When the protagonist Clive Rosfield comes into play Final Fantasy XVIHe channels the otherworldly magical power of the Eikons, huge and incredibly powerful magical beings. This new interpretation of the classic final fantasy Summons like Shiva and Ifrit are central to the game’s story: a single person acts as the dominant or host for each Eikon.
Continue reading: Final Fantasy XVI: The my city review
Throughout his journey, Clive meets various Dominants and unlocks the ability to use some of their power, giving you new abilities over the course of the 70-hour gameplay. Smash your enemies with lightning or summon a tornado to distract them. The possibilities are as varied as they are breathtaking.
Of the three active Eikons, Clive can equip three Eikonic Talents and six Eikonic Abilities, which, once upgraded with Skill Points earned through battles and quests, can be assigned to any equipped Eikon. Talents typically provide a special benefit unique to the Eikon, and abilities are more active combat actions that deal damage by summoning a tornado or summoning a thunderbolt. Final Fantasy XVI offers you many options for different builds, but as you play, here are the most important and best skills to unlock and upgrade as soon as possible.
Phoenix shift
Arguably the best and most important ability in Clive’s toolkit for the entire game, Phoenix Shift is functionally similar to Noctis’s Warp Final Fantasy XV. Using Phoenix’s Eikonic talent, Clive teleports to a nearby enemy on the ground or in the air and unleashes a flaming Shift Strike. If the enemy is already down, the attack triggers a finisher combo that deals extra damage. It’s a great way to clear up the battlefield when knocking back a smaller enemy. And unlike many of the other abilities on this list, it maps to the circle button when you switch to Phoenix as Clive’s active Eikon, meaning you can spam it as many times as you like.
Rising Flames
Clive’s first active combat ability, granted by a blessing from Joshua’s Phoenix, is a staple in any situation, whether you’re fighting a single larger foe or a smaller group. He whips his left hand forward and up, striking one or more enemies with a phoenix wing. It has one of the shortest cooldowns of any ability and deals decent damage. It also ties seamlessly into Clive’s basic attack patterns, allowing you to attack a low-level enemy once or twice with full health in most cases, then unleash Rising Flames to quickly eliminate them.
gouge
Gouge is unlocked by default once you’ve unlocked Garuda, and is a staple that remains viable in endgame as well. Using Gouge, Clive summons two harpy claws that will “rip apart a target relentlessly”. Each individual hit is significantly weaker than any other Eikonic ability, but the DPS is decent when all of the hits come together. Also, you can often hit several enemies in its path – it can be used not only in the air, but also because they are long-range, long-range attacks. Even with stronger enemies and bosses, it’s one of the most consistent and effective skills to stagger your aim.
Rook Gambit
Rook’s Gambit is the first effective counterattack you get in the game. It’s an unlockable Garuda ability that triggers a back jump followed by two claw kicks. The direct damage isn’t great, but if you time it to dodge an enemy’s attack, it slows down time and unleashes an intense counterstrike that sees Clive wheel-wheeling into the enemy. The The damage is excellent. Once you unlock Titan, Rook’s Gambit is more or less obsolete, but it even has its place in some late-night duels against human-sized bosses where counterattacks are crucial.
pile driving
Pile Drive is arguably the best crowd control ability in the game. In Pile Drive, Clive Ramuh’s staff stabs the ground, unleashing an electric bolt that hits all enemies in a radius and knocks down smaller ones. The area of effect is spherical, so it also hits enemies behind and above Clive. As such, it’s often best to use the taunt ability to draw the attention of an enemy or two, surround yourself, and then fend them off. Pile Drive also significantly increases the enemy’s recovery time, making them take longer to get back up. This is a prime opportunity to Shift Strike for a quick finisher, hurl some smaller Blitzballs with Ramuh’s Blind Justice circle ability, or charge up one of Titan’s Eikonic Talents.
Titanic block
Due to the Eikonic Feat Titanic block, every player should be channeling Titan into one of the three available Eikon slots at all times. It’s just that good. Holding the circle button raises a massive stone fist that works like a shield to mitigate damage at the expense of movement speed, but also fills Clive’s Limit Break gauge. However, a perfectly timed precision block can protect you from more powerful enemy attacks, but it also unleashes an epic three-hit counterattack And Fills the Limit Break gauge even more while dealing decent damage. Rook Gambit is better but has no cooldown.
angry fists
A versatile ability with one of the coolest animations in the game, Raging Fists lets Clive step forward to “deliver a blinding barrage of high-speed punches” with Titan’s massive fists. He performs more than a dozen right-handed uppercuts like a jackhammer, which looks downright absurd when used against some enemies like wild chocobos. Raging Fists is also an even better counter attack than Titanic Block. If timed correctly, it blocks the incoming attack, drastically increases the power and frequency of subsequent hits, and even reduces the ability’s cooldown by 50 percent. Instead of dodging enemy attacks, consider switching between Titan Block and Raging Fists.
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