Well we are about halfway through this game and I, Cymbeline, and very dissapointed that I haven't even had to lable any boss with even a Normal difficulty. Why is this game so easy? And why do I loath Chapter 3. Oh yeah because of Luca, and you'll find out when we head there.
Airship Celsius[]
This chapter opens up with the world in danger...again. During all that time we were under Bevelle fiends started pouring out of the temples, Besaid, Kilika, Djose, Macalania all those temples have fiends coming out of them. Of course Besaid and Kilika are almost defenceless so we need to go and help them but Djose says they have it under control. Plus with Macalania under the water that leaves us with little to worry about. So what do we decide to call ourselves? Why the Fiendly Neighborhood Gullwings of course. BTW I hate the airship music for this chapter. Don't go anywhere just yet though, oh yeah and O'aka jumps ship now that his debt is paid so his super cheap items are gone. First head down the the engine room and open up all the chests for 5 Remedies, 3 Ethers, 6 Phoenix Downs, and 4 Hi-Potions. Then head up to the Cabin and tell Barkeep you want to rest. Now go back to the bridge and head over to Luca, the now wonderful home of the game Sphere Break.
Luca[]
I'm going to start this section with these happy words: Sphere Break sucks. Its not as bad as Blitzball, but it still sucks and the final round to get the ultimate prize is awful. When we arrive, Rin will wish everyone luck in the first official Sphere Break tournament. He gives us 5 Reptile Coins, 5 Bird Coins, 5 Wasp Coins, and 5 Ahriman Coins, then sets us on our way. You can ask him to teach you the rules if you didn't go over them but here they are as best as I can tell you. You want to match the Quota for each person you challenge, you gain gain points faster by building and Echo Bonus by using the same number of coins over and over. You "break" the core sphere by adding up at least one golden coin with the silver coins around it to a multiple of the core sphere. So if the core sphere is 2 you want your coins to add up to 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, etc. The easier people to challenge are the guy in green and brown on this screen, the old man sitting on the bridge leading to the stadium, and the woman in blue in the lobby of the stadium. Use these three to practice building echo bonus's because the champion is difficult. The champion, Shinra, has a core sphere that likes to throw 1's at you and this can mess up your Echo Bonus. If you're lucky you can win the Treasure Hunter Garment Grid off of him. I beat this guy after my 2nd try and when you win you are rewarded with the Lady Luck Dressphere (that for some reason when Shinra wins he refuses to share with you.) Oh and if you don't win I don't think you can get 100% so try again if you fail!
Well that gets rid of the worst part of this entire game right now. I'm sorry but this little episode of Sphere Break is just as bad as X's Blitzball, and yes, Blitzball comes back and its even worse than it was in X, but thankfully we have no reason to play it at all. Save for obvious reasons then continue onward to the Mi'ihen Highroad.
Mi'ihen Highroad[]
It seems like the Highroad is having troubles of its own. The Machina along the road are malfunctioning and we offer to destroy them for the Agency, however they have a team of Al-Bhed dismantling the machina. Our goal for this area is to run down the highroad and destroy as many machina as we can, hopefully more than the Al-Bhed can dismantle. For this first part of the trip just head to all the green squares on your map and ignore the chests for now, we'll collect them later. Oh and if you get into a random battle with any of the "Watcher" enemies destroy them first and use only regular attacks. This is important for later so make sure to do that. The mission is over when a grand total of 13 machina are destroyed (non-random battles btw) and the Gullwings will be rewarded. You will recieve 10,000 Gil and the Undying Storm Garment Grid. Oh and if you destroy more machina than the Al-Bhed dismantle you will see Rin in the crowd of people. Not all that important but you may as well know he's there. Now if you want to open all the chests that are on the Highroad, and for the extra training I suggest that you return, after saving like usual.
Alright now its time for a Highroad treasure hunt. In the area just before Luca you will find 4 Phoenix Downs to the right of the stairs, 2,000 Gil which is pretty obvious, and behind the structure with the big loop around it you will find a Hypno Crown. Oh I suppose I should mention that you can learn Seed Canon from the plant enemies you find here. The next portion of the Highroad has only two Hi-Potions for you to plunder. Down the road you will find 4 Holy Waters, and across from those in the side area is 4 Hi-Potions. Continuing down the road and in the last side area is another 2 Hi-Potions. Across from the hovers at the Travel Agency is 3 Eye Drops. At the very start of the next screen is 4 Softs. Along the curvy path there is a chest with 4 Phoenix Downs. In the area before Mushroom Rock Road there is 2 S-Bombs. In the first area of the low road you will find 2 Ethers. In the final area head down the path and jump up to little side area thing for 2 Hi-Potions. The final chest is by the Save Sphere here with 4 Echo Screens. Save, then continue to the Mushroom Rock Road.
Mushroom Rock Road[]
There really isn't much to do here. Try to head up to the Youth League Headquarters and you will be turned down at the door by Yaibal. Lucil will then come and ask to talk to us. She will inform us that Nooj has gone missing and she would like us to let her know if we hear word of him. Now make your way toward Djose Temple, but first head into the side area and up the lift to a chest with 2,000 Gil.
