Introduction

In this page you will find a full walkthrough of the game. Lightning Returns is a very non-linear game, so there are different possible approaches to writing a walkthrough for it. The way I decided to do it is by organizing a coherent set of main a secondary quests, Day by Day, in a way that you should manage to get everything done by Day 10 (giving us two "backup" Days - Day 11 and Day 12 - in case for some reason you don't manage to follow the scheduled routine).

Remember that to get the most out of your first playthrough you want to complete as many subquests as possible. It's not essential that you do all of those I present here, but the more you stick to the plan, the better it will be and the richer your experience will be.

Also keep in mind that quests are sometimes time-related, meaning that they are only available during certain hours of the day. Before we do these quests I will always give you a "time indication" (such as "Time: 08:00"). If such indication is present, make sure that your in-game time matches with what I indicated, or else the quests may not be available.

Every individual step of a quest (main or sub-quests) will be written on a separate line, preceeded by a " - " symbol, so you can clearly see each step individually and you don't miss anything. The same will be done for treasures to collect. Non-quest-related info will be written as normal text. The resulting format will be something like this:

- Quest A # 01/03 - Do this to start the quest

- Main Quest B - Do this

- Quest A # 02/03 - Do this to progress with the quest

- While you're there, pick up treasure C



Now go to location X.



- Quest A # 03/03 - Do this to complete the quest

The walkthrough will be organized providing you with maps of the game and textual indications on how to proceed. The text will often refer to maps with sentences like this: "Open the treasure (B) containing [random item]". That "(B)" refers to the legend used in the custom map linked before the text.

Treasures will be indicated with yellow letters on these maps, and quests will usually be indicated with green letters/numbers.

In general, you can easily use the map as main reference to know how to progress, and cross-check with the text to see what to expect from each point of interest (treasures, quests, and so on) and when you should go to a certain area to do a certain thing.

There won't be spoilers in this page: no story-related references are needed within the text, and in the case of boss battles I'll be using the spoiler tag to hide them.

Remember that the suggested difficulty to play the game is (at least for the first playthrough) Easy difficulty. Everything in this page will be referred to Easy difficulty, where the most noteworthy difference consists in the cost of EP Abilities, which is lower than on Normal/Hard, especially for abilities such as Overclock which play an essential role in most of the main enemies strategies. I've said it before and I'll say it one more time: play on Easy!

# Day 0 (Prologue)

.

Main Quest 0-1

The first part of the game is a very linear tutorial section with nothing important to point out. Below I'll give a brief description of what to do, but since there is nothing to collect you can proceed on your own and resume reading later on, when you reach Luxerion in Day 1.

In case you're wondering "where's the timer?" (assuming you already know that there is a timer in this game), in this first part of the game there is no timer yet; you'll see it for the first time in Luxerion.

After the introductory cutscenes you'll be immediately thrown into a tutorial battle; obviously it will be an easy battle, so use it to start getting familiar with the game commands. After the first fight the game will prompt a camera control tutorial. Set your preferences (you can change them at any point from the game options: open the main menu with Y, then choose the Settings from there).

Engage battle with every enemy in this area (press RB to hit them before they can hit you, so you start with a small advantage in battle). One of this battles will be about the "Guard" tutorial.

In any case, kill every enemy and a door on the West side will open, allowing you to continue.

Note that you can press and hold LT/RT to sprint while not in battle, but Lightning's stamina (the blue gauge in the bottom-left corner of the screen) will rapidly decrease when you do so. It's more efficient to stop sprinting before she runs out of stamina, let her recover, and then sprint again, rather than running completely out of stamina (in which case she will automatically stop sprinting, and her stamina recovery will be slower than if she hadn't run out of it).

As you continue through the open doors on the West side, on the way there will be a NPC (Non-Playable-Character) that will speak with you; he's a merchant, and he sells simple Potions. Follow the short Recovery Item tutorial, and buy Potions for free until you fill up all the six (that's your current maximum) Item Slots available.

Proceed past the merchant when you're done shopping. You don't need to fight any monster, and honestly there is little purpose in doing so, aside from practicing the battle system a little. Therefore you might as well ignore enemies on the way and follow your in-game map/navigator (you can open a full-sized in-game map by pressing X; you can toggle the navigator ON/OFF by pressing Back) to continue with the story events. A tutorial about Switching Targets will start in the first battle you engage with more than one enemy (use D-Pad_Left/Right to switch target).

At one point you'll need to jump up some boxes to continue; press B to jump. Shortly afterwards you'll need to climb up a ladder; simply approach it and press LS_Up to climb up.

Keep going, and you'll find a barricade on your way in what appears to be a dead end at first. To continue you need to press a red-glowing button on one of the columns on the right side, just before the barricade; doing this will open the way to continue and reach the first miniboss of the game.

A tutorial about Staggering will prompt in this boss fight. In short, Stagger is what happens when an enemy takes a lot of sudden damage, which is usually accomplished by hitting him with an elemental attack when he's weak against a certain element. Sometimes the conditions for Staggering (the "weak spots" of an enemy) are not associated with an element, but rather a certain type of attack. We'll be seeing which types of actions you need to perform to Stagger enemies against each boss, in due time.

The fight will also feature the Overclock tutorial. Overclock is the first and most popular "EP Ability", and you trigger it in battle by pressing LT (consumes 1 EP).

Boss Fight - Zaltys

HP: 19,200.

Stagger Condition 1: Unleash magic attacks. The effect is greater when the enemy is launching an attack.

Stagger Condition 2: Strike the enemy's head using physical attacks.

Weaknesses: Blizzard.

The fight is really simple here: spam Thunder and Blizzard to Stagger him, and then finish him off using all the Overclocks you need (press LT while in battle, as explained by the corresponding tutorial) for an easy rampage of attacks.

After the fight, keep following the objective markers around to eventually trigger some cutscenes and reach The Ark.

You will also unlock an achievement now:

The Savior's Descent Proof of one who has mastered the basics of this world and begun a great journey. 1 guide

# The Ark - Day 1 (Six Days Till the End)

.

The Ark is a special location where you will end up between the Days. In particular, every "next day", at 06:00, Lightning will automatically come back to the Ark, where you will find:

- Treasures to collect. These change from Day to Day, so make sure to pick them all up when you get here. I will list them, so you're sure not to miss any. In case you miss them for any reason, the treasures will continue to reappear the next times you come back to The Ark, along with the new treasures

- Speak with Hope. Hope will give you info on the story, but he will also "sell" you items in exchange for your current EP. EP are automatically recovered to the maximum when you first enter the Ark, but if you spend them to buy items from Hope then when you will return to the main game (the areas outside the Ark) you will resume your playthrough with less EP. This isn't a big problem since you can always recover your EP by fighting monsters, but keep it in mind

- Interact with a shelf where the "Book of Conquest" is. From here you can fight boss battles again. There is no practical purpose to this, other than improving your personal score for "bragging rights" (you don't receive tangible rewards; no loot, no stats bonuses, nothing at all). Your consumed EP and consumed items will be automatically regenerated after these fights, so feel free to use them both, should you want to repeat these battles for any reason

- A green-glowing device, which allows you to go back to the world outside the Ark and resume your playthrough

Roam around and collect the treasures in the Ark: Mist Wizard (Garb), Blizzard Lv 1, Light Guard Lv 1, Prytwen (Shield), Devil's Daughter (Weapon). After getting them all, a tutorial about Style Customization will prompt; follow it and create your first custom "Schema" to unlock:

Novice Stylist Proof of customizing your first schema. Continue on this path to find your own style. 1 guide

At the end of the tutorial you will also acquire the EP Ability Escape, which allows you to escape from battles at the cost of 0 (no) EP. Keep in mind that escaping from battles will cause your timer to advance by +1 in-game hour if you're not playing on Easy!

Talk to Hope a couple of times for some scenes. Then talk to him a third time and a two-options menu will prompt. The first option ("Replenish items") is the aforementioned "EP Store", where you can buy:

Item Cost X-Potion 1 EP Mega Remedy 1 EP Phoenix Down 1 EP Warrior's Potion 1 EP Holy Water 1 EP

.

In general, I wouldn't recommend buying anything -- it's better if you save the EP to have them ready and available out of the Ark right away. In this first case you can buy whatever you want though, since we won't need EPs on the first, short Day on Luxerion.

The second option ("Talk to Hope") is to have more background info on the game. They are usually optional, but in this first case you must pick all the three possible options to continue.

Lastly, examine the bookshelf ("Book of Conquest") in the Ark to fight the first boss again. A tutorial about EP usage in battles will prompt during this fight.

Once it's all done, the green portal in the Ark will finally become available -- use it to reach Luxerion and start the adventure!

# Day 1

.

Luxerion

From now on in the upper-right corner of the screen there will be a timer which indicates how many Days you have left (6 by default) till the end of the game, as well as the current time of the in-game day. At 06:00 the current day will end, and you'll be sent back to the Ark; from there you can then examine the green portal again to resume the playthrough again on the next in-game Day.

There are many things to do, and therefore proper time-management is important. Please try to follow the indications provided in this walkthrough, so you can optimize your gameplay time by knowing what to do and when to do it. I will also link you maps of the areas we're going to visit. These maps are not immediately "full" maps displaying everything at once, but rather maps that contain all the info (treasures, quests, ...) that we're going to take care of, one batch of tasks at the time.

North station square

Time: 21:00.

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

Main Quest 1-1

For this quest you simply need to complete the subquest "Whither Faith" (which is story-related). You can actually also fail this subquest if you waste too much time, but that won't happen unless you do that on purpose.

Before you can do anything else, a sub-quest will immediately start as part of the main storyline. Press X to accept it and continue.

- Whither Faith # 01/03 - The quest starts automatically as part of the main story

- Whither Faith # 02/03 - Find various clues by talking with people in the North station area (numbers 1-6 on the map I linked earlier), and also by checking the papers scattered on the ground (number 3 on the map) near the Outfitters shop. Pretty much everyone has something to say about what's happening in town, so you can really just speak with everyone

- Climb up the small scaffold on the East side of the station square to find a couple of character you can speak with, for the Whither Faith quest. Moreover, on one of these scaffolds there is also a treasure (letter A, on the map) containing a Fighter's Emblem

While doing this quest you will come across Thorton, the man standing on the way to the station, who has his own quest to give you.

- Where Are You, Holmes? # 01/03 - Speak with Thorton (H 1 ) on the way to the train platforms, in North train station, to start the quest

- Where Are You, Holmes? # 02/03 - Find Holmes (H 2) , located just a bit West of the Outfitters shop in North station

- Where Are You, Holmes? # 03/03 - "Walk him" (Holmes) to Thorton, who is a walking towards Northeast of where you found him originally (H 3 ). Then speak with Thorton to complete the quest

Rewards: 300 Gil, Railworker's Cap x 1, Railworker's Beret x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +30, STR +3.

