Final Fantasy 16 Hideaway [NPCs, Quests, & Everything]

The Final Fantasy 16 Cid’s Hideaway serves as a crucial hub, a sanctuary nestled within the captivating realm of Valisthea. As a core junction for players, it offers an array of services and activities, including forging equipment, procuring upgrades, and engaging in side quests. Beyond these amenities, it also features distinctive attractions like Charon’s Toll shop, the Black Hammer’s forge, and the challenging Hunt Board, making it an indispensable stopover between your thrilling adventures.

What Is The Final Fantasy 16 Hideaway

Cid’s Hideaway in Final Fantasy 16, nestled in the Central Storm Deadlands, offers a central hub of services and activities for players. Unlocked after the main quest, “A Chance Encounter,” and in the fifth main quest, “Hide, Hideaway,” it provides:

1. Charon’s Toll: A one-stop shop for upgrades, consumables, and armor.
2. Arete Stone: A virtual training space to hone combat skills.
3. The Black Hammer: A forge for crafting and reinforcing gear.

As you progress in Valisthea, you’ll unlock new sidequests and Alliant Reports, offering quest information and fast travel options. The Hunt Board allows you to take on Elite Marks, earning Gil and renown rating, exchangeable at The Patron’s Whisper for materials and accessories.

• The Thousand Tomes is an extensive knowledge compilation, and Loresman Harpocrates rewards contribute to your Wisdom level.
• Scholar and Strategist Vivian provide insights into The State of the Realm, offering a timeline of events and character relationships, enriching your understanding of Clive and others.

Everything Inside The Hideaway

A brief overview of everything inside the Hideway was given in the previous section. But if you’re looking for more information on every single activity available, then this section will cover that deeply. 

Charon’s Toll – The Shop

At Cid’s Hideaway in Final Fantasy 16, Charon’s Toll is a crucial shop where you can acquire, exchange, and replenish your equipment. Charon, the shop owner, plays a significant role in your Valisthea journey.

Here’s what Charon’s Toll offers:

• A wide range of weapons, gear, materials, and consumables.
• The Shop Screen for browsing items sorted by type.
• Checking your Gil and inventory capacity before making purchases.
• Easy purchasing by holding down the ‘Purchase’ button.
• Previews of items, gear stats, and descriptions for informed decisions.
• The option to sell unnecessary items via the ‘Sell’ screen.

Stock updates at Charon’s Toll are tied to your story progress and are signaled by a distinct brown and gold icon.

While early gear may include the Broadsword and Iron Bracers, you can reinforce them at The Black Hammer Forge. You can also replenish consumables at Charon’s Toll if you have enough Gil.

Charon’s Toll is a valuable stop during your exploration of Valisthea.

Blackthorne’s Forge – The Black Hammer

At Cid’s Hideaway, you’ll find The Black Hammer, Blackthorne’s workshop, where all equipment crafting and upgrading happen.

Here’s how it works:

• Gather enough materials.
• Approach Blackthorne at his anvil.
• Choose ‘Forge’ to access his menu.
• Under the ‘Craft’ tab, select the equipment you want to make and hold down the Craft button.
• To upgrade existing gear, go to the ‘Reinforce’ tab, select your gear, ensure you have the materials, and hold down the Reinforce button.

Blackthorne may offer new crafting recipes, indicated by a brown and gold symbol on The Black Hammer.

The workshop also provides information on new equipment’s stats, crafting costs, and comparisons to your current gear. If something is too costly to craft, you can buy the base version from Charon’s Toll.

Reinforcing gear at The Black Hammer is a smart way to boost stats, although it requires materials and a lower-rank version of the gear. Small upgrades can make a big difference in Final Fantasy 16.

Arete Stone

In the hideaway, you will discover an innovative training tool, the Arete Stone. It provides a unique virtual space where you can put your abilities and equipment to the test, boost your combat skills, and vie for top scores globally. 

Hall Of Virtue

The Hall of Virtue, accessible through the Arete Stone menu, offers a diverse range of training options. Customize your session with features like informative displays, infinite limit breaks, and HP regeneration. You can also practice dodging attacks, precise sic timing, magic burst timing, and more. Train against various enemies by selecting from a detailed list that includes enemy names, sizes, and attack styles, allowing you to refine your combat skills with targeted practice.

More Arete Stone Activities

The Arete Stone doesn’t limit itself to training. 

• The Arcade Mode offers a chance to compete with others by submitting your Combat Scores. 
• There’s also a Stage Replay feature, greyed out initially, that allows you to revisit certain events in Final Fantasy XVI.
• Furthermore, starting New Game Plus after completing the main story of Final Fantasy XVI unlocks two more modes. 
• The Ultimaniac Mode presents a more challenging version of Arcade Mode, and it has its own leaderboard. 
• The Chronolith Trials provide time-bound challenges based on the Eikons, offering some of the most punishing battles in Final Fantasy XVI.

Side Quests In The Hideaway

The Hideaway serves as your hub for exciting side quests. Engaging with NPCs in the Hideaway not only expands your understanding of the intricate world but also offers a wealth of side quests to undertake. By navigating the world map from the Hideaway, you can track and complete these additional missions one by one, earning valuable rewards along the way. You can access Alliant’s Reports in the pub area of the Hideaway for an overview of available quests.

Discovering And Initiating Side Quests 

New side quests will gradually become accessible in the Hideaway. 

