Final Fantasy X International Dark Aeon FAQ Version 1.3 (5/17/2002 9:30 PM) By : Huang SJ (jiun@pop.jaring.my) Latest versions of this FAQ can be found at :- http://www.gamefaqs.com http://www.neoseeker.com TOC I. Version History II. Foreword III. General Reminders/Hints and Tips IV. THE DARK AEONS a. Dark Valefor b. Dark Ifrit c. Dark Ixion d. Dark Shiva e. Dark Bahamut f. Dark Yojimbo g. Dark Anima h. The Dark Magus Sisters V. Penance VI.Conclusion a. Contribute b. Credits c. Copyright I. Version History v1.0 3/17/02: First Version, started after defeating all dark aeons and unlocked fight with Penance. v1.1 3/20/02: Defeated Penance using Zanmato and received information from Zeruel (Thanks man). Updated FAQ to incorporate this, i cannot test it but it is consistent with what i had so should be accurate. Strategies still lacking though, especially for Penance and Dark Magus Sisters. v1.2 3/24/02: Received strategies from Dark Elf for Magus Sisters and Penance. Included his exact words from his e-mail as i have yet to try it myself. v1.3 15/4/02: Sorry been busy with work (auditing but not Enron). Anyway more updates from Zeruel and some tips on magus sisters from squall leonheart rinoa heartilly. v1.4 17/5/02: Dark Magus Sister stats from Zeruel. Now the FAQ seems complete. No further updates expected. I am glad to have written this, i remember waiting and waiting for somebody to write something on the dark aeons while i was playing, until i defated all the Dark Aeons and fought Penance and still no FAQ. So i decided to write one, and amazingly it turned out so comprehensive. Thanks. II. Foreword This is my first FAQ, and i welcome questions as that is the whole point of an FAQ, all relevant questions specific to the Dark Aeons and Penance will be entered into the FAQ sections which will be added in later versions. Firstly, to be able to access the dark Aeons, you must be playing the International version of FFX, for the differences in Final Fantasy X International, kindly refer to the excellent Final Fantasy X (US) Sphere Grid FAQ by CB! (Christine Bomke, circe@san.rr.com). This FAQ will not dwell on those differences beyond the inclusion of the Dark Aeons and Penance. The dark Aeons are ultra hard versions of your normal Aeons which become available to fight during the last part of the game. I am not sure of the exact timing but i started fighting the dark aeons only after reaching the last save point just before the final boss inside Sin. After defeating all dark Aeons, an ultra powerful boss by the name of Penance will appear, he is covered in Section V of this FAQ. For items dropped, the bracket is if overkilled, and all dark Aeons require 99,999 for overkill. For Penance, I did not overkill because i only won with Zanmato so the overkill info is in question marks. III. General Reminders/Hints and Tips a. Most important thing to remember is that the Dark Aeons are ultra hard and therefore the recommended stats stated below are quite high, refer to Morph (fudgeit2k@hotmail.com) and JungleJim (junglejimgf@yahoo.com)'s excellect Stat Maxing FAQ for help in obtaining the necessary abilities and stats. I personally would never have been able to defeat any of the Dark Aeons if not for this excellent work. All tactics below were done with max stats in mind, if the tactic are not working, most likely your equipment of stats are just not up to it, so further training/customising is required. b. The Celestial Weapons are a must, i cannot stress this enough. One thing to take note of is that due to the location of Dark Bahamut (as stated below), i recommend that the Sun Crest be obtained as soon as you are able to get it. I did not and therefore had to wait until i was able to defeat Dark Bahamut (a very long time) to obtain the full powered Caladbolg. c. As stated below, one of the most basic skills, Aim, is crucial. Please bear in mind that i had 255 Accuracy for all fighting party members, therefore Aim was not to make up for any laziness on my part in training Accuracy. d. For general information, my stats for all party member fighting the Dark Aeons is 255 every stat except luck and 76-77k HP. All had their ultimate weapons and wearing armor with Ribbon (FFX International only), Auto-Haste, Break HP Limit and Auto-Phoenix. My party members were Tidus, Wakka and Yuna. e. As the first two Dark Aeons are easy, i recommend fighting and resetting until you get armour with ribbon auto-ability. This is essential to future fights with the dark aeons, as ribbon is a pain to customise, requiring 99 dark matter. f. Quick hits