Final Fantasy XV is the most open Final Fantasy ever. It shares many similarities with other Western RPGs like The Witcher III or Skyrim: Special Edition. This means that the first hours of Final Fantasy XV can be really overwhelming, especially if you have not played the game’s previous demos.
But don’t worry! This guide is aimed to those of you who want to upgrade your characters in the quickest way possible, obtain Final Fantasy XV‘s best weapon in Leide (Cherufe) and craft the most powerful spells, all from the very beginning.
Final Fantasy XV’s Ascension Board
As you battle, complete quests and perform a variety of other actions, you will gain experience and ability points (AP). You can then spend these AP to unlock skills and bonuses in the Ascension Board, which is divided into nine different categories.
In order to obtain the largest amount of AP and become an overpowered mage as quickly as possible, you need to activate the following nodes –and in this order:
- Happy Camping: Exploration Nexus — 20 AP, Increase AP gain for making camp
- Happier Camping: Exploration Nexus — 48 AP, Further increase AP gained for making camp
- Powercraft: Magic Nexus — 20 AP, Enhance potency by 10 when crafting spells
- Roadrunning: Exploration Nexus — 32 AP, Gain AP for long trips in the car
- Aftertaste: Exploration Nexus — 18 AP, Extend Status Boost time from meals eaten at camp
- Appetize: Exploration Nexus — 20 AP, Gain AP for cooking someone’s favorite food
- Angler Action: Exploration Nexus — 18 AP, Gain AP for catching fish)
- Magic Action: Magic Nexus — 24 AP, Gain AP for using Elemancy
- Elementalism: Magic Nexus — 24 AP, Absorb more energy from elemental deposits
With these abilities, you will maximize your AP gain very quickly, and you’ll be ready to prepare extremely powerful spells in the early game. Our recommendation is that you unlock the first three abilities before facing the third major quest of Chapter I, The Mutant Marauder.
Crafting Powerful Spells in Final Fantasy XV
After unlocking the Powercraft ability, you are ready to craft the most powerful magic. For this, you only have to do two simple things:
1. Buy 99 Bottles of Sheep’s Milk in Hammerhead for 990 gils
2. Combine those 99 bottles with 99 units of Fire, Ice or Thunder
This will allow you to create x6 dualcast versions of Firaga, Blizzaga and Thundaga with 209 potency. This is the cheapest and most efficient way to craft extremely powerful spells, which will make your first chapters much easier since you can kill bosses and mobs in a single blow.
Where to Find the Cherufe in FFXV
The Cherufe is a fire broadsword, the strongest type of weapon in the game, that either Noctis or Gladiolus can use. It is the most powerful weapon that you can find or buy in Leide. I recommend Noctis to wield it since it will be your secondary source of damage after you spend your magic spells. The location of the weapon is marked on the map here:
You can find Cherufe in front of a pile of big bones, just after you enter the rocky area. It has 89 atack power, adds 82 to your maximum VIT and improves your fire resistance to 27 percent. It is perfect for fire-weak monsters and when dealing with big groups of enemies, two types of encounters that occur very often in Leide. You will not be able to get a second Cherufe until you get to the next area, Duscae, so grab this one while you can!
That’s it! If you follow this guide and level your character as we’ve shown, you will obtain a huge amount of AP with ease, be an overpowered black mage and have the best initial weapon in Final Fantasy XV.
Leave a comment below and tell us how you are doing in the first hours of the game. What other Final Fantasy XV guides would you like to see?
