The doomsday clock introduced in Lightning Returns is probably its most infamous feature. Many wither at the thought of it staring at their poor choices from the corner of the screen. It's usually the first complaint about the gameplay and the last some people care to learn about. If you're having problems managing your time, using Chronostasis and farming Eradia, welcome! Here I will show you how simple it is to make the most out of Lightning Returns and how simple it is to manage your time.

Notice that this guide is not a rulebook! I will be demonstrating how time management works and giving examples of what I do, but you don't have to do exactly the same. Everyone's entitled to play the game in their own way.

In Lightning Returns, Lightning is tasked with saving the souls of the living before the end of the world. She's awoken from her crystal sleep by Bhunivelze, almighty god from the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythos -- as well as a lazy motherdoer for naming her the savior only a few days before the world's end. Different from what the game mentions sometimes, the world doesn't end in 13 days. The doomsday is due to happen much sooner but since Bhunivelze will only awake in the 13th day, Lightning must delay the end until then so that they both can guide the saved souls to the new world.

The player achieves that by collecting Eradia, an energy that feeds Yggdrasil (the tree of life within the Ark) and extends the world's life span. There are only two ways to gather Eradia for Yggdrasil, and that is through quests. Be it side quests or main story archs, the player has to find a way to manage their time if they want to make it to the 13th day or even unlock the 14th. And that can be tricky since one game day corresponds to one hour in the real world! It's just not enough time to run enough side quests and the story quests, right? No.


Comes Chronostasis, a neat feature that lets you freeze the doomsday clock for a few minutes. Things continue on happening on the world, except timed events such as some NPC/enemy spawns won't happen until the clock is running normally again. Chronostasis costs 1 EP (Eradia Power, a counter used by Lightning to perform certain abilities), but its low cost is deceiving. Simply spamming Chronostasis will deplete the EP counter in a metter of minutes, so the answer is grinding for more. Enemies give EP when defeated and some will replenish two slots at once! So just like any other FF, LR relies on grinding to progress and without that and Chronostasis, you will most likely face a game over. There just isn't enough time in a single day to do much of anything, but that's how the game was designed -- to force players into managing their time and choices.

It is possible to play a single game day throughout several hours just by spamming Chronostasis. The process is simple but it takes a moment to get used to. Each person has different ways to deal with time management and game progress, so I'll tell you in on how I do it and that should give you an idea of how the process works.

As soon as the game day begins I initiate Chronostasis and start doing side quests. As soon as the effect wears off I cast it again and this time I run to areas with lots of monsters. For example, if I'm in Luxerion I'll run to the graveyard. Next, I spam mobs until my EP counter is full. Since I end up using Chronostasis midway, I always try using it once more when I'm closer to where I want to go (but still within enemy territory) so that I can replenish it again and make a run for my destination. I repeat the process until I've done most things in the morning, then I let the clock run unti more or less 1pm and start spamming the ability again. Run more quests and then let the clock run to 6pm. Now, the night is always a little more tricky for me cos I like to finish the day with enough to make Yggdrasil bloom. So I run more quests if they're available around that time and keep on spamming Chronostasis on my way to the final dungeon of the area. I forgot to mention this, but while I'm running side quests throughout the day I'm also progressing in the story quest. Spamming Chronostasis inside the last dungeon of the area is a lot easier because of the high concentration of monsters. And after I defeat that area's boss I keep casting it a few more times to check what else I can do, then I make my way to the train station and take a ride to the next area I'll be exploring on the next game day so that I can teleport to it if I don't have unfinished business somewhere else in the morning. Sometimes I use teleportation to go back to Luxerion and then let the clock run out when I've reached my destination, but in a few occasions I keep on grinding and spamming so that I can open the treasure spheres that require EP (the ones left by Lumina). With that I was able to have two story archs, 40 side quests and more than 30 Canvas of Prayers requests cleared by the fifth day, a process that took me between 10 and 20 hours.


The secret to that is knowing which monsters will give you how much EP, where they are and when it's ideal to kill them. In Lightning Returns enemies will stop spawning after you have killed the Last One, a magenta variant of that creature with an omega character on its name. As the name implies, these magenta enemies are the last ones of their kind and killing them means that those specific creature will no longer spawn. So, if you're not careful, you might run out of enemies around where you want/need to spam and replenishing your EP counter can become a hassle. I say this because some enemies will reward you with 2 EP at once and killing them when you still have enough or if your EP counter is full can be a waste. For example, I was running around the Wildlands and replenishing my EP with reavers when suddenly the Last One appeared. It was too soon (just as the Miniflan's was for me earlier that game day) and I wasn't fighting reavers exclusively, but I did hunt them down a few times when I didn't need the EP. Now if I want 2 EP fast I have to run for Protoflorians. Enemies also drop better abilities the closer you get to the 13th day, so exterminating them before the first week is even over might not be that good if you want an ability stronger than the one you currently have (since upgrading them manually can consume a lot of time).

Well then, did that help you? On my first playthrough I wasn't doing any of that at all. I'd use Chronostasis a few times a day and instead spend my EP with teleportation and Curaga. I got a game over on the 11th day when I still had two archs to clear (and one boss from a previous arch to defeat). Going into NG+ I started spamming Chronostasis as I described and I'm not using any guides to play. I still don't remember where every quest is and at what time they become available, but having that game night free to explore the area one more time is enough. If anything I'll have more than a week in game time to explore the areas further, looking for anything I might have missed. Now I hope you can do the same!

If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know in the comments.

If you finish all the five story archs, most side quests and Canvas of Prayers requests too soon, why burn your time at an inn when Nova Chrysallia has so much more to offer? As a bonus, here's a list of things you can do to kill time until the last day (or bonus day if you've unlocked it).



And that includes Canvas of Prayers requests. If you play like me, you'll have most of your side quests and Canvas of Prayers requests done by the time you clear the last story arch. Still, there might be one or two side quests you missed and a few requests from the canvas will only become available at certain days (like the one for the highways) or after you cleared others (so in that case, handle the items of the ones you've cleared, close the canvas and open it again for more requests). If you're managing your time carefully, you can leave quests such as The Angel's Tears and Buried Passion for the remaining days.



You will get accessories out of this and make the bonus dungeon less difficult on you. Some accessories dropped by omega enemies can be very helpful against certain bosses or in the next game cycle, not to mention that you can only upgrade an accessory by gathering it again in the next playthrough, menaing the sooner you get these dropped by the Last Ones, the better.


Chocobrels, the day and night blossoms, Gysahl Greens (and the other greens), abilities, components; you name it. If you think or know you'll need it in the next playthrough, why not make life easier and take the spare time to collect them?



Some garbs (Moogle Queen and Miqo'te Dress as far as my tests go) will have a small level of interaction with the world. For instance, Moogle Queen will make moogles in Jagd follow you wherever you go. You can even lead them out of the forest (although they run back into the woods might bug if you walk into a chaos infusion)! Some moogles inside the moogle village will also follow you around, but they can't be lead outside the village. The Miqo'te Dress has a similar effect, but on animals (so far I only had the opportunity to test on dogs).