Guide: Final Fantasy X - Blitzball Female Team

In early December of 2015 there was a leak that revealed the Playstation exclusive Final Fantasy X was possibly headed to Steam. Being a big fan of the game (although up until recently I didn't dare to call it my favorite Final Fantasy, even though it is) I was more excited about that than any new games in the pipeline. Weeks turned to months but so far we have yet to receive any official announcement. In the meantime I ended up with a PlayStation 4 with, you guessed it, Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster as my first game. So that problem is solved. (Not long after, the game was released on Steam after all. Because of course.)

Final Fantasy X
A Female Blitzball Team

One fondly remembered feature of Final Fantasy X is of course the Blitzball minigame, which manages to be so addictive that they might as well have made it its own separate sports game and I'd buy it. For this playthrough of Final Fantasy X, and since it would make a nice follow-up to the guide I did for female Mother Base staff in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, I decided to see if I could build an all-female blitzball team and find some success with them. So I did, and I did.

Very special thanks to all the people who compiled all these comprehensive Blitzball guides over the past 14 years (especially the Final Fantasy wiki) for making this way easier to assemble.

First Things First

The First Game

The first Blitzball game you play is also the only story-relevant and necessary one. If it's your first time playing the game, it's also very likely that you'll end up losing (the game doesn't require you to win though and the reward for it is negligible). The Besaid Aurochs are indeed a pretty bad team and Tidus is the only one with some decent stats. Luckily the Luca Goers aren't as good as their reputation so if you managed to pick up the Jecht Shot on the boat to Luca, you do actually stand a decent chance.

General Blitzball Tips

• Pass the ball around a lot!
  Your team gains experience by being active in the game. You can gain a significant advantage by simply getting your hands on the ball, keeping it out of the opposing team's hands and passing it around. Especially in your first few games you can quickly leave the other teams in the dust by advancing several levels per match.
• Pay attention to techniques.
  
  Set appropriate techniques for the player's position. Mark appropriate targets to learn new techniques. Look out for the 'Techcopy' prompt whenever the opposing team makes a movie. Without Tidus in your team, you lose the ability to perform the Jecht Shot (which is easily the most convenient technique for easy goals) so you'll want to make sure your other characters are equipped appropriately.
• If all else fails, there's an exploit you can abuse
  If you have the ball and swim behind your own goalkeeper, the opposing team has no idea what to do. So if you manage to get ahead, you can simply swim behind the goalkeeper and wait out the remainder of the match.

Building an All-Female Team

My Team

At the time of writing (and after just having won a tournament with this team), my team is made up of:

• Front: Linna, Svanda
• Mid: Naida
• Defense: Vilucha, Lakkam
• Goalkeeper: Miyu

Tidus was the last remaining 'original' Auroch in my team until Linna and Svanda were able to reliably score goals. Naida's speed (and having the Brawler technique) made her ideal to intercept the opposing ball carrier, no matter where they are. Vilucha is more fit as an attacker, however I picked her up late so she's still low level. I'm intending for her to eventually replace Svanda. Lakkam's high PA makes her really useful to pass the ball from the back across the field to whoever is open to score a goal. Miyu was an easy choice as goalie since she passed Keepa early and easily.

I had Tidus in one half because Vilucha was new and I was
worried the team might not have cut it. They did.

The Players

Once you played the first Blitzball game and you're back on track with Yuna's pilgrimage, you gain the ability to scout players by 'talking' to certain NPC's by pressing the Square button instead of X. If the NPC is a potential blitzball player, you'll get the ability to sign them up for the Besaid Aurochs (if they don't already have a contract with another team of course, in which case you'll unfortunately have to wait until they are released).

Here you'll find the location of all 19 female blitzball players in the game. If you want detailed information on their stats, you can find them on the Final Fantasy Wikia over here.

Balgerda (Luca Harbor, Number 3 Dock)

Starting Team: Luca Goers

Decent defender early on, but drops off fast like the other Luca Goers 

Deim (Kilika Temple, Great Hall)

Starting Team: Kilika Beasts

Decent defender early on, but doesn't develop her attack high enough to shine later on.

