Final Fantasy XVI Curiosities Guide

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Murillo Zerbinatto

Murillo is a writer of Final Fantasy informer, a job that his teenage version never imagined he would have. He played - or observed - his first Final Fantasy when his brother rented Final Fantasy III for SNES (which was actually Final Fantasy VI), but since it was the Japanese version, they understood zilch and soon gave up. Sometime later - and some English RPGs in-between - they rented Final Fantasy II (Final Fantasy IV, yeah, it was a mess) and began to delve into the incredible world of Final Fantasy and never to get off it.

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• Final Fantasy XVI Curiosities Guide - July 23, 2023
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When I first started writing this piece, I thought I was supposed to get some tidbits and oddities about Final Fantasy XVI development or in-game easter eggs. You know, curiosities. But then, during my second playthrough, and only then, I noticed Curiosities is a tag for a set of collectible items that don’t fit any other category.

We have pieces of equipment, crafting materials, and consumables. Any item that doesn’t belong to these taxonomies is called Curiosity, and they provide different effects to the game, like boosting the potency or quantity of Clive’s potions or providing new songs for the Hideaway.

Some Curiosities can be displayed in Clive’s Wall of Memories and will net a misguiding silver trophy (more about it later) after collecting them all.

Some FFXVI Curiosities have no practical effect in-game but serve to show off your action RPG prowess to the world around you. I managed to get almost every Curiosity out there, except these challenging ones.

Nevertheless, I know the completionist in you is seeking them, and it’s my duty henceforward to provide you with a Final Fantasy XVI Curiosities guide. Let’s get to it.

Curiosities Types

There are several types of Curiosities. Gameplay-wise, only some will benefit your adventure, while others will be present for a nostalgia effect or to please your musical taste.

Acquiring Curiosities can be quite the endeavor, and even if you’re doing everything, including sidequests and hunts, you might miss out on one or the other. But don’t worry. You can always backtrack and acquire them.

Main Quest Related

You earn a few Curiosities through the main quest that carries only a narrative effect, like proving Clive is an ally to a group. Since you’ll naturally get them as you play the game, and they aren’t technically needed for any trophy, I will only point out which ones they are, but not how and where to get them.

• Archduke Elwin’s Testament
• Fragrant Satchel
• Phoenix Down
• Phoenix Feather
• The Burnt Blade
• The Collar and Compass
• The Cracked Anvil
• The Desert Rose
• The Hanged Man
• The Moon and Stars
• The Slumbering Chocobo

Consumable Improvement

Whatever your opinion on sidequests, I consider it at least essential that you do those that have a plus (+) sign. It means they will reward you with some bonus item, a Curiosity, that will amp up your gameplay rather than just materials and experience.

Among these improvements, there are four sidequests that improve your consumables, i.e., potions and tonics. They all become available after Clive reaches adulthood.

Morganbeard Extract

Effect: Increase Potion and Hi-Potion Heal Potency

A reward from the sidequest The Root of the Problem. It appears after completing the main quest Fire and Ice, the destruction of Drake’s Breath. You need to talk to Nigel and collect Morganbead flowers for him.

Invigorated Morganbeard Extract

Effect: Further Increase Potion and Hi-Potion Heal Potency

The next sidequest is available after the events in The Free Cities of Kanver and during the main quest, A Song of Hope. Once again, you need to complete a quest for Nigel called Please, Sir, Can I Have Some Morbol.

Your objective is to find an exquisite Morbol called Carrot – a callback to the Final Fantasy XII hunt of the same name. You can find Carrot the Whispering Waters by teleporting to the Three Reeds obelisk in Rosaria.

Treated Potion Satchel

Effect: Increase max Potions to 6, Hi-Potion to 4, and Tonics to 3.

During the Out of the Shadow main quest, you’ll do three subquests for Mid called Letting Off Steam. After you complete the third one, the side quest Weird Science will be available from the workshop from Owain.

He asks you to kill a Bomb King, a mark in the Hunt Board. The royal monster can be found in the Imperial Chase region inside a small area called The Crook. It’s south of The Dragon’s Aery obelisk in Sanbreque.

Expanded Potion Satchel

Effect: Increase max Potions to 8, Hi-Potion to 5, and Tonics to 4.

A whole batch of side quests will be available after Naldia Sarrow and during the main quest Across the Narrow. Among them is the Even Weirder Science from Owain. He will ask you to get spherical echoes in three different regions. You’ll quickly find them near an already operational obelisk at this point in the game.

