Final Fantasy type-0 Second Playthrough (New Game+)

Second Playthrough (New Game+)

There are still a lot of things left to do after completing the game once. Now, read carefully, because depending on what you intend to do with your game you may need to act rather differently.

Before the new playthrough

Completionists vs Average-Player choices

First of all, keep in mind that a third playthrough will still be necessary to get the ultimate weapons for your characters.
Difficulty setting
That being said, there is another thing to consider, and that is "l'Cie Mode". Long story short, to unlock this "mode" you'll need to finish all the game's missions on Finis difficulty (score doesn't matter). This includes the first and last missions, neither of which can be played from the Title Screen menu. In other words, you must start and finish a playthrough on Finis, as well as play every possible mission on Finis (replaying them from the Mission menu in Title Screen works; the problem are the first and last mission, which can't be replayed) in order to unlock l'Cie Mode.
To make things clear, you can simply do the first mission on Finis, then change difficulty to Officer/skip optional missions and Expert Trials, reach the end of the game and do the last mission on Finis, and then use the Title Screen menu to replay all the remaining missions on Finis -- you will unlock l'Cie Mode after you complete the last mission you need on Finis difficulty (it can be any mission, it doesn't have to be the final mission of the game). On the other hand, if you want to minimize the amount of times you replay missions, then obviously it's best to play them on Finis right away, in your second playthrough, provided you are strong enough to handle it (enemies all get +50 levels, they are in Rage mode, and you can only deploy one character).
While unlocking l'Cie Mode is not questionable for completionists, I have to point out that it's really not all that great in practice: l'Cie Mode will give your characters some auto-buffs (damage dealt x2, damage taken x0.5, auto-MP/AG recovery), but giving your characters the accessory Agito Insignia (maybe two of them) will actually make them much better than l'Cie Mode per-se (although it must be pointed out that l'Cie Mode stacks with effects such as Auto-Trance/Aura/Protect). So while it's cool to have everything unlocked, I wouldn't consider unlocking l'Cie Mode a priority for most people. Therefore, the "average player" can probably forget about it.
On the other hand, if you want to maximize your three playthroughs to try and get everything, then you should probably do the next playthrough on Finis difficulty. It actually won't be all that hard; my Rem was over level 60 by the end of my first playthrough, and by giving her the SP Crystal and Ultima I was able to easily do the second playthrough on Finis right away.
In the end, it really just boils down to your current situation (whether or not you already have the SP Crystal, mostly), and your ultimate goal with the game. To be honest, I feel like advising everyone to still start the second playthrough on Finis difficulty -- as much as it's true that this will be a big leap in difficulty, it's also true that if you have a strong Rem (who will only get stronger if you keep using her with SP Crystal, a Growth Egg/Mog's Lucky Charm, and her Double EXP weapon) and simply spam spells with her then you probably won't even notice the difference in difficulty at all (you one-shot everything before anything can attack you). In fact, playing on Finis might be beneficial even if you don't care about l'Cie Mode, since it will give Rem more Exp just by playing through the mandatory missions again (higher level enemies on Finis = more Exp).
If, however, you don't care about l'Cie Mode, and don't want the additional challenge in return for more Exp on the way, then you might want to continue on Officer difficulty at least for the second playthrough too.
Doing all the remaining Events: is it for you?
The other thing that will be vastly different between completionists and the "average" player is how you will deal with the remaining Events we have left. See, from the second playthrough onward it's possible to use items like the Auric Hourglass and the Argentic Hourglass to basically add two or one "days" (= 12h) to the Time to Mission during the free-time breaks. While the average player might simply want to do the Events available to him (focusing on those that we skipped the first time through), completionists will need to use the Auric Hourglasses/Argentic Hourglasses to do as many Events as possible (all of them) in each free-time break.
Things will actually be rather simple if you've been following this walkthrough and intend to continue doing so, since proper time-management will allow us to clear every remaining Event (including the pointless ones, like the unnecessary Emina scenes) and ultimately complete the Rubicus's Annals of Orience; all of this without having to "farm" (get) any additional Auric Hourglass other than the ones you received simply by playing.

General trend of the second playthroughs

To give you a general idea of how a second playthrough will be played out, these are the general ideas:
- You'll blast through the mandatory missions by spamming Ultima/BOM spells with Rem, equipped with the SP Crystal. At this point I have to start assuming you have the accessory/spell; if you don't, things will just be slower from now on, and you will still need the accessory/spell by the end of the second playthrough anyway. So...if you haven't already obtained either one, now it's time to catch up (refer to the SPP Farming section)
- There will be one new "Code Crimson" mission in each Chapter between Chapter 2 and Chapter 7 included. These missions will be played instead of one of the regular story missions that you did the first time
- You will do the Events that we skipped (like "watch-and-reload") the first time through, AND the Events that simply weren't available in the first playthrough (such as the new Mog Classes)
- If necessary, you will use Silver/Auric Hourglasses to add more Time to Mission to be able to do even more Events (I'll let you know when)
- You will complete all the Tasks that weren't "easily" doable during the first playthrough, AND the ones that simply weren't available the first time through; also any other Task you skipped entirely
- As far as Expert Trials goes, you can either do them or skip them for the most part. Most of them unlock regions of the world map just a bit sooner than when they would have been unlocked anyway by story progression alone. The exceptions are the last trials, in Chapter 7, which we may need to do again to unlock those areas. If you've followed my walkthrough so far, the only Expert Trial you'll need to replay (aside from replaying some of them for their rewards) will be The Amiter Resistance in Chapter 7
- A more or less significant amount of Exp-grinding will be required to be strong enough to deal with the Tower of Agito special dungeon. If you play through all the game missions and trials again on Finis, with Rem spamming Ultima, you will most likely be strong enough to do the Tower of Agito once you are in Chapter 5 again. Note that it's possible to access the tower earlier than Chapter 5 too, but you want to wait until later so you can prepare better for it. I'll talk about the Tower of Agito preparations specifically in due time (Chapter 5)
- If at any point Nox Suzaku shows up (after Chapter 6) and starts stealing all your newly-collected Phantoma, simply keep playing and he will eventually go away and you'll be able to collect Phantoma again. We could also go and "defeat" him, but this won't actually stop him from coming back (people have reported that he can appear again right after you defeat him), so I'll leave Nox Suzaku for even later than the Tower of Agito. We'll do him too though, don't worry

NG+ Walkthrough Structure

I think we can all agree that I would just waste your time (and GameFAQs database space :D) by writing everything we've already done again when things are exactly the same. Therefore, for all the missions that have nothing interesting/new to offer I will just formally write them down, without any additional detail.
I will of course have a detailed walkthrough for the new missions, as well as point out which Events you should do in each break (and when to use Silver/Auric Hourglasses to add more time to do even more Events). Ideally, by the end of this second playthrough you should have done all the possible Events and Tasks of the game, collected all the l'Cie Crystals and given them to Atra (thus unlocking more entries in the Rubicus), and completely cleared all the optional dungeons.
You won't be needing to "farm" them if you follow my instructions, but for reference, Argentic Hourglasses are awarded for completing the new "Code Crimson" missions with an S Rank on Officer; the odds are at 18.8%. Auric Hourglasses are awarded for completing the "Code Crimson" missions for the first time on Officer, (1x) and also as an S Rank reward if you beat those missions on Agito (2x of them, with 12.5% chances) or on Finis (5x of them, with 6.3% chances).
Let's get started!

(NG+) Chapter 1

To start a New Game+, use Continue from the Title Screen menu and load the Story Complete save you made at the end of the first playthrough.
As I suggested earlier, there really isn't any valid reason not to at least try the first mission on Finis difficulty -- even if your characters are grossly underleveled (just like mine were, since Rem/Trey/Jack aren't in the first mission, except for Jack at the end), you can easily Killsight the enemies in the first mission while being safely protected by the Life Armlet which grants permanent Reraise up until the end (except the last two areas).

(NG+) Chapter 1 (Continued)

(NG+) Story Mission: The Akademeia Liberation

Even on Finis, you will still be allowed to use a full party for this mission (normally on Finis you can only deploy one character). Nine's Killsights will deal with almost everything, with the exception of ranged enemies for whom you need Ace's Breaksights.
Against the first "leader" (the soldier with a rocket-launched), Breaksight him when he kneels and then fires a missile (Breaksight now). You should know how to deal with the rest by now.
If you have it, and followed my advice to un-equip it from other characters at the end of the previous playthrough, give Queen the SP Crystal the first time you get (first Relic Terminal you can find).
After the Life Armlet shatter you will be almost at the end of the first mission. It's advisable to send only one character forward at this point; Queen is probably the better choice, since her Thunder SHG (combined with her somewhat high MP, which means she can cast it multiple times; with SP Crystal, even better) can Breaksight the Nymurods from a relatively safe distance. The best position to fight, in my opinion, is actually between the two Nymurods (upper-left part of the area), because if you stand there they shouldn't use the "missiles-rain" attack (whereas if you stand too far away from either one of them, they will use that deadly attack). Things get much easier after the first Nymurod dies.
Then, in the part where you need to use Odin, charge Zantetsuken and run around the boss until it's charged to 100% -- unleash it afterwards for a swift kill.
The very last part of the first mission is probably going to be the hardest, but it's still pretty easy if you are patient and wait for Breaksights. I suggest controlling Ace, or maybe even Seven, and use ranged attacks (Thunder SHG) rather than Jack in close-quarters. Keep dodging until the boss does the "missiles-rain" attack (you can hear a noise when the missile is shot, and there is also a visual cue, like a rainbow-light appears...you know what I mean when you see it), and expect a Breaksight during the attack (1-2 seconds after the "noise" the missile will hit; 2-3 seconds after the "noise" there will be Breaksight). Also notice how on the ground there will be a green-turquoise light which indicates where the missiles will land; this was true in the first playthrough too, but you probably didn't need to notice it all that much.
Don't forget you can use Phoenix Pinions/Downs as a last reserve. The boss will "reactivate" once after you take all its health down, and then Killsight will be available the second time the health reaches "1 HP".

(NG+) Chapter 2

(NG+) Chapter 2: Free-Time Break 1

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 6h

New Scene! - In the Rubicus's Annals of Orience you have now unlocked the scene "Shared Pain". From the top of the list, scroll down four times with R1/RB, and this will be the third entry of that page.

Nothing important here, we did everything in the first playthrough.
When re-doing an Event that you already did in the previous playthrough, you will see a "check-mark" instead of an exclamation mark. By re-doing those Events you already did (with the check-mark) you won't consume Time-to-Mission (you will get the rewards again, though). These were, and still are, the possible Events. Events done in the previous playthrough will be marked with an asterisk (in this case, all of them):
*1. Examine gate to cemetery @Back Garden (as Rem/Machina): X-Potion.
*2. Mother @Sorcery: Elixir.
*3. Rem/Machina @Terrace.
You may want to revisit the Chocobo Ranch for 20x free Chocobos (10x for each sex) and 3x Gysahl Greens.
You don't need to activate SOs like you had to do the first time -- if they were active at the end of the first playthrough, they'll still be active now.
Since doing the Events didn't consume time, you'll need to "manually" advance the time by speaking with the NPC in Central Command to skip to mission day.
Note that although you can go out to the world map for the next two story missions, the Setzer airship will only become available during the third free-time break of Chapter 2 (when you are given permission to freely exit to the world map), so don't worry if you can't seem to be able to summon the Setzer right away just yet -- you'll be able to do so very soon.

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(NG+) Story Mission: The Cadet's First Depoyment

Nothing new here either. Especially if you are on Finis, nuke everything with Rem's Fire BOM-II or Ultima (with the SP Crystal equipped for extra power, and Growth Egg+Zwillblades for extra Exp). Note that you can accept SP Support even on Finis, thus effectively allowing you to get three characters on the team (you can't control the SP characters manually of course, but it's better than nothing I guess). When using Rem, if you haven't learned to do so until now, you may also want to use her "Magic Cancel" (Reflex Cast, in particular) abilities to cast Firaga BOM-II after a single regular melee attack by her.
You may remember that there was an area (Imperial Line) with two possible SOs. By now the rewards of either one are absolutely insignificant, but you may to try doing the "other" SO which you missed the first time through, just for the heck of it. As a quick reminder, one SO was given on the stairs with the barricades, for clearing the area with a frontal assault. The other SO was given if you exited the area from the exit on the ground level to reach an optional area, and then snuck behind the enemies from the secondary entrance accessed from the optional area. It doesn't really matter anyway.

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(NG+) Chapter 2: Free-Time Break 2

New Events are available, along with older ones that we couldn't do the first time.
There is nothing interesting to do in McTighe.

If you re-do quests that rewarded you with l'Cie Crystals you already have (or pick up items that were l'Cie Crystals in the first playthrough), you will receive a Megalixir instead. In any other Final Fantasy that would have been great; in this one, Megalixirs are almost a common item, and I can't justify the time to re-do the things we did for l'Cie Crystals just to get Megalixirs which we probably will never use. Ergo, go to Akademeia.

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 12h
These are the Events available. They include new ones and old ones.
1. Mog Class #1 @Classroom Zero: Attack +3. This class is available only in New Game+.
2. Mog Class #2 @Classroom Zero: Defense Magic +2. This class is available only in New Game+.
3. Enra @Main Gate: Hi-Potion.
4. Celestia @Fountain Courtyard: Turbo Ether. Cutscene.
5. Azuma @Fountain Courtyard: Elixir.
6. Dominion Citizen @Airship Landing: Hi-Potion.
7. Class Eight Moogle @Entrance: Mega-Potion.
8. Machina/Ace @Crystarium: Turbo Ether. Cutscene.
**9. Kazusa @Armory. Cutscene; starts the Kazusa quest.
**10. Kazusa @Armory: Ether. This Event becomes available after the previous one.
11. King @Armory: Ether.
***12. Carla @Ready Room: Pretty Pelt. Cutscene; starts the Carla quest.
13. Tokito @Terrace: Hi-Potion. Only available if there are more than 6 hours left in the day (6 hours won't work).
14. Class Third Moogle @Terrace: Mega-Potion.
**15. Emina @Terrace: no reward. This starts the Emina quest.
16. Machina/Rem @Terrace: Mega-Potion. This is a cutscene, so it won't ask for confirmation to activate the Event.
17. Queen @ Back Garden: Lucid Lenses (Queen's unique accessory). This event is available only in New Game+.

*Events with one asterisk were already made in the first playthrough, and can be repeated without consuming Time to Mission.

**The starting Events of the Kazusa/Emina quests don't need to be done again in New Game+ (in fact, they can't be done again) if their quests were "in progress" in the previous playthrough (the starting Events will be available again, and they will require 2h time each, if you completed their quest in the previous playthrough).

The Kazusa quest will resume where you started, although you COULD re-do the Muttering scenes again. In fact, you could have re-done the Muttering scenes you already did in the first playthrough as well (for example when a certain "Muttering" scene could be triggered by either of two characters, you could have gone with both; that would have been a waste of time of course, since you would have just seen the same scene twice). Each of the Muttering scenes, re-done or new, will require 2h again. However, you don't need to re-do those you did the first playthrough: assuming you did all you could do (all the first 7 Mutterings) the first playthrough, you can keep the Kazusa quest on hold for now and resume the Kazusa quest in NG+ Chapter 7. That's how I will assume you will proceed (that's how you want to proceed, if you've followed the walkthrough so far).

The Emina quest will resume exactly where you left it in the previous playthrough, and you will have the same Sheer/Sheera/Sheerga spell that you had at the end of the first playthrough (in our case, you should have Sheer; you left the quest after watching all the Sheer scenes, ready to upgrade to Sheera now). You can reset Sheera/Sheerga back to Sheer if you complete the Emina quest and then start it up again in another playthrough. Therefore in this playthrough (NG+) we will focus on unlocking all the remaining Sheera and Sheerga scenes, even though most of them are unnecessary, to unlock all the possible Events tied to Emina. As always, follow my instructions and you'll be fine.

***Even though we did this Event (which initiates the Carla quest) in the previous playthrough, it will still consume 2h to do it again. In reality we don't even need to re-do the Carla quest, since its reward is nothing interesting (the final Gil reward will be worthless when you can get 99,999,999 Gil in a few minutes with a trick we'll see in Chapter 7; her other reward, the Sublimation Ring, is nothing short of garbage-tier by the time you'll be in Chapter 7 again. Heck, it probably is garbage already now). On the other hand, since skipping this Event won't really save us time/hourglasses, we might as well do it. Feel free to skip the Carla quest if you don't want to repeat it this time around (especially if you already recruited all the five characters (Naghi, Quon, Carla, Mutsuki, Ryid) in the first playthrough); you won't be missing anything important.

We're going to have to use some Auric Hourglasses to do all the Events available this time.

You start with 3x Auric Hourglasses. Here's how they work: open the pause menu, find them in the Items you have, and use them to add Time to Mission by up to two days. Yea, that's the catch right there: they can only bring you a total Time to Mission that is equal to the maximum Time to Mission for the free-time break you use them in. In other words, if you use them in this free-time break, which has a maximum of 12h, instead of gaining +2d you will only go back to 12h, because that's the maximum amount of Time to Mission you can have in this break.

Furthermore, they also don't work on Mission Day. To add insult to injury, we don't even have access to any Argentic Hourglass yet. So guess what? The most effective way to use the only "hourglass" we can at this point is by using an Auric Hourglass when you have 2h left in the current day. That will give you 10h back, instead of the potential 24h (two days) which could be given back by Auric Hourglasses in another context. What a waste! But don't worry, it's not like we need to save them (if you've followed this walkthrough, you will only need a total of 2x Auric Hourglasses to do all the possible Events).

Proceed as follows (12h):
- (12h left) Do Events 3,4,5,6,7
- (2h left) Use an Auric Hourglass
- (12h left) Do Events 8,1,2,11,12
- (2h left) Use another Auric Hourglass
- (12h left) Do Events 13,14,16,17

Event 17 with Queen will earn you her unique accessory, the Lucid Lenses. This accessory can only be equipped by Queen, and it has the icon of her weapon (just like the unique accessories for other characters have the icon of their weapons). The "mysterious power" of this accessory will automatically save Queen from death ONCE in a battle (only once per mission, and only works in Missions) by letting her survive with 1 HP. After that, Queen will be in Killsight status, but she will have high attack power and fast movement speed. Her regular attacks will change to a faster animation, and her command abilities will be changed to "Devastate" (a strong, fast-paced melee attack combo; it consumes AG). She won't be able to use a Defense command, but she can still dodge. She can't harvest Phantoma. It's actually quite neat, and although the practical applications are limited at best I suggest you to try it out, just for fun, maybe by replaying a mission from the Title Screen menu (try the first mission maybe, lots of easy enemies there).

As if wasting two Auric Hourglasses to get 20 hours back instead of the possible 48 wasn't enough, now we actually have a surplus of 4h left. There are no more Events to do, even if we wanted to. The Kazusa events available before Chapter 7 should have all been done (they were the Mutterings 1-7) in the first playthrough. We could actually go and give Emina a couple of gifts to add two Sheera scenes, but we'll have plenty of excessive time later on to do so (and you probably don't have any gift right now, either). Therefore, with 4h left you'll need to speak in Central Command to skip to mission day.

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(NG+) Story Mission: Operation Reconquista

You can even Skip Sortie this time around, since there is nothing important to re-do in the mission. Of course, if you are playing on Finis with the intention of clearing all missions on Finis (to unlock l'Cie Mode), you might as well play this mission now instead of having to replay it later from the Title Screen menu.
As a side note, doing the Event with Azuma in the previous break (which we skipped in the first playthrough) will give you the option to use the Azuma unit from Aqvi, after conquering it (it's basically a strong Spark Unit).

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(NG+) Chapter 2: Free-Time Break 3

World Map
On the World Map, visit Corsi and purchase two copies each of "'Til Finis Comes, With You'" and Hydrangea Bouquet gifts -- we'll need them for Emina (one of each for a Sheera scene, and one of each for a Sheerga scene).
There is absolutely no reason to possibly want to re-do worthless Tasks again, so don't bother purchasing a Sexy Swimsuit to re-do the Tokito Task in Akademeia.
Likewise, there is no reason to revisit the Corsi Cave.
Akademeia - Time to Mission: 1d 12h
1. Mog Class #1 @Classroom Zero: Magic Power +1. This is a NG+ class.
2. Mog Class #2 @Classroom Zero: Fire Magic +2. This is a NG+ class.
3. Mog Class #3 @Classroom Zero: Ice Magic +2. This is a NG+ class.
4. Mog Class #4 @Classroom Zero: Lightning Magic +2. This is a NG+ class.
5. Machina/Rem @Classroom Zero: Ether. Cutscene.
6. Dr. Al-Rashia @Sorcery (Dr. Al-Rashia's Office): Hi-Potion. Must be as Ace. Cutscene.
*7. Naghi @Lounge: Ether. Cutscene; starts the Naghi quest.
8. Koharu @Ready Room: Mega-Potion.
9. Dominion Legionary @Ready Room: Hi-Potion.
10. Sice @Central Command: Ether.
11. Class Fifth Moogle @Entrance: Hi-Potion.
12. Class First Moogle @Fountain Courtyard: Hi-Potion.
13. Class Tenth Moogle @Airship Landing: Hi-Potion.
As mentioned a moment ago, there is virtually no reason to re-do most of the Tasks again in New Game+. Therefore I'll just write down the rewards from each Task available now, and then let you decide if it's worth the time to do them again (if so, check the first playthrough walkthrough pages to know more details about them). If there is a Task that I personally find worthy of your time (like the one that gives a Phoenix Down), I'll point it out.
Akademeia Tasks Rewards:
- 1x Ether
- 1x Phoenix Down (the Task is Mad about Ms. Tokimiya, in Fountain Courtyard)
- 1x Ignis Primus, Vol. II
- Glacies Prima, Vol. II
- Ferric Ring
- Iron Bangle
- Fulgur Primus, Vol. II
- Megalixir

If you want to re-do the Aki/Fuyu quest in this playthrough, I'll point out the next encounters with them too. The first two chats with Aki done so far were mandatory. There is no particularly good reason to bother with them again, although the conversation with Fuyu at the end (in Chapter 8) will be slightly different if you do only some of the chats instead of all of them. It's a very minor (insignificant, almost) difference, but still...
In this playthrough you should probably do all of the possible chats except for one of them, which will earn you a Tiara in Chapter 8 (instead of the 40,000 Gil, which is the best reward possible), and the slightly different conversation at the end. I'll remind you to deliberately skip one chat with them (the last one). It's perfectly fine if you want to ignore this quest (the Aki/Fuyu chats).

Do this (1d 12):
- (1d 12h) Do Events 6 and 11
- (1d 8h) Speak with Aki @Entrance (not an Event)
- (1d 8h) Go to the Altocrystarium and interact with the control panel. You don't need to do any upgrades, but you need to revisit it in order to activate the Altocrystarium "remote access" at Relic Terminals (double check at any Relic Terminal you want to confirm that Altocrystarium is available, maybe) (not an Event)
- (1d 8h) Do Events 1,2,3,4,5
- (10h) Do Events *7,8,9,10,12 (Event 7 doesn't consume time since you did it in the first playthrough)
- (2h) Do Task @Fountain Courtyard (speak with Enra as Rem) to get the Phoenix Down reward
- (2h) Do Event 13
That's all the possible Events in this free-time break! (cue victory fanfares)

Altocrystarium Upgrades?If you want, it might be time to start working a bit on upgrading your primary spells (Ultima and Fire BOM-II) at the Altocrystarium. It's not really that important right now, but it will be part of the preparations for the Tower of Agito later in Chapter 5 (which is sooner than later). If you want, you can check the Tower of Agito preparations section (check the "2B" part where I talk about spells upgrades, and particularly about Fire BOM-II/Ultima; ignore Meteor for now) in advance now to see how to proceed with the Altocrystarium upgrades. If not, it's ok to wait until later (one or two hours from now, really). Make sure to follow my advice on how to upgrade (whether to do a Standard upgrade or Standard upgrade+, or Ivory upgrade) if you want to maximize the use of your Phantoma.

In short (if you don't want to skip ahead to the Tower of Agito preparations, this is, in short, what to do for a first set of enhancements of Fire BOM-II):
1. Upgrade Cast Time with increments of +10 (NOT +12, NOT +14) until you reach Cast Time = 60.
2. Upgrade Power with increments of +4 once, and then +6 twice to reach Power = 49.
3. If you have enough Phantoma for it, upgrade Cast Time with +10 once more, and then +12 to reach Cast Time = 82.

You probably can't afford to upgrade Ultima just yet (maybe one upgrade), so let's leave that alone for now.

World Map
There are three Tasks on the World Map you could (re)do; that's one in each of the three towns of Rubrum Region. The Task rewards are:
- Silver Bracelet (McTighe)
- HP Enhancer (this is the "Bragging Rights" Task in Corsi; definitely do it again, and give the enhancer to Rem)
- Ferric Ring (Aqvi)
Save in Corsi after (re)doing the Task and using the enhancer on Rem: the next story mission is the first Code Crimson mission (exclusive to New Game+). Since there are new SOs, and you've never played it before, it might be wise to change the difficulty back to Officer for this first run through the mission (you can always replay it on Finis in the Title Screen menu, after you complete it once). Also, the rewards on Officer will be different than those on Finis (and among other things, on Officer you always get an Auric Hourglass which, while unnecessary if you're following this walkthrough, is still nice).
Approach Togoreth like you did in the first playthrough to be given two choices: the first one (Storm the stronghold) will trigger the story mission (The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold) you already did in your first playthrough (therefore ignore it); the second one (Circle around back) will trigger the new Code Crimson mission (pick this one).

Code Crimson Mission: Operation Breakthrough

Preparations: nothing special, bring Rem with Ultima and SP Crystal. You can do it with her alone; doing it on Finis the first time is not recommended (Code Crimson missions have a baseline level higher than the corresponding "regular" story mission, so with +50 levels from Finis it gets a bit too hard for Rem right now).
[1] Togoreth Woods
Defeat the enemies to continue.
[2] Stronghold Outskirts
Same as above.
[3] North Gate
Defeat the enemies and follow the marker.
[4] West Stairs
Defeat the enemies (or ignore them), then ignore the marker and go upstairs instead.
[5] West Stairs (higher level)
Continue to the next area.
[6] South Passage
SO (3'): kill 3x enemies on the balconies. Reward: Ignis Essentia.
Even Rem's melee attacks can do this, actually.
Continue even further.
[7] East Stairs
Nothing interesting here, go on one more area.
[8] North Stairs
SO (5'): kill the enemy Leader. Reward: Fulgur Essentia.
The leader appears after the first waves of enemies.
When that is done, backtrack downstairs (follow the marker) to area [4], and continue to a new area.
[9] Central Stairs
SO (2'): defeat a Colossus. Reward: Wildfire Flute (Deuce's weapon).
Follow the yellow marker.
[10] Stronghold Core
Again, keep following the marker.
[11] Dynamo Access
For now you can ignore the other areas accessible from here; do so, and follow the marker to area [12].
[12] Central Dynamo
Examine the "pillar" in the middle to continue.
[11] Dynamo Access
Golem and a Channelgate will appear here. You could ignore them, but...it's payback time! (If you want, at this point you can definitely deal with the Golem; just spam Firaga BOM-II)
Anyway, follow the marker to the closest area, which is First Laboratory.
[12] First Laboratory
Pick up the three items in this area to continue.
Go back to area [11] afterwards, and then to Sample Depository from there.
[13] Sample Depository
SO (2'): kill the Demonicorn behind the cage. Reward: spell Quake.
Do the SO, then follow the marker to the north.
[14] Inner Corridor
SO (1'): kill the Leader. Reward: Glacies Essentia.
The leader is on the balcony, so use Ultima.
You can finish the mission just fine on your own (no more SOs, only mandatory items to pick up). I'll continue to detail the areas just for the record.
Keep going forward.
[15] Matériel Storage
Go on...
[16] Second Laboratory
Pick up two more items in here, and then follow the marker further ahead.
[17] North GateKeep going...
[18] West Stairs
...and going (another Golem here if you want)...
[19] Central Stairs
...until you come here, where the final document will be found on the ground (check your minimap/radar).
A few seconds after picking up the last document, you'll be transported into another area.
[20] Togoreth Woods
Fight off the last enemies to end the mission.
Mission Reward: eidolon Shankara; Auric Hourglass.

(NG+) Chapter 3

(NG+) Chapter 3: Free-Time Break 1

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 3d 12h
1. Mog Class #1 @Classroom Zero: Attack +3. This is a NG+ class.
2. Mog Class #2 @Classroom Zero: Magic Power +1. This is a NG+ class.
3. Mog Class #3 @Classroom Zero: Defense Magic +2. This is a NG+ class.
4. Mog Class #4 @Classroom Zero: Max HP +50. This is a NG+ class.
*5. Class Sixth Moogle @Main Gate: Hi-Potion.
*6. Orderly @Fountain Courtyard: Glass Pendant. Still required to get the accessory from Aria later in Chapter 4.
*7. Class Fourth Moogle @Airship Landing: Hi-Potion.
*8. Quon @Crystarium: Turbo Ether. Cutscene; starts the Quon quest.
9. Tachibana @Crystarium: Hi-Potion.
10. Trey @Central Command: Mega-Potion.
11. Dominion Legionary @Central Command: Hi-Potion
*12. Examine the bench @Back Garden: Elixir. You need to play as Ace. Cutscene.
13. Cater @Back Garden: Ether.
*14. Dr. Al-Rashia @Sorcery (Dr. Al-Rashia's Office): X-Ether. You need to play as Rem. Cutscene.
*15. Mutsuki @Armory: Mega-Remedy. Cutscene; starts the Mutsuki quest.
***16. Carla @Lounge: no rewards. Give Carla 1,000 Gil. This continues the Carla quest.
17. Akagi @Lounge: Hi-Potion.
***Like the first time (and future continuation of this quest), Carla's Events will require 2h even if you did them in your previous playthrough.
Akademeia Tasks Rewards:
- 5x X-Potions
- Ballistic Shield
- Wizard's Hat
- 10,000 Exp (virtually worthless at this point, even for the Reserves)
- Aegis Veritas
- Magic Power +3 (Task "Mother Says" in Hallway)
- Argentic Ring
- Shock Shield
- Fulgur Secundus, Vol. II
Proceed as follows (3d 12h):
- Go speak with Kurasame in Central Command
- Do the Task "Mother Says" for its reward
- Change difficulty back to Finis if you switched it back to Officer for the Code Crimson mission, as suggested earlier (assuming you are working on l'Cie Mode)
- (3d 12h) Do all of the Events in order as they are written
- (2d 4h) Now go give Emina a couple of gifts: "'Til Finis Comes, With You", and the Hydrangea Bouquet. This will unlock two "new" scenes in the Rubicus (Prove Emina's Identity 5: Sheera, and Prove Emina's Identity 4: Sheera)
- (1d 12h) Speak with Aki and Fuyu ("Trainee") @Terrace (not an Event)
We have nothing important left to do with the remaining 1d 12h. You could do the Expert Trials, but quite frankly it would take longer than if you replayed them (on Finis) from the Title Screen menu. So I suggest skipping to Mission Day from the usual feature in Central Command.

---

(NG+) Story Mission: The Infiltration of Iscah

Nothing new.

---

(NG+) Chapter 3: Free-Time Break 2

World Map
I've personally tested it, and I can confirm: if you did the Task in Iscah in your previous playthrough, but completely ignored it in the second playthrough, the city will still be rebuilt in Chapter 7. So you don't need to redo the Task in Iscah if you already did it in the first playthrough.
Instead, go to Mi-Go and purchase two each of these: Tea Set and Perfume Set. That's all you need to do.
For the record, these are the World Map Tasks Rewards:
- Aegis Tertia, Vol. II (Mi-Go)
- 3x Blaze Armlets (Keziah)
Akademeia - Time to Mission: 3d 12h
1. Mog Class # 1 @Classroom Zero: Defense Magic +3. This is a NG+ class.
2. Mog Class # 2 @Classroom Zero: Fire Magic +3. This is a NG+ class.
3. Mog Class # 3 @Classroom Zero: Ice Magic +3. This is a NG+ class.
4. Mog Class # 4 @Classroom Zero: Lightning Magic +3. This is a NG+ class.
5. Asato @Main Gate: Hi-Potion.
6. Nadeshiko @Fountain Courtyard: Ether.
7. Kiyo @Airship Landing: Elixir.
*8. Examine bench @Back Garden: Phoenix Pinion. Must be as Ace. Cutscene.
9. Nine @Back Garden: Mega-Potion.
*10. Queen @Central Command. Cutscene.
*11. Quon @Sorcery: Ether. Continues Quon's quest.
*12. Cinque @Armory: X-Potion. Cutscene; starts Ryid's quest.
***13. Carla @Ready Room: X-Ether. Cutscene; continues Carla's quest.
14. Jack @Ready Room: Mega-Potion.
15. Class Seventh Moogle @Lounge: Ether.
16. Machina/Rem @Terrace: Hi-Potion. Must play as either Machina or Rem.
Akademeia Tasks Rewards:
- 5x Megalixir
- Flak Jacket
- Protector Ring
- (Allowed to use Vermilion Bird command; if you already have it, this Task won't exist anymore)
- Shock Shield
- Crystal Shard (Mad about Ms. Tokimiya @Ready Room)
- Auric Ring
Do this (3d 12h):
- Speak with Aki and Fuyu @Crystarium (not an Event)
- Do all the Events up until Event 15 included (change to Ace for one Event, then change back to Rem afterwards)
- (2d 2h) Visit Emina and give her the Tea Set to unlock a "new" scene in the Rubicus (Prove Emina's Identity 2: Sheera)
- (1d 12h) Do Event 16
With 1d 10h there is nothing else left to do, Event-wise. We want to do Expelling The Empire (Expert Trial) on Finis at this point though. You can either replay it from the Title Screen menu, or accept the trial in-game now and go do it.
Expelling the Empire (Finis)
On a side note, the Kiyo Unit will be available from Rokol (after the invasion) if you spoke with Kiyo in the previous free-time break (it's a stronger Spark Unit, basically).
With Rem spamming Ultima you won't have a problem in the RTS parts of the mission (you can easily kill the Mid-Sized Carrier at the start and defend Domain 1).
The only problem will be in the town-invasion parts, where even with Ultima you will still have problems (especially if you are too reckless). My advice is to use a Phoenix Pinion to ensure Rem's survival; should she die, renew Reraise with another Pinion. Don't be too conservative with Phoenix Pinions -- we will get our hands on a easy source of Anima Lanterns (which do the same thing as a Phoenix Pinion) sooner than later, so we can afford to spend Phoenix Pinions relatively freely.
The reason why we did this trial now is that the reward, on Finis, in Mog's Lucky Charm (accessory that gives Exp x 4). We could have done this mission replay earlier too, but I honestly think this is early enough (the mission is at level 86+, and my Rem before this trial replay was barely level 72).
Once you have the precious accessory, give it to Rem (replace the Growth Egg she should have had until now, and equip the new accessory along with the SP Crystal).
After replaying the Expert Trial, you can skip to mission day, and then leave Akademeia to proceed to the world map for your next destination.
World Map - Rokol
The two Tasks in Iscah/Rokol give these rewards:
- Sentinel Emblem (Iscah)
- MP Enhancer (Rokol)
The MP Enhancer doesn't really help at all with Freecast, so I'd skip it and save time.
In Rokol, make sure to purchase two each of Potted Plant and Music Box.
The next mission is a Code Crimson mission, so switch the difficulty back to Officer while you are in Rokol. When asked, choose the second option (Locate another base).

Code Crimson Mission: A Fog-Laden Foray

Preparations: no particular preparations, but be careful with the SOs (read about them in advance, as I'll suggest).
[0] MA Minigame
There doesn't seem to be any new item to pick up with the MA minigame, so let's just go to the mission starting point.
[1] Frosti Depot N-14
Kill the enemies and proceed
[2] Frosti Depot N-15
There is an item on the ground, on the left beyond the energy wall (First Aid Kit/Support Serum).
Ignore the yellow marker, and go east instead. Read about the following SO before accepting it.
[3] Frosti Depot N-17
SO (5'): avoid being detected. Reward: Elixir.
The "fog" helps reduce the visibility, but you still need to be very careful. The best way to do it is by standing still just where you enter, charge Ultima, and release it -- the SO will be completed upon killing the enemies. You could also kill the enemies first, then accept the SO and wait the 5 minutes (boring though).
There is an item to the north, too (Support Serum/Strength Serum). Then follow the marker.
[4] Frosti Depot N-18
Nothing interesting here. Read about the next SO in advance.
[5] Frosti Depot N-21
SO (5'): avoid being detected. Reward: spell Invisible.
Same as the previous SO, except that some of the enemies will be out of range of Ultima at first/will spawn after the first ones are dead. Just proceed carefully and kill everything from afar with Ultima.
There is an item (Combat Ration/First Aid Kit) southwest.
[6] Frosti Depot N-24
SO (2'): kill a Supersoldier. Reward: Wildfire Daggers (Rem's weapon).
Nothing tricky about the SO; you can detour to the south...
[7] Frosti Depot N-27
...to be forced into a fight. In this area there is just a Support Serum/First Aid Kit to pick up, northwest near a container (and some additional Phantoma, for those interested in an S Rank), so you can ignore the area.
From area [6], follow the yellow marker.
[8] Frosti Depot N-28
The fog will clear, but a lot of MA (Colossi and heavy stuff) will start spawning. Hopefully you followed my advice and played on Officer, because this part can be quite difficult on Finis if you are not overleveled. When it's all clear, continue.
[9] Frosti Depot N-29
This is a safe area with a Recovery Portal.
[10] Frosti Depot N-31
SO (3'): kill all the enemies. Reward: Lamia's Scythe (Sice's weapon).
[11] Frosti Depot N-33
There are more "heavy" mandatory fights (with Colossi, etc.) here.
[12] Central Depot
Recovery Portal and Relic Terminal here -- save and move on.
[13] Imperial Command
There is a mini-boss (crystal jammer type) here. A special task will be assigned to you after defeating the enemy.
Regardless of whether you brought him or not, even if you were on Finis and brought a different character, at this point the game will force you to deploy Trey. Then it will force you in Hawkeye command (even if you didn't learn this ability with Trey), and you need to "snipe" the enemy from afar. It's really easy; just move the crosshair until it changes (it will be made of four "big" blue segments) -- this means the enemy's "weak spot" is in your target. When that's the case, press the attack command for the kill which will complete the mission.
Mission Reward: eidolon Ogre, Auric Hourglass.

(NG+) Chapter 4

(NG+) Chapter 4: Free-Time Break 1

Ingram - Time to Mission: 12h
*1. Trey @VIP Suite: X-Potion. This is a cutscene (so you don't need to confirm before the Event starts; you know the drill by now).
*2. Sice @VIP Suite: Hi-Potion. This is a cutscene.
*3. Rem @VIP Suite: Elixir. This is a cutscene.
*4. Aria @Hotel Armada: Hi-Potion. This is a cutscene.
*5. Piett @District 0709: Hi-Potion. This is a cutscene.
6. Imperial Trooper @District 0709: Ether.
7. Imperial Trooper @District 0709: Hi-Potion.
8. Jack @District 0711: Hi-Potion. This is a cutscene.
*9. Cater @District 0711: Hi-Potion. This is a cutscene.
10. Imperial Trooper @District 0711: Ether.
11. Imperial Trooper @District 0714: Hi-Potion.
12. Eight @District 0714: Mega-Potion.
There are two Tasks to do too: one was available in the first playthrough (but very unlikely to be completed), while the other one is exclusive to NG+.
1. Flex for Her Majesty (optional)
Clemente @Ingram. Request: reach Attack 255 with one character and speak with her. Reward: Draconic Gemstone.
With SP Crystal and Zwillblades, my Rem level 70+ easily surpassed the necessary stat requirement.
Note: this Task can only be completed once per save file. After completing it once, the Task giver won't be here anymore on subsequent playthroughs.
2. The Power of Friendship (extremely recommended) (NG+ only)
Celestia @Ingram. Request: (translated, this is what it means) speak with her after completing the Naghi, Quon, Carla, Ryid, and Mutsuki quests in the previous playthrough. Reward: Akatoki Amethyst.
Note: this Task can only be completed once per save file. After completing it once, the Task giver won't be here anymore on subsequent playthroughs.
The Akatoki Amethyst is simply great, as it gives All Magic +100 and Auto-Quick. It's the perfect complementary accessory to the SP Crystal. If possible, keep using Mog's Lucky Charm on Rem instead of the Akatoki Amethyst. For harder missions, however, definitely use the SP Crystal+Akatoki Amethyst combo.
Proceed as follows (12h):
- Do Events from 1 to 11 included
- If you want, speak with Aria (check her shop, then exit) to receive another Aria's Amulet (only if you did the Event from the Orderly in Akademeia again this playthrough)
- Do the two Tasks
- Do Event 12
That's all the possible Events for this free-time break!
The next mission is also a Code Crimson mission. As usual pick the second option when asked (Explore the Outskirts). Also as usual, play on Officer the first time through, just to be safe.

Code Crimson: Mission Under Ceasefire

Preparations: you can only bring six characters, but that's plenty enough (you should Rem-solo this one very easily). There are no tricky SOs, except one at the end which will require killing the enemies rather quickly (being on Officer helps).
[1] Mt. Nesher Ascent
Safe area, go on.
[2] Mt. Nesher Ascent
SO (1'): kill 1x Evil Eye. Reward: Megalixir.
[3] Mt. Nesher Ascent
There are two possible paths to follow; west or north. Go west first.
[4] Mountain Cave
This cave is full of Tonberries, who drop Anima Lanterns (which are items granting Reraise, just like Phoenix Pinions). They respawn for a while, too! This is great, but right now you probably don't need to farm them at all. Just for future reference, if you play on Finis they can also drop Violet Phantoma (useful to upgrade Ultima). For now, don't bother farming them though.
Instead, continue to the next area.
[5] Mountain Cave
SO (1'): harvest a Phantoma from a Tonberry. Reward: Regal Armor.
There are two more optional areas to access if you go north, but let's not go there. Instead, you can go south...
[6] Mountain Cave
...for a Support Serum in a chest, and a forced fight against 3x Tonberries.
Then backtrack a few areas to area [3], and go north this time.
[6] Mt. Nesher Ascent
Ignore the detour leading west. The yellow marker is pointing northwest; ignore it and go northeast (the downwards path).
[7] Mt. Nesher Ascent
There is a cave detour on the left...
[8] Hidden Cavity
...with a couple of chests in it: Turbo-Ether/Elixir and Support Serum. Aren't detours always so much worth it?
Anyway, backtrack outside, then back again, and this time follow the marker northwest upwards.
[9] Mt. Nesher Ascent
SO (3'): kill 12x enemies with your Active character. Reward: Rune Trigger (Cater's weapon).
Keep going to reach the final area.
[10] Communication Facility
SO (5'): kill the monster without letting the imperial soldiers die. Reward: Armlet of Shiva.
This SO can actually be pretty hard due to the very high HP of the enemy, and the fact that the soldiers can be one-shot. It might be better to use Fire BOM-II (Firaga BOM-II if you can Magic-Cancel) rather than waiting to charge Ultima.
Mission Reward: Aegis Essentia available for sale at the Armory shop, Auric Hourglass.

---

(NG+) Chapter 4: Free-Time Break 2

You may want to change difficulty back to Finis at this point.
There are no new Events in the Deserted House, so repeat the old four ones (if you want) and then speak with Eight to skip to "mission day"; then return to Akademeia.

(NG+) Chapter 5

(NG+) Chapter 5: Free-Time Break 1

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 4d 12h
1. Mog Class # 1 @Classroom Zero: Attack +5. This is a NG+ class.
2. Mog Class # 2 @Classroom Zero: Magic Power +1. This is a NG+ class.
3. Mog Class # 3 @Classroom Zero: HP +60. This is a NG+ class.
4. Mog Class # 4 @Classroom Zero: MP +20. This is a NG+ class.
*5. Ryo @Airship Landing: Elixir.
*6. Ryid @Airship Landing: Ether. This continues the Ryid's quest.
*7. Quon @Crystarium: Ether. Cutscene; continues Quon's quest.
*8. Cadetmaster @Central Command: Elixir. Must play as Machina; cutscene.
*9. Cinque @Back Garden: Mega-Potion.
***10. Carla @Ready Room: Hi-Potion. Cutscene; continues Carla's quest.
*?11. Class Twelfth Moogle @Ready Room: Hi-Potion.
*?12. Enra @Ready Room: Ether.
*?13. Deuce @Lounge: Mega-Potion.
*14. Orderly @Terrace: Mega-Potion. Only available if there are 6 or more hours left in the current day.
*?You may have done these Events if you skipped the Task "Mad about Ms. Tokimiya III" in the first playthrough.
Akademeia Trial Rewards:
- Mythril Gloves
- Gold Bangle (!)
- Ballistic Shield (!!)
- 5x X-Potion
- Thunderbolt Armlet
- Crystal Shard
- 12x Jeweled Ring (!!!)
- 3x Megalixir

(!) This is the Task "Mad about Ms. Tokimiya III", which requires you to S-Rank the Expert Trial "Covering the Cadets" with Rem. I explained how to do it in the first playthrough walkthrough. You may have skipped it the first time though. If so, this time you can simply spam Fire BOM-II (do it on Officer difficulty with SP Crystal) and it will be much easier than it was earlier.

(!!) This is the Task "Secret Agent Agito IV", which is tied to the Naghi quest, so it must be done if you want to re-do the Naghi quest.

(!!!) This Task is "Mother Says II". You may remember from the first playthrough that it was mandatory to do it in order to continue the Quon quest, which later requires a Jeweled Ring. You should still have 11x Jeweled Rings left from the previous playthrough though; if that's the case, you don't need to repeat this Task again (in this second playthrough we'll give Quon one of the 11x Jeweled Rings we have left from the first playthrough).

Proceed as follows this (4d 12h):
- Do all the the Events
- Do Task "Mad about Ms. Tokimiya III" (Enra @Fountain Courtyard) if you skipped it the first playthrough. To do it, accept the Task, then accept the Expert Trial, and achieve an S Rank; then speak with Enra again to report the Task's completion
- Do Task "Secret Agent Agito IV" (Naghi @Crystarium). This isn't really that important (the Naghi quest only rewards you with +10 AP, but it's a nice boost to learn abilities). Still, since it requires you to find the Akademeia Cactuar again (which might take 5+ minutes), if you don't feel like doing this Task again then you can skip it and abort the Naghi quest from now on
- Assuming you have at least 1x Jeweled Ring left (you should have 11x), you don't need to re-do Mother Says II (Mother @Sorcery) to continue the Quon quest

New Scene! - In the Rubicus's Annals of Orience you have now unlocked the scene "A Reason to Live". This scene is unlocked after completing the three "Mad about Ms. Tokimiya" Tasks (in fact, you could have unlocked it in the first playthrough too if you did the Tasks back then). From the top of the list, go up once to reach the bottom of the list; then scroll up six times with L1/LB, and this will be about in the middle of that page.

New Scene! - In the Rubicus's Annals of Orience you should have now unlocked the scene "Clemente and the King of Concordia". From the top of the list, scroll up once to reach the bottom of the list; then scroll up three times with L1/LB, and this entry will be in the middle of that page (immediately above "Dominating the Dragon's Nest").

Note: I'm not 100% sure you will unlock this scene now; you may have to replay the mission The Battle of Judecca to unlock it (doing so from the Title Screen menu should be enough; we don't want to replay that mission in this playthrough because we'll do a Code Crimson mission in its place). I personally unlocked it after The Battle of Judecca on my first playthrough when I also did the Tasks from Enra (before the mission). 

We have a lot of time left (3d 8h), but nothing much to do here in Akademeia. Instead, it's time to start working on some "optional" things, or at least talk about them.

---

Tower of Agito preparations: general thoughts

We are at the point of the game where you have almost everything necessary to at least attempt the Tower of Agito.
The setup will be basically this: Rem with SP Crystal and Akatoki Amethyst (and Zwillblades). Required spells: Fire BOM-II (primary spell), Meteor (useful but not strictly necessary). Moreover, we're going to need a lot of Anima Lanterns to keep Rem in Reraise status; that won't be a problem though, since it just so happens that the first "level" of the Tower of Agito consists of 100x Tonberries, each of which has a 50% chance to drop an Anima Lantern.
The advised level to start lurking around the Tower of Agito is level 70+, but before actually attempting the dungeon I strongly suggest level 95+.
For now I'd like you to focus on the pro/cons of starting the final preparations for the Tower of Agito now, rather than delaying it for Chapter 7. You may remember from an earlier section of this walkthrough that I mentioned how the "pros" of postponing the Tower of Agito to the second playthrough consisted mostly in the accessories/spells available to you (namely Akatoki Amethyst, Mog's Lucky Charm to level up faster in preparation for the dungeon, and the spells Meteor and Fire BOM-II). There was one major "con" though: doing it in the second playthrough might make farming Phantoma inside of the Tower of Agito more time consuming, because Nox Suzaku could show up.
That is not the full story though: if you remember, I told you before that Nox Suzaku will only appear after doing a "special" mission in Chapter 6 (the Code Crimson mission of Chapter 6).

• For these reasons, I believe that one good possible course of actions would be to get Meteor, farm some Phantoma to upgrade Fire BOM-II (and maybe Meteor; we'll talk about this later), level-up Rem, and then ultimately do the Tower of Agito to its completion. Any additional Phantoma farming (to power up Meteor and Ultima to their maximum stats) can be done afterwards. This is my most advised choice.

There are other possible ways to proceed though:

• You could skip the Code Crimson mission in Chapter 6 and wait until Chapter 7 to do the Tower of Agito. The "pro" of this method is that, if you remember, in Chapter 7 there is a time-consuming Task for killing 99x Lesser Lopros, which have a baseline level of 72. That's a LOT of Exp (you can use SP Crystal and Mog's Lucky Charm, + Zwillblades), which will ultimately mean that your Rem will level up by doing that Task, and therefore she will be better-prepared for the Tower of Agito. Moreover, a lot of Phantoma will probably come out of farming Lesser Lopros, so you're catching two (or three) birds (Task done, Exp earned, Phantoma collected) with one stone.
  
  It goes without saying that this approach will require you to wait until the third playthrough to unlock the Code Crimson mission of Chapter 6 though. Since we need a third playthrough anyway, and we must at least reach Chapter 5 before we can do the third-playthrough-exclusive thing (getting the ultimate weapons for your characters), this is actually not that bad.
  
  Moreover, this also means that you will get an additional +10 Power for your Fire BOM-II (which saves a bit of time farming Phantoma to upgrade it at the Altocrystarium) because you will complete the Mutsuki quest again in the second playthrough, which is a nice extra.
• You could do the Code Crimson mission in Chapter 6, and visit the Tower of Agito in Chapter 7, after doing the Task in Amiter (which will give level-ups in the meantime). The "pro" of this method is that you will still get to complete the Tower of Agito in your second playthrough, as well as the Code Crimson mission of Chapter 6. On the other hand, you might have to deal with Nox Suzaku stealing your Phantoma while farming them, which can be really annoying especially if you are in the higher levels of the Tower of Agito already, and you may lose basically one hour (or more) worth of farming just because of this random annoying issue.

The choice, in the end, is yours. However, I also urge you to consider something else too which may not transpire from what I just said: all the "pros" of waiting even further are actually founded on points that won't be all that relevant when you put them to practice. For example, it's true that the Task for killing 99x Lesser Lopros will give you a lot of Exp in the process, but it's also true that farming Phantoma (to upgrade spells for the Tower of Agito) and repeating missions on Finis difficulty (assuming that you want to unlock l'Cie Mode, which could arguably not be your goal) will still bring your Rem to level 90++ (mine reached level 96 from the preparations alone, without any intentional Exp-farming; that's all the "collateral" Exp received, and she started at level 72), which is enough to at least give it a shot in the Tower of Agito.
Likewise, as much as getting an easy final upgrade for Fire BOM-II (via the Mutsuki quest) is nice, the truth is that it really won't make much of a difference (or any difference at all) in the amount of spells you need to cast to kill the enemies (if a nearly-maxed Fire BOM-II deals 5,000 points of damage to an enemy with 8,000 HP, and a maxed out Fire BOM-II deals 6,000 points of damage to the same enemy, you will still need to cast it twice to kill the enemy).
Moreover, I must point out that farming Phantoma to max out Meteor and/or Ultima is completely unnecessary (power them up to a high level is another story; I'm talking about the last few upgrades, which are arguably the most time-consuming). I'm one of those people who like to see the maximum possible power in a JRPG, so I'm one of those who would chase after the maxed-out Ultima/Meteor even knowing that it's pointless; therefore, I understand if that's how you feel. If, however, you are not on the same boat, then just think about it: if the Tower of Agito is the toughest dungeon of the game, why would you need to power up spells even further after you've already been able to clear it? Therefore, even the "do the Tower of Agito before Nox Suzaku shows up" argument becomes a weak point (not to mention of course that you can still farm Phantoma in the Tower of Agito in Chapter 5, before Nox Suzaku can even show up).
The drawn conclusion is: you should probably go ahead and do the Tower of Agito now. If so, this is the section of the walkthrough where I talk about it. After doing the Tower of Agito to your heart's content, continue with your second playthrough as detailed below.

---

(NG+) Story Mission: The Reclamation of Eibon

This is an optional mission, so you can "Skip Sortie" if you'd like. If you have already replayed this mission on Finis as you were training Rem for the Tower of Agito, then feel free to skip it. If not, do it on Finis now. I personally skipped it.

---

(NG+) Chapter 5: Free-Time Break 2

In Toguagh you want to buy two each of Wooden Coerul and Crystal Chandelier for the usual Rubicus-filling purposes.
World Map Tasks Rewards:
- Ignis Magnum (Meroe)
- Diamond Shield (Toguagh)
Akademeia - Time to Mission: 4d 12
1. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Fire Magic +3. This is a NG+ class.
2. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Ice Magic +3. This is a NG+ class.
3. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Lightning Magic +3. This is a NG+ class.
4. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Defenes Magic +3. This is a NG+ class.
5. Lady Caetuna @Main Gate: X-Potion. Cutscene.
6. Dominion Legionary @Fountain Courtyard: Ether.
7. Yano @Fountain Courtyard: Hi-Potion.
*8. Orderly @Airship Landing: Mega-Potion.
*9. Mutsuki @Airship Landing: Hi-Potion. Continues the Mutsuki quest.
*10. Kurasame @Terrace: X-Potion. Cutscene; only available if more than 6 hours are left in the day.
*11. Examine gate to cemetery @Back Garden: Phoenix Pinion. Cutscene.
12. Hiiragi @Crystarium: Ether.
13. Class Second Moogle @Central Command: Hi-Potion.
*14. Orderly @Ready Room: X-Potion.
***15. Carla @Lounge: no rewards. Give her 10,000 Gil; continues the Carla quest.
Akademeia Tasks Rewards:
- Platinum Gloves
- Good-Luck Charm
- Protector Ring
- 10x Elixirs
- Crystal Shard (The Phantoma Menace V @Sorcery)
- Gold Bangle
- 5x Phoenix Down (SPP Scavenger V @Lounge)
- Shock Shield
Proceed as follows (4d 12h):
- Speak with Aki/Fuyu @Ready Room if you want
- Do every Event/Task you desire (or at least the things you didn't do the first playthrough)
With the time we have left left, let's mop up the remaining Sheera events with Emina (3d 4h):
- Visit Emina @Terrace and give her the Perfume Set and Potted Plant to unlock the scenes Prove Emina's Identity 6: Sheera and Prove Emina's Identity 1: Sheera
- Leave Akademeia and return to make 6h pass
- (2d 6h) Visit Emina and give her the Music Box, Wooden Coerul, and Crystal Chandelier, to unlock the scenes Prove Emina's Identity 8/3/7: Sheera
With these last fives scenes, we've watched all eight "Sheera" scenes of her quest.
There's nothing else to do (there are some Expert Trials, but you can always do those from the Title Screen menu) -- skip to mission day.
On mission day you can speak with Aki and Fuyu again @Main Gate.
Don't forget to double-check the difficulty you are playing at; there will be two consecutive Code Crimson missions to play next, so set it on Officer for now (if anything, at least because you want to get its Officer rewards first).
The next Code Crimson mission will be asked to you when speaking with the NPC in Airship Landing -- as always, the first option (Take to the skies) will repeat the story mission you played in the first playthrough, whereas the second one (Travel to the border) will trigger the Code Crimson mission.
Send anyone you want (Trey maybe) to The Clash on Big Bridge; then send Rem to the new mission, Operation Vulturnus.

