Deals major damage to all enemies.
Description
Dark Matter is an item in Final Fantasy X that can be used in battle by the Use command. It is an offensive item that deals major non-elemental damage to all enemies. Its primary use is to customize the Ribbon ability to a piece of armor, though doing so is extremely expensive. Beyond this, it can also customize the Break Damage Limit ability to weapons, teach the Full Break ability to an aeon, or be used in a Mix.
Though many enemies drop Dark Matter, 99 of them are required to customize Ribbon to a single piece of armor, making it rare and valuable. This also means Ribbon is a much more valuable use of Dark Matters than Break Damage Limit, which can obtained with a character's Celestial Weapon.
Obtained[]
Dark Matter can be bribed from Land Worm, with roughly two dropping for 2,000,000 gil. Though expensive, and impractical for those that wish to use the item outside the final dungeon due to being past the point of no return, this is the most reliable way to obtain it. Another way to obtain it repeatedly is to battle Dark Yojimbo (in the International and HD Remaster versions). Yojimbo is faced five times in succession, and each time has a chance of dropping Dark Matter. If the player exits the cave, or enters the blitzball menu, the battles are reset and start from the first battle; this way, the player can defeat Yojimbo as many times as needed, without actually killing him.
Dark Matter is also a rare drop from Abaddon, Abyss Worm, Bomb King, Cactuar King, Catastrophe, Catoblepas, Chimerageist, Coeurlregina, Don Tonberry, Earth Eater, Espada, Fafnir, Fenrir, Greater Sphere, Hornet, Ironclad, Jormungand, Juggernaut, Jumbo Flan, Kottos, Malboro Menace, Nega Elemental, Nemesis, Neslug, One-Eye, Ornitholestes, Pteryx, Shinryu, Sleep Sprout, Stratoavis, Tanket, Th'uban, Ultima Buster, Vidatu, and Vorban. It is also dropped by the bosses Dark Anima, Dark Bahamut, Dark Cindy, Dark Ifrit, Dark Ixion, Dark Mindy, Dark Sandy, Dark Shiva, Dark Valefor, Dark Yojimbo and Penance's arms.
99 Dark Matters are obtained for unlocking the Ultima Buster, done by catching five of every enemy across Spira. These Dark Matters should be used to customize a Ribbon, given the rarity of additional Dark Matters.
Use[]
Use command[]
With the Use command, Dark Matter deals heavy non-elemental damage, similar to the Flare and Ultima spells, to all enemies. Though powerful, this is an inefficient use of Dark Matter overall compared to the extreme potency of the abilities it can add to equipment.
Aeon ability[]
Aeons can be taught the Full Break ability with 2 Dark Matters. This is a powerful ability that can be very effective against many enemies that resist aeons' attacks, making it worthwhile. However, later in the game, many characters will have already learned Full Break and can simply inflict it on an enemy prior to summoning the aeon. Though Full Break can be given to aeons if there are any spare Dark Matters around, such as if the player is about to receive 99 from unlocking Ultima Buster, it should not be prioritized.
Customize[]
On weapons, Dark Matter is used to customize the Break Damage Limit auto-ability, increasing the weapon's damage limit from 9999 to 99999. This unlocks the potential of normal weapons, and if used on an empty 4-slot weapon (which can be purchased after acquiring the airship from the Rin's Travel Agency at Thunder Plains or the Fahrenheit, at the Calm Lands, or at Macalania Woods), it allows the player to create a powerful weapon with their own ability. However, obtaining each character's Celestial Weapon not only breaks the damage limit, but ignores Defense.
On armor, 99 Dark Matters can be used to add the Ribbon auto-ability. This renders a character invulnerable to all negative status effects. It is an extremely important ability that is essential for a large number of superboss battles. It should ideally be given to all three party members, though early on, it is best to give Ribbon to Rikku, who can use Mixes to cure the entire party's status effects instantly.
Mix[]
Dark Matter can be mixed with a variety of items to create powerful mixes. These include Final Elixir, Quartet of 9, Trio of 9999, Eccentrick, and Sunburst. Though these are all powerful effects, mixing is an inefficient use of Dark Matter due to its rarity.
| Mix | Second ingredient |
|---|---|
| Final Elixir | Ability Distiller, Al Bhed Potion, Antidote, Echo Screen, Ether, Eye Drops, Healing Water, Holy Water, Mana Distiller, Phoenix Down, Potion, Power Distiller, Remedy, Soft, Speed Distiller, Tetra Elemental, Turbo Ether, |
| Quartet of 9 | Ability Sphere, Antarctic Wind, Arctic Wind, Bomb Fragment, Candle of Life, Chocobo Feather, Chocobo Wing, Dream Powder, Electro Marble, Fish Scale, Frag Grenade, Gold Hourglass, Grenade, Healing Spring, Hypello Potion, Light Curtain, Lunar Curtain, Mana Sphere, Mana Spring, Map, Musk, Petrify Grenade, Poison Fang, Power Sphere, Purifying Salt, Rename Card, Shadow Gem, Shining Thorn, Silence Grenade, Silver Hourglass, Sleeping Powder, Smoke Bomb, Soul Spring, Speed Sphere, Stamina Spring, Star Curtain, Three Stars |
| Trio of 9999 | Bomb Core, Dragon Scale, Farplane Shadow, Farplane Wind, Lightning Marble, Mana Tablet, Mana Tonic, Pendulum, Stamina Tablet, Stamina Tonic, Twin Stars |
| Sunburst | Accuracy Sphere, Agility Sphere, Amulet, Attribute Sphere, Blessed Gem, Blk Magic Sphere, Clear Sphere, Dark Matter, Defense Sphere, Designer Wallet, Door to Tomorrow, Evasion Sphere, Fire Gem, Fortune Sphere, Friend Sphere, Gambler's Spirit, HP Sphere, Ice Gem, Lightning Gem, Luck Sphere, Lv. 1 Key Sphere, Lv. 2 Key Sphere, Lv. 3 Key Sphere, Lv. 4 Key Sphere, Magic Def Sphere, Magic Sphere, Master Sphere, MP Sphere, Return Sphere, Shining Gem, Skill Sphere, Special Sphere, Strength Sphere, Supreme Gem, Teleport Sphere, Underdog's Secret, Warp Sphere, Water Gem, Wht Magic Sphere, Wings to Discovery, Winning Formula |
Etymology[]
Dark matter is a theoretical form of matter that has no detectable radiation emission, hence the name. Its existence is inferred from gravitational effects, and it is predicted to account for approximately 22% of the total mass/energy content in the universe (normal matter accounts for only 4%).