Doram (Luca Harbor, Number 3 Dock)

Starting Team: Luca Goers

Decent early on, but drops off fast like the other Luca Goers.

Irga Ronso (Luca Harbor, Number 4 Dock)

Starting Team: Ronso Fangs

Slow like all Ronso, but among the best defenders otherwise.

Judda (Airship, Corridor)

Starting Team: Al Bhed Psyches

Great defender until she's passed by Kiyuri and Kulukan at around LV 50.

Kiyuri (S.S. Winno, Deck)

Starting Team: Free

Weak early on, but one of the best defenders later.

Kulukan (Kilika Port, Tavern)

Starting Team: Kilika Beasts

Same as Kiyuri, she's weak early on, but one of the best defenders later.

Lakkam (Airship, Corridor)

Starting Team: Al Bhed Psyches

Very high PA skill early on. Remains a decent defender throughout the game.

Linna (Macalania Temple, Frozen Road)

Starting Team: Free

Great overall skills with the exception of very low EN. Has a maximum PA stat at LV 99.

Warning: She moves to the front of Macalania Temple after the airship becomes available, requiring the player to battle Dark Shiva.

Mifurey (Thunder Plains, Travel Agency)

Starting Team: Free

Great overall stats, but unbearably slow early on with a SP of only 20 compared to the average 60. Her speed only reaches that average at LV 60. Useful as a midfielder.

Miyu (Moonflow, North Shoopuf Wharf)

Starting Team: Free

Has a pretty good CA skill early on, making her a good replacement for the Besaid Auroch's default goalkeeper Keepa. She's also useful as as a defender.

Naida (Calm Lands, Shop)

Starting Team: Free

Ridiculously fast swimmer (only outdone by Brother and Nedus). Good choice for a midfielder.

Nuvy Ronso (Luca Harbor, Number 4 Dock)

Starting Team: Ronso Fangs

Slow like all Ronso, but pretty good as a defender.

Pah Guado (Guadosalam, House)

Starting Team: Guado Glories

Decent defense early on. High AT later on.

Shaami (Luca Harbor, Bridge)

Starting Team: Free

Good as a forward with her high SH and EN skill. Less useful in defense.

Shuu (Luca Seaport, Cafe)

Starting Team: Free

Great overall stats (except SH and CA).

Svanda (Calm Lands)

Starting Team: Free

Good SH and BL stat early on. Develops EN and PA faster though, making her less useful in the front later on.

Vilucha (Besaid Village, House)

Starting Team: Free

Ideal as a forward thanks to her high SH and EN.

Warning: Since she's in Besaid Village, during the endgame she'll be blocked by Dark Valefor. 

Yuma Guado (Guadosalam, House)

Starting Team: Free

Decent goalkeeper (after LV 60 she's a better one than Miyu), but overall not that great of a choice.

Links & References

All screenshots from the PlayStation 4 copy of Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Blitzball_(minigame)
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Blitzball_agents

Guide: Metal Gear Solid V - Female Staff

Just like in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010), Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom pain allows the player to tackle mission using characters that make up your army other than Snake. Also like Peace Walker, since there are no female enemy combatants (other than special characters like Quiet or the parasite unit), the female soldiers you can recruit are hard to come by if you don't know where to look.

Metal Gear Solid V
The Phantom Pain
Female Mother Base Staff

How to play as Female Staff

In order to play as characters beside Snake, they have to be assigned to the Combat Unit first and then selected during mission deployment. Completing missions as combat staff increases their proficiency.

Amber Fox before & after several missions

Quiet

To unlock Quiet as a buddy who you can take with you on missions, you first have to defeat her non-lethally in a boss battle and bring her with you to Mother Base. The mission where you get to fight her gets triggered when you enter the Aabe Shifap Ruins in Afghanistan during Side Ops or Free Roam mode. After you've done this, you'll still have to wait for the Side Op where Ocelot gives you his report on Quiet.

