Final Fantasy 16: The Rising Tide – How To Defeat The Timekeeper

Final Fantasy 16: The Rising Tide adds a bunch of new content for players to explore, including a new area, gear, and bosses. While the centerpiece for this DLC is the eventual Eikon battle with Leviathan, Clive will still need to fight his way there through the new land of Mysidia.

The major dungeon found towards the end of the DLC is the Aire Of Hours. While there is a major boss at the entrance to the actual temple, the real challenge is waiting at the top. Before breaking the spell and freeing Leviathan, the party must face and defeat the Timekeeper, tasked with guarding this spell by Shiva herself. While not necessary for the entire fight, it’s recommended to bring Phoenix as an equipped Eikon to utilize Phoenix Shift to counter a specific attack towards the end of the fight.

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There’s plenty of new equipment for players to track down in Final Fantasy 16’s Rising Tide DLC, though some can be a little tricky to obtain.

Final Fantasy 16: The Rising Tide – How To Defeat Timekeeper

Phase 1

The first phase against Timekeeper will be the slowest in terms of attack speed and quickest in terms of length of time fighting against it. In this first phase, Timekeeper will switch between three of his weapons, the Sword, Hammer, and Spear. For the sword and hammer, he will attack in three-hit combos, with the hammer swinging much slower than the sword. After a combo, he will briefly pause leaving him open for a quick counterattack. For both weapons, aim to land a perfect dodge on the last attack or utilize Phoenix Shift to get to Timekeeper quickly and begin your attack.

When he switches to his spear, he will launch into the air and slam down, spreading ice in multiple smaller circles around his impact spot. While staying away from all of this is the safer option, the area right around Timekeeper will be safe from the second burst of ice after his initial landing. Dodging or getting through the smaller circles quickly before they burst can offer another good time to land a few hits.

Phase 2

Phase 2 begins fairly soon into the fight and will begin with a cutscene of an ice crown appearing around Timekeeper. Now, he is quicker, more aggressive, has a new weapon, and new attacks for his existing weapons. He’ll start the phase by displaying his new weapons, two circular pieces of ice that are thrown across the battlefield. Landing a perfect dodge to dash forward is helpful, but otherwise, just dodge these attacks as they come.

His spear will have a new lunge ability that ends will a large beam of ice being fired out after the initial lunge. Dodging to the side and attacking while he casts the beam part of the attack offers a decent opening for players to take advantage of and build up Will damage. His hammer attacks will now offer a huge AOE ice attack that players should dodge away from to clear the circle.

The biggest addition to phase 2 is the ability Flash Freeze. This will freeze the entire party, and Timekeeper will begin winding up his next attack. While this seems threatening, just dodge the second the ability ends and the timing will always have an immediate dodge getting you out of the way of whatever is coming. For those good with blocking with Titan, that’s another useful option to deal with all the incoming attacks.

Phase 3 (Frozen Arsenal)

While not as clear a phase change as between 1 and 2, once the Timekeeper uses the ability Forzen Arsenal, its attack pattern changes again. Frozen Arsenal will have Timekeeper cycle through all of its weapons and use all its attacks back to back. When Frozen Arsenal starts, the first attack will be an array of spears that cover the battlefield. Once you see this, switch to Phoenix and use Phoenix Shift to jump to Timekeeper and out of the way of this attack. There is a limit to this ability so simply focus on dodging and let your abilities recharge without looking to counterattack until after these attacks are over.

After Frozen Arsenal, Immortal Order will summon a bunch of swords to hit Clive’s current location. Once the weapons spawn, their location is locked in, and dodging in any direction will save you. Now fully in Phase 3, Oathkeeper will use the same attacks as Phase 2, just with less of a delay after finishing a combo. Its final major attack will happen shortly after Immortal Order and will be Final Oath. Final Oath is much like Frozen Arsenal, just more aggressive with more attacks. During this ability, do your best to dodge and heal through the attacks as they come and counterattack after Oathkeeper, which finishes out the combo.