Final Fantasy X owned by Square Enix.
Images used for educational purposes only.
Sanubia Desert
- Tidus wakes up on his own in god knows where. Check the bottom-left corner of the oasis for a sunken chest containing four Remedies (your placement above it needs to be spot on to open the chest), then climb out of the water and head north.
- Your first battle is against an enormous Zu. Tidus starts off alone, but Auron and Lulu will soon show up. Use Power Break to cut down the Zu's strength and chip away at it 'til it dies.
- After the battle, run a short ways north to find Wakka. After the cut scene, check his little shelter for a chest containing eight Al Bhed Potions. These Potions are great, considering what they do, and are dropped often by the fiends in this desert. Might wanna consider stockpiling them, as you don't currently have Yuna. Follow the path on the map west.
- The next map splits. Go east to find Kimahri. Poor dude is traumatized.
- Twist back west and keep following the path. Rikku's next on your list. There are two chests near her shelter; one contains two Ethers, the other eight more Al Bhed Potions.
- Follow Rikku until you see a signpost-ish piece of debris. Check the map and you'll see a short path leading west, into a dead end; by a piece of wreckage here you'll find four Hi-Potions. Head north from here.
- The next area is a wide-open plain of sand. If you skirt the west end of the plain to the fence at the end you'll find a chest containing two Mega-Potions. Make your way to the east end and look for a piece of debris that resembles a large bowl; inside is a chest containing four Hi-Potions.
- Make your way to the Save Sphere in roughly the middle of this area. Aside from a semi-cryptic warning sign, there's a chest here containing eight more Al Bhed Potions.
- To the west of here is a large clearing. Search the south of it to find a chest containing an Elixir. Inside the largest structure you'll find two chests, one with a Lv. 2 Key Sphere, the other 10,00 gil. Across from this is another structure where the Al Bhed Primer Vol. XVII waits. On the final large structure here is a message in Al Bhed which you probably won't be able to translate right now. You can carry on north from here, but backtrack to the Save Sphere instead for now.
- Head north towards the next screen. Before you reach the edge you'll see a small post sticking out of the sand. Beside it is the Al Bhed Primer Vol. XVIII.
- To the east on the next screen is a sandstorm which blocks your path. On the edge of the sandstorm is a rock bearing the image of a Cactuar, the strange, AP-rich creatures which occasionally show up in battle here. You can't do anything here yet, but mind it for later in the game when you have a chance to return to Bikanel Island.
- Continue north. Past some signposts you'll see a treasure sitting by itself. Before grabbing its contests, check to the west a short ways. Inside a small bundle of rubble is a chest containing eight Hi-Potions. Past it you'll find a pit of quicksand, at the bottom of which is a chest containing a Mercury Crest. Backtrack to the first chest you saw and open it up to find three Megaelixirs. You'll have to fight a Sandragora to get at the chest.
- Run west of this pit, north of some debris, to find a chest containing two X-Potions.
- All done here. Run to the north. You'll have to face another Sandragora to leave the area.
Home
- Welcome home, Rikku! Yeesh. Start by running east; the Al Bhed Primer Vol. XIX is sitting near some fiery rubble. Use the Save Sphere near the entrance and enter Home. Note that you only get to visit Home once, so if you want everything in here you'll have to get the stuff listed below right now.
- In the next room you'll be ambushed by a Guado Guardian and some Bombs. This is a tricky fight if you allow the Guardian to silence Lulu. Wipe him out with some quick attacks, then use Blizzara on the Bombs.
- Follow the group. Another fight ensues. Once it's done you'll be allowed to wander around a bit. Save at the Save Sphere, but don't go through the door next to it. First, check the adjacent corridor (has a big fan at the end) for six Al Bhed Potions. Next, run down the northeastern corridor. Beside the blue door at the end you'll find the Al Bhed Primer Vol. XXI.
- Inside the door is a fight with some rather powerful fiends, and, beyond them, two chests. The first chest is in plain sight, and has some simple math questions made less simple by the Al Bhed language. The password on this chest is 5633. Enter this and you'll gain a Special Sphere. The second chest is out of sighn behind the structures to the right, and is locked by a verification program. Choose the third option for the first question, 'Brother' for the second, 'Bikanel Island' for the third, and the first option for the fourth. This will unlock a chest containing a Skill Sphere.
- NOW go through the door beside the Save Sphere. Dramatic cut scene moment. Another battle intervenes. Follow everyone after the cut scene for another cut scene, which is... so drama. So drama. Follow everyone down the stairs, and check the chest to your right for a Lv. 2 Key Sphere. On the left side of this room, hidden near the stairs, is another chest containing a Lv. 4 Key Sphere. Ooo, now THAT is a big deal.
- Go through the only remaining door. The big reveal.
- After the dramatic cut scene plays, check the bottom-left corner of the room for a chest containing 10,000 gil. That's pretty much it for Home.
Airship
- Woo! Bet you didn't see that coming. Once you have control of Tidus again, check out the airship. Rin is onboard, selling his goods, and you can speak to Isaaru and his gang. Dona's also here, and if you want you can persuade her to give up on her Pilgrimage, changing her ultimate fate in the story. (It's not that different, mind.) The Al Bhed Psyches also make their home on the airship, and can be recruited for Blitzball... y'know, once you can play Blitzball again.
- After looking around and talking to everyone, speak to Brother (the guy controlling the airship). He'll find Yuna... and she's, uh, well, yeah. Time to save her!
- Try to leave the bridge. Turns out some Guado may have snuck on board... or something of the like. Make your way to the rear of the ship, and talk to the two Al Bhed near the rear Save Sphere for four Al Bhed Potions. Approach the elevator in the rear of this two-floor room to discover just what is the matter. Once you're prepped, step on the elevator aaaaand prepare for battle!
BOSS: Evrae
Yikes. Evrae is as tough as it's billed. This mighty wyrm hits hard with its normal attacks, can petrify one of your characters with Stone Gaze, and has an all-hitting attack called Poison Breath which will deal significant amounts of damage while poisoning all of your characters without fail. Tough one, especially considering that a petrified character who is hit with a normal attack will shatter and leave you with an empty spot for the rest of the battle.
You have a bit of a mechanic to work with, fortunately. Tidus and Rikku can order Cid to pull the airship away from Evrae, and his turn will appear with everyone else's on the queue. Once given an order, Cid will shift the airship out of Poison Breath's range. You can then either shift back into range or, later on, let Evrae sweep back to close range with an all-hitting attack. It can also hit you at a distance, but this attack is not nearly so powerful as Poison Breath - and Cid will launch his missiles at it in retaliation. Not great damage, but every little bit helps.
Start the battle by Hasting everyone (save perhaps Lulu, as she's not much help, for once), then cast Slow on Evrae. This will give you more time to react to Poison Breath's signature windup turn. Batter away at Evrae with normal attacks to whittle down its HP, and move when Poison Breath is on its way. If you're running close on the timing, Tidus' Delaying Attack will push Evrae down on the turn order a bit. Don't use Overdrives just yet, if you have any.
Once you get halfway through the fight Evrae will cast Haste on itself, which is quite troublesome for timing Poison Breath. Your tactics won't change a whole lot past this, though if you've got any Overdrives, this is the time to use 'em. Rikku's Al Bhed Potions are fantastic for healing your party should you get unlucky and wind up taking a Poison Breath attack.