FINAL FANTASY X: AP TRICK FAQ 01/19/2002 By CronoRye (Ryan Charles)- Ryan@vortexonline.com Ver 2.3 Please do not DISTRIBUTE or host this FAQ in any form without my written permission. Do not use this AP TRICK or obvious derivations in any PRINT FORMS OF MEDIA without my written consent. This consent will only be given if proper credit is given to Ryan Charles in the publication. For example, a magazine such as PSM or GamePro would have no right to imitate, paraprhase, or reprint the intellectual property contained in this document. It would also be an equal tragedy to take some of the newer AP faq authors' information without crediting them. Version Updates 2.3 - (01-19-02) Added "run-away" option -- 2.2 - (01-16-02) Minor changes -- 2.1 - (01-14-02) Added results from testing other Overdrives -- 2.0 - (01-13-02) Clarified DT method -- 1.9 - (01-09-02) Minor changes -- 1.8 - (01-07-02) Minor changes, Updated Alternative 2 -- 1.7B - (01-07-02) Earliest way to gain mass AP -- 1.7A - (01-07-02) Minor changes -- 1.6 - (01-07-02) Clarified Alternative Method 2 -- 1.5 - (01-04-02) Added new American Method, updated automated method -- 1.4 - (12-27-01) Minor changes -- 1.3 - (12-26-01) Added American AP trick info -- 1.2 - (08-29-01) Added other variations -- 1.1 - (08-17-01) Added method of acquiring "Alone" overdrive technique -- 1.0 - (08-09-01) First edition ................................................. Layout -Note for US Players (Skip it if you want to just find out the Don Tonberry Method for the American FFX) -Don Tonberry Method (U.S. FFX Method, Earliest Possible mass AP method) -Cactuar King Alternative -Alternative 2 (U.S. FFX Method 2) -Original Japanese AP Trick (Unaltered from August updates) ................................................. A NOTE FOR PLAYERS OF THE U.S. FINAL FANTASY X For American game players: It is apparent that the Square/EA release of the American Final Fantasy X has an AP limit/cap that has been added. The cap in the Japanese version was so high that you reached the max S. Level of 99 way before you reached the max. I don't know why Squaresoft purposely went and hunted this out when it is only available during the late stages of the game and regardless is a legit use of the combination of processes programmed into the game. I never could have foreseen that the localization team would remove a little trick that I found while messing around in late July. Ultimately, we should be grateful that Square has provided us with another excellent Final Fantasy game rather than gripe about the removal of a leveling trick. Please remember that the Cap only limits certain overdrive methods. Because of that, the AP TRICK STILL EXISTS IN A DIFFERENT FORM. The short answer to the overall question is that the AP Trick as it was once known does not work in the American Final Fantasy X. What I will provide are alternative methods. The first alternative is fast. The second alternative is slower but is automated so you can sit and let it do the work for you similar to the way the Japanese AP Trick worked. Apparently the cap on the AP Trick was only targeted by Squaresoft for my particular AP Trick. The Loner (Solo/Alone) overdrive and the Ally overdrive method are the ones that are capped (coincidence? I think not). Apparently Hero is capped as well. I feel bad for PSM magazine that essentially stole the AP Trick without crediting me and ultimately published a trick that doesn't work on the American FFX. They even called it "The AP Trick." I wonder where they got that name? If you would like to complain about stealing/plagiarism, please email PSM at psm@imaginemedia.com. GamePro Magazine (no relation to Gamepro2817, an Internet User) has done something similar to an extent even more blatant than PSM. With my continued work on the new methods for gaining AP in the post-AP-Trick era, I have discovered that Defender is also capped. It created gains of AP that were much lower than any other method anyway. The Daredevil mode is also capped (thanks to E_Cubed99@Hotmail.com) --------Don Tonberry Method (aka American Alternative 1)--------- *This method can be done the earliest in the game of any method available. It also yields more AP consistently than the Cactaur King method. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, this has been thoroughly tested by myself and contributors.* Via this method it is possible to get 99 S. Levels via one battle. Quick Summary Requirements -Overdrive to AP ability -Monsters captured in Cave of the stolen Fayth -Comrade overdrive method Optional -2x or 3x AP ability -Double/Triple Overdrive Ability -Auto-Phoenix ability (The easiest way to get the 3x AP Ability is as follows: capture 4 of each flying eye monsters. Omega Ruins, Mi'ihen, Thunder Plains, Gagazet, and Macalania are the 5 regions you should target. You'll unlock One-Eye at the monster arena, and fighting him over and over again should yield weapons already with Triple AP.) **** Start obviously with the overdrive to AP ability. If you don't have it and need to know how to get it, you need to either A) Bribe the "mech leader" enemy in the Gagazet mountains. The bribe should be 74,000 gil. Please note that the bribe is slightly randomized in the American version, so sometimes you'll need to bribe with a second time with a little more money. You should receive 2 Doorways to Tomorrow, but on occasion you'll get 1. 