FINAL FANTASY X - Ability List
------------------------------
Written by Kurasu Soratobu ([email protected])
Present version: 1.0

INDEX
-------
Copyright Info
Introduction
Why the FAQ?

Abilities

Update Info
Still To Come
Requests
Thanks To...

COPYRIGHT INFO
--------------
Final Fantasy X: Abilities List, copyright 2007 Kurasu Soratobu. This file may
not be published in part, or without this Copyright, without explicit
permission from the author. Final Fantasy X, ability names, and related are
copyright of Square Enix.

If someone wants to post this FAQ to their site, please get in touch with me at
[email protected] and ask. I am more than happy to let people post this
elsewhere, so long as I can get the full credit for it, and can be aware of
where it's going for my own personal knowledge. Make certain the words 'Final
Fantasy X', 'Ability List', 'FAQ', or similar show up in the title header, so
I know not to file it under spam. If it is filed under spam, it is deleted
immediately. If you are wanting to speak with me directly, then depending on
which IM service you use I am ICQ #9330070, AIM: KurasuSoratobu, MSN:
[email protected], or Yahoo: kurasu. I can't promise I'll be uber-chatty,
though I'm always willing to answer questions!


INTRODUCTION
--------------
If you really need an introduction to Final Fantasy X, you've probably been
hiding in a hole for a while. However, for those who have, Final Fantasy X is
one of Square's ground-breaking Final Fantasy games. Its use of the 'sphere
grid' was unique in gaming, in that you could customize your characters to a
level never before seen in RPG (except maybe for some of the other Final
Fantasy games... and maybe Dragon Warrior... and of course there's.... well
never mind that!)


WHY THE FAQ?
------------ 
The game is filled with abilities. The grid is loaded with them for every
person, and with as many abilities as there are to find, I am really amazed
that a list and explanation of them hasn't been done before now. Shocked, to
be honest. The discussion went about like this:
Me: "Hey, could you check the Final Fantasy X Ability FAQ for something?"
Significant Other: "There isn't one."
Me: "There isn't one?"
Him: "There isn't one."
Me: "There _should_ be one."
Him: "Yeah. There should be."
So now there is. Enjoy!

ABILITIES
---------
NAME: The name of the ability as per the game.
TYPE: Whether it is Black Magic, White Magic, Command, or Special. Each typ
      has their own symbol, as well as the 'sphere' that you can use to gain
      them off friends.
COST: The MP cost to use the ability.
EFFECT: What it does (not necessarily the game's description)
PERSON: The person's area of the sphere grid it appears in, thus the first
        person (most of the time) who will get it.
RATING: 1-10 rating on what I think of the ability.
NOTE: Explanation as to the ability, as to why I rate it so high/low, and also
      ways to use it.



NAME: Aim
TYPE: Command
COST: 0
EFFECT: Raises accuracy for party
PERSON: Wakka
RATING: 5
MY NOTES: This? Is a fairly cool ability. Not as good as Atk+Def in my book
(in other words, Cheer), but it's really great for those times you're having
trouble hitting stuff. And when you've got Wakka and Auron around, their aim
isn't as good as their strength; it'll show. It's not quite worth the time
spent later in the game, though. By that point, you shouldn't be having
trouble hitting things. So don't get bent out of shape to get it on your whole
party. Wakka is enough.

NAME: Armor Break
TYPE: Skill
COST: 12
EFFECT: Lowers enemy's defense and nullifies 'Armored'.
PERSON: Auron
RATING: 10
MY NOTES: I want this skill in my party at all times. This is, bar none, the
best of Auron's 'break' abilities. The enemy's defense is lowered, and those
hardened enemies that take a 'piercing' weapon to do damage to are softened up
to the point they take normal damage from everything. You can generally tell
these enemies by listening and watching the attacks. If they barely flinch (or
actively parry) and the weapon makes a dull *CLANK* when it hits them, they're
most likely armored. Enemies that are genuinely resistant to physical (as
opposed to 'Armored') will still be resistant to physical, but even these ones
take about double what they would before, which means... you got it: heavy
damage even to things like Flans and Elements. The _only_ issue I have with
this is the higher cost, but it's worth every single MP. Get it. Got it? Good.

NAME: Auto-life
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 97
EFFECT: Automatically resurrects individual when they fall
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 10
MY NOTES: OK. This is hard to get. It's a pain in the butt to get. It takes a
bunch of time, and a bunch of key spheres (two Level 4), but the ability? Is
bar-none one of the handiest abilities for a fight. Throw it on someone that
you don't want going down (like your healer!) and they will automatically have
a 'life' spell thrown on them when they go down. Expensive, but worth it. So
very much worth it! I save my White Magic Spheres for this one a lot of the
time to make sure it's on as many good magic users as possible the moment I
get someone on it.

NAME: Bio
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 10
EFFECT: Poison on an enemy
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 5
MY NOTES: OK, admittedly poison has its advantages for injuring the enemy,
particularly against fast enemies. After all, the more turns they have, the
more damage they'll do to themselves. Plus, this is useful when used against a
non-immune boss-type creature. However, the spell itself does no actual
damage, plus the HP taken in the actions isn't large enough to slay the enemy
with any particular swiftness. It does work through armor, though, as long as
they're not poison-immune, which unfortunately many of the scary enemies (you
know, the ones you'd want to use this one?) are. Another disadvantage is that
you need to go a little out of your way to get this spell; a diversion that
may well not be worth it unless you're a true collector.

