Achievement Breakdown: (52)
Story Related: (17)
Side Quest: (9)
Skills: (9)
Abilities: (3)
Collectibles: (1)
Slay: (8)
Miscellaneous: (5)

DLC – Royal Pack: (7)
Story Related: (1)
Side Quest: (3)
Collectibles: (2)
Miscellaneous: (1)

The breakdowns for the other DLC’s will be included at the beginning of the Sequence they are found on to reduce clutter.

Most of the Achievements are either Story Related or leveling up your Skills. Do not worry about sitting down & grinding these Skills out. We have a lot of play time getting some of these Achievements. Just remember: Camp often so Ignis can cook, try catching at least 4-5 fish every Fishing Pond you come across, & try going to locations as much as possible on foot. Refrain from using Chocobos till Gladio’s Survival Skill is maxed out. There are a lot of Side Quests & quite a few Collectibles to find so we can chip away at the Skills all the while.

We need to complete 80/120 Side Quests; Hunts do not count towards this. I strongly suggest completing Side Quests as they become available, this will reduce grinding at the very end of the game. Besides, this will Level us up faster throughout the game as well as fund us. We need to be pretty strong for the Achievement related Super Bosses we will face in Post-Game. Try & make your party as over-powered/over-supplied as possible. You will only benefit from it.

As well, we need to collect 80% of all the Datalog Entries in the game. Most of them can be found at anytime but some are missable. We need to collect 76/94 Datalog Entries to unlock the Achievement.

I include the Level I reached at the end of every Sequence. This is just an outline, I got very over-leveled very fast doing Side Quests & Hunts, so do not think you have to achieve that yourself. You technically only need to be Level 42 to defeat the final boss. But as I said above, we will be fighting exceptionally difficult enemies later on like the Adamantoise, Melusine, & Omega. The more preparation you do early on, the less you have to do later when your tired of this game… That being said, I was actually only Level 84 when I reached 100% in this game, so you do not have to grind yourself all the way to the Level cap at 99. Collect as many Magitek Boosters you can throughout the entire game. I will show you a cheap trick on killing the Adamantoise in the final Sequence using them…

There are a few boss battle Achievements that will require us to play on Normal Difficulty. However, you are able to change the Difficulty manually, choose whatever one you like & when you come across these bosses, switch the Difficulty to Normal. I will of course make note of when you have to do this.

I completed the DLC in the order they occur in the Story. They can be accessed from the Main Menu & done at anytime you like. Do not worry about spoilers playing some DLCs early as I suggest, I kept this in mind as I played. Doing the DLCs in this order only adds depth to the Story I found while everything is still current.

Episode Gladiolus: Takes place during Chapter 7.

Episode Prompto: Takes place during Chapter 13.

Comrades: Takes place during Chapter 14. (If you complete it prior to mid way Chapter 14 your Avatar can be encountered during Chapter 14 later on)

Episode Ignis: Takes place during Chapter 9 but has massive spoilers so we will do it during Chapter 15 – Post Game.

Episode Ardyn: This is a prequel to Final Fantasy 15 & contains massive spoilers. We will do it during Chapter 15 – Post Game as well.

Mods from the Steam Workshop do not disable Achievements, if you want to quadruple the wardrobe for Noctis & his companions, I suggest checking them out.

For those interested, here is an organized list of all the Achievements/Secret Achievements. This is how I derive my Achievement Breakdowns & the first reference I create before I begin my 100% journeys.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2285165984&searchtext=checklist
*This guide contains major spoilers.

1. Complete Prologue, & Chapter 1
2. Level: 11
3. Datalog: 9/76
4. Side Quests: 4/80
5. Achievements: 19/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Achievement #1 – Insomnia’s Waking Nightmare: Completed the Prologue.
Story Related. Watch the intro cinematic & set forth on our journey.


Achievement #2 – Quadruple Threat: Equipped four weapon slots.
When you gain control of Noctis in Hammerhead, open up your Inventory & access your Gear. Equip Noctis with 4 different weapons, simple. With the Windows Edition, you should have more than enough to fully equip yourself.

Datalog #1 – Hammerhead: While in Hammerhead, look to the right of the Weapons Dealer. The first Datalog Entry will be an Almanac on a black oil barrel, beside one of the exits onto the highway.


Achievement #3 – New Power: Learned first Ability.
After accepting the Main Quest – Pauper Prince, you will receive 10 Ability Points. Spend them on any Node in the Ascension tab of your Menu.


Achievement #4 – Blind Spot: Perform first Blindside Link.
When you are in combat, get behind an enemy & attack them. This will initiate a Blindside Link with whichever Companion is closest to you at the time.


Achievement #5 – Noct You Like A Hurricane: Initiated first Link-Strike after parrying an attack.
While in combat, you will sometimes get prompted to hit X (or whatever your block button is set as). Press it then follow up with an attack to perform a Link-Strike, it is essentially a Riposte or Counterstrike ability. Link Blindside Link, if a Companion is close to you, it will cause a Link-Strike.


Achievement #6 – Just Hangin’ Around: Performed first Point-Warp Suspension.
During the Main Quest – Hunter Becomes the Hunted, we will have to Point-Warp to a windmill. Press Y (or whatever your Warp button is set as) & you will teleport to a hanging position off the windmill. Warp locations are found all across the game.


Achievement #7 – Brothers-in-Arms: Issued first ally command.
In the Main Quest – The Mutant Marauder, we will have to take down a Blood-Horn. At the beginning of the fight we will be prompted to use a Technique. Activate any of your three Companions Techniques to unlock the Achievement.


Achievement #8 – Photo Rookie: Improved Photography Level for the first time.
Over the course of the game, Prompto will take photos on a per day basis. Every time you rest, you can review all his photos & save all the ones you like. This will come naturally as you play the game. Rest at Campgrounds or Lodgings to collect all your Skill XP. By your second Camp, you should have this unlocked.


Achievement #9 – Survival Rookie: Improved Survival Level for the first time.
For Gladio’s Skill, all you have to do is walk/run around for certain distances. This will come naturally as you play the game. Rest at Campgrounds or Lodgings to collect all your Skill XP. By your second Camp, you should have this unlocked as well.


Achievement #10 – Cooking Rookie: Improved Cooking Level for the first time.
Every time you rest at a Campground, get Ignis to cook you a meal. The second meal he cooks will level up his Skill. The more complicated the meal, the more XP he will get.


Achievement #11 – My First Hunt: Completed first Hunt.
Hunts are a specific Quest type given by Tipsters found at Diners. In Hammerhead, there will be 3 available at the Crows Nest Diner. Complete one & turn in the Quest to unlock the Achievement.


Achievement #12 – Learner’s Permit: Drove the Regalia.
When your car, the Regalia, is finally repaired. Take it out for a test drive as Noctis to unlock the Achievement.

Datalog #2 – Crestholm Channels: While in the Regalia, use your map & scroll over to the Esterleiden Blockade in the far east. Set a map point & drive to it. You will stop at the Crown City Checkpoint Parking Spot. Get out of your car, & there will be some red metal walls making a box on the right side of the road. Head inside them, & the Almanac can be found on a table in the center of this box.


Achievement #13 – Spinning A Yarn I: Completed first Side Quest.
There are many Side Quests scattered across the game. Some can be collected in towns or populated areas; others can be found randomly as you explore the map. Completing your first Side Quest will unlock the Achievement, there is one available at Longwythe Peak.

Datalog #3 – Longwythe Peak: For the Main Quest – The Errand Prince, you will have to travel to the Longwythe Rest Area. From here, head back down the road East till you come across a dirt road that branches off South from the highway. There will be a little red brick house pretty much right at this intersection, the Almanac can be found in front of its door.


Achievement #14 – High Five For Justice!: Played Justice Monsters Five for the first time.
While at Longwythe Rest Area, go inside the Crows Nest Diner. There will be some arcade machines to the left that cost 10 Gil to play. This is Justice Monsters 5. Play until you die or quit the arcade game to unlock the Achievement. These arcades can be found in any Crows Nest Diner throughout the world.


Achievement #15 – Magical Worker: Crafted a Spell for the first time.
Around Campgrounds, there will be 3 different Energy Extracts we can collect Fira, Blizzara, & Thundara from. In the Elemancy tab of our Menu, add whichever Element you want to a Potion or Elixir to craft a Spell. Many different Items can be used for this kind of crafting.


Achievement #16 – Black Mage: Used Magic for the first time.
With your new Spell crafted, equip it into one of your weapon slots. In the next battle, cast it at an enemy to unlock the Achievement.

Datalog #4 – Galdin Quay: Make your way down South to Galdin Quay. The next Almanac can be found on a bench to the right of the General Store in the parking lot.

Datalog #5 – Partners: Now head over to the Weapon Shop while in the parking lot, our first Chronicle will be on a bench off its right.

Datalog #6 – The Hexatheon: In the Galdin Quay resort building, walk towards the docks. To the left of the stairs down to them, will be a seating area. Across from it, a Cosmogony Entry can be found on a large square seat.

Datalog #7 – Angelgard: The final entry to pick up in Galdin Quay will be down by the docks at the very end of the pier near the small “lighthouse”.


Achievement #17 – Angling Rookie: Improved Fishing Level for the first time.
In Galdin Quay we will have access to some Fishing Spots. Catch 6-8 fish & that should be enough to get Fishing up to Level 2. Be sure to swap out your Rod & Reel for the max level ones we get from the Royal Pack.

Datalog #8 – Prairie Outpost: Before boarding the ferry & progressing the Main Questline, check your map & look for the Side Quest at the far North end of the map called Dave. It will take you to a place called the Prairie Outpost. Get out of your car here & find a red truck on the right-hand side of the road. The Almanac will be a bit further to the right of the truck on a metal table.

Datalog #9 – New Friends: Now go over to the Weapon Shop here. Head to the front of it & around the right side towards the wooden shack. The Chronicle will be on some wooden crates against the shack wall.


Achievement #18 – Self-Improved: Activated 20 Ability Nodes.
By the time you reach Level 10, you should have the necessary amount of Ability Points to purchase 20 Nodes. Complete all the available Hunts & Side Quests before progressing the Main Questline.


Achievement #19 – Departure: Completed Chapter 1.
Story Related. After speaking with “Joey Wheeler”, you will receive some grim news before boarding the ferry. Getting re-routed to Insomnia, complete the Main Quest – Ill Tidings to finish the Chapter.

1. Complete Chapter 2, & Chapter 3
2. Level: 39 (Complete Side Quests & Hunts)
3. Royal Arms: 3/13
4. Datalog: 21/76
5. Side Quests: 44/80
6. Achievements: 26/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Achievement #20 – Spinning A Yarn II: Complete 5 Side Quests.
Upon starting Chapter 2, we will have new Side Quests available in Hammerhead & Galdin Quay. You will probably unlock this Achievement upon completing some of them.

Royal Arm #1 – Sword of the Wise: Story Related. During the Main Quest – Legacy, you will be tasked with meeting up with Cor at the Tomb of the Wise. Complete the Quest to receive our first Royal Arm.

Datalog #10 – Keycatrich Trench: The next Main Quest will take you to a place nearby called Keycatrich Trench. In the far-right corner of this area, we can find a ruined red brick house against the cliffs. The Almanac will be up a small set of stairs inside it.

Royal Arm #2 – Axe of the Conqueror: Story Related. During the Main Quest – The Power of Kings, you will enter the Keycatrich Trench Dungeon. Hidden down the corridors of the Dungeon, we can find the doors to the Tomb of the Conqueror. Head inside & collect our second Royal Arm.


Achievement #21 – No Turning Back: Completed Chapter 2.
Story Related. After completing the Main Quest – Declaration of War & unlocking the Duscae Region beyond, you will finish Chapter 2.


Achievement #22 – Spinning A Yarn III: Completed 10 Side Quests.
When the new area, Duscae, has been unlocked we will have access to even more Side Quests. Completing up to 10 will not take you long at all.

Datalog #11 – The Oracle: Do not go to Lestallum just yet, first make your way over to the Wiz Chocobo Post found on your map. To the left of the General Store here in the main building, you can find this Cosmogony on the last bench along a walkway.

Datalog #12 – Wiz Chocobo Post: Now look to the right of the General Store. The Almanac can be found on top of a barrel in between the main building & the Chocobo pens.

Datalog #13 – The Nebulawood: Accept the Hunt – A Behemoth Undertaking & make your way down into Nebulawood. Head a ways into the woods past the first encounter with the Voretooth wolves. Walk through a narrow rock pass & the path will fork left & right. Take the right path to a dead end where the Almanac can be found on the ground at the back.


Achievement #23 – Chocobo Jockey: Rode a Chocobo.
After you turn in the Hunt – A Behemoth Undertaking, we will now be able to ride Chocobos by renting them at a Rent-A-Chocobo. It will cost 50 Gil a day. Rent one & the Achievement will unlock as soon as you mount it.


Achievement #24 – Spinning A Yarn IV: Completed 20 Side Quests.
Between Hammerhead, Galdin Quay, Coernix Station, The Cauthess Rest Area, & Whiz Chocobo Post there will be enough Side Quests kicking around to complete 20 of them.

Datalog #14 – M.E. 755-VI-23rd: Our first Omega File will be at a place called Perpetouss Keep, a Niflheim Stronghold. To get to it, drive East out of The Cauthess Rest Area & take the first left off the highway towards a grey boxish area on your map (it will have Causcherry Plains written right below it on the map).

Get out of your car at the Stronghold gates & go walk left past a row of silos to a watchtower at the very end of the outside compound. The Omega File can be found at the top of this watchtower near the railing looking back towards your car.

Datalog #15 – Taelpar Crag: We have one more stop to make before going to Lestallum. Look on your map & drive along the highway just below Lestallum to the spot on the road beside the “K” in Kelbass Grasslands. It will take you to Taelpar Crag Parking Spot.

From the Parking Spot, look across the highway East & you should be able to see a water tower in the distance. Head towards it & there will be 3 metal shacks, the Almanac will be near the leftmost shack on top of a green wooden crate.

After you are done Side Questing & exploring, it is now time we go to Lestallum.

Datalog #16 – Lestallum: When you arrive in Lestallum, head down the stairs to the overlook of Duscae. Head right along the overlook till you find a woman eating some kind of curry rice bowl that looks really good. The Almanac will be on the picnic table behind her to the left.

Datalog #17 – An Egg Can Dream: Above where you parked your car will be a Cup Noodle truck. Walk across the street from it towards a building & there will be a line of tables with red & white tablecloths. The Chronicle will be on the table closest to the front of the Cup Noodle truck.

Datalog #18 – The Covenant: During the Main Quest – Burden of Expectation, you will have to go to the Leville Hotel in the West side of Lestallum. You can find this Cosmogony to the left of the hotel entrance on a table.

