Stranded at Hammerhead¶

By the time you regain control, Noctis and his crew are stranded in the middle of the road and you’ll need to help push the car (hold R2/RT ). Follow the onscreen prompt to push the vehicle and feel free to look around while doing so and listening to the banter of the party. Eventually, you’ll end up reaching Hammerhead, where you’ll meet up with the mechanic, a girl with a strong accent named Cindy. After a couple more scenes, you’ll be able to move around, but you’ll want to walk on over and talk to Cindy, who will hand you a World Map for the following region.

Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum, heir to the throne of Lucis, on a diplomatic mission to marry Lady Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, and by doing so unite the kingdoms of Lucis and Tenebrae… now stranded in the scrublands, penniless, waiting for his royal chariot to be repaired. Why wasn’t somebody making sure this vehicle was maintained properly? Who knows? But you might need some scratch for the rest of your journey, and you have nothing better to do while you wait than explore, entrusting the fate and future of your kingdom to your sword arm while you attempt to productively spend the time the way all sheltered princelings do - questing!

Getting a Job¶

To further that goal, head south-west from Cindy and check out the shop nearby, only to be reminded that you have no money. Ignis will walk on over and tell you that you’ve spent all of your money on the car repairs, after which he’ll suggest going to speak with Cindy about finding a way to remedy the situation. Do so, and during your chat with Cindy you’ll get some dialogue options that don’t really matter. Seems that ol’ Cid is trying to use this experience as some sort of “character building” exercise. Or perhaps he’s opportunistically just trying to get you to clear out some wildlife. Either way, you don’t have much choice in the matter, but on the plus side you’ll be rewarded with some AP for your trouble, not to mention your first accessory - a Bronze Bangle - and 1,000 Gil . What a generous girl! This starts the quest “The Pauper Prince”.

Speaking of AP, you’ll be directed to your menu for a bit of a tutorial on AP. Ability Points, or AP, can be used to buy new techniques and abilities for Noctis and his pals via the Ascension option on the main menu. There are eight different Astralspheres in which you can spend the AP, although you might not have a lot of options available at the moment. Check the dedicated section if you need more explanation on building your characters.

Shopping at Hammerhead¶

With that 1,000 Gil in hand, it’s a good idea to use that to update some of your weapons over at the shop, as the merchant here has a superior weapon for every character:

Culless Munitions

Don’t forget to equip any new weapons that you just bought (Menu - Gear), should you have purchased any. Don’t run off just yet, however, as there are two other facilities you can check out at the Hammerhead before setting off to go after the monsters you need to kill. One is a normal shop at the Mini Mart, which sells consumables, ingredients for cooking and some extras, including accessories for the Regalia (your car) and even some musical surprises:

Mini-Mart (Items)

Mini-Mart (Ingredients)

Mini-Mart (Treasures)

Mini-Mart (Auto Parts)

The other place you will want to peruse is the diner, where you can speak with the NPC behind the counter to see three different options. The left-most dialogue option “ Talk “ will have this NPC give you some tips on locations of various things in the surrounding area, such as havens, Parking Spots, outposts, and procurement points (items on the map). The middle option, “ Eat “ allows you to purchase meals, which grant various buffs for a certain period of time; if you also purchase a meal, then Ignis might be inspired to learn a new recipe. In this case, the “Chili con Carne” meal will inspire Ignis to dream up the “ Burly Bean Bowl “ recipe.

The last option, “ Hunt “, on the right, is for hunts. You will receive tips on some monsters that need eradicating, with the map displaying a marker after accepting the hunt. As you complete hunts, you will gain stars and once you get enough of those, your Hunter’s Rank will increase, allowing you to take on tougher hunts. Of the available hunts from the diner at the Hammerhead, you will be unable to do one, since it requires you to be a Rank 2 hunter.

Hunts - Hammerhead Outpost

*Only available after “Crestholm Channels”.

The next section of the guide “Hammerhead Hunting and Exploration” serves as a tutorial of sorts, and it’ll introduce you to basics like combat, Elemancy, camping and other bits of useful information. If you can’t be bothered, skip ahead to the section “The Pauper Prince”.