How early do I need to start planning for stat optimization?

[arejang]

I saw on some forums that you don't need to max out every available stat to defeat the dark aeons, but a few stats are still very important like strength, defense, and m. defense. Are there any other stats that I need to bump up? How early in the game should I start worrying about this if I eventually want to try challenging the dark aeons?

[ramsza]

Assuming you are on standard grid, for normal story line it's okay to just move each character to the end of his/her path (maybe witn a small sidetrack into a neighbor path) and if you reach that point, contiunue with another nearby path. This will be enough to reach the point of of no return. Actually if you start stat maxing before that, the last dungeon will be ridicusly easy.
You only need maximing for the unique monsters of the monster farm/arena and the dark aeons.
You should just finish everything in all temples when you are there for the first times. Otherwise some useful things will be blocked by dark aeons.

TL;DR:
Don't worry about maxing before you reach the post-endgame. You can play through the story without maxing, reload from last save point and then tackle maxing.

[arejang]

Originally posted by ramsza:

Assuming you are on standard grid, for normal story line it's okay to just move each character to the end of his/her path (maybe witn a small sidetrack into a neighbor path) and if you reach that point, contiunue with another nearby path. This will be enough to reach the point of of no return. Actually if you start stat maxing before that, the last dungeon will be ridicusly easy.
You only need maximing for the unique monsters of the monster farm/arena and the dark aeons.
You should just finish everything in all temples when you are there for the first times. Otherwise some useful things will be blocked by dark aeons.

TL;DR:
Don't worry about maxing before you reach the post-endgame. You can play through the story without maxing, reload from last save point and then tackle maxing.

I'm playing through the game with the expert grid. I don't know why, I just thought it was a good idea at the time, lol. Does that change anything?

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by arejang:

How early in the game should I start worrying about this if I eventually want to try challenging the dark aeons?

You shouldn't worry at all.

The way FFX works, you can completely customize the Sphere Grid's stat nodes at endgame. Nothing you do early in the game can't be undone if need be, and there is no way whatsoever to screw up the Grid. Everyone can learn every ability, and you can eventually remove and change stat nodes as you please.

For postgame content, what Grid you are using is fairly irrelevant. It mostly matters during early game, where the Expert Grid will allow you to be more flexible with what path you choose for which character, while the Standard Grid has very pre-defined paths. At endgame, the Standard Grid technically has a few extra nodes to play with, but if you just want to kill all the superbosses that is completely irrelevant because you will get nowhere near using all nodes. The only time it would matter is if someone wanted to do 255 in all stats PLUS 99,999 HP which is a ridiculous overkill that will take an ungodly amount of time to do for no real reason. Killing all the superbosses does not require you to break the 9,999HP limit, and is in fact faster and easier to do if you do not.

So, in answer to your question: start worrying as soon as you're done with the story, or, more precisely, as soon as you've completed all the Fiend Arena captures. That's when you get going on the stat maxing.

[Chaos Residue]

I don't start worrying about stat maxing until I beat the final monster in the Monster Arena. That's when you can buy clear spheres. Then I go around the board and clear and replace every node one at a time until they are all +4. After that I go around again and add +4 stats to the empty nodes, starting with Luck, then Strength, then Accuracy, then Magic Attack until every character has 255 in those. Then I continue with the remainder of the stats until every character has 255 in each, leaving MP and HP for last. I then use MP spheres until every character has 999 MP, and I use the rest of the empty nodes for HP spheres.

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by Chaos Residue:

I don't start worrying about stat maxing until I beat the final monster in the Monster Arena. That's when you can buy clear spheres.

Clear Spheres appear on the Monster Arena vendor as soon as you have captured 5 of every fiend in the world. You do not actually need to beat any bosses yet, just capturing 5 of every fiend is enough.

