Game:

Final Fantasy X (2001)

Duration: 13:45

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1

As long as this game has been around I'm sure someone else has talked about the method before, but I couldn't seem to find it in another video, so I figured I'd make my own. These characters aren't "low" level per se but they're a sort of "natural" level for when you'd typically unlock Greater Sphere, having finished between 1 and 2 character paths on the Sphere Grid.

This isn't necessarily the best approach to Greater Sphere, as it depends on his AI. He's supposed to have a 50/50 chance of attacking or using Hydraulic Press, but this game's RNG isn't really clean (from what I understand it actually follows extremely massive scripts that make it "feel" random), so it seems like he'll often wind up using near-constant Hydraulic Press, dragging this fight out.

The normal method for Greater Sphere at low level is to use Attack Reels, maybe Blitz Ace, and optionally Mixing 'Trio of 9999'. That method works well at any level and allows you to use Al Bhed Potions or Mega Potions for max healing to all party members, so it's probably the superior method.

But I haven't leveled Wakka or Rikku sufficiently yet on this file, and Anima didn't have enough Magic Attack to solo Greater Sphere. I still could have won the battle with Blitz Ace alone, but timing it out so that Greater Sphere never puts me in a pinch with back to back Hydraulic Press (a counter plus his regular turn) can be irritating.

Regardless, I find abusing Masamune's unique mechanic to be a bit more fun. For anyone who doesn't know, Masamune gets stronger as Auron's HP goes down. It's the only weapon in the game that works this way, and compared to all of the other Celestial Weapons its damage bonus is far more dramatic, meaning a 50% health Auron can hit much harder than 100% health Tidus (whose weapon gives him more power the higher his HP is), even though they have almost the exact same attack stat. Sentinel allows me to guarantee Auron always counters if Greater Sphere uses his normal attack, while a combination of Protect+Defend (or Sentinel) ensures that a character only loses 23.4% of their max health from Hydraulic Press.

I think it's worth noting here that all of my characters are using armor with Auto-Phoenix and Auto-Haste, but neither are necessary. No characters ever die so Auto-Phoenix doesn't come into play, and either Auron could cast Hastega with the First Strike on his Masamune, or Tidus could take a First Strike weapon (if your Auron doesn't know Hastega) since he never attacks and his weapon doesn't really matter.

This is a nice little showcase of the stretch of the game where Auron really shines as a character, allowing you to take down all of the Species/Area/Original Creations with a lot of alternate tactics. Unfortunately once your characters reach max stats, Auron's unique traits aren't particularly helpful anymore and he really falls behind characters like Rikku and Wakka due to their superior Overdrives.

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