Final Fantasy XVI launches today and it ushers in some major changes for Square Enix’s long-running franchise. While real-time elements have been included in past Final Fantasy games, this is the series’ first full-on action-RPG, featuring combat somewhat reminiscent of God of War, Bayonetta, or Devil May Cry, albeit toned down a bit for roleplaying fans. The days of choosing attacks from a menu are over – you’re going to need to know what you’re doing if you’re going to survive the game’s many combat encounters and boss battles. Thankfully, we have some tips that should make you the final word in fantasy combat.

　　

Take out long-range attackers and healers first

Final Fantasy XVI will throw plenty of enemy mobs at you, and for the most part, avoiding their attacks isn’t that difficult. Most of the damage you’ll take comes from long range magic casters who will hit you with projectiles from afar. They may also be able to heal or buff other enemies. These magic casters have relatively low defense, so it always pays to seek out and destroy them first.

　　

Keep an eye on buffed enemies

As mentioned, sometimes magic casters will buff other enemies, giving them shields, or granting effects like Bravery or Warcry that make them stronger or more aggressive. Enemies with a buff will be marked by an icon or sometimes have a different colored life bar. Focus on these enemies, pounding them with Eikon Abilities in order to take them out quickly.

　　

Pounce on fallen enemies with Punish attacks

Speaking of pounding on enemies, when an enemy has been knocked to the ground, make sure to keep up the attack. Doing so will unleash a violent Punish Attack. Particularly early in the game, Punish Attacks are one of the best ways to inflict quick damage.

　　

Switch up your Eikons frequently

Once you get a little further into the game, you’ll gain the ability to switch between multiple Eikons (elementally-themed sets of spells) seamlessly during battle. Definitely do that as much as possible. Final Fantasy XVI is designed around unleashing as many Eikonic Abilities as you can in short order, chaining together creative combos. Since all Eikonic Abilities have a set cooldown time, you have to frequently switch between your Eikons (you can eventually equip up to three at once) if you want to keep that flow going. Early on, you can get by with hacking and slashing, but by the end of the game basic melee attacks and combos become far less important. Experiment with Eikonic Abilities that flow well into each other and have complimentary cooldown times (I have a few combo suggestions at the end of this article).

　　

Keep an eye on your enemy's Will Gauge

The other unique distinguishing feature of Final Fantasy XVI’s combat is the Will Gauge – the yellow bar you see beneath the health bar of bosses and mini-bosses (rank-and-file enemies typically don’t have Will Gauges). Depleting this bar will Stagger the enemy, which interrupts their attacks and allows you to unleash an unrestricted pummeling for several seconds. This is how you’ll do the majority of your damage. Most of the time, you’re going to want to keep a closer eye on a boss’ Will Gauge than their Life Gauge, as it provides a crucial guide to when you should time your attacks.

　　

Score takedowns with Deadly Embrace when the Will Gauge is half depleted

When you’ve knocked a boss’ Will Gauge down to 50 percent, they’ll be briefly staggered – only enough to get maybe a couple slashes of your sword in. Ah, but if your use Garuda’s Deadly Embrace ability in this key moment, you can score a crucial Takedown. This will create a longer opening for you to press your attack. You may even be able to deplete the remainder of the enemy’s Will Gauge with a couple well-placed abilities and fully Stagger them.

　　

Save Limit Break and key abilities for when your enemy is Staggered

While it’s important to keep the Eikonic Abilities flowing, if you’re close to Staggering an enemy, it may be better to hold a couple abilities in reserve. While an enemy is Staggered, you can earn a damage multiplier, up to 1.5x, based on how many hits you land. So, for instance, moves like Garuda’s Gouge, which unleashes a flurry of strikes, is great to hold back for when an enemy is staggered as it will quickly boost your damage multiplier. You will eventually also gain the Limit Break ability, which allows you to boost your damage, speed, and regenerate HP for a limited amount of time. Unleashing Limit Break when an enemy is Staggered maximizes its usefulness (although it can also save your bacon if you’re about die).

　　

Try to double up on attacks

There are a number of Eikonic Abilities that continue to inflict damage passively for a while after you’ve cast them, such as Bahamut’s Impulse ability that peppers enemies with swirling balls of magic for several seconds. Make sure to equip a few of these types of abilities, cast them as often as possible, and stack their damage with other attacks.

　　

You can use healing potions any time

Enemy attacks interrupting the use of health-restoring items has become more-or-less a standard thing in modern games (blame Dark Souls) so it may surprise you that this isn’t the case in Final Fantasy XVI. You can use healing potions anytime, anywhere. Just got smashed by a major boss attack and your health bar is rapidly dwindling? Slam a health potion or two and you may yet survive.

　　

Don't forget to parry

While Final Fantasy XVI has a number of options for dodging enemy attacks, it also has a somewhat under-publicized parry system. The parry timing isn’t even particularly hard, and the reward is significant, giving you a few seconds of slo-mo that you can use to pummel your enemy. Some of the more elaborate boss attacks can’t be parried, but almost every boss also has more standard attacks they’ll fall back on and it’s often worth it to figure out the parry timing for them.

　　

Don't forget about Torgal

Your canine buddy Torgal isn’t just there to look cuddly, you can control when he launches his attacks, which can be surprisingly useful. In particular, Torgal’s Ravage command is one of the better ways to launch enemies for airborne combos as it doesn’t have the cooldown time of most Eikonic Abilities.

　　

Make use of Hall of Virtue training mode

Is Final Fantasy XVI’s combat still not gelling despite my tips? Well, you might want to check out the Hall of Virtue training mode, which is accessed via the Arete Stone in Cid’s Hideaway. The Hall of Virtue allows you to set a wide array of parameters and practice your abilities and combos as you see fit.

　　Speaking of combos, before we wrap up this article, here are a few sequences and techniques I found reliably useful…

　　Air juggle – Don’t forget to think vertically! Launch your enemy into the air with Torgal’s Ravage, Garuda’s Wicked Wheel, or one of several other similar abilities, then smack ‘em down with Downthrust, Phoenix's Scarlet Cyclone, or Ramuh's Thunderstorm.Yo-yo – Keep your opponent guessing with a mix of near and far attacks. Hit your enemy with a long-range ability like Phoenix’s Heatwave, pull them in with Deadly Embrace, pummel them with Titan’s Windup or some other punishing ability, then knock them away again with Shiva’s Ice Age.Crowd management – Rain down destruction from above with Bahamut’s Wings of Light or Impulse, then unleash Flare Breath. Even the biggest, toughest mobs will melt in your wake.There you go, a few tips that should have you kicking ass and taking names across Valisthea. Of course, everyone has their own favorite techniques. Feel free to share yours, below.

　　Final Fantasy XVI is out now on PS5. You can check out Wccftech’s other Final Fantasy XVI guides here.