Final Fantasy XIII-2 Walkthrough
By
Peter Brown, Editor
Cocoon has fallen! Kweh! Our game guide for Final Fantasy XIII-2 features an in-depth walkthrough covering equipment, monsters, abilities, and more!
Primers
Monster System
Introduction to Final Fantasy XIII-2 MonstersFinal Fantasy XIII-2 forgoes a third party member in order to introduce a new monster catching system.
Noel and Serah are the only human characters you'll have in your party apart from guests and certain DLC characters. XIII-2 introduces a new monster catching system to the series (not counting the Tactics games).
How to Catch Monsters in Final Fantasy XIII-2You capture monsters during battle. Sadly, you have little control over the process. Later in the game, you can acquire Fragment Skills; Special abilities that enhance various aspects of the game and your character. These are the fragment skills related to monster catching in Final Fantasy XIII-2:
- Battlemania: Attract strong and rare monsters.
- Encounter Master, increase or decrease the encounter rate
- Monster Collector, 20% increase in monster crystallization rate
For more information on fragment skills, look here: (coming soon)
The best chances you have for influencing the outcome in the beginning of the game lies in your battle rating and the execution of Feral Links as the final blow during combat.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Feral Link SystemEach monster also has a unique Feral Link ability. They are similar to limit breaks in Final Fantasy VII. A gauge fills up during the course of battle. When it's full, you can unleash the ability as an instant by pressing X (or Square for PlayStation 3). This will lead to a CAS that is unique to each monster. Executing the inputs quickly enough can result in a major boost in damage. Also, executing a Feral Link as a final blow can slightly increase your chances of catching the enemy in question.
The Monster CrystariumUnlike Noel and Serah, monsters do not accumulate CP during the game. They still level up within the crystarium, just in a different manner. Instead of CP, you use monster materials. They come in many different forms and are often specialized for a particular type of monster. An organic monster cannot use monster materials made for mechanical monsters, for example.
In most cases, Materials are geared for specific stat boosts, though there are materials that boost all stats. In either case, you spend X number of materials to level up a step in the crystarium. The number depends on how far along you are along in the current crystarium level.
Like materials, Monsters come with a Grade on a five point scale. Monsters can only be upgraded using materials at a specific grade. As you level up the monster, their grade will gradually increase. The materials made for the higher grade monster are harder to discover in the field and are more expensive if sourced from Chocolina.
You have to use a large variety of monster materials to competently raise a strong team of monsters.
Infusing Monsters in Final Fantasy XIII-2You can combine monsters in a process known as infusion. Doing so allows you to pass abilities from one to the other. There are two categories of abilities that can be transferred: Role and Passive abilities. Passive abilities can be transferred between any two monsters, so long as the ability is not locked (represented by a lock icon). Role abilities can only be infused from monsters of the same class.
A monster can only posses a maximum of ten passive abilities. When infusing additional passive abilities, the most recent one is replaced, unless it is maked with a yellow lock icon, indicating preferential status.
Role abilities are not always passed on and the availability of them are based on each monsters individual crystarium level.
Additional InfoFor more info on monsters, check out the upcoming beastiary and monster taming sections of this guide.
By
Peter Brown, Editor
Peter Brown has been writing about video games and hardware since 1999. He grew up with the NES and has an unwavering love for retro and arcade games. Though he's a New England native, he's called the Bay Area home since 2004.
53 comments
Hi... Im stuck at Lvl 15 Augusta Towers AF300. Done everything there, But terminal in middle room says ''Need lvl 13 key, in other time period'' or similar. Also I have no A- Towers AF200, in the Historia Crux. Arrrrgh? Help.Also I cant throw Moogle.Cheers.
regarding the tomato thing, do I have to start over if after getting the black hole gem and the tomato is not mutant?
@shademalkovich There is more than 1 Oerba. there is 200AF, 300AF & 400AF. Not unlocked them all yet but you must be able to reach the water in 300 or 400AF
Also how to you get to the other side? there is usually a Chocobo to help but i can't find one you can ride. where treasures 14,15,16 and 21 are.
you have to use the way stones in the shape of cactaurs.the weather has to be the way it was when you first got there to find the way stone to the other side, n Mog has to find it.
I killed the faeryl in archylte, n I have the black hole gem, but when I went back to sunleth, the frigging tomato was still royal, not mutant! what do i do?
@calacake not sure about that it worked fine with me the other day. did you fight it when the weather was changed to Lightning?
how do i get back to augusta in the year 200af im stuck in 300 af and completed everthing im stuck
@smurf6 if you have already been to 200AF it will be unlocked in the Historia Crux.. press the start button and click the top one "return to Historia Crux' and look around and you will find it.
Cant get to academia? Beat the giant tomato thingy and have all the fragments. Still it hasn't been unlocked. What do I do?
