Now where was I...

After a couple of years of pause I'm re-attempting my seemingly never ending quest of completing all sidequests. Here's what I had left to do:

- Get Lulu's sigil - DONE
- Get Kimahri's sigil - DONE
- Capture any remaining monsters to a total of 10 of each - DONE
- Defeat Nemesis - DONE
- Stat max Kimahri and Lulu (optional) - DONE
- Raise Luck to 130 - DONE (actually it's about 145 now)
- Get Ultimate Armours for Auron, Kimahri and Lulu - DONE
- DEFEAT PENANCE. (without Zanmato). - HAHA! DONE!

So far I've been flying through the monster capture thing (which included capturing 5 Tonberry's and Simurghs) but that went rather quickly. Kimahri's sigil wasn't too bad either, both butterfly games completed within one hour.

Next stop is either the Cavern of the Stolen Faith or the Thunder Plains to hunt Dark Yojimbo for some Ribbon Armour/Dark Matter and ofcourse the quest I liked postponing the most: dodge 200 lightning bolts.

110 hours in, wish me luck and I'll keep ya posted!

You're ridiculous. I think I managed to do the lightning bolts once. Never again. NEVER.

I had no problem with lightning. Chocobo racing, now THAT's annoying.
Anyway good luck Pete!

I hated both with a passion

Good luck maintaining enough patience to succeed :D
We believe in you!!!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hf-ztZJdNQ...rn_rainbow.jpg

The chocobo racing never took me as long as it seems to take some people. Once I dropped the ball and it took me an hour of trying to improve on like 0.2 but I got there eventually.

Chocobo racing was easy for me. Lightning dodging was balls.

Good luck, Pete! :D

Thanks everyone! Gotta love the rainbow unicorn ; )

Small update: Yojimbo was kind enough to give me a Ribbon armour with 3 empty slots for Auron. I immediately bribed some Machea; a quick reminder of what a pain finding those creatures can be sometimes. Anyway I have the ingredients for Lulu's as well, so that just leaves Kimahri.

With Auron's armour complete I can pretty much already try and beat Penance, but I want to finish the other sidequests first. Thanks for the mental support on the lightning dodging, it's pretty much next on my list!

Turning the sound down helps! Then just rely on the flashing screen. Pause and take a break if you need to, there's nothing worse than having your concentration fail at 180 :mad:

Good luck. You're going to need it.

this sounds like fun, and also has inspired me to get back to a similar journey. Trying to max out all my characters and capture each monster (for the maximum of 10 per). I've done the whole get-everyone's-celestial-weapon in past games already. I don't think I'm gonna go for it again for everyone -- I already have Lulu's, Yuna's and today I got Auron's. Also took care of Besaid and most of Mushroom Rock's fiends. Concerning the other characters' weapons, I'm going to build a better one for Tidus and Kimahri, I was never thrilled with those -- and plus, as previously mentioned -- they are really really annoying to obtain. I'll be starting on the path to get Rikku's Godhand next. I always enjoy a good run-in with the cactuars.

I spent a lot of time hanging out in Besaid today and found a Jecht sphere I totally forgot about (to the right of the temple), which was nice, as I totally forgot about that story (I'll leave that description out on the off chance someone hasn't seen it yet). Probably my favorite town out of them all.

So to cut the ramble short, thanks to Pete for inspiring my return to this game! Definitely one of my favorites of all time, including the PS3 games I have...

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Originally Posted by Nebulance

So to cut the ramble short, thanks to Pete for inspiring my return to this game! Definitely one of my favorites of all time, including the PS3 games I have...

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Nice! Same here, I hope more people will follow : ) To be honest I started a new game while I was at it ;p Gotta love how polished this game is in every single second of gameplay!

Small update on the sidequests; not much going on, steadily collecting Dark Matter as Yojimbo isn't that generous in giving Kimahri some Ribbon Armour...

There aren't many Final Fantasy games that aren't fun to start over, but FFX is one where I don't ever seem to lose steam until right at the end when :bou::bou::bou::bou: is too strong because I'm a nub.

