So you’re joining Noctis and crew for the road trip to end all road trips. Now what kind of food should you bring? And how do you convince them to let you be in charge of the music?
Final Fantasy XV, which comes out today for PS4 and Xbox One, is full of things to see and do. Driving around with your party of bros can be a real blast. But you’ll want to be prepared—so follow these tips if you want to have a good time.
Don’t do the tutorial
It’s boring and unnecessary. The first couple of quests in the proper game will do a way better job of easing you into Final Fantasy XV’s unique combat system, and besides, you can always choose to train with Gladiolus at camp if you want some practice.
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Don’t worry about doing every sidequest
There’s really no reason to run around the world and hammer through sidequests as soon as they open up. Just do whatever feels natural.
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Even after you get out of the open world and into the more linear portions of Final Fantasy XV, you can go back any time. You can also revisit the open world once you’ve completed the game, so don’t stress out if you’ve left sidequests unfinished or dungeons unexplored. Many hunts and quests are designed to be finished once you’ve beaten the game, anyway. You also won’t miss much if you skip the ones that seem really boring.
Only fast travel when you have to
When you’re out on the open road, it might be tempting to take advantage of the game’s fast travel feature to zip between destinations, but you’d be missing out. Part of the game’s charm is watching Noctis and pals drive from place to place, not just because it helps evoke the feeling that you’re really on a road trip, but because they have a lot of funny, interesting conversations as you drive (that you’ll miss if you use fast travel). The world is gorgeous, and getting to listen to old Final Fantasy music on the Regalia’s CD player is a nice touch. Speaking of which..
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Buy all the Final Fantasy CDs
Every time you get to a new town or outpost, go to the vendor and see what “key items” they have. Usually they’re selling a CD or two that you can add to your collection. (Bonus tip: Buy the portable music player in the Regalia’s shop if you want to listen to your CDs on the go.)
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Talk to every restaurateur
Wherever you see a fork and knife icon on your map, you’ll find a restaurant, where you can sit down and chat with the owners for all sorts of good stuff. You can talk to them to see nearby landmarks, eat food for temporary stat buffs, and ask them to send you on monster hunts.
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Get Ignis’s Regroup technique ASAP
To build up your party’s stats and abilities, you use what’s called Ascension, a Sphere Grid-like system that lets you unlock a series of nodes using Ability Points. One of the first nodes you should unlock is Ignis’s Regroup ability, which heals your entire party. It’s one of the best techniques in the game, and will save your ass from danger multiple times.
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Focus on AP-granting abilities first
After getting Regroup, unlock the nodes that let you gain AP while driving and riding chocobos—nothing better than getting free Ability Points for stuff you’d be doing anyway.
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Save manually
The auto-save system is fine, but it never hurts to be careful, especially when you’re about to go into a new dungeon. Besides, you never know when you might want to replay a cool sequence or chapter.
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Learn how to block
In most Final Fantasy games, you won’t spend a lot of time using the Defend command. Final Fantasy XV is very different. Enemies can hit hard, and often, the best way to take them out is to get good at dodging and parrying. When the square button (on PS4) appears on your screen, hold it down, then get ready to hit circle ASAP for a counter-attack. Lots of tough enemies have unique parry animations, and pulling off a good counter can help a lot.
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Your weapon matters
Different enemies have a variety of strengths and weaknesses. Some enemies might be weak to swords; others might be weak to daggers. Ignis’s Analyze ability will let him scan enemies once in a while, and you can also switch to Wait Mode to see weaknesses more easily, but the best way to discern an enemy’s weak point is to keep an eye on the color of your damage numbers. If they’re purple, the enemy is strong against your attack. If they’re white, it’s neutral. And if your damage numbers are orange, you’re in good shape: That means you’re hitting the enemy’s weakness.
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Go for back attacks
As you’re rolling and warping around the battlefield, one of the best ways to do extra damage is to go for Blindsides—attacks from an enemy’s blindspot. Not only will this give you a damage multiplier, it’ll usually trigger a cooperative attack with Noctis’s friends, which can be way more powerful than solo fighting.
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Target enemies’ body parts
One good way to take out enemies in Final Fantasy XV is to “break” their appendages. To do this, look for body parts (legs, tails, fins) to target and use warp-strike to do as much damage as possible. If you successfully pull off a break, the enemy will crumple and enter a “vulnerable” state that leaves them susceptible to more damage for a few seconds.