Blacksmith Recipes

Blackthorne may seem uncouth, but he’s easily shaken and affected by impostor syndrome. There are four quests, all entitled Blacksmith’s Blues, that aim to help the man. As a reward, we will receive design drafts that function as new crafting recipes for our hero Clive.

Drakeslayer’s Belt Design Draft

Crafting: Drakeslayer’s Belt & Drakeslayer’s Bracelets.

After completing After Black Night Burns, the first Blacksmith’s Blues side quest will be available during the main quest, Here Be Monsters. You need to talk to the cursebreaker August in the Mess, and he asks for help in cheering up Blackthorne.

Your next step is questioning the blacksmith about why he’s in the dumps. Then, talk to Charon. You’ll need to find The Dozmare Hunt. Teleport to Lostwing’s obelisk and go south towards Caer Norvent River Gate. Kill the griffin, talk to the leathermaker, and take the treated leather to Blackthorne.

Excalibur Design Draft

Crafting: Excalibur sword.

This is received as a reward from Blacksmith’s Blues II, unlocked after completing Mid’s Letting Off Steam III main quest, the same as the requirement to get the Treated Potion Satchel. August will ask for your aid with Blackthorne again.

Talk to them, then to Charon, and head to Dalimil. Go to the second floor at the tavern to watch a cutscene. Your goal will be to retrieve Ignac’s stolen items from bandits in the Velkroy Desert. Do so, and he will give you a whetstone that, once given to Blackthorne, will unlock the Excalibur Design Draft.

Ouroboros Recipe

Crafting: Ouroboros belt & The Sons of Ouroboros vambrace.

Blackthorne is, believe it or not, miserable once more. Blackmisth’s Blues III is available during the main quest, A Song of Hope. You know the drill, talk to August, talk to Blackthorne, help the man. What I liked about this quest is that it unveils Blackthorne’s past in Dravozd, his hometown.

To get there, you can fast travel to Tabor’s obelisk, but if you’ve been scouring every nook and cranny in the arid desert, chances are you activated Dravozd’s own obelisk. Upon reaching the city and after some lengthy but interesting cutscenes, you’ll need to kill a desert salamander in the Fields of Corava, just a few chocobos’ feet away.

After you get the item and deliver it back to Blackthorne, he will do some industrial magic and get the praises of Dravozd. Zoltan will give you a pit-coal cinder to give to Blackthorne. When you do, the blacksmith will learn the Ouroboros Recipe.

Gotterdammerung Design Draft

Crafting: Gotterdammerung sword.

Blacksmith’s Blues IV pops up alongside a plethora of sidequests after completing the Naldia Narrow and during the Across the Narrow main quest. This time you have to defend Dravozd from a horde of Akashics. Blackthorne will tail you.

Go to Dravozd, speak to August, and go to the mines nearby, facing some waves of Akashic monsters. After beating them, talk to Blackthorne. He and Zoltan will mend old wounds and decide to work together at the Hideaway.

After talking to them there, you’ll unlock Final Fantasy XVI’s best weapon – at least on the first playthrough – Gotterdammerung.

Orchestrion Rolls

Orchestrion Rolls adds new tracks to the Orchestrion in the Hideaway. Most can be found in vendors, so I will point out the vendor location, and you can spend your hard-earned gil.

There are 24 Orchestrion Rolls in all. 7 you automatically acquire, you buy 10 from vendors, and 3 you get at the Patron’s Whisper for achieving a Renown threshold. 4 of them, however, are found in some chests. These can be quite tricky if you don’t have an amazing screenshot pointing it out for you. Coincidentally, I know where to find them and won’t keep a secret.

Orchestrion Rolls Location

Here’s a list of all the Orchestrion Rolls, organized by the order they appear on the Orchestrion:

• Hide, Hideaway – You start with it. Hideaway’s default theme.
• Our Terms – Available after the second time skip in the new Hideaway.
• Twilight – Available after completing the main quest, Fire in the Sky.
• Where The Heart Is – You also start with this one.
• Sorrow’s Faded Form – Available after completing the main quest Home, Sweet Home.
• Good Bones – Available after completing the main quest Like Father, Like Daughter.
• Forevermore – Loot from a chest in Martha’s Rest.

• The Founder’s Footsteps – A vendor in Martha’s Rest sells it for 20,000 Gil.
• Histoire – Loot from a chest in Lostwing.