Datalog #19 – Saxham Outpost: In Lestallum you will receive the Side Quest – On the Hunt For A Harvest from a Food Merchant. On you map, drive to the area South of the Cornix Station called Saxham Outpost. When you get out of your car, you will have a Saxham Outpost sign on your left & a large silo off your right. Head towards a small faded red shack ahead of you, the Almanac will be on a barrel on the right wall of this shack.

Datalog #20 – My First Mission: Now head to the part of the Saxham Outpost where you speak with the farmer about the Voretooth wolves. In the main farm area with all the buildings, head West towards another large silo. The Chronicle will be on table beside to men speaking to one another underneath a shelter.

Royal Arm #3 – Shield of the Just: While at the Saxham Outpost, look on your map West & you will see the writing Thommels Glade. Head South West along the highway from the Outpost & you will find the Secullam Pass Parking Spot. There will be a small dirt trail branching off North West from the Parking Spot, head up it & you will find the Tomb of the Just. Inside will be our next Royal Arm.


Achievement #25 – Self-Mastered: Activated 50 Ability Nodes.
You may unlock this later than I did if you have not been attempting to complete all the Side Quests available to us since Lestallum. This will be accomplished over time the more you level up.


Achievement #26 – Spinning A Yarn V: Complete 40 Side Quests.
With Lestallum unlocked, we will have access to A LOT of Side Quests. I recommend doing them as they become available for relative XP gains & Gil rewards.

Before carrying on in the Main Questline, I recommend completing all the Hunts, Side Quests, & explore: Hammerhead, Longwythe Rest Area, Galdin Quay, Coernix Station – Alstor & Cauthess, Wiz Chocobo Post, Cauthess Rest Area, & Lestallum. Carrying on in the Main Quests will lock us into them for a little while.

Datalog #21 – Greyshire Glacial Grotto: When you are ready/tired of Side Questing, we will go & complete the Main Quest – The Sword In the Waterfall. Follow the path up to the waterfall & discover the entrance to Greyshire Glacial Grotto. Before entering the Dungeon, turn around & walk towards the far-left ledge right underneath the waterfall. The Almanac can be found just at the edge overlooking the pool below.

1. Complete Chapter 4 & Chapter 5
2. Special Quest – Adventurer From Another
3. Level: 56 (Complete Side Quests & Hunts)
4. Reach Level 10 In Photography
5. Royal Arms: 6/13
6. Datalog: 30/76
7. Side Quests: 71/80
8. Achievements: 32/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Royal Arm #4 – Swords of the Wanderer: Story Related. Enter the Dungeon now & find the sealed door to the Royal Arm. It will be where the Quest Marker leads. Collecting this weapon will also unlock the Armiger Ability for us as well.


Achievement #27 – The Open World: Completed Chapter 3.
Story Related. After collecting the Royal Arm, return to Lestallum & complete the next Main Quest – The Ways of Gods & Kings to wrap up Chapter 3.

Royal Arm #5 – Blade of the Mystic: Story Related. Right after completing Chapter 3 we will be locked into the next few Main Quests. In the Main Quest – The Archaen, we will drive to the Disc At Cauthess. We can find this Royal Arm as a part of the Plot, just before (censored by Steam) hits the fan…


Achievement #28 – The Power of Kings: Called forth the Armiger for the first time.
Story Related. During the Main Quest – The Trial of the Titan you will have to use the Armiger Ability. It is unlocked back at the end of Chapter 3 so there is a slight chance you may have unlocked it back then, but if not, this is a mandatory time you must use. Activating the Ability will unlock the Achievement, simple.


Achievement #29 – Living Legend: Completed Chapter 4.
Story Related. Once you begin down the road of Chapter 4 you are locked in till the end. Once you are rescued from the Disc At Cauthess after a few Main Quests, you will complete the Chapter.

Datalog #22 – Fociaugh Hollow: Carry on in the Main Questline until you get to the Main Quest – The Trial of Ramuh. For this, we will need to journey to a place called Fociaugh Hollow. When you reach the entrance of the Dungeon, turn around & walk towards your right. There will be a massive rectangular stone block & then a smaller block that has fallen over into a bit of a ramp. The Almanac will be at the top of this ramp; walk up it from the back to collect it.

Datalog #23 – The Disc At Cauthess: This could have been grabbed at any time. On your map as you are heading to Aracheole Stronghold to grab the Regalia, go to the Rydielle Ley Parking Spot. From here, angle South East down towards the road that takes you to The Disc At Cauthess. Before you hit the road below, there will be one of those weird looking ribbed stone walls running East to West above it. Head along the wall to a large metal pipe sticking out of the end of the wall; the Almanac will be underneath that pipe on top of the wall. It can be a little tricky to locate.

Datalog #24 – M.E. 745-X-24th: This is found inside Aracheole Stronghold, the Main Questline will take you here. Carry on through the Stronghold until your Main Quest updates & you must go & destroy the Magitek Generator, from here enter through the next laser field gate. Past the gate, you can see a large warehouse off your right past a chain link fence. Go around the fence & fight off a host of MA-Veles mechas inside. At the back of this warehouse is a small office cubicle, the Omega File can be found on a control console inside it.


Achievement #30 – Dark Clouds: Completed Chapter 5.
Story Related. After taking care of Aracheole Stronghold, you will return to Lestallum where the Chapter will wrap up.

Before we get locked into the Main Questline once again by beginning the Main Quest – All Set to Set Sail, let’s do some more Side Questing & explore the majority of the map. Leave Iris at the Lestallum gas station & drive down to the Taelpar Rest Area once you discover its location from a Tipster.

Datalog #25 – The Divine Host of Messengers: When you arrive at the Taelpar Rest Area, head to the far left of the Motel. You can find a Cosmogony sitting on a table along the wall facing back towards the gas station.


Achievement #31 – Immortal Photobomb: Caught an image of Gentiana in a photo.
From Chapter 6 onwards, we will now have the chance of catching Gentiana randomly in one of Prompto’s daily photos. This actually happens pretty frequently. Be sure to semi-regularly review your photos at a Campground or Lodging. Eventually you will find one with her in it.


Achievement #32 – Divine Intervention: Summoned one of the Six for the first time.
After we complete Chapter 5, you will have the opportunity to summon Ramah in battle. There is only a random chance to summon him, & that is usually if you are getting beat pretty badly in combat. If you see a prompt to hit “LT” (or whatever you have that button set to on the keyboard) click it, & Ramah will intervene saving you & giving us an Achievement.

Datalog #26 – Old Lestallum: Make your way down to Old Lestallum once you discover its location from a Tipster. We can find this Almanac two doors down from the Motel clerk on the left. It will be on top of a table.

Datalog #27 – Homeward Bound: While still in Old Lestallum, walk West towards the large bridge leading out of town. Just to the left of the bridge, near some stairs heading down to the canals, we can find this Chronicle on a bench against a yellow building.

Datalog #28 – The Rock of Ravatogh: If you have not already been, you should take a drive over to the Rock of Ravatogh in the far West corner of the map. Drive over to the Verinas Mart Outpost. The Almanac can be found behind the Caravan rental, at the top of some steps.

Royal Arm #6 – Mace of the Fierce: From here, take the long trail up into Rock of Ravatogh Dungeon, we should at least be level 30 to go into here. After you discover the Owlyss Haven Campground, carry on till you drop down into a MASSIVE area. At the far end will be a hole you drop down further, but do not go there just yet. Follow this huge area around along the right wall & you will see a small passage that carry’s on up a steep ledge to the South. At the top of this ledge will be the Tomb of the Fierce & our sixth Royal Arm.

Datalog #29 – Meldacio Hunter HQ: Look on your map North of Lestallum, there will be a blockade called Pallarethon. Drive to it, & you will discover a small Outpost called Meldacio Hunter HQ. As you enter, there will be a chain link fence with two guards standing lookout. On the side with the Caravan rental, right side (facing inwards you came), you can find the Almanac up near the lookout guard by the fence.

Datalog #30 – The Revelation: While still on this side of the road, head down towards Pallarethan Blockade gates. You can find the Cosmogony on a table in front of a shooting range near a “hanna” billboard… whatever that is supposed to be.

1. Complete Chapter 6 & Chapter 7
2. Level: 63 (Complete Side Quests & Hunts)
3. Royal Arms: 8/13
4. Datalog: 37/76
5. Side Quests: 80/80 +
6. Achievements: 37/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Achievement #33 – Photo Expert: Reached maximum Photography Level.
This will probably be the first Skill out of the 4 you will max out. Essentially you just need to spend time in game exploring & passing time to accumulate the number of photos to get to Level 10. Prompto will take around 10 pictures a day. Regularly sleep at Campgrounds or Lodgings so he can reset the pictures he can take.

Wrap up any Hunts or Side Quests you’d like & let’s carry on with the Main Questline. If you are around level 45, doing the Special Quest – Adventurer From Another World will give you a lot of XP for completing it… a lot of XP. It can be found at the Cauthess Rest Area.

When you are ready, continue the Main Quest – All Set to Sail.

Datalog #31 – M.E. 745-XI-25th: After the Main Quest – Imperial Infiltration we will be able to enter Fort Vaullerey freely. When you reunite with Iris back at Old Lestallum you will have the option of having Ignis drive you to Caem. Before you do, rent a Chocobo & quickly run down the road back to Fort Vaullerey. Take them as far to the Fort as you can, then head on inside on foot through the front gates. When you enter, head to the right through the base & follow the pipes above you down along the West wall. Keep going straight, past the shipping containers till you find a de-activated laser gate. Just before going past it, you will see a small office building on your left. Go inside, & you will find this Omega File on the control console.

Datalog #32 – Fishing & Foraging: As you are driving to Cape Caem, you will have the option to stop at Malmalam Thicket. Choose to stop, & Ignis will drive you down to the Parking Spot. From the Parking Spot, head a little ways South till you find the Telghey Haven Campground. Climb up to where you camp, & you can find the Chronicle just a couple steps away.

Datalog #33 – Malmalam Thicket: As you pass the second last switch-back along the trail up to the Malmalam Dungeon, there will be a pathway branching off the trail going straight up the hill due West. Head up it, & you will find the House of Hexes. The Almanac can be found on the small metal roof of the firewood rack beside the house.

Royal Arm #7 – Scepter of the Pious: You should be at least Level 35 before trying the Malmalam Thicket Dungeon. Enter the Dungeon & make your way over to the boss. It is Level 38, but it is not too difficult. The Tomb of the Pious is just in the back of the boss room, head inside & claim our seventh Royal Arm.

Datalog #34 – Cape Caem: Before you leave Cape Caem with Iris again after speaking with everyone, head around to the backside of house here to find an Almanac on a barrel.


Achievement #34 – A Way Forward: Completed Chapter 6.
Story Related. When you are ready to leave, Gladio is going to head off on his own adventure… his own Episode you could say… when he goes the Chapter will end.

Datalog #35 – Steyliff Grove: For the Main Quest – Part of Three, you will have to go to Steyliff Grove. When you reach the entrance to the Dungeon, head inside. We can find the Almanac for this area in some rubble at the bottom of a set of stairs not far inside.

Datalog #36 – Moving Out: This Almanac can be a little tricky to find. When you exit Steyliff Grove, head over to where Aranea is standing by the archway at the edge of the marsh. Before speaking with her, head to the right of the archway out towards a line of mossy stones heading up the hill. We can find the Almanac on a small pedestal beside a stone block covered in a mass of large roots. It will have a tree just in front of your view of it; this is definitely easier to find in the daytime.

Royal Arm #8 – Star of the Rogue: Do not leave with Aranea just yet. There is one more Dungeon we can explore to collect another Royal Arm, The Myrlwood. It is found directly across the Vesperpool East of Steyliff Grove. Return to your car & make the short hike up the trail to the Dungeon entrance. Fight your way through to the boss, it is Level 38. The Tomb of the Rogue will be to the side of the boss room, head inside & collect Royal Arm number eight.


Achievement #35 – Party of Three: Completed Chapter 7.
Story Related. Return to the Regalia & head back to Aranea for a lift down to Lestallum to end the Chapter.


Achievement #36 – Weaving A Tapestry: Completed 80 Side Quests.
Before we head back to Caem & carry on in the Main Questline, let’s use this opportunity to polish off some more Side Quests. The World Map is now fully accessible to us.

Datalog #37 – M.E. 746-II-3rd: If you are exploring around the North part of the map near The Weaverwilds & Prairie Outpost a large Imperial ship will fly over you. They will set up a Magitek generator inside Fort Formouth which will unlock a Side Quest for us to infiltrate it. Enter the base & defeat all Imperial forces, we will be able to free roam the base after we complete this Side Quest.

Re-enter the base & make your way to the far North Eastern corner of the base. As you go, you will pass a chain link fence & go under a metal walkway above you. As soon as you see a docked Imperial ship, look to your right & there will be a small office building with a large watchtower just above it. Enter the building to find the Omega File on a computer console.


Achievement #37 – Speed Daemon: Post excellent times in all Cross-Country Test Drives.
After completing the Side Quests – Into Uncharted Territory, & Kings of the Off-Road for Cindy, we can now drive the Regalia D-Type. (The D stands for dumb…) With it, we can now take it for a rip on some race tracks out near The Three Valleys Parking Spot, Corenix Station Cauthess, & The Vesper Pool Parking Spot. All we have to do is complete the races, not even score a specific time limit. Drive across the finish line for all three races in under their allotted time limits & you will unlock the Achievement.

Finish off any Side Quests, Hunts, Royal Arms, & exploration you still need/want to do before making your way back to Cape Caem. Now, before we progress the Main Quest – Brave New World, it is time we started one of the DLC Episodes. Episode Gladio to be exact, it will not spoil anything we have not already seen, only add more depth to his character that we can enjoy throughout the rest of the game. If you want to save the DLC’s till the end, skip ahead to Sequence 8 instead, though the Achievement #’s will be a little off for you…

1. Complete Stage 1 & Stage 2
2. Columns: 6/19
3. Items: 27/48
4. Achievements: 37/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Achievement Breakdown – Episode Gladiolus: (7)
Story Related: (2)
Score Attack: (2)
Collectibles: (2)
Slay: (1)

From the Main Menu, go into Downloadable Content & select Episode Gladiolus. It will tell us we should complete the Main Game first, but do not worry, this will only enhance the story for us. There are no spoilers for the Main Game, I would not lie to you guys. Be sure to play the DLC on Normal, there is an Achievement for defeating the final boss on it. As well, try & always attack enemies from behind to get 5 Link-Strikes with Cor. For some reason, I found it difficult to do in this DLC so try working on unlocking it as soon as possible.

