - Chocobo Master
Now that you have the Cloudy Mirror, head back to Macalania Woods.
Macalania Woods
- Speak to the mother and son near the save point in the south, then head back to the campsite to find the husband.
- Speak to the reunited couple, then head up the crystal path to find the son. Use the Cloudy Mirror to obtain the
Celestial Mirror.
- You can find 4000 gil outside Rin's Travel Agency.
Calm Lands
- Complete the Chocobo Race as fast as you can. If you've beaten your best time or the trainer's time, the man who was guarding the path to the north west will have come to congratulation you. Head over to the path he was guarding and use the Celestial Mirror to pick up Tidus'
Caladbolg.
- If you finish the race in less than 0.00 seconds, you'll receive the
Sun Sigil. I came back to do this later, because fuck Chocobos.
- Head to the Arena on the right of the Calm Land. Buy a couple of Catcher weapons, and come back when you've caught at least one Couerl, Ogre, Flame Flan, Shred, Nebiros, Malboro, Anacondaur, Chimera Brain, and Skoll. You'll get
Yuna's Nirvana
- If you speak to him again, you'll get 60 Farplane Winds and the chance to fight Chimeragast.
Chimeragast
I gave Tidus a First Strike weapon and instantly swapped him out for Yuna, who cast Nul-Tide and Nul-Blaze before Chimeragast got a turn.
Chimeragast always attacks in a pattern. He started with Megiddo Flame, so I know Blizzara or Thundara are coming next, followed by Assault, followed by Aqua Breath. Then he'll start again. Keep your party protected with Nul spells, and use an Aeon if you get the chance. He'll go down eventually, after 120,000 damage. You can win a Return Sphere.
Mt Gagazet
Defender X
Use Armor Break.
Afterwards, head down to the right instead of up Mt Gagazet. Pick up the
Rusty Sword, under the bridge.
Sunken Cave
Kimahri can learn
Doom from Ghosts. You can also pick up a Megalixer, a Level 2 Key Sphere, a Fortune Sphere,
Al Bhed Primer XXV, and 2 Mega-Potions.
Yojimbo
Weak against Doom, though only has 33,000 HP anyway.
Afterwards, head into the Chamber of the Fayth. Offer him 125,001 gil, then 150,002, then 175,003. Finally, triple his final offer - around 203,000 gil - for two Teleport Spheres.
Achievement Unlocked - It's All About the Money.
You can also use the Teleporter to reach a Flexible Arm, an MP Sphere, and 2 X-Potions.
If you've caught at least one Yowie, Imp, Dark Element, Nidhogg, Thorn, Valaha, Epaaj, Ghost, and Tonberry, then you'll have unlocked another monster at the monster arena, and you'll receive 40 Silver Hourglasses.
Don Tonberry
At first, he'll counter every attack with Karma, which will normally kill your character. When he reaches you, he'll start using Chef's Knife every turn. Keep Yuna hasted, and have her revive whoever gets hit. Avoid letting him have two turns in a row, and situations where only one character has a turn inbetween his, in case he kills that guy first. Haste is your friend.
480,000 HP. Keep cherry-tapping, and he'll go down.
You'll also have unlocked
Earth Eater. I suggest First Attack, swap for Yuna, Zanmato. I'll come back and kill him properly later. Time to get on with the plot!
Mt Gagazet
Boss: Biran and Yenke
Remember to change Kimahri's overdrive!
Use Haste or a Chocobo Feather early on. You can learn Thrust Kick, Doom, and Self-Destruct from Biran, and Aqua Breath, Fire Breath, and Stone Breath from Yenke. After they each use them - at 50% of HP - you can also learn White Wind and Mighty Guard. Remember to steal Level 3 Key Spheres from them.
You can catch Imps here, if you struggled in the sunken cave.
You can find 20,000 gil, a Mega-Potion, Braska's Sphere, and a Defending Bracer in the first area. You should unblock
Banishing Blade after viewing the sphere.
You'll also meet Wantz, who sells, amongst other things, a Booster Cactuar with Magic Booster, Magic + 10% and Magic + 5%. I mention this because I wish I'd waited until I got here to put One MP Cost onto Lulu's weapon.