(NG+) Chapter 5 (Continued)

Code Crimson: Operation Vulturnus

Preparations: think of this mission as a short version of "Dominating the Dragon's Nest". Spamming Ultima will clear everything quickly. There are no tricky SOs, so no additional preparation should be needed.
[1] Border Trail
Nothing important here.
[2] Border Trail
Same as earlier.
[3] Border Trail
SO (1'): don't use Magic. Reward: Arctic Armlet.
Wait until the timer expires, then move on.
[4] Border Trail
There is an Argentum Medica/Aurum Medica on the west side.
Since there is nothing else interesting until the "3F" areas, I won't bore you with "kill the enemies and continue" of all the upcoming areas. Let's resume in the 3F sections.
[5] Eastern Cloister 3F
There is an Aes Medica/Argentum Medica on the left of the entrance.
[6] Vermeil-Azure Cloister 3F
SO (1'): deal 3,500+ HP of damage to the Diepvern. Reward: eidolon Baalberith (Diabolos type).
Ultima at this point dealt 99,999 HP of damage, so there's that.
[7] Western Cloister 3F
Safe area with Recovery Portal.
There is also a Knowing Tag on the left of the path to the exit (near a dead body).
[8] Western Atrium 4F
SO (2'): defeat the Wingvern. Reward: Wildfire Whipblade (Seven's weapon).
Nothing special.
You can detour to the left (west) to area [9], southeast to area [10], northeast to area [11]; our destination is to the north though. If you want to do the detours, start by going west to area [9]...
[9] Vermeil-Azure Cloister 4F
...to find an item on the ground (Draco Medica/Aurum Medica).
Back to area [8], then go southeast...
[10] Eastern Atrium 4F (southwest part)
...to get in a small section of this area with another item to pick up (Aes Medica/Argentum Medica)..
From area [8], if you go northeast you will reach the northwestern section of area [10], which is empty. Instead, go north from area [8] to reach area [11].
[11] Vermie-Azure Atrium 3F
From here, exit southeast to continue to the eastern half of area [10].
[10] Eastern Atrium 4F (eastern half)
From here, exit southeast.
[12] Vermeil-Azure Cloister 5F
Nothing important, go on.
[13] Western Atrium 6F
Defeat the enemies and exit northeast.
[14] Eastern Atrium 6F
Defeat the enemies and exit southwest.
[13] Western Atrium 6F (southeast)
Exit south from this small section of the area.
[14] Western Cloister 7F
Continue to the east; on the ground, after the small bridge, on the left there will be an Aes Medica/Argentum Medica.
Detour to the north from here.
[15] Vermeil-Azure Atrium 6F
SO (2'): pick up the Deployment Chart. Reward: Megalixir.
The item is on the ground, near two small rectangular boxes across the bridge.
From area [14], go east to continue.
[16] Eastern Cloister 7F
Nothing important here.
[17] Eastern Atrium 8F
There is a Knowing Tag on the right near the entrance. There is also a Recovery Portal here.
[18] Vermeil-Azure Bridge
Nothing here.
[19] Skyview Courtyard
SO (1'): kill all the Pyronades (bomb enemies). Reward: Elixir.
The Pyronades will spawn after a while in the battle, so if you're interested in this SO you'll need to run around a bit until that happens. If not, finish the mini-boss right away.
Mission Reward: eidolon Bahamut, Auric Hourglass.

(NG+) Chapter 6

Save and speak with Kurasame to call back the characters sent to the previous mission and then start the next mission. As always, the first option (Head to Big Bridge) will repeat the story mission you already played, while the second one (Contact Dr. Arecia) will start the Code Crimson mission. Unfortunately, because of the crystal jammer, we can't use Rem this time -- no problem though, we can use Trey instead. If you have it, give him the Agito Insignia and whatever other strong accessory you want to boost his attack.
Also make sure that Trey has Concentrate (the game probably replaced it with Raining Arrows by default); it never hurts.
WARNING: after doing the next Code Crimson mission, Nox Suzaku will start to randomly show up after you collect a random amount of Phantoma. After he shows up, for a little while he will continue to absorb the Phantoma you try to collect, thus potentially ruining farming sessions. If you intend to farm Phantoma later on (especially rare Phantoma, like Violet, Indigo, Jade, and Celadon), you may not want to do this Code Crimson mission right now (postpone it to the third playthrough). If you are done with farming Phantoma, or don't care about Nox Suzaku potentially ruining your farming sessions, then go ahead and do it.

Code Crimson: The Last Line of Defense

Preparations: this mission is a bit particular, because you have to wait for enemies to spawn in various areas. There is a 20-minutes timer, and you need to wait until it expires before the mission can end. Then there will be another particular section at the end of the mission. You don't need any special preparations, even less so if you have Trey with Concentrate. Be quick though, the SOs can be tricky if you are not strong enough to kill the enemies swiftly.
This mission doesn't have a very fixed order in which to do things, so you'll need to see in-game where to go. There is a pattern though.
You'll be called to certain areas at specific intervals of "time-left": 19:30; 17:00 (always the northeast area "Former Garrison - Far North"); 14:45; 12:30 (always the southeast area "Former Garrison - Far South"); 10:00; 5:45; 2:45 (always the central area "Second Line - Center"). For the non-specific intervals of time (19:30, 14:45, 10:00, 5:45), it can be basically any other area (not literally, but almost) of the mission (each one has an SO).
There is just one item to pick up in a chest; you can use your in-game map to find the area where it is. To reach it, reach the Former Garrison - Far North area (northeast), then exit southwest from there. It's just a measly Support Serum/Fortified Ration though.
In the northeastern area there will be a couple of Helldivers (one is a Leader); the same will happen in the southeastern area.
In no particular order (except the fifth one, which is always the last one), here are the five SOs in the corresponding areas:
[1] Second Line - Far South (southwest)
SO (2'): don't let any of your allies (dominion legionaries) die. Reward: Gale Armlet.
This area will have a Leader you can defeat for an easy win. There is just one wave of enemies (the ones that spawn at first).
[2] Second Line - Far North (northwest)
SO (5'): don't let any of your allies die. Reward: Gaia Armlet.
This area will have two waves of three Strikers/Warriors MAs per wave. You can't reach them in melee range, so use regular attacks (no need to charge shots if you have Auto-Aura on Trey; a couple of regular hits will get the job done) to kill them quickly.
[3] Second Line - South
SO (5'): don't let any of your allies die. Reward: Torrent Armlet.
You can't reach the enemies in melee range. There will be two waves of Airborne Troopers (flying MAs) and Imperial Troopers, and then two more of Imperial Troopers alone. Make sure to check both sides of the area for enemies (the first wave will have an Airborne Trooper coming from east too, in addition to the main group from west).
[4] Second Line - North
SO (2'): don't let any of your allies die. Reward: Gold Anklet.
The first two waves have Imperial Troopers, Gunners, and Heavy Gunners. Then there will be two more waves of Gunners only (three of them). You can reach them in melee range this time.
[5] Second Line - Center
SO (2'): don't let any of your allies die. Reward: Demonslayer (Jack's weapon).
There will be a total of four Gunners (two at the time) and three Colossi (one or two at the time). Nothing special.
After the timer expires you'll be taken to an alternative dimension (Abyssal Darkness). Here you basically just need to survive for another three minutes while fighting or running away from respawning "invisible enemies". This is just a taste of what fighting Nox Suzaku will look like, by the way.
Mission Reward: spell Blizzard BOM-II, Auric Hourglass. Nox Suzaku "unlocked".

From now on, randomly, it's possible that at some point you will start seeing your collected Phantoma flying towards the sky during battles. If that happens, it's because Nox Suzaku has shown up. In that case, check the Nox Suzaku section of the walkthrough for more information on how to proceed.

(NG+) Chapter 7

(NG+) Chapter 7: Free-Time Break 1

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 7d 12h
1. Mog Class # 1 @Classroom Zero: Attack +5. This is a NG+ class.
2. Mog Class # 2 @Classroom Zero: Magic Power +1. This is a NG+ class.
3. Mog Class # 3 @Classroom Zero: Max HP +80. This is a NG+ class.
4. Mog Class # 4 @Classroom Zero: Max MP +30. This is a NG+ class.
5. Yamato @Main Gate: Elixir.
6. Izumo @Airship Landing: Elixir.
7. Queen @Altocrystarium: Mega-Potion.
*8. Naghi @Hallway: AP +10. Cutscene; completes the Naghi quest (only if you re-did all the steps in this playthrough too).
9. Rem/Trey @Classroom Zero: Phoenix Pinion. Cutscene.
10. Machina @Back Garden: Mega-Potion.
11. Examine gate to cemetery @Back Garden: Phoenix Pinion. Cutscene.
12. Class Ninth Moogle @Crystarium: X-Potion.
*13. Seven @Central Command: all BOM Spells +10 Magic Power. Cutscene. Only available after completing Mutsuki's Task/quest.
14. Shijima @Central Command: Elixir.
*15. Ryid @Armory: Attack +3. Only available after completing Ryid's Task/quest. Cutscene.
***16. Carla @Lounge: nothing. Give her 100,000 Gil. Continues the Carla quest.
17. Tokito @Terrace: X-Potion. Emina can't be here for this Event to be available.
Akademeia Tasks Rewards:
- 10x X-Potions
- Shock Armor
- 3x Megalixir
- Diamond Gloves
- 5x Phoenix Pinion (SPP Scavenger VI @Lounge)
- (Thunder MIS spell for Task @Sorcery; if you did it in the first playthrough, this Task won't exist anymore)
- Dominion Helmet
- Crystal Gloves
- Diamond Ring
- X-Potion
We'll need to spend our time carefully here, because it's time to clear all the backlog we have left of the Kazusa quest, and most of the Emina Events as well.

New Scene! - In the Rubicus's Annals of Orience you have now unlocked the scene "Dealing with the Defector". From the top of the list, scroll down fifteen times with R1/RB, and this will be an entry in the middle of that page.

Proceed as follows (7d 12h):
- Go visit Aki and Fuyu @Terrace (Aki outside, Fuyu hidden in a corner inside)
- (7d 12h) Do Events 1,2,3,4
- (7d 4h) Visit Kazusa @Kazusa's Laboratory with any character (I used Rem)
- (7d 2h) Speak with Naghi @Central Command to receive the Eyeball Specimen (not an Event)
- (7d 2h) Visit Kazusa with any character again (I used Rem)
- (6d 12h) Do the Task "Secret Agent Agito VI" (Naghi @Crystarium). You should already have the Commander Kurasame's Tag (picked it up on the first playthrough). If not, it's on the hill near Meroe
- (6d 12h) Do Events 5,6,7
- (6d 6h) Visit Kazusa with any character (I used Rem), then again with Sice, and then Cinque (you will unlock the scenes Kazusa's Mutterings 8 and 9)
- (5d 12h) Do Events *8,9,10,11 (8 available only if you did the Naghi quest before this point; it won't consume time if you already did it in the first playthrough)
- (5d 6h) Visit Kazusa with Ace, then Nine, then Jack ("Mutterings" 10, 11, 12)
- (4d 12h) Do Events 12,14,16
- (4d 6h) Visit Kazusa with Trey, Cater, Seven ("Mutterings" 13, 14, and final empty scene with hammering noise in the background)
At this point (3d 12h) go to Main Gate and accept the Expert Trial "The Retreat from Roshana" -- you don't actually have to do the Expert Trial, we only accepted it to unlock the Roshana Province. Then save, and leave Akademeia.

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World Map - (Re)visiting the optional dungeons
Now it's as good a time as any to clean up the dungeons that we left incomplete, or ignored altogether, in our previous exploration of the world map.
Roshana ProvinceBefore revisiting the dungeons, if you intend to re-do the Mutsuki quest for its reward (the +10 Power to all your BOM/BOM-II spells), hop on a Chocobo and make your way to the Roshana Province. Check if there is a Malboro just outside of Roshana (which is where the Expert Trial you just accepted would take place); if not, go back to the Eibon Region and try again until you get lucky. Once you finally find it, fight him off (remember, it has to be a level 50 Malboro, not one of those level-99 ones) and harvest its Phantoma to get the Dark Matter required for the Mutsuki Task.

Optional Dungeon - Ultima Ground Zero

We came here in a hurry, all scared, just to get the Lorican Diary in the first playthrough. By this point, with Rem spamming Ultima, things have turned around quite a bit. Therefore we can safely explore the whole dungeon this time.
[1] Blast Site
Empty area.
[2] Southeast Crater
There is the Mobilization Strategy here (no need to pick it up again, but whatever).
Defeat the enemies to unlock the doors, and proceed west to an optional area.
[3] Southeast Cavern
There is a chest here containing 8x X-Potion/2x Megalixir/Shock Armor/U2-Shock Damper.
Go north/northeast from area [2] to proceed to area [4].
[4] Trail of Ruin
Nothing of interest here, move on.
[5] Train of Ruin
The chest here contains 8x X-Potion/3x Megalixir/Shock Armor/H2- Shock Absorber.
[6] North Crater
The Lorican Diary lies here on the ground.
Detour north to area [7].
[7] Trail of Ruin
The chest here can contain 8x X-Potion/2x Megalixir/Shock Armor/Soldier's Gloves.
Go west from area [6] to reach area [8].
[8] West Cavern
Just enemies here.
[9] Sanctum Access
The l'Cie Erragal's Crystal can be found on the ground here.
[10] Inner Sanctum
Three "Freak" enemies await you here. Use physical attacks to kill them. The chest in here contains Adamant Shell/H5-Shock Absorber/Topaz Shield (can only be opened once per playthrough).
When it's done, fly the Setzer towards the volcano in the north/northeastern region of the world map (in the Jubanla Region), where another dungeon lies.

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Optional Dungeon - Mount Jubanla

The level-60+ enemies at this point should be nothing.
[1] Mount Jubanla
Safe area, go on.
[2] Balbufet Lavabeds
There are 4x Knowing Tags in the area (because we still totally care about those).
You can either exit northwest or northeast (where the marker points). There is nothing in area [3] northwest, so go northeast to area [4] instead.
[3] (Molten Trail)
Just enemies here.
[4] Western Cauldron
There are 3x Knowing Tags scattered around here.
Go north to area [5] for a detour.
[5] Igneous Grotto
The chest here contains a Firewyrm Armlet/Armlet of Ifrit/6x Fire Shards/8x Fire Shards.
Back to area [4], then go east to area [6].
[6] Barbunet Lavabeds
One Knowing Tag can be retrieved here. Go east (southeast) first.
[7] Igneous Grotto
Another chest here contains one of these formidable prizes: Blaze Armlet/Armlet of Ifrit/6x Fire Shards/8x Fire Shards.
From area [6], go north.
[8] Molten TrailNothing of interest here.
[9] Eastern Cauldron
There are two Mushussus sleeping and waiting for you here, but I have a feeling that after killing a hundred of them sixty levels higher than these two (in the Tower of Agito, if you did it) you'll be just fine this time around.
The two possible paths lead northwest or northeast. Go northeast first.
[10] Eastern Smaughead
The l'Cie Kaimanu's Crystal is here, somewhere on the ground as always.
Back one area, go northwest at last.
[11] Western Smaughead
The last chest of this dungeon is here. It contains Armlet of Ifrit/Elementalist Ring/Smoke Hood/Firewyrm Armlet. As it often happens in dungeons, this final chest can only be opened once per playthrough.

Please note that the Elementalist Ring can basically only be found in this location (the only other known source is the first time you complete the final mission on Finis). The chances of obtaining it are 25%. It's not a bad accessory (there are much better ones though), but it's definitely nothing special either. If you just want to collect a copy of each possible accessory of the game, then one copy from completing the final mission on Finis should be enough. If you want more than one...well, have fun farming this chest (once per playthrough), because it's the only "repeatable" source.

Assuming you followed my instructions up until now, at this point you should have cleared every possible dungeon of the game (Corsi Cave, Bethnel Caverns, Innsmouth Coast, Silent Key, Valley of Monsters, Mount Jubanla, Ultima Ground Zero, Tower of Agito, and the two "transit-dungeons" Northern Corridor and Black Tortoise Crevasse).

You should also almost have completed your l'Cie Crystals collection (if you've gotten all of them so far, and given none of them to Atra yet, you should have 42 out of the 43; the final one is in Amiter, after the Task for killing 99x Lesser Lopros).
Back to Akademeia!

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Akademeia - Time to Mission: 3d 6h
Let's go on with Events and quests (3d 6h):
- (3d 6h) Do the Mutsuki and Ryid Tasks @Armory to unlock (and then do) Events 13 (Seven @Central Command) and 15 (Ryid @Armory)
- Visit Kazusa with any character (I used Rem) to end his quest (you'll receive a Megalixir); this unlocks the scene "The Ice Reaper Resurrected!?"
- (3d 4h) Speak with the Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery and upgrade Sheera to Sheerga (not an Event)
- (3d 4h) While you're here, also do the Quon Task to advance with his quest
- (3d 4h) We need to do all the eight "Sheerga" scenes with Emina now, even though to end her quest doing just one would be enough. To fill the Rubicus, however, you'll need to give her one each of the presents we've bought. Start with the first two: Potted Plant; Tea Set (unlocks "Prove Emina's Identity 1: Sheerga" and the "Prove Emina's Identity 2: Sheerga" scenes)
- (2d 12h) Leave Akademeia and re-enter to make 6h pass
- (2d 6h) Visit Emina and give her these presents: Wooden Coerul, Hydrangea Bouquet, "'Til Finis Comes, With You" for the Sheerga scenes 3, 4, and 5
- (1d 12h) Leave Akademeia and re-enter to make 6h pass
- (1d 6h) Visit Emina and give her these presents: Perfume Set, Crystal Chandelier, Music Box for the Sheerga scenes 6, 7, and 8. During the final one, zoom-in on her neck
- (12h) We have seen all the possible Sheerga (and previously Sheer and Sheera too) scenes at this point. Leave Akademeia and come back inside to make 6 hours pass once more
- (6h) Speak with Emina and instead of giving her more gifts, pick the first option to "Ask about her ID number". Then pick the answer 9716 to continue with her quest
- (4h) Speak with Emina again to give her the Letter from Tokito (acquired in the previous playthrough during the trial The Retreat from Roshana, in the area before the end of it) for some extra lines of dialogue. This is not an Event
- (4h) Speak with the Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery, and pick whatever option you want to continue (I chose the second one); this is not an Event
- (4h) Speak with Emina once more to end her quest
- (2h) Speak with the Sorcery Researcher @Sorcery again if you want (not an Event)
- (2h) Do Event 17 (Tokito @Terrace)
Just barely, but we fit everything into this free-time break. Well, almost everything; there is still one bonus scene with Kazusa, but we can do that one in the next free-time break.
You can Skip Sortie for the next story mission if you want (do so if you already replayed it on Finis).

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(NG+) Chapter 7: Free-Time Break 2

Akademeia - Time to Mission: 5d 12h
1. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Defense Magic +3. This is a NG+ class.
2. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Fire Magic +5. This is a NG+ class.
3. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Ice Magic +5. This is a NG+ class.
4. Mog Class @Classroom Zero: Lightning Magic +5. This is a NG+ class.
5. Hiruhata @Airship Landing: Mega-Ether.
*6. Quon @Hallway: Magic Power +5. Cutscene; ends Quon's quest.
7. Tonberry @Classroom Zero: Ether.
8. Deuce @Classroom Zero: X-Potion. Cutscene.
9. Ace @Back Garden: Mega-Potion.
10. Examine gate @Back Garden: Megalixir. Cutscene.
(?) 11. Kazusa @Kazusa's Laboratory: X-Ether.
12. Class Eleventh Moogle @Armory: Mega-Ether.
***13. Carla @Ready Room: (Gil lent to her x 2; 222,000 if you gave her 111,000 Gil).
***14. Carla @Ready Room: Sublimation Ring. Cutscene; ends Carla's quest.
15. Seven @Lounge: Mega-Potion.
Do all of the Events possible.

(?) Visit Kazusa for one last bonus scene with the pervert. You'll see that his "Event exclamation mark" is still there after you do the Event where he drugs you, seemingly naked because of the influence of Sheerga; that's normal, and no matter how many times you repeat this Event he will continue to be available forever. Just do it once for curiosity, and then walk away.

Akademeia Tasks Rewards:
- Stalwart Ring
- Ballistic Shield
- Gold Anklet
- (allowed to wear the Formal Attire; if you did this Task in the previous playthroughs, it won't exist anymore)
- Diamond Bangle
- Crystal Shard (The Phatoma Menace VII @Sorcery)
- Crystal Ball
- Soul of Thamasa (we must do this one!)

New Scene! - In the Rubicus's Annals of Orience you should have now unlocked the scene "A Brush with Death". This scene is unlocked when you replay the mission The Kingdom's Final Hours a second time in New Game+ (in my case, I actually unlocked it when replaying the mission on Finis, in Chapter 5, as I was preparing for the Tower of Agito), but in my experience it can be unlocked simply in the second free-time break of Chapter 7 in New Game+, even if you never did that story mission. Anyway, point is, you should have it now :p
From the top of the list, go up once to reach the bottom of the list; from there, scroll up nine times with L1/LB, and this will be the third entry of that page.

In our first playthrough we had to put the Task (from Armory Guildsmaster @Armory) Slayer's Spoils VII on hold. Not anymore! Go there and give him the Darksoul Swarm obtained in the Tower of Agito to complete the Task and earn your reward.
Also speak with Aki and Fuyu @Lounge for one last chat with them (there is one more chat before the final chat in Chapter 8; we'll skip the next one).
Stock up on Remedies at the shop in Classroom Zero -- you may need a few sometime soon.
Now we have 3d 8h left, and very few things left to do in the game. Accept the Expert Trial "The Amiter Resistance", then go out and do it to unlock the city of Amiter.

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Amiter
We postponed it as much as possible, but the time has come: accept and do the Task "A Tonberry in Need" in Amiter for killing 99x Lesser Lopros (Wingvern-type enemies found randomly in the plains of the Dragon Sanctuary area, outside of Amiter).

It will take a while, but if you have Rem constantly spamming Ultima you'll be done sooner than later. Take this as an opportunity to also level-up Jack and Trey (doesn't hurt, right?) -- give them all the Exp-boosting accessories you have (if available, give a Growth Egg to each, and then the Mog's Lucky Charm to one and the Agito Insignia to the other). Sometimes in the Dragon Sanctuary you can be ambushed, and you'll receive the status Silence as a penalty -- cure it with a Remedy.

It goes without saying, chain battles every time you can. Also, do it on Officer.

If Nox Suzaku shows up, take this opportunity to go and defeat him!

After finally completing the Task (it took me half an hour from start the end), turn it in for your reward. You may also notice that Amiter is now foggy (I don't know if it's always like that after the Task, or if it's random; if it's not foggy for you, exit and re-enter to try again). When Amiter is foggy, Tonberries will pop up here and there. In particular, one Tonberry can be found on the same ledge where the Task-giver was -- speak with the Tonberry to receive the l'Cie Albus's Crystal.

Just for the record, another Tonberry on the left side will give you 3x Hi-Potions too.
Iscah - Turning in the l'Cie Crystals
Save the game before doing anything.
At this point we can revisit Iscah and speak with Atra (the soldier in black armor on the ground level, near a closed gate). "Listen to his plea" again, and hand over all the crystals you have, one by one (there is 43 of them, and you should have them all at this point). If you find that you are missing one or more crystals, load the save before giving them to Atra, and check which ones you have vs the full list.
If you want, you can now also visit his shop. To do so, you need to re-do the short quest here in Iscah: speak with the the Mayor Auda (on the ground level), then chase after the kid, then speak with Atra, then the dominion legionary near a Chocobo on the higher level of the city, then back to the Mayor to finish the mini-quest and then once more to visit the "night market" of Iscah.
At the night market, in addition to the Mayor's shop, Atra's shop will sell his own goods (expensive as hell, and worthless because of their "Highly fragile" status. On the other hand, they are unique, i.e. found only in his shop).

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World Map
We are almost done with the second playthrough. If you want, this is a list of the possible Tasks reward from the Tasks on the World Map (some will require you to do Expert Trials to unlock them though):
- Quake Killer (Cetme)
- Gold Anklet (Roshana)
- Crystal Shard (Rama)
- Growth Egg (Bazz)
- Gold Bangle (Azurr)
- Blaze Armlet (Shakara)
- Mythril Gloves (Rilochy)
One last thing before continuing with the final story missions (the last Code Crimson and then the final mission again) is defeating Nox Suzaku.
Assuming he didn't shop up earlier when you were farming the Lesser Lopros, it's now time to try and "force" him to come out. Since he comes out after you collect a random* amount of Phantoma, that's just what you want to do -- go anywhere you like on the World Map, and clear enemies after enemies until you finally receive the message that Nox Suzaku is here (your Phantomas will start flying up in the sky when you try to collect them). While there isn't a particularly good location to do so, since you can one-shot everything with Ultima I believe that some place with high-level enemies is probably a good idea (so you can level up your characters a bit more while you wait for Nox Suzaku). Then again, feel free to do it in the Rubrum Region -- it doesn't really matter.

*I actually counted them (by checking Rem's Harvested Phantoma when he spawned minus Rem's Harvested Phantoma after completing the Code Crimson mission of Chapter 6), and in my experience he spawned exactly after 500 Harvested Phantoma after the Code Crimson mission of Chapter 6. Not 493, not 502; exactly 500. I very much doubt that such a seemingly-not-random number was generated "randomly" as everyone says his spawn is, but since it's my only test I can't know for sure if it's always going to be 500 the first time (I don't even know if it's always 500 for me, let alone if it's always 500 for every player). Anyway, it's a ballpark figure at least. If anyone could check and let me know in his experience how many harvested Phantoma he collected before Nox's spawn, that would be greatly appreciated.

When he finally shows up, check the Nox Suzaku section to see how to defeat him -- you won't defeat him for good, but at least you have defeated him. You can also exploit him to get to max Gil in just a couple of minutes; the trick to do so is also explained in the section I just linked you.

---

Akademeia
When that's done too, you can return to Akademeia, and skip to mission day. Then speak with the NPC in Central Command, then Mog in Classroom Zero, and then head for Airship Landing.

There is one more chat with Aki @Fountain Courtyard, but you don't want to do this one (remember, we want to deliberately skip one conversation to get the other conversation/reward from Fuyu in Chapter 8).

In Airship Landing, remove Rem's accessories and save the game. Then speak with the NPC here and, when asked, ignore the first option (Deliver Qator his reprisal) and instead pick the second option (Check in with Machina) to activate the last mission of the game.
Since we're doing the mission on Officer first, don't bother giving Machina the best equipment you have -- even if he's at low level (mine was at level 27) he'll be able to deal with the situation just fine. Remember that you won't be able to un-equip his accessories after the mission (and you probably want to give your main party the best accessories for the final mission). Don't bother equipping any spell or other accessory on him; he will deal thousands points of damage with his regular melee attacks.

Code Crimson: Machina's Struggle

Preparations: you play as Machina in l'Cie Mode in this mission. There is nothing you really need -- all the SOs can be done easily if you're playing on Officer. There will be mandatory SOs in this mission (kinda like the Cid's Crucibles in the final mission, except that these actually give rewards after you complete them) called "The Crystal's Focus" (CF for short).
[1] Hotel Armad
Nothing here.
[2] Drake Avenue
CF (3'): kill the enemies. Reward: Red Beret.
Just use regular melee attacks in this entire mission.
[3] Drake Avenue
There is a Support Serum on the left, on the ground near a body.
[4] District 2701
CF (3'): kill the Golem. Reward: eidolon Titan.
There is a Support Serum/First Aid Kit on the ground, in a dead end on the left side before the exit.
[5] District 2695
Nothing important here.
[6] District 2551
CF (3'): kill Adad (the Freak-enemy). Reward: Twin Laevateinns (Machina's weapon).
There are also 3x Knowing Tags in this area. You can either go northwest following the market to area [9], or northeast for a detour. Go northeast to area [7] first.
[7] District 2689
Just enemies here, go further north.
[8] District 2655
CF (1'): harvest 1x Phantoma. Reward: Interceptor (accessory).
I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know that there are 2x Support Serums to pick up in this area too -- one on the ground level, in the middle-western section of the area, and one on a train in the middle-eastern section of the area.
Go back to area [6], then follow the marker northwest to area [9].
[9] District 2677
Nothing important here.
[10] District 2547
There is a Support Serum on a higher ledge, to the north, in this area. Continue onwards.
[11] District 2722
Nothing important.
[12] Drake Avenue
Same as above.
[13] District 2449
CF (5'): don't take more than 2,000 HP of damage. Reward: Aegis Divinum.
[14] Imperial HeadquartersHere you will fight Gilgamesh. You already battled him at least twice, so you should know the drill: Breaksight, wait for him to get stunned until Breaksight appears again, then inflict multiple Breaksights in a row until he recovers. Cyclone Drive does quite a good job with the multiple Breaksights in a row, but you need to time it right.
Anyway, don't be afraid of the boss here, since his attacks will barely deal any damage to Machina in l'Cie Mode.
Mission Rewards: spell Thunder BOM-II; Auric Hourglass; able to fight Gilgamesh on the World Map*.
*Since we are out of free-time breaks, this will have to wait until the third playthrough. We'll talk about it then; you can check the corresponding section of the walkthrough to have an idea on what to expect if you want.

(NG+) Chapter 8

It's all the same as the first playthrough, except that if you completed  their recruitment quests you won't be able to trigger the missable scenes/Events with Quon, Carla, Mutsuki, and Ryid (they were available just before leaving for the final dungeon).
The only different thing will be the chat with Fuyu @Entrance (after the scenes in Classroom Zero); it will be different (just slightly) if this time you deliberately skipped one or more chats with either her or her sister.
That's about it -- remember to play the final mission on Finis, if you want to unlock l'Cie Mode at some point. Also, remember to equip some good accessories on Trey/Jack (assuming they'll be the leaders of Group A/B in the mission) before departing. I personally gave Agito Insignia and Akatoki Amethyst to Trey, while Jack got the SP Crystal and a random second accessory.
Here is a reference link to the mission, as detailed the first time through. It goes without saying, this time you can simply spam Ultima to make things easier (just don't use it in the room where you are forbidden magic, and in the room where you need to shoot the columns to align the flames with the sygil).
To make things faster in the section where you need to navigate through platforms and portals (the first one after the first Relic Terminal), if you don't care about the two shabby items in the chests you can follow the more direct route: simply look at the crystals on top of the doors/portals, and always go through a portal that has a ruby (red gemstone) on top of it. This will allow you to reach the exit of the area while collecting just the necessary amount of Phantoma.
Remember to let a fast, ranged character die last in the first phase of the final boss fight, and then use the other ranged characters and Jack/Nine until you have harvested a total of six Phantoma from the boss.

(NG+) New Ending Scenes

After completing the game on New Game+ you will unlock a different ending, which you can watch from the Annals of Orience (Title Screen, choose History, load the latest Story Complete save, and scroll to the end to find it) -- it's called "In Another Spiral...".
You have also unlocked the scene "Tiz and Lean Joker" (fifth-to-last scene); from what I've read, this scene is unlocked only if you completed the Code Crimson mission of Chapter 7 (I see no reason why you shouldn't have, though).
I am not 100% sure if you need to attempt the "become a l'Cie" ending for this to happen, but at this point in my game I also unlocked two more entries in the Annals of Orience: "Becoming a l'Cie"; "Another Failed Spiral" (they are the two entries between "Awaiting the Great Arbiter's Judgment" and "The End"). Those two were the scenes that you could have watched by choosing to "become a l'Cie" in the final mission.

Third Playthrough (New Game++)

After watching the optional scenes in the Annals of Orience, you should have pretty much completed the Rubicus, at least for the Annals of Orience, Historical Personae, and Record of Service entries. You might still be missing some entries in the Enemy Compendium (if so, google it and I'm sure you'll find a list with the enemies you need to encounter at least once to fill it) (in my case, I was only missing a couple of Cactuar versions; I'll mention them in Chapter 7 of this brief playthrough walkthrough), and possibly in the Eidolon Arcana too (if that's the case, you'll need to replay missions on various difficulty settings to unlock all the possible Eidolons and their versions; check the corresponding section of the walkthrough to know what to do).
This third playthrough exists mostly for one purpose (other than to clean up anything you may have missed previously), and that's to get the ultimate weapons for your characters. It's also not a bad idea to do the Tasks/quests that give permanent stats boosts (I'll recap them in a moment). If you've been following this walkthrough up until now, you should have no backlog of Events/Tasks, so you can really just speedrun until the ultimate weapons are available.
Difficulty-wise, you may want to play on Agito this time through, just to get the mission rewards for Agito difficulty (at least for the mandatory story missions).

(NG++) Chapter 1

Nothing new, blast through the prologue mission.

(NG++) Chapter 2

Skip to mission day and do the first mission.
In the second break, check Mog's classes, and there should be a new one which gives Defense Magic +5. I actually haven't found records of new classes on the third playthrough anywhere else on the internet, but I'm going to assume they are available if you skipped the classes back in Chapter 7 of the first playthrough. If not, it would be a rather curious coincidence that the three classes I had on NG++ gave exactly the same type of rewards (but actually better versions of them) than what the classes I skipped would have given. This class here (which gave me Defense Magic +5) seems to be the same as the first class of Chapter 7: Free-Time Break 2 that I skipped in the first playthrough.
In the second break there is also the first step of Carla's quest @Ready Room, but I don't see any reason to want to repeat her quest again (the reward is just 111,000 Gil net profit, and with Nox Suzaku you can get 99,999,999 in a few minutes).
You can skip the second story mission.
In the third break, you may want to do the event to start Naghi's quest @Lounge (his quest gives +10 AP; probably not worth the trouble anymore). Also, remember to use the Altocrystarium panel at least once to re-add its remote access to all Relic Terminals.
You can also revisit the Tower of Agito from now on, to get another Agito Insignia (remember, you can get one per playthrough). Since among its other effects it gives All Damage Resistance +50%, two of them will give you complete immunity against "all" attacks. Some attacks ignore resistance though (like the poisonous bubbles of Marduk-type enemies), so keep that in mind.
There is also a Task in Corsi (kill 10x Aqua Flan) which rewards you with 1x HP Enhancer, if you want.

(NG++) Chapter 3

In the first break there is the first event of the Mutsuki quest @Armory and Quon's @Crystarium. I also had another class with Mog here, which gave me HP +100, which seems to be the same class as the third class of Chapter 7: Free-Time Break 1, which I skipped.
Don't forget the Task from Mother @Hallway for an additional +3 Magic Power to all.
In the second break there is the first event of the Ryid quest @Armory and Quon's continuation @Sorcery.

(NG++) Chapter 4

Nothing new here. You can skip to mission day by speaking with Mog outside the hotel. To save time, do the Code Crimson mission when replaying it (it's much shorter than the original story mission).
You can detour to the first Gilgamesh fight near the Black Tortoise Crevasse, after the events in the Deserted House. I'd recommend waiting until Chapter 5 though, so you can reach the blackhole on Chocobo rather than walking there on foot (not a problem if you can win right away; kinda annoying to have to get there on foot and fight on the way, should you lose the fight the first times). You'll need to wait until Chapter 7 (the second break) before you can access the other three blackhole-locations.

(NG++) Chapter 5

In the first break there is the Task by Naghi for his quest @Crystarium. Also, the Task by Mother @Sorcery which gives the Jeweled Ring, which you may need for the Quon quest (probably not, since you still have 10 left from the original 12 you got on your first playthrough). Also, the Quon event @Crystarium. Also, the Ryid event @Airship Landing. Lastly, I had the final Mog class here which gave me MP +50 (seems to be the fourth class of Chapter 7: Free-Time Break 1 that I skipped).
You may skip the first story mission.
In the second break there is an event with Mutsuki @Airship Landing for her quest.

(NG++) Chapter 6

The original story mission is actually faster than the Code Crimson mission (which always requires you to wait about 24 minutes total).

(NG++) Chapter 7

In the first break there is the final Naghi event @Hallway to end his quest. Also the Task by Mutsuki @Armory and following event with Seven @Central Command (requires access to the Roshana Province; accept the Expert Trial "The Retreat from Roshana" to unlock it) to end the Mutsuki quest. Also the Task by Ryid and the following event with him @Armory (requires going to the Ultima Ground Zero dungeon). Also the Task by Quon @Sorcery.
If you are hunting down the ultimate weapons, during the first break you may want to start working on some Expert Trials to open up the regions where the "blackhole" of True Gilgamesh moves. However, it's faster if you wait until the next free-time break (if you start doing trials now, you'll need to clear a bunch of them before the ones you need show up; if you wait until later, you can do the only one you need right away).
You can skip the first story mission.
In the second break there is the final Quon event @Hallway. The only trial you need to do is The Climactic Clash at Azurr -- the Rilochy Province is already open, and so is the Innsmouth Region (the other two "blackhole" locations, in addition to Azurr District and Old Lorica). In this order, the blackholes will appear in: Old Lorica (you may have already fought there); Azurr District; Rilochy Province; Innsmouth Region. Again, check the Gilgamesh section of the walkthrough for more info if you haven't already.
Before concluding, I want to make one quick mention about the Enemy Compendium. Chances are that you have almost filled the whole list by playing missions, clearing dungeons, and doing Tasks. Many players might be missing only a couple of entries, toward the end of the list, below the entry Cactuar: the Kactuar, and the Blooming Cactuar.
The Kactuar is a rare "world map enemy" (one of those you can see as you stroll by the fields), and he can be found in the Old Lorica Region. His spawn point is just north/northwest of the Deserted House. If you go in and out of the Deserted House, walk just a bit towards north of it and you should see the Kactuar fleeing north. Spotting him is a little tricky, because if you are not close enough to him, you won't actually see him on the screen (you may be able to see a Great Tauricorn all the way across the crater, but the Kactuar is invisible until you are close enough to him). Therefore simply walk a bit to the north; if you don't see him hopping around, walk back to the Deserted House and keep trying until you get lucky.

The Blooming Cactuar is also a rare "world map enemy", found in the Roshana Province. To find him, keep going in and out of the Roshana Province (you can enter Roshana, or you can walk back and forth from the Eibon Region to the Roshana Province) and check the southern woods. To make things (possibly) easier/faster, as soon as you enter the region you can open the local map (press Back/Select) and check if there are two pink dots in that forest, like shown in the image below. If that's the case, the eastern one is the Blooming Cactuar.

There is nothing else left to do; nothing new anyway. When you are satisfied, feel free to complete the game once more, or ultimately end your adventure in the world of Orience.
Thanks for reading!

The Hardest Challenges

Tower of Agito

The Tower of Agito is located in the Eibon Region, and you need to have the airship Setzer in order to access it by flight (approach it, then press the "land" button near it to enter it). It's a big black tower; you can't miss it. The most convenient moment to visit the Tower of Agito is (in my opinion) in Chapter 5 of New Game+ (second playthrough). The reasons for this have been explained before.

Tower of Agito preparations: the recommended farming process

Preparations - Step 0: Getting SP Crystal and Akatoki Amethyst
If you don't have both of these accessories, you should probably go get them right away, because my strategy (everyone's strategy, really) relies completely on them.
Preparations - Step 1: Getting Meteor...?
Getting the spell Meteor is "necessary" because the final monster-boss of the Tower of Agito, as well as floors of the dungeon (with 100x Marduk-type and King-Behemoth-type enemies in it...yea) are done more easily if you have this spell...
...or at least that's the story I've always read. However, as much as Meteor is very powerful and will speed things up a bit, it's actually not that important. I don't know who started this idea that the only good way to defeat the final monster-boss of the Tower is with Meteor, when you can kill him in less than a minute with Firaga BOM-II. Now, I'm not saying that Meteor won't help speeding things up, but if I have to take in consideration the fact that it takes A LOT of time (hours) to get the Phantoma to upgrade Meteor too, then I'm not very convinced it's a wise investment of your time.
So I think you should really ask yourself: would I rather spend hours to farm Phantoma for Meteor, or would I rather spend an additional 10 minutes in the Tower of Agito (if even that long) ? Quite frankly it shouldn't even be a debate: Meteor (upgrading it, not just getting it) is a major waste of time.
The biggest problem with Meteor's "value" is the irony, if you can call it that, of how Phantoma drops work. To keep things short, just know that you pretty much can't get any good Phantoma if you kill an enemy with Meteor or Ultima; therefore, you can't farm any valuable Phantoma with Meteor (or Ultima). Therefore the only reason to use Meteor in the first place is to kill things more quickly, which it does, but not at a significantly faster rate than you could achieve with a MUCH faster-to-upgrade Firaga BOM-II. Ultima can clear up rooms more quickly than Meteor because of faster charge time, and larger radius. Meteor is basically a great spell when you are against one or two enemies, but pretty bad for crowd control and fast room-cleanup. So what would you need to upgrade it for? So you can kill things (a bit) more quickly, when you are at the point where you have already killed every strongest enemy?
I don't want to necessarily impose the idea that getting Meteor is a bad idea, but take it from me when I say that it's a waste of time.
If you still want to get it (which you should do anyway at some point, just for the sake of having it; just don't waste time upgrading it), in order to unlock it you must complete the Expert Trial "Colonel Faith's Revolt" (NOT "Colonel Faith's Last Stand"!) on Finis. This is easier than you may think. Play the trial from the Title Screen menu, and bring Odin in (mine was at level 88 from the first playthrough). Give Rem a Phoenix Pinion (or use Undying Wish) and summon Odin; with Odin, charge Zantetsuken on Colonel Faith in the first area where you encounter him (the third area of the trial), and release when you reach about 60%. If you charge any higher than that, it will take too long and Colonel Faith will just fly away (you want to release just about when Faith says "my troops need more time to escape"). Any less than that, and your chances are unnecessarily too low.
You may have to repeat this a few times until you get lucky, but with 60% base chances, you should succeed the second or third time you attempt this.
Once you succeed, use a Phoenix Pinion on Rem again (after Odin is dismissed) and then run in circles until the mission timer expires, thus completing the trial. Do not use Undying Wish in this case, because it only lasts for a few seconds, while you want full coverage for the five minutes. You could also use Ultima every now and then, just to rack up some additional Exp while you wait; that's just a bonus extra, and may not be worth the potential risk of getting hit.
Preparations - Step 2A: leveling up Rem
Steps 2A and 2B will overlap, at least in part. You don't necessarily need to do 2A first and 2B after; in fact, if your Rem has a strong starting level you can probably do 2B (farm Phantoma and upgrade your spells a bit) first. Just see it for yourself in-game, and proceed with what you can deal with.
If you intend to unlock l'Cie Mode at some point, you'll need to play through every mission of the game (including Expert Trials) on Finis at least once. So what better time to replay missions on Finis than now? Go to Title Screen, and replay all the missions on Finis (unless you have already played them on Finis), while using the SP Crystal to make things easier. As a general rule, when you replay an Expert Trial (especially the long ones) you want to use SP Crystal and Akatoki Amethyst; when you are replaying a story mission (due to their lower natural levels) you can use SP Crystal and Mog's Lucky Charm instead. For shorter Expert Trials (like Operation Homecoming) you can most likely get away with using SP Crystal and Mog's Lucky Charm, since there are just weak soldiers to defeat, so you don't need the extra Magic Power (whereas the additional Exp is definitely welcome).
It should be obvious, but RTS missions can be done easily with Ultima spam on the world map sections. In situations where you can afford to do so (weaker enemies, no airborne enemies), use Fire BOM-II -- this will hopefully earn you a few additional Phantomas along the way. In every other situation, Ultima should be your recommended attack.
In a few instances you will need to use melee attacks, too. These are, in particular, against "Freak"-type enemies (who are immune against all spells) and sometimes against Colonel Faith/General Qator Bashar too (most of they time they have a Barrier which nullifies all magic damage).
When replaying "The Clash on Big Bridge" there are a few things to consider. First, you can actually deploy Rem from the start (originally, this wasn't possible due to the crystal jammer). Remember that there will be a part when you need to use another character though: about a third in the mission you are asked to send a single character to deal with 3x Colossi and a bunch of other enemies -- use Rem for this part. Then use Trey to deal with the fight against the crystal jammer -- equip him with Concentrate (make sure he has it; the game tends to reset abilities when starting a new playthrough), and maybe have some Anima Lanterns (or Phoenix Pinions) along some Fire Shards to keep him alive and boost his damage output. Then you can switch back to Trem. Lastly, make sure to equip Ultima on the SECOND command (the Triangle/Y button, by default settings), since during the mission the special command for requesting backup from the Bahamut Squad will be assigned to your first command, effectively replacing whatever you had set there.
"What level should I reach?" -- obviously the higher the better. In my personal experience, I did the mistake of farming Phantoma for Meteor (and Ultima) upgrades, which resulted in reaching level 86 with the "collateral Exp" from farming Phantoma. Then I did all the missions on Finis, which brought Rem to level 96. By then I was definitely ready for the Tower of Agito, and I cleared it while also reaching level 99 in it, on the second-to-last floor. For me, it was a breeze to clear the Tower of Agito with a starting level of 96.
If after doing all the missions on Finis you still haven't reached level 90+, replay something like Operation Homecoming (short but "enemy-dense"), or The Clash in the Caverns, or whatever other mission you'd like on the highest difficulty you can handle (Agito is fine too) while equipping Mog's Lucky Charm and a Growth Egg. There are also other farming methods you could choose (including some auto-farming setups) -- check the Exp Farming section of the walkthrough for more info if you want (long story short, rubber-band LS_Down and farm the Adamantoise in Innsmouth Coast; you need to control someone else, not Rem, so that Rem controlled by the AI can use Ultima to kill Adamantoise while you are afk; you only need to keep LS_Down for this process to work).
To give you an idea of the numbers we're dealing with here, a level 90 Rem will do about 5,000+ damage to Tonberries in the Tower of Agito with each hit of Fire BOM-II; level 96 will do 6,000+; level 99 will do 7,000+. It may not seem like much, but those 10 levels (as time consuming as it might be to level up) make a lot of difference.
It's still very possible to complete the Tower of Agito at lower levels, but I would suggest against anything lower than level 90: your damage output will be reduced too much at that point, and it's simply not going to pay off (if it has to take you twice as long to clear the dungeon, while also struggling a lot more, at that point it would have been better to invest that same time to level up Rem before starting the dungeon in the first place).
Preparations - Step 2B: leveling up Fire-BOM II (and Meteor?)
Fire BOM-II requires "red" and "blue" Phantoma types to upgrade, while Meteor requires "purple" and "red" Phantoma types to upgrade; Ultima requires "purple" and "green" Phantoma types.
As I said earlier, upgrading Meteor is actually a bad investment of your time: it takes a long time, and it's going to pay off very little. At least upgrading Ultima has the advantage of being able to cast Ultima quite a bit faster, which in turn will make clearing rooms full of enemies even on Finis difficulty faster.
I don't want you to spend too much time figuring out "the best source of Phantoma for you", so let's cut to the chase and talk about numbers and sources.
Before that, as a reminder, remember that when you are upgrading something in the Altocrystarium you can press Y/Triangle to "try again": by doing this the game might (or may not, it's random) give a different outcome. There are three possible outcomes:
- Standard upgrade (consumes certain materials)
- Standard upgrade+ (consumes the same materials, but gives both higher boosts to your stats, and higher penalties to other stats, if any is applicable)
- Ivory upgrade (consumes base materials + Ivory Phantoma; highest boost, no penalties)
As a general rule, you want to keep trying with Y/Triangle until you get the "Standard upgrade+", but for these important spells (Fire BOM-II, Meteor, Ultima) I've done the maths for you to try and maximize the use of our Phantoma. Let's see them one by one.

• Fire BOM-II starts with Power of 33, and Cast Time of 20. MP Cost is the "penalty stat" (it's lowered when improving Power and/or Cast Time), but thanks to Freecast we can ignore it completely.
• To sum things up (then I will explain a bit more in detail the upgrades you need to do), you will reach Power level 61 (out of a maximum of 65) and Cast Time level 82 (max: 85), spending the following Phantoma in the process: 40x Magenta Phantoma, 20x Cyan Phantoma, 55x Cerise Phantoma, 36x Smalt Phantoma, 24x Rouge Phantoma, 18x Cobalt Phantoma.
• Fire BOM-II's Power has increments of +4 (Standard upgrade), +6 (Standard upgrade+), or +7 (Ivory upgrade).
• Fire BOM-II's Cast Time has increments of +10, +12, or + 14 respectively.
• To upgrade Power before Power level of 45 you will need Cerise Phantoma x 11 and Smalt Phantoma x 8. You should have plenty of these already (they can even be bought in Valley of Monsters, and they are extremely common when you kill enemies like soldiers with Fire/Ice spells respectively). To optimize things, upgrade +4 once, and then +6 (thus consuming 22x Cerise, 16x Smalt so far) to reach Power 43. Then upgrade +6 -- you will reach Power 49 and you'll have consumed a total of 33x Cerise and 24x Smalt Phantoma.
• To upgrade Cast Time before level 60 you will need Magenta Phantoma x 10 and Cyan Phantoma x 5. Again, very common, you're probably stocked up. Only upgrade +10 (not +12, not +14) until you reach Cast Time level 60 (total cost: 40x Magenta, 20x Cyan).
• To upgrade Cast Time before level 72 you will need Cerise Phantoma x 11 and Smalt Phantoma x 6. Therefore, upgrade +10 once more to reach level 70, and then upgrade +12 to reach level 82. Maximum level is 85 (the difference between 82 and 85 is insignificant, so you can consider it maxed out at 82, pretty much). Total cost: 22x Cerise, 12x Smalt.
• To upgrade Power even further you will need Rouge Phantoma x 12 and Cobalt Phantoma x 9. These are not quite as common, but I'll tell you where to get them in a moment. For now, know that you will upgrade +6 and +6 (total of 24x Rouge and 18x Cobalt) to reach Power level 61. This is personally where I stopped upgrading the Power, since...
• ...to upgrade Power even further you will need Cinnabar Phantoma x 13 and Cerulean Phantoma x 10. These two Phantoma types are a pain in the arse to get at this point, and on the other hand you will most likely be stocked up with 99x Cinnabara Phantoma after the Tower of Agito (killing some of the enemies in the Tower with Fire BOM-II will make them drop Cinnabar Phantoma regularly). Since the Power is almost maxed out anyway (it caps at 65 Power), and it's more than enough at Power level 61, that's where you should stop.

Your two primary sources of Phantoma will be the story mission The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold ("the Togoreth mission", for short), and the dungeon Black Tortoise Crevasse (the one in the Old Lorica Dungeon, near the big crater, near the Deserted House).
For Magenta and Cyan Phantoma, you can play the Togoreth mission on Agito difficulty. The route you'll be taking is this: clear the first area; clear the ground level of the second area (ignore the enemies on the balconies); go to the area with the Channelgate/Golem and break the Channelgate; then go upstairs (if you remember, in our first experience with this mission we ignored the stairs and went along the path on the ground level; now we want to go upstairs instead). From there, follow the path and kill all the enemies to clear the mission. Kill enemies with Fire (or Fira, or Firaga) BOM-II, and they will mostly drop Magenta Phantoma (occasionally Mauve Phantoma). For Cyan Phantoma, do the same but use an Ice spell (Blizzard BOM) instead. Use Ultima on the Mid-Sized Carrier (airborne) and the boss at the end.
For Cerise and Smalt Phantoma do the same (use Fire spells for Cerise, Ice spells for Smalt), but play the mission on Finis. You will also get some Lavender Phantoma in the process.
For Rouge and Cobalt, set difficulty on Officer, visit the Black Tortoise Crevasse, and kill the enemies in here with Fire/Ice spells respectively. When they are all dead, exit and re-enter the dungeon; rinse and repeat until needed.

• Another somewhat important spell to have is Cure. Potions can actually cure you just as well, but since you will probably want a different "shortcut" item equipped (Anima Lanterns, to have Reraise), Cure will prove to be a great way to heal too. You don't need to improve Cure's stats much: MP Cost doesn't matter, and neither does Recovery (with the default power my Rem could heal over 7,000 HP, and she only had 2,400 with the SP Crystal equipped).
• Cast Time, on the other hand, is nice to upgrade. It will only cost common green Phantoma to upgrade its Cast Time to the max (the "rarest" Phantoma required will be Ivy, which can still be bought, although you'll probably have so many of them that you won't need to buy them to max out the spell).

Just for the sake of it, I'm also going to quickly talk about Meteor and Ultima. Once again, I do NOT recommend spending time to upgrade Meteor. Ultima, on the other hand, is worth upgrading at least a little bit, so that you can clear missions on Finis more easily, thus making Exp-farming faster in return.

• Meteor starts with Power 33 and Cast Time 1. Upgrading the one will downgrade the other (unless Ivory Phantoma is used), so keep that in mind even though it may not seems so at first (you will probably start upgrading its Power at first, and since Cast Time is already at its minimum it seems like there is no penalty; in reality, if Cast Time wasn't 1, you would see it go down when you upgrade Power).
• Meteor's Power goes up by +4, +6, +7 (Standard, Standard+, Ivory). Meteor's Cast Time can be maxed out to level 15 with a single upgrade, using Ivory Phantoma. Since upgrading Power without Ivory Phantoma will reduce Cast Time, it's advisable to only upgrade Cast Time later on, when you know you'll be using Ivory Phantoma to upgrade Power (which is not something you want to do in some cases). I'll explain how to proceed efficiently below ("efficiently" means "with as few rare Phantoma as possible"). If you follow these upgrades, the best time to upgrade Cast Time will be once you reach Power 79 (from then on, you will always use Ivory Phantoma to upgrade Power).
• Up until Power level 55 (I'm not 100% sure that's the right number; it's anything between 52 and 57, so I'm assuming they made it an even 55), Meteor's Power will cost Mauve Phantoma x 9 and Magenta Phantoma x 4. Assuming you always do a +6 upgrade, from 33 to 57 it will take four upgrades (+24), which means 36x Mauve and 16x Magenta Phantoma.
• From there until 75 (again, I'm not 100% sure of the right number; it's anything between 70 and 75) the Power upgrades will cost Lavender Phantoma x 11 and Cerise Phantoma x 5. Let's say you do three of these, so you reach (from 57 Power, +18) 75 Power. The cost will be 33x Lavender, 15x Cerise.
• To upgrade Meteor even further you will need Violet Phantoma x 12 and Rouge Phantoma x 7. The smartest way to proceed is by upgrading to Power 93 with these increments (starting from 75): +4, +7 (Ivory), +7 (Ivory). By doing this you will consume 36x Violet and 21x Rouge (along with 2x Ivory).
• To upgrade it all the way to the maximum level (Power 99) you will need Indigo Phantoma x 14 and Cinnabar Phantoma x 8, plus an Ivory Phantoma to get a +6. Only perfectionists should be bothered with farming Indigo Phantoma for this purpose.
• Ultima starts with only Cast Time to upgrade, which by default is at level 20. It has increments of +10 (standard) or +12 (Ivory); I never saw a third option in this case. Anyway, the upgrade will cost Lavender Phantoma x 11 and Ivy Phantoma x 8 at first, and it will be like that until Cast Time 50 (could be anything between 41 and 50 though). Therefore, upgrading three times without Ivory Phantoma will bring you to Cast Time 50 with a total cost of 33x Lavender, 24x Ivy.
• You can upgrade it further by spending Violet Phantoma x 12 and Jade Phantoma x 9. Don't use Ivory Phantoma for the first upgrade here: if you upgrade from 50 to 60, the upgrade from 60 to 70/72 will still require Violet and Jade Phantoma. On the contrary, if you use Ivory Phantoma and go from 50 to 62, the next upgrade (from 62 to 72/74) will require Indigo and Celadon Phantoma instead! You should do the +10 upgrade first, and then the next +10 (or +12) upgrade, bringing you to Cast Time 70 (or 72, it doesn't matter) by spending 24x Violet and 18x Jade Phantoma
• The last upgrade from 70 (or 72) to 80 (maximum level) will require Indigo Phantoma x 14 and Celadon Phantoma x 11. Waste of time, unless you just want to max it out for the sake of it.

In order to farm Mauve/Lavender Phantoma, play the Togoreth mission and use Fire BOM-II to kill the enemies (follow the route explained for Fire BOM-II). The odds aren't great, but you will get a few "purple" (Mauve, Lavender, Violet, Indigo are all "purple") Phantoma every now and then. You can only get Mauve on Agito difficulty, and Lavender on Finis (on Officer you would get Purple Phantoma, its most basic level).
Violet Phantoma is already hard to get. There are other possibilities, but assuming you are strong enough to fight them, the 100x Tonberries in the first level of the Tower of Agito are actually the best source. Again, use Fire BOM-II; the odds won't be great, but at least you'll get a few each time you clear the room. Another possible source could be enemies like the Pricklepede (the "Ankheg" type) and other enemies in the Dominating the Dragon's Nest trial, but you need to play on Finis and even a level 99 Rem will struggle surviving too many hits from the Skyverns. It's risky, time-consuming, and inefficient compared to Tonberry farming. Another alternative could be the Tonberries in the mission Operation Under Ceasefire (Code Crimson mission of Chapter 4 in New Game+), which can be found in a couple of caverns, although only in limited "supply"; you must play on Finis for them to drop Violet Phantoma.
Indigo Phantoma is the worst of all, since only the "biggest" enemies of the game can drop it. The best source are he Behemoth Kings in the second-to-last floor of the Tower of Agito. Another possible source (not too bad, but worse for sure) are the Malboros in the Valley of Monsters (play on Officer). The Behemoth Kings will be in a pack of 100, but it takes time to get to their level. On the other hand, you can enter and exit the Valley of Monsters within a minute, but there is only six Malboros in total that you can kill.
The "green" Phantoma (Ivy, Jade, Celadon) are obtained very frequently by defeating enemies with Killsights (about 50% chances). For the Celadon it will need to be a "big" enemy like the Malboros or Behemoth King of the Tower of Agito.
Preparations - Step 3 - Getting Avoid?
Some people (a lot, actually) recommend getting the spell Avoid as defensive command. The spell is acquired by speaking with Class First Moogle after 10 hours worth of gameplay, so it's not hard to obtain it. I personally find it completely unnecessary -- if Avoid was fail-proof then it would have been great. Since that's not the case, I personally find that equipping Cure works better: it won't save you from one-hit-kill attacks, but at least it's useful to heal up after taking a non-deadly blow (you can do so just as easily with Potions, but Cure is just a bit faster, so I prefer it). The spell Avoid, on the other hand, will always miss if Rem is in the middle of doing an action (casting a spell), and that's typically the moment when she'll get hit in the Tower of Agito. Still, feel free to use Avoid if you'd like -- it surely won't hurt, especially in the first room with Tonberries.