Stage 1:

Item #1: Enter the cave with Cor & begin the Main Quest – The Well Tempered Gladio. As soon as you regain control of Gladio inside, turn around & walk back to the cave entrance to find our first Item on the ground, a Phoenix Down.

Item #2: Begin walking down the tunnels. The next Item is not too far down them right beside a lit brazier. It is a Potion.

Item #3: Fight through the enemies & crouch into the next tunnel. There will be a Potion near another brazier a short ways down.

Item #4: Around the bend will be a waterfall flowing across the trail. Follow this water up to the left & there will be a Hi-Potion right where the water is coming down.

Item #5: After your first encounter with Gilgamesh, turn around & head up to the left of the waterfall behind you. A Potion can be found up in the rocks right beside it.

Item #6: Now cross the other side of the river & head to the far end near the cliff edge. A Potion can be found beside a torch here.

Item #7: Off your right, head straight across the river towards the entrance into the next area. Another Potion will be in between two rocks before the trail leading on.

Item #8: The final Item here can be found right before the small ledge we must climb up to proceed. The Potion will just be left of the path here.

Item #9: Climb up the ledge & proceed onwards. A Potion can be found off our right near the cliff edge.

Item #10: This one is easy to miss. Head up the stairs past the next two torches. When you get to a lit brazier on your left, turn around. There will be a Hi-Potion tucked into some rocks on your left across from the brazier.

Item #11: When you reach the Campground, there will be a Potion just behind two dead Souls of Fortitude off your left.

Item #12: When you defeat the next large group of enemies, head down the path off your right before carrying on. There will be a Potion at the back of the dead end.

Item #13: In this same area, before heading up the stairs, take a left towards the cliff edge. There will be another dead end with a Hi-Potion at the back of it.

Item #14: Climb up the ledge & go up the small set of stairs. Take a left at the top of the stairs to find a Phoenix Down in some rocks.

Item #15: Cross the bridge & walk to the far ledge near a tipped over barrel. There will be a Potion right beside it.

Item #16: This is another easy to miss Item. Cross the next bridge & dispatch the two Reapers. Now, before dropping down, head left around this area behind a rock formation to find a Potion hidden away.

Item #17: Drop into the next area & slay four Reapers with some skeletons this time. When they are taken care of, look back to where you dropped down from. A Potion can be found to the left of there near some barrels.

Item #18: From these barrels, walk along the ledge off your right till you get over to the far wall past the lit brazier. Another Potion can be found on a large stone slab near the cliff edge.

Item #19: Climb up the next ledge to proceed, & you will come across a crate beside two barrels. A Hi-Potion can be found tucked away in some rocks directly across from these off your right.

Stage 2:

Item #20: After defeating the first Trial Boss, carry on to find the next Campground. A Phoenix Down can be found just to the right of the camp near some barrels & a chest.

Item #21: To the right of the large wooden walkway you head up next will be a Potion in some rocks.

Item #22: Walk along the walkway until you come across a fork in the pathway. There is only one path we can take & it will lead us to a small stone ledge before returning to walkway again. A Potion can be found off our left here below the old walkway that used to lead up.

Item #23: Follow the walkway down now & it will lead to a ledge we must climb to proceed. Before doing so, look to your left to find a Hi-Potion beside an old chest & a barrel.

Item #24: After two ledges we climb, head up a set of stone stairs. At the top of them, look to your right to find a Potion beside a nice-looking fern.

Column #1-5: The other Collectible type in this DLC are Columns. They can be grabbed & used as weapons for some serious damage. We will come across the first 5 of them in a fight with some Bulettes & Wyverns. There is 2 along the cliff edge on your left, 2 on either side of the tunnel entrance we take next. 1 other Column is a little ways into the tunnel on the left. The Columns can be grabbed/destroyed outside of combat, so do not feel you have to try & grab them all while you are fighting. Just do not forget any.

Item #25: Past all the Columns to the left of the stairs heading onwards, there will be a Potion along the wall before a dead end.

Item #26: Crouch into the next area to proceed & head up two sets of stone stairs. At the top of the second set will be a Potion beside a dead Soul of Fortitude off your left.

Column #6-7: There are 2 Columns on the large bridge that is the Trial Boss room. #6 is immediately off your left when you enter & #7 will be a little ways down the bridge on the right side.

Item #27: When the Trial Boss is defeated, climb up the ledge at the back to proceed. Before collecting the Souls, go to the far-left end of this room & there will be a Potion in the corner near some barrels.

1. Complete Stage 3 & Stage 4
2. Columns: 19/19
3. Items: 48/48
4. Achievements: 41/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stage 3:

Item #28: Fight off a large group of enemies & reunite with Cor. You will get to a long set of stairs going down, after the first staircase there will be a Potion on a pedestal right in front of you.

Column #8-10: Descend the stairs & you will be attacked by another large group of enemies. On the right side of the room will be Columns #8, #9, & #10 in a row.

Item #29: When the fight is finished & the way is opened for you, turn around to look back at the stairs you came down. You can find a Hi-Potion to the left of the stairs on top of a stone block.

Item #30: Enter into the large trench area ahead & look to your left. There will be a Potion beside a torch here.

Item #31: Follow along the walkway we have to take until you come across a torch & some barrels near a broken fork in the path. A Phoenix Down can be found at the top of the broken path just above this torch.

Item #32: Keep following the walkway down until you are almost at the bottom. The walkway will go in past a large rock formation off your left. Across from these rocks will be a Hi-Potion beside a lone plant growing out of the wall to your right.

Item #33: When you get to the bottom of the walkway, immediately look to your left before this upcoming fight with the Bandersnatch. There will be a Potion near three barrels beside the walkway ramp.


Achievement #38 – Master & Pupil: Performed 5 Link-Strikes with Cor.
This fight with the Bandersnatch is the perfect time to try for this Achievement. Stick close to Cor & keep attacking enemies from behind. I got all 5 of my Link-Strikes during this fight.

Column #11-#12: We can find the next 2 Columns on the bridge we fight the Bandersnatch on as well. #11 will be on the left & #12 a little ways further down on the right.

Item #34: After slaying Bandersnatch, make your way over to the far end of the bridge. Instead of going up the stairs, take a right & follow the cliff edge along to find a Potion.

Column #13-14: Climb up the ledge to proceed & make your way up some stairs. At the top will be some more Bulettes. Column #13 & #14 can be found right before the stone underpass that is after the stairs.

Column #15: Just before going up another wooden walkway, Column #15 can be found just off your left near some crates.

Item #35: Directly across from Column #15 will be a Potion beside a regular pillar.

Item #36: Now, head underneath the wooden walkway around its right side. There will be a Potion that is below a sconce here.

Item #37: When you find the next Campground, head past the torches on the right up into the rocks. At the top of them near the back wall is a Hi-Potion.

Item #38: Head up the stairs from the Campground & look left behind a torch to find a Potion.

Column #16: In the next room we will be attacked by some Souls of Fortitude. Column #16 can be found in the left corner of this room.

Column #17: Crouch into the next room to proceed. We can find the next Column once again in the left corner of the room.

Column #18: After slaying the Daemon Wall enemy, we can find another Column straight ahead in the next room near the cliff edge overlooking the trench.

Item #39: Just to the right of Column #18 we can find a Hi-Potion near some dead Souls of Fortitude.

Item #40: Facing the door to the next Trial, we can find a Potion along the right wall near a torch.

Item #41: Enter through the Trial door & make your way down some stairs. Before turning right to fight the Trial Boss, carry on straight ahead up another set of stairs instead. A Phoenix Down will be right in front of you on these stairs.

Item #42: At the top of the next set of stairs leading down to the Trial Boss, there will be a Potion on top of a rock near a torch.

Item #43: Head down the next stairs, but do not approach the Souls yet. Take an immediate left at the bottom of the stairs along the left wall. You can find a Hi-Potion in a small hole in the back.

Column #19: We can find the final Column in this Trial Boss room. It will be to the right of the exit close to the far wall.


Achievement #39 – Column Colossus: Uprooted all 19 Columns.
If you have been following along with this guide, after you tear down the final Column during the Trial Boss fight you will unlock the Achievement.

Stage 4:

Item #44: After the final Campground, head down a wooden walkway. At the bottom, there will be a Potion on your left.

Item #45: Carry on down another walkway, once again there will be a Potion on your left on the other side of some rocks near a torch.

Item #46: After a cutscene you will part ways with Cor. Turn around from where you began to find a Phoenix Down on a rock to the right of the Trial Gate you came through.

Item #47: Head down the stone stairs & keep going straight across the room to the far wall. You can find Potion past a few barrels in some rocks.

Item #48: Do not charge down to Gilgamesh just yet, head to the right side of the room we are currently in towards some stone pillars. We can find our final Item behind some crates on a rock. It is a Hi-Potion.


Achievement #40 – Picker-Upper: Picked up all 48 Items.
Once again, if you have been following along with this guide, after picking up this final Item you should unlock the Achievement.


Achievement #41 – Shield of the Chosen King: Completed the Trials on Normal.
Defeating Gilgamesh is not all that difficult since we have 48+ Items to burn through during the fight. It is all or nothing for this battle so use the Items without recourse. After the credits roll & we get our cute little Episode ending the Achievement will unlock on the completion screen.

The Story might be finished, but we still have a few more things to wrap up before we can leave the Episode.

1. Final Trial
2. Score Attack
3. Achievements: 44/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of two new Modes we unlocked in the Main Menu of Episode Gladio is Score Attack. There are two Achievements associated with this: Scoring 500,000 & 1,000,000 Points. Riposte everyone, when you come to bosses build up an Attack Multiplier & unleash your Maelstrom Ability. Time based Achievements are my least favourite type, this Mode is a nightmare.

The other Mode available to us is also very challenging however much more manageable in my opinion. I would recommend attempting the Final Trial before doing Score Attack as the skills you learn to defeat Cor are going to be paramount for getting a score of 1,000,000 in Score Attack.


Achievement #42 – Transcendence: Defeated Cor.
In the Final Trial, we must do battle with our sensei & friend, Cor. This is a very difficult fight. We will only get 3 Potions & 1 Phoenix Down to use during the fight. Play on the defensive, if you can Riposte Cor’s attacks, he will become Vulnerable letting you land a few attacks on him. The trick is to block all his light attacks to build up your Rage so when you Riposte him you deal as much damage as possible. Cor is quick though, do not swing your blade recklessly.

This is a rinse & repeat battle. Block, Riposte, Attack. Block, Riposte, Attack. Only use your Glaive Arts abilities when Cor is Vulnerable, otherwise he will just dodge them. When Cor goes “red with Rage”, dodge (ideally backwards till he runs out of Rage), you cannot block these attacks & this is usually when you die... He can technically be hit once or twice after these attacks though. A lot of this depends on luck & how often he uses the specific attacks that make him Vulnerable when Riposted. Once you successfully defeat him, the Achievement will unlock. This Final Trial can be accessed at anytime now, but I would recommend trying to stick with this till you defeat Cor while Gladio’s controls are fresh.


Achievement #43 – No Pain, No Gain: Scored 500,00 or more points in Score Attack.
This Achievement will most likely come naturally just from playing through Score Attack.

The positive points breakdown:
1. Damage you do to enemies (build up Rage)
2. Attack Multiplier when enemies are defeated
3. Time at the end of each Stage
4. Items leftover at the end of Score Attack

The negative points breakdown:
1. Damage taken
2. Phoenix Downs used


Achievement #44 – A New Blademaster: Scored 1,000,000 or more points in Score Attack.
Now this Achievement is a nightmare; one the hardest Achievement in Final Fantasy 15. You must harness the techniques you learned in defeating Cor as a must. Riposte every enemy to death & refrain using regular strikes to kill them. Use Potions over Phoenix Downs. I never used a Phoenix Down the whole game but ended up using 11/20 Potions.

I found an AMAZING video guide by InsipidCjs of True Achievements that essentially took me through the whole Score Attack. I would not have been able to do this without it.

https://youtu.be/MlMGecOD6j0

It is important to note that you do not have to follow this Score by Score exactly. I found myself usually 40-80,000 points less then him for most of the game but also a little bit faster. So long as you are within that point range you should be just fine, he ended up finishing with 1,118,395 points so that is a 118,000 point window for your own error. I broke down each encounter in this video & the points/time he had at the end to give you an outline, so you do not have to keep re-watching sections to see his time. I got to the final battle with only 860,000ish point & I ended up beating the game with 1,047,573 Points & in 28:11 Minutes. A word of advice, if you have made it halfway through with decent Score/Time, I say always follow through till the end. Usually the runs you don’t expect to succeed take you by surprise in the end.

Stage #1:

Encounter #1: 19,360 Points 9:08 Minutes
Encounter #2: 51,550 Points 8:19 Minutes
Encounter #3 – Sub Boss: 86,270 Points 7:19 Minutes (Maelstrom)
Encounter #4: 190,480 Points 5:43 Minutes
Encounter #5: 239,570 Points 3:31 Minutes
Encounter #6 – Trial Boss: 320,103 Points 1:28 Minutes (Maelstrom)

Stage #2:

Encounter #7: 389,363 Points 7:23 Minutes
Encounter #8 – Trial Boss: 479,972 Points 6:24 Minutes (Maelstrom)

Stage #3:

Encounter #9: 538,352 Points 13:02 Minutes
Encounter #10 – Sub Boss: 588,482 Points 10:56 Minutes (Maelstrom)
Encounter #11: 626,780 Points 8:53 Minutes
Encounter #12: 632,780 Points 7:22 Minutes
Encounter #13: 669,670 Points 6:28 Minutes
Encounter #14 – Sub Boss: 823,870 Points 3:50 Minutes (Maelstrom)
Encounter #15 – Trial Boss: 894,863 Points 1:59 Minutes (Maelstrom x2)

Stage #4:

Encounter #16 – Final Boss: 917,000 Points 6:15 Minutes (Maelstrom)
Encounter #16.5 – Final Boss: 955, 662 Points 4:33 Minutes (Maelstrom)

So this was what Gladio was doing this whole time during Chapter 7, what a nightmare…

1. Complete Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12
2. Level: 64
3. Royal Arms: 10/13
4. Datalog: 46/76
5. Achievements: 49/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is now finally time to carry on with the Main Quest – Brave New World. If you did end up completing Episode Gladio, be sure to equip the new Greatsword you will receive from it. Be warned, once we go to Altissia we will be locked into the Main Questline all the way till Chapter 14.

Datalog #38 – 15: 2 “Nadir”: Take the elevator down into the Cape Caem Lighthouse basement. Walk down the stairs, past Talcott & Iris, & you can find the Cosmogony straight ahead of you on an old cable spool.


Achievement #45 – Seaworthy: Competed Chapter 8.
Story Related. Boarding the boat & sailing for Altissia will end the Chapter.

