Chapter 12 - End of Days

Walkthrough

Chapter 12 does not start off great for the group of friends; let alone Noctis, who is currently stuck on the top of a train as the darkness slowly, starts to encroach towards him.

No Turning Back

Noctis starts on the very top of the train as it goes under a long, dark tunnel. At this point in the game, you should know by now that darkness breeds demons, and even in this tunnel that’s not something the group or Noctis can avoid. For the entirety of this quest I would recommend the use of any Holy weapons that you have on your person, since it’s one of the best ways of dealing consistent damage to the lot of them.

Make your way down to the front of the train, warp-strike any enemies that you have a fair amount of distance between because the amount of damage that you will be causing because of it makes it more than worth your while. Do recall, however, attacks from demons will lower your maximum HP, so stay on the defensive if you don’t have the kind of damage to take them out quickly and efficiently so you don’t have to consume every single one of your elixirs before the quest even comes to an end.

Don’t stop making progress to the front of the train and after you make it to that end of the train, you’ll have a chance to relax for a little bit as Leviathan will crop up, save you from the remainder of the demons, and give Noctis a chance for some respite.

Where She Lived

Safe back inside the train as it slowly pulls up to the ruins of Tenebrae; you’ll be greeted at the stop by a rather familiar face: Aranea. Thankfully she is no longer on the payroll for the empire, so you don’t have anything to fear.

She will ask you to follow her and discuss what it is she is doing there and will soon begin discussions about leaving the passengers here for their safety and carrying on with just Noctis, his friends, and a couple of Aranea’s most trusted engineers: Biggs and Wedge – who will be piloting and running the remainder of the train for you.

You’ll be tasked with having a word with someone before you head on out that will lead to one quick cutscene, before the newly-sized group set out to continue their adventure; alone and no longer with the worry of passengers being harmed in the crossfire.

Into the Arctic Crevasse

This quest is a bit of filler and gives you the chance to relax for a minute. Simply spend the time exploring around the train for some free items that are left lying about the place, until soon enough you will be treated to a phone call.

Accept the call, allow the quest to end, and sit and wait for the events to play out until the next quest starts.

Breath of the Glacian

Upon the start of the chapter Biggs will report that there’s a blockage in the way of the train, so they pull up to it and allow for Noctis and the group to step out and check out what the problem is – the main one being the incredibly large icicles that don’t look that easy to destroy. Right now, though that’s the least of their worries as some demons start cropping up and it’s recommended to take them down as quick as possible, because they have no intentions of letting up and giving you a break.

The next major part of combat will be in the form of a rather large and imposing Deathclaw. He can do a considerable amount of damage to you, so keep on the defensive as best you can and get a good number of hits in after every strike it makes, due to its rather slow; yet powerful attacks. Once you best the beast, head back onto the train and wait for an unwelcome guest to appear once more.

Upon stepping onto the train, Ardyn will appear to infuriate Noctis once again and leave him to give chase. Eventually you’ll make your way to him, with a fair amount of struggles here and there throughout. It’s at this point the Glacian will reveal herself to you and protect you from Ardyn and his tricks; only for a short time, though.

During all of this, your friends have been unconscious, so head back to wake them up and be treated to another small meeting with Ardyn who will reveal information that you won’t want to miss.

Afterwards, he’ll vanish once more, leaving the friends alone once again and ending the chapter!

Plot

See also: Plot

Where chapter 11 left off was with Noctis currently unconscious on the top of the train and Prompto is sadly nowhere in sight, but for the time being that’s not a problem Noctis can really focus on. After all, Noctis is currently stuck on a train, travelling through a deep and dark tunnel; a problem that quickly reveals itself when you recall that demons have this nasty habit of showing up in any location that lacks light, it’s no wonder Noctis is in a dangerous spot. So, to keep from becoming like a demon-snack, Noctis rushes his way to the very end of the train, slaying any and all that get in his way so he can make it back to his friends and away from any remaining danger; at least for the time being.

Eventually Noctis manages to make it to the end of the train and finally back inside of it, to prevent any more demons from attacking him. Deciding to reunite with his friends while safe inside the train, with the Magitek soldiers no longer pursuing them does soon give the group a chance for some respite; even if it may be short. Unfortunately, Noctis has to explain to Gladio and Ignis what has happened to Prompto, but it seems the friends are hopeful that they will find him again soon with little-to-no harm occurring to him.

The group settle down for a little while and stay to the tracks until they finally arrive at Tenebrae, a dark and desolate place that just so happens to have a rather interesting “companion” waiting at the stop for the group: Aranea. Earlier in the story she’s not exactly what you would call the nicest person to come across, due to her being on the side of the empire as a mercenary, but has come to her senses and decides to help out the 3 men by offering them a couple of useful individuals: Biggs and Wedge. These two help drive the train the rest of the way to their destination, whilst leaving the innocent passengers behind so they don’t become an unfortunate casualty.

Once everyone is ready to set off, the train starts to make a move again and they proceed to carry on with the rest of their journey. Everything is fine and dandy for a little while, up until the train is forced to come to a halt when it is discovered that a few very large icicles block the train from travelling any further. Noctis and crew make a stop and head outside the train to see what’s going on, only to be ambushed by some more demons; which they make quick work of.

After defeating a particularly difficult enemy, Ardyn feels the need to show up; teasing poor Noctis once more, until a god decides to bless Noctis. Shiva: the god of ice bestows her blessing onto Noctis and freezes Ardyn in place, shattering him into a million pieces and clearing up the path in front of the train. With the unfortunate fact of Ardyn being immortal, this “death” acts as little more than a distraction to get him out of Noctis’ head for a little while and keep him safe.

After the encounter comes to an end, the train gets back on track and their quest continues over onto chapter 13; where I’m sure you won’t be surprised continues to ramp up more and more.