Final Fantasy XVI | Best Early Game Tips & Tricks

Final Fantasy XVI gives you extraordinary powers, weapons, and more from the start. Let's discuss some key tips without spoilers.

Game Guide by Rayan on Aug 12, 2023

Final Fantasy XVI's combat mechanism is the game's most distinctive feature, especially compared to similar role-playing games. The seeming efficiency of the fighting mechanism can be attributed to the game's emphasis on player participation. By carefully orchestrating your strikes and dodging, you can speed up the cooldown of your talents and increase their damage, among additional advantages.

But even if you master the fighting mechanism early in the game, you might struggle against many enemies without being careful. The good news is that you can access incredible powers, weapons, and more from the beginning of Final Fantasy XVI. So, let's review some of the major tips without giving away any spoilers.

Final Fantasy XVI, Early Game Tips & Tricks, Game Guide, Early Abilities, Powers, NoobFeed

Activate Target Follow

First, I recommend checking the camera settings because an important option buried deep within the menu needs to be activated. It's called the Target Follow. Therefore, when you eliminate your opponent using the standard method, the camera will continue to follow you even if the following target is located off-screen. If you enable this function, the game automatically switches cameras when you move. It's helpful since it'll zero in on the next threat, even if it's behind you.

Crafting and Upgrading Weapons

When you initially arrive at the Hideaway, you can only take the best attacking sword for your level with you. Perhaps you've already completed this, but if not, the Food for Thoughts side quest can be found at the Fat Chocobo, which is conveniently located nearby. He will have everything he needs to progress to the +2 level in just a few short minutes. For the most part, the game's optional side quests are well worth your time if you don't mind taking a break from the main storyline.

A second objective is available the first time you visit the Hideaway; completing it rewards you with a Meteorite and a Gil Bug. Obviously, you can get 200 Gil for it. There's no need to keep them, and it's even simpler to get back to making the greatest weapon possible by selling anything of value using the touchpad's "sell all valuables" function.

This can happen sooner than if you are stuck with the main tale after the halfway point. When you check the Hideaway and notice a gold dot at the blacksmith, new items are available, and you can get a stronger weapon. The +2 weapon can be obtained in two ways: first, by making the +1 version and then upgrading it to level 2, as I did initially; second, by purchasing the ordinary weapon from the nearby shop and then upgrading it to +1 and finally to level 2. While upgrading the weapon to +1 will require some Wyrrite, the cost will be much less than the Gil required to purchase it.

This is why, despite frequently switching weapons, you should always invest in the newest weapon upgrade as soon as it becomes available. After the Wings of Change task, having that extra attack is fantastic; thus, you should only make a purple weapon to upgrade. So unless you've got a better one, hold onto it.

After completing the Wings of Change quest, you should visit Charon's Toll to purchase the Goldwork Sash and the Battlechains from the Belts and Vambraces vendor. At the beginning of the game, I never spent any time or resources building a belt or vambraces. It's a good idea to buy and save them until you can afford the purple main narrative improvements.

Final Fantasy XVI, Early Game Tips & Tricks, Game Guide, Early Abilities, Powers

Utilize Items Fast

You may always start the game strong using the early-game items you obtain. During the early stages of the main quest, Louder Than Words, you can acquire the Cleric's Medallion Amulet, which boosts the healing power of your potions to 20 or more. This is similar to the Ring of Timely Assistance in that it allows Torgel to perform his attacks automatically without input from the player. You can ignore Torgle's special moves, but doing so will allow you to concentrate much more on the combos you want to pull off with Clive.

Activate These Skills Early

Early in the game, Clive has access to various talents, some of which are superior to others. Thankfully, you may always start over and put those points toward your strongest abilities. You can access these powerful skills more quickly if you earn ability points early. However, before we get into the rest of the Magic Burst upgrade recommendations, let's look at the first ring.

This makes it much less difficult to perform triangle attacks in between your standard sword swings, which, in turn, significantly boosts your overall damage output. Every fourth hit in a combo with the Magic Burst does extra damage and knocks back weaker enemies, allowing you to finish them off with a lethal strike after a dash.

