Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Guides

The best skills in Final Fantasy 16

Jesse Lennox
By

It was made clear from the start that Final Fantasy 16 would feature a much more action-oriented battle system than any other entry in the series. While not quite on the level of a Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, the battle system is fast-paced, deep, and allows for tons of experimentation and expression through the various mechanics and skills. While many of the typical JRPG systems have to take a back seat for this new focus, leveling up and learning new skills certainly has not, but instead has changed shape. You will still earn Ability points by leveling up but now spend them as you wish on the various abilities in your menu. There are standard abilities, as well as some tied to your Eikons, and each can be upgraded multiple times to make them more effective. No matter how much you do, you won’t be able to master them all in a single playthrough, so here are the best skills to invest in Final Fantasy 16.

Lunge

A decription and vido showing the lunge skill.
Square Enix

If you’re familiar with the Stinger move in other character-action games, Lunge will instantly be familiar. This move, performed by hitting X and Square at the same time, will cause Clive to lunge forward with his sword toward your target enemy. This is a great way to initiate a battle, or move between targets quickly and while dealing damage. To make it even better, if you interrupt an enemy in the process of attacking you with a Lunge, you can also parry them.

Lunge costs 25 AP to unlock, and 200 to master.

Recommended Videos

Charged Magic

Magic works quite differently in Final Fantasy 16 than in basically any other JRPG. Instead of having a magic bar or points you spend to cast spells, Clive can toss out magic basically for free. The downside is that these little pelts don’t do much damage. If you unlock Charged Magic you can — you guessed it — charge your magic to deal far more damage. By holding Triangle Clive will power up his spell before unleashing it, potentially breaking guard.

Related

Charged Magic costs 20 AP to unlock and 250 to master, which reduces the charge time.

Precision Dodge

Dodging isn’t a random chance tied to stats anymore, and instead done by pure skill and timing. You start off with the ability to do Precision Dodges by tapping R1 just before an attack hits Clive to temporarily slow down time and give you an opportunity for either a Precision Counter or Precision Counter Shot depending on whether you hit the attack or magic button. By mastering this skill you make the timing window on activating a Precision Dodge much larger, allowing you to more easily take advantage of them.

Mastering Precision Dodge costs 500 AP.

Swift Recovery

A description and video showing the swift recovery skill
Square Enix

Getting knocked down and waiting those agonizing moments for Clive to get back to his feet is the worst. Thankfully the Swift Recovery skill is cheap and available from the start. Once unlocked, a well-timed press of R1 upon getting knocked off your feet will let you instantly recover and get back into the fight. It’s so simple and cheap, plus makes the combat more fun, there’s no reason not to get it right away.

Swift Recovery costs 10 AP.

Heatwave

Heatwave is a Phoenix ability that you will automatically get as part of the story. This particular skill conjures up a wall of flames that destroys any incoming projectiles and then sends out shockwaves based on the number of projectiles blocked. The more you block, the shorter the cooldown as well. This makes it a great defensive and offensive tool.

You can unlock Heatwave for 120 AP, upgrade it for 620, and master it for 1,000 which allows you to use it with any Eikon equipped.

Judgment Bolt

Yes, this skill is as powerful as the name suggests. A Ramuh skill, you will need to play a bit further on to gain access to it. Once you do, prioritize getting Judgment Bolt. This skill calls down a bolt of lightning to a single target, although there is a small splash damage zone, for massive damage and decent stagger.

You will need to save up quite a bit for this skill. Unlocking Judgment Bolt costs 2,300 AP, another 3,140 to upgrade, and 5,500 to master.

Editors' Recommendations

Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox loves writing, games, and complaining about not having time to write and play games. He knows the names of more…
The best vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2
Dragon's Dogma 2 key art featuring a knight with a fiery hole in their chest.

Your Vocation defines your role in combat in Dragon's Dogma 2. Everything from your skills to what weapons and armor you can use is tied to this class. You will pick from just a handful at the beginning of the game, but can easily change Vocations later on, as well as unlock more than twice as many new options than what you start with. It can take a while to really get a feel for a Vocation and how it performs in combat, as well as to look through all of its skills and augments, before knowing if it's worth sticking with to level up. Personal preference will play a part to some degree, but these Vocations have the most potential to make you the strongest Arisen in history.
The best vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2