Datalog #39 – Altar of the Tidemother: When you arrive in Altissia, walk straight ahead after speaking with the customs officer. On the back of the info booth will be a pamphlet on the Hotel Leville. It is located in the upper North West corner of Altissia.

Head North along the docks & take the steps on your right to cross over the canal to the other side. When you leave the stairs, take a left from the JM Market, & walk underneath the stairs you came down. Follow the pathway around & head to the left of the next set of stairs, walking past them. Keep following the path behind the Hotel Leville Northwards over to the water. The Almanac can be found on a stone bench beside a lamp post & two green trash cans near the water.

Datalog #40 – The Crystal: When you make it through this cursed maze that is Altissia & get to Maagho, we can find a Cosmogony on the bar counter opposite to Weskham.

Datalog #41 – Altissia: This Almanac is a little difficult to explain where it is. Take a Gondola to Palsino Street Station. From here, head up the stairs on your left & then the stairs going up on your right. Take a right at the top of these stairs & go up another set of stairs. From the top of these stairs, take a left up one final (censored by Steam) set of stairs & you will see the restaurant Tovellia. Touellia? Something like that, at the top of the stairs you came up, look left & there will be a small patio off the side of the main restaurant area. The Almanac is on a table with two people eating popcorn… I hope its popcorn anyways. If you see a small band playing you have gone too far.


Achievement #46 – Callings: Completed Chapter 9.
Story Related. After defeating Leviathan, the Chapter will end when Noctis wakes up safely in Altissia. Man, did this story ever get kicked into the twelfth gear!

Datalog #42 – Cartanica: Missable. These next two Datalog Entries can only be found during this Chapter while we are at Fodina Casetino. When we get off the train & regain control of Noctis, start walking left down the length of the train. About five green benches down, we can find the Almanac laying on top of the fifth one.

Datalog #43 – Fodina Caestino: Missable. From here, you can see another train straight across from us. Head across the station towards it & head inside. Make your way to the far-left corner of this train past the Lodgings inside, the Almanac will be at a dead end in the back of the train.

Royal Arm #9 – Katana of the Warrior: Story Related. We will find this in the Fodina Caestino Dungeon as part of the Main Quest – The Hand of the King. Move the machine out of the way to enter the Dungeon, the Tomb of the Warrior can be found in the North corner here. Fight off the boss & claim Royal Arm #9.


Achievement #47 – The Heart of a King: Completed Chapter 10.
Story Related. After you finish your business in Fodina Caestino, board the train & leave for Tenebrae to finish the Chapter… watch your step Ignis :’(.


Achievement #48 – In the Dark: Completed Chapter 11.
Story Related. Defend the train from the Imperial assault. After encountering Ardyn again, the Chapter will end when you meet back on the train. At the end of this Chapter is where Episode Prompto begins. We won’t start that DLC up until we reunite with him later though.

Datalog #44 – Tenebrae: Missable. When you regain control of Noctis at the train station in Tenebrae, head left from where you are supposed to go. Along the railing with the people & benches, we can find this Almanac on top of some wooden crates.

Datalog #45 – Ghorovas Rift: Missable. From here look left, there will be two trains in the station. Head in between the two of them & enter inside the train on your right. Go past the restaurant & sleeping quarters; the Almanac will be at a dead end at the back of the train.

Datalog #46 – The Ring: Missable. Now return to where the rest of your friends are at the station. The Cosmogony can be found on their left on top of a bench.

Royal Arm #10 – Trident of the Oracle: Story Related. This Royal Arm will be received by Gentiana during the Main Quest – Breath of the Glacian.


Achievement #49 – End of Days: Completed Chapter 12.
Story Related. After receiving Royal Arm #10, the train will return to its course & the Chapter will end.

1. Complete Chapter 13
2. Level: 65
3. Royal Arms: 11/13
4. Datalog: 65/76
5. Achievements: 50/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the beginning of Chapter 13 you will be split up from your friends. When you get the option to choose between Noctis or Gladio & Ignis, choose Noctis. (I am unsure if they go through the exact same chain of events you do as Noctis.

Datalog #47 – M.E. 746-VII-29th: Missable. After a series of maze-like rooms, you will eventually make your way to the central elevator. But your key card will not work. Carry on & sneak past the patrolling Iron Giant, Gargantua. Head down the stairs, & then head left down into the large room with some patrolling Haywire Axemen. Snake your way through a maze of crates & Axemen Eastward through this area till you find a set of stairs going up at the end. Head up the stairs, at the top of them take a right & you will find the Omega File on some wooden crates.

There are 12 more Datalog Entries on this Chapter we have to find.

Royal Arm #11 – Sword of the Father: Story Related. After we try to take the central elevator up, we will find ourselves… at the bottom, rock bottom. But at least down here, we will find Royal Arm #11 the Sword of the Father, Regis’s old blade.

Datalog #48 – Letter #2: Missable. After regaining control of Noct when we receive the Sword of the Father, look around. There will be 3 Letters scattered around you. Facing the bridge ahead,
Letter #2 will be just off your right.

Datalog #49 – Letter #1: Missable. Carry on around the body of a certain someone to your right & you will find Letter #1 just above them.

Datalog #50 – Letter #3: Missable. Keep going around your little semi-circle & Letter #3 will be the last to collect in this area.

Datalog #51 – M.E. 746-X-30th: Missable. After collecting the Level 4 Clearance, fight off a large group of Magitek Axemen, & in the next room 3 Snagas. In this room, the Main Quest will take you forward, instead, take the path leading West off your left. From the Resting Room, head around the square to the opposite side, this next Omega File will be on top of a small shelf to your right.

Datalog #52 – Photosensitivity in Magitek Troopers: Missable. Eventually, you will enter a control room where you switch on “Circuit Panel A”. Carry on into the room to your right afterwards, the Report will be on a green crate near the door to the next area.

Datalog #53 – Mass Disappearance Report: Missable. Collect the key card for Circuit Panel B & insert it into the mainframe. Enter the new area you just unlocked off your left & look to your right to find this next Report on a desk.

Datalog #54 – West Gralea Quarantine Report: Missable. In the same room as the last Report, on another desk adjacent to the last.

Datalog #55 – National Defense Policy: Missable. Now back track to the main room & head East towards the Quest Marker. In the room you find Panel C Key Card, look up to the left of the stairs to find this Report on some more green crates.

Datalog #56 – Military Applications of Mutative Plasmodia: Missable. With Panel C Key card, turn off Circuit Panel B & turn on Panel C. From the control room, head to the door on your right, then left, & left again till you are in the room straight across from the control room due West. The Report can be found on a shelf to the right of where you enter.

Datalog #57 – North Gralea Quarantine Report: Missable. Flip on Circuit Panel B & C to leave this 9-room conundrum. When you enter the next new room after leaving the previous area, look to your right. The Report will be at the end of a conference table.

Datalog #58 – Magitek Research Facility Damage Report: Missable. This is found in the same room as the last Report. Look to the left side of the room you are in to find the Report on a shelf behind a couch.

Datalog #59 – Researcher's Writing: 28th-VI: Missable. Just to the right of the room where you collect the Level 5 access as a part of the Main Quest. This Report will be on a green crate near the door.

Datalog #60 – Researcher's Writing: 16th-V: Missable. In the same room as the last Report, this one can be found to the right of the hallway we carry on through.

Datalog #61 – Wallbreaker Wave Test Report 1: Missable. Take the elevator up & fight off the Magitek soldiers. When you upgrade your Key Card to Level 6, carry on to the next Lodgings. From here carry on down the hall & enter the next room, the Report will be straight ahead of you.

Datalog #62 – Wallbreaker Wave Test Report 2: Missable. In the same room, look to your right. Along the computer consoles on the wall we can find this next Report on some green crates.

Datalog #63 – M.E. 747-I-14th: Missable. After the trap hall with the electric walls, your Main Quest marker will tell you to push a button on a computer console. Instead, head into the room North of where you are, which will be an Imperial war room. Our final Datalog Entry for this Chapter (finally) will be at the back of the holographic strategies table.


Achievement #50 – Redemption: Completed Chapter 13.
Story Related. After Noctis finds the Crystal, he will meet Bahamut. When you regain control of Noctis again in the alternate reality the Chapter will end.

Datalog #64 – Geophysical Survey of Atmospheric Conditions: Missable. In Chapter 14, you will have to make your way out of Galdin Key over to Hammerhead. When you finally make it to Hammerhead, enter Takka’s Diner. Inside, you can find this Report straight ahead on the restaurant counter.

Datalog #65 – Study On the Nature of Photophillic Particles: Missable. While still inside the diner, look to your right. This next Report can be found on a shelf near a Hunter cleaning his knife.

Now, we are right on the cusp of completing the Main Questline. Before we leave Hammerhead for Insomnia, for the story’s sake, we should go & do two things: Episode Prompto & the Comrades Campaign. If we complete the Comrades Campaign prior to this next Sequence, the character we play as will show up for the latter half of Chapter 14 in a Side Quest, briefly. It is technically as they intended, so that is what we shall do. But first, Episode Prompto…

1. Complete Episode Prompto on Normal
2. Intensive Training
3. Time Trials
4. Achievements: 57/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Achievement Breakdown – Episode Prompto: (7)
Story Related: (2)
Time Trials: (1)
Slay: (4)

Begin Episode Prompto from the Title Screen, because of where we are in the Main Questline, there will be no spoilers for us regarding Prompto. Be sure to play through this Episode on Normal Difficulty for the Achievement. There are Side Quests in this DLC, but only one has an Achievement associated with it, so I would forget about all the other ones. Unless of course, you want to.


Achievement #51 – Unseen Assassin: Stealth-killed 3 enemies.
This is most likely the first Achievement you will unlock during this Episode. You will get the first kill when this skill is introduced. Taking down the Sniper in a room later on can be your second kill. As soon as he is down, run down the stairs to assassinate one of the other patrolling guards for your third kill unlocking the Achievement. There will be other opportunities during the DLC to do this so do not fret.


Achievement #52 – Field Photographer: Took 10 photos mid battle using Selfie-Shot.
This will be our second Achievement of the Episode. Whenever you are in prolonged combat, when your Tech Bar has reached two bars, use the Selfie-Shot. We only need to do it 10 times, afterwards we can use the Tech Bar for more… beneficial purposes. I farmed this one as fast as I could manage.


Achievement #53 – An Emperor Deposed: Defeated the Kaiser Behemoth.
When Aranea joins your group during the Main Quest – Sins of the Father, make your way South along the lake from the main Campground. Cross over a large rock & you will find a shed full of weapons with some Garula nearby (depending on the time of day). This is where we will encounter the Behemoth, but it will only appear at the hour 16 o’clock near sunset. Kill time doing other Side Quests, exploring or just leaving your game idol. Either way, be sure to be here at 16 o’clock.

When the time comes, the Side Quest – Emperor of the Angoris will become available. Go to it, & steel yourself for a difficult battle. Use all the weapons in the shed, even the shed itself as a refuge to heal. Aranea will be key in this battle, doing most of the heavy lifting for us. Play very defensively. Stay by the shed & use the Alea Bazookas & the Sagitta Sniper Rifles to do some damage. When your Tech Bar has two bars, use Aranea’s Highwind Technique to do some damage & usually make the Behemoth Vulnerable. When it is Vulnerable, spam your Crackshot Ability to do some damage. Do not worry about using your Items, worst case scenario if you burn through them all, just reload your last save after you defeat the Behemoth. It isn’t like there is any rewards worth keeping at stake, just the Achievement.


Achievement #54 – Sharp Shooting: Took down 30 enemies with Crackshots.
This Achievement can be a little tricky, if only because Aranea kills enemies herself so fast. Use your Handgun as often as you can, whenever an enemy becomes Vulnerable, finish them off with Crackshot. It is a very beneficial Ability, so you will probably unlock it naturally anyways, but try working towards it purposefully until it unlocks just in case.


Achievement #55 – Unbreakable Bonds: Completed Episode Prompto on Normal.
Story Related. When you go on your epic Snowmobile chase through the snow, defeat the Magitek Core boss to end the Episode. The Achievement will unlock after the credits if you beat the Episode on Normal Difficulty.


Achievement #56 – The Dragoonslayer: Completed Aranea’s Intensive Training.
In the Main Menu of Episode Prompto, we can now access Intensive Training. If you played Episode Gladio’s Final Trial, then this will be very familiar for you. In this Mode, we must defeat Aranea in single combat. She has 2 phases, her second phase activating when she is reduced to 30% health. Your Items are: Potions x1, Elixirs x2, & Phoenix Downs x1. Try saving all your Items for her second phase.

Keep as much distance as possible from Aranea & dodge constantly. Your Handgun is your best weapon as it allows you to Crackshot her when she becomes Vulnerable without having to waste time swapping weapons. Try using your Trigger-Happy Technique when your Tech Bar reaches 3 as often as possible but only use it when she is close or after she has come out of the air. If you can find it, grab the Sagitta Sniper Rifle. When she comes out of the air, she will be immobile for a short period, that’s the perfect time to shoot her with the Sniper Rifle, especially during her final form.

Quite a bit of luck is involved just with her choice of moves & when she becomes Vulnerable. Stick with it, though now that the Mode has been unlocked you can attempt this at any time now.


Achievement #57 – Dogged Rider: Earned the Top Ranking on all three Timed Trial courses.
You will probably need to do a few runs of each course before you can comfortably complete them with decent times. Try collecting as many Speed Shards as possible while avoiding jumps as they usually just make you wipe out. Know your run & the Speed Shards you do/do not need. This Achievement is a real pain in the (censored by Steam).

Reyas from True Achievements had these invaluable video guides for this Achievement. Definitely could not have gotten it without their help!
There are 3 Timed Trials we need 3-Stars on:

Slippery Slalom: 1:12:99
https://youtu.be/6VBbTk6n2Us

Avalanche Ambush: 1:29:99
https://youtu.be/x_Ze-F1pUIw

Snowglide Run: 1:16:99
https://youtu.be/reFv4Vcirvs

1. Provide Power to: Lestallum, Cauthess Depot, Old Lestallum
2. Royal Sigils: 1/13
3. Achievements: 62/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Achievement Breakdown - Comrades: (10)
Story Related: (3)
Side Quest: (3)
Collectibles: (2)
Miscellaneous: (2)

Now, for the moment I have been dreading this entire game. Comrades. If you have followed my other guides, you will know, I hate Online. Fortunately, everything in Comrades can be achieved Solo, though it is WAY easier if you have another person to do this with. Granted, if you have yourself a full group of 4 players you would be laughing. For Comrades, we are going all the way till the bitter end. For the most part, we will get the majority of the Achievements naturally as we play through the Main Questline. If we complete Comrades before we get into the meat of Chapter 14 back in the Base Game, our character will show up for that Sequence. A small reward, but since we need these 10 Achievements for 100% anyways, we might as well.

