Final Fantasy XVI's action combat system gives players ample freedom on how to deal with enemies, allowing them to use a variety of abilities to combo mobs to death. Things, however, are a little different with bigger-sized enemies whose actions cannot be interrupted, thus limiting Clive's combo and damage potential.
By reducing the enemy's Stagger Bar by using attacks that deal Wil damage, Clive can knock these enemies down, leaving them defenseless for a short amount of time. And it's at this point that your dance of death should begin.
What Are The Best Abilities To Maximize Damage During Stagger in Final Fantasy XVI
Shiva's Eikonic Feat Coldsnap is a must to use against staggered enemies in Final Fantasy XVI, as inflicting Frostbite with it will freeze the Stagger Bar, giving you more time to deal damage. Before the enemy is staggered and then frozen, you should use Wings of Light to cast Megaflare so as to increase the damage over time as you execute your combo on the staggered enemy. After the enemy is knocked down and then frozen, you should immediately activate Limit Break and use Odin's Zantetsuken, which should be charged to the maximum level before the enemy is staggered by using abilities such as Dancing Steel and the Arm of Darkness Eikonic Feat.
Once Zantetsuken has been used, it's time to go wild with some abilities. Use Shiva's Diamond Dust and Ramuh's Judgment Bolt, and then activate Lighting Rod. Using Odin's Dancing Steel will allow you to charge another Level 5 Zantetsuken and activate the rod for some additional damage. Follow it up with Bahamuth's Gigaflare and Phoenix's Flames of Rebirth to deal massive amounts of damage that should get rid of any enemy in Story-Focused or Action-Focused modes. For Final Fantasy and Ultimaniac Mode, this combo may not be enough to kill heavy enemies and bosses, but it will still deal massive damage that should make the fight shorter.
As you need to unlock all Eikon and their most powerful abilities, you will only be able to use the combo above during the final segments of Final Fantasy XVI, and from the second playthrough onward, those who are still working through the main campaign may want to use a few other techniques to maximize damage. The aforementioned Ramuh's Lighting Rod is a great ability to use to do so, as it creates a ball of lighting upon use which chains lighting to nearby enemies, and any AOE or multi-hit attack you use will set it off. With Ifrit's Will o' the Wykes, which summons fireballs that circle Clive to deal damage to nearby targets, you can set off Lighting Rod repeatedly to deal a lot of damage and quickly increase the stagger damage multiplier to 1.50 while you are free to attack with any other attack or Eikon ability. Lighting Rod synergizes well with a lot of other abilities, such as Gouge, Thunderstorm, Raging Fists, and Dancing Steel, so mastering Lighting Rod to equip it to any Eikon should be your number one priority so as not to be forced to equip Ramuh and have to give up on any Eikonic Feat more useful than Blind Justice.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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