Final Fantasy 15 - Chocobo Racing, hidden Chocobo Pear locations and how to win races
Our guide to winning races, plus locations of every hidden Pear.
Chocobo Races will give anyone who has played Final Fantasy since the PlayStation era a wave of nostalgia, with the chance to take your bird to the track and unlock exclusive medals, as well as collecting hidden Chocobo Pears to unlock new Chocobo colours.
To start Chocobo Races, first unlock the ability to rent a Chocobo in Final Fantasy 15 as part of the Friends of a Feather side-quest. Then from the Chocobo Post in east Duscae, go across the highway to the south east to find the race track. Talk to the vendor in the outhouse to get started with the first race.
(Note as well as the following in the main game, for a limited time there are extra courses as part of the Moogle Chocobo Carnival event, named Seaside Scamper and Water Trotter, which offer exclusive Trophies to collect for fast times. Good luck!)
Chocobo Races and Chocobo Pear locations
Here is the list of every race in order they unlock, and the hidden Chocobo Pear locations within. Since each Pear is off the beaten track, you won't win the race after you've hunted for it, so call it a write off; instead, just run to the edge of the race boundary to get disqualified. Don't worry, you'll still earn the pear you just collected.
- Against Prompto (features Cieldalaes Pear, O'Ghomoro Pear, Doman Pear)
- Against Gladio (win above race, features Xelphatol Pear)
- Chocobo Hoops: Grange Gallop (win above race, features Mamook Pear)
- Against Ignis (win above race, reach Chapter 5, features Han Pear)
- Full Field (win above race)
- Chocobo Hoops: Rocky Road (win above race, features Val Pear)
- Against Iris (win above race, reach Chapter 6)
Note you can get the same Pear across some other (but not all!) courses, but for clarity, we've listed each location at the first opportunity you can collect it.
Against Prompto
How to unlock: Already unlocked
Strategy: You have to beat Prompto. This is a short and simple loop - as long as you chain your stamina effectively, you'll overtake about halfway and won't look back. If you're having any difficulty, then sticking to the inside of the track will give you a slight edge.
Collectables:
Cieldalaes Pear location - After the final bend has straightened out, a dirt path splits off to the right; in between that and the main course is a fenced off area, and the yellow pair is next to a tree.
O'Ghomoro Pear location (Only at night) - On the last corner, you can turn right back to where the sign up desk is for the races. If you head towards the highway from here, you'll notice the blue pear by the Chocobo Races sign next to the road.
Doman Pear location (Only during rain) - Just as the final corner begins to curve, take a left, past the short stone wall and into the centre of the course. Just past the bushes you'll see a rock formation to your left, with the green pear sitting in the middle.
Against Gladiolus
How to unlock: Win 'Against Prompto'
Strategy: This has a few more twists and turns, but is a fairly simple race. Again, Gladdy will be far ahead for half the race, but if you chain your boosts, you can speed ahead. Cut the inside of corners if it's particularly close.
Collectable: Xelphatol Pear location - At the southern-most point of the route, there is dirt path going off to the left (it's easiest seen on the map) followed by a flat rock that curves round the corner. On the other side of that rock is the red pear.
Chocobo Hoops: Grange Gallop
How to unlock: Win 'Against Gladiolus'
Strategy: Despite the time limit there's no huge urgency on this one, it's just a case of leaping through all the hoops. Collecting the hovering greens will give you a speed boost. After the two hovering greens about halfway, you should be able to glide (hold jump) through the two sets of hoops afterward.
Collectable:
Mamook Pear location (Only during rain) - As soon as you begin, take a sharp left, and it's next to a tree and the wall. It's light green and hidden in some grass, so look carefully!
Against Ignis
How to unlock: Win 'Chocobo Hoops: Grange Gallop', reach Chapter 4
Strategy: This is a particularly long race - expect Ignis to take the lead almost immediately, but if you have careful maintenance over your stamina - including the hop trick described at the start of the bullet points in the 'how to win Chocobo Races' section at the end of this article - you should be able to overtake him about a third of the way round. We found he has a surge of speed about halfway, but if you keep it up, you should take him.