The Hardest Challenges (Continued)

Tower of Agito - Content

The dungeon itself is very linear, and actually rather repetitive.
In the first room there will be Atra (speak with him if you want) and a Relic Terminal. If you save, you will notice that it registers as if you are in a mission. Then you'll see a teleportation device of some sort in the middle of the room.
The first thing you want to do here is to Assign only Rem at the Relic Terminal -- any AI character would die within a few seconds. Then make sure you are prepared (SP Crystal, Akatoki Amethyst, Fire BOM-II, and maybe Avoid as defensive command), save, and use the teleportation device.
You'll be taken to a staircase, on top of which there is a door to a room with the first set of enemies. Beyond the room there will be another staircase (accessed only after killing all the enemies of the previous room) which contains a Relic Terminal and a treasure chest, and on top of the stairs another door. Beyond that there will be another room with the second set of enemies, and so on a few more times. That's the basic structure of the dungeon: staircase with Relic Terminal and a chest, room full of enemies, another staircase, another room, and so on.
The level and difficulty of the Tower are fixed: level 128 for the monsters, and Agito difficulty set by default (it doesn't matter what difficulty you set before you entered).
First Room - 100 Tonberries
The first room is arguably the one where you will die the most, so don't be too scared of proceeding if you could barely survive the Tonberries. The Tonberries will constantly attack you and kill you over and over again; the important thing here is to kill them faster than they can kill you. Make sure to harvest their Phantoma to get some Anima Lanterns from them, and in fact make sure to also "Equip" the Anima Lanterns as your shortcut item (you'll be using them very frequently).
There will be up to 4x Tonberries at once until you defeat 40x of them; then there will be up to 6x of them at once until you defeat the remaining 60x.
As far as strategy goes, you could either run around the room in circles while charging Fire BOM-II to Firaga BOM-II, or you could try to magic-cancel (reflex-cast, quick-draw, whatever you call it) a Firaga BOM-II right away. I'm no fan of magic-cancel to be honest, but in my experience the Tonberries are still going to kill Rem with their ranged attacks, even if she keeps running in circles around the room. After running around for a while I got tired of it, and decided to continuously magic-cancel Firaga BOM-II (in other words: attack; hold the spell button down; release the spell after the attack animation to cast Firaga BOM-II; attack; hold the spell [...]) right in the face of the Tonberries, without caring if they attacked me or not.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that I ended up dying LESS when I magic-canceled than when I ran in circles trying to avoid the attacks. The reason why that happened is that with magic-cancel Firaga BOM-II the Tonberries will be, in a rather large radius, unable to attack Rem at all because they get "staggered" back by the spell power (whereas if you run in circles they'll be able to attack before you release the spell). In other words, it's the "attack is the best defense" approach, which in this case seems to work particularly well.
As a general figure, you should be dealing 6,000 HP of damage with each hit of Firaga BOM-II to the Tonberries (multiply that by 3-4 hits of the spell, and the damage will be quite good). If you are dealing a lot less than that (maybe you are attempting the dungeon at a lower level than recommended 90+), beware that you are in for a very tough ride -- I recommend leaving and leveling up a bit more before trying again!
First Staircase
Relic Terminal here.
Please note that you can use the door where you came from to backtrack all the way outside the dungeon. This is not something you want to do of course, but it's nice to know that there is a way out in case you notice that the "next" room has enemies that are too strong for you and you are out of Teleport Stones (using the door is basically the equivalent of using a Teleport Stone -- it will take you outside right away). You'll find these doors in each staircase.
I suggest having at least 30x Anima Lanterns (15x should be enough, but 30x would be better, just to be safe) before continuing to the next area. If you spent too many of them on the first floor, you should probably consider leaving and re-doing the first floor again (it'll only take a few minutes) to get some more Anima Lanterns.
Also note that the chests in the staircases have a random item (not absolutely random; just one of the various possible for that chest) in them, but the item is determined when you open the chest, and not when you enter the staircase area. Therefore, since there is a Relic Terminal in the staircase, you can save the game, open the chest to see what's inside, and reload and reopen the chest if you didn't find the item you were hoping for the first time. Keep reloading until you get what you wanted. Just to be clear, some items are remarkably rarer than others (for example, in a future chest there can be a Gold Hairpin or an Enchanted Bangle; the latter is rare, the former is much more common; it took me a dozen reload-and-retry to eventually get the Enchanted Bangle), but I assure you that if you save-open-reload the content of the chest will be reset, and will eventually be whatever you desired it to be (well, among the possible items contained in them at least).
You may want to equip Cure as defensive command for the next room.
The chest here can contain the following accessories: Ignis Divinum, Glacies Divinum, Fulgur Divinum, Aegis Divinum. They are absolute garbage (they all give +50 to the respective magic stat (Fire, Ice, Thunder, Defense respectively) and MP -40%).
Second Room
There will be Coeruls in here. They spawn 2x at once until you kill 30x; then 3x at once until you kill a total of 30x; then 4x at once until you kill the remaining 40x.
Coeruls will only drop tier-3 Phantoma (Lavender, for the purple type), which kinda sucks to be honest.
From this room on, it becomes important to try and "synchronize" the enemies spawn. What I mean by this is that you want to do your best to make sure that if there can be two of them at once, there are in fact two of them at once; same goes if there can be 3, or 4. In other words, don't focus on killing one of them at the time, and do your best to kill them more or less at the same time (with Fire BOM-II this should be easy, but sometimes one of them might wander off out of range of the spell while the others are caught within its radious). Should you kill one of them earlier than the others, simply avoid collecting their Phantoma until all of them are dead.
The reason why you want to "synchronize" the spawns is simple: you'll be able to predict the spawn, and you'll be able to attack them all at once (ideally) over and over again. On the contrary, if you were to focus on one of them at the time, it would obviously take a lot longer to kill them all.
You will probably die a lot less in this room, since Rem should take heavy but not fatal damage from the enemies' attacks. If you are diligent with healing (use Cure) and don't mind an occasional death here and there, then you can magic-cancel here too. If not, run around charging Firaga BOM-II and unleash it on the enemies, possibly when they are grouped together.
Second Staircase
Relic Terminal here.
The local chest contains either an Adamant Armlet (DEF +100, Auto-Endure) or a Regal Crown (MP +100%, All Magic +40). Meh.
Third Room
Glasya Labolas (snow-giant types) are the enemies on this floor. At first there will be only one of them, then between 30x and 70x kills they'll be two at the time, and lastly they'll spawn 3x at the time for the last 30x.
These enemies drop Violet Phantoma (and possibly Celadon Phantoma too), so make sure to harvest their Phantoma after killing them.
In this case, magic-canceling equals suicide, so don't do that. Instead, run around the room charging and unleashing Firaga BOM-II. Don't even bother to look at the enemies; instead, refer to the minimap/radar to predict their position, and do your best to hit more of them at once if you can (like we said for the Coerul room, try to "synchronize" their deaths and spawns).
If you are careful, you shouldn't die much in this room.
Third Staircase
Relic Terminal here.
There is also the l'Cie Tagisu's Crystal on the floor here.
The local chest can contain either a Growth Egg or an Assault Targe (Auto-Aura, Auto-Regen, All Magic -100).
Fourth Room
This room features Mushussu enemies; they are the "Marduk" type. They will spawn one at the time until you kill 30x; then two at the time until 70x total are dead; then 3x at the time for the last 30x.
Despite how dangerous they are, these enemies will actually only drop Lavender Phantoma. Therefore, their Phantoma extraction is not a priority.
This is a very dangerous room, but you can get away with just a few (or no) deaths if you are careful. The enemies will always spawn sleeping, but attacking them will wake them up. Now, I don't want to overcomplicate things, so at the end of the day the message is: watch their attacks, and unleash Firaga BOM-II on them when it's safe to do so. I'll talk a bit about how you could optimize the timing of the battle below, but feel free to ignore it and just do it yourself however you feel comfortable doing it.
The "awakening response" is a bit different depending on how many enemies there are. In general, whenever you awaken an enemy in this room he will wake up and throw two poison bubbles at you (the bubbles will most likely insta-kill you, with a "special" damage type of 3,000+). When there is just one enemy, the delay between the awakening and the poison-bubble-throwing attack will be minimal; the same will apply to when there are three enemies. When there are only two enemies, on the other hand, the delay will be a bit longer, which means you can attack twice before running away from their attacks.
The enemies have other attacks too, but they mostly rely on throwing bubbles at you when you are far from them (sometimes even when you are close to them), whereas they may also use a "spin" attack when you are standing close to them. If their health is taken down they may also "go mad" and start chasing you around the room, but hopefully they'll be dead before then. In any case, you will need three Firaga BOM-II to kill them (killing one/two/three of them makes no difference: they are all going to stand so close to each other that Firaga BOM-II will hit them all in perfect synchrony).
Knowing their attack pattern, I personally proceeded like this. When there is one or three enemies (fast awakening response), charge Firaga BOM-II, then unleash it next to them; immediately run straight back away from them to avoid their bubble attack. Start charging Firaga BOM-II again, wait for their bubble-throwing attack, and after they do it go close to them and unleash another Firaga BOM-II. Repeat a third time to kill them.
When there are two enemies (slow awakening response), start by unleashing Firaga BOM-II next to them. Since you have time for it, you can then immediately magic-cancel another Firaga BOM-II next to them, and then immediately dodge away from their counterattack. Then wait for their next attack, dodge it, and unleash the final Firaga BOM-II when it's safe to do so.
Fourth Staircase
Relic Terminal here.
The local chest contains either a Gold Hairpin (All Magic +80) or an Enchanted Badge (All Magic +99, Auto-Trance, Auto-Quick, Attack -99).
Fifth Room
The enemies here are Behemoth Kings: one at the time for the first 50x, then two at the time for the remaining 50x.
Behemoth Kings can drop Indigo Phantoma, so make sure to harvest them after you kill them! For the same reason, make sure to kill them with an elemental spell (Fire/Fira/Firaga BOM-II for instance), or else (if you killed them with Meteor/Ultima) they won't be able to drop Indigo Phantoma!
Strategy-wise, if you have Meteor it could be a good idea to open with that attack to take a big chunk of their health off, and then finish them with Firaga BOM-II (don't magic-cancel; run in circles and unleash the spell; rely on the minimap to see the enemies' positions). If not, rely on Firaga BOM-II exclusively -- it'll take a few more minutes, but it will get the job done just as well. It's really basically the same as the room with the snow giants, except these enemies here have more health.
Fifth Staircase
Relic Terminal here.
The local chest has either a Blessed Armlet (you may already have one from an SO in "The Retreat from Roshana") or a Grand Mage's Badge (Damage -40%, Auto-Freecast).
Chamber of Decision
This room looks like the first one when you entered the Tower. It has a chest on the left side containing a Darksoul Swam, which is a key item for a Task ("Slayer's Spoils VII, in the second free-time break of Chapter 7) in Akademeia. After picking it up, step in the warp device in the middle and decide to continue to reach the final mini-boss of the Tower.
Final Room
There is just one enemy here, and boy is he weak. It's a gigantic "Cosmic Malboro", but he will die very quickly simply from Firaga BOM-II. Due to its size, Fire and Fira BOM-II may not have enough range to hit him; Firaga BOM-II definitely will though, so use that a few times to kill him without a problem.
After defeating the enemy a chest will appear in the room -- open it to get the Agito Insignia accessory. Then leave the dungeon with the portal.

The Agito Insignia might seem worse than SP Crystal/Akatoki Amethyst...and it might be, under a certain light. Its bonuses are: Damage -50%; Auto-Protect/Regen/Aura/Trance/Quick/Freecast; Exp x 4; Status Ward; Weatherproof. It's really great, but unfortunately it lacks any direct stats boosts like All Magic +100 from the Akatoki Amethyst, or the HP +50% and ATK/DEF +100 from the SP Crystal. If you had two Agito Insignia (you can only get one per playthrough), then Damage -50% x 2 = immunity to most damage types (the only exception is "special damage" types, like the poison bubbles from Mushussus), and that would really be great to have. Until then you may find that SP Crystal + Akatoki Amethyst are actually better, since they allow you to max out your Magic while still having all the important Auto-statuses.

Replaying the Tower of Agito

If you were to re-enter the dungeon and do it all over again, the chests would be reset (except the one with Darksoul Swarm, which can only be opened once per playthrough), but the last chest would have a different item in it. Instead of the Agito Insignia (which as I just said can only be obtained once per playthrough), the "new" chest will contain one of these possible items: Grand Bangle (HP +100%), Mog's Lucky Charm, Soul of Thamasa (All Magic +100), Ribbon, Juggernaut Badge (Damage -40%, HP/MP +120%), Super Ribbon. I personally think none of these is worth the trouble of doing the Tower of Agito again, but completionists may want to do so.
According to some sources, none of these items is exclusive, in the sense that you can get them elsewhere too; the Super Ribbon is possibly the only one where it might be faster to get it in the Tower of Agito than from its other possible sources (12.5% chances for getting S Rank on Finis on The Climactic Clash at Azurr; alternatively, play for 500 hours and speak with Class First Moogle in Akademeia). The Juggernaut Badge is also somewhat rare (it's available only here and as rare reward for getting S Rank against Nox Suzaku on Finis difficulty), and it's arguably the best of the possible rewards here.
By the way, I never found anyone else mentioning the Super Ribbon as a reward from the chest (even japanese sites that are usually pretty accurate and comprehensive didn't seem to mention it; I had to add it to the wikia page of the game myself). I don't know why that's the case, I don't know if it's an HD-exclusive new feature, or maybe it's a PC-version-exclusive thing (that's the version I played) (I doubt this very much, since an user on GameFAQs posted a screenshot of him obtaining the Super Ribbon in the Tower of Agito, and the screenshot clearly showed PlayStation buttons, so that must be the version he played). Just to make it clear that I didn't dream it, I obtained it twice (it's very rare, but it's possible), and here's a screenshot of it:

Also, I obtained the Super Ribbon on my second run through the Tower of Agito (first one after the Agito Insignia), so you don't need to "clear it a certain number of times before the Super Ribbon can be obtained": I could get it literally the first possible time (= the second time through the Tower of Agito). Also, I was on my second playthrough, although I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not. Anyway, just keep trying and you should, eventually, be able to get the Super Ribbon. It might take a long time though (I had to quit to Title Screen and Reload for half an hour before I got lucky). Not that it's worth it, since Super Ribbon doesn't do anything (it's supposed to "prevent Death", but it doesn't; all it does is preventing the Killsight status -- quite a difference!).

Nox Suzaku

Nox Suzaku is the strongest foe of Type 0. He's basically a flying-spider three-eagles-headed Phantoma-eating monster that can appear only in NG+ (from the second playthrough onwards). The requirement to "unlock" this monster is to first have completed the Code Crimson mission of Chapter 6 (available only in New Game+). After that, Nox Suzaku will appear after collecting an allegedly "random" amount of Phantoma.
As I explained in the story walkthrough pages of New Game+, the "random" amount in my experience (but I've only tested it once for now) was exactly 500 Phantoma Harvested, at least to make him appear the first time. That's also what the official guide says about it. To be even more specific, the guide reports that:

• First encounter will be 500 Harvested Phantoma after the mission "The Last Line of Defense".
• Following encounters will be after random amount of Phantoma, and with 0.8% chances of him appearing after each Phantoma harvested. It's not specified if this is a cumulative value (so after 3 Phantoma harvested the odds are at 2.4%), or if it's just 0.8% for each Phantoma harvested, but in my experience it's most likely the latter (if the odds were cumulative, after 125 harvested Phantoma you would be at 100% chances of him reappearing; that's not the case from what I've seen).
• Nox Suzaku will disappear with 3.9% chances for each Phantoma he "steals" from you (i.e. Phantoma you attempted to collect, but couldn't do so). Again, it's not known whether this is a cumulative figure (most likely not) or base value.

Then again, the guide also said he can only appear in three locations, whereas I found him in two other separate locations that weren't mentioned by that guide, so...yea.
Nox Suzaku cannot be ultimately defeated: after beating him, he will disappear for a while, but he will then ultimately reappear "at some point later on". When he will reappear is, again, after an allegedly random amount of Phantoma has been harvested. Moreover, Nox Suzaku can also disappear if you ignore him altogether after his appearance, just to come back again later after harvesting more Phantoma.
As soon as Nox Suzaku has spawned, Mog will inform you of the situation and you will start being unable to harvest Phantoma (the enemies' Phantoma will just fly upwards towards the sky). This can be a problem if you are trying to farm Phantoma, which is why it's recommended that you farm Phantoma to upgrade your spells before doing the Code Crimson mission of Chapter 6 (that way you'll be sure that Nox Suzaku won't show up and ruin your farming sessions later).

You can also read "Nox Suzaku Influence; Cannot Harvest" messages when pausing the game.
You can speak with a lady (with no icon) NPC in Central Command, in Akademeia; if you spoke with her earlier, she was always saying that she didn't believe you when you told her you encountered Nox Suzaku back in the prologue mission. Now she will give you a sort of mission entitled "Vanquishing the Nox Suzaku"; this mission doesn't need to be accepted (in fact, it can't be accepted); I just thought I'd let you know that it formally has a name which comes from this lady here.
Anyway, once Nox Suzaku has been summoned you can see him on the world map as you fly with the Setzer (he can be anywhere, and he will appear as a yellow target on your radar -- just follow it until you see this dark figure in the sky). After you are close enough to him, you can use this trick to get to max Gil very quickly.

Maxing out Gil with Nox Suzaku

The trick is really simple, but first make sure to save the game before attempting it. After saving, approach Nox Suzaku (not too close or the fight will start; not too far or the missiles will not reach him), lock on him with R1/RB, then shoot the Setzer's missiles at him.

It's important that you always lock on him. Don't just spam the attack button, or else you will automatically "lock-off" (is that even an expression?). Instead, lock-on, fire a missile, wait a bit, then fire another, and so on. If you wait enough ("a bit" = about a second; as a reference, wait until the "target icon" goes back to blue color instead of red color), and keep holding down R1/RB, you will not lock-off Nox Suzaku (whereas, as I just said, if you fire too fast you will lose the lock-on automatically even if you keep holding down R1/RB). Every time you fire a missile "correctly", you should see some Gil earned in the bottom-left corner of the screen (by the thousands, to start), and the "multiplier" in the upper-left corner of the screen will show up too. The multiplier will go up very, very quickly; therefore, after just a few minutes doing this you will be rich (Gil count caps at 99,999,999).

Fighting Nox Suzaku

The fight is pretty simple, but beware that Nox Suzaku itself is at level 200, and the other enemies will be at level 99 too (so the recommended level is probably level 90+). Make sure you have some items to cast Reraise on your characters (Anima Lanterns maybe), as you will need them to die a few times.
By default, you start by fighting some "shadow" enemies (invisible enemies; they can be anything: soldiers, monsters, eidolons, even Class Zero characters). However, you do NOT want to kill them: if you do so enough times, you will "fail the mission" (no big deal, you can always spawn Nox Suzaku again infinite times).
The idea to actually "win" is to make one of your characters die on purpose, so Nox Suzaku comes out of wherever he's hiding to collect that character's Phantoma. When he shows up, hit him hard (use Ultima maybe) to take a big chunk of its health off. Do this a few times (four Ultima casts with maxed-out magic will do it) until it's defeated.
After the fight you will receive rewards based on the mission "Rank" you accomplished. The info on the rewards isn't very clear, so I'll just report what the official guide says:
C Rank: Regal Crown/Grand Bangle (50/50).
B Rank: Crystal Ring/Crystal Bracelet (50/50).
A Rank: Gold Hairpin/Crystal Shard (87.5/12.5).
S Rank: Crystal Shard/Soul of Thamasa (50/50).
As you can see, there is no mention of difficulty-dependent rewards, so these are probably the rewards on a certain difficulty (Officer maybe?), but they don't necessarily include the possible rewards on other difficulties too.
For instance, I know for a fact that on Finis you can get a Juggernaut Badge -- I tested this myself, and actually got one on my first try. I might have just been lucky though, since some sources report that this accessory is a rare reward.
Last but not least, the S Rank requirements are:
- Clear Time: 4:00
- Harvested Phantoma: 0
- Casualties: 0-5

True Gilgamesh

"True" Gilgamesh is another optional boss that you can fight from NG++ (third playthrough) onwards (his actual in-game name is simply Gilgamesh, but everyone seems to refer to him as "True Gilgamesh" in these fights to differentiate him from the other two story-encounters with a weaker version of him, so I'll do that too). For him to appear you need to first complete the Code Crimson mission of Chapter 7 (available only from the second playthrough onwards), and then find a black-hole-looking portal on the World Map which will take you to this mini-boss. Since the Code Crimson mission of Chapter 7 occurs after the point of non-return (= you can't go out to the world map after doing it), this means that you need a third playthrough to encounter True Gilgamesh. Moreover, since the area where the first black-hole portal appears is in the Old Lorica Region, and this region is unlocked only at the end of Chapter 4, you will need to wait until the end of Chapter 4 in your third playthrough for the first chance to encounter True Gilgamesh.
True Gilgamesh can be fought infinite times, but the black-hole portal where he's found will move around in the world map. The first time it will always be in the Old Lorica Region, just to the right of the entrance of the Black Tortoise Crevasse dungeon. Then the portal will be located in the Azurr District; then it will move to the Rilochy Province; then to the Innsmouth Region; then it will be back to the Old Lorica Region, and the cycle repeats itself.

The fight is a bit particular. First of all, a random character will be selected among the fourteen in your party, and only that character will participate (it's a solo battle). Second, True Gilgamesh will have a few more attacks compared to the ("false?") Gilgamesh you fought in the story missions, so you'll have to be careful. He shares the same weaknesses though, so your damage output will rely mostly on well-timed Breaksights. With stronger characters it's very possible to kill him with spells like Ultima too, but each hit will deal about as much damage as a Breaksight.
The last thing to know is that after defeating him he will drop the "ultimate weapon" for the character that defeated him. To be completely honest, the power of these weapons is not that great (they are not too far-off from the Double EXP weapons, although they do have an innate passive ability that can inflict "death" on enemies, occasionally), but they still are the best weapons for each character.
Should you get defeated instead, Gilgamesh will steal the currently-equipped weapon of the defeated character (he won't do so if it's the only weapon owned by that character). It won't be a game over, and the portal will "move" away to its next location.
The same character can fight True Gilgamesh multiple times, too. If you are trying to get one copy of each character's ultimate weapon, it would be wise to save before entering the black hole and, should the "wrong" character (for instance one that you don't care about, or one that already has his/her ultimate weapon) enter the black hole, reload and try again until you get lucky.
I really don't think anyone needs a strategy to defeat him, since it's all a matter of Breaksighting him. For characters with slow regular attacks, it helps to use fast spells (Thunder SHG or Blizzard BOM maybe) for easier Breaksights. Since it's a Breaksight-based fight, characters level doesn't really matter all that much. Make sure to bring a handful of Reraise-granting items (Anima Lanterns) for obvious reasons.
There are actually also SOs in this fight (they appear in random order):
1. Deal 30,000 HP of damage (cumulative; within 5 minutes) for a Ribbon.
2. Do not use magic for 5 minutes for a Quake Killer.
3. Use a Fire-type attack (within 15 seconds) for a Tome of Ifrit.
4. Use an Ice-type attack (within 15 seconds) for a Tome of Shiva.
5. Use a Lightning-type attack (within 15 seconds) for a Tome of Ramuh.
The best way to do the SOs, other than blind luck, is with a character like Cater equipped with Elementillery (a single ability that, if upgraded at the Promotion menu, can dish out attacks of all the three possible elements depending on the buttons you input). Not that the rewards are worth the trouble, but anyway.

Mission Rewards and S Ranks Requirements

In this section of the walkthrough I will list the S Rank requirements, mission by mission, and the mission rewards.
Mission rewards can be rewards for completion of the mission on a certain difficulty (in this case, the rewards are only obtained once per save file), or rewards for earning an S Rank on a certain difficulty.

S Ranks

In general, to achieve an S Rank on a mission you will need a perfect score of A A A on the three factors rated at the end of the mission. For regular missions, the factors are Clear Time (the less, the better), Phantoma Harvested (the more, the better), Casualties (the less, the better). In RTS missions (like Operation Reconquista), the factors are Clear Time, Objectives (the more, the better), Casualties. Getting an A-A-A score on all three factors will result in an overall S Rank for the mission.
As a rule of thumb, Clear Time is typically very strict in regular missions, but very generous in RTS missions. Therefore it's highly unlikely that you will achieve S Ranks your first time through a regular mission: if you need to satisfy the Phantoma Harvested requirement it will take you too long to get an A score on Clear Time, and if you try to speed-run through the mission you won't get enough Phantoma Harvested to achieve the A score on that. It's a "short blanket" kind of issue. Things dramatically change when you are stronger, and scoring S Ranks by spamming the most powerful spell in the game to instantly clear rooms full of enemies (the spell is Ultima) is the typical way of succeeding in clearing the mission fast enough while also harvesting enough Phantoma. This doesn't mean that scoring S Ranks before you have Ultima or before you become overpowered compared to the mission enemies is impossible; just that you really shouldn't be bothered with it until you really know the game, the missions, and possibly have the upper hand.
In some missions you will find enough enemies to harvest the required Phantoma simply by progressing and killing them all in the various areas. In other cases, you will need to detour and sometimes even stop by areas where enemies respawn infinitely in order to kill enough of them to harvest enough Phantoma.
The Objective of RTS missions are mostly found "on your way", in the sense that you will complete most Objectives without even knowing that there was an Objective to complete. There are just a few situations where Objectives in RTS missions are not blatantly under your nose, which is why the first S Ranks you will achieve (probably without even trying) will most likely be in RTS missions. There is one major exception to what I just said, and that's the RTS mission The Climactic Clash at Azurr, where there are three Objectives that require you to do something that is not only tricky, but far from what you would do in a normal playthrough.
The Casualties parameter typically allow only a minimum amount of deaths to achieve an A rank. Most of the missions don't have mandatory death sequences, so as a general rule you need 0 deaths to get the A score on Casualties. There is a couple of story missions where mandatory deaths will occur, however. Also, one Expert Trial allows up to 3x Casualties while still achieving the A score on Casualties even though there are no mandatory deaths during it.
Mission Bonuses
Lastly, there are Mission Bonuses which can be obtained by deploying "few" characters during a mission. Please note that this refers to how many characters you deploy in the first place (in the first screen of the pre-mission setup), and not how many characters you actually use during the mission. For example, if you bring 10 characters in a mission but only use 1 of them, that still counts as bringing 10 of them, and therefore you won't get any bonus.
The way these bonuses work is actually not very clear, and I personally couldn't find exact-number info on this issue. From what I've gathered, it seems like the bonus you receive depends on the maximum amount of characters that you can bring in the mission in the first place. The idea would be that, for instance, if you can bring a maximum of 14 characters in a mission, then you can get a bonus for, say, bringing only 4 of them. If on the other hand you can bring a maximum of 6 to begin with, then you would need to bring only 2 to get the same bonus. This has a particularly important implication for a Task (Mad About Ms. Tokimiya III) which requires you to achieve an S Rank on a certain mission (Covering the Cadets); since that mission only allows 6 characters to begin with, going with a single character (which gives the only important mission bonus) will not really help you achieve an S Rank more easily (it does, but not too much). But I digress.
The bonuses are: A Select Few (seems to be 2-6 deployed characters); A Lonely Battle (1-2 deployed characters); Army of One (1 deployed characters). Of these three, Army of One is the only one that matters, since it allows you to earn an S Rank even with a score that is missing two ranks from the maximum (for example, ACA, or BAB, or any other combination where you are two total ranks away from AAA). A Lonely Battle also helps a bit, because it allows you to earn an S Rank even with a score that is missing one rank from the maximum (BAA, ABA, AAB). From what I've tested, A Select Few doesn't actually help at all: I tested it in the second story mission and earned BAA with a Clear Time that was only 13 seconds over the limit to earn an A (in other words, I was 13 seconds away from a perfect AAA on that mission), but I still only obtained an A Rank.
Lastly, beware that on Finis difficulty you cannot achieve any bonus because the game only allows you to deploy one character maximum to begin with.
Easy S Ranks?
Thanks to Army of One it's very easy to accomplish S Ranks on certain missions. In particular, if you go "solo" (deploy only one character) in the typical story mission where you can deploy 14 characters, the Army of One bonus will virtually guarantee that, as long as you don't linger around too much, die, or completely ignore Phantoma harvesting, you will have a good enough score to get the S Rank.
The problems start to arise when you are in missions where you can't get the Army of One bonus (missions where you can only deploy a few characters to begin with, and missions played on Finis). In those situations, the only way to get an S Rank is a legitimate AAA score.
Since the best S-Rank rewards are earned on Finis, it turns out that you will need the AAA score after all.

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S Ranks Guide

In the following section of the walkthrough, in addition to the requirements and rewards I also intend to provide some tips/guidance to assist you in achieving AAA score on missions, mostly by giving you an estimate on how many Phantoma you should collect in each area, so that you can use the information to know if you need to stop in a certain area to collect more Phantoma or if you can move on towards the end of the mission.
I'll try to keep things as simple (and short) as possible. Sometime S-Ranking a mission will be so easy that you really don't need any guidance at all; on the opposite end of the spectrum, some missions are much "harder" to S-Rank, and I'll write down an area-by-area checklist of Phantoma and/or time spent in the mission up to that point. And, of course, there are in-between situations too, where you'll find some generic numbers/estimates simply to let you know if you are on the right track to get to the S Rank at the end.
In any case, I never recommend anyone to attempt S Ranking missions until they can seriously overkill the enemies of that mission. This typically means waiting until you have Ultima (powered up quite a bit too, to cut down the Cast Time required) and powerful accessories (typically SP Crystal and Akatoki Amethyst/Agito Insignia) to one-shot rooms full of enemies, which should be your situation at the end of the second playthrough. You are free to attempt S Ranking missions the first time through of course, but that's something that serves no purpose other than personal pride. As a matter of fact, most S Rank rewards range from garbage to "ok" items, with very few exceptions worth mentioning. See for yourself if you don't believe me!

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The Akademeia Liberation (Chapter 1 Story Mission)

This mission cannot be replayed from the Title Screen's Mission menu.

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
07:00	40	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Fire SHG; Megalixir	Power Sash	Crystal Gloves
S Rank Rewards	Ferric Ring (46.9%)	Platinum Bangle (25%)	Mythril Bangle (25%)
	Iron Bangle (40.6%)	Mist Mask (25%)	Waterproof Mask (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Rain Hood (25%)	Smoke Hood (25%)
		Sand Visor (25%)	Balaclava (25%)

Time and Phantoma Harvested are not very generous in the first mission, and to make things (possibly) worse you are forced to use certain characters and their equipment is based on whatever they had when you finished the previous playthrough (assuming you are playing on New Game+). Moreover, their second accessory is by default the Life Armlet, even if you had some other accessory equipped when you finished the previous playthrough.
It's a good idea to plan ahead in this mission, and prepare Ace by leveling up to 60+ (ideally level 99) and equipping something nice like SP Crystal as his first accessory (set up the equipment at the last Relic Terminal in the playthrough before the one when you attempt S-Ranking this mission). Remember, the first three characters you use in this mission are Ace, Nine, Queen, and then (at the end) Ace, Jack, Seven. Ace is always present, so if you have to choose just one character to strengthen beforehand, he should be the one.
To have a good chance at S-Ranking the first mission you'll need to be quick (use Ultima to clear entire rooms at once), avoid any Casualty (death) (even if you are resurrected by the Life Armlet, deaths will still penalize your score), and actually harvest almost every Phantoma available (there is only about 45 total). While not technically impossible, it's very hard to achieve S Rank on the first mission in a brand New Game, and still very hard on New Game+ if you are playing on Agito/Finis and don't have at least a good character at level 60+, so be prepared for some major frustration if you are attempting just that. Doing it on New Game+ with proper characters (Ace level 99; the others don't really matter) and possibly strong equipment (SP Crystal, etc.) shouldn't be nowhere near as hard though, but it's actually still one of the harder S-Ranks to achieve.
You can follow the "checklist" written below to have an idea on how well you're doing:
- When you reach the first Relic Terminal you should have 16 Harvested Phantoma, and you should be at 3 minutes of mission (hopefully something less; I had 2:40). Here you can (should) re-assign your characters. This is important if you are going on Agito/Finis, since you'll want to deploy only one character to avoid AI-deaths. You can also remove the Life Armlet(s) if you wish, and replace them with something better
- After clearing Airship Landing, you should have 25 Phantoma
- Before placing the magicite, you should have about 40 Phantoma
- At the last Relic Terminal you should have 40+ Phantoma; you should be at about 5:30 of mission time. If that's the case, hurry up and finish the rest of the mission as fast as possible -- you are barely in time to end it in 7 minutes!
- If you are low on time, you can save some precious seconds in the fight with Odin by using Zantetsuken and releasing it as soon as you start charging it. While this will only give you somewhat low chances of success (around 20%), it's still a decent chance, and after a few retries you'll eventually get a fast win (much faster than if you wait a 100% charge)

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The Cadets' First Deployment (Chapter 2 Story Mission)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
06:00	48	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Remedy available at Orderly shop; Tactical Vest	Mythril Ring available at Armory shop	Diamond Ring available at Orderly shop
S Rank Rewards	Ignis Secundus, Vol. I (21.9%)	Mythril Gloves (25%)	Platinum Bracelet (50%)
	Glacies Secunda, Vol. I (21.9%)	Ignis Codex (25%)	Rune Ring (25%)
	Fulgur Secundus, Vol. I (21.9%)	Glacies Codex (25%)	Celestial Armlet (12.5%)
	Aegis Secunda, Vol. I (21.9%)	Fulgur Codex (25%)	Gold Hairpin (9.4%)
	Megalixir (12.4%)		Ribbon (3.1%)

This is a rather straight-forward mission, but time is a bit strict and you need to farm Phantoma a bit. To get the S-Rank you'll want to clear most areas quickly with Ultima, but there are a couple of things to remember.
First, make sure to visit the optional areas, by taking the detour east early on, and then also the smaller optional area on the west side (west of the area with the big staircase with enemy barricades; this smaller area has only three enemies, but they are still important).
Second, keep in mind that the default enemies you come across won't be enough to get the necessary Phantoma. You have two areas where you can farm additional Phantoma: in one area, towards the end, there will be a Leader on the ground level and respawning enemies on the balconies. These enemies don't respawn forever! An infinite amount of respawning enemies can be found in the very last area, as long as you don't finish the mini-boss first.
If you kill everything without waiting for the respawning enemies on the balconies, you will reach the final area with 31 Phantoma. I reached the area in less than 3 minutes, leaving another 3 minutes to easily farm the remaining 16 Phantoma before killing the boss and harvesting his Phantoma too, thus reaching 48.

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Operation Reconquista (Chapter 2 Story Mission) (RTS)

Clear Time	Objectives	Casualties
20:00	9	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Auric Ring	Hypno Crown	Regal Crown
S Rank Rewards	Phoenix Pinion (25%)	3x Phoenix Pinion (25%)	6x Phoenix Pinion (25%)
	Silver Bangle (25%)	Gold Bangle (25%)	Platinum Bangle (25%)
	Silver Gloves (25%)	Soldier's Gloves (25%)	Platinum Gloves (25%)
	Bulletproof Vest (25%)	Flak Jacket (25%)	Ballistic Shield (25%)

Like most RTS missions, S-Ranking it is literally easier than non-S-Ranking it. Just make sure you don't die, and don't try anything "original" (follow Mog's directions).

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The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold (Chapter 2 Story Mission)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
25:00	90	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Shiva; Silver Bangle	Deflector available at Armory shop	Master's Mail available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Silver Bangle (37.5%)	Mythril Bangle (37.5%)	Diamond Gloves (25%)
	Argentic Ring (25%)	Platinum Bracelet (25%)	Fulgur Divinum (25%)
	Silver Gloves (25%)	Diamond Ring (25%)	Crystal Ring (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Rain Hood (12.5%)	Supple Shield (21.9%)
			Ribbon (3.1%)

Time is abundant, and there are plenty of enemies to harvest the necessary Phantoma without farming or visiting optional areas. The only thing to really mention is that you'll want to take the "long route" of the mission, i.e. don't go through the first Channelgate (where the first Golem spawns) and upstairs, because that will end the mission too soon. Instead, proceed past the Golem to the area "North Gate", and then continue from there.
Below I'll write a checklist, just to give you an idea of the harvested Phantoma you should have if you kill everything in every "mandatory" area you come across (always follow the yellow marker, no need for detours). In every area you visit, wait for the Victory message (let every wave of enemies spawn, unless they respawn infinitely) before moving on:
- At the first Relic Terminal you should have 22 Phantoma
- At the second Relic Terminal you should have 40 Phantoma
- Once you go back outside, enemies respawn forever in the West Stairwell area -- just kill the first ones (total of 61 Phantoma at this point), then move on. If you don't have enough Phantoma by this point, farm (here or in other areas) until you have 60+
- At the last Relic Terminal you should have 85 Phantoma. In the area after the last Relic Terminal, make sure not to use Ultima right away, or else you'll kill the Leader before getting a chance to fight the other enemies on the way. If you kill everyone in the room, you should end up with 92 Phantoma

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Operation Breakthrough (NG+) (Chapter 2 Story Mission)

This is a NG+ mission, meaning it is only available from the second playthrough onwards.

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
12:00	120	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Shankara; Auric Hourglass	Topaz Shield available at Armory shop	Mutsunokami available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Argentic Hourglass (18.8%)	H5-Shock Absorber (26.6%)	Growth Egg (29.7%)
	Mythril Gloves (18.8%)	Guardian Ring (20.3%)	Advanced Interceptor (20.3%)
	Ballistic Shield (18.8%)	Waterproof Mask (20.3%)	Waterproof Mask (20.3%)
	U2-Shock Damper (15.5%)	Rain Hood (20.3%)	Rain Hood (20.3%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	2x Auric Hourglass (12.5%)	5x Auric Hourglass (6.3%)
	Gold Anklet (12.5%)		Ribbon (3.1%)
	Auric Hourglass (3.1%)

You need a lot of Phantoma, but there are many farming spots you can use. I would recommend the indoor area Dynamo Access (before examining the dynamo in the next room), where you can easily spam Ultima to clear the room over and over as the enemies just keep coming. While there are definitely more enemies after that point (at least another +15/20, even if we exclude respawns), I recommend reaching the necessary 120 Phantoma right there, and then clear the mission without having to worry about harvesting any more. There is relatively a lot of time to spare too (you can easily finish around 8-9 minutes); just don't waste time unnecessarily and you'll get an easy S Rank here.

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The Keziah Diversion (Chapter 3 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
3:20	11 or 13*	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Bio	Gale Armlet available at Armory shop	Kain's Lance available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Draconic Ring (25%)	Mythril Bracelet (25%)	Rune Ring (25%)
	Soldier's Gloves (25%)	Diamond Bracelet (25%)	Thundersnow Ring (25%)
	Aegis Tertia, Vol. II (25%)	Crystal Ball (25%)	Battery Barrier (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Aegis Codex (25%)	Warlock's Headdress (21.9%)
	Gold Bangle (12.5%)		Ribbon (3.1%)

Very easy S Rank.
*Regarding "11 or 13" for the Phantoma, that's what I read from official sources, and I honestly don't know what it means. What I do know is that I tried with 13 Phantoma (as many as possible), and got A on Phantoma Harvested (therefore S on the mission), but I also got A on Phantoma Harvested (and S on the mission) with just 11 Harvested Phantoma out of the 13 possible. So, as far as I can tell, the actual requirement is 11, and not 13; I don't know if there is more to it which would explain why they wrote "11 or 13" in the official guide (version differences? My theory is simply a technical mistake on their part), but quite frankly it's not really worth the trouble investigating it -- just kill everything and harvest all the Phantoma possible :D

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United Front (Chapter 3 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
12:00	110	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Firebrand	Gaia Armlet available at Armory shop	Assassin's Daggers available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Shock Shield (37.5%)	Tome of Lakshmi (25%)	Hypno Crown (25%)
	Auric Ring (25%)	Dominion Helmet (25%)	Lunar Armlet (25%)
	Platinum Gloves (25%)	Sentinel Emblem (25%)	Supple Shield (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Lunar Armlet (25%)	Rune Ring (21.9%)
			Ribbon (3.1%)

This is possibly one of the hardest S Ranks, if not the hardest, even on replays, since you can't use spells. Having a fast, powerful, and possibly ranged character is essential. While I'm sure you can do it with any character, I would recommend Ace or Cater (I used Cater myself). You'll need a ranged attack for some enemies on balconies, so avoid anything slow and/or short-ranged. I prefer using Cater over Ace because her attacks can kill multiple enemies at once, and also because she is more "accurate" (her projectiles don't spread around as much as Ace's); this might be important in an area where you may want to fight respawning enemies alongside a Leader, while avoiding killing the Leader to farm kills from the respawners.
Time is quite strict, and you'll need almost all the possible Phantoma you can get, which will require detouring from the main areas. Given how "hard" it can be to S-Rank it, I'll write down an area-by-area checklist of estimated time and Phantoma harvested you should have:
- Starting area; go north
- In the next area, defeat 4 enemies (Victory message appears) (one is on the upper ledge). From there, go west
- You should enter this area around 00:20 of mission time. There are +6 Phantoma to harvest in this area, but enemies are very slow-spawning. In fact, they spawn so slow that it's more time-efficient to ignore them and farm some infinitely-respawning enemies in other areas instead. Therefore, proceed as follows: from where you enter, destroy the autoturret below, then turn left and kill an enemy left of the autoturret so you can get his Phantoma (+1). When that's done, don't wait until he respawns (he can respawn, somewhat slowly, two more times), and instead (from where the first soldier came from) take the first turn to the right so you can go down a slope and find another autoturret. Kill the second autoturret, then turn left to find another respawning soldier -- kill him once (+1 Phantoma), and again don't wait for his respawns. Instead, exit south (the closest exit to where you are at this point). By now you should have 6 total Phantoma, with a mission time of 00:40
- In this area (southwestern-most one) there is a Leader and many respawning soldiers. Soldiers will respawn in two groups of 2+1 (2 closer to the entrance of the area; 1 farther down the path). If you can, farm kills from these enemies, while avoiding the Leader (they keep respawning for a while as long as the Leader stays alive). To make things easier for yourself later on, I suggest farming as many Phantoma as possible here. Enemies won't respawn forever, but there should be a total of +18 (including the Leader) Phantoma for you here. The nice thing about this area is that, at least in my experience, the Leader doesn't seem to notice you if you run away from him (he just stands there, he doesn't come after you), which makes it easier to avoid killing him. Once that's done (so you are at 24 total Phantoma), you should be at about 02:00 total of mission time. Should you accidentally kill the Leader earlier than planned, don't worry -- there is another area where you can farm kills later on. Then go back to the previous area
- From where you start, wait a second so the enemy near the entrance spawns (+1 Phantoma). Then go forward and follow the path right, up the slope, killing another enemy on the way (+1 Phantoma; total: 26). Then turn left down a short slope; then left again, and follow the path to the right to exit north
- This is the first "datalink" area. Before examining the turret, shoot every enemy in the area. There should be a total of +8 enemies here, including those on the balconies; you shouldn't receive the Victory message though, even after you have actually killed every one of them. Once you have gotten your +8 Phantoma (no more enemies seem to respawn), activate the turret and wait until it's done before leaving north/northwest (follow the yellow marker pointing north). By this point you should have 34 Phantoma total, and you should be at 03:20 mission time, give or take a few seconds
- There are +4 Phantoma in the new area here (total: 38); two in front of you when you enter, two more on the way to the exit (north). Against Shock Troopers, simply spam regular attacks with Cater (if you're using her) -- they will "randomly" pierce their shield, sooner than later. Exit north when it's done
- Second datalink here. As previously done, kill everyone first, then activate the turret. This time you should receive the Victory message once you kill everyone (+16 enemies). Phantoma/time when you leave: 54 Phantoma/04:50. Go east, following the marker
- +8 Phantoma here, two at the time (62 total). Go south afterwards
- Kill every enemy in the area to make the Leader spawn, and then kill him too to receive the Victory message. In slightly more details: kill the heavy gunner and enemy on balcony in front of where you start; kill the heavy gunner and enemy on balcony to the right of where you start; then go down the "big" staircase on the left side and kill another enemy on a balcony (meanwhile you should also come across one or two Imperial Troopers on the ground level; they spawn as time goes by). After killing the last enemy on balcony, the leader will come out with three more regular soldiers along with him. Assuming you kill all of the described enemies, and one or two of the Imperial Troopers spawning on the ground level, you will get +9/+10 (let's say +10) Phantoma from this area (you can get even more if you wait for respawns, but it's not necessary), taking you to a total of 72. If you don't wander off too much, time should be around 06:00-06:20. Go back north where you came from, then east from there to the next area
- You can get a total of +7 Phantoma here, but it's kinda slow. Instead of wasting time, proceed until you come across an autoturret; destroy it, and then kill the soldier nearby plus the one that will have spawned behind you at this point (+2 Phantoma) (total: 74). Instead of waiting for the latter's respawns, go down the slope and then turn left and then right, following the marker to the exit
- In this area (orange area on the east side) you will find another Leader with some respawning soldiers. If you farmed Phantoma earlier, there is no need to farm more now -- just kill enough enemies to have a total of (when you are done with this area) 76 or more Phantoma. If you've reached this minimum amount (76), collecting all the possible Phantoma from now until the end of the mission will put you at 108 total
- From this area, go east to the final datalink. Once again, kill everyone first, and then activate the turret (no Victory message yet). After completing the "synchronization" process, three more enemies will respawn (one by one) -- kill them all. In this area you should have obtained +17 Phantoma (including the last three after synchronizing the turret), taking you to a total of 93. Time should be around 08:00-08:30
- Go back west from the previous area, then south. In here, get +6 Phantoma (total: 99) from the three enemies you come across as you enter, plus the three respawns at the end of the slope. Then continue west to the closest "marked" area
- In each of the three "marked" areas, make sure to kill the minions first, and then the Leader -- there is just +3 enemies (Phantoma) in each of the three areas, which means +9 total Phantoma to harvest. Should you accidentally kill the Leader first, and be in dire need of the minion's Phantoma, leave and re-enter the area where the surrendered enemies are, and you'll have a short window of time when the minions are still around and can still be killed, before they surrender (and become untouchable) again. That, or simply visit one of the areas where you didn't wait for enemy respawns, so you can get a few extra Phantoma. Do all of this as fast as possible, and you should be done with the mission at around 10:00

Mission Rewards and S Ranks Requirements (Continued)

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The Infiltration of Iscah (Chapter 3 Story Mission)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
15:00	90	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Golem; Dominion Helmet	spell: Raise	Kaiser Knuckles available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Fulgur Secundus, Vol. II (43.8%)	Diamond Gloves (25%)	Crystal Gloves (25%)
	Silver Bangle (21.9%)	Ignis Codex (25%)	Mist Mask (25%)
	Ignis Secundus, Vol. II (21.9%)	Glacies Codex (25%)	Platinum Bracelet (25%)
	Megalixir (12.4%)	Fulgur Codex (25%)	Celestial Armlet (21.9%)
			Ribbon (3.1%)

Very easy and straight-forward mission to S-Rank. Simply spam Ultima in each and every area, which will usually give you the Victory message (use Firaga BOM-II against Shock Troopers though; it's more effective).
There is one point of the mission, soon after the first Relic Terminal (I reached the Relic Terminal with 42 Phantoma by the way) where Ankhegs spawn seemingly forever, as you wait for the water to be drained (after operating the valve). You absolutely don't need to "farm" Phantoma here, although of course you might as well spam Ultima and collect extra Phantoma while you wait. I personally left that room with 72 Phantoma harvested, and then ended the mission with 131 Phantoma...that should give you an idea on how unnecessary those Phantoma are.
Also, there is a minor detour worth a total of +7 Phantoma at some point. Again, given how plentiful Phantoma is for this mission (especially if you boost the numbers with those Ankhegs as you inevitably wait for the water level to lower), the detour is all but necessary. Time shouldn't be a problem (including the detour, I finished in less than 13 minutes without any rush).

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Expelling the Empire (Chapter 3 Expert Trial) (RTS)

Clear Time	Objectives	Casualties
21:00	8	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Gigas	Growth Egg	Mog's Lucky Charm
S Rank Rewards	Phoenix Pinion (25%)	3x Phoenix Pinion (22%)	6x Phoenix Pinion (20%)
	Gold Bangle (25%)	Armlet of Ifrit (22%)	Armlet of Ifrit (20%)
	Mythril Ring (25%)	Interceptor (22%)	Advanced Interceptor (10%)
	Aegis Essentia (25%)	Diamond Shield (22%)	Armlet of Shiva (10%)
		Armlet of Ramuh (12%)	Opal Shield (20%)
			Armlet of Ramuh (20%)

This mission is a rather easy S Rank, but you must be careful not to kill the Striker/Warrior (average-sized MA) during the Rokol invasion, just as Mog orders.
Also, early on, you must make sure not to lose control of Domain 1 (although, if you are after an S Rank, chances are that you are more than strong enough to repel the first enemies with ease, spamming Ultima). To avoid killing the Striker/Warrior in Rokol, don't use Ultima, and instead rely on something less "wide" (a well-placed Fire BOM-II should work just fine; if not, use regular physical attacks).

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The Clash in the Caverns (Chapter 3 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
5:00	30	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Blizzard MIS	Torrent Armlet available at Armory shop	Shambhala available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Sublimation Ring (25%)	Tiara (25%)	Ignis Magnum (25%)
	Gemini Ring (25%)	Crystal Gloves (25%)	Crystal Ring (25%)
	Thundersnow Ring (25%)	Tome of Shiva (25%)	Advanced Interceptor (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Mist Mask (25%)	Glacies Magnum (21.9%)
	Crystal Ball (12.5%)		Ribbon (3.1%)

Very easy S Rank. No need for detours, just watch the clock and clear everything on your way in and on your way out. You definitely don't need to kill every Flame Flan in every room (they respawn for a while, but not forever); just open the pause menu (press Start) and check when you have 24 Phantoma. At that point, just run back to the entrance and enjoy the S Rank.

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Operation MA Demolition (Chapter 3 Story Mission)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
30:00	50	1

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Fire ROK; Bulletproof Vest	Mega-Potion available at Orderly shop	Seraphim Mace available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Tempered Shield (25%)	Mythril Bracelet (25%)	Diamond Bangle (25%)
	Auric Ring (25%)	Aegis Codex (25%)	Supple Shield (25%)
	Soldier's Gloves (25%)	Ballistic Shield (25%)	Sublimation Ring (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Ignis Codex (12.5%)	Growth Egg (21.9%)
	Vitality Apparatus (12.5%)	Supple Shield (12.5%)	Ribbon (3.1%)

The S Rank here is easy, but can be tricky.
First of all, remember that you will necessarily die at one point in the mission. Therefore, especially on Finis where you can't bring more than one character in the mission, make sure to have (and remember to use! You might as well use it when the mission starts, so you don't forget later) an item to give you Reraise (for example, Anima Lantern or Phoenix Pinion). You can also use Rem's Undying Wish if you prefer, but since its effect only lasts a few seconds you must remember exactly where the mandatory death happens (it's on the small bridge in the area Transport Route MA-2, which is just after one of the Relic Terminals).
While it's not really necessary, it's also worth pointing out that you can skip the whole "laboratory" part of the mission to cut down the mission time quite a bit. You still have plenty of time to do the mission, but since there isn't a single Phantoma to harvest in that section, it's probably a good idea to simply leave the area Warehouse RD-1 through the big gate to the south, as soon as you enter it. Naghi will question your decision, but if you are strong enough (level 99, with Ultima, etc.) then you have nothing to fear from fighting a fully-powered Brionac (if you don't do the lab sections, Brionac will be stronger; nowhere near strong enough to cause problems with a level-99 Ultima-spammer though, even on Finis).
Lastly, in the final fight against the boss of the mission (whom you can't defeat, even if you reduce his health to almost-zero), remember that to have minimum (1 total) Casualties you must avoid dying. Therefore, either run around until the mission automatically ends (after 3 minutes), or (especially on lower difficulties) hit the enemy hard, and hopefully the mission will end sooner too. If you decide to simply run around, remember that if you stick to the left/right walls of the room you will be in a blind spot where the "laser beam" attacks of the boss can't reach you. Other than that, avoiding his melee combos is simply a matter of running and dodging (as you run in circles, spam the lock-on button (R1/RB) so that you can see him as soon as he teleports somewhere near you).
Time is generous, so don't worry about it (skipping the labs is to save real-life time, not really to help you finish the mission within the 30 minutes required). Phantoma is not a strict requirement either. In the various sewer areas you can fight infinite enemies, and if you wanted to play it super-safe, you could easily (and pretty quickly, within 3 minutes or so) get to 50 Phantoma in the very first area of the sewers, where four enemies keep respawning at once, and then speed-run through the rest of the mission without having to worry about Phantoma anymore. That's completely unnecessary though: you can get around 65-70 Phantoma just from the humanoids on the mission alone (without any detour, just by killing what's on your way), so farming in the sewers is really just a waste of time.

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A Fog-Laden Foray (NG+) (Chapter 3 Story Mission)

This is a NG+ mission, meaning it is only available from the second playthrough onwards.

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
10:00	68	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Ogre; Auric Hourglass	spell Tornado	Marvelous Shout available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Argentic Hourglass (18.8%)	H5-Shock Absorber (26.6%)	Growth Egg (29.7%)
	Platinum Bangle (18.8%)	Tome of Ifrit (20.3%)	Celestial Armlet (20.3%)
	Red Beret (18.8%)	Deflector (20.3%)	Lunar Armlet (20.3%)
	Talisman (15.5%)	Lunar Armlet (20.3%)	Warlock's Headdress (20.3%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	2x Auric Hourglass (12.5%)	5x Auric Hourglass (6.3%)
	Mythril Bangle (12.5%)		Ribbon (3.1%)
	Auric Hourglass (3.1%)

Tricky S-Rank, this one. While there is more than enough time to clear the mission with ease, the same can't be said for Phantoma, which is scarce, and potentially "missable" because it's sometimes hard to lock on dead bodies in Fog (you need to be closer than usual). Also, more enemies can be spawned if you alert soldiers of your presence. In other words, instead of killing them before they can spot you (by casting Ultima), you can walk in the middle of them so they call for some reinforcements, thus allowing you to get the reinforcement's Phantoma too. While this isn't strictly necessary, since it doesn't add any time/difficulty to the mission you should probably do so (walk near the enemies before unleashing Ultima).
As a minor note, the game locks you out of the last fight, which has a couple of Phantoma too, as soon as you kill the mini-boss at the end. Therefore, if you haven't already met the necessary quota (68 Phantoma), in the last fight make sure to NOT kill the boss (do not use Ultima) until you have harvested the two Phantoma from the minions around him first. If you do everything properly you should already have the necessary Phantoma before then, though.
You also want to make sure to detour in every optional area available, so you can get a few additional Phantoma from there as well. If you want, you can also follow the checklist below:
- Starting area: +4 Phantoma. Go north
- +10 Phantoma here (total 14); less (+7) if you kill the enemies without alerting them first. This also applies to other areas as well, just so you know (I won't write it every time). Go east to an optional area
- +6 Phantoma (total 20). Go west (follow the marker)
- +8 Phantoma (total 28). Go west
- +7 Phantoma (total 35). Go west
- +7 Phantoma (total 42). Go south
- +5 Phantoma (total 47). Go north to the previous area, then northeast from there
- +13 Phantoma (total 60). You should be at around 05:30 at this point. Go north to a safe area, then north again
- +6 Phantoma (total 66). Follow the path to the next area
- +9 Phantoma (total 75). Again, follow the only possible path until you reach the final fight against the mini-boss
- +2 Phantoma (total 77) can be obtained from the two non-respawning Militesi Coeruls that accompany the mini-boss. The mini-boss technically has a Phantoma, but it can't be harvested before a cutscene forces you away

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Escaping the Imperial Capital (Chapter 4 Story Mission)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
25:00	90	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Thunder ROK; Sentinel Emblem	Mega-Ether available at Orderly shop	Blade Barrier available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Soldier's Gloves (25%)	Diamond Bangle (25%)	Battery Barrier (25%)
	Magitek Shield (25%)	Ignis Codex (25%)	Deflector (25%)
	Flameshield Cloak (25%)	Glacies Codex (25%)	Celestial Armlet (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Fulgur Codex (25%)	Lustrous Armlet (21.9%)
	Bulletproof Vest (12.5%)		Ribbon (3.1%)

Easy S Rank. There is no need for detours or anything tricky; just go through the mandatory areas and you'll get more than enough Phantoma for the S Rank. Here is a Relic Terminal checklist (numbers are a bit approximated, since there's plenty enough to not require accuracy to the last Phantoma/minute):
- First Relic Terminal (hotel): 10+ Phantoma, 01:20 (mission time)
- Second Relic Terminal (tunnel entrance): 35 Phantoma, 03:20
- Third/Fourth Relic Terminal (tunnels/train): 55 Phantoma, 06:00-07:00
- Fifth Relic Terminal (station after train): 65 Phantoma, 09:00
- Sixth Relic Terminal (generic building): 80 Phantoma, 12:00. If you are around these figures, there's no need to detour to the optional areas
- Seventh Relic Terminal (rooftop): 90 (or just a bit less) Phantoma, 14:00
- Eighth Relic Terminal: 100+ Phantoma, 16:00

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Mission Under Ceasefire (NG+) (Chapter 4 Story Mission)

This is a NG+ mission, meaning it is only available from the second playthrough onwards.

