Although the character enhancement systems in Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel are both called the same thing, Final Fantasy XIII-2 uses a very different Crystarium. In this one, all the nodes are blank rather than preset. You choose what they become, by selecting an available role for Serah or Noel. Every time you fill a node, you level that role up by 1, up to the maximum of 99. There are also a few big nodes, which give more or better stats than a regular one would. Filling all the nodes in the grid will advance the Crystarium one stage, giving you a new (and, sometimes, bigger) grid to work on. There are 22 stages to the Crystarium - just enough to level all six roles to 99.

However, you shouldn't just randomly fill these nodes in. XIII-2's Chrystarium operates on a set of rules that will give you different stats based on not just whether you activated a big node, but also whether you did so to an odd or even level. This is problematic for two reasons:

1. Serah and Noel aren't ever going to become 3,500+ Str/Mag demigods like your party could become in FFXIII. When all is optimally said and done, Serah's only going to end up with a little over 1,000 Magic, and Noel's not even going to go past 1,000 base Strength. Neither of them will break five-digit base HP.
   
   
2. You cannot erase or revert nodes that you fill in. Every single one is permanent. It's one of the few things in this game that can't be reset, no matter what. Haphazardly filling in nodes will give you a considerably weaker party than you would have if you knew the rules, and believe me: nothing is worse than spending 40 hours filling in ~600 nodes for two characters, only to realize you could have done it so much better.

For ease, I recommend only leveling up once you have enough CP to complete an entire Crystarium stage in one go. This helps keep mistakes to a minimum. And although it should really go without saying: always SAVE before filling in even a single node!


Side note: Each of your monster allies also has a unique Crystarium which can be used to develop them; however, those operate on a completely different set of rules, using four different flavors of tiered items to influence their growth. This guide only covers the game's two controllable party members.

To get a great endgame party, you'll want to fill in every crystal according to a set of rules. HP is, in general, not as valuable as Strength or Magic. The more HP you have, the more you'll be hurt by Poison (as it's percentage-based) and the harder it'll be to heal you with items (and the most common Cure magic; lots of creatures only have access to Cure or Cura, which aren't percentage-based).

Here are the rules:

• Leveling a Commando up on a big crystal will give you +2 Strength, and leveling a Ravager up to one will give you +2 Magic. Nothing huge there.
  
• Always level a Synergist up to an ODD level on big crystals; you'll get Magic rather than HP.
  
• Saboteur is the most complicated one. When leveling the Saboteur role onto big crystals, level up to an EVEN level for +2 Strength, or to an ODD level for +2 Magic.
  
• Don't ever level Sentinel or Medic on a big node; you'll just get HP. In this guide, Serah will break this rule a tiny bit (in her final two Chrystarium stages), but that's for two reasons: by then, she's already exhausted her Magic roles, and she admittedly could use a little HP in the endgame compared to Noel.

Again: save before doing this!

These charts plan out what you should do, at each and every stage of the Crystarium, to end up with a very powerful Serah and Noel. Keep in mind that this is just what I did; feel free to deviate from it if (for example) you want Serah to end up with higher HP for endgame fights.





(Click here to download these charts as a PDF!)[www.dropbox.com]

• Stage and CP Cost - The current stage of the Crystarium, as well as how many Crystogen Points (CP) you'll need to completely fill it in (from blank). To minimize mistakes, I recommend waiting until you have enough CP to fill an entire section at once. Note that unlike FFXIII, the game doesn't tell you what Crystarium stage you're on; you'll have to look at your current role levels to determine where you are if you forgot.
  
• Expansion Bonus - The bonus I recommend taking when the current Chrystarium changes stage. Bonuses include increasing your ATB bar, giving you more "points" for equipping accessories, unlocking new roles, and giving bonuses to existing ones.
  
• Levels to gain this stage, plus (total role level) - These six columns tell you how many levels I recommend you increase at this stage, and in what role. The number in parentheses tells you what your new role level will be when every crystal in the current stage is filled in.
  
• Big Crystals to Activate - Of the crystals detailed in the previous list point, these are the ones that you should be activating on the big nodes. Be careful, as this can be very tricky for some stages. See below for additional notes and strategy.

