Final Fantasy XIII/Crystarium

In Final Fantasy XIII, character progression is based around accumulating Crystogen Points from battles and spending them in the Crystarium to purchase stat increases, abilities, techniques, ATB segments, accessory slots and role levels. The amount of CP you gain from battles is tied to your stars and score, which is in turn based on how fast you complete fights. You can upgrade your character by going to Crystarium in the menu and selecting the role you want to upgrade. The Crystarium becomes available in ../Chapter 3/, and your characters start out with three primary roles that can be upgraded.

Within each role, there are up to ten levels that look like discs being stacked on top of each other, expanding outward from the character's central l'Cie crystal. As the story progresses, the Crystarium will be expanded until they are all open, and this usually happens at the beginning of new chapters. The development path is mainly linear, going from node to node and including offshoots of one or two nodes, which can either be followed or passed up. Nodes along the main path must be acquired in order, and you can always go back later to pick up any crystals you've passed.

In the Crystarium you have the option to toggle the names of the crystals from nearest labeled (default), to all labeled to none labeled. You can also zoom in and out and move back and forth along the advancement path without spending CP to see what's coming up ahead. In general, it's better to get the special crystals on the main path and come back for stat increases on branches, as you'll get plenty of stat helpers on the main path and abilities, role levels, etc. will be more directly helpful in combat. Using the information on ../Characters/ and roles elsewhere in the guide, you can create a long-term plan for your party, then use the information here to upgrade in the Crystarium accordingly.