- Whither Faith # 03/03 - When enough clues are found, a yellow notice will appear on the upper-left corner of the screen. Report to the Inquisitor, near the statue in North train station square (Q on the map), to complete the quest

Rewards: 800 Gil, Scholar's Glasses x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +80, STR +6, MAG +6.

After completing this quest the shops in Luxerion will open, and you'll be given the EP Ability "Chronostasis". Chronostasis is an invaluable ability that allows you to stop the flow of the in-game time for a short while at the cost of 1 EP. I'll tell you when you should use this ability in order to optimize our routes.

In the North train station square there are several points of interest. The yellow icon on your in-game map marks the position of Chocolina, who is associated with a series of minor subquests which require to get items (typically monster drops) and hand them over to her. These quests, known as "Canvas of Prayers", are the last ones that we will do in our playthrough, late in Day 9 -- just ignore them for now.

The red icon on your in-game map is the Outfitters Shop, which currently sells these items:

Garb Price Nocturne 1,250 Gil Providence 1,250 Gil Adornment Price Business Eyewear 250 Gil Pure Earrings 280 Gil Pure Pendant 320 Gil

.

Garbs are an important part of the development and strategy in this game, and there is also an achievement for getting a certain amount (a total of 25) of them. In general, it's a good idea to buy all of those you come across, but I'll give you more specific suggestions when important Garbs are available. Those in this first shop are nothing special, so feel free to ignore them.

On the other hand, the Adornments do not serve any purpose in battle, and they are merely objects you can use to customize your character's look. You don't need to buy any of them, so it's better if you save your precious Gil for something more important (they don't cost much individually, but if you were to buy them all you would end up without Gil for the important items).

If you go Northwest of the Outfitters you will find a young man with a rucksack on his back -- he's the "Adventuring Essential" shop. Basically this kind of "shop" sells you info on the local enemies of an area, so you know in advantage what their weaknesses are, how many HP they have, and so on. You can buy the monster notes for the enemies Niblet, Gremlin, Gorgonopsid, and Gertrude from him, at 120 Gil each (do so).

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

Next to the "Adventurer" there is the Inn, marked with a black icon on your in-game map. The Inn is a place where you can rest, for 500 Gil, and advance time to whatever hour of the day you want. Although normally we will be racing against time to save hours, sometimes there will be moments when there is nothing for us to do until a certain time of the day. That's when Inns come in handy. I'll tell you when you should rest at the Inns.

Indeed, right now we actually have nothing else to do here until midnight, so either leave the game running for a few minutes until it's past midnight, or use the Inn service and pay 500 Gil to advance time to 00:00 "manually".

Time: 00:00.

- Main Quest 1-2 # 01/02 - Once it's past midnight you want to proceed Southeast of the North train station square. On the way you will notice a group of white-hooded enemies that will spawn on the street (H) (typically from Southeast of the area where you started. They'll be marked on your in-game map as an orange dot). Although the game tells you to follow them silently, it's easier to just engage battle with the one who has a " ! " mark above his head and defeat him to continue with the story (if you hit any other enemy you'll still need to kill the one with the " ! " marker to continue)

Centrum

- Main Quest 1-2 # 02/02 - After winning the battle, proceed Northwest of the station square to find and reach a phone booth (P) that you can examine. Do so, and you will complete Main Quest 1-2

To continue with the story you need to find four numbers of a "code", but these numbers will become visible in Luxerion only during day time (and right now it should be just past midnight in your playthrough). Therefore you need to wait until the next day, which means you probably have about 4-5 hours (before 06:00) to freeroam a little here in Luxerion. Let's deal with some optional tasks now then.

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

Right around the phone booth there are some sparkles on the ground. You can pick them up to get extra loot (Bronzed Medal and Silvered Medal). There is a third type of "Medal" you can get (Crystal Medal) from these random sparkles here and there. Whenever you see these sparkling items on the ground make sure to pick them up, and then sell these "Medals" for Gil (it's their only purpose). Do NOT sell any other item though: sparkling objects can also be important quest-related items, or other things that are not meant to be sold anyway. So, again, sell the Bronzed/Silvered/Crystal Medals, but keep everything else.

Head back to the North train station.

North station square

- The Things She's Lost # 01/03 - Speak with a little girl (A 1 ) in the train station (just near the ladder that you climbed up earlier to reach the first treasure sphere) to automatically start the quest (automatically = you don't need to "accept" it)

Note that there is a Red Carbuncle Doll (A 3 ) somewhere on some boxes in the North train station: if you bring this one to the girl the quest will be failed!

Go Southeast of the North train station.

Old Town

You will reach an area (Old Town) with a couple of shops: Sorcery Shop and Forge, which are respectively for Abilities "Synthesis" and a Weapons+Shields shop. Sorcery Shops won't be of any interest for a looong time (in fact, we will only synthesize abilities in the latest phases of the game). The Forge won't get much more of our attention, either: the items for sale are simply overpriced. On secondary playthroughs the Forges become much more interesting -- you will have enough Gil to actually buy something, and you can also upgrade Shields and Weapons (this can't be done on your first run).

Long story short, Sorcery Shop and Forge are basically non-existent in our first playthrough, except very later on in Day 9/Day 10 (when we will synthesize one ability and buy one weapon; literally). In case you're wondering "then why did they put them here?", the answer is that at least the Sorcery Shop could be used to get minor improvements in the game when you play on harder difficulties. On Easy, however, the Sorcery Shop has nothing to offer unless you're willing to spend hours of farming weak abilities from monsters to get a slight improvement of those (weak) abilities.

Anyway, since you're already here, speak with the owner of the Sorcery Shop and follow the corresponding tutorials to learn at least the basics of Abilities Synthesis. Also synthesize your first ability during the tutorial to unlock:

Novice Synthesist Proof of synthesizing your first ability. Did it prove useful? 1 guide

Nearby, just Southeast of the Sorcery Shop, there are some white and red objects that you can smash with your sword (press RB to attack and break them).

- Buried among these breakable objects there is the Quill Pen item (B on the map) (it appears as a sparkling item on the ground), an item that will be useful for a future quest of Luxerion (the quest is "Buried Passion")

- The Things She's Lost # 02/03 - Opposite (Southwest of) the two previous shops (Sorcery and Forge), on some boxes, there will be a Green Carbuncle Doll (A 2 ) -- pick it up

North station square

- The Things She's Lost # 03/03 - Go back to the girl and give her the Green Carbuncle Doll to complete the quest

Rewards: 100 Gil, Carbuncle Figurine x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +30, MAG +3.

Although there are other things we could do, we can stop here for Day 1 (we could spend time looting treasures here and there, but "tomorrow" we need to explore Luxerion anyway for other quests, so it'd be a waste of time to run around the whole city now). Simply rest at the Inn for 500 Gil, or wait here in North train station square until it's 06:00 to return to The Ark.

# The Ark - Day 2 (Six Days Till the End)

.

On Day 2 in the Ark you will find some new items to collect from a new treasure box: Red Mage (Garb), Liberator (Weapon), Juno Sospita (Shield). Set Red Mage as your third Schemata, and equip the Liberator weapon, Juno Sospita shield, and Fighter's Emblem head gear to boost Lightning's Strength up to 600+ in this Schemata.

There will also be tutorials about the "Eradia" (those "things" that NPCs give you when you complete a quest). In short, completing quests earns you Eradia, and accumulating Eradia earns you more in-game days (up to Day 13. There is a Day 14, but it's unlocked only on Day 13, if you have cleared enough quests).

Speak with Hope and pick the second option to ask him about the red-worded topics in order to reactivate the green portal in The Ark to return to Luxerion.

# Day 2

.

Luxerion

Time: 06:00.

It's early in the morning, and your goal for the main story mission is to find four numbers to figure the secret code to input in the Phone Booth where you completed Main Quest 1-2 earlier. The codes are random and different on each playthrough (except for one which is always 0), and the game will "take note" of them for you (when the time to insert the code comes, the game will show you which numbers of the code you found).

On our way to these numbers there's plenty of optional things to do though. If you want to only see the position of the numbers, check this map. Otherwise continue reading for a more guided tour.

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

If you come across the Niblet enemy (they look like small floating fluffy balls), slay a few of them to get their loot. For one of the next quests you'll need Niblet Hairball x 2.

Also save at least 1,000 Gil, because they'll be needed for one of the next quests.

Commercial District

- Main Quest 1-3 # 01/05 - Head for the Commercial District (West/Southwest of North train station). If you open your in-game map you will notice a dead-end path leading East and then Southwest (it's between the Northeastern part of the Commercial District and the Centrum area). If you head to the end of this dead-end path you will find the first "pass code" for the main quest (P 1 )

- Go a bit Southwest of the first code, into the Commercial District, and climb up a ledge on the left (South) side to open a treasure (A) with Twist Headband

- Dying Wish # 01/06 - Proceed further Southwest up some stairs. On the way there will be a quest-giver (a woman sitting on the stairs) -- speak with her (A 1 ) to start the quest. Note that you'll need 1,000 Gil to complete this quest, so make sure to save that amount of cash for the time being

- Grab another treasure (B) from the stairs near the woman of the previous quest; this one contains a Magician's Token

Continue West from the stairs until you reach the West end of the city.

The Residences

Here you should see a treasure sphere that looks "on fire". Wait here until 08:00.

Time: 8:00.

At 08:00 a quest-giver (Virgil) will appear near this "treasure on fire". Speak with him to start the next quest.

- Suspicious Spheres # 01/05 - After accepting the quest from Virgil (B 1 ) he will give you the Supply Spheres Password key item

- Suspicious Spheres # 02/05 - Open the first of three "treasures on fire" right next to him to get Prophecy of the Future (B 2 )

Warehouse District

- Reach the Warehouse District, just Southeast of where you started the previous quest

- Main Quest 1-3 # 02/05 - In the Warehouse District you will find the second "pass code" number on a wall (Northwest wall in Warehouse District) (P 2 )

- Suspicious Spheres # 03/05 - Just a bit East of the second pass code there is also another "treasure on fire", which contains Cathedral Sentry Notes (B 3 )

- Dying Wish # 02/06 - Take the alley South/Southwest of the previous pass code and you will find a purple-glowing mushroom on the ground. Pick it up: it's the Thunderclap Cap (one of the items you need for this quest) (A 2 )

South station square

Head South from here to eventually reach the South Station area. On the way you may notice a quest-giver, but it's best if you ignore this one for now (it's a rather tough fight, and you don't want to do it now). If you do happen to stumble across the quest-giver, accept the quest but don't bother fighting the monster behind her yet (just run past it).

- Main Quest 1-3 # 03/05 - In the South Station area there is, in the Southwest corner, the third pass code (P 3 )

As you turn around and walk away from this code a man will propose to give you the "Centrum area code" (the one found earlier; it was P 1 ) for 500 Gil; ignore his offer.