10 are needed to activate the Overdrive to AP ability. B) Capture at least one of every enemy from any 6 areas (The Monster arena guy will reward you with 99 Doorways to Tomorrow) C) Steal them from the Ultima Weapon in the Omega Ruins (one-time event) Supplemental abilities such as 2X/3X AP and Triple overdrive are recommended but not necessary. Capture all of the enemies using the capture equipped weapons in the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. By doing so you will unlock Don Tonberry in the Monster Arena. Don Tonberry is the key to leveling up. His counterattack can take 99,999 against your weaker party characters. Set your overdrive method to COMRADE. Next, fight Don Tonberry in the Monster Arena. Make sure the character you are leveling up has the Overdrive to AP ability. Auto-Phoenix is also very helpful and is necessary if you want to reach 99 S. Levels in just one battle. Have the two characters who have killed THE MOST fiends in battle with the single character you want to level up (ex: Tidus is the one you want to level up, and most likely Auron and Wakka would be the sacrificial characters). If possible, try to make sure the two are semi-fast. His powerful counter Karma is based on your kills and damage inflicted. If possible, try to make sure the two g are semi-fast. Taking them on Tidus' path or giving them the Auto-Haste ability will help. Essentially, those "weak" characters will attack and Don Tonberry will counter with up to 99,999 worth of damage. Keep bringing them back to life manually or better yet use auto-phoenix to maximize the amount of turns you'll get before Don Tonberry stops counterattacking. Once he stops counterattacking, just kill him. Enjoy all the AP you get. It is possible given that you are fast enough and have auto-phoenix to reach 99 S. Levels. If you are at low levels, then just RUN AWAY after he gets close. Use Tidus' flee ability for best results. You will still get all the AP you earned for the target character with the overdrive-to-AP ability. You WILL run out of certain spheres, especially Power Spheres. In the import, you could overkill Kottos in the Monster Arena to get something like 40 of any sphere. I think this still works in the American version but be advised that you'll need to be fairly powerful to beat/overkill it. A sphere distiller (available at some item shops), makes it so you can get any sphere type that you want. Personally I embark on the capture quests and before you know it, your spheres are back up to par. I am working on more alternatives right now. Obviously something like Avenger, which gives you AP for every time someone dies, might work well in a similar Don Tonberry (any overpowered enemy) way. ****If you are playing FFX and you want to know what method of gaining a lot of AP can be done the EARLIEST IN THE GAME, it is the Don Tonberry method. The Don Tonberry method can be done as soon as you get to Mt. Gagazet for the first time! The Don Tonberry Method is great for people who can't get past Mt. Gagazet Seymour and Yunalesca!**** ----------------------King Cactuar Trick---------------------------- *This method is good, but it is not better than the Don Tonberry method. King Cactuar has a randomness factor that could result in you dying before you even get to anything about 100,000 AP. It consistently yields less average AP than the Don Tonberry method* Obviously you'll need the Overdrive to AP ability. See the Don Tonberry section to find out how to obtain this. Also make sure you have the overdrive method set to Stoic or Comrade. Unlike the Don Tonberry method, having the auto-phoenix ability is essentially a must. This will use your phoenix down items so keep that in mind. 2x or 3x AP abilities are optional but will help greatly. Your objective is to capture King Cactaur. This can be done by capturing the fiends on the Thunder Plains. Follow a method similar to Don Tonberry by fighting Cactuar King in the battle arena. Make sure you pay attention to keeping people alive, especially keeping an eye on which characters are alive and have the auto-phoenix. You'll want to attack and let people be brought back to life. Be careful not to get yourself killed. You can run away and still get AP thanks to the Overdrive to AP ability. When I was doing this, I found auto-haste to be useful on the "sacrificial" characters. I've been told to use hastega but since you don't stay with the haste attribute after dying, it's sort of a waste. So to summarize: Overdrive to AP Auto-Phoenix on at least one character Capture the fiends at the Thunder Plains (at least it's not avoiding the 200 lightning strikes!) Comrade or Stoic overdrive Thanks to some of the AP TRICK FAQ readers submitting this method and helping with the FAQ (Chocobo91, Dantonel, etc) and ultimately the Internet users Orca782 and Gamepro2817 whom the King Cactuar method originated from, I'm adding the King Cactuar method (by popular demand). It is very similar to the Don Tonberry method. Keep in mind that it can't be done very early in the game. You'll definitely need to be late enough in the game to travel freely and it doesn't yield as much AP on average. --------------Automated AP Trick: American Alternative 2-------------- This automated trick is listed next for those who want to leave their PS2s to level up for them and get a snack, go out, or otherwise continue with their lives. The closest I can figure as of now to create mass AP generation automatically (like my first Japanese AP Trick) is via the following trick. You'll require a turbo controller and some tape. This works better at later stages of the game when your team is a relative powerhouse in comparison to many of the region's enemies. Simply find an area where you