Tips for Winning Chocobo Races

[Shlup]

As soon as it was revealed that Final Fantasy XIII-2 would herald the return of chocobo racing, people got a lot more excited for the game. People love that fluff, myself included. Now, perhaps you've tried to run a few races. Maybe you've done well for yourself, maybe not. Either way you might be looking to improve, and, if that's the case, Reddit user Kheten's method (http://www.reddit.com/r/FinalFantasy/comments/pfeh8/ffxiii2_chocobo_guide_how_to_win_all_the_races/) seems pretty solid.

You'll be able to do this once you can get the silver chocobo out of the big projection of Cocoon in Academia 4XX. This requires Advanced Mog Throw.

Items Needed:
34x Potent Orb Buccaboo, Buccaboo Ace (30%)
46x Potent Essence Hedge Frog (15%), Mud Frog (15%), Swampmonk (20%), Caterchipillar (5%)
23x Potent Crystals Microchu (30%)

Monsters Needed:
Silver Chocobo
Pulse Gladiator (Archylte Steppe - Cloudy)
Cactuar (Archylte Steppe - Sunny, rare)
Microchu (Western Archylte Steppe - Rainy, Sunny)

Method:

Get your Silver Chocobo to max level.
Infuse the Silver Chocobo with the Pulse Gladiator at level one. This will give it the Second Wind ability.
Infuse the Silver Chocobo with the Cactuar at level one. This will give you the Sprinter ability.
Level up the Microchu up to 24 using whatever items you want.
Infuse the Silver Chocobo with the Microchu at level 24. This will give your chocobo the Marathoner and Health Nut abilities.

Once your chocobo has been all kinds of infused and has reached max level, your strategy is to use the "Stay at the back" mode in each race. Do not use Boost until Blue Streak activates.


http://home.eyesonff.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=35586&d=1328745027

Got any other tips for the chocobo races? Share them!

[Del Murder]

Can't wait to try this. Those races are a bitch to understand, and this method seems pretty simple.

[Shlup]

I'm glad you think that sounds simple 'cause it looks complicated as fuck to me.

[Carl the Llama]

Posted this in the site contribution section, thought I would copy pasta it here just for you guys ^^

Here is a complete list of all the chocobo abilities, how to get them and what they do:

Rocket Blast

Increases the window of opportunity for a sprinting start.
Skill: Crit: Shell, Roll Resonance, Feral Surge, Feral Fatigue.
Infusion: White Chocobo*, Bampalina** (Academy 500 AF).

Dark Horse

Offers improved gambling odds on your Chocobo.
Skill: Item Scavenger (I or II) and Item Collector.
Infusion: Silver Chocobo*, Microchu** (Archlyte Steppe ??? AF), Apotamkin.

Limelight

Your Chocobo's Stats are increased for Graded races.
Skill: Kill: ATB Charge and Kill: Libra.
Infusion: Goblin Chieftain (Archlyte Steppe ??? AF).

Supersonic

A skill that activates when :choc::choc2::choc2::choc2: strat is selected. Increases the rate at which the Boost Gauge charges.
Skill: Quick Stagger, Improved Guard (I or II), Critical: Power Surge (I or II).
Infusion: Chocobo* and Flandit (Sunleth Waterscape 300/400 AF).

Lightning Bolt

A skill that activates when :choc2::choc::choc2::choc2: strat is selected. Increases the rate at which the Boost Gauge charges.
Skill: Improved Ward (I or II), Chain Bonus Boost (I or II), Stagger Maint. (I or II).
Infusion: Red Chocobo*, Golden Chocobo, Ceratoraptor** (Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF).

Turbo

A skill that activates when :choc2::choc2::choc::choc2: strat is selected. Decreases the cost of the Boost command.
Skill: Crit: Shield (I or II), Siphon Boost (I or II), Defence Maint. (I or II), Improved Cure (I or II).
Infusion: Green Chocobo*, Cait Sith, Swampmonk** (Archlyte Steppe ??? AF).

Blue Streak

A skill that activates when :choc2::choc2::choc2::choc: strat is selected. Decreases the cost of the Boost command.
Skill: Crit: Protect, Ally KO: Power Surge (I or II), Improved Debuffing (I or II).
Infusion: Purple Chocobo*, Silver Chocobo*, Ceratoraptor** (Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF).

