Al Bhed Primer Guide - Must-Know Info

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Bryan is a writer who first fell in love with JRPG’s with titles like Breath of Fire II and Secret of the Stars. After his family fell under some hard times, he had no connection to video games or way to enjoy them except vicariously. That was until one Christmas morning when two things popped up under a tree. A Sony PlayStation and the game Final Fantasy VII. At the time, it was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen, every square polygon and cut scene, every story beat. He’d been transported into the future. Here we are more than twenty years later and several FF titles under his play-through belt and now Final Fantasy VII: Remake reminds him that no matter how far things advance, the best stories last forever.

The Location of Each Al Bhed Primer in FFX

Al Bhed Primer 1: Bhed Salvage Ship in the early game, when Tidus is held captive by the Al Bhed and Rikku. If missed, it can be found in the Sanubia Desert, to the northeast of the Oasis.

Al Bhed Primer 2: Besaid Village – Crusaders Lodge next to the counter.

Al Bhed Primer 3: S.S. Liki – Power Room, where the Chocobo’s are. If missed, it will be in Sanubia Desert, by the tent where you find Wakka.

Al Bhed Primer 4: Kilika Port – Tavern. Right on the desk near the guy sitting down.

Al Bhed Primer 5: S.S. Winno – Bridge. Near the Captain. If you miss it, you can get it later in Sanubia Desert, by the rubble near where you find Kimahri.

Al Bhed Primer 6: Luca Stadium – Basement B. Next to the Besaid Aurochs Locker Room.

Al Bhed Primer 7: Luca Theater – Reception. At the base of the carpeted stairs.

Al Bhed Primer 8: Mi’ihen Highroad, Rin will give this to you. It is the only one you literally can’t miss.

Al Bhed Primer 9: Mi’ihen Highroad – Newroad, North. It will be on the right of the path as you head towards Mushroom Rock from Mi’ihen Highroad.

Al Bhed Primer 10: Mushroom Rock Road – Precipice. Search for a secret pathway near one of the lifts to find this.

Al Bhed Primer 11: Djose Highroad. This one is hiding behind a large pillar on the road towards the temple. Make sure to scout for it.

Al Bhed Primer 12: Moonflow – North Wharf. It is right atop the ramp in the Warf.

Al Bhed Primer 13: Guadosalam – House. Check the house floor to the left of Seymour’s mansion, it blends in a bit, but you’ll find it.

Al Bhed Primer 14: Thunder Plains – Agency. Before you go to Yuna’s room, talk to Rikku, then Rin inside the agency at the Thunder Plains. Then go to Yuna’s room. Tell Rin ‘Okay’ when he asks about your learning Al Bhed and he’ll give you this Primer. If you miss this, it can be obtained in the Sanubia Desert, in a small dead-end area shortly after finding Rikku.

Al Bhed Primer 15: Macalania Woods – Lake Road. This one is pretty hard to see. It’s near the Save Sphere and where Auron carved a hole in the pathway. I constantly spam the action button when I walk around to pick it up.

Al Bhed Primer 16: Lake Macalania – Agency Front. Right to the left, outside the entrance of the building.

Al Bhed Primer 17: Sanubia Desert – Central. The Sanubia Desert’s first Primer is in the center of some shade and a ruin that loosely resembles a bell.

Al Bhed Primer 18: Sanubia Desert – Central. It is just sitting on the ground in the Desert near one of the signs.

Al Bhed Primer 19: Al Bhed Home. You can MISS this PERMANENTLY. It’s just outside the entrance to Home in Bikanel.

Al Bhed Primer 20: Al Bhed Home – Living Quarters. You can MISS this PERMANENTLY. It’s next to a treasure chest in the Living Quarters off the main hallway in Home.

Al Bhed Primer 21: Al Bhed Home – Main Corridor. You can MISS this PERMANENTLY. In the Main Corridor area of Home, you can find this near a crack wall in the corner.

Al Bhed Primer 22: Bevelle Temple – Priests’ Passage. You can MISS this PERMANENTLY. After the wedding scene, the Primer is resting on one of the pathways. It stands out well enough, but keep an eye open.

Al Bhed Primer 23: The Calm Lands – Central. Near the far left/west of the map. Where the Calm Landsoverlook the ancient battlegrounds with Sin.

Al Bhed Primer 24: Remiem Temple. You have to complete some Chocobo side-quests to unlock Remiem Temple. The Primer is sitting on the ground in the northwest corner once you do.

Al Bhed Primer 25: Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. You’ll have to scavenge a bit for this one inside the cavern. It shouldn’t be too far from a Save Sphere, sitting on the ground of a dead-end.

Al Bhed Primer 26: Omega Ruins. In a room with four treasure chests, the Primer is against the far wall on the ground, resting under purple light.

We’ve included pictures of the Primers that you can miss to help avoid that horrible fate.

Al Bhed Spheres in FFX

Learning Al Bhed can be passed on from one save to another. Meaning if you missed some in one save, you can get them in another and save your Al Bhed progress into an Al Bhed Sphere in-game. By syncing up your progress in a different Save File, you can pass your Al Bhed knowledge between saves or even compile them to complete it.

That means you can start a new game and unlock the whole language from your last game as well, letting you understand everything the Al Bhed have said to you that you may have missed your first playthrough.

