Yuna Final Fantasy Guide

Yuna Final Fantasy Guide: The Tragic Summoner

Latest posts by Bryan Hughes (see all)

Yuna is a female character from Final Fantasy Ten(FFX) as part of your playable characters. She later becomes the lead character of the sequel, FFX-2.

She is initially a White Mage and a Summoner. She can be adjusted to change her skills or class-type through leveling in FFX or just by equipping different ‘dresspheres,’ which change the look and abilities of a character in FFX-2.

Her first summon is Valefor. She uses this Aeon as a fighting companion in other titles like the Dissidia series

Yuna is one of my favorite characters in all of fantasy, not just the Final Fantasy franchise. Let me delve into what makes her stand out as a character and how you as a player can best utilize her.

Because no matter which game title you’ve picked up with this heroine in it, she rocks.

Yuna’s Story

This Yuna Final Fantasy Guide contains spoilers to the games FFX and FFX-2. Skip to the In-Game portion only to avoid these.

FFX

Yuna is first met in FFX when Tidus(a man 1000 years out of time) comes to the Besaid Temple with her Guardian and Blitzball player, Wakka. The two are curious about each other and quickly develop a good report. Yuna has successfully summoned her first Aeon, Valefor, and will begin a pilgrimage, next stop Kilika and then Luca.

Wakka has already asked Tidus to join his Blitzball team to compete in Luca’s tournament, maybe helping him find some answers to being out of time. So Tidus and Yuna begin on a connected path. 

“Don’t try anything, ya?” Wakka remarks to Tidus. “But, what if she comes on to me?” Tidus quips back. “That’s not gonna happen,” Wakka says this in a tone you don’t quite understand the reason for yet.

Tidus meets up with Yuna on the boat to Kilika. He’s surprised by Yuna, who believes his story of being from Zanarkand when everyone else thinks him crazy. They share a connection over losing their fathers at a young age and dealing with a bit of fame—subtle things they both handle very differently. The chemistry is masterfully written. It’s natural, never forced. The connecting tale of Yuna and Tidus is the heart and soul of FFX.

Yuna is a Summoner of Spira first and foremost. She has other Guardians, Lulu, and Kimarhi, who don’t like Tidus nearly as much as Wakka. Her pilgrimage is essential to them, and so is her happiness.

That pilgrimage is to rid the world of Sin

Yuma

Sin is not metaphorical in Spira. It is a giant creature that randomly appears and crushes cities and raises fiends(monsters) in its wake. It can only be defeated (in a sense) when a Summoner earns all the Aeons from the Temples of the Fayth and calls forth the final Aeon to banish Sin. In which case, the world of Spira enters “The Calm.” A time of peace that lasts ten years until Sin returns, and another Summoner must undergo the challenge. Yuna’s father did this ten years ago. Now she wishes to follow in his footsteps.

Defeating Sin is not all a Summoner does for the people of Spira. They also bring hope, send lingering spirits to The Farplane, and help ward off attacks from Sin with the Crusaders until “The Calm” is achieved.

As the journey moves on, we witness Yuna perform a dance called ‘The Sending’ for Kilika after it is attacked by Sin. Summoners use this dance in Spira to send the souls of the dead to the next plain. If they don’t and the souls linger, they will become monsters. Her dance is one of the most entrancing CG moments in the FF series. In the wake of death and destruction, Yuna brings Kilika hope and even peace. It is both beautiful and tragic.

Tidus joins in on another temple unintentionally in Kilika before heading to Luca. Yuna and Tidus grow closer on the ride to Luca, and when they first arrive, he tries to teach her to whistle.

“If you ever need me, just whistle like this(whistles), I’ll come running.” This promise becomes significant for both their tales.

After finding no good answers in Luca, only bad news, Tidus is led back to Yuna by Auron. Auron is the only person that knew Tidus before he came to Spira. Here, Yuna reveals she has learned to whistle, surprising a depressed Tidus. Telling him if he ever needs her to, ‘just whistle’ and she’ll come—their shared promise.

Still, Tidus is struggling with being a man out of time. First, learning his alcoholic father was a hero instead of a screwup in Spira. Then, his father may even be the monster Sin! It’s a lot for anyone to handle.

Yuna plays the hero for him. She finds ways to relate to him or, at the very least, cheer him up. 

“A Summoner and their Guardians are like Spira’s ray of light. A lot of people depend on us. I learned to practice smiling when I’m feeling sad,” She says, sharing some of herself.

