Blitzball Assistance

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silversnake4133

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Mar 14, 2010
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Hey guys, I've come to this expansive community of knowledge and experience to humbly ask for help. Anyway, I've been really interested in playing Final Fantasy X again (since I never really got anywhere in it by the time I broke up with my boyfriend, whom lent it to me). But there's this one section that I dread every time I come across it. Blitzball.

I've heard that a lot of people say it's very easy to play despite its complexity, however, I just never seem to understand the mechanics of the game, and end up making a fool of myself after the fact.

So guys, could you help a newbie out by providing some tips? I don't necessarily want you to tell me "do this, this and this, and you'll win" though.
 

Marter

Elite Member
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Oct 27, 2009
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Short passes, and don't go for the top techniques right away, otherwise they will run out of energy.

That's what I remember anyway.
 

Roxas1359

Burn, Burn it All!
Aug 8, 2009
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I can help. The players you want to recruit to your team the most are Wakka and Brother. You can hire them on Cid's Airship later in the game. Wakka can be hired for 5 gil I think and Brother for only 1 gil. Now for stats look for the one who has the highest goal. Always have them in there and you just have to play against teams until you level up enough. Any other questions? I'll try to answer them to the best of my memory.
 

SnootyEnglishman

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May 26, 2009
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If you can use Manual controls there's a supposed AI glitch to where you can hide behind the goalie and no one chases you.

First score a goal and then follow that procedure and you should win.
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
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Practise! That's important.

Second, there is a fairly obvious aspect of probability. Sometimes you'll see a shot on goal with 3 power go past a goalie with 10 catching. Funny when you're the shooter, not so much when you're recieving.

Third, consider reading an FAQ [http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/197344-final-fantasy-x/faqs/19103]. They're often a lot more presentable than the in game instructions and easier to double check as well, and probably say whatever I would say a lot better :p
 

hittite

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Nov 9, 2009
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http://spoonyexperiment.com/2010/06/13/final-fantasy-x-review-part-2/

That's all I got.
 

silversnake4133

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Mar 14, 2010
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Maxieon said:
I can help. The players you want to recruit to your team the most are Wakka and Brother. You can hire them on Cid's Airship later in the game. Wakka can be hired for 5 gil I think and Brother for only 1 gil. Now for stats look for the one who has the highest goal. Always have them in there and you just have to play against teams until you level up enough. Any other questions? I'll try to answer them to the best of my memory.
Okay, I've got a question about moving that ball. I understand that the object is to get within shooting range while avoiding the opponents, but if one of my blitzers is ambushed frequently is it better to have him take a few hits then pass/shoot or should I keep juggling the ball? Sorry if the question sounds kind of stupid...^^;
 

Saltyk

Sane among the insane.
Sep 12, 2010
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silversnake4133 said:
Hey guys, I've come to this expansive community of knowledge and experience to humbly ask for help. Anyway, I've been really interested in playing Final Fantasy X again (since I never really got anywhere in it by the time I broke up with my boyfriend, whom lent it to me). But there's this one section that I dread every time I come across it. Blitzball.

I've heard that a lot of people say it's very easy to play despite its complexity, however, I just never seem to understand the mechanics of the game, and end up making a fool of myself after the fact.

So guys, could you help a newbie out by providing some tips? I don't necessarily want you to tell me "do this, this and this, and you'll win" though.
I'm sure what you're really asking is how do you beat that first game that you have to play to continue in the story. And there's no easy answer to that, but I'll try.

First, before you even get to the game, learn the Jehct Shot. It's pretty easy to get and will help out a lot in the game.

During the actual game in the first round, try to get as close to the goal with Tidus and hope to score. If you can get 2 or 3 points in this round and prevent the other team from scoring, you will be well along your way to victory in the second round.

Hopefully, you leveled up a few of the players. Tidus should be able to equip one skill. I recommend the Jehct Shot, but Sphere Shot is good, too. Especially later in the game (I almost had 10 points in a game just using Sphere Shot at a high level with the proper skills). This time if you can make it to the goal with Tidus let him unless the mighty Jehct Shot which eliminates two blockers without any penalty while adding 5 to his actual shot. At some point the crowd should start chanting for Wakka. Once that happens, let him try to score using his Poison Shot (I think that's what he started with).

After this point it actually gets much easier. First replace everyone in your team except Letty. I think that was his name and he's actually a decent player. But there are far better blockers and goalies. I seem to remember a decent player owns the shop on the road after you leave that first blitzball game. Wanna say his name was Rem or something along those lines. Also, the goalie from the Al Bhed team that you can recruit on the airship later in the game is easily one of the best goalies in the game. You can also recruit Wakka to play for your team and he's got a very strong shot and is ridiculously cheap to hire. I recommend finding a FAQ or the old strategy guide to help you pick and find good players.

I really can't stress how important quality players are to being competitive in blitzball. Your intial team is VERY weak.

I can't offer much more advice than that. Blitzball is actually a lot of fun and unlocks all of Wakka's Overdrives.
 

Roxas1359

Burn, Burn it All!
Aug 8, 2009
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silversnake4133 said:
Maxieon said:
I can help. The players you want to recruit to your team the most are Wakka and Brother. You can hire them on Cid's Airship later in the game. Wakka can be hired for 5 gil I think and Brother for only 1 gil. Now for stats look for the one who has the highest goal. Always have them in there and you just have to play against teams until you level up enough. Any other questions? I'll try to answer them to the best of my memory.
Okay, I've got a question about moving that ball. I understand that the object is to get within shooting range while avoiding the opponents, but if one of my blitzers is ambushed frequently is it better to have him take a few hits then pass/shoot or should I keep juggling the ball? Sorry if the question sounds kind of stupid...^^;
No it's a great question. This is where Brother comes in handy, he is an Al Bhed and has an insanely high speed as well as shot so you usually should be able to avoid the others unless they are Al Bhed because they can catch up. Now since you won't have him until later here's what you must look at. Look at the stats that each of the players have at the top, if the total numbers for catching, attacking, or blocking is higher than yours then don't do it. But sometimes, the opposing team can miss their attacks, blocks, or catches. But you must also take into consideration how far your team members are from you and if you have a high enough pass for them to catch it. I've done a lot of Blitzball, I somehow managed to win the first match, to be honest, so if you have anymore questions feel free to ask.
 