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Originally Posted by Jiro

There aren't many Final Fantasy games that aren't fun to start over, but FFX is one where I don't ever seem to lose steam until right at the end when :bou::bou::bou::bou: is too strong because I'm a nub.

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Sounds familiar. On my first playthrough I remember taking a very long break after running into that Zanarkand guardian boss. And another one when I got to Yunalesca.

Update:

Kimahri's Armour is done. I also customized some more armour for Tidus and Wakka, both now have an extra piece with Auto-Phoenix in addition to their already customized Ribbon armours. I think I'll make another one for Rikku, since Wakka and Rikku will surely be the main force of the party in the fight against Penance.

I just failed my first attempt to dodge 200 lightning bolts. I think I got to around 70 or 80. Not nearly enough, but next time I'll take your advice Jiro, and turn the sound off. :)

Oyeah, I added one more thing to the to-do list:

- Raise luck to 130 (hanging around 120 atm).

Update:

Raised luck to 145-ish. Tonight I think I might give getting Lulu's sigil another try. I've been postponing again : (

That's a damn lot of luck. How fairs your lightning dodging? :p

If you bother with the lightning bolts, fair play to you. I tried a couple of times and just gave up in disgust.

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

Update:

Raised luck to 145-ish. Tonight I think I might give getting Lulu's sigil another try. I've been postponing again : (

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The way I usually deal with Lulu's sigil is to just put on some music and turn down the TV and have at it for a good hour or so and it'll be done.

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Originally Posted by Jiro

That's a damn lot of luck. How fairs your lightning dodging? :p

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Originally Posted by Heath

If you bother with the lightning bolts, fair play to you. I tried a couple of times and just gave up in disgust.

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Originally Posted by Nebulance

The way I usually deal with Lulu's sigil is to just put on some music and turn down the TV and have at it for a good hour or so and it'll be done.

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Just had my second attempt... and failed somewhere near 120. I did turn down the TV, put on some relaxing music and I think it did help a bit.

I'm kinda surprised it doesn't take that long though. This attempt (including small breaks) didn't take longer than about 20 minutes. Better luck next time I guess, I will have my sigil!

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

I'm kinda surprised it doesn't take that long though. This attempt (including small breaks) didn't take longer than about 20 minutes. Better luck next time I guess, I will have my sigil!

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Yeah, it's pretty interesting how quick it goes! I failed to mention of course that any slight loss of concentration (which I'm sure you're aware of) usually leads to breaking the streak, yielding a lot of explicatives (especially when you're nearing 200)

Third time's the charm! I am now a proud owner of a fully powered Onion Knight. Ended up dodging about 230 bolts. There were 2 very close calls, but regular breaks helped me keep my cool. Thanks for the support and advice everyone! Next stop: PENANCE. HARRRR!

Edit: Oh wait, have to beat some dark aeons first. Ha!

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

Third time's the charm! I am now a proud owner of a fully powered Onion Knight. Ended up dodging about 230 bolts. There were 2 very close calls, but regular breaks helped me keep my cool. Thanks for the support and advice everyone! Next stop: PENANCE. HARRRR!

Edit: Oh wait, have to beat some dark aeons first. Ha!

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Nice! Getting Onion Knight is awesome, I feel like sphere grid leveling-up really pays off after that...

OK, dumb question -- the dark Aeons... Where does one find these (en route to Pennance)? Or is this just particular to the 'international' version (and not the US version)?

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Originally Posted by Nebulance

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

Third time's the charm! I am now a proud owner of a fully powered Onion Knight. Ended up dodging about 230 bolts. There were 2 very close calls, but regular breaks helped me keep my cool. Thanks for the support and advice everyone! Next stop: PENANCE. HARRRR!

Edit: Oh wait, have to beat some dark aeons first. Ha!

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Nice! Getting Onion Knight is awesome, I feel like sphere grid leveling-up really pays off after that...

OK, dumb question -- the dark Aeons... Where does one find these (en route to Pennance)? Or is this just particular to the 'international' version (and not the US version)?

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If I remember correctly the dark aeons / pennance are not in the US version and only in the interderpional version.