Learning Al Bhed Gives You Gifts

You get two trophies in FFX HD Remastered for learning Al Bhed. One when you get the first Primer, “Speaking in Tongues,” and the second when you’ve collected all of them: “Master Linguist.”

You can also put in particular coordinates granted from the Primers through translation to unlock hidden map locations in FFX.

Lastly, you’ll hear more dialogue and story if you play a game with all Al Bhed unlocked.

Learn it Again in FFX-2

You can learn Al Bhed in FFX-2 when you watch a cutscene containing the language spoken or participate in the excavation minigame at Bikanel.

In Chapter 1

The Celsius: Complete the first mission and speak to Brother to earn two Primers, then talk to Buddy for one more.
Luca: Speak to Rin after completing the “Behind the Scenes” mission for one Primer.
Djose Temple: Sign up for the desert excavation by talking to Gippal. You can still get this in Chapter 2 if you miss it.
Lake Macalania: Talk to the Al Bhed woman outside the shop before the “Follow That O’aka” mission begins to get one Primer. That is also still available in Chapter 2 if you miss it.
Bikanel: You can obtain one Primer when you visit Bikanel. The remaining primers can be found by digging. You can do this in any chapter except Chapter 4 if you miss them here.

Chapter 2

The Celsius: Talk to Shinra at the beginning of the Chapter for one.
Djose: You must talk to Gippal in this Chapter for one.

Chapter 3

Djose: Talk to Gippal before completing the “Protect Besaid Temple!” mission to earn a Primer. Another Primer will be obtained when the “No Way Djose” mission starts.
Macalania: You’ll get this one after completing the “Secure the Agency” mission.

Chapter 4

The Celsius: Once the Chapter starts, talk to Paine on the Deck and then go to the Bridge to gain a primer. For a second, third, and fourth Primer in this Chapter, you have to watch the Djose and Macalania Comm Sphere events.

Chapter 5

The Celsius: After you meet with Leblanc at the Farplane, go to the Deck to trigger a scene with Brother and Buddy. That will grant you one Primer.
Djose: Defeat “The Experiment” for the first time to get a Primer.
Thunder Plains: Complete the mission, “A Fallen Genius?” to get what should be your last Primer.

Digging for any you missed should be plausible in FFX-2, so don’t worry if you missed any. The above guide is just the fastest way to get them naturally. As with FFX learning the language will help you understand more of the character dialogue in the game, but not much else in this title.

Rankings in FFX

Collecting a certain number of primers raises the player’s Al Bhed ranking. The name of the Rank is listed below, along with the number of Primers needed to achieve it. It is essentially just a title.

Al Bhed Hujela (Novice): 1
Al Bhed Pakehhan (Beginner): 4
Al Bhed Typpman (Dabbler): 7
Al Bhed Maynhan (Learner): 10
Al Bhed Cbaygan (Speaker): 13
Al Bhed Hydeja (Native): 16
Al Bhed Unydun (Orator): 19
Al Bhed Medanyde (Literati): 22
Al Bhed Sycdan (Master): 26

Not Just a Scavenger Hunt

In FFX, if you collect all the Al Bhed Primers, talk to Rin on your ship. He will give you Underdog’s Secret x99. These can give Double Overdrive to some equipment or make some Strong Mixes in combat.

A Quick Decoding

Here is the Al Bhed alphabet next to the standard English Alphabet if you want to do some translating yourself before finding all the Primers, or just for fun.

A = Y

B = P

C = L

D = T

E= A

F = V

G = K

H = R

I = E

J = Z

K = G

L = M

M = S

N= H

O = U

P = B

Q = X

R = N

S = C

T = D

U= I

V= J

W = F

X = Q

Y = O

Z = W

Rikku is the Al Bhed character on your team. Rikku = Huggo if translated from Al Bhed to English.

No, the Al Bhed names aren’t made to be translated, but I found this funny enough to share.

She is huggable, after all.

Any Tips?

Make multiple saves, up to at least three, in case you need to reload because you missed something.
Those Underdog Secret’s are worth the hunt, don’t forget to talk to Rin.
Brother, Rikku’s well, brother, can be recruited for your Blitzball team. It isn’t directly related, but he is Al Bhed, and he is in both games. So, it counts.

FAQ’s

Question: Do I need to get the Al Bhed Primers?

Answer: No, it won’t have a major effect on your game, and you can check back on the site for the codes needed for the Airship.

Question: Can I miss some Al Bhed Primers?

Answer: Yes, in FFX. When going through the wreckage of ‘Home,’ you must be careful not to trigger the story further, or you will miss the Primers inside. It is also possible to miss the Primer after the wedding.

Question: Is it hard to find the Al Bhed Primers?

Answer: Not at all. Read the above article, and you will find every Primer.

Question: What is Al Bhed?

Answer: It’s a language used by the Al Bhed people in Spira. Spira is the world used for the story arcs of FFX and FFX-2. It is fictional.

Question: Can I speak Al Bhed?

Answer: Yes, if you want to practice it, it is plausible to speak the language. I imagine that would be very time-consuming.

That’s All

FFX introducing a completely new language to show a divide between people and build story tension is good writing.

Adding them as a side-quest for completionists or treasure hunters while making sure they aren’t needed to enjoy the main story; is good game design.

In FFX-2, it is just an homage to the world. Well, as Rikku would say, “Kuut Milg!”

Al Bhed Primer Guide – Must-Know Info