Garuda is the first major Eikon against which you will face Final Fantasy 16 and also the first real Eikon vs. Eikon battle excluding the prologue, so trust us when we say things are getting epic.
You’ll have already gained the power of this wind-based Eikon in a fight against her dominant Benedikta Harman in Final Fantasy 16. Yet she still manages to transform into Garuda, forming a storm that threatens to wash away the earth, so it’s a It’s up to Clive to finish the fight against Benedikta for good.
This battle takes place during the main scenario quest “Awakening” at the end of The Eye of the Tempest stage. The stage itself is quite short, although the boss fight itself is long and split into two parts. But, with more Eikon abilities to play with than previous encounters and an Eikon to awaken too, it’s time to see what you’re made of.
This guide will provide you with all the information you need to fight against the winds of Garudaincluding how to beat Garuda during Eikon vs Eikon.
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How to prepare for Garuda in Final Fantasy 16
When you face Garuda in Final Fantasy 16, you will also have unlocked Garuda’s powers for your own use as well as your starting Phoenix abilities. Unlike traditional RPG mechanics, picking an elemental ability won’t be better or worse against an enemy with the same element, so you can definitely use Garuda’s abilities against her.
We highly recommend unlocking Rook’s Gambit – an ability that allows you to backtrack to dodge an attack before returning with a punishing counter. At the right time, this counter is even more effective, and even more so if you spend ability points to improve it, which will increase the number of hits. Pair that with Gouge, which is great at clearing the Will Gauge to stagger enemies, and you have a terrific combination. If you run out of ability points, remember that you can reset any abilities you don’t use much, then spend those points on your new powers instead.
Don’t ignore Garuda’s Eikonic ability, which turns into a deadly takedown when a boss has been partially staggered when their Willpower gauge has been reduced to 50%. Pulling back will give you a good window to cry on them, but it needs to be done very soon after they go into partial stagger, for which you’ll also hear a sound effect.
You shouldn’t need to prepare as it’s still relatively early in the game, but be sure to stock up on potions and other consumables at the Hideaway, as well as forge new gear from the blacksmith. If you notice that the new gear has lower stats than the last gear you upgraded, you can upgrade it to take full advantage of it – if you have the required gear, of course.
Once you’re ready, go to the world map and head to The Eye of the Tempest.
How to defeat Garuda in Final Fantasy 16
At first, you’ll be chasing a hooded figure at this point while Garuda occasionally descends to get in your way. Once you reach the end of the stage, a cutscene will begin which will see Garuda use his wind magic to launch Clive into the air before catching him. You’ll receive a QTE prompt to hit Square for a cinematic strike, before the fight begins properly.
This fight takes place in a fairly small arena with Garuda on his knees, but still dominating Clive from the front with his massive winged talons on either side. Unsurprisingly, she will use these talons to attack; either wearing both at the same time directly in front of her, or using one to slip over yourself. It should be clarified that these talons are part of her wings as she still has arms, which interestingly telegraphs how her winged talons will strike. She can also raise her leg to recharge briefly before performing a spinning tornado kick.
Either way, watch for those strikes and try to time a precision dodge, so you can follow up with a counter, or better yet, go for Rook’s Gambit. You’ll find that locking targets on his head, which you’ll have trouble hitting with just ground attacks, so using Phoenix Shift to warp to his head is good for landing a few aerial shots.
Still, the damage you deal is a bit negligible, though you’ll notice Garuda’s Willpower gauge dwindling faster. I if you use your Eikon abilities like Gouge. As this will be your first time using Garuda in a boss fight, when you reduce it to 50%, a tutorial popup will explain the removal mechanic. So be sure to use Garuda’s Death Embrace to knock the Eikon down, and ideally have another ability that’s not on cooldown to take advantage of this window.
While you won’t deal much damage when knocked down, the goal is to bring it down so it’s properly staggered. Garuda collapses to the ground once staggered, leaving her head exposed for all the Eikon combos and abilities you can muster, assuming they’re not all on cooldown if you’ve spent them all trying to stagger her .