Djose Temple[]
First off try to make sure your team is protected against Petrification before heading down this road. If you can't then hope that your Alchemist isn't the one who gets him with the status ailment, because she is the person who can use Items the fastest and will help you keep the situation under control. When you reach the bridges leading up to the temple open the chest for 2 Hi-Potions. When you reach the temple itself head to the right of the save sphere for a chest with 3 Phoenix Downs. Then head up to the temple and talk to Gippal. He tells us the him and Rikku "made quite the couple" and that he doesn't want our help because people shouldn't need to go to Yuna for help all the time. When he leaves he gives you Al-Bhed Primer XV and with that in your hands make your way to the Moonflow.
Moonflow[]
The only thing to do here during this chapter is to talk to Tobli. As you make your way to him, you may run into the fiend "Barlivarha" who can teach your Gun Mage "Fire Breath" if you want to learn the skill. When you reach Tobli he will tell you that his show is not a success and that's about it for this chapter. Now make your way to Guadosalam.
Guadosalam[]
There is actually something to do here for a change, which is nice. Head on over to the Syndicate Headquarters and go to the Living Room. We walk in on Logos and Ormi trying their best to sound like Nooj but doing an awful job of it. Head on up to Leblanc's chamber and talk to her in hopes that the threat of competition will cause her to regain her spirit. It fails, so head down to where Logos and Ormi are and they will tell you that they found a sphere of Nooj and they want to have a screening with you. Head down the passageway and into Logos's room (I'm going to assume you know which one it is, and he will show you two spheres. The first one "Logos's Sphere" is just him recording Yuna's butt by the Goal Machine. The second one is the one he wants us to see, "Ormi's Sphere", which shows Nooj down where Vegnagun was supposed to be. He tells us not to tell Leblance because Vegnagun is dangerous and he worries about her safety. Now head over to the shelf down in the lower right corner and examine the sphere there. This sphere, the "Gaol Sphere", shows the man from the Yuna's first sphere arguing with Bevelle soldiers about the war with Zanarkand and then he tells them that their weapons will destroy them. Maechen managed to somehow sneak into the room too and he gives us a bit of knowledge. Talk to him again for a little more information, which he leaves off by telling us that everyone is connected.
Now that that's done head over to Leblanc's room (the one where we fought the whole syndicate) and open the chest on the ground floor for a Tetra Band. Then use the boxes to climb up to the higher level and open the chest here for Crimson Sphere 4. Go back up to your airship and watch "Crimson Record 4" to learn more about the Crimson Squad. I'd sum it up for you but just as I was publishing my page before, my internet disconnected so I'm typing this all up from memory. When you are ready fly over to the Thunder Plains.
Thunder Plains[]
This is a lame area, but at least we can pick up some treasure. Before moving on though make sure your team is guarded against Confusion because its an annoying status ailment. Oh and the Malboro enemies can teach a Gun Mage "Bad Breath" and the Gucumatz enemies can teach her "Heaven's Cataract". Head down the path and across from the second tower near the edge of the lake is a chest with 5 Echo Screens. Head around the lake and talk to Cid who will finally say he's sorry for turning Zanarkand into an amusement park. Head directly across from him to a chest with 2 Hi-Potions, then continue down the road and between the 4th and 5th towers is a chest with a Safety Bit. Now take that path that doesn't lead to the Travel Agency.
To the right of the entrance is a chest with 3 Phoenix Downs. Continue down the path and just behind the 3rd tower here is a chest with 2 Dark Grenades. Around to the back of the lightning shelter is a chest with 3 Ethers. Now the final thing to do here is talk to Lian and Aide who are under the lightning shelter and give them a destination to go to. I told them to go to Djose Temple, but you can tell them to go anywhere you like. Now head over to the Macalania Woods.
Macalania Woods[]
Make your way down the path and save at the save sphere. Our destination is the Travel Agency so you can take any path you like to get there, as for me I'm taking the tree path. As you're going along open the chest at the second curve, its hidden behind the tree, for a NulFrost Ring. After that its just smooth sailing to the Travel Agency. When you arrive you will see that it is under attack from fiends that have come up from the sunken temple. In order to save the agency you have to fight 6 consecutive battles with no break inbetween. When you've done that you will be rewarded with the Pride of the Sword Garment Grid, perfect for your mastered Warrior, because it lets her use her Warrior abilities regardless of what dressphere she is in.
Unfortunately, even with all of you efforts, we were unable to save the Al-Bhed inside. He talks about some sort of fiend, or rather he thinks it was a machina (I'm going to take a shot in the dark here but I think he saw Vegnagun) and then he passes away, but not without giving us the Berserker Dressphere and Al-Bhed Primer I. O'aka runs in and attempts to pay back his debt to the fallen shopkeeper, however he cannot. The shop is closed for now, but when you return in Chapter 5 it will sell some of the best accessories in the game. Well now seems like a good time to go over that dressphere we got doesn't it?
Now I put Yuna as a Dark Knight onto the Pride of the Sword Garment Grid so she had access to her Warrior abilities, and I made Rikku into a Berserker because she can use its abilities when she uses the Ultimate Dressphere. Also the Counter abilities cost a lot so I'd get them last for that simple reason. Anyways head down the path that would lead to the temple and open the chest for an X-Potion. When you try to leave the area O'aka will declare that he will not leave the shop and will stand by it no matter what. Now go back to the entrance, this time taking the glitter path and again take the side path that leads to a chest with a Gold Bracer. Board your airship and fly over to the Bikanel Desert and the next page.