Final Fantasy X Side Quests

Omega Ruins

If you think your characters are up to it, feel free to try taking on the Omega Ruins. Be warned, however: this is NOT an easy area. It isn’t the hardest part of the game, but it isn’t that easy, either. The only Save SphereField SystemField sphere used to save and restore the party's HP and MP; later spheres also connect to the airship. is at the entrance, and the nastiest random encounter can end the game before two-thirds of your party gets a turn.

Use the airship’s Search command within X 69–75, Y 33–38, then select Omega Ruins from the destination list. If it has not appeared, the Airship Secrets page has the complete coordinate instructions.

I recommend running around close to the Save SphereField SystemField sphere used to save and restore the party's HP and MP; later spheres also connect to the airship. for a while as you get to know the enemies here. If you have trouble doing anything, swap in everyone so each character gets a turn, have anyone who can Steal do so while the others defend, then call BahamutAeonNon-elemental aeon acquired in Bevelle whose attacks can exceed the normal 9,999 damage limit without a powered Celestial Weapon. and kill the enemy. Eventually you’ll reach the point where you aren’t shaking in terror every time the screen breaks for a random encounter. At that point, it may be time to move deeper into the Ruins.

Fiends, captures, and useful theft

You can seriously level up here with a minimal amount of wandering, especially while capturing ten of every fiend for the Arena. Just remember that the Arena uses each fiend’s canonical home, not necessarily the place where you found it.

Use the Monster Arena capture tracker for individual counters. Gemini’s sword and club forms are two different capture records. Defender ZEnemyArmored Dome and Omega Ruins enemy that commonly drops a Lv. 2 Key Sphere, rarely drops a Lv. 3 Key Sphere, and cannot be captured. and Mimic do not belong on the list no matter how many times they try to involve themselves.

Enemies most likely to ruin your afternoon

• Great MalboroFiendInside Sin and Omega Ruins Malboro that can use Bad Breath immediately; Provoke restricts it to a safer attack.: It always ambushes in Omega Ruins and opens with Bad BreathRonso RageMulti-status attack learned by using Lancet on a Malboro or Great Malboro; Calm Lands Malboros also use it below half HP unless Provoked.. Initiative is not enough; put First StrikeEquipment AbilityLets the equipped character begin battle ready to act, including in encounters with dangerous opening attacks. on someone who can immediately use Provoke or Flee. Once Provoked, it stops using Bad BreathRonso RageMulti-status attack learned by using Lancet on a Malboro or Great Malboro; Calm Lands Malboros also use it below half HP unless Provoked.. An aeonBattle SystemA summoned ally that replaces the active party until it is dismissed, defeated, or wins the battle. is immune to most of the resulting status mess if you need one to clean up.
• DemonolithFiendInside Sin and Omega Ruins fiend whose counter inflicts several ailments and whose party-wide breath can Petrify.: It counters targeted actions with Pharaoh’s CurseEnemy AbilityDemonolith counterattack that can inflict Curse, Darkness, Poison, and Silence., inflicting Curse, Poison, Darkness, and Silence. Silence BusterSkillPhysical attack with a high chance to inflict Silence for one turn. prevents that counter, while StoneproofEquipment AbilityPrevents Petrification unless the incoming effect ignores immunity. protects against its party-wide PetrificationStatus EffectTurns the target to stone and prevents action; a petrified target may also shatter and be removed from battle. attack. I like to have Wakka use Silence BusterSkillPhysical attack with a high chance to inflict Silence for one turn., Auron use Armor BreakSkillPhysical attack that attempts to reduce the target's Defense to zero and remove Armored protection., and Tidus use HastegaWht MagicGrants Haste to the active party. followed by SlowgaWht MagicAttempts to inflict Slow on all enemies. after both DemonolithsFiendInside Sin and Omega Ruins fiend whose counter inflicts several ailments and whose party-wide breath can Petrify. are silenced.
• Spirit: Provoke it. Instead of Poison Mist and its Confusion/Poison nonsense, it spends its turns healing the character who Provoked it. Yes, really.
• VarunaFiendLate-game spellcaster that opens with Haste; repeatedly dispelling it can trap Varuna into recasting Haste instead of attacking.: It begins by casting Haste on itself. DispelWht MagicRemoves most positive status effects and all four Break effects from one target. the Haste and it usually wastes time recasting it, giving you room to attack. Beware Death if you let it continue normally.
• Master TonberryEnemyRare Omega Ruins fiend that counters direct attacks with Karma and can be bribed for Pendulums.: Any damage triggers Karma against the attacker, based on that character’s lifetime kills. Keep everyone healed, use aeonsBattle SystemA summoned ally that replaces the active party until it is dismissed, defeated, or wins the battle. or heavy attacks instead of pecking at it, and remember that escape is allowed.
• AdamantoiseFiendArmored late-game fiend that absorbs Fire; Armor Break and status attacks make its large HP pool manageable., Halma, and Defender ZEnemyArmored Dome and Omega Ruins enemy that commonly drops a Lv. 2 Key Sphere, rarely drops a Lv. 3 Key Sphere, and cannot be captured.: Armor BreakSkillPhysical attack that attempts to reduce the target's Defense to zero and remove Armored protection. makes all three much less annoying; Provoke also controls Halma and Defender ZEnemyArmored Dome and Omega Ruins enemy that commonly drops a Lv. 2 Key Sphere, rarely drops a Lv. 3 Key Sphere, and cannot be captured..