Yuna then encourages him to try smiling even now. He tries, isn’t great at it, but she’s determined. She tells him to try laughing, and his first fake laugh is so horrible it makes her laugh. Realizing how silly he must look, he begins to laugh genuinely. It works. She’s cheered him up. Throughout the story, they do this for each other, developing a meaningful bond. 

Tidus becomes one of her Guardians

Tidus

There’s still so much more to be taken from that scene when you replay the game. Like Tidus, as a player, you don’t know yet why no one talks about what they’re going to do after Yuna summons the Final Aeon except her and Tidus. Yuna knows; she plays along with Tidus because it’s fun to hold on to hope. That’s the lesson her character leaves a player with; hope is more powerful than anything the world has to throw at you.

To call the final Aeon, a Summoner will sacrifice their life. That’s right, like her father before her, to give Spira just ten years of peace, she is going to sacrifice herself.

Before that, Yuna goes through many trials. She gets engaged to a villain, not out of love, but out of duty to the peace, it can bring people. She is incredibly selfless, which occasionally enrages Tidus and sometimes those closest to her. In some ways, she is also naive in the first FFX. She becomes imprisoned, an outlaw, and forced to throw away some of her core beliefs as the game goes onward.

Even when she learns of all the ruling class lies, she knows one thing for sure. If Sin is not defeated, there is no peace for Spira.

Yet, she falls as deeply in love with Tidus as he does with her. They even get a beautiful lake scene dedicated to their first kiss. Still, neither Tidus nor her Guardians can change her mind. They’ll hope that they can save her by defeating Sin another way, but she will not stop in her quest.

They defeat Sin, and Yuna lives! Tidus does not. As the world celebrates the actual defeat of Sin, Yuna goes out to peer over the ocean and whistles.

He promised he’d always come.

FFX-2

The meaning of this game’s story is to give a happy ending to Yuna. Two years after Sin is defeated, FFX-2 happens. Yuna and her cousin Rikku, another returning character from FFX, are members of a Sphere Hunting group called the Gullwings alongside Paine. FFX-2 is the first time an FF game was completely a female cast. It’s a very different style than the first FFX game, and you only ever get to play these three throughout the title.

As she says at the start of it, “This is my story. I am going to have a happy ending!”

Her character is more carefree and an explorer here, the weight of the world off her shoulders. There’s a sense of searching for oneself in the game’s overarching themes. With no more time limit on her life, no more Sin lurking in the corner, she has to redefine herself. The Aeons and the Fayth have also moved on, so she can sadly no longer use Summons. So, to defend herself, she has started dual-wielding pistols. Yep, new Yuna has firearms.

She spots what she thinks is Tidus in one of the Spheres, and this is her hidden reason for really joining in the search for them. Eventually, the three girls learn of a great Weapon being brought back that could destroy Spira. So, they set out to stop this from happening.

This tale uses what she’s learned from her journey to defeat Sin to help others she meets struggling with conflict. It’s a shorter, more to-the-point story than the first FFX.

As you play FFX-2, you may find yourself hoping, like Yuna, that you can revive or even find Tidus. Yet, the story does an excellent job of helping Yuna step away from being just ‘The Summoner.’ Finding Tidus would be extraordinary, but her story here is more about coming to peace with still being alive after the events of FFX.

In-Game

Yuna in FFX

1. Yuna’s Sphere Grid

The Sphere Grid in FFX is how leveling up works in that title. The Sphere grid means you can choose what stats and skills your characters learn as they level up. When you level up, you can move one location on the grid. If you have a sphere, such as an ability sphere or an HP sphere, you can use it to gain the benefits of a node on the grid adjacent to or exactly where you have moved.

Because of this design, any character can become whatever you want to if you put enough work into it.

Yuna starts on the Sphere grid nearest to White Magic(healing/support) skills. Following down the most accessible path set for her gives her high Magic, high Magic Defense, and great support spells like Life and Protect. As well as the no MP skill, Pray for quick healing.

2. Magical Powerhouse

It’s OK to stay on her sphere path until learning Holy, using her Aeons to pick up some victories and keep her leveling up. To make her quickly one of the more high damaging characters, after Holy, follow these steps.

  • Use a Teleport or a Friend Sphere to move to the end of Lulu’s path and learn Flare.
  • Work your way backward down Lulu’s path, learning Double Cast along the way.
  • Make use of Special Spheres that you get to teach her any of the other spells like Drain, Osmose, Hastega, Slowga, or even Lancet.

