How to get the best weapon in Final Fantasy 16

Final Fantasy 16 best weapon
(Image credit: Square Enix)

The best weapon in Final Fantasy 16 is the sword Gotterdammerung, obtained by upgrading Ragnarok, which itself is made for you by Blackthorne the Blacksmith at the end of his "Blacksmith's Blues" questline. It's a little bit of a process to obtain it and not easy to make the transformation, but it's definitely worth doing, as it'll give you access to the best weapon in all of FFXVI, with unrivalled damage and stagger. For the ultimate sword, here's how you can get Ragnarok and upgrade it into the superior Gotterdammerung, also known as the Twilight of the Gods.

How to get Gotterdammerung, the best weapon in Final Fantasy 16

Final Fantasy 16 best weapon

(Image credit: Square Enix)

To unlock the sword Gotterdammerung, the best weapon in FFXVI, you need to take the following steps in this order:

  1. Complete the side quest "Blacksmith's Blues", which unlocks at the Hideaway after unlocking the Eikon of Lightning, Ramuh in the main campaign.
  2. Complete the side quest "Blacksmith's Blues II", which unlocks at the Hideaway Reading Table specifically after assisting Mid with the building of an engine.
  3. Complete the side quest "Blacksmith's Blues III", which unlocks at the Hideaway after the boss fight with Sleipnir.
  4. Complete the side quest "Blacksmith's Blues IV", which unlocks at the Hideaway after completing the ocean battle and encounter with Barnabus.
  5. Head back to Blackthorne at the Hideaway Forge to receive both the Ragnarok Sword, and the blueprints for upgrading it to Gotterdammerung.
  6. Complete specific hunts from the hunt board to obtain the materials necessary to upgrade Ragnarok.

Clearly this is a bit of a process, though the Blacksmith's Blues questline is relatively simple, usually boiling down to going to clearly-marked locations and killing the targets there. Not only that, but even the earlier quests in that questline all have helpful rewards, such as the Excalibur sword, Drakeslayer and Ouroboros armor. The Excalibur is neither as good as Ragnarok or Gotterdammerung, but you can get it a lot earlier and it can carry you comfortably through part of the mid-game.

How to get the crafting materials for Gotterdammerung

Final Fantasy 16 best weapon

(Image credit: Square Enix)

There are three kinds of crafting materials that players need to upgrade the Ragnarok sword into the superior Gotterdammerung at the Forge. All materials are rewards for specific Final Fantasy 16 hunt locations, and we've listed them all below, as well as what Notorious Marks you need to kill to obtain them.

  • Ragnarok (1): Obviously you need the base sword Ragnarok, which is destroyed and replaced in the process of creating Gotterdammerung.
  • Orichalcum (3): 1 each obtained for killing The Tricelaphic Terror, Ruin Reawakened and the Breaker of Worlds on the Hunt Board, as well as completing the "Under New Management II" side quest.
  • Darksteel (2): 1 obtained for killing the Usher to the Underworld, the other for killing the Grim Reaper. 
  • Primitive Battlehorn (1): Obtained for killing Gobermouch.

Once you have them all, head back to the forge to get the Ragnarok upgrade and claim Gotterdammerung for yourself. It does 375 damage and 375 stagger, which has no equal in the game that we know of at time of writing.

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Joel Franey
Guides Writer

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.