- Suspicious Spheres # 04/05 - Just Northeast of the third code you will find the third and last "treasure on fire" (B 4 )-- open it to get the Fanatic Notes item. You still need to report back to the quest-giver to complete this quest, but we'll do it later

In the Northeast corner of the South train station area there are some shops: Outfitters and a General Store. The latter sells regular stuff (Potion, Remedy, Phoenix Down, Protect/Shell Potions). The former has the Garbs L'ange Noir and Providence for sale. Make sure to buy the L'ange Noir Garb, since we'll need it against the next boss of the game.

There's also an Inn and a "restaurant" here. In case you didn't notice them earlier, Restaurants in this game are places where you can buy food to recover your HP. Since we're playing on Easy, Restaurants are therefore useless (you already recover HP for free outside of battles).

- North of the restaurant there is a dead end. Go there to find a treasure (C) containing Guard Lv 2

Wait until past 10:00.

Time: 10:00.

- Dying Wish # 03/06 - At 10:00 a woman will appear as a second "Grocery" story next to the restaurant in the South station square area (A 3 ). Speak with her and buy a Mandragora Root for 400 Gil

Clock Tower

- Go East of this area to reach the Clock Tower area. Here you'll find a treasure (D) just South of the tower containing a Violet Amulet

Go a bit East from the treasure, and then South. Then proceed back to West/Southwest instead of going Northeast. You will soon find a small area to the South of this road.

In this small area there is a cat that seems to be part of a quest, but right now he won't give you any quest (we'll have to return here later).

- Still in this area, there is also a treasure (E) containing a Guard Glove

Then go Northeast from here to reach the Old Town area.

Old Town

- In the Old Town area there is a treasure located on a ledge (somewhere Southeast of this area) (F), containing a Runic Ring

- Also in the Old Town area there is another treasure (G) containing Sparkstrike Lv 2 (it's behind a shop counter)

- Dying Wish # 04/06 - Still in the Old Town area, just West of the shops (Forge and Sorcery) there is a blond-haired man clapping his hands named Serge. Speak with him (A 4 ) and buy Shaolong Gui Shell for 600 Gil from him

When it's all done, backtrack to the Commercial District area (West side of town).

Commercial District

- Dying Wish # 05/06 - In the Commercial District you will now find (after 11:00, which should be the current time) the Chocobo Emporium (A 5 ). It's run by a girl dressed up just like Chocolina, so you'll notice it easily. Anyway, speak with the owner (the girl) twice to hand over the items collected so far for this quest (Thunderclap Cap, Shaolong Gui Shell, Mandragora Root) to receive the Spectral Elixir item

- Dying Wish # 06/06 - Give the Spectral Elixir to the quest giver (A 1 ) just West of the emporium, to complete the quest

Rewards: 0 Gil, Tonberry's Lantern x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +80, STR +8, MAG +4.

Head West from her to return to the other quest-giver (Virgil) we met this morning.

- Suspicious Spheres # 05/05 - Report your progress to the quest-giver (B 1 ) to complete the quest

Rewards: 300 Gil, Millionaire's Mustache x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +40, STR +4, MAG +2.

At this point you should have completed enough (five) sub-quests to unlock:

Deliverer of Salvation Proof of clearing 5 side quests. It is a fine beginning, but the journey is still long. 1 guide

- Faster Than Lightning # 01/01 - Just East of Virgil there is a little kid (Lamont) running around. Speak with him (C 1 ) to start another sub-quest. Your goal is to beat him to a race all the way to a random destination (North train station or Forsaken Graveyard - East entrance; the latter is where the Phone Booth from the main quest is). There's no point in outrunning him, since you'll need to wait for him to reach the end of the race anyway. Do make sure to be always a few meters ahead of him though, since the quest can permanently be failed if you lose the race. The quest will be completed once you both arrive at the goal point and you speak with Lamont again

Rewards: 200 Gil, Gold Medal x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +30, STR +6.

Now go to the South station square and wait/rest at the Inn to set the time forward to 16:00.

South station square and Clock Tower

Time: 16:00.

- The Angel's Tears # 01/04 - At 16:00 a little girl named Luka (D) will spawn on the top of the stairs of the South station square. Speak with her and accept to buy Luka's tears for 10 Gil. Then accept the quest that will prompt. This quest will need to be continued across multiple days (we'll come back here to continue it in due time)

Remember the small area to the South of the Clock Tower? Head there -- the cat will now give you a quest.

- Stuck in a Gem # 01/03 - Speak with the cat (E 1 ) in the small area South of the Clock Tower to start this quest

At this point we're out of things to do for a while, so let's just rest at an Inn to set the time forward all the way to midnight. I know this may feel like a waste of time (there's about 7-8 hours that we're skipping), but on the other hand the only thing we could do now are the Canvas of Prayers quests, which in their turn are best done as late as possible in the game (so it's easier to kill enemies to get the items required to complete them). Therefore it's just fine if you advance time forward to midnight. The best Inn to do so is the one in the Old Town (East side of Luxerion, near Forge/Sorcery Shop), since it's the one closest to where we need to go next.

Time: 00:00.

From the Old Town, go East to reach the Eastern entrance of the area called The Warren (slums of Luxerion). The Warren is accessible from 00:00-06:00, meaning that you can get in through its gate only during that time of the day. You can exit at any hour you want though: although the gates will be closed during the rest of the day (06:00-00:00), there is a ladder next to the gates that allows you to climb out of The Warren at any time you want.

The Warren

- On the stairs just past the East/Southeast gate of The Warren you will find a treasure (H) containing Thundara Lv 2

Reach the Central-East section of The Warren.

- Main Quest 1-3 # 04/05 - You'll find the last "code" number written on a wall in the Central-East section of The Warren. A scene will also trigger before you can approach this number. When it's over, check the wall to get the last pass code number (out of curiosity, this particular code will always be 0, whereas the previous three are random)

- Stuck in a Gem # 02/03 - Go West from the last pass code number, and you'll find a crouched man with a straw hat (E 2 ). He's located under a small tent. When you find him, speak with him and give him 2x Niblet Hairball (dropped by Niblet enemies; they are the "floating fluffy balls") to receive the Starlit Spice

Not too much far from here (just North of the man with straw hat) there is an "Adventuring Essentials" shop. This time it's run by a girl with a rucksack. Anyway, she sells info on these monsters: Cathedral Sentry, Gaunt, Dreadnought, Zomok -- buy all of them (for a total of 900 Gil).

Exit The Warren from where you came (Southeast entrance/exit). As soon as you're out, save the game.

Old Town

- Stuck in a Gem # 03/03 - After saving the game, proceed to the Old Town nearby. A scene will automatically trigger, showing you a little boy surrounded by cats. After the scene, cats will try to approach you and steal the Starlit Spice from you. Avoid them (run and jump away from them) and reach the kid as soon as possible. Speak with him to give him the Starlit Spice and complete the quest. Should the cats manage to steal the Starlit Spice from you, you can ask the man with the straw hat in The Warren to make another one for you (you need to give him more ingredients though; reloading your previous save is an easier way of trying again)

Rewards: 1,600 Gil, Black Cat Ears x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +80, MAG +12.

We need to run around town quite a bit before 06:00, so try to not get lost and avoid detours. You won't need to use Chronostasis to do everything as long as you don't get lost too much, so save your EPs for the upcoming boss fight.

Centrum and Forsaken Graveyard

- Main Quest 1-3 # 05/05 - Make a run for the Phone Booth (the same one where you completed Main Quest 1-2; it's Northwest of the Centrum area), and insert the code digits you found to complete Main Quest 1-3

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

Enter the Forsaken Graveyard (which is open after you insert the code) from East, and proceed West from there.

- On the way there will be a couple of treasures containing Stormbane Choker (A) and Zirconia Brooch (B)

- Main Quest 1-4 - On the West side of the Forsaken Graveyard you'll find a group of people performing a ritual. Watch the scenes as you approach them

- Main Quest 1-5 # 01/03 - Pick up Crest of Etro from the ground, behind the statue where the ritual was being performed (C 1 )

Return to The Warren, but access the area from the West side this time (take the path leading Southeast from the North station).

The Warren

- Main Quest 1-5 # 02/03 - Show the Crest of Etro to the hooded person (C 2 ) standing before a gate in the Central-West section of The Warren (it's just a bit Northwest of where you found the fourth pass code number). After you do so, the gate behind him will open, giving you access to the Northern-most section of The Warren

- In the Northern section of The Warren there are two treasures to loot: one is by the wall on the West side (C) and contains Thorn of Protection; the other is by the wall on the North side (D) and contains a Battleaxe of Believer. Both are found on the ground level

Proceed around the buildings to eventually reach the anticipated boss fight. The preparation for this fight is not particularly complicated, but it's advisable that you have all of your EPs available to spam Overclock a few times for an easy win. If you need to refill your EPs, fight the humanoid enemies on the way to the boss.

Prepare for the fight by setting these Schemas:

Schemata 1: set the Equilibrium (default) Garb with the default Crimson Blitz weapon, Stormbane Choker, and the ability Thundara Lv 2 (next boss is weak against Thunder).

Schemata 2: set the L'ange Noir Garb, since it has Thunder Lv 2 ability. Equip Battleaxe of the Believer (weapon) and Magician's Token (accessory).

Schemata 3: set the Red Mage Garb with the weapon Liberator and Fighter's Emblem accessory. Set Sparkstrike Lv 2 as one of the abilities.

- Main Quest 1-5 # 03/03 - When you're ready, save the game (just to be sure) and initiate the boss fight in The Warren

Boss name:

Boss Fight - ?????? (Luxerion Boss)

HP: 256,000.

Weakness: Thunder. Halves: Wind.

Stagger Condition 1: Unleash physical attacks. The effect is greater in the instant following the enemy's attack.

Stagger Condition 2: Unleash magic attacks. The effect is greater in the instant following the enemy's attack.

Stagger Condition 3: Guard against attacks with precise timing.

Stagger Condition 4: Unleash physical attacks when the enemy is staggered.

With the Schemata written earlier, this will be the plan: use Schemata 1 to guard and spam Thundara; use Schemata 2 to spam Thunder Lv 2; use Schemata 3 to attack with Sparkstrike.

Focus on Staggering the boss at first, especially by using Thunder/Thundara/Sparkstrike. Then, once he's Staggered, activate Overclock and spam Sparkstrike and Light Slash to Stagger him even more (so that Deprotect is applied on him). Keep spamming Overclock and Sparkstrike/Light Slash until the Overclock time is over, and then activate Overclock again to spam even more attacks. Do this with all the EP you have, and the boss should be dead just about during the last Overclock.

Fight Rewards: 10 EP Recovery, 10,000 Gil.

Luxerion - Main Quest (1-X) Completed!

Stats Rewards: Max EP +1, HP +240, Max ATB +10, STR +84, MAG +70.

