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So the only way to farm Defense Spheres is by defeating Tanket at the monster arena, who has them as a common drop (x1 Defense Sphere per fight).
Tanket is an armored enemy, but it can have that protection broken 100% of the time with a Frag Grenade from Rikku, or from Auron’s Banishing Blade Overdrive.
Using the Armor Break ability only has a 10% chance of working.
Tanket is unlocked after capturing three of every Helm-type fiend on Spira. There’s actually seven total fiends like this, so it’ll take some work – and remember that you need x3 copies of each of these:
You can also find some Defense Spheres in chests located in the final dungeon, along with chests in the Kilika and Remiem Temples after obtaining the airship. But these are only one-time chests.
Note: Unlocking Tanket and fighting him repeatedly is the only way to farm Defense Spheres in the game. No other enemies drop these spheres, and there’s no way to bribe or steal them either.
What Are Defense Spheres Used For?
A Defense Sphere turns an empty node on the Sphere Grid into a Defense +4 node.
After you’ve created that node, you’ll need a Power Sphere to activate it on a character’s grid to gain the benefits.
But aside from that, you’re also able to use them in Rikku’s mixes – and these are the only uses that Defense Spheres have.
They are part of some pretty cool mixes, though:
Quartet of 9999 (Door to Tomorrow + Defense Sphere): Makes one character deal 9999 damage for the duration of the battle.
Final Phoenix (Phoenix Down + Defense Sphere): Revives all KO’d party members to full HP.
Super Elixir (Antidote + Defense Sphere): Restores the party to full HP and MP, as well as cures any status ailments.
Is It Worth Farming Defense Spheres?
Oh yeah.
Defense is one of the key attributes you’ll need to get super high if you plan on tackling the game’s endgame superbosses.
Without a defense stat over 200 on every party member, you’ll most likely be KO’d on the spot by any Dark Aeon’s normal attacks.
Not to mention that having a high defense helps farm the other kinds of spheres you need to prepare for endgame, such as Strength spheres and Fortune spheres, which are guarded by big baddies that love physical damage.
And it just makes sense, right?
Everybody enjoys taking less damage.
Furthermore, it’s super satisfying to get all that work done on your sphere grid and see every strength node turn into a +4.
Brian knows more about RPGs than he does world history. Combine with his love of writing and you get somebody who can, and will, go on forever about every nuance of every game he's played.
