Chronolith Trials are but one of the many optional content players can embark on when playing Final Fantasy XVI.
This massive mainline entry in the series has a lengthy main story, but plenty of side content, too. Among the bounty hunt marks, side quests, and other content, one of the easily missed parts of this game are the stars of this Final Fantasy XVI Chronolith Trials guide.
These trials are essentially the ultimate test of your strength in this game. When you aren’t taking down the various Eikons in the world, you can challenge these trials to see if you are as impressive with each of the Eikon powers as you think you might be.
I know I waited too long to check these out until well into the story of the game, so don’t make the mistake I did by discovering all about them in this Final Fantasy XVI Chronolith Trials guide.
Bottom Line Up Front
The Chronolith Trials in Final Fantasy XVI are optional missions you can take that are separate from the hunt marks, Patron items, side quests, and main scenario quests. There are only seven of them in the entire world of Valisthea, and you have to venture out to find each one to locate them.
Once you find one, you can take on its intense challenge. Each one is designed for one of the seven Eikon powers that Clive is able to use, besides the Ifrit powers, that is. You are forced only to use the powers of that particular Eikon and complete a mission while under those circumstances.
These are some of the most formidable pieces of content that players can challenge, and they aren’t even the end of it. There are more challenging versions of each trial that players can tackle to expand their time with this content.
Outside of the incredible rewards that you get from each of these seven trials, they are also worth doing for the trophy that is associated with them. Trial Run is a bronze trophy you can get for completing a single Chronolith Trial of your choosing.
How to Unlock Chronolith Trials
Before you can ever take on these trials, you need to unlock them in the first place. To do this, players must first complete the main story quest Fire in the Sky. Once you are done with this quest, you’ll have access to the first set of trials that you can take on in the game.
However, you won’t be able to do all of the trials at this point. Instead, you’ll have to first unlock each respective Eikon power for Clive Rosfield before you can tackle them. For instance, you won’t have access to Odin by the time you can do these trials. Instead, you’ll have to progress through the story until you get Odin’s powers to do that trial.
You’ll want to find each Chronolith Trial location (seen below) and then activate the pillar there. At that point, you can engage with each battle, which takes place across three arenas. In each of the three arenas, players have three waves of enemies to take on. This makes for nine total rounds of fighting using only that specific Eikon’s powers in most trials.
All Chronolith Trials Locations
As mentioned, there are seven Chronolith Trials throughout Valisthea in Final Fantasy XVI. Each one has to do with the central Eikon powers that Clive is able to use. Below, you’ll find the complete list of all seven trials and where you are able to find them in the world.
In addition, I will also break down some tips and tricks for taking down each mission, the enemies you’ll face in them, and what you should know about the particular powers that you’ll have access to. Let’s take a look.
1. The Hand of Dione: Trial by Wind – Garuda
- Eikon: You can only use Garuda’s powers.
- Location: Dracos Deep, The Dhalmekian Republic
Kicking off this list is the first Eikon power that you unlock in Final Fantasy XVI besides the base ones: Garuda. For this one, you want to head to the Laetny’s Cleft obelisk. Don’t go to the fast travel point in The Krozjit Echoes, as that will be a waste of your time.
When you arrive at the cleft, head southwest along the path until you reach the point in the screenshot above. Here, you’ll only have access to Garuda’s powers. The benefit of this is I honestly love the powers that she has, especially when it comes to taking on multiple foes at once.
I suggest using all of her powers, such as the tornado, to suck up the enemies and keep them occupied for a while.
This gives you the chance to mash away at them one by one until you get through the three waves of enemies. After that, you’ll have a final boss to take on with the Coeurl. This is no different than normal Coeurls and is fairly easy for a mini-boss. Just watch out for its ranged electricity attacks.
2. The Hand of Titan
- Eikon: Titan powers only
- Location: The Velkroy Desert, Dhalmekian Republic
The second trial you have to take on will take you back to the Dhalmekian Republic, but this time, you want to fast travel to The Velkroy Desert obelisk. When you arrive here, you want to head northeast toward the spot that is marked in the screenshot above.
In this corner of the world map, you’ll find the Titan trial for you to take on. In this case, you can only use Titan’s powers, which I will admit that I am not the biggest fan of. His powers are fine, but they aren’t nearly as good as some of the others, so this might be a struggle for some players.
