Companions

An adventurer and their Chocobo Companion in battle.

A Chocobo Companion buffing themselves with Choco Guard.

Companions are chocobos that fight alongside players. Players are not only be able to rank up their Chocobo Companion, but also customize the companion's looks and abilities.

A chocobo can be specialized into tanking, healing, or damage dealing (or even all three) by allocating their Skill Points into the Defender, Healer, or Attacker skill trees.

The chocobo's appearance can be altered with various bardings. Bardings are purely cosmetic; they give no bonus stats or other gameplay benefits. The chocobo's color can be changed, as well.

Chocobo Companions cannot be used in instanced duties such as dungeons or Field Operations, but they may remain summoned while waiting for a queue using the Duty Finder.

All Chocobo Companions (and by extension the Company Chocobo, as they are the same bird) are considered male by the in-game text.

Obtaining

Players must have acquired their Company Chocobo by completing the quest My Little Chocobo.

Afterwards, after reaching level 30, players can unlock the Chocobo Companion system by completing the quest My Feisty Little Chocobo from Docette in Camp Tranquil, South Shroud (X:17, Y:28).

Summoning

Gysahl Greens are required to summon a Chocobo Companion. They can be purchased for 36 Gil each from many vendors throughout the world. When summoned, the chocobo is displayed as a party member and remains summoned for a 30 minutes, after which it is automatically dismissed.

While summoned, the player can feed the chocobo more Gysahl Greens to keep them summoned. Each Gysahl Green will add 30 minutes to the timer, up to a maximum of 1 hour. This timer is temporarily suspended when the chocobo companion is unavailable - such as while the player is in a city or instance, or while mounted.

After death or dismissal, players will need to expend another Gyshahl Green to resummon their Chocobo Companion.

Ranking Up

A Chocobo Companion matches the player's level, but begins at Rank 1. While summoned, the Chocobo Companion can earn companion experience points, which in turn will allow it to rank up. Companion exp is available through the following:

Defeating monsters around the player's level in the open world.
- If the player's level is synced down for a FATE, then enemies defeated during that FATE will count as "around the player's level" and grant experience accordingly.
Completing the Challenge Log entries Bosom Buddies I (defeat 20 enemies around the player's level for 5% of the current Rank's experience), and Bosom Buddies II (defeat 100 enemies around the player's level for 10% experience).
Chocobo Raising at a Chocobo Stable in a Player Housing area.

Chocobo Companions do not receive experience through any other means, including FATE experience, Levequests, or Quests. Ranking up grants the Chocobo Companion Skill Points (SP) each level.

Ranks 11-20

Chocobo Companions will initially stop earning experience once they reach Rank 10, at which point they must be fed a Thavnairian Onion, which will allow them to increase their Rank once more. This must be repeated for each rank until the maximum of Rank 20, after which a Chocobo Companion can no longer earn any additional experience, Ranks, or SP. Experience required for each Rank rises dramatically, and therefore it will likely take quite some time before a Chocobo Companion reaches the max Rank.

Note: Thavnairian Onions can only be used when the Chocobo's EXP bar for their current Rank is at maximum.

Thavnairian Onions are normally obtained through Gardening - specifically, other plants must be Intercrossed (which requires a house, not an Apartment) in order to generate the onion seeds, and then the onion seeds must be planted and grown. Alternatively, onions can be purchased from other players on the Market Board, and 2 onions are available from yellow side quests in Heavensward areas.

The process of growing onions is generally considered cumbersome - growing a single onion takes 10 days, requiring waterings every 48 hours or else the plants will die^[1]. This also only becomes profitable if the onions are farmed en masse, as opposed to the mere 10 a single player would need (8 if the 2 aforementioned quests are completed). Therefore, for most players the easiest solution is to simply buy them on the Market Board.

For players on the Free Trial, which restricts trading, the Market Board, and owning housing, there is a workaround to obtain onions: a house-owning friend can make them a Tenant and give them gardening permissions, which allows them to harvest onions from the homeowner's garden.

Empowering

Skill Points (SP) can be spent to grant a Chocobo Companion bonus stats and skills. Skills can be purchased in three specializations: Defender, Healer, and Attacker. These trees correspond to battle stances; when placed into a specific battle stance, the Chocobo Companion will exclusively use abilities from the corresponding tree. For example, a Chocobo Companion in Healer Stance will only use Spells unlocked in the Healer tree. Additionally, the Free Stance will instead instruct the Chocobo Companion to make their own decisions, and utilize any unlocked Skills from any tree.

Chocobo Companions earn an increasing amount of SP per Rank:

Rank	SP earned	Running total SP
1	+1	1
2	+2	3
3	+3	6
4	+4	10
5	+5	15
6	+6	21
7	+7	28
8	+8	36
9	+9	45
10	+10	55
11	+10	65
12	+10	75
13	+10	85
14	+10	95
15	+10	105
16	+10	115
17	+11	126
18	+12	138
19	+13	151
20	+14	165

Skills also cost an increasing amount of SP to purchase, starting at 1 SP and ending at 10 SP. Skills must be purchased in order within each tree. "Traits" are passive, and are always applied, regardless of the Chocobo Companion's current stance.

