How to earn and spend renown in Final Fantasy 16

After entering the second time skip in Final Fantasy 16 (FF16), you’ll unlock several incredible features, including earning renown and unlocking donations through the Patron’s Whisper.

Renown is almost like a currency you can use to claim rewards from the Patron’s Whisper. There’s even a trophy tied to these renown rewards, but it’s not entirely clear straightaway just how you earn it.

Here’s everything you need to know about renown in Final Fantasy 16, how to earn it, and how to use it.

Final Fantasy 16: What is renown and how to earn it

Renown is a currency you can earn in Final Fantasy 16 (FF16) after you’ve completed the main quest, The Gathering Storm, and can be used to unlock donations.

After completing the aforementioned quest and talking to Gav, you’ll unlock the ability to earn renown, which can be awarded from the following:  

• Side quests
• Notorious Marks

Unfortunately, the amount of renown you earn from these quests and marks varies and isn’t a lot. Thus, you do need to complete quite a few to raise your renown. I found you can earn a decent amount of renown quickly, at least initially, because there are quite a few side quests and four Notorious Marks you can start on after unlocking these features. But once you’ve completed these, earning renown is a slow and tedious process.

However, by raising your renown, you will receive donations from the kind citizens of Valisthea, which you can obtain from the Patron’s Whisper.

Final Fantasy 16: Patron’s Whisper and how to use your renown for donations

Desiree runs the Patron’s Whisper in the mess of The Hideaway. On the map, her icon is a four-pointed star within a diamond.

As your renown increases, people will donate reward boxes. Each reward box requires a specific amount of renown to unlock. 

To claim your donations, follow these easy steps:

1. Talk to Desiree at the Patron’s Whisper System in the mess of The Hideaway
2. Navigate to the donation box without the claimed check mark
3. Hold down the “X” button to claim the rewards. A notice will appear on the screen if you’ve already claimed the donation box.

These donation boxes contain incredible materials to help you upgrade and craft equipment and ability points to help you upgrade your abilities. These additional materials are an excellent addition to my growing stash, as I enjoy crafting and reinforcing my gear—and it makes killing high-level monsters much more effortless.

Even if you haven’t unlocked all the donation boxes, you can still see what rewards you can get and how much renown you need to have to unlock it.

Final Fantasy 16: How to get the Careful Whisper trophy

The Careful Whisper trophy is one of the 50 trophies you can earn in Final Fantasy 16. To get this trophy, you must obtain all the rewards from your patrons. 

Much like The More You Know trophy, this trophy will take some time to obtain because increasing your renown does take quite a bit of effort, given that additional side quests and Notorious marks are locked behind your progress in the main campaign.

Earning renown through side quests and Notorious Marks to claim donations and eventually get The Careful Whisper trophy is a fun but slow aspect of Final Fantasy 16.