Dressphere

Dresspheres are an integral part of the battle system used in Final Fantasy X-2. Each character has to choose her (because all of the protagonists are female) dressphere, which roughly translates into a job from other Final Fantasy games; however, dresspheres are a little more encompassing than normal jobs.

Dresspheres determine the weapon, speed, and appearance of the character since since there is no equipment that controls these choices. Perhaps fittingly, all of the equipment in Final Fantasy X-2 are some form of accessories. Due to the games "New Game Plus" function, it is possible to gain several of the same dressphere and equip them to the same Garment Grid.

During battle, a Spherechange can be implemented at any time to change the current dressphere. This is used to gain extra abilities from the Garment Grid, to activate the Special Dressphere, or to switch to a different job more suited for the particular enemy. Switching of Dresspheres can be stopped or forced by status effects.

As an extra tidbit, the weapons used by the girls while wearing the Dresspheres (particularly Warrior, Samurai, Dark Knight, White Mage, Black Mage, and Mascot) are reminiscent of the weapons featured in Final Fantasy X. For instance, as a Warrior, Yuna wields Tidus' Brotherhood sword. Another example is when, as a Samurai, Rikku dons a Katana almost identical to Auron's, and when as a Dark Knight, Yuna is armed with Tidus' Celestial Weapon, the Caladbolg, while Rikku uses Auron's Celestial Weapon, the Masamune.

Also noted is that in dress and style, Paine often gets the most different of the outfits, noted in her Songstress or Samurai spheres. Bladed weapons held in her physical spheres (Warrior, Samurai, Dark Knight) are also unique to her, rather than recycled.

Stances are sometimes recycled aswell, as noted with Yuna's Warrior costume, where, among other things, she mimics Tidus, down to his sword.

Gunner
This is Yuna's default dressphere. The Gunner allows you to shoot an enemy from afar. This dressphere has excellent accuracy and fair speed. However, the more powerful shots like Scatterburst take much longer to charge than weaker shots like Potshot. The Gunner's most useful abilities include Scatterburst, Tableturner, Enchanted Shot, and Trigger Happy.



Thief
This is Rikku's default dressphere. The Thief allows you to steal items (among other things) from enemies. As such, she has high speed, agility, and fair luck. Again, the stronger moves like Master Thief have a long wait. It is the fastest dressphere and it gets two attacks in one command. The Thief's most useful abilities include Flee, Steal, Pilfer HP, Pilfer MP, Pilfer Gil, and First Strike.



Warrior
This is Paine's default dressphere. The Warrior allows you to slice an enemy with strong (non) elemental strikes. She has good strength and very high defense. The Warrior's most useful abilities include Power Break, Armor Break, Magic Break, Mental Break, and Excalibur.



Gun Mage
Players obtain this dressphere in either Chapter 1 or 2 at the Moonflow. The Gun Mage is quite weak in all areas except Magic. Fiend Hunter, which deal 4x damage to specific fiend types, are where she really shines. They also have the Blue Bullet skill, which works similarly to traditional Blue Magic, in that the character learns the ability by having it performed on them and surviving the battle.



Alchemist
Players obtain this dressphere in Chapters 2, 3, or 5 at the old Monster Arena in the Calm Lands. Alchemists can use several items from a limitless "stash" and mix items together to make stronger items. This is basically Rikku's old Overdrive, Mix. The Alchemist's most useful abilities include Mega-Potion, Elixir, Phoenix Down, Mix, Chemist, Elementalist, and Items Level Ups.



Samurai
This is found at Kilika Temple in Chapter 3. This dressphere has high attack and is very useful for dispatching large groups of enemies with abilities like Fireworks and Zantetsu. It also has the very useful ability Clean Slate, which heals the user and removes harmful status effects.



Dark Knight
This has great HP, attack and defense, and also has fair magic and magic defense. Dark Knights have abilities such as Poison and Break to harm enemies. They also have attacks which drain the user's HP in order to cause damage, similar to the Darkside ability from previous games; and Black Sky, a powerful multi-hit attack. It is also notable that this dressphere has more statusproof abilities than any other dressphere. This one is found in the Bevelle Underground.



Berserker
This dressphere has a low defense rating, but is balanced by great HP and strength. Pair this up with a Haste-inducing accessory and you have a killing machine. Berserkers can double their max HP with Howl, and can inflict Berserk status on themselves. This is found after completing the Lake Macalania mission in Ch 3.