The Burning Blade skill is a very effective alternative to have unlocked and mastered in this situation as well. While you charge the attack with Square and then release to release it – mastering the skill reduces the charge time – you can actually start charging another attack in the middle of the animation for the first one. This means it’s entirely possible to launch a Burning Blade attack and then have another charge ready to go several frames after the first attack ends. This way, you can deal several of them in quick succession while you wait for the cooldowns of your strongest Eikon abilities to reset. If you were effective, you will have reduced Garuda’s health to 50% by the time she recovers from the stagger.
Once at half health, Garuda unleashes Aerial Blast where, instead of leaning into you, she whips her magic, sending pillars of tornadoes to launch you into the air. During this time, you can’t reach him physically, but you can still cast your own magic spells on him from a distance, Chared Shots being ideal for this, to further reduce his willpower. Most of all, you’ll want to focus on dodging those tornadoes or making sure you have a quick recovery so you can get back up quickly.
After that, the aura will dissipate and Garuda will cower to attack you again with his winged talons. It’s as before, except there will also be sporadic pillars of tornadoes to watch out for – telegraphed by continuous green and black light.
Continue the same tactic until you can stagger Garuda, then keep mourning her until she’s down to around 5% health. At this point, the action will switch to cutscenes with some QTEs. You’ll be prompted to hit Square twice for a cinematic strike, followed by a prompt to smash Square to run a cinematic clash.
Upon completion of this, a message will pop up to say Garuda Slain and you will harvest 55 Sharp Fang Materials, 100 XP, 100 Ability Points, and 500 Gil. Only, it’s not over. Watch the cutscene that follows and you’ll get a major reveal in the story. More importantly, the fight against Garuda continues, except this time you’re in command of the Eikon Ifrit!
How to defeat Garuda during Eikon vs Eikon in Final Fantasy 16
Where Clive was previously at a disadvantage, now it’s an Eikon-style scrap against Eikon kaiju. That said, your Eikon commands are pretty basic here; with Square for melee attacks, Triangle for a ranged fireball, R1 for evading, and Circle for a forward dash.
This makes this phase of the fight a little easier, as you’ll just have to watch for Garuda’s strikes, dodge and then charge in to crush Ifrit’s attacks. When Garuda retreats, chase after her and continue the assault, taking care to dodge the windblasts she fires from a distance.
Garuda also has a Tornado attack, where she sends three pillars of tornadoes towards you, which you can bypass. While it’s tempting to hold back and just unleash your fireball projectiles, although it might negate any wind projectiles Garuda sends like in a Street Fighter match, aggression works well. Especially since Ifrit’s lunge is quite fast, so rush and go hard with the punches when you get an opening. At the end of these melee combos you can also punish more as Ifrit will grab Garuda and then slam her like something out of a pro wrestling match.
When she reaches about two-thirds of her health, Garuda will fly off to unleash Skyfall where she will gather nearby boulders into a single huge boulder to smash you. This triggers a QTE so smash Square to run a cinematic clash.
Following this, Garuda can, much like in phase one, trigger Aerial Blast, but as an Ifrit it will be more like an AOE attack that you want to stay away from until it’s finished. But other than that, the fight will continue pretty much the same.
When Garuda is down to a third of his health, the action turns into a cutscene as the Eikons clash in the air. It’s pretty wild, so we won’t spoil the details, but there will be quite a few QTE prompts throughout. The first three being pressing Square for cinematic strikes, followed by three where you smash Square for cinematic clashes, culminating in Ifrit’s Hellfire ability and killing Garuda for good this time.
Garuda reward in Final Fantasy 16
In addition to the rewards of defeating Garuda in the first phase of Final Fantasy 16, correctly killing Garuda awards a rare Wind Shard material used to craft a new weapon, 60 Wyrrite crafting materials and 2 Meteorites, as well as 400 XP , 200 ability points and 2,500 Gil.
More importantly, the reveal of who Ifrit is and how Clive is going to handle it. We’ve still barely scratched the surface of this journey, however, and there’s still plenty more to Ifrit, which you’ll discover as you continue Final Fantasy 16.
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