Floating Death supplies Musk for ConfuseproofEquipment AbilityPrevents Confusion unless the incoming effect ignores immunity., Halma supplies Hypello PotionsItemMix and customization material associated with Berserk protection. for BerserkproofEquipment AbilityPrevents Berserk unless the incoming effect ignores immunity., DemonolithFiendInside Sin and Omega Ruins fiend whose counter inflicts several ailments and whose party-wide breath can Petrify. supplies Petrify GrenadesItemUse item that inflicts Petrification on all enemies unless they are immune. for StoneproofEquipment AbilityPrevents Petrification unless the incoming effect ignores immunity., and VarunaFiendLate-game spellcaster that opens with Haste; repeatedly dispelling it can trap Varuna into recasting Haste instead of attacking. or WraithFiendInside Sin and Omega Ruins fiend that is weak to Holy, uses Doom, and has variable affinities to the four normal elements. can supply Farplane WindsItemUse item that attempts to inflict instant KO on all enemies. for DeathproofEquipment AbilityPrevents instant KO unless the incoming effect ignores immunity.. These are not just collectibles. The dungeon is handing you ingredients for the exact defenses it keeps demanding.

If you run out of ordinary Power, Mana, Speed, or Ability Spheres while gaining levels, bounce between Omega Ruins and the capture areas you’re still filling. The weaker areas refill the red Spheres; Omega supplies the Sphere LevelsCharacter GrowthMovement resource earned through AP and spent to travel between nodes on the Sphere Grid.. You’ll be amazed how quickly your characters get to insane levels. The dedicated Sphere Grid and leveling page collects the more efficient late-game methods once the Arena tools are ready.

Battle chests and Mimics

Some random encounters contain a Zaurus and a treasure chest. Use Steal or Mug on the chest. If it contains an item, you receive the item and the chest disappears. If it has nothing to steal, it turns into one of four Mimic forms.

Mimics award no AP and no items, but defeating one gives 50,000 Gil, or 100,000 Gil if an active character has GillionaireEquipment AbilityDoubles Gil received after battles when the equipped character is in the active party at victory.. Rikku’s fully powered Godhand has GillionaireEquipment AbilityDoubles Gil received after battles when the equipped character is in the active party at victory., making this a terrific way to finance customization or Ultima Weapon’sBossOne-time Omega Ruins boss that can be fought normally or bribed for a large supply of Pendulums. bribe. Since there is nothing else to steal after the transformation, mug the chest and then get to work.

The twelve-chest gamble

The twelve field chests are not the same thing as the chests found in battle. They appear in four rooms: one pair, two groups of three, and one group of four. Their rewards form a single fixed sequence. A particular chest is not “the Lv. 4 Key Sphere chest”; the first successful chest opened anywhere gives the first reward, the next successful chest gives the second, and so on.

Each group is assigned either one trapped chest or no trapped chest when the dungeon configuration is set. A trap forces a Zaurus-and-chest battle and makes every unopened chest in that room vanish. Opening one chest and then leaving its group also sacrifices the remaining chests, so finish a group before moving away. Opening order, timing, music cues, and prayers to Yevon do not change which chest is trapped.

Main Ruins route

This section is very dark, so it’s hard to see, but the map fills in as you explore. The route below clears all four chest rooms, Al Bhed PrimerKey ItemOne of 26 volumes that progressively translates the Al Bhed language. XXVI, the glyph treasure, and Ultima WeaponBossOne-time Omega Ruins boss that can be fought normally or bribed for a large supply of Pendulums. without pretending the randomly assigned chest traps have a fixed solution.

Ultima Weapon

The original North American PlayStation 2 boss has 70,000 HP. International, PAL, HD Remaster, and later versions raise that to 99,999 HP; the other battle facts below remain the same unless labeled.