It's great to have this enhancement to enable you to achieve this playstyle once again. The Precision Dodge ability is another one I think could be strengthened. This also facilitates the addition of such fine details. To resist the more powerful assaults of the bosses, you can slow down time and follow up with a tremendous strike. It was a huge assistance to me as the game progressed. Thanks to Swift Recovery, you can stay in the action, even during tough boss fights.

Parrying is more difficult than blocking because you must attack when your opponent is ready to strike you. You can enlarge your parry window invisibly using the Burning Blade talent. Burning Blade halts time, giving you more opportunity to counterattack before being hit. As a result, they can get a ton of hits, and the stagger bar can be lowered to trigger the parry much more easily. I've been employing this strategy against more formidable enemies with more gradual attacks.

Master Special Attacks

I recommend swapping out the Rising Flame active skill from Phoenix as soon as possible for Heatwave. The initial slam does damage on its own, while the following flame wave costs only 120 ability points before being upgraded to a second wave that costs 600 ability points. However, you can skip the upgrade by ensuring the standard capability.

However, the most effective Phoenix spell in 1695 was Flames of Rebirth. This allows you to quickly dispatch several enemies with a single blow, and if any of them manage to survive, you may easily finish them off with a few more blows. That's not all, though. After taking damage, if your health bar is partially grayed out, this ability will restore your health to that point. It has a huge cooldown of two minutes, which is the sole drawback. That's a lot more time than the Heatwave's 25-second cooldown.

After putting in a few hours, you can access the Garuda skills menu. Since the Aerial Blast tornado required 1540 ability points to unlock, I decided to keep the first two skills I had activated and wait until I could afford them. For 15 seconds, you can call down a tornado on the battlefield, engulfing and devouring weaker enemies who are helpless to defend themselves. Larger targets are disrupted while taking massive amounts of damage over time.

It's a lot of fun to capture targets in the area and drag them into the tornado path. When the tornado's current victim is no longer alive, it will move on to the next one. It's the most entertaining skill available early on, and it can be upgraded to last for 25 seconds. However, there's no need to update it, as spending money on unlocking this capability so soon would be wasteful.

Final Fantasy XVI, Early Game Tips & Tricks, Game Guide, Early Abilities, Powers

Earn Skill Points Rapidly

Very early in the game, after the Wings of Change objective, there is a great area to go to farm ability points. You can locate a soldier and an Avis if you fast-travel back to the Caer Norvent Glorieuse Gate and turn left. After dispatching them, you come upon a trio of Imperials who are easy pickings.

Killing these enemies takes about 2 minutes, but you'll gain about 100 skill points in return. Return to the Hideaway, then to the Caer Norvent Glorious Gate, and continue this process to farm points. If defeating the Avis proves too difficult, you need not waste time worrying about the Imperials. Since returning to the Hideaway restores the cool down, I stopped using them. You can't access this Farm until early on in the game, before the Righting Wrongs mission.

Get the Free Potions

The blue sparkles will reset when you visit the Caer Norvent Glorieuse Gate fast travel point. However, you can use the abovementioned method to obtain an infinite supply of potions. This occurs each time you use quick travel to enter or leave a region, and the same item is given for each blue sparkle throughout the game. This means you can make as many powerful potions as you want without spending money on the materials. If you're short on Gil, you can always resell them.

Two normal potions can be found nearby; please also take advantage of these. Killing the squad of soldiers will get you some extra AP, and then you can simply return to the Hideaway via the fast travel point and restock on potions. Since Gil is so simple to obtain, this isn't a great Gil farm, but it is nice to know that you can stock up on potions without spending any money.

Don't Underestimate Early Abilities

Towards the game's middle, it's recommended that you gain access to two additional fire Phoenix skills. Will O' The Wykes is one of them; it protects you from harm and deals continual damage to nearby enemies by showering you with fireballs. These fireballs last long if they aren't destroyed by the enemy, making them ideal for damaging stagger bars.

Two great Phoenix powers are the Flames of Rebirth and the Will O' The Wykes. Ignition is another powerful ability, especially if you capture numerous enemies at once or hit a single victim with its full effect. Only a good choice if you're facing off against inferior enemies without a stagger bar.

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