-- Final Fantasy X (US) Sphere Grid FAQ --
-- by CB! (Christine Bomke, circe@san.rr.com) --
-- Version 1.4, 12/20/01 --

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This FAQ is for PERSONAL USE ONLY, copyrighted to me,
Christine Bomke. Do not put this FAQ on your site without first emailing
me for permission. If permission IS granted, you are not permitted to 
change a single word of this FAQ when you post it, and must leave it as a
.txt file unless I've explicitly told you otherwise that you may change 
it. Do not steal information from this FAQ for your magazine, or other 
form of media - printed, online, or otherwise. Do not pass GO, do not 
collect $200. If you violate this disclaimer anyway, know that I have the
means and mettle to pursue this matter legally, and you _will_ regret it.

NOTE TO WEBMASTERS: If permission is granted to post this document on your 
site, it is _your_ responsibility to get the most recent version from my 
site or GameFAQs.com periodically. If you can't be bothered to keep it 
current, then you may not post it.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE: I no longer have a US Playstation 2, and will most
likely NOT be playing Final Fantasy X immediately upon its release in North
America. Therefore, this document may contain names based on the Japanese 
release until a) people write in with the English names (this means you), or
b) I rent a US Playstation 2 and play through the game. I have every 
intention of converting names to the North American release, but it's not 
going to happen overnight.

Avast ye matey, thar be spoilers ahead.


-- Table 'o Contents --

  I. Version History
 II. Foreword / Contact Information
III. Frequently Asked Questions
     a. Just what is the Sphere Grid?
     b. So how do I increase my stats and learn abilities from the grid?
     c. Which nodes do these spheres activate?
     d. I still don't get it, can you give me an example or two?
     e. Are there any other spheres besides Power, Mana, Speed, and Ability?
     f. Where can I find the rare spheres from question e?
     g. Can any character learn any ability?
     h. What about Enemy Skills, aka Ronso Rages?
     i. If one character activates a node on the grid, is it used up forever?
     j. If one character uses a Key Sphere to erase a Sphere Lock, is it gone
        from everyone else's grid?
     k. How can I tell if a character has activated a particular node on the
        grid? Is the only way to go to their grid and look?
     l. What's wrong with Kimahri's part of the Sphere Grid?
     m. How can I gain AP - and therefore S.Lv - faster?
     n. What do Sphere Memory items do?
     o. Is it possible to make a character lopsided?
     p. Is it possible to max out stats?
     q. Where can I find a map of the Sphere Grid?
     r. Why do some people call it the Sphere Board?
 IV. Thanks, Credits, Shameless Plugs


-- I. Version History --

v1.4 12/20/01: Finished converting Japanese sphere names to English.

v1.3 12/11/01: Converted some names to the North American release, and added
a few more FAQs. PLEASE NOTE MY CHANGE OF EMAIL ADDRESS - I may not be using
cb@positronrecords.com very much longer. If you definately want me to recieve
your email, use circe@san.rr.com.

v1.2 12/2/01: Added a couple more questions, and gave another, more complex
example of grid movement in question d. Ph33r my 1337 ASCII 5killZ!!

v1.01 11/25/01: Fixed some typos, grammatical errors, and a mistake about 
where the branching paths of Kimahri's part of the Sphere Grid lead.

v1.0 11/24/01: Began FAQ, since there seems to be a lot of confusion on 
various message boards as to how the Sphere Grid works.


-- II. Foreword / Contact Informatiom --

First, this is not a gameplay FAQ. This is an explanation of how the Sphere
Grid works, and answers to the most commonly-asked questions about it. If you
need a walkthrough, a beastiary, a Mix list, or anything else not pertaining
to the Sphere Grid, look elsewhere.

