Here’s Exactly How Long It Takes to Beat FFXVI’s The Rising Tide DLC
One last adventure with Clive.
The Rising Tide finally answers one of the biggest burning questions from Final Fantasy XVI: what happened to Leviathan the Lost? The second and final DLC adds on an entirely new area, main quest, and a handful of side quests to boot. As Clive’s final outing, fans will likely want to know exactly what the journey will entail, and The Rising Tide even has a few extra surprises packed in. Here’s everything you need to know about how to start The Rising Tide in FFXVI, and how long the DLC takes to beat.
How Long Is FFXVI: The Rising Tide
The Rising Tide takes place in a new, and much brighter, location.
The Rising Tide is quite a bit longer than the previous DLC, Echoes of the Fallen, and features a good amount of optional content. If you’re just following the main story about Leviathan you’re looking at roughly 4 to 5 hours. The Rising Tide’s battles are also more challenging than the base game, so if you’re playing on Final Fantasy Mode that time might go up a bit.
However, the DLC has ten side quests to complete, new optional monsters, and a bit of exploration. Doing everything will put your playtime at around 10 hours. As you make your way through The Rising Tide you’ll unlock the Leviathan Eikon ability set, as well as brand-new accessories that add some interesting twists to Clive’s old Eikonic abilities.
How to Start FFXVI: The Rising Tide
You’ll need to complete a couple of key side quests before starting the DLC.
Starting The Rising Tide is a bit complicated, and you’ll essentially need to have completed most everything in the main game, at least on a Normal playthrough. The first step is to unlock the “Back to Their Origin” main quest, which is the final one of the game and takes you to the last boss.
In addition to that, you’ll need to have completed two side quests, Where There’s a Will and Priceless. Completing these quests lets Joshua and Jill accompany Clive at any time, and you’ll need both for the DLC. To unlock Where There’s a Will you need to complete the previous quest, Phoenix Healy Thyself, and then talk to Joshua at the Hideaway. To unlock Priceless you first need to finish the Cut From the Cloth sidequest, then read the “Concern For Jill” letter at Clive’s desk.
Once you’ve done all this you should receive a Mysterious Letter at Clive’s desk, and reading it will start you on The Rising Tide quest chain, and reward a trophy. After that, it’s just a matter of heading to Northreach and following the objectives.
The Rising Tide’s New Post-Game and Other Changes
Kairos Gate functions as a new, ultra-hard, post-game.
There’s a lot more to dive into after you complete The Rising Tide, as it unlocks two extra goodies, a surprise extra Eikon ability set that we won’t spoil, and a post-game arena called Kairos Gate. To unlock both of these you’ll need to have completed the main game and The Rising Tide, then load up your completed save, or go into New Game Plus, and access the Arete Stone at the hideaway.
Kairos Gate is a series of 20 increasingly difficult arena battles, where you’ll be able to earn points and invest in stats and abilities that change Clive’s power. If you’re able to score an S-Rank every single battle, you’ll finally be able to unlock a secret boss battle.