NAME: Blizzaga
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 16
EFFECT: Large ice damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: Interesting irony, how alphabetical order puts this and the other
two Bliz- spells into reverse order. Anyway, I find this spell is just a
little 'too much' for most enemies. Blizzara will carry you through 90% of the
time without needing to jump up to the next highest. This will handle bosses
and Overkills with ease, though, when you can spare the points.

NAME: Blizzara
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 8
EFFECT: Mid-level ice damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: One of the more useful of the black magic spells, to be honest,
considering there are a lot of ice-weak monsters in the game. The -a levels,
for me, are even better than the -ga levels for the most part. Definitely get
them all! These will serve you well throughout the game.

NAME: Blizzard
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 4
EFFECT: Small ice damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: This one of the first four spells you'll get with Lulu, and probably
one of the spells that you'll be using through most of the game thanks to a
higher percentage of flame enemies than others (or so it seems). It's
cost-efficient, and does good enough damage to handle most of the creatures
you'll be meeting along the way until you hit the -a spells. Therefore, don't
hold back on using it as you need!

NAME: Bribe
TYPE: Special
COST: 0 (Gil only)
EFFECT: Causes monster to leave you alone (and give items)
PERSON: Rikku
RATING: 10
MY NOTES: Sometimes the best and even _only_ way to get items. They can be
costly, but the payoff in a lot of things is so very much worth it that
there's no way this rating could be anything less than a 10. You'll really
only need one person with Bribe (unless you want to bribe by small amounts at
a time to save on money), but make sure you get at least one person with it to
get such important things as Key Spheres, Pendulums, and the awesome Dark
Matters. A better 'Bribe' FAQ than I could ever make has already been made by
CB! on GameFAQs; use it if you plan to do a lot of bribing. As an estimation,
though, Bribe the monster with 20x its HP in gold.

NAME: Cheer
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Slightly raises strength and defense
PERSON: Tidus
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: The attack and defense raise for this are noticeable, I find,
especially early in the game when you first get it, and you're just starting
out. Plus, it works on the entire party. It's very handy to have in the early
games, and worth spending the rounds on to power yourself up to 'overkill'
levels of strength. The only thing that reduces its use for me is the fact
that as the game progresses, the difference it makes becomes less worthwhile
compared to the damage Tidus (or whoever) could be throwing.

NAME: Copycat
TYPE: Special
COST: 28
EFFECT: Copies the previous ally's action
PERSON: Rikku/Lulu
RATING: 10
MY NOTES: This, of course, depends on what you're Copycat'ing, but far and
away, using Copycat is one of the most useful abilities. Mainly because no
matter how much the spell cost the first time it was cast, how much the
ability cost, or how much the command cost, it will cost 28 when used from
this, and it will be used in the same way. So Doublecasting 'Flare', for
example, can be done by someone who has neither Flare _or_ Doublecast, and it
will cost only 28 points. Unfortunately, Break Damage Limit is still needed to
be able to break 9999 damage in an attack, even if they have the
Strength/Intelligence to do it on their own, but it's still a decidedly useful
ability.

NAME: Cura
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 10
EFFECT: Heals mid-amount of HP
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: This is just another version of Cure. A little over twice the cost,
but twice as powerful. It's worth the cost, however. A single casting of this
will generally do the trick for whatever you need it for.

NAME: Curaga
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 20
EFFECT: Heals large amount of HP
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: Twice the cost, twice the HP healed. And for the most part, until
you get up in the really high levels of HP late in the game, you aren't really
going to have to worry as much about the massive stacks of healing this will
give you. On the other hand, unlike the damaging -ga spells, this will quickly
become worth the cost, since by the time you've gotten the actual spell,
you're at levels of HP that you'll need to recover fast after a casting of
Life or use of a Phoenix Down. However, once you get up to high levels, you
need Break HP Limit to _truly_ make this worthwhile. Otherwise, going with
Cura might just be enough for your 9999 HP people.

NAME: Cure
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 4
EFFECT: Heals small amount of HP
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: While in the beginning of the game, this is extremely useful to have
around, it'll quickly become outdated. By the time you get Cura, you'll
probably never use Cure again. Still, you never want to go without a little
healing, so this is a very valuable ability to keep around. Especially in the
beginning!

NAME: Dark Attack
TYPE: Skill
COST: 5
EFFECT: Extra damage plus darkness on enemy for three turns
PERSON: Wakka
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: The extra damage is really nice on this ability, and the darkness
that comes with it? A bonus. Darkness is an awesome ability when used against
physical things such as Beasts, Ape-men, and especially Giant Birds. And while
it's not guaranteed, the percentage chance seems awfully high against things
that aren't particularly resistant. Really, this is just an awesome attack all
around. I use it pretty much throughout the game.

NAME: Dark Buster
TYPE: Skill
COST: 10
EFFECT: Extra damage plus high chance of darkness on enemy for one turn
PERSON: Wakka
RATING: 5
MY NOTES: It's really nice to have a nearly 100% chance of darkness on an
enemy. The fact that it only lasts a single turn, though, is a big
disadvantage. Use Dark Attack over this any day; it costs less and the chance
is still up around 70% or so. Use this only when you _must_ make sure the
enemy has been blinded, and can handle what you need to handle in a single
turn or are prepared to throw it again turn after turn.

NAME: Death
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 20
EFFECT: Instantly kills one enemy
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 4
MY NOTES: A spell to instantly slay an enemy! ... however, there are no bosses
that it is effective against, and very few powerful creatures. Add in to that
the fact that this spell's got a 20 cost and you need to go out of the way to
get it, and you've got a spell that I really don't suggest even bothering
with. One or two major enemies (Chimera hint hint) are affected by the spell,
though, so it has some minor use. Not as much as whipping out high damage,
though. Mind you, as one of the coolest-looking instant kill effects I've
seen, it's worth using at least once just to see it.

