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Immediately after fighting the Infernal Eikon in Final Fantasy 16, Clive fights the Infernal Shadow, a mirror version of himself in order to learn the truth about his brother’s death. The fight is a tough battle and is one of Final Fantasy 16‘s most memorable because the Infernal Shadow has the same move set as the player does (at least for the first phase of the fight.)
Taking on the Shadow is tricky, but not impossible and ends up equipping players with one of the most important combat abilities in the game: Limit Break.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to beat the Infernal Shadow and unlock Limit Break 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 Infernal Shadow Boss Fight
Like the rest of the bosses in Final Fantasy 16, beating the Infernal Shadow is relatively simple: you just have to attack them until they run out of health, but the Infernal Shadow has a diverse list of moves which makes surviving long enough to deal big damage can be a bit of a struggle. Luckily, because many of the Shadow’s moves are based on the ones that players have access to, you should be able to anticipate a lot of what’s coming before the boss even begins to attack.
Here are the full move lists for the Infernal Shadow in all three phases of the boss fight:
Phase 1
Basic sword combos: Because the Infernal Shadow is Clive, it’ll be able to do all of the sword combos that you can. Luckily, they’re pretty easy to dodge, they’re very similar to the attacks you’ve faced against most of the other sword-wielding enemies in the game this far, so just make sure to only stop dodging once the boss has finished its combo otherwise you’ll run the risk of getting hit by its final swings. Dodge the attacks and then get attacks of your own in.
Fira: Like you, the Infernal Shadow can cast some basic magic attacks. To put some distance between you and it, the boss will jump away to one side of the arena and cast Fira, a slow-moving fire projectile attack. Dodge the attack and push forward to keep the pressure on and deal some damage.
Molten Thrust: This is an attack that’s the same as your thrust attack used by holding X and Square at the same time. It’s a basic thrusting attack, so you should be able to dodge it without much issue. That said, it’s got more range than your thrusting attack, so be careful to not underestimate how far it can reach.
Phase 2
After taking out a quarter of the boss’ health bar, you’ll see a brief cutscene where Clive fights off the Infernal Shadow which then unleashes its Limit Break form, making it much more dangerous. It’ll use many of the same attacks listed above (although they are usually more powerful and will add additional attacks to their combos,) but will also add the following attacks to its move list:
Incinerate: This is a simple AoE attack where the boss will slam its sword into the ground and make a large AoE explosion in a V-shape in front of it. Dodge to either side and get some hits in while the attack goes off.
Hammer and Anvil: This attack is a bit trickier to avoid: Hammer and Anvil has the boss jump into the air and come slamming back down in a fiery explosion. To avoid taking damage, you’ll need to dodge the second that the boss hits the ground, but be careful since it comes very quickly.
Hellfire: When you’ve taken out half of the boss’ health bar, it’ll use Hellfire. The attack will constantly be pulling you toward the boss while multiple large explosions go off around the entire arena. Make sure you don’t get too close to the boss since, after a few seconds, the explosions around the arena will cease and the Infernal Shadow will create a giant explosion in the area directly surrounding it. Once the attack is over, however, you’ll have a few seconds to get some big hits in as the boss recovers.
Crimson Rush: The Infernal Shadow will use Crimson Rush, a move that the Infernal Eikon used, which is the same as its Molten Thrust attack, but it has a much longer range. Dodge out of the way before it can hit you.
Eruption: Eruption has the boss create AoE explosions on your position as it also uses other attacks on you such as Fira or some of its melee attacks. Dodge out of the way of the AoE attacks and then focus on countering the other attacks that the boss will use.
Phase 3
After taking out the first two-thirds of the Infernal Shadow’s health bar, you’ll see a cutscene where Clive accepts the truth about what happened with Joshua and gain the Limit Break ability. Here, you’ll be able to use Limit Break for an infinite amount of time to finish the boss fight. The Infernal Shadow won’t change up its moves too much for this section of the fight, so avoid them like you have been and deal tons of damage using Clive’s Limit Break.