If you want to excel at Comrades, like I did, I suggest checking out this guide by Die from GameFAQs. It is an amazing guide, you do not have to follow everything to a tee but it will give you some awesome insight on making your character very over powered. Check it out!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/211428-final-fantasy-xv-multiplayer-expansion-comrades/faqs/77190/walkthrough

Before You Play: As it turns out, the Servers are absolutely dead, you are almost guaranteed to be playing Solo, even if you wanted to play Online. This is not an issue, though it is going to make the Come Back, Kenny Achievement a real pain in the (censored by Steam) to unlock.


Achievement #58 – Beacon of Hope: Powered up all facilities in Lestallum.
This will be the first Achievement you will unlock in Comrades. All you need to do is purchase all 6 Facilities available in Lestallum. It will cost you 2050 kW, just complete the Hunt – Garulessa Gone Wild twice & you will have enough. Great, now only 997,949 kW to go for the Let There Be Light Achievement…


Achievement #59 – One With Your Blade: Crafted a weapon of Level 30 or higher.
I would suggest just taking your starter weapon, the Katana, & taking it to Level 30. You can achieve this by your 3rd mission if you sink all the materials you’ve received up until now into the weapon, or any weapon that caps out at Level 30. It says Level 30 or higher, so if you are smart, you can bank all your materials till you get a really powerful that goes beyond Level 30. But at the end of the day, it won’t really matter with the amount of Quests we will have to do to receive 999,999 kW.

Royal Sigil #1 – The Oracle: This will be the first Royal Sigil we receive; we will need 500kW to access the Alpine Stable Node, & another 2000kW to access the Power Supply Node containing the Royal Sigil.


Achievement #60 – Kingly Blessing: Received a Royal Sigil.
Story Related. After restoring power to all 6 Facilities in Lestallum you will receive a Solo Quest – Ropeway Under Renovation, & then another Solo Quest – Let Sleeping Kings Lie. Completing this last Solo Quest will reward you with our first Sigil.

Royal Retinue #1 – Gladiolus: After you play for a little while completing Quests, Gladio will show up in Lestallum. He can be found up near the Power Plant on the left side before the bridge. He is only Level 15, & compared to fighting Cor or Aranea, he is a bit of a push over. Just keep using your Curative Spell & you will be fine.


Achievement #61 – Beacons of Hope: Completed the Comrades Quest with all four characters.
In Lestallum, go see Monica & scroll over to the Future Tab in your Current Quests. You will see the Comrades: Departure Quest. When you select it, you will have the option of playing as 1 of the 4 main characters from the Base Game. For this Achievement, you have to complete this Quest once as each of the 4 characters. The character Levels, & Gear are pre-chosen so just cycle through the list & play this Quest 4 times, it will be the same Quest every time.

Gladio is most certainly the easiest, & I actually found Noctis the hardest. Always carry food with you so you can revive, especially during the final boss fight. Anytime you use your current food, quickly scatter & grab another piece, this is a long & annoying Quest. Having to replay it after making it to the final boss would be a real hassle. For Prompto, remember his strategies we learned from playing his Episode. Play defensive, & whenever an enemy is Vulnerable press Y & use Crackshot. Crackshot & your Trigger-Happy Technique are the only thing that will really crush bosses fast. He is pretty simple along with Gladio. Ignis is also not too bad, we have never played as him, but he is pretty darn fast. Noctis however, is melee based but does not pack the punch that Gladio does so it takes way longer to deal noticeable damage. Always, always, carry food is all I can stress. The Achievement will unlock after beating the Quest with the last character.


Achievement #62 – Come Back, Kenny!: Met the owner of the Crow’s Nest Diner.
So… this is the most infuriating Achievement of all Final Fantasy 15… & I did nothing for it. There are 9 Chefs that have a chance to cook for you at the end of every Quest you do. It is random. I had a theory that it was based on the ingredients you & your companions had on your persons but that does not seem to be true. Having all 3 of my AI companions with Mystery Meat I got almost exclusively Monica. But I got Cindy, Aranea, & just now Kenny himself with these same ingredients. It truly is luck based, & I really hope this Achievement will unlock for all of you over the long grind of Comrades we will be going through. I was damn lucky to get it this early. In total, I got Kenny randomly 3 times across my Comrades playthrough.

It is completely random chance on Kenny's spawn which can be infuriating. But take comfort in the fact that to 100% all of the Achievements in Comrades, we have to play quite a lot of Quests, so the odds are in our favor. Just stick with it, & ideally this is not the last Achievement you will need to grind after completing Comrades...

Method De-Bunked!: There is a huge theory going around stating that you can force Kenny to spawn as your cook if you have no food in your Inventory when you complete a Quest. It involves needing all of your AI Companions dead so that they do not auto-collect food. This method never worked for me & Baby Hasu confirms it never worked for them either during their tests.

1. Provide Power to: Meldacio Hunter HQ, Galdin Quay, & Cape Caem
2. Royal Sigils: 12/13
3. Achievements: 65/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Royal Retinue #2 – Prompto: Eventually, Prompto will show up in Lestallum. He can be found in the same location we found Gladio up near the Power Plant. He will be Level 18. Do not give him ground & maul the poor guy. His Bioblaster can one shot us if we are not being careful so that is the only time to flee from him.

Royal Sigil #2 – The Warrior: On your map, from Lestallum go South East along the Nodes. Past Narcie Haven & Sothmocke Haven, we will unlock a Node West to the Power Station containing The Warrior’s Sigil. It will cost us 38,000 kW. Farm some Quests for the kW or just remember the cost for this as you play. When you have the necessary kW, activate the Node for our second Royal Sigil.

Royal Sigil #3 – The Wanderer: Now, once again from Lestallum, go South West along the Nodes to the Power Station & Alkyrie Haven. From here, go North up to Mynrbum Haven. This will unlock three paths for us. The West most path will take us to a Royal Tomb that contains The Wanderer’s Sigil.

Royal Retinue #3 – Ignis: A short while after defeating Prompto, Ignis will appear up near the Power Plant in Lestallum. He will be Level 22 & is actually quite a challenge. He can deliver some very powerful spells at you, so be on your toes. Try always staying behind him, whenever he moves his hands, dodge.


Achievement #63 – Royal Retinue Rumble: Bested the Chosen King’s companions.
Ignis is the final Chocobro we will have to defeat for the Achievement. They always show up in the same order: Gladio, Prompto, then Ignis. All in all, they are not too difficult to defeat, even at any Level. I bested them as soon as they showed up in town.

Royal Sigil #4 – The Rogue: From the Mynbrum Haven West of Lestallum, head North along the Nodes past the Power Station & to the Capitis Haven. From here, go left to the Power Station & complete the Urgent Quest – The Terrible Treant in the Meldacio Hunter HQ Tab. After completing the Quest, you will need an additional 11,000kW to unlock the Node containing the fourth Royal Sigil.

Royal Sigil #5 – The Tall: If you have powered up the first 3/4 Outposts, begin making your way down to Galdin Quay. Eventually you will power up a Campground called Oathe Haven. From here, complete the Urgent Quest – The Injurious Jabberwock. This is a very hard Quest; you should try & at least be Level 30 or have some very good gear with you. It will cost an additional 16,000kW to unlock the Node leading up to it afterwards. This Sigil is best saved for a little bit later when you are stronger…

Royal Sigil #6 – The Pious: From Old Lestallum, head down South. Past a Power Station, Telghey Haven, & the House of Hexes Power Station; you will unlock the Tomb of the Pious. It can be accessed through a 13,000kW Power Line.

Royal Sigil #7 – The Just: Head South from where we unlocked the Sigil of the Warrior to the Coernix Station – Cauthess Power Station. From here, go west to the Secullam Pass Power Station. This will unlock the Urgent Quest – The Cursed Coeurl. We can unlock the Sigil after completing the Quest for an additional 13,000kW.


Achievement #64 – Cleaving A Path: Witnessed the awakening of King Noctis.
Story Related. When you are ready, power up Galdin Quay & set sail for the final boss fight. I strongly recommend using the Comrades guide I included above, in it, the guide will tell you how to craft a Level 99 Dragon Whisker. This is one of the best weapons in the game & is very handy to have. I was only Level 26 when I beat the Comrades campaign. The Achievement will unlock after Noctis comes out to greet you & the rest of the Glaives.


Achievement #65 – Chocobreeder: Raised a Chocobo to Level 99.
This is another very annoying Achievement to unlock in Comrades. I highly recommend watching this video guide by LemonEatingKow to show you the best strategy for achieving it.

https://youtu.be/JpiwZ4lks8A

A good strategy I found is to quit your game & reload it if you mess up before it saves your changes. If you mess up, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete at the same time & bring up your Task Manager & close Final Fantasy 15. You must close the game before it saves your changes to your Chocobo or this will not work. I found this was the best method that was the least annoying to accomplish. Just reload your game & try again with the same Chocobo, it will save you having to go & track down another Level 50 Chocobo to level.

Royal Sigil #8 – The Fierce: From Old Lestallum, head West. Go through the Dainse Haven, Power Station, Lambath Haven, then to Verinas Mart – Ravatogh. From here, take the West Power Station, then South Power Station. Build the Power Station with your Chocobo, then purchase the Tomb of the Fierce Node for 10,000kW.

Royal Sigil #9 – The Mystic: Once again, from where we unlocked The Warrior’s Sigil, head East to Pullmoor Haven, then down South to Ausace Haven. Now head West to the Power Station & the Tomb of the Mystic can be purchased for 13,000kW.

Royal Sigil #10 – The Wise: From where we unlocked The Warrior’s Sigil, head East to Coernix Station – Alstor. Build the Power Station with a Chocobo & carry on to unlock the Norduscaen Garrison. From here, go East to the Lepellieth Haven which unlocks the Urgent Quest – The Menacing Mechs. Afterwards, the Node can be purchased for 9,800kW.

Royal Sigil #11 – The Conqueror: Now return to Lepellieth Haven & head up to the North East Power Station. We can purchase the Tomb of the Conqueror Node for 18,000kW.

Royal Sigil #12 – The Clever: From Galdin Quay, begin powering up the Nodes leading North up to Hammerhead. Past Vennaugh Haven & a Power Station, you will reach Emmelle Haven. This will unlock an Urgent Quest – Out of the Darkness. This is an exceptionally hard Quest. Focus all of your strength on the Yojimbo, Goblins will sprint past you but that should be fine. I am pretty sure I let every single Goblin get through with how much I was struggling with the Yojimbo. After the Goblins are gone, two Mutant Gargoyles will appear. Defeating them & the Yojimbo will complete the Quest. Fortunately, they do not seem to rush through the mine & are only interested in fighting you so use this to your advantage.

After completing the Quest, the Tomb of the Clever Node can be purchased for 14,000kW. One Sigil left!

1. Provide Power to: Insomnia
2. Royal Sigils: 13/13
3. Achievements: 67/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Royal Sigil #13 – The Father: We can now send power to Insomnia & finally beat this game. From the Norduscaen Garrison, a new 10,000kW Power Line will become available. Power it up, the six 5,000kW Power Lines, & the final 50,000kW Power Line. If you need help getting kW, go see Navyth in Old Lestallum. Go to the far end of town where the other roadblock is. From here, take a left down some stairs to the bottom where the canal is & Navyth can be found doing what he does best. He sells kW for a pretty decent price. If you need quick Gil, sell some of your accumulated weapons or worthless crafting materials. This is also how we are most likely going to finish off the 999,999kW Achievement as well.

Powering up the final Node will unlock the final Main Quest for the Comrades Expansion. Spoilers ahead! Sort of. We will be fighting the final boss of the Main Game, but the cinematics with Ardyn are scripted like this fight comes before that battle takes place. In the timeline, Comrades comes first, so technically this isn’t really a spoiler. Just thought I would mention it though.

If you are cool with it, carry on to Insomnia. Be warned, this is a Level 99 Quest & is very challenging. Consult with the Comrades Strategy Guide for the best tactics & set up for your character. Though this can require a lot of pre-work that can be very grindy.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/211428-final-fantasy-xv-multiplayer-expansion-comrades/faqs/77190/walkthrough

In short, upgrade all of your weapons to Level 120. My weapons were the Dragon Whisker, then the Dancing Daggers. I then had two Level 120 Clarity Shields with as much Strength Gemstones/Shards & Curved Hollowhorns I could stuff in them. Same went for my Dancing Daggers though I balanced out some Vitality Gemstones in that one as well. In one of my Clarity Shields I used 9 Sinister Sharpscales which gave me 90% Fire Resistance, the other 10% came from the Dragon Whisker.

To get enough Meteorites, purchase a blank Clarity Shield. Then using all of your junk materials you have collected over the course of the game, upgrade the shield to Level 50. Dismantle it, & you will earn a Meteorite along with a few other materials. Rinse & repeat as needed, though before sure you have your end-game weapons chosen/purchased first as some may need specific materials to be traded in for.

At Level 42 this was my loadout:
HP: 3501 Vitality: 630 Attack: 2348
MP: 133 Fire Resistance: 100% Defense: 630
Strength: 2090 Shot Resistance: 60%

My Dragon Whisker has 258 Attack & is imbued with Penetrator X & Penetrator which reduces the enemies total defense by 80%. I also used The Rogue’s Sigil. If you cannot beat Ifrit at this stage, begin working towards the Let There Be Light Achievement to get some extra strength under your belt.


Achievement #66 – Blessed By All: Collected all 13 Royal Sigils.
After defeating Ifrit, & you found all 12 of the Royal Sigils prior to this battle, you will unlock the Achievement upon collecting The Father’s Sigil.


Achievement #67 – Let There Be Light: Amass 999,999 kW.
This is cumulative but unfortunately the game does not track how much you have accumulated so far. This is a lot of kW, apparently if you have powered up every single Node in the game you will STILL need around 150,000 kW more. Purchasing kW from Navyth is your best option at this point. If you do not plan on continuing Comrades after this Achievement, & Ifrit is defeated, sell off all non-essential gear & materials for some extra Gil. After that, the real grind for Gil begins.

Definitely power up all the Nodes, you will get kW & Gil rewards for some of them. As well, we can elect leaders for certain Outposts which can sometimes give us donations. Every little bit helps at this point. After you get this Achievement… that is it for Comrades. Finally. Only took me… 27 hours.

1. Complete Chapter 14, Post-Game
2. Level: 72
3. Royal Arms: 13/13
4. Datalog: 69/76
5. Achievements: 72/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annnnd we are back folks, at long last. Return to Prince Noctis at Hammerhead & let’s roll out! You will definitely recognize the Glaives we meet at the Outpost in Insomnia… especially one in particular in a Side Quest later on.

