Hey, I've recently gotten back into FFXIII and decided to start from the beginning. Does anyone know of a guide detailing which weapons (and accessories, I guess) are best to upgrade? I'm terrified of putting a bunch of EXP into one weapon, only for it to end up being the worst one I could've picked. I know there are a lot of upgrading guides out there but none of the ones I found really tell you which ones are best to upgrade and why.

Also, if anyone has just some personal advice on the subject I'd really appreciate that too. Am I worrying too much about this, or did you find that upgrading a certain weapon made all the difference for you?

@jets1256: From what I've read around the internet,

Light: Axis Blade for speed (although rumoured not good post game) or lionheart. However i just use the starting weapon with her cause its balanced

Hope: Everyone says Hawkeye

Vanille: Belladonna Staff or Healing staff, Saboteur or healing really

Sazh: I have no idea

Snow: Power thing if you want to be a commander. Umbra or paladin if you wanna be a tank/sentinel

Fang: Everyone says taming pole

Lionheart, hawkeye, belladonna, taming pole.

Don't bother using Sazh or Snow post game, no point.

@jets1256:

Honestly, I wouldn't be too stressed about it, because the amount of time spent in post-game to level up all your weapons will greatly outclass all the time you spend in the main story. You can probably make up for any 'mistakes' within an hour of farming in the post game. That said, I can offer a few suggestions.

Lightning: Blazefire (balanced str/magic) is nicely balanced and good for her since she excels both as an Attacker and Blaster. Later on Lionheart (balanced with quick stagger) is worth considering, but you won't get it til later.

Sazh: Anything but the Rigels (stagger lock) since you'll mostly want to use him for instant staggering. Because of that, the Procyons line of guns work particularly well.

Snow: If you want to focus on his ability to soak damage (he is arguably the best Defender, unless the enemy only uses physical attacks, then Lightning is) I'd recommend the Umbra line of weapons. However, you will absolutely want his Feymark (pure magic focused) line of weapons for speed adamantoise farming in the late game.

Hope: Hawkeye (pure magic focused) since he is your strongest baseline spell caster. The Otshirvania is worth considering, if you want to sacrifice some magic power for the Siphon Boost, it's what I used on him.

Vanille: Belladonna Staff (bonus to debuffs), for sure. Enhances her already powerful Jammer role, and you'll need it for that post-game farming. Also helps you Death-cheese enemies if you are so inclined. Really no other choice here.

Fang: Dragoon Lance (pure strength) is really the only choice here. Again, another weapon needed for that speed farming after you finish the game. You won't be able to get it early on, so use whatever offers the best strength for her until then. Typically Fang makes your best Attacker.

@Jadeskye: Snow is one of the best characters to have for speed turtle farming. Sazh...well, if you want to exploit instant stagger (which is almost necessary for 5-staring a couple of the harder marks) is pretty useful.

@Addfwyn: I guess it's been a long time since i S-ranked FF13. I didn't use snow or Sazh at all. Better tactics have been developed i guess.

@Jadeskye: Yeah, it's not required by any means, it just lets you do it a bit faster/earlier than you would otherwise. Shaves an hour or two off the grind.

@Addfwyn: What does using snow's magic do then? whats the tactic?

@Jadeskye: You're using him as a Jammer for Daze primarily. Normal Daze is only obtainable by Fang (who you need to be attacking) Sazh and Snow. Snow's cast animations are better synced with Fang's attacks and Sazh's Blaster animations are awkward as well. Snow has way higher magic potential than Sazh too, especially with the Feymarks. That way Fang will be hitting for double damage on the tortoise when you knock him down. Fang/Vanille/Snow, you just need enough strength on Fang to be able to Highwind the legs.

Assuming you don't have the accessories when you are first starting out for auto haste and the like, you start with Fang buffing the party then go to triple Blaster to stagger one leg. Switch to Attacker/Healer/Healer, high wind the stagger leg. Repeat for the other one, then go to Enhancer/Jammer/Jammer. Haste/Brave on Fang, Haste/Faith on the other two. Blaster/Blaster/Blaster on the body til he staggers, Attacker (Fang)/Attacker (Vanille)/Jammer(Snow) til he dies after that. Of course, paradigm canceling as necessary to get actions out faster. Should be downing turtles in 2-3 minutes that way.

The only gear you really need is the weapons and some earth resist gear, though better gear speeds it up. Lets you start killing turtles a lot faster, without having to use the Death method.

@Addfwyn: I just used Lightning, Hope and Fang. Debuff the legs, stagger, beat the crap out of them then highwind, repeat then take out the head.

i upgraded the first weapon i found for Lighting and took it to end game, it really doesnt make any difference unless you wanna go after whatever omega crazy super boss 13 has.