Chocobo Racing

If you've ever played a Final Fantasy game, then you've met the unofficial mascot of the franchise: the Chocobo. These giant chicken-looking birds are the easiest way to explore hard-to-reach tracts of land by foot, or to cover a large amount of ground very quickly. While Chocobos might not always be the smartest animal you'll run into, they are adorable and they add plenty of fun to your gameplay. While they only really mattered in the past for exploration, Final Fantasy XV has delivered Chocobo races and battle abilities that you can unlock for your trusty steed.

Find the Chocobos

While you'll start to see Rent-a-Chocobo stands in many outposts at the beginning of the game, you'll have to actually unlock the ability to use them. To do this will require you to travel to Wiz's Chocobo Post. The first time this side quest opens up will be at the beginning of Chapter 3 when Prompto suggests a visit.

Chocobo racing is an exciting competition at the Gold Saucer that makes use of specially trained chocobos. From improving their abilities through rigorous training to breeding retired chocobos for their traits, you can raise the champion chocobo you've always wanted.

After you finish the Behemoth hunt, you'll also get a special gift from Wiz for your help.

The side quest is called Friends of a Feather, and it's actual the first of several Chocobo based sidequests. Completing each of these sidequests at Wiz's will open up the ability to use Rent-a-Chocobo stands to access Chocobos no matter where you happen to be in the big, wide world. While the stands open up after the hunter quest 'A Behemoth Undertaking', there are several more sidequests that you can undertake to help out Wiz and the chocobos.

After you finish the Behemoth hunt, you'll also get a special gift from Wiz for your help. The Chocobo whistle is how you can summon a Chocobo to you in the field. To do this you'll need to pay to rent a chocobo for the day from a stand, but then you can whistle to summon it to you in the field. This can be a seriously handy way to go ahead and get out of a nasty situation in a pinch.

Upgrade your Chocobo

In previous Final Fantasy games, Chocobos were an awesome addition to gameplay they never really changed or evolved much. The exception to this was if you completed specific quests to change or alter your Chocobos. In Final Fantasy XV your Chocobo can actually receive upgrades to its stats, as well as learn a handful of abilities that may be useful to you in the heat of battle.

These boosts vary between battle skills, stamina, and new overall skills.

There isn't an ascension tree, or any way to decide how your Chocobo upgrades though. Instead, it will level up as you ride it, capping out at 10th level. These boosts vary between battle skills, stamina, and new overall skills. The longer you have spent riding your Chocobo, the higher its level will rise and to get it all the way leveled up you only need to spend 30 minutes riding around.

At levels 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, your steed will learn new abilities. These allow the Chocobo to flee from a battle with you riding, the ability to kick enemies mid-battle, buff Noctis in battle, attack enemies in battle, and even finally join Noctis to unleash Blindside link attacks. At other levels you'll get a boot to your stamina, speed, jumping height and stamina recovery rate.

You'll also have the option to customize your Chocobo. At Wiz's you'll find a woman standing next to a set of stables. By talking to her it gives you the ability to equip medals you have won for races, as well as customizing the look of your bird. While all you're really able to do is go ahead and change the color of your Chocobo, it's still a fun way to make your steed stand out amongst the others.

Chocobo Races

While Final Fantasy XV has a plethora of side quests and plenty of mini games to steal your time, none of them are quite as much fun as the Chocobo races. There are 7 races in all, and they will open up at different points during the game. While some of them will open up from completing missions, and for the most part you need to successfully win one race in order to unlock the next one.

In each race you'll be competing against your friends, starting with Prompto. During races, the most important thing to do is to keep an eye on your Stamina. While Chocobos always run at a trot, you can go much faster — it just drains your stamina in the process. By keeping an eye on your Stamina and dashing with only short breaks in between, you can ensure that you're moving at top speed at all times.

Chocobos can also perform slides or drifts while running.

You'll be able to see your opponent on your mini-map, which is also a serious boon. That's because you can keep an eye on how close they are, allowing you to use a bit more strategy while racing. If you're running low on Stamina and you can see that your opponent is fairly far behind you, then it's easier to decide when to dash and whether you need to do it now or later to stay in the lead.

Chocobos can also perform slides, or drifts while running. This is an easy way to take a turn at a slightly sharper angle, and you can also regain stamina in a pinch. Sliding will keep you moving a bit faster than a trot, and with the stamina boost it's a great way to refill your gauge if you start to fall behind during a race.