Like the others, you’ll have to take on waves of enemies. What you want to do here is try and use the powers that Titan has that are geared toward AOE attacks. The waves of foes aren’t that difficult, but the powers you have aren’t that impressive at the same time.
Once you take out the waves, you’ll have a final boss, who is the Iron Giant. This is no different from the other Iron Giant enemies in the game. It is a hulking beast that is capable of solid hits and is decently fast, too, given its size. You’ll want to constantly dodge out of its way and try to use the ranged attacks that Titan has access to.
3. Ramuh Trial
- Eikon: Ramuh only
- Location: Lostwing, The Holy Empire of Sanbreque
For this third trial, it is now time to use Ramuh’s lightning powers to your advantage. To get to this trial, first teleport to the Lostwing obelisk. When you arrive here, there is a long winding path that leads out of the town to the southeast of it. Head this way until you reach a fork in the road.
You want to take the left fork, which is easy to miss, or else you’ll go into a clearing and a dead end. At the end of the left fork, you’ll find this next Chronolith Trial located there. This is another typical mission where you have some waves of foes to take on and then a mini-boss at the end.
In this case, you have Ramuh’s powers, which I think are on the better end of the spectrum for Eikons. What I appreciate about Ramuh is that his lightning attacks are geared well towards taking on large groups of enemies, and they have a decent cooldown at the same time.
For this reason, you want to focus on using your powers constantly, dodging out of the way, using his signature lock-on move, dodging out of the way, and then using the powers as their cooldowns end.
4. Phoenix Trial
- Eikon: Phoenix
- Location: Martha’s Rest, The Imperial Province of Rosaria
You can find this trial by heading to Martha’s Rest by using its obelisk. Head out from the bridge that goes north from the town and then follow the central road northeast from there. You’ll come across this trial stone rather quickly this way.
This particular trial is the first one I came across, but it honestly depends on where you are in the main story of the game. It is one of the easiest ones, too, since you only have Phoenix, but that is arguably one of the best powers that you can use in all of this game.
Like the others, there is nothing too surprising here, with the restriction being only Phoenix powers and waves of enemies to take on. To be fair, Phoenix isn’t the most AOE-centric Eikon, as many of the powers are mainly for single targets, but some also hit enemies that are within a short distance.
As such, I recommend grouping up foes together and then unleashing your powers. Also, don’t forget about your signature phase technique, where you can use the Circle button to instantly leap toward the next foe, which is invaluable in this fight.
5. Bahamut Trial
- Eikon: Bahamut
- Location: Northreach, The Holy Empire of Sanbreque
For this one, head to the Northreach obelisk. When you arrive here, head outside of the city gates to the north like you are heading towards the imperial capital city. But when you leave the gates, head west from here, and you will have a long path to follow to reach the trial, as seen in the screenshot above.
This trial is like all of the others in that you have a few waves of enemies to take on and then a final challenge. What I love about this one is that you have access to Bahamut, who is arguably the best of the Eikons overall in terms of abilities and the like. This is the best Eikon for taking on more than one foe at once.
Its powers include the flare that you can spin around and blast at all of the foes that are near you, plus its impressive signature ability. For that one, press the Circle button and stand in place to charge up the flare, which you can then send from the heavens above to attack all foes at once.
Use the mix of these powers, and you should be able to decimate all foes with ease for one of the least challenging trials in the game.
6. Shiva Trial
- Eikon: Shiva
- Location: The Shadow Coast, Kingdom of Waloed
You want to travel to The Shadow Coast in the Kingdom of Waloed. When you arrive at this obelisk, follow the linear path that goes northwest. This will eventually lead you into a massive clearing to the east. When you get to this clearing near The Angry Gap, head all the way south, and you’ll find this trial there.
For this one, you only have access to Shiva’s powers. Shiva is one of the most underrated Eikons you can use in this game, primarily because she is one of the last ones that you unlock the abilities for. But her powers are highly flexible and capable of dealing tons of damage to foes, plus applying some nice effects to them.
I recommend using her powers to freeze up foes and give you a chance to focus on others while some of the enemies are incapacitated. This will make your job a lot easier and give you more precise focus in this fight.