In the next area, you'll find a Level 4 Key Sphere and a HP Sphere.
Boss: Seymour Flux and Mortiochis
I used Holy a lot. Seven or so will take them out.
Afterwards, look for the
Saturn Crest near the save point.
This next section is still part of Mt Gagazet! It's here you'll find the stronger and the underwater monsters for the Arena. You can find a Fortune Sphere, a Level 1 Key Sphere, a Pep Talk, a Recovery Ring, and a Return Sphere here.
Boss: Sanctuary Keeper
You should probably take your capture weapons off. I didn't bother.
Zanarkand Ruins
You'll still find Mt Gagazet fiends here for a while. The Zanarkand specific fiends are all machina, so they can't be capture. The big one does drop Level 2 Key Spheres though! On your way to the dome you'll be able to find a Fortune Sphere, a Friend Sphere, 10,000 gil, a Luck Sphere, a Level 3 Key Sphere and a Spiritual Targe.
The trials are simple, and there is no secret item. You just need to light up
the sections of floor specified by the screen. After the first room, start pushing the pedestals into the wall to light up the screen in the second room. Once you've done that, used the Kilika and Besaid spheres which will have appeared by the second screen, and place them into the two pedestals that are left before pushing them into the walls.
Boss: Spectral Keeper
Spread your characters out and avoid his glyph bomb thingies.
Boss: Yunalesca
Keep at least one front-line character zombified for the third round; it's the only way to stop a total party kill from her first attack.
Achievement Unlocked - Overcoming the Past
Afterwards, run down the stairs in the back and you'll be transported to the front of the room again. Now there'll be a chest containing the
Sun Crest at the top of the back stairs.
Airship & Subquests
After a scene at the Highbridge, you can start on the subquests!
First, choose 'input' and enter GODHAND, VICTORIOUS, and MASAMUNE to unlock new areas with Rikku's
Godhand, a Victorious Weapon and the Masamune sword in chests.
Head to Besaid. Pick up at least one of the three enemies here, then board the SS Liki. Don't try to enter Besaid just yet - you can't defeat Dark Valefor.
Head forward on the SS Liki to obtain a Friend Sphere. You'll find a
Jecht Sphere in the cabin.
In Kilika, head back into the trials to obtain a Luck Sphere, a Defence Sphere, an Agility Sphere and an Accuracy Sphere from the chamber of the fayth. You will need to redo the trials!
Board the SS Winno to Luca. Tell the guy on the upper deck there are 11 gulls to obtain an Ace Wizard. In Luca you'll find another Jecht Sphere and the
Jupiter Crest in the righthand locker rooms. O'aka is in the theatre, though he's not selling anything. There are a total of 50 movie spheres and 71 music spheres, though you can't get all of them yet.
Speak to the owner of the cafe in the square - assuming you've been playing some Blitzball - to obtain the
World Champion. Now there's only Blitzball left to do to get the sigil and fully unlock Wakka's weapon!
Head to the Calm Lands and speak to the Arena owner. If you did get the monsters in Besaid you'll receive 99 Stamina Tonics and be invited to battle Stratoavis.
Boss: Stratoavis
It generally only hits one person, except with Paen of Heavens, which is preceeded by charging, and can be survived with high enough HP/Defence (about 6000hp on Auron was enough). Use full-life to revive so your HP is kept up. Hastaga is also useful.
You've probably also unlocked the Malboro Menace of Kilika, the Catoblepas of Mt Gagazet, and the original Shinryu, for which you'll receive 99 Poison Fangs, the Blossom Crown, and 30 Megalixers respectively. I didn't face any of them at this point.
Go back to the Airship and start using the search function. Search for X 12-16 Y 41-45 for the Ascalon Sword, X 29-32 Y 73-76 for a Dragoon Lance, X 33-36 Y 55-60 for a Sonar, and X 39-43 Y 56-60 for a Phantom Bangle. Then search X 11-16 Y 57-63 for Baaj Temple and X 69-75 Y 33-38 for Omega Ruins. Ignore both for now and go back to Zanarkand.