If you have a submission or a question regarding the Sphere Grid that I 
haven't covered in this document, you may email me at circe@san.rr.com or 
cb@positronrecords.com, or contact me via AOL Instant Messenger as 
"Ceebsie". I'm also on the GameFAQs boards as "Ceebs" occasionally. Please 
try to use a modicum of grammar and politeness, and please make sure your 
question hasn't already been answered. If you don't, I can pretty much 
guarantee your message will go ignored. I'm an extremely busy person, and 
have tried to make this guide as thorough and self-explanatory as possible, 
so I have neither the time nor desire to regurgitate material from it. 
Let's put it this way - the more time I spend reading your email, the less 
I have to work on the guide. The latest version of this document, and all the
 other ones I've written, can always be found at GameFAQs 
(http://www.gamefaqs.com/) and my site (http://home.san.rr.com/circe/). 
Please reference them before finding fault with what may be an out-of-date 
version.


-- III. Frequently Asked Questions --

a. Just what is the Sphere Grid?

 Final Fantasy X has done away with the RPG standard of "levelling up", and
 replaced it with a gigantic virtual board filled with incrimental stat 
 increases, and battle abilities that may be learned. To put it another way,
 the Sphere Grid is the means by which your characters learn non-Overdrive
 abilities, and their statistics like HP, MP, Defense, Attack Power, etc, go
 up. Each character starts at one place on the board, and through gaining AP
 in battle, may move along the board picking up stat increases, and learning
 battle abilities as they go.


b. So how do I increase my stats and learn abilities from the grid?

 After every battle, you'll receive AP. When you recieve enough AP, your S.Lv 
 (Sphere Level) increases. For every S.Lv, you may move one space forward on 
 the Sphere Grid, or four spaces back. ("Forward" is defined as a space you 
 haven't previously visited or activated, and "back" is defined as a space you 
 have.) However, it's not enough to simply move to a space - you must activate
 it with one of four kinds of sphere: Power Sphere, Mana Sphere, Speed 
 Sphere, and Ability Sphere. Monsters always drop at least one of these four 
 spheres throughout the entire game, so don't worry about running out.
 

c. Which nodes do these spheres activate?

 (1) A Power Sphere activates the following kinds of nodes on the Sphere Grid:
     - Attack Power stat increase
     - Defense Power stat increase
     - HP stat increase
 (2) A Mana Sphere activates the following kinds of nodes on the Sphere Grid:
     - Magic Power stat increase
     - Magic Defense stat increase
     - MP stat increase
 (3) A Speed Sphere activates the following kinds of nodes on the Sphere Grid:
     - Agility (aka Speed) stat increase
     - Hit stat increase
     - Evade stat increase
 (4) An Ability Sphere activates the following kinds of nodes on the Sphere
     Grid:
     - Special (ie: Wakka's Blind Attack, Rikku's Mug, Aaron's Armor Break)
     - Skill (ie: Kimahri's Lancet, Rikku's Bribe, Lulu's Focus)
     - Magic spells (ie: Lulu's Blizzaga, Tidus' Slow, Yuna's Esuna)


d. I still don't get it, can you give me an example or two?

 Sure. Say you'd accrued enough AP to increase your S.Lv to two - you may move
 two spaces forward on the sphere board, and activate any surrounding nodes.
 If you were currently on a Hit space, with an Evade space after that, a Magic
 Power space after that, and a Haste spell space after that, you could move as
 far as the Magic Power space, and still activate the Haste space, because 
 it's immediately after your destination. Moving from left to right, here's a 
 crude ASCII rendering:
           _____        _______        __________        _______
          |     | ____ |       | ____ |          | ____ |       |
          | Hit | ---- | Evade | ---- | M. Power | ---- | Haste |
          |_____|      |_______|      |__________|      |_______|
   
            |             |                |                |
           /              |               /                /
      Starting space     /        Destination space      Bonus
      (S.Lv = 2)     (S.Lv = 1)      (S.Lv = 0)

 To activate all of these spaces, you would need two Speed Spheres (for Hit 
 and Evade), one Mana Sphere (for Magic Power), and one Ability Sphere (for 
 the Haste Spell). Make sense?

