Ultimate Weapons

Tidus's Caladbolg:

Weapon location: Northwest corner of the Calm Lands, behind a mandala at the bottom of a very narrow hidden trail. Win all four chocobo races, and the person blocking the pathway will be gone. You _must_ have the Celestial Mirror in your inventory to get the weapon, otherwise the guard will not move. (There's no point in going down the trail without the mirror anyway.) If you won all of the races pre-mirror, and come back after obtaining it, simply win all of the races again and immediately go to the path the guard was blocking.

Sun Crest location: Yevon Dome, in a treasure chest in the same area where you fought Yunalesca. You may have to go up and down the stairs once or twice to get the chest to appear. It's on the left side of the screen, and blends in with the wall.

Sun Sigil location: After you can control the airship, it's a prize for winning the fourth chocobo race against the other chocobo rider with a time of better than 0:0:0. I have no advice on how to do this, other than use the other rider as a shield if possible, use the D-pad and not the analogue control stick, and grab balloons like mad. You need between 12 - 15 for a time of 0:0:0. In the Japanese FFX, there was a cheat that made the birds pass right through you, and therefore this process very simple, but it seems to have been taken out of the North American - and presumably PAL - release. So the moral of this story is, practice practice practice, learn Japanese and import the game so that you can cheat, or check out Morelock's Sidequests FAQ for an in-depth strategy of how to win this race.

Difficulty to Obtain: Medium difficulty, but not especially time-consuming. Most people would argue that the hardest part are the last two chocobo races.

Abilities: [Break Damage Limit] + [Triple Overdrive] + [Evade & Counter] + [Magic Counter]

Special Effects: Does more damage when Tidus' HP is full, no effect on Aeons.

Name origin: The Caladbolg is a sword of Irish and Celtic myth that was so strong, it once cut a hill in half. Caladbolg can also be a generic name for any kind of death-dealing sword. In the Japanese version of Final Fantasy X, Tidus' ultimate weapon was called the Ultima Weapon, which starting with FFVI, there's been either a boss, or a weapon for the main character named this, or both, and the weapon has always done damage dependant on HP. In the English FFVI, it was translated as Atma. Caladbolg almost makes more sense, in a way, because it's not the typical white, pink, and purple gradiented design of the Ultima Weapon - it's blue and gold.


Yuna's Nirvana:

Weapon Location: In a chest at the Monster Arena to the east of the Calm Lands, after collecting at least one of each monster from the Calm Lands. Although you can find the chest before leaving the Calm Lands, you MUST have the Celestial Mirror in your inventory to open it and therefore get the weapon.

Moon Crest location: Besaid Island beach, in a chest in a cove on the east side, only accessable by swimming. You can get this very early in the game.

Moon Sigil location: Defeat all of your Aeons at Remiem Temple, then preform the Farplane Sendoff for Belgemine. All of your Aeons means ALL of them, including the secret ones like Youjimbo, Anima, and the Magus Sisters.

Difficulty to Obtain: Very very easy. Collecting monsters to obtain the weapon shouldn't take more than 45 minutes, and if Yuna is at least somewhat built up, defeating your Aeons at Remiem Temple is a piece of cake.

Abilities: [Break Damage Limit] + [Triple Overdrive] + [Double AP] + [One MP Cost]

Special Effects: Does more damage when Yuna's MP is full, and allows Valefor to exceed 9,999 damage.

Name origin: In the Buddhist faith, Nirvana is a state of complete happiness and omniscience achieved after many reincarnations.


Wakka's World Champion:

Weapon Location: After you can control the airship, the bartender in Luca Cafe will give this to you if you've won at least 5 Blitzball games. You MUST have the Celestial Mirror in your inventory to get the weapon.

Jupiter Crest location: Luca Stadium, in a locker in the Besaid Aurochs locker room. You can get this after you've finished everything you need to do in Luca for story purposes.

Jupiter Sigil location: After winning all four of Wakka's Overdrives, this is a random grand prize in the Blitzball League game.

Difficulty to Obtain: Easy or difficult, depending on your Blitzball skills, and VERY time-consuming. Winning the Sigil could take anywhere from 50 wins if you're lucky, to over 250 wins if you're unlucky. Having Tidus' Jecht Shot ability really levels the Blitzball playing field, not to mention that the animation wastes about 40 seconds of game time, allowing you to speed through games lightning-quick.

Abilities: [Break Damage Limit] + [Triple Overdrive] + [Double AP] + [Evade & Counter]

Special Effects: Does more damage when Wakka's HP is full, and allows Ifrit to exceed 9,999 damage.

Name origin: Most of Wakka's weapons have sport-related names, so since you essentially need to become the Blitzball World Champion to obtain this, it's self-explanatory.