In the trials, you'll need to activate all seven white squares to obtain the Destruction Sphere. Put it into the recess to the right of the second screen to obtain the
Magisterial Rod.
Now head to Baaj Temple.
Boss: Geosgaeono
I mixed two Wings of Discovery to create a Trio of 9999.
Enter the chamber and approach each statue. The treasure chests contain a megalixer and four megaphoenixes. Inside you'll obtain
Anima.
Achievement Unlocked - Feel the Pain
Head back to the Calm Lands and use a chocobo to reach Remiem Temple. The Chocobo trainer is just south of the store now.
Defeat Belgemine's Yojimno and Anima. Then use the Blossom Crown and Flower Sceptre to break the seal in the back and claim the Magus Sisters.
Achievement Unlocked - Delta Attack
Achievement Unlocked - Summon Master
Head straight back in afterwards for a Defence Sphere. Then come out and defeat Belgemine's Magus Sisters. Send her to obtain the
Moon Sigil. You can now head to Macalania Woods; present Yuna's weapon twice on the crystal path to fully unlock it. I also finished the two butterfly games to gain a Teleport Sphere and the
Saturn Sigil. Be careful in the Central area; it's way too easy to accidentally run right off the screen after catching the last butterfly, which will prevent the chest appearing!
Now head to Guadosalam. You can find the
Venus Crest on the Farplane. Head out to the Thunder Plains. There's a
Jecht Sphere in the south area. Grab it, and make sure you've activated 3 Cactuar stones - note that they glow on and off, not in a continuous fashion! If you have, you should find a Cactuar Ghost hanging out near the save point. Follow it and pray at the tower it stops at to obtain the
Spirit Lance.
Then you can work on dodging 200 fucking Lightening Strikes.
This video will probably help.
You'll earn the following prizes. Just keep opening the chest until you've got everything;
5 - 2 X-Potions
10 - 2 MegaPotions
20 - 2 MP Spheres
50 - 3 Strength Spheres
100 - 3 HP Spheres
150 - 4 Megalixers
200 -
Venus Sigil
Achievement Unlocked - Lightening Dancer
Head back to Macalania to activate Lulu and Kimahri's weapons. Go from the save point to the airship and back down rather than just running across the plains, to avoid Dark Ixion.
Now head to Bikanel Dessert. Head to the northernmost area, and examine the cactuar stone to the south of the stormy bit to start the Valley of the Cactuars quest. You'll need to find the Cactuar gatekeepers, sneak up on them, and battle them. You have three attempts with each one; if you lose you get a Sphere del Perdedor instead. These Cactuars can be captured! After obtaining each sphere you'll need to take it back to the cactuar stone and insert it before hunting for the next one.
1 - near the save sphere at the Oasis.
2 - East. Head south two screens from the Valley to find him.
3 - Northwest of the Cactuar stone; examine the 20% off sign.
4 - Central, the screen south of the valley. In the Northwestern area with the tough fiends.
5 - Caught with 4.
6 - East. Examine the save sphere. You can save first!
7 - Central. Examine the chest south-west of the save point, the one right up in the corner. It'll be closed. Use your first two turns to open the chests containing 2 Shadow Gems, a Shining Gem, and a Blessed Gem.
8 - Northeast of the Cactuar stone, hanging out in a whirlpool. Might take a minute or two to appear.
9 - Near the Oasis save sphere. Watch it teleport onto the airship, and you'll find it on the upper deck.
10 - Automatic.
You'll now be able to enter the valley, which has chests containing the
Mercury Sigil and a Friend Sphere, assuming you caught at least 8 Gatekeepers. Then go and activate Rikku's weapon in Macalania. You can also find Wantz in Macalania Woods, if you go really far south like you're heading back to the Thunder Plains. He has equipment - weapons and armour - with four clear slots, which you will want to start making perfect armour for your characters.
I went to get 10 of all the fiends from Besaid and Kilika at this point, then started on the Mi'ihen Highroad. You can pick up another
Jecht Sphere at the end of the Oldroad South.
At this point, I played enough Blitzball to unlock the
Auroch Reels.