At Rank 10, a chocobo will have 55 SP, which is exactly enough to max a single skill tree. At Rank 20, they will have 165 SP, which is enough to max all three skill trees (since 55 * 3 = 165).

A Chocobo Companion's Skill Points can be refunded by feeding it a Reagan Pepper, purchased from the player's Grand Company Quartermasters for 48,000 Company Seals, or from their Hunt Billmaster for 20 Allied Seals.

Due to the nature of the player's lack of control over the companion's attacks and positioning, it is recommended to avoid leveling the Defender tree first. The player will almost always out-enmity the chocobo, so Tank and DPS players should focus on leveling the Healer tree, while Healer players would benefit most from the extra DPS of the Attacker tree.

Appearance Customization

A Chocobo's appearance can be customized using various Bardings. Bardings are equipped in three different slots and are purely cosmetic: Head, Body, and Legs. Different Bardings can be mixed and matched to create a unique look for the Chocobo.

Additionally, any Bardings will also appear on the Chocobo when ridden as a mount. (Only affects the Company Chocobo mount. Does not affect any other mounts which also happen to be chocobos.)

A chocobo wearing the Barding of Light.

Players can also change the color of their Chocobo, by feeding them specific foods while in a Chocobo Stable in a Player Housing area; please see Chocobo Colors for more information.

A Chocobo in the Raptor Blue color.

Skills

Each individual skill costs its level in SP (level 1 costs 1, level 2 costs 2, etc).
Skills in a tree must be unlocked in order - for example, the level 3 skill for the healer tree requires unlocking levels 1 and 2 in the healer tree first.
With the above points in mind, SP Cost in the table below is the total needed for that level.

Defender

Name	Level	Total SP Cost	Type	Description
Choco Drop	1	1	Weaponskill	Orders chocobo to deliver an attack with a potency of 150. Additional Effect: Increased enmity.
Enhanced Strength	2	3	Trait	Increases companion strength by 5%.
Increased HP	3	6	Trait	Increases companion HP by 10%.
Choco Kick	4	10	Weaponskill	Orders chocobo to deliver an attack with a potency of 130. Additional Effect: Slow + 20% Duration: 12s
Enhanced Accuracy	5	15	Trait	Increases companion accuracy by 5%.
Enhanced Critical Hit	6	21	Trait	Increases companion critical hit by 15%.
Choco Guard	7	28	Weaponskill	Reduces damage taken by chocobo by 15%. Duration: 15s
Enhanced Strength	8	36	Trait	Increases companion strength by 5%.
Increased HP	9	45	Trait	Increases companion HP by 10%.
Choco Strike	10	55	Weaponskill	Orders chocobo to deliver an attack with potency of 150 to all enemies in a cone before it. Additional Effect: Increased enmity.

Healer

Name	Level	Total SP Cost	Type	Description
Choco Regen	1	1	Spell	Orders chocobo to grant Regen to target. Cure Potency: 25 Duration: 18s
Enhanced Mind	2	3	Trait	Increases companion mind by 10%.
Increased HP	3	6	Trait	Increases companion HP by 5%.
Choco Cure	4	10	Spell	Orders chocobo to restore target's HP. Cure Potency: 300
Enhanced Accuracy	5	15	Trait	Increases companion accuracy by 5%.
Enhanced Critical Hit	6	21	Trait	Increases companion critical hit by 15%.
Choco Surge	7	28	Spell	Increases chocobo's healing magic potency by 30%. Duration: 30s
Enhanced Mind	8	36	Trait	Increases companion mind by 15%.
Increased HP	9	45	Trait	Increases companion HP by 5%.
Choco Medica	10	55	Spell	Orders chocobo to restore its own HP and the HP of all nearby party members. Cure Potency: 150

Attacker

Name	Level	Total SP Cost	Type	Description
Choco Slash	1	1	Weaponskill	Orders chocobo to deliver an attack with a potency of 150.
Enhanced Strength	2	3	Trait	Increases companion strength by 5%.
Increased HP	3	6	Trait	Increases companion HP by 5%.
Choco Beak	4	10	Weaponskill	Orders chocobo to deliver an attack with a potency of 130. Additional Effect: Damage over time Potency: 20 Duration: 18s
Enhanced Accuracy	5	15	Trait	Increases companion accuracy by 5%.
Enhanced Critical Hit	6	21	Trait	Increases companion critical hit by 15%.
Choco Rush	7	28	Weaponskill	Orders chocobo to deliver an attack with a potency of 130. Additional Effect: Stun Duration: 5s
Enhanced Strength	8	36	Trait	Increases companion strength by 10%.
Increase Attack Speed (Chocobo)	9	45	Trait	Increases companion attack speed by 10%.
Choco Blast	10	55	Weaponskill	Orders chocobo to deliver an attack with a potency of 170 to all enemies in a cone before it.

