Sphere Grid

The Sphere Grid is the ability and character development system in Final Fantasy X. It is a roughly circular grid of interconnected nodes arranged in smaller circular clusters containing the abilities and special skills player characters can learn. The name refers to both the grid's design and to the use of spheres to activate the nodes.
In the "Beyond Final Fantasy" feature included with the PAL and International versions, Director Yoshinori Kitase explains that the Sphere Grid offers an interactive means of increasing characters' attributes so that the player can observe their development firsthand.
Across official versions, there are three types of Sphere Grids:
*Regular: Offered in the original Japanese and North American versions, this version has 828 nodes with 77 unremovable nodes and 751 manipulable nodes.
*Standard: Offered in the International, PAL and HD Remaster versions, this version has 860 nodes, with 85 unremovable nodes and 775 manipulable nodes.
*Expert: Offered in the International, PAL and HD Remaster versions, this version has 805 nodes with 85 unremovable nodes and 720 manipulable nodes.
Completing a character's Sphere Grid in the Final Fantasy X HD Remaster version unlocks the Sphere Master trophy/achievement, while completing all characters' individual Sphere Grids unlocks the Perfect Sphere Master trophy/achievement. To unlock either trophy/achievement, the player must have every node, including empty nodes, active with either a stat boost or an ability.
==AP and Sphere Levels==
At the end of each battle every party member that took at least one full turn earns AP. Characters who are switched out during their first turn, KO'd, or petrified at the end of the battle will not gain AP. Additionally, characters do not gain AP if their weapon has the No AP auto-ability. If the player defeats the enemy using an aeon, then Yuna will be treated as having taken a turn even if she only summoned.
thumb|Tidus with two Sphere Levels in Final Fantasy X HD Remaster.
When enough AP is earned, the character gains a Sphere Level ("S.Lv"). The amount of AP needed to generate Sphere Levels increases progressively until the character has acquired 101 S.LV, after which an additional Sphere Level will always require 22,000 AP. When moving about the Sphere Grid, the character may move one node forward for each S.LV they have. The player does not need to activate a node to pass by it. Regardless of activation, when the player passes a node, a colored band connects their current node to the node they left to mark their path on the grid. Moving across previously connected paths allows the character to move four nodes for every S.LV they have.
Each character's starting location on the grid indicates their strengths and weaknesses based on the variety of nodes in their section, though the player can choose to take the character down a different path using Key Spheres. The character-specific sections merge at certain points, allowing a character to take another's path. The character-specific sections are separated by locked nodes, which become empty nodes once opened, allowing free movement. Ultimately, every node on the Sphere Grid may be accessed by every character.
==Sections==
The Sphere Grid is roughly divided into seven sections, one for each party member. A selected character's path is highlighted in their grid color. Each node is connected by up to seven paths in cardinal and intercardinal directions. Activating a node highlights the corresponding path in the character's grid color. These marks are visible no matter which character is selected.
===Tidus===
Tidus's grid has a balance of Strength and Accuracy as well as decent Evasion and Agility. He is adept at killing lightly-armored enemies, but flying enemies often have too much Evasion for him to hit, and most of his weapons cannot pierce through armored enemies.
Tidus learns Special abilities and White Magic that affect the turn order of his allies and enemies, such as Haste, Slow, and Delay Buster. He has party support abilities like Cheer and Flee. At the end of his section is Quick Hit. In the International, PAL and HD Remaster versions, it also includes Extract Speed. Tidus's grid section runs into Yuna's. His grid color is aqua.
===Yuna===
Yuna has low Strength and Defense but has the highest Magic and strong Evasion and Agility. Yuna's grid contains many healing White Magic spells, such as Cure spells, Regen and Esuna, and buffing spells like Reflect and Shell. Being the Summoner, her aeons' stats rise alongside hers. At the end of her section is the spell Holy. In the International, PAL, and HD remaster versions, it also includes Quick Pockets. Yuna's grid section runs into Rikku's. Her grid color is white.