NAME: Delay Attack
TYPE: Skill
COST: 8
EFFECT: Delays enemy's attack
PERSON: Tidus
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: This ability is awesome. I love it. It's costly, but it works on a
lot of stuff, including many actual bosses. Slapping 'Delay Attack' on the
opponent will slow them down considerably. And then you can do it again. And
again. And it _also_ does damage. So there's the chance that with Delay
Attack, you can kill them without them taking an action!

NAME: Delay Buster
TYPE: Skill
COST: 18
EFFECT: Greatly delays enemy's attack
PERSON: Tidus
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: Much like the Delay Attack, this ability's awesome in a battle.
Smack the enemy and delay their action for a considerable amount of time.
Costs over double what the Delay Attack does, but the effectiveness is
greater. Much greater, for that matter. Thus, it's a worthwhile trade-off.
Safer to smack once with Delay Buster than multiple times with Delay Attack,
usually, and fewer things will shake it off.

NAME: Demi
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 32
EFFECT: Reduces all enemy's HP by 1/4
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: This spell works on a surprising number of enemies, including a hell
of a lot of bosses. Its big problem: it is costly. Fortunately, Lulu has the
MP to make this worthwhile, so even if she's the only one you ever decide to
get it on, it's worth the couple extra steps for her. IMO, this isn't a spell
you should spend Black Magic Spheres on, but it should be given to several
members of the team if you can to make sure of wearing the nasties down.

NAME: Dispel
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 12
EFFECT: Negates all spell effects on an enemy
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 2
MY NOTES: Removal of haste, reflect, shell, protect, and all those other
wonderful enemy status up abilities. This would be a really cool power... if
there were more fiends that actually used spell effects on themselves. As it
is, the use is so limited that if you went through the entire game without it,
you would probably never notice. Admittedly, where it does come in useful, it
comes in _very_ useful for getting rid of haste, but I'd call it more
time-waster than necessity.

NAME: Doublecast
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Cast two black magic spells in a row (for normal cost)
PERSON: Lulu (sort of)
RATING: 9
MY NOTES: Being able to slam something twice in one round is a massive help.
It's limited to black magic and only black magic, plus you need to get through
no less than two locks: one Level 3 and one Level 4 (there is also a route
that takes a total of one level 3 and _four_ level 4s, coming past Demi).
Costly. Very, very costly. Also very, very late in the game (minimum of a trip
to Zanarkand to get the Level 3 keys). However, for all the time it takes,
it's very, very much worth it IMO. Two Flares will eliminate just about
anything, especially once you can break the damage limit. Plus, they don't
have to be the same spell, so you could cast, say, Ultima, then Osmose.

NAME: Drain
COST: 12
EFFECT: Drains HP from enemy
PERSON: Wakka
RATING: 5
MY NOTES: If this was on someone with A) better MP and B) better magic in
general, this would be an awesome ability. Even on Wakka, it does fairly good
damage. And once Lulu gets hold of it, watch out! It becomes a useful healing
spell for her (and others who get it) at that point and time. This is one of
the two main spells I like keeping Black Magic Spheres around for! Still, I
find it awfully costly for a spell of limited use when you first get it, so
the rating stays fairly low. You have to _really_ build your magic up to get
it working.

NAME: Entrust
TYPE: Special
EFFECT: Donates Overdrive gauge to ally
PERSON: Auron
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: Another one of those that you won't get until late in the game, as
it hides behind a Level 3 lock (or a Level 4 at the other side). The ability,
however, is just a massive, _massive_ boost to the game's 'go get 'em' level.
Take one person, give them a way to fill their Overdrive meter quickly, and
use 'Entrust' to donate that charge to other party members who have a more
useful Overdrive. For instance, have Mr. Double Overdrive Tidus give it to
Auron for a number of Banishing Blades. Or maybe to Wakka for a good many
Attack Reels. Or possibly you just want it so you can get a few dozen Mixes
out of Rikku or some fast-summoning of Overdrive-ready Aeons. Tough to get to,
but extremely useful.

NAME: Esuna
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 5
EFFECT: Cures most status ailments
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: I love a game where this comes already on the individual. It's
really a rockin' spell, and of vast use. True, there aren't as many status
ailments in FFX, and they all wear off at the end of a battle (thus reducing
the usefulness some), but having the spell that cures almost all of them right
off the bat is just awesome. The only ones it can't handle are magical effects
(Stop, Slow), Curse, and Zombie (which both require holy water).

NAME: Fira
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 8
EFFECT: Mid-level fire damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: Twice the cost, twice the power, thereabouts. Otherwise, read 'Fire'
for my rating idea on this. But the cost and damage done make this extremely
worthwhile. Probably one of _the_ most worthwhile black spells.

NAME: Firaga
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 16
EFFECT: Large fire damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: Twice the cost of Fira, twice the power of Fira, and for the most
part, other than against bosses, Fira will do the trick. Keep this around for
when you need to fry really big things or want to ensure yourself an
'Overkill', but other than that, I wouldn't worry unduly about using it. Fira:
costs less, much more cost-efficient against most enemies.

NAME: Fire
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 4
EFFECT: Small fire damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: Just like Blizzard, this ability is going to be vital for you. Plus,
it's not all that expensive. By the time you've got the -ga and -aga, you
should have outgrown it mostly, but until then, it'll be plenty good enough.