Collectable:
Han Pear location: As soon as you begin, turn round and jump the fence, heading into the inside of the standard small loop course. Go north and keep going until you reach the rocky area where you found the Doman Pear previously, near the inside of the other end of the loop. Just north of there are a few trees, and the pear is in the undergrowth there.
Full Field
How to unlock: Win 'Against Ignis'
Strategy: This is race against your party members around the short loop track - may the best Best Boy win! As with other previous Against races, you'll over take them fairly easily about halfway, but here you'll see a last minute sprint from others that can see you overtaken at the finish. This is difficult to win without feeding your Chocobo before hand; we recommend Curiel Greens (to increase sprint speed), which you can purchase at the Wiz Chocobo Post and feed when you camp. Between that and some savvy stamina gauge management, you should be able to wipe the floor.
Chocobo Hoops: Rocky Road
How to unlock: Win 'Full Field'
Strategy: This second and final Hoops obstacle course is a long one, but you should have plenty of time to complete it; feel free to run round or make a direct beeline round obstacles to the next hoop if that's easier - you don't have to stay on the main path at all times - and use your boosts as much as you want, since the leaps will give you time to recharge your stamina. The only difficult obstacle is on the second to last corner, with three platforms with gaps that you can fall into between them. We recommend approaching these from the right side and then leaping straight onto the second platform, then from there into the loop above.
Collectable:
Val Pear location (only at night): This is located directly ahead from where you start, on the top of the huge pile of rocks. Work your way to the top - approaching from the side should make it easier to scale the entire thing - and you'll see the Pear at the summit.
Against Iris
How to unlock: Win 'Chocobo Hoops: Rocky Road', reach Chapter 6
Strategy: This is a long and challenging race, and you need to pull out all the stops; feed your bird with sprint-boosting Curiel Greens, and savvy stamina usage and the hop technique so you're almost always sprinting. With some right timing, you'll just about run of stamina by the end with a sprint finish if you manage it correctly. Establishing a lead on the first corner can block her lead a little which helps, while doing the hop technique (where at the end of your sprint you put on the breaks, sliding and regenerating your stamina) as you take the final corner might make the difference between success and failure. Win the race and you'll receive the Jennet Medal as your reward.
Need more help? Our Final Fantasy 15 guide and walkthrough can provide tips on main story, as well as the open-world's many quests and activities. Learning how to get AP fast, EXP fast and money or Gil fast will aid you in many optional dungeons and tombs - including how to open and explore their locked doors. There's also plenty of interesting side-quests, too, such as the Scraps of Mystery and Professors Protege frog locations. And if you want to get around easier, you can rent a Chocobo, learn the infinite sprint trick and later in the game, get the flying car Regalia Type F. There's also more to see and do with DLC, such as Episode Gladiolus and Episode Prompto.
How to win Chocobo Races and other things you should know
To better prepare for races and get better results, these tips may help:
- To maximise your stamina, begin to sprint with Square / X, and before the sprint runs out, tap L2 to slide and do a little hop. After the hop, sprint again and repeat. The slide and a hop mostly maintains your speed, and also allows you to regenerate your stamina, meaning you can get the vast majority of the race done without being slowing down. It's important to time the slide while you're at sprint however - if at a normal run, then the Chocobo will stop entirely. Practice makes perfect!
- While it doesn't give you a huge advantage, it's worth upgrading your Chocobo level by general riding use to give it a higher overall top speed, stamina and other abilities.
- Before a particularly difficult race, make sure you buy some Mimett Greens, Regan Greens (stamina boosts) and our favourite Curiel Greens (sprint speed boost) at the local Chocobo Post vendor, and use them by resting at a campsite. The closest to the race track is to the north at Killiam Haven.
- While not a huge boost, it's worth unlocking the AP and EXP boosting Ascension nodes; get Choco-bump (32 AP) to earn AP while riding a Chocobo (1AP every so often), Choco-jockey (32 AP) to earn 1 AP for winning a Chocobo race, Choco-bonus (99 AP) for 10 EXP frequently while riding a Chocobo and Choco-racer (99 AP) for 50 EXP per Chocobo Race win.