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
07:00	50	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Aegis Essentia available at Armory shop; Auric Hourglass	eidolon Grimnir	Crazy Eights available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Argentic Hourglass (18.8%)	Red Cap (26.6%)	Growth Egg (29.7%)
	Flak Jacket (18.8%)	Tome of Ifrit (20.3%)	H5-Shock Absorber (20.3%)
	Quake Killer (18.8%)	Mage's Miter (20.3%)	Balaclava (20.3%)
	Arctic Armlet (18.8%)	Ballistic Shield (20.3%)	Snow Goggles (20.3%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	2x Auric Hourglass (12.5%)	5x Auric Hourglass (6.3%)
	Talisman (9.2%)		Ribbon (3.1%)
	Auric Hourglass (3.1%)

Easy S Rank. It's possible to skip almost every fight, and similarly there are many optional detours in this mission. For an S Rank, you need something in-between. A possible route would be something like this:
- Go north
- +4 Phantoma. Go north
- +17 Phantoma (21 total). Wait for the respawns until Victory appears on the screen. Continue west into the cave
- +9 Phantoma (30 total). Wait for "Victory" again. Follow the path to the west
- +22 Phantoma (52 total). Then follow the marker to the end of the mission (you can also get +7 in the next area, +22 in the one after that, and then +1 from the mini-boss)

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Covering the Cadets (Chapter 5 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
24:00	135	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Fire RF-II	eidolon Petite Shiva	Lamia's Flute available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Ignis Essentia (25%)	Circlet (56.2%)	Aegis Divinum (46.9%)
	Glacies Essentia (25%)	Mythril Bracelet (25%)	Stalwart Ring (25%)
	Fulgur Essentia (25%)	Diamond Bangle (18.8%)	Celestial Armlet (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)		Ribbon (3.1%)
	Aegis Essentia (12.5%)

We talked about this S Rank, and how to achieve it with Rem-solo during your first playthrough, in the story walkthrough pages; if that's what you need to do, you may want to jump to that section and read about it.
If you are looking for some easier S Rank when you are all buffed-up (level 99, Ultima, etc.), then here is a checklist to give you an estimate of Phantoma in a somewhat efficient route (about 15-16 minutes for everything):
- Nothing in the first area, go north
- While you could farm Phantoma in the second area, you might just want to kill the default enemies and move on (+3 Phantoma). Then go west
- Enemies will respawn two at the time here; it's slow, so just fight a couple of waves and then move on (7 Phantoma total) to the north
- Enemies respawn here and there for a while here, but eventually Victory will appear on the screen. You should leave this area with roughly 35 Phantoma in the bank. Go north
- First "red area"; enemies can respawn here, but you can simply kill the default three and move on
- Go back south, then east. Enemies will respawn 2-3 times here (about 45 Phantoma total at this point), so spam 2-3 Ultima until you get Victory. Go east
- Another area where enemies could potentially respawn; again, just kill the default three and continue south
- Many enemies can respawn here, but I suggest leaving the area once the Imperial Troopers stop respawning (the Warriors can respawn for a long time, but very slowly). That should be at around 60 Phantoma total collected. Go east
- A few respawns here (+6; total about 65+). Go south
- Second red area; kill the default enemies and go north twice to continue (about 70 Phantoma at this point)
- Many enemies can be found here (+25 Phantoma, give or take), so keep killing until you get the Victory message. You should be sitting at about 90+ Phantoma before continuing west, and then north from there
- Kill the default enemies here, without waiting for the respawns (+3); then go east
- Again, kill the default enemies here, without waiting for the respawns (+3)
Once the second part of the mission starts, you should be at 100 Phantoma. If that's the case, don't bother with any other enemy on the way, and instead just sprint to the three red-marked areas (where you need to use datalink). Get some additional Phantoma on the way if you want, but never bother to fight respawns except in the more enemy-dense areas mentioned below:
- Fight the enemies in the area directly west of the southeastern red area (about +15 easy soldier enemies here) until you get Victory
- Another +10 or so can be found in the area directly south of the northern red area
- Another +20 or so can be found in the very last area (Lupinus Park) where the mission ends

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The Reclamation of Eibon (Chapter 5 Story Mission) (RTS)

Clear Time	Objectives	Casualties
25:00	11	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Blizzard SHG; Gold Bangle	Mythril Armor available at SPP shop	Adamant Shell
S Rank Rewards	Phoenix Pinion (25%)	3x Phoenix Pinion (25%)	6x Phoenix Pinion (25%)
	Platinum Bracelet (25%)	Mythril Bracelet (25%)	Arctic Armlet (25%)
	Crystal Ball (25%)	Circlet (25%)	Blaze Armlet (25%)
	Medical Kit (25%)	Thunderbolt Armlet (25%)	Tiara (25%)

Like other RTS missions (at least the story-related ones), achieving S Rank in this one is easier than missing it.

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A Charge on the Border (Chapter 5 Expert Trial) (RTS)

Clear Time	Objectives	Casualties
25:00	10	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Calamity	Lilith Rod available at SPP shop	Crystal Mail available at SPP shop
S Rank Rewards	Phoenix Pinion (25%)	3x Phoenix Pinion (25%)	6x Phoenix Pinion (25%)
	Vitality Apparatus (25%)	Platinum Bangle (25%)	Platinum Bangle (25%)
	Mythril Gloves (25%)	Mythril Gloves (25%)	Crystal Gloves (25%)
	Unusual Artifact (25%)	Unusual Artifact (25%)	Unusual Artifact (25%)

This S Rank should be easy enough. Just make sure to follow Mog's orders, and don't try anything "original".
In particular, avoid going near Domain 4 early on, and make sure to stay away from the Imperial Dreadnaught in the second part of the mission (after Alerion), since it hits extremely heavy and you won't be able to take it down very easily on Finis. On Agito (or lower) you can actually kill it with a couple of Ultimas, provided you are at level 99 with the usual strong accessories (SP Crystal and Agito Insignia, or similar). On Finis there is too high of a chance to get hit by some "rogue" missiles to be worth trying to take it down, so just play it safe and stay away from it.

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The Battle on the Beach (Chapter 5 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
5:00	7	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Crystal Ball available at Armory shop	Circlet available at Armory shop	Tiara available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Crystal Ball (37.5%)	Phoenix Pinion (25%)	Diamond Gloves (25%)
	Flak Jacket (25%)	Circlet (25%)	Interceptor (25%)
	Sentinel Emblem (25%)	Mythril Gloves (25%)	Blade Barrier (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Stabproof Shield (12.5%)	Tiara (21.9%)
		Ballistic Shield (12.5%)	Crystal Ball (3.1%)

One of the easiest S Ranks. Just for the record, make sure to kill enemies quickly in the first part of the mission, or else the Mid-Sized Carrier will fly away and you won't be able to harvest its necessary Phantoma.

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Colonel Faith's Revolt (Chapter 5 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
15:00	40	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Troll	eidolon Neo Bahamut	spell Meteor
S Rank Rewards	Diamond Gloves (25%)	Crystal Ball (25%)	Armlet of Ramuh (25%)
	Ballistic Shield (25%)	Interceptor (25%)	Advanced Interceptor (25%)
	U2-Shock Damper (25%)	Supple Shield (25%)	Ignis Divinum (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Opal Shield (25%)	Supple Shield (21.9%)
	Aegis Codex (12.5%)		Ribbon (3.1%)

Easy S Rank. There is no need to drag this mission any further than necessary, so "kill" Colonel Faith in the very first area where you meet him to trigger the second half of the mission. Then you'll need to survive for five minutes, during which you'll fight waaaay more than 40 enemies to get the necessary Phantoma.

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The Battle of Judecca (Chapter 5 Story Mission)

This mission is a bit particular, because at the end you can either finish the boss regularly with your own characters, or you can finish it by letting an Eidolon being summoned automatically for you. Depending on whether or not the Eidolon is summoned, the S Rank requirements are slightly different (Clear Time changes), and the first-time rewards are also different. Or so they say...(read below for more info)

	Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
Eidolon	22:00	64	0
No Eidolon	35:00	64	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards (Eidolon)	spell Fire MIS	Shock Armor available at Armory shop	Turbo Ether available at Orderly shop
Mission Clear Rewards (no Eidolon)	Lunar Armlet available at Armory shop	Platinum Bangle available at Armory shop	Mythril Bangle available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Ignis Tertius, Vol. II (21.9%)	Ignis Veritas (25%)	Fulgur Divinum (25%)
	Glacies Tertia, Vol. II (21.9%)	Gold Anklet (25%)	Warlock's Headdress (25%)
	Fulgur Tertius, Vol. II (21.9%)	Mist Mask (25%)	Armlet of Ramuh (25%)
	Aegis Tertia, Vol. II (21.9%)	Balaclava (25%)	Lunar Armlet (21.9%)
	Megalixir (12.4%)		Ribbon (3.1%)

In my experience, while the second part of the previous statement is true (the rewards are definitely different if you finish the mission by summoning rather than without the Eidolon), the different S Rank requirement is just a myth. I tested it on Finis myself, and with a Clear Time of 22:20 I received a B Rank on Clear Time instead of an A Rank. On the other hand, the official guide reported that if you summon (or rather, die so that someone else summons it) the Eidolon you should have 35:00 (instead of the regular 22:00) to complete the mission and still obtain A Rank on Clear Time. As I just said, that was not the case in my experience, but I thought I'd mention it anyway, in case you've read it somewhere else and you're wondering where the truth's at. Again, in my experience there is only one way to obtain A Rank on Clear Time, and that's by completing the mission within 22:00, regardless of whether or not you use the Eidolon against the boss.
Aside from the discussion regarding this alleged (but false, as far as I've seen) double Clear Time requirement, the S Rank is quite simple to accomplish: there is enough time to clear the mission with ease (plenty of it, unless you are on Finis), and you will get a lot of Phantoma without really trying. For the boss at the end, since you need to rely mostly on Breaksights for damage, make sure to either deploy someone like Ace (fast, ranged), or at least equip a spell like Thunder SHG. I personally used Ultima to stun the boss when she lands, and then spammed Thunder SHG on the multiple consecutive Breaksight opportunities -- the boss died within 4 "landings" (02:30) (Finis).
Here is a Relic Terminal checklist to give you an idea of the Phantoma progression and time situation:
- First Relic Terminal (crash site): 1 Phantoma; time largely depends on difficulty, since the "turret" you use to shoot the last dragon in the first mini-game section deals fixed damage on all difficulties, but the enemy's HP are much higher on Finis. Anyway, on Finis I actually reached the first Relic Terminal at 06:30
- Second Relic Terminal (Dominion temporary HQ): 24 Phantoma, 09:00
- Third Relic Terminal (Yugumo crash site): 36 Phantoma, 10:00
- Fourth Relic Terminal (Dracobaltian Dreadnaught): 48 Phantoma, 12:30
- Fifth Relic Terminal (Dominion temporary HQ, second): 65 Phantoma, 15:00
- Sixth Relic Terminal (last one): 80 Phantoma, 17:00
Be extremely careful against the boss at the end, since it will instant-kill you a few moments after landing, unless you Breaksight her fight. If you've been S-Ranking missions for a while now, you may have picked up the habit of not locking-on the enemies before casting Ultima. Remember that to Breaksight the boss when she lands you must lock-on first!

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Operation Vulturnus (NG+) (Chapter 5 Story Mission)

This is a NG+ mission, meaning it is only available from the second playthrough onwards.

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
24:00	100	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Bahamut; Auric Hourglass	Regal Armor available at Armory shop	Beastmaster available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Argentic Hourglass (18.8%)	Deflector (25%)	Blessed Armlet (25%)
	Ignis Essentia (18.8%)	Lunar Armlet (25%)	Sublimation Ring (25%)
	Glacies Essentia (18.8%)	Rune Ring (18.8%)	Battery Barrier (25%)
	Fulgur Essentia (18.8%)	Topaz Shield (18.8%)	Growth Egg (15.6%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	2x Auric Hourglass (12.4%)	5x Auric Hourglass (6.3%)
	Circlet (9.2%)		Ribbon (3.1%)
	Auric Hourglass (3.1%)

The mission is linear and simple. For the most part you'll need to kill every enemy (or almost) on the way to continue, so as a general rule you should nuke everything on your way without having to worry about respawns (if enemies start respawning, ignore them and move on). To give you an idea, I only fought the enemies on my way that were either necessary to continue, or literally on my way (can't ignore those, right?), avoiding detours and respawns, and still ended with 102 Phantoma total. That's barely enough, but if you want to play it safe you can always simply add another 4-5 respawns here and there (or take detours when available).

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The Clash on Big Bridge (Chapter 6 Story Mission)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
25:00	108	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Odin; Hi-Potion available at Orderly shop	eidolon Ignis	Elixir available at Orderly shop
S Rank Rewards	Magitek Shield (25%)	Talisman (25%)	Celestial Armlet (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Interceptor (25%)	Sand Visor (25%)
	Circlet (12.5%)	Topaz Shield (25%)	Gemini Ring (25%)
	Ignis Essentia (12.5%)	Lunar Armlet (25%)	Celestial Armlet (21.9%)
	Glacies Essentia (12.5%)		Ribbon (3.1%)
	Fulgur Essentia (12.5%)
	Tempered Shield (12.5%)

Getting an S Rank should be simple. Just remember that at one point you'll need to use a second character (even on Finis) for a short period of time. Therefore, make sure to have at least two characters ready (i.e. with proper level and equipment); for example, someone with SP Crystal and Akatoki Amethyst, and someone else with Agito Insignia and Soul of Thamasa.
I'll write a Relic Terminal checklist, to give you an idea on how things should look like:
- First Relic Terminal (Border Plains): 7 Phantoma
- Second Relic Terminal (Big Bridge east): 30 Phantoma, 04:00
- Third Relic Terminal (Big Bridge west): 60 Phantoma, 06:30
- At one point you'll be stuck in an area, waiting a couple of minutes for some "reinforcements". Take this opportunity to kill the respawning group of three Imperial Troopers, which should make you surpass the 108 Phantoma required long before the end of the mission, without any detour required

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The Last Line of Defense (NG+) (Chapter 6 Story Mission)

This is a NG+ mission, meaning it is only available from the second playthrough onwards.
The mission is made up of two sections with fixed timers, and I'm not aware of any way to extend or reduce the fixed timers. Therefore, A score on Clear Time is guaranteed by default.

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
Fixed	45	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Blizzard BOM-II; Auric Hourglass	Opal Shield available at Armory shop	Valkyries available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Argentic Hourglass (18.8%)	Circlet (37.5%)	Fulgur Divinum (25%)
	Blaze Armlet (18.8%)	Mythril Bracelet (25%)	Gemini Ring (25%)
	Arctic Armlet (18.8%)	Tome of Ramuh (25%)	Celestial Armlet (25%)
	Thunderbolt Armlet (18.8%)	2x Auric Hourglass (12.5%)	Lustrous Armlet (15.6%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)		6x Auric Hourglass (6.3%)
	Safety Bit (9.2%)		Ribbon (3.1%)
	Auric Hourglass (3.1%)

There aren't many enemies around, but they are plenty enough to collect the 45 Phantoma and still have some left to spare. As far as I know, there are up to 56 Phantoma to collect, so you should have no problems achieving the S Rank. Just don't die.

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The Retreat from Roshana (Chapter 7 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
33:00	100	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Blizzard RF-II	Sublimation Ring available at Armory shop	Artemis' Bow available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Flak Jacket (56.2%)	Platinum Bracelet (25%)	Ignis Divinum (25%)
	Megalixir (25%)	Guardian Ring (25%)	Mage's Miter (25%)
	Gold Bangle (12.5%)	Red Beret (25%)	Deflector (25%)
	Platinum Bangle (6.3%)	H5-Shock Absorber (25%)	Mythril Bracelet (21.9%)
			Ribbon (3.1%)

Very easy S Rank. This mission has not one, not two, but three timed sections with infinitely-respawning enemies (and lots of them at once too). You won't have any problem S-Ranking it with Ultima spam (don't even bother fighting anything that is off your main path, as you will probably finish with more than 200 Phantoma, easily). In fact, you may want to check when you get 100 Phantoma (after the first timed section I had about 80), so that you know when you can stop collecting them.

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Operation Sticky Fingers (Chapter 7 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
7:00	16	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Fulgur Essentia available at Armory shop	Blaze Armlet available at Armory shop	Armlet of Ifrit available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Ignis Codex (50%)	Lunar Armlet (37.5%)	Mythril Bracelet (25%)
	Megalixir (25%)	Diamond Gloves (25%)	Diamond Bracelet (25%)
	Mythril Bracelet (12.5%)	Deflector (25%)	Advanced Interceptor (25%)
	Talisman (12.5%)	Mythril Bracelet (12.5%)	Gold Hairpin (21.9%)
			Ribbon (3.1%)

While the mission is very easy, getting enough Phantoma is a bit tricky.
Do NOT kill the Leader on the ground level right away. Instead, let him flee upstairs, so that more enemies spawn on the way. You know you've done it right if you have 8 Phantoma harvested in the first area -- at that point you can kill the Leader too, thus bringing you to a total of 9 Phantoma in the first area. Then simply kill everything else on your way (make sure to kill all the Mark Agents inside the building; this should be automatic if you spam Ultima), and you'll end with 18 Phantoma total.

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Secret Agents Zero (Chapter 7 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
21:00	108	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Ignis Essentia available at Armory shop	Ruby Shield available at Armory shop	Phantasmal Blade available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Ignis Essentia (21.9%)	Ignis Veritas (21.9%)	Ignis Magnum (21.9%)
	Glacies Essentia (21.9%)	Glacies Veritas (21.9%)	Glacies Magnum (21.9%)
	Fulgur Essentia (21.9%)	Fulgur Veritas (21.9%)	Fulgur Magnum (21.9%)
	Aegis Essentia (21.9%)	Aegis Veritas (21.9%)	Aegis Magnum (21.9%)
	Megalixir (12.4%)	Mage's Miter (12.4%)	Warlock's Headdress (9.3%)
			Ribbon (3.1%)

Easy S Rank. There are several detours possible, but you don't need to do any of them to acquire enough Phantoma. Time is generous, so don't worry about it either.
All you need to do is follow the marker in every area, and kill everything until you read Victory on the screen. The only exception to this is in the area where there are no enemies with Phantoma, but only flying drones; in this area, don't waste time killing enemies, and just continue to the next one.
Area by area, your Phantoma counter should go up like this: 10; 11 (remember to pick up the Keycard here); 21; 32; 46; 55; 55; 64; 71; 82; 92; 100; 100; 115.

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Operation Dragon Slayer (Chapter 7 Expert Trial) (RTS)

Clear Time	Objectives	Casualties
30:00	12	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Diabolos	Reed Cloak available at SPP shop	Megalixir available at SPP shop
S Rank Rewards	2x Phoenix Pinion (25%)	4x Phoenix Pinion (25%)	8x Phoenix Pinion (25%)
	Diamond Bracelet (25%)	Crystal Bracelet (25%)	Crystal Bracelet (25%)
	Aegis Essentia (25%)	Aegis Divinum (25%)	Diamond Shield (25%)
	Mobility Gear (25%)	Gold Anklet (25%)	Adamant Shell (25%)

Easy S Rank, like most RTS missions.
Be careful during the Roshana invasion though: Mog's order requires you to harvest Phantoma of a certain element from the enemies in the various areas, but there is only a limited amount of enemies (they can respawn, but not forever). Therefore, do NOT use Ultima in Roshana; instead, use either melee attacks (even Breaksights if you have to), or other spells of more limited range, to kill only the enemies of the element that is currently requested (the request is random, but you'll always be asked 2, then 3, then 4 Phantoma; each time the request will be for a Phantoma of a different element). You shouldn't have any other problem.

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Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Chapter 7 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
5:00	14	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Mythril Gloves available at Armory shop	Diamond Gloves available at Armory shop	Crystal Gloves available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Megalixir (12.5%)	Phoenix Pinion (25%)	Platinum Deck (12.5%)
	Lustrous Deck (12.5%)	Platinum Bangle (25%)	Wildfire Flute (12.5%)
	Platinum Piccolo (12.5%)	Circlet (25%)	Venom Bow (12.5%)
	Thorn Bow (12.5%)	Protector Ring (12.5%)	Rune Trigger (12.5%)
	Magicite Prime (12.5%)	Aegis Veritas (12.5%)	Wildfire Mace (12.5%)
	Buster Hammer (12.5%)		Lamia's Scythe
	Reaper's Scythe (12.5%)		Wildfire Whipblade (12.5%)
	Sleipnir Tail (12.5%)		Tiara (12.5%)

Very easy S Rank. There is a lot of Phantoma you can collect (way more than the minimum needed), so don't bother fighting the respawns (especially in the second-to-last area, where Agave Syrups (the aqua flans) slowly respawn, one or two at the time).
The only possible cause for concern might be Josai, early on, but with level-99 characters spamming Ultima he should go down within one minute, even on Finis.

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Wyverns in the Woods (Chapter 7 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
06:00	25	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Red Beret available at Armory shop	Mage's Miter available at Armory shop	Warlock's Headdress available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Megalixir (12.5%)	Phoenix Pinion (25%)	Diamond Fists (12.5%)
	Killer Knuckles (12.5%)	Mythril Ring (25%)	Wildfire Spear (12.5%)
	Knight's Lance (12.5%)	Circlet (25%)	Demonslayer (12.5%)
	Black Widow (12.5%)	Platinum Bracelet (12.5%)	Wildfire Saber (12.5%)
	Rune Saber (12.5%)	Draconic Ring (12.5%)	Judgments (12.5%)
	Magnati (12.5%)		Twin Laevateinns (12.5%)
	Rune Rapiers (12.5%)		Wildfire Daggers (12.5%)
	Rune Daggers (12.5%)		Aegis Veritas (12.5%)

Easy S Rank. There is no need to take unnecessary detours, since the shortest path to the end provides exactly enough enemies to get the necessary Phantoma without waiting for respawns (just fight the first default enemies (four in each area) when you enter, then move on to the next area). I'll just copy-paste the mission's strategy (directions) from the story walkthrough pages.
From the first area (without any enemies in it), go:
- North
- North
- South
- South
- East
- West
- East

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The Kingdom's Final Hours (Chapter 7 Story Mission) (RTS)

Clear Time	Objectives	Casualties
35:00	9	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Growth Egg	Battery Barrier	Master's Mail
S Rank Rewards	Phoenix Pinion (25%)	3x Phoenix Pinion (25%)	6x Phoenix Pinion (25%)
	Blaze Armlet (25%)	Armlet of Ifrit (25%)	Topaz Shield (25%)
	Thunderbolt Armlet (25%)	Armlet of Ramuh (25%)	Ruby Shield (25%)
	Arctiv Armlet (25%)	Armlet of Shiva (25%)	Opal Shield (25%)

Like the other story-related RTS missions, S-Ranking this one will be as easy as completing it.

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The Climactic Clash at Azurr (Chapter 7 Expert Trial) (RTS)

Clear Time	Objectives	Casualties
40:00	14	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Dwarf Golem	Phoenix Pinion available at SPP shop	Onion Armor available at SPP shop
S Rank Rewards	Ignis Essentia (21.9%)	Crystal Bracelet (21.9%)	Crystal Bracelet (21.9%)
	Glacies Essentia (20.3%)	Grand Bangle (20.3%)	Grand Bangle (20.3%)
	Fulgur Essentia (20.3%)	Crystal Ring (20.3%)	Crystal Ring (20.3%)
	Advanced Interceptor (12.5%)	Ignis Divinum (12.5%)	Duke's Gauntlets (12.5%)
	Grand Bangle (12.5%)	Glacies Divinum (12.5%)	Blessed Armlet (12.5%)
	Crystal Ring (12.5%)	Fulgur Divinum (12.5%)	Super Ribbon (12.5%)

Tough S Rank. This Expert Trial has a very tricky Objective in the Arwen invasion part. In order to complete it, you need to kill the three Mid-Sized Carriers that will fly along the path on the right side of the area (right side from your point of view when you enter).
The first carrier will take off approximately 30 seconds after your entrance in the area. The second one will take off 1:30 after your entrance in the area (1:00 after the previous one). The third and final one will take off approximately 2:30 after your entrance in the area (1:00 after the previous one).
You must not kill the final enemy (the Supersoldier Leader, "Lieutenant Kurtz") in the area, or else the invasion will end prematurely and you won't be able to shoot down the carriers as they are taking off.
The carriers will be in Killsight status, but they will fly-by very quickly. The advised strategy here is to use Ultima to hit the carriers, and use a real-life watch to know when to expect the Mid-Sized Carriers to show up and fly. The carriers will always fly from the far upper-right corner of the screen to the bottom-right corner of the screen (again, from the point of view you have when you enter the area). With a bit of practice, and patience, you'll succeed.
You may be wondering "won't Ultima kill the Leader too?". While that is possible, keep in mind that the invasion only ends when you kill the leader as Supersoldier enemy type, and not any version of the leader inside an MA. The fight should go a bit like this: the leader goes in a Colossus first; you ignore him; cast Ultima to take the first carrier down, and you may kill the Colossus; at this point you want to ignore the Supersoldier leader (which comes out of the Colossus), and after a few seconds he will run away and ride another Colossus; wait for the next carrier and cast Ultima on him too, and so on until all carriers are down.
I personally like to walk to the upper-right corner of the area, and then step back just about 2-3 meters. From there, I'll check my real-life watch to anticipate when the carrier will launch, and when it's almost time I start charging Ultima. Then I release Ultima just about when the carrier flies by the red barrier (the one which prevents you from going any further down the path), so that by the time the Ultima blast radius reaches the airway where the carrier is flying by, the carrier will be just about there. You may want to check some YouTube videos to see it done by someone else, but nothing beats direct practice.
You know you've done it right if Mog congratulates you. Also, you can double-check how many Objectives you have completed when you are back on the World Map part of the RTS mission (press Start to see it): if you read 10 Objectives completed after Arwen, you have succeeded. If you only read 9 Objectives, you must have failed.

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Operation Homecoming (Chapter 7 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
3:00	11-14*	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Glacies Essentia available at Armory shop	Arctic Armlet available at Armory shop	Armlet of Shiva available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Aegis Codex (37.5%)	Circlet (37.5%)	Rune Ring (25%)
	Megalixir (25%)	Sentinel Emblem (25%)	Tome of Lakshmi (25%)
	Auric Ring (25%)	Gold Anklet (25%)	Celestial Armlet (25%)
	Mythril Ring (12.5%)	Rune Ring (12.5%)	Mage's Miter (21.9%)
			Ribbon (3.1%)

Very easy S Rank.
*Similarly to what I said about the mission The Keziah Diversion, the official guide reports this "11-14" Phantoma requirement. Again, I tested the lowest of the two numbers, and I definitely received the A Rank on Phantoma harvested (and so S Rank on the mission) with 11 Phantoma. Then again, the mission is so short and easy that it won't matter at all.

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Protecting the Defector (Chapter 7 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
5:00	15-18*	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Gold Bangle available at Armory shop	Platinum Bracelet available at Armory shop	Diamond Bangle available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Shock Shield (37.5%)	Phoenix Pinion (25%)	Regal Armor (25%)
	Sparkshield Cloak (25%)	Shock Armor (25%)	Frostshield Cloak (25%)
	White Cape (25%)	Plated Armor (25%)	Star Pendant (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Flameshield Cloak (12.5%)	U2-Shock Damper (21.9%)
		Hermes' Sandals (12.5%)	Ribbon (3.1%)

Very easy S Rank.
*Same as what I just wrote about Operation Homecoming, and earlier about The Keziah Diversion -- the official guide reports 15-18; I've tested with 15 Phantoma, and obtained the A Rank on harvested Phantoma (and therefore S Rank on the mission). Once again, the mission is very short and easy, so I've only reported it as a curiosity (if you can call it that). Aside from this, the S Rank is very easy.

Mission Rewards and S Ranks Requirements (Continued)

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The Amiter Resistance (Chapter 7 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
2:30	18-23*	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Aloud	Thunderbolt Armlet available at Armory shop	Armlet of Ramuh available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Ignis Essentia (25%)	Stalwart Ring (25%)	Diamond Bracelet (34.4%)
	Glacies Essentia (25%)	Red Beret (25%)	Crystal Gloves (25%)
	Fulgur Essentia (25%)	Deflector (25%)	Warlock's Headdress (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Rain Hood (25%)	Adamant Armlet (12.5%)
	Aegis Essentia (12.5%)		Ribbon (3.1%)

Easy S Rank, although you must be very quick since the time available is not as generous as usual.
*This is one last mission, like the previous two and the Keziah Diversion, where the official guide reported two different Phantoma required. Once again, I tested the minimum number (18) and obtained the A Rank on harveted Phantoma (so S Rank on the mission).

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Dominating the Dragon's Nest (Chapter 7 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
30:00	135	3

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	eidolon Astaroth	Diamond Shield available at Armory shop	spell Holy
S Rank Rewards	Ignis Veritas (25%)	Mythril Bracelet (37.5%)	Gold Hairpin (37.5%)
	Glacies Veritas (25%)	H5-Shock Absorber (25%)	Crystal Bracelet (25%)
	Fulgur Veritas (25%)	Lunar Armlet (25%)	Soul of Thamasa (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Waterproof Mask (12.5%)	Regal Crown (9.4%)
	Aegis Veritas (12.5%)		Ribbon (3.1%)

Long mission, lots of detours, and possibly dangerous enemies too. You may want to follow an area-by-area checklist in this case.
As a curiosity, this is the only mission that allows Casualties that are not mandatory while still allowing you to get an A Rank on Casualties (in every other case, the minimum amount of Casualties in the mission is the maximum amount you can have for an A Rank on Casualties).
Note that the flying enemies (Wingverns, Skyverns, and flying bat enemies) may fall to the void below, if there is no platform below them when they die. If that happens, you can't get their Phantoma. That's not a problem since there is more than enough Phantoma to compensate for it, but numbers may be slightly off compared to those written here because of this.
Unless specified otherwise, in the instructions below it's implied that you always take the exit marked in-game by the yellow marker. It doesn't hurt to detour of course, but if it's not specified then it's not necessary to visit the optional areas. Trust me, you'll have more than enough Phantoma without detours (even if a lot of enemies fall to the void and you can't get their Phantoma), and detouring on your own is just potentially going to be a problem because it might cause you to get lost.
Also, feel free to cast Ultima as soon as you enter a room -- that might cause some enemies to free-fall (so you can't get their Phantoma), but as mentioned earlier, that won't have a huge impact on the total Phantoma collected. In general, you should always be able to clear a room completely (always get Victory message on screen), since there are no infinitely-respawning (or respawning at all, for that matter; the only exception is the last area, but it's not a good place to farm) enemies in this mission. Purely for the sake of standardization, I will refer to how many Phantoma I collected from enemies by casting Ultima as soon as possible when entering a room, and not to the theoretical maximum amount of Phantoma obtainable in any given room. Once again, the numbers are close enough that it won't matter anyway.
Especially on Finis, make sure to use a character with (ideally) maxed-out magic, and a high-level Ultima (no need to max it out, but at least upgrade its Cast Time to the point where it requires Indigo Phantoma to upgrade any further), so that the Ultima-spam will make "quick" work of the Dragon Egg. The usual setup (SP Crystal and Akatoki Amethyst) should do this just fine.
So, area-by-area, follow the yellow marker (unless I say otherwise) and you'll get these Phantoma in the rooms:
- Starting area; go to the next area
- +4 Phantoma here (there are enemies flying outside of the balconies, so your mileage may vary, as explained earlier)
- +3 Phantoma (total 7)
- +5 Phantoma (total 12)
- +5 Phantoma (total 17)
- +3 Phantoma (total 20)
- +4 Phantoma (total 24)
3f - Time: 03:00
- +4 Phantoma (total 28)
- +4 Phantoma (total 32); you can't take the yellow-marker-exit here, so go southeast instead (it's not really a detour, since you must go there anyway)
- +5 Phantoma (total 37)
- +1 Phantoma (total 38)
- +0 Phantoma (total 38)
4f - Time: 05:00
- +4 Phantoma (total 42)
- +5 Phantoma (total 47)
- +5 Phantoma (total 52)
- +4 Phantoma (total 56)
- +5 Phantoma (total 61)
- +4 Phantoma (total 65)
5f - Time: 08:00
- +2 Phantoma (total 67)
- +4 Phantoma (total 71); must exit east
- +5 Phantoma (total 76); must exit south/southwest
- +6 Phantoma (total 82) (three of the enemies are on the west side)
- +4 Phantoma (total 86) (two of the enemies are on the east side)
- +0 Phantoma
- +0 Phantoma
6f - Time: 11:30
- +5 Phantoma (total 91)
- +3 Phantoma (total 94)
- +3 Phantoma (total 97) (ignore the flying enemy off the balcony)
- +3 Phantoma (total 100) (ignore the flying enemy off the balcony)
- +5 Phantoma (total 105)
- +4 Phantoma (total 109)
- +4 Phantoma (total 113)
7f - Time: 15:00
- +4 Phantoma (total 117)
- +2 Phantoma (total 119); must exit southwest
- +2 Phantoma (total 121)
- +5 Phantoma (total 126)
- +0 Phantoma
- +0 Phantoma
8f - Time: 18:00
- +4 Phantoma (total 130)
- +4 Phantoma (total 134)
- +4 Phantoma (total 138 - that's already more than the 135 needed, so stop harvesting if you have reached your goal, so you can save some time!); must exit east
- +4 Phantoma
- +0 Phantoma
- +2 Phantoma
9f - Time: 20:30
- +4 Phantoma
- +2 Phantoma
- +3 Phantoma
- +2 Phantoma
- +3 Phantoma (total 158)
- +0 (Johmtang Bridge)
Dragon's Nest - Time: 23:00
Once you are in the Dragon's Nest area, don't bother collecting the Phantoma from the respawning enemies (unless something went wrong before, like maybe if Nox Suzaku showed up, and you still need some Phantoma to meet the 135 quota). Instead, just spam Ultima as soon as it's ready to go. On Finis, it took me just about two minutes (maxed Ultima, auto-Quick, magic basically at level 255) to kill the Dragon Egg (so I ended the mission in 25 minutes).

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Colonel Faith's Last Stand (Chapter 7 Expert Trial)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
18:00	107	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	Aegis Veritas available at Armory shop	Warrior Ring available at Armory shop	Aegis Magnum available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Ballistic Shield (25%)	Crystal Ring (25%)	Regal Crown (37.5%)
	Quake Killer (25%)	Red Beret (25%)	Gold Hairpin (31.3%)
	Sentinel Emblem (25%)	Supple Shield (25%)	Aegis Armlet (25%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Battery Barrier (25%)	Ribbon (3.1%)
	Plated Armor (12.5%)		Angel Earrings (3.1%)

While this mission is simple, Phantoma is very tight (there is barely enough), and time isn't exactly the most generous ever.
Also, remember that Colonel Faith (at the end of the mission) will often have the "Barrier" status on, which blocks magic damage. While it's not a big problem on lower difficulties, on Finis it takes more than one Ultima to kill him. Therefore you probably won't manage to kill him as soon as the fight starts, but instead you'll need to Breaksight him to the ground before using Ultima a few more times for the win. Therefore, make sure to deploy a character that can deal with the situation -- a ranged character would be ideal. It's not the end of the world if you accidentally use a melee character though: Colonel Faith will come to the ground, eventually (it might take a minute or so), allowing a melee-Breaksight which you can then follow-up with Ultima to probably kill him in one go. You should definitely have more than enough time to be able to afford waiting a bit for an opportunity like this, but it's obviously more optimal if you have a ranged character that can Breaksight him when he's in the air too.
If you only clear the mandatory areas you will end up with just about 80 Phantoma instead of the required 107. All you need to do to get enough Phantoma is explore all of the optional areas though. You'll pretty much need to through every possible area and fight everything until you get the Victory message. Do this both in the first part of the mission, and in the second part of the mission (both times, avoid reaching the marked area in the middle until you have explored every other area first).
For some rough figures, you should have around 65 Phantoma when you finish the first part of the mission (time around 07:00).
When the second part of the mission starts, backtrack south for another easy optional fight with +7 Phantoma; also don't forget the area east of where the second part of the mission starts (+3 Phantoma there; better than nothing). Then start following the path to the north, and clear every possible area you can spot on the in-game map. You should end up with 110+ Phantoma (I personally had 113 Phantoma), around 13:00.

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Capturing the Imperial Capital (Chapter 7 Story Mission)

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
1:00	0	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Fire BOM-II; Luminous Robe	Stabproof Shield available at Armory shop	U2-Shock Damper available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Crystal Ball (25%)	Mythril Bracelet (37.5%)	Warlock's Headdress (25%)
	Shock Shield (25%)	Tiara (25%)	Opal Shield (25%)
	Gold Bangle (18.8%)	Armlet of Ramuh (25%)	Gold Hairpin (25%)
	Mythril Ring (18.8%)	Crystal Gloves (12.5%)	Supple Shield (21.9%)
	Megalixir (12.4%)		Ribbon (3.1%)

Easiest S-Rank of the game, just win the fight within one minute and it'll be yours.

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Machina's Struggle (NG+) (Chapter 7 Story Mission)

This is a NG+ mission, meaning it is only available from the second playthrough onwards.

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
15:00	20	0

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	spell Thunder BOM-II; Auric Hourglass	Gemini Ring available at Armory shop	Dreadnaughts available at Armory shop
S Rank Rewards	Aegis Essentia (21.7%)	Warrior Ring (37.4%)	Grand Bangle (25%)
	Argentic Hourglass (18.8%)	Platinum Bracelet (18.8%)	Aegis Divinum (25%)
	Combat Apparatus (18.8%)	Circlet (18.8%)	Celestial Armlet (25%)
	Interceptor (18.8%)	2x Auric Hourglass (12.5%)	Mythril Bracelet (15.6%)
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Diamond Bangle (12.5%)	5x Auric Hourglass (6.3%)
	Crystal Gloves (6.3%)		Ribbon (3.1%)
	Auric Hourglass (3.1%)

Easy S Rank.
Even though you are forced to use only a certain character in this mission, and you can't use spells, due to the structure of this mission it's very possible to S-Rank it even on Finis even if you never really leveled-up that character. The mission is rather linear, although some optional (and unnecessary) detours are possible. Time is not going to be a problem, and you'll get more than enough Phantoma just from the enemies on the path (again, avoid unnecessary detours).

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Invasion of the Rursus (Chapter 8 Story Mission)

This mission cannot be replayed from the Title Screen's Mission menu.

Clear Time	Phantoma Harvested	Casualties
45:00	68	23-24*

	Officer	Agito	Finis
Mission Clear Rewards	The Chapter of Truth (Annals of Orience cutscene)
	3x Auric Hourglass	Black Cowl	Elementalist Ring
S Rank Rewards	Red Beret (50%)	Mage's Miter (50%)	Warlock's Headdress (50%
	Megalixir (12.5%)	Glacies Magnum (16.7%)	Glacies Magnum (16.7%)
	Glacies Magnum (12.5%)	Fulgur Magnum (16.7%)	Fulgur Magnum (16.7%)
	Fulgur Magnum (12.5%)	Ignis Magnum (16.7%)	Ignis Magnum (16.7%)
	Ignis Magnum (12.5%)

*The official guide reports this "23-24" figure for some reason. To my knowledge, there is no way to achieve 23 Casualties only, and 24 is in fact the minimum possible.
Overall not too easy, not too hard S Rank -- depends heavily on how prepared you are.
Time is very generous in this last mission, but Phantoma Harvested and Casualties are a bit trickier. Since you must deploy a total of six characters minimum, especially for when you attempt S Ranks on Finis you should try to have at least six characters at level 99. Give one of them the SP Crystal and Akatoki Amethyst, and give another one of them the Soul of Thamasa and Agito Insignia; make sure to put the characters with these accessories in two different groups when you split the party during the mission, so that you always have a strong character to spam Ultima with.
Also, if possible, make it so that it's a ranged character who has these powerful accessories, since in at least one section of the mission you need to kill enemies without spells (they can be reached in melee range, but they might be on some platforms where it's simply more convenient to shoot them from afar).
Lastly, it may seem like unnecessary precautions if you are at level 99, but especially if you are playing on Finis (and to a lesser degree on Agito too) it can really help if you equip some HP-boosting accessories on the other four characters you'll be using (this is to prevent AI-deaths, which are definitely possible if you have bad luck), and maybe equip the defensive spell Protect on everyone as well.
With Ultima spam, you can farm a massive amount of Phantoma Harvested during one of the first two Crucibles; in particular, the one that requires you to survive for 2 minutes, with respawning groups of Rursus Reavers. I personally managed to get 30x Phantoma Harvested against them, and the Phantoma harvested during the rest of the mission (taking shortcuts and avoiding unnecessary enemies whenever possible) resulted in a total Phantoma Harvested of 84 by the time I got to the last Relic Terminal. In fact, I had the required 68 Phantoma by the time I completed the second party-splitting part.
As a curiosity note, the Phantoma you pick up from the ground/chests actually count as Phantoma Harvested. If you got the massive boost from the Crucible early on you won't need to pick them all up (especially the potentially-time-consuming Ivory Phantoma in one of the two "Amphitheater" areas). Likewise, you can take the "short route" in the "portals area" (Cloister of Premonition, just after the first Relic Terminal); if you don't remember, you can simply follow the portals that are marked with a red ruby on top of them to have a convenient path that will let you go through the area with minimal effort. Lastly, the Phantoma harvested during the final boss fight don't actually count.
You shouldn't have too many problems avoiding deaths from random enemies on your way to the final boss, especially if you are Ultima-spamming and have level-99 characters. In some parts you'll be forced to use 3 characters; whenever there is a Relic Terminal, remember that you can re-assign only one character instead (thus avoiding AI-deaths).
Be particularly careful in a few spots. The first potentially-dangerous moment is at the end of one of the two paths you take early on -- just before reuniting with the other party for the first time, you'll need to fight an Iron Giant. While not a big threat on his own, on Agito and especially Finis it's very possible for the Iron Giant to kill one of the AI characters before you have a chance to finish him off with a Killsight, even if you have a level-99 character (it's very unlikely if you have HP-boosting accessories though). If you want to play it safe, cast Protect on everyone (either with the spell, or with an Ice Shard).
At one point the mission requires you to defeat enemies either with only spells, or with only physical attacks. As a quick reminder, this happens the second time you split the party (Cloister of Manifestation). Send the first party left (east) and win without physical attacks; then the party that goes right (west) is the one that must win without magic attacks (a level-99 Ace/Trey will clear this area very easily). Also remember that actions by the AI don't count (so don't worry if AI uses spells in the part where you can only use physical attacks, or viceversa in the other part -- you won't fail the crucible as long as your leader abides by the crucible's rules).
Watch your HP in the area with the red platforms dealing damage when you step on them, and don't be afraid of using a Potion if needed. Also don't be overly confident against the Behemoth in the area where the party members meet up again; it's not as dangerous as the Iron Giant since you can kill him with Ultima (no need for a Killsight finisher), but you'll need to cast the spell a few times on Agito/Finis and he can do serious damage in the meantime.
The most important part where you need to be careful is after you've cleared the four rooms which represent the four nations of Orience. At that point, make sure to assign only one character at the Relic Terminal before proceeding through the "blood-portal", since you will automatically receive from 1 to 3 deaths in the staircase area (Spiral of Rebirth) because of the mandatory Cid's Crucible that you'll fail. If you only deploy one character at that point, you will receive the minimum of 1 Casualty (which should be the only Casualty you have before the boss fight); if you used 3 characters instead, you will receive 3 Casualties.
As a side note, if you plan on S-Ranking the first mission of the game (The Liberation of Akademeia) in the very next playthrough, remember that Ace, Nine, and Queen will be your starting party, and they will all have a Life Armlet on their second accessory slot. Therefore, you may want to equip something strong on their first accessory slot (SP Crystal would be the best choice on its own).
There are only mandatory Casualties in the last boss fight (just remember the usual tip: let a fast ranged character die last in the first part of the fight, and deploy ranged/fast characters first, and the slower ones afterward), which means 13 Casualties total (1 from the Spiral of Rebirth area, +12 from the first phase of the boss fight) when the second phase of the fight starts, and 24 Casualties total by the end.

Exp, Gil, SPP Farming

Exp Farming

There aren't really any "extraordinarily good" locations/enemies/tricks to farm Exp in Type 0, so I'm going to have to focus on generalities instead.
First of all, let's start by saying that the Exp received by defeating an enemy is not "divided" across the characters. In other words, if an enemy gives 100 Exp on his own, defeating him with only one character deployed will earn that character +100 Exp; defeating him with three characters deployed will not give +33.3 Exp to each of the three characters, but +100 Exp to each of the three characters. Therefore, farming Exp is not penalized by deploying multiple characters (in fact, it's encouraged to farm with 3 characters deployed since they will all get Experience).
Dead characters don't get Exp. Characters in the Reserves don't get Exp (except when you gain Exp from Events/Tasks in Akademeia; in that case, everyone will receive the Exp).
Exp earned depends on the enemy you are fighting, but it also depends on the level difference between you and the enemies you are fighting: the more you are at a disadvantage (say, a level-10 character vs level-20 monster), the higher the Exp received; on the other hand, the more the enemies are a disadvantage (character level-20 vs monster level-10), the less Experience you will receive. However, while this is definitely true, the difference is not that great: for example, against level-55 Behemoths a character level-33 earns 1,826 Exp; a character level-73 earns 1,755 Exp; a character level-99 earns 1,452 Exp. While the numbers add up on the long run, and it's always preferable to farm higher-level enemies to level up a bit faster, do not try to level up against enemies that are just too strong for you because you will most likely get a terrible deal -- by the time you defeat the stronger enemies you could have defeated 3-4x weaker enemies and gained a significant amount of more Experience more easily.
Bottom line is: if fighting a high-level enemy is just as easy for you as it is to fight a low-level enemy, the former is preferable; if, however, the high-level enemy is considerably harder to defeat than the lower-level enemy, kill the lower-level enemies to farm Exp!
If we combine this with the previous point (it's better to farm Exp with multiple characters, since everyone will benefit from it), it turns out that the best difficulty to farm Exp is Officer or Agito, but not Finis: Finis only allows you to deploy one character, and while that character will get a bit more Exp (Finis is 20 levels higher than Agito), it's actually a waste of Exp because you are only training one character instead of three, and that character is not getting 3x Exp to make up for it. Of course if you are only interested in leveling up one character, or if you are using dungeons or world map encounters to level up (in this case you can still use three characters even on Finis), then Finis might be your best choice (provided that you can deal with enemies on Finis just as easily as on Agito or Officer).

Exp Boosters

There are various items (weapons and accessories) that can be used to boost a character's Exp income. All of these items only apply to the Exp obtained by the character equipping the items, and not anyone else. All of these items stack with each other, too, so the highest Exp income is obtained when equipping all the possible Exp-boosting accessories and the Exp-boosting weapon on a character. The stacking effect works by addition, not multiplication. In other words, equipping two accessories that give Exp x 2 each, and a weapon that gives Exp x 2 on its own, will give you a total of Exp x (2+2+2) = Exp x 6, and not Exp x (2*2*2) = Exp x 8. Since the best accessories give Exp x 4, and the only Exp-boosting weapons give Exp x 2, the maximum Exp boost will therefore be (4+4+2) = Exp x 10.
Each character has a weapon with the Double EXP passive ability. In order to purchase it, you need to first unlock it by performing 300x Killsights with that character (a good place to farm them is the second area of the Aqvi invasion in Operation Reconquista, or in the second area of the Toguagh invasion in The Reclamation of Eibon; both are optional story missions, one in Chapter 2, the other in Chapter 5). Then, after it's unlocked, you need to purchase it at the SPP Shop of Akademeia (in Central Command) for 5,000 SPP. It goes without saying, but since each character has a unique weapon type, these weapons cannot be "shared" among them.
There are also various accessories that boost Exp received. These can be equipped by anyone:

• The most basic one is the Growth Egg, which gives Exp x 2. You will acquire a few of these towards the end of your first playthrough. The very first chance to get one is by speaking with Class First Moogle in Akademeia after 50 hours of gameplay. Unless you deliberately waste time, this is probably going to be your fourth Growth Egg though (you can easily get at least 3x of them before 50 hours of gameplay; your mileage may vary depending on how much you farm SPP though).
• Another Growth Egg can be obtained by completing the Expert Trial "Expelling the Empire" on Agito difficulty. This is unlikely to happen until you have Odin (and a rather high-level Odin at that, too), so it will probably happen in Chapter 7.
• Another Growth Egg is given as reward for the Task in Bazz called "Rumble in the Ruins". It takes place in Chapter 7.
• Another Growth Egg is given as reward for the story mission The Kingdom's Final Hours, which also takes place in Chapter 7.
• An infinite supply of Growth Eggs can be found in a chest of the Tower of Agito, although by the time you can access them you will probably not need them anymore.
• The accessory Mog's Lucky Charm gives Exp x 4. One can be obtained as reward for Expelling the Empire on Finis difficulty, which requires you to be on your second playthrough.
• An infinite supply of Mog's Lucky Charms can be found as a rare prize from the last chest in the Tower of Agito, after completing the Tower of Agito at least once in the current playthrough. By the time this is possible, you most likely won't want it anymore (might as well start a new playthrough and get another Agito Insignia, which I'm about to mention).
• The accessory Agito Insignia (arguably the best one of the game) gives, among other things, Exp x 4 too. You can only obtain one of them per playthrough, from the last chest of the Tower of Agito.
• Lastly, we should probably mention that there are some accessories that give Exp = 0. These are the accessories sold by Atra, in Iscah "after dark"'s market. They are: Ring of Pulse; Glove of Lindzei; Armlet of Etro; Amulet of Mwynn.

Farming locations

As far as farming locations goes, there aren't really any special places, but some missions are objectively more "enemy-dense" than others. Some of my favorite include:
- The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold (short path) (= in the third area go upstairs after destroying the Channelgate instead of continuing on the ground level). Bonus points for also being a great way to earn a decent variety of low-to-middle-level Phantoma; points taken away from its efficiency (easier, but less efficient than other methods)
- The Clash in the Caverns: short and full of enemies that can die quickly from spells or Killsights
- Colonel Faith's Revolt: if you "kill" Colonel Faith early on in the first area, you have five minutes of continuously-respawning enemies which allow you to really rack up the Exp very quickly (especially if you can spam Ultima for easy and fast kills)
- Dungeons in Orience: basically any dungeon in Orience is also a good source of Exp (not a lot of enemies, but it won't take long to clear them if you are strong enough, and the base Exp value of the stronger enemies makes them a good choice). Black Tortoise Crevasse is definitely a valid option for high-level Exp farming, without the excessive danger of Tower of Agito/Valley of Monsters, and without the nuisances of Ultima Ground Zero

Auto-farming

Some auto-farming methods have been proposed too. From what I've learned, a rather efficient method for afk (away-from-keyboard; in other words, without requiring your active presence) farming Exp is in the Innsmouth Coast (not the Innsmouth Region; the Innsmouth Coast is a one-area-dungeon in the Innsmouth Region). The method requires you to already have a strong "chaperone" character who will do the killing, while the other two characters are the ones that actually receive the Exp.
In the Innsmouth Coast you will always find (after defeating a single "Dracoknight" enemy type the very first time you go in there) an Adamantoise. Adamantoises are no joke, but if you have a powerful character at level, say, 70, equipped with Ultima and the Akatoki Amethyst+SP Crystal (this is a late-second-playthrough setup) accessories, then you can deploy a party of three. Deploy the character with Ultima and two others that you want to level up, but manually control the "others" (either one), and NOT the character with Ultima. Your goal is to let the AI-controlled character cast Ultima to kill the Adamantoise for you. Place a rubber band on LS_Down, so that your manually-controlled character automatically runs "downwards". Because of how this location is setup, this will create an auto-farming loop.
It basically works like this: when you are running "down" with LS_Down as soon as you enter the Innsmouth Coast, your character will start running towards the entrance/exit but he/she will be blocked off by an energy barrier. As soon as the Adamantoise is defeated, the energy barrier will be removed and you will leave the area. As soon as you are back on the world map, pressing LS_Down will make your character run back inside the Innsmouth Coast. Therefore the cycle will repeat over and over again.
Bear in mind that this is not a process that you can really use when you are still weak, but if you can kill Adamantoise fast enough then you won't have a problem using it. It also helps that Adamantoise starts far from where you enter the area, he moves slowly, and doesn't have particularly powerful attacks. Therefore you can safely afk-farm even if you still have weak (level 27 is the typical level of your least-used characters after doing the Exp-rewarding Events in your first playthrough) characters, provided that you have a strong "chaperone" character to cast Ultima and insta-kill the Adamantoise before you can be in any danger.
To improve the method, make sure that the character with Ultima doesn't have any other Command equipped (no Abilities, no other Spells), so the chances of using Ultima will increase. Also, obviously, equip all the Exp-boosting items you have.
Lastly, let's not forget about the Arena Secret Training feature, which can be abused to reach level 99 in just a few minutes if you're willing to cheat with it.

Gil Farming

There isn't a lot to do in regards to Gil income in this game. Suffice to say that regular battles don't reward you with Gil, and therefore the main Gil income for you will be the mission rewards. Playing missions on higher difficulty will remarkably increase the amount of Gil earned, so that's probably the best way to get Gil in your first playthrough (should you ever need to farm it, which you probably won't since the Gil rewards from your first playthrough will be more than enough to get by).
In the second playthrough, after Chapter 6 you can exploit Nox Suzaku to earn 99,999,999 Gil in just a few minutes (you need to wait until he spawns though, which might take a while). I talked about the trick in the Nox Suzaku section of the walkthrough.

SPP Farming

SPP are Support Personnel Points, and they are points earned by Support Personnel characters when they join the missions you're playing. There are two reasons to farm SPP: the SPP Rewards (obtained simply by accumulating a total amount of SPP), and the SPP Shop (an actual shop in Akademeia's Central Command, which uses SPP instead of Gil as currency).

SPP Farming - Full Explanation (General thoughts)

The SPP farming process has a few things you need to keep in mind:
1. You need Support Personnel turned on (the "Backup from Akademeia"). Remember that you can turn this ON/OFF at any point during missions if you press Start, then go to the Preferences tab, then Options, then Backup from Akademeia (allow/refuse).
2. One very sneaky problem you may encounter is if a SP character dies. A lot of people have complained that "the game doesn't save my SPP", "OMG the mission screen says I gained 20,000 SPP but after saving they have disappeared!", and things like that. The explanation seems to be that if a SP character earns points, but then dies, the game will still "remember" the SPP he gained (and therefore display that amount at the end of the mission), but won't actually credit you for them.
Furthermore, the same SP character can come and leave multiple times in the same session. Therefore a certain SP character "Mr. X" might earn 700 SPP now, then leave; then another one comes in his place; then Mr. X comes again and earns another 800 SPP; then he leaves; then he comes back to earn 500 more SPP; then he leaves; then Mr. X comes again and some enemy kills him -- it seems that at this point you will lose the 2,000 (700+800+500) SPP gained by Mr. X, even though the game will tell you that you earned them.
From my personal experience, this definitely CAN happen, but the game (in my experience) subtracts the SPP "lost" by the dead character right away.
Also, in my experience, I once farmed for hours overnight and gained thousands and thousands of SPP. Then woke up the next day, finished the mission, and noticed that I gained basically no SPP at all. I cannot tell for sure what happened, but it would be weird that overnight either all the SP that gained SPP died at some point, or I had a single SP character do 90% of the work and then he died at the end. It's unlikely at the very least, although possible. Honestly, from this experience, I would think that I was either extremely unlucky, or the game can, in fact, fail to record SPP sometimes, for random buggy reasons. That only happened to me once though, so I am not entirely sure what I could have done wrong that time.
3. There are various ways to possibly farm. One big advice I will give you is this: trust me, and do not try to reinvent the wheel. I will give you explanations for the ultimate farming choice I made and I suggest, so hopefully you can see that among the various possibilities the ones I recommend really are the best ones.
4. The amount of SP gained does NOT depend on the difficulty you play on, so choose Cadet to make it easier for yourself. It's true that SP is always at the appropriate level for the mission (so it will be at higher level if you play on Agito or Finis), but you still need to do the rest of the mission yourself, as well as survive during the farming process. Therefore choosing anything higher than Cadet would really just be a way to complicate the process without any tangible benefits from it (yea, you may gain more Exp if you do it on Agito, but it's not like you are here for the Exp, or you will get all that much Exp in the first place. If you want Exp, go farm Operation Homecoming with Odin on Agito).
5. While farming passively (while you are not actually playing and you just leave the game running), make sure to be able to survive and continue the process! Remember, for example, that if your character is moving (running into corners, running in circles), he won't regenerate any HP unless he has Auto-Regen. Also make sure not to run out of the area of farming by accident.
6. The yield for passive farming should be approximately 10,000 SPP per hour (maybe a bit less at the start, maybe a bit more later) for The Reclamation of Eibon. However, it can vary greatly (5,000-10,000) for Operation Reconquista (still, 5,000 SPP/hour is not bad for a worst-case-scenario, considering you don't have to actually do much).
7. When we talk about "how many SPP you need to unlock something", we are referring to the TOTAL SPP you have accumulated. On a bigger scale it's unlikely to make a difference, but if you, for example, spent 10,000 SPP somehow (for the Task series "SPP Scavenger", requiring SPP, and maybe you purchased something too), then you won't need to have 150,000 SPP at once to unlock the final rewards (Ultima is unlocked at 150,000 total SPP earned), but only 140,000 SPP at once (the 140,000 you currently have + the 10,000 you had before but you have already spent), because current+previous = total, and that's what matters.