is the recommended method of attacking, normal attacks are too slow and not recommended at all. IV. THE DARK AEONS a. Dark Valefor HP: 800000 AP: 10000 (overkill: 15000) Stats: Strength: 148 Defense: 120 Magic: 186 Magic Defense: 220 Agility: 105 Luck: 48 Evasion: 10 Accuracy: 250 Elemental Immunities (including Holy): all half damage Drops : Normal : 1(2) Dark Matter Rare : 1(2) Master Sphere Equipment (Drops 3-4 slots with 1-2 abilitites) Auto-Abilities: Weapon: First Strike, Firestrike, Lightningstrike, Waterstrike, Icestrike, Break Damage Limit Armor : Auto-regen Ribbon Break HP Limit Location : Entrance to Besaid Village Tactics : Very Easy, a perfect attack reel will kill him. Auto-phoenix to play safe. b. Dark Ifrit HP: 1400000 AP: 20000 (overkill: 30000) Stats: Strength: 220 Defense: 173 Magic: 177 Magic Defense: 163 Agility: 124 Luck: 27 Evasion: 8 Accuracy: 230 Elemental Immunities: absorbs fire, immune to lightning and water, half damage to ice Drops : Normal : 1(2) Dark Matter Rare : 1(2) Master Sphere Equipment (Drops 3-4 slots with 1-2 abilitites) Weapon : Break Damage Limit Firestrike Armor : Fire Eater Ribbon Break HP Limit Location : Entrance to destroyed Al-Bhed Home (Bikanel Island Extreme North) Tactics : Easy, attack reel and blitz ace will kill him. Use aeons when his overdrive is full to block. Auto-phoenix recommended. c. Dark Ixion HP: 1200000 AP: 20000 (overkill: 30000) Stats: Strength: 176 Defense: 220 Magic: 133 Magic Defense: 188 Agility: 180 Luck: 36 Evasion: 0 Accuracy: 250 Elemental Immunities: aborbs lightning, immune to fire and ice, half damage to water Drops : Normal : 1(2) Dark Matter Rare : 1(2) Master Sphere Equipment (Drops 3-4 slots with 1-2 abilitites) Weapon : Break Damage Limit Lightningstrike Armor : Lightning Eater Ribbon Break HP Limit Location : Thunder Plains (talk to soldier under lightning tower north of trading post) Tactics : Easy, as long as you have sleepproof, or better still ribbon, and auto-phoenix. This is bacause his normal attacks cause sleep in addition to full break. You need to fight him twice.The first time you fight him,he will only cast Aerospark when his overdrive is fully charged. Beware of his Thor's Hammer overdrive during the second fight. Use Aeons to block if your HP is low, and as his second incarnation is slower, quick hits should take him down before he has a chance to use it. d. Dark Shiva HP: 1100000 AP: 20000 (overkill: 30000) Stats: Strength: 173 Defense: 163 Magic: 244 Magic Defense: 255 Agility: 255 Luck: 73 Evasion: 0 Accuracy: 250 Elemental Immunities: absorbs ice, immune to lightning and water, half damage to fire Drops : Normal : 1(2) Dark Matter Rare : 1(2) Master Sphere Equipment (Drops 3-4 slots with 1-2 abilitites) Weapon : Break Damage Limit Icestrike Armor : Ice Eater Ribbon Break HP Limit Location : Entrance to Macalania Temple. Tactics : Max agility is a must otherwise she will kill you before you have a chance to attack. Use Aim several times to be able to hit her. Beware her Heavenly Strike which is instant kill even with ribbon armor, rely on Auto Phoenix. Use Aeons to block her overdrive as usual. Other than that she is not so hard. e. Dark Bahamut HP: 4000000 AP: 30000 (overkill: 40000) Stats: Strength: 245 Defense: 234 Magic: 222 Magic Defense: 233 Agility: 255 Luck: 102 Evasion: 0 Accuracy: 250 Auto-Abilities: Weapon: 1 MP Cost, Double AP, Double Drive, Break Damage Limit Drops : 1(2) Dark Matter 1(2) Master Sphere Equipment (Drops 3-4 slots with 1-2 abilitites) Auto-Abilities: Weapon: 1 MP Cost, Double AP, Double Drive, Break Damage Limit Armor : Auto-Protect, Ribbon, Break HP Limit Location : Place where you fought Yunalesca (Where the Sun Crest is) Tactics : This is where is starts to get tough. Use all the tactics mentioned above and use Aeons just before his overdrive is full and shield because he will do Mega Flare as soon as his bar is full circumventing your turn (i.e. bar almost full, hits you, bar full, immediately Mega Flare before you have a chance to retaliate). Auto-Life helps against his Impulse. His favourite tactic is to do impulse when his bar is full, then immediately uses the full overdrive to do Mega Flare. My Auto-life got all my charcaters back from Impulse just in time to be killed :( Oh and Impulse has a 100% chance of turning you to stone, so stoneproof, or better still ribbon is a must. f. Dark Yojimbo HP: 1600000 AP: 8000 (overkill: 10000) Stats: Strength: 244 Defense: 210 Magic: 131 Magic Defense: 144 Agility: 243 Luck: 114 Evasion: 0 Accuracy: 255 Drops : Normal : 1(2) Dark Matter Rare : 