• HP / OverkillBattle SystemFinishing an enemy with at least its required final-hit damage threshold, commonly improving AP or item rewards.: 70,000 HP; OverkillBattle SystemFinishing an enemy with at least its required final-hit damage threshold, commonly improving AP or item rewards.: 13,560 damage. Later versions: 99,999 HP; OverkillBattle SystemFinishing an enemy with at least its required final-hit damage threshold, commonly improving AP or item rewards. remains 13,560.
• Steal: Door to TomorrowItemRare Mix material used to customize Overdrive → AP. ×10; rare: Door to TomorrowItemRare Mix material used to customize Overdrive → AP. ×20. You can steal repeatedly with the usual decreasing success rate.
• Weak / Absorbs: No elemental weakness or absorption; immune to Gravity. Silence and Darkness work unusually well for a boss.
• Reward: 40,000 AP, or 50,000 for OverkillBattle SystemFinishing an enemy with at least its required final-hit damage threshold, commonly improving AP or item rewards.; 20,000 Gil. In the original North American release, a 1,400,000-Gil Bribe gives Pendulum ×99 rather than the ordinary rewards.
• Drops: Lv. 3 Key SphereSphere GridSphere used to open a Lv. 3 locked node on the Sphere Grid. ×3, doubled to ×6 on OverkillBattle SystemFinishing an enemy with at least its required final-hit damage threshold, commonly improving AP or item rewards.; a guaranteed weapon with Double OverdriveEquipment AbilityDoubles the rate at which the equipped character's Overdrive gauge charges. or armor with Break MP LimitEquipment AbilityAllows the wearer's maximum MP to exceed 999, up to 9,999., two or three slots total.
• Strategy: Steal the Doors to Tomorrow before ending the fight, or use Ultima Weapon’s one-time Bribe if 99 Pendulums are worth more to you than the spheres and equipment. If fighting normally, Haste the party and attack hard before its six-step cycle reaches Core Energy, Holy, and Shimmering Rain. ConfuseproofEquipment AbilityPrevents Confusion unless the incoming effect ignores immunity. and StoneproofEquipment AbilityPrevents Petrification unless the incoming effect ignores immunity. cover its nastiest status turns.

When Ultima WeaponBossOne-time Omega Ruins boss that can be fought normally or bribed for a large supply of Pendulums. is gone, step on the teleporter. Consider returning to the entrance and saving before continuing. It is a long walk, but it is shorter than repeating everything after Omega introduces your party to the floor.

Upper Ruins gauntlet

No EncountersEquipment AbilityPrevents random encounters while the relevant equipment is worn. cannot suppress the fixed fights on the circular platforms while Omega Weapon is alive. Each new platform triggers a battle once per visit, but walking back across a platform you’ve already cleared does not trigger that fight again.

Omega Weapon

This battle changes dramatically by version. The original North American and Japanese PlayStation 2 releases give Omega 99,999 HP; International, PAL, HD Remaster, and later versions give it 999,999 HP and much stronger defenses.

If you’re playing the original release, steal as many Gambler’s SpiritsItemRare Mix material used to customize SOS Overdrive. as you can stand, the wail on him, and let BahamutAeonNon-elemental aeon acquired in Bevelle whose attacks can exceed the normal 9,999 damage limit without a powered Celestial Weapon. supply the OverkillBattle SystemFinishing an enemy with at least its required final-hit damage threshold, commonly improving AP or item rewards. wearing him down as much as possible. On later versions, prepare for a real endurance fight - just don’t have IfritAeonYuna's second aeon, a Fire-elemental summon obtained at Kilika Temple that absorbs Fire damage., IxionAeonLightning-aligned aeon acquired at Djose Temple; it absorbs Lightning and can cast Thundara when first obtained., or ShivaAeonIce-aligned aeon acquired during the Macalania Temple battle; she absorbs Ice and can heal herself with Ice magic. use an elemental OverdriveBattle SystemCharacter or aeon special attack resource charged according to the active Overdrive mode. and restore back several thousand of those hard-fought HP.

Pay close attention to the final scene. You gotta love Auron’s irony here. :D Afterward, the party is teleported to the entrance. Save immediately. Then equip No EncountersEquipment AbilityPrevents random encounters while the relevant equipment is worn., retrace the route, and open the chest where Omega stood for a Magic SphereSphere GridTurns an empty node into a Magic +4 node.. The old fixed platform battles no longer block the route, although ordinary random encounters replace them if No EncountersEquipment AbilityPrevents random encounters while the relevant equipment is worn. is not equipped.