NAME: Flare
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 54
EFFECT: Non-elemental damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: Much like the Holy spell, this spell is a rather large cost for a
rather large damage. It slices through any elemental protection quite well
(since it's non-elemental damage), and there's not a lot that the enemy can do
against it, though Reflect does bounce it, and Shell will halve the effect.
That being said, this is 54 magic points for a spell which will generally do
9999 points of damage. The same amount as a good, strong -ga spell will. Which
translates to me as, sadly, 'Not as handy as a -ga spell which costs less than
half this amount'. Once you can break the damage limit, on the other hand,
this will rip an enemy apart. Keep it for then!

NAME: Flee
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Allows escape from battle for the whole party
PERSON: Tidus
RATING: 3
MY NOTES: This is really an all-or-nothing ability. If you need to get the
flock out of dodge, it'll save your butt. Multiple times. But if you are
trying to get AP and Gil, then running from battle won't help you much. It's
handy if you want to get everyone out at once, though, which sometimes you
just plain do. Still, my rating on it is fairly low, because when running, you
just don't get as much AP and Gil as you could. Obviously. Don't forget,
though: there is an Overdrive mode that requires running, and as this makes
your whole party flee without tripping, it will help get that. For you
perfectionists out there.

NAME: Focus
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Raises Magic and Magic Defense
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: By the time this becomes multi-party-member useful, your party's
already got such high stats that it's not really worth it. Until that point,
while this helps a couple of the folks out, it'll really only be a boost for
Lulu and Yuna, possibly Kimahri. The raised Magic Defense can help against a
magical enemy, though, and that's the only reason it has such a high rating
for me. Use it multiple times; you'll see the difference.

NAME: Full-Life
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 60
EFFECT: Returns individual to life with full HP.
PERSON: Rikku
RATING: 9
MY NOTES: It may not be far from Yuna's territory, but it's right in the
middle of Rikku's territory, therefore I've listed it as a 'Rikku' skill. Of
course, you need to get through either two Level 3s and a Level 4 lock, or
three Level 4s to get it, but let's face it: isn't it handy to be able to pick
someone up with full HP? So why's my rating on this not a 10? Because not only
is it extremely difficult to get to the first time, but once you get it,
unless you've got Break HP Limit, 'Life' or a Phoenix Down will get you up
with enough HP to keep you alive for a healing. And for less than half the MP
cost. 

NAME: Guard
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Lets you take damage for allies
PERSON: Auron
RATING: 5
MY NOTES: Much like the taunting 'Provoke' ability, this helps take some
damage. However, this is jumping in front of the enemy's attacks, as opposed
to just making the enemy attack you. Auron is much more a defensive type than
Tidus, and can thus handle quite a bit laid on him thanks to this. Use this
along with lots of defensive or counterattacking abilities and you'll be able
to keep your 'yellow' people safe while dealing damage. I also like putting
this on high dodge characters, so they get in the way of the hit and then
dodge away from it and take no damage anyway. Plus, it'll help get an
Overdrive Mode. Bonus! Still, once you get Sentinel, you'll never look back at
this, so the rating is much lower than it could be.

NAME: Hastaga
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 30
EFFECT: Speeds whole party up (extra actions)
PERSON: Tidus
RATING: 9
MY NOTES: What can I say? It's expensive. That's what I can say. But in one
single casting (which actually costs more than casting it three separate
times), you can speed your whole party up. And believe me: Haste is a valuable
resource in this game. Get this for certain! Even if it's costly on someone
who doesn't have the greatest MP at first. Which is the only reason it got a 9
rather than a 10. Another spell to hit with White Magic Spheres.

NAME: Haste
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 8
EFFECT: Speeds individual up (extra actions)
PERSON: Tidus
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: The only thing limiting this ability is the rather large cost of it,
honestly. Tidus doesn't get massive magic until later in the game (although
more than Wakka!), and he gets this spell fairly early. It's worth it, though.
This will carry you through a very, _very_ long while. At least until you can
get Hastaga.

NAME: Holy
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 85
EFFECT: Deals holy damage to enemy
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: Can you say 'ouch', Boys And Girls? Until you take Yuna for a spin
through other people's areas, this is going to be the only spell-based damage
that she has unless you count Cure on undead. The damage it throws is
considerable. It will make quite a dent in just about anything. However, until
you get a weapon that breaks the damage limit on your spells, this does a
maximum of 9999 damage, just like all the -ga spells will. In other words,
until you can break your damage limit, that's 85 MP spent when 16 would have
done the trick. You do the math! It's probably worth more for you to dig up
a Black Magic Sphere and hand her a couple of the -ga or even just -a spells
to handle combat, or even Flare if you're feeling adventurous.

NAME: Jinx
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Lowers enemy's luck
PERSON: Kimahri
RATING: 1
MY NOTES: This ability is useless, really. No. Seriously. There isn't anything
that lowering the enemy's luck really does. You can stop them from critting.
You can lower their chance to hit slightly (but not a lot). They don't dodge
quite as well (although not enough to make it matter). And it wastes a turn.
The only way this could be worse is if it cost points to use. It doesn't even
go into an Overdrive Mode. If anyone knows any use in lowering the enemy's
luck, other than blunting their chance to critically hit, let me know! Because
this ability otherwise seems a waste.

NAME: Lancet
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Drains HP/MP (and possibly gains Blue Magic for Kimahri)
PERSON: Kimahri
RATING: 5
MY NOTES: It's nice to get a free heal and MP regain! The only problem is
that, throughout most of the game until you've gotten stats up higher, it's
not all that powerful (doing a couple hundred HP for the most part). However,
one nice advantage of it is that this penetrates armor and defenses, so you
get the same amount from just about everything. 

