I'm playing FFX the second time through, and, unlike the last time, I'm balancing my characters up nicely. I have learned to appreciate the usefulness of Tidus and especially Kimahri. However, like before, I am still having difficulty with one character. So my question is, what purpose does Rikku serve during battle except for steal and mug?

For example, Auron is the battle tank who can pierce armored enemies and has a nice collection of Armor/Mental/Power/Magic Breaks. Yuna is the healer, protector, resurrector and a summoner who has saved my party in a number of tight spots. Tidus is a nimble sword fighter who deals heavy damage against lightly armored opponents and can hit nimble opponents, and let's not forget the use of hastega, slowga and cheer. Wakka uses a surprisingly powerful blitzball attack that works against most opponents, close and far range, and he can take down aerial targets with ease and unleash useful dark/silence/blind attacks. Lulu is the black mage (nuff said). Kimahri has Lancet and can be moved into Lulus, Aurons or Tidus's place of the sphere grid early on, making him a versatile character. But what is Rikku's purpose? She hits harder physically than Yuna and Lulu, but compared to Kimahri, Auron, Wakka and Tidus, she is a weakling. She possesses no useful Black Magic. The last game I made her useful by using Black Magic Spheres/White Magic Spheres, equipping her with Flare and Holy, but she dealt far less damage than Yuna or Lulu in the final battles. And the only reason I used her was because of a 1 MP Cost upgrade to her weapon.

Am I missing some great upgrade or potential she serves? I would like to have all my characters fully utilized in my second game, and maximize their strengths against the upcoming bosses.

-Sponge

Ha ha ha, nobody likes Rikku ay?

Mod Edit: Please put more effort into your posts. Thank you.

I think she was also fast. Her overdrive was nice if you knew what to mix together.

I thought she needed a different though. She's too small and skinny to be using claws. Since she was Al Bhed she should have had a gun. And it would have been to see Wakka's reaction to that since guns were forbidden.

I've been able to deal a good amount of damage with Rikku... She could take down an Iron Giant in one or two shots...

This is nifty: http://www.ffinsider.net/final-fantasy-10/mix.php

Yeah, Rikku's useful only if you know good mixes. She can put up good defenses, heal, and damage. Though during my first playthrough, I rarely used her. I used to think she was pretty useless.