You will unlock this story-related achievement now:

The Hope of a Promise Proof of one who has seen through the dark mysteries that lurked in Luxerion, bringing justice. 1 guide

- Pick up the Shadow Hunter weapon off the ground (it's a red-sparkling object on the ground just where you fought the previous boss)

We have nothing else left to do for Day 2. If you're close to 06:00, just let the Day end by doing nothing. Otherwise speed things up by going to any Inn to rest until 06:00.

# The Ark - Day 3 (Six Days Till the End)

.

Open the new treasure box in here to receive the EP Ability "Arise", which allows you to revive Lightning at the cost of 2 EP (on Easy) if she dies in battle. If you have less than 2 EP you'll still be able to revive Lightning by using this ability, but the recovery of her HP won't be full (it will be proportional to how many EP you had available to consume to revive her).

Hope has a new piece of story to tell you if you want (speak with him and select the third option), but he doesn't sell anything new. When you're ready, head back to Luxerion by using the usual green portal.

# Day 3

Luxerion

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

North station square

- The Girl Who Cried Wolf # 01/04 - Answer the phone in the phone booth (A 1 ) located just about on the left of where you originally started the game, in North train station square (East side)

- Voices from the Grave # 01/07 - Speak with a girl (B 1 ) just opposite the statue in North train station square to start this quest

Rest at the nearby Inn in North station square until 08:00.

Time: 08:00.

- Like Clockwork # 01/15 - Speak with a grey-haired woman (Armena) (T 0 ) in North station square to start this quest. She appears at 08:00

- Like Clockwork # 02/15 - In the station, on the West side, there is a clock (1)

- Like Clockwork # 03/15 - In the station, just near the trains platform, there is another clock (2)

- Like Clockwork # 04/15 - In the North station square there is a clock by the statue opposite the quest giver (3)

- Like Clockwork # 05/15 - Northeast of the Outfitters shop in North station square there is a big clock, up on the wall of the station building (4)

Centrum and Forsaken Graveyard (East entrance)

- Like Clockwork # 06/15 - Go West from North station square, to the Centrum area. As you go North from the Centrum (towards the Forsaken Graveyard) you'll find another clock on the way, near some small stairs (5)

Head to the East entrance of the Forsaken Graveyard.

- The Girl Who Cried Wolf # 02/04 - Answer the call at the phone booth (A 2 ) near the East entrance of Forsaken Graveyard (the one related to a couple of main story missions too) to continue with this quest

- Like Clockwork # 07/15 - Another clock can be found just outside the East entrance of the Forsaken Graveyard (6)

Head Southwest of the Centrum area.

Commercial District and The Residences

- Like Clockwork # 08/15 - In the Commercial District you'll find another clock, about in the middle of the area (7)

- Voices from the Grave # 02/07 - Reach the West entrance of the Forsaken Graveyard (in The Residences area) to find a young woman (B 2 ) standing just before the entrance to the graveyard itself. Speak with her to obtain more info about this quest

- Like Clockwork # 09/15 - Another clock is found near the West entrance of the Forsaken Graveyard (8)

The Arcade

- Soul Seeds # 01/01- Proceed South of the West entrance of the Forsaken Graveyard (towards the Arcade area) to find a mage-dressed man with a straw hat (C). Speak with him and purchase a Seedhunter Membership Card for 2,000 Gil. Then speak with him again and sell him at least one Soul Seed (each one is worth +400 Gil), obtained from the "Chaos Zones" (you need to reach a Chaos Zone for the very next quest, so in case you don't have any Soul Seeds now you should complete the next quest first). For more info about Chaos Zones and Soul Seeds, please refer to the General hints and tips page. In any case, the quest will be completed once you sell the Soul Seed

Rewards: 400 Gil, Black Tattoo x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +40, STR +2, MAG +4.

- Born from Chaos # 01/01 - Reach the road directly East of where the previous quest character was. Here you will find (on the North side of the road) a woman (D) that will give you this quest as you approach her. Behind her there is a Chaos Zone, where you need to fight a Zomok, a dragon enemy with 144,000 HP. His Stagger Conditions are for using magic attacks on him (especially while he's attacking you), and striking his head with your physical attacks (after the first Stagger). He's weak against Thunder, so you can fundamentally repeat the fight against the boss of Main Quest 1-5 to defeat him. Feel free to use all the Overclock EP points you need -- after defeating him you will receive a recharge of +5 EP recovery as reward for the fight anyway. After the fight you will receive the Cursed Dragon Claw quest item, as well as about 3,000 Gil as reward. Report this success to the quest-giver to complete the quest

Rewards: 6,000 Gil (+0 Gil), Pendragon x 1, Brigand's Tricorne x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +120, STR +12, MAG +10.

In case you used all of your EP during the previous fight, make sure to fight a few enemies here and there to refill your EP completely -- you'll need 6 EP to open a treasure later on in this day.

- Like Clockwork # 10/15 - Just a bit North of the Born from Chaos quest-giver there is another clock (it's near where you found one of the pass codes in the story progression) (9)

Go South to the South station area.

South station square and Clock Tower

- The Girl Who Cried Wolf # 03/04 - There's another ringing phone at the booth (A 3 ) located Southwest of the South station square (you found a pass code during the story here) -- answer it to continue

- Like Clockwork # 11/15 - Just East of the previous phone booth there's also a clock (10)

- Voices from the Grave # 03/07 - Reach the Clock Tower area. Here, between the South station square and Clock Tower area, you'll find a man (B 3 ) who gives you more info about this quest

- Voices from the Grave # 04/07 - In the Clock Tower area itself, speak with a guard just South of the tower for the last bits of information on this quest (B 4) . If you spoke with all the four characters for this quest (B 1 , B 2 , B 3 , B 4 ), Hope will call you to talk about this quest a bit. To complete this quest you'll need to return to Luxerion at night, but we'll do this later

- The Avid Reader # 01/05 - Speak with Ranulph (E 1 ), the man sitting at a table located South of the Clock Tower to start this quest

You may notice a main-story marker somewhere Southeast of the Clock Tower, on the path to the cathedral; ignore it for now.

- Like Clockwork # 12/15 - If you go to the Clock Tower, and proceed North/Northeast of the tower, you will find a book on a stand. Read this book to examine the clock of the tower (11)

- Like Clockwork # 13/15 - Another clock can be found on the way to the Cathedral (12)

It should be about 10:00. If not, wait until that time of the day.

Time: 10:00.

- Treasured Ball # 01/01 - In the Northwest corner of South station square there is a little boy, Talbot (F 1 ), that will give you this quest. He wants you to get the item (F 2 ) located up the ledge just in front of him. You can reach this ledge by going up the stairs behind the kid. Do so and grab the Rubber Ball (sparkle on the ledge); then hand it over to complete the quest.

Rewards: Talbot's Gratitude, 100 Gil, Salvage Pilot's Badge x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +30, STR +3.

The Residences and Commercial District

Go back towards the West entrance of the Forsaken Graveyard.

- Buried Passion # 01/03 - Speak with Armand, a young man with glasses (G) standing near the West entrance to the Forsaken Graveyard. This quest will continue across multiple days, so all we can do today is starting it

Head to the Commercial District (go East) now.

- The Avid Reader # 02/05 - In the Commercial District you'll find a girl, Mitka (E 2 ), almost opposite (Northwest) of the Chocobo Emporium, [barely] dressed with some red clothes and a black mask on her eyes. Speak with her to continue the quest

Return to North station square, and go Southeast from there to reach the Old Town section of Luxerion.

Old Town and North station square

- Like Clockwork # 14/15 - The last clock is Southwest of the Old Town (13), near the closest Inn

- Like Clockwork # 15/15 - Report your progress to the quest-giver, the grey-haired woman in North square station, to complete the quest

Rewards: 1,200 Gil, Brass Gear x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +80, STR +4, MAG +8.

This is all for Luxerion for now -- take the train from North station to reach Yusnaan (ticket costs 100 Gil and it *does* take time to travel on train; about 30 minutes to 1 hour is the travel time you should expect).

Yusnaan

Time: 13:00.

It should be about 13:00 when you arrive. As soon as you step in a place different from Luxerion you will unlock the EP Ability "Teleport", and a tutorial about putting markers on your in-game map (press X while viewing the map in full size to do so) will prompt.

You will also unlock Teleport Station - Luxerion North Station and Teleport Station - Yusnaan Station. More Teleport Stations will become available later in the game. As a general rule, do not use Teleport unless I tell you to do so -- it's an expensive (2 EP) ability, and for now it's best if you save your EPs for other purposes (later on you'll be able to consistently kill enemies to recover EPs, so you can use Teleport more frequently).

Anyway, we're here in Yusnaan just for a short visit, and our goal for today will be to collect a bunch of treasures, complete a few easy quests, and advance with the local story progression just a little bit. All of this should be done before about 18:00, since we want to be back in Luxerion at 19:00 (20:00 at most). There's plenty enough time to do all of the above without using Chronostasis, but please try to stick with the indications provided.

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

The Glutton's Quarter

On the west side of "The Glutton's Quarter" there is a treasure emitting musical notes (A 4 ). It's part of a quest, so ignore it for now.

- Just a bit South of that particular treasure there is also a regular treasure sphere (A) -- open it for a Promised Necklace (it's near some stairs)

- About in the middle of this area there's another treasure (B) containing Blitz Lv 2

- Go Southeast in this area, and climb up a staircase to reach one of the many open restaurants of the area. From the restaurant you can jump down to the tent below, where a treasure (C*) is located. This special treasure can be opened only if you consume 6 EP. Do so to open it and get the Locket Pendant inside

Back on the ground level, go Southeast from this first area. There is an Outfitters and an Inn here. The former sells the Velvet Bouncer Garb, but it's not one of those you're going to use (so feel free to ignore it).

- Near the Inn there is a special enemy (S), a Schrodinger, that you can fight. This enemy drops an item that is part of a quest that we'll do later on (Family Food) -- feel free to kill him now while you're here (Stagger him with magic attacks, then finish him off with regular physical attacks) to receive the item Civet Musk. I will also remind you of his position later, when the time for this quest comes

- About North/Northeast of the Inn there is a small ledge/balcony you can reach if you climb up some random objects (boxes and stuff) nearby. Do so to reach a treasure (D) containing a Wolf's Emblem

- On another ledge/balcony just Northeast of the previous one there is another treasure (E), containing Flanitor Notes

Head South from here.

Central Ave. and Cactuar Statue Plaza

- Stolen Things # 00/04 - On the way South you should stumble across a man with a hat. He's Gregory (C 1 ), and he will tell you about "someone" picking pockets in Yusnaan. We'll meet this "someone" soon enough

Continue South. As you reach the Cactuar Statue plaza you will trigger a scene, and then some regular local enemies (guards and Flanitor) will attack you. In these easy fights kill the Flanitors first (magic attacks to Stagger, then physical attacks to kill them; they are weak against Fire), and then the guards.

