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Final Fantasy X has done away with the RPG standard of "leveling
up", and replaced it with a gigantic virtual board filled with incrimental stat increases, and battle abilities that may be
learned. To put it another way, the Sphere Grid is the means by which your characters learn non-Overdrive abilities, and their
statistics like HP, MP, Defense, Attack Power, etc, go up. Each character starts at one place on the board, and through gaining
AP in battle, may move along the board picking up stat increases, and learning battle abilities as they go.
After every battle, your characters will receive AP. When
you receive enough AP, your S.Lv (Sphere Level) increases. For every S.Lv, you may move one node forward on the Sphere Grid,
or four nodes back. ("Forward" is defined as a node you haven't previously visited or activated, and "back" is defined as
a node that you have.) However, it's not enough to simply move to a node - you must activate it with one of four kinds of
common spheres: Power Sphere, Mana Sphere, Speed Sphere, and Ability Sphere. Fiends always drop at least one of these four
spheres throughout the entire game, so running out is not a concern. If you do find yourself low on a particular kind of common
Sphere, using a Sphere Distiller item on an enemy will force it to drop that kind of Sphere. For example, the Snow Wolf always
drops Power Spheres - if you wanted it to drop a Speed Sphere instead, you would use a Speed Distiller item on it.
Any character can learn any ability, except for character-unique
abilities, such as Overdrives and Aeons. For example, anyone may use Lancet, but only Kimahri may learn Ronso Rages from Lancet,
because they’re his Overdrive. Similarly, only Yuna may summon.
To keep the playing field level, and prevent you from traversing
the board too early, for a sizable portion of the game, each character will be confined to their own part of the Sphere Grid
due to a) Sphere Locks, and b) a lack of excessive amounts of AP. Once you begin obtaining Key Spheres and accruing large
amounts of AP, however, you can traverse the board in several hours' time. Filling all of the empty spaces with stat bonus
nodes is a much weightier undertaking, however...
To see which nodes a particular character has activated
without going to their grid directly, around each node on the Sphere Grid, there are seven tiny circles which light up a certain
color when a different character activates the space. These are visible no matter whose grid you're on. Starting from the
top clockwise, they are:
- Tidus: light blue
- Yuna: white
- Auron: red
-
Kimahri: dark blue
- Wakka: yellow
- Lulu: purple
- Rikku: green
There are more types in Spheres in Final Fantasy X than
you can shake a stick at. There are Common Activation Spheres used for activating most nodes on the grid (Power, Mana, Speed,
and Ability), Rare Activation Spheres (Fortune, Attribute, Special, Skill, White Magic, Black Magic, and Master Spheres),
Key Spheres (Level 1-4 Key Spheres), Statistic Node Creation Spheres (HP, MP, Strength, Defense, Magic, Magic Defense, Agility,
Evasion, Accuracy, and Luck Spheres), Node Erasing Spheres (Clear Spheres), and Movement Spheres (Return, Friend, Teleport,
and Warp Spheres).
Common Spheres can be acquired very easily, and the rest
of the kinds of Spheres can be obtained most reliably through Bribing fiends. One warning on Bribe amounts, however –
they are not exact. Unless you’re playing the original Japanese imported Final Fantasy X, the cost to Bribe fiends is
somewhat random, and you may get fewer items for more money, or vice versa. Therefore, it’s a good idea to save before
you flush large amounts of gil down the drain. Start with between two-thirds and three-quarters of the total Bribe price,
and if the fiend doesn’t leave, keep giving it small amounts of gil until it does. If a Bribe misses, the amount you
gave the fiend still counts towards the total - just continue giving the fiend about 10 gil at a time until it goes away.
The uses of all of the Spheres in the game, and
their locations are:
Name: Power Sphere
Type: Common Activation
Activates: Strength statistic increases, Defense statistic
increases, and HP statistic increases, if the character is on or next to any of those nodes.
Location(s): Dropped by most fiends, and using a Power Distiller
will force a fiend to drop Power Spheres if you’re running out.
Name: Mana Sphere
Type: Common Activation
Activates: Magic statistic increases, Magic Defense statistic
increases, and MP statistic increases, if the character is on or next to any of those nodes.
Location(s): Dropped by most fiends, and using a Mana Distiller
will force a fiend to drop Mana Spheres if you’re running out.