can face a wall and tape down your turbo controller in the direction of where you can continually walk but not actually go anywhere. Right seems to work best. On a secondary menu the game will want to move in the direction you have taped down. So to use Yuna's Pray for example (which is semi-important since it gives you HP restoration at no cost to her), you'll want it to be the last skill in her Special menu. Once you get past a certain point on the Sphere Grid, it might not be. At that point, you should be powerful enough to get past these battles without Pray. Obviously, you'll need to tape down the x button so that you'll automatically select commands. If you are powerful enough, the Omega Ruins are ideal. Random battles will ensue simply because you are walking in place. Actually the real key is to find a spot on an angular portion of the terrain. You're aiming for a place where the screen starts to shake left and right but you are really technically running in place. Try the Gagazet mountain cave for a couple of those if you are having real trouble and want to see it working. Try using an up/right taped down combination for best results for those who can't do it. Hopefully you can utilize characters with a strong attack or use a reduced MP ability on Lulu when you get around to using her. I warn you, it's a tricky affair for using her since her attack is weak and you'll have to use either her first or last magic in her menu list. I would suggest using her with two really strong characters to back her weak attack. Ideally you would want a region that maximizes AP but enemies inflict little damage. Once you have reached a certain level of statistics, feel free to move on to the next hardest region that you can kill people rather quickly with the amount of AP you can get maximized. When you're doing this for a while, another problem that pops up is that you will run out of inventory space if you do it for too long of a time (thanks to ianmajor@hotmail.com for using Alternative 2 for a long enough period of time). Keep that in mind and try to clear up inventory space. The game will ask you which item you want to keep or remove, thus messing up the trick. The amount of time you will need to leave your PS2 on doing this to reach S. Level 99 (max amount of S. Levels) depends on if you are using the APx2 or APx3 abilities and the Overdrive-to-AP and the region you are fighting in. Essentially, the options are limitless for planning out methods using the Overdrive-to-AP in conjunction with this method. Obviously other overdrive methods will work better than Loner so please experiment. This is the end of the American portion of the AP Trick FAQ. Just in case you didn't know already, the Japanese version would have allowed you to get to S. Level 99 in less than 10 minutes with haste cast upon the intended character. Thankfully the alternative methods provide something very similar and in some cases just as fast (alternative method 1). Thanks for reading my FAQ. If the trick works out well for you, please feel free to email me. *BEGIN JAPANESE VERSION FAQ* This Mini-FAQ is about a method to building up your S. Level to its maximum. There are ways to vary this technique so I've listed some of the wildcards within the trick. To help those playing the import that do not understand much Japanese, this will be a step-by-step guide. The overall purpose of this is to build yourself up to S. Level 99; the maximum S. Level you can have at a given time. Final Fantasy X has replaced the traditional experience and level system with the AP and S. Level system. The S. Level trick will raise your level to 99 after only 10-20 mins of battle! First and foremost you need the following item: Doorway to Tomorrow (x10) This can be acquired in two methods. The first is a one-time acquisition by stealing from the Ultima Weapon boss in the Omega Ruins. You can input the airship coordinates for Omega Ruins (X-74 Y-36 Z-doesn't matter) through the third option on the airship map screen. The second method would be to use the bribe command on Gagazett Mountain. Gagazett is the snow-covered mountain just past the Nagi Plains. When you fight the three robotic enemies while climbing in the snowy region, the smaller one should be Auto Commander. You'll recognize him because he has 3700 HP. Bribe him with 20 times that amount (74,000 gil). He'll run away and drop Doorway to Tomorrow x2. Repeat as necessary. Add Drive to AP: With 10 Doorway to Tomorrows, enter the menu screen and find the weapon-augmenting screen. Make sure you already have a pretty good weapon on Tidus for example. You might want to have more than one slot open on the weapon in order to add APx2 or APx3 if you have the items for it. We'll use him as the test case. Now find the weapon he has equipped and bring up the abilities menu. Near the bottom of that menu should be some fairly recognizable abilities such as APx2 and APx3. You should also see another one with "AP" clearly in the name. That one is Drive to AP ability. It should cost 10 Doorway to Tomorrows. Obviously equip that ability. Change Overdrive Type: After that you'll want to move to the overdrive menu from the main menu. You'll want to change the method that leads to overdrive. One of these methods is the alone method. The second option on the top of the overdrive menu screen allows you to change the type. Alone should be near the bottom. It is very easy to tell if you have it. The only way your overdrive meter will build is when both of the other characters in a battle are dead. Obviously the person with