Originally posted by Chaos Residue:

Then I go around the board and clear and replace every node one at a time until they are all +4. After that I go around again and add +4 stats to the empty nodes, starting with Luck, then Strength, then Accuracy, then Magic Attack until every character has 255 in those. Then I continue with the remainder of the stats until every character has 255 in each, leaving MP and HP for last. I then use MP spheres until every character has 999 MP, and I use the rest of the empty nodes for HP spheres.

There's various ways to go about the order, however you do not need 255 in EVERY stat. Strength, Defense, Magic Defense, definitely. Agility is effectively maxed at 170. Magic is basically irrelevant to superboss fights (and phenomenally annoying to farm). Luck, Evasion, and Accuracy are in a complicated interrelationship, however Evasion and Accuracy are so easy to farm you might as well max them. Luck is the hardest stat to farm BY FAR, however you do need a certain amount to make two of the superbosses bearable fights. Around 130ish is usually enough.

HP and MP should reach 9,999 and 999 organically as you collect nodes on your way to maxing out the other stats, there's no need for dedicated farming in most cases.

[Chaos Residue]

Originally posted by Hinnyuu:

Clear Spheres appear on the Monster Arena vendor as soon as you have captured 5 of every fiend in the world. You do not actually need to beat any bosses yet, just capturing 5 of every fiend is enough.

I didn't realize 5 of every fiend is all it took, but that's also because once I get capture weapons I don't go back until I have 10 of every fiend from all locations anyway.

Originally posted by Hinnyuu:

There's various ways to go about the order, however you do not need 255 in EVERY stat. Strength, Defense, Magic Defense, definitely. Agility is effectively maxed at 170. Magic is basically irrelevant to superboss fights (and phenomenally annoying to farm). Luck, Evasion, and Accuracy are in a complicated interrelationship, however Evasion and Accuracy are so easy to farm you might as well max them. Luck is the hardest stat to farm BY FAR, however you do need a certain amount to make two of the superbosses bearable fights. Around 130ish is usually enough.

HP and MP should reach 9,999 and 999 organically as you collect nodes on your way to maxing out the other stats, there's no need for dedicated farming in most cases.

If the stat goes to 255 then to max the stat you need to get to 255, regardless of whether or not Agility doesn't do anything past 170, or if Magic Attack is relevant to boss fights. I prefaced my post by stating that I was stat maxing. For stat maxing you have to have dedicated farming. Or cheat. You can't organically max the stats just by playing through the story and all of the side quests. The Monster Arena is necessary. I'm not saying the way I play the game is the best or only way to play it. That's just how I play it, and it works well with my OCD to see all stats for all characters at 255. The thing that does NOT help my OCD is seeing HP only get to ~30,000 or so HP instead of having enough nodes to max HP at 99,999 and MP at 9,999 with all other stats maxing at 255.

[Hinnyuu]

As always, I'm just providing information. What people do with that information is up to them. OP clearly doesn't have exhaustive knowledge about endgame so I thought it would be good to make it clear you don't HAVE to get EVERY stat to 255. Whether or not you still WANT to is another matter of course, and entirely legitimate. In fact, you should prioritize what you enjoy over anything else.

[Chaos Residue]

Originally posted by Hinnyuu:

As always, I'm just providing information. What people do with that information is up to them. OP clearly doesn't have exhaustive knowledge about endgame so I thought it would be good to make it clear you don't HAVE to get EVERY stat to 255. Whether or not you still WANT to is another matter of course, and entirely legitimate. In fact, you should prioritize what you enjoy over anything else.

I misread your previous post as you replying directly to me, and telling me that I was doing it wrong. I apologize if I was defensive.

[Casurin]

The only thing i would look out from pretty much the start of the game:
Do not waste the Luck-spheres. They are really not fun to farm. Everything else - go for it.

[Mikasa Ackerman]

i would say , start at the storyline tournament
try to win to get a free strength sphere, also get the mp and hp spheres from the temples , that already removes the need to farm one sphere for later