As with most RPGs, a lot of your damage scaling in Final Fantasy 16 comes from your weapons and gear. With the amount of combat you’ll be a part of throughout your 40+-hour adventure through the story, you’ll be wanting to make sure you’re able to have as much damage and survivability as possible as you progress. This is where crafting gear and upgrading gear becomes an important consideration, so here is how to craft and upgrade gear in Final Fantasy 16 (FF16).
How to Craft and Upgrade Gear in Final Fantasy 16 (FF16)
All throughout your playthrough of Final Fantasy 16, you’ll be collecting loot from defeating enemies, picking up the shiny objects on the floor all around the maps, and opening the odd chest or two. All of these things will be yielding you various materials and items as well as much needed gil, and you’ll be able to use all of that to help you craft new gear, new weapons, and upgrades.
This takes place at the Blacksmith, with the first one available to you called The Black Hammer located in the Hideout with Cid’s ragtag band of recruits and rescues. If you have the right materials and enough gil, you’ll be able to forge weapons, belts, and bracers of varying strengths and rarities. You’ll also be able to change over to the next tab and upgrade any of them or any other weapons, belts, or bracers that you have in your inventory or equipped — provided you have the materials for it.
As you progress, the gear and weapons that you have equipped can quickly fall behind in power. When you notice this happening, it’s best to put your main mission on hold and head back to the Blacksmith for some new gear or some upgrades, or ideally both! You’ll be notified when the Blacksmith has new options available for crafting, and this is usually after completing a key milestone mission. So heading over when you get notified is a good idea for getting a new piece of gear or an upgrade.
That explains how to craft and upgrade weapons and gear in Final Fantasy 16 — keep beating up enemies and taking their stuff to the Blacksmith, and you’ll ensure your gear remains nice and strong throughout your playthrough so you can keep kicking ass! For more about FF16, check out what mastering an ability does in the game.