NAME: Life
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 18
EFFECT: Returns party member to life
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: In this game, when you run away from a battle, you will come back to
1 HP and thus be 'alive' again. Therefore, this isn't quite as vital as some
games, as you can run away from many battles. However, if you are in a boss
battle? You can't run! And Life at that point will get you back up, with a
handful of HP to go along with it. A little costly, but worth the price.

NAME: Luck
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Raises party's luck
PERSON: Rikku
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: More chances for a critical, better steal items, more chances for
the enemy to miss, possibly 'better rolls' on damage and defense in general...
luck is one of those skills that has a very noticeable and wide-ranging
effect, and not a whole heck of a lot of ways to raise it. Fortune spheres are
hard to come by. And even if they weren't, 'luck nodes' aren't at all common,
even along Rikku's path; the board has maybe a total of ten between all the
party members! That makes this skill one of the only ways to reliably bring up
your luck. Get it! Certainly there's more useful things you can do with your
time once you've got some big damage, but trust me: you'll notice the
difference in the number of critical hits you'll get just from one or two uses
of this when you first get it.

NAME: Magic Break
TYPE: Skill
COST: 8
EFFECT: Lowers enemy's magic
PERSON: Auron
RATING: 2
MY NOTES: There are only a few creatures that this ability comes into use on,
really. If they're immune to silence, this might help keep their magic damage
down. However, a lot of creatures that are immune to Silence are also immune
to Magic Break (or at least highly resistant), so you have to be careful. For
its cost, this ability really... is not on my high list, that's for sure.

NAME: Mental Break
TYPE: Skill
COST: 12
EFFECT: Lowers enemy's magic resistance
PERSON: Auron
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: Having someone who can make the enemy more vulnerable to magic can
be a big help, especially if the enemy is particularly weak against some
spell. The amount of damage a good mage can throw with Mental Break behind
them is considerable. That being said, this isn't quite as useful as Armor
Break, where you're softening them up against attacks _and_ breaking through
their 'Armored' status. Plus, unless you're far in the game, you won't have as
many black mages as you will physical powerhouses; two at most and possibly
three if Rikku took a dive into the Black Magic area, or you've been chucking
Black Magic spheres around. Nice to hit boss and extremely tough monsters with
once, though, and some of the monsters are so resistant to magic that this is
a godsend!

NAME: Mug
TYPE: Special
COST: 10
EFFECT: Attack and steal an item
PERSON: Rikku
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: In a game where you can steal as many items as you want from an
enemy (even if the difficulty goes up after the first), it's actually much
better to have 'Steal' than 'Mug', since by attacking the enemy, you're
shortening the time you have to steal their stuff. Add in to that the fact
that Mug actually costs points to use, and you've got a good reason why Mug is
_way_ lower than Steal in my list of abilities-to-want. If you really want it,
put it on someone who you want attacking in the first place. Then,
the stealing becomes a bonus, rather than the whole idea of it. Auron, Wakka,
and Tidus all make good Muggers.

NAME: NulBlaze
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 2
EFFECT: Immune to fire for one shot
RATING: 5
MY NOTES: Null damage from fire is probably the handiest of the nulls, since
fire is one of the more common elements thrown around. However, really, while
they're OK, their use is... limited, to say the least. Use of them unlocks one
of the Overdrive Modes, though, so they do have a _little_ use outside of
waiting for their element to show up, and they _are_ extremely cost-efficient,
thank goodness. Against creatures who breathe or throw fire with physical
attacks, though, it's a fantastic ability, and only the fact that it goes away
after one use and that it only guards against fire brings the number down as
low as it is.

NAME: NulFrost
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 2
EFFECT: Immune to ice for one shot
RATING: 5
MY NOTES: Same deal as with the fire, including the rating. Why? There is an
area where there are nothing but ice critters. Only one, mind you, but it's a
rather big one, and NulFrost helps out against almost all the creatures in it.
Aside from there, though, ice enemies are few and far between.

NAME: NulShock
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 2
EFFECT: Immune to lightning for one shot
RATING: 5
MY NOTES: There are fewer lightning-types than there are fire-types, though
this does admittedly come in very handy on the Lightning Plains, where a lot
of the 'locals' will throw zappage on you. Same deal as with NulBlaze, in
every other way.

NAME: NulTide
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 2
EFFECT: Immune to water for one shot
RATING: 3
MY NOTES: This is the least useful of the bunch. There aren't even as many
water-throwing monsters as there are lightning-throwing monsters. Really, it's
one of those ones that I get, and then almost never use. Although the
Chimera-types and their Aqua Breath are nice to block...

NAME: Osmose
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 0
EFFECT: Drains MP from enemy
PERSON: Wakka
RATING: 10
MY NOTES: Why does Wakka get this first, rather than either of the mage-girls?
I'm not totally sure what the game-makers were thinking with this one. I
suppose since he's got a low MP total they want to make sure he always has a
refill? Oh well. Either way, this is an absolutely _vital_ part of any
spellcaster or skill-user's repertoire. Even with the spheres restoring MPs to
the max, this will let you throw your spells around even more willy-nilly! And
in a game like this one that encourages that sort of thing, it's a handy
ability for everyone to get on-hand. Also, by draining the enemy's MP, they
have less MP to use for attacking with. I save Black Magic Spheres to get this
on as many party members as possible.

