Final Fantasy 16: The Man in Black Hunt Location and Rewards

The Man in Black hunt leads you back to a familiar location in Final Fantasy 16: Lostwing. Here, you must defeat the black-garbed goon to protect innocent people—and in doing so, you’ll get another rare piece of Scarletite.

Where to Find the Man in Black

You can find the Man in Black at the end of the Cellar Passage, which is a small area located south of Lostwing. Before you can fight the Man in Black here, you’ll need to finish a series of side quests called For Great Justice. These can be done by talking to Quinten in Lostwing, Sanbreque.

There are two of these quests, both given by Quinten in Lostwing. The first quest becomes available after you complete the Out of the Shadow main quest, and the second becomes available after you complete the Cloak and Dagger main quest.

Complete both of them and return to Lostwing after. You can then make your way to the Cellar Passage from here. Start from the Lostwing obelisk. Head northeast and then take the path to the east. Keep following it until you arrive at a door.

Open the door, head downstairs, and pass through the door on the right. Keep following the path forward and you’ll arrive at an open area. This is where the Man in Black will be.

How to Beat the Man in Black

The Man in Black, also known as the Holy Trumpitour, is a Level 36 B-rank Notorious Mark. You’ll have a better chance of defeating this enemy if you’re at the same level as he is, if not higher. You can also fight him while you’re within five levels below him, but you’ll have a harder time.

At this point in the game, you’ll have fought this enemy type a few times. His larger stature can be intimidating and it enables him to hit hard. However, it also means he’s noticeably slower than most of the enemies in the game. This makes his attacks easier to dodge.

• Three-Attack Melee Combo: One of his most common attacks is when he swings his cannon at you twice, then slams it to the ground for a three-attack combo. This is the perfect time to do Precision Dodges, followed up by Precision Counters in between his attacks. You can also do an Eikonic ability at the end of the final attack.
• Fireballs: The Man in Black also occasionally uses his cannon to launch a barrage of fireballs at you. He usually makes about five shots before stopping. He’ll fire in a horizontal pattern. As he’s about to fire his first shot, dodge immediately to the right or start running to the right. He moves his cannon very slowly which makes it easy to get away from the crossfire.

Note

That being said, if you get hit by one fireball, you’ll be staggered enough that the rest of the fireballs will also hit you. Be sure to get away from his sights immediately. If you can manage to get to his side or behind him while he fires away, you can land a series of attacks on him with impunity.

• Recoil: This is one of the Man in Black’s named attacks. He launches himself toward you by firing his cannon on the ground behind him. Dodge away before he hits the ground and don’t approach him yet. There will be pillars that will erupt from the ground he lands on seconds later. He’ll do this about three times before stopping. Wait for him to completely finish this move before attacking him again.
• Rocketeer: He’ll place the barrel of his cannon behind him, fires it, and quickly launches himself at you. This is one of his faster attacks, so you’ll have to react quickly. He’ll do this three times before stopping.
• Fragmentation: This is when he slams the barrel of his cannon on the ground, which causes that ground and a few spots surrounding it to glow red and fissure. Stay away from these areas. Like the Recoil attack, stone pillars erupt from these locations. Wait for him to finish the move altogether before moving back in for the offensive.

Tip

Always aim to do a Precision Dodge whenever he flails his cannon at you. The Ring of Timely Focus gear makes this a whole lot easier. This way, you can perform a Precision Counter in between his attacks.

Familiarize these attacks and you’ll make short work of the Man in Black. He can also be staggered quickly with the right tactics. Take advantage of Eikonic abilities that can swiftly deplete their Will Gauge. Shiva’s Diamond Dust ability is excellent at doing this. Once you’re able to stagger the Man in Black, follow up with abilities that slow down time, like Phoenix’s Flames of Rebirth, Ramuh’s Judgment Bolt, and Bahamut’s Gigaflare.

The Man in Black Hunt Rewards

You’ll receive the following for completing the Man in Black hunt:

• 2,200 Experience
• 75 Ability Points
• 9,800 Gil
• 20 Renown
• 1 Scarletite
• 1 Meteorite

The Man in Black is a tough opponent, but there are certainly more Notorious Marks out there that are considerably tougher, like the Ruin Reawakened and Pandemonium. Use the spoils you earn from this fight to make Clive stronger for the battles to come.