Likely you'll only have your tranquilizer pistol with you as a non-lethal weapon so expect to call in multiple supply boxes to replenish your ammo.

... Or cut out the middle man as demonstrated by Oliver Campbell.

Getting Quiet back

Right, so technically the fact that you at one point permanently lose Quiet is a spoiler, however considering this is something most people would probably like to be aware of, I'm not treating it as such. Quiet will leave permanently after Mission 41 when you have maxed out the bond with her (resulting in a story mission which serves as her final chapter in the story). You can prevent this from happening (but then you won't be able to complete all missions) by adding a Butterfly into the Front design of your Emblem. The Butterfly in turn is unlocked by completing three missions in a row during which Quiet neutralizes the majority of enemies.

Ready to get Quiet back

However since update 1.06 it is possible to get her back by replaying Mission 11: Cloaked in Silence a minimum of 7 times. Usually the mission will have a [Replay] tag, this will turn into [Reunion] the final time. Exactly what is acceptable to trigger her return deviates a bit between sources, but here's what worked for me:

• I defeated her non-lethally with Supply Drops
• Breaking the tedium by playing another mission made me have to restart. It had to be 7 times in a row.
• The last time before [Reunion], I was playing as Snake.

It's also useful to bring as little equipment as possible, otherwise the GMP cost will start to accumulate after 7 times. Technically you only need your binoculars to call in Supply Drops anyway.

After this process is completed, Quiet will be available as a buddy again as if the heartbreaking finally never happened.

Volunteers

Female staff will occasionally show up as volunteers. Increasing your heroism and sending out your troops with Combat Deployment will hopefully bring them in. Some were awarded by pre-purchasing the game.

Prisoners

Some Missions and Side Ops have objectives that include rescuing prisoners. The gender of the prisoner stays the same so you can repeat the mission to acquire multiple female units.

Mission 9 - Backup, Back Down

1. Northeast of Lamar Khaate Palace

The prisoner will be wandering (from north to south) in the hills northeast of Lamar Khaate Palace until collapsing in the desert. Use of Night Vision Goggles makes locating her a lot easier.

2. Wakh Sind Barracks

The prisoner is held captive in a cell in the Wakh Sind Barracks bunker. Be careful, the compound is heavily guarded.

Mission 14 - Lingua Franca

The prisoner is held captive in a cage in Kiziba Camp.

Mission 23 - The White Mamba

The prisoner is held captive in a building in Masa Village (Bwala ya Masa) near the outskirts. Saving her is an optional task for the mission.

Mission 24 - Close Contact

She's one of the two engineers you have to rescue to complete the mission parameters so you can't miss her. She's being held in a heavily guarded tent at Ngumba Industrial Zone, SW Guard Post.

Side Op 28 - Prisoner Extraction 02

Afghanistan, Shago Village (Da Shago Kallai). The prisoner is the target of the mission.

Side Op 29 - Prisoner Extraction 03

Afghanistan Central Base Camp. The prisoner is the target of the mission.

Side Op 32 - Prisoner Extraction 06

Afrika, Kiziba Camp, South Guard Post. The prisoner is the target of the mission.

Side Op 35 - Prisoner Extraction 09

Afghanistan, Aabe Shifap Ruins. The prisoner is the target of the mission. Beware of snipers.

Side Op 37 - Prisoner Extraction 11

Afrika, East of Bwala ya Masa. The prisoner is the target of the mission. She's on the roof of a hut beside the road.

Side Op 39 - Prisoner Extraction 13

Afrika, Ditadi Abandoned Village, NE Guard Post. The prisoner is the target of the mission. She's hiding next to some rocks.

Side Op 44 - Prisoner Extraction 18

Afghanistan, Sakhra Ee Village (Quarya Sakhra Ee). The prisoner is the target of the mission.

Side Op 46 - Prisoner Extraction 20

Afrika, Munoko ya Nioka Station. The prisoner is the target of the mission. Beware of the enemy gunship flying above the camp.

Links & References

- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain on Steam
- Steam Community: Acquiring your perfect female Soldier (Thanks Randomfox)