With Final Fantasy XV came Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire, the free-to-play mobile massively multiplayer online strategy game from Machine Zone and Square Enix. A spin-off of Square Enix’s juggernaut RPG, Final Fantasy XV is full of depth and impressive gameplay. We’re here to run down some of the best tips and tricks for getting started with and playing Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire.

Here, we wanted to take a look at some tips and strategies on how you get started before you want to go ahead and start attacking other kingdoms in the world of Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire. Some of these tips will help you raise your kingdom levels and stats and start collecting and amassing resources and currency.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – Starting Up

For starters, Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire is a very dense strategy game. You are essentially building your very own empire and kingdom. So starting the game up, it’s important to follow the game’s guided tutorials. The game will offer some guided instructions that will basically help you start your empire from scratch. You will want to build your citadel, your research building, your troop barracks and hospitals. Follow the instructions that the gloved hand advises you to follow.

Each building in the game can be upgraded. Each building will have a timer it takes to finish constructing an upgrade. Sometimes, the game will reward players with a free spin to complete an upgrade quickly. Sometimes there are options to speed up construction of an upgrade. However, this might cost in-game currency. There is also the option of just allowing the timer to run out for free for the upgrade to complete, but this will take more time. Just remember, Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire is about long-term success. So, if you want to avoid in-game purchases of gold and what not, imagine you are simply setting up the building blocks of an empire to watch and grow or unfold. Or, imagine planting the seed for a massive tree and watch it grow from a sapling into a giant. It will take time.

Per Recombu.com, you can change the name of your kingdom in the game by going to the in-game Items section of your menu and select the “Change Player Name” option. Changing the Empire’s default name will cost 15,000 loyalty coins of in-game currency. This menu will also allow you to change the empire’s profile image and more. That will also cost in-game currency. If you are short on the Loyalty currency, you can earn more by helping out your Guild with the Guild-related quests.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – Quests

In the lower left corner of the screen, you will want to check the Quests section. This will show you Empire Quests and Hero Quests. This is also where you can collect rewards for quests you have completed. So, you will want to frequently check the Quests section to make sure you are receiving rewards for all the buildings you are constructing and upgrades you are completing.

It’s crucial to collect all the rewards for completing your quests and completing recommended upgrades. Quests in the game come in four different types: Empire Quests; Hero Quests; Guild Quests; and VIP Quests. The Empire Quests are usually the ones the game prompts and recommends you to play. These usually involve creating buildings to strengthen the infrastructure of your empire. The Hero Quests have three subtypes, which are Basic, Common and Uncommon. They are divided by their time limits, from lowest to greatest in order to complete them to collect the rewards. Guild Quests will work the same way. You can only select a single quest from each quest-type category at a time.

The quickest way to upgrade your kingdom faster in Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire is by completing the “Recommended Quests” that are prompted for your in game on the lower lefthand side of your screen. The recommended quests put you on the path to upgrading your buildings faster and increasing your kingdom’s infrastructure.

One potential trick you might want to examine as you get deeper into the game that was discovered by YouTube user Eric Watchous is letting your Empire Quests stack up. Specifically, once you hit higher level Empire Quests with your Citadel and Research projects, wait to collect the rewards on these specific Empire Quests (Think upgrading your Citadel to about Level 16 or 17). If you wait to collect your Empire Quests rewards, they will start to massively stack up, and you will go way over your resource caps. You can see an example of how this would work at 6:00 in the video player below.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – The Buildings for Your Empire

Here’s a list to all the buildings you can construct and upgrade in your kingdom. Each building has a specific gameplay purpose. They will help you gain more resources and your overall gameplay progression in Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire. The building names and descriptions are courtesy of Heavy.com:

Wall: helps defend your Empire’s outer perimeter

Hero Monument: you’ll gain extra EXP and retain more of it from a banished Hero

Embassy: houses reinforcements from your affiliated Guild

Watchtower: provides info on incoming attacks and so much more

Hospital: helps house wounded troops

Hospital Ward: increases the number of troops you can heal simultaneously

Bank: generates Gil and increases Gil capacity

Barracks: having multiple Barracks increases the Training Queue of your Training Grounds

Banishment Portal: you’ll be able to receive boosts when you banish an enemy Hero

Prison: allows you to capture and hold enemy Heroes

Secret University

Treasury: upgrade your Citadel to Level 5 first; allows you to deposit Gold

University

Citadel

Training Grounds/Special Training Grounds

Proving Grounds: a special arena that awards you for slaying minsters

Armory/Advanced Armory: lets you craft gear for your Hero

PocketGamer has a very in-depth guide on each building in the game, its level caps and their stats for further information.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – Mind Your Citadel

In Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire, think of the Citadel as the heart, soul and main gameplay hub of your kingdom. It is the key to advancing and progression for your kingdom and overall gameplay experience. Throughout the game, you will have to level up your Citadel to level up other buildings. It will also help increase your various production of resources over the course of the game. Upgrading the Citadel will allow you to build new structures and buildings in your empire. You will also receive rewards in-game for completing Citadel upgrades.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – Easy Rewards and Gold

Gold is one of the game’s most valuable commodities, and you might find yourself running out of it very quickly. Thankfully, there are some free ways to get gold and rewards in the game without spending real money on the gold packages the game is constantly trying to tell you and shove down your throat. You start the game with finite number of gold pieces, but that’s not nearly enough to build an entire empire. One thing you will definitely want to do is register your own personal account for the game. This will grant you an automatic reward of 200 gold pieces.