Let's say a number of Synergist crystals are listed under the "Big Crystals" column, and your current Synergist level is 17. Leveling Synergist up to a big crystal would only give you HP, which isn't as good as more Magic. To avoid this, you'll need to plan your moves in advance by leveling Synergist up to 18 on a small crystal, then to 19 on the next big one. If you need to level Synergist on more big crystals in this stage, it's wise to put down yet another Synergist on the next small crystal so that you'll be ready to level up to an odd-numbered level again.

Be very careful with the Saboteur role! It can, fittingly, mess up your plans if you're not careful. Remember: for more Strength, level up to an EVEN level on big crystals. For Magic, level up to an ODD level on them. Even for Strength, odd for Magic. There's a nice flexibility about the system, at least; if you want to give Noel more magic or Serah more Strength while still adhering very closely to this guide, this is the way to do it.

• Commando - Physical attacker. Commandos deal high damage and keep the target's Stagger gauge from rapidly decreasing. On the other hand, they can't drive up the Stagger gauge much by themselves. Commandos are essential fighters, especially against Staggered targets, and a group of them can make short work out of weak enemies.
  
  
• Ravager - Magical/elemental attacker. Their attacks don't do as much damage as a Commando, but they can easily exploit enemy weaknesses, and their attacks rapidly increase the Stagger gauge. Unfortunately, their attacks also increases the rate at which it depletes. Pairing a Commando and 1-2 Ravagers together is ideal for most battles; the Ravager(s) drive the gauge up, while the Commando's attacks keep it from going back to normal.
  
  
• Sentinel - Provokes enemies into attacking them before employing a variety of defensive abilities. Having a Sentinel can be great, as it essentially funnels most (if not all) damage to one character, who is more easily healed than a whole party. They can trivialize an onslaught of damage with Steelguard, lash out at attackers with Vendetta, and even slowly heal themselves with Mediguard. Sentinels automatically reduce the damage taken by the entire party; quickly switching to an all-Sentinel paradigm is a good way to survive devastating attacks.
  
  
• Synergist - Casts various buffs on the party to enhance their attack and defense. Protect and Shell reduces incoming physical and magical damage, while Bravery and Faith increase a character's physical and magical attack. Cast En[fire/frost/water/thunder] to power up a teammate's attack with an elemental power, or cast Bar[fire/frost/water/thunder] to increase their resistance to it. Be on the lookout for monsters with rare Synergist abilities and/or Feral Links, as Serah and Noel don't learn all of them.
  
  
• Saboteur - Casts various status ailments on enemies, hindering their ability to fight. De[protect/shell] will make enemies more vulnerable to attacks, while moves like Pain or Fog can prevent them from using physical or magical attacks altogether. Imperil is one of the best moves in their repertoire - not only does it make foes more susceptible to ailments, it also lowers their resistance to everything one level (i.e., Absorbed becomes Immune, Immune becomes Resistant, Resistant becomes Normal, Normal becomes Weakness). As with Synergists, look for monsters with Saboteur abilities which Serah and Noel can't learn.
  
  
• Medic - Constantly heals the party and removes any status ailments they might have. Cure and Cura restore a set amount of HP based on the caster's Magic stat, while Curasa and Curaja restore a percentage of HP based on how badly hurt the target is. Esuna removes one ailment. Having a team of Medics will get everyone back into fighting shape very quickly, and are particularly useful for negating attacks that can inflict ailments on a party member.

• Serah - Ranged/magic attacks make her a natural Ravager, but she's an excellent Saboteur as well. Very handy when fighting Caius, as almost all of his incarnations are susceptible to Poison. It's not recommended to make her a Synergist until all other roles are used up, as she only ever learns four Synergist moves. Her Full ATB skill, Ultima Arrow, significantly drives up the chain gauge of a target, especially a staggered one.
  
  
• Noel - Fast physical attacker. Great Commando and Synergist. Despite his emphasis on strength over magic, he's surprisingly the better Medic of the two, having exclusivity over multi-target heal moves like Cura and Curaja. His higher HP makes him a decent Sentinel as well. His Full ATB skill, Meteor Javelin, does extremely high damage to a staggered target, but also fully clears its chain gauge.