Akihiko

Raincoat Killer
Aug 21, 2008
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Spaceman_Spiff said:
Step 1: Get Nimrook as goalie.
Step 2: Win Blitzball.
Haha. Can get the majority of the Al Bhed players on your team, and then just obliterate everyone. I know on mine, I stole Eigaar, Blappa and a female defender, forget her name, and they were all overpowered. Was waiting for nimrook's contract to expire, but I think it was at something insane like 30 games. Once your players get to level 30 odd, the game becomes pretty boring, as it's nearly impossible to loose.

I'd honestly recommend you get to the airship after the desert before you start doing any Blitzball. That way you can hire Wakka, and then just keep playing games(probably losing since your starting players are fairly rubbish), until some of the better Al bhed players run out of contract. What you need to do is once they get down to one game left on contract, save it, then play the match, if they resign the player, then reload and do the game again until they don't resign, since you're on the ship you can just run to their room and hire the player asap. They can be pretty pricey, but some of them are by far the best players in the game. I remember on gamefaqs there was an faq which listed the stats for every player, can try using that to find the better players.
 

rees263

The Lone Wanderer
Jun 4, 2009
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It largely depends on what you want to achieve in Blitzball:

Do you want to play it for fun (and it's not fun losing all the time)?
Are you trying to gain the Jupiter Sigil (part of Wakka's ultimate weapon and the top prize in Blitzball)?

First I'd say it's worth waiting til you get the airship before you start playing Blitzball. Then you have access to all the players and a lot more cash to spend on players too.

Here [http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/197344-final-fantasy-x/faqs/19103] is an amazingly detailed FAQ with more information about Blitzball than you knew existed. It will tell you how to play, who are the best players to recruit and where/when. I don't think I could say any of it better myself so I'll just leave it there.
 

Outright Villainy

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Jan 19, 2010
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SnootyEnglishman said:
If you can use Manual controls there's a supposed AI glitch to where you can hide behind the goalie and no one chases you.

First score a goal and then follow that procedure and you should win.
Yeah, I saw that in Spoony's review actually.
It didn't really encourage me to give Final Fantasy another try...
 

silversnake4133

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Mar 14, 2010
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Akihiko said:
Spaceman_Spiff said:
Step 1: Get Nimrook as goalie.
Step 2: Win Blitzball.
Haha. Can get the majority of the Al Bhed players on your team, and then just obliterate everyone. I know on mine, I stole Eigaar, Blappa and a female defender, forget her name, and they were all overpowered. Was waiting for nimrook's contract to expire, but I think it was at something insane like 30 games. Once your players get to level 30 odd, the game becomes pretty boring, as it's nearly impossible to loose.

I'd honestly recommend you get to the airship after the desert before you start doing any Blitzball. That way you can hire Wakka, and then just keep playing games(probably losing since your starting players are fairly rubbish), until some of the better Al bhed players run out of contract. What you need to do is once they get down to one game left on contract, save it, then play the match, if they resign the player, then reload and do the game again until they don't resign, since you're on the ship you can just run to their room and hire the player asap. They can be pretty pricey, but some of them are by far the best players in the game. I remember on gamefaqs there was an faq which listed the stats for every player, can try using that to find the better players.
Sounds good. Thanks for the tips. ^_^
 

fanklok

Legendary Table User
Jul 17, 2009
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Not hard really you just need to know what players to get asap. My team consisted of Tidus front and center (scoring a sphere shot from half court 5 seconds after the start of a half seems pretty good to me) Brother has absurdly high speed and passing, Jamal was the best goalie without leaving Luca, Biggs and Wedge are just hate drafts then the just fill the open slots with guys that are fast and tackle hard. Also Jecht Shot helps a lot.
 

hittite

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Nov 9, 2009
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silversnake4133 said:
hittite said:
http://spoonyexperiment.com/2010/06/13/final-fantasy-x-review-part-2/

That's all I got.
That made my day. :D
It's part 2 of a 4 part review (part 4 isn't out yet). And you should see what he has to say about VIII.
 

mettle_edge

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Aug 7, 2010
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Ok, first of all if you don't all ready, when moving your players focus only on the minimap. From this you can pick up the opposing teams patterns as well as your own players. Knowing this will help tremendously, I only lost one or two matches out the whole thing.

As for your problem with your players getting ambushed, you can set them up so you can face fewer opponents at a time, which is also good for gaining exp. As soon as an enemy comes within range hit square and it will set up an encounter. If you come off as the victor they will be sent behind you and then you can continue to the next. I you know ahead of time that it's likely that you can't win the encounter, use your player as a decoy and draw the attention away from the rest of your team. As the opposing team is almost within range stop your player and pass the ball.

Anyways, hope this helps.

Edit: Oh, and I did this just as a personal challenge to myself, but I kept the original Aurochs
 

AvsJoe

Elite Member
May 28, 2009
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Best tip I can offer: Get the Jecht Shot on the boat. You only have one chance at it but it's an instant goal from in-close.

Second best tip: Focus on defense and kill time while trying to give Tidus the ball up close; use his Sphere shot.