The credits may have rolled along as Leona Lewis ad-libs sweet nothings into your ears, but there's still a lot more on the table pertaining to Fabula Nova Crystallis. So what's next? Have you five-starred all of your Cie'th Missions, collected all your trophies, gone on your chocobo treasure hunts, maxed out all your weaponry, and bothered all the sheep you care to bother? How about any of the extra bits and bobs of chat that didn't really fit into the main walkthrough listed on this page?
Episode Zero[]
If you have a spare block of time you’re not worried about not getting back, then why not delve deeper into the main storytelling device of FFXIII; extrinsic reading material!
Episode Zero is a prequel to the gameplay storyline, but takes place within the thirteen days we often saw in flashbacks. All snarking aside, it does actually flesh out a lot of the story bones, answers a lot of questions, and is a decent read (in parts, in parts). Sazh’s chapters (Part Three: Treasure), in particular, add a lot - a lot being like 95% of Jihl Nabaat’s characterisation - and are pretty interesting.
You can read the wiki article for a summary, or read the full translation of the original text here.
Levelling Spots[]
As aforementioned (several times, bitterly), the Crystarium is insanely expensive and the cause of much sweaty palms, teeth-grinding and cries of exasperation. The chapter cap (which prevents any stat/ability growth beyond certain checkpoints in the story) means it’s difficult to level grind in the traditional FF sense, so most opportunities arise post-game, but there are still some parts you can exploit for a little extra CP if you’re having trouble reaching that certain ability or stat boost.
Chapter 4: Vile Peaks[]
Before we fight the Dreadnought, there is a little stretch you can run back and forth between to respawn an enemy and get a little extra CP to play with. Keep an eye on the names of the areas you're passing through; you want to go between Munitions Necropolis and Devastated Dreams, taking out the respawning Pulsework Soldiers as you go. The CP is nothing to write home about, but they also drop Spark Plugs and Passive Detectors, which net around 90 and 200 EXP for upgrading.
Chapter 8: Hope’s Apartment, Palumpolum[]
Chez Estheim in Palumpolum is one of your earliest chances to do a little grinding. After PSICOM drops in and raids it, the apartment essentially becomes a Chip and CP carousel.
Ignore the objective point on your map (which leads to the Havoc Skytank boss battle) and go to the left, taking out the PSICOM troops throughout the apartment. Respawn, rinse and repeat, checking in at the Save Point when things get a little hairy (another odd, odd phrase that warrants a bit of background research). The CP is about 160 per fight, but the Phoenix Downs and Incentive Chips you get sell on decently (Incentive Chips at 2,500 gil each).
Chapter 9: The Palamecia[]
Yaaassssss. The External Berths and the Crew Corridors. Yaaassssss. CP and gil galore, making it rain etc.
The External Berths have a bunch of Deckdrones - Deckdrones give you 141 CP every time you dispatch them, and drop Silicone Oil and Digital Circuits like its your birthday. It also is the home to a lot of PSICOM Dragoons, who, as you know by now, are made of Credit and Incentive Chips.
When you head inside to the Crew Corridors, you can dispatch the various PSICOM posses and then duck back out the External Berths to prompt a respawn in both areas. Yaaassssss.
Chapter 10: Lower Traverse, Fifth Ark[]
The Fifth Ark. What a wondrously fun and exciting level to play one's way through. There is one, one, one tiny little sparkle of mercy on Square's part in this sprawling, despairing dungeon: the Lower Traverse. It's a bit difficult to explain exactly how to get to the area I'm talking about, but hopefully once you're there, you'll know what point I mean. There's an area where you jump down this tube bit; the main path leads off to the left, but there's a dead-end area you can jump up to on the right that has a ton of Noctilucales. Check out this page of the main walkthrough if you want to be absolutely sure you won't miss it.
They're guarding a treasure chest with Medicinal Oil x10 in it, there are six of them, and they give you 640 CP, and there's a damn good chance you can one-shot kill them with Quake if you get the pre-emptive. Jump back down to the metal grate to respawn them.
Chapter 11: Maw of the Abyss, Mah'habara Subterra[]
The entrance from the Archylte Steppe is essentially a long tunnel with groups of Hoplites dotted about it. Hoplites are super slow and super easy to pre-empt; add Thundara/Thundaga to the mix and you're laughing. Just make your way back and forth along the Maw of the Abyss (before the optional Juggernaut battle) and you'll be swimming in CP.
Chapter 11: Mission 24, Taejin's Tower[]
The reason people turn to this one so much is its convenience: the Cie'th Stone is literally about ten steps away from the actual mark, which makes repeat battles very quick and easy. With a guaranteed 6,000 CP and a 6,000 gil bonus (sell on those Moonblossom Seeds) each time, it's probably the easiest grinding you'll get to do in this game. The stone and mark are on the Fifth Tier of the tower; this page of the main walkthrough details how to get there and how to fight Mushussu, and this page of the missions guide just details the battle itself.
Chapter 12: Siren Park, Eden[]
Eden's offering to the whole levelling spot game is Siren Park. I touched on this a bit in the main walkthrough; there are a lot of battles here, but the variety on offer breaks down the dull monotony that grinding generally comes with. It also has a lot of three-way battles, which makes things easier for you on the whole.
Standard Battles
- Adamantheron: Shrug.
- Vernal Harvester: Like the Venusaur to the Aster Protoflorian, take your time with this one. Debuffs.
- Sanctum Inquisitrix: Shrug, the Sequel
- Orobon: You got this. Ugh, though.
- Vampire: Standard.
- Tyrant: As always, try and be as quick as possible to avoid having a Cenaturion Blade gatecrash.
Three-Ways
- Sanctum Seraph x2, Sanctum Archangel vs. Vampire x2: Pick off one Vampire before going after the Sanctum troops.
- Sanctum Inquisitrix x2 vs. Orobon x2: Ugh, though. Either or.
- Sanctum Archangel x3 vs. Vampire x3: Take out the Vampires first.
- Vernal Harvester vs. Tyrant: Eh, either or. Take out the Tyrant quickly to avoid the Blade, or go for the Aster Proto. Your call.
Post-storyline Grinding[]
For all post-storyline grinding spots, check out this walkthrough's Fine Art of Farming guide.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns[]
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As much as I like to pretend XIII ends - deus ex machina and all - when those credits finish rolling... they do not. No. If you want to proceed, completely rewriting the last cutscene of the game in high-quality fanfiction.net material stylings, I highly recommend finishing the trilogy, where it takes two more games, over five hundred years and a hideous mullet to finally get that happy ending.
Interesting Reads[]
- Keltainentoukokuu's Thoughts on the Eden Grand Prix. Initial thoughts on the random cut scene in Chapter 12 develop into possible improvements to the game's whole narrative and characterisation.