• These will be marked by green exclamation point icons, signifying a fresh opportunity for you to delve into. 
• While many of these quests are conveniently located within the Hideaway, several others are scattered across the vast land of Valisthea. 
• To access a comprehensive list of these quests, you can communicate with Gaute in the Hideaway and refer to the Alliant Reports.

Navigating Side Quests With Alliant Reports

The Alliant Reports provide valuable insights into each side quest. 

• These reports list essential details such as: 
  1. The quest’s name 
  2. Geographical location 
  3. Client’s name 
  4. The nearest Obelisk
  5. The Gil reward upon completion 
  6. Map indicating the quest icon in bright green. 
• Once you’ve chosen a side quest to undertake, the Travel button becomes a convenient feature, allowing for fast travel to the client’s location. 
• There, you can accept the quest and start your new adventure promptly.

Loreman Harpocrates – The Thousand Tomes 

You’ll meet Loreman Harpocrates, the guardian of the Thousand Tomes library. He updates this extensive repository with your discoveries, providing valuable insights into Valisthea’s lore.

Interacting with the Thousand Tomes grants new knowledge, expanding your understanding of the world. You also gain reading experience to increase your Wisdom level and access a vast repository of information.

The Thousand Tomes offers diverse topics, including Persons of Interest, Material Information, Historical Events, Bestiary Information, and more. A gauge at the end of each Tome tracks your progress in unveiling Valisthea’s secrets.

Updating The Thousand Tomes

As you progress further into Final Fantasy XVI, you can enhance the Thousand Tomes by engaging in conversations with Harpocrates. 

• If your journey has been extensive enough, Clive will share his adventures with Harpocrates. 
• This dialogue results in the unveiling and updating of the corresponding subjects in the Thousand Tomes. 
• After unlocking a sufficient amount of information, you will witness a level-up in your Wisdom stat.
• As a result, your Thousand Tomes title will also change (for example, from Amateur Annalist to Ravenous Reader). 

Scholar Vivian – The State Of The Realm 

As you explore the extensive universe of Final Fantasy XVI, you’ll meet Vivian, the scholar, and strategist who maintains a comprehensive record of the State of the Realm. This includes an intriguing look into the relationships between prominent characters, key events, and the changing dynamics across Valisthea.

• Vivian’s knowledge base, The Grand Cast and the Year of the Realm Timeline allows you to delve into the intricate relationships between the characters of Valisthea. 
• The tools help you understand the intricate web of relationships, spanning the past and the present. 
• Vivian provides detailed character profiles, descriptions of notable interactions, their allies, enemies, and even the status of their lives.

Situation Map

The Situation Map, in conjunction with the Year of the Realm Timeline, is a valuable tool that lets you traverse time, allowing you to view significant events from across Valisthea and see the people involved in each situation. Additionally, it allows you to track characters such as Clive, revealing their locations during these crucial moments.

• Whether you need a refresher on the plot or want to deepen your understanding of character dynamics, the State of the Realm offers valuable insights.
• As your journey through Valisthea progresses, the State of the Realm dynamically updates. 
• It showcases more diagrams corresponding to the storyline, serving as a useful tool if you require a recap of the narrative after a hiatus from Final Fantasy XVI.

Hunt Board

In Valisthea, you can test your skills by hunting monsters listed on the Hunt Board, overseen by Moogle Nektar. Completing these bounties earns rewards and renown points.

Unlock the Hunt Board after finishing the main quest ‘The Gathering Storm’ and its sub-quest ‘Release.’ Once you engage with Gav back at The Hideaway, you gain access to it.

• The board offers quests to hunt notorious monsters or ‘Marks’ in Valisthea, with details about their location and habitat.
• Eliminating Marks yields Gil and Renown Rating, ranging from ranks C to S in difficulty, with higher ranks offering greater rewards.
• After a successful hunt, return to Moogle Otto to claim your bounty.
• Renown Points earned from hunting Marks can be spent at the Patron’s Whisper for additional rewards like items and ability points, adding depth to the Hunt Board experience.

Patron’s Whisper

In Valisthea of Final Fantasy XVI, the Patron’s Whisper, managed by Desiree, offers generous donations based on your renown rating. You can receive crafting materials, ability points, and unique accessories like the Berserker Ring.

To boost your renown rating:

• Complete side quests and tackle notorious marks on the Hunt Board.
• Each activity enriches your adventure and raises your renown rating.

When you’ve earned enough renown rating, Desiree provides donation crates filled with valuable items. Choose the Patron’s Whisper dialogue option to claim a crate, then hold the ‘Claim’ button to open it and reveal your rewards.

Donation crates contain crafting materials, ability points, accessories, and orchestrion rolls. As your renown rating grows, so does the potential for better rewards, motivating you to continue earning renown.

Access the Patron’s Whisper in Cid’s Hideaway after completing the ‘Release’ subquest and having a conversation with Gav during the ‘The Gathering Storm’ main quest. It becomes your hub between quests, offering features to enhance your abilities, track quests, and acquire new ones.

Besides just the Hideaway, you can discover a lot more about Final Fantasy 16, such as the battle system or the Eikonic Challenge mode. And if you’re struggling to manage your saved files, check out our guide on how to save and our general ff 16 tips.

Up Next:

• Final Fantasy 16 All Editions
• Final Fantasy 16 Trophy List
• Final Fantasy 16: Voice Actors