In the far South East corner of Insomnia, just above the Imperial Base #2, we will encounter a Super Boss called Omega. It is Level 119 & is the hardest boss in the game. Unfortunately, there is an Achievement associated with defeating it, Through the Dimensional Rift. We will definitely be saving this fight for the very end, just keep this location noted…


Achievement #68 – Tri-Headed Triumph: Defeated Cerberus.
Story Related. Instead of Omega, we have a different boss we need to defeat in Insomnia, this one however is a part of the Main Questline. Make your way to the Main Quest – The Cure For Insomnia Quest Marker, in front of the Citadel gates & there will be a huge three headed Hell hound. It is only Level 45 & though challenging; it is nothing compared to Ifrit from Comrades. Defeat its second form with Cor & the Achievement will unlock.


Achievement #69 – Chosen King: Defeat Ifrit on Normal Difficulty.
Story Related. If you have your game set to Normal Difficulty, you will unlock this Achievement when Ifrit is defeated. You can have played on Easy Difficulty right up until this point, just be sure to switch Difficulty before fighting him. Ifrit is a joke compared to how we fought him in Comrades. You should not have too much trouble at all, we have Phoenix Downs & Elixirs after all…


Achievement #70 – Homecoming: Completed Chapter 14.
Story Related. After defeating the 3 bosses as well as the super-duper final boss, you will unlock the Achievement & beat the Main Campaign of Final Fantasy 15 at long last.

But our work is far from over… we now enter “Chapter 15 – Post Game”. Do not begin NG+! This will restart everything we have worked so hard to do! Our Title Screen will be different signifying that we have completed the Main Campaign.

Load the Save Game we just created at the end of the credits/cinematics & we will be returned to our last Save back in Insomnia during Chapter 14. Return to a Lodgings in Insomnia, but instead of resting, select “Call Umbra” & “Travel back to past Lucis”.

At the moment, ignore the new Side Quest – Let Sleeping Mountains Lie. This is going to trigger a Super Boss we will have to fight, & we are not quite ready to take that on just yet.


Achievement #71 – Regalia Pilot: Flew the Regalia Type-F.
Return to Cindy. Back at the Formouth Garrison when we were collecting Datalog #40, we also should have received an item collected the Strange Engine when we completed its associated Side Quest. Take this part to Cindy & she will convert the Regalia into the Type-F. Hop in it, & manually drive it down the road. After gaining a little speed, you should now have the option of taking off. Take flight & after the control prompts return to you the Achievement will unlock.

Datalog #66 – Daurell Caverns: Fast travel to the Cauthess Rest Area Outpost. From here, drive South along the road till you are just before the tunnel entrance, below where “Causcherry Plains” is written on the map. Hop out & you will see a dirt trail going up the mountain South of your position up to Schier Heights. Follow the trail along & it will eventually lead you to the entrance of the Daurell Caverns Dungeon. Turn around at the cave entrance & there will be a large greyish rock in front of you. Climb on top of it & you can find the Almanac near its center.

Datalog #67 – Balouve Mines: Fast travel to the Longwythe Rest Area Outpost. South of here will be a dirt turn off of the main highway. Take it & you will come across the Balouve Mines Parking Spot. Hop out here, & you should be able to see some large yellow pipes running East to West. Get on top of them & you can find this Almanac at the far end of the pipes closest to the Parking Spot.

Royal Arm #12 – Bow of the Clever: Near enter the Balouve Mines Dungeon. After defeating the Boss, we can now access the Royal Tomb here. From the bottom chamber, head East up the metal stairs until you get to the first ladder leading up. Go left from the ladder & behind a large quarried stone will be a small crevice we can sidle through. The Tomb of the Clever can be found just inside here.

Datalog #68 – The Hero of Saxham: Go to the Three Valleys Parking Spot. Directly across from you will be a small shack with a wind turbine beside it. The final Chronicle can be found just inside it. This only becomes available during “Post-Game”.

Datalog #69 – Costlemark Tower: Go to the Cauthess Rest Area Outpost & purchase a lot of Potions/Curatives. From here, look on your map in between Kettier Highland & The Fallgrove. There will be a grey circular shaped area, this is Costlemark Tower. Drive to it & you will discover The Fallgrove Parking Spot. Oathe Haven Campground is just South of here close to the dirt road. Costlemark Tower will only open for us at nighttime. Wait at the Haven & begin making your way up to the Dungeon.

Enter the Dungeon & cross over the bridge in the center until you reach a set of stairs leading down. There will be two dead ends, one to the left & right of these stairs. Take the dead end to the right of the stairs, the Almanac will be in the corner.

Royal Arm #13 – Sword of the Tall: Now, progress further into the Dungeon, you definitely want to be Level 50+ for this one. When you enter the huge circular room at the very bottom, do not stand on the red portal in the West side of the room! It will teleport you back to the beginning & you will have to run all the way back down here. Instead, go to the South East corner of the room & stand on the glowing blue square, you will be able to interact with it & it will lower you further into the Dungeon.

After defeating the Red Giant, ride the elevator back up to that large circular room. This time, go to the far North West corner of this room, & activate a different glowing blue square. It will take you down, this time you will have to fight two Red Giants. Return back up to the large room again.

Walk back to the elevator you took down in the North West corner. Activate it once, then a second time to go down but do not activate it a third time! Instead, activate the glowing blue square that is in the wall looking West. Carry on through this new maze area. Take a left, another left, then right which will take you to a drop. Go straight, then right, left, take the block up, & up again. Go left, then right taking the block down, & down again where you will have a drop. Now this is the important part! You will have two choices now, a block that is South on your right or straight ahead going East. The East wall will have a small circle in front of it on the floor. This is the block you must activate, the other one will send you right back into the room with all the Red Giants.

Activate the East block, then the block on your left. Carry on & take a block up, then straight ahead, then straight again. Fight off the ambush & take the right block, then left, straight & take the drop down. Fight off the ambush & take the straight block, then left & drop down for another ambush. Now keep following the blocks straight ahead down the corridor, fight off the ambush & take the block up. Carry on straight & fight off an ambush, now take the final block down & you will have finally found the inner sanctum & take the fancy elevator down. Defeating the Dungeon Boss will award us with, at long last, the Sword of the Tall.


Achievement #72 – Faithful Heir: Collected all 13 Royal Arms.
If you have been following along with the guide, this will be the final Royal Arm we need.

1. Post-Game
2. Level: 82
3. Datalog: 75/76
4. Achievements: 78/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Achievement #73 – The Power Within: Awakened the True Power of Kings.
Now that we have all 13 Royal Arms, Fast Travel to the Prairie Outpost. Head on up the path over towards the Keycatrich Ruins. Just to the right of the Dungeon entrance, you can find a statue of The Founder King holding the Mystic Greatsword. Interact with it & you will receive the Founder King’s Sigil. Equip it & go find something to fight. In combat, unleash your Armiger Mode & you will notice it is very different & a lot more powerful. When you use this new Mode for the first time you will unlock the Achievement.


Achievement #74 – Maiden Voyage: Captained the Royal Vessel.
Fast Travel anywhere that has a Lodging, like Hammerhead, & Call Umbra. When Umbra arrives, choose to “Travel to past Altissia”.

When you arrive, take a gondola & first go see Weskham down at the Floating Market Station – Maagho to set up our other Achievement here. On a table near the bar will be the Side Quest – A Second Sea God, & Weskham will tell you about Bismarck the whale. With this new Side Quest obtained, return to the gondola & go to Port Station. Now head left past the yellow info booths through customs & left again to get to the dock. When you get to the dock, you will be able to call over the Royal Vessel. Climb aboard & drive it manually to unlock the Achievement.


Achievement #75 – Narwhal Watching: Encountered Bismarck.
With the Side Quest – A Second Sea God active, begin making your way out to sea in the Royal Vessel to where the Quest Marker leads. When you exit Altissia, begin searching for flocks of seagulls, they should be pretty easy to spot. By the second flock, you should get a cinematic revealing Bismarck. Hang out on the Royal Vessel for a little bit watching him, & eventually he will depart unlocking the Achievement.

From the Royal Vessel, use Galdin Quay as the Anchorage Point to save you the trouble of going through Umbra to return back to Lucis.

Datalog #70 – Dormaneth Haven: Fast Travel to Meldacio Hunter HQ & speak with Ezma to unlock the Side Quest – Menace Beneath Lucis. This Side Quest can only be received if you have completed the Side Quests associated with the Dungeons: Balouve Mines, Crestholm Channels, Daurell Caverns, Costlemark Tower, as well as the Dungeons we have to complete for the Main Questline. This new Side Quest will allow us to access the secret Menace Dungeons found within these Dungeons. Each Dungeon will have some Monoliths inside them which count as Datalog Entries.

Return to the Prairie Outpost & head into the Keycatrich Ruins. The Quest Marker for this Dungeon will take you to the Menace Dungeon entrance. The Menace Dungeons have Floors we have to beat, Keycatrich has 20. On the 10th Floor will be a Haven to rest at. Just before the next passage leading down, the Monolith can be found just to its left.


Achievement #76 – Cooking Expert: Reached maximum Cooking Level.
Hopefully by this point, Ignis’s Cooking Skill is around Level 9 (or 10). If not, try focus on camping at Havens in this final mop up of the game. This can be easily farmed for as well, simply find a Haven & keep camping until Cooking reaches Level 10.


Achievement #77 – Seize the Moment: Performed 10 full-hit Cross Chains.
I figured out how to do these embarrassingly late in the game, hopefully you unlocked this Achievement a lot sooner. Occasionally in combat when an enemy becomes Vulnerable, you will receive a Cross Chain Event. Within the initial 10 seconds of the event, lock onto the enemy & Warp Strike into them. Then you will get a prompt to press the attack button 10 times to initiate a full-hit Cross Chain. You have to time your presses, too soon or too late will ruin the Cross Chain. Going through these Menace Dungeons should provide you an excellent opportunity to try for this Achievement. After your 10th successful Cross Chain, you will unlock it.

Datalog #71 – Heppletaph Haven: Now, begin the Side Quest – A Menace Sleeps In the Grotto for our next Monolith. Once again on the 10th Floor near the Haven we can find the Monolith to the left of the door.

Datalog #72 – Ravioth Haven: Carry on through Greyshire Glacial Grotto down to Floor 20 where there will be another Haven, & another Monolith.

Datalog #73 – Oxlareth Haven: Next, begin the Side Quest – A Menace Sleeps In Fociaugh & enter the Menace Dungeon it leads to in Fociaugh Hollow. On the 10th Floor we will find a Haven with the Monolith to the left of the next passage.

Datalog #74 – Gainough Haven: Now things are starting to get pretty difficult. The next Side Quest – A Menace Sleeps In Daurell will take us to the Daurell Caverns. This is probably getting into the upper limits of what you can handle right now. If you have not already, complete some more Hunts or Side Quests to level up a bit. I was around Level 75 when I did this Dungeon & it was quite the challenge. Channel your inner Comrades skills & bring lots of Curatives for this.

From the entrance of the Dungeon, defeat the first two Necromancers then take the left path through the crawl space & down the slide. You will then be attacked by an Iron Giant & some Hecteyes. Do not kill them! Instead, look up to your left & you will see a Point Warp. Warp to it, & across from you will be another Point Warp to a wooden ledge with a ladder we can kick down, go to it. This is where we can find the Menace Dungeon entrance. Since we can only Point Warp in combat, it is impossible to get here if this encounter is defeated. The trickiest part is staying up here while your Companions defeat the encounter, switch to a ranged weapon if you have it or just wait it out. Kick the ladder down as soon as combat ends.

Make your way down to Floor 10 to find the Haven, & the Monolith.


Achievement #78 – Survival Expert: Reached maximum Survival Level.
Hopefully you are around Survival Level 9 right now (or 10). This can be a very tedious Achievement to grind for, & so I would wait till this is your very last Achievement before doing so. Using an elastic band or some tape, have Noctis sprint into a wall somewhere indefinitely until you max out the Skill. You will want to have the Stamina Badge equipped to make it easier for yourself. Ideally, this will just unlock for you naturally without having to use this method.

Datalog #75 – Pauperess Haven: Carry on down through the Menace Dungeon. When you find Custards, just use your Ring of the Lucii on them. They are completely invulnerable to all physical damage, only Magic can hurt them. On Floor 20 you will find the Haven & the Monolith.

There are another 4 Menace Dungeons that can be completed, with another 16 Monoliths we can find. For one of the Super Bosses we have to defeat, they will drop a Datalog Entry which will be the last one we need. Feel free to attempt the other Dungeons though, they will give you some good equipment & a lot of XP.

1. Complete Chapter 1
2. Documents: 15/15
3. Achievements: 81/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Achievement Breakdown – Episode Ignis: (7)
Story Related: (2)
Friendly Match: (1)
Collectibles: (1)
Slay: (3)

Most of the Achievements in this DLC will come through natural progression. Getting 100 kills with Total Clarity is the only one you should really farm for. While in combat, if you hold down Y (or whatever your Warpstrike button is set to) you can speed charge your Total Clarity meter. Whenever it becomes active, use it, & kill as many enemies as you possibly can with it. The Frost Element is the most useful for netting kills. Be sure to play this Episode on Normal Difficulty for the ending Achievement.

Chapter #1 – Callings:


Achievement #79 – Hidden Power: Took down 10 enemies using the Spelldaggers.
You will unlock this Achievement very shortly after beginning the DLC. When you climb out of the water & head up some stairs we will be attacked by a large group of Imperial soldiers. There are well over 10 enemies in this attack. It is impossible to not get this Achievement.

Document #1 – Note From Prompto: After liberating the first District, Arcaleo, make your way to the District Campground on your map. The first Document can be found on top of a green crate to the left of the Campground.

Documents simply show up as mundane lootable Items which can be a bit confusing. When in doubt, just loot everything you see.

Document #2 – Magitek Axe: Ignore your Main Questline right now. Instead, look on your map & make your way across the rooves to the Deutato Residential District Campground. Head East from the Campground & fight off some Magitek Axemen. Look back towards the barricades where you came from & search to the right of them. You can find this Document beside a fallen Magitek Axeman near a red building.

Document #3 – Imperial Banner: From here, head East down some stairs towards a pier by the water. On this pier there will be two green C-Cans with Imperial banners hanging off them. Walk past these containers & there will be a fallen Imperial flag on the ground. The Document will be beside this flag.

Document #4 – Family Portrait: On your map from the Deutato Residential District, you can see a narrow canal sweeping down into the lower half of Altissia. From the Deutato Campground, Hookshot onto the nearby roof & head along that broken canal till you reach the Tigiana District. From the Campground here, walk South along the water edge & you will see a group of five tables with red & white tablecloths. The Document will be on the middle table in this group.

