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Final Fantasy 16 spends a lot of time building up to the fight that Clive has with Hugo. Hugo is a commanding force in the game’s story so when it comes time to finally fight him, players should expect a tough encounter.
Luckily, Final Fantasy 16 doesn’t disappoint and the boss fight is excellent, but it can be a major wall for players since Hugo is such a menacing foe. Because he’s such a great warrior, he has a laundry list of attacks hidden up his sleeve that players will need to be able to counter if they want to walk away victorious.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to beat Hugo in Final Fantasy 16.
More Final Fantasy 16 guides:
All Guides & Walkthroughs | Beginner’s Guide | Best Weapon Unlock Guide | All Consumable Upgrades | Chocobo Mount Unlock | All Curiosity Collectibles | All Notorious Marks | All Patron Items | All Letters | Beginner’s Guide | Benedikta Boss Guide | Garuda Boss Guide | How Long Does Final Fantasy 16 Take to Beat? | Blacksmith Blues Side Quest Guide | Akashic Dragon Boss Guide | Typhon the Transgressor Boss Guide | Liquid Flame Boss Guide | Akashic Morbol Boss Guide | Coeurl Boss Guide |
How to Beat the Hugo Boss Fight
Hugo is one of the most difficult fights in Final Fantasy 16 for two reasons: his diverse set of abilities and how much damage he can dish out in such a short amount of time. Because Clive fights Hugo without the help of Torgal, players won’t be able to rely on the healing he offers, so they’ll need to be very careful to not take too much damage or else they’ll run the risk of using all of their potions and getting a game over.
To avoid taking too much damage, you’ll need to dodge as many of Kupka’s attacks as possible which is a bit easier said than done since he has so many different attacks that, more often than not, come out extremely fast. Use the guide below to identify which attack Hugo is gearing up to use before he uses it and how to dodge the most devastating blows.
Hugo Boss Phase 1
Assorted Punches: Hugo has a large assortment of regular melee attacks where he’ll swing at you, sometimes with his giant, rock arms. These are pretty simple to see coming and avoid since they’re pretty similar to a lot of the other basic melee attacks you’ve encountered with other humanoid enemies up until this point in the game. Be warned that he usually does several attacks in quick succession, so you’ll have to watch out for multiple attacks at once. Dodge through them and hit back with attacks of your own.
Cross Push: When at medium to long range, Hugo will grow giant rock arms, cross them in front of his body, and then lunge toward you. This attack is pretty easy to see coming since the time between him starting to grow the arms and actually moving toward you to hit you is long, so dodge through the attack when Hugo gets close to hitting you and get in some hits.
Sledgehammer: In the same way that you’re able to parry enemies, Hugo is able to parry you and then get in a devastating attack called Sledgehammer. When you’re attacking Hugo, listen for the sounds of your sword hitting metal. When you do, your attack will be interrupted and Hugo will use Sledgehammer on you. Before he can hit you with an uppercut to begin the attack, dodge out of the way. If he catches you, he’ll hit you high into the air and slam you back down dealing major damage.
Hugo Boss Phase 2
After taking out roughly a quarter of Hugo’s health, you’ll see a quick cutscene where Clive and Hugo continue to fight and eventually break through the floor and into a larger arena. Once the scene is over, the second phase of the fight will begin.
For phase two, Hugo will keep a lot of his moves from the first phase, but will usually add an additional attack to them, making them a little bit more lethal. He’ll also add new, more deadly moves to his attack list.
Geocrush: Geocrush is a large AoE attack that Hugo will start the second phase of the fight with. In it, he’ll jump into the ground and begin to break it apart. After a few seconds of digging underneath the surface, you’ll see a mark on the ground that shows off the AoE range of the attack. You’ll have a few seconds to get out of the attack radius before he jumps through the ground. Once he’s burst through the ground, you can start attacking Hugo once more.
Weight of the Land: Hugo will jump far away from you and several AoE markers will appear on the floor. This attack is a little tricky to dodge because the AoE explosions go off so quickly after their markers appear. Because there’s not a lot of time to run out of the way, it’s best to just dodge through the explosions to avoid taking damage.
Landslide: Often done immediately after using Weight of the Land, Landslide has Hugo break the ground in a straight path that leads away from him. It’s essentially an elemental projectile attack similar to the ones you’ve encountered with other bosses like the Liquid Flame, but instead of shooting a fireball or something like that, it’s just a pillar of rock. Dodge the attack, close the distance, and start hitting Hugo back.
Tumult: When using Tumult, Hugo will jump into the air and slam down on the ground, creating a shockwave that expands to the entire arena. You can either jump over the shockwave or dodge through it. He’ll slam the ground three times, so make sure you avoid each wave.
Titanic Counter: As you counterattack against Hugo, he’ll sometimes put both of his arms up crossed in front of his body to block a handful of your attacks. When he does this, stop hitting him from the front as he’ll eventually hit you back with Titanic Counter which deals massive damage. Instead, either wait for him to lower his arms or circle around back and start hitting him there.
Hugo Boss Phase 3
There isn’t a cutscene to denote the start of phase three, however, you’ll know that the phase has begun once you’ve taken out half of Hugo’s health. He’ll use the same moves as listed above, but continue to be more aggressive and add more moves to his pool.
Torment: Once you’ve taken out half of Hugo’s health, he’ll start using Torment where he grows even bigger rock arms and uses them to attack you with multiple combos. Avoid the swings and rocket arm attacks and eventually, the attack will end with a giant AoE blast where Hugo grows giant and the ground starts to glow. Get outside the AoE radius and wait for a giant explosion. Once the explosion has died down, Hugo will be stunned temporarily. This is the time to get some big hits in so pull out all the stops and use as many Eikon abilities as you can to deal damage and work on staggering him.
Upheaval: While it might seem like a totally new move, Upheaval is actually just a combination between Tumult and Weight of the Land. When he does it, he’ll slam on the ground creating a shockwave to dodge through or jump over all while also making AoE explosions. Dodge through the attacks and you’ll be able to survive.
Force of the Land: This attack has Hugo jump to one end of the boss arena and punch into the ground, causing the entire floor to glow gold. The ground will then have spikes shoot out of it. You won’t be able to dodge through the spikes here so instead, simply jump when the ground starts to glow to avoid taking damage from the spikes.
Earthen Fist: Hugo will create giant rock arms and spread his arms wide and then clap them together in front of him. Get out of the way or dodge through the attack and start getting some hits in as he recovers.
Stripmine: This is a basic AoE attack where Hugo puts his hands on the ground and an AoE explosion bursts out in front of him in a V-shape. You’ll have a few seconds to get out of the way, so run outside the bounds of the AoE marker to avoid taking damage.