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Use magic liberally
It might seem like magic is a valuable resource, given that you can only craft it from magic draw points throughout the world, but it’s not. Don’t worry about hoarding it. Magic sources are relatively common—you can find them next to any campground on the map—and unless you’re in a more linear section, like the last few chapters of the game, you can feel free to throw spells around whenever you feel compelled.
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Just be careful not to hit your party with spells. Pro tip: Using Ignis’s Regroup is a good way to get everyone away from the fray so you can throw a magical spell at your enemies without hurting your buds.
Take your time
It’s hard to enjoy Final Fantasy XV if you’re rushing. The best way to play the game is to slow down, explore, and take the time to stay at hotel resorts all across Lucis, where you might just see an optional scene or two.
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Turn off the HUD every once in a while
Final Fantasy XV is a beautiful game, and you’ll appreciate the sights a lot more if you go into the options menu and set the HUD to off. It’s tough to play the whole game like that, but when you’re driving around or exploring, all that UI can get in the way of how awesome the world looks.
Grammars can be learned automatically from transcriptions. Midi to text windows. Styles can be edited and created by the user.
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I try andinstall direct from the game as well as manually in the legacy features area and it tries to install and then stops with an error saying not all the features can be installed.
Hang onto Oracle Ascension Coins
One of Final Fantasy XV’s biggest problems is that it gives you no indication of which items you should keep and which you’re safe to sell. One tip: Don’t sell your Oracle Ascension Coins. There’s a guy in Altissia who will let you trade them in for powerful gear.
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Examine everything
There are a lot of posters, books, and other random objects sprinkled throughout the world, and they help add a lot to the story, especially later in the game. If you don’t read everything, you’re gonna miss out on some important story beats.
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Visit the arena in Altissia
It’s very easy to breeze through Altissia, the gorgeous Venice-inspired city you’ll see in the middle of the game, but you’d be remiss not to pay a visit to the Colisseum, where you can wage on monster battles for fun and profit.
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Some quest lines start off boring, but get better
NPCs like Cindy the mechanic and Sonia the professor will give you tedious quests at first, but later they’ll send you off into optional dungeons that are worth the journey. Cindy will offer some useful rewards that make your car better. It’s also worth taking photos for Vyv, the guy in Lestallum who looks like Hurley from Lost. His quests are easy and will give you a lot of money. The end of Vyv’s chain also leads to a nice treat for Final Fantasy fans.
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Look for darkened areas on your map
When you’re exploring—especially once you’ve finished the game—here’s a useful tip: If an area of your map is lightened up, you’ve been there already. When you’re hunting for new stuff to do, keep an eye out for dark areas and landmarks that seem like they should be important. Chances are, there’s a new dungeon hidden in one of those little terrain markers.
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Stock up on Potions and Phoenix Downs
This may seem obvious, but those two items are the most important ones in the game. Potions will get your characters out of Danger mode, and Phoenix Downs will revive Noctis and his pals—the only way to avoid getting a Game Over when you’re knocked out. You’ll want as many of both as possible. It’s also useful to keep a regular stock of status-clearing items like Antidotes, Golden Needles, and Maiden’s Kisses.
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Save your best food items for later
Try not to eat all those delicious steaks until you’ve finished the game and started doing postgame content. You’ll want those HP and attack buffs for Final Fantasy XV’s difficult monster hunts, superbosses, and optional dungeons.
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Try not to throw Prompto out of the car
I know, I know, he’s super-annoying, always asking you to pull over and take photos. But you can safely ignore his requests and get on with the good stuff.
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Scour the map for yellow question marks
Every yellow question mark is a new sidequest, and they can sometimes be hard to find, especially after you’ve explored all three regions of the open world map. One pro tip here: Go to “Icons” in the map screen, then disable all the icons EXCEPT for the yellow question marks so you can see where they’re all at.
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After finishing the game, go do the imperial base in Leide
Then go talk to Cindy. Trust me on this one.
Once you’ve finished the game and done all of the optional dungeons, go to the Meldacio Hunter HQ
There you’ll find someone named Ezma who will help you figure out the answer to a little dungeon mystery that you might have been wondering about.
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Pay attention to XP modifiers when you go to bed
When you stay overnight at a hotel, you’ll get a bonus multiplier on whatever experience you’ve accumulated. These bonuses can make a huge difference late in Final Fantasy XV. Once you’ve finished the game and want to get your characters really high-leveled, it’s smart to hoard XP and then travel to Altissia, where you can stay at the Leville’s special suite. It’s pricey, but will give you TRIPLE the experience.