 Here's another, more complicated example - if your S.Lv were three, and you
 began at an Attack Power space, followed by an Evade space that branched into
 two Agility spaces, then a Magic Defense space after that, and finally an 
 empty space after that which branched off into another Evade space, with 
 another Agility space immediately after the empty space, it would look like:
                  _______                        _______
                 |       |                      |       |
                 | Agil. |                      | Evade |
                 |_______|                      |_______|
    
                    ||                             ||
                    ||                             ||
   _______        _______        ________        _______       _______
  |       | ____ |       | ____ |        | ____ |       | ___ |       |
  | Power | ---- | Evade | ---- | M. Def | ---- | empty | --- | Agil. |
  |_______|      |_______|      |________|      |_______|     |_______|
                                                                 
       |            ||              |               |             |
       |            ||              |               |             |
       |          _______           |               |            /
       |         |       |          |               |        Bonus Space
       |         | Agil. |          |               |
       |         |_______|         /               /
      /                       (S.Lv = 1)     Destination Space
 Starting space      |                       (S.Lv = 0 after 
  (S.Lv = 3)        /                         moving to the 
              (S.Lv = 2 after                 empty space; no 
               moving to the                  reduction in S.Lv
               Evade space; no                for activating
               reduction in S.Lv              the Evade space
               for activating                 or Agility space 
               surrounding                    immediately after.)
               Agility spaces.)      

 To activate all of these spaces, you would need one Power Sphere (for
 Attack Power), five Speed Spheres (for two Evade and three Agility), and
 one Mana Sphere (for Magic Defense).


e. Are there any other spheres besides Power, Mana, Agility, and Ability?

 Yes, lots. Brace yourself. They are: Fortune Sphere, Attribute Sphere, Special
 Sphere, Skill Sphere, White Magic Sphere, Black Magic Sphere, Master Sphere,
 Level 1 Key Sphere, Level 2 Key Sphere, Level 3 Key Sphere, Level 4 Key Sphere,
 HP Sphere, MP Sphere, Strength Sphere, Defense Sphere, Magic Sphere, Magic 
 Defense Sphere, Agility Sphere, Evasion Sphere, Accuracy Sphere, Luck Sphere, 
 Clear Sphere, Return Sphere, Friend Sphere, Teleport Sphere, and Warp Sphere.

 Their effects are:

 - Fortune Sphere: activates a Luck node on the Sphere Grid
 - Attribute Sphere: activate any statistic node that's already been
   activated by another character
 - Special Sphere: activate any Special ability node that's already been
   activated by another character
 - Skill Sphere: activate any Skill ability node that's already been
   activated by another character
 - White Magic Sphere: activate any White Magic node space that's already
   been activated by another character
 - Black Magic Sphere: activate any Black Magic node space that's already
   been activated by another character
 - Master Sphere: activate any node that's already been activated by another 
   character
 - Level 1-4 Key Spheres: permanently remove any Sphere Lock node of the
   appropriate level from the Sphere Grid (ie; a Level 1 Key Sphere will 
   remove a Level 1 Sphere Lock, a Level 2 Key Sphere will remove a Level 2
   Sphere Lock, etc.)
 - HP Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "HP +300" node
 - MP Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "MP +40" node
 - Strength Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Attack +4" 
   node
 - Defense Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Defense +4" node
 - Magic Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Magic +4" node
 - Magic Defense Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Magic 
   Defense +4" space
 - Agility Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Agility +4" node
 - Evasion Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Evade +4" node
 - Accuracy Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Aim +4" node
 - Luck Sphere: turns an empty space into an unactivated "Luck +4" space
 - Clear Sphere: erases any stat or ability space on the Sphere Grid**
 - Return Sphere: allows one character to return to any space they've
   previously activated
 - Friend Sphere: allows one character to move to where another character
   is currently located on the Sphere Grid
 - Teleport Sphere: allows one character to teleport to any space anyone has
   previously activated
 - Warp Sphere: allows one character to warp anywhere on the Sphere Grid,
   activated or not

 ** Do not use Clear Spheres unless you know exactly what you're doing -
 erasing a previously visited spot makes it like you never activated it in
 the first place. For example, if everyone had visited a particular Attack
 +3 space, and you used a Clear Sphere on that space, everyone's attack
 power would drop by 3. See question p for more on this.


f. Where can I find the rare spheres from question e?

