FFXIII-2: Crystarium Optimization

[Maguspk]

Something something about only being able to control at most 2 out of your 3 party members and even then you're probably losing ATB by manually inputting shit.

[Appie]

That's also the point where I start to manual attacks if I care enough for the extra damage from the magic spells instead of the enspell strikes inbetween.

So rare that I don't even bother doing it for 2 characters, let alone 3 if I could control it for the 3rd. And since I still got the shitty weapons with no ATB Speed +X%, my manuals are just fine long before the bar fills.

[Nevex]

Tell me if I got this right.
As long as I stick to the even/odd rule and I don't level Serah's RAV and Noel's COM to 99 before I'm on the last Crystarium stage I'll always be able to maximize Serah's MAG and Noel's STR, right?

The necessity not to cap them before I'm on the last stage is due to the fact there are two consecutive large nodes every time you get to a new crystarium stage, so if you ran out of COM/RAV levels you might not be able to maximize their stats.
This is more true for Serah as she only has 2 spare nodes (though), compared to Noel who has 51. Obviously once Noel caps STR the same concept will apply for him too if you're going to cap his MAG, except he has room to level his RAV and SYN(even) on small nodes as well.
Of course if I want to use Serah's 2 spare nodes for STR then I need to make sure to level COM on them.

[fren.]

I've unlocked ATB gauges and SYN + SAB for my first two crystarium expansions. Should I bother with accessory unlocks next? Or am I free to go about it however I want without regretting it later?

[shukudai]

I don't think it matters too much unless you're looking some specific setup. Unlocking rolls early doesn't do too much, and unlocking Accessory gives bonuses, though not many great accessories that early on, though you can still stock up and wear like 3 power wrist bands or w/e on Noel early on.

[SkyView]

why on NOEL-stage3 we have to choose syn on large and not COM???
we would have +18 str !
i dont get this...sorry can u explain me that!! its just cuz for the final stage??

[Jeryhn]

Tell me if I got this right.
As long as I stick to the even/odd rule and I don't level Serah's RAV and Noel's COM to 99 before I'm on the last Crystarium stage I'll always be able to maximize Serah's MAG and Noel's STR, right?

More or less. For maxing Magic, I found a handy way for optimizing through SYN and SAB was to do both roles at the same time, meaning once you get the abilities for both roles out of the way, level SYN and SAB in tandem before RAV.

As for the guy asking about being able to choose role bonus as a Crystarium extension, what role bonus you can enhance depends primarily upon what roles you leveled up the most on the extension you just finished. For instance, if you want to enhance COM bonus, make sure a good number of the nodes you fill in are COM nodes. There are enough levels for each role to pick and choose which bonuses you want to unlock earlier.

[Jeryhn]

I've unlocked ATB gauges and SYN + SAB for my first two crystarium expansions. Should I bother with accessory unlocks next? Or am I free to go about it however I want without regretting it later?

Unlock MED next. You'll have more healing opportunities along with a role you can dumpstat into small nodes.

[Tyrath]

How many times can each role be enhanced?

[Ratatapa]

2

[Nightshade]

So is the list in the original post an error-free way to go to max stats the way it says it should, and the crys level bonus' too? Just got the game and i would hate to screw up my first time around if i can avoid it as I am a bit of a perfectionist. Im playing on the 360 and if anyone has a better step-by-step guide please let me know via message on here or xbl; gamertag Nightshade219. Thanks in advance

[Jeryhn]

Bears repeating.

Generally, the idea works like this:

- When starting out, use your favored role on large nodes and burn SEN levels on small nodes.
- Unlock SYN, SAB and MED as soon as possible. Start using MED to fill in small nodes as well. Prioritize filling small nodes with SEN or MED for characters depending on your effective Paradigm Packs.
- Keeping working on favored role for large nodes until you get all abilities for that role (minus the full ATB ones). Abilities generally cap at 60 for COM and RAV.
- Next start working your Crystarium bonuses through SAB and SYN. Again, prioritize useful abilities (e.g. Serah should be burning thru Saboteur levels before Synergist levels).
- Since getting all large nodes for Strength is impossible due to the limited sources of Strength through role bonuses, a Strength build is going to need to include Magic sometime to be optimal assuming HP isn't your secondary goal for a Str build. Saboteur is the go-to role for this - spend large nodes on Saboteur exclusively until its capped after getting COM to 60.
- Optimizing Magic requires more careful attention to the system so you don't accidentally use an odd SYN or SAB level on a large node. Get RAV to 60 first, then use small nodes to eliminate even levels between each odd you put on SYN and SAB.
- Role bonuses should be unlocked last on the Crystarium, as everything else is more important. Whether you unlock ATB or additional roles first is largely up to the player, but if you're being careful about optimization, I would unlock roles first because the game is easy enough in the beginning without doing ATB right away.
- Overall, always leave a few COM and RAV levels for last when you cap out the Crystarium. There are large nodes at the end and you'll want to prioritize according to your build for that character.