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Go find the secret dungeon
Somewhere on the map, there’s a hidden dungeon that ranks among the best things I’ve ever done in a video game. Within the next couple of days I’ll have a separate Kotaku article about this dungeon—complete with instructions on how to find it—but for now, I’ll just leave you with the advice to go seek it out. (One hint: You need to finish the game first.)
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Final Fantasy XV: The Kotaku Review
You’re four years old, maybe five. Your parents got one of those Nintendos that everyone’s been…
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Not only is it a sweet ride, but it also doubles as a shop to offload your well-earned treasures, and did we mention it flies?
To begin with, the Regalia is almost painfully slow. If you're trying to mop up quests before you're taken on to another area that you won't be able to return from for a while, trundling from A to B can become seriously time-consuming. You almost want Imperial soldiers to drop from the sky, just to break up the seven-minute long journey.
But there are ways to improve the Regalia's performance, and here's how.
Talk to Cindy
Early game you'll still be running errands around the starting areas of Hammerhead. The mechanic at the garage there, Cindy, absolutely adores the Regalia and wants to aid you in souping her up a bit.
During Chapter Two after you have completed The Power Of Kings, you'll be able to access Cindy's services as a mechanic.
The Ever Regal RegaliaUpgrade: Aero Wax
Cindy has heard of some rare wax that when used on cars makes them more fuel efficient. She sends Noctis and co. to the tunnel found to the south of the Prairie Outpost. The recommended level for this area is around 7 and you'll likely confront some Goblins on the way. Once you have found the Aero Wax, take it back to Cindy and the mission completes with an extra 150 EXP.
The Ever Elegant RegaliaUpgrade: Regalia decals and color options
Cindy explains that some rare stones make awesome paint jobs for cars, and she wants you to pick up a Redstone Shard from near the entrance to the Balouve Mines. Drive to the area, and pick up the item from within the highlighted space. The Redstone Shard has a red glow, marking it as a quest item rather than a normal blue item. Pick it up and return it to Cindy for a return of some decals for the Regalia and 500 EXP.
Final Fantasy Xv On PcThe Ever Gleaming RegaliaUpgrade: Fiberglass Coating
If you're tired of seeing Cindy bending over the car in her shorts while she buffs up the Regalia to a sparkly shine every time you fill up in Hammerhead, you could go and undertake this quest for Fiberglass Coating. It will keep the Regalia clean, saving Cindy the back-ache of cleaning it as often. I know, that car can get very dirty.. Head to Astor Slough, and the item will be in an old car near the house by the lake. Get in some fishing while you're there, and then head back to Cindy for your reward and 600 EXP.
Note: Later when you reach Altissia, you'll be able to buy a further car upgrade component, the Superhydrophobic Coating. This can be bought from the stall by The Leville for 20,000 gil.
The Ever Valorous RegaliaUpgrade: Supercharger
This time you're looking for a supercharger, which was found but left by another hunter. The problem with this quest is that when you get it, it's a couple of levels higher than you are to undertake, and the roads to get there are blocked by Imperial blockade. Instead, you must wait until Chapter 7.
This isn't your only opportunity to get the part, but if you want to add a little bit of life to the old girl sooner rather than later, pick it up during this Chapter by deviating off from the Main Quest happening at the Vesperpool at the time. Cockatrices, Basilisk and other fowl-type enemies are waiting for you, and they're around level 26, so it's best your team are too. Be prepared for these as they roost and spawn right by the car.
The Supercharger is on the front of the car, and once you have it, you'll have to complete the rest of the Main Quest in this area before you can return it to Cindy to install. You'll get a faster Regalia and 1,000 EXP when you do.
Note: When you reach Altissia, you can take part in the game Totomostro at the monster coliseum. If you reach 15,000 tokens, you'll be able to trade them in for a Turbocharger, further increasing the Regalia's top speed to 70MPH. You can also win special decals for the Regalia, which are much higher in value.
The Ever Illustrious RegaliaFinal Fantasy Xv GuideUpgrade: Enhanced Headlights
Daemons don't like light. This is why the worst come out at night, and are particularly dangerous. These headlights repel Daemons when you drive at night. Head to the bottom of Crestholm Channels. It's recommended your team be well into the 40 level mark, as the enemies around here are tough. From the second control panel in the area, go north and you'll find a room containing the Enhanced Headlights. Return to Cindy for 3,000 EXP and the knowledge you'll never have to fight a night battle while driving at night again.