There is also a way to enhance the abilities of your Chocobos, which can be particularly handy when trying to win difficult races. Greens are sold at the Chocobo Salon and can give your steed a serious boost. In order to feed your Chocobo any particular type of green, then you'll want to rest overnight at the Killiam Haven. Once you make camp, you're given the option to feed your Chocobo and the next day it will receive the bonuses.

Time Trial races

While most of the races have Noctis trying to beat one of his friends to the finish line, that isn't always the case. There are several Hoop races in which Noctis is basically racing against the clock, and trying to make his way through a variety of obstacles. These includes hoops you must literally jump through and obstacles to avoid.

During some races there are also vegetables Noctis can grab while riding a Chocobo.

In this mode, the point is not to pass the finish line first. That would be a moot point, as Noctis is the only one racing. Instead you'll have to pass through checkpoints and get through all of the hoops on the track successfully. For the most part, obstacles are pretty easy to avoid. You can swerve to get away from them while running, or if they pop up as you're completing a jump, you can glide and steer in order to hit the ground safely.

Hoops come in two different kinds. There are normal hoops which will just require you to jump through them. These can be a bit from the ground, and while you will need to time them appropriately, they are still fairly easy to get through without too many issues. During the Rocky Road race, you may see obstacles that require you to climb them and then jump through the corresponding hoop. These may take a bit more practice, but you should still be able to rocket through them by your third or fourth try on the course.

During some races there are also vegetables that Noctis can grab while riding a Chocobo. These vegetables will provide a pretty significant boost to speed boost, provided that Noctis can grab them at the correct time. If you can get the timing right, grabbing these veggies while running can ensure that you are always moving at top speed, even when you aren't actively dashing at the time.

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• 3What are Racing Teams?
• 4How to Participate
  • 4.3Choose A Race

What is Chocobo Racing?

The newly completed CRA (Chocobo Racing Association) racetrack is the perfect place for players to test out and show off the skills of their very own chocobos. The automated races held at this exciting venue will require players to piece together a picture-perfect plan based on variables such as chocobo condition and the weather, using options consisting of orders given to their jockeys and items to be utilized on the track. But that’s not all. Performing well in these races will earn players gil or VCS-mint chocobucks, which can be used to purchase items or services that will assist in breeding.

Note: Only players who have installed and registered the Aht Urhgan expansion data will be able to access the chocobo race content.

For information on raising a chocobo, check out our Chocobo Raising Page.

What are Chocobucks?

Chocobucks are a special type of currency for use at CRA-sanctioned establishments. Chocobucks can be earned by winning special races and can be exchanged for items and services used in chocobo breeding. Smash up expansions 2020. Chocobucks are also required to participate in certain official races.

Notes:

• The maximum amount of chocobucks a player can obtain at one time is 1000.
• Chocobucks can only be used at the branch at which they were earned.

Chocobuck Exchange Centers:

Southern San d’Oria – Palabelle
Bastok Mines – Gavoroi
Windurst Woods - Toppi-Meppi

What are Racing Teams?

Each of the three regional CRA branches has its own racing team. Before participating in any races, players must first join one of the three teams (San d’Oria, Bastok, or Windurst). While similar in many ways, each racing team also offers many unique services--from different items available at the Chocobuck Exchange Centers, to special races. Though players are required to select a racing team, they can change their affiliation (free of charge and without penalties) at any time.

Changing Affiliation

In the event that players wish to change their affiliation, all records of their previous race results and chocobuck earnings will be stored at the CRA branch. While players cannot transfer those results and earnings to their new racing team, if they choose to return to a previous team, they will be able to start where they left off.

How to Participate

Raise A Chocobo

First, players must be raising an adult chocobo and have obtained a CRA racing form (available from a trainer) or have a chocobo out to pasture and possess its VCS registration card. Next, players must visit one of the CRA branches located in San d’Oria, Bastok, and Windurst, and register their chocobo to race.

CRA officials have been dispatched to the following locations:

San d’Oria Chocobo Circuit

• Alangriche - (H-8)

Bastok Chocobo Circuit

• Jazgeh - (H-8)

Windurst Chocobo Circuit

• Rungaga - (H-8)

Register Your Chocobo

Chocobos can be registered at any of the aforementioned CRA branches by trading to the representative either of the two documents (obtainable from a chocobo trainer):

• CRA Racing Form (free)

Notes:

• Only adult chocobos can participate in races.
• Players may only register one chocobo at a time.
• If a chocobo’s attributes change after CRA registration, players must re-register their chocobo for those changes to be reflected.

