Key Takeaway
The Knight of the Splendent Heart stands guard in the northern part of the Holy Empire of Sanbreque. Specifically, he’s at the very northeastern tip of the Royal Meadows area.
One way to get to this Notorious Mark is to start from the obelisk in Northreach and then venture northeastward to the gateway leading into Oriflamme. Alternatively, if you’ve unlocked the Royal Meadows obelisk, you can warp there to reach the Knight of the Splendent Heart’s location much quicker.
You can start this hunt after you begin the main quest Back to Their Origin.
If you want a fair amount of end-game Gil, complete the Knight of the Splendent Heart hunt in Final Fantasy 16. To defeat this dragoon, you’ll need to be fast on your feet to outmaneuver this knight’s acrobatic feats. Let the duel commence!
Table Of Contents
Where to Find the Knight of the Splendent Heart
You gain access to the Knight of the Splendent Heart hunt right after you begin the main quest Back to Their Origin. Afterward, head to the Holy Empire of Sanbreque to seek out this A-rank foe.
The quickest way here is to teleport to the Royal Meadows obelisk and then take a few steps to the west to confront the chivalrous warrior. However, if you haven’t unlocked this obelisk, warp to the one in Northreach before traveling northeastward as much as you can.
At the very northern tip of the Royal Meadows area, you’ll find the dedicated dragoon guarding the gate to Oriflamme.
How to Beat the Knight of the Splendent Heart
This fight is very similar to all those other times you’ve dueled with dragoons. However, the Knight of the Splendent Heart has a unique move for which you should watch out. With that said, this knight’s only level 42, so you should be able to handle him as long as you’re of a similar level or higher.
- Mirage Dive: This named ability (its name appears on-screen right before it’s used) involves the enemy dragoon leaping high into the air and raining down javelins of light before descending back to earth spearpoint first. The damaging portions of this attack are foreshadowed by obvious light blue beams. Simply stay away from said beams to entirely avoid this assault.
- Mirage High Dive: Like Mirage Dive, this named ability (its name appears on-screen right before it’s used) involves many attacks from above. It’s very similar to Mirage Dive—the only difference is that Mirage High Dive unleashes more attacks in a row. Use the same method of evasion as for Mirage Dive, but do it for a bit longer.
- Phantom March: When we saw this named ability (its name appears on-screen right before it’s used), we thought the developers of FF16 were playing a prank on us. This attack is the same as Mirage Dive and Mirage High Dive…but with a few more attacks. Spamming the dodge button throughout the duration of this repetitive maneuver is the best course of action.
NoteBesides the above-mentioned attacks, the Knight of the Splendent Heart uses a series of thrusts and slashes when within melee range. The lunging thrust has a lot of build-up, so you’ll see it coming from far away—which gives you plenty of time to prepare a parry or dodge it.
In a similar manner, the daring dragoon does some fancy spear-twirling before unleashing a slash your way. This, again, is very obvious, so it’ll be relatively straightforward to parry or dodge.
Another of the knight’s highly-telegraphed melee attacks is when they spin their spear before doing a small jump in an attempt to slam their polearm downwards at you. Like before, use the clear signs of this attack to parry or dodge it.
TipPick your poison for this fight! Any Eikon would be fine to equip in this battle. The Knight of the Splendent Heart is a generic enemy with essentially one unique ability.
As such, for a quick fight, use Eikonic abilities that deal a lot of damage to overwhelm the enemy. Some great choices are Phoenix’s Flames of Rebirth, Shiva’s Diamond Dust, and Bahamut’s Gigaflare. Bonus lore points for using the latter.
The Knight of the Splendent Heart Hunt Rewards
After this boring battle, you’ll get mostly lackluster rewards:
- 9,000 Experience
- 105 Ability Points
- 17,000 Gil
- 35 Renown
- 2 Meteorites
We love Final Fantasy 16, but this hunt felt like filler—similar to the Wailing Banshee hunt. Thankfully, you’ll at least get a lot of Gil for your efforts. Now, if you want a real end-game challenge, try taking on some of the S-ranked hunts. The Breaker of Worlds, the Ruin Reawakened, and the Masterless Marauder await you on the battlefield.
