Final Fantasy XVI: Craft and Upgrade Gear Guide

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You unlock the ability to craft gear during the main quest “Hide, Hideaway” by interacting with Blackthorne, the blacksmith at The Black Hammer in The Hideaway. While new gear is introduced as you progress, these are primarily stat upgrades rather than mechanically complex ones.

You can expend resources to craft gear at the blacksmith. Crafted gear usually starts with a +1 enhancement.

How Crafting and Reinforcing Gear Works in Final Fantasy XVI

Interact with Blackthorne and choose “Forge” to access two options: Craft and Reinforce. Crafting requires specific gear recipes, unlocked mostly through main quest progression and some via side quests, along with the necessary materials. Crafting does not cost gil. Materials can be found from enemy drops (including Notorious Marks/Hunts), item pickups, chests, or quest rewards. Some unique items come from one-time boss drops.

Unique weapons and equipment (purple or gold colored) have fixed quality and cannot be upgraded. These recipes are typically unlocked when acquiring new Eikons. Mundane (green colored) gear has variable quality and can be upgraded. Purchased green gear starts at base quality (+0), while crafted green gear usually yields a +1 variant. During a first playthrough, green gear can be upgraded to +2 (purchased gear must reach +1 first). The upgrade cap is higher in Final Fantasy Mode, reserved for New Game+.

Reinforcing gear consumes resources, less than crafting outright. Enhancing gear improves its stats using more or rarer resources. Generally, focus on enhancing gear for endgame items, as story progression will unlock superior gear. Maxing out gear should be reserved for endgame items unless you have a surplus of materials.

For more information on equipment and materials, check these pages: