In Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire, one of the questions players often ask is, “What are the best packs to buy?”

The Gold Store has always been one of the most important fixtures in the game, giving players who are willing to invest in their empires a huge advantage. From resources to gold to special building unlocks and blueprints, the Gold Store’s offering of FFXV packs seems endless. It isn’t always clear what packs you should buy, or whether they’re worth it.

This spending guide covers all the best packs to buy in Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire. Whether you’re in a brand new realm, a mid-game player, or a master of the game, this guide will provide you with all of the Hub’s top recommendations.

Early Game Packs

If you’re in a new realm and are just starting out in FFXV, you might notice that you are constantly running out of everything you need in order to advance, such as gold, resources, or speed-ups, which slows down the pace of your progression. Having the right packs can help you considerably. These are our recommendations for new realms. New players in older realms might also find some of these recommendations helpful.

Double Loyalty

The Double Loyalty Pack provides a lifetime boost that increases your loyalty bar from 10,000 to 20,000. It is arguably the single most important pack anyone can buy in the game. As you might have noticed, quite a number of the game’s most important consumables, which can be purchased in the Guild Store, require loyalty. Advanced Teleports, shields (also known as “bubbles”), war boosts, item unlocks, and many other consumables all call for a great deal of loyalty. To read more on how to get loyalty, click here.

Second Building Queue

The Second Building Queue is one of the best packs to invest in, as it provides you with a second queue that can speed up the pace of your builds. In early game, this can be quite useful, especially if you don’t have a lot of gold or speed-ups. However, if you are in a realm that’s a little further along, you might be able to get away without it, using a huge amount of gold and speed-ups you will be able to accumulate via events.

50% Off Construction/Research Time

Initially, the 50% Off Building/Research Time packs are offered as individual packs that offer 50% Off Building Time or 50% Off Research Time separately. These lifetime boosts help to reduce the incredibly long build and research times, which often is the greatest hindrance for progression in early game. However, as the game progresses, and your realm grows, you will begin to see packs that include Doublers and Triplers, which often include multiple lifetime boosts. If you’re lucky, you might be able to get a 2-for-1 pack, which includes both.

50% Off Resource Requirements for Building/Research

The 50% Off Resource Requirement for Buildings/Research are separate lifetime boosts. Similar to the Building Time/Research Time boosts, these packs are often sold separately, and usually are offered as 50% Off T1 Resource Requirements.  Later on in the game, you’ll be able to purchase the same boosts for T2, T3, and T4 resources. Just like the 50% Off Building/Research Time boosts, if you are able to hold out long enough, Doublers and Triplers which include these boosts will be offered. However, if your goal is to dominate in early game, you’ll want to invest in these boosts to help you along a little faster.

Mid-Game Packs

As your realm grows and you reach mid-game, you’ll begin to notice that the pack offerings have improved. Packs have more resources and speed-ups, and the variety have also increased. Noctis is no longer capped at Level 50, and you discover that you’ll need Hero Medals to level him. You may also have other heroes that you unlock, including Prompto and Luna, and the Mercenary Pit might also be accessible. It is normally at this stage when Instant Upgrade Packs begin to show up.

50% Off Hero Medal Requirements

The 50% Off Hero Medal Requirement packs are usually specific to each hero. Whether you are working to level up Noctis, Prompto, Luna, Ignis, Aranea, or Gladio, after a certain point in hero progression, you will need hero medals to proceed. These lifetime boosts cut the medal requirements by half, which is especially important if you’re trying to get your hero to level 100 or 101.

Hero Unlocks

Unlocking other heroes is a must for mid-game. At this stage, you should have access to Prompto and Luna. Both of these heroes are immensely good to play with, but we also recommend reading through all of our hero guides to get a sense of which heroes you really need and work with your play style. With the exception of Aranea, whose unlock was available via an event, all heroes will require hero unlocks that must be purchased in packs.

Instant Upgrade Packs

Instant Upgrade Packs include items that can instantly upgrade all of the buildings inside your empire, along with your citadel. These are one of the most important upgrade packs that you can purchase, as they allow you to jump very quickly in growth. Each upgrade pack usually allows you to upgrade anywhere between two to five levels.

As an example, if you’re at Citadel 25, you might see a pack for Citadel 30. This pack might only include the upgrade item for the Citadel, or it might include multiple individual upgrade items to level up a number of buildings within your Citadel. If you wait long enough, you’ll eventually be offered a pack that includes an item to upgrade all buildings in your Citadel.  Instant Citadel items also end up being offered via special events, and in some cases, you might be able to gift them to your guildees.

50% Off Royal Blueprints/Research Scrolls

Royal Blueprints and Royal Research Scrolls are upgrade items that are necessary for you to level up beyond Citadel 31. The 50% Off Royal Blueprints and 50% Off Royal Research Scrolls packs will help decrease the amount of Blueprints and Scrolls needed in order to progress. Later on in the game, you’ll also be able to buy 50% Off Exalted Blueprints and 50% Off Exalted Research Scroll packs. Of course, if you wait long enough, these items generally show up in Doubler packs, as well.

Mercenary Pit Unlock

Eventually, as your game progresses, you will have access to the Mercenary Pits, where you’ll be able to train mercenaries. Because this special building is not free, it requires an unlock pack. As of the writing of this article, the Mercenary Pits have seven levels, and you’ll need Mercenary Building Blueprints to upgrade them. At Level one, you’ll be able to train City Guardians, which is the real reason why you need this pack, as they will offer a level of defense that is unrivaled until more Guardians arrive.

City Guardian Pack

In order to train City Guardians, you will need to buy City Guardian packs that come with Guardian Shields (which you use to train City Guardians). You’ll need a few million of these materials to train a decent number of City Guardians. Please be advised: if you do intend to invest in City Guardians, it won’t be long before other Guardians (such as Frost Guardians or Crownsguard) are released. Take this into consideration when planning the number of City Guardians you might train, and the amount of packs you may buy to create them.  However, if you do not intend to upgrade your Mercenary Pits to Level 3, then we recommend that you invest in these front-line defenders instead, as they can mean the difference between burning or surviving a rally.

VIP Pack

During mid-game, your VIP levels will begin to increase. With each level of VIP, you will notice increased Troop Attack, Troop Armor, and Troop HP stats, as well as other bonus stats for production, instant building time, and more. While we do recommend investing in VIP, be advised that by end game, you will see VIP packs with over 1 billion VIP points — so you may want to hold off on investing in VIP packs too early.

Proving Grounds

Unlocking Proving Grounds to Level 9 is essential to incredibly competitive players, as it will allow you to get materials you need to craft every single gear set. However, keep in mind that later on in the game, gear sets will become easier than ever to obtain, thanks to gear packs. That being said, if you want to stay ahead of the curve, you’ll have to invest in maxing out Proving Grounds.

Late Game

By the time you’ve reached late game, you’ve seen it all. From crystal battles that last three days, to solo attacks that can burn players over 100 million power, there’s very little that can surprise you. At this stage in the game, most of your realm already has T4 or T5, and you may even have some T6 players floating around. Here are our late game recommendations, which you will need if you truly want to dominate the game.

Special Building Unlocks

For offensive players, special building unlocks will be quite important to your late game strategy. Monster Farm is necessary for the ever-growing menagerie of monsters that can be added to marches for boosts, while Order of Heroes provides additional buffs and features that can help improve your gameplay, as well as your stats. Mythic Forge is especially important for both offensive and defensive players who are working on crafting full legendary sets, especially as the set bonuses it offers contributes tremendously to stats. While these buildings are all very important, the Oracle Temple, in particular, is optional. While it lets you craft lifetime boosts that can help your game, the scarcity of materials needed to craft boosts makes this building not nearly as attractive as the first three.

If you intend to unlock all of these buildings, they will all be sold as individual packs as they are released. However, please keep in mind that as the game progresses, packs will eventually be offered that include multiple building unlocks, and there will also be events where you will be able to win unlocks as event prizes. With the exception of the Oracle Temple, we consider these buildings essential to any serious player in late game.

Special Building Blueprint and Materials Packs

While having special buildings unlocked is a good start, it will also be very important to level up the buildings, too. (In the case of Order of Heroes, you’ll have to buy specific materials to unlock individual Orders.) For late game players, we recommend having the following levels as a minimum:

• Monster Farm Level 5
• Mercenary Pits Level 5
• Order of Heroes: Order of Kings (all other Orders except for Order of Thieves are also recommended, but if you have to just pick one, go with Order of Kings)

Frost Guardian and Crownsguard

Frost Guardians and Crownsguard are a must-have for any late game player, as they play a very important role in both empire and Crystal/Titan defense. You will absolutely need to invest in these if you’re a serious player.

Imperial Frigates and Killer Bees

To smash Guardians, you will need to stock up on plenty of Guardian-killing mercenaries. This is where Imperial Frigates and Killer Bees come into play. If you are a serious offensive player who wants to be able to burn even the biggest empires, or a Titan/Supreme Emperor contender, then you will absolutely need these troops.

Legendary Gear Packs / Pick Your Own 5,000 Gear Chests

Having the best possible gear in the game is incredibly important to your success as a player. Whether you’re an offensive player or a trap, you will need to craft legendary sets. As you enter late game, packs that offer guaranteed legendary materials, as well as packs with 5,000 gear chests will become available, which will make getting gear easier than ever.

 

End Game Packs

For the most dedicated and competitive players who have their eyes on the Supreme Emperor title, or who dream of trapping T7 players, end game becomes all about refining your build to create the best possible empire. These are our end game recommendations.

Crafting Research Scroll Packs and Requirement Reducers

Crafting Research plays an important role in stat improvement, especially in respect to gear set bonuses. However, getting further along in the research tree requires Crafting Research Scrolls, which can be notoriously difficult to obtain. Be on the lookout for a pack that has a minimum of 12,000 scrolls, as this pack will help you in your goal to max your Crafting Research tree. You can also buy a pack that can reduce your Crafting Research Scroll requirements by 50%.

Commander Hall Unlock and Blueprint Packs

Maxing the Commander Hall is an absolute must for end game players who truly want to dominate the game. Because the Commander Hall adds an additional +70,000 March Size, +2,000,000 Troop Capacity, and +600,000 Mercenary Capacity, it is essential for increasing end game firepower. The Commander Hall also has the ability to level up Commanders, which Luna Gifts frequently give out. (We don’t recommend buying Commander Packs, unless you desperately are in need of Commanders.)

Mercenaries

From Catoblepas to Samurai,  Mercenaries pack a heavy punch and can help to greatly improve your offense or defense. In end game, it will be more important than ever that you train a wide variety of Mercenary Troops that will provide you with the edge you need to defeat empires and conquer Crystals. As an end game player, you will need to decide which Mercenaries are best for your personal strategy. Mercenary materials are sold in packs, and can also be obtained via Mercenary Loot Tiles that sometimes appear.

Gameplay/Event Packs

Regardless of whether you are in early game or end game, the following packs are recommended for truly competitive players.

RvR/Titan/Neutral Realm Packs

In order to play special game events such as Realm vs Realm, Titan/Realm of the Emperor, or Neutral Realm, it will be important to buy packs that provide ports for these events. While ports are sometimes given away via events and/or Luna Gifts, to truly dominate the event, you will need to stock up on enough ports to last the duration of the event. (This is especially true for Titan — we recommend stocking up ahead of time.)

Advanced Teleport Flash Packs

In order to move in the game, you will need Advanced Teleports (ATP). While ATP can be purchased in the Guild Store for 150,000 loyalty each, it’s much easier to buy them in bulk. We do not recommend buying any ATP packs that have less than six ATP in them. As your game progresses, you will eventually be offered ATP Flash Packs that have over 12 ATP. If you’re really lucky, sometimes you might even get a Flash Pack with 24 ATP.

Thank You/Secret Sale Packs

Thank You packs are special packs that are offered after you’ve purchased a pack. Sometimes, they’re triggered immediately after the purchase of a pack; other times, it may take several purchases for them to appear. They also occasionally appear in the banner space above your inbox when you click on Mail with other special offers. Secret Sale Packs often appear in the banner space above your inbox, and sometimes in your Gold Store. They appear at random, but most often after pack purchases.They are often better than normal packs, and have extra items that make them worth purchasing.

Holiday Packs

Holiday Packs are special packs that are usually offered over specific holidays. During holidays, such as Black Friday, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve, Holiday Packs are infused with a huge amount of items, resources, and bonus Platinum Gifts for your guild. While we haven’t seen such loaded Holiday Packs since the 2017-2018 holiday season, we’re sure other Holiday Packs will be offered, so be on the lookout for them.

 

Conclusion

While there are packs for just about everything in the game that can help you improve your build, these are our recommendations for the best packs you can buy, which are essential for you as a competitive player.  It is not necessary to buy every single one of these packs but, for end game players, we highly recommend investing in as many of these packs as you can; they give you a competitive edge that other players might not have.