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Tidus' Caladbolg

Weapon location: Northwest corner of the Calm Lands, behind a mandala at the bottom of a very narrow hidden trail. Win all four chocobo races, and the person blocking the pathway will be gone. You must have the Celestial Mirror in your inventory to get the weapon, otherwise the guard will not move. (There's no point in going down the trail without the mirror anyway.) If you won all of the races pre-mirror, and come back after obtaining it, simply win all of the races again and immediately go to the path the guard was blocking.

Sun Crest location: Yevon Dome, in a treasure chest in the same area where you fought Yunalesca. You may have to go up and down the stairs once or twice to get the chest to appear. It's on the left side of the screen, and blends in with the wall.

Sun Sigil location: After you can control the airship, it's a prize for
winning the fourth chocobo race against the other chocobo rider with a time of better than 0:0:0. I have no advice on how to do this, other than use the other rider as a shield if possible, use the D-pad and not the analogue control stick, and grab balloons like mad. You need between 12 - 15 for a time of 0:0:0. In the Japanese FFX, there was a cheat that made the birds pass right through you, and therefore this process very simple, but it seems to have been taken out of the North American - and presumably PAL - release. So the moral of this story is, practice practice practice, learn Japanese and import the game so that you can cheat, or check out Morelock's Sidequests FAQ for an in-depth strategy of how to win this race.

Difficulty to Obtain: Medium difficulty, but not especially time-consuming. Most people would argue that the hardest part are the last two chocobo races.

Abilities: [Break Damage Limit] + [Triple Overdrive] + [Evade & Counter] + [Magic Counter]

Special Effects: Does more damage when Tidus' HP is full, no effect on Aeons.

Name origin: The Caladbolg is a sword of Irish and Celtic myth that was so strong, it once cut a hill in half. Caladbolg can also be a generic name for any kind of death-dealing sword. In the Japanese version of Final Fantasy X, Tidus' ultimate weapon was called the Ultima Weapon, which starting with FFVI, there's been either a boss, or a weapon for the main character named this, or both, and the weapon has always done damage dependant on HP. In the English FFVI, it was translated as Atma. Caladbolg almost makes more sense, in a way, because it's not the typical white, pink, and purple gradiented design of the Ultima Weapon - it's blue and gold.


Unsealing the Ultimate Weapons

You'll notice that your ultimate weapons aren't all they're cracked up to be at first. In fact, you can't remodel them, and they prevent you from gaining AP! Their powers are sealed, so you'll need to unseal them to take advantage of their full potentional.
Each weapon has 2 power-ups, a Crest and a Sigil. After collecting each power-up, return to the plant in Macalania Woods to unseal your weapons. Without unsealing your weapons at all, they will only bear the [No AP] auto-ability.
After unsealing them with the Crest, they will bear [No AP] and [Double
Overdrive]. And finally, after unsealing them with the Sigil, they'll have all
of the bells and whistles they rightfully should have. Also, you cannot unseal your weapons with the Sigil before you've unsealed them with the Crest. If you have both in your inventory, you still need to talk to the plant twice - once to unseal the weapon with the Crest, and once again to unseal it with the Sigil.
To get the [Break Damage Limit] effect for your Aeons, you only need to power up your weapons with the Crest, not the Sigil, and they don't have to be equipped - you simply have to have the weapons in your inventory.

GETTING 0:0.0
This section is put together in order to help you get a time of 0:0.0 and the Sun Sigil.

1. PREPARING FOR BATTLE
This is a general section of things you should know before racing.

1] Realize that this is not based solely on luck. People who are saying it's pure luck are either lying to themselves because they can't get it, or were one of the few who really got it on luck their first time through. Trust me, luck is not getting it 5 times in an hour and a half. Luck is getting it on the first time and then never being able to get it again.

2] Realize that this does require SOME luck. If the balloons aren't in a good place, you're kinda screwed. It's not as bad as it sounds, though, so don't fret.

3] Never, EVER, throw a fit over this sidequest. You'll not be able to think, and at worst, you'll break a controller or PS2 and end up costing you from 30 to 300 bucks. Not worth it, really. You'll want to be calm the whole time through. The first time I got 0:0.0 I was pretty surprised, that came after 45 minutes of studying patterns and developing my way of doing it.

4] Use the D-Pad, and not the Analog stick. This, and the Jecht Shot Challenge, is really the only parts of the game where it helps out. Also, never hold the direction, but slightly tap.

