Players will have fought Barnabas once already when they encounter him a second time in Final Fantasy 16. The previous fight was cut short on account of Barnabas’ overwhelming power, but in The Last King main quest mission, Clive is determined to come out on top.
The fight is one of Final Fantasy 16‘s most difficult, so players going into the encounter should be aware of the fact that it might take a few tries to get it right. Luckily, Barnabas, like all of the other bosses in Final Fantasy 16, is able to be defeated by dodging his attacks and launching counterattacks of your own.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to beat Barnabas in Final Fantasy 16.
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How to Beat the Barnabas Boss Fight (The Last King Encounter)
As mentioned above, Barnabas is a truly menacing enemy in Final Fantasy 16 who can reduce your health bar to just a sliver in a matter of only a few moves. Luckily, he, like the rest of Final Fantasy 16‘s catalogue of bosses is heated by following the simple “dodge, attack, repeat” formula. Doing that with Barnabas is much easier said than done thanks to how quickly he can attack, however, once you’ve got his attack patterns down, you should be able to devastate him with your Eikon abilities.
Barnabas Phase 1
In the first phase of the fight, Barnabas uses the same moves that he did when you encountered him the first time. Here’s his full move pool and how to deal with each attack:
Counter: Something important to keep in mind during this fight is that just about every time you start hitting Barnabas, he’ll counter you by either teleporting away and then quickly attacking with a flurry of sword swipes or you’ll hear the clanging sound of his sword hitting yours and he’ll jump backward only to lunge forward once more and do a large sword swipe. Make sure to dodge through these attacks to keep attacking the boss.
Various Melee Attacks: In the fight, Barnabas will use a wide variety of melee attacks with his sword. They’ll usually come pretty quickly after he teleports around the arena a few times, so once he starts teleporting, be ready to start evading. The two most common attacks Barnabas will use are sword swipes and lunges. You’ll be able to identify each based on how he winds up before attacking, so dodge through the attack and then get your own attacks in as he recovers. Take note that in this fight, Barnabas will add an additional sword swipe after finishing his first swipe/lunge. This means that you’ll need to perform two perfect dodges in a row in order to avoid taking damage.
Overhead Swipe: When at medium to long range, Barnabas will put his sword over his head and swing it down to the ground. When he does, he’ll send a fast-moving projectile at you. This attack comes very quickly, so be ready to dodge as soon as Barnabas gets his sword over his head. Barnabas will usually teleport immediately after attacking, so you may not be able to get any counterattacks in before he teleports away to get another attack in.
The Lord’s Measure: When Barnabas leaps back to the far side of the arena, he’ll use The Lord’s Measure. It’s an attack that’s pretty easy to avoid. When he jumps back, you’ll see two lines cross on the battlefield–as long as you stay out of their path, you won’t be hit by the attack. Take note, however, that once the attack goes off, Barnabas will start teleporting and attacking you again, so you’ll need to stay out of the blast while avoiding his next attacks.
Gungir: When Barnabas floats above the arena, he’ll use Gungir, an attack that has him shoot a projectile at the ground and create an AoE wave. Dodge through the wave to avoid taking damage but take note that an electric field will stay in the AoE area for a few seconds after the initial explosion happens so stay out of the way of that and you should be safe.
Barnabas Phase 2
After taking out about a quarter of Barnabas’ health, you’ll see a cutscene where Clive and Barnabas turn into their Eikons and then fight for a little bit. They’ll jump to a different location and then turn back into their human forms. Many of Barnabus’ moves will stay the same here, but he’ll add a few to his repertoire.
Take note that the reused attacks that he’ll use will often have an additional attack added to them. For example, The Lord’s Measure will cut several parts of the arena at once instead of just one place like in the previous phase.
Blinding Steel: Barnabas will usually start the second phase of the fight with this attack. When he does it, he’ll plant his feet on the ground and get ready to do a large swipe with his sword. Essentially, he’ll cover the entire side of the arena that he’s facing with a large blast, so to avoid the attack, all you’ll need to do is get behind him. You’ll have a few seconds before the attack pops off, so run behind him and get some attacks of your own in before he finishes. Because he’ll be vulnerable for so long, it’s a good time to get some Eikon attacks in.
Barnabas Phase 3
After you’ve taken out about a third of Barnabas’ health, you’ll see a cutscene where Clive stabs Barnabas. After the scene is over Barnabas will have recovered and you’ll be in another new arena fighting more. Barnabas will keep many of his same moves from before but will add several more powerful moves to his pool for this section of the fight.
Zantetsuken: At the start of the fight, Barnabas will begin charging up to use Zantetsuken. Unlike other bosses that charge up their moves, Barnabas will continue attacking you as he charges up. While he does, make sure to attack him with your most powerful Eikon abilities in order to interrupt the attack. As he gets closer to casting the attack, he’ll stop moving and you’ll be able to get one last push in to interrupt. If you don’t, Zantetsuken may kill you instantly, so if you aren’t able to completely interrupt the attack, activate your limit break and you should be able to survive.
Great Divide: This is an attack where Barnabas does a giant overhead swing of his sword that cuts across the entire arena. After the overhead swing, he’ll swing the sword in a circle around the entire arena. It’s an attack that’s pretty easy to dodge since he moves the sword so slowly, but if you get hit it’ll deal massive damage.
The All-Weilder: When he casts the All-Weilder, Barnabas will do another overhead chop with his sword, but after he swings it, the sword will explode into a giant beam of energy that shoots directly in front of him for a few seconds. Dodge out of the way and then hit Barnabas with as many attacks as you can while he recovers from the attack.
Barnabas Phase 4
When Barnabas has roughly one-third of his health left, he’ll float away from the arena and turn into his Eikon Odin. After performing a few attacks as Odin, he’ll transform back into his human form where you’ll be able to do damage to him once more.
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Odin Basic Melee Attacks: Odin will do a lot of basic slashes and stabs with his sword at you. They’re easy to see coming since he does such a large wind up for them, so just dodge through them and you’ll be able to avoid taking damage. Because the swings are so slow, however, make sure that you time your dodges right since you’ll need to be dodging after you think you need to. Otherwise, you’ll take a massive hit.
Circle of Malius: When in his human form, Barnabas will summon another blade and begin to spin. He’ll fly around the arena attacking as he goes. Dodge through him as he flies by and he’ll eventually land with a large AoE attack. When he lands, you’ll have a brief window to deal damage after the explosion settles down.
Once you’ve fully reduced Barnabas’ health bar, you’ll see a cutscene where Clive finishes the king after