How to install upgrades
Now you've got the pieces, Cindy has thanked you and given you the next quest. The upgrades aren't automatically installed, you'll speak to her again to access her mechanic menu.
Here you can do two things: maintain the Regalia or customize it.
Maintaining the Regalia for 500Gil will tune it up so it is running smoothly and gets cleaned. If you don't maintain the car, you're more likely to break down. It's helpful to have a Repair Kit in your inventory which you can buy from the Regalia's shop while it is functional. If you break down without any, you're stuck pushing the car to an appropriate area until Cindy can come and rescue you.. for a fee.
To install your Regalia upgrades:
F-Type Regalia
What would Final Fantasy be without travel by airship? You'll have noticed by now, the Regalia feels as much a part of the team as the human characters do, so to tuck it away into the belly of an airship after we've spent so long painstakingly customizing it would be a real shame.
You know that part of the game where you had to blow up the huge Imperial base in order to get the Regalia back? If you destroy three Empire of Nifelheim bases, you'll be rewarded with an item each time. If you take these items to Cindy, she will reward you with the F-Type Regalia, the driving, flying, curative supplying car! It would be worth waiting until the end of the game, since you'll have easier access to the bases once the story is clear, and they're so obvious on the map, they'd be hard to miss.
Break the seal and find even more nefarious demons to slay. You know you want to.
If you’ve been getting stuck in to Final Fantasy XV, chances are you’ve spent a decent amount of time in its amazing dungeons. If you’ve done that and made your way all the end to a few of these dungeons, you’ve probably found a mysterious door. These things might make you scratch your head, especially when the player characters start talking about how they’re mysterious, as they often do in the door’s presence.
Here’s the headline: yes, you can open those mysterious dungeon doors? How, I hear you ask? Well, on this page, we’re going to get into that…
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Final Fantasy 15: Unlocking the Dungeon Doors
These doors look identical in all dungeons and sort of resemble a safe door. They look like that image pictured above – and they just won’t open. Prompto might make a cute reference to Kingdom Hearts, but other than that little happens around these doors.
Here’s the interesting wrinkle: behind each of these doors you’ll find a whole second dungeon of sorts. That basically doubles the number of these dungeons in the game, which is pretty great if you’re looking for an additional challenge or more ways to grind out AP for the ascension grid or EXP to level up before heading to the end-game content.
It’s probably worth noting that the dungeons behind these doors aren’t as in-depth with the winding paths and the like as the main dungeon and are more geared towards combat: think of them as end-game raids for the most part. Each dungeon ranges in level, with challenges generally all intended for post-game but ranging from immediately post-game to several hours after the credits roll:
These doors are found in the following dungeons – and here’s what level we recommend you be for each:
How to open the mysterious dungeon doors
Okay, so – you’ve read the above and you know what’s coming. You’re ready. Your body is prepared. As such, it’s time to think about unlocking them. Keep the image above in mind for a moment.
So – the first thing you need to do is finish all the dungeons regularly. That means you need to head in, go as deep as you can, and take out the bosses at the inner-most parts of each of the dungeons listed above. Near the boss area is always where you’ll find the door, handily, so this gives you an ideal chance to see where exactly the door is.
You’ll also want to make sure you’re in chapter 15 – FF15’s post-game.
Once you’ve done that you’ll want to head to the Meldacio Hunter HQ outpost – that’s the point marked in the screenshot above. Within this outpost you’ll find an NPC called Ezma. She’s a kindly, bespectacled old lady. She actually hold the key to these dungeons – go figure – and once you’ve completed all the dungeons in their basic form she’ll offer you the key so that you can get stuck into FF15’s most dangerous boss battles and content.
Prepare for some seriously messed-up stuff once you unlock those doors – but if you want a deeper challenge, it’s perfect for you!
A little over a year since its original release, the Final Fantasy 15: Royal Edition has arrived to bring extra DLC to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. PC players can also get in on the act with the Windows Edition, which additionally gives access to the best Final Fantasy 15 PC mods to customise your adventure.
The world of Final Fantasy 15 is as big as it is fascinating, and there's a huge amount of exploring to be done to see all it has to offer. Along the way, a number of questions will be raised about how to access certain items and areas, which we will be answering below along with walkthrough videos to show exactly what you need to do to unlock them.
How to get the airship, and reach the secret dungeon
Airships have long been a feature of Final Fantasy games, and Final Fantasy 15 is no exception - though the route to getting one here is a little different. First, you'll need to complete the game, then use your clear data to travel back in time to Lucis. Here, you'll find a load of new side quests have unlocked, and the one you're interested in is Formouth Garrison at the Imperial Base.
