Final Fantasy XVI The Rising Tide: Reign of Pain Walkthrough (2024)

During Final Fantasy XVI's DLC, The Rising Tide, the people of Haven will confide in you about their problems. One introduced in "What Ails You", where you aid a cursed man, leads into "Reign of Pain", and, with it, a whole bunch of the dreaded Tonberries.

How to Start "Reign of Pain"

To unlock this quest, you need to have completed two side quests: "What Ails You" and "The Uninvited Guest". Furthermore, you must complete the main quest of "The Rising Tide". Once you've done that, head over to Fanet, the nurse from "What Ails You", located right outside The Foundry. Unfortunately, Talor's condition has taken a turn for the worse.

Despite Clive taking down the Tonberries and retrieving his chain, Talor continues to suffer. Fanet tells Clive that she thinks we must take down the Tonberry King, who started the curse. Though, we haven't got a clue as to how to find them. That is, until a local villager runs to Fanet to report a horde of Tonberries outside the city gates. Head to The Low Gate and open it to find a herd of Tonberries nearby, just like reported.

Enemies: x8 Tonberries Creepers

We've faced a few Tonberries, but not in this large a quantity. Therefore, dodging and AOE attacks are the way to go. Abilities like Tsunami and Gungnir will go a long way with crowd control and easily take those in range out. Like I mentioned before when facing Tonberries, keep your distance, as their stab attack will drain your health a lot, especially if they do it continuously. Still, maintain distance and use AOE abilities to wipe them out. Your reward for taking them out is 2000XP, 80 Ability Points, 256 Gil, x28 Wyrrite, and x4 Steelsilk.

Head Up the Mountain

After taking out the Tonberries, Fanet will catch up to Clive and report him on Talor's condition, which isn't too good. Clive and Fanet agree that the Tonberry King must reside somewhere at the top of the mountain in the Cloak. Fanet returns to tend to Talor and Clive and party makes the trek to the top. On the way there, you will be met with a few Tonberries scattered about. The groups range from two to five, and can include Tonberry Hexers. Like before, focus on crowd control and keep distance from them. Keep on the path and take out any reinforcements met before the King.

Enemies: x12-14 Tonberry Creepers and Tonberry Hexers

Yes, right outside a cave is an absolute horde of Tonberries. It's pretty intimidating but they're not any different from the reinforcements faced on your trek up the mountain. For me, Tsunami was the perfect ability to take the majority of them out. Stragglers will be around and reinforcements do arrive from within the cave, but use other AOE attacks or take them on however you see fit. As a reward for beating them, you'll receive 3500XP, 140 Ability Points, 448 Gil, x12 Wyrrite, x4 Steelsilk, and x40 Magicked Ash.

Enter the Cave

Once you finish the horde off, the cave will be free to enter. Make your way through and you'll find an aptly-sized battlefield. Before you go further, make sure you have a sufficient amount of potions and tonics. This boss, aptly named Tonberry King, is quite the wrecker.

Enemy: King Tonberry

If you thought regular Tonberries were a challenge, King Tonberry makes them look like toothpicks. They are called King for a reason, as you'll see. The Tonberry King is capable of teleporting to different positions, mostly ones right near Clive. It's hulking long butcher knife has a wide reach and can deliver quite the cut to your health if hit. It's a lot more agile than the base Tonberries, so emphasize dodging and analyzing their moves. Finding openings within the King's attacks is key to dealing some damage when possible. Openings usually occur after the Tonberry King transports and attacks. Still, aim to lower their stagger so that, when staggered, you can let it rip with the time you get.

Later in the fight, they'll use the ability Everybody's Grudge, which'll summon a crowd of Tonberry Shadowers. It's essential to take them out all at once. They will grow in number and, soon, be out of control. Trust me, if you get stuck in the mob, you will not be getting out if you don't have any abilities left. As mentioned before, utilize AOE attacks to rid the battlefield of the Tonberry Shadowers. The Tonberry King will show up again, so rinse and repeat the process of taking them out. If you do find yourself in a bind with recharging abilities, keep a far distance and use some magic to get some damage from far away.

When the Tonberry King is almost out of health, they will use the ability Desoul. This ability will supercharge their knife, and they'll unleash a flurry of attacks at Clive. Maintain your distance and dodge whenever possible. It's impossible to get a hit on them when using Desoul, so just keep dodging. Once they've stopped, use a long-range attack like Deluge or Wings of Light to damage them.

From there, land a few good blows and the Tonberry King's reign will end by your hand. As per your reward, you'll get 15000XP, 200 Ability Points, 25000 Gil, and x2 Notched Tang.

Return to Fanet + Rewards

After beating the dreaded Tonberry King, head back to Haven and meet up with Fanet near the Foundry. She'll be smiling, which can only mean one thing: Talor survived. Sure enough, a healthy-looking Talor arrives to thank Clive for lifting the curse. He goes on to say that he placed the chain in order to get back at Oriflamme after seeing Clive. As Oriflamme did perish, his wish did come true, though he was unaware, and, hence, the curse went back to Talor.

He reunites with his blacksmith son and his wife and Fanet reveals an...interesting detail: Talor started getting better before Clive slayed the Tonberry King. In fact, it was because he learned Clive took care of the Tonberries, putting his life before himself. So, basically, we took out the King without actually needing to. Well, it's the thought that counts, right? Anyway, for doing such and healing Talor, you'll receive 9600XP and x1 Orichalcum, which is well worth the trouble.

Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide is available for purchase on PlayStation 5 separately or included, along with Echoes of the Fallen, in the Expansion Pass.

Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide

In the final DLC for Final Fantasy XVI, Clive receives an unmarked letter containing a request to rescue the Dominant of Leviathan the Lost. He and his companions travel to the hidden land of Mysidia, led by warrior Shula, to uncover the tragic history of a forgotten people and save the Dominant before it's too late.

Franchise

Final Fantasy

Base Game

Final Fantasy XVI

Platform

PlayStation 5

Released

April 18, 2024

Developer(s)

Square Enix Creative Business Unit 3

Publisher(s)

Square Enix

Genre

Action RPG

ESRB

M for Mature