5] There are invisible boundaries on the track. These are your enemy, as bumping into one will cause you to slightly head in the other direction, and probably hit those one or three birds you were trying to avoid and cause you to get a time of 10.0 instead of 00.0. If this happens, it's best to refer to Rule number 3. It's a good idea to do a few run throughs to see your boundaries.

6] Getting hit by a bird not only adds 3 seconds to your overall time, but costs you approximately 1.8 seconds of recovery time. Never sacrifice a bird hit for a balloon, the balloon isn't worth it as you'll lose 1.8 seconds. Two balloons ARE though, as you'll gain .2 seconds.

2. FREEBIE BALLOONS
There are anywhere from 0-9 freebie balloons in every race. These are balloons you can pick up without worrying about birds.
*NOTE* I tend to break up the actual race into A few parts. The straightaway, the first turn, the first stretch, the second turn, the second stretch, and the ending.

First set of Freebie Balloons
Amount: Five (5)
Location: Straightaway
Importance: Very
When you first start, you'll be on what I call the straight-away. You should see 3-5 balloons. If you can't reasonably get 3 of the first five on the straightaway, go grab a beer or take a piss, you won't be getting a Sun Sigil this run. Yeah, this is where the "SOME luck" comes into play.
TIPS: Try not to move as much as possible. Don't go after the first balloon if you have to swerve to the left to get it, you'll only screw yourself over. If you go after the second balloon, the trainer will swerve for it and screw herself over. Now just grab the other three and you're good to go.

Second Set of Freebie Balloons
Amount: One to Two (1-2)
Location: First turn
Importance: Minimal
After the straightaway, there's the first turn, if you dig in a hard turn, and then immediately tap left a time or two, you have a shot at getting these balloons. No tips for this section, but don't worry if you don't get them, these are largely based on luck, of minimal importance, and usually do not affect the outcome. If you really want this set of one or two, you'll have to get used to the turn.

Third Set of Freebie Balloons
Amount: One to Four (1-4)
Location: Second turn, beginning of Second Stretch
Importance: Pretty Important

After the second set of heat seeking birds that come your way, look for a shadow cast by the mountain on the right side. Head towards there, as there is a major turn (camera swing) coming up soon. You should be able to snag one balloon in the turn if you know the boundaries and how to adjust to the turn. You also may be able to grab a few in your path right at the beginning of the second stretch.

3. THE RACE
Here's how you actually race! If you've read the first two sections, it's important to keep them in mind while racing.

Part 1: Straightaway/first turn.
Follow the tips I outlined in Section 2 and you should be set to go. This is probably the most important Area of the whole race, as these first 5 balloons are very important. As for the turn, you'll want to get inside, but hit left early so you don't go too far to the right and have no chance of the second set of freebie balloons.

Part 2: First Stretch
Your goal here is DO NOT GET HIT! You'll want to bring your total of balloons to around 7, since it's a nice number, but DO NOT GET HIT!
After the first big turn, try and get a bit behind to trainer for the first few birds. After she gets smacked once or twice, swing around to the right of her and jump out in front. Stay near the right side of the stretch, as you won't get many birds coming your way.. Dodge to the right when you need to, making sure to pick up anywhere from two to four balloons. At around 25 seconds, you should see a balloon in the shadow of a mountain (or just a huge shadow), head for a good bit behind it and prepare for the next turn.

Part 3: Second Turn/Second Stretch
Your goal here is DO NOT GET HIT! Well, it's less of that than in the first stretch, but DO NOT GET HIT! If you can manage not to get hit, you can scrounge by with 12 balloons, which, if you're lucky, will be nothing to get. Getting hit once is okay, but be sure to collect around 14 balloons.
After the major camera swing/turn, try and quickly align yourself for a balloon or two. If you're lucky, there will be a few more close up before you have to worry about birds. Stay in the middle of the path until you see birds. Once you see birds coming after you, wait until you're comfortable, and then start heading to the left. A few quick taps will let you dodge these homing pigeons most of the time. Try and grab a few more and the camera will start to zoom in. You are now at the ending.

Part 4: Ending
Keep going straight until you see a bird fly out from the left. IMMEDIATELY head to the left, and try to dodge 3 of these birds. Near the finish line, you'll see a little dip to the left before you cross. Go down there, as it's safe from those evil birds.

Part 5: Trying again.
If you don't manage to get 0.00, sigh, refer to Rule number 3, and then try over. Remember that people have been doing this for 3+ hours, 30-90 minutes is lucky. Enjoy smile