Achievement Unlocked - Blitzball Master
I then carried on playing enough to finish the league and generate a new one with the
Jupiter Sigil.
I also began to fill in areas of the Monster Arena and to create ultimate armours. I bribed ghosts for mega-phoenixes and bought armour with four empty slots from Wantz.
In Mushroom Rock road you can find an
Auron Sphere on the precipice. You can get to Mushroom Rock from Djose. You can also use the Rusty Sword at the statue of Lord Mi'ihen; if you then examine the glyph you'll turn the sword into Auron's
Masamune.
Achievement Unlocked - Weapon Master
Having finished Mushroom Rock meant I'd also unlocked the
Mars Sigil at the Monster Arena, so I could go and finish that as well.
In Djose Temple you can pick up a Luck Sphere, an Agility Sphere and a Magic Defence Sphere. You can also pick up another Jecht Sphere on the south wharf of the Moonflow.
I spent some time using Zanmato against Thuban to get a couple of weapons with Triple Overdrive and Triple AP. I can easily add Overdrive-AP to them. Plus, you can have Rikku steal Teleport Spheres from him.
Achievement Unlocked - A Talent for Acquisition
I also began my initial forays into the Omega Dungeon. At this point, I'm just hunting monsters - I haven't gone for the treasures.
I finished my levelling weapons by bribing Sandworms, and had Kimahri, Yuna, and Auron create a specific levelling path in one corner of the sphere grid. I'll have another character go down it later and remove all of the subpar stats. It'll take a few more sphere levels, but I can get 99 in a matter of minutes right now. When I reach a more natural end point, I'll head back to the Omega Dungeon and start exploring in earnest.
Achievement Unlocked - Mega Attack
Achievement Unlocked - Under the Table
Omega Dungeon
On the first floor you can pick up
Al Bhed Primer XXVI and a Teleport Sphere. For the latter you'll need to go past it and activate a glyph in the northeast in order to raise the bridge.
Achievement Unlocked - Master Linguist
There are also four groups of treasure chests scattered about. Some will randomly contain fiends, and when you open one of those, the chests around them will vanish. For each one you open, you will receive a prize from the following list. The list will reset to 1 when you visit a save point.
- Level 4 Key Sphere
- Defending Bracer
- Turnover
- Level 3 Key Sphere x 2
- Defending Armlet
- Friend Sphere x 2
- Level 4 Key Sphere
- Phantom Ring
- Cactuar Wizard
- Warmonger
- Teleport Sphere x 2
- Warp Sphere x 99
I really don't think it's worth going for 12.
Fiends from inside Sin appear in here, including Great Malboro which is a massive pain in the arse. Try buying equipment with confuse ward from Luca.
I then left the dungeon to do a bit more levelling.
Sin
Left Fin, Right Fin, Sin (Core), Sinspawn Genais
Not even a challenge any more.
Sin
Nope.
In the first area, you can find a Special Sphere, a Phantom Ring, a Wizard Lance, a Level 3 Key Sphere, and an Elixir.
Seymour Omnis
Barely touched him.
Achievement Unlocked - The Destination of Hatred
After Seymour, you can find a level 4 Key Sphere behind three walls. Fight 35 battles and examine the glyphs to open them all. You can get all of the last few arena monsters here. I got five of each, which means I can now buy Clear Spheres from the arena and start properly manipulating my sphere grid. I also received 99 Winning Formulas, so I was able to create levelling weapons for Rikku, Wakka, and Lulu.
You can now head back to Luca to pick up all the movie and music spheres. Speak to the music guy again to buy the last three.
Achievement Unlocked - Theatre Enthusiast
Omega Dungeon
You can pick up some Friend Spheres and Magic Spheres on the second floor. You'll also have to fight Ultima and Omega Weapon, neither of which should pose much of a challenge. Remember to have Kimahri learn
Nova from Omega.
Achievement Unlocked - Learning!
By this point I've added 40 Strength Spheres, 51 Defence Spheres, 18 MP Spheres, and 21 Agility Spheres to the Sphere Grid. In order to easily obtain enough Accuracy Spheres, I'm going to need to unlock Wakka's best weapon. Since I'll also need that to take down Shinryu, so I can finally get a decent weapon for Tidus to start grinding with, I finished playing blitzball and got the Jupiter Sigil.
