Unlocking the Monster Arena

Learn how to unlock the Monster Arena in Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster by capturing Calm Lands fiends and gathering Petrify Grenades for Wakka's weapon.

Alright, so you've been doing some capturing on the Calm Lands and now you're wondering how to actually *use* all those fiends you've collected? Well, it's time to unlock the Monster Arena! It's not super complicated, but it does involve a bit of preparation, especially for Wakka's ultimate weapon.

Here's the rundown: First, you need to capture all nine species of fiends that roam the Calm Lands. Once you've done that, head back to the Monster Arena. The NPC there will give you props for your hard work, and more importantly, you'll unlock a special monster called the Chimerageist. You *can* fight it now if you're feeling brave, but honestly, it's probably best to leave it for later. Your reward for unlocking it, though, is 60 Farplane Winds. These are super handy because you can customize them onto Tidus' capture weapon, giving him Deathstrike. This means he'll instantly kill enemies that are weak to instant death, and you'll capture them at the same time – pretty sweet combo!

Now, about Wakka's capture weapon. You'll want to get Stonestrike on it, and that requires 60 Petrify Grenades. Don't panic! You've already captured an Anacondaur on the Calm Lands, right? Good, because you don't need to go hunting for more. You can actually summon an Anacondaur directly in the Monster Arena. It'll cost you 1,125 Gil to summon one, and you'll get 750 Gil back when you defeat it, so it's not a huge money sink. The real goal here is to steal from it. The common steal is one Petrify Grenade, and the rare steal gets you two.

Pro-Tip: If you have armor with the Master Thief ability, equip it on whoever you're using to steal. They'll always get two Petrify Grenades per attempt, which will speed things up considerably. You'll need 60 in total, so if you're starting from zero, that's a maximum of 30 battles, though you might get lucky and snag more than one grenade per fight. Once you've got all 60, you can finally put Stonestrike on Wakka's capture weapon. And that's pretty much it for getting the Monster Arena fully prepped!