Farming Locations and Set-Ups

There are four main locations used for farming, and a few possible setups we can choose from.
Location 1: Operation Reconquista. This is a "missable" story mission (it's one of the missions you can decide to "Skip Sortie") which takes place in Chapter 2. If you skipped it during your first playthrough, you'll need another playthrough to have another chance at it. The farming location is in the second area of Aqvi, during the Aqvi invasion part of the mission. In here you will find some enemies by default, and then two Imperial Troopers will constantly respawn as long as you don't collect their Phantoma (after collecting five of them the invasion will end)
Pros: very short mission; extremely safe farming location which allows for a very early start (you can start farming even in Chapter 2) without any additional requirement (you can literally just stand still without dying).
Cons: potentially missable; the yield from this method can vary from being very efficient (even as efficient as other methods) to relatively efficient (as low as about half as much as the other methods).
Location 2: Operation MA Demolition. In the sewers areas, enemies keep respawning. One possible location therefore is in the sewers, in a location without Marduk (or you can kill Marduk quickly with Odin maybe), where enemies keep respawning infinitely. Don't pick a small place, or a place with just one enemy in it; choose a bigger location.
Pros: available early on; lots of people have done it here, so it's "popular" because of it.
Cons: this mission is long (takes a while to complete it; you can't Abort mission, or you'll lose SPP); if you forget to turn off SP from the Preferences in-game, then the SP characters might die from the various perils on the way/the boss at the end, and you will lose everything you've gained with them; among the local enemies, Flame Flans are very common, and some SP characters are very weak (or will even use Fire spells) against Flame Flans.
Location 3: Operation Breakthrough. This is a New Game+ mission (it doesn't appear the first playthrough). This fact alone is enough for me to stop talking about it here and now; just know that it exists, and google it if you want more info about it. In any case, it's not more efficient than the last possibility (my favorite), from what I've read.
Location 4: The Reclamation of Eibon. This is a "missable" story mission (it's one of the missions you can decide to "Skip Sortie") which takes place in Chapter 5. If you skipped it during your first playthrough, you'll need another playthrough to have another chance at it. The farming location is in the Main Street area of Toguagh, during the Toguagh Invasion part of the mission. In here you will find a few soldier enemies, and three of them will constantly respawn from a corner in the back.
Pros: relatively short mission; regular soldiers can be defeated by any kind of SP character; moderately safe setup (the enemies aren't strong); no bosses that can kill your SP characters; possible to run in circles with rubber bands on LS/RS without risking to accidentally leave the area.
Cons: potentially missable; there is a chance to die at first; it's a bit long overall as a mission (it takes a few minutes to get to the farming point, and a few more minutes to end the mission after farming).
Best Overall Plan
You can probably tell that I will suggest Operation Reconquista and The Reclamation of Eibon as primary choices. You don't necessarily have to choose "either", but rather "both" would be better. See, since The Reclamation of Eibon is the most efficient method, but it's a bit risky until you get the SP Cape (at 40,000 SPP earned), and it comes relatively "late" in the game (Chapter 5), it's not a bad idea to start doing some SPP farming earlier, with Operation Reconquista. While Operation Reconquista is almost certainly going to be slower (a bit or a lot, that depends on luck), the fact that you don't need any preparation to use it to farm SPP makes it a great option early on.
Therefore the way I suggest proceeding is to gradually farm in Operation Reconquista, as soon as you have a chance. Then, once you have the SP Cape (40,000 SPP), you can stop using Operation Reconquista and wait until The Reclamation of Eibon is available, so you can use it to farm all the way to 150,00 SPP (not in a single session, but over a couple of nights maybe).
Setup for Operation Reconquista
Operation Reconquista is a short RTS Mission. For this mission you want to choose the strongest (highest-HP and highest-DEF) character you have, which by default is probably going to be Nine. Give him all the best HP-enhancing accessories you have, and play on Cadet difficulty to lower the damage taken even further. You can start farming with Nine's default level in Chapter 2, right after completing Operation Reconquista for the first time -- that's how safe it is! Also, do not deploy any other character other than Nine -- you don't need them, and you don't want them around (you want SP characters to do the killing, not your other Class Zero members).
Since the method is a bit tricky, here is a video that shows the process. The video goes on for a few minutes after entering the farming area, just to show you that Nine basically can't die even when there are no other NPCs in the area, but just him and the enemies:
Play the mission regularly on the world map, and reach the point where you invade Aqvi. When the invasion starts, do NOT accept SP Support just yet.
In the first area of Aqvi, don't attack any enemy (in particular, avoid hitting the Imperial Officer). After a few seconds, the gate will open in the area, so proceed to the second area.
In the second area you will find a Nymurod MA, the previous Imperial Officer, some Imperial Troopers, and up to three "friendly" Dominion Legionaries (they are allies). Do not attack anyone just yet. Before we can start farming, we need to get rid of the Dominion Legionaries (your allies), who would otherwise kill Imperial Troopers instead of letting SP Characters do so (so they basically steal kills, and therefore SPP). You simply need to wait until the enemies kill the Dominion Legionaries, but you can actually facilitate this if you stand next to the Dominion Legionaries: the Nymurod will often use his "missile" attack aiming at you, but if you are close to the legionaries they'll get hit too -- do so, and the legionaries should die within a few seconds.
One of the Dominion Legionaries will constantly spawn and respawn, but the other two will be gone for good after getting killed once. This forever-respawning legionary is what makes this farming location both extremely safe, and potentially less efficient: he will typically distract one of the two respawning Imperial Troopers (the ones we need to farm), thus preventing you from getting attacked by him, but he will also sometimes kill the Imperial Troopers, thus stealing the kills (and therefore SPP) from the Support Personnel.
In any case, after the two non-respawning Dominion Legionaries are dead, kill the Nymurod and Imperial Officer, and at this point Mog will tell you to collect five Phantoma. Do NOT collect Phantoma, or else the invasion will end. Instead, activate SP Support (press Start, then Preferences, then Options, then request backup from Akademeia: Accept), and then simply let the game run. Leave your character standing still, so he can have some automatic HP recovery. Moreover, the SP Characters will periodically heal you when your health starts to fall down, and you will probably only ever get hit by one Imperial Trooper at the time (the other one will focus on the Dominion Legionary). Because of all these reasons, it's extremely unlikely that your character will ever die, even if you stand right in front of where the Imperial Troopers spawn.
To make it even safer, you could stay hidden in the corner, away from where the Imperial Troopers spawn. This would probably be a bad idea though, because SP Characters tend to stand next to where your character is. Therefore, considering that you are most likely safe ("safe enough") even if you stand just next to where the Imperial Troopers spawn, that's my suggested location.
In all the tests that I've done, my level-11 Nine never got killed after hours of farming (and the more you farm, the higher his level will be, so the lower the chances of dying will be). The worst thing that might happen is that, attack after attack, your character might be "pushed back" away from where the Imperial Troopers spawn. If that happens, the farming process will be less efficient of course (because as I mentioned earlier, SP Characters tend to stay next to where you are, so if you are away from the action they will be away from the action too).
To try and "fix" that problem (getting pushed away from the action) you might want to either use rubber-bands on your controller to run in circles, or you might want to use rubber bands to run into a corner next to where the enemies spawn. In my experience, running into a corner next to the Imperial Troopers spawning point is still safe (I never died), but I do believe it might add an additional risk to this method. Therefore, if you want to use rubber bands to run into a corner, I suggest doing it for farming sessions that last only 1-2 hours (for example while you're eating or watching some TV), when you can go back and check on the game to make sure everything is fine. For longer farming sessions (like an overnight session), especially early on when you are using a default-level Nine with barely an Iron Bangle to boost his HP, I would rather go with a stand-still approach, since the additional HP recovery (from standing still) will pretty much guarantee your survival.
User slivre has added an interesting additional tip: you can actually push the Dominion Legionary (the respawning one) towards the entrance of the area, in order to keep him away from the action. It's quite simple to do so, although it might take a few tries: simply "walk into" him as you head for the exit with your own character, and you should manage to slowly push him there. Sometimes he'll try to walk back toward the enemies, so it might help to kill the enemies first, then start pushing him to the exit before the enemies respawn. In any case, once you manage to push him "away enough", he'll stop trying to chase after the enemies, and stand quietly near the entrance, wherever you "parked" him. By doing this, on the one hand you will remove the problem of him (the Dominion Legionary) stealing kills from the SP Characters, which of course is a good thing; on the other hand, you will also make the process slightly less safe, because he won't be there to "tank" some of the damage for you. However, I must say that in my experience I had no problem at all surviving for an hour with a level-11 Nine equipped with basic early accessories, meaning that (from the two tests that I've done) I definitely recommend at least trying to push the Dominion Legionary away from the action to hopefully increase the amount of SPP you can collect over time.
Since this process is not the most efficient one, it's advisable to only do it until you have 40,000 SPP. At that point, wait until The Reclamation of Eibon (Chapter 5 mission) before continuing with the rest of the SPP farming. Of course if you don't mind the less-efficient farming method you can continue to use Operation Reconquista all the way until 150,000 SPP (I personally did), but if for any reason you want to minimize the amount of afk-farming you do, then waiting to Chapter 5 to continue is a good option.
If you came to read this section after doing Operation Reconquista for the first time, you can use this link to go back to that point of the walkthrough.
Setup for The Reclamation of Eibon
The Reclamation of Eibon is also an RTS Mission. You start on the world map as usual, and then eventually reach the point where you invade Eibon. In Eibon, reach the second area where the farming takes place. You have various possibilities to choose from; Setup 1 is for people who want to farm as efficiently as possible, but at the cost of being physically present (for many hours of boring farming) to speed things up. Setup 2 is for people who want to farm in this mission early on, without any particular equipment, but my advice would be to use Operation Reconquista (less efficient, but far safer) rather than Setup 2 here in The Reclamation of Eibon, at least until you get the SP Cape (40,000 SPP). Setup 3 is the ultimate farming location, which should be used once the player acquires the SP Cape.
Setup 1Deuce's Concerto. In one version of the farming method, you need to play as Deuce, and use her Concerto ability to "force" the SP characters to fight the enemies instead of running around wasting time. While this is great, you need to remember that Concerto consumes the AG bar, meaning you'll need to be present while the farming process takes place, and you'll need to attack the enemies a few times to replenish your AG bar every minute. The advantage is that enemies will die faster; moreover, since you are there, you can collect their Phantoma to make them respawn more quickly, too. Another possible problem is that your Deuce might be a little underleveled, but since you are there, present and alert, it's unlikely that the soldiers will actually kill Deuce.
The fact that you need to be present for this to work doesn't really appeal to me, but it is a viable option, especially in the first phases of the farming (until you can get an Auto-Regen accessory).
Setup 2
Use any other character. Simply put, if you run in circles with a character (your highest level character, equipped with the best HP/DEF-enhancing accessories), then he will most likely manage to survive every attack from the enemies, and the few times he will get hit he can still be healed in time by SP characters. It's potentially dangerous (you could theoretically get hit multiple times in a row, just when there are no SP characters to heal you), but it's extremely unlikely that you will actually die if you set up the process correctly. This is the best way to start farming SP while you are afk (i.e. not really playing the game, but doing something else; watch a movie, study, etc.); just to be safe, I would come back and check that everything is fine every half an hour or so, and maybe after two hours (around 20,000 SPP worth of farming), just to be safe, you could end the mission, save, and then restart it. Or, if you think it's not necessary and you feel safe enough, go all the way to 40,000 SPP.
Setup 3
At 40,000 SPP you will finally unlock the first good "SP Accessory", the SP Cape. The SP reward accessories are automatically given to you (they appear in your inventory) once unlocked. The SP Cape has Auto-Protect and Auto-Regen, in addition to other abilities. This means that you can now stop running in circles (which is potentially "dangerous" because if the circle is not perfect you may slowly but inevitably walk out of the area of farming), and start running (with rubber bands on LS) into a corner. In particular, run into the closest corner to the point where the enemies spawn, so you minimize the walking time for the SP characters to reach the enemies, and vice-versa. Once you have Auto-Protect and Auto-Regen, it's almost impossible for the soldiers on Cadet difficulty to actually kill you (or even deal more than 300-400 points of damage consecutively).
If you came to read this section after doing The Reclamation of Eibon for the first time, you can use this link to go back to that point of the walkthrough.

The thought process behind my choices

Now I will talk a bit about how I came to the conclusion that the best course of actions is by starting early on with Operation Reconquista to get 40,000 SPP (and therefore the SP Cape), and then continuing after Chapter 5 with The Reclamation of Eibon (equipped with the SP Cape) until the 150,00 SPP were accumulated.
When I had to figure this out by myself I wasted more time trying to find the best method than I actually spent doing it. Some people suggested using the Avoid spell (defensive spell which makes you dodge, almost always, at the cost of 40 MP by default), but that requires having Freecast, so I looked for that one. Other people suggested using accessories with Auto-Regen to stay safe, so I looked for those.
Now, although it's possible to have accessories with Freecast/Auto-Regen, these would be the theoretical possibilities:
- For Freecast you would need either SP Helm or SP Crystal, which are obtained after SP Cape with Auto-Regen -- not possible
- For Freecast you could also get the Grand Mage's Bangle or Agito Insignia from the Tower of Agito, which is waaaaay out of your league
- For Freecast you could also get the Ring of Pulse from the Atra shop in Iscah, but that cannot be done until the second playthrough. Moreover, these accessories can "break" (just like the other ones at the night market of Iscah, as I'm about to explain below)
- For Auto-Regen you could buy accessories from the nigh market in Iscah, but after testing it myself and being all excited about them, I figured that these accessories shatter (break, so they are lost permanently) after a few battles. Not an option for farming
- For Auto-Regen there are also several accessories unlocked after harvesting 800 Phantoma with a certain character and they can only be equipped by that character (Seraphim Score for Deuce, Lace Leggings for Seven, Hagakure for Jack, Betrothal Ring for Rem). Furthermore, they are only available after defeating the final boss, even if you harvest the required Phantoma earlier (and apparently this is not something important, because nobody seems to mention this additional requirement, except for a couple of posts here on GameFAQs), which basically means you can't access them in your first playthrough
- For Auto-Regen you could also get the Assault Target or Agito Insignia from the Tower of Agito, which again is not an option
- Lastly, Auto-Regen comes from the SP Cape and following SP accessories
At the end of the day you will figure that to do SPP farming you will want to have some Auto-Regen accessory (by the time you can access Freecast accessories, to farm with the Avoid spell, you already have Auto-Regen stuff). The question now is: do you try to start the SPP farming a bit less efficiently and theoretically a bit dangerously, with rubber bands to run in circles (possible to do it afk), and/or in Operation Reconquista, and then switch to running into a corner in The Reclamation of Eibon once you get the SP Cape? Or maybe you'd rather start SPP farming with Deuce to reach 40,000 SPP (and therefore SP Cape for Auto-Regen) a bit more quickly, and then switch to running into a corner with SP Cape (need to be present to do it, can't do it afk) ?
The reason why I didn't farm in Eibon with Deuce's concerto is simply because I didn't want to actually be there for the farming process, and I was looking for an afk method, even at a slight cost of lower (but not by much) efficiency.
What we're left with is what I advised: get the SP Cape from the safest farming method, and then upgrade to the fastest method once you can set it up in the safest way possible. No need for Avoid magic, no need for Freecast, no need to do anything other than setting up the farming method and then going out and do something else with your life while the game accumulates SPP for you.

Phantoma

You can think of "Phantoma" as the "essence" of an enemy you defeat. Their purpose in the game is basically to upgrade spells at the Altocrystarium (unlocked in Chapter 2).
Before you start reading, keep in mind that I'll tell you exactly where to farm the Phantoma needed to upgrade the important spells, when the time comes, in the story walkthrough pages (more precisely, in the Tower of Agito preparations). This section should be read only for curiosity, extra information, or if you decide to attempt something on your own.
There are numerous tables that you can find on the internet (just google it) that talk about Phantoma types, drop patterns (and drop rates), and enemy types. I was quite overwhelmed by all the information and tables, but as it turns out, it's actually not that complicated. I'll try my best to keep things as simple, clear, and short as possible here, while explaining how the system works. Keep in mind that this is meant to be a general explanation of the system. If you just want an answer to the question "how do I get the [whatever] Phantoma?", then you may want to google a more direct answer (check the Phantoma lists on the internet to see what "enemy type" drops the Phantoma you want, then cross-check the Enemy lists on the internet to see which enemies at which level are of the "enemy type" you need). Or, better yet, you could also just check the suggested Phantoma farming locations at the end of this section.

Enemy Types

Let's start by saying that enemies in Type 0 belong to a certain "type", which also have sub-categories ("level") depending on the enemy's level. The enemy types are as follows:
- Generic Enemy (levels 1,2,3,4,5)
- High Level Enemy (levels 1,2,3,4)
- Fire Type (levels 1,2,3,4)
- Ice Type (levels 1,2,3,4)
- Lightning Type (levels 1,2,3,4)
- Arena Type (levels 1,2,3; nevermind these)
- Endless spawn Type (level 1; nevermind these)
There are too many enemies in the game to list all of them here, and to be honest, after figuring out the best ways to farm the Phantoma I needed, it's completely unnecessary to give you the information about all the enemies and their types. Some farming locations are clearly better than others, and unless you specifically need to farm some Phantomas early on for whatever reason, you can definitely wait a bit until the best farming locations become accessible to you.

Phantoma Types

You also need to know that there are also various Phantoma types, which are classified basically based on color. Below are the classes/types, which also have sub-categories based on the "level" of the Phantoma. Think of it this way: if you kill an Aqua Flan when the flan is at level 10, you will get a Blue Phantoma (which is the lowest level of the Blue Phantoma types); if you kill an Aqua Flan which is at level 40 you will get a Cyan Phantoma (which is the second-level of the Blue Phantoma types); if you kill an Aqua Flan at level 70 you will get a Smalt Phantoma (which is the third level of the Blue Phantoma types). In other words, the general idea is that a certain enemy drops a certain Phantoma type if defeated in a certain way, following a "pattern" (I'll explain patterns soon); if the enemy is at a higher level, he will drop a higher-level Phantoma of that type.
Phantoma types:
- Red (fire type). From lowest level to highest level, the specific names of the Phantomas are: Red, Magenta, Cerise, Rouge, Cinnabar.
- Blue (ice type). Blue, Cyan, Smalt, Cobalt, Cerulean.
- Yellow (lightning type). Yellow, Sepia, Jasmine, Topaz, Golden.
- Green (defense/healing type). Green, Verdant, Ivy, Jade, Celadon.
- Purple ("special element" type). Purple, Mauve, Lavender, Violet, Indigo.
- White (miscellaneous type). These aren't actually different "levels" of the same one, but four completely separate Phantomas. There are four: White, Ivory, Pearl, Argent.
Let's get the "white" ones out of the way first.
White Phantoma is the most worthless Phantoma of all: it can't be used to upgrade spells at the Altocrystarium, and its only purpose is to be sold for 10 Gil each.
Pearl Phantoma is also worthless: as cool as its name sounds, it serves no purpose other than collectionism.
Argent Phantoma is also worthless; it can only be harvested from one enemy during the Story Mission "The Kingdom's Final Hours" in Chapter 7.
Ivory Phantoma is very precious, but also rare. When used in the Altocrystarium it will allow you to boost your spells' stats without penalizing any other stat (normally when you upgrade one stat, another one will be lowered a bit; with Ivory you not only get a greater boost for the stat you are upgrading, but you also get no penalty for the other stats).

Phantoma Drop Patterns

Now let me introduce the concept of "Phantoma patterns" to you, which may seem complicated at first, but it's actually really simple when you see what it's all about. The idea here is that depending on the finishing blow with which you kill an enemy, that enemy will drop a certain Phantoma type (or, rather, certain Phantoma types). I'm going to start with a simple case to make you understand.
The Fire Type X (where X can be 1,2,3,4, depending on the enemy's level) enemies have two distinguished patterns to them: "Killsight", or "Other" (= any other attack, as long as it's not a Killsight). Killing the enemy with a certain "pattern" will yield certain Phantoma types, and Phantomas of a certain level which depends on the Enemy Type's level. Bear with me for a moment here. If I write "Green 1", it means the dropped Phantoma is a Green Phantoma type of level 1, which is Green Phantoma. If I write "Red 2", it means the dropped Phantoma is a Red Phantoma type of level 2, which is the Magenta Phantoma. "Yellow 3" would be Jasmine Phantoma, and so on.
Let's make an example by writing the pattern for some "Element" Type enemies and the various possible Phantoma types that they will drop with that pattern. Note that they won't drop ALL the possible Phantomas associated with that pattern, but just one of them (which one is random, but there are drop rate percentages which I'll start mentioning soon).
Killsight pattern for Fire Type 1 enemies: Red 2 (Magenta), Green 1, Purple 1, Ivory.
Other pattern for Fire Type 1 enemies: Red 1, Yellow 1, Green 1, Ivory.
In a completely similar way:
Killsight pattern for Fire Type 2 enemies: Red 3 (Cerise), Green 2 (Verdant), Purple 2 (Mauve), Ivory.
Other pattern for Fire Type 2 enemies: Red 2 (Magenta), Yellow 2 (Sepia), Green 2 (Verdant), Ivory.
In an analogue example:
Killsight pattern for Ice Type 2 enemies: Blue 3 (Smalt), Green 2 (Verdant), Purple 2 (Mauve), Ivory.
Other pattern for Ice Type 2 enemies: Blue 2 (Cyan), Red 2 (Magenta), Green 2 (Verdant), Ivory.
In yet another analogue example:
Killsight pattern for Lightning Type 3 enemies: Yellow 4 (Topaz), Green 3 (Ivy), Purple 3 (Lavender), Ivory.
Other pattern for Lightning Type 3 enemies: Yellow 3 (Jasmine), Red 3 (Cerise), Green 3 (Ivy), Ivory.
If now I asked you: "how could you get a Cinnabar Phantoma from an Elemental-Type enemy?", would you be able to answer? The thought process is simple here: Cinnabar Phantoma is a level-5 Red Phantoma. If you can read into the pattern that I just wrote, you will notice that by killing an enemy of a certain element with Killsight you can get a Phantoma of the same element as the enemy, but of a higher level compared to the enemy's level. Therefore, a Fire Type 4 enemy killed with Killsight is the only Element Type that can, if killed via Killsight, drop a Cinnabar Phantoma.
Let's try another example: how can you get a Smalt Phantoma? Knowing that Smalt is the Blue Phantoma of level 3, you have various possibilities here. One is via Killsight on an Ice Type 2 enemy (for the same reason as the previous question-example). The other possibility is by killing with any "Other" method an Ice Type 3 enemy.
We can even generalize the patterns for a generic level "X" of the enemy type, and corresponding generic level X or X+1 of Phantoma type, as I will do in a moment.
For Elemental Type enemies, the value of X can only be 1,2,3,4. To complete the pattern, I'm also going to add the percentage corresponding to a certain possible Phantoma type/level.
Fire Type X:
- Killsight pattern: Red (X+1) (78.4%), Green X (9.8%), Purple X (9.8%), Ivory (2%)
- Other pattern: Red X (90.2%), Yellow X (4.7%), Green X (4.7%), Ivory (0.4%)
Ice Type X:
- Killsight pattern: Blue (X+1) (78.4%), Green X (9.8%), Purple X (9.8%), Ivory (2%)
- Other pattern: Blue X (90.2%), Red X (4.7%), Green X (4.7%), Ivory (0.4%)
Lightning Type X:
- Killsight pattern: Yellow (X+1) (78.4%), Green X (9.8%), Purple X (9.8%), Ivory (2%)
- Other pattern: Yellow X (90.2%), Red X (4.7%), Green X (4.7%), Ivory (0.4%)
Let's check out some other enemy types, and their patterns now.
Generic Enemy X (X can be 1,2,3,4):
- Killsight pattern: Green X (52.9%), Red X (15.7%), Blue X (15.7%), Yellow X (15.7%)
- Fire-based attack pattern*: Red X (78.4%), Red (X+1) (2.0%), Green X (9.8%), Purple X (9.8%)
- Ice-based attack pattern: Blue X (78.4%), Blue (X+1) (2.0%), Green X (9.8%), Purple X (9.8%)
- Lightning-based attack pattern: Yellow X (78.4%), Yellow (X+1) (2.0%), Green X (9.8%), Purple X (9.8%)
- Other pattern: White (64.6%), Red X (11.8%), Blue X (11.8%), Yellow X (11.8%)
*It means you have to kill the enemy with a fire spell.
Generic Enemy 5:
- Killsight pattern: Green 5 (52.9%), Red 5 (15.7%), Blue 5 (15.7%), Yellow 5 (15.7%)
- Fire-based attack pattern: Red 5 (78.5%), Green 5 (7.8%), Purple 5 (7.8%), Ivory (5.9%)
- Ice-based attack pattern: Blue 5 (78.5%), Green 5 (7.8%), Purple 5 (7.8%), Ivory (5.9%)
- Lightning-based attack pattern: Yellow 5 (78.5%), Green 5 (7.8%), Purple 5 (7.8%), Ivory (5.9%)
- Other pattern: White (64.6%), Red 5 (11.8%), Blue 5 (11.8%), Yellow 5 (11.8%)
Question: how can we get a Cerulean Phantoma (Blue Phantoma level 5) from a Generic Enemy type?
Answer: we could kill a Generic Enemy 4 with an Ice-based attack for 2.0% chances; there are other possibilities too, but for the best chances we want to kill a Generic Enemy 5 with an Ice-based attack (78.5% chances).
High Level* X (X can be 1,2,3,4):
- Killsight pattern: Red (X+1) (29.4%), Blue (X+1) (29.4%), Yellow (X+1) (29.4%), Ivory (11.8%)
- Fire-based attack pattern: Red (X+1), Purple X (13.7%), Green X (5.9%), Ivory (2.0%)
- Ice-based attack pattern: Blue (X+1), Purple X (13.7%), Green X (5.9%), Ivory (2.0%)
- Lightning-based attack pattern: Yellow (X+1), Purple X (13.7%), Green X (5.9%), Ivory (2.0%)
- Other pattern: Green X (52.9%), Red X (15.7%), Blue X (15.7%), Yellow X (15.7%)
*"High Level" is just how the Enemy Type is called. It doesn't specifically refer to any actual enemy level (some "High Level" enemy types can be found at level 20, give or take).
Arena X (X can be 1,2,3) enemies patterns:
- It's not worth going into too many details about these, since you have basically 50% chances of getting White Phantoma and 50% chances of getting a Green/Blue/Red/Yellow Phantoma level X (Green if you kill the enemies with Killsight, Red if you use a Fire attack, Blue for an Ice attack, Yellow for a Lightning attack). Considering that these are all common Phantomas, you'll never farm Phantoma in the Arena
Endless spawn:
- Again, let's keep things simple: you have 98% chances of getting a White Phantoma, and 2% chances of getting a level-1 Phantoma of the various possible types (Purple for Killsight, Red for Fire attack, Blue for Ice attack, Yellow for Lightning attack, Green for any "Other" attack). Impossible to farm anything valuable on endlessly-respawning enemies
- It might be useful to know that, as we can deduce from this, if enemies keep appearing over and over again and you are wondering "are they going to spawn forever?" the answer is probably "yes" if you keep harvesting White Phantoma from them. If, on the other hand, you are still harvesting other Phantoma types, then chances are that at some point they will stop coming. Doesn't really matter anyway

Farming Phantoma

At this point the only thing left to say is "which enemies are which Enemy Type?", so you can then figure out where to go to farm the Phantoma you need. To that question I cannot really give you an answer without providing an excessive amount of unnecessary information: for each enemy of the game there are various enemy "variants", and all of them belong to different Enemy Types depending on their level. A simple Aqua Flan, for instance, has four variants (Aqua Flan, Agave Syrup; these two look the same; Zabaione is another, and it looks like a bigger version of the Aqua Flan; lastly, Megamarina is also a bigger version of the Aqua Flan); each of the four variants has three different Patterns depending on the level of the enemy, for a total of 12x Patterns just for this one enemy. Do that for every enemy of the game, and you'll quickly realize why it would be very dispersive information to provide a full list.
On the other hand, we can focus on the ones that I find to offer the best opportunity to farm Phantoma. Please note that my focus here is on finding locations where you can farm Phantoma efficiently from a time-efficiency point of view, and not based on "how easy" it is to farm.
Farming Red, Blue, Yellow, Purple Phantoma Types of Level 1, 2, 3 - The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold/The Clash in the Caverns
The early story mission "The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold" (last mission of Chapter 2) offers a great opportunity to farm the Red, Blue, Yellow, and Purple Phantoma types of level 1, 2, and 3.
Ideally, in order to farm Red Phantomas you'll want to equip Fire BOM (any Fire spell will work, but this is the most efficient one to farm more quickly); for Blue Phantoma, use Blizzard BOM; for Yellow Phantoma, Thunder BOM. For Purple Phantoma, any of the previous three will work.
The idea will be to kill all the soldiers/MAs on the ground level quickly with the elemental spells, and then proceed to clear the mission as quickly as possible. In particular, you'll want to follow this route: clear the first area; clear the second area (ignore the enemies on high ground here); proceed to the third area and destroy the Channelgate here so you can then continue upstairs instead of on the ground level. Then continue the mission on the upper level, and proceed to its full completion.
You will encounter about 50 enemies (all belonging to the Generic Enemy 1/2/3 types), and the mission can be done (if you are strong enough) within about 5 minutes (definitely more if you are still underleveled).
In order to farm Phantoma types of level 1, play on Officer. For Phantoma types of level 2, play on Agito. For Phantoma types of level 3, play on Finis (Finis is unlocked after the first playthrough).
Alternatively, the expert trial The Clash in the Caverns also offers a good amount of soldiers (Generic Enemy 2/3), and it's a very short mission too. The idea is the same as the Togoreth mission, except that in this case you'll play on Officer for Phantoma level 2 or on Agito for Phantoma level 3. It's less efficient than the Togoreth mission, but since the enemies have a base level of 37, this means that you can farm Phantoma level 3 (for example, Lavender Phantoma) even on your first playthrough.
Farming Red, Blue, Yellow Phantoma Types of Level 4 - Black Tortoise Crevasse
The dungeon Black Tortoise Crevasse is found in the Old Lorica Region, and it's accessible since the end of Chapter 4. The enemies in here are high level (72) monsters.
The idea of the Togoreth mission applies here as well, but you'll need to focus on the "flying eye" enemies (the four-legged beasts will drop level-3 Phantoma), which are High Level 3 enemies. Also notice how you can't get Purple 4 Phantoma (Violet) here, because the enemies will drop Purple 3 Phantoma types.
Farming Purple Phantoma Type of level 4 - Tower of Agito/Mission Under Ceasefire
There are other locations, but this one is hands down the best (as dangerous as it might be). The Violet Phantoma are dropped by various enemies, but the best ones to farm it are the Tonberries in the first room (they are Generic Enemy 4, level 128, and there is 100x of them).
Next-best, the mission "Mission Under Ceasefire" (only available from the second playthrough onwards) also offers Tonberries of adequate level if you play on Finis (they will be level 88). However, there is only a more limited supply of them (they are much lower-level though, so much easier to farm; not any faster though).
Farming Red, Blue, Yellow Phantoma Types of Level 5 - Tower of Agito
There are various possibilities as always, but the Tower of Agito has so many strong enemies that nothing will beat farming these Phantoma types here. The third room with Glasya Labolas (High Level 4), and the fifth room with Behemoth Kings (Generic Enemy 5), will completely fill your inventory with level-5 "elemental" Phantoma, provided you kill them with a spell of the element you want.
Farming Purple Phantoma Type of Level 5 - Tower of Agito/Valley of Monsters
Once again, the Tower of Agito is the best location, hands down. The fifth room with 100x Behemoth Kings (Generic Enemy 5) is definitely the most "dense" place to farm Indigo Phantoma (the Purple level 5 Phantoma).
The Valley of Monsters (dungeon in the northwestern part of the map, the "Northern Valley" region) is not too bad either, if you focus on killing Great Malboros (play on Officer difficulty), who are also a Generic Enemy 5 type. There isn't too many of them, but they can all drop Indigo Phantoma just as easily as those Behemoth Kings in the Tower of Agito.
Please note that the Behemoth Kings of the Bethnel Caverns are NOT the same Behemoth Kings as the ones in the Tower of Agito (the ones in the Bethnel Caverns can only reach a maximum "rank" of Generic Enemy 4, so they can't drop Indigo Phantoma, but Violet Phantoma only (need play on Agito or higher)).
Farming Ivory Phantoma - Tower of Agito/Anywhere
If you check the "patterns" written a while ago you will realize the the best individual odds are around 11% for killing High Level enemies with Killsight. However, killing Generic Enemy 5 (Behemoth Kings in Tower of Agito) with any elemental attack also has very good odds (6%), so if you want to stock-up on Ivory Phantoma that's probably where you should go get them. Killing Great Malboros in the Valley of Monsters is also an option, of course.
Alternatively, any Element-Type enemy killed with Killsight has some low chances of dropping them too. Honestly though, you should have enough Ivory Phantoma for your needs as "collateral drop" of farming Indigo Phantoma. And if you need Ivory Phantoma before then...well, trust me, you probably don't actually need it (Ivory Phantoma play a key role in saving you time to farm Violet/Indigo Phantoma for the final upgrades of the strongest spells; for any other lower-level upgrade, you can farm the Phantoma required for the upgrades more easily than farming Ivory Phantoma).
Farming Green Phantoma Types - Anywhere
If you check the patterns you will see that Green Phantoma are basically dropped randomly in the same manner as Purple Phantoma (give or take). Therefore you should have more than enough Green Phantoma for your needs just as "collateral" drops when farming something else.
Killsights on Generic Enemies of the same level as the Phantoma that you need will offer great chances (about 50%) for Green Phantoma, too, so you can do just that if you need to specifically get more Green Phantoma.

Purchasing Phantoma

The basic elemental Phantoma of level 1, 2, and 3 can be purchased in certain locations. While this may seem great, unfortunately this only applies to Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green Phantomas of level 1, 2, and 3, and by the time these shops become available you will most likely not need to purchase anything from them anyway (this may not be true though; if you are interested in maxing out stats with Phantoma trading some purchases might be really convenient).
Keep in mind that Phantoma shops are not marked in any special way, in-game (the NPC selling them doesn't have a special icon above his head, like regular shops do), so you may have to look around a bit to find the right NPC to purchase them from.
Corsi
The NPC here is at the end of the path. He sells level-1 Phantoma: Red, Blue, Yellow Phantoma; 1,000 Gil each.
Toguagh
NPC is at the end of the street, opposite the entrance. He sells level-1 Phantoma: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple Phantoma; 1,000 Gil each for the first four, 5,000 for Purple.
Rama
NPC is found beyond the second gate (need to give the correct password). He sells level-2 Phantoma: Magenta, Cyan, Sepia Phantoma; 2,000 Gil each.
Rilochy
NPC is the first one on the left. He sells level-2 Phantoma: Magenta, Cyan, Sepia, Verdant Phantoma; 2,000 Gil each.
Valley of Monsters
Akane here sells level-3 Phantoma: Cerise, Smalt, Jasmine, Ivy Phantoma; 3,000 Gil each.

Trading Phantoma

Some NPCs around Orience will trade a substantial amount of Phantoma (40x) for "Enhancer" items. We talked about this in the stats boosting section of the walkthrough (if you read that) too. In general, most of these trades are pretty bad: the ones which give magic-enhancers are too time-consuming to be efficient (it may not be true for one character, but for multiple characters it's definitely faster to do new playthroughs and re-do quests/tasks which also boost all the magic stats for everyone, rather than using magic-enhancers). The one which boosts MP is pointless since you can get many accessories which grant Freecast. The one for HP is a bad deal since you can get an HP Enhancer by replaying the story mission of Chapter 4.
The trade for ATK Enhancers is "good" in the sense that there are no better alternatives. However, the required Phantoma (Rouge Phantoma) must be harvested, which is VERY time consuming (also, you'll most likely use spells to kill enemies in the late game, so the ATK value doesn't really matter). The DEF Enhancers are probably the best trade possible, since you can purchase the required Phantoma (it'll cost a few dozens millions Gil, but you can max out Gil very easily in the second playthrough). It will still take a couple of hours to buy and trade to max-out one charater's DEF, so whether or not it's worth the trouble is really up to you (in my opinion, definitely not).
- HP Enhancer (+100 HP): one for 40 Lavender Phantoma (must be harvested). Trade them in Bazz (city of West Nesher District)
- MP Enhancer (+100 MP): one for 40 Ivy Phantoma (can be bought in the Valley of Monsters for 3,000 Gil). Trade them in Amiter (city of Dragon Sanctuary); must be Foggy weather for him to spawn at the end of the path in the middle (may also need to complete the local Task for him to appear)
- ATK Enhancer (+1 Attack): one for 40 Rouge Phantoma (must be harvested). Trade them in Black Tortoise Crevasse (dungeon of Old Lorica)
- DEF Enhancer (+1 Defense): one for 40 Smalt Phantoma (can be bought in the Valley of Monsters for 3,000 Gil). Trade them in the Bethnel Caverns (dungeon of Meroë Region)
- FIR Enhancer (+1 Fire Magic): one for 40 Magenta Phantoma (can be bought in Rama/Rilochy for 2,000 Gil). Trade them in Iscah (city of the Iscah Region)
- ICE Enhancer (+1 Ice Magic): one for 40 Cyan Phantoma (can be bought in Rama/Rilochy for 2,000 Gil). Trade them in Iscah under reconstruction/rebuilt*
- LTG Enhancer (+1 Thunder Magic): one for 40 Sepia Phantoma (can be bought in Rama/Rilochy for 2,000 Gil). Trade them in Iscah under reconstruction/rebuilt
- DMG Enhancer (+1 Defense Magic): one for 40 Verdant Phantoma (can be bought in Rama/Rilochy for 2,000 Gil). Trade them in Iscah under reconstruction/rebuilt
*For three of the trades you'll need to wait until Chapter 5 or Chapter 7 (in Chapter 5 you also need to do a miniquest about finding Chocobo chicklings), since they appear only in Iscah "under reconstruction" (Chapter 5) and/or Iscah "rebuilt" (Chapter 7). Moreover, for the reconstruction to happen you need to do the Task in Iscah in Chapter 3. This is all explained in the story walkthrough pages, in due time.

Characters

I don't consider myself to be an expert with all the Type 0 characters, and like most people I have truly played this game only with certain characters. I will try to summarize the characters' traits (pros and cons) with a brief introduction of them, but it goes without saying that the only way to really see what a character is about is by playing and using him/her.

Ace

Ace is a middle-ranged character capable of firing multiple projectiles at the enemies. The projectiles travel moderately fast, and have great homing properties to them (in other words, they will hit the target even if the target moves, most of the time). This makes him a great character in a variety of situations. He also has arguably the best dodge of the game (extremely fast, effective, and can quickly move him across a large room in safety).
His "draw card" abilities (Cut Cards, Attack Hand, etc.) are a bit particular in how they work. Cut Cards is the most random one: by using it, Ace will randomly draw a card which can have an "attack" property (red card), a "support" property (grey) (= an attack that has a chance to inflict Stop; small chance to be honest), a "HP-recovery" property (blue), or an "MP-recovery" property (green). He can draw up to four cards in a row, and the more cards of the same property he draws, the stronger the move he'll perform with them will be. For example, if he draws one HP-Recovery Card he will perform "HP Charge" and recover, say, 100 HP; if he draws two HP-Recovery Cards he will perform "Super HP Charge" and recover, say, 200 HP.
When he draws "mixed" cards, for example an Attack Card followed by an HP-Recovery Card, his action will be determined by the last card drawn (in the example I just made, it would be HP Charge). If, however, he draws mixed cards and there is more than one card with the same property (for example, Attack Card, MP-Recovery Card, Attack Card, and then HP-Recovery Card), then the cards with the same property that are in greater numbers will prevail (in the example I just made, it would be the Attack Card, giving the Super Burst move).
To increase the odds of drawing a card with a certain property (by default they are 25% each) he can learn and equip the abilities "Attack Hand", "Support Hand", "Life Hand", "Spirit Hand". While these "Hands" definitely improve the chances of drawing a certain type of card, the odds seem to be around 50% for the chosen "Hand", and 50% for the remaining ones (for example, with Attack Hand you should expect to draw 2x Attack cards and 2x non-Attack cards). The odds of drawing 4x cards of the same type are very low (even drawing 3 of them is not particularly common).
In my opinion, his Spirit Hand ability is one of the best abilities available to him, since it allows him to quickly recharge his MP in exchange for AG (which he can recover quickly with his regular attacks). This makes him a decent spell-caster, although his magic stats are nothing too impressive to begin with.
If you press LS_down and then hold the attack button, he can perform a charged shot (the maximum level of charge increases if you unlock the corresponding abilities). Unfortunately, unlike other characters' "charged" attacks, his charged attacks only consist of multiple (up to five) hits of the same power as his regular attacks. Since he can attack very quickly on his own, charged attacks with him are virtually pointless.
While his other abilities can be fun to use in a generic situation, they don't really have great practical applications.

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Level 11	2
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Level 16	6
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after a normal attack.	Learn Melee Attack II.	8
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw	15
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 39; learn Quick Draw II.	30
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Level 12.	2
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	3
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Level 19.	5
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Quick Reflexes	Dodge even during other actions.	-	-
	Finishing Blow	Perform a finishing move after normal attacks.	-	3
	Melee Attack	Perform a melee attack with LS_Up + attack button.	Learn Finishing Blow.	3
	Melee Attack II	Perform a finishing move after melee attacks.	Learn Melee Attack.	4
	Focus	Perform a charged attack with LS_Down + attack button.	-	-
	Focus II	Increase number of hits for charged strikes.	Learn Melee Attack II	4
Cards	Cut Cards	Draw cards from a deck of various effects.	-	-
	Attack Hand	Draw cards from a deck stacked with attack effects.	-	8
	Support Hand	Draw cards from a deck stacked with support effects.	-	6
	Life Hand	Draw cards from a deck stacked with HP recovery effects.	-	4
	Spirit Hand	Draw cards from a deck stacked with MP recovery effects.	-	6
Blind Stud	Blind Stud	Lay a card on the ground and activate to damage enemies.	Level 10.	8
	Blind Stud: Time up	Blind Stud remains active for a longer time.	Learn Blind Stud.	6
	Blind Stud: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Blind Stud.	Learn Blind Stud.	10
Jackpot Shot	Jackpot Shot	Fire a laser beam forward.	Level 13.	8
	Jackpot Shot: Crit up	Increases critical hit rate of Jackpot Shot.	Learn Jackpot Shot.	5
	Jackpot Shot: Time up	Jackpot Shot remains active for a longer time.	Learn Jackpot Shot: Crit up.	6
	Jackpot Shot: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Jackpot Shot.	Learn Jackpot Shot: Time up.	8
Jackpot Triad	Jackpot Triad	Fire lasers in three directions.	Learn Jackpot Shot: AG down.	12
	Jackpot Triad: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Jackpot Triad.	Learn Jackpot Triad.	14
Wild Card	Wild Card	Teleport to location of enemy hit by card and attack.	Level 14.	6
	Wild Card: Power up	Increase power of Wild Card.	Learn Wild Card.	8
	Wild Card: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Wild Card.	Learn Wild Card.	8
	Wild Card: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Wild Card.	Learn Wild Card.	8

Deuce

Deuce is a short-ranged character capable of firing multiple projectiles at the enemies. The projectiles travel very slowly, but they have great homing properties and a good chance to stun the enemy too (she's arguably one of the best characters for stunning-enemies purposes). Furthermore, she can regularly (albeit slowly) move (walk) during her attacks (she's the only character able to do so). Her regular attacks consist in various small floating blue balls which hit the enemy, and also a bigger blue ball which will float and hit the enemy periodically for a while before disappearing.
If used correctly to stun the enemy and continuously provide a reliable (albeit small) amount of damage, she can be extremely effective in a great variety of situations. I am not particularly fond of using her, but I can definitely see why some people consider her an extremely effective character (I wouldn't go as far as to say she is a "game-breaking" character like some people say though).
Her regular attacks can be boosted in power with the Crescendo abilities, but keep in mind that you need to continuously use her attacks, after using Crescendo, in order to continue to benefit from Crescendo. In other words, after using Crescendo you'll need to hold down the attack button and never let go of it. If you stop "playing the flute" (holding down the attack button) at any moment, her attack power (boosted by Crescendo earlier) will reset to its default level. If you find yourself in a situation where you can boost her attack with Crescendo, and then just walk around while continuously play the flute, she can rack up a huge amount of damage very quickly.
Among her other strengths, she has the second-highest MP, Fire Magic, and Defense Magic (for healing purposes) stats. While the last one is not important, her MP pool can make her a good spellcaster (Rem is better though), particularly for Fire spells.
Lastly, Deuce has an arsenal of possible abilities that have various effects but consume AG. I'm not overly fond of any of them (the AG cost is not a problem because they consume very little AG, but you are still missing out on Breaksights and Killsights while waiting for those attacks to do something), but they can be used in various situations with a decent effect. Still, there are typically better alternatives with other characters.
Dissonant Sonata's Stun rate is unreliable against stronger foes. Requiem of Ruin is just not powerful enough. Concerto can be useful to boost allies' attack power, but you can do a better job by controlling other characters manually. One possible use for Concerto is by putting someone strong like Jack on your team; then play Concerto with Deuce to force him to attack while simultaneously boosting his attack (Concerto gives Aura and Endure).

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Level 25	4
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Level 15	8
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after melee attacks.	Learn Melee Attack II.	8
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw	15
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 60; learn Quick Draw II.	30
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Level 13.	3
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	4
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Level 20.	8
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Melee Attack	Perform a melee attack with LS_Up + attack button.	-	-
	Melee Attack II	Perform a finishing move after melee attacks.	Level 27.	8
	Tone Cluster	Place a tone cluster with LS_Down + attack button.	-	-
	Fermata	Increase power of Tone Cluster.	Level 30.	6
	Acoustic Amplifier	Increase power of normal attacks.	Level 15.	10
	Acoustic Amplifier II	Further increase power of normal attacks.	Learn Acoustic Amplifier.	18
Concerto	Concerto	Enhances allies' abilities and force them to fight.	-	-
	Flinchproof Concerto	Prevent flinching while playing Concerto.	-	14
	Concerto: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Concerto.	-	18
Concerto ff	Concerto ff	Force allies to fight using only physical attacks.	Level 60.	6
	Concerto ff: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Concerto ff.	Learn Concerto ff.	4
Requiem of Ruin	Requiem of Ruin	Damage enemies.	Level 39.	4
	Flinchproof Requiem	Prevent flinching while playing Requiem of Ruin.	Learn Requiem of Ruin.	4
	Requiem of Ruin: Power up	Increase power of Requiem of Ruin.	Learn Requiem of Ruin.	6
	Requiem of Ruin: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Requiem of Ruin.	Learn Requiem of Ruin.	6
Dissonant Sonata	Dissonant Sonata	Damage surrounding enemies and possibly inflict Stun.	Level 27.	3
	Flinchproof Sonata	Prevent flinching while playing Dissonant Sonata.	Learn Dissonant Sonata.	4
	Dissonant Sonata: Effect up	Increase stun rate of Dissonant Sonata.	Learn Dissonant Sonata.	2
	Dissonant Sonata: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Dissonant Sonata.	Learn Dissonant Sonata.	4
Hymn of Healing	Hymn of Healing	Restore HP to all allies.	Level 23.	6
	Flinchproof Hymn	Receive Protect status while playing Hymn of Healing.	Learn Hymn of Healing.	4
	Hymn of Healing: HP up	Increase amount of HP recovered with Hymn of Healing.	Learn Hymn of Healing.	6
	Hymn of Healing: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Hymn of Healing.	Learn Hymn of Healing.	6
Crescendo	Crescendo	Increase power of normal attacks.	Level 28.	3
	Crescendo Molto	Increase maximum Crescendo level.	Learn Crescendo.	4

Trey

Trey is a long-ranged character capable of firing a single but powerful shot at the enemies. The projectiles travel very fast, can pierce through multiple enemies in a row, but they have non-existent homing properties.
Trey's real strength lies in his Charged attacks, and a MAX Charge (charge level 6) shot can deal even 10 times as much damage as his regular attacks. Furthermore, his ability Concentrate can boost his damage output by a factor of 3-4 (with a Critical Hit, which is very likely with a MAX Charged shot), which also stacks with the status Aura (which doubles physical attacks power). If you combine all of these factors, you can see why his MAX Charge shots, especially if enhanced by Concentrate and maybe also the status Aura, can become the single most powerful regular attack of any character.
Because of these strengths, he's the first choice character in RTS missions, where you need a character that can deal as much damage as possible with each single hit.
His ability Hawkeye, like Cater's and King's, allows him to enter a first-person-view mode which allows you to land Breaksights/Killsights on enemies if you can aim at their weak spots (for example, the head of a humanoid enemy). While this ability is great in theory, it consumes a lot of AG, and with enemies that move frequently it's virtually impossible to use. The "weak spot" is identified by a different target icon during the first-person-view (the crosshair becomes "thicker", made up of four blue segments).
He also ranks 3rd in MP and Ice Magic, although you will probably use him mostly as a ranged character for fast Killsights and strong single hits.
Don't get too excited about his "Burst Delta" and "Grand Delta" abilities: while they can be good for crowd-control with weaker enemies, they are not going to help much in more complex situations (the stronger enemies are immune against it, and even then the attacks are too slow to be used before Trey can get killed).
Like many similar abilities, Freezing Rain's effect has modest chances of success at best.

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Level 14	3
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Level 20	4
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after a max-level charged shot.	Learn MAX Charge.	18
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw	8
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 50; learn Quick Draw II.	48
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	-	1
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	6
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Level 18.	3
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Charged Shot	Fire charged shots by holding down the normal attack button.	-	-
	Charge Level-IV	Increase speed and power of charged shots.	Level 11	2
	Charge Level-V	Further increase speed and attack power of charged shots.	Learn Charge Level-IV.	8
	MAX Charge	Drastically increase speed and attack power of charged shots.	Learn Charge Level-V.	12
Raining Arrows	Raining Arrows	Shower enemies with arrows.	-	-
	Raining Arrows: Power up	Increase power of Raining Arrows.	-	6
	Raining Arrows: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Raining Arrows.	-	8
Freezing Rain	Freezing Rain	Shower enemies with Stop-inducing arrows.	Level 15.	2
	Freezing Rain: Time up	Freezing Rain remains active for a longer time.	Learn Freezing Rain.	10
	Freezing Rain: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Freezing Rain.	Learn Freezing Rain.	12
Burst Delta	Burst Delta	Generate a portal that drains enemies' HP and inflicts Killsight.	Level 13.	2
Grand Delta	Grand Delta	Generate a portal that drains more of enemies' HP and inflicts Killsight.	Learn Burst Delta.	14
Dynamite Arrow	Dynamite Arrow	Fire explosives that detonate after a short time.	Level 12.	4
	Dynamite Arrow: Power up	Increase power of Dynamite Arrow.	Learn Dynamite Arrow.	6
	Dynamite Arrow: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Dynamite Arrow.	Learn Dynamite Arrow.	8
Hawkeye	Hawkeye	Aim and fire at distant enemies.	Level 14.	1
	Hawkeye: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Hawkeye.	Learn Hawkeye.	6
Firewall	Firewall	Attack enemies while conjuring a barrier of flame.	-	2
	Firewall: Power up	Increase power of direct attacks from Firewall.	Learn Firewall.	5
	Firewall: Time up	Firewall remains active for a longer time.	Learn Firewall.	5
	Firewall: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Firewall.	Learn Firewall.	6
Concentrate	Concentrate	Focus attention in order to temporarily increase Attack.	Level 19.	1
	Concentrate: Effect up	Increase effect of Concentrate.	Learn Concentrate.	6
	Concentrate: Time up	Concentrate remains active for a longer time.	Learn Concentrate.	8

Cater

Cater is a middle-ranged character capable of firing multiple shots in a row, and a more powerful shot at the end of her combo. The projectiles travel moderately fast, but there is a bit of latency between the attack input and the moment when the projectile reaches the enemy. Because of this delay, to land Breaksights and Killsights with her you will typically need to fire a bit earlier than you would do with other characters (you need to basically anticipate the enemy's attack). One additional benefit of her attack animations is that her last hit will have a bit of "recoil" which pushes her back away from the enemies a little bit; this can help in getting away from enemy's counters.
If she's not attacking she will also automatically charge her attacks, meaning that you can unleash the powerful combo-finisher even without actually doing any combo if you run around a bit and wait for the charge to be complete. Since her charged attack is quite poweful, can knock enemies down, and can pierce through multiple enemies, this is not a bad approach in "crowded" situations.
By pressing LS_Up and the attack button, she can throw a small "bomb" which has a modest chance of stunning the enemies it hits. It's a slow attack, but if you keep spamming it over and over again it can be quite useful to deal with single, slow enemies (for example, Behemoths). Still, it's usually much more efficient if you rely on Breaksights rather than waiting for a chance to Stun the enemies, so the practical use of it are limited at best.
She also has the Hawkeye ability (refer to Trey's description for more info).
If leveled up, Cater can be one of the best characters for MP-free crowd-control, especially in narrow spaces.
Unfortunately her various special abilities are usually not very useful. She has a variety of "elemental" attacks, but most of the time you will just use spells or rely on Killsights when dealing with elemental enemies. Also, her "Stop", "Defense-lowering", and "Poison-inflicting" shots are largely ineffective against stronger enemies, which is when you actually need them the most.
She also ranks average in all the magic department.

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Level 10	2
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Level 19	4
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after a max-level charged shot.	Level 28.	6
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw	12
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 45; learn Quick Draw II.	28
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Level 12.	2
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	3
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Level 26.	5
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Quick Reflexes	Dodge even during other actions.	-	-
	Charged Shot	Charges shots when gun is unholstered but not in use.	-	-
	Bullet Boost	Increase power of rapid-fire bullets used in normal attacks.	Level 25.	8
	Speedy Charge	Reduce amount of time needed to charge a shot.	Learn Bullet Boost.	12
	Explosive Shell	Fire exploding shots with LS_Up + attack button.	-	-
	Explosive Shell: Stun up	Increase stun rate of Explosive Shell.	Level 14.	8
Elementillery	Elementillery	Fire shots imbued with elemental magic (defaults to Fire).	-	-
	Flame Shot: Power up	Increase the power of Elementillery's Flame Shot.	Level 15.	16
	Frost Shot	Imbue shots with Ice magic with LS_Up + ability button.	Level 13.	8
	Frost Shot: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Elementillery's Frost Shot.	Learn Frost Shot.	16
Voltaic Shot	Voltaic Shot	Imbue shots with Lightning magic with LS_Down + ability button.	Level 13.	8
	Voltaic Shot: Power up	Increase power of Elementillery's Voltaic Shot.	Learn Voltaic Shot.	16
Land Mine	Land Mine	Set a bomb in the ground that can be detonated later.	Level 20.	6
	Land Mine: Power up	Increase power of Land Mine.	Learn Land Mine.	8
	Land Mine: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Land Mine.	Learn Land Mine.	12
Debuff Shot	Debuff Shot	Fire shots that lower enemies' Defense.	-	2
	Debuff Shot: Effect up	Increase effect of Debuff Shot.	Learn Debuff Shot.	3
	Debuff Shot: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Debuff Shot.	Learn Debuff Shot.	4
Stilling Shot	Stilling Shot	Fire ammo that inflicts Stop.	Level 10.	2
	Stilling Shot: Time up	Stilling Shot remains active for a longer time.	Learn Stilling Shot.	2
	Stilling Shot: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Stilling Shot.	Learn Stilling Shot.	5
Hawkeye	Hawkeye	Aim and fire at distant enemies.	Level 13.	8
	Hawkeye: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Hawkeye.	Learn Hawkeye.	10
Viral Spray	Viral Spray	Release a venomous gas that inflicts Poison.	Level 12.	3
	Viral Spray: Time up	Viral Spray remains active for a longer time.	Learn Viral Spray.	4
	Viral Spray: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Viral Spray.	Learn Viral Spray.	4

Cinque

Cinque is a slow-attacking character that can only perform three hits in a combo, although each hit will deal a lot of damage individually. The attack animation is very slow though, meaning she's very unreliable for Breaksights and Killsights. She is pretty tanky (third-best HP, second-best Attack), so you should expect to use her in melee range most of the time.
Cinque has quite a lot of great abilities, but unfortunately all of them are really slow, meaning that she might die before she has a chance to really use any of them. On the other hand, it's actually a lot of fun to use her, if anything at least to mess around against less dangerous opponents.
Her "Focus" (charge) ability can stack with Cheerleader to greatly improve her damage output with a single attack (she can deal 7-8x times her base damage, which is already very high to begin with); unfortunately Cheerleader only works for the next attack, and charging her melee attacks takes a relatively long time.
Earthquake is a very slow ability (long animation that leaves her exposed), but if you learn the "Magnitude" boosts for it, it will have the greatest Stun rate in the entire game (I think it's close to 100% even against some level-99 enemies found on the world map, and still around 50% against enemies like Behemoths). Its applications against single powerful enemies are potentially great: just use Earthquake, then dodge-cancel the recovery animation (= perform a dodge to speed up the recovery after the attack, so she is usable again), and then land a Breaksight (which typically occurs after you Stun an enemy). Thanks to this, if you can isolate a very powerful enemy she will allow you to kill him in no time (Stun, Breaksight, Stun, Breaksight, etc.).
Gaia Pulse is a similar ability to Earthquake: it's a bit faster, a bit safer, but also a bit less effective (lower Stun rate).
Homerun Swing is her second "charge" ability; it charges faster than her regular attack's Focus ability, and can be charged to MAX level of 10. It's not all that powerful to be honest, but it is a rather fast attack (faster than her regular attacks), which means it can be used for a powerful single hit in situations where you are up against a single powerful opponent.
Whirling Mace and Mace Cyclone are similar abilities which can be used continuously by holding down the action button assigned to use them. They basically make her spin around while keeping enemies away from her. They consume relatively little AG, and actually deal a lot of damage with each of the multiple hits. The only thing that keeps this ability from being completely overpowered is the fact that stronger enemies won't be knocked back, meaning that they can approach Cinque and counter -- they will take damage if they go anywhere near Cinque, but if they get a hit they will knock her back, interrupting you and potentially dealing significant damage as well. Very fun to use against weaker opponents though.