TL;DR:
A Str build for Noel should be consisting of COM and SAB almost exclusively.
A Mag build for Serah should be consisting of a bit of RAV, followed up by careful attention to SYN and SAB odd levels, then finishing off RAV. You don't need a chart for all this.

[Nightshade]

So does this list follow your suggestion above? I realize there are different ways to achieve the same result, im just looking for a step by step guide that shows one way while not wasting any large nodes. Does the original list have any mistakes in that respect?

[Jeryhn]

A node-by-node list isn't necessary because the system isn't overly confusing to begin with.
Constructing and following a check-off list is actually a huge waste of time.

The Crystarium actually works on a very simple premise:

There are 197 large nodes.
The ideal stats to choose are Strength and Magic.

Magic bonus occurs on all RAV levels and odd SYN/SAB levels. It is possible to get about 195-196 Magic bonuses.
Strength bonus occurs on all COM levels and even SAB levels. It is possible to get about 146-147 Strength bonuses.
This means an ideal Strength build will need some large nodes devoted to Magic.

tl;dr:
A Magic build should be all RAV and careful attention to odd for SYN and SAB.
The best way to is level SYN and SAB together as much as possible to ensure you don't waste a large node.
Whenever you place an odd SYN/SAB level in a large node, your next move should be to get rid of the next even level.
Save some levels in COM for the very end of your Magic build once you cap out on available Magic bonuses.

A Strength build should be all COM and SAB on large nodes.
Do not consider guides that suggest SYN for Strength builds because they don't know what the fuck.
COM + SAB is all you need for almost every large node.
Save some levels in RAV for the end of your Strength build once you cap out on available Strength bonuses.

Prioritize unlocking roles, then unlocking ATB, then Full ATB skill/accessory capacity, then role bonuses when the Crystarium expands.
Unlocking ATB or roles first can be somewhat interchangeable, but unlocking roles first means easier optimization.
If you want to prioritize certain role bonuses before others, level up the desired role on the current layer of the Crystarium.

It really is that easy.

[Tyrath]

Yeah, following the advice in the above post is way simpler than trying to follow a node by node guide. That just gets annoying and the system isn't hard once you grasp it.

[Nightshade]

Thanks Jeryhn, that explanation definitely simplifies things alot. Now I see a list really isnt neccesary. Now to start a new game ... again.

[Chrius]

Thanks Jeryhn, that explanation definitely simplifies things alot. Now I see a list really isnt neccesary. Now to start a new game ... again.

Same - only about 8 wasted hours though.
First 5 hours, did not know anything.
2nd run through about 3 hours after restarting from the start of episode 2 and going pure COM on Noel and pure RAV on Serah, not exactly thinking that there are a limited number of large nodes.

[Katlan]

So the reason u don't cap out com/rav (respectively) on large nodes to 99 first is so that you can prioritize sab/syn bonuses accordingly before before u run out of med/sen? Makes sense

[Tyrath]

Also because when you jump to the next level there are 2 large nodes in a row and you may not have the sab/syn odds/evens placed correctly.

[Jeryhn]

Also because there are 2-3 extra large nodes at the very end of the Crystarium depending on which character and which build, but yes you get the idea.

Just think of it in a dumpstat context:
Strength builds can feel free to dump SEN, SYN, MED into small nodes, with the majority of RAV being last. Magic builds dump into SEN, MED and the even levels of SAB and SYN, following up with COM.

Of course, this is only a general rule of thumb but not an absolute. You could dump some COM or RAV earlier before the end in order to pursue those role bonuses, sure, but its most beneficial to get to 99 on the SYN and SAB roles before getting to 99 in anything else in order to more accurately control your optimization.