[Article Revised as of 1/26/18]
A new monster has appeared throughout Eos! Diehard fans of the Final Fantasy series will have no trouble identifying these green-skinned, burlap-sack wearing, knife-wielding maniacs. That's right! Tonberries are here at last.
Tonberries have two essential functions in FFXV: A New Empire. They can fight alongside you when you hatch a Tonberry of your own via the Monster Farm, and you can fight them one-on-one in the new proving Grounds dungeon for a chance to win precious crafting materials for the new Mercenary Commander gear set.
Note that you will only be able to access the new Proving Grounds special Mercenary Commander's Challenge dungeon while the corresponding event with the same name is active. In the Proving Grounds, you will be able to slash your way through endless waves of Tonberries and Tonberry bosses in order to get your hands on some of the materials required to craft the powerful new Mercenary Commander gear set. For tips on acquiring Mercenary Commander gear, see our guide here.
What are the benefits of having a Tonberry in your Monster Farm?
There are 10 types of Tonberries at the Monster Farm. Each type of Tonberry is different only in color, the aesthetic value of which has no effect on combat. No matter which Tonberry you equip at the Monster Farm, you will get the same boost: +200% armor piercing. Keep in mind that this boost will only apply when you select Tonberry as your active monster in the Monster Farm and you send your hero in a march.
What is Armor Piercing and what does it do?
When you attack an enemy, your Armor Piercing bonus is deducted from your opponent’s total Troop Armor Bonus, allowing you to reach your opponent's Troop HP quicker and destroy more of their troops in a single attack.
+200% Armor Piercing is nothing to roll your eyes at. If you're using Prompto, then you probably already have some experience with his Armor Piercing skill and have seen how effective it is against opponent's with a high Troop Armor Bonus. The Armor Piercing skill becomes an essential asset when attacking opponents with gold sets of Senteniel's, Glacian's, Undertaker's, or even the new Guardian gear sets.
We tested the Tonberry in attacks along with the Chocobo, Galvanade, Yojimbo, and all of the Monster Farm monsters. For a first-hand look at what kind of damage having a Tonberry in your attacks can really do, including side-by-side Battle Report comparisons with other monsters in the Monster Farm, see our Monster Farm Attack Comparison guide COMING SOON!
How do I Unlock the Tonberry?
If you want a Tonberry of your own, the first thing you'll need is a Tonberry Egg. This can be obtained from a Tonberry Kill Chest, Tonberry Egg Chest or from Luna’s Gift.
After acquiring a Tonberry Egg, you will need 1,500 Tonberry hatching stones to hatch a common Tonberry, 3,000 stones to hatch a Rare Tonberry egg, and so forth. Whether you hatch a common, rare, or legendary Tonberry makes no difference since you only need one Tonberry to be able to use their +200% Armor Piercing boost while the Tonberry is active in the Monster Farm.
What level Monster Farm do I need to use the Tonberry?
If you just upgraded your Monster Farm so you could use the Yojimbo during the last Monster Farm release, fear not. You will not have to upgrade your Monster Farm again.
You will be able to use any Tonberry you have hatched after upgrading your Monster Farm to level 4. Remember to keep your eye on the amount of Monster Farm blueprints you need to upgrade and the actual amount available in Tonberry packs.
Conclusion
Tonberries add another layer of depth for offensive players who want to add that extra edge compared to other players around the same level. Although they provide an advantage to players who are attacking well-defended empires, such as those who have gold Sentinel’s, Undertaker's, or the dreaded new Guardian’s gear, Tonberries are not essential and it is highly unlikely that gameplay will change significantly with the addition of a Tonberry to your Monster Farm.
Yes, a gulde like mentioned by Slikker Dee would be great.
Something that would be extremely useful I think would be a guide for all of the specialty building upgrades that require blueprints to upgrade in order to determine if a particular pack will get you what you want. For example :if you have Mercenary Fighting Pits at level 1, you can see that it takes 200 to upgrade to level 2, but have no idea how many it will take to upgrade to level 3. This could be extremely useful in evaluating how far each pack will take you in upgrading the Mercenary Fighting Pits, Casino, Monster Farm, Mythic Forge, Proving Grounds, etc. Love the page and thanking you in advance if you do generate a guide like this.