Stances

Free Stance

Auto-attacks while using all unlocked skills as the chocobo sees fit. A Chocobo Companion will auto-attack the first enemy the player engages, alternating between using unlocked Weaponskills and Healer Spells. The Chocobo Companion's target can be changed by switching it to Follow, then back to Free Stance.

Defender Stance

Auto-attacks and exclusively uses unlocked Weaponskills and Abilities from the Defender tree.

A Defender Chocobo Companion will struggle to hold enmity for most players. Moreover, even in situations where they are able to do so, they will quickly die without any healing, as they are unable to use any Spells from the Healer tree while in Defender Stance, even if they are unlocked. If the player would like their Chocobo Companion to tank, they will need to be prepared to hold back their DPS as well as keep them healed. Due to this, the Defender Stance is the least useful of the stances.

Healer Stance

Does not auto-attack and exclusively uses unlocked Spells from the Healer tree.

A useful stance if the Chocobo Companion has no Attacker skills unlocked. They will use Choco Regen whenever a member of the party or themselves take damage, while Choco Cure will be used when dropping below 75% HP (other stances wait until 50% HP). Choco Surge will be used whenever it is off cooldown. The Chocobo Companion will also follow behind the player directly while in this Stance, so make sure they are lead out of the range of any ground-targeted abilities, or they will be hit by them.

Attacker Stance

Auto-attacks and exclusively uses unlocked Weaponskills from the Attacker tree.

While this stance is simple and straightforward, it should be noted that a max Rank Chocobo Companion with all unlocked Skills will get slightly more out of using Free Stance, even if the goal is raw DPS. This is due to the cooldown of Weaponskills in the Attacker tree not being shared with those of the Defender tree. The increased enmity of Defender skills is inconsequential in any context, unless the player or their party's DPS is exceedingly low. They will also be able to sustain themselves and the party while in Free Stance, which they are unable to do while in Attacker Stance.

Paladin Barding, Dragoon Barding, White Mage Barding, and Black Mage Barding

Food Effects

When feeding the below foods to a summoned Chocobo Companion, they will gain a boost to their stats for as long as they remain summoned.

Buffs will persist while: the player is using a mount, or the player is in a city where the Chocobo does not follow them.
Buffs will disappear if: the Chocobo's timer runs out, the Chocobo is defeated in combat, the "Withdraw" action is performed, or the player logs out of the game.
Only one of these buffs can be active at a time. If a new buff is cast, it will overwrite the old one.
If the food is a Chocobo's favorite, the buff will be upgraded to level 2.
Curiel Root's EXP bonus only affects EXP from battle, not EXP from stable training or the Challenge Log.

Food	Normal Effect	Favorite Effect	Source
Curiel Root	Companion EXP Up	Companion EXP Up II	Gardening
Sylkis Bud	Companion Attack Up	Companion Attack Up II	Gardening or Vendor
Mimett Gourd	Companion Healing Potency Up	Companion Healing Potency Up II	Gardening or Vendor
Tantalplant	Companion Maximum HP Up	Companion Maximum HP Up II	Gardening or Vendor
Pahsana Fruit	Companion Enmity Up	Companion Enmity Up II	Gardening or Vendor

Tips and Tricks

When deciding which food to make a chocobo's favorite:

Recommended options:

Curiel Root - The exp boost can be effective if aiming to rank up a Chocobo quickly through battles, such as FATEs. However, since no NPC vendor sells it, players will need to rely on gardening or the market board for a steady supply.
- Note that the EXP boost does not affect the Challenge Log.
- Make sure to switch to a different favorite once the Chocobo has reached rank 20.
Sylkis Bud - The attack buff improves damage for all stances except Healer Stance (which does not attack), so it is generally useful for ending battles slightly faster.
Tantalplant - The extra HP helps the Chocobo's survival, as they will not disengage from the enemy or exit AoEs unless they are in Healer Stance or instructed to Follow.
- Should the Chocobo die, they can be revived relatively quickly by using a Gysahl Greens - although, upon being revived, they will lose their buff.
- If the Chocobo is dying frequently even with the HP buff on, then the extra HP might not be helpful in practice.

Not recommended:

Mimett Gourd - The Chocobo already has access to a healing potency buff from Choco Surge (healer tree 7). While the two buffs can stack, the extra potency from this food is generally not necessary.
Pahsana Fruit - Chocobos generally can't maintain enmity, compared to the player's damage output. While this food's enmity buff seems like it should help, in practice it is still not enough.

Achievements

Companions are associated with the following achievements:

Name	Points	Task	Reward	Patch
Bosom Buddies I	5	See your companion chocobo to rank 1.	-	2.1
Bosom Buddies II	10	See your companion chocobo to rank 5.	-	2.1
Bosom Buddies III	20	See your companion chocobo to rank 10.	Chocobo Suit	2.1
Breaking Bo	5	Train another player's chocobo companion 30 times.	Plumed Barding	2.3

References

↑ Thavnairian Onion growing guide - Polygon

[1] Thavnairian Onion growing guide - Polygon

[1]

Companions

Contents

Obtaining

Summoning