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Level 16.	2
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Level 29.	6
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after a max-level charged attack.	Level 55; learn Charge II.	12
	Combo Cast	Cast finishing magic after two consecutive normal attacks.	Learn Quick Draw.	30
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw.	30
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 72; learn Quick Draw II.	42
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Level 15.	2
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	3
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Level 9.	5
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Focus	Perform a charged attack with LS_Down + attack button.	-	-
	Charge II	Increase maximum charge level.	Learn Focus.	4
	Charge III	Further increase maximum charge level.	Learn Charge II.	6
Earthquake	Earthquake	Attack the ground to damage surrounding enemies and possibly inflict Stun.	-	-
	Magnitude 7.0	Increase stun rate of Earthquake.	-	3
	Magnitude 10.0	Further increase stun rate of Earthquake.	Learn Magnitude 7.0.	3
	Flinchproof Quake	Prevent flinching during Earthquake.	Learn Magnitude 10.0.	5
Gaia Pulse	Gaia Pulse	Attack the ground to damage enemies in a straight line and possibly inflict Stun.	Level 14.	3
	Gaia Pulse: Effect up	Increase stun rate of Gaia Pulse.	Learn Gaia Pulse.	5
Homerun Swing	Homerun Swing	Strike opponents after building power by holding down the ability button.	Level 13.	2
	Windup Boost	Increase maximum charge level of Homerun Swing.	Learn Homerun Swing.	2
	Windup Boost II	Further increase maximum charge level of Homerun Swing.	Learn Windup Boost.	3
	Homerun Swing: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Homerun Swing.	Learn Windup Boost II.	5
Cheerleader	Cheerleader	Phych self up to inflict more damage with the next attack.	Level 17.	2
	Cheerleader: Effect up	Increase effect of Cheerleader.	Learn Cheerleader.	3
	Cheerleader: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Cheerleader.	Learn Cheerleader.	5
Whirling Mace	Whirling Mace	Spin around to strike and knock back enemies.	Level 9.	2
	Whirling Mace: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Whirling Mace.	Learn Whirling Mace.	3
Mace Cyclone	Mace Cyclone	Spin around to strike and send enemies flying.	Level 20.	3
	Flinchproof Cyclone	Prevent flinching during Mace Cyclone.	Learn Mace Cyclone.	5
Payback	Payback	Damage enemies and drain more HP when user's HP is low.	Level 11.	2
	Payback: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Payback.	Learn Payback.	4

Characters (Continued)

Sice

Sice is a decent melee fighter. Her attacks are not particularly strong, but she can do rather long combos (the longest of any character, in fact). There is a bit of latency between the attack input and execution, so landing Breaksights and Killsights with her can be a bit tricky. Her stats are nothing great (third-best in Thunder Magic, but very low on MP).
In my opinion she is one of the least useful characters, because she just doesn't have anything powerful enough to justify her use.
Her special trait is the "Malice", which basically means that she becomes more powerful after killing enemies (you can see her scythe glowing red, of a more and more intense color the more enemies she kills). Unfortunately, she will lose this Malice as soon as she gets hit (all or most of it anyway), meaning that in reality there isn't a single situation where this will be actually usable (you would need a room full of weak enemies followed by a stronger enemy, so you can boost her Malice by killing the weaker ones and then unleash it on the stronger ones; this basically never happens in the game).
Her abilities are also not that great: she has a long combo sequence (up to 20x hits), but that's not very effective anyway.
Dark Nebula is a piercing attack that might inflict Stop, but as you may guess it won't work against stronger enemies.
Negative Aura is ok to attack multiple enemies and recover some HP, but it hardly has any practical use (if you are low on HP just use a Potion).
Death Maelstrom is a rather nice tornado-attack which lasts quite a while and deals decent damage, but its applications are limited only against weaker enemies.
Black Hole sounds awesome because it supposedly draws enemies in a small spot (so you could potentially draw them all, then cast a powerful BOM spell on them for massive damage); unfortunately she can't really use Black Hole and then use other attacks as follow-up, and its "drawing" abilities don't work on anything stronger than weak-average enemies.
Grim Reaper basically never works.
Maybe I just haven't found a way to put her strengths to good use, but I really can't think of a situation where she would be a preferable character.

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	-	2
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Level 20.	5
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after four consecutive normal attacks.	Learn Combo Bonus III.	10
	Advance Cast	Cast finishing magic after a forward mobile strike.	Learn Tenacity.	6
	Slip Cast	Cast finishing magic after a backward mobile strike.	Learn Advance Cast.	8
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw	15
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 48; learn Quick Draw II.	30
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Learn Moxie: Power up.	2
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	3
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Learn Slipstream.	5
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Combo Bonus	Increase the number of hits in a normal attack.	-	2
	Combo Bonus II	Further increase the number of hits in a normal attack.	Learn Moxie: Power up and Combo Bonus.	2
	Combo Bonus III	Drastically increase the number of hits in a normal attack.	Learn Moxie: Power up II and Combo Bonus II.	6
	Moxie	Increase power by defeating enemies and absorbing their malice.	-	-
	Moxie: Power up	Absorb more malice.	Level 14.	12
	Moxie: Power up II	Absorb even more malice.	Level 22; learn Moxie: Power up.	14
	Tenacity	Reduce the amount of malice lost when taking damage.	Level 28; learn Moxie: Power up II.	18
Dark Nebula	Dark Nebula	Use absorbed malice to attack in a straight line.	-	-
	Dark Nebula: +Stop	Add Stop effect to Dark Nebula.	-	3
	Dark Nebula: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Dark Nebula.	-	5
Negative Aura	Negative Aura	Use absorbed malice to attack surrounding enemies.	Learn Moxie: Power up.	5
	Negative Aura: +Drain	Add Drain effect to Negative Aura.	Learn Negative Aura.	6
	Negative Aura: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Negative Aura.	Learn Negative Aura.	8
Grim Reaper	Grim Reaper	Use absorbed malice to attack enemies and possibly inflict Death.	Learn Tenacity	10
Toxic Mist	Toxic Mist	Attack enemies with a wall of Poison.	Learn Moxie: Power up.	4
	Toxic Mist: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Toxic Mist.	Learn Toxic Mist.	6
Death Maelstrom	Death Maelstrom	An air-based tornado attack that follows a locked-on target and causes damage over time.	Level 11.	3
	Death Maelstrom: Power up	Increase power of Death Maelstrom.	Learn Death Maelstrom.	5
	Death Maelstrom: Time up	Death Maelstrom remains active for a longer time.	Learn Death Maelstrom.	6
	Death Maelstrom: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Death Maelstrom.	Learn Death Maelstrom.	8
Black Hole	Black Hole	Manipulate gravity to gather enemies in one place.	Learn Moxie: Power up.	6
	Black Hole: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Black Hole.	Learn Black Hole.	8

Seven

This Lightning Farron look-alike uses her whip to crowd-control enemies. Her regular melee combos are quite effective to keep enemies at bay while also dealing good damage. She is actually pretty good at dealing ranged damage too, because of the very long "extension" of her whip.
By holding LS_Up (Foreflay) during her melee combo she can perform long-ranged attacks forward, whereas holding LS_Down (Whirlwhip) will make her attack in a circle around her.
Her Snakebite ability allows her to "stick" her whip on an enemy (even from far-away distances). Pressing the Snakebite button again will make her dash towards the enemy (useful to close-in on longer distances), and with smaller enemies she can also reel the enemy in by pressing LS_down and the Snakebite command again. The really nice aspect of this ability is Livewire though: after "sticking" her whip on an enemy, you can press LS_up and the Snakebite button again to send a fast shockwave along the whip. This can be used to land Breaksights really easily with her, since the latency between the Livewire input and the moment when it lands on the enemy is actually pretty short. The only downside is that, of course, this consumes AG every time you use it (so it can't be abused, but it can definitely help a lot against stronger enemies that like to move around too much). Livewire can also inflict Stun, but it has very low chances of success especially against stronger enemies.
Her Elementalash abilities allow her to deal elemental damage against enemies. Like I said earlier for Cater, you typically use spells against elemental enemies, so I don't find this particularly useful.
Sadistic Spikes is an area attack with very good chances of inflicting Stop (much higher than other characters' attacks). Unfortunately, the strongest enemies are typically resistant against Stop.
Drainlash and Omeoslash are abilities which will deal little damage to enemies but also recover Seven's HP/MP depending on the damage dealt. While they are not very useful per-se, since the HP/MP recovered depends on the damage dealt, it's possible to recover huge amounts of HP (and more importantly, MP) by using these abilities on stronger enemies during a Breaksight. This is a rather theoretical application though, as you will probably prioritize other strategies over this.

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Level 28.	4
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Level 28.	5
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after a normal attack.	Level 30.	8
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw.	15
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 55; learn Quick Draw II.	30
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Level 15.	4
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	6
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Learn Slipstream.	8
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Foreflay	Deliver a long-reaching attack with LS_Up + attack button.	-	-
	Foreflay II	Increase number of hits for Foreflay.	Level 25.	5
	Foreflay III	Further increase number of hits for Foreflay.	Learn Foreflay II.	6
	Whirlwhip	Deliver a wide-area attack with LS_Down + attack button.	-	-
	Whirlwhip II	Increase number of hits for Whirlwhip.	Learn Foreflay III.	6
	Whirlwhip III	Further increase number of hits for Whirlwhip.	Learn Whirlwhip II.	8
	Insult to Injury	Powerfully lash enemies inflicted with Stun.	Learn Whirlwhip III.	4
Snakebite	Snakebite	Capture an enemy and either reel them in or instantaneously approach the target.	-	-
	Livewire	Electrify ensnared enemies to damage and possibly inflict Stun with LS_Up + ability button.	-	3
	Snakebite: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Snakebite.	-	5
Diving Strike	Diving Strike	Launch whipblade skyward to pierce enemies from above.	Level 15.	2
	Diving Strike: Power up	Increase power of Diving Strike.	Learn Diving Strike.	4
Elementalash	Elementalash	Strike enemies with a whip imbued with elemental magic (defaults to Fire).	Level 10.	4
	Flamelash: Power up	Increase power of Elementalash's Flamelash.	Learn Elementalash.	12
	Frostlash	Imbue whip with Ice magic with LS_Up + ability button.	Learn Elementalash.	4
	Frostlash: Power up	Increase power of Elementalash's Frostlash.	Learn Frostlash.	12
	Thunderlash	Imbue whip with Lightning magic with LS_Down + ability button.	Learn Elementalash.	4
	Thunderlash: Power up	Increase power of Elementalash's Thunderlash.	Learn Thunderlash.	12
Sadistic Spikes	Sadistic Spikes	Drive whipblade into the ground to summon Stop-inflicting thorns.	Level 17.	3
	Sadistic Spikes: Time up	Sadistic Spikes remains active for a longer time.	Learn Sadistic Spikes.	6
	Sadistic Spikes: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Sadistic Spikes.	Learn Sadistic Spikes.	10
Drainlash	Drainlash	Attack enemies and absorb HP.	Level 19.	4
	Drainlash: Power up	Increase power of Drainlash.	Learn Drainlash.	10
Omeoselash	Omeoselash	Attack enemies and absorb MP.	Level 24.	6
	Omeoselash: Power up	Increase power of Omeoselash.	Learn Omeoselash.	12

Eight

Eight is the fastest-moving character. His regular attacks are fast, short-ranged melee attacks. He has decent HP, and a lot of different attacks and combos.
Swiftwind Stance, Wildfire Stance, and Quickbolt Stance are all fun to mess around with, since they have different animations depending on how you perform them (standard attack; LS_up + attack; LS_down + attack; LS_left/right + attack).
Explosive Fist is incredibly slow, AG-expensive, and actually doesn't make up for how slow it is by being powerful. Maybe I'm missing something here, but it's a pretty bad ability to use.
Despite its description, Backhand doesn't actually have a really good Stun rate (not against the strongest opponents at least).
Sacrificial Slug is possibly the most powerful single attack of the game. Unfortunately it's extremely slow (like Explosive Fist), and Eight is vulnerable during the whole attack animation. If you can land the hit, however, a level 30 Eight (as early as you can learn this ability) will deal 9,999 HP of damage even against a level-99 monster (even an Adamantoise!). It's really incredibly powerful, but you must create a window of opportunity to be able to use it. It also consumes the entire AG to use. The fact that it takes Eight's HP down to 1 is not really the problem (you can always heal with a couple of Potions).
Phantom Rush is an easy way to avoid damage from enemies. Keep in mind that it works even if Eight is standing still (it's like a perfect Auto-dodge; kinda like the spell Avoid, but fail-proof; it consumes AG, however). It can be very useful in situations where you need to dodge promptly, but maybe the enemy's attack animations are too sudden to do so with your human reflexes.
Lightspeed Jab is obviously meant as an ability to inflict Breaksight and Killsights. Eight's regular attacks are fast enough to easily do so without consuming AG, but Lightspeed Jab has the advantage of having a bit more "range" than his regular melee attacks.

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Level 17.	2
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Level 50.	12
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after a normal attack.	Level 40.	10
	One-Two Cast	Cast finishing magic after a backhand attack.	Level 43; learn Backhand.	30
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn One-Two Cast.	24
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 80; learn Quick Draw II.	48
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Learn Accelerate.	2
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	3
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Learn Slipstream.	5
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Sidestep	Dodge sideways with LS_Left/Right + attack button.	-	-
	Blind Strike	Increase critical hit rate when attacking some enemies from the rear.	-	-
	Rising Uppercut	Counterattack when downed by pressing attack button at the right time.	Learn Swiftwind Special.	2
	Backhand	Deliver an attack with a high Stun rate with LS_Down + attack button.	Learn Wildfire Special.	3
Swiftwind Stance	Swiftwind Stance	Shift to a simple stance and perform combos with the ability button (and optionally, LS_Up/Left/Right).	-	-
	Swiftwind Special	Strike the ground during a combo by pressing LS_Down + ability button.	-	2
	Swiftwing Stance: Power up	Increase power of the series of punches in Swiftwind Stance.	-	4
Wildfire Stance	Wildfire Stance	Shift to aggressive stance and perform combos with the ability button (and optionally, LS_Up/Left/Right).	Learn Rising Uppercut.	2
	Wildfire Special	Conjure a pillar of fire during a combo by pressing LS_Down + ability button.	Learn Wildfire Stance.	2
	Wildfire Stance: Power up	Increase power of charge attack by pressing LS_Up + ability button.	Learn Wildfire Special.	4
Quickbolt Stance	Quickbolt Stance	Shift to an erratic stance and perform combos with the ability button (and optionally, LS_Up/Left/Right).	Learn Accelerate.	2
	Quickbolt Special	Strike enemies and absorb HP during a combo by holding LS_Down + ability button.	Learn Quickbolt Stance.	2
	Quickbolt Stance: Power up	Increase power of flying kick by pressing LS_Up + ability button.	Learn Quickbolt Stance.	4
Explosive Fist	Explosive Fist	Slowly approach enemies and deliver a devastating punch.	Learn Wildfire Stance: Power up.	4
	Explosive Fist: Power up	Increase power of Explosive Fist.	Learn Explosive Fist.	6
	Flinchproof Fist	Receive invulnerability while performing Explosive Fist.	Learn Explosive Fist: Power up.	8
Sacrificial Slug	Sacrificial Slug	Drop user's HP down to 1 and inflict tremendous damage on enemies.	Level 30.	10
Lightspeed Jab	Lightspeed Jab	Deliver a weak but extremely fast punch.	Learn Triple Slip.	6
	Lightspeed Swarm	Teleport toward enemies with Lightspeed Jab.	Learn Lightspeed Jab.	8
	Lightspeed Jab: Distance up	Increase distance teleported with Lightspeed Jab.	Learn Lightspeed Swarm.	6
Last Stand	Last Stand	Receive Haste and Aura, but inflict user with Killsight.	Learn Flinchproof Fist.	3
	Last STand: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Last Stand.	Learn Last Stand.	3
Phantom Rush	Phantom Rush	Dodge all enemy attacks.	Learn Untouchable.	5
	Phantom Rush: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Phantom Rush.	Learn Phantom Rush.	5

Nine

The tankiest of all characters (ranking first in HP and Defense), Nine is a short-middle ranged character with good movement ability and relatively fast attack animations. His standard melee attacks are fast enough to be a reliable source of Breaksights/Killsights, and they have a powerful finishing hit at the end of the (short) combo.
You can perform a spinning attack around Nine with LS_down+attack (Clean Sweep). This deals more damage than his regular attacks.
Mobile Strike allows him to slide forward a bit while attacking if you press LS_up+attack, but it's not all that useful.
Jump is rather powerful, but not enough that I would really spam it. High Jump is waaaay too slow for my taste (he won't take damage, but the animation takes just too long for how relatively weak the attack is).
Javelin Throw is a decent attack, strength-wise, but it's more of a last-resort option against ranged enemies than something I would choose on purpose (Trey's charged attacks are far superior).
Laser Lance is kinda like Javelin Throw, but will pierce through enemies and hit more than one if they are in a line. Again, not very useful.
Primal Roar allegedly inflicts Stop, but it works too rarely to be reliable.
White Knight is very effective, although I can't really see where it would be useful to just stand there and wait with its protective effect.
Despite the lack of very good abilities, Nine still remains a great character to use if you rely on Breaksights and Killsights a lot. He's durable, and could easily be a first choice (would have been my first choice if Jack wasn't just superior).

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Level 8.	4
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Learn White Knight: AG down.	14
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after a certain normal attack.	Learn Twinspell.	12
	Sweeping Cast	Cast finishing magic after certain wide-area attacks.	Learn Clean Sweep II.	22
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw	18
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 46; learn Quick Draw II.	32
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Learn White Knight.	2
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	3
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Learn Slipstream.	5
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Clean Sweep	Deliver a wide-area attack with LS_Down + attack button.	-	-
	Clean Sweep II	Increase number of hits for Clean Sweep.	Learn Whirling Lance: AG down.	4
	Clean Sweep III	Increase number of his for Clean Seep.	Learn Clean Sweep II.	5
	Mobile Strike	Attack while moving with LS_Up + attack button.	Learn Clean Sweep III.	6
	Mobile Strike II	Increase number of hits for Mobile Strike.	Learn Mobile Strike.	6
Jump	Jump	Leap towards enemies and strike.	-	-
	Jump: Power up	Increase power of Jump.	-	4
	Jump: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Jump.	-	4
	Jump: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Jump.	-	5
White Knight	White Knight	Generate a safety zone that restores HP and prevents damage.	Learn Accelerate.	4
	White Knight: AG down	Reduce AG cost of White Knight.	Learn White Knight.	5
Whirling Lance	Whirling Lance	Twirl spear to attack enemies.	Level 13.	4
	Whirling Lance: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Whirling Lance.	Learn Whirling Lance.	6
High Jump	High Jump	Leap high into the air and deliver a powerful strike from above.	Learn Mobile Strike.	8
	High Jump: Power up	Increase power of High Jump.	Learn High Jump.	8
	High Jump: Power up II	Further increase power of High Jump.	Learn High Jump: Power up.	10
Javelin Throw	Javelin throw	Launch spear to pierce and damage enemies.	Learn Clean Sweep III.	4
	Javelin Throw: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Javelin Throw.	Learn Javelin Throw.	6
Laser Lance	Laser Lance	Launch spear in a straight line to severely damage enemies.	Learn Mobile Strike II.	5
	Laser Lance: Power up	Increase power of Laser Lance.	Learn Laser Lance.	7
Primal Roar	Primal Roar	Unleash a guttural roar to inflict enemies with Stop.	Learn Whirling Lance: AG down.	3
	Primal Roar: Time up	Primal Roar remains active for a longer time.	Learn Primal Roar.	4
	Primal Roar: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Primal Roar.	Learn Primal Roar.	6

Jack

The single strongest character of the game, Jack is possibly the best melee choice you can make. His movement speed had to be reduced to the slowest of all to try and compensate for his absurd strength, but he can move around somewhat faster if you "slide around" with his dodges instead of slowly walking. Also, when no enemies are around you can put your weapons back and run more quickly with him. He definitely lacks in the magic department, and isn't particularly durable for a melee fighter.
Jack's attacks are the strongest regular attacks of any character. With high chances of Critical Hit, especially when attacking enemies from behind, and extremely fast animation (minimal latency between attack input and execution), he's the perfect character for Breaksights and Killsights in melee range. By default he can only perform one attack in his combo, but he can upgrade that to 3 hits (which isn't really going to be needed most of the time).
The typical way to use Jack is by performing a continuous series of dodge-attack patterns, which will keep him safe while quickly killing everything. Even against stronger enemies he can work very well thanks to his swift Breaksight/Killsight. His dodge is fast and effective, making him an excellent Breaksighter in every melee situation.
By using LS_down and the attack button you can use "Focus" to boost his very next attack damage output. Most of the times, this actually won't be necessary since he can one-shot everything; when he doesn't one-shot something, it's still faster to attack twice rather than using Focus and a single attack.
Jack's abilities rely mostly on a well-timed counterattack to simultaneously dodge and inflict heavy damage on the opponent. Reflex is the first ability of this type, and Tranquility is its buffed-up version -- if upgraded, it will deal Breaksight damage to the enemy, although there is a drawback of a longer recovery animation (and you can't dodge-cancel the recovery in this case). Tranquility remains an extremely powerful ability against a large variety of enemies (including Adamantoise, where it's arguably the best attack you can use, if we exclude powerful spells spam).
Transience is a nerfed (less-strong) version of Eight's Sacrificial Slug.
Deliverance is similar to Eight's Lightspeed Jab (its purpose is to allow a fast attack that can close-in the distance to the enemy for Breaksights), although I personally don't find it very useful since you can always dodge and slash the enemy very quickly when you need to Killsight them.
Piercing Gleam is too slow and doesn't even work on all the enemies, so you should probably forget about it.

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Learn Untouchable.	7
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Level Quick Draw.	10
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after a normal attack.	Learn Transience: AG down.	12
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Twinspell.	20
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw II.	38
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Learn Reflex: AG down.	4
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Lightning Flash: AG down.	6
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Level Quick Draw III.	4
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Ninja Slice	Increase critical hit rate when attacking some enemies from the rear.	-	-
	Combo Bonus	Increase the number of hits in a normal attack.	Learn Triple Slip.	6
	Focus	Concentrate to temporarily increase Attack with LS_Down + attack button.	-	-
	Focus: Power up	Increase effect of Focus.	Learn Piercing Gleam: AG down.	4
Reflex	Reflex	Read enemies' attacks and deliver a mid-range counterslash.	-	-
	Reflex: Power up	Increase power of Reflex.	-	4
	Reflex: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Reflex.	Learn Reflex: Power up.	6
	Reflex: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Reflex.	Learn Reflex: Crit up.	5
Lightning Flash	Lightning Flash	Slash in rapid succession.	Learn Combo Bonus.	4
	Lightning Flash: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Lightning Flash.	Learn Lightning Flash.	6
	Lightning Flash: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Lightning Flash.	Learn Lightning Flash: Crit up.	4
Piercing Gleam	Piercing Gleam	Lower the enemy's Defense.	Learn Slipstream.	5
	Piercing Gleam: Effect up	Increase effect of Piercing Gleam.	Learn Piercing Gleam.	6
	Piercing Gleam: Power up	Increase power of Piercing Gleam.	Learn Piercing Gleam: Effect up.	8
	Piercing Gleam: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Piercing Gleam.	Learn Piercing Gleam: Power up.	5
Deliverance	Deliverance	Rush at and attack enemies inflicted with Killsight.	Learn Focus: Power up.	8
	Deliverance: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Deliverance.	Learn Deliverance.	6
Tranquility	Tranquility	Read enemies' attacks and deliver a devastating counterslash.	Learn Deliverance: AG down.	6
	Tranquility: Power up	Increase power of Tranquility.	Learn Tranquility.	6
	Tranquility: +Killsight	Add Killsight effect to Tranquility.	Learn Tranquility: Power up.	8
	Tranquility: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Tranquility.	Learn Tranquility: +Killsight.	6
Transience	Transience	Consume user's HP to inflict heavy damage on enemies.	Learn Tranquility: AG down.	5
	Transience: Power up	Further increase power of Transience.	Learn Transience.	6
	Transience: Power up II	Further increase power of Transience.	Learn Transience: Power up.	8
	Transience: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Transience.	Learn Transience: Power up II.	4

Queen

Probably the most balanced character of the game, Queen is versatile both for melee and spell use. She ranks second in Lightning Magic, and her MP pool is not too bad (fifth-best, but Magic Martyr can easily make her rank at the top). Her movement speed is very fast, and she has various useful abilities.
She can do a "forward" lunge-attack with LS_up+attack (Balestra Lunge). She can also do a "step-back" attack with LS_down+attack (Riposte Slash) which can end with up to three magic balls that will reach the enemy. I find neither of these particularly useful, but they're there.
Speedrush allows you to close in the distance from an enemy quickly, but it doesn't contain an attack (it's just a movement) and it doesn't cover very long distances.
Divine Judgment will summon a cross that circles a large area around Queen and restore everyone's HP. It's pretty cool, but the lack of a knock-back effect on the enemies makes it rather unreliable.
Mana Sphere allows a ranged magic attack of decent speed and strength, but it's not particularly effective.
Justice Guard is a counterattack of some sort, but it's not comparable to Jack's counters.
Gate of Destiny covers a rather large area around Queen, it charges relatively fast, and you can wait until the right moment to release it. It deals a pretty good amount of damage, and it consumes HP instead of AG (which can actually be advantageous).
On a similar note, Magic Martyr also consumes HP instead of AG to recover MP. This is an extremely good ability, because it gives Queen virtually "infinite" MP -- all you have to do is use Magic Martyr to recover everyone's MP, and then cast Cure to recover Queen's HP. The only thing that keeps you from abusing this ability to the point where you would basically have "Freecast" is the fact that its animation exposes Queen to potentially taking a lot of damage (it also has a moderately long recovery animation). Other than that, if you can find a safe area where to use it, then her MP pool (and also everyone else's while she's on the team) is virtually infinite.
While it's not one of her abilities, the accessory Lucid Lenses (he special accessory, acquired in New Game+) is very particular, because it allows her to survive a deadly hit and then "transform" into a sort of berserker-girl with special abilities of her own. It's not exactly a very powerful transformation, but it's the only case, and it's probably worth trying it out after obtaining the accessory in New Game+ (just for fun). I'll remind you to try it out after getting it, in the story walkthrough pages.

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Learn Balestra Lunge II.	2
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Learn Diving Judgment: HP up.	5
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after a normal attack.	Learn Riposte Slash II.	6
	Feint Spell	Cast finishing magic after a Riposte Slash in some situations.	Learn Quick Draw.	6
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw	12
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 31; learn Quick Draw II.	28
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Learn Accelerate.	2
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	3
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Learn Slipstream.	5
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Balestra Lunge	Rush toward enemies and attack with LS_Up + attack button.	-	-
	Balestra Lunge II	Increase maximum number of hits in a Balestra Lunge.	Level 11.	4
	Riposte Slash	Jump away from enemies and attack with LS_Down + attack button.	-	-
	Riposte Slash II	Fire magic shots after a Riposte Slash by returning LS to center.	Learn Balestra Lunge II.	6
Divine Judgment	Divine Judgment	Conjure a cross-shaped light that heals allies by draining enemies' HP.	-	-
	Divine Judgment: Speed up	Increase revolution speed of Divine Judgment.	-	8
	Divine Judgment: Power up	Increase power of Divine Judgment.	-	2
	Divine Judgment: HP up	Increase amount of HP recovered with Divine Judgment.	-	3
	Divine Judgment: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Divine Judgment.	-	3
Magic Martyr	Magic Martyr	Expend HP instead of AG to generate an MP-restoring field.	Learn Twinspell.	2
	Magic Martyr: Effect up	Improve HP/MP exchange rate of Magic Martyr.	Learn Magic Martyr.	4
	Flinchproof Martyr	Magic Martyr continues even after taking damage.	Learn Magic Martyr.	4
Speedrush	Speedrush	Approach targets at high speed.	Learn Triple Slip.	3
	Speedrush: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Speedrush.	Learn Speedrush.	4
Mana Sphere	Mana Sphere	Fire energy orbs that fissure and damage enemies.	Level 27.	8
	Mana Sphere: Power up	Increase power of Mana Sphere.	Learn Mana Sphere.	10
	Mana Sphere: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Mana Sphere.	Learn Mana Sphere.	12
	Mana Sphere: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Mana Sphere.	Learn Mana Sphere.	12
Gate of Destiny	Gate of Destiny	Expend HP instead of AG to generate a portal that damages enemies.	Learn Mana Sphere: Crit up.	10
	Gate of Destiny: Power up	Increase power of Gate of Destiny.	Learn Gate of Destiny.	12
	Gate of Destiny: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Gate of Destiny.	Learn Gate of Destiny: Power up.	14
Justice Guard	Justice Guard	Nullify and counter enemy attacks while occasionally inflicting Killsight.	Learn Gate of Destiny: Crit up.	10
	Justice Guard: Power up	Increase power of Justice Guard.	Learn Justice Guard.	12
	Justice Guard: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Justice Guard.	Learn Justice Guard.	14

King

King is a long-ranged, fast-hitting characer. His projectiles have no homing properties, but they travel so fast that it's not a problem most of the time. He's potentially the best character for Breaksights and Killsights, at least for ranged enemies, but this is counter-compensated by a low base attack power and, more importantly, by the need to actually reload the magazine of his pistols.
It's important to learn his Hi-Cap Magazine abilities as early as possible when using him (unfortunately they are unlocked only later, when he's at level 18 or 27).
It's also important to know that he will reload automatically when you try to attack and he has 0 bullets left in the magazine, but you can manually reload at any point by pressing LS_down+attack.
King has several abilities, but most of them don't really work all that well. His true strength lies in Breaksights and Killsights.
Point-Blank Shot is his "charged" attack. Sadly, it doesn't allow him to move while charging it (even after the charge is complete), and its damage depends on how close King is to the enemy. If you try to use this ability when the enemy is far from King, it will deal very low damage. On the other hand, you hardly want to let enemies close to King, so its use is very limited.
Endless Waltz allows for a decent amount of damage in a short period of time, but it's not a lot of damage and only focuses the damage output on one enemy.
Magazine Blast deals decent damage, but it's far from being a strong attack.
Trigger Finger is a decent counter move (dodge and counterattack), but it consumes a lot of AG and it's not THAT powerful to begin with.
Multitask doesn't actually allow you to really continue to fire at King's usual firing rate while also reloading; it just allows you to shoot a couple of slow shots while King is busy reloading. For Hawkeye, refer to what we said about Trey.
Iron Will supposedly prevents you from being KO'd. While this is true, and it will make you survive with critical HP after an attack that would have otherwise killed you, this ability's effect only lasts for a few seconds. It gives King Aura for a short while after he survives the should-have-been-fatal attack. So in reality what Iron Will should do is giving you Aura in exchange for taking a hit that should have killed you. Its other possible use is to defy death if you know that you are about to receive a deadly blow; in this case you could simply dodge out of the way, but with Iron Will you will not only survive, but also get Aura. It's one of those "cool in theory, but good luck finding a practical use of it" abilities in my opinion. And in case you're wondering, no, it won't save you from mandatory deaths such as when you summon or fail an SO.

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	-	2
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Level 28.	6
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after melee attacks.	Level 80.	16
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw	16
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 90; learn Quick Draw II.	30
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Level 13.	2
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Level 16; learn Triple Slip.	3
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Level 24.	5
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Markmanship	Deal more damage when closer to enemy, but less damage in bad weather.	-	-
	Reload	Reload by pressing LS_Down + attack button.	-	-
	Multitask	Enable user to fire weapon while reloading.	Level 17.	3
	Kick	Perform a melee attack with LS_Up + attack button.	-	-
	Direct Shot	Fire a special shot after melee attacks.	Level 11.	3
	Hi-Cap Magazine	Increase magazine capacity from 12 to 18 rounds.	Level 18.	8
	Hi-Cap Magazine II	Increase magazine capacity from 18 to 24 rounds.	Level 27; learn Hi-Cap Magazine.	14
Point-Blank Shot	Point-Blank Shot	Inflict tremendous damage on nearby enemies.	-	-
	Charge I	Increase attack power of Point-Blank shot by holding down button.	-	3
	Charge II	Increase charge level of Point-Blank shot.	Level 11; learn Charge I.	4
	Charge III	Max out charge level of Point-Blank shot.	Level 13; learn Charge II.	6
	Point-Blank Shot: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Point-Blank Shot.	Level 15.	8
	Point-Blank Shot: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Point-Blank Shot.	Level 22.	8
Magazine Blast	Magazine Blast	Launch and fire at an ammo cartridge to make it explode.	Level 14.	4
	Magazine Blast: Power up	Increase power of Magazine Blast.	Level 18; learn Magazine Blast.	6
	Magazine Blast: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Magazine Blast.	Level 25; learn Magazine Blast.	8
Endless Waltz	Endless Waltz	Fire continuously with both guns.	Level 12.	3
	Endless Waltz: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Endless Waltz.	Level 19; learn Endless Waltz.	6
Trigger Finger	Trigger Finger	Draw gun quickly to counter enemy attacks.	Level 16.	4
	Trigger Finger: Power up	Increase power of Trigger Finger when guns are holstered.	Level 21; learn Trigger Finger.	6
	Trigger Finger: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Trigger Finger.	Level 26; learn Trigger Finger.	8
Hawkeye	Hawkeye	Aim and fire at distant enemies.	Level 20.	4
	Hawkeye: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Hawkeye.	Level 24; learn Hawkeye.	8
Iron Will	Iron Will	Prevent user from being KO'd.	Level 29.	8
	Iron Will: Time up	Aura effect of Iron Will remains active for a longer time.	Level 33; learn Iron Will.	10
	Iron Will: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Iron Will.	Level 45; learn Iron Will.	12

Rem

By far the strongest spellcaster of the game, Rem has the highest Magic stats (including MP) of all. She also starts with the Twinspell by default, which allows her to equip two spells at once from the very beginning.
To further improve her use as a spellcaster, Rem also has what is possibly the best magic-cancel (Quick Draw) ability of all in her Reflex Cast ability -- learned at level 28, allows you to magic-cancel after the first attack animation of a combo instead that at the end of the combo, as it is for most of the others. Her other Quick-Draw abilities (Quick Draw, Finishing Cast, Guarded Cast) are not as good, although they definitely reinforce the idea that she's meant to cast spells even further.
The other famous trait of Rem's is her Undying Wish ability, which will give Reraise for just a few seconds in exchange for some AG consumption. While this couldn't be used in ordinary battles (it lasts too little, costs relatively too much AG), it can be abused to summon Eidolons without actually losing the summoner character. This doesn't mean that she can summon without dying: she WILL die, and the death WILL be accounted for in the mission score screen; however, after the Eidolon's time expires she will still be alive thanks to the Reraise status she had when she summoned. This is a pretty big deal of course, as it opens up opportunities to really abuse the summoning system.
Rem also has a handful of other abilities. However, as much as I used her as my primary character (especially from the end of the first playthrough onwards), these secondary abilities really don't hold the comparison against her spellcasting skills.
She does have some MP-recovering abilities like Siphon Delta and Manalchemy, but they are not effective enough to really be able to pretend that MP cost is not a problem. Still, they could save you a few Ethers if you cast spells frequently.

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Level 27.	3
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	-	-
	Quick Draw	Cast level I finishing magic after a Guarded Finish.	Level 17; learn Guarded Finish.	8
	Finishing Cast	Cast finishing magic after a Strong Finish.	Level 21; learn Strong Finish.	8
	Combo Cast	Cast finishing magic after a normal attack.	Level 24.	8
	Reflex Cast	Cast finishing magic after a first attack.	Level 28.	18
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw	15
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Level 39; learn Quick Draw II.	30
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Level 11.	3
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	4
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Learn Slipstream.	5
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Guarded Finish	Perform a defensive finishing blow after normal attacks with LS_Down + attack button.	-	4
	Strong Finish	Perform a powerful finishing blow after normal attacks with LS_Up + attack button.	Level 19.	6
Siphon Sphere	Siphon Sphere	Fire MP-draining energy orbs that can hit multiple times.	Level 14.	3
	Siphon Sphere: Range up	Increase range of Siphon Sphere.	Learn Siphon Sphere.	4
	Siphon Sphere: Time up	Siphon Sphere remains active for a longer time.	Learn Siphon Sphere: Range up.	6
Manalchemy	Manalchemy	Expend AG to restore MP to user and allies.	-	3
	Manalchemy: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Manalchemy.	Learn Manalchemy.	8
Undying Wish	Undying Wish	Grant Reraise to allies for a brief period of time.	Level 15.	3
	Undying Wish: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Undying Wish.	Learn Undying Wish.	6
Seraphim Strike	Seraphim Strike	Summon magical energy to deliver a powerful strike from above.	Level 25.	6
	Seraphim Strike: Power up	Increase power of Seraphim Strike.	Learn Seraphim Strike.	8
	Seraphim Strike: Speed up	Increase firing speed of Seraphim Strike.	Learn Seraphim Strike.	10
	Seraphim Strike: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Seraphim Strike.	Learn Seraphim Strike.	8
Siphon Delta	Siphon Delta	Generate a field that absorbs MP.	Learn Siphon Sphere: Time up	6
	Siphon Delta: Power up	Increase power of Siphon Delta.	Learn Siphon Delta.	8
	Siphon Delta: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Siphon Delta.	Learn Siphon Delta.	8
Dagger Boomerang	Dagger Boomerang	Launch daggers to damage enemies.	Level 29.	8
	Dagger Boomerang: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Dagger Boomerang.	Learn Dagger Boomerang.	8
Flying Daggers	Flying Daggers	Launch daggers for a short-ranged but powerful attack.	Level 45.	8
	Flying Daggers: Power up	Increase power of Flying Daggers.	Learn Flying Daggers.	10

Machina

As unpleasant as he might be in the story, this infatuated crybaby is arguably the character with the best all-around stats, both physical and magical ones, and his abilities are potentially great too.
Machina is a short-ranged melee character, with decent attack speed; on the other hand, he is also somewhat inaccurate in landing his attacks, and not particularly fast either.
His default ability Cyclone Drive can be used continuously until he's knocked back or (slowly) runs out of AG. In an ideal situation where being killed is not a problem, Machina could easily just use Cyclone Drive to deal an insane amount of damage. To compensate for it, the enemy won't be knocked back by this attack, meaning that Machina is very vulnerable to counterattacks.
The ability Awakening allows him to do an endless combo of regular melee attacks while continuously consuming AG at a slow rate. Furthermore, each hit that he lands will regenerate the AG gauge (like any regular melee attack does), thus extending the duration of this ability even further. It is a pretty strong move, although once again you need to face the possibility of being counter-attacked in the meantime.
Stunning Slash can inflict many hits in a short amount of time, but it won't really Stun the strongest enemies very often.
Siphon Sword does the same as Stunning Slash, except it recovers Machina's HP depending on the damage dealt instead of Stunning the enemy.
Dark Side is basically a hybrid between the previous two.
Before considering the use of Machina as your primary character there is one final thing to consider. Without going into details to avoid spoilers, let's just say that he may not be available in all the story missions of the game.
As a side note, he's the only character that doesn't have an ability called Quick Draw (his ability Finishing Cast is the equivalent of the typical Quick Draw ability though, so he's not actually missing it; he just doesn't have an ability with that name).

Ability Group	Ability	Description	Unlocked	AP
Passive abilities	Accelerate	Increase movement speed.	Learn Cyclone Drive: Power up.	2
	Twinspell	Equip two spells at once.	Learn Combo Bonus.	5
	Finishing Cast	Cast level I finishing magic after a normal attack.	Learn Twinspell.	8
	Combo Cast	Cast finishing magic after certain normal attacks.	Learn Finishing Cast.	9
	Quick Draw II	Cast level II finishing magic.	Learn Finishing Cast.	15
	Quick Draw III	Cast level III finishing magic.	Learn Quick Draw II.	30
	Triple Slip	Execute up to three dodges in succession.	Learn Accelerate.	2
	Slipstream	Execute any number of dodges in succession.	Learn Triple Slip.	3
	Untouchable	Window for dodging increases.	Learn Slipstream.	5
	Intel	Check status of locked-on targets.	-	-
	Combo Bonus	Increase number of hits for normal attacks.	Learn Dark Side: Targets up.	3
Cyclone Drive	Cyclone Drive	Continue damaging enemies until user runs out of AG.	-	-
	Cyclone Drive: Power up	Increase power of Cyclone Drive.	-	3
	Cyclone Drive: Power up II	Further increase power of Cyclone Drive.	Learn Cyclone Drive: Power up.	4
	Finishing Blow	Add finishing kick to Cyclone Drive.	Learn Cyclone Drive: Power up II.	5
	Finishing Blow: Crit up.	Increase critical hit rate of Cyclone Drive's finishing kick.	Learn Finishing Blow.	6
	Cyclone Drive: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Cyclone Drive.	Learn Finishing Blow: Crit up.	8
Awakening	Awakening	Restore all HP and turn all normal attacks into Furious Blades until user takes damage.	Learn Finishing Blow.	4
	Awakening: Power up	Increase power of Furious Blades.	Learn Awakening.	6
	Flinchproof Awakening	Awakening continues even after taking damage.	Learn Awakening.	4
	Awakening: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Awakening.	Learn Awakening.	8
Stunning Slash	Stunning Slash	Strike with a high chance of inflicting Stun.	Learn Cyclone Drive: Power up II.	16
	Stunning Slash: Effect up	Increase stun rate of Stunning Slash.	Learn Stunning Slash.	6
	Stunning Slash: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Stunning Slash.	Learn Stunning Slash: Effect up.	8
Guardian Blades	Guardian Blades	Summon spinning swords that simultaneously attack and defend.	Learn Stunning Slash: AG down.	4
	Guardian Blades: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Guardian Blades.	Learn Guardian Blades.	6
Siphon Sword	Siphon Sword	Attack enemies and drain HP.	Learn Cyclone Drive: Power up II.	16
	Siphon Sword: Power up	Increase power of Siphon Sword.	Learn Siphon Sword.	6
	Siphon Sword: AG down	Reduce AG cost of Siphon Sword.	Learn Siphon Sword: Power up.	8
Dark Side	Dark Side	Pierce multiple enemies in succession to drain HP and possibly inflict Stun.	Learn Siphon Sword: AG down.	5
	Dark Side: Crit up	Increase critical hit rate of Dark Side.	Learn Dark Side.	8
	Dark Side: Targets up	Increase number of targets for Dark Side.	Learn Dark Side: Crit up.	10

Various Lists

In this section I will list weapons, accessories, and items available in the game.

Introduction (best equipment and items)

In case you missed it when I talked about it earlier in the weapons/accessories sub-section of the General Gameplay, below (before the whole list) there is a quick recap of the best equipment that is actually worth getting. Everything else is, in my opinion, either too shabby, or unnecessary, or simply available just too late compared to superior choices. In my various playthroughs I never felt the need to upgrade weapons and accessories with purchases made from shops -- the equipment obtained from other sources (missions, quests, SOs) is just overall better.
Best weapons: for each character, the only purchasable weapons that are worth considering are the "Mythril" weapons (and even they are probably not worth the Gil investment). Then there are the "Double EXP" weapons (purchase them at the SPP Shop after unlocking them by performing 300x Killsights with the corresponding character), which are the most important ones of all thanks to their Double-EXP passive ability. Lastly, the "Ultimate" weapons are the actual best ones, and they are obtained by defeating "True" Gilgamesh (third playthrough, minimum) with the corresponding character.
One last thing I want to point out about weapons with "Instant Death" properties: most of the strongest enemies are completely immune to instant death, so don't ever think about using them as a means of overcompensation for having weak characters -- they won't do you any good, and you'll just waste time to obtain them.
Best accessories: SP Crystal (from accumulating a total of 120,000 SPP) is the single best all-around accessory of the game, especially combined with another great accessory, the Akatoki Amethyst (you can only ever obtain one of each per game file though). The Agito Insignia has great value because of its tremendous passive abilities, but it lacks a direct stat boost (which SP Crystal and Akatoki Amethyst provide). The Juggernaut Badge is an extremely good piece of defensive equipment, but lacks offensive stats and passive abilities that can support you (still worthy of an honorable mention at least). Other honorable mentions include the Soul of Thamasa for its great stats boosts (unfortunately it's available too late), every strong "Bangle" accessory that boosts HP significantly, and of course all the Exp-boosting accessories (Growth Egg, Mog's Lucky Charm, and the aforementioned Agito Insignia).
Again, I want to point out one thing that fooled a lot of people, and that's the status-ailment-warding accessories. Because of virtually no dangerous negative statuses (no Confusion, Berserker, Zombie, Petrification, etc.; most statuses expire automatically after a few seconds), Ribbon and similar items are virtually useless. A particularly misleading item is the Super Ribbon, which probably is the hardest accessory to obtain. Keep in mind that it doesn't "prevent Death" as many sources report (that's the in-game description), but only the Killsight status. It doesn't prevent death from summoning; it doesn't prevent death from failed SOs; it doesn't prevent mandatory deaths in the story missions where they occur; it doesn't even prevent death against the insta-kill attacks of the boss of Chapter 5 (The Battle of Judecca mission); and lastly, it also doesn't prevent death from reaching HP = 0 with your character.
Best items: Potions are without a doubt the "star" item of the game (dirty cheap, very effective, and available from the start), followed closely by Anima Lanterns (they become available only later, but just when we really need them). Other important usable items (aside from key items) include the Fire Shard, Flan Ooze, and Light Feather (all three available from easy sources, all three extremely useful in certain situations); plus Ice Shard in more rare situations.

Weapons

Warning: minor spoilers are contained in the list (in particular, the name of story missions will be explicitly written). It's nothing important, but beware of it.
In the following tables, the Acquired/Unlocked column refers respectively to where you can acquire the corresponding equipment (Acquired) in missions/dungeons, and how to unlock them (if necessary) at the corresponding shop (Unlocked).

Ace's Weapons

Weapon (Cards)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Playing Cards	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Argentic Deck	5	-	Armory
Akademeia Deck	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Ace
Arcane Deck	9	MP +10%	Rokol
Lustrous Deck	10	-		SO in The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Officer)
Imperial Tarot	12	-	Cetme
Draconic Deck	15	-	Roshana
Ironclad Deck	24	Defense +30	Bazz
Mythril Deck	32	All Magic +10	Amiter
Platinum Deck	38	-		SO in United Front; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Finis)
Reaper's Tarot	43	10% chance of Instant Death	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Ace
Cardshark's Deck	48	-		Bethnel Caverns
Magician's Deck	52	All Magic +20	Armory	Unlock: land 200x killsights with Ace
Hanafuda	58	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Ace
Crazy Eights	62	-	Armory	Unlock: Mission Under Ceasefire (Finis)
Black Trump	68	10% chance of Instant Death		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Ace

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Deuce's Weapons 

Weapon (Flute)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Flute	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Argentic Flute	5	MP +20%	Armory
Baroque Flute	8	MP +30%	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Deuce
Anima Flute	8	HP +20%	Rokol
Platinum Piccolo	9	-		SO in Escaping the Imperial Capital; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Officer)
Marching Fife	12	MP +50%	Cetme
Wyvern Whistle	14	MP +40%	Roshana
Maestro's Flute	24	Defense +30	Bazz
Mythril Flute	31	All Magic +10	Amiter
Wildfire Flute	37	Fire Magic +15		SO in Operation Breakthrough; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Finis)
Hoarfrost Flute	42	Ice Magic +15	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Deuce
Voltaic Flute	45	Lightning Magic +15		Bethnel Caverns
Guardian Flute	51	Defense Magic +20	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Breaksights with Deuce
Angel Flute	54	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Breaksights with Deuce
Lamia's Flute	59	-	Armory	Unlock: Covering the Cadets (Finis)
Elsian Whistle	63	All Magic +60		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Deuce

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Trey Weapons

Weapon (Bow)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Longbow	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Argentic Bow	5	-	Armory
Hunter's Bow	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Trey
Windslash Bow	10	-	Rokol
Thorn Bow	11	-		SO in Operation MA Demolision; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Officer)
Power Bow	12	-	Cetme
Elfin Bow	15	-	Roshana
Platinum Bow	24	-	Bazz
Mythril Bow	33	All Magic +10	Amiter
Venom Bow	38	30% chance of Poison		SO in The Battle of Judecca; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Finis)
Thanatos' Bow	42	10% chance of Instant Death	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Trey
Rune Bow	47	-		Bethnel Caverns
Chiron's Bow	52	-	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with Trey
Blessed Bow	55	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Trey
Artemis' Bow	62	-	Armory	Unlock: The Retreat from Roshana (Finis)
Yoichi's Bow	69	10% chance of Instant Death		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Trey

---

Cater's Weapons

Weapon (Magicite Pistol)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Magicite Pistol	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
MTek-II Pistol	5	-	Armory
Magicite Blaster	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Cater
MTek-II Blaster	9	All Magic +1	Rokol
Magicite Prime	10	-		SO in The Battle of Judecca; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Officer)
Riot Gun	12	-	Cetme
Draconic Pistol	15	-	Roshana
Erinyes' Pistol	25	-	Bazz
Mythril Pistol	33	All Magic +15	Amiter
Rune Trigger	41	MP +50%		SO in Mission Under Ceasefire; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Finis)
MTek-II Prime	45	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Cater
Missing Score	52	-		Bethnel Caverns
Shining Shot	56	All Magic +30	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with Cater
Tanegashima	62	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Cater
Marvelous Shout	67	-	Armory	Unlock: A Fog-Laden Foray (Finis)
MTek-ZERO	71	-		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Cater

---

Cinque's Weapons

Weapon (Mace)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Mace	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Skull Crusher	5	-	Armory
Shock Hammer	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Cinque
Seismic Shaker	10	-	Rokol
Buster Hammer	11	-		SO in Escaping the Imperial Capital; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Officer)
Battle Mace	12	-	Cetme
Ogre Hammer	16	-	Roshana
Ares' Mace	25	-	Bazz
Mythril Mace	38	All Magic +10	Amiter
Wildfire Mace	43	Fire Magic +15; 30% chance of Burn		SO in The Retreat from Roshana; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Finis)
Hoarfrost Mace	49	Ice Magic +15; 30% chance of Freeze	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Cinque
Voltaic Mace	54	Lightning Magic +15; 30% chance of Shock		Bethnel Caverns
Gigas Hammer	60	-	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with Cinque
Lucky Mallet	64	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Cinque
Seraphim Mace	69	-	Armory	Unlock: Operation MA Demolition (Finis)
Thor's Hammer	74	-		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Cinque

---

Sice's Weapons

Weapon (Scythe)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Scythe	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Silver Scythe	5	MP +10%	Armory
War Scythe	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Sice
Platinum Scythe	9	-	Rokol
Reaper's Scythe	9	10% chance of Instant Death		SO in The Battle of Judecca; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Officer)
Steel Scythe	12	-	Cetme
Wyvern Fang	15	-	Roshana
Cronus's Scythe	24	-	Bazz
Mythril Scythe	34	All Magic +10	Amiter
Lamia's Scythe	38	MP +20%		SO in A Fog-Laden Foray; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Finis)
Toxic Scythe	43	30% chance of Poison	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Sice
Persephone's Scythe	48	20% chance of Instant Death		Bethnel Caverns
Nightmare	53	-	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with Sice
Pixie's Scythe	58	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Sice
Shambhala	63	-	Armory	Unlock: The Clash in the Caverns (Finis)
Tezcatlipoca	68	-		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Sice

---

Seven's Weapons

Weapon (Whipblade)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Whipblade	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Silver Whipblade	5	-	Armory
Knight's Whipblade	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Seven
Platinum Whipblade	9	-	Rokol
Sleipnir Tail	10	-		SO in Operation MA Demolition; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Officer)
Chain Whipblade	12	-	Cetme
Wyvern Tail	15	-	Roshana
Steel Snake	22	-	Bazz
Mythril Whipblade	34	All Magic +10	Amiter
Wildfire Whipblade	38	Fire Magic +15; 30% chance of Burn		SO in Operation Vulturnus; S-Rank Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Finis)
Hoarfrost Whipblade	43	Ice Magic +15; 30% chance of Freeze	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Seven
Voltaic Whipblade	48	Lightning Magic +15; 30% chance of Shock		Bethnel Caverns
Rosethorn	52	-	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with Seven
Reginleif	57	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Seven
Beastmaster	61	-	Armory	Unlock: Operation Vulturnus (Finis)
Brynhildr	66	-		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Seven

---

Eight's Weapons

Weapon (Knuckles)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Brass Knuckles	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Silver Knuckles	5	-	Armory
Killer Knuckles	7	10% chance of Instant Death		SO in The Battle of Judecca; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Officer)
Heavy Knuckles	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Eight
Platinum Knuckles	10	-	Rokol
Iron Fists	12	-	Cetme
Boxing Gloves	16	-	Roshana
Steel Claws	26	-	Bazz
Mythril Gloves	34	All Magic +10	Amiter
Diamond Fists	42	-		SO in Colonel Faith's Revolt; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Finis)
Adamant Knuckles	48	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Eight
Godhands	53	-		Bethnel Caverns
Master Fists	58	-	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with Eight
Golden Hands	64	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Eight
Kaiser Knuckles	70	-	Armory	Unlock: The Infiltration of Iscah (Finis)
Demon Fist	75	-		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Eight

---

Nine's Weapons

Weapon (Spear)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Lance	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Heavy Lance	5	-	Armory
Javelin	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Nine
Shapeshifter	10	-	Rokol
Knight's Lance	11	-		SO in The Clash on Big Bridge; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Officer)
Harpoon	12	-	Cetme
Wyvern Horn	16	-	Roshana
Holy Lance	26	-	Bazz
Mythril Lance	37	All Magic +10	Amiter
Wildfire Spear	42	Fire Magic +15; 30% chance of Burn		SO in Capturing the Imperial Capital; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Finis)
Hoarfrost Spear	47	Ice Magic +15; 30% chance of Freeze	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Nine
Voltaic Saber	53	Lightning Magic +15; 30% chance of Shock		Bethnel Caverns
Venus Gospel	58	-	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with Nine
Highwind	63	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Nine
Kain's Lance	69	-	Armory	Unlock: The Keziah Diversion (Finis)
Lance of Longinus	74	-		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Nine

---

Jack's Weapons

Weapon (Katana)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Katana	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Kiku-ichimonji	5	-	Armory
Nagamitsu	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Jack
Black Widow	8	30% chance of Poison		SO in The Clash on Big Bridge; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Officer)
Murasame	10	-	Rokol
Imperial Blade	12	-	Cetme
Dragonslayer	15	-	Roshana
Kotetsu	26	-	Bazz
Mythril Blade	36	All Magic +15	Amiter
Demonslayer	42	-		SO in The Last Line of Defense; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Finis)
Rapture	47	10% chance of Instant Death	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Jack
Conqueror	53	-		Bethnel Caverns
Muramasa	58	MP +30%	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with Jack
Bushido Blade	63	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Jack
Mutsunokami	68	HP +30%	Armory	Unlock: Operation Breakthrough (Finis)
Genji Blade	75	-		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Jack

---

Queen's Weapons

Weapon (Longswords)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Longsword	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Flamberge	5	-	Armory
Claymore	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Queen
Rune Saber	8	MP +20%		SO in Escaping the Imperial Capital; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Officer)
Shamshir	10	-	Rokol
Imperial Saber	12	-	Cetme
Ancient Blade	15	-	Roshana
Warlord	26	-	Bazz
Mythril Saber	32	All Magic +10	Amiter
Wildfire Saber	41	Fire Magic +20		SO in Secret Agents Zero; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Finis)
Hoarfrost Saber	46	Ice Magic +20	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Queen
Voltaic Saber	52	Lightning Magic +20		Bethnel Caverns
Master Sword	57	Defense Magic +20	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with Queen
Save the Queen	63	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Queen
Phantasmal Blade	68	-	Armory	Unlock: Secret Agents Zero (Finis)
Celestial Saber	73	-		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Queen

---

King's Weapons

Weapon (Dual Handguns)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Twin Revolvers	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Twin Magnums	5	-	Armory
Outsiders	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with King
Twin SuperMags	9	-	Rokol
Magnati	10	-		SO in Operation MA Demolition; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Officer)
Hardedges	12	-	Cetme
Double Dragons	14	-	Roshana
Dual Blasters	24	-	Bazz
Mythril Blasters	33	All Magic +10	Amiter
Judgments	38	-		SO in Colonel Faith's Last Stand; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Finis)
Death Penalties	42	10% chance of Instant Death	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with King
Supershot STs	47	-		Bethnel Caverns
Dominators	51	-	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with King
Peacemakers	56	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with King
Valkyries	60	10% chance of Instant Death	Armory	Unlock: The Last Line of Defense (Finis)
Quicksilvers	64	-		Defeat True Gilgamesh with King

---

Rem's Weapons

Weapon (Twin Daggers)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Daggers	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Argentic Daggers	5	MP +10%	Armory
Dancing Daggers	6	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Rem
Ogyrenyxes	9	-	Rokol
Rune Daggers	10	MP +30%		SO in Escaping the Imperial Capital; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Officer)
Butterfly Edges	11	-	Cetme
Parrying Daggers	14	-	Roshana
Survival Edges	23	HP +30%	Bazz
Mythril Daggers	32	All Magic +10	Amiter
Wildfire Daggers	35	Fire Magic +20		SO in A Fog-Laden Foray; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Finis)
Hoarfrost Daggers	41	Ice Magic +20	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Rem
Voltaic Daggers	46	Lightning Magic +20		Bethnel Caverns
Defender's Daggers	50	Defense Magic +30	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with Rem
Zwillblades	54	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Rem
Assassin's Daggers	59	10% chance of Instant Death	Armory	Unlock: United Front (Finis)
Orichalcum Dirks	63	-		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Rem

---

Machina's Weapons 

Weapon (Twin Rapiers)	Attack	Other bonuses	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Bolt Rapiers	3	-		Starting weapon; Bethnel Caverns
Argentic Rapiers	5	-	Armory
Clockwork Blades	8	-	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 30x enemies with Machina
Platinum Rapiers	10	-	Rokol
Rune Rapiers	11	MP +20%		SO in Escaping the Imperial Capital; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Officer)
Mecha-Rapiers	12	-	Cetme
Ryujin Rapiers	15	-	Roshana
Corkscrew Rapiers	26	-	Bazz
Mythril Rapiers	36	All Magic +10	Amiter
Twin Laevateinns	41	MP +50%		SO in Machina's Struggle; S-Rank Wyverns in the Woods (Finis)
Flametongues	46	Fire Magic +30	SPP Shop	Unlock: kill 700x enemies with Machina
Icebrands	50	Ice Magic +30		Bethnel Caverns
Thunderslashes	54	Lightning Magic +30	Armory	Unlock: land 200x Killsights with Machina
Twin Durandals	61	Double EXP	SPP Shop	Unlock: land 300x Killsights with Machina
Dreadnaughts	65	-	Armory	Unlock: Machina's Struggle (Finis)
Twin Excaliburs	75	-		Defeat True Gilgamesh with Machina

Accessories

Warning: minor spoilers are contained in the list (in particular, the name of story missions will be explicitly written). It's nothing important, but beware of it.
Please note that for the most common/purchasable accessories I will not be writing all the possible locations to acquire them (especially not when they are S-Rank rewards, which is arguably the worst source possible). I'm sure we can all agree that writing down every possible way to obtain, say, a Silver Bangle (from several S-Rank missions, special orders, and stuff like that), would just be a waste of space considering that you can simply purchase it in an early shop. For more important accessories I'll write down every possible way to obtain them of course. For not-so-important accessories I'll write down only the best and repeatable sources.
I've also tried to group accessories together by "class", which isn't an actual thing in-game, but just a classification of mine to try and make this long list a bit easier to read. For convention, the accessories are listed in order as they would be listed by auto-sorting them in-game.