Name: Speed Sphere
Type: Common Activation
Activates: Agility statistic increases, Accuracy statistic
increases, and Evade statistic increases, if the character is on or next to any of those nodes.
Location(s): Dropped by most fiends, and using a Speed Distiller
will force a fiend to drop Speed Spheres if you’re running out.
Name: Ability Sphere
Type: Common Activation
Activates: Skill abilities, Special abilities, White Magic
abilities, and Black Magic abilities, if the character is on or next to any of those nodes.
Location(s): Dropped by most fiends, and using a Ability
Distiller will force a fiend to drop Ability Spheres if you’re running out.
Name: Fortune Sphere
Type: Rare Activation
Activates: Luck statistic increases, if the character is
on or next to a Luck node.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
and dropped by Earth Eater at the Monster Arena. Earth Eater drops 1 for a regular kill, and 2 for an Overkill.
Name: Attribute Sphere
Type: Rare Activation
Activates: Any statistic increase that has already been
activated by another character, regardless of whether the character is on or next to the statistic node. (For example, if
Tidus had activated a Strength +4 node, Kimahri could activate it from the other side of the grid with an Attribute Sphere.)
Location(s): Bribe from Maelspike (one Attribute Sphere
for 200,000 gil).
Name: Special Sphere
Type: Rare Activation
Activates: Any Special ability node that has already been
activated by another character, regardless of whether the character is on or next to the ability node. (For example, if Rikku
had activated the Bribe ability, Wakka could activate it as well from the other side of the grid with a Special Sphere.)
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
or Bribe from Adamantoise (six Special Spheres for 1,088,000 gil).
Name: Skill Sphere
Type: Rare Activation
Activates: Any Skill ability node that has already been
activated by another character, regardless of whether the character is on or next to the ability node. (For example, if Wakka
had activated the Blind Buster ability, Yuna could activate it as well from the other side of the grid with a Skill Sphere.)
Location(s): Found in various treasure chests throughout
Spira, or Bribe from Zuu (two Skill Spheres for 360,000 gil).
Name: White Magic Sphere
Type: Rare Activation
Activates: Any White Magic ability that has already been
activated by another character, regardless of whether the character is on or next to the ability node. (For example, if Yuna
had activated the Holy spell, Lulu could activate it as well from the other side of the grid with a White Magic Sphere.)
Location(s): Found in various treasure chests throughout
Spira, or Bribe from Dark Flan (two White Magic Spheres for 256,000 gil).
Name: Black Magic Sphere
Type: Rare Activation
Activates: Any Black Magic ability that has already been
activated by another character, regardless of whether the character is on or next to the ability node. (For example, if Kimahri
had activated the Ultima spell, Yuna could activate it as well from the other side of the grid with a Black Magic Sphere.)
Location(s): Found in various treasure chests throughout
Spira, dropped by Seymour, dropped by Evrae, dropped by Evrae Oltana, or Bribe from Black Element (two Black Magic Spheres
for 152,000 gil).
Name: Master Sphere
Type: Rare Activation
Activates: Any node on the grid that has already been activated
by another character, regardless of whether the character is on or next to the node. (For example, if someone had activated
a particular statistic or ability node, anyone could from the other side of the grid.)
Location(s): Receive 10 for unlocking Nemesis at the Monster
Arena. Nemesis is unlocked by capturing 10 of every fiend in the game.
Name: Level 1 Key Sphere
Type: Key Sphere
Erases: Level 1 Sphere Locks, turning them into empty nodes.
Location(s): Given to you by various folks on Mi’ihen
Highroad, found in treasure chests throughout Spira, dropped by Chocobo Eater, dropped by Sand Worm, dropped by Master Coeurl,
dropped by Puroburos, stolen from Earth Eater, or Bribe from Imp (four Level 1 Key Spheres for 17,600 gil).
Name: Level 2 Key Sphere
Type: Key Sphere
Erases: Level 2 Sphere Locks, turning them into empty nodes.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
dropped by Spherimorph, dropped by Seymour Natus, dropped by Defender X, dropped by Tonberry, dropped by Defender Z, dropped
by Varuna, stolen from Catastrophe, or Bribe from Behemoth (thirty Level 2 Key Spheres for 460,000 gil).