This is a difficult battle with a tough boss appearing after waves of enemies, but once you finish it you'll earn the 'Strange Engine' item. Now, visit Cindy at the garage and use this item, along with the two items you unlocked at the end of chapters 5 and 6, to upgrade your vehicle to the Regalia Type-F, which not only flies but also has unlimited fuel.
As well as giving you the ability to fly around all over the map, the Regalia Type-F also lets you reach the secret dungeon to the west of the map near the volcano. Look for the orange line north of the loop on your map, as this is the 'landing strip' you need to aim for. Once safely back on the ground, head northeast to find the hidden area, which is only open at night. Inside is a massive, hours long chamber full of challenges and puzzles - continue reading below for details on how to complete it.
How to complete the Pitioss Ruins Dungeon
Once you've unlocked the Regalia Type-F, you can now follow these steps to access the secret Pitioss Ruins Dungeon. First, go to Lestallum and head to the easternmost alley at night between 21:00-05:00. Interact with a window to start a special quest, then travel to the outpost at Ravatogh Volcano and talk to the chef to add a marker to your map. Fly the Regalia Type-F to the 'landing strip' to the north as described above, then head to the marker to complete the quest.
Now, wait until night time and you can activate the elevator to descend into the Pitioss Ruins, full of trials and puzzles to challenge you. You can't die here as any mistakes will simply return you to the previous checkpoint, and although it could take you several hours to find your way through unaided, our complete video walkthrough will ensure you don't get completely stuck along the way.
As well as a ton of great items to be found along the way, your reward for completion is an item called the 'Black Hood' - only Noctis can equip this, and when worn it will allow him to automatically dodge incoming attacks. Once you've beaten the dungeon, make sure you save before trying to leave in the Regalia Type-F, just in case you have problems during takeoff and end up crashing into oblivion.
How to unlock the eight vault doors
Hidden away in Final Fantasy 15's dungeons are eight huge doors, and these are the steps you need to take to unlock them. First, you'll need to have completed the game and returned to the past version of Lucis, then make sure you clear these four optional dungeons - Crestholm Channels, Balouve Mines, Castlemark Tower, and Daurel Caverns.
Once done, go and speak to Ezma at Hunter HQ to the north of the map, and she will hand you a key that you can use to unlock all of those hidden doors. Your quest log will fill up with new trials inside many of the dungeons, pitting you against high level enemies while disabling your minimap to try and confuse your navigation.
Handily you'll find a camping spot after a few levels which will let you restore your health and auto-save your game - something that doesn't normally happen inside a dungeon. Keep exploring the caverns and you'll find some of the best weapons and rarest items in the game, and once you've finished them all you can return to Ezma to claim the Huntress medal. This can either be sold for 50,000 gil or used to craft a Limit Break spell, an ultimate magic attack which can break the 9,999 HP damage barrier most other attacks brush up against.
The Cerberus sniper rifle is a powerful scoped weapon in Final Fantasy XV. It might not have great stats, but it’s definitely one of the best firearms in FFXV.It allows you to zoom in and target specific points on your opponent’s body. If you are wondering where to find the Cerberus Sniper, we are going to show you the exact location of this hidden weapon in this guide.How to get Cerberus sniper rifle
In order to get the rifle, you must go to the Fort Vaullery Imperial Base. This will happen when you reach chapter 6. Also, you can always return to the base and pick up the rifle, as you will unlock the Imperial Base for the rest of the game. So even after you’ve completed the whole story, check back to the base to find this hidden weapon. It is located in a small building in the northeast of the base.
This is the only sniper rifle in Final Fantasy 15, so make sure you get it as soon as you can. It makes many battles a lot easier, since it enables precision targeting. Note that Noctis is the only character in FFXV who can wield this gun and that Prompto, unfortunately, cannot equip it. You should use it to break your opponents at range and to soften them up before you engage them. To use the scope of the rifle, hold R1 and Triangle (RB and Y on Xbox One), but note that when you are outside of combat, you cannot use it.
Although it is not the best weapon of choice in close combat, start the fight with it as soon as you get in range (its range is 100 feet). Break the opponent’s guard, as it will give you some major bonuses depending on the type of the enemy you are fighting. The effect will last during the whole fight. Its base damage is 156, but once it’s scoped, you can deal some critical shots and aim for the vulnerable parts of the enemy’s body for higher damage.
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