Class	Accessory	Effect	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
HP +X%	Bronze Bangle	HP +10%	McTighe
	Iron Bangle	HP +20%	Armory
	Silver Bangle	HP +30%	Iscah
	Vitality Apparatus	HP +40%	Cetme	SO in Escaping the Imperial Capital
	Gold Bangle	HP +50%	Armory	Unlock: Protecting the Defector (Officer); SO in Covering the Cadets; Tasks in Akademeia, Chapter 5; Task in Azurr, Chapter 7 (3x total)
	Platinum Bangle	HP +60%	Armory	Unlock: The Battle of Judecca (Agito) (without Eidolon)
	Mythril Bangle	HP +70%	Armory	Unlock: The Battle of Judecca (Finis) (without Eidolon)
	Diamond Bangle	HP +80%	Armory	Unlock: Protecting the Defector (Finis); SO in Operation MA Demolition; Task in Chapter 7
	Grand Bangle	HP +100%		Task in Amiter; S-Rank Machina's Struggle (Finis)
HP/MP +X%	Silver Bracelet	HP+/MP+ 10%	Keziah
	Gold Bracelet	HP+/MP+ 20%	Mi-Go
	Combat Apparatus	HP+/MP+ 30%	Bazz
	Platinum Bracelet	HP+/MP+ 40%	Armory	Unlock: Protecting the Defector (Agito)
	Mythril Bracelet	HP+/MP+ 50%		S-Rank Capturing the Imperial Capital (Agito)
	Diamond Bracelet	HP+/MP+ 80%		S-Rank The Amiter Resistance (Finis)
	Crystal Bracelet	HP+/MP+ 100%		S-Rank Operation Dragon Slayer (Agito or Finis)
HP +50%; +Effect	Adamant Shell	HP +50%; DEF +50		The Reclamation of Eibon (Finis) (only once); possible treasure in Ultima Ground Zero (only once per playthrough); S-Rank Operation Dragon Slayer (Finis)
	Mythril Armor	HP +50%; prevents Burn, Freeze, Shock	SPP Shop	The Reclamation of Eibon (Agito)
MP +X%	Cupric Ring	MP +10%	McTighe
	Ferric Ring	MP +20%	Armory
	Argentic Ring	MP +30%	Iscah
	Auric Ring	MP +40%		S-Rank Operation Homecoming (Officer)
	Draconic Ring	MP +50%	Roshana
	Mythril Ring	MP +60%	Armory	Unlock: The Cadets' First Deployment (Agito)
	Diamond Ring	MP +70%	Armory	Unlock: The Cadets' First Deployment (Finis)
	Rune Ring	MP +80%		S-Rank Operation Homecoming (Finis)
	Crystal Ring	MP +100%		S-Rank The Clash in the Caverns (Finis)
MP +X%; All Magic +Y	Earrings	MP +10%; All Magic +2	Keziah
	Amulet	MP +20%; All Magic +4	Mi-Go
	Talisman	MP +20%; All Magic +8		S-Rank The Clash on Big Bridge (Agito) (25% chances); S-Rank Operation Sticky Fingers (Officer) (12.5% chances)
	Crystal Ball	MP +30%; All Magic +10	Armory	Unlock: The Battle on the Beach (Officer)
	Circlet	MP +40%; All Magic +15	Armory	Unlock: The Battle on the Beach (Agito)
	Tiara	MP +60%; All Magic +20	Armory	Unlock: The Battle on the Beach (Finis)
	Hypno Crown	MP +80%; All Magic +30		SO in Dominating the Dragon's Nest; Operation Reconquista (Agito) (only once); S-Rank in United Front (Finis)
	Regal Crown	MP +100%; All Magic +40		Operation Reconquista (Finis) (only once); Class First Moogle after 70 hours of gameplay (only once); chest in second staircase of Tower of Agito
Attack +X	Black Belt	Attack +5	SPP Shop
	Power Sash	Attack +20	SPP Shop	Unlock: earn 40,000 SPP
Defense +X (+Effect)	Gauntlets	Defense +10	McTighe
	Buckler	Defense +15	Armory
	Metal Gloves	Defense +20	Iscah
	Silver Gloves	Defense +25		S-Rank Operation Reconquista (Officer)
	Soldier's Gloves	Defense +30	Cetme
	Platinum Gloves	Defense +35	Armory	Unlock: (chapter 8 story mission) (Officer)
	Mythril Gloves	Defense +40	Armory	Unlock: Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Officer)
	Diamond Gloves	Defense +50	Armory	Unlock: Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Agito)
	Crystal Gloves	Defense +60	Armory	Unlock: Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Finis)
	Aegis Armlet	Defense +80		S-Rank Colonel Faith's Last Stand (Finis)
	Adamant Armlet	Defense +100; Auto-Endure		S-Rank The Amiter Resistance (Finis) (12.5% chances); chest in second staircase of Tower of Agito
Defense +X; +Effect	Mythril Helm	Defense +10; prevents Burn	SPP Shop	Unlock: earn 5,000 SPP
	Protector Ring	Defense +30; Ballistic damage -10%	Bazz
	Warrior Ring	Defense +30; Ballistic damage -30%	Armory	Unlock: Colonel Faith's Last Stand (Agito)
	Guardian Ring	Defense +30; Impact damage -30%		S-Rank Operation Breakthrough (Agito)
	Stalwart Ring	Defense +40; Ballistic/Impact damage -40%		S-Rank The Amiter Resistance (Agito)
	Reed Cloak	Defense +50; Auto-Protect	SPP Shop	Unlock: Operation Dragon Slayer (Agito)
	Crystal Mail	Defense +70; Auto-Trance	SPP Shop	Unlock: Operation Dragon Slayer (Finis)
	Onion Armor	Defense +70; Auto-Aura	SPP Shop	Unlock: The Climactic Clash at Azurr (Finis)
Fire Magic +X; MP -Y%; (+Effect)	Ignis Primus, Vol. I	Fire Magic +2; MP -10%	Aqvi
	Ignis Primus, Vol. II	Fire Magic +4; MP -12%	Keziah
	Ignis Secundus, Vol. I	Fire Magic +6; MP -14%	Mi-Go
	Ignis Secundus, Vol. II	Fire Magic +8; MP -18%	Iscah
	Ignis Tertius, Vol. I	Fire Magic +10; MP -24%	Meroe
	Ignis Tertius, Vol. II	Fire Magic +13; MP -28%	Shakara
	Ignis Essentia	Fire Magic +16; MP -32%	Armory	Unlock: Secret Agents Zero (Officer)
	Ignis Veritas	Fire Magic +20; MP -36%		S-Rank Secret Agents Zero (Agito)
	Ignis Magnum	Fire Magic +30; MP -40%		S-Rank The Clash in the Caverns (Finis)
	Ignis Divinum	Fire Magic +50; MP -40%		Chest in the first staircase of Tower of Agito
	Ignis Codex	Fire Magic +20; MP -10%; prevents Burn	Shakara
	Tome of Ifrit	Fire Magic +40; MP -30%; prevents Burn		SO in True Gilgamesh fight; S-Rank Mission Under Ceasefire (Agito)
Ice Magic +X; MP -Y%; (+Effect)	Glacies Prima, Vol. I	Ice Magic +2; MP -10%	Aqvi
	Glacies Prima, Vol. II	Ice Magic +4; MP -12%	Keziah
	Glacies Secunda, Vol. I	Ice Magic +6; MP -14%	Mi-Go
	Glacies Secunda, Vol. II	Ice Magic +8; MP -18%	Iscah
	Glacies Tertia, Vol. I	Ice Magic +10; MP -24%	Meroe
	Glacies Tertia, Vol. II	Ice Magic +13; MP -28%	Shakara
	Glacies Essentia	Ice Magic +16; MP -32%	Armory	Unlock: Operation Homecoming (Officer)
	Glacies Veritas	Ice Magic +20; MP -36%		S-Rank Secret Agents Zero (Agito)
	Glacies Magnum	Ice Magic +30; MP -40%		S-Rank The Clash in the Caverns (Finis)
	Glacies Divinum	Ice Magic +50; MP -40%		Chest in the first staircase of Tower of Agito
	Glacies Codex	Ice Magic +20; MP -10%; prevents Freeze	Shakara
	Tome of Shiva	Ice Magic +40; MP -30%; prevents Freeze		SO in True Gilgamesh fight; S-Rank in The Clash in the Caverns (Agito)
Lightning Magic +X; MP -Y%; (+Effect)	Fulgur Primus, Vol. I	Lightning Magic +2; MP -10%	Aqvi
	Fulgur Primus, Vol. II	Lightning Magic +4; MP -12%	Keziah
	Fulgur Secundus, Vol. I	Lightning Magic +6; MP -14%	Mi-Go
	Fulgur Secundus, Vol. II	Lightning Magic +8; MP -18%	Iscah
	Fulgur Tertius, Vol. I	Lightning Magic +10; MP -24%	Meroe
	Fulgur Tertius, Vol. II	Lightning Magic +13; MP -28%	Shakara
	Fulgur Essentia	Lightning Magic +16; MP -32%	Armory	Unlock: Operation Sticky Fingers (Officer)
	Fulgur Veritas	Lightning Magic +20; MP -36%		S-Rank Secret Agents Zero (Agito)
	Fulgur Magnum	Lightning Magic +30; MP -40%		S-Rank Secret Agents Zero (Finis)
	Fulgur Divinum	Lightning Magic +50; MP -40%		Chest in first staircase of Tower of Agito
	Fulgur Codex	Lightning Magic +20; MP -10%; prevents Shock	Shakara
	Tome of Ramuh	Lightning Magic +40; MP -30%; prevents Shock		SO in True Gilgamesh fight; S-Rank The Last Line of Defense (Agito)
Defense Magic +X; MP -Y%; (+Effect)	Aegis Prima, Vol. I	Defense Magic +2; MP -10%	Aqvi
	Aegis Prima, Vol. II	Defense Magic +4; MP -12%	Keziah
	Aegis Secunda, Vol. I	Defense Magic +6; MP -14%	Mi-Go
	Aegis Secunda, Vol. II	Defense Magic +8; MP -18%	Iscah
	Aegis Tertia, Vol. I	Defense Magic +10; MP -24%	Meroe
	Aegis Tertia, Vol. II	Defense Magic +13; MP -28%	Shakara
	Aegis Essentia	Defense Magic +16; MP -32%	Armory	Unlock: Mission Under Ceasefire (Officer)
	Aegis Veritas	Defense Magic +20; MP -36%	Armory	Unlock: Colonel Faith's Last Stand (Officer)
	Aegis Magnum	Defense Magic +30; MP -40%	Armory	Unlock: Colonel Faith's Last Stand (Finis)
	Aegis Divinum	Defense Magic +50; MP -40%		Chest in first staircase of Tower of Agito
	Aegis Codex	Defense Magic +20; MP -10%; prevents Silence	Shakara
	Tome of Lakshimi	Defense Magic +40; MP -30%; prevents Silence		S-Rank Operation Homecoming (Finis)
All Magic +X	Feathered Cap	All Magic +4	SPP Shop
	Wizard's Hat	All Magic +8	SPP Shop	Unlock: earn 1,000 SPP
	Dominion Helmet	All Magic +12	SPP Shop	Unlock: earn 2,000 SPP
	Red Cap	All Magic +18	SPP Shop	Unlock: earn 10,000 SPP
	Red Beret	All Magic +26	Armory	Unlock: Wyverns in the Woods (Officer)
	Mage's Miter	All Magic +38	Armory	Unlock: Wyverns in the Woods (Agito)
	Warlock's Headdress	All Magic +60	Armory	Unlock: Wyverns in the Woods (Finis)
	Gold Hairpin	All Magic +80		S-Rank Capturing the Imperial Capital (Finis)
	Soul of Thamasa	All Magic +100		Task in Chapter 7; S-Rank Dominating the Dragon's Nest (Finis)
All Magic +X; +Effect	Luminous Robe	All Magic +15; MP +50%	SPP Shop	Unlock: earn 80,000 SPP
	Elementalist Ring	All Magic +30; All Damage -30%		Chest in Jubanla Volcano (once per playthrough); Complete the final mission on Finis (only once); there are no other known sources
	Lilith Rod	All Magic +30; MP +100%	SPP Shop	Unlock: A Charge on the Border (Agito)
Ballistic damage -X% (+Effect)	Ballistic Vest	Ballistic damage -5%	McTighe
	Tactical Vest	Ballistic damage -10%	Iscah
	Ballistic Armor	Ballistic damage -15%	Cetme
	Bulletproof Vest	Ballistic damage -20%		S-Rank Operation Reconquista (Officer)
	Flak Jacket	Ballistic damage -25%		S-Rank The Battle on the Beach (Officer)
	Ballistic Shield	Ballistic damage -30%		S-Rank Operation Reconquista (Finis) (25%); S-Rank Mission Under Ceasefire (Agito) (20.3%)
	Interceptor	Ballistic damage -35%		S-Rank The Battle on the Beach (Finis)
	Advanced Interceptor	Ballistic damage -40%		S-Rank The Clash in the Caverns (Finis)
	H2-Ballistic Armor	Ballistic damage -30%; HP +20%	Azurr
	Deflector	Ballistic damage -30%; HP +50%	Armory	Unlock: The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold (Agito)
Ballistic/Impact damage -X%	Tempered Shield	Ballistic/Impact damage -5%		S-Rank Operation MA Demolition (Officer)
	Magitek Shield	Ballistic/Impact damage -10%		S-Rank Escaping the Imperial Capital (Officer)
	Supple Shield	Ballistic/Impact damage -20%		S-Rank Capturing the Imperial Capital (Finis)
	Zircon Shield	Ballistic/Impact damage -25%	Cetme
	Topaz Shield	Ballistic/Impact damage -30%	Armory	Unlock: Operation Breakthrough (Agito)
	Ruby Shield	Ballistic/Impact damage -35%	Armory	Unlock: Secret Agents Zero (Agito)
	Diamond Shield	Ballistic/Impact damage -40%	Armory	Unlock: Dominating the Dragon's Nest (Agito)
Tetra-Resistance	Opal Shield	Ballistic/Impact/ Piercing/Cleaving damage -30%	Armory	Unlock: The Last Line of Defense (Agito)
Impact damage -X% (+Effect)	Riot Shield	Impact -5%	McTighe
	Shock Buckler	Impact -10%	Iscah
	U1-Shock Damper	Impact -15%	Cetme
	Shock Shield	Impact -20%		S-Rank Capturing the Imperial Capital (Officer)
	Shock Armor	Impact -25%	Armory	Unlock: The Battle of Judecca (Agito) (with Eidolon)
	U2-Shock Damper	Impact -30%	Armory	Unlock: Capturing the Imperial Capital (Finis)
	Quake Killer	Impact -35%		S-Rank Mission Under Ceasefire (Officer)
	Battery Barrier	Impact -40%		S-Rank The Keziah Diversion (Finis)
	H2-Shock Absorber	Impact -15%; HP +20%	Azurr
	H5-Shock Absorber	Impact -30%; HP +50%		S-Rank A Fog-Laden Foray (Agito); S-Rank Mission Under Ceasefire (Finis)
Piercing damage -X% (+Effect)	Shield Talisman	Piercing damage -30%	Iscah
	Pierceproof Armor	Piercing damage -35%	Cetme
	Sentinel Emblem	Piercing damage -40%		S-Rank The Battle on the Beach (Officer); S-Rank Operation Homecoming (Agito)
	Stabproof Shield	Piercing damage -45%	Armory	Unlock: Capturing the Imperial Capital (Agito)
	Blade Barrier	Piercing damage -48%	Armory	Unlock: Escaping the Imperial Capital (Agito)
	H2-Stab Armor	Piercing damage -30%; HP +20%	Azurr
Cleaving damage -X% (+Effect)	Guardian Armor	Cleaving damage -30%	Iscah
	Circumventor	Cleaving damage -35%	Cetme
	Plated Armor	Cleaving damage -40%		S-Rank Protecting the Defector (Agito)
	Regal Armor	Cleaving damage -45%	Armory	Unlock: Operation Vulturnus (Agito)
	Master's Mail	Cleaving damage -48%	Armory	Unlock: The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold (Finis
	H2-Circumventor	Cleaving damage -30%; HP +20%	Azurr
Fire damage -X% (+Effect)	Fire Armlet	Fire damage -10%	Keziah
	Flame Armlet	Fire damage -15%	Mi-Go
	Brimstone Armlet	Fire damage -20%	Meroe
	Firewyrm Armlet	Fire damage -25%	Shakara
	Blaze Armlet	Fire damage -30%; prevents Burn	Armory	Unlock: Operation Sticky Fingers (Agito)
	Armlet of Ifrit	Fire damage -40%; prevents Burn	Armory	Unlock: Operation Sticky Fingers (Finis)
Ice damage -X% (+Effect)	Ice Armlet	Ice damage -10%	Keziah
	Frost Armlet	Ice damage -15%	Mi-Go
	Glacial Armlet	Ice damage -20%	Meroe
	Icewyrm Armlet	Ice damage -25%	Shakara
	Arctic Armlet	Ice damage -30%; prevents Freeze	Armory	Unlock: Operation Homecoming (Agito)
	Armlet of Shiva	Ice damage -40%; prevents Freeze	Armory	Unlock: Operation Homecoming (Finis)
Lightning damage -X% (+Effect)	Spark Armlet	Lightning damage -10%	Keziah
	Blitz Armlet	Lightning damage -15%	Mi-Go
	Thunder Armlet	Lightning damage -20%	Meroe
	Stormwyrm Armlet	Lightning damage -25%	Shakara
	Thunderbolt Armlet	Lightning damage -30%; prevents Shock	Armory	Unlock: The Amiter Resistance (Agito)
	Armlet of Ramuh	Lightning damage -40%; prevents Shock	Armory	Unlock: The Amiter Resistance (Finis)
"Special" element resistance	Torrent Armlet	Water damage -45%	Armory	Unlock: The Clash in the Caverns (Agito)
	Gaia Armlet	Earth damage -45%	Armory	Unlock: United Front (Agito)
	Gale Armlet	Wind damage -45%	Armory	Unlock: The Keziah Diversion (Agito)
Dual Element resistance	Sublimation Ring	Fire/Ice damage -25%; prevents Burn and Freeze	Armory	Unlock: The Retreat from Roshana (Agito)
	Gemini Ring	Fire/Lightning damage -25%; prevents Burn and Shock	Armory	Unlock: Machina's Struggle (Agito)
	Thundersnow Ring	Ice/Lightning damage -25%; prevents Freeze and Shock		S-Rank The Keziah Diversion (Finis); S-Rank The Clash in the Caverns (Officer)
Tri-Element resistance	Lunar Armlet	Fire/Ice/Lightning damage -20%; prevents Burn, Freeze, Shock	Armory	Unlock: The Battle of Judecca (Officer) (without Eidolon)
All damage -X%; +Effect	Celestial Armlet	All damage -15%; HP +10%		S-Rank Operation Homecoming (Finis)
	Lustrous Armlet	All damage -20%; HP +30%		S-Rank Escaping the Imperial Capital (Finis)
	Blessed Armlet	All damage -30%; HP +40%		S-Rank Operation Vulturnus (Finis)
	Duke's Gauntlets	All damage -25%; Defense +20		Chest in Bethnel Caverns (only once per playthrough); S-Rank The Climactic Clash at Azurr (Finis)
"Gifted" accessories	Jeweled Ring	All Magic +7		Task in Chapter 5 (12x at once)
	Aria's Amulet	Prevents Burn, Freeze, Shock		Do Event with Orderly in Chapter 3; then speak with Aria in Chapter 4
Breakable accessories (part 1) (+worthless one)	U1-Strength Apparatus	Auto-Aura; breaks quickly	Iscah	Unlock: only in rebuilt Iscah (night market)
	U2-Strength Apparatus	Auto-Aura; breaks eventually	Iscah	Unlock: only in rebuilt Iscah (night market)
	Imperial Helmet	Defense +1 (not breakable)	Iscah	Unlock: only in rebuilt Iscah (night market)
	U1-Vulcanizer	Auto-Protect; breaks quickly	Iscah	Unlock: only in rebuilt Iscah (night market)
	U1-Vitality Apparatus	Auto-Regen; HP +50%; breaks quickly	Iscah	Unlock: only in rebuilt Iscah (night market)
	U2-Vitality Apparatus	Auto-Regen; HP +100%; breaks eventually	Iscah	Unlock: only in rebuilt Iscah (night market)
Status ailment protection	Frostshield Cloak	Prevents Freeze	Rokol
	Flameshield Cloak	Prevents Burn	Rokol
	Sparkshield Cloak	Prevents Shock	Rokol
	White Cape	Prevents Silence	Rokol
	Star Pendant	Prevents Poison	Rokol
	Hermes' Sandals	Prevents Stop	Rokol
	Safety Bit	Prevents "Death"; death = ???		S-Rank The Last Line of Defense (Officer) (9.2%): the odds are ridiculously low; there is no other known source
	Angel Earrings	Prevents Killsight		S-Rank Colonel Faith's Last Stand (Finis) (3.1%); the odds are extremely low; there is no other known source
	Medical Kit	Prevents Silence and Poison	Azurr
	Mobility Gear	Prevents Stop and Freeze	Azurr
	Gold Anklet	Prevents Burn, Freeze, Shock	Azurr
	Ribbon	Prevents Burn, Freeze, Shock; prevents Silence, Poison, Stop		Many SOs, many S-Rank rewards on Finis; Class First Moogle reward after 30 hours of gameplay
	Super Ribbon	Ribbon effect; +prevents Killsight (and "Death")		S-Rank The Climactic Clash at Azurr (12.5%); very rare final chest in Tower of Agito (only after obtaining Agito Insignia in current playthrough); Class First Moogle reward after 500 hours of gameplay
Weather effects nullified	Mist Mask	Nullifies Fog effects		S-Rank The Clash in the Caverns (Agito)
	Balaclava	Nullifies Snowstorm effects		S-Rank Mission Under Ceasefire (Finis)
	Snow Goggles	Nullifies Flurry effects		S-Rank Mission Under Ceasefire (Finis)
	Sand Visor	Nullifies Sandstorm effects		S-Rank The Clash on Big Bridge (Finis)
	Smoke Hood	Nullifies Heatwave effects		Chest in Bethnel Caverns (6% chances); harvest 100x Phantoma with Eight/Nine (only once)
	Waterproof Mask	Nullifies Downpour effects		S-Rank Operation Breakthrough (Agito)
	Rain Hood	Nullifies Rain effects		S-Rank The Amiter Resistance (Agito)
Exp boosters	Growth Egg	EXP x2		Task in Bazz (Chapter 7); Expelling the Empire (Agito) (only once); The Kingdom's Final Hours (Officer) (only once); Class First Moogle Reward after 50 hours (only once); chest in third staircase of Tower of Agito
	Mog's Lucky Charm	EXP x4		Expelling the Empire (Finis) (only once); rare final chest in Tower of Agito (only after obtaining Agito Insignia in current playthrough)
Characters' unique accessories	Oracle's Codex	Ace only All Magic +30; Auto-Endure		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Ace
	Seraphim Score	Deuce only MP +50%; Auto-Regen		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Deuce
	Omnipedia	Trey only Attack +30; Weather-proof		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Trey
	Mage's Knapsack	Cater only All Magic +50; Impact damage -40%		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Cater
	Moogle Plushie	Cinque only Attack +50; Defense +50		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Cinque
	Bewitching Fragrance	Sice only add Poison, Burn, Death to attacks		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Sice
	Lace Leggings	Seven only Defense +40; Auto-Regen		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Seven
	Transcendent Scroll	Eight only Attack +80; Auto-Endure; All Magic -40		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Eight
	Meteor Buckle	Nine only HP +60%; Auto-Endure		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Nine
	Hagakure	Jack only Attack +80; Auto-Endure; Defense -50		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Jack
	Lucid Lenses	Queen only click here for effects		Event with Queen in New Game+ (Chapter 2, second break)
	Tailored Suit	King only HP +50%; Weather-proof		Harvest 800x Phantoma with King
	Pluviale	Machina only Defense +30; Weather-proof		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Machina
	Betrothal Ring	Rem only All Magic +30; Auto-Regen		Harvest 800x Phantoma with Rem
SP Accessories (can only own one at the time)	SP Armlet	All Magic +10		Earn 10,000 SPP
	SP Chestplate	All Magic +15; HP/MP +20%		Earn 15,000 SPP
	SP Robe	All Magic +20; HP/MP +20%; Auto-Protect		Earn 20,000 SPP
	SP Shield	All Magic +30; HP/MP +50%; Auto-Protect		Earn 30,000 SPP
	SP Cape	All Magic +40; HP/MP +50%; Auto-Protect/Regen		Earn 40,000 SPP
	SP Armor	All Magic +50; HP/MP +50%; Auto-Protect/Regen/Trance/Aura		Earn 60,000 SPP
	SP Helm	All Magic +60; HP/MP +50%; Auto-Protect/Regen/Trance/Aura/ Freecast		Earn 80,000 SPP
	SP Crystal	All Magic +70; HP/MP +100%; Attack/Defense +100; Auto-Protect/Regen/Trance/Aura/ Freecast		Earn 120,000 SPP
Breakable accessories (part 2)	Ring of Pulse	Auto-Freecast; Exp = 0; breaks quickly	Iscah	Unlock: only in rebuilt Iscah (night market); must give all l'Cie Crystals to Atra
	Glove of Lindzei	Attack +100; Exp = 0; breaks quickly	Iscah	Unlock: only in rebuilt Iscah (night market); must give all l'Cie Crystals to Atra
	Armlet of Etro	All Magic +100; Exp = 0; MP +100%; Auto-Quick breaks quickly	Iscah	Unlock: only in rebuilt Iscah (night market); must give all l'Cie Crystals to Atra
	Amulet of Mwynn	Attack +100; Exp = 0; HP +100%; Auto-Aura; breaks quickly	Iscah	Unlock: only in rebuilt Iscah (night market); must give all l'Cie Crystals to Atra
Special	Draconic Gemstone	Weather-proof		Task in Chapter 4 (can only ever obtain one)
	Unusual Artifact	HP +20%; Attack/Defense +20; Ballistic damage -25%		S-Rank A Charge on the Border (any difficulty)
	Black Cowl	Auto-Quick; All damage -10%		Chest in Valley of Monsters (only once per playthrough)
	Juggernaut Badge	HP/MP +120%; All damage -40%		Rare final chest in Tower of Agito (only after obtaining Agito Insignia in current playthrough); S-Rank reward for defeating Nox Suzaku (Finis)
	Assault Targe	Auto-Aura/Regen; All Magic -100		Chest in third staircase of Tower of Agito
	Enchanted Badge	All Magic +99; Auto-Trance/Quick; Attack -99		Chest in fourth staircase of Tower of Agito
	Grand Mage's Badge	Auto-Freecast; All damage -40%		Chest in fifth staircase of Tower of Agito
	Akatoki Amethyst	All Magic +100; Auto-Quick		Task in Chapter 4 in New Game+ (can only ever obtain one)
	Genji Armor	Defense +50; All damage -40%		Defeat Gilgamesh 10x times in Machina's Struggle (Agito)
	Genji Helm	Status- and Weather-proof		Defeat Gilgamesh 10x times in Machina's Struggle (Finis)
	Iceblade Hilt	Ice Magic +60; MP +50%; Ice damage -45%; Fire damage -20%; Ballistic/Impact/Cleaving -10%; prevents Freeze	Iscah	Unlock: only in rebuilt Iscah (night market). Can only buy one.
	Agito Insignia	Auto-Protect/Regen/ Aura/Trance/Quick/Freecast EXP x4 Status- and Weather-proof All damage -50%		Fixed treasure in final chest of Tower of Agito (only once per playthrough)
Unobtainable	Life Armlet	Auto-Reraise		Worn only during part of the first mission
	Camouflage Cloak	Auto-Invisible		Worn only by the "???" SP character summoned randomly (must have Tiz's Prayer) (happens rarely)

Various Lists (Continued)

Items

Consumables

Item	Effect	Purchased	Acquired/Unlocked
Potion	Recovers 50% HP	Orderly Shop
Hi-Potion	Recovers 100% HP	Orderly Shop	Unlocked: The Clash on Big Bridge (Officer)
Mega-Potion	Recovers 50% HP to all	Orderly Shop	Unlocked: Operation MA Demolition (Agito)
X-Potion	Recovers 100% HP to all	SPP Shop	Unlock: earn 15,000 SPP
Ether	Recovers 50% MP	Orderly Shop
Turbo Ether	Recovers 100% MP	Orderly Shop	Unlock: The Battle of Judecca (Finis) (with Eidolon)
Mega-Ether	Recovers 50% MP to all	Orderly Shop	Unlock: Escaping the Imperial Capital (Agito)
X-Ether	Recovers 100% MP to all	SPP Shop	Unlock: earn 20,000 SPP
Remedy	Heals status ailments	Orderly Shop	Unlock: The Cadets' First Deployment (Officer)
Mega-Remedy	Heals status ailments for all	SPP Shop	Unlock: earn 1,000 SPP
Elixir	Recovers 100% HP/MP	Orderly Shop	Unlock: the Clash on Big Bridge (Finis)
Megalixir	Recovers 100% HP/MP to all	SPP Shop	Unlock: Operation Dragon Slayer (Finis)
Combat Ration	Recovers 50% HP		Found in many missions against imperial forces
Fortified Ration	Recovers 50% HP; gives Aura		Found in many missions against imperial forces
First Aid Kit	Recovers 50% HP		Found in many missions against imperial forces
Strength Serum	Gives Aura to character		Found in many missions against imperial forces
Support Serum	Gives Aura to all		Found in many missions against imperial forces
Ferrum Medica	Recovers 25% HP; gives Regen		Found in The Battle of Judecca
Aes Medica	Recovers 50% HP; gives Regen		Found in Operation Vulturnus
Argentum Medica	Recovers 100% HP; gives Regen		Found in Operation Vulturnus
Aurum Medica	Recovers 100% HP/MP; heals status ailments		Found in Operation Vulturnus
Draco Medica	Recovers 100% HP/MP; gives Invincible status (few seconds)		Found in Operation Vulturnus
Phoenix Down	Resurrects fallen characters (!)		Reward for several SOs, Tasks; trade 80-98 Knowing Tags to Class Eight Moogle
Phoenix Pinion	Gives Reraise to character		Reward for several SOs, Events, Tasks; S-Rank Operation Reconquista (1/3/6x on Officer/Agito/Finis respectively)
Teleport Stone	Allows to flee from dungeons or battles
Auric Hourglass	Add up to 24h to Time to Mission		Complete last mission (Officer) (3x) (only once); complete Code Crimson missions (New Game+) (1x) (Officer); S-Rank Code Crimson missions (New Game+) (Agito/Finis)
Argentic Hourglass	Add up to 12h to Time to Mission		S-Rank Code Crimson missions (New Game+) (Officer)

Monsters Spoils

The monsters spoils offer (usually just for a few seconds) positive statuses when used. They can be obtained from many possible enemies; the table below doesn't include every possible source, but just the earliest/most common ones.

Item	Effect	Dropped by
Rigid Scaleskin	Protect	Not dropped, but found in chests in Operation MA Demolition
Thick Hide	Endure	Diceraptors, Dublicorns, Juggernaut
Fire Shard	Aura	Bomb, Flame Flan
Ice Shard	Protect	Aqua Flan, Ice Bomb
Lightning Shard	Quick	Thunder Bomb, Electric Flan
Light Feather	Freecast	Evil Eye
Fury Bristle	Aura	Snow Giant & similar
Tree Sap	Regen	Mandragora
Insect Oil	heals ailments	Ankheg
Pretty Pelt	Aura and Protect	Lesser Coerul
Flan Ooze	Trance and Quick	Flan enemies
Bomb Core	Aura and Trance	Bomb enemies
Turtle Shell	Protect and Regen	Adamantoise
Dragon Fang	Quick and Freecast	Lesser Lopros & similar
Cactus Spine	Quick	Cactuar & similar
Anima Lantern	Reraise (doesn't expire until character dies!)	Tonberry
Beast Flesh	Recovers 100% HP/MP; +Trance	Behemoths and others
Beast Horn	Recovers 100% HP/MP; +Freecast	Behemoths and others

Presents

Refer to the Emina quest section.

Enhancers

For stats enhancers, refer to the stats boosting section.
For Crystal Shards (used to power-up the spell/Squad Command "Vermilion Bird"), you can farm them from level-99 monsters on the world map.

Resale Items

These items' only purpose is to be resold for Gil. The trade is terrible, but they have no other use.

Item	Resale value	Obtained
Power Core	1,000 Gil	Can be found in Operation MA Demolition; obtained from surrendered MA soldiers
White Tiger	1,000 Gil	Can be found in Operation MA Demolition
Black Tiger	5,000 Gil	Obtained from surrendered soldiers ("middle-high" level)
Golden Tiger	10,000 Gil	Obtained from surrendered soldiers

Should you be looking for a complete inventory (advice: stop before you waste any more time. Seriously), you should have no problems acquiring Black Tiger and Golden Tiger from the MA enemies (Strikers/Warrior type) in the Arwen invasion of The Climactic Clash at Azurr, playing on Finis difficulty. Golden Tiger is the rarest, but it can be obtained by defeating the leader in the area (and then examining the three MAs that surrender) with quite good odds:

Greens

Refer to the Chocobo Breeding section.

l'Cie Crystals

Since providing a detailed location for all the l'Cie Crystals would require too much space (especially for the numerous pictures involved), below I will only report the list of crystals (as a checklist). Their specific locations have all been included in the story walkthrough pages, so please use the search feature of GameFAQs to search the crystals names in those pages if you need more information.
Also, some crystals (the last four) contain major story spoilers, so read at your own risk (I used the spoiler tag).
Mizu'a's Crystal
Kayahara's Crystal
Yu'u's Crystal
Lazuline's Crystal
Shamhat's Crystal
Maona's Crystal
Kanna's Crystal
Suzusu's Crystal
Ehm's Crystal
Augusta's Crystal
Caelan's Crystal
Jogge's Crystal
Anatidus's Crystal
Daphnia's Crystal
Albus's Crystal
Aloe's Crystal
Erragal's Crystal
Kaimanu's Crystal
Urshanabi's Crystal
Satori's Crystal
Yugino's Crystal
Siduri's Crystal
Nimrud's Crystal
Clareus's Crystal
Anshar's Crystal
Tagisu's Crystal
Enlil's Crystal
Ziusudra's Crystal
Vesta's Crystal
Wehrer's Crystal
Theo's Crystal
Rino'i's Crystal
Argenia's Crystal
Rhiane's Crystal
Jorug's Crystal
Koyosaki's Crystal
Tenebra's Crystal
Aarmad's Crystal
Caetuna's Crystal
Qun'mi's Crystal
Rem's Crystal
Machina's Crystal

Miscellaneous key items

The following items can be purchased in Iscah's night market (in rebuilt Iscah); they serve no known purpose other than collectionism:
- 155mm Recoilless Rifle
- Magitek Claw
- Wrecked Colossus
- Wrecked Helldiver
- Wrecked Balmung
There are also other key items tied to quests, but I don't see the point of listing them here (I've talked about them in the story walkthrough pages, when those quests occur).
The item Tiz's Prayer (if you missed it when I said it in the story walkthrough pages) allows a character "???" to come as Support Personnel, randomly and rarely.
The item "Good-Luck Charm" (not to be confused with the accessory Mog's Lucky Charm) serves no known purpose. I have hypothesized that it might be an item that triggers automatic summoning of Odin when your characters die, but I haven't tested this enough to know if it has anything to do with it.

Characters Costumes

There are four possible costumes for each of the characters in the game.
1. Default.
2. Summer Clothes: to unlock them for one character, land 30x Killsights with the corresponding character.
3. Formal Attire: to unlock it for everyone, do the Task "The Chancellor's Challenge" in Chapter 7.
4. Resplendent Garb (Golden Clothes): to unlock it for everyone, complete each mission of the game (all story missions, including first and last mission, and all expert trials) on Finis difficulty. This is the same requirement as the one for unlocking l'Cie Mode.
Different costumes don't change anything other than the characters appearance. In order to switch between costumes you need to be at a Relic Terminal (or pre-mission screens) and then toggle between costumes with L1/L2 (LB/RB) when you are in the Armament (equipment) screen.
Technically speaking there is actually a fifth "appearance change" for everyone, and that's l'Cie Mode. The change is mostly a minor difference in appearance (red-glowing eyes, a red aura, and a floating l'Cie brand near their body), although there is a very "spoilerous" exception to this. Don't read if you haven't finished the game once already: SPOILER Machina has a unique costume in l'Cie Mode. To toggle l'Cie Mode on/off, in the pre-mission screen use the D_Pad-Left/Right on a character's name/icon when choosing their Equipment. l'Cie Mode can only be used during missions.

Spells

In this section there will be a list of all the possible spells of the game. I won't bore you with technical details, but only with the list and how to unlock the spells. To be honest, only completionists should be bothered with getting all the possible spells, since only a handful of them are actually useful.
The best spells are these: BOM-II spells, Meteor, Ultima. Earlier in the game, Thunder SHG and BOM spells are also good, along with Cure and occasionally Protect. Everything else is far less useful, in practice, than their theoretical effects might make you think.
For general talk about magic, refer to the Magic section of the General Gameplay talk. For spells upgrades purposes you may want to check the Phantoma section. Lastly, you can find practical info on how to upgrade the most important spells (Fire BOM-II, Meteor, Ultima) in the Tower of Agito preparations.

Elemental Spell	Unlocked
Fire RF	-
Blizzard RF	Mog class in Chapter 3
Thunder RF	Access Altocrystarium (Chapter 2)
Fire RF-II	Covering the Cadets (Officer)
Blizzard RF-II	The Retreat from Roshana (Officer)
Thunder RF-II ?	THIS SPELL DOESN'T EXIST
Fire SHG	The Cadets' First Deployment (Officer)
Blizzard SHG	The Reclamation of Eibon (Officer)
Thunder SHG	-
Fire SHG-II	Use Fire SHG 300x times (then complete a mission)
Blizzard SHG-II	Use Blizzard SHG 300x times (then complete a mission)
Thunder SHG-II	Use Tunder SHG 300x times (then complete a mission)
Fire ROK	Operation MA Demolition (Officer)
Blizzard ROK	SO in Operation MA Demolition
Thunder ROK	Escaping the Imperial Capital (Officer) (Chapter 4 story mission)
Fire ROK-II	SO in The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold
Blizzard ROK-II	SO in Escaping the Imperial Capital (Chapter 4 story mission)
Thunder ROK-II	SO in Escaping the Imperial Capital (Chapter 4 story mission)
Fire MIS	The Battle of Judecca (Officer) (no Eidolon)
Blizzard MIS	The Clash in the Caverns (Officer)
Thunder MIS	Task "The Phantoma Menace VI" (Chapter 7)
Fire MIS-II	SO in The Clash on Big Bridge
Blizzard MIS-II	SO in The Battle of Judecca
Thunder MIS-II	SO in The Clash on Big Bridge
Fire BOM	Mog class in Chapter 3
Blizzard BOM	-
Thunder BOM	Mog class in Chapter 3
Fire BOM-II	Capturing the Imperial Capital (Officer) (Chapter 7 story mission)
Blizzard BOM-II	The Last Line of Defense (Officer)
Thunder BOM-II	Machina's Struggle (Officer) (Chapter 7 story mission in New Game+)

Special Spell	Unlocked
Aloud	The Amiter Resistance (Officer)
Bio	The Keziah Diversion (Officer)
Death	SO in The Amiter Resistance
Holy	Dominating the Dragon's Nest (Finis)
Meteor	Colonel Faith's Revolt (Finis)
Quake	SO in Operation Breakthrough
Tornado	A Fog-Laden Foray (Agito)
Ultima	Earn 150,000 SPP

Defensive Spell	Unlocked
Cure	-
Protect	Received before The Infiltration of Iscah
Invisible	SO in A Fog-Laden Foray
Esuna	Mog class in Chapter 3
Raise	The Infiltration of Iscah (Agito)
Wall	-
Avoid	Class First Moogle reward after 10 hours

Lastly, there are several spells available only "temporarily" based on your current SP Class. You can check the corresponding section of the walkthrough for more information.

Eidolons

For general talk about Eidolons, check the corresponding section of the walkthrough.
Like with spells, let's not pretend that we actually care about all of the Eidolons -- some are objectively just better than others, and you won't use the majority of them even once, unless you just want to try them out. If you want to see the practical differences between the various Eidolons, I'm sure you'll have more fun doing so by yourself in-game rather than reading their descriptions online.
Eidolons in Type-0 exist in different "classes", and among a certain class there will be various different single Eidolons with more or less similar characteristics.
The best Eidolons are, in my opinion, Firebrand and Odin. Firebrand is useful because he can be obtained quite early in the game, and will allow you to be much stronger when summoning him. Odin has tremendous damage output (Moonring Blade is instant-kill when at high enough level, and it hits almost everything in the room all the time; Cavalier charge is very powerful), and levels up so quickly that you can easily rely on him to "chaperone" you through the hardest Expert Trials in the first playthrough, at least until you become strong enough to be able to handle them on your own (with your characters). Grimnir is a stronger version of Odin, but he's available too late (at that point you have either no need for Eidolons anymore, or you have a strong Odin and Grimnir needs too much time to level up and catch up). Bahamut eidolons are cool and all, but again, "too little, too late".

Class	Eidolon	Unlocked
Ifrit	Ifrit	Speak with Koharu in The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold
	Firebrand	United Front (Officer)
	Rubicante	SO in Operation MA Demolition
	Vulcan	SO in The Battle of Judecca
	Calamity	A Charge on the Border (Officer)
	Ignis	The Clash on Big Bridge (Agito)
Golem	Golem	The Infiltration of Iscah (Iscah)
	Gigas	Expelling the Empire (Officer)
	Troll	Colonel Faith's Revolt (Officer)
	Ogre	A Fog-Laden Foray (Officer)
	Titan	SO in Machina's Struggle (Chapter 7 story mission) (New Game+)
	Dwarf Golem	The Climactic Clash at Azurr (Officer)
Shiva	Shiva	The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold (Officer)
	Shankara	Operation Breakthrough (Officer)
	Petite Shiva	Covering the Cadets (Agito)
Odin	Odin	The Clash on Big Bridge (Officer)
	Grimnir	Mission Under Ceasfire (Agito)
Diabolos	Diabolos	Operation Dragon Slayer (OfficeR)
	Baalberith	SO in Operation Vulturnus
	Astaroth	Dominating the Dragon's Nest (Officer)
Bahamut	Bahamut	Operation Vulturnus (Officer)
	Neo Bahamut	Colonel Faith's Revolt (Agito)
	Bahamut Zero	Never unlocked; summoned automatically in The Battle of Judecca, if every character dies in the boss fight

Side Quests

All of the side quests written in this section are already included in the story walkthrough pages, so you can ignore this section unless you need to check something in particular.

Recruitable Class Zero Characters

There are five "recruitable" NPCs in Akademeia, and by completing certain quests tied to them you'll be able to formally let them join Class Zero. Before we talk about them specifically, let's clear one thing right away: they will NOT join your party as playable characters, and the "recruitment" only happens from a story-line point of view. There are no practical consequences to recruiting them, aside from the rewards given for the completion of their quests (which are actually very nice in some cases).
Something very important to keep in mind (I've talked about in other sections too, including the story walkthrough where it matters the most) is that four of these five characters are also associated with missable cutscenes. You can read more about this in the corresponding section of this walkthrough. The "long story short" version of it is this: make sure to watch those scenes in the first playthrough, regardless of whether or not you complete their quests and "recruit" them, and you'll be fine from then on.
In addition to the rewards for their individual quests, a "global" reward for recruiting them can be obtained on the subsequent playthroughs by completing the Task "The Power of Friendship" in Chapter 4. That Task requires you to have recruited the five characters in the previous playthrough, and the reward is one of the best accessories of the game (the Akatoki Amethyst; All Magic +100, Auto-Quick).
Also, all these quests can be done again once every playthrough, so you can get their rewards over and over again (this is particularly nice for the Quon and Ryid rewards, which are stats boosts for everyone). However, the Task "The Power of Friendship" can only ever be done once, so you should probably ignore quests that don't give interesting rewards (for instance, the Carla quest) after completing them once and after getting the Akatoki Amethyst. Like most Events, it won't take any "Time to Mission" hours to re-do the quest-related Events that you've already completed once. The only exception will be the Carla quest-related Events, which for some reason will always require 2 Hours even if you have already done them in a previous playthrough.

Naghi Quest (Reward: +10 AP to all)

Like all the "recruitment" quests, the Naghi quest spans across multiple free-time breaks. Something to keep in mind is that Naghi also plays a role in the Kazusa (and by extension Emina) quest, but from what I've tested it doesn't seem like the two roles of Naghi are related in any way. In other words, you can ignore the Naghi quest completely in your current playthrough, but you will still be able to speak with him to advance with the Kazusa/Emina quests.
These are the steps required for the Naghi quest:
1. Event with him in Chapter 2, Free-Time Break 3 (Lounge).
2. Task with him in Chapter 5, Free-Time Break 1 (Crystarium).
3. Event with him in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 1 (Hallway).

Quon Quest (Reward: +5 All Magic to all)

Steps for the quest:
1. Event with him in Chapter 3, Free-Time Break 1 (Crystarium).
2. Event with him in Chapter 3, Free-Time Break 2 (Sorcery).
3. Task "Mother Says II" in Chapter 5, Free-Time Break 1 (the task itself isn't necessary, but its reward is necessary for the Quon Task). Task is given by Mother (Sorcery).
4. Event with him in Chapter 5, Free-Time Break 1 (Crystarium).
5. Task "An Innocent Favor" with him in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 1 (Sorcery). The required item is the reward from "Mother Says II".
6. Event with him in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 2 (Hallway).

Carla Quest (Reward: up to 111,000 Gil; Sublimation Ring)

Steps for the quest:
1. Event with her in Chapter 2, Free-Time Break 2 (Ready Room).
2. Event with her in Chapter 3, Free-Time Break 1 (Lounge). Give her 1,000 Gil to do the Event.
3. Event with her in Chapter 3, Free-Time Break 2 (Ready Room).
4. Event with her in Chapter 5, Free-Time Break 1 (Ready Room).
5. Event with her in Chapter 5, Free-Time Break 2 (Lounge). Give her 10,000 Gil to do the Event.
6. Event with her in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 1 (Lounge). Give her 100,000 Gil to do the Event.
7. Event with her in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 2 (Ready Room). You'll receive twice the amount of Gil you gave her (up to 222,000 Gil).
8. Event with her in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 2 (Ready Room).

Mutsuki Quest (Reward: +10 Power to all the BOM/BOM-II spells in your current possession)

Steps for the quest:
1. Event with her in Chapter 3, Free-Time Break 1 (Armory).
2. Event with her in Chapter 5, Free-Time Break 2 (Airship Landing).
3. Task "Hazardous Material" with her in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 1 (Armory). The required item is dropped by Malboros in the Roshana Province (to access the area you must at least accept the Expert Trial "The Retreat from Roshana", or accept and complete both The Retreat from Roshana and Operation Dragon Slayer).
4. Event with Seven in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 1 (Central Command). The Event is available after doing the aforementioned Task with Mutsuki.

Ryid Quest (Reward: +3 Attack to all)

Steps for the quest:
1. Event with him in Chapter 3, Free-Time Break 2 (Armory).
2. Event with him in Chapter 5, Free-Time Break 1 (Airship Landing).
3. Task "Last Days of Lorica" with him in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 1 (Armory). The required item is found in the Ultima Ground Zero dungeon.
4. Event with him in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 1 (Armory). The Event is available after doing the aforementioned Task with Ryid.

Emina & Kazusa

The Kazusa and Emina quests are the longest and most time-consuming quests of the game. They can actually be very confusing because of how they intermingle with each other in Chapter 7, the fact that there are so many Events tied to them, and also the fact that the Events tied to them can be repeated infinite times (which would be a mistake, because you only ever need to see each Event of their quests once).
Something very important to know to keep track of the Kazusa and Emina quests is that in the Rubicus - Annals of Orience section you can actually check which scenes you have unlocked with them. This allows you to easily know which scenes you have, and which ones you need to unlock.
Another thing you might be wondering is whether or not you need to move the camera around/wait until the scenes with them "end". See, in regular scenes you have no control over the point of view of the action, but in these quests you can use RS to pan the camera around a bit. Moreover, the scenes with these quests will mostly not end on their own. Things are rather simple, thankfully: you don't need to move the camera around (but you're free to do so), and you don't need to watch the whole scenes (you can even press Start to skip them right as soon as they start) for them to be registered in the Rubicus and be valid for the quests' completion.
The Emina quest also has one additional "problem" to it, in the sense that there are up to 24 gift-related scenes you can watch, but you only need to watch nine of them (minimum) to complete her quest. This may cause a bit of confusion and "different opinions" between players, because certain players want to just get these quest over with, and see their rewards; other players may want to complete the Annals of Orience of the Rubicus, which means unlocking all the possible scenes, including the (24-9) 15 unnecessary scenes of the Emina quest.
The Kazusa and Emina quests carry over across playthroughs, at least in part. I'll give you an example, which is actually how I've described these quests' progression in the story walkthrough pages:
- Do the first half of the Kazusa quest in the first playthrough
- Only do the "Sheer" part of the Emina quest (that's about a third of the quest) in your first playthrough
- In the second playthrough, you can skip the first half of the Kazusa quest (which could be repeated, but it's not necessary) and only do the second half to complete the Kazusa quest
- In the second playthrough, you can skip the "Sheer" part of the Emina quest (which could be repeated, but it's not necessary) and only do the Sheera/Sheerga parts to complete the Emina quest
After completing the quests once, it will be possible to complete them again (start them from scratch, which can be useful for the Emina quest for people that want to unlock all the possible scenes) in future playthroughs because, if the quests have been completed, they will reset to their starting point. Re-doing Events for the scenes that you already unlocked in a previous playthrough will continue to consume 2h every time even on New Game+ (unlike most Events, which don't consume time when you do them a second time on NG+).
In other words, there are no permanently missable scenes tied to these quests, although for most people the problem will probably be to keep track of what to do and what has already been done with them (they can be extremely confusing quests if you are not following a guide). Please watch out for misleading information on the internet: without pointing any fingers, let's just say that certain guides (not mine obviously :D) contain completely wrong information on how these quests work and progress.
One other peculiar thing of these quests is that the characters Kazusa and Emina are only available when there are 6 hours or less during the current day (in the "Time to Mission" timer). This is excruciatingly annoying if you are trying to fit these quests in the "Time to Mission" on your own, although of course it won't really be a problem if you follow a walkthrough that tells you when it's a good time to do their Events (I've done so in the story walkthrough pages of this guide).
Lastly, I want to point out that the rewards for these quests may not necessarily be meaningful to certain players. The thing is, these quest have basically no practical rewards aside from some common shabby items (Ethers or something like that). The main reason why you want to do them is to watch their scenes/listen to their dialogues (especially the second half of the Kazusa quest) to have more insight on certain characters of the game. That, and filling the Annals of Orience with all the scenes tied to these quests. To be completely honest, players who don't care about filling the Rubicus could probably ignore these quests altogether and simply watch the Events on YouTube instead -- you won't be missing out on anything (other than the satisfaction of "earning the right" to watch the scenes in-game) if you do so.

Kazusa Quest

The Kazusa quest consists of a long series of Events. Most of the Events need to be triggered with certain characters, i.e. you must have that specific character on-screen (change the on-screen character via the Assign command at Relic Terminals) in order to trigger that specific Event. Going with different characters will trigger different scenes, and sometimes certain characters won't trigger any scene at all. Some other Events are generic though, meaning that any character can be used to trigger them.
The first half of the Kazusa quest takes place between Chapter 2 and Chapter 5. The second half takes place in Chapter 7. You can't do the Events of the first half of the quest if you are in Chapter 7, and vice-versa if you are in Chapters 2-5. Therefore there is no way to complete the Kazusa quest before Chapter 7, even if you are on New Game+.
Some sources report that you must do the Naghi quest in order to be able to do the Kazusa quest. This is not correct: while you need Naghi twice during the Kazusa quest, those two instances (where he gives you the Eyeball Specimen, and where you do Naghi's Task in the Crystarium) are not related to the Naghi quest. I tested this myself, and I guarantee you that you can complete everything about the Kazusa/Emina quests without doing any of the three "steps" (two Events, one Task) of the Naghi quest.
These are the Events for the first half of the quest (remember, Kazusa only shows up when there are 6 hour or less in the current day):
1. Speak with Kazusa in the Armory (you can use any character for this Event). First available in Chapter 2, Free-Time Break 2.
2. Speak with Kazusa in the Armory again (any character).
3. At this point you need to trigger the various characters-specific scenes by visiting him with specific characters in Kazusa's Laboratory (hidden in the bookshelves in the Crystarium), where Kazusa will be for the rest of the quest. The scenes you will unlock and the characters necessary to unlock them are written in the table below. Remember that you can check the unlocked scenes in the Annals of Orience!