- Play It For Me # 01/05 - In Cactuar Plaza there is a kid standing up the stairs on the West side. Speak with him to start the quest and receive the Musical Treasure Sphere Key

- Just Southeast of the aforementioned kid, near some stairs, there is a treasure (F) containing Patron's Personal Guard Notes

- Play it For Me # 02/05 - Go East of the previous treasure and you'll see a ladder to climb (it's on the right/South side of the street). Do so to find the first "musical treasure" to open (it contains the item Nostalgic Score: Refrain)

Go East from here until you reach the Fountain Square area.

Fountain Square and The Revealer's Quarter

- Songless Diva # 01/04 - Speak with Olga (B 1 ), the singer on the small stage in this area, to start the quest

- Songless Diva # 02/04 - As you accept the quest from Olga, a young man dressed with a purple shirt will start running away from you (towards North). Chase him and speak with him (he's Berdy) to continue the quest

- Stolen Things # 01/04 - In this area you will also find a little kid (C 0 ) named Pickett with an orange waistcoat (his position isn't fixed, so look around this area a bit to find him). Approach him and he will steal 200 Gil from you. Chase him down and speak with him shortly afterwards to retrieve your money and "pre-start" the quest. In order to properly start the quest we need to speak with Gregory (we'll do so soon)

- Continue Southwest from here, and detour around a building to find a treasure (G) containing Mage's Gloves

- If you go Northwest from the building behind which there was the previous treasure, you'll find a passage leading underground. Follow it to find another treasure (H) containing the Oath of the Merchants Guild item

- Continue past the treasure and you'll find a sparkling item on the ground (D), which is the item Desert Flame -- pick it up

You can't proceed any further through the tunnel for now (the gate ahead is locked), so turn around and backtrack the way you came from.

Go back on the ground level, and continue West towards the objective marker on your in-game map. On the way you will also find an Adventuring Essentials guy who sells info on these monsters: Hoplite, Schrodinger, Cyclops, Zaltys (total of 1,020 Gil to buy them all).

Proceed further West from him to reach a big staircase.

- If you jump off (West) of the West stairs leading to the objective marker (leading to The Augur's Quarter) you will reach a treasure (I) containing a Thorn of Aggression

- Main Quest 2-1 # 01/04 - Reach the objective marker, and then speak with the people waiting in front of the gate to continue with the main story quest. You'll be told to look for a "Tour Guide"

Backtrack a little back to the East, and look for a man playing some drums (he's just opposite the underground passage we used earlier, in front of the Adventuring Essentials guy).

- Main Quest 2-1 # 02/04 - Give the Tour Guide (T) 2,000 Gil to get the Sneaking-In Special Ticket. You'll be told to reach a certain location North in the city at 18:00 o'clock, but we won't do that "today"

Backtrack to the Cactuar Plaza, and then go West from here.

The Champion's Quarter

You will reach The Champion's Quarter area, where there is a Forge, a Sorcery Shop, and an Outfitters. Make sure to buy the Quiet Guardian Garb here: it's one of the most precious Garbs in the game, especially for advanced battle strategies against the strongest bosses, thanks to its defensive properties.

Further West from here there is the Coliseum of Yusnaan, aka Slaughterhouse, aka Arena.

- Play It For Me # 03/05 - Around (South of) the big cage in the South side of this area there is another musical treasure (Nostalgic Score: Chorus)

- In the Northwest corner of this area there is a treasure (J) containing Dispel Lv 2

Head back to The Glutton's Quarter.

The Glutton's Quarter, Central Ave., Industrial Area

- Play It For Me # 04/05 - The last musical treasure is Northwest in this area, in a small dead end (Nostalgic Score: Coda)

Let's go find Gregory again (he's the man with a hat located on Central Ave.).

- Stolen Things # 02/04 - Speak with Gregory after being robbed by Pickett to properly start this quest. He'll give you the item Father's Letter, and your goal is to make Pickett steal this item from you

With the little time we have left, head North from Central Ave. to reach the Industrial Area.

- Songless Diva # 03/04 - On the East side of the Industrial Area there is a large group of 8x Gremlins (B 2 ). Defeat them all (they are weak against physical attacks) to receive the quest item Music Satchel

- All the way West in the Industrial Area there is one last treasure that you can open (K), which contains a Giant's Vambrace

It should be about 18:00 now, but as anticipated earlier we don't want to proceed with the local story events just yet. Instead, go all the way back to the Cactuar Statue Plaza.

Cactuar Statue Plaza and Fountain Square

- Play It For Me # 05/05 - Report to the kid (West in this area) to complete the quest

Rewards: 1,500 Gil, Crown of Youth x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +80 STR +8, MAG +4.

- Songless Diva # 04/04 - Give the Music Satchel to Berdy (the young man with purple shirt), who is still just about where you saw him the first time (near the fountain/piano) to complete the quest

Rewards: 1,400 Gil, Queen's Mask x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +80, STR +6, MAG +6.

- Stolen Things # 03/04 - Find Pickett again, more or less in the same area where he was previously. Enough time should have passed from the first theft; if that's the case he will steal the Father's Letter from you. Chase him after the theft and speak with him to continue the quest. Note that if he doesn't steal anything from you you simply need to wait a bit before he does so again. If time is not on your side and you can't afford to wait, leave this quest incomplete for now -- I'll remind you of it another time

- Stolen Things # 04/04 - Assuming you managed to "deliver" the Father's Letter to Pickett, report back to Gregory to complete the quest

Rewards: 400 Gil, Formal Silk Hat x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +50, STR +2, MAG +4.

This is all we want to do in Yusnaan for today. If it's not too late already (if it's 19:30 MAX), take the train to Luxerion. If it's already very late, use Teleport to reach Luxerion instead. Your ultimate goal is to reach South station square in Luxerion by 21:00.

Luxerion

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

Reach the South station square before 21:00. While you're here, speak with the Station Attendant (don't board any train though) to unlock the local Teleport Station (Luxerion - South Station).

South station square and Cathedral

- The Angel's Tears # 02/04 - Speak with the little girl in the South station square (A) (she's in the same spot where you found her the first time, at the top of the stairs) and give her 50 Gil to continue this quest

Wait/rest until it's 22:00.

Time: 22:00.

Head where the objective marker is (towards Cathedral). There is nothing here before 22:00, but if the time is right (22:00 or past it) there will be a quest-giver.

- The Saint's Stone # 01/03 - Speak with Aremiah (B 1 ) to start the quest

- The Saint's Stone # 02/03 - Go to the Northeast corner of the Warehouse District area (B 2 ), where a man is standing near some white and red objects. Smash these objects to find the Crystal Shard item (pick it up)

- The Saint's Stone # 03/03 - Return to Aremiah and give her the item you just got to complete the quest

Rewards: Service Entrance Key, 500 Gil, Paladin x 1 (Garb), Fragment Crystal x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +40, MAG +6.

Thanks to the Service Entrance Key obtained in the previous quest you can now access the cathedral from 22:00-06:00, a time where it's normally unavailable to "regular" people. We have some spare time until midnight, so let's use it to visit the cathedral and trigger a few optional scenes.

Do so (use the key to unlock the door on the left of the gate which is normally closed at night), and head into the Cathedral of Luxerion for the scene mentioned earlier (they only occur if you sneak in when it should be closed). After the scene you can get more story-related info if you return where the scenes triggered and speak with the main NPC here.

When you're satisfied, reach the Eastern entrance of The Warren and get inside.

The Warren

Time: 00:00.

- Get the Girl # 01/04 - Speak with Lackley, the young man (C) sitting on the ground at the bottom of the ramps near the East entrance of The Warren to start this quest and receive the item Lackley's Ring

- The Girl Who Cried Wolf # 04/04 - Reach the spot where you found the last pass code number during the main quest of Luxerion. Here now you'll find Louise (D). Speak with her to complete this quest

Rewards: 500 Gil, Leather Rucksack x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +40, STR +2, MAG +4.

Head for the West entrance of The Warren. On the way you may find a little kid (G) who gives you a quest, but you can't complete it now (we'll come back for him later), so you might as well ignore him.

- The Avid Reader # 03/05 - There's a man (E) hidden in the dark somewhere by the East wall near the West entrance of The Warren. Speak with him for a short scene, and then ask him about "An old journal" (third option) to receive the item Reddick's Letter

North station square, Forsaken Graveyard (West side), Clock Tower

Exit The Warren. You need to find three "ghosts" in town now (they appear after midnight, but only if you spoke with the four characters for the corresponding quest, which is "Voices from the Grave").

- Voices from the Grave # 05/07 - First ghost (F 1 ) is in North station square (in front of the statue)

- Voices from the Grave # 06/07 - Second ghost (F 2 ) is near the statue in the West side of the Forsaken Graveyard (near where a ritual was being performed during the main story events). This ghost will also give you the item Phantom Rose, necessary for the quest of the kid in The Warren

- Voices from the Grave # 07/07 - Just at the bottom of the Clock Tower (North side of the tower, opposite the book stand that you used to check a clock in a previous quest) there is the third and last ghost (F 3 ). Speak with all the three ghosts, in no particular order, to complete the quest

Rewards: 400 Gil, Halo x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +40, STR +6.

Back to The Warren, reach its central-East section.

The Warren

- A Rose by Any Other Name # 01/01 - Just West of the place where Louise was for one of the previous quests you will see a boy named Alrick (G) near a table. Speak with him to start the quest, and give him the Phantom Rose obtained during the previous quest to complete this one as well

Rewards: 3,200 Gil, Purple Lightning x 1 (Garb), Crystal Rose x 1, Red Bow Tie x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +120, STR +10, MAG +12.

If you have a couple of EP to spare, use them to Teleport to the South train station in Luxerion (less tedious than walking there on foot). Otherwise manually backtrack there. Either way, when you're there simply board the train to the Wildlands.

The Wildlands

As you arrive you will unlock the Teleport Station - Wildlands Station. Exit the station for a short scene with a couple of NPCs.

We don't have enough time to do much, so let's just call this a day (wait until 06:00 to let the Day end).

# The Ark - Day 4 (Five Days Till the End)

.

The new treasure box contains a couple of Garbs: Black Mage and White Mage.

Speak with Hope for some additional (two) topics on the story if you want, and then warp back to Nova Crystalia.

Note that from now on the game will ask you where you want to teleport to, when you start a new Day. You can always decide whether to start a new day from one of the Teleport Stations, or from the spot where you left the game when the previous Day ended ("previous location"). In our case this time it doesn't make much difference, since we'll restart from the Wildlands Station anyway.

# Day 4

.

The Wildlands

Aaah, finally some fresh air! This day is full of things we need to do, so a proper use of Chronostasis will be necessary in order to keep up with the advancing timer on the screen. I'll tell you when to use Chronostasis, and how many times you should use it.

Time: 06:00.