1(2) Master Sphere Equipment (Drops 3-4 slots with 1-2 abilitites) Auto-Abilities: Weapon: Counterattack, Magic Counter, Drive->AP, Break Damage Limit Break Damage Limit Armor : Curseproof, Ribbon, Break HP Limit Location : Caverns of the Stolen Fayth (Teleport to end then walk out) Tactics : Firstly, you need to fight him 5 times by chasing the summoner back to the entrance of the cave, you can save between fights but if you reload you have to start all over again. So i recommend going to save points to recover between fights. His attacks all have a chance of instantly killing your characters by doing 99,999 damage, and his evade is very high so do Aim MANY times. Quick hit is the way to go with back up from Blitz Ace and Attack Reel. His attacks can also do status effects but i had ribbon so i am not sure what they are. His overdrive attack is an instant kill and even if you have auto-life, you will not be revived so using Aeons to block is a must. g. Dark Anima HP : About 7 - 8 Million !!!!! (This is true, my sister counted 70+ hits at 99,999) Now confirmed at 8,000,000 AP: 30000 (overkill: 40000) Stats: Strength: 155 Defense: 230 Magic: 255 Magic Defense: 255 Agility: 183 Luck: 85 Evasion: 0 Accuracy: 255 Elemental Immunities: absorbs all Drops : 1(2) Dark Matter 1(2) Master Sphere Equipment (Drops 3-4 slots with 1-2 abilitites) Auto-Abilities: Weapon: Deathstrike, 1 MP Cost, Triple AP, Break Damage Limit Armor: Deathproof, Break HP Limit, Ribbon Location : Mount Gagazet, redo the challenge in which Wakka had to throw a ball at the revolving thing then teleport back to the entrance to Mount Gagazet and Dark Anima will be there waiting for you. I had the most trouble finding him and must thank my cousin, Izaac, for noticing that Anima looked fishy (remember the shell) and so made me go swimming around Mount Gagazet. Tactics : He is hard, and not just for the HP. His Pain is an instant kill attack which does not damage so overdrive comrade mode will not charge. His Mega Graviton attack will do incredible damage based on your max HP, so unlike other gravity based attacks it can kill you outright if your HP is low. His overdrive does incredible damage not to mention draining MP. Lastly for such a huge lump he is very hard to hit, so once again do Aim like it is free, err actually it is so just do it until you feel comfortable. As noted from his huge HP this battle will take a long time but the standard tactic of lots of aiming, Quick Hits and using Aeons to block his overdrive will win out eventually. My cousin fought him untill all my Aeons died before finally killing him! h. The Dark Magus Sisters Dark Cindy: HP: 3000000 AP: 10000 (overkill: 12000) Stats: Strength: 175 Defense: 223 Magic: 171 Magic Defense: 105 Agility: 185 Luck: 40 Evasion: 0 Accuracy: 255 Auto-Abilities: Weapon: Alchemy, Triple Drive, Gillionaire, Break Damage Limit Armor: Auto-Phoenix, Break HP Limit, Ribbon Dark Sandy: HP: 2500000 AP: 10000 (overkill: 12000) Stats: Strength: 186 Defense: 201 Magic: 207 Magic Defense: 168 Agility: 201 Luck: 80 Evasion: 100 Accuracy: 255 Auto-Abilities: Weapon: Evade and Counter, Magic Counter, Triple Drive, Break Damage Limit Armor: Auto-Shell, Break HP Limit, Ribbon Dark Mindy: HP: 2000000 AP: 10000 (overkill: 12000) Stats: Strength: 148 Defense: 187 Magic: 248 Magic Defense: 132 Agility: 233 Luck: 130 Evasion: 240 Accuracy 255 Auto-Abilities: Weapon: Magic Booster, 1 MP Cost, Triple Drive, Break Damage Limit Armor: Auto-Haste, Break HP Limit, Ribbon Drops : Normal : 1(2) Dark Matter per sister Rare : 1(2) Master Sphere per sister Equipment (Drops 3-4 slots with 1-2 abilitites) Location : Mushroom Rock, from exit of Mi'ihen Highroad walk until you encounter two summoners. A cutscene will commence then the combat. Tactics : I don't know, I just grand summoned Yojimbo, paid him 1.3 Million Gil and hoped for Zanmato. Normal way of fighting not sure how but i suggest using an Aeon to block Delta Attack as they start in overdrive then concentrate on one of the sisters and kill her to stop future Delta Attacks. Dark Elf has the following tactic for this battle:- Requirement: at least get all 3 characters have [break HP limit] --around 30,000 HP or above and those 3 characters have luck over 120 + First beat up Mindy [B/c she can cast Passado -- instant death!!] Mindy has the least HP. You should try to focus on ONE enemy, because it won't increase the OD gague. Delta force won't release if all of Magus sisters OD are full. Sandy has a shatter effect if she does a normal attack. If you are unlucky when all of sisters' OD