In previous years, this post was titled “The Best Auto Abilities, Ranked” and was a hard-hitting list of top 10 abilities. Unfortunately, my time this year is limited to cover only single abilities, as I had to cut out the second half of the list. If I had more time, I would have done a top 20, but I’ll have to save that for next year.
Auto-Abilities is a game that lets you play as a superhero. It has about 100 different types of powers, each with their own special abilities. You can pick from a variety of characters like Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man; and as the name of the game suggests, you can also pick which powers you want to have active in the game.
You wouldn’t think it by looking at it, but Final Fantasy X-2 houses a surprising amount of depth and strategy in its gameplay. From chaining together attacks during the fast-paced battle system to switching Dresspheres on the fly, there’s plenty here to keep the game feeling fresh and interesting. Auto-abilities definitely add to this experience. You can turn even the hardest of battles into a cakewalk with the right ability set up. And here we’ll rank the best auto-abilities in the game, along with how to get them.
12. Critical
There are few better feelings than getting off a physical attack to see it connect as a critical hit. With the Lady Luck dressphere equipped, you’ll get to experience this feeling with every single attack. Equipping it on your whole party is a great way to blast through random encounters at a rapid pace. If you don’t own the Lady Luck Dressphere then you can also get this ability from the Peerless Garment Grid.
11. Deathtouch
An even better feeling than landing a critical hit, is seeing an enemy die instantly from an attack. And with the Deathtouch ability, this is exactly what you’ll get. With the Bitter Farewell Garment Grid equipped, or the Mortal Shock accessory, you’ll add an Instant Death effect to every physical attack. Pair this with the Gunner Dressphere and you have a high chance of ending a battle on your first turn if you get off a Trigger Happy or Scattershot.
10. Evade & Counter
By negating the danger of getting hit by attacks, you go an awfully long way towards not dying in battle. Having the Evade & Counter auto-ability equipped from the Berserker Dressphere will grant you the ability to dodge enemy attacks, and return fire with a physical attack, creating a very effective one-two punch.
9. Auto-Wall
Having the ability to halve nearly all incoming attacks is also a great way to stay alive during fights. Auto-Wall will permanently give you the Auto-Protect and Auto-Shell effect. You can gain this useful ability by equipping the Adamantite or Defense Bracer, although the former is definitely a better choice because it also increases your HP, Defense, and Magic Defense stats. The only downside of having the Auto-Shell effect is that the potency of healing magic is cut in half… although White Wind will still heal to its full effect.
8. Tetra Eater
This nifty little ability allows you to absorb all Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Water elemental attacks. Simply having protection against the majority of magic attacks you’ll face in this game is great enough. But the added bonus of having them restore your HP as well really takes the cake. Gain this auto-ability by equipping the Tetra Bracelet accessory.
7. Piercing Magic
A lot of the later bosses and superbosses start to come equipped with the Reflect status, making it very annoying if you need to hit them with magic attacks to bypass their Defense, or utilize their elemental weakness. Having this auto-ability equipped from Yuna’s version of the Festivalist Dressphere (or by using the Shining Mirror Garment Grid) will ensure that your magic attacks aren’t bounced right back to you. Surprisingly useful in a bunch of scenarios.
6. Auto-Haste
Another way to completely rip through random battles and make grinding a quicker process is to outspeed your opponents. And you can do that by equipping the Speed Bracer accessory, or by using the Mounted Assault Garment Grid, to give yourself the Auto-Haste ability. There really isn’t anything better than watching your party get in two or three attacks each before the enemy can even act. It even makes boss battles much simpler, since you’ll have much more time to fire off a Cure if you’re in trouble – or to quickly switch Dresspheres if you need to hurry and exploit an enemy’s weakness. The amount of utility this ability gives you is almost endless.
5. Triple AP
If you’ve ever played any FF game with AP, you’ll fully understand the usefulness of this auto-ability. Earning three times the AP after each battle makes mastering all your favorite Dresspheres way more bearable. All you need to gain this amazing ability is to equip the AP Egg accessory (easiest way to get 3 AP Eggs for your whole party is as Blitzball tournament prizes). Suddenly, learning all those new abilities doesn’t seem as much of a chore anymore, does it?
4. Spellspring
Ah, Spellspring. There’s no better FFX-2 ability to help turn your mages into literal killing machines. Once active, it completely removes the MP cost of all spells – as well as negating the HP damage suffered from using Darkness. This auto-ability is only acquired by equipping the Ragnarok accessory, but once you have it, you’ll turn the majority of challenging bosses into nothing more than punching bags for your magic casters.
3. Ribbon
Anyone who’s ever played a Final Fantasy game will know the incredibly protective properties of Ribbon, be it as an accessory or an ability. In FFX-2 you can gain this powerful auto-ability a number of ways: All three of the Special Dresspheres come equipped with it, and it can be learned by the Mascot Dressphere also. Finally, equipping the appropriately named Ribbon accessory also gives you the ability. Once equipped, you’ll be completely protected from almost every negative status effect in the game. This gives you almost unbridled protection against many of the nastier bosses it can throw at you. There’s also an ability called Super Ribbon which protects against all status effects, but the downside is that it comes with the automatic Slow status.
2. Break Damage Limit
As with most entries in the Final Fantasy series, damage in FFX-2 caps out at 9999. With this auto-ability equipped, you’ll be able to hit for damage beyond this number, making powerful attacks such as Ultima capable of decimating even the strongest of bosses with just a single use. If you’re serious about challenging some of the big boys that FFX-2 has to offer, then you’ll definitely want to consider adding this ability into your arsenal. Get it by equipping one of the three Special Dresspheres, the Invincible accessory, or by using the Garment Grids Higher Power and The End.
1. Double All
Imagine an ability that doubles the effectiveness of pretty much everything you do during battle. With the Double All auto-ability, you can achieve just that. Having this activated will double the potency of all healing and attacking items, as well as all AP, EXP, Gil, and items earned after battle. Having this coupled with the AP Egg accessory makes grinding an absolute breeze. If you want this amazing ability then get your hands on the Key to Success accessory.
Although be warned: the path to getting this accessory will leave you short of getting a perfect 100.0% run during your first playthrough – as well as completely missing out on getting the useful Mascot Dressphere.