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Originally Posted by Nebulance

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

Third time's the charm! I am now a proud owner of a fully powered Onion Knight. Ended up dodging about 230 bolts. There were 2 very close calls, but regular breaks helped me keep my cool. Thanks for the support and advice everyone! Next stop: PENANCE. HARRRR!

Edit: Oh wait, have to beat some dark aeons first. Ha!

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Nice! Getting Onion Knight is awesome, I feel like sphere grid leveling-up really pays off after that...

OK, dumb question -- the dark Aeons... Where does one find these (en route to Pennance)? Or is this just particular to the 'international' version (and not the US version)?

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Onion Knight is awesome indeed. Gotta love it's awkward walking and kick while it does 99999 damage.

Small update:
Stat maxed Kimahri. Only his luck is a little lower than the other strongest party members; 108 while 145 is the standard. Lulu's the only one left to max out. Also fought my way through the first few Dark Aeons, but I have already beaten all of them on another playthrough so no surprises here.

You're really giving this your all, it's impressive. Stat maxing is one of the things I couldn't bring myself to do, ever D:

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Originally Posted by Jiro

You're really giving this your all, it's impressive. Stat maxing is one of the things I couldn't bring myself to do, ever D:

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Don Tonberry and Earth Eater were my best friends in this, I let them pound on Kimahri as if he was a pinata! Overdrive -> AP, Triple AP and Triple Overdrive is such a winning combo : )

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

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Originally Posted by Jiro

You're really giving this your all, it's impressive. Stat maxing is one of the things I couldn't bring myself to do, ever D:

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Don Tonberry and Earth Eater were my best friends in this, I let them pound on Kimahri as if he was a pinata! Overdrive -> AP, Triple AP and Triple Overdrive is such a winning combo : )

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*takes mental note for next time*

That's ridiculous. I will have to try that!

I used King Cactuar for grinding. 10000 needles is great. Have Auto phoenix and comrade in everyone as well. :p

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Originally Posted by qwertysaur

I used King Cactuar for grinding. 10000 needles is great. Have Auto phoenix and comrade in everyone as well. :p

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King Cactuar works well indeed. Especially if you steal Chocobo Wings (used for Auto-Haste) while grinding. Handy!

Just fought Penance for the first time. I jumped in without preparing any kind of strategy and just went for it. (SPOILER)I failed : ( after fighting for about 55 minutes (I could sense I was close to beating him!) suddenly one of the arms popped back right before I wanted to use Wakka's Attack Reels to finish the other arm off. You can guess what happened: instead of targeting the weakened arm Attack Reels hit the newly regenerated arm and Penance himself. The result: Judgement Day on the next turn. Wakka and Tidus were revived by Auto-Life. In those turns I was able to finish off one of the arms, but it was too late. Penance and the left arm killed both characters on their next turn.

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

Just fought Penance for the first time. I jumped in without preparing any kind of strategy and just went for it. (SPOILER)I failed : ( after fighting for about 55 minutes (I could sense I was close to beating him!) suddenly one of the arms popped back right before I wanted to use Wakka's Attack Reels to finish the other arm off. You can guess what happened: instead of targeting the weakened arm Attack Reels hit the newly regenerated arm and Penance himself. The result: Judgement Day on the next turn. Wakka and Tidus were revived by Auto-Life. In those turns I was able to finish off one of the arms, but it was too late. Penance and the left arm killed both characters on their next turn.

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That was very unlucky. :(

Yeah lightning bolts was a pain but choccobo race was pretty easy, but anyways good luck. FF X is the one I like to perfect the most out of the FF series. For some reason I can beat it over and over again but not get bored with it.

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Originally Posted by CloudNyne

Yeah lightning bolts was a pain but choccobo race was pretty easy, but anyways good luck. FF X is the one I like to perfect the most out of the FF series. For some reason I can beat it over and over again but not get bored with it.

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Thanks! Same here : )

Also I don't think you mentioned it yet but are you using the original sphere grid or the expert one? :p

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Originally Posted by qwertysaur

Also I don't think you mentioned it yet but are you using the original sphere grid or the expert one? :p

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It's the expert one : )

What is the difference? I can never remember.