Songstress
This dressphere relies on the character's dancing and singing skills to inflict status ailments on enemies or to support her group. If you are using this only to master it, the process may be improved by using a Garment Grid that gives your character Magic, Bushido, or Instinct abilities, as the songstress cannot attack or defend herself in the normal sense. This is given to you after you defeat LeBlanc the first time. Some of the dances are useful, and the songs are great for giving a slight increase in stats. This isn't useless, but only recommended for higher level characters. This is the only Dressphere that is important to the story, not counting the girls' default Dresspheres. The Songstress Dressphere was created from Lenne's memories.



Black Mage
This dressphere allows characters to cast devastating spells that are harmful to their enemies. A Black Mage wields elements such as Fire, Water, Lightning, and Ice. She can also cast an Osmose-like ability called MP Drain. The spells are limited to the basic elemental magic, and higher level Black Magic such as Flare and Ultima can only be gained by equipping a relevant Garment Grid. Players receive this dressphere after the first mission in Chapter 1 on Mt. Gagazet. The Black Mage Dressphere was created from Maechen's memories.



White Mage
White Mages equip rods, however, they cannot attack. They work similar to White Mages in past games, casting White Magic, or healing magic. The HP is pretty low but it has excellent Magic Defense. The dressphere is received after completing the story mission in Besaid during Chapter 1.



Lady Luck
This dressphere is the equivalent of the Gambler job, and has abilities similar to those of Setzer from Final Fantasy VI. It can be obtained either by winning the Sphere Break tournament at Luca in Chapter 3, or failing that, challenging and defeating Shinra in Chapter 5. This dressphere is often viewed as one of the cheapest of the group, as the player can simply pause the game and wait for 7's to appear, and continuing just as they're in line.



Trainer
This is a version of the Mediator from past games. Unlike in other games, where Mediators equip whips (or daggers and guns, like in Final Fantasy Tactics), Final Fantasy X-2 Trainers attack by giving orders to pets. Yuna uses a dog similar to Daigoro (Yojimbo's dog), Rikku uses a monkey, and Paine uses a gullwing. Each animal accepts different commands and perform different abilities. This is similar to releasing monsters in Final Fantasy V, except the monsters are permanent. To obtain the dressphere, Yuna must talk to and advise Kimahri in Chapter 1 or 2. He will then give the dressphere to the party in Chapter 3.



Mascot
The Mascot is capable of a wide range of functions in battle, and can be considered the ultimate dressphere. When donning the Mascot dressphere, the girls all take on the appearance of recurring Final Fantasy creatures. Yuna dresses as a Moogle, Paine as a Tonberry, and Rikku as a Cait Sith.

Special Dresspheres
Special dresspheres are similar in function to that of Trance in Final Fantasy IX or that of Overdrives in Final Fantasy X; they provide the user with increased efficiency and functionality in battle. A special dressphere is activated by a character visiting all the dresspheres on a Garment Grid within the course of one battle. Once the character changes into the special dressphere, the other characters are no longer visible or playable until the special dressphere is removed. In battle, each special dressphere consists of three components which take turns just as regular characters do.



Floral Fallal
A giant flower with two petals Yuna uses to dish out magic attacks. Yuna transforms into a celestial maiden of sorts.



Machina Maw
A large salvaged machina Rikku uses to bombard her enemy with attacks.



Full Throttle
A large blade suit with two large wings of blades Paine uses to slice and dice her enemies into mincemeat.

Festival-Goer
The girls don traditional Japanese festival outfits and attack with spinning objects and fireworks. Each girl has a different set of weapons. Yuna, using Temari (balls attached to her wrist) and Geta (wooden sandals), specializes in elemental magic. Rikku, using cotton candy and a goldfish in a plastic bag, specializes in elemental physical damage. Paine, using a giant fan and a mask named Omen, specializes in dealing status conditions with physical damage. The icon for this dressphere is a fan.

Psychic
The girls wear futuristic clothing, and stylized goggles. As the name suggests, Psychic utilizes mental energy to engage in combat. The icon for this dressphere is a lightning bolt.



Bare
In the Last Mission dungeon each Dressphere has an HP and MP designation. If it runs out of HP, it "breaks" and the girls have to wear the next dressphere in line. If they run out of Dresspheres, they will be reduced to wearing their underclothes. At this point, the girls are at their highest levels, but there’s no abilities for them to use, and nothing but punching and kicking for beating fiends. Yuna wears a less clothed version of her Gunner, Paine uses a less clothed version of her warrior, and Rikku wears a yellow teddy.

Trivia

 * The concept of the Dresspheres' spherechange sequence is based off the Majo Shoujo genre, where the heroines have elaborate changing sequences from civilian attire to magical attire.

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