===Rikku===
Rikku has the highest Agility and her grid has many HP and Agility nodes. She has average Strength and low-to-average Magic but learns a variety of support abilities, such as Steal, Mug, Spare Change, and Copycat. Her grid contains the White Magic spell Full-Life. At the end of her section is the ability Bribe. Rikku's grid section runs into Lulu's. Her grid color is green.
===Lulu===
Lulu, as a classic Black Mage, has low Strength, Accuracy and Agility but high Magic and the highest Magic Defense and Evasion. She has the party's highest Defense, which is uncharacteristic of the traditional Black Mage, who are generally "glass cannons", meaning they hit hard but are weak against physical attacks. Black Magic, such as the Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, and Water series, are in her section, along with other spells like Bio and Demi. Lulu's section also has the support skills Focus, Reflex and Doublecast. At the end of her section is the spell Flare. In the International, PAL, and HD remaster versions, it also contains Nab Gil. Lulu's grid section runs into Wakka's. Her grid color is purple.
===Wakka===
Wakka has high HP, Strength, and Accuracy, but average Magic, MP, and Agility, along with low-to-average Evasion and low Magic Defense. Wakka learns many special attacks that let him inflict status ailments on enemies, such as Dark Attack and Silence Attack. Wakka's grid contains two Black Magic spells—Drain and Osmose. At the end of his section is the special attack Triple Foul. In the International, PAL, and HD Remaster versions, it also includes Extract Ability. Wakka's section runs into Auron's. His grid color is yellow.
===Auron===
Auron's section has many Strength, Defense, and HP nodes, but lacks Evasion, Accuracy, and Agility. His section includes "break" abilities like Power Break and Armor Break, which lower enemy stats, and defensive abilities such as Sentinel and Guard. At the end of his section are the special abilities Threaten and Entrust. In the International, PAL and HD Remaster versions, it also includes Extract Power and Full Break. Auron's section runs into Tidus' grid, thus closing the circle of Tidus-Yuna-Rikku-Lulu-Wakka-Auron. His grid color is red.
===Kimahri===
thumb|Zoomed-out Expert Sphere Grid in the HD remaster (Steam)
Kimahri's section is in the center of the Sphere Grid and contains a variety of nodes. As a Blue Mage, Kimahri's grid connects to the grids of every other character except Auron, allowing the player to customize his stats as they wish once they can access the Key Spheres separating the grids, effectively making him a "jack of all trades" character. Kimahri's section contains Lancet, which allows him to learn Ronso Rage abilities from certain enemies, and support abilities like Jinx and Scan. At the center of his section is the Black Magic Ultima. In the International, PAL, and HD Remaster versions, it also includes Extract Mana. Kimahri's grid color is dark blue.
==Standard and Expert grids==
The International, PAL and, HD Remaster versions players can decide whether to use the Standard or the Expert Sphere Grid, both having different designs. The Standard grid is slightly different from the original grid, with extra branches and nodes to fit the new abilities. In the Expert grid characters start in the middle and the player must decide which path each character will follow. Abilities in both grids are the same, but the Expert grid has 68 fewer nodes than the Standard grid, but still contains enough to max out most of the characters' statistics.
==Spheres==
Activating any node on the grid requires a sphere. Early on, the player only has access to basic red spheres, but as they progress many more types become available. Though all nodes need a sphere to be activated, spheres can have more uses than solely activating a node.
The types of spheres are as follows:
*Red Spheres are the most common sphere used to activate most of the nodes on the grid to increase basic stats.
**Power Sphere - Activates Strength, Defense, and HP Nodes.
**Mana Sphere - Activates Magic Power, Magic Resistance, and MP Nodes.
**Speed Sphere - Activates Agility, Accuracy, and Evasion Nodes.
**Ability Sphere - Activates Skill, Special, and Magic Nodes.
**Fortune Sphere - Activates Luck Nodes. Fortune spheres are the rarest type of red sphere.
*Key Spheres come in four levels and can open a locked node of the corresponding level. For example, a Level 4 Key Sphere can only open Level 4. An unlocked node is unlocked for all characters regardless of who opened it.