Health Nut

Your Chocobo's status is constantly Favourable.
Skill: Bonus CP, Rapid Recovery.
Infusion: Green Chocobo*, Microchu** (Archlyte Steppe ??? AF).

Free Spirit

Reduces instances when your Chocobo flags (even briefly) due to lagging behind the pack.
Skill: Crit: Faith, Auto Bravery, Auto Faith, Auto Haste, Auto Vigilance, Auto Tetradefence.
Infusion: Grenade** (Oerba 400 AF) and Amanojaku.

Attention Hog

Your Chocobo's stats are increased when its in its favourite race.
Skill: Feral Speed and Gilfinder.
Infusion: Gancanagh and Dragoon** (Augusta Tower 200/300 AF).

Runaway

Increase the effect of Supersonic or Lightning Bolt.
Skill: Hindrance: Pack Mentality and Jungle Law.
Infusion: Chichu, Nanochu, Metallicactaur** (A Dying World 700 AF).

Second Wind

Increases the effect of Turbo or Blue Streak.
Skill: Improved Counter (I or II) and Fettered Magic.
Infusion: Pulse Gladiator (Archlyte Steppe ??? AF).

Perseverance

Slightly recharges the Boost gauge when you run out of stamina just before crossing the finishing line.
Skill: Auto Protect, Auto Shell, Auto Veil, Attack: ATB Charge (I or II), Improved Raise (I or II).
Infusion: Apkallu** (Academy 500 AF) Barbed Specter, Caterchipillar, Pitterpatter.

Sprinter

Greatly increases speed in short races.
Skill: Crit: Veil, Crit: Bravery, ATB Advantage, First Strike.
Infusion: Black Chocobo*, Cactuar** (Archlyte Steppe ??? AF)

Marathoner

Greatly increases stamina in long distance races.
Skill: Crit: Vigilance and Crit Tetra Defence.
Infusion: Golden Chocobo*, Microchu** (Archlyte Steppe ??? AF).

*Default Ability, can't be infused into other Chocobo's.
**Recommended Infusee

Obviously you can have only a max of 10 , its up to you which you choose and as Shluppers said, Silver Chocobo is the best for this as they can get 800+ in each of their stats (641-800 magic for max Stam, and 641-800 ATP for max Speed anymore and its a waste) if you want to sacrifice a few skills for stats (if you want to use some other colour Chocobo, I'm quite partial to the white) then I recommend getting a Tonberry infusion as they have Magic and Strength +35%, though I would recommend doing this last (as they have alot of skills that can overwrite your passive skills if you have filled out 10 of them) if you want to avoid having you passive skills overwritten then have the Chocobo learn the same skill twice and it will be locked onto that Chocobo, protecting it from being overwritten.

[Loony BoB]

When I get home, I can let you know the levels those monsters need to be before you get the neccessary abilities, otherwise you'll get bugger all out of the infusion.

[Carl the Llama]

Oh and through further experimentation I can say I disagree with those people saying the Silver Chocobo is best, when maxed out with just Potent items he only achieved Strength and Magic skill of 650 and 651 respectively, however the high the strength/magic stat the better the speed/stamina I have achieved with very careful boosting of their stats a White Chocobo with the following stats and abilities:

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/5779/image559v.jpg

I chose a white chocobo cause they look the best imo, esp with the Mog adornment on her back.

Here is my race results:
http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/649/image558a.jpg

13-1-0-0

This translates as 13 first place wins 1 second place and nothing else, my Chocobo really is that awesome. (Yes, I have a big head, I know).

I was thinking of remaking her as I somehow fudged up and overlooked giving her Blue Streak, though I might sacrifice Dark Horse for Blue, it depends on what is available to be over written.

[Loony BoB]

It said in the official guide that the Silver Chocobo is the best, so I'm just going by what's said there. :p

[Carl the Llama]

It said in the official guide that the Silver Chocobo is the best, so I'm just going by what's said there. :p

Honestly I don't know why they would say that... possibly for the fact that you don't need to raise it 99 levels like I did with my white, that and the fact that you could fuck the stats up and end up with less then 800 ATP/MAG and less the 5k health, thus resulting in having less then the best skills, it could also be that you have 2 ability slots taken up right away which only give you the same skill so you can have a max of 9 skills (one of which was taken up by Magic +20%) so 7 slots for other skills.