Name: Level 3 Key Sphere
Type: Key Sphere
Erases: Level 3 Sphere Locks, turning them into empty nodes.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
dropped by Defender Z, dropped by Yunalesca, dropped by Sin’s right fin, dropped by "Overdrive" Sin, dropped by Behemoth
King, dropped by Seymour Omnis, dropped by Demonolith, dropped by Machea, dropped by Ultima Weapon, stolen from Ultima Buster,
stolen from Biran Ronso, stolen from Yenke Ronso, or Bribe from Demonolith (forty Level 3 Key Spheres for 900,000 gil).
Name: Level 4 Key Sphere
Type: Key Sphere
Erases: Level 4 Sphere Locks, turning them into empty nodes.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
dropped by Seymour Flux, dropped by Spectral Keeper, dropped by Land Worm, dropped by Omega Weapon, stolen from Nemesis, or
Bribe from Chimera Brain (two for 196,000 gil).
Name: HP Sphere
Type: Statistic Node Creation
Creates: An unactivated HP +300 node in any empty node.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
and dropped by Ironclad at the Monster Arena. Ironclad drops 1 for a regular kill, and 2 for an Overkill.
Name: MP Sphere
Type: Statistic Node Creation
Creates: An unactivated MP +40 node in any empty node.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
and dropped by Vidatu at the Monster Arena. Vidatu drops 1 for a regular kill, and 2 for an Overkill.
Name: Strength Sphere
Type: Statistic Node Creation
Creates: An unactivated Strength +4 node in any empty node.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
and dropped by Juggernaut at the Monster Arena. Juggernaut drops 1 for a regular kill, and 2 for an Overkill.
Name: Defense Sphere
Type: Statistic Node Creation
Creates: An unactivated Defense +4 node in any empty node.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
and dropped by Tanket at the Monster Arena. Tanket drops 1 for a regular kill, and 2 for an Overkill.
Name: Magic Sphere
Type: Statistic Node Creation
Creates: An unactivated Magic +4 node in any empty node.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
and dropped by Jumbo Flan at the Monster Arena. Jumbo Flan drops 1 for a regular kill, and 2 for an Overkill.
Name: Magic Defense Sphere
Type: Statistic Node Creation
Creates: An unactivated Magic Defense +4 node in any empty
node.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
and dropped by One-Eye at the Monster Arena. One-Eye drops 1 for a regular kill, and 2 for an Overkill.
Name: Agility Sphere
Type: Statistic Node Creation
Creates: An unactivated Agility +4 node in any empty node.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
and dropped by Fenrir at the Monster Arena. Fenrir drops 1 for a regular kill, and 2 for an Overkill.
Name: Accuracy Sphere
Type: Statistic Node Creation
Creates: An unactivated Accuracy +4 node in any empty node.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
and dropped by Hornet at the Monster Arena. Hornet drops 1 for a regular kill, and 2 for an Overkill.
Name: Evasion Sphere
Type: Statistic Node Creation
Creates: An unactivated Evasion +4 node in any empty node.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
and dropped by Pteryx at the Monster Arena. Pteryx drops 1 for a regular kill, and 2 for an Overkill.
Name: Luck Sphere
Type: Statistic Node Creation
Creates: An unactivated Luck +4 node in any empty node.
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
and dropped by Greater Sphere at the Monster Arena. Greater Sphere drops 1 for a regular kill, and 2 for an Overkill.
Name: Clear Sphere
Type: Node Erasing
Erases: Any statistic node on the grid. However, erasing
a previously activated node makes it like you never activated it in the first place. (For example, if everyone had activated
a particular Strength +3 node, and you used a Clear Sphere on that space, everyone's attack power would drop by 3.) You cannot
erase ability nodes.
Location(s): Bought at the Monster Arena from the trainer,
after unlocking Ultima Buster, for 10,000 gil apiece. Ultima Buster is unlocked by capturing at least 5 of every fiend in
the game.
Name: Return Sphere
Type: Movement Sphere
Moves: One character to any node they’ve previously
activated. (For example, if Tidus had activated a particular Agility +2 node, he could return to it by using a Return Sphere.)
Location(s): Won from Blitzball tournaments and leagues,
dropped by Biran Ronso, dropped by Yenke Ronso, dropped by Sanctuary Keeper, dropped by Sinspawn Genais, dropped by Barbatos,
dropped by Black Element, dropped by Chimerageist, stolen from Greater Sphere, Bribe from Dark Element (three Return Spheres
for 36,000 gil), or Bribe from Mandragora (twenty-four Return Spheres for 620,000 gil).
