10 Final Fantasy XV Tips And Tricks To Know

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Final Fantasy XV is an excellent game, but there are a lot of lessons you learn from playing that the game just doesn’t teach you.

In fairness to Square Enix and the Final Fantasy XV team, the world of Eos does explain itself and its mechanics rather fluidly. However, there are always those little tidbits of information you just can’t acquire without stumbling across them for yourself.

So, without further ado, here are all the tips, tricks, and sage advice I wish I knew before I had started Final Fantasy XV.

Final Fantasy XV: 17 tips you need to know

1. Play the tutorial

This may sound like an absolute no-brainer but – it’s vital to your success, later on, to go ahead and get the tutorial out of the way. Final Fantasy XV gives you the option to skip tutorial play and jump right into the adventure, which is definitely tempting after you’ve waited so long to play the game.

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Square Enix does a good job of walking you through the basics of combat and exploration in-game, but many of the advanced techniques that can really turn the tide in combat only come from either experience or learning about it in the tutorial. Honestly, what’s an extra 10-15 minutes of the tutorial when you come out well-prepared on the other side?

2. Keep yourself on a tight leash until chapter three

I know the temptation is high to jump out of the Regalia and explore the land of Lucis as soon as you can but don’t. Reign yourself in and just hit up nearby spots. You’re better off getting used to the mechanics and powering on through until chapter three where you unlock the delightful ability to hire and ride Chocobos.

Unlike the Regalia, these yellow-feathered ridable birds can go offroad and traverse long distances incredibly quickly. They’re also super cheap to hire and can be rented for multiple days at a time. Once you’re equipped with a Chocobo, that quest marker that’s over a mile and a half away won’t seem so daunting.

3. Know where to rest before a big battle

Resting up before a big battle is key – not only does it mean all your accumulated EXP goes into leveling up your team if you opt to camp – instead of staying at a hotel – Ignis will cook up a stat-boosting storm.

Obviously, that makes camping sound like an absolute no-brainer – you level up AND get a stat boost. However, if you’ve saved up a whole heap of EXP, paying to stay at a hotel can provide you with an EXP multiplier – effectively allowing you to level up multiple times if you’re lucky, potentially useful ahead of a big fight. You can also eat some grub to give yourself a stat boost before heading out into the field, so, if you’re happy to spend your hard-earned Gil, you could get the best of both worlds.

4. Make use of Wait mode if combat is getting too tricky

If you’re finding combat a little bit too difficult or chaotic, Final Fantasy XV’s Wait mode is an absolute lifesaver. Not only can you pause the flow of battle and line up your next attack – if you have Ignis’ Analyse ability – you can look at an enemy’s weaknesses and health to assess which target is the best to attack next. It means battles become more tactical compared to the seemingly chaotic encounters of real-time combat.

5. Watch your health

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has a slightly different health system from other Final Fantasy Games, whereby you actually have two health bars. The first bar, represented as a white bar, is your main health bar. This is depleted in combat from attacks and can be restored with Potions, Warp Points, or just hiding behind some cover.

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The second health bar sits underneath your main health and represents your overall health. This bar depletes when you’ve been attacked once your main health bar has been totally depleted and you’re awaiting rescue. The more damage taken to this, the lower your maximum health will be – no matter how many potions you take. The only way to restore this bar, and thus your maximum health, is to take an Elixer.

6. Don’t venture out at night unless you absolutely have to

In the early stages of Final Fantasy XV, you’ll want to camp up or find a hotel at night because you don’t want to be venturing about in Lucis once the sun goes down. Not only are enemies stronger, but new monsters you don’t see during the day spawn and they’re far tougher than you could possibly imagine at such an early stage. Basically, unless you have to do a hunt mission at night, or you have a desire to be shanked in the dark, stay indoors/in a tent at night.

7. Get an instant stamina boost

When you’re not driving your car or riding a Chocobo, the quickest way to get around on foot is by sprinting. The trouble is, sprinting wears you out and you’ll spend your time running in short bursts and strolling in between. Thankfully there’s a little trick you can use to cut down this respite period, giving you a little stamina boost in the process.

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By default, the Stamina meter is switched off in Final Fantasy XV. A quick visit to the options menu lets you turn it on and see when your stamina is about to deplete. When running, let go of the Sprint button just before you run out of steam and then press it again right after – your Stamina bar will fill right back up and Noctis will get a little spurt of extra speed. Not bad.

8. Grab Roadrunning and Chocobump abilities ASAP

Seeing as you spend so much time traveling in Final Fantasy XV, you’ll really want to snap up the Roadrunning and Chocobump abilities from the exploration abilities tab of your Ascension grid. Not only are these the only exploration abilities really worth having, but they also give you one AP for every minute spent driving or riding a Chocobo. Unfortunately, they don’t come cheap – at 32 AP apiece, you’ll need to save up your AP to unlock them early on, but it’s definitely worth doing.

9. Don’t sell EVERYTHING you have for Gil

Money is hard to come by in Final Fantasy XV, which is a little strange seeing as you’re the prince of a royal kingdom and first in line to the throne. But whatever, you’re flat broke for the early stages of your adventure and it’s tempting to sell everything you come across for cold, hard cash.

You can, and should, sell what you collect, but always make sure to keep at least one or two of something, as you never know when they could come in useful. A lot of treasures, especially some high-value ones, can be used to augment and improve weapons or upgrade Noctis’ fishing line or modify spells. Until you start doing this, it’s hard to know which treasures are actually worth keeping, so just always make sure to have a selection available to you.

10. Always check the local stores for key items

Staying on the store and shopping theme, it’s always worth checking in at a shop even when you don’t need any supplies. Shops tend to sell a selection of interesting and key items you can make use of. Some will have a fishing rod Noctis can use to catch bigger and better fish, they may even have components you need to craft a weapon upgrade.

However, the most important items they tend to stock are Final Fantasy soundtracks you can listen to while you drive. Yes, that’s right, you can speed down the roads of Lucis while listening to “Man with the Machine Gun” from Final Fantasy VIII or the “Golden Saucer Theme” from Final Fantasy VII. It’s every Final Fantasy fan’s dream come true.