The Final Fantasy 16 Chocobo mount is an optional discovery tied to a side quest, and one you can easily miss if you don't know where to look. The Chocobo - known either as Whiteheart or Ambrosia - is a way to cross terrain quickly without fast travelling, and useful for quickly exploring areas that you haven't been to before, a good supplementary aid to the Final Fantasy 16 fast travel system. We'll cover how to unlock the Chocobo in FFXVI just below, and how you can summon it afterwards to your benefit. Let's see that chicken run.
How to unlock the Final Fantasy 16 Chocobo mount
While there are many wild and domesticated Chocobo in FFXVI, the only Chocobo mount you can use is Whiteheart, aka Ambrosia. To unlock this unique bird, you need to do the following:
- Play the game until you return to Martha's Rest and Three Reeds as part of "The Gathering Storm". This will be roughly 20 hours into the main plot.
- Complete the mandatory "Release" favor for the NPC you speak to at Martha's Rest.
- Afterwards, head to the Fallen Gate at the South of Martha's Rest, the location marked above.
- Here you'll find an NPC called Rowan with a side quest, marked with a green "+" icon. Checking it on the map reveals it's called "The White-Winged Wonder."
- Accept the quest and head to the centre of the area marked to find the "White Chocobo Pinion."
- Follow the route and head to Crooked Nash's Pier at the end of this route to find Poachers attacking Chocobos.
- Defeat all the Poachers to finish the quest and unlock the Chocobo mount!
It's a fairly simple mission, the tricky bit realising that this seemingly-innocuous and very missable side quest is connected to something as unique and helpful as a mount. There's also a bigger Poacher at the end who serves as a miniboss, but they should be manageable, especially considering how slow and easy to avoid they are. If they're giving you trouble, try buying some potions or upgrades from Martha's Rest or the Hideaway.
You're also likely to come across Ahriman in this area, at the first of the Final Fantasy 16 hunt locations. For more info on hunting Notorious Marks, our guide will provide aid and context alike.
How to summon and ride the Chocobo mount
Once you've completed this quest, you'll be able to summon Ambrosia the Chocobo at any point by holding R3, which causes her to run up to you, whereupon you can climb into the saddle with X. Keep in mind that you can't always summon her - it needs to be outside and in the wild.
Ambrosia also can't be a major element in combat. You can attack with her using the Square button while you're on her back, but it's a very minor attack that serves to just knock small enemies out of the way - once combat begins proper, Clive will dismount and Ambrosia will de-spawn. Annoying, but it means that Ambrosia also can't be killed, which helps keep things simple.
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