After your second encounter with Barnabas Tharmr on the Einherjar (or rather, on the sea floor near the Einherjar) Clive and his companions will retreat to The Hideaway to lick their wounds. This starts the main quest Across the Narrow, which mostly involves you chatting to various characters and picking up new side quests. Once you’re done with these conversations you’ll be able to travel to The Shadow Coast, upon which this quest will begin. This page will provide a walkthrough for the main quest Footfalls in Ash in Final Fantasy 16, including how to encounter Pandemonium and find the Masamune, the Indomitable Orchestrion Roll and the Adamantine Glove.

This quest is fairly similar to Evenfall inasmuch as it involves you covering a good bit of ground through the newly unlocked region of Ash. There’s a lot of enemies to fight and some chests to loot, with a handful of substantial encounters sprinkled in between, but many of the fights are optional. Depending on how much you explore and how many optional battles you indulge in, the time you spend getting through this quest can vary significantly.

All Enemies Encountered During the Footfalls in Ash Quest in FF16¶

All Items Found During the Footfalls in Ash Quest in FF16¶

How to Clear Wolfdarr - FF16 Footfalls in Ash Main Quest Walkthrough¶

When you’re back in control of Clive, follow the linear path ahead until you reach a massive fortification - Wolfdarr. There are multiple encounters in here with various familiar Akashic royalists, including Akashic Osfreyr, Akashic Folkstaf and Akashic Gandfreyr and their beastman lackeys - Orcish Fodder and Orcish Mesmerizers, at this point. These can usually be found in smallish groups scattered throughout the Wolfdarr, although you do need to be wary of reinforcements popping up near the northwestern gate. Clear out the enemies, then search for the odd glowing item pickup and the chests that lie scattered around the area - none of these loot pickups are anything noteworthy.

At the northwestern edge of Wolfdarr you’ll come to a fork. If you go southwest you’ll reach an elevated keep that houses Pandemonium, an S-Rank Hunt. If you’re not ready for this fight - or if you’d just rather focus on the main questline - best you stay away for now. To progress, go to the gate along the northwestern edge of Wolfdarr, pull a lever to open the portcullis, then go through a cave to trigger a scene.

How to Find the Masamune - FF16 Footfalls in Ash Main Quest Walkthrough¶

After the scene you’ll be down one Dominant, leaving Gav, Clive and Torgal to continue on. The next phase of your journey through Ash will take you through some swampy lowlands, passing through The Angry Gap enroute to Eistla, where most of this quest’s narrative takes place. The swamps leading up to Eistla, on the other hand, are mostly busywork, filled with trash mobs like Adamantitans, Blue Trifles, Mud Crabs and Pyrolisks. The first two of these enemies are functionally similar to minibosses (Will Gauge, but no boss health bar) while the latter two are just trash mobs. As for treasure, these swamps are split into two halves, with Rikmal’s Roost serving as the midpoint. In the western half of the swamp, explore along the southern edge to find a slope leading uphill and squeeze through a gap to find The Hand of Rhea, a Chronolith Trial. Whether you care to attempt this now or not, you can also find a chest with the Masamune inside, an iconic sword, but inferior to Ragnarok, which you may already possess if you’ve been keeping up with your side quests.

Fight or avoid enemies as you work your way east and eventually you’ll cross a long bridge leading to Eistla. Before you enter, search to the right of the gate to find a chest containing 20x Bloody Hides, then enter 1Eistla.

How to Clear Eistla in Final Fantasy 16¶

The inhabitants of Eistla aren’t as lax and disorganized as the garrison of Wolfdarr was; as soon as you enter you’ll be assailed by mobs of Akashic royalists - all the variants you encountered before, as well as Akashic Mastiff and Akashic Sigfreyr enemies. Defeat several waves and they’ll be joined by an Akashic War Aevis, and once that has been dispatched a more proper miniboss will arrive - an Akashic Sveithvaldr. None of these foes should be unfamiliar, and none of them have anything new to throw at you.

Dispatch your foes to trigger a scene, after which you’ll find yourself trapped by a barrier. Well, more like temporarily inconvenienced by a barrier. In any event, you need to wander around town searching for… well, something. You’ll know when you find it. You’re tasked with investigating a search area along the southeastern edge of Eistla, but before you go there, check out The Maudlin Mansion along the northern end of town (just follow the road north towards the barrier and enter a building to the left (west). In a room on the second floor you’ll find a chest containing some Amber. Just south of this mansion you can find some stairs. Ascend them, climb a ladder, then search a shed to find a chest containing the Indomitable Orchestrion Roll and an Empty Shard. Last and least, head into the red search area along the southeastern edge of Eistla, then make your way to the easternmost part of the town to find a chest containing 20x Bloody Hides.

While you’re up here, be sure to claim the Eistla obelisk, then enter a house opposite said obelisk to trigger a scene. When it ends Clive will part ways with Gav and you’ll be free to continue through the eastern gate leading to Halfcombe.

How to Reach The Tower in Final Fantasy 16¶

What lies ahead is another mostly linear wilderness area, where your main opposition will be Tarantulas. You can take a diversion to some ruins, but Clive refuses to be distracted from his task, forcing you to continue southeast. Eventually you’ll run afoul of some Lesser Lopros enemies - fodder fliers - and later on you’ll encounter a Plague. This is basically another Ahriman variant, having all the same attacks sans Doom, making is somewhat less deadly than the aforementioned hunt. After defeating this foe, continue on into some caves, and when you reach a fork along southeastern edge of the map, turn right (west) to find a container you can loot for Adamantine Gauntlets, an accessory which boosts Clive’s Hit Points by +500 when equipped.

Backtrack to the fork and take the path to the east now, which will lead to The Edge of Infinity, scoring you another obelisk (of the same name) and ultimately exiting you out to the world map. Despite Odin’s barrier, you’re surprisingly free to travel wherever you wish. Travel to Reverie to continue the next main quest, The Last King.