NAME: Power Break
TYPE: Skill
COST: 8
EFFECT: Damage plus lowers enemy's power
PERSON: Auron
RATING: 5
MY NOTES: This one's actually one of the less-useful 'break' attacks for me,
maybe surprisingly. It's certainly not _completely_ without use, as lowering a
major boss' or physical powerhouse monster's attack will often save your skin,
but for the most part if the enemy isn't dying in one hit of Auron's blade,
you're not wanting to lower its attack; you're wanting to lower defense, or
magic defense, so you can get rid of it! Plus, if monsters are strong enough
for you to want to throw this, many of them will be resistant (or immune) to
the Break. Of course, you'll notice that even 'one of the less-useful' break
attacks still rates a 5. That should show you how much I value almost all the
breaks!

NAME: Pray
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Small heal for the party.
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 9
MY NOTES: A free cast of a small amount of healing on your entire party. What
more needs to be said? It becomes outdated later in the game, not healing
enough to keep up with the enemy's attacks (especially up against bosses), but
early on this is more than enough to keep your party on their feet and ahead
of the enemies' damage. Plus, it'll help you on your way to Overdrive Mode
'Healer' without having to spend any MP! And let's not forget that as a heal,
it does fill your overdrive if you're actually on Healer! Awesome ability all
around. The only reason it gets less than a 10 is because, as said, it _is_ a
small amount of healing; about a third of what Cure will give, which is still
considerable in early game. 

NAME: Protect
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 12
EFFECT: Raises character's defense
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: It's always good to be able to raise the defense of party members,
as a good number of monsters attack physically in every which way. This halves
the damage they take, and lasts a good long while, namely the entire battle
unless Dispelled. An excellent buy! The only way it could be better is being
able to cast it on multiple people at once. 

NAME: Provoke
TYPE: Special
COST: 4
EFFECT: Draws the enemy's attack
PERSON: Tidus
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: Tidus isn't a defensive powerhouse, but he is agile enough to dodge
a lot of attacks, and tough enough to handle attacks that have been turned on
him. In addition, you can deliberately inflate his defense and use this. Add
in things like Auto-Life, Auto-Phoenix, or a dedicated healer, and you can
keep the rest of your party up and around while Tidus draws all the trouble.
It's much easier to heal one person than many! If he were naturally a better
defensive monster, this would be worth more, but it's still quite effective.
Not to mention the fact that many monsters have a special ability which
'Taunt' will render unusable because they attack physically rather than
magically. Try it on a lot of creatures with a special ability! Also, get this
ability on a dodge-monkey like Lulu for great enemy frustration.

NAME: Quick Hit
TYPE: Skill
COST: 12
EFFECT: Strike with half recovery time
PERSON: Tidus
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: While delaying the enemy works better for a lot of enemies, this
comes in extremely handy when 'delay' doesn't work on an enemy, either because
they're immune or because your party's been whittled down. Also, this can be
used in addition to Haste for some super-speedy slaughtering power! Pity the
cost is so high; unless you've advanced quite far in the game, you can only
get off a few good Quick Hits before you're feeling the burn. Still, get this
on all your fighters if you can. It's invaluable for when you need to take
something out fast and hard, and don't give a damn about the MP cost.

NAME: Reflect
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 14
EFFECT: Reflects magic back on caster
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: Another normally much-loved skill for me, Reflect makes sure that
those monsters who are throwing spells get a taste of their own medicine.
While many creatures are immune or at least resistant to their own magics or
even heal from them (Elements and Flans in particular), not all of them are.
In addition, those that are throwing spells like 'Flare' will find it bouncing
back on them as well. Plus, one can bounce a spell off a party member's
Reflect (as the Sisters will demonstrate) to penetrate enemy Reflect defenses.
If fewer elemental types were immune to their own magic, this would easily get
a 9 or a 10. Also, be careful: your own healing spells don't go through
Reflect, so carry around some high-level potions at all times! On the other
hand, the enemy's healing doesn't, either, and Reflect can be cast on the
enemy.

NAME: Reflex
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Raises party's evasion
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: Another one of those freebies that gives you that 'little boost'.
This one makes you more evasive, though. A handy trick! Keeping the enemy from
hitting you can be important, after all! Too bad it's such a slight increase
that the difference it makes is only moderate, and nowhere near as visible as
the others. Although one advantage of this one: unlike the others, this
actually gets _more_ effective as you go up in level and your evasion
increases. At higher numbers, even small changes can make a noticeable
difference in how often you're hit.

NAME: Regen
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 40
EFFECT: Constantly heals HP in battle
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 4
MY NOTES: This ability is a costly one. Very costly. Your people's HP will
continuously be healed, gaining a small amount back every single turn (whether
their turn, a friend's turn, or on the enemy's turn). A minimum of 100 points
per turn is gained back, with a maximum from what I've seen of around 3% (yes;
_3_, not _30_) of their total HP. Another problem with this is that it wears
off in the battle. In the end, this spell seems like a really good idea, but
it's implemented badly. There's a few times it would be useful, but the damage
it cures can't keep up with the enemy, and with the fact that it wears off...
well... stick with Curaga. You'll get more bang for your buck.

NAME: Scan
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 1
EFFECT: Gives full info on monster (view enemy's data)
PERSON: Kimahri
RATING: 10
MY NOTES: It's cheap, it gives detailed information, it's quick, tells you if
Kimahri can learn skills from them, and it only needs to be cast once and you
can now check its info as if you had Sensor in your weapons. What's not to
like about this? It even works against many bosses! There are very, very few
creatures who are immune to this, most of them being Aeons or creatures in one
of the secret dungeons. Really, this is an ability that every party should
have from the beginning, on. Get it on Kimahri as soon as you can!

