General Controlling
Here is just info on all of the different defensive and offensive modes of blitzball, and a little piece on moving around.
NOTE:
- When on offense press Triangle to open control menu.
- When on defense press Triangle to open defense menu.
Offensive Modes
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Manual A: In this control mode you can control your player that is currently in possession of the ball. This will let you move your player according to the map in the corner of the screen.
Manual B: In this control mode you can control your player that is currently in possession of the ball. This will let you move your player according to the the direction of the other goal.
Auto: In this control mode you don't really control like the name "control mode" implies. Here the game or commonly called cpu moves you in the direction you need to go.
Defensive Forms
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Normal: This is the original formation that your team is set as when you first begin playing the game of blitzball, in which the players on your team remain in their regular spots. They won't pursue the opposing team too far but a little while.
Right Side: Your whole team will mainly stick to covering the extreme right side of the sphere pool.
Left Side: Your whole team will mainly stick to covering the extreme left side of the sphere pool.
Double Sides: Your whole team will protect both sides of the sphere pool as a mix of both Right and Left sides.
Mark Mode: In this mode your players will follow marked opponents.
Flat Line: You will only have an offensive team and no real defense as they will form a line and move towards the goal.
Center Attack: The player you have assigned to MF possition on your team will move forward and becomes some what of a Center Forward sorta like the RF and a LF.
Counter: You will have only a defensive team and no real offense as they will work more towards holding opposing offense.
Performing Actions
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This one is simple. Simply when you are on offensive and anywhere you can open the actions menu. Here you can choose to shoot, pass, or continue to dribble. Here is a representation of what you can do for each choice:
If you choose the shoot option you can use any special shooting abilities you may have, or, if you don't have any it will automatically use a normal shot.
If you choose the pass option you can use any special passing abilities you may have, or, if you don't have any it will automatically use a normal pass.
If you choose the dribble option it will instantly let you just keep swimming down the sphere pool.
You can access this menu by pressing triangle on offense and while not in an encounter.
Scouting
This next part took me a *very* long time to get together as I went all 'round Spira pressing [Square] in front of everyone. The result of hard work is before you. Now I will describe you what Scout Levels are: scout levels are levels you gain by winning blitzball games and the higher you get, the more info on players you get when you press [Square] in front of them. Now here's the many different scout levels you can gain:
Scout Level 1:
View What: Name, level, gil per game, team (maybe)
When Obtained: Automatically
Scout Level 2:
View What: Name, level, gil per game, team (maybe), stats
When Obtained: After winning 10 games; Aurochs
Scout Level 3:
View What: Name, level, gil per game, team (maybe), stats, tech slots, techs
When Obtained: After winning 20 games; Aurochs
Scout Level 4:
View What: Name, level, gil per game, team (maybe), stats, tech slots, techs, Key Techs, all techs
Obtained When: After winning 30 games; Aurochs
Stats
Stats in the game of blitzball are used alot like the way they are used in the game FFX, or many other RPG's for that matter. They help decide whether an event will take place in the game and are literally what the entire game of blitzball revolves around.
Ex.: If your SH stat is 30 and the goalies CA stat is 23 and your SH remains that until it gets there, chances are the shot will score, but sometimes not depending on the random factor.
Info on Stats:
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HP: This is short for of course the same thing as it is in the normal game, which is Hit Points. This is what you use to determine if you can use a certain action. Each and every single action will use HP, and if you do not have the appropriate HP to use an action, you simply don't do it. HP is even consumed when carrying the ball and moving. HP *can* be gained back while moving around freely while *not* carrying the ball, there might be more ways but I am not aware of any at the moment.
Lvl: This is basically what determines how good and effectively your stats are and will be. Everything you act in in a game gains you more EXP which after gaining enough levels you up again.
EXP: This is simply what you gain for doing stuff like passing and shooting in a blitzing game and is what gains you more lvl's.
SH: This is short for Shooting or I usually call it 'shot.' This statistic is ultimately what determines just how fast, and how strongly the ball will head towards the opposing teams' goal. Obviously the more SH you have the better your odds and chances of scoring the goal are. Once the shot has left the shooter the shot stat slowly decreases by 1 every second it is heading for the opposite goal. This stat goes against the CA of the goalie. It may also be lowered if during an encounter a player on the opposite team BL goes against it.
PA: This is short for the passing attribute aspect of blitzball FYI. PA is the stat that makes the decision of how far the ball will go when you try to pass it to another, and just at what speed it will go at. Alot like SH in that reguards. This stat goes against the opposing players' BL stat also like SH. If it makes it to the other player successfully that means it had final stat of above 0, if the player drops it that means it decreased to 0.
CA: This is your catching attribute which also is one of the most very important stats of all them. This is only eloquent for goalies for stopping the SH of the opposing player from going in and scoring on the team. If the keeper's CA stat is higher than the shooter's SH by the time the ball finally arrives at the goal he (or she) will more than likely stop the ball from making it, that is if randomness does not take over the games decision to let the ball score instead.
