Every Crimson Sphere in Final Fantasy X-2, and the Den of Woe

Updated 2026-10-10

Full spoilers.

The Crimson Spheres are ten key items, numbered 1 to 10, that record what happened to the last Crimson Squad selection exercise. You never have to watch them, but you need all ten in Key Items to open the sealed door at the bottom of the Mushroom Rock ravine in Chapter 5. Behind it is the Den of Woe: five fights, a garment grid, and part of the 100% Story Completion count.

Six of the spheres are handed to you or sit on the main path. Four can be lost: 9, 4, 1 and 5. Lose any one and the Den is shut for that file.

All ten at a glance

Sphere	Where	Chapter	Missable?
9	The Den of Woe entrance, Mushroom Rock ravine. Ormi and Logos drop it as they run out.	1	Yes. Gone if you never walk into the entrance tunnel in Chapter 1.
10	Chateau Leblanc, Logos’s room at the end of the hidden passageway. Picked up during the infiltration.	2	No. The story hands it over.
7	The Den of Woe entrance. Nooj gives it to you.	2	No, on the usual route. See below.
4	Chateau Leblanc, in a chest at the end of the high walkway in the round room off the hidden passageway.	3	Yes. Treat Chapter 3 as the only window.
1	Bevelle, on the floor of the circular platform where you fought Bahamut, after the Malboro fights.	3	Yes. Gone once Chapter 3 ends.
2	Received from Nooj and Gippal in the scenes after the Chapter 3 finale.	3	No.
3	Received with Sphere 2.	3	No.
5	The Celsius engine room, from Leblanc, after the Thunder Plains concert.	4	Yes. Gone if you talk to Shinra on the bridge first.
6	Via Infinito, Cloister 0. A ghostly figure drops it after the opening scene.	5	No.
8	Via Infinito, Cloister 20, on the floor after the boss.	5	No.

The numbers are not the order you find them. Spheres 1 to 8 come from Paine’s own recorder and run in story order; 9 and 10 are Leblanc’s copies, filmed after the event.

The four you can lose

Crimson Sphere 9 (Chapter 1)

During or after “Foggy Fiend Frenzy!” on Mushroom Rock Road, go down into the Ravine and walk into the tunnel just north of the Save Sphere. Ormi and Logos come running out, fail to open the door, and leave the sphere behind. Talk to Maroda by the door while you are there.

This is the only copy, and it only appears in Chapter 1. The chapter ends when you beat the boss of the Kilika Temple mission, so get Sphere 9 before you start that.

Crimson Sphere 4 (Chapter 3)

Chateau Leblanc in Guadosalam, on the Chapter 3 return visit. Go through Leblanc’s room into the hidden passageway, past the Save Sphere, and take the door on the left into the round room. A Tetra Band sits in the chest on the floor. For the sphere, climb the crate on the left, follow the narrow upper walkway all the way round, and open the chest at the end.

Get it in Chapter 3. Some walkthroughs say the chest is still there on the Chapter 5 visit if you skipped it; the missables lists say it is not. Nobody loses anything by taking it in Chapter 3, so do that.

Crimson Sphere 1 (Chapter 3)

Bevelle, Chapter 3. After the meeting between Nooj, Baralai and Gippal, the underground has a pair of Malboro fights on the way back to the platform where you fought Bahamut at the end of Chapter 2. The sphere is lying on the floor of that circular platform. The game does not point it out, and the scenes move you along quickly. Walk the platform before you leave.

If you left without it, you can fly back to Bevelle any time before the Chapter 3 finale at Djose and pick it up. Once the Djose boss falls, it is gone.

Crimson Sphere 5 (Chapter 4)

After the Thunder Plains concert you are back on the Celsius. Do not talk to Shinra on the bridge yet. Take the lift to the engine room first: Leblanc, Ormi and Logos are waiting, and Leblanc gives you Sphere 5. Talking to Shinra ends Chapter 4, and the engine-room scene goes with it.

The six that come to you

Sphere 10 is part of the Chapter 2 infiltration of Chateau Leblanc. You cannot finish the chapter without it.
Sphere 7 comes from Nooj at the Den of Woe entrance in Chapter 2, when you visit Mushroom Rock. The missables lists do not count it, and the area checklists treat it as safe. One reference does call it missable if you never go to Mushroom Rock in Chapter 2. Mushroom Rock is part of the normal Chapter 2 route, so just make sure you go.
Spheres 2 and 3 come together in the closing scenes of Chapter 3, after the fight at Djose.
Spheres 6 and 8 are in the Via Infinito under Bevelle in Chapter 5: 6 on Cloister 0 the first time you enter, 8 after the boss on Cloister 20. The Via Infinito guide covers the run down.

Watching the recordings

Each sphere unlocks a recording in Shinra’s Treasure Spheres menu on the Celsius bridge. Watching them is optional for the Den, but several of the viewings are Story Completion lines. Watch each one in the chapter you get it, because that is where the line is counted.