7. Odin Trial
- Eikon: Odin
- Location: The Badbach Conservatory, Kingdom of Waloed
First, you want to fast travel to the Vidargraes obelisk. This is going to take a long journey to reach but go southeast from this fast travel point and follow the path until you reach The Badbach Conservatory. Unfortunately, your journey is still not over yet, as you will now need to go further southeast until you reach the trial at the end of the road here.
For this trial, you only have access to the final Eikon in the game, Odin. To be fair, Odin is one of the most potent Eikons you can use in Final Fantasy XVI, so there is that, at least. All of his abilities are pretty good, especially when it comes to single-target damage.
I recommend focusing on each enemy at a time, slicing them away, and then moving on to the next one. So long as you dodge well in the waves of enemies, you should be able to win this fight with ease and complete the final trial in this game.
Chronolith Trial Rewards
You might be wondering what the entire purpose of doing these Chronolith Trials in the first place is. Well, the point of it is to gain the epic rewards that each one gives you. What they give you is a special accessory that increases the damage of each respective Eikon’s ultimate ability.
These accessories are pretty helpful, primarily if you use the ultimate ability for that Eikon quite a lot in the game. As such, though, I honestly wouldn’t suggest doing the trials for every Eikon, as the chances are that you won’t use all of these accessories in the first place.
Final Trials Explained
Was the challenge with each of these seven trials not enough for you? That’s fair, but what if I told you that there is more to do here? There are also Final Trials, which are much harder variants of the usual Chronolith Trials that you can do.
These put some twists on the regular trials but keep the same idea of having to use only a single Eikon’s powers in the fight. These are much harder than the original trials, which are pretty fair and easy I would say. To do this, head to the Hideaway and interact with the Arete Stone there.
You can only unlock each Final Trial after completing its respective normal Chronolith Trial. Once they are done, you can do the Final Trials at the Arete Stone after the fact. I recommend leveling up and maxing out as many of the Eikon’s powers as you can before taking on these challenges.
General Tips for Chronolith Trials
Here are some of the general tips I have for you with the Chronolith Trials before you start tackling these intense missions:
- Practice with each Eikon’s powers before taking on their trials. There is a chance that you may not know some abilities well if you don’t use that Eikon often. You can practice with them at the Arete Stone at the Hideaway.
- Upgrade each Eikon’s abilities as much as possible. You want to max out the powers that you like the most so you can get the most out of them in each trial.
- Focus first on the Eikon trials that you care the most about. You don’t have to do all of these, so just focus on the three or four trials that you use their Eikons the most. If you never use Titan, for instance, you won’t benefit much from doing his trial.
- Equip accessories related to that Eikon. There are accessories that reduce the cooldown on powers and the like. This can help in winning these trials.
Final Fantasy XVI Chronolith Trials Guide: FAQs
Question: How do you unlock the Chronolith Trials FF16?
Answer: You can unlock the Chronolith Trials in FF16 by first completing the main story quest, Fire in the Sky.
Once you finish that main scenario quest, you can start finding the trials. However, you must first unlock the Eikon powers that are needed for that trial—Shiva, Bahamut, Odin, etc—before you can complete it.
Question: What are Chronolith Trials in Final Fantasy 16?
Answer: Chronolith Trials are optional waves of enemies that you can tackle in Final Fantasy 16. There are seven of them in total, and each one gives players a grand total of nine waves of foes to battle through. But the catch is you can only use the powers for a specific Eikon in the entire fight.
Question: How long is Final Fantasy XVI?
Answer: Final Fantasy XVI can take players at least 30-35 hours just to do the main story segments alone. If you complete the optional content on the side, such as side quests, trials, and marks, you’re looking at well over 45-50 hours of content. I did most of the side stuff, and it took me almost 50 hours to beat the game.
Find Out More about Final Fantasy XVI
Final Fantasy XVI’s Chronolith Trials are the most easily-missed side content in this game. At least with hunt marks and side quests, they are clearly shown to you on the map, or you know exactly where to go to find out more information about them. But that isn’t the case with these trials.
Outside of a blink and you’ll miss it tutorial segment about them, it is completely easy to forget they exist. I waited until I was almost done with the main story to tackle these, and they were indeed much easier that way. However, if you want a true challenge, you should try them as you come across them.
And when you’re done with the Chronolith Trials, it’s time for you to learn more about the overall experience and gameplay in Final Fantasy XVI. There is so much that is unique to this impressive mainline entry, including the characters, complicated world of Valisthea, countries, and gameplay.