Dark Ixion

Dark Ixion is one of the Dark Aeons and appears in the Thunder Plains late in the game (reported as early as your first arrival at the Calm Lands, though most players will visit after obtaining the airship Fahrenheit). You can find Dark Ixion in the Thunder Plains, and defeating it involves challenging it to two separate fights.

Note that the Dark Aeons only appear in the International, PAL, and HD Remaster versions of Final Fantasy X. They are not present in the original North American PlayStation 2 release.

Location

Head back to the Thunder Plains and head into the northern section, and look for a Yevon soldier. After you defeat Dark Ixion for the first time, you will have to seek it out one more time. Ixion will spawn very close to the party after the next lightning strike.

Battle Preparation

Each of the Dark Aeons, including Dark Ixion, is considered a superboss, and they are some of the strongest enemies that you can fight in the game. As such, you will need to ensure that your party is fully leveled, has their best weapons, and has their stats maximized as much as possible. Refer to the Advanced area of the Tips and Tricks section for additional details.

You do not need to have a specific armor equipped, although it helps to have the Auto-Phoenix auto-ability on at least two of your party members’ armor.

Dark Ixion Stats

HP: 1,200,000 (x2)
Overkill: 99,999
AP: 20,000 (30,000 for an Overkill)
Elemental Affinities: Absorbs lightning damage, halves water damage, immune to fire and ice damage
Immune to Sensor

Battle Strategy

Dark Ixion will automatically counterattack all of your attacks with a regular attack of its own during the first battle (it stops counterattacking in the second battle). This attack can be dodged, but only if your characters have extremely high Evasion and Luck stats. Prepare to heal your characters between each of Ixion’s attacks.

Make sure to keep your party members equipped with Auto-Life at all times, primarily for Thor’s Hammer, the Overdrive that Dark Ixion uses during the second battle, which deals massive damage to your entire party. Watch out for Aerospark, the Overdrive used during the first battle: it removes beneficial status effects from its target, including Auto-Life itself, so recast Auto-Life on anyone hit by it.

You can escape this battle at any time if you run into trouble by using the Flee command.

Items and Rewards

You can Steal the following items during the battle:

• Stamina Tablet (x2) (common)
• Elixir (rare)

And Dark Ixion will drop the following items when it is defeated:

• Dark Matter (common)
• Master Sphere (rare)

Dark Ixion will also always drop a weapon or piece of armor with three or four ability slots. Its weapons can include abilities such as Lightningstrike and Break Damage Limit, while its armor can include Lightning Eater, Break HP Limit, and Ribbon.