**Lv. 1 Key Sphere
**Lv. 2 Key Sphere
**Lv. 3 Key Sphere
**Lv. 4 Key Sphere
*Purple Spheres replace empty nodes with stat nodes. There are ten types, one for each for the basic stats: HP, MP, Strength, Defense, Magic Power, Magic Defense, Agility, Evasion, Accuracy, and Luck. Whenever an empty node is turned into a stat node, the node gives a higher stat increase than that given by a default node. For example, an HP node made from a purple sphere gives +300 HP, while a normal HP node gives +200 HP. MP nodes give +40 MP, and all other stat nodes give +4 in their respective stat.
**HP Sphere
**MP Sphere
**Strength Sphere
**Defense Sphere
**Magic Sphere
**Magic Def Sphere
**Agility Sphere
**Evasion Sphere
**Accuracy Sphere
**Luck Sphere
*Yellow spheres activate ability nodes that have been activated by at least one other character, no matter where that node is in relation to the character's location.
**Attribute Sphere - activate any stat node.
**Special Sphere - activates any Special node.
**Skill Sphere - activates any Skill node.
**White Magic Sphere - activates any White Magic node.
**Black Magic Sphere - activates any Black Magic node.
**Master Sphere - activates any node.
*Light blue Spheres teleport characters around the grid.
**Return Sphere - Warp to any node previously activated by the character.
**Friend Sphere - Warp to an ally's spot on the grid.
**Teleport Sphere - Warp to any node previously activated by an ally.
**Warp Sphere - Warp to any spot on the grid.
*Clear Spheres are aqua and can be bought from the Monster Arena owner after the player has captured five of every fiend. They clear any stat node and negate whatever stat increase it gave. Ability nodes and locked nodes cannot be cleared. Clear Spheres cost 10,000 gil each.
==Customization==
Because activating the nodes available by default will not max out every character's stats, the player needs to plan their progression if they wish to have an optimal team.
Stat nodes will either have +1, +2, +3 and rarely +4, while HP and MP nodes will only add +200 and +20 respectively. By using the Clear Sphere (available at the Monster Arena), the player can clear out weaker nodes and activate purple spheres (HP, MP, Strength, Defense, Magic Power, Magic Defense, Agility, Evasion, Accuracy, or Luck). Removing the weak nodes and replacing them with the +4, +300 HP, and +40 MP nodes allows the player to maximize a number of stats, although it is not possible to max out every stat.
HP caps at 9,999 and MP at 999 (or 99,999 HP and 9,999 MP with the Break HP/MP Limit abilities), while other stats hard cap at 255.
Purple spheres are dropped by the monsters at the Monster Arena.
Sphere 	Stat Increase 	Fiend 	Unlock by
HP Sphere 	+300 HP 	Ironclad 	Capture 10 of each of the Iron Giant-type fiends.
MP Sphere 	+40 MP 	Vidatu 	Capture 4 of each of the elemental Imp-type fiends.
Strength Sphere 	+4 Strength 	Juggernaut 	Capture 5 of each of the Ruminant-type fiends.
Defense Sphere 	+4 Defense 	Tanket 	Capture 3 of each of the Helm-type fiends.
Magic Sphere 	+4 Magic 	Jumbo Flan 	Capture 3 of each of the Flan-type fiends.
Magic Def Sphere	+4 Magic Defense	One-Eye 	Capture 4 of each of the Eye-type fiends.
Agility Sphere 	+4 Agility 	Fenrir 	Capture 3 of each of the Wolf-type fiends.
Evasion Sphere 	+4 Evasion 	Pteryx 	Capture 4 of each of the Bird-type fiends.
Accuracy Sphere 	+4 Accuracy 	Hornet 	Capture 4 of each of the Wasp-type fiends.
Luck Sphere 	+4 Luck 	Greater Sphere	Breed at least 2 monsters in Species Conquest.
