Postgame Guide: What to Do After the Story

What happens after the credits?

Create and load the clear save when the game offers it. You return to open-world cleanup with the airship and receive the new Ardra Crater lead for Ultima Weapon. The ending does not automatically complete substories, optional Espers, Cave Masters, Legendary Arms or collection objectives.

The reviewed trophy roadmap reports no New Game Plus requirement. Use the clear save for cleanup rather than starting over because one optional category remains.

What should you do first in the postgame?

Start with unfinished character substories, Visions and Espers because they expand the party’s available tools. Then complete Legendary Arms, Adamantite upgrades, Cave Masters and the higher Chamber trials before the hardest Colosseum battles and Ultima Weapon.

This is a preparation order, not a mandatory quest chain. If a mechanic-specific boss is already comfortable, you can move that encounter earlier without losing access to the other categories.

Recommended completion order

1. Finish party substories and recruit the remaining optional Visions.
2. Complete the Esper routes that supply useful summons or trophy progress.
3. Collect and upgrade the Legendary Arms, including the higher trials you can reliably clear.
4. Defeat the 15 Cave Masters and use their rewards to strengthen later attempts.
5. Complete missing Tablet Shards and collectibles.
6. Progress through the Colosseum leagues with a mechanic-specific setup.
7. Prepare separately for Ultima Weapon at Ardra Crater.
8. Use the trophy checklist to isolate any remaining grind, including Resonance uses.

Where is Ultima Weapon?

Load the cleared-game save and follow the new airship scene to Ardra Crater in the southeastern part of the world map. Reaching the location and winning the fight are separate objectives; the encounter changes elemental modes and has its own preparation guide.

Do not use the final story boss build as proof that the party is ready. Review mode coverage, recovery and a response to Ultima Beam before committing to the optional fight.

Is anything locked if you finish the story first?

The reviewed roadmap treats the major completion categories as clear-save cleanup rather than requiring a second playthrough. That does not mean every chest is equally convenient to collect late, so use the collectible checklist to identify the exact missing region.

If your save does not show the Ardra Crater lead, first confirm that you loaded the clear save created after the ending rather than an ordinary save made before the final sequence.