I’ll be honest with you, I did not like Kimahri my first time playing Final Fantasy X. At least, not as a party member. I never leveled him up and never knew what he could do. It took multiple playthroughs for me to give him a chance and see what he could do. Kimahri acts as the party’s Blue Mage with his Ronso Rage. To learn all these blue mage attack, Kimahri has the ability Lancet. Using this on certain enemies throughout the game lets him gain their abilities for his overdrive. When Kimahri has all 12 of his overdrive abilities, he can be a force to be reckoned with. If you actually play with him in your party… And this list is dedicated to ranking every single one of Kimahri’s Ronso Rage overdrives, from my own personal list of worst to best. And I’ll also share which enemies you can learn them from, just to make life a bit easier!
12. Doom
Doom sounds amazing in writing. You cast it on an enemy, and within a set number of turns that enemy dies, no questions asked. The catch is that Doom barely works on anything worth killing. Ok sure, it never misses as long as the enemy is vulnerable. But depending on the stats of the enemy you can wait anywhere from 5 turns to 200 turns. Also, just about every major boss in the game is immune to it anyway. I just don’t ever find a time where Doom is really needed. P.S. The only time Doom is awesome is if you fight Yojimbo who’s both vulnerable to Doom and always dies in 5 turns. How To Get: Any ghost-type (Ghost, Wraith) fiend will give you Doom. You can also get it from Biran Ronso.
11. Jump
This one’s your default Ronso Rage, available straight from the start of the game. Jump is a basic move that does average damage to one enemy. In older Final Fantasy games, Jump was useful as it suspended your character in the air for several turns before doing damage, meaning nothing could harm them during this time. Kimahri does not get the same treatment. Sort of lackluster… How To Get: You do nothing! As stated, you’ll start out with this one as soon as Kimahri joins your party.
10. Seed Canon
Like Jump, this one is practically handed to you from the start. You can’t not get it and it’s just a little better than Jump. It still only does damage to only one enemy, and it’s still kinda lackluster. I forgive Kimahri, though, as he doesn’t get a say in having this as an overdrive. How To Get: During the tutorial fight in Kilika Woods, you’ll fight a Ragora and have the time to use Lancet on it. This is where you learn Seed Canon. However, you can also learn it from the Sandragora in the Sanubia Sands, or the Grat on Mt. Gagazet.
9. Fire Breath
Fire Breath deals moderate fire elemental damage (as I’m sure you figured out) to all enemies on the field. Finally, something better than Jump and Seed Canon! Of course, this comes with a catch. Elemental damage matters. If you aren’t using this on things weak to fire, then you may not end up doing much damage at all. So it’s worthless in some situations. How To Get: It can be learned from Dual Horn (found in Mi’ihen Highroad, Mushroom Rock Road, Home), Valaha (found in the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth), Yenke Ronso (who you fight on Mt. Gagazet), and Grende (found on Mt. Gagazet or in the Zanarkand Ruins).
8. Aqua Breath
This is basically the same attack as Fire Breath, except it does water elemental damage instead of fire. Easy peasy. It’s also the same kind of damage amount-wise, and it also targets every enemy. These two attacks are really the same to me in terms of usefulness. And if I could rank them exactly the same, I would. How To Get: Use Lancet on Chimeras in the Macalania Woods, Home, or Mi’ihen Highroad. Or on Chimera Brains in the Calm Lands, or Yenke Ronso during the boss fight on Mt. Gagazet.
7. Self Destruct
Ok, I hear you right now doubting my choices and my likes, but let me tell you that my most fun playthrough of Final Fantasy X consists of Kimahri using self-destruct to over-kill a boss I was about to die from. I ranked this one 7 purely for the fun factor. When you use self-destruct, Kimahri sacrifices his life to do big damage to one enemy. And after you use it Kimahri, cannot be revived or replaced until the end of the fight. So use it sparingly! Kimahri won’t get any AP for the fight either, obviously… How To Get: You can Lancet a Bomb in Mi’ihen Highroad, Mushroom Rock Road, Home, or in the Airship. Biran Ronso also has this in the fight on Mt. Gagazet. Or get this from a Grenade fiend, also on Mt. Gagazet, or Puroboros in the Omega Ruins.
6. Thrust Kick
Although this does a decent amount of damage, this move does not deserve any higher than this due to one reason. It doesn’t eject enemies! In the game, the description for this move says it will eject enemies from the field. However, due to an oversight or error, the move only inflicts damage most of the time. It’s a good move despite this oversight. But it would be way more useful if they had managed to actually implement the eject feature into it. How To Get: Use Lancet on YKT-63 in Bevelle, Biran Ronso on Mt. Gagazet, or YKT-11 in the Zanarkand Dome.
5. Stone Breath
I absolutely love Stone Breath for its utility in AP grinding! Like the other “Breath” moves, this targets every enemy and casts Petrification on all of them. If it hits, they’ll turn to stone. And by the way, it will always hit unless the enemy is 100% immune to petrification. When you want to grind without having to wait forever you just slap Kimahri onto the field and have him turn them all to Stone, and watch them shatter away. How To Get: Lancet the Basilisk on the Djose Highroad, the Anacondaur in the Calm Lands, or Yenke Ronso on Mt. Gagazet.
4. Bad Breath
This is one of the most annoying moves in every Final Fantasy game when it’s used against you. But when you get to use it on your enemies, it becomes a pretty dang good move all of a sudden! With Bad Breath, Kimahri will inflict several awful status ailments on every enemy. These ailments include Poison, Sleep, Silence, Confuse, Berserk, and Darkness (for 10 turns). The more status ailments you can inflict, the easier your fight should become. It’s gotten me out of a few tough situations. How To Get: You can get this from the Malboro in the Calm Lands or Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, and from Great Malboro in the Omega Ruins or inside Sin.
3. White Wind
I’m always a fan of moves that help keep me alive. So White Wind ends up getting used a lot if I have Kimahri out. White Wind restores HP to all party members, and really that’s all I need from it. It’s not as good as what Yuna can do, since you really need Kimahri’s overdrive gauge fully charged for every use. But if you don’t have her big spells or any items (or any mix ingredients) then White Wind can do the trick! How To Get: Only two places to get this – Yenke Ronso on Mt. Gagazet (you can only get it after he uses it), or Dark Flan found on Mt. Gagazet or in Zanarkand.
2. Nova
Getting near the top of our ranking now! Nova can be the most powerful move in the entire game, but only if it gets a critical hit. Even without that, Kimahri will deal massive non-elemental damage to all enemies on the field. The only catch with Nova is how difficult it can be to just learn the move. You’ll have to go out of your way if you want it, but it’s definitely worth it if you plan on using Kimahri as a permanent party member. How To Get: The Omega Weapon optional boss has this move if you fight him in the Omega Ruins. Your only other option is to create Nemesis in the Monster Arena.
1. Mighty Guard
Although dealing massive damage is usually my favorite way to play, Mighty Guard is very much the most valuable overdrive for Kimahri to learn. And it’s not as difficult to get compared to Nova. No optional bosses, no side questing for the Monster Arena, you can get it as soon as the Ronso boss battle on Mt. Gagazet. When you use it, it’ll cast Protect, Shell, and NulAll on the party (this basically nullifies elemental damage while it’s active). Without spoiling anything, I can at least tell you that NulAll is especially useful for some late-game bosses. How To Get: Biran Ronso on Mt. Gagazet can give this move, it if you wait for him to use it first. And you can get it from the Behemoth either on Mt. Gagazet or the Zanarkand Ruins. Or you can Lancet the Behemoth King inside of Sin.