Choose A Race

There are three types of races players and can participate in:

Free Run:
Placing in free runs is one way for players to earn the chocobucks necessary for participating in official races and purchasing items at the Chocobuck Exchange Centers. There are no limits to the number of races players may participate in each (Earth) day, but the fee will increase gradually with each race until charging a maximum of 1,000 gil more per consecutive free run after hitting 10,000 gil. The fee will continue to increase until being reset at Japanese Midnight. The gil increase is as follows: 100 → 150 → 200 → 300 → 400 → 600 → 800 → 1,000 → 1,500 → 2,000. The maximum cost is 100,000 gil.
Official Race:
By successfully completing the objectives of these “mission-style” races, more challenging races will be unlocked. Chocobucks are usually required to participate in official races; however, the first race (Novice Race I) is available free of charge.

Note:

• Due to the strain some of the more advanced official races place on a chocobo, players will be required to allow their chocobos a period of rest before entering another race.

Re-run:For a small chocobuck fee, players can re-race previously completed official races. While prizes will be rewarded to those players who place, the amount will be considerably less than that which was received the first time.

Note:

• Please note that the required rest period mentioned above also applies to re-runs.

Official Races

Novice Races:

Challenge Races:

Pashhow Swamptrot Races:

Make Preparations

Before running a race, players will have the opportunity to make the following preparations:

Visit the paddock:
Players can visit the paddock and view the condition of all the chocobos scheduled to participate in the upcoming race.

Give orders to the jockey:
Players can give their jockeys one of the following three orders:

• Keep Pace
  • Have the jockey maintain a consistent pace throughout the whole race.

• Final Spurt
  • Have the jockey save the chocobo's energy until the end of the race.

• Sprint
  • Have the jockey push the chocobo to its limits from the get-go.

Players can equip their chocobo/jockey with items that improve attributes or wreak havoc on other racers. Before players can equip items, they must first trade them to the CRA representative. The representatives will hold on to one of each item.

Note:

• Players can only equip one item per race.

Start the Race

Once all preparations have been made, the race will begin. All races are automatic, so players only need to sit back and watch the action unfold on the racetrack.
The following can affect the outcome of the race:

Weather:
Just as in the field, weather on the racetrack can affect a chocobo’s performance.

Placing:
To make races fair for chocobos of all sizes, placing will be determined not by when a chocobo’s beak crosses the finish line, but when its saddle does.

Items & Equipment:
All items equipped to a chocobo or jockey, regardless of their type, are consumable and can only be used once (though the effect of chocobo equipment will be present throughout the race).

Racing Advice

Attributes:
A chocobo’s attributes directly affect its performance in a race. While each attribute is important, players will find that a high “strength” rating will give most chocobos an advantage on the track. However, we would like to stress that balance is also necessary.

• Strength: Determines the chocobo's top speed.
• Endurance: Determines much stamina a chocobo has.
• Discernment: Affects how well a chocobo manages its Endurance, and item use timing.
• Receptivity: Affects a chocobo’s ability to avoid accidents, and attacks.
• Weather: Affects a chocobo’s performance in certain types of weather.
• Abilities: Some abilities affect the other attributes.
  • Canter: Increases Endurance by one full level. Always active.
  • Gallop: Increases Strength by one full level. Always active.

Stamina: At the start of the race, your chocobo begins with full stamina. The amount of stamina a bird begins the race with is determined by its Endurance. As the race progresses, your bird's stamina will steadily drop. The rate at which stamina drops is determined by your bird's Discernment. A chocobo with low Discernment will often use all its stamina up well before the race is over or have a bunch unused at the end of the race. You can tell when your bird runs out of stamina when sweat droplets begin falling off its head.

Attacks:Other Jockeys can use items which have a negative effect on one or more chocobos on the track. You can tell if an attack was successful if a red exclamation point appears above a chocobo's head after an attack is used.

Equipment

Selecting the appropriate item to equip during a race can be the difference between coming in first and coming in last. It is important to select an item that will complement a chocobo’s abilities and attributes, as well as the jockey’s orders and opponent condition. For example, jockeys who have been given the order to sprint, will often use items at the beginning of a race. In cases like this, equipping the jockey with a stamina apple will help his chocobo to maintain a quick pace for a longer period of time.

Items:

The following are used only during the Dream Race and cannot be used by players:

Saddles:

* Can only be purchased when your racing team is in first place.

Pages in category 'Chocobo Racing'

The following 34 pages are in this category, out of 34 total.

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