BL: This stat is evidently the abbreviation for blocking stat which is very important for holding the team with the ball at bay when in an encounter. This is the most relevant to blocking both SH and PA to make it easier on the goalie and to make it harder to get the ball to a receiver. The higher the BL stat, the more chances of successfully stopping the ball. Another info is if BL is higher than PA or SH you may be able to catch the ball. The more players blocking the better your chances.
AT: This is short for the attacking stat, I also call it tackle. This is mainly used during encounters. It is used to try and steal the ball from the currently offensive team. Its opposing stat is EN. If AT is larger than EN than more often than not, the ball will change hands.
SP: This also is probably your most used stat. It is shortened version of Speed. This is the measure of how fast a particular character can move around both when they're carrying the ball somewhere, or when moving about freely.
EN: This is short for endurance is the measure of the damage count that any player that is currently carrying the ball can endure from any other opposing player during an encounter. The endurance of a character subtracts after each hit he/she sustains. This is the stat that is the very exact opposite of the AT (attack) stat.
Info on Encounters and Breakthroughs
Encounters
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While swimming around in the sphere pool (covered later herein), and you are drawing closer to another player(s) you can partake in what is called an encounter where you face off with players from the other team in order to go any further, or to block passage from proceeding any further on towards the other team's goal and probable scoring. While you are in the encounter you have two choices each of which can prove crucial to winning the blitzball game. These two choices are "No Break," or there is "Break to [player's name]." The further down you go on players to break through you must let that person attack you, as well as the rest of the names above that selected character. If you choose to pick No Break though you try to get the ball through them without letting any attack you and I only recommend this if you have a much higher SH or PA attribute than the other players' BL stat.
Breakthroughs
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Heres a little bit more of a detailed, in-depth coverage for the 2nd option of an encounter; "Break to [player's name]." The biggest difference here will be that I will be listing what happens before, during, and after you either fail or succeed in breakthrough-ing. And obviously with the larger amount of players involved in the original encounter the more challenging the breakthrough will be bacause of the fact there are more "Break to [???]" choices and if you cannot get through 'em all you will have to rely on a little luck in getting the pass across or the shot to go in. So some good info regarding these breakthroughs
The most opposing players there can be is 5 (everyone except goalie).
I don't suggest breaking to more than 3 or 4 players at one time.
When breaking to many players at one time (3-5) opposing players at a time that your EN be higher than all of there AT stats combined.
The random factor (covered later) is in effect here as well. Now heres some pro info that I have deciphered:
The amount of endurance reduced by ATer's attack is anywhere in between the points of 150%-50% of his/her own AT stat.
ie. AT = 18. Maximum damage done is 27 and minimum is 9. Both of these are very rare, normally it will do either exactly or about 3 away from their AT. That is it for breakthroughs and encounters.
Info on Sphere Pool
There isn't really that much to say about the Sphere Pool, but... Sphere Pool is where your team face off against another team in a sphere shaped machine (I think) filled up with water. In here there are two goals at each side of the pool and generally triangular in shape. The game is played alot like football and soccer combined but of course, under water. While playing also there is a map on the screen displaying current locations of every player on the screen.
Color Key To Blitz Map
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Red = Opposing team's players
Green = Your team's players
Black = Asleep
That is all I have as of yet about color key.
Info on Random Factor
This is very easy and simple to explain but I do not know all the mathematics of it yet, but you can bet I will update this after I have tinkered with it some more. But I will just provide the basics for now...
Basically the Random Effect is just an extra factor in determining whether or not a certain action will take place or not. The concept is even when an opposed stat is greater than another, the lesser stat will win. Heres an example:
Goal Keeper's CA is 30
Shooter's SH is 20
Now let's say that the shot made it to the goal still at 20. Not what you'd think to happen is that the goalie prevents the ball from scoring, but, to your dismay, the shot makes it in! This is due to the random effect.
I will be testing mathematics for this and posting it later on when I'm 100% sure of it.
Teams
I think it'll be nice to provide bios for all the teams you'll be playing as (just 1) and the teams you'll be playing against in this game, so here you have it...
Besaid Aurochs: This is the home team for, yep, the name says it all, Besaid. Their long time rivals are the Luca Goers. They have not won a single game in 20+ years! They have made it to the finals this year though after defeating the Al Bhed Psyches. Wakka is their captain and coach, and their new star player is Tidus after he has washed up on Besaid beaches after Sin attacked and destroyed his home of Zanarkand.
Luca Goers: This is the team for the second largest city in the world of Spira which is Luca. They are the most liked and beloved team in Spira, also. Number 1 rivals of the Besaid Aurochs lead by Wakka. They have won every tournament for the last 20+ years.
