Final Fantasy XVI Guide | How To Beat Leviathan

Here's everything you need to know to beat one of the most powerful Eikons in Final Fantasy XVI.

Game Guide by Sabi on Jan 22, 2025

Leviathan is one of the most powerful Eikons in Final Fantasy XVI and provides a difficult and cinematic encounter that requires both your reflexes and strategic thinking. While this encounter contains visually amazing passages, it also needs careful application of your skills. Here's a complete guide to help you defeat Leviathan and emerge victorious.

Preparation for Battle

Final Fantasy XVI Guide, Preparation for Battle

Before going against Leviathan, have Clive fully prepared by equipping him with weapons and accessories that focus on increasing attack power, stagger damage, and healing effectiveness. Combine abilities from other Eikons to round out your build.

Talents such as Phoenix Shift, Garuda's Deadly Embrace, and Shiva's Ice Age prove very helpful in this encounter for mobility, stagger damage, and crowd control. Stock up on as many healing potions and elixirs as possible, for this fight has several phases that may leave you drained if you are careless.

Navigating Leviathan's Arena

Final Fantasy XVI Guide, Navigating Leviathan's Arena

Leviathan starts the battle in an aquatic, large, and agile arena. Mastering Leviathan's rhythm of attack is the secret to surviving this phase. Leviathan will perform frequent sweeping tail attacks, water orbs, and even certain forms of spell casting that deal with Hydro-based attacks.

Dodge the sweeps by monitoring the general movement of its body; every time it arches its tail, dodge. When it uses any of its magical water-based spells, make sure to time dodges appropriately to avoid unnecessary damage.

Pay attention to staying mobile and closing the distance of contact where possible. Utilize Phoenix Shift or Deadly Embrace for quick gap closers and setting up combos. Every now and then, Leviathan will retreat into the water and cause whirlpools and crashing waves. In these phases, stay back and focus on dodging until he re-emerges.

The Aerial Combat Segment

Final Fantasy XVI Guide, The Aerial Combat Segment

In a surprising turn of events, the fight transitions into an aerial section where you will be dueling Leviathan at high speed. This segment is all about precision and fast reactions. Leviathan will spew water torrents and try to ram into you, so watch the screen for on-cue moves and dodge when necessary. If possible, use any long-range capabilities to whittle down its health while you dodge its various attacks.

In this phase, Leviathan can summon water clones to distract you; these clones can also attack but are way weaker than the original body. You need to attack them fast so they won't swarm. Observe the attacking and movement patterns of the real Leviathan.

Staggering and exploiting weaknesses

Final Fantasy XVI Guide, Staggering and exploiting weaknesses

These will become increasingly violent and less predictable as the fight progresses; thus, this phase is somewhat of an endurance race. It'll start releasing huge beams of water and tidal waves that will cover most areas of the battlefield. These attacks are somewhat well-telegraphed, but if you are not paying attention, they may be difficult to dodge. Pay extra attention to visual cues, such as Leviathan's glowing fins or animations building up, to anticipate what he's going to do.

This phase is almost all about stunning Leviathan to create openings for high-damage combos. Employ an ability that highly ramps up stagger damage fast, such as Titan's abilities or Garuda's Wicked Wheel. When he is staggered, let loose with the most powerful strikes; these can include Limit Break or a fully charged Zantetsuken if Odin is equipped.

The Climactic Final Assault

In the last stage, he combines all his previous attacks into new and more destructive moves. Among most of his ruinous powers is "Tidal Cataclysm," where he will flood the arena and leave only small platforms for the players to step onto. Time a jump or dash across the platforms to avoid being caught in the water. Pay extra attention to the timing of this, as Leviathan can create other hits during your repositioning.

In this stage, Leviathan's health will be considerably low, so pressurize it while dodging the attacks. Where the conditions are too dangerous to get near personally, use area-of-effect skills and spells to inflict continuous damage. Be on the lookout for chances to stun Leviathan one last time and finish him with a strong combination.

Tips to Succeed

Mobility will save you from his area-of-effect attacks; Leviathan can attack in very wide areas.
Conserve Resources: Use high-damage skills and Limit Break only during staggered windows.
Observe Assault Animations and Hints: Observe Leviathan's attack animations and hints to learn his patterns
Adapt Your Loadout: Change your abilities to counter Leviathan's attacks.

Beating Leviathan is very satisfying, as it shows some of the best moments with Final Fantasy XVI's combat and plot. If you follow this approach and stay patient, defeating this formidable obstacle will grant you another epic Eikon triumph to add to your record.

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