Don’t miss out on the best Eikon abilities in Final Fantasy 16. As you progress through the story, main character Clive Rosfield will unlock more Eikons — powerful summons linked to elemental magic crystals. For each Eikon power you unlock, you’ll gain a selection of abilities you can choose from. Not all abilities are created equal, and you’ll only be able to select two abilities per slot. You have to choose wisely, so here are (what we think) are the best abilities for each Eikon.
It is important to note that you can actually equip more than two abilities from an Eikon. By Mastering a skill with AP, you’ll unlock the ability to slot an ability into any space. You still only have six slots total, but if you want three, four or more abilities from the same Eikon that’s totally possible. You’ll just need to spend a lot of AP.
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Best Phoenix Eikon Abilities
Heatwave: Generates a wall of flame shield, then launches multiple waves of fire to slash ranged enemies. Upgrading causes Clive to launch x4 waves instead of x2 — and you deal more damage when dispelling magic. Very powerful skill you can unlock early and use for the rest of the story.
Flames of Rebirth: This incredibly powerful AOE attack wipes out regular enemies and rapidly drains Stagger Meter on bosses. It takes a long time to recharge but makes standard battles extremely simple. The best ability for large groups of regular enemies. It also restores HP. Costs a lot of AP and has a very slow cooldown. Equip gear that lower your total cooldown to use it more often.
Best Ifrit Eikon Abilities
Ignition: Launches Clive into an enemy, turning you into a burning fireball. You’ll deal constant damage and push the enemy back as you charge forward. Unleashes a sword attack after charging for a last coup de grace. This ability deals high damage to individual enemies and can be used to avoid attacks — you’re invincible while charging. You can also use this attack mid-air to deal more damage. Mid-air attacks always deal more damage.
Best Ramuh Eikon Abilities
Lightning Rod: Generates a ball of lightning that auto-targets nearby enemies when struck and chains into them — very good for dealing with large groups of enemies. The next ability is one of the best in the game for dealing damage to single targets, so if you need a powerful AOE for large groups of enemies in the story, this is a good ability to pick up.
Judgement Bolt: Summons a killer levinbolt from the sky, dealing massive damage to a single enemy. Very good for standard encounters or bosses. This is flat-out one of the strongest single-target attacks in the game. Also deals high Stagger Damage when fully upgraded, able to knock off 50% of the meter in a single attack.
Best Titan Eikon Abilities
Windup: Like all Titan Eikon abilities, you’ll deliver a powerful punch attack. By charging the attack and charging the meter at just the right time, you’ll deal increased damage. Windup lunges Clive forward, dealing massive damage. This is one of the best abilities to pick up mid-game.
Earthen Fury: AOE attack that strikes the ground, launching all enemies in the area into the air, allowing you to use mid-air attacks for bonus damage. String this together with Bahamut abilities to deal some crazy damage.
Best Shiva Eikon Abilities
Mesmerize: Launches projectiles that pull light enemies towards Clive. Great for wrangling groups of enemies and pulling them all in for an AOE.
Diamond Dust: An AOE that’s a great finisher for large groups of enemies, deals incredibly high stagger, and freezes enemies after landing. Can be used to keep a combo going on bosses by staggering and freezing them in place after you’ve used all your other Eikon abilities.
Best Bahamut Eikon Abilities
Impulse: Summons spheres that deal continuous damage to enemies and bind them in place. Very useful for adding constant damage to enemies. Drop Impulse then swap to a different Eikon for maximum damage.
Gigaflare: A straightforward beam of light. Deals high damage and high Stagger meter. Incredibly strong, and especially great after you use Megaflare to inflict constant damage-over-time when your meter is full.
Best Odin Eikon Abilities
Heaven’s Cloud: A series of slash attacks that charge the Zantetsuken Meter that is unique to Odin. You’ll instantly teleport to enemies to strike and can repeat the attack over and over to quickly build meter. The attack itself isn’t that strong. What you’ll want to do is build Zantetsuken to Level 3 to unleash an absolutely devastating attack.
Dancing Steel: Another ability specifically focused on building the Zantetsuken Meter. This ability summons a second blade and unleashes a flurry of attacks. You’ll also teleport to a new target if one is defeated.
And that covers all the abilities we think you need to try. Even if they aren’t your favorite abilities, you might want to give these a try.