 You can acquire these most reliably through Bribe, but some enemies drop them
 as rare items, and some can be bought. In the same order as the preceding
 question, these are the ones I know of: 

 - Fortune Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Earth Eater
 - Attribute Sphere: bribed from Maelspike
 - Special Sphere: bribed from Adamantoise
 - Skill Sphere: bribed from Zuu
 - White Magic Sphere: bribed from Dark Flan
 - Black Magic Sphere: dropped by Seymour in Macalania, dropped by Evrae, 
   dropped by Evrae Oltana, bribed from Black Element
 - Level 1 Key Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Chocobo Eater,
   dropped by Sand Worm, dropped by Master Cuar, dropped by Pyro Balls, stolen
   from Earth Eater, bribed from Imp 
 - Level 2 Key Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Spherimorph,
   dropped by Seymour: Evolution, dropped by Defender X, dropped by Tonberry,
   dropped by Defender Zero, dropped by Varuna, stolen from Catastrophe, 
   bribed from Behemoth
 - Level 3 Key Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Defender Zero, 
   dropped by Yunalesca, dropped by Sin's right fin, dropped by Sin on the 
   airship, dropped by Behemoth King, dropped by Seymour: Final Evolution,
   dropped by Demonolith, dropped by Mechea, dropped by Ultima Weapon, stolen
   from Ultima Buster, stolen from Biran Ronso, stolen from Yenke Ronso,
   bribed from Demonolith 
 - Level 4 Key Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Seymour: Higher
   Evolution, dropped by Spectral Keeper, dropped by Land Worm, dropped by
   Omega Weapon, stolen from Nemesis, bribed from Chimera Brain
 - HP Sphere: dropped by Lost Ochu, dropped by Sin's left fin, dropped by
   Ironclad
 - MP Sphere: dropped by Lost Ochu, dropped by Sin's Core, dropped by
   Wiserusha
 - Strength Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Juggernaut
 - Defense Sphere: dropped by Tanket
 - Magic Sphere: dropped by Jumbo Flan
 - Magic Defense Sphere: dropped by One-Eye
 - Agility Sphere: dropped by Fenrir
 - Evasion Sphere: dropped by Pteryx
 - Accuracy Sphere: dropped by Hornet
 - Luck Sphere: found in various locales, dropped by Huge Sphere
 - Clear Sphere: bought from the trainer at the Monster Arena after capturing
   at least five of every monster (ie; when Ultima Buster is unlocked)
 - Return Sphere: won from Blitzball games, dropped by Biran Ronso, dropped by
   Yenke Ronso, dropped by Sanctuary Keeper, dropped by Sinspawn: Genais,
   dropped by Barbatos, dropped by Black Element, dropped by Chimerageist,
   stolen from Huge Sphere, bribed from Dark Element, bribed from Mandragora
 - Friend Sphere: dropped by Biran Ronso, dropped by Yenke Ronso, dropped by
   Spirit, dropped by Master Cuar, dropped by Vorban, stolen from Neslug,
   bribed from Cuar
 - Teleport Sphere: dropped by Master Tonberry, dropped by Sleep Sprout,
   stolen from Brachosaur, bribed from Barbatos
 - Warp Sphere: bribed from Master Cuar, stolen from Nemesis

 For the locations of these monsters, and exact gil cost to Bribe, see my 
 Monster Encyclopedia.


g. Can any character learn any ability?