If you need a boost earlier, use Black Magic Sphere’s (you’ll pick them up from some boss fights)to give Yuna some of Lulu’s spells as soon as necessary. It’s best to use these at least on something as powerful as Firaga if possible, though. So, make sure you’ve been using Lulu as you play to utilize Yuna best.

3. Other Routes

Taking Yuna down Tidus’s route is my usual route. I teach her Auto-Life and then use a Return Sphere and an LV.3 Sphere to learn Quick Hit. Quick Hit speeds up the rate she gets her Overdrive in combat. I still use Black Magic Spheres so Yuna can learn Lulu’s more powerful spells. 

I find this route has the quicker carry-over benefit to her Aeons. 

4. Nirvana

Here is a step-by-step guide for Nirvana, Yuna’s Celestial Weapon in FFX.

  • First: Swim to the far right of the shore at Besaid Island to open a chest with the Moon Crest. (Do this with Tidus when you first arrive)
  • Second: Make sure to Acquire Yojimbo if you haven’t. (See Hidden Aeons)
  • Third: Use the Airship to get Anima if you haven’t yet. (See Hidden Aeons)
  • Fourth: Get good at riding a Chocobo in the Calm Lands. Get real good.
  • Fifth: Beat the mini-games with the Chocobo and go to the southeast portion of the Calm Lands.
  • Sixth: Find the feather near some ruins, and use it to arrive at Remiem Temple
  • Seventh: Enter the Temple on foot, and near the Save Sphere on the left is a random Sphere on the ground; talk to it.
  • Eighth: You can now ride the Chocobo here to do a race, ignore all obstacles and win.

You can now only continue if you’ve defeated Seymour in the story already at the Via Purifco in Bevelle.

  • Ninth: You’ve received the Cloudy Mirror for winning the race.
  • Tenth: Go into the Temple and get the Aeon, The Magus Sisters, then fight Belgemine again.
  • Eleventh: You must defeat ALL the Aeons, even the hidden ones, and she will give you the Moon Sigil.
  • Twelfth: Return to Macalania Woods.
  • Thirteenth: Find a woman with her child. She will say her husband is missing. Make sure to speak to the child.
  • Fourteenth: Find the husband at a campsite, let him know they were waiting.
  • Fifteenth: Go back to find the woman, talk to her TWICE, and she will notice her kid is gone.
  • Sixteenth: Find the son, speak to him, say Yes, and use the Cloudy Mirror.

You now have the Celestial Mirror. (You need this for every final Weapon.)

nirvana

  • Seventeenth: Go back to the Calm Lands and use the Weapons from the Monster Arena to capture every monster there.
  • Eighteenth: Talk to the man at the Monster Arena once you have, and he’ll give you a chest.
  • Nineteenth: Use the Celestial Mirror to open the Chest and retrieve Nirvana.
  • Twentieth: Take Nirvana, the Moon Sigil, the Moon Crest, and the Celestial Mirror back to Macalania Woods.
  • Lastly: Go where you found the boy to get the Celestial Mirror, and offer Nirvana up, TWICE.

You now have Yuna’s Best Weapon in FFX

Nirvana

  • Break Damage Limit(Do more than 9999 damage)
  • MP Cost 1 (Spells cost 1 MP)
  • Triple Overdrive (Charges the Overdrive thrice as quick)
  • Double AP (Receive Double AP per battle)

5. Aeons

Yuna will acquire all but 3 Aeons as the story progresses. She will get them by completing The Cloister of Trials in each Temple during her pilgrimage.

  • Valefor: Non-Elemental damage.
  • Ifrit: Fire-focused damage.
  • Ixion: Lightning focused damage.
  • Shiva: Ice-focused damage.
  • Bahamut: A powerhouse. Non-Elemental damage.

Her Aeons gain stats alongside her and get stronger the more battles you fight. You can even use items to increase their stats and teach them new skills! They can learn almost ANY skill. Only Valefor has a second Overdrive.

To get Valefor’s second Overdrive, you must do the following.

valefor

  • Talk to the item store owner in Besaid anytime after you first get Lulu and Yuna in your party(the sooner, the better). She will say her dog dug something up.
  • Go around the village to find the dog, and it spits an item out that teaches one of the strongest attacks in the game to Valefor.

6. Hidden Aeons

Yojimbo: Search the Calm Lands for the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. You can do this when you first enter, but the Cavern is not easy, and Yojimbo will ask for a lot of Gil to gain him. Yojimbo has ‘unique’ attacks.

