Before you summon your first Eikon or clash blades with Valisthea’s fiercest foes, there are a few hard truths and subtle mechanics that can shape your entire experience in Final Fantasy 16. These nine insights will help you master its combat flow, manage your powers wisely, and appreciate the story’s darker edges right from the first battle.
Complete the side quests
Side quests in Final Fantasy 16 add depth to the story and enrich your understanding of the world and its characters. They often grant valuable rewards such as crafting materials, new gear, or passive abilities that make combat smoother later on. Some quests expand character backstories or introduce hidden mechanics that the main story never explains. Completing them steadily as you progress helps keep your power level balanced and ensures you don’t miss meaningful narrative details.
As you progress in the main story, you’ll unlock side quests that are marked by a green exclamation point. These side quests will provide you with more lore on what is happening around Valisthea, and they will make your Final Fantasy 16 that much more immersive. Also, the rewards from these side quests often provide crafting materials for weapons and equipment that you may be missing.
Keep an eye out for side quests marked with a plus sign as these quests reward you with upgrades like increased inventory capacity, accessory slots, and chocobo riding.
Stock up on potions
Stock up on potions before major story missions and boss fights, because FF16 does not offer traditional healing magic for Clive. You can only carry a limited number at once, so keep your inventory full whenever you pass a shop or rest point. Potions and high potions let you stay aggressive instead of retreating to avoid damage, which keeps your damage output high and shortens difficult encounters. Upgrade your potion capacity at the Hideaway’s apothecary as soon as the option becomes available, and do not be afraid to use items early rather than hoarding them for later.
You may think to yourself that you won’t need to heal because you simply won’t take damage. I thought the same way, and made it through many of the battles without needing any, but you start to realize that more and more bosses are getting thrown at you with no break in between. You’ll start using your potions thinking that the fight is over, but you thought wrong! Reinforcements are on their way and another boss battle is looming in the distance.
Use your ability points as you get them
Ability points pile up quickly, so spend them as you earn them instead of letting them sit unused. Upgrading Clive’s skills early gives you more options in combat and helps you learn how each ability feels before tougher battles appear. Experiment with different combinations to find attacks and Eikon powers that fit your playstyle, and don’t hesitate to respec later if you want to try something new.
In Final Fantasy 16, you can refund your abilities at no cost. If you upgrade an ability, but don’t end up liking it, you can regain all of your spent ability points and use them to upgrade a different ability. Test out all of the abilities to see which abilities fit your playstyle and make your ultimate build.
Save as much as you want
Saving often can spare you a lot of frustration in Final Fantasy 16. The game auto-saves frequently, but relying on it alone can backfire before tough fights or story moments. Creating manual saves gives you the freedom to revisit earlier points, experiment with different choices, or retry challenging battles without losing progress. Keep multiple save slots so you can backtrack if needed and explore new strategies with confidence.
Final Fantasy 16 does a good job at auto-saving the game for you, but you’ll have up to 50 save slots to use! There aren’t many game-altering decisions, but you should save often to revisit any point in your playthrough for at least one reason: This is the only way to see Torgal as a puppy again.
Use Active Time Lore to refresh your memory
Active Time Lore pops up during cutscenes in Final Fantasy 16. It offers quick summaries of key characters, locations, and events. Pause the game anytime to access it from the menu and review details on the fly. This tool keeps the sprawling story straight without backtracking through hours of footage.
When I play story-rich games like Final Fantasy 16, I’ll often forget who some characters are and their relations with the main protagonist. If you’re anything like me, Creative Business Unit III and Square Enix seem to have figured out a solution for our collective short-term memory.
Hold down the touch pad on your PlayStation 5 controller to use the Active Time Lore feature, which contains more than 2,800 different entries of information on characters, locations, and events that are taking place around you. This is even usable during cutscenes when you see an unfamiliar face!
Don’t immediately reinforce early on
Early in Final Fantasy 16, don’t rush to reinforce your weapons or accessories. The materials and gil you spend are better saved for later chapters, where new gear becomes available quickly and offers far better stats. Early upgrades don’t give much of an advantage, and you might regret wasting rare crafting items you’ll need for stronger equipment later in the game. Take time to learn combat first, and wait until mid-game to invest heavily in your gear.
When you first arrive at the Hideaway, you’ll meet the blacksmith, Blackthorne. At the blacksmith, you can craft new weapons and equipment or reinforce the gear you already own. It may be tempting to reinforce your gear to the next big thing, but hold off on that for a little bit.
Early on, you aren’t provided with many side quests, so all of the content you can complete is focused around the main story. Once you complete a main story quest, you’ll return to the Hideaway to find out that there is a new big shiny toy you can craft at the blacksmith. This happens often in the beginning of Final Fantasy 16, so hold onto your reinforcement materials for now.
