Upgrades

[Zargabaath]

I'm still looking for advice on WHAT weapons and accessories to upgrade. Do I upgrade the weapons that area already better than others? Or do I go for weapons that don't take much Exp. to upgrade them, because they can move up in level faster? And accessories that provide buffs at the beginning of battles -- what do those upgrade to?I asked about this earlier in another thread, but all I got was "don't upgrade weapons until chapter 11".

As for weapons that is up to you and how you want to mold each character into. You don't get all the weapons even in chapter 11 so I said to wait so you could make the best decision and not waste components. Unless you don't mind having to get even more components to level up any newer weapon that you like more. For example Sazh has some weapons that have some good effects: the Antares Deluxes which has the Chain Boost bonus, the Procyons which has Stagger Maintenance which extends the time that enemies remain prone to high Chain Bonus damage by 10% ( 30% with Stagger Maintenance II with the upgraded weapons), and the Spica Defenders which have the Augment Maintenance that extends the time of buffs by 40% (80% with upgrades); you would have to find the proper accessories to unlock the synthesized abilities that boost the effect of these weapons I mentioned and the others. You could upgrade multiple weapons for each character, switching out to fit the situation, but that would take even longer - the choice is up to you. You don't need the weapons with the best stats to beat the game nor the easist to level; the game can be beaten with mostly any weapon combination. The only weapon combination you couldn't use are those with Stagger Lock (character with that equipped will not be able to send an enemy into Stagger mode); they often have some of the best stats but if all three characters have that effect on them they won't be able to stagger any enemy.

Accessories like the Shield Talisman or the Morale Talisman that grant the wearer Auto-protect & Auto-Bravery respectfully but they are the final form of their group. The Guardian Amulet (Critical: Protect) upgrades to the Shield Talisman but that is as for as it goes. I don't know if you level the Shield Talisman that the effect lasts longer into the battle or not; somebody else may know that.