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Final Fantasy 16spins an epic tale of political intrigue, love and loss, and, of course, magic. It’s a compelling adventure that takes many hours to complete, and is filled to the brim with things to do - monsters to hunt, quests to undertake, and lofty villains to defeat.
RELATED:Final Fantasy 16: Stillwind Walkthrough
The game’s combat system is quite different to those that came before it, featuring a fast-paced action game moveset that Clive, our hero, must utilize to the best of his ability if he’s to prove himself successful in his quest for revenge. Here are some tips and tricks, geared towards getting the most out of the early hours of the game.
Updated June 25, 2025:We’ve updated this article to include a section on parrying. This is one of those mechanics that can be extremely potent, and will help new players greatly, but is poorly explained in the game itself. Better late than never, right?
Best Abilities To Unlock First
When you begin the game,Clive has a pretty slim moveset. He has a single Eikonic attack to his name, and he doesn’t even have many basic abilities unlocked. The table below lists some of the mostuseful, crucial abilitiesthat you should be aiming to unlock sooner rather than later.
Lunge
25 AP
This gives Clive alunging attackthat works really well as a gap-closer. It’s very useful in the heat of battle, as it willautomatically track to the nearest enemywhen you’re not locked on, which helps prevent you from being attacked from off-camera. The Lunge is also another way to parry your opponent.
Swift Recovery
10 AP
You’ll get bashed around at least a few times during this game, andthis ability gets you back on your feet quicker. Get this as soon as possible.
Taunt
40 AP
With so many timing-based mechanics in the game, it is always helpful to insight an attack. That is exactly what your taunt will do.Most non-boss enemies will attack immediately after being taunted, which allows you to parry, dodge, or use one of your other counter attacks.
Heatwave
120 AP
Not only is this a rareranged Eikon attack, but it also has a very usefulmagic counterability built in. When you use this to interrupt a ranged projectile attack, the attack is upgraded and not only deals more damage but also significant Stagger.
Precision Dodge (Mastery)
500 AP
Thisimproves your dodge significantlyand gives you a longer invincibility window. This makes every single fight in the game more bearable.
Burning Blade + Burning Blade (Mastery)
205 AP
While this ability is a little lackluster at first,once upgraded, it can be easily weaved into your offensive kit. Notably, a great technique is to perform a Lunge attack and not let go of the Square button, which willfollow the Lunge attack up with a quick-charging Burning Blade attack. It’s an efficient damage dealer. The Burning Blade can also parry enemies.
Wicked Wheel (Upgraded)
525 AP
Once you unlockGarudaand her associated abilities, it’s a great idea to fit Wicked Wheel into your moveset early on and get used to using it. It’s one of the best Eikon attacks in the game thanks to itsvery quick startup, great balance of damage and Stagger, and short recharge time.
Of course, if you feel like any of these acquisitions aren’t useful to you or your playstyle,it’s easy and free to refund any Ability Point investments. You can see the buttons you have to press to refund abilities on the Abilities menu.
Dodge Tips
For the vast majority of the game, your primary method for avoiding damage will be the humbledodge. This gives Clive a quick burst of movement and some crucial invincibility frames.
In addition, if you dodge an attack at the last second, you’ll perform aPrecision Dodge, which can then be chained into aPrecision Counter. These are great sources of reliable, consistent damage.
Something you’ll notice early on is just how forgiving the invincibility frames are with Clive’s dodge. What this means is that one of the best ways to consistently get Precision Dodges is tododge rightintoattacks. This is especially relevant with enemies who havehorizontal attacks, such as sweeping weapon swings and lasers.
What we mean by dodging into an attack ispressing the dodge button as you move Clive directly into an oncoming attack.
Dodging into these attacks not only bypasses them entirely but will give Clive the opportunity to perform a Precision Counter, getting in somefree, boosted damagevery quickly.
This strategy isless useful against enemies who are particularly aggressive and attack quickly.
Parrying Tips
When you first get started, most of your time in Final Fantasy 16 is likely going to be spent dodging. And don’t get us wrong, dodging is an extremely powerful technique. Your enemy’s wide-swiping attacks can also be ideal opportunities for a well-timed parry. This maneuver can be a touch riskier, but the reward will often be far greater. For those not in the know, if you have ever slowed down time mid-combat, then you have performed a parry.
