Final Fantasy 15 Guide: Best Holiday Pack Items
By Cody Gravelle 26 December 2016
Square Enix has gone festive with Final Fantasy 15 in time for the holidays, but not all items in the two Holiday Packs are equal – here are the ones you should care about.
Final Fantasy 15 delivered on its initial promise, and now it appears to be following up with another milestone in its pursuit of providing a stream of meaningful DLC content. One of the best RPGs of 2016 just became significantly better with its most recent update, which boasts a Final Fantasy 15 New Game+ Mode and several different bug fixes just in time for a holiday rush that will likely see a swell in player numbers post-Christmas.
Final Fantasy 15‘s latest update isn’t just about what was already present in the game or being over-powered during a second road trip with Noctis, though – Square Enix has also included two different Holiday Pack DLC offerings that include outfits and new items for Final Fantasy 15‘s finest. There is a remarkable difference between the Holiday Pack and the Holiday Pack+, and the latter definitely affords a lot of benefits to those who have purchased a Final Fantasy 15 Season Pass, but both DLC bundles offer some valuable tools to any player. Here’s our list of the ones players should employ immediately, preferably in conjunction with a New Game+ playthrough, to ensure they are maximizing their efficiency throughout Final Fantasy 15.
Warrior’s Fanfare
The Warrior’s Fanfare is a scroll of sheet music that will provide Noctis with an additional AP bonus for earning an A+ in Offense after a battle outside of training. Anything that provides extra AP is worth a look, but the Warrior’s Fanfare is especially potent because of Final Fantasy 15‘s relatively lax grading system for the Offense category in battle – it is actively difficult to score anything less than an A, and A+ is a very common score as well, meaning that the AP will be flowing frequently without much effort thanks to this item.
Nixperience Band
This one is for the players who felt like Final Fantasy 15 needed to feel much more like a Dark Souls game than it actually did. The Nixperience Band, when equipped, ensures that nobody in the party can tally any experience after battles or quests have been completed, preventing the party from leveling up and increasing the challenge of the game. This item is especially useful for those players starting a New Game+ run, as the mode doesn’t feature enemy scaling but preserves levels gained, AP, and items earned, making the second run remarkably easy. At the very least, equipping the Nixperience Band from the start will make sure the entirety of the New Game+ run isn’t laughably simple.
Ring of Resistance
This one can be a lifesaver, especially for those who have extensively explored the Magic portion of the Ascension System. The Ring of Resistance, once equipped, will prevent friendly fire from damaging the wearer, which might not seem like a huge boon to those who focused primarily on swordplay during the game but will make Final Fantasy 15‘s mages breathe a sigh of relief. When spells are routinely one-hit killing enemies, preventing the fragile Prompto from getting caught up in the storm of mana can be the difference between an easy fight and a minutes-long struggle. This item is only available from the Holiday Pack+, which can be downloaded by anyone who has a Final Fantasy 15 Season Pass.
Blitzer’s Fanfare
The Blitzer’s Fanfare will make New Game+ a total breeze, and collecting AP will be extremely simple. Much like the Warrior’s Fanfare, the Blitzer’s Fanfare will reward players with extra AP for earning an A+ in a battle category, except this time, the category in question is Speed. Given how absurdly strong Noctis and crew will be in the beginning of New Game+, it will likely be tens of hours before players earn anything less than an A+ in Speed during combat, which will result in a huge number of extra Ascension Points just waiting to be spent. This item is only available from the Holiday Pack+.
Key of Prosperity
There are moments in Final Fantasy 15 where the game truly feels like a return to the earliest forms of JRPG questing malice, and nowhere does that feel more evident than in the game’s stingy drop system. This is especially true in Final Fantasy 15‘s post-game, which features literally dozens of quests that center around breaking off the appendages of specific monsters and acquiring items that will upgrade existing weapons or create new ones. Unfortunately, even breaking off the necessary appendage doesn’t guarantee it will register as a “drop”, which can mean hours of grinding for new weapons. The Key of Prosperity increases the rate at which enemies will drop “items of value” once defeated, which sounds to us like rare item drop rates will be significantly improve for those who equip the Key of Prosperity. This item is only available from the Holiday Pack+.
Stamina Badge
While the Key of Prosperity might be the holy grail for Final Fantasy 15 post-game grinders, the Stamina Badge will likely be the equivalent for those trying to save time during the main story and Final Fantasy 15‘s over 200 sidequests. The Stamina Badge is a device that will allow Noctis to hang from Warp Points and sprint without expending any Stamina at all, which will mean two things: Noctis will be able to fully heal in battle with enemies that can’t hit him in the air whenever he wishes, and Noctis will also be able to infinitely sprint towards destinations on the main map when he doesn’t have access to the Regalia or a Chocobo. That means the Stamina Badge will be a vital time saver during playthroughs of the game, and anyone who is considering a speed run of Final Fantasy 15 – if such a thing is even possible or watchable – will have this item high on their wish list for the holidays. This item is only available from the Holiday Pack+.
This comprehensive list of Holiday Pack items should help gamers maximize their use as soon as they get them, which is as early as today for some enterprising Final Fantasy 15 fans. What do you think of the addition of these ease-of-life items so soon after Final Fantasy 15‘s initial launch? Do you think the items from the Holiday Pack+ are too game-breaking to hide behind a paywall? Let us know in the comments below.
Final Fantasy 15 is available now for PS4 and Xbox One.
