Best way to upgrade weapons? (Final Fantasy XIII)?

Question

I am on Chapter 5 or 6 not sure (just went to the second disc...) and I want to make sure I don't upgrade anything wrong. The reason I ask is because I just got the Hawkeye for Hope, and I read that that's the best weapon for Hope, so I don't know if I can mess it up or not. So far I upgraded it with a few random items, but not too much.

So is the end result the same no matter what? Or is there a limit of uses you can upgrade an item, and thus, I should wait for certain items? Thanks for any help. :)

Answer 1

It doesn't matter how you upgrade, you always get to the same end result. In fact upgrade wouldn't have been the word I would have used for the upgrade system. "Level Up" is more appropriate and more accurately describes the process. A Hawkeye leveled entirely with organic components is no different than a Hawkeye upgraded with all mechanical components.



But doing it that way wastes TONS of material.



You may have noticed that item drops come in four different varieties. One is organic, represented by a claw, the other is mechanical, the third is premium, and the last are evolution stones. Premium items are worth the most gold and have no value in the upgrade process, they should be sold immediately. Evolution stones are grayed out until they are needed.



Organic components have low exp values and mechanical parts have high values, so it would make sense to upgrade with all mechanical components right?



Wrong.



Hidden within each component is a 'multiplier value' when you pile on enough of this value you get a multiplier bonus for all the experience applied to that item. Organic parts have positive values, mechanical parts have negative values. The minimum multiplier is 0.5 I believe and the maximum is x3. The game will let you know when you've earned one. The multiplier will remain until it is adjusted by another component, or the item gains a level. Excess experience for gain a level will carry over to the next level until you hit the level cap for the item. You can gain many levels at once, it is in fact entirely possible to go to level one to the level cap with just x3 use of mechanical parts, but you would need a LOT of parts.



This means the best, most efficient means for upgrading an item is to add organic components until the multiplier hits three, then spend as many mechanical components as you can at once. Since multipliers go away when the item gains a level you are better off dropping a lot of a single kind of material at once to get the maximum benefit.



When an item hits its level cap, which for most first teer weapons is level 21 (I think), the item will get a star. Any exp beyond what it was given to reach the cap will be wasted. At this point you can apply the appropriate evolution stone to move the item to its next stage. While it might take more than one stone only one stone is the right stone. You cannot accidentally apply the wrong one. All items evolve into another specific item, you cannot control what they become.



IMPORTANT NOTE: An evolved item immediately drops back down to level 1 of its next teer. This usually results in an immediate loss of power. You should hold off on evolving something until you have enough extra materials to gain a few levels afterwards. The evolved item has higher potential of course, but you will lose some power until you have re-leveled the item.



Many accessories change properties when they evolve. This can result in a very different accessory which may not have the property you wanted. All weapons evolve twice. Once to an upgraded version of itself, and once into the 'Ultimate Weapon'. All weapons have the same third stage so the weapon evolved into its ultimate form has its previous property replaced with the ultimate one.

Answer 2

Ff13 Upgrade Guide

Answer 3

Ff13 Weapon Upgrade Guide

Answer 4

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Well first of all, there really isn't a best way and you're not going to be able to massively upgrade until like chapter 11. But here's a few things and what weapons I think are best and why. 1. Always check an items value. There's tons of things that enemies drop that are actually worth selling more than upgrading. Credit chips that soldiers drop are a good example of this. 2. The best method is to buy Vibrant Ooze from the Creature Comforts shop and use 36 of them on an item. You will instantly get a x3 on the item and get 3 times the EXP. After that, use your items. 3. While you really can't do this until after you beat the game, it's best to farm Platinum Ingots from Adamantoise. Also, don't complete Mission 62 until you've done almost all of your upgrading cause then the Adamans disappear and it's a lot harder to get Platinum Ingots. Platinum Ingots are worth 150,000 gil a piece. 4. And finally, the weapons. A word to the wise, find a diagram on the internet that tells you all of the weapon's stuff. A weapon has an ability and a hidden ability. These hidden abilities are unlocked when you pair the weapon with certain accessories of the same type, but, the hidden ability is removed when you get you weapon to it's third tier. So Lightning's Axis Blade might seem like the best choice at first because it makes her so fast, but when you get it to tier 3, it loses it's speed and is actually Lightning's weakest weapon. So here's the weapons: *Lightning=Lionheart. It is her most powerful weapon that doesn't have a negative side-effect and the other two that do have negative side effects (Organyx and Hauteclaire) have side effects that don't work well with her (Organyx slows her down and Hauteclaire keeps her from Staggering, and since Lightning is the best Ravager, that doesn't work out well). Lionheart is found on the Grand-Prix race track in Chapter 12. Use Axis-Blade until then. *Snow=Power Circle, Paladin, or Rebel Heart. I name 3 for Snow because Snow can go 3 different ways. If you want him to be a very good Sentinel, then use Paladin, but if you want him to be a very good Commando, use Power Circle. Rebel Heart is kind of the balance in between. All of these can be found fairly early in the game, or at least fairly early when you get to play as Snow. *Sazh=Rigels or Spica Defenders. The disadvantage of the Rigels is that they have Stagger Lock, cause otherwise, they would be perfect since they are so strong. The Spica Defenders are slightly weaker than the Rigels, but they have Augmented Maintence (40% longer offensive buff duration and 80% with AM2) which would really help with Sazh's Synergist role, which is his best. The Spicas show up before the Rigels, but I don't remember when. The Rigels are in Chapter 12 in Eden Hall. *Vanille=Pearlwing Staff, Belladonna Wand, or Mistileteinn. The Pearlwing Staff has the highest magic, but doesn't have any positive or negative side effects. The Belladonna wand and Mistileteinn are about 100 weaker in Magic, but The Belladonna Wand has Improved Debuffing, which helps Vanille's Saboteur role (which is her best). and Mistileteinn features a ability unique to Vanille called Ally KO: Power Surge, which makes Vanille increasingly stronger when a party member dies. The Pearlwing staff appears first in Chapter 3, the Belladonna Wand in Chapter 6, and Mistilleteinn in Chapter 11 in Oerba. *Hope=Hawkeye, Otshirvani, or Vidofnir. Hawkeye has no added effects, but gives Hope the highest magic. Otshirvani is equal to Vidofnir in Magic, but has a higher Strength and features Siphon Boost, which ties in well with Hope's Ravager abilities and tie together with Fear Siphon (look at the ability in Hope's menu). Otshirvani also is in the Boost hidden-ability group, so Hope's ATB gauge can go very fast like Lightning's Axis Blade. Vidofnir has Defensive Maintenance which makes the defensive buff durations last longer (same as Sazh's Spica Defenders but with Defensive spells instead of offensive). Hawkeye is found in Chapter 5, Otshirvani in Chapter 11, and Vidofnir in Chapter 7. *Fang=Taming Pole, Gae Bolg, Pandoran Spear, Punisher. Taming Pole is the strongest, but it has Stagger Lock, which sucks. Gae Bolg is second strongest in Strength, but weakest in Magic, and it has Improved Counter, which helps Fang counterattack in her Sentinel role. Pandoran Spear works similar to Belladonna Wand, and it's stronger than Punisher, but Punisher has the Stagger: TP Charge, which slightly charges your TP gauge every time you Stagger someone. Taming Pole is found in Chapter 11, Gae Bolg in Chapter 7, Punisher in Chapter 11, Pandoran Spear in Chapter 9. I hope this all helps and sorry about how long it is :)

Answer 5

the best way is to stop playing the game and go find a job and a girlfriend