There are a lot of bosses that players will come face-to-face with over the course of the story in Final Fantasy 16. From all of the different Dominants to hulked-up creatures that are thirsty for blood, Clive and company will need to cut their way through all of them in order to free the Bearers from their oppressors.
Some boss fights are simple enough to get through, especially when dealing with some of the more basic bosses that essentially amount to being bigger versions of the standard enemies with inflated health bars. The Akashic Dragon, however, is one of the more tougher battles that players will face during Final Fantasy 16.
Encountered toward the end of “The Crystal’s Curse” main quest, the Akashic Dragon serves as something of a gatekeeper for the next major chapter of the game. Here’s everything you need to know about the boss and how to defeat it.
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How to Beat the Akashic Dragon Boss Fight
The Akashic Dragon is a formidable foe, however, what makes it so challenging isn’t the vast number of attacks it knows, but rather how much damage it deals to Clive with each hit. Even when wearing the highest-rated armor that players have access to during the encounter, the dragon can slice Clive’s health down to a sliver in just a few attacks.
As a result, players will need to be able to know which attack is coming based on how the Akashic Dragon telegraphs its next move so that they can properly dodge out of the way. Here’s a list of each of the dragon’s attacks and how to spot what’s coming next:
Fireball: Fireball is usually the first attack that the dragon will do at the start of the fight and will use frequently when Clive is at a medium distance to it. To spot it, watch for the dragon as it rears its head back and then shoots a single fireball projectile at you. To avoid it, dodge through the fireball just before it hits you. You likely will be too far away from the dragon to hit it with a Perfect Dodge attack, but at least you’ll avoid damage. Sometimes, the dragon will make space between you in order to shoot a few fireballs at you by flying up into the air for a few seconds. Dodge the attacks and then wait for it to land again.
Spinning Swoop: This attack is usually done by the Akashic Dragon in order to close the distance between itself and Clive. To spot it coming, the dragon will jump into the air and then bring its wings in close to its body before starting to rotate. It’ll start to spin and shoot forward toward you. Dodge the attack when the dragon gets close to you and then counterattack once it lands. After landing, the dragon will open itself up for several attacks as it gets ready to perform its next attack.
Slam: One of the most common attacks that the Akashic Dragon will perform is a simple wing slam. It’s really easy to spot since the dragon will wind up one of its wings high above its head before slamming it down to the ground in front of it. Dodge out of the way of the wing before it hits the ground.
Sweep: The large sweeping attack that the dragon does can knock you far away from it and deal massive damage. Luckily, avoiding it isn’t too tricky as long as you know when to anticipate the attack. The move is telegraphed by the dragon smacking one of its wings on the ground and then quickly rearing back, then sweeping the wing around in a circle. Dodging this attack properly is a little tricky since the attack comes a little bit later than you might think. If you dodge too early, you’ll get hit with the full force of the wing and be sent flying backward.
Vertical Sweep: The dragon will also perform a vertical sweep where it jumps into the air and then does a sweeping attack by flying in a circle a few times. This one is pretty easy to see coming since the dragon flies in a circle slowly once before it speeds up to deal damage. Dodge out of the way, then wait for it to land to start attacking.
Beam: This attack has the dragon shoot a laser-like beam out of its mouth that cuts the ground vertically away from it. The ground will light up in the area near where the laser hit, but won’t be dangerous immediately. Run away from the affected ground as it’ll explode a few seconds after the attack goes off. If you’re close to the dragon, you can dodge through the explosion to keep dealing more damage to it.
Cauterize: Once you’ve taken a good chunk of the dragon’s health away, it’ll fly away from you and do a named move: Cauterize. It’s essentially a fire AoE attack where the dragon shoots flames out of its mouth covering the entire boss arena. The dragon starts on one side of the area and slowly sweeps back and forth advancing over time. To avoid the attack either dodge through the flames when they reach you or scope out the path of the fire and simply run around it.
Dragon Dance: When the Akashic Dragon starts to get low on health, it’ll perform another named move called Dragon Dance. This is a combination move that puts a lot of the attacks listed above together. It starts by jumping into the air and firing several fireballs at you in quick succession, then fires two beam lasers one after another cutting the area in front of it horizontally and vertically. It ends the attack by performing a flaming spinning swoop. Once it’s finished the move, the dragon will be temporarily stunned on the ground giving you an opening to attack it.
Attacking the Akashic Dragon
In order to beat the dragon, you’ll need to dish out a lot of damage with your sword and Eikonic Abilities. Dodge the attacks listed above and then counterattack in between the dragon’s moves. Most of the time, if you’re able to perform a Perfect Dodge and then counterattack, you’ll be able to deal some extra damage, even if the dragon doesn’t look like it’s in range. When it flies around, hit the Akashic Damage with simple magic attacks to do some chip damage before it opens itself up to more massive attacks from you.
Keep an eye on the dragon’s Will Guage as you attack it. Make sure to use Garuda’s Deadly Embrace once the meter reaches the halfway mark to pull the dragon to the ground and get in a few extra hits. Additionally, make sure to be using as many Eikonic abilities as you can since they deal more damage than regular moves and drain the boss’s Will Guage much quicker.
Healing During the Encounter
As mentioned above, the Akashic Dragon deals a lot of damage when it makes contact with Clive and given the limited number of healing items that players can have on hand in Final Fantasy 16, it can mean that the dragon poses a real threat. Make sure to constantly be using Torgal’s healing ability whenever you’ve taken damage. Additionally, use Eikon abilities like Flames of Rebirth to regain some lost health so that you don’t have to rely on your limited number of Potions. Limit Break can also be used when your health starts getting low.