From the station you need to reach the objective marker located Southeast, in Canopus Farm. Before we do that, let me give you an overview of the Wildlands first:

- Southeast of the station is where Canopus Farm is located

- The Southeastern-most region of the Wildlands is where Aryas Village is located

- Northeast of Canopus Farm there are some abandoned ruins ("City of Ruins")

- On the West side of the map there are many "woods" and "rocky" areas. About in the middle of the woods (Jagd Woods) there's a small settlement called Jagd Village

- Northwest of Jagd Village there is another small settlement, the Moogle Village

- North of the Rocky Crag area at one point there is a long path lading Northwest. This path is the one leading to the Poltae village, and from there to the Temple of the Goddess

- In the North section of the Wildlands there is another large open area called Eremite Plains. Here you'll find one last settlement, the Research Camp

There are respawning items that you can find here and there in the three main open areas of the Wildlands (The Grasslands, Aryas Climb, Eremite Plains) and in The Jagd Woods: they are respectively "flowers" and "mushrooms" (you can also find some "shovels/digging spots" in The Jagd Woods). These items are different depending on what time of the day you pick them up (06:00-18:00 or 18:00-06:00), and we'll need a bit of all of them for some quests. I'll mark their position on the next maps, telling you where to look for them and how many of them you should pick up. For reference, the "day flowers" are called Dayring Blossom; the "night flowers" are called "Moonsoul Bloom"; the "day mushrooms" are called "Chocoborel"; the "night mushrooms" are the "Luminous Mushrooms"; lastly, the "shovel/digging spots" is where you can get the "Forest Fertilizer" item.

Try to fight some Miniflans (blue "jelly" enemies) you come across (they're weak against Thunder), since you need six of their dropped items (6x Vibrant Ooze) for some quests. Also try to collect at least 4x Dayring Blossoms, again for future quests purposes.

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

- Reach Canopus Farm. If you stay on the dirt path, on the way there you will find three "day flowers" (3x Dayring Blossoms) (1,2,3)

Canopus Farm

As soon as you reach the Canopus Farm you will come across an Adventuring Essentials shop that sells the notes for these monsters: Miniflan, Triffid, Reaver, Chocobo Eater (1,020 Gil to buy them all). Moreover, this Adventuring Essentials also sells the Vegetable Seeds, a special item related to some quests. You will receive a free supply of them, so there's no real need to buy them (there are some Canvas of Prayer quests related to Vegetable Seeds, but they are not important at all).

There are also a General Store and an Outfitters here, as well as an Inn. Make sure to buy all the Garbs for sale (Ignition, Watery Chorus, Electronica, Woodland Walker; they cost 1,250 Gil each), so you can have a fully versatile setup of magic-elemental Garbs for every situation.

- Main Quest 3-1 # 01/03 - Speak with the man with a quest marker here in the village (orange A), Dr. Gysahl

- On the East side of the Canopus Farm you can find another Dayring Blossom (4), as well as a treasure sphere (A) containing Imp's Crest

Go Northeast from the Canopus Farm to reach the Eastern-most side of The Grasslands, and then proceed North from there to head Northeast.

The Grasslands (North/Northeast)

- On the way you can find another 2x Dayring Blossoms (5,6)

- Main Quest 3-1 # 02/03 - When you reach the ruins of the city Northeast you will find the Chocobo Eater monster. Fight him for an easy battle (stagger him with Thunder/Aero-based magic attacks, then use a few Overclocks to kill him with physical attacks; he will drop +4 EP recovery at the end of the fight, so you can use 4 EPs for Overclock if you wish)

Canopus Farm

- Main Quest 3-1 # 03/03 - Return to Canopus Farm and speak with Dr. Gysahl (he's right where you found him the first time) to complete this first story quest

- Saving an Angel # 01/05 - Speak with Dr. Gysahl to receive Gysahl Greens and start this story-related subquest. Give the Gysahl Greens to the Chocobo to continue. You'll be told to gather "other greens and milk" to help the Chocobo to fully recover

- Saving an Angel # 02/05 - Speak with the red-haired girl (1) in the small vegetables garden West of Dr. Gysahl to receive Gysahl Greens

- Saving an Angel # 03/05 - Speak with the Hunter Chief (2), a man standing on a Chocobo near the West entrance of Canopus Farm (2), to receive Chocobull

- Saving an Angel # 04/05 - Speak with the Innkeeper (3) here at Canopus Farm to receive Fuzzy Sheep Milk

We still need one last item to be able to heal the Chocobo completely. There are several options we could use here, but the most convenient on the long run is probably heading for Aryas Village, far South of the Canopus Farm -- do so.

- On the way you can also pick up 3x Dayring Blossoms (7,8,9).

Aryas Village

As you arrive to Aryas Village you will unlock the Teleport Station - Aryas Village, Wildlands. In the village there is an Outfitters that sells the Dragon's Blood Garb (it costs 5,000 Gil, but make sure buy it), a powerful Garb thanks to its Heavy Slash Lv 3 ability.

- Fuzzy Search # 01/01 - Speak with Dr.Sheep (green A), in a sheep pen, to automatically start this quest. He wants you to bring the animals back to the pen, and to do so you need to "scare them" with your weapon (press RB near them), and then "push them" so that they run away from you and go back to the pen. When you're done herding sheep, speak with Dr.Sheep in the pen to report and complete the quest

Rewards: Fuzzy Sheep Milk, 400 Gil, Fuzzy Sheep Figurine x 1, Canned Sheep Logo x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +40, STR +6.

- A Taste of the Past # 01/06 - Speak with the Chef Aryas (B) to start this quest. You need to collect items that are currently out of your reach, so starting it is all we're going to do

Although there are several items you could grab around the village, it's best if you simply head back to Canopus Farm for now (do so).

Canopus Farm

- Saving an Angel # 05/05 and Main Quest 3-2 - Give the Chocobo one last recovery item (the Fuzzy Sheep Milk obtained from the previous quest in Aryas Village) to complete the sub-quest and the main quest

Rewards: 1,200 Gil, White Chocobo Chick x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +80, STR +8, MAG 8.

The Chocobo is now a member of the party when you fight in The Wildlands. Moreover, you can ride the Chocobo in The Wildlands from now on. To do so, simply press LB next to him (dismount with LB). You can attack enemies and objects with RB while riding the Chocobo. The Chocobo is without a doubt the fastest way of moving, so you should always ride on his back. He will follow you around, and he will spawn next to you when you teleport somewhere in The Wildlands.

By feeding the Chocobo more "items" you'll be able to make him more powerful in battle. Moreover, the first of the four "upgrades" for the Chocobo will allow you to make him able to Glide after jumping. Gliding is an essential ability to reach a lot of the areas here in The Wildlands, so we'll do that as soon as possible.

We'll take care of Main Quest 3-3 another Day.

Time: 10:00.

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

In Canopus Farm, approach the red-haired girl (Sarala) in the vegetables garden.

- A Father's Request # 01/04 - Speak with Sarala (A 1 ) to start the quest

Now you want to go Southwest from the Canopus Farm, to the path leading to The Jagd Woods. On the way to the Woods there will be a quest-giver man riding a Chocobo.

The Grasslands (Southwest) and The Jagd Woods

- The Right Stuff # 01/01 - Speak with Hunter Hopeful (B), the man on the Chocobo just before the path to The Jagd Woods, and give him 6x Vibrant Ooze (dropped by Miniflans) to complete the quest

Rewards: Mystical Meal, 300 Gil, Chocobo Feather Pin x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +40, STR +4, MAG +2.

- Now adventure through the woods, and pick up all the "day mushrooms" (Chocoborel) you find on your way (1,2,3,4,5). We'll need a total of at least 12x Chocoborel for the next quests!

- At the fork (North towards Jagd Village or Northwest into more woods), go Northwest to gather even more Chocoborel (6,7,8,9)

- From there, take the path North/Northeast to go around the Jagd Village and collect yet more Chocoborel (10,11,12,13)

You may also notice a few "shovels" (digging spots) on your way. If you examine them you will receive a Forest Fertilizer. You only need one of them, but feel free to accumulate more if you wish. We'll see more about them in a moment.

After going clockwise around Jagd Village, you will then return to the path that you ignored previously (the path that you could have reached if you went North instead of West, at the first fork).

- Here there are yet more Chocoborels (14,15,16)

- A Father's Request # 02/04 - Speak with the young man with big glasses (A 2 ) on the path leading to Jagd Village. He tells you to get a Forest Fertilizer from one of the many "shovel digging spots" in the forest

- A Father's Request # 03/04 - If you haven't obtained any Forest Fertilizer yet, there's one available from the digging spot just a bit East of this man (A 3 ). Get a Forest Fertilizer, and then speak with the man again to progress with the quest

When it's done, head to Jagd Village (go Northwest of the man you just met).

Jagd Village

Upon arriving you will unlock the Teleport Station - Jagd Village, Wildlands.

In Jagd Village there are some shops (Forge, Sorcery Shop, Outfitters), but none of them has anything interesting for sale. On the contrary, make sure to purchase the monster notes from the Adventuring Essentials (North side of the village): Rafflesia, Vali, Dryad, Ectopudding.

- Chocobo Cheer # 01/03 - Speak with Nadia (C 1 ), the girl in the Chocobo pen in Jagd Village, to start the quest

- A Final Cure # 00/03 - If you happen to have 8x Chocoborel and 6x Slug Sweets, speak with Cardesia, the woman on the West side of the village (D) to make a Chocobull. After she makes one for you, she will start a quest (which you can't complete now; we'll be back for it later). If you can't make the Chocobull now, nevermind -- we'll come back here another time anyway

At this point it should be about 13:00. We don't have much left here in Wildlands for today, but we do need to stop by Canopus Farm, reach the City of Ruins (where you found the Chocobo Eater earlier), and be back in Luxerion by 17:00 max. If you're still on time (13:00), don't bother using Chronostasis and just ride the Chocobo to Canopus Farm. Otherwise use Chronostasis a few (2-3) times so you have enough time to do everything before it's too late (ideally we want to be in the station of Wildlands by 16:00).

Either way, return to Canopus Farm.

Canopus Farm

- A Father's Request # 04/04 - Report to Sarala in Canopus Farm (she's the red-haired girl in the vegetables garden) to complete the quest (give her one Forest Fertilizer)

Rewards: 800 Gil, Girlish Glasses x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +80, STR +4, MAG +8.

- After completing the previous quest, speak with Sarala again to receive 5x Vegetable Seeds

- Speak with Sarala again if you have any extra Forest Fertilizer to add another "patch" to the garden. You can do this two more times to gain a total of 1+1+1+1 = 4 patches

Gardening is a very small side activity in the game. It works simply like this: plant a Vegetables Seed in the "patches" in one of the three gardens available (one is here in Canopus Farm, another is in the Moogle Village, and one last field will be in the Research Camp) and then wait a few hours (6h in Canopus Farm, 12h in Research Camp, 18h in Moogle Village) until the seeds will grow into plants (Gysahl Greens, Tantal Greens, Sylkis Greens). It's not a very rewarding activity, but it is related to some sub-quests and Canvas of Prayer quests. I'll tell you what you need to do with these gardens as far as sub-quests is concerned.