In the order you get them:

Sphere 9 (Chapter 1). Ormi and Logos film the dead aspirants in the Den of Woe and report that nobody survived. Logos thinks Ormi miscounted.
Sphere 10 (Chapter 2). The pair report the results to a Yevon official, who notices that three candidates and their recorder are missing from the bodies and tells them to fix it.
Sphere 7 (Chapter 2). Paine, alone on a dark beach full of pyreflies, calling for the others.
Sphere 4 (Chapter 3). Kinoc’s briefing for the final exercise in the Den of Woe. There are not enough weapons to go round. Inside the Den, the squads turn on each other.
Sphere 1 (Chapter 3). A drill in the Bikanel desert. Baralai asks why an Al Bhed like Gippal wants to join, and introduces himself.
Spheres 2 and 3 (start of Chapter 4). The squad out of ammunition in the desert, Paine finishing the fiends, Nooj looking for a place to die; then a boat trip where Gippal and Baralai argue about machina and Operation Mi’ihen.
Sphere 5 (Chapter 5). The standoff in the Den: pyreflies take hold of Nooj, and the four end up with guns on each other until Paine stops it.
Spheres 6 and 8 (Chapter 5). The debriefing in Bevelle and the ambush that follows it; then the four reunited on the Mi’ihen Highroad, and the last thing Paine’s recorder caught.

If you want the story straight, rewatch them in number order after you have all ten: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, then Leblanc’s 9 and 10.

The Den of Woe

Requirements

All ten Crimson Spheres in Key Items. If the door does nothing, open Key Items: the ten spheres sit at the top of the list, so a gap is easy to spot.
Chapter 5. The door does not open in earlier chapters however many spheres you hold.
You can go in whenever you like during Chapter 5. On a 100% file, clear it before you take the portal at the end of the game.

Getting in

Mushroom Rock Road, down into the Ravine. Save at the Save Sphere in the gorge. Walk to the door with all ten spheres for the scene, then follow the arrow east and jump the chasm. There are no chests inside. Five fights follow back to back, with no Save Sphere between them, so heal with items and abilities.

Set Yuna up before you go in: she fights the first two alone. Bring a Thief for the steals (every boss carries a Lore accessory), a Gun Mage for two Blue Bullets, and a White Mage or other dedicated healer.

The five fights

Boss	Party	HP	Steal	Drop
Rikku	Yuna alone	7,800	Bushido Lore	Black Lore
Paine	Yuna alone	9,200	Sword Lore	Champion Belt
Baralai	All three	12,220	Nature’s Lore	Crystal Ball
Gippal	All three	14,800	White Lore	Kaiser Knuckles
Nooj	All three	23,800	Arcane Lore or Magical Dances, Vol. I	the other one

Rikku is fast and evasive but hits for little: double physical hits, Grenades and elemental gems in the low hundreds. Protect, keep Yuna topped up, steal, then attack.

Paine only uses her normal attack, but it is quick and hits for around 600. Protect and Power Break help. Heal early.

Baralai. Rikku and Paine rejoin. Dispel his Regen and Not-So-Mighty Guard. Looming Glacier stops one character and drains MP. Drill Shot takes 75% of a target’s max HP. Protect softens it, and a Gun Mage hit by it learns it as a Blue Bullet. If you missed Drill Shot on Baralai at the end of Chapter 2, this is the last chance in the story.

Gippal. Grinder, Bullseye (a share of current HP on several targets), Flash and Hush grenades, and a Potion for himself. Mortar comes out as his HP falls, and this is the only place in the story a Gun Mage can learn it. Keep your Gun Mage standing and do not burst him down before he uses it. Pilfer Gil pays well here.

Nooj resists magic, so hit him physically; Dark Knight’s Darkness works well. He alternates normal attacks with Rippling Chroma and Greedy Aura, which takes a share of everyone’s HP and MP. Lightfall hits the whole party for 5,000 once. Most accounts put it below 3,000 HP; one puts it much earlier, at about 75%. Either way, nobody with under 5,000 max HP survives it. Use a Stamina Tonic, the Crystal Bangle from the ravine ledge, a heavy-HP dressphere, or Auto-Life. Accounts disagree on which of Arcane Lore and Magical Dances, Vol. I is the steal and which is the drop, so steal before the kill and you get both.

Rewards

Supreme Light garment grid. Any dressphere on it can use the White Mage abilities you have learned, and crossing its gates adds Auto-Life and Holy.
Magical Dances, Vol. I, from Nooj.
The Lore accessories and drops above.
Mortar and Drill Shot for a Gun Mage, if you set them up.
Story Completion. The Den is part of Mushroom Rock Road’s Chapter 5 episode, which ends with Episode Complete after a scene outside the cave. 100% needs it.

Afterwards, a scene plays outside and you return to the Celsius. Clearing the Den also lets you trap Baralai, Gippal and Nooj in the Creature Creator: see the fiend capture guide.

If you have already lost one

There is no second copy of 1, 4, 5 or 9. On that file the Den is closed and 100% is out of reach. New Game Plus keeps your Story Completion progress, so a second run can pick up the missing pieces. Before you write it off, check the Chapter 5 Chateau Leblanc chest for Sphere 4, since some walkthroughs say it is still there.