Your basic attack will parry an opponent’s melee strike if it lands just a hair before theirs. This means that you aren’t aiming to press the attack button just before the opponent’s strike lands, you are, instead, looking to have your attack land the moment before the opponent’s attack. This is an important distinction, as it means that you need to preempt the attack more than you would with a dodge.That is why you are going to be looking to parry those larger, slower swings. Many charging attacks are easy to parry as well, as the enemy will slash soon after they dash in, giving you time to mentally prepare.
While we did find that charging attacks are often quite easy to parry, make sure you are considering the potential risk. A Minotaurs charge attack can be brutally powerful. Unless you are extremely confident that you have that timing down, you may want to just dodge that one.
Another thing to keep in mind for parrying is thatthere are a number of attacks that will engage the parry mechanic. This includes both your Lunge and Burning Blade abilities. Both of these attacks are perfect for landing that parry, If an opponent is a few meters away, and taking a giant, slow, swing at you, you can lunge in to land a parry and then follow up with a massive combo.
However,the real star here is the Burning Blade. We consistently found it easier to hold this attack and then release it once we saw that the enemy’s attack was a few frames away from connecting.Of course, your mileage may vary, but we think the Burning Blade makes it easier to consistently nail the parry. In addition, you can bait out an attack with your Taunt, which will make the timing of your enemy’s attack more predictable.
Crafting Vs. Reinforcing
Very early in the game, you’ll unlock the blacksmith at the Hideout. Here, you’ll be able to Craft and Reinforce new weapons and armor.
Most weapons and armor in the game have three levels of upgrades - theirbase level, +1, and +2. The blacksmith offers two routes to the strongest level:
While it is more time-efficient to take the second route, crafting a +1 weapon outright, it is actuallyvastly more expensive in terms of the raw materials you’re using.
For example,Crafting a Wolfskin Sash +1requires 14 Bloody Hides and 12 Sharp Fangs. Conversely,buying a Wolfskin Sashfrom Charon and then Reinforcing it up to +1 will cost only two Bloody Hides, two Sharp Fangs, and two Steelsilk. Overall, it’s a far cheaper task.
By the time you’re able to Craft and Reinforce a piece of equipment at the blacksmith, you’ll be able tobuy them in their base form from Charon, who will always be nearby.
Ultimate Attacks
Each Eikon that you unlock in the game has a range of abilities to unlock, and one will always stand out among them for being far more expensive. These are the Eikons' Ultimate Abilities, and they are expensive for a good reason - they are the strongest, most useful abilities in the game.
Of course, they come with downsides - they cost a ton of Ability Points and have long cooldowns - but they are still worth using.
Specifically,Phoenix’s ultimate ability, Flames of Rebirth, is an absolutely fantastic ability to get as soon as you can. It’s a huge attack that will damage all enemies in a surprisingly large radius. After being upgraded, it’s even more damaging.
In addition,Flames of Rebirth will heal all of your ‘regain’ health, which is the light green bar that extends from your regular health bar when you get damaged. This makes the ability great in difficult fights where every little bit of healing helps.
While the ability isn’t fantastic for dealing single-target damage, it’s afantastic room-clearerand will simplify battles against lots of enemies significantly.
Important Side Quests
There are, in fact, two different types of side quests in the game.Regular side quests, with normal rewards, are denoted by agreen symbol with an exclamation markinside. The majority of quests use this symbol.
There are, however,other side quests that provide more significant rewards in the form of permanent upgrades to Clive, whether they be improvements to his potion supply, new recipes at the blacksmith, or even the ability to ride a chocobo. These side quests are denoted by agreen symbol with a plus signinside it.
When you start seeing these side quests, make sure you complete them as soon as possible - their rewards are significantly helpful.
How To Boost Your Damage Multiplier Quickly
After Staggering an opponent, you’re not only granted a few moments of free damage against your enemy - you’re also given a damage multiplier.
Starting at x1.05, you can eventually raise this multiplier to x1.50 with constant attacks, letting you finish off the Stagger period with an extremely strong attack or two.
The key to improving your damage multiplier is withStagger. The rate at which an attack will improve your multiplierscales directlywith how much Stagger damage it would have inflicted on the enemy had it not already been Staggered.
This means thathigh-stagger abilities, such asScarlet Cyclone, Aerial Blast, and Gouge, are still very useful when used against a Staggered enemy. If you’re up against an enemy that is almost Staggered, consider saving these abilities and pushing the foe over the Stagger threshold with regular attacks.
