Final Fantasy XVI – How to Craft and Upgrade Gear

Final Fantasy XVI has a lot of things and mechanics like any other RPG and one of the main things that players need to look after is the perfect gear for Clive from time to time. There are various Gear Items that players will get as they progress through the story or by killing enemies but not every other gear item is more useful than the existing one. So, in order to make the existing gear item more effective, players will have to either upgrade the gear item or craft a new one. Yes, Final Fantasy XVI does include the Forging and Upgrading mechanic that players can utilize to craft or upgrade gear of Clive to enhance his strength to take down all of the monsters and evil in the World of Valisthea.

In this guide, we’ll tell you how to craft and upgrade gear in Final Fantasy XVI.

How to Unlock the Crafting and Upgrading of Gear in Final Fantasy XVI

It does not take long for players to unlock the crafting and upgrading of gear in Final Fantasy XVI as it is tied to the main story mission named “Hide, Hideaway”. Players will get to this mission in a couple of hours into the game. The mission takes place in the Hideaway location and as players meet all new people in Hideaway, they will be introduced to Blackthorne, a Surly Smith.

Blackthorne is a blacksmith who owns a shop called The Black Hammer and players will meet him during the main story mission. At this point, the services of Blackthorne will get available for Clive to either Craft new Gear or Reinforce the existing one.

How to Craft and Upgrade Gear in Final Fantasy XVI

To craft and upgrade gear in Final Fantasy XVI, players would have to come to the Black Hammer which is located in the Hideaway location. Players can fast-travel to this location by choosing to Travel from the Map in the Menu. Once there, go and talk to Blackthorne to get his services which are Craft and Reinforce.

Crafting new Gear will require Recipes and Materials. Recipes are earned through progression in the main story as well as some are obtained from side missions. Materials on the other hand are obtained by defeating the enemies/bosses. Once players have the Recipe as well as the Materials for the new Gear, they will be able to craft it by simply talking to Blackthorne and selecting the Gear Item by holding down the X Button. Players can switch between the Gear Items by pressing the R1 Button to see if there are any other craftable items.

Upgrading Gear is similar to crafting because it also requires certain materials to upgrade the existing gear. Press the R2 Button to switch to Reinforce Tab and it will let players upgrade their existing gear. Switch between the Gear Items by pressing the R1 Button to see all the reinforceable items. Hover over the item and hold down the X Button to upgrade the existing gear to a higher level, increasing the respective attributes of Clive.

As for the levels of the Gear, there are three levels in the game, Base Stat, +1, and +2. The Base Stat of the Gear is craftable as well as it can be obtained by defeating the enemies/bosses. Whereas the +1 and +2 levels have to be upgraded at The Black Hammer. Each level will require a certain number of Materials along with existing gear so, make sure not to sell the existing gear to vendors before going to upgrade it.