Go to the lower left on your screen and select the “More” tab. On the menu that opens up, click on the “Accounts and Devices” tab option. You will then be advised to create an account using a valid e-mail address and a unique password. Once that’s done, you have to check your e-mail for to verify the new account. Once that’s done, you should receive a free reward of 200 gold pieces.

Another way to get free rewards is by connecting the game to your Facebook account. By connecting the game to your personal Facebook account, you will receive access to your own in-game gold mine. With the gold mine, you can refer friends to the game and receive more gifts of gold if they sign up to play.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – VIP Status

By playing Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire, you will receive Loyalty Points. Eventually, the guided tutorial will prompt you to activate the VIP Subscription. Using the VIP Status, you will have access to VIP Quests, which will net you greater rewards to collect. Using Loyalty Currency, you can also upgrade your VIP level to receive greater rewards. The current level cap for VIP status is 11. VIP Status will give you speed up bonuses so you can more quickly complete upgrade construction on buildings, completing Hero Quests quests and also refreshing the wait period time for getting new quests. Once the quest wait period time is over, you will get higher level quests that can be completed for better rewards.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – Guilds

In Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire, there are various guilds that players can align with. Joining a guild is important because you will receive an automatic 100 gold pieces simply by joining a guild in the game. After joining a guild, you will receive notifications toward the lower right of your screen to go on quests to help out your fellow guild mates.

If the guild tab on your menu has a present box with a ribbon on it, your guild gameplay now has gifts you can claim. Keep an eye on receiving guild gifts because they will expire after 24 hours. You can select your own guild gift by hitting the guild tab and then selecting the gift icon that will be seen underneath the logo for your guild clan. According to Recombu.com, new gifts will be given out regularly for the guild as long as other members of the guild are active in-game.

You will always want to help your fellow guild mates because as a result, you will receive more Loyalty points. As a result, you will receive free speed up boosts for quest timers, gifts, access to the Guild Store and of course valuable Loyalty points for helping your allies. Guild members will help you speed up the building process for buildings in your kingdom in the pursuit of upgrades and quest completions. Guild members can also share resources in-game through the trading posts, but the players need to have their trading posts built in their kingdom for this option to work. Another important aspect of being a part of the guild is going into battle against other guilds. Teaming up with your guild clan mates is a good way to increase your chance of victory when engaging in battle with other players. For the guild gameplay, the Loyalty points are important to enable VIP Subscription, another option that is helpful in speeding up building and upgrade completion. More on that below.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – Treasury Building

Per SegmentNext.com, Treasury building in A New Empire is another valuable resource and task to complete in the game. By upgrading the kingdom’s in-game treasury, you can store gold pieces in greater quantities. By storing gold in the treasury, you will receive an investment bonus. For example, the Treasury at level 1 will give you a 10 percent interest rate return after only two hours. That means if you deposit 100 gold pieces, it will grow into 110 gold after two hours. So it’s crucial to mind your treasury and the gold that is stored there.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – Study at the University

The University is probably the second most useful building in A New Empire, outside of the Citadel. The University will allow you to conduct research into various topics. You can find a full list of Research Paths and requirements at the University at this link. The University is crucial to research capabilities to help build up your hero and gameplay stats.

The four types of research that can be done at the University are Economics, Combat, Defense, and Hero. Within each type of research are topics and upgrades that can be unlocked under different requirements. For example, the Hero tab lets you do research into abilities to deal with monsters and creatures in the wild by studying Monster Tactics. By completing the tasks and other upgrades, you will be able to unlock more abilities through the University. You can research a specific category by selecting your University building, find the category or topic you want, and then select “Research.” The Researching will then take place on a timed bar on the upper left side of the screen menu.

Researching at the University will boost your troops in their combat and defense abilities. It will strengthen your kingdom, so you will want to take advantage of it as much as you can.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – Training Your Troops

At the Training Grounds is where you will be able to train your troops and upgrade them for going into battle. Upgrading the Training Grounds facility enables you to speed up the Training Speed and the Training Queue.

There are four different troop types in the game: Warriors; Mages; Cavalry; and Siege Engines. You can only train one troop category at a time. By upgrading your Barracks in the game, you will be able to train more troops at once. Per Heavy.com, here is is the strength and weakness breakdown for each category of troops:

Warriors are strong against Cavalry and Siege Engines, but weak against Mages and Traps

Mages are strong against Warriors and Siege Engines, but weak against Cavalry and Traps

Cavalry are strong against Mages and Siege Engines, but weak against Warriors and Traps

Siege Engines are strong against Traps, but weak against Warriors, Cavalry and Mages

Training your troops and upgrading the barracks is critical before sending them into battle against other players. Additionally, you will want to do combat and defense Research topics at the University. This will make your troops smarter and more strategic in the ways of combat, and it will give them more of an edge on the battlefield.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – Always Collect Luna’s Gift

On the lower left of your screen, you will see a glowing chest on the overworld map of your kingdom. This gift is called Luna’s Gift, and it is on a timer that will constantly replenish itself over time in your gameplay. When the countdown timer hits zero, make sure to collect Luna’s gift. The gift will include resources, in-game currency and other helpful items.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire – In Short Summary

So in short, in order to raise your stats to a high level quickly without wasting your money to buy in-game currency, you will want to join a guild and constantly help your guild members and complete guild quests. Stack multiple quests at a time. Complete the recommended quests quickly in order to raise your levels higher. Fight monsters in the proving ground when you can. As you get to a higher level, you can start stacking your Empire Quests, and that will allow you start amassing resources way over your caps. Constantly check your guild gift status and collect your guild gifts. Perform research topics when you can to strengthen your troop levels.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire is available now. The game is free-to-play for Android and iOS devices, and it’s available at the Google Play Store and the iTunes App Store.