the alone overdrive must be alive. Then it will build up with your commands. Frequently Asked Question: Question- "Dear CronoRye, I've tried everything on that menu but I don't see the Alone type for a certain character!" There's a good chance that Yuna and Lulu won't have the Alone overdrive. To teach them it, enter into a battle with a weak enemy and kill off everyone else in your party. Obviously you can only do this with one character that needs the overdrive method at a time. Then just sit there and keep hitting triangle over and over again. Cast curative and defensive spells accordingly. It will take a few minutes of doing this so be patient. Eventually a message will show up telling you that you've learned the overdrive technique 'alone.' Choose your Battle: I chose Bisaido Island as the destination because of the weak enemies. You can take your airship there or if you are doing this in the middle of the game, try to go back to an area with weaker enemies assuming that you can acquire the necessary materials. You can compensate for stronger enemies by casting shell or augmenting your defense against the type of enemies you're most likely to encounter. To continue with Bisaido as the test example, you'll need to head towards an area with encounters. Before your first battle, make sure this new weapon with the Drive to AP ability is NOT equipped. Equip anything else you want. I know you can switch weapons in battle but this is the easiest method for any importers with little to no knowledge of Japanese. Walk into a battle and proceed to kill off your two other allies. Then hit the triangle button to defend a few times until your overdrive meter has filled up. Once it is full, go ahead and kill the enemies. Next, go to your menu and switch to your weapon with the Drive to AP ability. Walk around to encounter another battle. Make sure you keep the same characters that died since their 1-HP will make them easier to kill for the enemies and yourself. Once again, kill your other two allies off. At this point, you'll probably find it easiest to leave the Dingo (the orange wolf-like one) as the lone enemy. Proceed to cast Haste on yourself and slow on the Dingo or enemy of your choice. You should now have several turns in a row. The Method: At this point, the AP trick is up to you. Every time you press triangle (defend), you'll accrue a lot of AP. A weak enemy like Dingo won't substantially hurt you the few times he'll have a chance to hit you, so don't worry about your HP. Just keep hitting triangle to defend. Personally I use my old PSOne turbo controller and tape down the triangle button. Anyone who remembers the FF3 (6) waterfall leveling up trick with Banon will remember doing something similar. If you don't have a turbo controller for PS1 or PS2, then it is up to you to manually hit triangle over and over again. Regardless, the amount of time you leave your controller doing it or you yourself do it is arbitrary. I'd say to do it for about 10 minutes at first and see where you end up since APx2 or x3 can really speed this whole thing up. After you decide you've had enough, go ahead and kill the enemy. You'll see your AP is a ridiculous amount and surely you'll get to S. Level 99. Most likely it will take you a few times of doing this to get around the entire Sphere Board. Clearly you can do this with every character so have fun. My AP Trick is an extremely effective way to gain AP. You can also mirror this method by using the Ally mode against any enemy. It is much slower but the benefit is that you can level up three at a time instead of one. Obviously repeat the Alone methods set up with overdrive to AP and a turbo controller. There are also some small variations with other overdrive but both of these are enough to last. Problems: The biggest problem you'll encounter is running out of regular sphere board pieces. You'll be so powerful that you might as well fight several random battles in any place you feel will yield the most. The second problem you'll run into is that you'll be at 9xxx HP and you'll still have more than half the board left. I suggest consulting DokiWaku's excellent Secrets guide. You'll find out how to exceed Max HP (up to 99,999) and exceed Max Attack (up to 99,999), etc. Just a note though, some of the ultimate weapons have these properties intrinsically. For example, Tidus' ultimate weapon already has the exceed Max Attack attribute. I hope this helps everyone who is playing. Honestly though, I suggest not using this until after you've beaten the game and want to explore since the regular FFX bosses are rather challenging all the way through if you aren't doing every single monster quest, using this trick, or using the Magu 3 Sisters. You'll still be no match for some of the special monster trainer battles though! Credits and Thanks: Thanks to John-Luke who sold me his Japanese PS2. Thanks to DokiWaku for the solid tips in the secrets FAQ. Thanks to Muni Shinobu for the Steal FAQ (the Ultima Weapon steal) Thanks to Rocki for being an angel. Thanks to Squaresoft creating another spectacular Final Fantasy. This document Copyright 2001/2002 Ryan Charles. Do not reprint this in any form of print media. For Online media, please feel free to contact me for permission to add this FAQ. Also contact me for any form of reproducing information paraphrased from, directly quoted, and or referenced concepts from the AP Trick FAQ. The term "AP Trick" was coined in July 2001 by Ryan Charles during the creation of this guide. Currently, only www.GAMEFAQS.com is allowed to host this file.