@LiFERACE Go to The Void Beyond and travel through the space distortion. it's orange i thing on the top of the stairs ti the East.
The weapon Sacred Cross is not "just north of the gate" its miles north of the gate, its at the opposite end of the western section of the map (where as the gate is in the furthest south-westerly position on the map).Make sure you realise this before proceeding. If you assume like i did it will be near the gate its not. youll have to go to the north of the western section first by the 3 toppled pillars marked on the map and then to the very south west to the gate.
You already have Beta and Gamma NOT Alpha and Gamma as stated at the top of the page. So you need alpha, delta and epsilon if you are using this guide ;)
tell me how can you have 4 paradigms for monsters when you only get a paradigm pack of 3? You have Ravager, Commando, Sentinel and Medic roles for the monsters in the table above but this is surely not possible.
1 Like @Bulletrush12 Some monsters, much like Noel and Serah, they can have more than one paradigm. Behemoths can be Commandos or Ravagers. Cait Siths can be medics or commandos. Sometimes three. It depends on if they are late bloomers, well grown, or early bloomers.
first id like to say thanks for making this guide its helped me a lot. however im now a bit confused. When I went through the gate after collecting the artefact in waterscape I was given the options:
This guide helped a lot for myself and my husband. We enjoy the FF series, and he had gotten stuck in XIII-2 at Augusta 200AF the first time through, not sure where to go to use the Wild Artifact. ^^ This is a great guide.
This is turning out to be a game of little content, certainly not up to the level of FF#13. I can't recall another FF this shallow. On the positive side - IT'S FINAl FANTASY - STILL THE BEST RPG SERIES EVER.
Thanks Doc Brown...I apologize and to tell you the truth i followed your stradegy with maxing out Noel as a commando and serah as Ravager and been breezing threw the bosess like nothing. Great walkthrough
Interesting opinions Fuego...Anyway, since you asked, you get it from the Mystic in Serendipity. You can acquire it after the conclusion of Episode 5. Our fragment skills page listed under primers has the requirements for each skill.
I should have not been cheap this time around and bought the strategy guide...by the time they finish this walkthrough ill already have beaten Final Fantasy XIII-3, and be playing Final Fantasy XIII Verses
You think you can silence me Gamespot! this walkthrough is amateur at best. IGNs is much better! and no i do not work for IGN....TIME AND SPACE!!!!!
if you have troubles with the clock puzzles check out the on-line solver that I've made for them: http://clockpuzzle.pl/
@mkrool Check back this evening (Pacific time) for the completion of Episode 4. Episode 5 will wrap up tomorrow, with the final Episode going up on Friday.
this guide stops exactly where i have lol would love if u could put guide up bout where to go after u see caius in augusta tower and u need key 50
Hey could you add what you are putting your points into in the crystarium, You stoped letting us know what are you leveling into and what you take when the crystarium levels up for your characters after Oerba. Thanks, Otherwise great job on the guide so far, I hope you finish it soon. :)
damn gamespot you bozos are slow as sh*t..only up to episode 3 part one. Like an idiot i followed your walkthrough not knowing it was complete till i got to the end of yaschas massif. but then i finally came to my senses and went to IGN where they not only had a complete walkthrough, but a complete wiki on everything ffxiii-2. Step your sh*t up gameFLOP
OH GOD, NOT ANOTHER WALKTHROUGH!!! Gamespot diddnt even finish the skyrim walkthough, and all they have to do its stupid stuff like achievements, and the parts that are done, are really awfully written. Its very disappointing.
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Table of Contents
-
- Prologue: Valhalla
- Episode 1: New Bodhum, 003 AF
- Episode 2: Bresha Ruins, 005 AF
- Episode 3: Yaschas Massif, 010 AF
- Episode 3: Oerba, 200 AF
- Episode 3: Yaschas Massif, 01X AF
- Episode 3: Locked Location/The Void Beyond
- Episode 3: Sunleth Waterscape, 300 AF
- Episode 3: Archylte Steppe, Unknown AF
- Episode 4: Academia, 400 AF
- Episode 4: Augusta Tower 200 AF
- Episode 4: Augusta Tower 300 AF
- Episode 4: Augusta Tower 200 AF
- Episode 4: Academia 4XX AF
- Episode 4: Graviton Core Hunt
- Episode 5: The Void Beyond ??? AF
- Episode 5: New Bodhum 00X AF
- Episode 5: A Dying World 700 AF
- New!Episode 5: New Bodhum 700 AF
- New!Episode 6: Academia 500 AF
- New!Episode 6: Final Bosses
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Not Following
-
X360, PS3
- Publisher:
- Square Enix
- Category:
- Role-Playing
- Release:
- Jan 31, 2012
- ESRB:
- T