Sell your valuables
Selling old weapons, accessories, and materials you no longer need can free up gil for stronger gear and crafting supplies. Vendors appear in most towns and outposts, and their prices vary slightly depending on the region. Before parting with rare items, double-check if they’re used in crafting or upgrades, as some materials have limited sources. Keeping your inventory tidy makes it easier to track valuable drops and avoid running short on funds during tougher battles.
As you’re looking through the shop menus, you may be thinking to yourself, “Why is every orchestrion roll so expensive?” and “It’ll take me forever to get this much gil!”
Boy, do I have the solution for you. During your playthrough, you’ll collect numerous gil bugs, black blood, amber, and empty shards. These are not crafting materials used to create your next weapon or equipment, but instead are valuables that can be traded for gil. Head over to your nearest shop and sell all of your valuables by pressing the touch pad to make a lot of gil at once.
Don’t just spam the melee combo
Blindly mashing attack buttons won’t get you far in Final Fantasy 16. The combat system rewards timing, precision, and smart use of Eikon abilities. Mixing quick strikes, magic bursts, and ability combos keeps enemies staggered and damage flowing while avoiding wasted openings. Learn each enemy’s patterns and adjust your rhythm instead of relying on the standard melee chain-your fights will look better and end faster.
The melee combo may be the first thing that the tutorial teaches you, but don’t get into the habit of spamming square over and over! Final Fantasy 16 has a lot to offer in combat, and if you’re stuck with just mashing square, you may get bored very quickly. Weave in a magic burst in between your melee attacks, or bring the battle into the air with your abilities. The combat can be very entertaining as long as you get creative with it and avoid the impulse to spam melee attacks.
Play your way
Final Fantasy 16 gives you plenty of flexibility in how you approach battles and character builds. Experiment with different Eikon abilities and find combinations that fit your rhythm, whether you prefer fast-paced offense or calculated defense. Adjust the game’s accessibility rings to tailor combat difficulty, making fights feel fluid without sacrificing challenge. Don’t be afraid to switch strategies as you gain new powers-adapting your playstyle keeps combat fresh and engaging.
If you’re here for the rich story, choose the story-focused mode. If you want to hack and slash your way through the enemies, go ahead and spam that melee button – I mean, uhh, choose the action-focused mode. You can always change the focus in the settings at any point in your playthrough.
For those worried about combat, you can equip timely accessories that make the combat a little less daunting. The timely accessories are available in both modes, but will be equipped from the start of the story focused mode. These accessories will lower the difficulty level by making combos easier, providing more time to evade attacks, evading attacks automatically, using a potion when your HP drops below a certain point, and inputting assist commands automatically.
Best early Eikon abilities to unlock
Phoenix and Garuda provide the most versatile early Eikon abilities in Final Fantasy 16, focusing on stagger buildup, crowd control, and combo starters. Prioritize these unlocks right after earning ability points at the Arete Stone to smooth progression through the opening chapters.
Phoenix Abilities
Unlock Heatwave first as a reliable fireball for ranged poke and minor stagger, usable from the prologue. Follow with Rising Flames to launch enemies for aerial combos, which pairs well with basic attacks. Flames of Rebirth caps the set with massive AoE damage, healing, and stagger during Limit Break.
Garuda Abilities
Rook’s Gambit (Deadly Embrace) excels early by pulling enemies into range at half-stagger, enabling precision follow-ups. Wicked Wheel spins through groups for multi-hits and air juggling, ideal for mob clears. Gouge adds piercing damage to extend combos.
Unlock Priority Order
Spend AP on Rook’s Gambit and Heatwave immediately post-tutorial for defense and offense. Next, grab Wicked Wheel and Rising Flames before Ifrit’s unlock. Refund less optimal picks like Scarlet Cyclone later via the ability menu.
Which Eikons are most useful for early-game stagger farming
Garuda stands out as the top Eikon for early-game stagger farming in Final Fantasy 16, with Phoenix providing strong complementary support through its abilities. These focus on rapid gauge depletion during the opening chapters before later Eikons like Shiva or Bahamut become available.
Garuda’s Stagger Strengths
Garuda excels at building the stagger bar quickly via Gouge for piercing multi-hits and Wicked Wheel for AoE spins that juggle groups. Rook’s Gambit pulls foes at half-stagger, setting up extended combos without repositioning. Use these in rotation to hit the gauge efficiently on mobs and mini-bosses.
Phoenix Backup Role
Phoenix abilities like Heatwave deliver ranged stagger pressure, while Rising Flames launches enemies for aerial follow-ups. Pair Scarlet Cyclone early if AP allows, as it contributes solid Will gauge damage in crowds. Flames of Rebirth adds burst during partial staggers for healing and extra ticks.
Early Loadout Tips
Equip Garuda’s Rook’s Gambit and Wicked Wheel first, adding Phoenix Heatwave for poke. Precision dodge into Gouge chains to maximize uptime, avoiding cooldown overlaps. This setup clears early zones like Greatwood faster than melee alone.