are full, Cindy will cast DELTA attack! There is no way to revive even if you have auto-life! Attack Mindy, Sandy , and Cindy. If one of them is KO, each sister will only do Tetra Gravition when its OD is full. So it won't be difficult!! Note: Attack reel and blitz ace will kill Mindy quickly. Additional info from "squall leonheart rinoa heartilly" you can beat 3 sis separately 1. run fast 2. first conner you get rid of mindy 3. take elevator up you get rid of cindy 4. beat'em up one by one V. Penance Body HP : unknown Drops : Normal : 3(6?) Master Spheres Rare : unknown Arms HP : unknown Drops : Normal : 1(2?) Dark Matter Rare : unknown Equipment (4 slot Armour and Weapons with 1-2 abilities) Weapon : (Break Damage Limit) (unknown) (unknown) Armor : ribbon break hp limit (unknown) Attacks : Body - Obliteration, massive damage to active battle party. About 10-20k against my party which had 255 defense and magic defense Arms - Calamity, many negative status effects, only curse affects me though due to ribbon, but i think it does everything - Tera-Graviton, Does damage dependent on max HP - Mighty Guard(on himself), same as Kimahri's Ronso Rage - Slowga, same as the spell - Normal attack, large damage and shattering effect (like Shinryu's Eraser). Ribbon protects against it. Location: A selectable location at the Airship after you have defeated all the Dark Aeons. Tactics : There is only one way i found that works, Zanmato(Overdrive attack of Yojimbo). Dark Elf has the following tactic for this battle:- No easy way.. it 's a pain if you have watched that one hr clip from message board! Requirement: Luck has to be 120+ or else you will miss the target! If HP isn't over 40,000, it will be a difficult battle. I use the following characters to beat that lousy boss [character, who will fight against Penance, must have ribbon equiped!!!] Rikku -- I use "Hyper-mighty guard" when her OD is full!! Tidus -- I only use Biltz ace if i run out of turn to kill the arm! Wakka -- attack reel is used if i run out of turns to kill one of the arm! Yuna -- i only summon any aeon if i run out of turn to defeat any of the arm. Just keep killing the arm [each arm will drop one dark matter/master sphere]. If you have an extra turn where none of those arms appear, please do the following [depends your parties situation] a) HP 's low, use Healing water -- please get at least over 60xhealing water b) Quick Hit ==attack the boby c) Three stars and twin stars are useful b/c imbolazation will take out all of MP. Killing arm is very important because it will avoid Penance 's special attack [Judgement Day [mispell]]. It will only HAPPEN if ALL of those arms appear. You can run away from battle in order to get more dark matters when you have killed each arm. [it 's a cheap way to get ribbon] Don't bother to kill Penance when its arms aren't destoryed. It will take 6 turns to kill each arms [60,000 HP]. So you probably have at least one or two extra turn to attack the body each time before Penance attacks back. It took me 70 mins to kill that boss. That 's all. I have completed all of FFX int side quest less than 130 hrs [including killing all dark aeons/Penance, max out stats except Luck, beat arena quests and get all of their legendary weapons] VI.Conclusion a. Contribute I need strategies for Penance and Magus Sisters especially. Improved suggestions for the other dark Aeons are also welcome. b. Credits CB! - Excellent Sphere Grid FAQ convinced me to play International Morph and JungleJim - Superb Stat Maxing FAQ making is possible for me to stand up to the dark aeons Izaac (my cousin) - for helping me find and defeat Dark Anima (Stupid fish head, should have realised sooner ) Zeruel - In-depth information on Dark Valefor, Dark Ifrit and Dark Ixion which was obtained from the Ultimania Omega Guide. We can look forward to further contributions from him. If you want your e-mail in here, please let me know man. CjayC - for posting this Dark Elf - excellent tactics for defeating Magus Sisters and Penance. If you want your e-mail shown, please let me know. "squall leonheart rinoa heartilly" - beat magus sisters seperately, i wish i though of that. c. Copyright This document Copyright 2002 Huang Shze Jiun If anyone wants to put this on their site, please ask me for permission. Latest version will always be available on Gamefaqs (www.gamefaqs.com) Last but certainly not least, thanks to Square and Hironobu Sakaguchi for an excellent game. Amazing how much value can be added by just putting in a few new bosses. If not for it i would not have maxxed my stats:)