If however your not bothered about winning coins with betting then you could forgo Dark Horse for some more favourable skills.

[Loony BoB]

I believe they said Silver was best, with Gold running very close behind. Dunno what the deal is regarding it all, though. I'm willing to try more than one just to see!

[Carl the Llama]

I believe they said Silver was best, with Gold running very close behind. Dunno what the deal is regarding it all, though. I'm willing to try more than one just to see!

In retrospect, I suspect its the money side of things, it takes alot of money to raise a chocobo from 1 to 99 far less then 1 to 45, that in reality along with the limitations the white brings might be the reason they recommend Silver.

Though did you see my white, with mog on her back she looks awesome, and whenever I was in a race with a white I couldn't help looking at the bird with envy so I decided to roll a white.

[Loony BoB]

Ah, upon checking the book at home, any chocobo is capable of winning at fal'Cie level if properly developed, but Silver Chocobo is the most cost-effective of the lot of them. It'll be interesting to see which ends up best overall, if there is a 'best', that is - perhaps the Golden Chocobo? Dunno. But I'm kinda hoping to have a maxed out chocobo of a number of types, so I should be able to check it out.

EDIT: Never mind. Speed and stamina are capped at 800 strength/magic respectively. Anything above that will have no additional bonus. That explains why they suggest the Silver Chocobo route. :)

[Carl the Llama]

I had thought I had mentioned that, nvm, my White Chocobo has 822 STR and 862 MAG so saying the Silver is the best because it can have max stats is pointless lol

[Del Murder]

I did what was described in the OP and it worked like a charm. It is not hard either, the farming for potent materials is what took the longest. Got all kinds of cool shiz from the races now!

[Loony BoB]

I often use my silver chocobo as a sentinel so decided to level up a new chocobo (went with white, since KD has already proved it reaches 800/800 limit) designed for racing. It doesn't make money as well as the silver one does since it doesn't have dark horse, but when it comes to winning races, it always wins by a mile, even on fal'Cie - which I can't say for my Silver Chocobo since it has a few sentinel abilities that I don't want to pass up for racing abilities. My White Chocobo has nine racing abilities, and it's awesome. I need to write up a guide for making a moneymaking Silver Chocobo and a racewinning White Chocobo sometime. :D

[Del Murder]

I also use my Silver as a sentinel and never had any issues with it having all those racing abilities. The game isn't hard enough to need a fully-built Sentinel. A ton of HP and Mediguard is all you really need.

[Carl the Llama]

I often use my silver chocobo as a sentinel so decided to level up a new chocobo (went with white, since KD has already proved it reaches 800/800 limit) designed for racing. It doesn't make money as well as the silver one does since it doesn't have dark horse, but when it comes to winning races, it always wins by a mile, even on fal'Cie - which I can't say for my Silver Chocobo since it has a few sentinel abilities that I don't want to pass up for racing abilities. My White Chocobo has nine racing abilities, and it's awesome. I need to write up a guide for making a moneymaking Silver Chocobo and a racewinning White Chocobo sometime. :D

http://ihasahotdog.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/funny-dog-pictures-hmph-told-ya-so.jpg

Couldn't resist ^^

[Loony BoB]

Silver Chocobo still trumps it, but I couldn't build my Silver Chocobo the way I wanted as I had given it defensive abilities that had forced the racing abilities out, and I couldn't put them back in.

[Sword]

So Silver is even better than Gold? At the minute my Gold Chocobo is the best, but should I switch to building up my Silver then?

[Dr. rydrum2112]

So Silver is even better than Gold? At the minute my Gold Chocobo is the best, but should I switch to building up my Silver then?

I don't think it really matters- if you are dominating with the Gold there is no need to waste fusions on a 2nd racing choco. Just make sure you can get close to 800 strength and 800 magic and 5k health.

[Del Murder]

I think either will be fine to win most races. Some abilities the Silver has will allow you to make coins faster, but the Silver is also a pretty good SEN for your party and you may want to give it abilities that are good for battle.