Final Fantasy X Side Quests
Macalania Butterfly Hunt
Continue on and you’ll meet mister butterfly.
This starts the Macalania Woods Butterfly Hunt. You can start this now if you’d like, but you can always come back and do it later as well. Touch the multicolored butterfly and then catch all seven blue butterflies before time expires. If you bump into a red butterfly, you’ll have to fight a battle and lose precious time. If you can make it through, you get interesting stuff!
There are two courses: one in Central Macalania Woods, and one in North Macalania Woods. Their prizes change twice during the story. The late-game version is the one that earns Kimahri’s sigil.
| Course | Before Spherimorph | After Spherimorph, before airship | After acquiring the airship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central | MP Sphere | Megalixir ×2 | Teleport Sphere or sigil |
| North | Ether | Elixir ×2 | Teleport Sphere or sigil |
In the airship window, the first of the two courses you finish gives a Sphere GridMoves one character to any node that any character has activated.. Finishing the other course gives the Key ItemKimahri's sigil for the final Spirit Lance upgrade in the North American English PS2 release. for Kimahri’s Spirit Lance, regardless of which course you did first. Releases using the alternate planet-name set call it the Key ItemWakka's sigil for the final World Champion upgrade in the North American English PS2 release.. Earlier victories do not count toward this pair, so you must clear both courses again after acquiring the airship.
Rules that matter
- Catch all seven blue butterflies before the timer reaches zero. You have 40 seconds before BossMacalania Woods boss whose single elemental weakness changes whenever that weakness is struck. and 30 seconds in both later windows.
- Touching a red butterfly starts a forced battle. Equipment AbilityPrevents random encounters while the relevant equipment is worn. does not prevent it. You can continue afterward if enough time remains, but one battle will usually make a late-game run pretty ugly.
- Ordinary random encounters are suspended while the hunt is active. They remain suspended after the attempt until you leave and re-enter the screen.
- If you fail, leave the screen and come back to reset the course.
- When you win, open the newly appeared treasure chest before leaving the screen. Leaving makes the chest disappear and forces you to win that course again.
First visit and post-Spherimorph prizes
On the first visit, the butterfly near the girl in the long, flowing robes starts the Central course. After the Field SystemField sphere used to save and restore the party's HP and MP; later spheres also connect to the airship., the butterfly in the next woods screen starts the North course.
If you’re only passing through with the story, feel free to make an attempt or two. The Sphere GridTurns an empty node into an MP +40 node. and ItemRestores 100 MP to one character. are useful, and the second reward window upgrades them to two ItemFully restores the active party's HP and MP. and two ItemFully restores one character's HP and MP.. However, the red-butterfly layout changes for the airship version, and you must beat both courses in that version for the sigil anyway. Therefore, if this minigame starts making you want to hurt something, walk away. Mister butterfly will still be here later.
Airship route: Saturn Sigil
Return after acquiring the airship. There are more red butterflies now, the timer is only 30 seconds, and the fixed camera makes “left” and “right” somewhat dependent on which bend you’re currently running around. Walk through each course once without starting it if you need to learn the turns. Then touch the multicolored butterfly and zig-zag around the reds instead of trying to run a pretty line down the middle.
Central course
Start near the southern end of Macalania Woods - Central. The first blue is on the left as you head downhill. Move right, then back left for the second. Stay left around the corner, cross from the upper side of the path to the lower side and back again for the third, then bear right up the hill. Around the next corner, move from the top of the path to the bottom for the fourth. Take the left side downhill, collect the fifth along the upper edge as the path bends left, and stay high for the sixth. At the final corner, thread through the cluster of four red butterflies; the seventh blue is on the left side of the straight downhill stretch.
Once you’ve caught number seven, stop running toward the exit. Look for the blue butterfly hovering in front of a tree and open the chest there. If this is the first airship-version course you’ve completed, it contains a Sphere GridMoves one character to any node that any character has activated.; if you already completed North, it contains the sigil.
If you don’t succeed, you’ll be sent back to the butterfly guy, who will tell you luck is required. No kidding? Leave the screen, come back, and try again.
North course
Start the North course near the Macalania Lake end of the woods. Head back up the path, beginning on the left and zig-zagging for the first blue, then turn back downhill. Collect the second near the bottom, move along the upper edge and up the hill, and take the third on the right. Move above, below, then through the center of the next red grouping and take the upper side around the bend. Go left, then right for the fourth; head downhill for the fifth at the corner. Move right and below the red butterfly, continue downhill and left for the sixth, then follow the path to the final blue.
Again, do NOT leave the screen. Open the chest near the corner where you found the fifth blue butterfly. It contains the Sphere GridMoves one character to any node that any character has activated. if you did this course first, or the Saturn/Key ItemWakka's sigil for the final World Champion upgrade in the North American English PS2 release. if Central was already complete.
The game threatens you with “powerful fiends” when you hit a red butterfly. They aren’t exactly powerful, but they are annoyances, and the battle clock is the real enemy. Don’t waste time trying to build a special anti-fiend party; build a route that doesn’t touch them.