 Yes, any character can learn any ability, except for Overdrives and Aeons. 
 For a sizable portion of the game, each character will be confined to their
 own part of the Sphere Grid due to a) Sphere Locks, and b) a lack of
 excessive amounts of AP, but once you start getting Key Spheres and cheat 
 like mad using the AP trick (or level up the old-fashioned way, if that's
 your bag), you can traverse the board in several hours' time. Filling all of
 the empty spaces with stat bonuses is a much bigger undertaking, however...


h. What about Enemy Skills, aka Ronso Rages?

 No. Ronso Rages are solely used by Kimahri, and technically an Overdrive.
 See above question. Any character may use Lancet, but only Kimahri may learn
 the enemy skills from it.


i. If one character activates a space on the grid, is it used up forever?

 No. There are seven characters, and each may activate a space one time. Your
 stats would be awfully low if Sphere Grid nodes were consumable.


j. If one character uses a Key Sphere to erase a Sphere Lock, is it gone from
everyone else's grid?

 Yes, once you've erased a Sphere Lock with a Key Sphere, it's gone 
 permanently from the same grid which everyone shares. (How communist.) In its
 place there will be an empty space, which you can then fill with a stat-up
 sphere.


k. How can I tell if a character has activated a particular node on the grid?
Is the only way to go to their grid and look?

 Around each node on the Sphere Grid, there are seven tiny circles which light
 up a certain color when a different character activates the space. These are
 visible no matter whose grid you're on. Starting from the top clockwise, they
 are:

 - Tidus: light blue
 - Yuna: white
 - Auron: red
 - Kimahri: dark blue
 - Wakka: yellow
 - Lulu: purple
 - Rikku: green


l. What's wrong with Kimahri's part of the Sphere Grid?

 Kimahri begins with a very small available area of the Sphere Grid, fenced in
 by several Level 1 Sphere Locks. By the time you reach Mi'ihen Highroad,
 you'll have recieved a few Level 1 Key Spheres to use, which will release
 Kimahri from his tiny grid. The top path leads to Tidus' part of the Sphere
 Grid, the left path leads to Rikku's part of the Sphere Grid, the lower 
 center path leads to Lulu's part of the Sphere Grid, and the lower right path
 leads to Wakka's part of the Sphere Grid. It all depends on whether you want 
 a well-rounded fighter, a thief with high HP and speed, a second black mage,
 or a heavy hitter with a great hit % and status-ailment specials. I recommend
 taking Rikku's path, because this makes Use, Steal, and Mug available to you
 MUCH earlier in the game.


m. How can I gain AP - and therefore S.Lv - faster?

 The fair way to increase the amount of AP gained after battle is to Overkill
 enemies - this will up the AP gained by one and a half to two times. For the 
 precise amount of damage in the killing blow needed to Overkill a particular 
 enemy, see my Monster Encyclopedia. The cheap and dirty way to get lots of 
 AP is to use the AP trick, as described in ChronoRye's excellent AP Trick 
 FAQ. I won't parrot the whole thing here, but in essence, learn the Overdrive
 type that makes your gauge rise simply by being in battle, create a weapon
 with the [Overdrive -> AP] auto-ability, and hammer the triangle button to
 repeatedly defend. In half an hour's time, you should have gained ridiculous
 amounts of AP - even more if you add the [Triple Overdrive], [Double 
 Overdrive], [Triple AP], or [Double AP] auto-abilities to that same weapon.


n. What do Sphere Distiller items do?

 If you're low on a particular kind of consumable Sphere (ie: Power, Mana, 
 Speed, or Ability), using a Sphere Distiller item on an enemy will force it
 to drop that kind of Sphere. For example, the Snow Wolf always drops Power
 Spheres - if you wanted it to drop a Speed Sphere instead, you would use a
 Agility Distiller item on it.


o. Is it possible to make a character lopsided?

 All characters have porportionately more of one kind of stat increase spaces
 on their part of the Sphere Grid than any other kind. Rikku's, for example,
 has lots of HP, Agility, and Luck spaces. Aaron's has lots of Attack Power 
 and Defense spaces. Lulu's has lots of MP, Magic Power, and Magic Defense
 spaces. Despite this, unless you intentionally and habitually don't activate 
 a stat increase space while passing over it, no it is not possible to make a 
 character lopsided. The Sphere Grid is very well designed like that.


p. Is it possible to max out stats?

