FFXIII upgrade guide: How to upgrade & best weapons

Final Fantasy XIII features eight base weapons for every character which can be then upgraded twice to reach their ultimate potential. Here’s a FFXIII upgrade guide showcasing how to upgrade and the best upgrades for every character in the game

Levelling up your weapons in Final Fantasy XIII is easier said than done given how long it takes to max out each level and transforming them requires specific rare as well as expensive items.

The game also has a huge roster of recurring as well as new weapons which can make choosing the right one for each character little tricky.

So here’s a FFXIII upgrade guide explaining the best way to upgrade your weapons and the best weapon for every character.

How to upgrade weapons in FFXIII

Here’s the most efficient way to upgrade your weapons in FFXIII:

1. Buy 36 Study Bones to bring up the multiplier from 0 to 3x.
2. Next, If you are on Chapter 9, buy and cash as many Crankshafts as you can to gain a lot of EXP.
3. If you are on Chapter 11 or later, instead of Crankshafts, buy a lot of Ultracompact Reactor from the R&D Depot and cash them all at the same time.

A Crankshaft without any multiplier provides 215 EXP and with the 3x multiplier, it is bumped to 645 EXP. Ultracompact Reactor costs 50,000 Gil and gives you 40,000 EXP which triples to 120,00 EXP with the multiplier.

Best weapon to upgrade every character in FFXIII

Here are the best weapons along with their max upgrades for every character in FFXIII.

Character	Best Weapon	Star Rank 1	Star Rank 2
Lightning	Lionheart	Ultima Weapon	Omega Weapon
Fang	Taming Pole	Venus Gospel	Kain’s Lance
Hope	Otshirvani	Urubutsin	Nue
Sazh	Rigels	Polaris Specials	Total Eclipses
Snow	Rebel Heart	Warrior’s Emblem	Save the Queen
Vanille	Belladonna Wand	Malboro Wand	Nirvana

Updraging these weapons from to Start Rank 1 or 2 will require Uraninite, Scarletite, and Trapezohedron. We suggest sticking to one weapon per character and upgrading the same so you don’t end up wasting your hard earned EXP and resources on multiple weapons.

Do note while these weapon recommendations are based on the charatcer’s role, they can differ as per your play style.

That’s a wrap on the FFXIII upgrade guide. For more on Final Fantasy games, have a look at:

Should you donate to Operation Mi’ihen in FFX | FFXIV classes explained: How to pick & best jobs | City of the Ancients FFXIV quest guide | How to get Dragon Skin in FF8 | How to farm EXP in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth | How to unlock Eureka in FFXIV | FFX Megalixir: How to get & usage