Name: Friend Sphere
Type: Movement Sphere
Moves: One character to the node which another character
is currently occupying. (For example, if Rikku was on a particular node, Auron could move it to by using a Friend Sphere.)
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
dropped by Biran Ronso, dropped by Yenke Ronso, dropped by Spirit, dropped by Master Coeurl, dropped by Vorban, stolen from
Neslug, or Bribe from Coeurl (two Friend Spheres for 120,000 gil).
Name: Teleport Sphere
Type: Movement Sphere
Moves: One character to any node which another character
has activated. (For example, if Auron had activated any kind of node, Lulu could teleport to it by using a Teleport Sphere.)
Location(s): Found in treasure chests throughout Spira,
dropped by Master Tonberry, dropped by Sleep Sprout, stolen from Th’uban, or Bribe from Barbatos (twenty Teleport Spheres
for 1,900,000 gil).
Name: Warp Sphere
Type: Movement Sphere
Moves: One character to any node on the grid, regardless
of whether it’s been activated or not.
Location(s): In the Omega Ruins, if you open the twelve
treasure chests in the correct randomly-generated order, the twelfth will contain 99 Warp Spheres. Otherwise, Warp Spheres
are stolen from Nemesis, or Bribed from Master Coeurl (one for 260,000 gil).
Kimahri’s Grid
Kimahri begins with
a very small available area of the Sphere Grid, fenced in by several Level 1 Sphere Locks. By the time you reach Mi'ihen Highroad,
you'll have received a few Level 1 Key Spheres to use, which will release Kimahri from his tiny grid. The top path leads to
Tidus' part of the Sphere Grid, the left path leads to Rikku's part of the Sphere Grid, the lower center path leads to Lulu's
part of the Sphere Grid, and the lower right path leads to Wakka's part of the Sphere Grid.
So what to make of Kimahri? It all depends on whether you
want a well-rounded fighter, a thief with high HP and speed, a second black mage, or a heavy hitter with a great hit % and
status-ailment specials. Taking Rikku's path tends to be the most common choice, because this makes Use, Steal, and Mug available
to you much earlier in the game. On the other hand, if you send him up Tidus' path on the Grid, you'll have two people
who know Haste, then with Yuna's healing spells immediately after, this will make some of the later bosses much easier. Other
people find having two characters with Wakka's high strength and hit accuracy useful, while still others like having two black
mages with high magic power and magic defense. Let your own style of play dictate what you do with Kimahri.
Final Fantasy X International Sphere Grid Changes
Final
Fantasy X International is a game exclusive to Japan, that was released on January 31st, 2002. It contains a few
new optional bosses, a sublimely magnificent DVD bonus disc with an epilogue that takes place two years after the game's ending,
various new equipment auto-abilities, and a new Sphere Grid with new abilities. The new abilities and their functions are
as follows:
- Pilfer Gil: Steal gil from enemies.
- Nab Gil: The Mug equivalent of Pilfer Gil.
- Full Break: All four "Break" effects at once. (What differentiates
this from Auron's Banishing Blade Overdrive, is that Full Break has the same success rate as Power, Magic, Mental, and Armor
Break, while Banishing Blade has a 100% success rate, provided that the targeted fiend does not have an immunity to Breaks,
and the button sequence of "Up -> L1 -> Down -> R1 -> Right -> Left
-> Triangle" is input correctly.)
- Quick Pockets: Use curative items quickly, without losing
a turn.
- Extract Power: Same effect as a Power Distiller item.
- Extract Mana: Same effect as a Mana Distiller item.
-
Extract Speed: Same effect as a Speed Distiller item.
- Extract Ability: Same effect as an Ability Distiller item.
The benefit of the International grid over the original
grid, is that all of your characters start in the center, meaning that you could make Tidus a white mage, Lulu a powerful
attacker, give Yuna all of Wakka's status ailment Skills, or customize your characters any way you wish. However, it’s
extremely easy to lead a character down the wrong path if you don’t plan ahead, and the International grid contains
about fifty fewer nodes than the original grid. The original grid does have the new abilities unique to Final Fantasy
X International, so it’s up to the player to decide whether having customizable characters early is worth sacrificing
a few extra nodes later.
