Excavation minigame

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Digging in the desert.

The excavation minigame can be played in Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 5 of Final Fantasy X-2. It involves searching for hidden treasures in various parts of the Bikanel Desert, with Picket advising the player of danger.

To initiate the minigame the player must visit Djose Temple and get enlisted by the Machine Faction by talking to Gippal and answering "We're sure" when the option comes up. He will give the Gullwings the Letter of Introduction key item. This will make Bikanel a Hotspot when the Gullwings return to the Celsius.

Visiting Bikanel and talking to Nhadala will initiate the minigame. In Chapter 2, she will send the Gullwings to the oasis to investigate some suspicious activity.

Digging

The player is given 60 seconds to find a golden X on the map and dig up the mission-critical item. This will be either an assembly piece, which will affect the strength of Experiment in Chapter 5, or a piece of Scrap Metal. There will also be four silver Xs on the map the player may also hunt for. These will either award gil, an item, an Al Bhed Primer, a Sphere Break coin, an accessory, or will initiate a battle. Finding the mission-critical item and returning to the hover before the timer runs out rewards the party with gil depending on their wage, which can be increased by successfully answering "work ethics" questions at a terminal inside Djose Temple. In certain areas the golden X is not always shown on the map at the start of the digging session, but will always appear with at least 25 seconds remaining.

Once the assembly piece is uncovered, the player should return to the hover before the timer runs out. If the player fails to make it back in time, Yuna will collapse and lose the assembly piece, and the digging session will be considered failed. Failing to retrieve the mission-critical item also results in a failed dig. In either case, Yuna will keep any silver X treasures she dug out. In the Western Expanse and the Central Expanse, the player will also have to compete with a rival digger for the treasures.

Occasionally, after three to ten seconds have passed, the screen will flash red with a warning of an unidentified object approaching the area. Later on in the dig, a red reticle will appear on the map heading for Yuna. If the reticle meets Yuna, a battle will initiate. In Chapters 1, 2 and 3, this will be a battle against the superboss Angra Mainyu, and the player cannot yet defeat it as it will always eject the party. In Chapter 5, a battle against monsters indigenous to the area will initiate instead.

Guide map legend

The player will find the following icons on the guide map:

• Yellow Square: The hover.
• Golden X: Mission-critical item (assembly piece or Scrap Metal).
• Silver X: Gil, items, Al Bhed Primers, Sphere Break coins, accessories, or monsters.
• Green X: Random NPC, O'aka XXIII only if the player turned him to the Al Bhed (Southern Expanse), event battle against Machina Hunters, one time only (Eastern Expanse).
• Red Arrow in a circle: A red arrow coming towards the party is Angra Mainyu or an indigenous encounter. Picket will warn the party of an unidentified object approaching.
• Silver Blinking Arrow in a circle: An Al Bhed digger (Western Expanse and Central Expanse).
• Yellow Arrow in a circle: Yuna.

Areas

At certain points, new areas will be unlocked.

• Western Expanse: Unlocked after mission "Can you Dig It?" in Chapter 1.
• Southern Expanse: Unlocked after mission "Water we doing here? in Chapter 2.
• Eastern Expanse: Unlocked when the mission "The Cactuar Connection" is started in Chapter 3.
• Northern Expanse: Unlocked when the mission "The Cactuar Connection" is started in Chapter 3.
• Central Expanse: Unlocked after a chocobo is sent from the ranch to Bikanel.

Treasures

Different items are found in different areas, and will be found at the silver Xs on the map.

Western Expanse	Southern Expanse	Eastern Expanse	Northern Expanse	Central Expanse
200 Gil	200 Gil	1000 Gil	400 Gil	1000 Gil
500 Gil	400 gil	5000 gil	5000 gil	2000 gil
1000 Gil	1000 gil	Al Bhed Primer*	Al Bhed Primer*	Al Bhed Primer*
3000 gil	4000 Gil	Echo Screen	Candle of Life	Desert key**
Al Bhed Primer*	Al Bhed Primer*	Ether	Chocobo Feather	Dispel Tonic
Antidote	Antarctic Wind	Eye Drops	Chocobo Wing	Ether
Echo Screen	Arctic Wind	Hi-Potion	Hi-Potion	Farplane Shadow
Ether	Bomb Core	Mega Phoenix	Light Curtain	Grenade
Eye Drops	Bomb Fragment	Phoenix Down	Lunar Curtain	Hi-Potion
Hi-Potion	Budget Grenade	Potion	Phoenix Down	M-Bomb
Holy Water	Dark Grenade	Power Gloves	Potion	Mega Potion
Phoenix Down	Dragon Scale	Remedy	Silver Hourglass	Nature's Tome
Potion	Electro Marble	Soft		Poison Fang
Soft	Fish Scale			Potion
	Grenade			S-Bomb
	L-Bomb
	Lightning Marble
	M-Bomb
	Petrify Grenade
	Potion
	S-Bomb
	Silence Grenade

* - The player may only have one copy of each Al Bhed Primer.

** - Desert Key can only be found once. This will open the chest at the campsite.

Sphere Break coins

Among the treasures the player will find, they may also find Sphere Break coins. Different coins can be found in different areas.

Western Expanse & Southern Expanse	Eastern Expanse & Northern Expanse	Central Expanse
Adamantoise	Arachnid	Azi Dahaka
Behemoth	Bomb	Chocobo
Blade	Cactuar	Dinictus
Chimera	Creeper	Eater
Coeurl	Dragon	Evrae
Coyote	Fungus	Gel
Daeva	Magic Urn	Haizhe
Defender	Pairika	Hermit
Drake	Piranha	Omega Weapon
Elemental	Sahagin	Tentacles
Flan	Stalwart	Ultima Weapon
Helm	Tonberry
Iron Giant
Kukulcan
Malboro
Ochu
Ogre
Phantom
Purpurea
Ruminant
Tomb
Worm
Zu
Zurvan

Ranks

There are several ranks obtained through accumulating successful digs. Failing digs will count against gaining a rank. The ranks do not affect payment or unlocking new areas.

Digs	Rank
0	Sandbox League
15	Beach Comber
30	Sand Blaster
60	Zen Master of Digging