Document #5 – Bottled Message: Keep ignoring your Main Quest Marker & head North from where you are to the far end of this area, where the 3 piers show up on the map. At these piers, follow the waters edge West & there will be some broken rubble in between some trees near a red & white pole. The Document can be found hidden under the rubble on a covered set of stairs leading into the water.

Document #6 – Letter to Camelia: Now follow the waters edge West from here till you find a set of stairs leading up. Take a left at these stairs instead of going up them & you will enter an enclosed disposal area with a boat access. You can find this Document on a wooden box straight ahead of where you entered.


Achievement #80 – Swift Retaliation: Took down 10 enemies with Counterstrikes.
When you are hit by a melee attack, you will get a prompt to dodge then a follow up prompt to attack. If you time your presses right, you will complete a Counterstrike. This may come naturally, but just in case it could be worth quickly farming this Achievement. Whenever you see enemies, just let them hit you & Counterstrike them. You have to kill them with the Counterstrike, not just complete 10 of them.

Document #7 – Civilian Evacuation Orders: On your map in the center of Altissia, you should see a large black circle with four other black circles around it. Head towards them & it will turn out to be the Madame Secretary’s regal office. Hookshot to the upper balcony facing East & you can find the Document to the right of a flaming window.

Document #8 – Magitek Appendage: This next Document can actually be found just on the other side of the Madame Secretary’s Office. Hookshot up & over the roof onto the opposite balcony. From here look over the edge away from the water & you can see the dislocated arm of a Magitek Soldier. The Document is in the socket of the arm.

Document #9 –Broken Magitek Core: From the Office, head West till you find a bridge leading across to the next section of Altissia. Right beside this bridge will be a crashed Imperial ship with three dead Magitek Soldiers in front of it. We can find this next Document laying beside the furthest soldier on your right.

Document #10 – Tattered Plushie: We can actually find the next Document on the other side of this destroyed Imperial ship. Climb up the rubble around the right side of the ship & you can find the Document on a Moogle stuffy just behind it.

Document #11 – Soldier’s Letter: Climb over the rubble in your way Eastward. On the other side of the broken tower here will be a yellow building that is on fire. We can find the Document on a red bench in front of this building, facing out towards the water below.

Document #12 – Magitek Rifle: From here, head West. You will see on your map two large rectangles divided by a canal line & water, head to that upper rectangle. There are only two buildings on this side of the canal & there will be some dead Imperial soldiers in front of them. Just to the right of a wooden barricade will be the Document attached to one of the soldier’s rifles.

Document #13 – Proposal For Operation Tidequeller: Hookshot onto the rooves here & head North West over the water to the furthest/largest section of Altissia. From the rooves you should be able to see a large green C-Can with an Imperial banner on it. Head over to it & turn around to face where you just came from. In between you & the rooves you were just on will be some storage containers under a black canvased shelter. The Document will be on a crate underneath this.

Document #14 – Petition For MA-X Aureus Changes: Now head to the far South West end of this large section of Altissia, below the two block “dots” on the map. The black “dots” are actually a statue & fountain. Across from them is another green Imperial C-Can with a green canvased shelter beside it. The Document can be found underneath this shelter on top of a table.

Now we can finally carry on with the Main Questline, focus on your 100 Total Clarity kills. The last Document will become available to us later on.

Document #15 – Note From Gladiolus: When your Main Quest objective changes to “Hop in the boat”, ignore it for now. Instead, make your way back West to the Finangia District Campground. Not only will this give you an opportunity to net more Total Clarity kills along the way, but we can find our last Document here. At the Finangia District Campground, look immediately North across from it & you can find the newly spawned Document on a green crate.


Achievement #81 – Altissian Ambassador: Collected all 15 Documents.
These are really good to go & collect as soon as the Episode begins. This way, you can go through the map once netting Achievement specific kills. Progressing through the Main Quests will reset some of these cleared Districts so you can get more kills. All Documents but the last one can be collected at the very beginning of the Episode.

Before getting on the boat, make sure to take back every District in Altissia for Total Clarity kills.

1. Complete Chapter 2 & Chapter 3
2. Extra Verse
3. Friendly Match
4. Achievements: 85/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2 – Chances:


Achievement #82 – Master of the Elements: Took down 100 enemies using Total Clarity.
If you got 1/4 of the Total Clarity kills or more in Chapter 1, you should be able to net the rest of them in Chapter 2. Whenever large groups of enemies appear, get in cover & hold down your Total Clarity button to speed charge it. Try only killing enemies with Total Clarity until it unlocks. The Frost Element, though weaker, will allow you to hit multiple enemies at once. Build up a multiplier for more damage, then unleash it in the midst of your targets.

Chapter 3 – Sacrifices:


Achievement #83 – A Noble Sacrifice: Completed Episode Ignis on Normal.
Story Related. If you played this DLC on Normal Difficulty, then you will unlock this Achievement just after the credits & emotional concluding cinematic. Hands down, best DLC in Final Fantasy 15!


Achievement #84 – Another Path: Defeated Ardyn in Chapter 3, Verse 2.
Now that the Campaign is complete, we will have unlocked the Extra Verse. Since there is no Difficulty related Achievement, play it on Easy. It will help a lot.

In the Extra Verse we will be given two options: “Fight Back” or “Play Along”. Choose “Play Along” to unlock an alternate timeline where we are taken to Zegnautus Keep. Track down Ardyn & be sure to loot every Item you can find. It will help a lot for the fight with him.

Later you will be given another decision: “Risk My Life”, “Sacrifice My Life”, or “Give Up”. Choose “Sacrifice My Life” to gain full control over the Ring of the Lucii & making the fight with Ardyn a lot easier. There is a 4-minute time limit now but on Easy that shouldn’t pose too much of an issue. Keep attacking Ardyn from behind with the Fire Element activated, building up your Attack Multiplier. When you have a x10 Multiplier, use Total Clarity. Rinse & repeat. I was able to defeat Ardyn in 30 seconds this way.

The Achievement will unlock after the credits roll & you are shown your Victory Screen. I really enjoyed this alternate history! Ravus!!!


Achievement #85 – A New Protaganist: Earned the Top Ranking in the Friendly Match.
Now select Friendly Match from the Main Menu. Like all Episodes, we will have to complete a very challenging Boss battle. For this, we must battle Noctis himself. To unlock the Achievement, we need to earn an A+ rating. You might need a few practices rounds fighting Noctis to be able to get his move set figured out, he has two phases.

This is very difficult, the hardest compared to the other Episodes. For phase 1, Counterstrike is your best friend. It will allow you to regain some HP while also dealing some decent damage. If Noctis retreats to higher ground, chase him down with the Hookshot. Try attacking Noctis as often as possible & make him waste all his MP dodging so he will be put into Stasis. This is where you will be able to land the most hits to bring up your Attack Multiplier for Total Clarity.

Whenever Noctis gets a ways away from you or hangs off something you cannot tear down, hold down Total Clarity & recharge it. As well, just use the Fire Element so you can deal the most damage to him. Frost deals less damage & Lightning just wastes time.

After Noctis is knocked down to 50% health he will switch into phase 2 & begin going into Armiger Mode. Whenever he does this, use your High Jump Technique till he finishes. This will allow you some seconds of invulnerability while you complete that attack. Noctis is a lot more aggressive in this phase so you will have to dodge in & out of combat coming in for a few quick strikes. Counterstrike is still very useful, but you will land hits less often. When Noctis uses the Ring of the Lucii, bull rush him & do not let him use it on you.

For Friendly Match you will be scored on: Combo (the higher your top Combo the better), Evasion (the number of times you dodged Noctis’s attacks), & of course Time (how fast you complete the challenge). Use as many Items as you want, but ultimately using them uses up time. Obviously, the less times you have to heal the faster your run will be. Though I will say, I burned through every single Item you start with & still ended up finishing in 11:40 minutes.

Ravus will appear after 15 minutes have passed, though I never timed it myself. If he shows up, you will be beyond the Time aspect of the Ranking & will not be able to earn Top Rank. Try not restarting until Ravus shows up, only then will you have truly “failed” the challenge. It is usually the run you do not think will succeed that ends up surprising you with victory…

I found a useful guide on YouTube by Shuyin that will give you an idea of how to pace yourself for this fight.

https://youtu.be/yRuIxKPamtw

1. Complete Episode on Normal
2. Purchase All 15 Ardyn Abilities
3. Achievements: 91/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Achievement Breakdown – Episode Ardyn: (7)
Story Related: (3)
Abilities: (1)
Slay: (3)

For this DLC, we will most likely complete two playthroughs of it. We will most likely unlock all but one Achievement in our first playthrough. The final one being earning an A+ Ranking in the entire Episode.

Getting an A+ Ranking is much easier on Easy Difficulty since enemies deal less damage & take less damage to be killed. If you are interested in attempting to unlock all Achievements in one go, scroll to the bottom of this Sequence & check out the parameters for earning an A+ Ranking. Abuse your Saves if you want an A+ Rank. If a battle doesn’t go as planned, just reload your Save & try again. As well, while Battle Time has a score, the overall time it takes to complete the Episode does not have a score. So, take your time with it.

For the first playthrough be sure to beat the Campaign on Normal Difficulty.

Chapter #1 – Darkness Awakens/Chapter #2 – Illusory Truth:

There are no Achievements related to these Chapters or any Collectibles in this DLC.

Chapter #3 – A Fiery Vengeance:

This is where we finally start unlocking Achievements. First, start off by taking over the 7 Sectors of Insomnia.


Achievement #86 – Fallen Saviour: Inflicted Royal Retribution 10 times.
Ardyn has a meter in the bottom left corner of the HUD much like Noctis’s Armiger. Lock on to an enemy & hold your Warpstrike button when it gains charges to unleash your Royal Retribution. It does not have to be at 12 to use it. On the 10th activation, the Achievement will unlock.


Achievement #87 – The Pyreburner’s Keeper: Used Ifrit’s Techniques 10 times.
Just like the previous Achievement, all you have to do is activate the Technique 10 times to unlock the Achievement. It does not require 10 kills with it.


Achievement #88 – Insomnia Insurgence: Overtook all 7 Sectors of Insomnia.
Story Related. There are 7 Sectors to capture/destroy in Insomnia, each is guarded by a various combination of The Fierce Guardian, The Rogue Guardian, & Royal Guards. They are pre-set encounters. After the final Sector is taken, you will unlock the Achievement.


Achievement #89 – King of the Daemons: Daemonified 100 enemies.
This Achievement can be a little time consuming. In the grand scheme of things however, getting 100 Daemonify kills is one of the perquisites for an A+ Ranking. Just keep getting those 5 hit combos & using Daemonify to kill every enemy you can.


Achievement #90 – Mastered the Darkness: Unlocked all 15 of Ardyn’s Abilities.
This will cost a total of 292 AP. It can be gained from fights or destroying objects around Insomnia. Be sure to have this Achievement unlocked before you enter the Citadel & face the final boss.


Achievement #91 – The Nightmare Ends: Completed Episode Ardyn on Normal.
Story Related. If you successfully competed the Episode on Normal Difficulty, then you will unlock the Achievement after the Credits roll. There is a small chance you were able to achieve an A+ Ranking. Do not worry, as tedious as it will be to complete this DLC a second time, we at least know what to expect now.

1. A+ Ranking In Episode Ardyn
2. Achievements: 91/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now… for the fun part. Definitely complete this second playthrough on Easy Difficulty to make things a lot simpler. We have a little leeway for this Achievement, we do not need A+ in every single category. You are allowed one B & all others A+ or two A’s & all others A+.


Here is a list of all the different objectives for A+:

Total Score: This consists of your total Rampage/Battle Score that appears in the top left corner. Kill enemies & destroy objects around Insomnia to contribute to this. Before entering the Citadel, you will want a Total Score of 1,420,000 points for A+. For an A Rank, you only need 920,000 points.

Max Combo: To get an A+ in Max Combo you need to have had at least reached a combo of 400 hits or higher. This is not too difficult to achieve; you can probably reach this while you fight the Guardians defending their Sectors.

Enemies Defeated: To get an A+ in this, you only need to kill 150 or more enemies. This is pretty much guaranteed through natural progression.

Daemonifications: To get an A+ in this, you need to use Daemonify 100 times. You do not need to actually kill an enemy with it, just activate the Ability which is definitely good to know.

Sectors Controlled: Take over all 7 Sectors for an A+ Ranking.

Undying States: If you want an A+ for this section, you cannot die once in the Episode. The beginning death in Chapter 1 does not count.

Damage Incurred: This is definitely the hardest section to get A+ in, & the reason why I recommend you save/reload your game often. For an A+ we can only receive 15,000 points or less of damage. An A Rank will let you take 20,000 points of damage which may be more realistic to try for.

Successful Strategies: For this objective, we must successfully complete all 4 Strategies in the DLC. You will receive a prompt at scripted points in the game (most happening before reaching Insomnia) to complete specific tasks in a certain amount of time. For A+ we cannot fail any of them. Since there is only 4, I would recommend completing all 4 so that you can save an A Rank for harder objectives to complete like Damage Incurred or Total Score.

Battle Time: This is the final objective we have to keep in mind. It is time spent in battle not total time spent playing the Episode. For an A+ you need to have spent 50 minutes or less in battle. Not too difficult, but certain encounters such as the final boss can take a little bit of time.

Chapter #1 – Darkness Awakens:

Get hit as little as possible for this, easier said than done I know. But the more we can do in Chapters 1 & 2, the more breathing room we will give ourselves later on. You will be sent into the Undying State at the beginning, this is fine as it is scripted. But from now on, we cannot go into this state for the rest of the Episode. On Easy, this should be no issue at all… you really do not want to be taking that much damage anyways. Unless facing a singular enemy, always stay mobile.

Strategy #1: The first of four strategies we need to complete is simply Daemonifying the Katana wielding Royal Guard. Land five consecutive strikes on him & hold your Warpstrike button to Daemonify him.

Chapter #2 – Illusory Truth:

When our Main Quest objective changes to “Head for the lowest level”; before entering through the final door into the large chamber, backtrack. Head back up the stairs to the Magitek Research Facility Campground & Save your game. This is in case you want to reload this next battle so you will not have to sit through the entire lead up before it.

When you activate the door & enter into the large room we will be attacked by Royal Guards. Stay mobile, & Daemonify as many of them as you can manage.

Strategy #2: Shortly after the encounter begins, we will receive our second strategy. We must Daemonify 5 enemies in under 2 minutes. Try isolating Guards one at a time & hit them with five consecutive strikes, systematically Daemonifying five of them. If you fail this, I would recommend reloading the Save we just made. This is an easier Objective to A+ then others so it is worth the extra effort.

Strategy #3: When Ifrit shows up we will receive our next strategy to use Royal Retribution. Lock onto a Royal Guard & hold down the Warpstrike button to engage this mode. Simple enough.