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Originally Posted by Jiro

What is the difference? I can never remember.

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I think it has something to do with the paths and connections. In the beginners one I don't think the paths are linked to eachother until the very end of one characters path. The expert sphere grid connects them a lot sooner, though they're blocked by key spheres.

Anyway, I've watched some youtube video's to 'study' my enemy. PENANCE WILL DIE! :choc:

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

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Originally Posted by qwertysaur

Also I don't think you mentioned it yet but are you using the original sphere grid or the expert one? :p

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It's the expert one : )

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Originally Posted by Jiro

What is the difference? I can never remember.

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Poor you, the standard Sphere Grid has 55 more nodes for stats.

FTR I have completely completed this game, the trick I used with the lightning bolts is to Not go to an area with a high amount of bolts and pause each time I dodged a bolt, write it down on my tally and continue, I do it first time every time.

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Originally Posted by KaiserDragon

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

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Originally Posted by qwertysaur

Also I don't think you mentioned it yet but are you using the original sphere grid or the expert one? :p

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It's the expert one : )

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Originally Posted by Jiro

What is the difference? I can never remember.

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Poor you, the standard Sphere Grid has 55 more nodes for stats.

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Wow, didn't know that. Oh well, everyone's maxed out nonetheless.

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

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Originally Posted by KaiserDragon

Poor you, the standard Sphere Grid has 55 more nodes for stats.

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Wow, didn't know that. Oh well, everyone's maxed out nonetheless.

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Maxed out on health? 55 nodes is a difference of 16500 HP lol.

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Originally Posted by KaiserDragon

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

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Originally Posted by KaiserDragon

Poor you, the standard Sphere Grid has 55 more nodes for stats.

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Wow, didn't know that. Oh well, everyone's maxed out nonetheless.

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Maxed out on health? 55 nodes is a difference of 16500 HP lol.

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Nah I don't see the point in BHPL. Only Wakka is unfortunate enough to have it on his ultimate armour.

The others have:
Ribbon
Auto-Haste
Auto-Protect
Defence +20%

Which works wonders : )

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Originally Posted by Pete for President

Nah I don't see the point in BHPL. Only Wakka is unfortunate enough to have it on his ultimate armour.

The others have:
Ribbon
Auto-Haste
Auto-Protect
Defence +20%

Which works wonders : )

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I agree, HP break limit is useless (I guess it's somewhat helpful in the monster arena, but it takes away a slot on your armor).

My favorite configuration of the armor is:

auto-med
curse proof
stone proof
confuse proof

it would be nice to get auto-haste in there, but I think of it like baseball: defense wins championships :)

HA! PENANCE is down >: )

I'm currently watching Rikku get some ridiculous amounts of AP. The battle lasted for about an hour and cost somewhere around 45 megalixirs. I earned 10 Master Spheres, 41 Dark Matter and a Ribbon Armour with 3 empty slots for Auron. Thanks Penance! Game time: 128:55. My setup was:

Auron (Masamune, Ribbon, Auto-Haste, Auto-Protect, Defence+20%)
Rikku (Godhand, Ribbon, Auto-Haste, Auto-Protect, Defence+20%)
Wakka (World Champion, BHPL (+- 17000HP), Ribbon, Auto-Haste, Auto-Protect)

Rikku's Ultra Nul-All mix helped getting everyone to survive all attacks. After every attack I'd immediately use Quick Pockets for a Megalixir and use the next turn to dispel Full Break. Worked like a charm!

However, this battle is quite mentally exhausting. Luckily no mistakes were made, the battle had a nice and predictable rhythm. All good!

So that's it. My list is done. Thank you Square for making this videogame with amazing depth in every single aspect. Even after almost a decade I still love it and I can finally say I've completed every challenge in there. Last but not least; a big thank you to everyone who has shown their support in this thread! Ha! :choc:

And now I'm off to do a victory dance!

awesome, congrats!

Once I take Uncharted 2 down, I think I may return to this game on a more full-time basis...