At the beginning of the game, you'll be given the choice
to use either the standard grid for the remainder of the game, or the new grid designed for FFX International. Once you choose
one, you cannot switch to the other mid-game. (Bizarrely, even if you choose the "International" Sphere Grid, Rikku's tutorial
takes place on the original Sphere Grid.) For importers who can’t read Japanese, the first three questions the game
asks you pertaining to the new Sphere Grid are:
1. "Which Sphere Grid would you like to
use?"
- Original version
- International version
(After choosing "Original version"...)
2. "Original version Sphere Grid, is this
okay?"
- Yes
- No
(Or after choosing "International version"...)
2. "International version Sphere Grid,
is this okay?"
- Yes
- No
3. "Please select which language you'd
like to play in?"
(Note: Language may be changed later by going to the Config menu, this question solely
influences which language the Zanarkand sequence is played in.)
- Japanese
- English
Maximizing Statistics With the Sphere Grid
Without
placing any node creation spheres in empty nodes on the Sphere Grid, if a character travels and activates the whole grid,
that character will have 19,700 HP, 1,250 MP, and the rest of their statistic will be around 120-170. (Note: you can only
have more than 9,999 HP and 999 MP if you have the Break HP Limit and/or Break MP Limit auto-abilities in your
armor.) The true statistic maximums you can possess are 99,999 HP, 9,999 MP, and 255 for your statistic like Strength, Magic
Defense, Evade, et cetera - but not all of these simultaneously. Why not? Read on...
There are 828 nodes total on the grid. 500 of these are
pre-filled statistic nodes, 191 are empty nodes waiting to be filled, 60 are Sphere Locks (which you may erase with Key Spheres
to become empty nodes), and 77 are ability nodes. You can use Clear Spheres on shoddy statistic nodes and replace them with
better ones, but this will take many, many battles at the Monster Arena. Erasing a Magic +1 node and replacing it with a Magic
+4 node is an intelligent and proper use of Clear Spheres. Just remember that if you use a Clear Sphere on a node, and replace
it with something else, all your characters will lose the statistic bonus that it granted, and will have to re-activate the
node.
So exactly how many battles will you be fighting at the
Monster Arena to acquire enough node creation spheres to max the grid? If you keep all of the +4 nodes as they are, and erase
the +1, +2, and +3 nodes, you’ll end up with:
- 23 Strength +4 nodes
- 12 Defense +4 nodes
- 17
Magic +4 nodes
- 16 Magic Defense +4
- 21 Agility +4 nodes
- 19 Evade +4 nodes
- 4 Accuracy +4 nodes
- 2 Luck
+4 nodes
- 0 HP +300 nodes (but lots of HP +200 nodes)
- 7 MP +40 nodes
That’s 121 filled nodes out of a total of 630 fill-able
nodes. So obviously, you have your work cut out for you. The following are the numbers of every kind of Sphere that you will
need to win from Monster Arena bosses in order to have 255 on every statistic, 999 MP, and as much HP as possible:
- 40 Strength Spheres (Juggernaut drops 2 when Overkilled,
and 1 for a regular kill)
- 51 Defense Spheres (Tanket drops 2 when Overkilled, and 1 for a regular kill)
- 46 Magic
Spheres (Jumbo Flan drops 2 when Overkilled, and 1 for a regular kill)
- 47 Magic Defense Spheres (One-Eye drops 2 when
Overkilled, and 1 for a regular kill)
- 42 Agility Spheres (Fenrir drops 2 when Overkilled, and 1 for a regular kill)
-
44 Evade Spheres (Pteryx drops 2 when Overkilled, and 1 for a regular kill)
- 59 Accuracy Spheres (Hornet drops 2 when
Overkilled, and 1 for a regular kill)
- 58 Luck Spheres (Greater Sphere drops 2 when Overkilled, and 1 for a regular kill)
-
406 Fortune Spheres for activating the Luck Spheres above (Earth Eater drops 2 when Overkilled, and 1 for a regular kill)
-
225 HP Spheres (Ironclad drops 2 when Overkilled, and 1 for a regular kill)
- 18 MP Spheres (Vidatu drops 2 when Overkilled,
and 1 for a regular kill)
It is absolutely possible to complete the game without maxing
your stats, however, much less traversing the entire Sphere Grid. Only players who have a lot of time, patience, and gil,
may find maxing their stats worthwhile. Best of luck with your game, and enjoy the Sphere Grid! | 