Besaid
Take down Dark Valefor. There's a Jecht Sphere to the right of the Temple.
Achievement Unlocked - Messenger from the Past
Inside the temple, you can pick up an Evasion Sphere, 2 potions, an Elixir, a White Magic Sphere and a Hi-Potion.
Macalania
Take down Dark Shiva. I needed to use aeons to shield me from Diamond Dust. Afterwards, run away from the Guados!
Head back to obtain a Magic Sphere, an Accuracy Sphere and a Magic Defence sphere. To get out;
- At the bottom of the ramp, push the pedestal into the ice to the right. Go further right and take the Macalania sphere from the wall.
- Insert the sphere into the pedestal and push it forwards, into the other ice formation. Grab the gylph sphere from the column and follow the pedestal down the ramp.
- Push the pedestal right and insert the glyph sphere into the recess in the far left.
- See the pillar next to you? Go get the Macalania sphere that just rose, and put it in there.
- Take the Macalania sphere from the top of the ramp and put it into the central column, where you got the glyph sphere from.
After that I went and got the
Sun Sigil, for the first time ever.
This guide made the biggest difference.
Now the only achievements left involve beating the optional enemies Nemesis and Penance, defeating the Sphere Grid for all characters, and finishing the game.
Note that, to 'complete' the sphere grid you need to fill every space with a node, activate all of them, and travel every path.
I got some armour with Break HP Limit and Ribbon for Rikku and Tidus from either Dark Ifrit (Desert, outside home) or Dark Ixion (Thunder Plains north), which was useful against Dark Anima (Gagazet, complete the ball-throwing trial again), Dark Bahamut (Zanarkand), and the Dark Magus Sisters (which I fought one at a time, in Mushroom Rock). I added auto-phoenix to both, but did make the mistake of only putting auto-haste on Rikku, not Tidus.
After this, I completed the Sphere Grid with Yuna and Rikku, and got Tidus' luck over 130 before facing Dark Yojimbo, in the Sunken Cave.
Achievement Unlocked - Sphere Master
Nb. You'll know you've completed the sphere grid with the first character when the achievement unlocks. Try to win a few Master Sphere's off Yojimbo (rare drop), and use those to make sure every node is activated with your other characters. Then you just need to look out for breaks in the sphere grid path, which can be tricky to spot. Try not to leave any as you go round.
Since my last update, Jake and Serena have had another set of twins, Haven and Liberty (again, random generator), who are now children, while Jasper and Rosemary are now teenagers. Jasper and Rosemary spent most of their childhood studying together and playing with their cousins. Most of the younger generation are related to them, which is a bit of a problem when it comes to finding people to date and, later, to marry. So I made three families consisting of one adult and a bunch of unrelated teenagers and kids. This turned out to be way too many - there's a huge queue to get into school every day now. I moved two of the families out, but they're still around town and it hasn't solved the problem.
Jake's been doing most of the childcare, because he has shorter work hours and Serena was trying to max out her music skill. She's not made a lot of career progress, despite successfully maxing out the guitar. Firstly, she missed a day of work when Jasper and Rosemary aged up into children because Rosie's candles started a fire, so that tanked her performance. Before it had fully recovered, she went on maternity leave. When Jasper and Rosemary first became teenagers, the adults were offered a 'surprise holiday', so they could throw a raucous teenage party, and that stopped her from going to work as well. Still, Jacob successfully raised his skills enough to plant a life fruit plant, so it's not like she'll run out of time. 