NAME: Sentinel
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Use 'Guard' but while in defensive stance
PERSON: Auron
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: Once you get Sentinel, you never go back to Guard. This is a free
ability that does the exact same thing... only it does it better. You actually
take less damage when you're guarding other people, as the user will put
himself in 'defend' before taking the blows. Definitely worth the price of
admission! Get this on a heavy 'tank' character', and they'll keep your mages
safe throughout the battle, and give them "Counterattack' to become effective
attackers even while guarding. Mind you, this is far enough along the path
(read: Auron's final ability) that Guard will be your 'party protection' for
most of the game most likely.

NAME: Shell
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 10
EFFECT: Raises magic defense
PERSON: Yuna
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: For most of the magical attacks, as long as there's only one person
throwing spells, the Nulls are more useful. If there are two or more types of
magic being thrown around, or effects that can't be nulled (Ultima is a good
example) then break out the Shell! A little costly, but it halves magic damage
when used. A good enough value for a 6, though the existence of the Nulls
doesn't let it go higher. Be careful, though: higher magic defense also
effects healing magic. So make sure you keep potions on-hand for people who
have been Shelled.

NAME: Silence Attack
TYPE: Skill
COST: 5
EFFECT: Extra damage plus silences enemy for three turns
PERSON: Wakka
RATING: 3
MY NOTES: There aren't a huge number of spellcasting monsters. Those that are,
this is of HUGE use against, but with there being as few as there are, I don't
think it's worth the 5 point cost. So... useful in a repertoire, but I
wouldn't go out of my way to learn it.

NAME: Silence Buster
TYPE: Skill
COST: 10
EFFECT: Extra damage plus high chance of Silence for one turn
PERSON: Wakka
RATING: 4
MY NOTES: It's Silence Attack with a much better chance to work (around 90%
instead of 60-70%) and a single turn of silence. Unlike the other Busters, I
actually consider this _more_ useful than the Silence Attack, because where
you want to shush the enemy, you can't afford it not to work, even if you have
to 'reapply' it every turn. Like Silence Attack, this is not useful in many
situations, but the ones it is useful in are MASSIVE, since the enemies will
not do anything if they can't cast spells.

NAME: Sleep Attack
TYPE: Skill
COST: 5
EFFECT: Extra damage plus sleep on enemy for three turns
PERSON: Wakka
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: Sleep is a great ability as long as you're throwing magic. If you're
throwing magic, it'll take three turns for the enemy to wake up. And three
turns can be a lot of damage! However, the moment you throw a physical attack,
they're back on their feet. Therefore, it's not quite as good as a paralysis
ability. Although the graphics for sleeping enemies is often worth the points
just to see. Observe, as the Dual Horn slowly curls up and falls asleep like a
drowsy dog! Watch as the Floating Eye drifts to the ground and lands to snore!
That alone gives it an extra point in my book.

NAME: Sleep Buster
TYPE: Skill
COST: 10
EFFECT: Extra damage plus high chance of Sleep for one turn
PERSON: Wakka
RATING: 4
MY NOTES: Since Sleep tends to last a fairly short while anyway (as long as
you're physically attacking), making absolutely certain you put them under is
a good plan, even if it's only for one turn. Still, if you have magic to
throw, sleeping enemies don't wake up until their 'time' wears off, so it's
still not as useful as the actual Sleep Attack, even for the much higher
chance of sleep working.

NAME: Slow
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 12
EFFECT: Slows one enemy
PERSON: Tidus
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: A fantastic ability! Unlike Delay Attack, this will last the entire
fight. A mixture of Slow and Haste will do a real number on your opponent.
It's unfortunate this doesn't work on a lot of bosses, but those that it does
it will help you wipe up the floor with them! And it also works on a
surprising number of non-boss monsters. Malboros? No problem!

NAME: Slowga
TYPE: White Magic
COST: 20
EFFECT: Slows all enemies
PERSON: Tidus
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: If you're in a battle with one enemy, obviously don't worry too much
about using Slowga on them. Slow will work well enough. Against a group,
though, Slowga is going to be your best friend: a 'slow' spell that works on
everyone at once. I give it the same rating as 'Slow' because far and away, if
you're fighting a group of more than one enemy, slashing them down often works
better than slowing them; groups tend to be weak enough to take on. 

NAME: Spare Change
TYPE: Special
COST: 0 (costs Gil instead)
EFFECT: Damage enemy by throwing Gil (10 Gil per 1 damage)
PERSON: Rikku
RATING: 9
MY NOTES: Many people will likely disagree with me on this one, but the fact
of the matter is, this skill does the same damage every single time, no matter
what you're throwing it against. This means that against high armor, high
speed, resistant, endurant, et cetera enemies you can make certain you do as
much damage as you need, up to a maximum of 9999 (the game limits you to
throwing 100,000 Gil even with Break Damage Limit). Plus, it takes absolutely
no MP, so even if your mages are out of magic or silenced (hey, it can
happen!) an enemy can be precisely coined to death... or even overkilled.
Sure, it can get awfully costly at times, but Gil isn't all that hard to come
by in FFX, and this can be worth every penny... er, Gil.

NAME: Steal
TYPE: Special
COST: 0
EFFECT: Steals items from the enemy
PERSON: Rikku
RATING: 10
MY NOTES: Stealing is practically a vital part of the game, and the best way
to get lots of cool, possibly rare, items. As long as you know which creatures
have which items, you can get some incredible things this way. Really, it's
probably one of _the_ most valuable skills. And you even start the game with
it! Be still my beating heart! Get everyone this ability. Seriously!