Lulu's Onion Knight:

Weapon Location: In a sealed chest in the pool at Baaj Temple, hidden in a corner on the opposite side of the pool from the doorway to Anima's shrine. The chest will not appear until you've defeated Geosgaeno, and isn't visible until you're literally right on top of it, so dive deep and keep hitting the [X] button to search for the chest. You MUST have the Celestial Mirror in your inventory to open the chest, and therefore get the weapon.

Venus Crest location: In a treasure chest that appears during your second visit to the Farplane. You can get this after you've finished everything you need to do in Guadosalam for story purposes.

Venus Sigil location: Dodge the lightning at Thunder Plains 200 _consecutive_ times by pressing [X], then go back to Rin's travel agency and examine the treasure chest out front. Do not save in between dodges or leave the screen, because this will reset the dodge counter. Also, don't just sit there and hammer [X], or use a turbo controller, because the game senses you're trying to cheat, and will zap you with lightning just to annoy you. You can get the Sigil on your first visit to Thunder Plains, long before obtaining the airship, unlike everyone else's Sigils.

Difficulty to Obtain: Easy to medium. Dodging lightning to obtain the Sigil doesn't require much dexterity, just a lot of patience and alertness. The Thunder Plains is a HUGE area, and different parts have one of three different frequencies of lightning strikes. Other prizes in the lightning-dodging game include Mega Elixirs and rare stat node creation spheres, so it's well-worth your time to dodge strikes. Referring to the abovementioned map I scanned, if you go where the lightning is most frequent (3 bolts), it should take less than an hour to dodge 200 strikes, since the lightning seems to strike every five to seven seconds in the 3 bolt zone.

Abilities: [Break Damage Limit] + [Triple Overdrive] + [Magic Booster] + [One MP Cost]

Special Effects: Does more damage when Lulu's MP is full, and allows Shiva to exceed 9,999 damage.

Name origin: All of Lulu's dolls are from previous Final Fantasies (Moogle, Cait Sith, Cactuar, Pupu, Moomba), and the Onion Knight is no exception. It's an onion kid from Final Fantasy IIIj.


Kimahri's Spirit Lance:

Weapon Location: At Thunder Plains, pray by pressing [square] at any 3 glowing Qactuar stones, then return to the south part of the plain and follow the Qactuar ghost to a wrecked tower. It's on the right side of the screen, embedded in the rock wall, equidistant from the north and south boundries of the plain. Pray there. Although you can find the chest during your first visit to Thunder Plains, you cannot open it until you have the Celestial Mirror.

Saturn Crest location: Mt. Gagazet, in a treasure chest between the pillars on the left, just past where you fought Seymour.

Saturn Sigil location: Macalania Woods butterfly-catching game, _after_ getting the airship. There are technically 3 different versions of this minigame, each at a different difficulty with different prizes: (1) upon first entering Macalania Woods, (2) after fighting the Spherimorph, and (3) after you can control the airship. To start the minigame, talk to the harp- playing demihuman near the entrance, then touch the blue butterfly. The object of the game is to touch all the blue butterflies in one area before time runs out. If you touch a red butterfly, you'll automatically have to fight a battle, and lose a few seconds.

Difficulty to Obtain: Finding the weapon and the Crest is simple, and you could easily kill two birds with one stone and get Lulu's Venus Sigil while you were at the Thunder Plains, but the winning the butterfly minigame to get Kimahri's Saturn Sigil is HARD.

Abilities: [Break Damage Limit] + [Triple Overdrive] + [Double AP] + [Evade & Counter]

Special Effects: Does more damage when Kimahri's HP is full, and allows Ixion to exceed 9,999 damage.

Name origin: Just a silly name cooked up by Square's translators after eating too much Pocky. In the Japanese FFX, Kimahri's ultimate weapon was called Longinus, which is the name of the Roman soldier who pierced Christ's side with his spear. The metaphor of a spear that could pierce the divine is lost in the English translation.


Auron's Masamune:

Weapon Location: Behind a mandala at Mushroom Rock Road. At the bottom of the Calm Lands valley, at the opposite end of the crevasse from the Cave of the Stolen Fayth, take the Rusty Sword (key item) from the rocky alcove. Then go to Mushroom Rock Road and continue straight ahead north until you see a little green square on the area map. (Recall that earlier in the game, during Operation Mi'ihen, you were diverted to a west exit instead of allowed to venture north.) It's the second left on the first screen of Mushroom Rock Road. The green square represents a floating mushroom stone, ride it up to a plateau, and stick the sword in the ground next to the statue of a warrior standing over a slain behemoth. The mandala will appear on the wall behind you. You MUST have the Celestial Mirror in your inventory to get the weapon.

Mars Crest location: In a chest in the old part of Mi'ihen Highroad. To get there, go north on Mi'ihen Highroad until you reach the entrance of Mushroom Rock Road, then hang a U-turn and go south.