 First, we need to define "max out". Without placing any extra spheres in 
 empty spaces on the Sphere Grid, if you travel the whole board, you'll have
 19,700 HP, 1,250 MP, and the rest of your stats will be around 120-170.
 (Note: you can only have more than 9,999 HP and 999 MP if you have the
 [Break HP Limit] and/or [Break MP Limit] auto-abilities in your armor.) The
 true stat maximums you can possess are 99,999 HP, 9,999 MP, and 255 for your
 stats like Attack Power, Magic Defense, Evade, etc - but not all of these
 simultaneously. Why not? Read on...

 Since there are only 571 total spaces on the board, it's impossible to max
 out every stat. You can use Clear Spheres on shoddy stat spaces and replace
 them with better ones, but this will take a VERY long time. Erasing a Magic
 Power +1 space and replacing it with a Magic Power +4 space is an intelligent
 and proper use of Clear Spheres. Just remember that if you use a Clear
 Sphere on a space, and replace it with something else, all your characters
 will have to re-activate it.

 As for whether it's possible to have 99,999 HP, I haven't personally done
 this, but if you erase EVERY space on the Sphere Grid and replace them with
 HP +300, it's definately possible to have 99,999 HP. (Actually, you'll have
 just over 171,000 HP, without even adding any [HP +x%] auto-abilities to your
 armor. That's a lot of fights with Ironclad.) Bear in mind that by having 
 _only_ one kind of stat on the entire Sphere Grid, in this case HP, the rest
 of your stats will be very very low. What's the point of having 99,999 HP if
 you barely do any damage when attacking, and take tons of damage when you're
 hit?


q. Where can I find a map of the Sphere Grid?

 You can import the Final Fantasy X Ultimania Battle Guide from Japan, or buy 
 the Brady strategy guide, both of which come with a foldout map of the Sphere 
 Grid, or you can go to GameFAQs fore free and check out Zeric's and DokiWaku's 
 Sphere Grid gifs. If you choose to import the Ultimania Guide, Amazon Japan 
 (http://www.amazon.co.jp/) carries it. Ask nicely, and I might assist you with 
 the Japanese checkout.


r. Why do some people call it the Sphere Board?

 In the Japanese version of the game, the Sphere Grid was called the Sphere
 Board, and the name seems to have stuck. Grid, board, does the name really 
 matter? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.


-- IV. Thanks, Credits, Shameless Plugs --

Big thanks go out to Tronix (http://www.tronixweb.com/) and National Console
Support, Inc (http://www.ncsx.com/) for selling me Final Fantasy X and a 
Japanese Playstation 2, respectively. Best import shops on the web, they are!

Thanks as well to Amazon Japan (http://www.amazon.co.jp/) for stocking the two
FFX Ultimania guides, and being kind enough to ship overseas.

Thanks to Muni Shinobu (muni_shinobu@yahoo.com) for his excellent FFX 
walkthrough and numerous other guides on the game. Without him, we would not 
know wairo from Shinola.

Special thanks to J. Parish (http://www.toastyfrog.com/), without whom I'd 
never have begun importing games, and guides like these wouldn't have been 
written.

Extra extra EXTRA special thanks to Jeei on the FFX GameFAQs message board for
coining the term "Sphere Board Bus", and providing endless hours of amusement.
Some people think the theme of FFX is love and sacrifice, but I think it's 
public transportation. Ride the bus, get HP +200. Am I alone?

Much respect to Alexander O. Smith for his fantastic localizations of Vagrant
Story, Parasite Eve 2, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X, and all the rest. 
Thank you for elevating video game dialogue to fine literature.

Extra special thanks to Square (http://www.playonline.com/) for creating FFX 
and many other quality titles, and GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com/) for 
hosting FAQs on every game imaginable, and respecting FAQ author's rights.