NAME: Threaten
TYPE: Special
COST: 12
EFFECT: Freezes enemy in their tracks
PERSON: Auron
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: The way this works is that it essentially steals the enemy's turn. A
'delay action' that delays them an entire turn rather than kicking back a few
steps, and without having to actually hit them with the attack if they've got
high agility. That, my friends, makes this more effective than 'Delay Attack',
possibly even more than 'Delay Buster'. Still, they even out enough between
cost and loss of the attack damage to give this the same rating for me.
Surprisingly enough, I actually like this ability best as one of Auron's, too.
It may be more expensive than his low MP can handle easily, but with the low
hit rating he has for anything but armored stuff, this makes Auron effective
in his own way against even fast critters. In addition, this seems to decrease
the enemy's dodge. That's something even Delay Attack can't claim!

NAME: Thundaga
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 16
EFFECT: Large thunder damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: This spell's even stronger than Thundera, and costs twice as much to
cast, naturally. While it's good for unloading on really powerful enemies,
though, Thundera will often be more than enough on your average everyday
enemies along the path. Therefore, keep this for the bosses, necessary
Overkills and for particularly frightening enemies; you shouldn't need it
against the basics.

NAME: Thunder
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 4
EFFECT: Small thunder damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: Same as with the other spells. Thunder's a useful one against
Machina, and you'll be meeting a lot of those along the way. And don't forget
the underwater things, for once other people can get black magic!

NAME: Thundera
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 8
EFFECT: Mid-level thunder damage
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: It's thundera. It's twice as powerful as thunder for twice the cost.
Yadda yadda and make sure you get it!

NAME: Triple Foul
TYPE: Skill
COST: 24
EFFECT: Sleep, Silence, and Darkness for 3 turns
PERSON: Wakka
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: One of these three things costs 8. So all three in one cost 24.
Frankly, this is worth the cost, unless you're only wanting to stick one thing
to an enemy. Also, I find that it tends to work more often than the basic
Shots, if not as much as the Strikes (although that might just be because of
higher magic by the time he gets this). So the price, all in all, is well
worth it if you plan to really smack the enemy down. If you only want one,
though, probably best to not waste the points (as Wakka's not great with MP)
and just use that one.

NAME: Ultima
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 90
EFFECT: Non-elemental damage to all
PERSON: Kimahri
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: Not only is the damage massive, but it can't be 'parried' by
elemental resistance, it can't be bounced by Reflect, and it does that massive
damage to every enemy on the screen at once. The cost is nasty, but the spell
is completely worth it... even though you have to go through two Level 4 locks
to get to it. It's an amusing irony, to me, that this ends up being in
Kimahri's area. Suppose it's apt: puts the spell right smack-dab in the middle
of everything. 

NAME: Use
TYPE: Special
COST: 0 (1 tool)
EFFECT: Needed in order to use tools
PERSON: Rikku
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: Without the 'use' ability, you can't use the tools you find along
the way. However, 90% of these tools have the same use as spells/abilities,
and might be better used to transform into weapons and armor, or abilities for
your Aeons. It's not a total loss; this is the only way you can use Al Bhed
potions, for one thing, and Al Bhed potions are powerful healing and status
restoration and appear everywhere. In addition, a lot of the items will throw
the spell on all party members or enemies, rather than just one at a time. I
don't really consider it a 'vital' ability, though; get it when you pass
through the area but don't strain yourself over it. Anyway, Rikku starts with
it, so you can at least guarantee you've got one person who can use things.

NAME: Water
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 4
EFFECT: Small water damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 6
MY NOTES: Same as the others, though there's not quite as much that is weak
against water. Enough to make it worth keeping around, though. Especially on
your jaunt through the Thunder Plains!

NAME: Watera
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 8
EFFECT: Mid-level water damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 8
MY NOTES: This is all the water you'll need against most non-boss enemies.
There really aren't a huge amount of water-weak enemies that need anything
higher than this, so keep Watera around at all times.

NAME: Waterga
TYPE: Black Magic
COST: 16
EFFECT: Large water damage on one
PERSON: Lulu
RATING: 7
MY NOTES: Another 'double cost, double potency'. However, now we're getting up
into the level of magic that is completely overkill for the most part, and not
in the 'double AP yay!' way. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing at all wrong
with the spell! If you're against enemies whose HP are high, particularly
bosses, don't hold back on it; throw big and hard. But for the most part,
throwing two Wateras is more worthwhile than throwing one Waterga, unless
you're fighting against something particularly large and terrifying.

NAME: Zombie Attack
TYPE: Skill
COST: 10
EFFECT: Damage + Zombie on one
PERSON: Auron
RATING: 9
MY NOTES: The only reason, honestly, that this isn't a 10 for me is that it's
behind a Level 4 lock that you have to break through to get to. However, this
ability sets up almost any enemy for an instant kill. One Zombie + One Phoenix
Down (or Full-Life or Life or Curaga) = Instant Death on just about anything.
Plus, this is extremely useful for enemies that cast things such as Heal and
Regen on themselves, as their healing will now do damage instead of healing.
And there's a surprising number of bosses that aren't immune to Zombie.


UPDATE INFO
------------
04/22/07
- Version 1.0 
- First version of the FAQ. 


STILL TO COME
-------------
NOTHING, at the moment. This may change, but for now, I'm satisfied with how
this is. Unless I can get some of the below 'requests'.


REQUESTS
--------
Things I would love to get from people.
-- The abilities from the International version, just to finish rounding the
list out.
-- Any secrets, hints, whatever that I might have missed that would make an
ability worth more (or less) than what I put it at here.


THANKS TO...
-----------
GameFAQs and CjayC: for giving me a place to put this FAQ down.

Salazen: My significant other! For playing through the game again and        
         reporting to me abilities as we went along. I'm sure being forced to
         play Final Fantasy X was a terrible chore...