Mars Sigil location: Unlock any combination of 10 Area Creations or Species Creations bosses at the Monster Arena to the east of the Calm Lands, and the trainer will give this to you. Area Creations are unlocked by capturing at least one of each monster in a particular area, and Species Creations are unlocked by capturing several of each monster from a particular species - Bombs, Wolves, or Floating Eyeballs, for example. If this isn't descriptive enough, see my Monster Arena FAQ for the exact conditions to unlock bosses. And if the trainer doesn't give the Mars Sigil to you, either a) keep chatting with him until he does, or b) you didn't unlock enough special bosses - Original Creations do NOT count towards your total.

Difficulty to Obtain: Fairly easy, but time-consuming. You have to do a lot of running around to get the weapon and the Crest, and unlocking 10 special battles at the Monster Arena to obtain the Sigil is a lengthy endeavor. To speed things up, buy monster-capturing weapons from the Arena as soon as you reach the Calm Lands, and keep them equipped as much as possible.

Abilities: [Break Damage Limit] + [Triple Overdrive] + [First Strike] + [Counterattack]

Special Effects: Does more damage when Auron's HP is depleted, and allows Youjimbo to exceed 9,999 damage.

Name origin: All recent Final Fantasies have had a katana-type weapon called the Masamune. The name comes up a lot in video games and anime, and is derrived from a famous Japanese legend about a swordsmith named Masamune. Goro Nyudo Masamune lived during the late 13th to early 14th century, and was considered to be one of the - if not THE - greatest Japanese swordsmiths of all time. To further illustrate the historical significance, a ronin is a samurai without a master; Auron was once a Guardian for Braska, but Braska no longer requires Auron's protection, therefore, Auron is a ronin. To keep one's left arm inside one's shirt, and carry a jug of sake at one's hip are both very ronin things to do.


Rikku's God Hand:

Weapon Location: In a sealed chest at the bottom of Mushroom Rock Road, accessable by selecting Password on the airship, then inputting "GODHAND". You MUST have the Celestial Mirror in your inventory to get the weapon.

Mercury Crest location: In a treasure chest in the fourth area (see below) of Sanubia Desert, in an alcove to the northwest. If your area map is turned on, you cannot miss this.

Mercury Sigil location: Sanubia Desert, in a treasure chest in the area protected by a sandstorm. To get rid of the sandstorm, you need to play a hide-and-seek minigame with the Cactuars after you can control the airship. (You can examine the Cactuar glyph during your first visit to Sanubia Desert, but again, you cannot play the minigame until you have the airship.) First, let's get our bearings... Sanubia Desert is divided into four screens:

(1) The oasis with the save point.
(2) The winding path with the save point inside a tent.
(3) The huge open area with the ruins to the northwest and the save point next to the large Al Bhed sign in the middle.
(4) The area right before Home with the sandstorm, Cactuar glyph, antlion pits, and numerous small Al Bhed signs.

To initiate the minigame, go to the fourth area and examine the Cactuar glyph. You'll then be asked to find 10 Cactuars in the desert. After finding each one, you'll recieve a green sphere - if you managed to catch the Cactuar without it looking at you, the sphere will be named, but if not, it will be called a "Sphere del Perdedor". (In other words, "Loser Sphere".) The more named spheres that you collect, the better your prize will be. Regardless of which type of sphere you recieved, take each one back to the Cactuar glyph in the fourth area after collecting them. The order of Cactuars is is:

(1) Tomay - found in the first area, the oasis, to the right of the save point.
(2) Rovivea - running around in the northwestern alcove of the second area.
(3) Chava - hiding behind the Al Bhed 20% sign in the fourth area; examine it to find him.
(4) Alek - running back and forth in the ruins in the northwestern part of the third area.
(5) Aloja - with Alek.
(6) Vachella - hiding behind the save point inside the tent in the second area; examine it to find him.
(7) Robeya - hiding in a treasure chest in the southwestern corner of the third area. This chest contains two Mega Potions otherwise.
(8) Isrra - running around inside an antlion pit in the fourth area.
(9) Elio - at the oasis, then beams up to your airship and can be found on the roof.
(10) Flaile - appears automatically after bringing the rest of the green Cactuar spheres to the glyph.

Once you've found a Cactuar, you don't have to find them again - you can leave the desert whenever you want, and the minigame will not have reset.

Difficulty to Obtain: Easy, but time-consuming. Having the [No Encounters] auto-ability is extremely helpful in getting the Sigil. You can add this ability to an armor with 30 Purifying Salts, or win a weapon with this already added from Geosgaeno. Normally you can only put [No Encounters] on an armor, but the Geosgaeno weapon keeps the monsters away all the same.

Abilities: [Break Damage Limit] + [Triple Overdrive] + [Double AP] + [Gillionaire]

Special Effects: Does more damage when Rikku's HP is full, no effect on Aeons.

Name origin: The God Hand was one of Tifa's best weapons in Final Fantasy VII, and Kevin's Light-Light aligned fighting class in Seiken Densetsu 3, also known as Secret of Mana 2, another Square game. The name also appears in Ehrgeiz, another Square game, where Godhand is a playable character with a gun arm.