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Sphere Levels
"Final Fantasy X" was the first role-playing game to introduce the sphere level system for increasing a character's stats and abilities. Instead of receiving automatic stat increases each time a character levels up, or having abilities to be learned at certain levels, a player can choose which attributes to improve when they earn a sphere level. Like traditional role-playing games, "Final Fantasy X" characters gain a new sphere level by earning a certain amount of ability points, or AP.
Sphere Grid
In the "Final Fantasy X" sphere grid, a player can spend a character's sphere level to increase attributes or abilities. Each character starts at a different point on the sphere grid; each spot on the sphere grid is known as a "node." If a character can travel from one node to another, there will be a line between the two nodes, but the character must have one sphere level for each node traveled. There are five basic types of nodes found on the "Final Fantasy X" sphere grid: power nodes, magic nodes, speed nodes, luck nodes and ability nodes.
Locks
Although each character moves around on the same sphere grid, certain nodes on the sphere grid are locks that prevent a "Final Fantasy X" character from moving to a part of the grid designated for another character. Throughout the game, a player will come across keys that allow them to unlock the locked nodes and cross over into other parts of the sphere grid. Each "Final Fantasy X" key has a different level that corresponds to the level of locked node it can unlock; level 1 keys are easier to find than level 4 keys, but the upgrades blocked by a level 4 locked node are much more valuable.
Special Spheres
Different types of spheres can also be found throughout "Final Fantasy X" that allow a player to make even better use of their sphere levels. For instance, a player must spend a certain type of sphere earned during game play to gain attributes from a node already activated by a different character. These spheres include attribute spheres, special spheres, skill spheres, black magic spheres and white magic spheres. Some spheres, such as HP spheres or MP spheres, allow a player to convert an empty node into an attribute node. Other spheres allow special types of movement without spending sphere levels: a return sphere transports a character to a previously activated node, while a warp sphere transports a character to any node on the sphere grid.