Al Bhed Psyches: This is the team for the Al Bhed people so I would suppose that they are the home team for Home. They really have no rivalries other than Wakka himself because he despises Al Bhed (for now, at least). They stole Yuna in order to have the Aurochs throw the game so they could advance, but she got saved and the Aurochs relished in their first victory in a long time.
Kilika Beasts: This is the home playing team for the village/town of Kilika which was recently attacked by Sin. They are playing this year to bring hope back to Kilika by winning the trophe this year. They have no rivals or anything like that.
Guado Glories: This is the home team for the rather small village of Guadosalam. They have no rivals at all. Their team is composed of many agile players as well.
Ronso Fangs: This is the home team for the Ronso race, so apparently I guess they just play for the honor of the Mt. Gagazet. They are not really rivals with any other teams. There team isn't really fast at all, but they are pretty much heavy hitters, and some are even ok shooters.
Characters are originally...
Aurochs- Tidus, Datto, Botta, Letty, Keepa, Jassu
Goers- Bickson, Doram, Abus, Raudy, Balgerda, Graav
Glories- Giera, Pah, Noy, Navara, Auda, Zazi
Psyches- Berrik, Lakkam, Judda, Eigaar, Blappa, Nimrook
Beasts- Vuroja, Larbeight, Isken, Deim, Nizarut, Kulukan
Fangs- Basik, Argai, Gazna, Zamzi, Nuvy, Irga
Now that you know a little about the teams in blitzball, let's move on to more of this blitz guide.
Techniques 101
INFO ON TECHS
First I will tell you what techs are. They are abilities (like in a real RPG) that you can learn and perform to help you in the game of blitzball. There are many different ones that have many different uses and effects. I will list what they do and stuff later but for now in this section I will list how to equip, when to equip etc... Ready? Lets begin!
INFO ON DISTRIBUTING AND EQUIPPING TECHNIQUES
You assign techs that you have learned at the start of each game and another time during your halftime of the game. More info on learning and gaining techs later on in this very area.:)
INFO ON PUTTING TECHS INTO ACTION IN BLITZBALL
While you are playing a game against another team in blitz you will be able to use the techs you have learned and assigned to your team's players. You can do this by when the options are available, pressing Shoot, Pass, Tackle on offense or defense and then choosing which of the techs under that category you can use. You may only use these techs when and and only when you have the correct amount of HP to use them, otherwise you'll have to wait to use them.
INFO ON LEARNING TECHNIQUES
There are few methods of aquiring techs. The first of them is techcopying which I will get into greater depth into later in this section, basically in a nutshell it is copying techs from other players that have that technique and you assign your player to that player. The second of the methods is getting them as prizes in Tournaments and Leagues.
INFO ON KEY TECHNIQUES
There are techs in the game of blitzball called 'Key Techniques.' These are three techs that any character must obtain in order to gain more and...dare I say it...better techniques. Each character has slightly differnt Key techs that they must learn.
INFO ON TECH SLOTS
First off I will say that this section does not apply for players that are under level 3, because they haven't the ability to use techs and fill up their tech slots, now I go over tech slots in-detail:
Once on lv.3 player finally gains first tech slot.
Once on lv.7 player finally gains second tech slot.
Once on lv.12 player finally gains third tech slot.
Once on lv.20 player finally gains fourth tech slot.
Once on lv.30 player finally gains fifth tech slot.
No player can have more than 5 tech slots. So after level 30 you won't be getting any more slots for *that* person, but with others if under lv.30.
INFO ON TECH TYPES
This will be more of another quickie sections of the blitzball area. Here, I'll describe to you the three different types of techniques, and the two other types of techniques, just so you will be better acquainted with them.
Automatic Techniques: These are techs that happen when you a particular need or circumstance for it is met. Say when you have a another character attacking you and you have an auto tech on, it unfolds at that moment. Or, when you have a certain percentage of a stat, or when there's a status on, like Anti-Wither.
Repeated Techniques: Techniques that are automatically done, but are not like the Automatic Techs. Say they improve a statistic or an attribute, such as say Golden Arm: it's on the whole match, and it automatically makes PA better. They don't don't eat HP when used, but instead they cost HP to equip... only.
Do-It-Yourself Techniques: These are techs that require two things only: the ability being learned, as well as the right amount of HP to execute it. What these are, are techs that you have to go to menu for and select them for their execution. They can range from anything that's listed in the bottom section.
Status-Inflicting Techniques: The techs that inflict status effects are just what they say. How they work is like a Do-It-Yourself technique. You choose from the menu by either pressing Square button, or, getting into an Encounter. There, you can choose from techniques that can inflict Sleep/Wither/Poison.
Physical Attack Techniques: These Physical Attack techniques, like Status- Inflicting techs, are just what their names imply. It's also a Do-It-Yourself type variation. You go to the menu by Square or you can get into an opposing encounter. Here, you can choose to pass or shoot, tackle, which are physical.