  • Anima: To get Anima, you have to use the Destruction Sphere in every Cloister of Trials successfully. Once you have the airship, use the search command on the map. Type in the coordinates: X14, Y57. Go to Baaj Temple, the statues in the Antechamber will all light up, and you can enter and receive Anima. Anima has a Powerful Overdrive.
  • Magus Sisters: You must go to Remiem Temple. First, you must defeat Belgemine’s Bahamut to receive the Flower Scepter. You must also have the Blossom Crown, which you get from the Monster Arena for capturing all the monsters at Mt. Gagazet. Take these two items to the Chamber of the Fayth in Remiem. Yuna will get the Magus Sisters. They are the strongest Aeon in the game.

Yuna in FFX-2

yuna

Yuna in FFX-2 is a lot less complex. The characters gain levels in a more traditional style, just earning experience from battles. The more monsters you fight, the more you level up. It does bring some new things to the genre and for Yuna.

1. Dresspheres

Like choosing a job in earlier titles in the FF series, in FFX-2, a character can equip a Dressphere onto one of the three ladies. Wearing these outfits lets them use and unlock the abilities unique to each one by gaining ability points while using said dressphere.

These two dress spheres offer different abilities for Yuna.

  • Trainer: Allows Yuna to command Kogoro, a combat dog-like spirit, to attack the enemy. As well as the passive skills: HP Stroll, MP Stroll, and Half MP.
  • Mascot: Provides Ribbon, Auto-Shell, and Auto-Protect. It gives Yuna the Kupo! Command. It also lets her use any Warrior or Dark Knight skills she has learned.

The following dressphere can only be equipped by Yuna.

  • Floral Fallal: Yuna gains access to some of her most powerful skills. This outfit is better suited for random encounters than bosses. You can only equip it in battle; you can do this by chaining the right Garment Grid slots. Her allies will leave the fight when she activates it, limiting any assistance during combat.

Here’s how to get it.

  • You can find it behind a rock while chasing the Leblanc Syndicate on the Djose Highroad in Chapter 2 of the game.
  • In Chapter Five, you’ll need to find the Aurora Rain in the Cavern of Stolen Fayth to Break the HP limit with this dressphere.
  • You’ll also need to find Twilight Rain, an item that will let you Break the Damage Limit with this outfit, in a chest by the waterfalls in Besaid.

2. Balance

ffx2

It’s much easier to keep the three ladies as a balanced team in this game. Their stats are the same except when the above dress spheres are equipped, so it’s wise not to have them taking the same jobs in a single fight. Being able to switch out to different spheres than each other during a battle will ensure you have all your bases covered.

3. Key To Success

Don’t kill Garik in Chapter 3. Beat it by keeping him alive to get an accessory called ‘Key To Success’ and equip Yuna with it. It will let her get AP faster. It will also double your Gil, experience, and items received after each battle.

4. Gunner’s Gauntlet

Yuna has her very own mini-game in FFX-2, where you get to try and beat a trial runtime, shooting monsters that show up with her guns and possibly picking up treasure. There isn’t too much strategy here as it’s mostly you running around and shooting stuff to get points then getting to the end before times up.

However, once Bicocettes are introduced, you can use them to your advantage. There are a lot of safe spots in the Besaid run where they can’t touch Yuna, and she can kill them to pick up Volley Ammo, which instantly kills nearby enemies it hits.

You can receive two Garment Grids from this, as well as some good items like the Beaded Brooch and Faerie Earrings.

You can also get the Adamantine, a great piece of equipment, for getting a score of 2800. I’d put this on Yuna if you go the route of Dark Knight.

5. Blitzball

Yuna is a Blitzball player in FFX-2! Her best use is as an assist player. She gets excellent passing and range and has a good attack for ball recovery or steals.

I would train up her passing and endurance at the same time. Occasionally increase her speed, block, and attack. Use her and Rikku to move around the enemy and get their blockers out of the way so your shooter, Paine, can take unblocked shots at the enemy’s goal.

Yuna in Dissidia

Dissidia is a fighting game. Although the character’s stats and leveling don’t differ terribly, there are differences between each character’s playstyle.

1. Dissidia 012, Mid-Range Menace

In theory, Yuna is a long-range fighter, but her attacks work better at mid-range. She gets her DX meter filled quickly, so I suggest focusing on Bravery Attacks early. Don’t be afraid to get some distance from time to time to assess your opponent’s tactics before going back in on the assault. 

Retreating is useful in Dissidia for many characters; Yuna is one of them.

  • Equipment: Rods, Staves, Guns, Poles, Bangles, Hats, Hairpins, Headbands, Ribbons, Clothing, and Robes.
  • Exclusive Equipment: Yu Yevon’s Will, Yunalesca’s Staff, and Spira’s Hope

All equipment is available at the shop.