- The Old Man and the Field (Pre-Quest* # 01/03) - Make sure to plant at least one Vegetable Seed in one of the patches here in Canopus Farm. We will harvest the Gysahl Greens that grows from it another day

*Before this quest can actually begin there are several things to do (there is a three-steps procedure before we can start the quest).

It should be about 14:00 now. After planting the seed, go Northeast where you fought the Chocobo Eater.

The Grasslands (Northeast and Train Station)

- Chocobo Cheer # 02/03 - In the Northeastern dead end of City of Ruins (behind where Chocobo Eater was) you will find the first of four Yeul's Flowers (Yeul's Flower # 01/04) (C 2 ). Examine it while riding your Chocobo to help him recover a little bit

When it's all done, return to the train station of The Wildlands.

- Mother and Daughter # 01/03 - Speak with Brella (E), a woman standing just outside the train station, to start this quest

Then board the train to Luxerion.

Luxerion

Time: 16:00-17:00.

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

- The Angel's Tears # 03/04 - Speak with the usual girl (A) on the top of the stairs of South train station and pay 300 Gil to continue with the quest

Now head towards the West entrance of the Forsaken Graveyard, where we will now continue a quest started earlier in Day 2.

- Buried Passion # 02/03 - Speak with Armand, the man with glasses (B) in The Residences area (just before the West entrance of the Forsaken Graveyard) to continue with the quest

That's all we had to do here in Luxerion. If it's getting late, Teleport to Yusnaan and use Chronostasis to reach the gate in the Industrial Area to continue with the story. Otherwise get on the North station train from Luxerion and go there on foot. Keep in mind that you must be at the gate of Industrial Area (Yusnaan) by 18:59 MAX (the gate will remain closed from 19:00 onwards. Next chance to continue will be at 18:00 of the next day).

Yusnaan

Industrial Area

Time: 18:00-18:59.

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

- Main Quest 2-1 # 03/04 - Reach the gate in the Industrial Area between 18:00 and 18:59 and show the ticket bought earlier to the guard before the gate; he'll let you enter (before 19:00). Then simply make your way through the next areas to continue with the story

There is no more hurry once you're past the gate (not for a short while anyway), but try to still be relatively fast: we need to do a few timed (missable) things in just a few hours later on, so it's best if you complete Main Quest 2-1 in a couple of hours and reach your destination by about 21:00.

Go up the ramps/stairs to follow the objective marker.

- At one point you'll need to go up a long ladder. Pan the camera to the left as you climb up, and you will notice a treasure sphere on a ledge below. To reach it (it's A*) you need to climb up the ladder all the way to the top, and then jump from there to the treasure. You also need 2 EP to open this treasure, which contains Fencer's Earrings

- Continue onwards, descend down a ladder, and detour to the right before climbing up the next ladder to find a sparkling item on the ground -- pick it up (green A*); it's the Bronze Pocket Watch

Continue following the markers on the screen until you reach the monorail.

- Follow the monorail South. Make sure to jump up some boxes to reach a ledge as you go forward, so you can reach a treasure sphere (B) containing a Soldier's Tie

Then keep going all the way South along the monorail to trigger some scenes and an event fight against a Cyclops. To Stagger this enemy you need to Perfect-Guard his "club" attacks, attack him (especially when he's standing on one foot only during his Stomp attack), and use physical attacks when he's already Staggered once for further Staggering.

He has no elemental weaknesses, although at one point he will get "enraged" and become more powerful but weaker in his defense (weakness against all elements).

He drops 4 EP recovery when defeated (you shouldn't need to use Overclock anyway), and you can defeat him easily by spamming magic attacks (he'll get Staggered pretty fast after he becomes enraged).

After fighting Cyclops more scenes will trigger, and then you will end up in the Warehouse District.

Warehouse District

In here, stay on the right side and then proceed forward to find some big containers that you can use to climb up.

- Up the containers on the right there is a treasure (C) containing a Sight's Circlet

- Jump back down, and proceed past the containers to find some skeletons on the ground level (follow the objective markers) -- examine them to get the item ID Card

Follow the new objective markers towards a tunnel, and go through it. Unlock the door on the way continue, and then continue to the end of the tunnel to return to The Revealer's Quarter.

The Revealer's Quarter

- Now that you're back in The Revealer's Quarter, go towards the Inn and check the bush on the West side. Behind it you will find a treasure that appears only during certain hours of the day (it will be here at the current time, which is 20:00-21:00, give or take). Open it to find the Lapis Lazuli item inside

- Main Quest 2-1 # 04/04 - When it's all done, proceed up the big staircase and go inside The Augur's Quarter by using the ID Card on the machine on the right of the gate leading to it. Some scenes will trigger, and this main quest of the story will end

The Augur's Quarter

Now that you are inside The Augur's Quarter (you can go out and get back in whenever you want; just examine the consoles near the gate to do so) there are some treasure you can get. In this area there are also shops, namely a General Store and an Outfitters. The latter sells the important Cyber Jumpsuit Garb; make sure to buy it!

As far as the treasures goes, these are their positions:

- A treasure is in the middle of the area (E) under a big cart, and it contains a Corundum Pin

- Another treasure is up the balcony on the Northeast side (F) and contains a Thorn of Will

- The last one can be reached if you jump off the balcony in the Northwest corner (from the balcony you need to jump Northwest, towards a dead end) (G) and contains Demon Earrings

The next series of events and subquests have a restricted window of time during which they are available, so make sure to use Chronostasis if you need it to be on time.

Time: 21:30.

Map of the next tasks (lower zoom here).

- Main Quest 2-2 # 01/05 - Speak with a man with a checkered suit on the balcony Northwest (F 1 )

- Main Quest 2-2 # 02/05 - Speak with the man near the "Statue of God" (F 2 ), marked in-game as your next objective marker. He will give you the Boss's Note which is needed to get a total of 10x Fireworks

Now you need to get 10x Fireworks before 00:30, but some of the quests that reward you with fireworks are timed and will expire even before then. In particular, "Fireworks in a Bottle" will expire at 23:00, so we must make sure to complete it by then. If you can't complete the main story task (get 10x Fireworks) by 00:30, you'll need to try again the next day.

- Assuming the time is about 21:30-22:00, use Chronostasis once before going anywhere else

Central Ave. and The Glutton's Quarter

Head all the way to Central Ave. and follow it to the North. On the way you will see a drunk NPC with a quest icon.

- Fireworks in a Bottle # 01/03 - Speak with the drunk man (A 1 ) on Central Ave. to show him the Boss's Notes and start the quest

- Fireworks in a Bottle # 02/03 - Reach the restaurant on the top of the staircase (Southeast side of The Glutton's Quarter) and speak with a young man with dark glasses (standing at the top of the stairs near a table) (A 2 ) to purchase Bacchus's Brew for 1,000 Gil

- Get the Girl # 02/04 - Speak with the same person (A 2 ) that sold you the Bacchus's Brew again, and show him the Lackley's Ring to progress with this quest of Luxerion

- The Avid Reader # 04/05 - Speak with the young girl here, on the highest restaurant up the stairs (L). When you're asked whether to read the diary or not, pick "Yes". This will make you fail the current quest, but it will then allow you to do another quest (which has better rewards than the one you're going to fail). You will receive the item Ranulph's Journal (contents read) if you read it as advised

- Fireworks in a Bottle # 03/03 - Hand the Bacchus's Brew to the Drunk Pyrotechnician to complete the quest

Rewards: 4x Fireworks, 300 Gil, Ceremonial Headdress x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +40, STR +2, MAG +4.

Now go towards Southwest of The Glutton's Quarter, where there's the passage connecting this area with The Slaughterhouse (coliseum, arena, whatever you call it).

- Fireworks for a Steal # 01/03 - Speak with Funicula (B 1 ), a man standing before the passage between The Glutton's Quarter and The Slaughterhouse, to start the quest

- Fireworks for a Steal # 02/03 - Go through the tunnel past him to find a monster (a single Skata'ne) (B 2 ). Kill him to receive 5x Fireworks as reward

- Fireworks for a Steal # 03/03 - Bring the goods (5x Fireworks) back to Funicula (he will take the five Fireworks from you, but he'll give them back with interests soon), and then follow him a short distance (reach B 3 ). Speak with him again when he stops walking to complete the quest

Rewards: 7x Fireworks, 1,300 Gil, Vanguard Headdress x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +80, STR +8, MAG +4.

The Augur's Quarter

It should be well before 00:30 now (if that time is approaching, use Chronostasis!) -- go back to the technician in The Augur's Quarter.

- Main Quest 2-2 # 03/05 - Give the Fireworks Boss (F 2 ) the 10x (or more) Fireworks you collected, and then go speak with the man with checkered suit (Director Sarzhak). The latter will tell you that you need to win a special Garb at The Slaughterhouse and come back to him by 03:00

There's plenty enough time to not-need any use of Chronostasis, but beware that every fight in The Slaughterhouse will "cost" you 10 minutes of your in-game time. If you're late, for any whatsoever reason, make sure that you use Chronostasis and have at least 40 minutes to spare before 03:00 before you start the three fights you need to win at The Slaughterhouse. If you can't finish the story-related tasks by 03:00 you'll need to try again the next Day.

Keep in mind that The Slaughterhouse battles do not reward you with loot, Gil, or EPs. Moreover, as we just said, every fight advances the timer by +10 minutes (Chronostasis won't prevent this. In fact, Chronostasis will automatically expire after the fight, and you will still "lose" the 10 minutes).

The Champion's Quarter

- Main Quest 2-2 # 04/05 - Reach The Slaughterhouse and complete a mandatory subquest (The Fighting Actress) to receive the Midnight Mauve Garb to continue with the story

- The Fighting Actress # 01/03 - Speak with the owner of The Slaughterhouse to start the first of three fights. The first one is against 4x Ghost Gremlins. The battle reward for this fight is 1x Bronzed Medal

- The Fighting Actress # 02/03 - Speak with the owner again for the next fight against an Anubys of the Abyss (battle reward: Silvered Medal)

- The Fighting Actress # 02/03 - Start the third and last battle at The Slaughterhouse, which this time is against Zaltys Brimstone. The reward will be Crystal Medal

Rewards: 1,500 Gil, Crown of Splendor x 1.

Stats Rewards: HP +80, STR +6, MAG +6.

Moreover, you will receive the Midnight Mauve Garb.

This should be your 25th completed quest. If that's the case, you will unlock:

Angel of Salvation Proof of clearing 25 side quests. It is a great feat to lead so many souls to salvation.

Press Y to open your main menu, and choose to customize your Schemata. In particular, set Midnight Mauve as one of your Garbs, and then press X on it, in the "Main Schema" list, to set it as your on-screen Garb (so Lightning "wears" this costume when she's on the field, outside the battles).