• Idylls of the Empire – A vendor in Lostwing and Charon sell it for 40,000 Gil.
• Sand and Stone – Loot from a chest in Boklad.

• The Thousand Tables – A vendor in The Dalimil Inn sells it for 40,000 Gil.
• Indomitable – Loot from a chest in Eistla.

• The Lion and the Hare – A vendor in Dravozd sells it for 40,000 Gil. To enter the village, you must start Blacksmith’s Blues III.
• Lovely, Dark, and Deep – A vendor in Eastpool and Charon sells it for 40,000 Gil.
• Before the Storm – A vendor in Northreach sell it for 50,000 Gil.
• A Rose Is a Rose – Reward from the Patron’s Whisper for reaching 135 Renown.
• Into the Mire – A vendor in Moore and Charon sells it for 40,000 Gil.
• Betrayal – A vendor in Boklad sells it for 20,000 Gil.
• Night Terrors – A vendor in Amber and Charon sells it for 20,000 Gil.
• On the Shoulders of Giants – A vendor in Tabor sells it for 20,000 Gil.
• To Sail Forbidden Seas – Reward from the Patron’s Whisper for reaching 2850 Renown.
• No Risk, No Reward – Reward from the Patron’s Whisper for reaching 1120 Renown.
• The Sound of Silence – Available after completing the main quest, Wings of Change.

Wall of Memories

Another type of Curiosity item is those you display in Clive’s Wall of Memories. They are full of sentimentality, nostalgia, and recollections from our protagonist’s adventure and are usually acquired as a reward from a chain of sidequests.

Gameplay-wise, they have no practical purpose, but you can acquire a misleading trophy by acquiring them all. For the Hoard is a silver trophy that claims you need to obtain all Curiosities for it to pop. That’s a lie! You only need the Curiosties from the Wall of Memories.

There are 22 Wall of Memories’ Curiosities. Here are them all listed by their in-game ordering:

• The Oath – The first one you get. Earned by completing The Crystals’ Curse main quest. A memory from Cid.
• Ambrosia’s Tack – After completing the side quest White-Winged Wonder, you earn both Ambrosia as a steed to traverse open plains and her tack to display. A memory from Ambrosia.
• Briar’s Kiss Signboard – You must complete two side quests in The Dalimil Inn: Line in the Sands and Line in the Sands II. The second one gives you the Curiosity. A memory from L’ubor.
• Charred Sparring Sword – Unlocks after two side quests. The first is A Bone to Pick, acquired after reading a missive from Charon in The Reading Table. Then, the second is More Than Words, also from a missive and unlocked before going to Origin. A memory from Torgal and one that made me cry like a newborn.
• Cid’s Goblet – Another Reading Table quest called Payback. Relatively simple. You only need to wander about talking to NPCs and then breaking down to the floor when the flashback plays. A memory from Otto.
• Clayhearth Signboard – Two more side quests to the pot. Duty Undying and Duty Undying II. Both start at Tabor. A memory from Cyril.
• Continental Censer – A side quest found in the Hideaway by talking to Goetz after Things Fall Apart. I suggest you complete it as soon as possible because while it’s not missable, it will be locked for a while if you proceed with the main quest. A memory from Charon – and maybe Goetz.
• Crimson Caravans Signboard – Earned from Trading Places II, one of the latest sidequests unlocked before Origin. As you may’ve guessed, you must complete Trading Place first. They’re located in Boklad by talking to Eloise. A memory from Eloise & Theodore.
• Guardians Scarf – Obtained after completing the main quest, The Flames of War. A memory from Wade.
• Hanged Man Signboard – Reward from the side quest For Great Justice II, unlocked after completing For Great Justice the first. An amazing one that changes the landscape – I adore those types of quests. A memory from Quinten.
• Martelle’s Apples – A very wholesome memory from Martelle. If you did her quests before the time skip – and paid attention to her – you’ll feel the feels. You must complete The Fruits of Her Labors by talking to Comarc in the Hideaway.
• Martha’s Rest Signboard – Another two-part side quest that starts with Rekindling the Flame and continues on Rekindling the Flame II. Talk to Martha to start both side quests. A memory from Martha.
• Medicine Chest – This one is quite an oddity to get. First, you must complete the Tears of Mercy side quest. Speak to Rodrigue in the Hideaway and help the physicker in aiding Tarja. Do the objectives, and you’ll complete the quest but get no Medicine Chest. You then need to talk with Tarja, prompting a cutscene and then receiving the Curiosity – there will be no different marker on her, just an ordinary chatbox. A memory from Tarja.
• Model Airship – Look for the On Balance side quest in the Hideaway after Things Fall Apart main quest. You don’t even need to leave its premises to complete it. Finishing it allows you to take the Aiming High side quest before flying to the Origin. Talk to Josselin to start the quest, follow the objectives, and the Model Airship will be yours. A memory from Mid.
• Rusted Battlehelm – Before going to the Origin, talk to Joshua in Hideaway and accept Where There’s a Will. Fast travel to Tabor, talk to people, kill a griffin, and pay your respect to your late daddy; quest complete. A memory from Elwin.
• Scholar’s Bonnet – As usual, you can get this Curiosity before tackling the final mission. Read Vivian’s missive in your Reading Table and accept the sidequest, An Inconvenient Truth. It will lead you to an ambush in Waloed, but you’ll find the book Vivian wants. She will reward you with the Scholar’s Bonnet. A memory from Vivian.
• Snow Daisy Garland – Do Where There’s a Will first to unlock sidequest Priceless. Then, go to the Reading Table and accept Joshua’s request. Once you complete the objectives, you’ll automatically return to the Hideaway. Talk to Jill and watch a heartwarming cutscene that no player should miss but probably will since it’s locked behind a sidequest. You’ll earn the Snow Daisy Garland by completing Priceless. A memory from Jill.
• Stolas Quill – Complete the sidequest An Inconvenient Truth. Done? Then go to your Reading Table and read – my favorite NPC – Harpocrates’ missive. Fight a wyvern in Waloed, give its tail to the librarian, and talk to Dion next, concluding the side quest and earning the Stolas Quill. A very thoughtful item if Clive wants to trade the sword for a quill and adds to the theory about how the game ended. A memory from Harpocrates.
• The Circle of Malius – The only Curiosity you get outside main or side quests. You must complete every Chronolith Trial in Final Fantasy XVI. Check our guide!
• The Trinunity Accord – This is a reward comprising four side quests: For Great Justice I & II, Smooth Like Butler, and then Three’s a Company. Talk to the world’s best uncle, Byron, in the Hideaway and hear his pleas. By the end of it, you’ll have restored the Triunity and earned The Triunity Accord in the process. A memory from Byron.
• Veil Signboard – Earned from Isabelle – the Dame – after completing Under New Management and Under New Management II. I wrote an extensive guide about The Dame and her involvement in Final Fantasy XVI.
• Winter Mead – You know: available before the Origin. First, talk to Nazaire in Hideaway to initiate Trial and Error, a pretty amusing side quest. Finish it, and a green marker will appear above Gav’s head, offering you the Silver Linings side quest. Go to Martha’s Rest, talk to merchants, and follow their clues to find a silver chocobo feather. Give it to the best scout ever and receive a Winter Mead in return. A memory from Gav.

Final Fantasy XVI Treasure Map

I believe this might be Final Fantasy XVI’s best-kept secret, but to be fair, also the only one. I stumbled upon a cryptic Treasure Map while scavenging the rubbles in Waloed.

The item soon found itself on my backpack as a Curiosity and curious indeed, he provided a direction to riches galore: “To all who would seek to mint gil, follow ye the path to Kretov.”

Then there I was, scavenging Kretov for a means to mint Gil – or whatever that meant. I finally found a treasure chest in a small portion of the map. Keep in mind that if you don’t have the Treasure Map in your inventory, the chest will be hidden by a dusty old blanket and not interactable.

If you have the map, then the spoils to the adventurer! You’ll find a One Man’s Treasure inside it, another Curiosity, which can be sold for the modest sum of 100,000 Gil.

FAQs

Final Fantasy XVI Curiosities Guide: Conclusion

Curiosities are a type of item generally called miscellaneous in other games. They can be beneficial, decorative, or a testament to your exploits in Final Fantasy XVI. If the pacing of Final Fantasy XVI doesn’t appeal to you, I still recommend doing at least the side quests with a plus sign (+). They will help you in the long run, trust me.

But if you want to experience everything the game offers, enjoy the ride. It can get bumpy sometimes but will lead you to a majestic, breathtaking, and emotional destination. It’s undoubtedly one of the best games I’ve played in the past decade.