Now get in behind Ifrit & attack his back up in the air to avoid the majority of his attacks. Keep attacking him in the back till he gets around 60% health to engage the cinematic, completing Chapter 2.

Chapter #3 – A Fiery Vengeance:

When the Chapter begins, help Ifrit defeat the waves of enemies. Daemonify as many as you can.

Strategy #4: When the third wave of enemies arrives, we will receive our fourth & final Strategy. For this we are taught how to Summon Ifrit as a Technique. Summon him as soon as possible. Here is our first A+, 1/9.

As you travel between all the Sectors, destroy all Destroyable Objects you come across. This will save a lot of back tracking trying to gain a higher Total Score. As well, be sure to pick up any Items you see laying around. To help reduce the amount of damage we take in between Sectors, flee from combat. This will not affect our score, only if we take damage. Crownsguard enemies are good for some easy Daemonify points, but Royal Guards can slowly whittle down our health & are better avoided if possible.

Sector A: When we gain access to our overview map of Insomnia, use the Mark button & highlight the Sector in the bottom South East corner first. Before heading towards it, Save at an Insomnia City Center Campground.

When you destroy the 4 Manafonts it will activate a Fierce Guardian. These guys are easier in my opinion than the Rogue Guardians. Stay behind him & keep striking him, using Daemonify as much as possible. This is a really good time to try building a combo of 400+ as he is the only enemy around & has high health. I was able to build up a combo of 818 here, A+ 2/9. When your Max Combo has been achieved, summon Ifrit & finish the Guardian off as soon as possible. From now on, using Ifrit & Blindsides + Daemonify combos will be our main strategy.

There is no scoring relating to Ardyn’s Decension Abilities. I would however purchase the Spectral Charge Ability so we can spam Royal Retribution if we need to. Before we head to the next Sector, look on your map & head to the newly discovered Hat Shop. There, we can find the Safety Hat for 7500 Yen. As ridiculous as it looks, this will be a major cumulative reduction in damage we receive from here on out. We will lose some MP but just focus your AP on the Power Up Tree to mitigate that.

1. A+ Ranking In Episode Ardyn
2. Achievements: 92/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sector B: Now head to the North Sector from where we are. Defeat the Royal Guards then destroy the 4 Manafonts. Destroying one will summon more Royal Guards, defeat them before destroying more fonts. This will happen often when taking over Sectors. Always defeat enemies as they appear, they are scripted so destroying more fonts will only make it harder for yourself as more enemies get summoned. The Rogue Guardians are a fair bit trickier than the Fierce, be sure to have Ifrit around to help you out.

Sector G: Sector G can be found in the bottom South West corner of the map. If you haven’t already, I would return to the Insomnia City Center Campground & Save your progress. Arriving at Sector G, some Royal Guards will appear immediately. Destroy the 4 Manafonts & some more Royal Guards will appear & the Fierce Guardian will also activate. Ifrit time!

Sector C: From Sector G, we will hit the next 2 Sectors heading up North. Arrive at the Sector & destroy all 4 Manafonts. For this Sector we just have to fight the Fierce Guardian defending it. Though, when the Fierce Guardian is knocked down to 50% health, a Rogue Guardian will appear. “Ohhhh Ifrit!”

Sector D: After Saving, head North once again to the next Sector. Destroy the 4 Manafonts & the Rogue Guardian will activate. She is the only enemy we face for this Sector, easy.

After the Sector is taken, we will be ambushed by a host of Royal Guards & a Fierce Guardian. Stay on your toes & summon Ifrit as soon as you can manage. You will probably take a bit of damage here…

Sector E: These final 2 Sectors can be a little challenging, definitely Save before attempting each of them. Try not approaching the Citadel Gates if you can manage, it will throw you into a large encounter which would be annoying to redo if you have to reload a Save.

Head to the North Western Sector & destroy 1 Manafont, this will summon a Rogue Guardian. Dispatch her before destroying anymore fonts. Destroy another two Manafonts & two more Rogue Guardians will appear. Summon Ifrit to give you a hand, try not to destroy the last Manafont until these ladies are taken care of. When you are done, destroy the final font & take care of the last Rogue Guardian.

Sector F: Save at the nearby Insomnia City Center Campground & make your way over to the final Sector in the North East. Destroy all 4 Manafonts & the Fierce Guardian will activate along with another 2 Fierce Guardians all at the same time. Hold out & fight defensively until you can summon Ifrit to even the odds. You will definitely take some damage here, but if you have been doing well up until now you should be alright. With the final Sector taken we now have 3/9 A+ Ranks. As well, there is a good chance you will have completed over 100 Daemonify activations & over 150+ enemy kills. So possibly 5/9 A+ Ranks.

Save at a Campground & head over to the Citadel Gates. At the Gates, we will have to fight off a few waves of Royal Guards. Summon Ifrit when you can & this should not prove too difficult. Due to the number of them though, you probably will take a bit of damage here as well. It is faster just mauling these enemies, Daemonify when you can, but at this point this encounter is more of an inconvenience. The final wave of enemies will come with a Rogue & Fierce Guardian. I had to reload once due to how much they beat me around unfortunately… After completing the encounter, make a new Save instead of saving over your original just in case.

We now have a decision to make before entering regarding our Total Score. For an A+, we need to have over 1,420,000 points. For an A Rank, we only need 920,000 points. If you can stomach it, I would recommend attempting to go for an A+ as it is just another safety net to have. If we took too much damage to give us a B Rank in Damage Incurred this will Save us time. You can always shoot for 920,000 points & just reload if it isn’t adequate after the final boss. That way at least you will know your standing & odds of a Top Ranking.

Either way, be sure to stock up on Ethers before heading through the front gates. Power EX & Mettle VX can give you a bit of an edge as well.

Final Boss #1: For King Regis, use Royal Retribution as often as you can. Regenerate your Spectral Energy with you Spectral Charge Ability, using Ether to restore your MP. Whenever Regis is Vulnerable switch to melee attacks with your sword, dealing the occasional Daemonify when possible. Ifrit will be very handy in this fight as well. Regis’s phase two is not really anymore difficult. Just keep using the same strategy until he is defeated. When you lock blades & win the exchange, he will be Vulnerable on the ground for a pretty long time. Take advantage of this & continually attack him with your Rakshasa Blade.

Final Boss #2: Somnus is harder than Regis, if only because he can deal some decent damage to you. Stay behind him & attack him aerially. Royal Retribution is still a very handy attack to use against him as well as using Ifrit. When Somnus teleports away & there is a cinematic of him winding up, use Spectral Dash & dodge as fast as you can behind the buildings to get out of the way. This attack will instantly plunge you into Undying Mode & ruin our Ranking for it. The damage we take could also ruin our Damage Incurred Ranking as well, so you’ll probably have to reload if you are hit by it.


Achievement #92 – Return of the Founder King: Earned the Top Ranking in Episode Ardyn.
If you successfully managed to keep your total Damage Incurred down, you will definitely unlock the Achievement. All in all, it is not too difficult so long you keep your focus. This is mostly just stressful rather than being overly difficult. If you managed to unlock this Achievement while you were playing on Normal Difficulty than hats off to you, Final Fantasy Master!

1. Defeat: Adamantoise, Melusine, & Omega
2. Achievement Mop Up
3. Datalog: 76/76
4. Achievements: 97/97
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now it is time for our final grind in Final Fantasy 15.


Achievement #93 – Angling Expert: Reached maximum Fishing Level.
While maxing out the other characters Skills to Level 10 will typically come to you naturally, Noctis & has damn fishing will definitely not. People claim that fishing at the Vesper Pool – East Bank is the best bang for your buck fishing. Fish there for a day at a time & return to the Campground to view your progress. There is also a Bert’s Bobbers N’ Stuff shop right beside the Fishing Dock in case you need to reload your supplies. I found catching the fish here took too long, however. While the better the fish, the more XP you’ll get; I found it easier just catching a whole host of mid range fish was way faster.

North of the Burbost Souvenir Emporium is the Wennath Riverhead Parking Spot. Right below it along the river is the River Wennath Fishing Spot, with Mynbrum Haven just beside it. For my own sanity, I just had an easier time fishing at this spot instead. I would rather catch 5+ fish in the time it takes me catching one big fish. Arguably more AP gained as well since you are catching a lot of fish.

Before we begin taking on the 3 Super Bosses, you will definitely want to collect as much good gear & Levels for your party as possible. Obviously, being Level 99 would be the best, but that can be very grindy. To collect some good equipment & XP, try completing every Side Quest that is available to us if you can muster the patience. I actually beat all these bosses when I was only Level 82-84. Aside from Melusine, I have some real cheap tricks on taking the last two out.


Achievement #94 – Love Turned Tragic: Defeated Melusine.
Our first contender will be Melusine. When you are ready, begin the Side Quest – O Partner, My Partner. It can be acquired at the Meldacio Hunter HQ. She will only appear at night, so rest at the Capitis Haven Campground. Be sure you are fully stocked up on Curatives before you set out.

We only have till dawn to defeat her, otherwise she will escape & we will have to try again the following night. She is weak to Fire Damage. Wait until nightfall & make your way over to the Quest Marker. To save yourself some time, hire Chocobos to quickly make it over to the other end of the lake. She is not all that difficult, especially if you have Poison Immunity. Just bounce between Armiger Mode & Ignis’s Overwhelm Technique till she is dead. Having a big stockpile of Curatives is very handy. The Achievement will unlock when you turn in the Side Quest.

Datalog #76 – Faded Letter: This will be collected when we Melusine is defeated.


Achievement #95 – Pursuit of Knowledge: Filled 80% of the Datalog.
For this Achievement we need to have found 76/94 of the Datalog Entries in the game. If you have been following along with the guide, this Achievement will unlock as soon as you defeat Melusine. Alternatively, if you carried on & beat some more of the Menace Dungeons this would have unlocked for you a lot sooner.


Achievement #96 – Tortoise Toppler: Defeated the Adamantoise.
Now for Super Boss 2/3, the Adamantoise. Begin the Side Quest – Let Sleeping Mountains Lie. Before heading out & seeing Monica, make sure you are fully stocked on Curatives. This is going to be. A Long. Fight. Being Level 99 will definitely help but, I managed this at Level 83… though I am sure being Level 99 would make it go faster.

The Side Quest will end after some time & you will be then tasked to return to Hammerhead. The official quest will be the Hunt Quest – Lonely Rumblings In Longwythe offered by Takka. This is essentially a battle of endurance, & patience. The Adamantoise is not that difficult, just has an insane amount of health. Like Melusine, Ignis’s Overwhelm Technique & Armiger Mode are very handy for dealing damage. You can go around breaking all its flippers, so the head falls down & becomes Vulnerable. I just ended up sticking beside the same flipper the entire battle & just spent the entire time attacking it.

But eventually I just gave up, equipping any weapon that gave me a high boost to my Magic. Then, with my small collection of Magitek Boosters I gathered over the course of the game I just sat there with the Ring of the Lucii casting “Avada Kedavra” over & over. The Magitek Boosters nullify MP drain so you have unlimited MP while it is active. I might have used around 15-20 of them. I was dealing around 3000 damage a second which was better than I could do with any of my weapons. I actually got it to around 3/10 its health bar & it just… died, not sure if that was because of the One Ring or just a glitch. I ain’t complaining. Still took me around 40 minutes straight fighting it though… Anyways, report back to Takka in Hammerhead. After turning in the Hunt, the Achievement will unlock.


Achievement #97 – Through the Dimensional Rift: Defeated Omega.
This is it, the final Super Boss standing in our way from earning 100%. Level up as much as you can muster & collect as best of gear as you can manage. We have no use for Gil where we are going… you want an entire hospitals worth of Hi-Elixirs, Mega Elixirs, Phoenix Downs, & Mega Phoenix Downs. Having Muscle Stimulants & Power EX’ will also be handy as well if you’ve got them. Having the Ribbon Accessory, Star Pendants or anything else that protects against Confusion will be a must for this fight.

After your training montage, Call Umbra at a Lodging & “Return to the Present”. Woah, time travel. We can find Omega in the bottom South East corner of the map, just above Imperial Base #2.

This is an insanely difficult fight, but fortunately for us I found a great strategy on Reddit by u/mushroomglass. It will require being able to switch to Prompto in combat. If you have not already, in the Techniques Ascension Tree purchase: Starshell, Gravisphere, & then Change to Prompto. Be sure to equip Prompto with as much Strength increasing Accessories possible & a Confusion immunity Accessory.

When the battle begins, change to Prompto & sprint over to the far East side of the street & hide near what looks like a ruined movie theater. From here, just shoot at Omegas antennae with your Rapidus SMG. That is it… more or less, when he is in berserk mode just unload into its body. Rinse & repeat. If you get taken down by a rogue laser beam, just use a Curative. After this we have 100% the game so there is no point stock piling anything anymore. Its all or nothing.

Like the Adamantoise, this is more a test of your patience then your skill. Weave in in between the trees or just sidestep out of the way when it fires its laser. Locking on & using Trigger Happy is a good way of dealing really good damage to the antennae. This method will take awhile, but it is essentially guaranteed to kill it. It took me around an hour & a half to kill it this way.

Around 50% health, Omega will gain a volleying missile attack & become even more annoying. Stay near the theater & dodge the rockets when you can. Be very careful not to dodge out of the combat area! If you do, Omega’s health will reset & you will have to start this fight all over again… I did this by accident halfway through. You will be burning through more than a few Mega/Regular Phoenix Downs. I would recommend reviving your Companions when they go down if you can. If nothing else, they will distract some of Omega’s rockets so that you can just keep attacking.

At 40% health, Omega will gain a “Fire My Laser!” attack which is essentially certain death. Just roll with the punches, & keep using those Phoenix Downs…

The Achievement will unlock as soon as this son of a (censored by Steam) explodes in a fiery glory!

Rejoice! That was it, an epic tale now comes to a close. This was definitely a real grind of a 100%, but the story elements of this game really grew on me over time. By the end of Chapter 9, boy was I sure invested. The DLC Episodes were also a really nice in-depth expansion on our Chocobros. This took me an unfortunate 130 hours to get 100%, however I DID leave my game running idle a lot so I probably did it 15 hours shorter. Either way, this was definitely a labor of love alright. If this guide helped you achieve 100%, rate the guide or let me know in the comments. Helps me know if I am doing things right!



100% Complete
Thank you for choosing Cynical Guides, & I will see you in the next one!

If you are interested in a little bit of patronage, support my projects & consider buying me a coffee. If not, no worries; my guides are, & will always be free content. Achievement Hunting is my passion, & writing these guides is a way for me to give meaning to a life long hobby!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/cynic0055

If you enjoy my style of writing guides, be sure to check out my profile for a full list of my works.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2992727030