Still in your main menu, now select Recovery Items. If you don't have a free Item Slot, pick the least important item on the list and discard it (select it, then press X to discard it). You need a free Item Slot for the next quest.

- A Testing Proposition # 01/09 - Speak with Alchemist Velno (D), the item shop owner in The Slaughterhouse, to start this quest. If you have at least one free item slot for your inventory, she'll give you a Nektar. This item must be used in battle when Lightning is affected by at least one (any) status ailment. If you don't use it when this condition exists, you won't advance with the quest but you can still complete it if you return the following Day, after 19:00, to get another Nektar. I'll tell you when a good opportunity to use the Nektar will occur, but feel free to use it whenever you have a chance if you happen to find yourself with a status ailment in a random battle

When it's all done, return to The Augur's Quarter.

- Main Quest 2-2 # 05/05 - Speak once again with Director Sarzhak before 03:00, and agree to wait until 03:00 to continue with the story. You must be "wearing" the Midnight Mauve Garb on-screen to do so

You will automatically receive the Femme Fatale weapon between one cutscene and the other, and then you'll resume the adventure in another area.

Yusnaan - The Patron's Palace

Time: 03:00.

We have just about 3 hours to sneak in the palace, grab everything on the way, and defeat the local boss to complete the main questline of Yusnaan. Time *is* strict, but if you don't get lost you will easily manage to reach the boss in a couple of hours at most.

Of course it's no big deal if you run out of time because you can simply resume the mission the next Day (it just throws us a bit off of our schedule, so let's do our best to avoid it). On the way to the boss there will be quite a lot of Chaos Zones, so you can easily refill your EPs for Chronostasis if it's getting late for some reason. Do try to always have 6 EP though, so you can use all the Overclocks you need on the boss (actually this won't be one of those fights where you will Overclock a lot, but it's still a good idea to save EPs anyway, just in case). Also don't miss this opportunity to gather any Soul Seed on the way.

Map of Yusnaan Palace (Revisited) (lower zoom here).

- On the ground there are two sparkling items that you can pick up (green A,B). One is right next to Lightning, while the other is on the small ledge just West of the passage connecting the Palace with The Augur's Quarter. These two sparkling items are two out of five Statue Fragments required for a Canvas of Prayers quest

- In the Southwest corner of this first open area there is a treasure (A) to loot for a Thorn of Courage

Go East, then South, and follow the only possible way to reach the inside of the palace. These areas will look familiar, since you're basically doing the same exact route you did the first time you were here, in the beginning of the game.

Follow the path you went through in the beginning of the game. There is nothing to pick up, aside from the occasional Soul Seeds in the various Chaos Zones on the way. Keep going until you return to the part where the first section of the game ended, which is shortly after the first closed gate that you'll come across (to open it, press the switch on its right).

When you're there, use the ID Card obtained a while a go to unlock the door where you got stuck earlier during Main Quest 0-1. Then proceed to the next room and push the switch on the East side to unlock the door leading South, and go through it afterwards.

- In the next area, instead of proceeding simply East to continue, climb up the ladder on the left (North) side to reach the upper balcony. Go around the balcony and open a treasure (B) containing the useful ability Flamestrike Lv 2, which should be equipped to your highest-STR Schemata

Reach the next room. It should be about 05:00 now. If that's the case, use Chronostasis once and try to fight some enemies in the next Chaos Zones. Anyway, in this room you need to climb up the boxes on the left (East) and go around the room clockwise to reach the switch, located on the upper balcony. This will open the door leading West.

- Go through the door leading West, and turn right (North) as soon as you can to reach a dead end with a treasure (C) containing Heavy Guard Lv 2

Reach the next room with a switch. Here you need to climb up the containers to the West side. Ignore the first ladder on the way (it leads to a dead end), and continue around the room (North) instead.

- Climb up the second ladder you see to reach the balcony with the next switch, as well as another treasure (D) containing a Frostbane Choker

Push the switch, and then go through the door unlocked (North).

As you continue after the last gate you will find a guard that sells items: Potions and Phoenix Downs. Restock if you need, and then proceed past him (Chronostasis should be over just about now).

Use a second Chronostasis here, which should buy us enough time to reach the boss. There will be an event fight against 2x Anubys (+0.9 EPs recovery on Easy) that you must win later on, so don't bother refilling the entire 1 EP consumed before that mandatory fight.

In the next area there will be some scenes, and in here you will notice a frozen door in front of you.

- Ignore the frozen door, and go East of it to find a dead end with a treasure (E) containing the Prophecy of Aspiration

Then return to the frozen door and go West -- follow the path to reach the next room. There's just one way to reach the next switch (up the ladder, then follow the path around the room), necessary to unlock the next door leading South.

Go through the open door and continue South. Fight 2x Anubys to continue. Then follow the way to reach a "cage".

- In here, pick up the key item Serah's Pendant from a small table

Jump down the hole in the floor to the West of where you obtained the previous item. You will return to a previously-visited room. In the room where you land, go East a bit, and then North to return to the room where the sealed door is.

Save the game. As soon as you examine the sealed door, a cutscene will trigger and a boss fight will start, so let's prepare for it a little.

The next boss is weak against Fire, so this setup will do well against him:

1. Midnight Mauve with Magician's Token -- you will use this one to spam Fira Lv 3 (its default ability).

2. Red Mage with Liberator weapon, Fighter's Emblem accessory, and ability Flamestrike Lv 2 -- you will use it to spam Flamestrike Lv 2, especially after Staggering.

3. Dragon's Blood with Shadow Hunter weapon, Wolf's Emblem accessory, and Heavy Guard Lv 2 -- you will use it to attack the boss with Heavy Slash Lv 3 (default ability) and to defend.

Boss name:

Boss Fight - ?????? (Yusnaan Boss)

HP: 320,000.

Weakness against Fire element, Resistant against Ice element.

Stagger Condition 1: Attack when the enemy is using Chaos Charge.

Stagger Condition 2: Unleash physical attacks. The effect is greater in the instant following an attack or when the enemy is using Recast.

Stagger Condition 3: Unleash magic attacks. The effect is greater in the instant following an attack or when the enemy is using Riposte.

This is a very simple fight actually: spam Fira and Flamestrike Lv 2 for Staggering, and then Heavy Slash Lv 3, possibly after Staggering the boss. You don't really have to think about his different attacks, since he will just get hit and Staggered all the time. You shouldn't need to use Overclock to deal massive damage in this fight. If possible, use your EPs for Overclocking only when you are out of ATB on all the three Garbs (so basically use Overclock not really to deal more damage in a particular situation, but rather to refill your ATB gauges instantly with it and speed up the fight).

You will receive +10 EP Recovery and 10,000 Gil as reward for the fight.

Yusnaan - Main Quest (2-X) Complete!

Stats Rewards: Max EP +1, HP +300, Max ATB +10, STR +112, MAG +28.

At this point you will unlock this story-related achievement:

Hope at the Edge of Despair Proof of one who has stood upon the stage in glittering Yusnaan, bringing peace to the Patron. 1 guide

- Make sure to pick up the red-sparkling item on the ground after the fight: it's the valuable Ghostly Hood accessory (Physical Damage -75%, but STR/MAG -100%), a crucial piece of equipment for advanced strategies

Yusnaan and Luxerion

It should be pretty much 06:00 now, but since we have 6 EPs and a bit of time left (even if just a few minutes), let's make some small progress towards a quest started earlier. In particular, if you still haven't used the Nektar in battle to try to cure a status ailment, do the following process (if you did manage to use the Nektar just do the last step):

- Use Chronostasis, and then Teleport to Luxerion South station

- A Testing Proposition # 02/09 - Walk on the street connecting South Station and Old Town, where there's a frequent spawn of Meonekton (between 04:00-06:00). These enemies can inflict status ailments, so just sit back and wait until they add a status ailment on Lightning. When they do, use the Nektar from your inventory -- you won't heal the status, and you will only recover 1 HP

- A Testing Proposition # 03/09 - Teleport to Yusnaan, use Chronostasis again if necessary, and speak with the quest-giver (Item Shop of The Slaughterhouse) to receive the Nektar MK II item. We need to use this one on an enemy that inflicts Poison on you (we'll do this tomorrow)

That's really all for this long day: let the time expire so you can return to The Ark.

# The Ark - Day 5 (Six Days Till the End)

.

The daily treasure box contains the EP Ability "Esunada", which at the cost of 1 EP will heal you from all status ailments (it's a waste of EP normally, but against major enemies and bosses it becomes very important).

There's a new question you can ask Hope if you want.

When you're ready, use the usual warp device to return to Nova Crystalia - Wildlands Station.

# Day 5

.

The Wildlands

Board the train to the Dead Dunes.

The Dead Dunes



As soon as you arrive you will unlock the Teleport Station - Dead Dunes station.

Our goal for the morning an early afternoon (until about 16:00) will be to explore the entire Dead Dunes area. This place is not quite as huge as The Wildlands, especially thanks to teleport services available here and there by means of red cacti. If you touch a red cactus, this will be activated permanently and you'll be able to teleport (at no cost of Gil or EP) from any red cactus to any other red cactus that has been activated.

You shouldn't need to use Chronostasis a lot, since we have at least 6-7 hours to simply explore the whole place, without any particular detour and without much backtracking. I do advise to use it a bit though, especially early on. Basically what you want to do is using Chronostasis frequently (try to keep it always on) until you have to open the first treasure that requires 4 EP. Then, from that moment onwards, stop using Chronostasis and just continue your tour of the desert as quickly as possible -- you'll need to save another 4 EP for another treasure towards the end.

If you come across the Earth Eater enemy, run away without engaging battle: it takes too much effort to kill this enemy, and it's not worth it. On the contrary, the Gurangatch enemy is particularly easy and quick to kill (spam Aero-based spells to Stagger him, then a few strong physical hits will finish him off), and he gives +4 EP Recovery when defeated: if you find one, fight him for easy EP recovery.

In the Dead Dunes you will find several "Pilgrim's Crux" items, which are necessary to access particular areas of the Dead Dunes. They look like floating crosses.

In the Dead Dunes you will also find small lizards on the ground. You need to slash 30x Lizards with your weapon (press RB) for an achievement, and you also want to get the item they drops (Lizard Tail, Unappraised Item) when you slash them for other purposes (subquests, miscellaneous stuff, but also story progression for the Unappraised Item, since they will be traded for a Pilgrim's Crux). This is the achievement for killing 30+ Lizards:

Lizard Lariat Proof of hunting down more than 30 lizards in the shifting sands of the Dead Dunes. 1 guide

Lastly, in the Dead Dunes there is just one main settlement (the Den of Thieves), but there are also several small dungeons, "Sanctuaries". We will explore the Sanctuaries another time, so for today we're just going to explore the outside and have a quick go at the easiest local quests.

Giant's Sandbox

Map of the next tasks (lowe