You can pick from 4 Vocations at the start of Dragon's Dogma 2, but will end up with a total of 10 by the end of the game if you unlock them all. New Vocations are unlocked by completing quests, but they are almost unmissable. Four Vocations -- the Magick Archer, Mystic Spearhand, Trickster, and Warfarer -- can only be used by your character and not any Pawns.
Warfarer
There's very little downside to being a jack-of-all-trades in Dragon's Dogma 2, which is exactly what the Warfarer is. This is the only Vocation that can use any weapon in the game AND learn any skill from other Vocations. This is the only Vocation that really lets you build whatever class you want and gives you the ability to adapt to any situation you find yourself in. The main downside to this class is it has the lowest base stats, but that is a small price to pay for how versatile you can be.
Mystic Spearhand
Hybrid Vocations are all quite powerful, but we put the Mystic Spearhand at the top of the heap. This class turns you into a fighter that can take advantage of magic to output crazy damage. The two almost overpowered abilities you get here are the ability to slow enemies for a short time and to create a magical mimic that doubles all your actions. It is great for both crowd control and large single targets, but takes a while to unlock and lacks some range.
Warrior
If you're going to be a straight-up melee fighter, you might as well hit with the biggest weapon you can, right? The Warrior swings swords large enough to make Guts blush and is a full-on tank. You won't be doing anything fancy with this vocation beyond charging up and swinging as hard as possible. The obvious drawback is any flying or ranged enemy will counter you, so bring some Pawns in those classes to cover your bases.
Sorcerer
For those who fancy themselves a pure mage, stick to the Sorcerer over the actual Mage vocation. While the Mage is more focused on healing, it is the Sorcerer who gets the best offensive spells you will want to be casting. If you have a second Sorcerer with you, you can even sync up and decrease your casting time. If not, you will need some tanks to take aggro while you deal with some slightly long casting times and low total health.
Thief
As far as the starting Vocations go, the Thief is the one we find the most fun and viable for the entire game. This is a light and speedy build focused on critical hits and being able to climb and hang on to large beasts. Once on, you have a number of great skills to stagger and knock down an enemy so the rest of your squad to gang up on it. Just don't get hit because you're one of the squishier Vocations.

Read more
When will Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth be on PC?
final fantasy vii rebirth ending analysis 7 tifa aerith cloud

PlayStation 5 players have been raving about the second part of the FF7 remake project Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. As with the first part, it was made clear well in advance that this game would be a PlayStation exclusive at launch, however, we did eventually get Remake of the first part on PC around a year later. This gives PC players hope that the same treatment will be given to Rebirth, but the big question becomes how long will we have to wait this time? Is it possible to see it come to PC storefronts faster than its prequel, or will we need to bide our time avoiding spoilers for months on end? Here's our best estimate as to when you can expect to see Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on PC.
What is the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth PC release date?

The sad fact of the matter is we don't have an official release date for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on PC or any other platform at this time. But there is reason to at least hope that the wait won't be as long this time around. Our only clue is that the marketing for Rebirth states that it is a PlayStation 5 exclusive until at least May 29, 2024. That's exactly three months after its initial release.

Read more
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: all piano sheet music locations and rewards
Cloud playing the piano in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

While there's no shortage of ways to distract yourself while playing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, one of the most unexpected minigames is the surprisingly deep piano system. In most of the major hub towns you encounter across the expansive world, Cloud can find a piano to sit down at and tickle the keys. You're free to play any song you want in free play, but you can turn this system into a full-on rhythm game, almost like Guitar Hero, by collecting sheet music of some of the game's most iconic tracks. There's even an NPC near each piano who will reward you if you get a high enough rank on each song. Cloud may not be the most expressive in his words, but he can sure play the piano with heart. Here is where you can find all the sheet music and what rewards await if you can master them.
Where to find all sheet music

Sheet music, thankfully, isn't hidden away in chests or has to be purchased for crazy amounts of Gil, but a few do have some hidden requirements. Each new composition is found on a piano in the world and is free to snag once you sit down. Even if you don't feel like playing right then and there, make sure you always at least grab the music to add to your collection so you don't have to backtrack later and get it. There are eight in total to find, and some will only come later in the story, but none are missable once you open up fast travel back to previous areas. This is the natural order you can collect them.
On Our Way
Our first piece of music can be picked up once you hit Chapter 4. During this section, go to the Crow's Nest town in the Junon region, which you can only enter by doing the "When Words Won't Do" side quest. Once you complete this quest and can freely enter the town, hit up the bar and grab this tune.
Tifa's Theme
After a rather exciting cruise to Costa del Sol in Chapter 6, you can add this piece to your collection by making a quick stop at the fancy Royal Crown Hotel.
Barret's Theme
Not much further into the game in Chapter 7 you will visit Barret's old hometown of Corel. The Rock Bottom Bar is waiting with his song.
Cinco de Chocobo
Chapter 9 takes you through the town of Gongaga. Even a town way out in the forest has a piano, which means yet another song to snag.
Two Legs? Nothin' to it
One chapter later, in Chapter 10, you need to do a little exploring in Cosmo Canyon to find your way to the piano, but the icon on your map won't lead you astray.
Aerith's Theme
Perhaps the most iconic song in the entire game, if not the franchise, is hidden behind a completely optional side quest. Once you reach Chapter 11, return to Nibelheim and do the "White-Haired Angel" side quest. It may seem totally irrelevant, but the quest ends with you playing and collecting this song.
Let the Battles Begin!
Once you prove your skills and get an A rank or better on all prior songs, you will get this new one as a reward from the NPC Dorian next to all pianos.
One-Winged Angel
We're not sure if fighting Sephiroth or getting this song is harder. If you want to play this terrifying arrangement, you need to donate all 88 Treasure Trove items to Johnny. This more or less requires you to 100% the entire game
All song rewards
For every song you A rank, Dorian will give you a prize when you talk to him. Here's everything you can get:

Read more