Scene	Characters to use*
Kazusa's Mutterings 1	Cater
Kazusa's Mutterings 2	Cinque or Sice
Kazusa's Mutterings 3	Deuce or Seven
Kazusa's Mutterings 4	Nine or Jack
Kazusa's Mutterings 5	Ace or King
Kazusa's Mutterings 6	Trey or Rem
Kazusa's Mutterings 7	Eight or Machina

*When more than one character can be used for a scene, it's enough to watch that scene with one character (either one). You don't need to watch the same scene with each possible character! Just for reference, I personally always used the first of the two possible characters.
These are the Events for the second half of the quest (only in Chapter 7!):
1. Speak with Kazusa in Kazusa's Laboratory (any character).
2. Speak with Naghi in Central Command (any character) (this is not an Event, so it won't consume Time to Mission hours) to receive the Eyeball Specimen.
3. Speak with Kazusa in his lab again (any character).
4. Do Task "Secret Agent Agito VI" from Naghi in the Crystarium. This Task requires leaving Akademeia (-6h of Time to Mission) to be completed. The required item is found on the world map, on the hill near Meroe (just west of it).
5. After doing the aforementioned Task, speak with Kazusa in his lab again (any character).
6. Now you need to trigger the next set of characters-specific scenes. Follow the table below.

Scene	Characters to use*
Kazusa's Mutterings 8	Sice
Kazusa's Mutterings 9	Cinque or King
Kazusa's Mutterings 10	Ace or Machina
Kazusa's Mutterings 11	Nine
Kazusa's Mutterings 12	Deuce or Jack
Kazusa's Mutterings 13	Trey or Eight
Kazusa's Mutterings 14	Cater or Queen
(Empty scene)**	Seven or Rem

*Same as what we said earlier applies here too (if more than one character can trigger a scene, trigger it once with either one and you'll be done with that scene).
**This scene isn't registered in the Annals of Orience, but you must trigger it to continue. It basically consists of a "drugged" event where Kazusa isn't seen, there is no dialogue, and you only hear the noise of a hammer.
7. After watching all the characters-specific scenes, speak with Kazusa one last time (any character). This completes his quest, unlocks the final scene of the quest, and earns you a Megalixir reward.
8. One bonus scene with him (not necessary, but it's there if you have time to spare to watch it) can be seen if you visit him again, with any character, after completing the Emina quest. This scene can be repeated infinitely, but since it's always the same you should probably just watch it once for curiosity and then leave.

Emina Quest

In a somewhat similar way to Kazusa's quest, the Emina quest also has multiple "parts", but instead of having different scenes depending on which character speaks with her, her scenes will be different depending on what "gift" you give her.
There are various "gifts" you can purchase in the towns of Orience, but some of them won't be accepted by Emina in the first place. Other "gifts" will trigger the same scenes, which is why in that case (when more than one gift triggers the same scene) you should probably try to purchase and use the gift that costs less Gil. To further complicate things, unlike the Kazusa quest where you need to trigger all the possible scenes in order to continue with it, in Emina's quest's case you can actually continue even if you trigger scenes with the same gift, provided that you are using a different version of "Sheer/Sheera/Sheerga" to watch them. I know it's confusing as hell when you read this for the first time, so let's just cut to the chase and see what you need to do in practice.
1. Speak with Emina on the Terrace (she'll always be here during the quest; remember that there must be 6 or less hours in the current day).
2. Speak with the NPC "sorcery researcher" (he has no icon, but he's there) in the Sorcery area. This is not an Event.
3. Speak with Emina again.
4. Speak with the NPC in Sorcery again to receive the quest-related "spell" Sheer (this isn't a spell you can use in-game; think of it as a quest-related key item).
5. Trigger 3x gift-related scenes by giving her gifts (see table below). After unlocking three scenes with the spell Sheer, you can already continue with the quest even though there are up to 8x possible scenes to watch with Sheer. The scenes are called "Prove Emina's Identity X: Sheer", where X is a number from 1 to 8. As I just said, there are up to 8x "Sheer" scenes you can unlock, but you only need 3x Sheer scenes to continue with the quest (it has to be 3x different Sheer scenes).
6. Speak with the NPC in Sorcery again and decide to upgrade Sheer to Sheera (not an Event).
7. You now need to trigger 5x more gift-related scenes with Sheera. Like what we said for Sheer, there are 8x "Prove Emina's Identity X: Sheera" scenes to unlock, but you only need 5x to continue with the quest.
8. Finish the Kazusa quest in order to be able to continue with the Emina quest.
9. For a (available later, not now just yet) bonus dialogue with Emina (not a scene though), obtain the Letter key item from Tokito in the second-to-last area of the Expert Trial "The Retreat from Roshana".
10. After finishing the Kazusa quest, speak with the NPC in Sorcery to upgrade Sheera to Sheerga.
11. Trigger the scene Prove Emina's Identity 8: Sheerga. Once again, you can also trigger seven more "Prove Emina's Identity X: Sheerga" scenes (X can be 1 to 8), but you only need the scene "8: Sheerga" to continue.
12. After watching the aforementioned scene, by speaking with her again you'll be able to choose between giving her more gifts or advancing with the quest by choosing the first option to "Ask about her ID". When you are ready to continue, pick the first option, and then follow-up by choosing the answer "9716".
13. Speak with the NPC in Sorcery once more, and pick either option to continue with the quest (not an Event).
14. Speak with Emina once again to complete her quest.
15. If you want, speak with Emina again for a non-Event conversation where you deliver the Letter (see point #9).
16. If you want, speak with the NPC in Sorcery once more (not an Event).
17. If you want, visit Kazusa one last time for a bonus scene with him (we mentioned it at the end of the Kazusa quest in the previous section).

In the table below, the "Scene Number" is the number "X" in the generic scene "Prove Emina's Identity X: Sheer/Sheera/Sheerga". Remember that all of the possible combinations of scenes (8 scenes each with Sheer, Sheera, Sheera; total of 24) are listed  in the Annals of Orience, so if you want a complete Rubicus you'll need to watch them all and not just the minimum 9 necessary to complete the quest. If that's the case, remember that none of them are missable: while the game will "remember" the level of Sheer (Sheer, Sheera, Sheerga) you reached in the previous playthrough when you start a New Game+, you can go back from Sheerga to Sheer if you complete the quest in the current playthrough and then start a New Game+.

The most efficient progression for players who only care about the quest, but not about Rubicus-filling, would be to simply watch 3 scenes with Sheer, 5 with Sheera, and scene 8 with Sheerga, choosing the cheapest presents possible. For players who want to fill the Rubicus, therefore also including some pointless scenes, then the most efficient progression would be to do all the Sheer scenes first, then all the Sheera ones, then all the Sheerga ones. Although, once again, since none of these is missable and you can start as many consecutive New Game+ as you want, it's only a matter of time before you can fill up the Rubicus even if you are not as efficient as possible.
I've taken care of the "efficiency" part for you in the story walkthrough, so feel free to follow the way I organised it to avoid having to make choices of your own. I've bolded the cheapest gift for each scene (when more than one is available) in the table below. A complete "set" of gifts (one for each scene) of the cheapest gift possible will cost a total of 42,000 Gil (you'll have more than that in your regular playthroughs if you don't waste your Gil in frivolous accessories/weapons upgrades).

Scene Number	Gift	Gift purchase in	Cost (Gil)
1	Potted Plant	Rokol	5,000
2	Tea Set	Mi-Go	2,000
	Ornamental Plant	Toguagh	8,000
	Famous Painting	Meroe	15,000
3	Wooden Coerul	Toguagh	10,000
4	Hydrangea Bouquet	Corsi	1,000
	Antique Cameo	Rokol	5,000
	Fancy Tapestry	Meroe	8,000
5	"'Til Finis Comes, With You"	Corsi	1,000
	Compact Mirror	Mi-Go	2,000
6	Perfume Set	Mi-Go	3,000
	Jewelry Box	Meroe	12,000
7	Crystal Chandelier	Toguagh	15,000
8	Music Box	Rokol	5,000
	Luconia Doll	Toguagh	8,000

Aki & Fuyu

Aki is the first NPC that speaks with you when you enter Akademeia in Chapter 2. She's basically a tour guide at first, but there are various chats with her (and later her sister Fuyu too) available in the various free-time breaks. None of these chats is an Event, and there is no tracking of these quests anywhere (not that I know of, anyway). The reward for doing this quest (series of chats) depends on how many of these chats you've done, but to be honest even the best reward is very shabby. It's perfectly fine if you want to ignore this quest altogether then; you're not missing out on anything.
If you intend to do it, however, these are the possible chats with them:
1. Speak with Aki in Chapter 2, Free-Time Break 1 (Fountain Courtyard). This is actually a mandatory chat.
2. Speak with Aki in Chapter 2, Free-Time Break 1 (Entrance). This is also a mandatory chat.
3. Speak with Aki in Chapter 2, Free-Time Break 3 (Entrance).
4. Speak with Aki and "Trainee" (Fuyu) in Chapter 3, Free-Time Break 1 (Terrace). There must be 8 or more hours left in the current day for them to appear here.
5. Speak with Aki and Fuyu in Chapter 3, Free-Time Break 2 (Crystarium).
6. Speak with Aki in Chapter 5, Free-Time Break 1 (Chocobo Ranch).
7. Speak with Aki and Fuyu in Chapter 5, Free-Time Break 2 (Ready Room).
8. Speak with Aki and Fuyu in Chapter 5, on Mission Day before the story mission The Battle of Judecca (Main Gate).
9. Speak with Aki and Fuyu in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 1 (Terrace). There must be 8 or more hours left in the current day for them to appear here. Aki will be found outside, while Fuyu is in a dark corner inside.
10. Speak with Aki and Fuyu in Chapter 7, Free-Time Break 2 (Lounge).
11. Speak with Aki in Chapter 7, on Mission Day before the second story mission of Chapter 7 (mission name: Capturing the Imperial Capital) (Fountain Courtyard).
12. Speak with Fuyu in Chapter 8, after the various scenes in Classroom Zero (Entrance).
After the final chat you will receive your reward: 40,000 Gil for doing all the conversations; Tiara if you missed one; nothing if you missed more than one.

Akane

The Akane quest is quite short, but the other side of the coin is that is has literally no rewards aside from a reference to a character from Final Fantasy X/X-2.
The quest consists simply of speaking with Akane in the first area of four of the various dungeons of the game. The conversations can be done in any order, but the final one has to be in the Valley of Monsters (if you speak with her in the Valley of Monsters before the chats in the other dungeons, speak with her again in Valley of Monsters after visiting her in the other three dungeons). The dungeons are:
1. Corsi Cave.
2. Bethnel Caverns.
3. Black Tortoise Crevasse.
4. Valley of Monsters.
By speaking with her in the previous three locations, her toad-boyfriend will be reverted back to human form in the Valley of Monsters. It's most likely a glitch of some sort, but if you don't speak with her in the Valley of Monsters her toad-boyfriend will actually still be in toad form in the other three dungeons (whereas he's back to being human in the Valley of Monsters).
After speaking with Akane and boyfriend in the Valley of Monsters after turning her boyfriend back to human form, you can then speak with the boyfriend in any of the other dungeons to read that reference to Final Fantasy X/X-2.
On another note, Akane also offers Phantoma trading/sales in the various dungeons:
1. In Corsi Cave she doesn't trade anything.
2. In Bethnel Caverns she trades 40x Smalt Phantoma for a DEF Enhancer.
3. In Black Tortoise Crevasse she trades 40x Rouge Phantoma for an ATK Enhancer.
4. In Valley of Monsters she will sell level-3 elemental Phantoma (Cerise, Smalt, Jasmine, and Ivy Phantoma for 3,000 Gil each). Kind of ironic how she sells the Smalt Phantoma here and then requests them in Bethnel Caverns, but unfortunately there is no way to "bypass" the trade problem (you can't just give her 120,000 Gil, which is the cost of 40x Smal Phantoma, to receive a DEF Enhancer right away. You need to purchase them in Valley of Monsters, then travel to Bethnel Caverns to trade them).

Chocobo Breeding

Like many other Final Fantasy installments, in Type 0 it's possible to catch and breed Chocobos.
Chocobos serve two purposes in this game: they are a monster-free means of transportation on the world map; they are a somewhat "strong weapon" to attack on-field enemies during RTS missions. The former is probably the main (or even only) use you'll make of them. To use the Chocobos you have on the world map, press X+Square (A+X); to dismiss them, press the same buttons. Chocobos will also run away (auto-dismiss themselves, so to speak) after riding them for a while (random distance/time). In RTS missions, Chocobos will frequently run away after receiving a few (1-3) hits.
Let's start by saying that there are no locations on the World Map that can only be accessed via a special type of Chocobo, and that there are better alternatives than Chocobos to deal with RTS missions (namely Trey's MAX Charge attacks). This actually means that the process of breeding Chocobos, and chasing after the "Master Chocobo" (the best one possible), is actually not that rewarding (in fact, the Master Chocobo is arguably just a "completionist prize"). Therefore it's perfectly ok to ignore Chocobo Breeding altogether, if you wish to do so.
If you still want to get a Master Chocobo (because why not?), I strongly suggest doing the "easy breeding pattern" which I also advocate and suggest in the story walkthrough pages. There are other possibilities of course, but they range from "less efficient" to "massively time-consuming", and given how small the benefits of having Master Chocobos are (virtually non-existent actually), they would probably be a waste of time. To each their own though, which is why in this section I'll write down the various possible breeding results.
Before that, a few general points to keep in mind:

• You can catch regular Chocobos on the World Map all over Orience (basically in any area, except the Rubrum Region). Some areas are more Chocobo-rich than others (the Rubrum plains, which are the first areas of the game); others, like the hostile snowy Imperial territory, the barren Lorica areas, or the flooded Kingdom regions, have far less Chocobos. The fact that you can catch Chocobos means that you don't need to breed Chocobos, ever, because you can easily catch them on the World Map when you start to "run out" of them.
• Chocobo Breeding is first available in Chapter 2, Free-Time Break 3. It's very simple to do: select one male Chocobo, select one female Chocobo, use some "Greens" (like the classic Gysahl Greens), and wait for the results.
• Breeding Chocobos doesn't actually consume Time to Mission, but you must consume Time to Mission in order for the breeding process to occur. You need to consume 4 hours to see the breeding results from the "chicklings"; then you need to wait two more hours (so total of 6 hours since the moment when you started the breeding process) to actually receive the "adult" Chocobos which can then be used.
• Doing a story mission doesn't actually count as consuming time. Therefore, don't select the breeding process before leaving, on Mission Day, expecting to have new Chocobos once you return from the story mission -- that won't happen.
• On the other hand, when a "day" has passed in Time to Mission calendar, so to speak, even if only 2h have passed it will still be enough. In other words, if you start breeding at 1d 2h left in the current day, and then do a single Event, the Time to Mission will go from 1d 2h to 12h. Even though 2h of Time-to-Mission have passed, the game probably calculates it as 14h passed; in any case, that is enough to complete the breeding process.
• This is a very important point. The results of Chocobo breeding are determined when you confirm the breeding process, and not when you go and check the results. Therefore you can't simply save the game before checking the results, then reload and try again if you don't get the Chocobos you wanted. On the contrary, you need to save before breeding them, then wait at least 4 hours, check the results, and reload if you don't get what you want (then you'll need to wait 4+ hours again, check again, and so on).
  
  This may not seem like a big deal, but it's VERY important, especially later on when you need to breed rarer Chocobos with lower chances of giving even rarer Chocobos. One practical consequence of this, for instance, is that when you are not absolutely sure that you will get the result you want, you should NEVER breed Chocobos before doing a long Expert Trial (or anything else that is time-consuming) -- should the breeding not go as planned, you want to be able to reload a very recent save, and not a save that you made one hour earlier before a hard and long mission. This is why, in the story walkthrough, I suggest breeding only when we have Events to do in Akademeia: should something go wrong in the breeding process, you'll only need to repeat those events (which can be done in a minute or two), and not entire missions
• When breeding, the game will "predict" the result of the breeding process. The predictions are not always correct, and in my experience they aren't an indicator of the results at all, either. For example, when you can get a Stealth or a Sneaky Chocobo from a certain breeding setup, I actually received more Stealth Chocobos from breeding when the prediction said Sneaky Chocobos than when the game predicted the Stealth Chocobos themselves. Granted, this is just anectodal evidence, which isn't evidence at all; it's actually very possible that the prediction might influence the odds of getting the predicted Chocobo as result of the breeding process.
  
  My point is simply that it's probably not worth waiting until the prediction mentions the Chocobo you are expecting, because it probably won't matter at all. If you still want to breed only when the prediction mentions the Chocobo you want, then simply "cancel" the breeding setup after reading a prediction you don't like, then select the "Greens" for breeding again to have another prediction, and keep canceling and re-selecting Greens to try again until you get the prediction you desire. If you do so, make sure to select the correct Greens every time you try again (by default the cursor will reset to Gysahl Greens, which may or may not be the ones you intend to use).
• When breeding, the Chocobo "father" and "mother" will be "consumed" along with the Greens used to breed.
• Because of the previous point, it's actually possible for the breeding process to be counterproductive in certain situations. For example, say that you have an Evasive Chocobo couple (male and female) and you're trying to breed them to get a Stealth Chocobo (this is actually the process I recommend). Should you breed them, thus "consuming" them, and not get a Stealth Chocobo from the breeding, this means that you've lost your Evasive Chocobos (required to get the Stealth Chocobo, which was the one you wanted in the end) and you are now stuck with something else (say, a Sneaky Chocobo, which is another possible result from Evasive+Evasive) which is completely useless for your purposes. This is another valid reason to make sure to save before breeding, and reloading in case the breeding not only gives you results you didn't want/need, but actually consumes the only father/mother couple you had.
• If you want to get more Chocobos of a certain type that you already have, make good use of Pahsana and Tantal Greens, which improve the chances to obtain offspring (chicklings) of the same type as the mother or father, respectively.
• Once you get a Chocobo type that you like, breed two of that type with each other and use Gyzahl Greens to increase the odds of receiving 99x of that type in the offspring (this is typically what you'll do after obtaining a Master Chocobo; it's not really worth it with other Chocobo types).

Now let's see what the possible Chocobos are, and how (in some cases "where") to get them. Please keep in mind that when two different Chocobo types can give birth to yet another Chocobo type, it doesn't matter who the father and who the mother is. For example, a possible way to obtain a Master Chocobo is by breeding Knight and Ninja Chocobos together. Even though I'll write this combination as "Knight+Ninja" (which might seem to imply Knight male + Ninja female), the combination "Ninja+Knight" (Ninja male + Knight female) is just as valid. It's the Chocobo type that matters; which one is the father and which one is the mother is completely irrelevant.
Also keep in mind that there are usually multiple ways to obtain Chocobos of a certain type. The combinations and "greens required" refer to the best way to obtain them, which is not always necessarily the only possibility. Also, some obvious combinations have been omitted (for example, breeding Evasive Chocobo + Evasive Chocobo can give Evasive Chocobo offspring). As a general rule, breeding a "special" Chocobo type with a regular Chocobo, using Gysahl Greens, will probably give an offspring that contains the "special" Chocobo type among the chicklings.
Also, to shorten the text I will refer to Chocobo types just by their type-name, and not their full name (in other words, if you read "War" it means War Chocobo). Likewise, "Gysahl" means "Gysahl Greens".
Lastly, know that, unlike regular Chocobos, every other "special" Chocobo that can be found on the world map will only have a low probability of appearing there. Exiting and re-entering the area will reset the spawns, so that's a good way to catch them (it may take a few minutes though).

Chocobo	Characteristics	Found in	Bred from	Greens required to breed
Chocobo	Basic Chocobo with no strengths.	Virtually everywhere	Chocobo+Chocobo	Gysahl
War Chocobo	Barely a bit stronger than regular ones.	-	Chocobo+Chocobo	Gysahl
Combat Chocobo	Stronger than regular ones.	Meroe Region (north half of the region, near the entrance when coming from the Iscah Region); Cetme District (south of the crevasse, northeast of Cetme); Azurr District (in the middle-east, east of the northern hill/ledge); Veill Desolands (in front of the entrance).	War+Chocobo	Gysahl
			War+War	Gysahl
Assault Chocobo	Definitely stronger than regular ones.	-	Combat+Combat	Gysahl
Swiftwind Chocobo	Even stronger than Assault Chocobo.	-	Combat+Combat	Mimett
Fleetfoot Chocobo	Faster than regular Chocobos, but weak.	Jubanla Region (north and west past the bridge); Old Lorica Region (just outside the Deserted House); Roshana Province (in front of the entrance when coming from the Eibon Region); Rilochy Province (east of Shakara).	-	-
Turbo Chocobo	Even faster than Fleetfoot, but still weak.	-	Chocobo+Fleetfoot	Pahsana?
			Fleetfoot+Fleetfoot	Pahsana?
Sonic Chocobo	Faster than regular Chocobos, and sturdier than Fleetfoot.	-	Turbo+Turbo	Gysahl
Supersonic Chocobo	Even faster than Sonic, and sturdier than Turbo.	East Nesher District (near the southern of the three bridges).	Sonic+Sonic	Mimett
Sidestepping Chocobo	Weak, but good at dodging attacks.	Berith Desert (by the northern edge, in the middle).	Supersonic+Supersonic	Mimett
Evasive Chocobo	Weak, but very good at dodging attacks.	Innsmouth Coast (in front of the entrance, when coming from the Eibon Region); West Nesher District (near the eastern forest closest to the exit to East Nesher District).	-	-
Sneaky Chocobo	Sturdy, and good at dodging attacks.	Northern Valley (by the southern/southeastern side, near the mountains).	Evasive+Evasive	Mimett
			Evasive+Combat	Mimett
Stealth Chocobo	Sturdy, powerful, and good at dodging attacks.	-	Evasive+Evasive	Reagan
			Sneaky+Sneaky	Mimett
Knight Chocobo	Very sturdy and very powerful.	-	Supersonic+Swiftwind	Reagan
			Swiftwind+Swiftwind	Sylkis
Ninja Chocobo	Fast, powerful, and good at dodging.	-	Stealth+Stealth	Sylkis
			Stealth+Swiftwind	Sylkis
Master Chocobo	Best for overall speed, attack, defense, and evasive skills.	-	Ninja+Ninja	Sylkis
		-	Knight+Ninja	Sylkis

Side Quests (Continued)

Breeding Master Chocobo

There are various possibilities to eventually get to a Master Chocobo, but the one I recommend is via this process:
1. Catch an Evasive Chocobo.
2. Breed Evasive with regular Chocobo until you get an Evasive Chocobo of each sex (one male, one female). Alternatively, keep catching Evasive Chocobos until you get a male and a female (it will take more real-life time). You can use Gysahl Greens for this purpose.
3. Breed Evasive+Evasive to get a Stealth male and a Stealth female. You must use Reagan Greens here.
4. Breed Stealth+Stealth to get a Ninja of each sex (or at least one Ninja; then breed Ninja with regular Chocobo (use Gysahl Greens for this purpose) until you get a Ninja of each sex). You must use Sylkis Greens here (when breeding Stealth+Stealth for Ninja).
5. Breed Ninja+Ninja to get a Master Chocobo. You must use Sylkis Greens here too.
This is the shortest way to get a Master Chocobo, and probably the fastest if you can wait until the late Chapter 7, when you will have easy access to Sylkis Greens in the dungeon Valley of Monsters.
Lastly, here is a list of the various possible "greens" to use in Chocobo Breeding, and where to find them.

Greens	Effect on breeding	Purchase	Find
Gysahl	Most basic greens.	Keziah (100 Gil)	Receive 3x for free the first time you speak with O'bane in Chocobo Ranch (in Akademeia).
Krakka	Increases odds of breeding a new type of Chocobo.	Meroe (1,000 Gil)	-
Tantal	Increases odds of breeding the same Chocobo type as the father.	Mi-Go (100 Gil)	-
Pahsana	Increases odds of breeding the same Chocobo type as the mother.	Mi-Go (100 Gil)	-
Curiel	Increases amount of Chocobos born.	-	Treasure in Corsi Cave (area [6]); 37.5% chances of getting 1x, and another 37.5% chances of getting 2x.
Mimett	Increases odds of breeding a good Chocobo type.	-	Treasure in Corsi Cave (area [6]); 12.5% chances of getting 2x.
Reagan	Same as Mimett, but stronger.	-	Very rare treasure from Innsmouth Coast (1x); 6.3% chances in each of the five chests in Bethnel Caverns (area [7]).
Sylkis	Same as Reagan, but even stronger.	-	Very rare treasure from Innsmouth Coast (1x); 25% chances in Valley of Monsters (area [5] to receive 1x, and 25% more chances in Valley of Monsters (area [5]) to receive 2x at once.
Gyzahl	Increase chances of getting 99x chicklings (works with any type, including Master Chocobo).	-	Receive 3x of them after defeating 200x enemies with any character (complete any mission to receive them). Deserted House, among the bushes*.

*Possibly the most elusive item in the game, these Gyzahl Greens have been described in every single guide I've read as a "gift from your fellow Cadets". Either we're talking of two different Gyzahl Greens in this area, or this was a pretty good example of how wrong information can be spread and become the standard knowledge when nobody verifies it.
I've tried in every possible way to receive Gyzahl Greens as a reward from the other Cadets (spoke with everyone, in different possible orders, tried to change the Active character by switching leader out in the World Map; nothing works). I tried it on the first playthrough; I tried it on New Game+; I tried it with a full supply of Greens; I tried it with no Greens at all.
From what I've figured, the Gyzahl Greens are not a reward from the other Cadets at all. Instead, they are a sparkling object which will be found among the bushes (see picture), on the right side (from the point of view of when you enter the area).

However, for them to appear here you must have no Gyzahl Greens in your inventory. You can have other Greens types though, they don't matter. It also doesn't seem to always spawn this item in here, even when you have no Gyzahl Greens, but most of the times it was there for me. Also, you can come back to Deserted House and the Gyzahl Greens in the bushes will respawn (provided you have no Gyzahl Greens currently in your inventory), so it's a theoretically infinite supply of them.
One thing seems certain too: the item doesn't seem to spawn when you first visit the area during the story (after the Chapter 4 story mission), but it will be available if you leave and re-enter the area after the "night" spent in the area by Class Zero, during the story.

Akademeia Cactuar

Starting from Chapter 2 (Free-Time Break 3), it's possible to randomly encounter the "Rubrum Cactuar" in Akademeia (he has a bit of backstory related to the "four champions" of Rubrum, but that's beside the point). There are four possible locations where the Cactuar can appear: Terrace, Chocobo Ranch, Back Garden, Airship Landing. The location where he appears is random: he can appear in any of the four locations, seemingly without a pattern. The chances of encountering him are rather small, but after a few minutes of trying you will find him.
The Cactuar can only be encountered once in every Chapter (twice in Chapter 3 though)); he can be encountered again in the New Game+ playthroughs. You can never actually "interact" with this Cactuar, but he will always drop a shiny objects on the ground before running away.

The best location to enter-exit-reenter is arguably Airship Landing: Terrace and Chocobo Ranch require you to use a portal to visit them, while Back Garden requires you to open a door. On the contrary, you can go in and out of Airship Landing (back and forth between there and Fountain Courtyard), so that's where I would try and wait for him to spawn (keep going in and out).
These are the rewards (the sparkling objects you can pick up) in the various chapters. The only good ones are the l'Cie Crystal, and the Cactuar Blossom (required for the Naghi quest).
- Chapter 2: Tactical Vest
- Chapter 3: Yugino's Crystal
- Chapter 3 (after Yugino's Crystal): Wizard's Hat
- Chapter 5: Cactuar Blossom (aka "proof of cactuar")
- Chapter 7: Crystal Shard
As far as the locations of the sparkling objects goes, well, you should probably have no problems finding them just by scouting around the area, but just in case you can't seem to find them (the one in Terrace is a bit tricky), these are the specific spots where to look:
Terrace: check the upper-right corner on the balcony (almost impossible to see it due to bright contrast).

Chocobo Ranch: check near the entrance, in the middle of the path, more or less aligned with the small basket with a big white egg in it (the basket is on the right; the item is in the middle). Easy to spot on the brown ground.

Back Garden: upper-left area, opposite the gate to the cemetery (easy to spot on the green grass).

Airship Landing: on the right side, towards the end of the small bridge, before the small stairs.

Knowing Tags and Gameplay Time Rewards

In Akademeia, Class Eight Moogle (in the Entrance area) will give you items if you give him Knowing Tags, starting from the third break of Chapter 2.
For the Knowing Tags trade, beware that the rewards are not "cumulative" for how many total Knowing Tags you've delivered, but they actually refer to how many Knowing Tags you give him at once. So for example if you deliver 10x Knowing Tags now, and 10x Knowing Tags later, you will receive a total of two X-Potions (they are the reward for delivering 10x Knowing Tags at once), and not an X-Ether (reward for delivering 20x Knowing Tags). Below are the rewards corresponding to the amount of Knowing Tags delivered at once:
- Potion (1-9 Knowing Tags)
- X-Potion (10-19)
- X-Ether (20-39)
- Dominion Helmet (40-59)
- Megalixir (60-79)
- Phoenix Down (80-98)
- Phoenix Pinion (99)
You can probably tell that the rewards aren't great at all, so it's perfectly understandable if you decide to ignore him altogether. I will list the location of Knowing Tags in the game as we play, in the story walkthrough pages. Know that most Knowing Tags will respawn every time you replay a mission/re-enter a dungeon, so it's easy to farm them. The problem is that it's just not worth it.
In the Fountain Courtyard area, starting from the second break of Chapter 2, the Class First Moogle will give you rewards purely based on how much time you've played the game. These rewards are much better than those from the other Moogle, although the really nice ones require an absurd amount of time. Thankfully there are faster methods of obtaining those rewards, so you won't have to leave your console running idle for hundreds of hours just to get every possible accessory of the game. Here are the rewards:
- Spell "Avoid" (10 hours)
- Ribbon (30 hours)
- Growth Egg (50 hours)
- Regal Crown (70 hours)
- Warlock's Headdress (100 hours)
- Soul of Thamasa (200 hours)
- Super Ribbon (500 hours)
As nice as (some of) these accessories are, it's definitely not worth leaving the console running idle just for the sake of getting these rewards early on. The spell "Avoid" is virtually useless because of how many MP it costs (it's not even 100% reliable); by the time you can use it freely (when you have accessories giving Freecast, for MP-0 consumption) you won't really need it much anymore. The Ribbon is not important, since status ailments in this game are not very debilitating; the Super Ribbon is a massive rip-off (online you will read "it prevents Death", but all it does is preventing the Killsight status). The Growth Egg gives double Exp to the character equipping it, but by the end of the first playthrough you will have more Growth Eggs than you actually need.
Regal Crown boosts MP +100% and All Magic +40, but after 70 hours of gameplay you will have much better accessories already. The Warlock's Headdress boosts All Magic +60. Soul of Thamasa boosts All Magic +100; this is great, but chances are you will have finished the game (including the optional bosses and dungeons) long before 200 hours; also, there are other faster ways to obtain Soul of Thamasa, and also better accessories than it too.

SPP Rank and SPP Class

SPP Rewards

The game will reward you with an SP Rank and corresponding rewards after accumulating a total amount of SPP in your game. Note that this refers to the total SPP obtained, which means the current SPP + SPP you may have spent.
By advancing with SP Rank, the game will give you a special SP Accessory. You can only ever get one SP Accessory in your game file, and whenever you get a higher rank, the game will replace the older SP Accessory you had with a new one (which is always more powerful than the previous one). Therefore you can't, for instance, have both the SP Crystal and the SP Helm at the same time: when you'll get the SP Crystal, the SP Helm will disappear from your inventory.
Below are the SPP Ranks and corresponding rewards (SP Accessory) and total SPP required to unlock them. There are also "sub-ranks" to the primary ranks, but we'll talk about them among the SPP Classes.

Rank	SPP Required	Reward	Effect
Knight	10,000	SP Armlet	All Magic +10
Leader	15,000	SP Chestplate	All Magic +15; HP/MP +20%
Commander	20,000	SP Robe	All Magic +20; HP/MP +20%; Auto-Protect
General	30,000	SP Shield	All Magic +30; HP/MP +50%; Auto-Protect
Marshal	40,000	SP Cape	All Magic +40; HP/MP +50%; Auto-Protect, Auto-Regen
King	60,000	SP Armor	All Magic +50; HP/MP +50%; Auto-Protect/Regen/Trance/Aura
Emperor	80,000	SP Helm	All Magic +60; HP/MP +50%; Auto-Protect/Regen/Trance/Aura/Freecast
God	120,000	SP Crystal	All Magic +70; HP/MP +50%; ATK/DEF +100; Auto-Protect/Regen/Trance/Aura/Freecast; All Resistances +30%
	150,000	Spell: Ultima	-

SPP Classes

The SPP "Class" is the other part of the title that you can read in-game (in the pause menu, for instance during a mission, you can read your title in the bottom-right corner; it reads "[Class] [Rank]" (for example, "Guardian God", or "Supreme Emperor").
As we just saw in the previous section, the Rank can only improve as you earn more and more total SPP. Unlike the Rank, the Class doesn't actually necessarily "improve", but simply changes from one Class to the next ones based on a hierarchy. Basically, the game will check the requirements you've met, and it will assign you the Rank (for which you have met the requirements) which has the highest place in the hierarchy. It's possible to "lose" the current Class if you continuously fail to meet the Class requirements again after meeting them.
It's a bit confusing, but to make a practical example, the highest class would be the Healing class, which is given to you by using Cure/Esuna in missions multiple times. If you are assigned this class at any given point, but then stop using these spells for a while, the game will "remove" this class from you, and assign you another class based on your most popular actions in recent missions.
It's probably still confusing, and definitely missing some clear-cut points which tell you exactly how many times you have to do certain things to unlock a certain class. In any case, thankfully, the class is virtually useless since the rewards are really not that important (they are important in theory, but only in theory really; practically speaking, you don't need any of these rewards), since they consist in spells which you don't actually need (not because they are weak; because they are just not worth the trouble, and there is always a chance of losing the current class).
In the table below, the classes are written in order of hierarchy (from highest (=top-priority), to lowest).
The main reason why it's not worth bothering with the class will probably be that it's easy to get "stuck" in the Guardian class when your characters don't die enough in missions anymore.

Class	Requirements	Reward	Effect
Healing	Use Cure/Esuna in missions.	Full Cure	Full HP/MP/status ailments recovery for character.
	Same as above with Rank of King or higher.	Full Cure II	Full HP/MP/status ailments recovery for all characters.
Guardian	Don't die during missions.	Reraise	Gives Reraise to character.
	Same as above with Rank of King or higher.	Reraise II	Gives Reraise to all characters.
Wise	Obtain S Ranks in missions.	Ultima II	Same as Ultima, but with additional Stun effect.
	Same as above with Rank of King or higher.	Ultima III	Same as Ultima, but with additional Stop effect.
Supreme	Obtain A or B Ranks in missions.	Boost	Aura, Protect, Invisible on character.
	Same as above with Rank of King or higher.	Boost II	Aura, Protect, Invisible on all characters.
Violent	Trigger Breaksight or Killsights.	Kill Fire	Similar to Fire-RF, but also triggers Killsight status upon impact.
Squenix	Use Squad Commands.	Flux Blizzard	Similar to Blizzard-RF, but deals additional damage based on enemy's HP.
Battle	Complete SOs (white or red).	Full Magic	Trance, Quick, and Freecast on character.
	Same as above with Rank of King or higher.	Full Magic II	Trance, Quick, and Freecast on all characters.
Type-0	Enable SP.	Hell Thunder	Similar to Thunder-RF, but adds negative status ailments to the enemies too.

Shops

Town & Dungeons Shops

McTighe

Item	Price
Bronze Bangle	500
Cupric Ring	500
Gauntlets	500
Ballistic Vest	1,000
Riot Shield	1,000
Teleport Stone	2,000

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Aqvi

Item	Price
Ignis Primus, Vol. I	800
Glacies Prima, Vol. I	800
Fulgur Primus, Vol. I	800
Aegis Prima, Vol. I	800
Teleport Stone	2,000

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Corsi

Item	Price
"'Til Finis Comes, With You"	1,000
Rose Bouquet	1,000
Hydrangea Bouquet	1,000
Sexy Swimsuit	1,500
Ruby Necklace	2,000

At the end of the path there is also a Phantomist (he doesn't have any special icon).

Phantoma	Price
Red Phantoma	1,000
Blue Phantoma	1,000
Yellow Phantoma	1,000

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Keziah

Item	Price
Silver Bracelet	1,000
Earrings	1,000
Ignis Primus, Vol. II	1,500
Glacies Prima, Vol. II	1,500
Fulgur Primus, Vol. II	1,500
Aegis Prima, Vol. II	1,500
Fire Armlet	1,000
Ice Armlet	1,000
Spark Armlet	1,000
Gysahl Greens	100

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Mi-Go

Item	Price
Compact Mirror	2,000
Tea Set	2,000
Picture Frame	3,000
Makeup Kit	3,000
Perfume Set	3,000

Item	Price
Gold Bracelet	3,000
Amulet	2,200
Ignis Secundus, Vol. I	2,500
Glacies Secunda, Vol. I	2,500
Fulgur Secundus, Vol. I	2,500
Aegis Secunda, Vol. I	2,500
Flame Armlet	2,000
Frost Armlet	2,000
Blitz Armlet	2,000
Teleport Stone	2,000
Tantal Greens	100
Pahsana Greens	100

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Iscah

Iscah can undergo three separate phases during the game. If you do its Task in Chapter 3, the town of Iscah will change a first time in Chapter 3 (giving access to one Phantoma Trader). If you do the Task in Chapter 3, in Chapter 5 Iscah will be in its "under reconstruction" phase, where a miniquest will allow you to access all the four Phantoma Traders. Lastly, if you do the Task in Chapter 3, in Chapter 7 Iscah will be ultimately rebuilt. If Iscah is rebuilt in Chapter 7, the four Phantoma Traders will still be available (even if you missed the quest in Chapter 5). Moreover, in rebuilt-Iscah you can do a small quest with the Mayor; after doing his quest you can speak with him to access the "after dark" market. If you complete the Atra quest by giving him all the l'Cie Crystals, Atra will have his own shop at the "after dark" market.
Let's see the regular shop first (available in any moment of the reconstruction).

Item	Price
Silver Bangle	2,000
Argentic Ring	2,000
Metal Gloves	2,000
Ignis Secundus, Vol. II	3,500
Glacies Secunda, Vol. II	3,500
Fulgur Secundus, Vol. II	3,500
Aegis Secunda, Vol. II	3,500
Tactical Vest	2,000
Shield Talisman	1,500
Shock Buckler	2,000
Guardian Armor	1,500

After the local Task has been done, in Chapter 3 a single Phantoma Trader trading 40x Magenta Phantoma for 1x FIR Enhancer will show up. In Chapter 5, after doing a small quest for finding chocobo chicklings, you'll be able to speak with four different NPCs to trade the following possible Phantoma/Enhancers. In Chapter 7, the four Phantoma Traders will be found on the upper level of the rebuilt town, on the left side.

Request	Reward
Give 40x Magenta Phantoma	1x FIR Enhancer
Give 40x Cyan Phantoma	1x ICE Enhancer
Give 40x Sepia Phantoma	1x LTG Enhancer
Give 40x Verdant Phantoma	1x DMG Enhancer

Below is the regular after-dark shop, which will be accessed by speaking with the Mayor after completing his mini-quest in Chapter 7, in rebuilt-Iscah. Some of the items for sale here have no purpose at all; others are seemingly great accessories which, however, will unfortunately break after using them for a while/short while.

Item	Price
Imperial Helmet	1,500
U1-Vitality Apparatus	10,000
U2-Strength Apparatus	40,000
U2-Vitality Apparatus	30,000
U1-Strength Apparatus	15,000
U1-Vulcanizer	40,000
Iceblade Hilt	100,000
155mm Recoilless Rifle	300
Magitek Claw	1,000
Wrecked Colossus	20,000
Wrecked Helldiver	100,000
Wrecked Balmung	1,000,000

Lastly, after giving him all the l'Cie Crystals, Atra will open his own shop at the after-dark market. His accessories also "break" after using them a short while.

Item	Price
Ring of Pulse	300,000
Glove of Lindzei	500,000
Armlet of Etro	800,000
Amulet of Mwynn	1,000,000

---

Rokol

Item	Price
Buttercream Cake	4,000
Potted Plant	5,000
Music Box	5,000
Antique Cameo	5,000
Enamel Purse	6,000

Item	Price
Arcane Deck	1,600
Anima Flute	1,600
Windslash Bow	1,600
MTek-II Blaster	1,600
Seismic Shaker	1,600
Platinum Scythe	1,600
Platinum Whipblade	1,600
Platinum Knuckles	1,600
Shapeshifter	1,600
Murasame	1,600
Shamshir	1,600
Twin SuperMags	1,600
Platinum Rapiers	1,600
Ogrenyxes	1,600
Frostshield Cloak	4,000
Flameshield Cloak	4,000
White Cape	4,000
Hermes' Sandals	4,000
Star Pendant	4,000
Teleport Stone	2,000

---

Meroe

Item	Price
Ignis Tertius, Vol. I	5,000
Glacies Tertia, Vol. I	5,000
Fulgur Tertius, Vol. I	5,000
Aegis Tertia, Vol. I	5,000
Brimstone Armlet	3,000
Glacial Armlet	3,000
Thunder Armlet	3,000
Teleport Stone	2,000
Krakka Greens	1,000

Item	Price
Bath Set	6,000
Aromatic Oils	6,000
Fancy Tapestry	8,000
Quill Pen	8,000
Jewelry Box	12,000
Famous Painting	15,000

---

Toguagh

Item	Price
Ornamental Plant	8,000
Luconia Doll	8,000
Wooden Coerul	10,000
Pearl Hairpin	10,000
Crystal Chandelier	15,000

There is also a Phantomist (unmarked NPC) to the north.

Item	Price
Red Phantoma	1,000
Blue Phantoma	1,000
Yellow Phantoma	1,000
Green Phantoma	1,000
Purple Phantoma	5,000

---

Rama

There is just a Phantomist here. He is located beyond the second gate, at the end of the path.

Item	Price
Magenta Phantoma	2,000
Cyan Phantoma	2,000
Sepia Phantoma	2,000

---

Roshana

Item	Price
Draconic Deck	2,400
Wyvern Whistle	2,400
Elfin Bow	2,400
Draconic Pistol	2,400
Ogre Hammer	2,400
Wyvern Fang	2,400
Wyvern Tail	2,400
Boxing Gloves	2,400
Wyvern Horn	2,400
Dragonslayer	2,400
Ancient Blade	2,400
Double Dragons	2,400
Ryujin Rapiers	2,400
Parrying Daggers	2,400
Draconic Ring	5,000

---

Shakara

Item	Price
Ignis Tertius, Vol. II	7,000
Glacies Tertia, Vol. II	7,000
Fulgur Tertius, Vol. II	7,000
Aegis Tertia, Vol. II	7,000
Firewyrn Armlet	4,000
Icewyrm Armlet	4,000
Stormwyrm Armlet	4,000
Ignis Codex	12,000
Glacies Codex	12,000
Fulgur Codex	12,000
Aegis Codex	12,000

---

Rilochy

There is just a Phantomist here, located on the left, near the entrance.

Item	Price
Magenta Phantoma	2,000
Cyan Phantoma	2,000
Sepia Phantoma	2,000
Verdant Phantoma	2,000

---

Amiter

Item	Price
Mythril Deck	9,000
Mythril Flute	9,000
Mythril Bow	9,000
Mythril Pistol	9,000
Mythril Mace	9,000
Mythril Scythe	9,000
Mythril Whipblade	9,000
Mythril Gloves	9,000
Mythril Lance	9,000
Mythril Blade	9,000
Mythril Saber	9,000
Mythril Blasters	9,000
Mythril Rapiers	9,000
Mythril Daggers	9,000

After completing the local Task, in Foggy weather, at the end of the path in the middle there will be a NPC trading 40x Ivy Phantoma for 1x MP Enhancer.

---

Cetme

Item	Price
Imperial Tarot	2,000
Marching Fife	2,000
Power Bow	2,000
Riot Gun	2,000
Battle Mace	2,000
Steel Scythe	2,000
Chain Whipblade	2,000
Iron Fists	2,000
Harpoon	2,000
Imperial Blade	2,000
Imperial Saber	2,000
Hardedges	2,000
Mecha-Rapiers	2,000
Butterfly Edges	2,000
Vitality Apparatus	4,000
Soldier's Gloves	5,000
Ballistic Armor	3,000
Pierceproof Armor	2,000
U1-Shock Damper	3,000
Circumventor	2,000
Zircon Shield	20,000

---

Azurr

Item	Price
H2-Ballistic Armor	6,000
H2-Stab Armor	2,500
H2-Shock Absorber	6,000
H2-Circumventor	6,000
Gold Anklet	12,000
Medical Kit	12,000
Mobility Gear	12,000

---

Bazz

In order to open the local shop you need to first do a mini-quest, by helping the NPC near a "Colossus" MA.

Item	Price
Ironclad Deck	6,500
Maestro's Flute	6,500
Platinum Bow	6,500
Erinyes' Pistol	6,500
Ares' Mace	6,500
Cronus's Scythe	6,500
Steel Snake	6,500
Steel Claws	6,500
Holy Lance	6,500
Kotetsu	6,500
Warlord	6,500
Dual Blasters	6,500
Corkscrew Rapiers	6,500
Survival Edges	6,500
Combat Apparatus	6,500
Protector Ring	6,500

In Bazz, on the lower level, in the second alcove on the right you can find an NPC trading 40x Lavender Phantoma for 1x HP Enhancer.

---

Dungeons Shops

While they are not towns, some dungeons offer a chance to purchase/trade items from Akane (she is always in the first, safe area of these dungeons).
In the Bethnel Caverns you can trade 40x Smalt Phantoma for 1x DEF Enhancer.
In the Black Tortoise Crevasse you can trade 40x Rouge Phantoma for 1x ATK Enhancer.
In the Valley of Monsters you can purchase the following:

Item	Price
Cerise Phantoma	3,000
Smalt Phantoma	3,000
Jasmine Phantoma	3,000
Ivy Phantoma	3,000

Akademeia Shops

Orderly Shop

This is the shop in Classroom Zero. Oddly enough, it's the only regular shop in the entire game which sells Potions and similar items.

Item	Unlocked after mission (Difficulty)	Price (Gil)
Potion	-	100
Hi-Potion	The Clash on Big Bridge (any)	800
Mega-Potion	Operation MA Demolition (Agito)	1,500
Ether	-	2,000
Turbo Ether	The Battle of Judecca (Finis) (with Eidolon)	5,000
Mega-Ether	Escaping the Imperial Capital (Agito)	8,000
Remedy	The Cadets' First Deployment (Officer)	50
Elixir	The Clash on Big Bridge (Finis)	10,000

Armory

The Armory shop is located in the Armory of Akademeia. Most of its items will become available for sale only after completing certain missions on certain difficulties, or performing certain actions with certain characters a certain number of times.

Weapons
Character	Weapon	Unlocked after Condition/Mission (Difficulty)	Price (Gil)
Ace	Argentic Deck	-	1,200
	Magician's Deck	Land 200x Killsights with Ace.	35,000
	Crazy Eights	Mission Under Ceasefire (Finis).	60,000
Deuce	Argentic Flute	-	1,200
	Guardian Flute	Land 200x Killsights with Deuce.	35,000
	Lamia's Flute	Covering the Cadets (Finis).	60,000
Trey	Argentic Bow	-	1,200
	Chiron's Bow	Land 200x Killsights with Trey.	35,000
	Artemis' Bow	The Retreat from Roshana (Finis).	60,000
Cater	MTek-II Pistol	-	1,200
	Shining Shot	Land 200x Killsights with Cater.	35,000
	Marvelous Shot	A Fog-Laden Foray (Finis).	60,000
Cinque	Skull Crusher	-	1,200
	Gigas Hammer	Land 200x Killsights with Cinque.	35,000
	Seraphim Mace	Operation MA Demolition (Finis).	60,000
Sice	Silver Scythe	-	1,200
	Nightmare	Land 200x Killsights with Sice.	35,000
	Shambhala	The Clash in the Caverns (Finis).	60,000
Seven	Silver Whipblade	-	1,200
	Rosethorn	Land 200x Killsights with Seven.	35,000
	Beastmaster	Operation Vulturnus (Finis).	60,000
Eight	Silver Knuckles	-	1,200
	Master Fists	Land 200x Killsights with Eight.	35,000
	Kaiser Knuckles	The Infiltration of Iscah (Finis).	60,000
Nine	Heavy Lance	-	1,200
	Venus Gospel	Land 200x Killsights with Nine.	35,000
	Kain's Lance	The Keziah Diversion (Finis).	60,000
Jack	Kiku-ichimonji	-	1,200
	Muramasa	Land 200x Killsights with Jack.	35,000
	Mutsunokami	Operation Breakthrough (Finis).	60,000
Queen	Flamberge	-	1,200
	Master Sword	Land 200x Killsights with Queen.	35,000
	Phantasmal Blade	Secret Agents Zero (Finis).	60,000
King	Twin Magnums	-	1,200
	Dominators	Land 200x Killsights with King.	35,000
	Valkyries	The Last Line of Defense (Finis).	60,000
Machina	Argentic Rapiers	-	1,200
	Thunderslashes	Land 200x Killsights with Machina.	35,000
	Dreadnaughts	Machina's Struggle (Chapter 7 mission) (Finis).	60,000
Rem	Argentic Daggers	-	1,200
	Defender's Daggers	Land 200x Killsights with Rem.	35,000
	Assassin's Daggers	United Front (Finis).	60,000
Accessories
	Accessory	Unlocked after Mission (Difficulty)	Price (Gil)
	Iron Bangle	-	1,000
	Gold Bangle	Protecting the Defector (Officer).	5,000
	Platinum Bangle	The Battle of Judecca (Agito) (without Eidolon).	6,000
	Mythril Bangle	The Battle of Judecca (Finis) (without Eidolon).	8,000
	Diamond Bangle	Protecting the Defector (Finis).	10,000
	Platinum Bracelet	Protecting the Defector (Agito).	10,000
	Mythril Armor	The Reclamation of Eibon (Agito).	1,000
	Mythril Ring	The Cadets' First Deployment (Agito).	6,000
	Diamond Ring	The Cadets' First Deployment (Finis).	8,000
	Crystal Ball	The Battle on the Beach (Officer).	12,000
	Circlet	The Battle on the Beach (Agito).	20,000
	Tiara	The Battle on the Beach (Finis).	30,000
	Buckler	-	1,000
	Platinum Gloves	Invasion of the Rursus (Chapter 8 mission) (Officer).	6,000
	Mythril Gloves	Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Officer)	8,000
	Diamond Gloves	Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Agito).	10,000
	Crystal Gloves	Thwarting the Royal Ambush (Finis).	15,000
	Warrior Ring	Colonel Faith's Last Stand (Agito).	15,000
	Ignis Essentia	Secret Agents Zero (Officer).	10,000
	Glacies Essentia	Operation Homecoming (Officer).	10,000
	Fulgur Essentia	Operation Sticky Fingers (Officer).	10,000
	Aegis Essentia	Mission Under Ceasefire (Officer).	10,000
	Aegis Veritas	Colonel Faith's Last Stand (Officer).	15,000
	Aegis Magnum	Colonel Faith's Last Stand (Finis).	20,000
	Red Beret	Wyverns in the Woods (Officer).	100,000
	Mage's Miter	Wyverns in the Woods (Agito).	120,000
	Warlock's Headdress	Wyverns in the Woods (Finis).	160,000
	Deflector	The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold (Agito).	40,000
	Topaz Shield	Operation Breakthrough (Agito).	40,000
	Ruby Shield	Secret Agents Zero (Agito).	80,000
	Diamond Shield	Dominating the Dragon's Nest (Agito).	200,000
	Opal Shield	The Last Line of Defense (Agito).	60,000
	Shock Armor	The Battle of Judecca (Agito) (with Eidolon).	8,000
	U2-Shock Damper	Capturing the Imperial Capital (Chapter 7 mission) (Finis).	12,000
	Stabproof Shield	Capturing the Imperial Capital (Chapter 7 mission) (Agito).	8,000
	Blade Barrier	Escaping the Imperial Capital (Chapter 4 mission) (Finis).	12,000
	Regal Armor	Operation Vulturnus (Agito).	8,000
	Master's Mail	The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold (Finis).	12,000
	Blaze Armlet	Operation Sticky Fingers (Agito).	8,000
	Armlet of Ifrit	Operation Sticky Fingers (Finis).	12,000
	Actic Armlet	Operation Homecoming (Agito).	8,000
	Armlet of Shiva	Operation Homecoming (Finis).	12,000
	Thunderbolt Armlet	The Amiter Resistance (Agito).	8,000
	Armlet of Ramuh	The Amiter Resistance (Finis).	12,000
	Torrent Armlet	The Clash in the Caverns (Agito).	8,000
	Gaia Armlet	United Front (Agito).	8,000
	Gale Armlet	The Keziah Diversion (Agito).	8,000
	Sublimation Ring	The Retreat from Roshana (Agito).	12,000
	Gemini Ring	Machina's Struggle (Agito).	12,000
	Lunar Armlet	The Battle of Judecca (Officer) (without Eidolon).	20,000

SPP Shop

The SPP Shop (also known as SPP Post) is located in Central Command, in Akademeia.

Items
	Item	Unlocked after Condition/Mission (Difficulty)	Price (SPP)
	Hi-Potion	-	160
	Ether	-	400
	X-Potion	Earn 15,000 SPP.	1,000
	Mega-Remedy	Earn 1,000 SPP.	400
	X-Ether	Earn 20,000 SPP.	2,000
	Phoenix Pinion	The Climactic Clash at Azurr (Agito).	4,000
	Megalixir	Operation Dragon Slayer (Finis).	4,000
Weapons
Character	Weapon	Unlocked	Price (SPP)
Ace	Akademeia Deck	Defeat 30x enemies with Ace.	200
	Reaper's Tarot	Defeat 700x enemies with Ace.	2,500
	Hanafuda	Land 300x Killsights with Ace.	5,000
Deuce	Baroque Flute	Defeat 30x enemies with Deuce.	200
	Hoarfrost Flute	Defeat 700x enemies with Deuce.	2,500
	Angel Flute	Land 300x Killsights with Deuce.	5,000
Trey	Hunter's Bow	Defeat 30x enemies with Trey.	200
	Thanatos' Bow	Defeat 700x enemies with Trey.	2,500
	Blessed Bow	Land 300x Killsights with Trey.	5,000
Cater	Magicite Blaster	Defeat 30x enemies with Cater.	200
	MTek-II Prime	Defeat 700x enemies with Cater.	2,500
	Tanegashima	Land 300x Killsights with Cater.	5,000
Cinque	Shock Hammer	Defeat 30x enemies with Cinque.	200
	Hoarfrost Mace	Defeat 700x enemies with Cinque.	2,500
	Lucky Mallet	Land 300x Killsights with Cinque.	5,000
Sice	War Scythe	Defeat 30x enemies with Sice.	200
	Toxic Scythe	Defeat 700x enemies with Sice.	2,500
	Pixie's Scythe	Land 300x Killsights with Sice.	5,000
Seven	Knight's Whipblade	Defeat 30x enemies with Seven.	200
	Hoarfrost Whipblade	Defeat 700x enemies with Seven.	2,500
	Reginleif	Land 300x Killsights with Seven.	5,000
Eight	Heavy Knuckles	Defeat 30x enemies with Eight.	200
	Adamant Knuckles	Defeat 700x enemies with Eight.	2,500
	Golden Hands	Land 300x Killsights with Eight.	5,000
Nine	Javelin	Defeat 30x enemies with Nine.	200
	Hoarfrost Spear	Defeat 700x enemies with Nine.	2,500
	Highwind	Land 300x Killsights with Nine.	5,000
Jack	Nagamitsu	Defeat 30x enemies with Jack.	200
	Rapture	Defeat 700x enemies with Jack.	2,500
	Bushido Blade	Land 300x Killsights with Jack.	5,000
Queen	Claymore	Defeat 30x enemies with Queen.	200
	Hoarfrost Saber	Defeat 700x enemies with Queen.	2,500
	Save the Queen	Land 300x Killsights with Queen.	5,000
King	Outsiders	Defeat 30x enemies with King.	200
	Death Penalties	Defeat 700x enemies with King.	2,500
	Peacemakers	Land 300x Killsights with King.	5,000
Machina	Clockwork Blades	Defeat 30x enemies with Machina.	200
	Flametongues	Defeat 700x enemies with Machina.	2,500
	Twin Durandals	Land 300x Killsights with Machina.	5,000
Rem	Dancing Daggers	Defeat 30x enemies with Rem.	200
	Hoarfrost Daggers	Defeat 700x enemies with Rem.	2,500
	Zwillblades	Land 300x Killsights with Rem.	5,000
Accessories
	Accessory	Unlocked after Condition/Mission (Difficulty)	Price (SPP)
	Feathered Cap	-	200
	Wizard's Hat	Earn 1,000 SPP.	2,000
	Dominion Helmet	Earn 2,000 SPP.	4,000
	Red Cap	Earn 10,000 SPP.	8,000
	Red Beret	Earn 30,000 SPP.	12,000
	Black Belt	-	400
	Mythril Helm	Earn 5,000 SPP.	800
	Power Sash	Earn 40,000 SPP.	2,000
	Luminous Robe	Earn 80,000 SPP.	6,000
	Mythril Armor	The Reclamation of Eibon (Agito).	10,000
	Lilith Rod	A Charge on the Border (Agito).	20,000
	Reed Cloak	Operation Dragon Slayer (Agito).	20,000
	Crystal Mail	A Charge on the Border (Finis).	20,000
	Onion Armor	The Climactic Clash at Azurr (Finis).	20,000

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