Rosemary got the ambitious and party animal traits as a teenage. She also asked her cousin, Daryl, to break up with Bianca Heartilly-Dincht, mostly to see if he would, and then decided to egg Bianca's house. I've decided she's going to be a super-popular mean girl. She also looks a lot like her grandmother, Yuriko. Jasper got his mother's red hair, and almost every girl in town finds him attractive, despite the fact that he's a commitment-phobic loner. He got on well with a girl at their teenage party and invited her to prom a few days later. There, they shared their first kiss and began to go steady. Rosemary and Jasper were crowned Prom King and Queen, despite Rosie showing up in her bathing suit (because of her 'insane' trait). Jasper now knows how to drive, while Rosie only mostly knows - I'll have to get Jacob to finish teaching her, when they're both in a good mood. Rosie hasn't yet found anyone she's attracted to. I did like the idea of her making her imaginary friend real and ending up with him - most popular girl in school ends up with a mysterious stranger no one's heard of who is actually her childhood imaginary friend who's the only one who really understands her made real sounds like a great story arc to me - but he identifies as gay (I think that's due to the woohooer mod I added) and she's not attracted to him. I think Jasper, on the other hand, will have a string of girlfriends due to his mysterious attractiveness combined with his commitment phobia. 
I plan to spend Rosemary and Jasper's teenage years training up the skills they'll need to meet their life goals. Rosie wants to be a hit-movie composer, so acing the other branch of the music career to her mother. She'll need music and logic for that. I also plan to change her last name back to Jacob's original name, of Masemame, rather than Ursine, which Jacob took from Serena when they married. I figure, if you're going to follow in your mother's footsteps, you don't want people blaming it on your name. Jasper wants to be a robot-creature creator cross-breeder, so he'll need gardening, handiness, and fishing skills for that. His clumsiness - which Haven also shares - is useful because they keep breaking stuff and fixing it is good training for him. I've also got him tending the life fruit plants, as well as growing some of his own vegetables. I should build a pond for them, so he can practice at home. I'm hoping that getting them started in their careers, with high traits and their natural ambition will leave them to naturally achieve those goals on their own when I stop actively playing them. Right now, I'm thinking I'll build them a nice shared flat - maybe edit Jacob's bachelor pad - and move them out together shortly after they reach young adulthood. Rosemary identifies as straight, but I'm not opposed to the idea of making her a lesbian (now I think about it, the imaginary friend might be female, I'm not sure how you tell). Really, I want someone who shares her 'insane' trait.
Haven, the third child, is artistic, ambitious, and clumsy, while Liberty, the youngest, is an ambitious, friendly, light-sleeper. Liberty has also inherited Jake and Yuriko's dark hair, while Haven's is light brown, possibly from Serena's parents or from Stiles McGraw, Jake's father. I've decided that Haven is the heir, the Ox who feels out of place in her ambitious family and will marry her teenage sweetheart and become president. She isn't the eldest, like Rosemary, who reminds Jacob of his beloved mother. She's not the son, Jasper, who has Serena's hair (which Jacob still likes; I asked him to rate Serena's attractiveness and he gave her 10/10). She's not the baby, who also has Jacob and Yuriko's hair. She's a brown-haired middle child who doesn't stand out (though I may have to get her the change traits lifetime reward, because I'm not sure artistic fits - I chose it at random before deciding she would be my heir). She'll only really need the charisma skill, which I can't teach her in childhood, though I have got her making friends already. Getting 20 friends stops your relationships from decaying, which is really handy. I'll need to give her 'hopeless romantic' as a teenager, for the challenge, and I think 'artist' and 'clumsy' might become schmoozer and party animal when I can change them (well, I could change them now, with cheats, but I feel weird doing that). Both Haven and Libby were very cute at the raucous teenage party - they went and found their two eldest cousins and asked for bedtime stories. They're both August's sons. Leo's eldest, Barbara, is also a teenager now.
I don't have any real plans for Liberty. Maybe I should give her the Artistic trait, or just make her an artist anyway. Maybe she'll be a business-woman, like Jake. I think I like that better. Speaking of Jake, he now owns the company he works for, as well as the diner, and shares in the bookstore, grocery store, and spa (my last post said they had shares in both restaurants, but I was confusing one with the grocery store). Jake is pretty much just reading books, making money, and doing whatever he feels like. He did get a want for another baby after Haven and Liberty aged up, but the constant maternity leave had already ruined Serena's career enough. Also, I got Jake and Serena to share secrets. He was worried that his wardrobe wasn't always flattering. Hers is below.