The Fortune Spheres that activate Luck nodes are obtained from the Earth Eater Original Species, unlocked by creating two Area Conquest monsters. Alternatively, the player may find it easier to grind gil by fighting monsters in the Monster Arena and selling their powerful weapon drops (One Eye is a good choice for this) and use the money to bribe (200,000 gil each) Maelspike in Mt. Gagazet to obtain Attribute Spheres to use as a replacement for Fortune Spheres.
==Ability list==
===Skills===
===Specials===
===Blk Magic===
===Wht Magic===
==Sphere Level grinding tips==
To visit every node in the grid, the player will need copious AP. The Omega Ruins' enemies give high amounts of AP, and with Double/Triple AP, Double/Triple Overdrive, and Overdrive → AP Sphere Levels pour in. Fighting Tonberries and their ilk with Overdrive → AP earns lots of Sphere Levels if the player has killed enough enemies and has the Stoic Overdrive Mode on the party member being attacked, and Comrade on others.
The best AP-grinding method involves this setup against the Don Tonberry. The player should cast Hastega on everyone (or use Auto-Haste) and then get Don Tonberry to counter with Karma on the character who has Stoic mode; the others who are not being attacked can keep any buffs from Eccentrick or Hot Spurs mixes (Eccentric and Hot Spurs can stack once, filling up the Overdrive Gauge at 9x rate with Triple Overdrive) and should have the Comrade mode set for their Overdrives. Auto-Phoenix on armor helps for the one who will get hit by Karma. The ones not attacking can defend on their turn, or recast Haste on the character being killed by Karma if they do not use Auto-Haste or SOS Haste. The player should repeat this until Don Tonberry is dead, or gets too close and the player is forced to flee. When Don Tonberry counters with Karma, the damage will fuel the Overdrive, which will triple and then convert into AP with Overdrive → AP, and at the end of the battle the total AP is also tripled, or even more with the aid of Rikku's mixes. The AP is received even if the player escapes or the Overdrive gauge is full.
It is possible to go from 0 to 99 Sphere Levels in one battle with three characters using this method; it is only limited by the party's MP and how fast Don Tonberry closes in. The amount of Overdrive received is determined by the amount of damage received from Karma which, for Don Tonberry, is the number of monsters a character has killed multiplied by 100. Only the Overdrive → AP ability is needed for this trick, but the other two abilities will boost the amount of obtained AP. The only character that needs to receive damage from Karma is the character whose Overdrive Mode is set to Stoic, meaning one can easily level up a weak character by skipping their turn and having a strong healer and a character who has had a lot of kills to perform the trick.
An alternate method is to use weapons with SOS Overdrive and Overdrive → AP, armor with SOS Haste, and Auto-Life. Cactuar King can also be used instead the Tonberry for its 99,999 and 10,000 Needles attacks.
==Behind the scenes==
The Sphere Grid system ended up so different from the character development systems of previous games because they left it in the hands of battle director Tsuchida Toshiro, creator of the Front Mission series. Director Yoshinori Kitase was also a fan of board games and wanted to recreate the sensation of moving pieces and filling up the board with them.
One of the character development system proposals for Final Fantasy X was a "tattoo system" where characters would have a 100x100 grid, and upon level up could place "tattoos" down to boost stats and learn abilities. Seymour's, Jecht's and Brother's tattoos (which they still have in the final game) are a remnant of this system where different tattoos would confer what abilities the bearer could use.
Despite the Sphere Grid being critical to both increasing stats and learning abilities, it is possible to complete Final Fantasy X without using it. Even most of the optional bosses can be defeated; Shinryu (and thus Nemesis as defeating Shinryu is a requisite for making it available) is the only optional boss that has never been defeated in a No Sphere Grid game.
==Gallery==
Q-boost-sg-mini.jpg|Sphere Grid from the official BradyGames strategy guide.
BattleXsample.JPG|Sphere Grid.
==References==
de:Sphärobrett
es:Tablero de Esferas
fr:Sphérier
Category:Character growth systems
Category:Final Fantasy X