2. Dissidia NT, Top Tier

Yuna got a good-sized overhaul and came into the next Dissidia as one of arguably its best characters. It’s not so much her damage output that makes her so good; it’s that she has some uninterruptable attacks. These attacks can be held and released when needed to foil your opponent.

On top of that, Valefor plays a considerable role. The Aeon attacks alongside her when summoned, which is crucial in making defending against her difficult.

  • Equipment: Rods. Weapons and costumes are just aesthetics in this title.

3. Extra Bits

In Dissidia, Yuna and Tidus have a good scene when Tidus comes to her whistle even though his memory is lost. It is a touching moment that hints even with no memory, he keeps his promise.

Other Titles

Yuna can be found in the following titles, almost always as a white mage or summoner class.

  • Final Fantasy XIV: As a minion. Fan reward for attending a festival in 2017.
  • Final Fantasy Dimensions II: She appears as a Water Element Summon and a costume
  • Dissidia Final Fantasy for the phone: A playable character with incredible healing abilities and uses a staff. Obtainable through story mode.
  • Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Series: She can be obtained by collecting Turquoise Crystal Shards. It also has an X-2 variation obtainable in-game by collecting Indigo Crystal Shards.
  • Pictlogica Final Fantasy: A playable character.
  • Final Fantasy All the Bravest: She is purchasable through the online shop for 0.99 cents, but it’s random, so you may not get her.
  • Final Fantasy Record Keeper: She can be recruited first via the Marriage of Convenience – Into the Bevelle Palace Challenge Event.
  • Final Fantasy Brave Exvius:  She’s an optionable character in the series.
  • World of Final Fantasy: She can be summoned to revive or heal allies. She also appears as a boss alongside Valefor.

Yuna Tips?

  • You can use Valefor’s Sonic Wings to win plenty of fights where you are otherwise overpowered.
  • Shiva is the fastest Aeon in FFX. However, she isn’t as powerful as the ones gained after her; speed gives her significant advantages.
  • Deathproof and Stoneproof are handy and not very difficult to acquire skills to put on your equipment in FFX.
  • In FFX-2, sync up your Garment Grid boosts with equipped accessories and class buffs for optimum dress output.
  • There are alternate endings to FFX-2. Specifically, if you let the final battle play out for a long enough time, you can see Spira explode! 

Reuniting with Tidus in FFX-2

I’m not heartless. I must tell you how to accomplish this. It is tricky. You have to make the right choices long before the end of the game in FFX-2.

  • First: You have to talk to Maechen in Chateau Leblanc in Chapter 3
  • Second: Get Tidus to whistle four times in the Farplane at the end of Chapter 3
  • Third: Press the action key, not the cancel key; after the “Chapter 5 Complete” message to trigger Tidus’s whistle
  • Then: During the ending, when Bahamut’s Fayth appears in the glen to ask Yuna if she wants to see Tidus again, give a positive answer.
  • Lastly: Wait until after the end credits to see Tidus embrace Yuna, finally, in Besaid.

FAQ’s

Question: Does Yuna have two eye colors?

Answer: Yes, she has one blue and one green eye. It is called heterochromia.

Question: Why does Yuna use guns in FFX-2?

Answer: With the Fayth gone, Spira embraces the Machina of the Al Bhed. As an explorer no longer with the power of Aeons, she needs to be able to defend herself.

Question: Do Yuna and Tidus end up together?

Answer: Should you do everything right, sort of. Some of the team working on FF7: Remake has spoken about having finished a synopsis for FFX-3. So maybe that will give them a more straightforward, ‘happy ending.’

Question: How do I get Yuna in the first Dissidia?

Answer: She is not in the very first Dissidia. She is an additional character starting in Dissidia 012.

Question: How old is Yuna?

Answer: Seventeen years old in FFX and 19 in FFX-2.

Question: How tall is Yuna?

Answer: 5’3″ or 160cm.

Question: Where can I get these games?

Answer: Most are available on the PlayStation Store. FFX and FFX-2 are also available on Nintendo Switch and Steam.
A few of the games listed in other titles are only available as Phone Apps.

Farewell

I hope I’ve left you with a little more understanding of why Yuna is one of those video game characters that has become popular from the FF franchise. For the most part, Yuna has been a well-written, multi-dimensional character throughout. She’s both a princess and a white knight all to herself. I’d argue her willpower is rivaled by none. It’s hard not to fall for her. Just ask Tidus.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top