Best abilities to unlock first in Final Fantasy XVI

After the trailer was revealed in the PlayStation Showcase, Final Fantasy XVI finally hit the stores. Part of the long-running JRPG series, the Final Fantasy Series, this game is the latest addition to the series. The developers released the game on June 22, and gamers have started grinding for abilities and levels. Final Fantasy has been a major part of the gaming industry for 36 years. And the hype for the game is still strong.

The game is set in the fictional land of Valisthea. The player controls Clive Rosefield, a young lord who is on a quest to avenge his father’s death. The game features a real-time battle system, and it is said to be more action-oriented than previous Final Fantasy games. Furthermore, Sony has limited the game’s availability to the PlayStation 5 for six months. So, players would be able to play the game on other consoles as early as January 2024.

Final Fantasy 16 has many amazing Eikon Abilities. In an RPG, knowing the right abilities to unlock early on is very important. Many different abilities may look really cool at first glance but can be rendered useless in early games.

Furthermore, the cost of these abilities can be higher than some necessary ones. So, every player should know exactly which ability to spend their points on. This can save gamers from wasting precious points on unlocking unnecessary abilities. In this guide, we’ll talk about such important early-on abilities.

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Final Fantasy XVI abilities players should unlock early on

The biggest selling point of RPGs is their arsenal of abilities. Final Fantasy XVI features a huge number of Eikons and offers many skills to choose from. Overall, each Eikon has two ability slots, making a total of six slots.

Square Enix has worked intensively on this game, and it shows. Having only six slots to play with limits the ability to exploit the system’s potential in terms of Eikons, skills, and their combinations, despite its huge capacity. In this guide, we’ll discuss some abilities players should unlock early to effectively use their ability slots.

Burning Blade

Special attacking skills are always important for RPG games, especially attacks that imbue attributes into your attacks. Burning Blade is an easy-to-pull-off move that won’t cost you many Ability Points but has high combat effectiveness. The weapon that our character, Clive, uses in-game is really strong. So, normal moves are efficient, but having an elemental attack always works against an enemy who might be vulnerable to said elements. 

Learn cost: 25 AP
Upgrade cost: N/A
Master cost: 160 AP

Swift Recovery

Envade always helps players dodge enemy attacks. The whole point of these games is that players learn to dodge attacks, as tanking some attacks may knock their stance. And Final Fantasy 16 utilizes this mechanic well. However, Knockouts during fights can be fatal. This is where the swift Recovery ability comes in. Swift Recovery enables you to recover quickly before you even fall, so you’re not vulnerable to attacks from enemies.

Learn cost: 10 AP
Upgrade cost: N/A
Master cost: N/A

Ignition

Charges attacks always work the best. And when it especially comes with elemental damage? It becomes a great AOE attack. Ignition is one such early-game ability that can help players a lot. Clive can clear out waves of weaker enemies brilliantly, and you can control the direction he charges in to kill more enemies along the way. However, players should note that it takes time for the ability to complete, and the recovery time is late. So, players should use it as a last resort or attack.

Learn cost: 120 AP
Upgrade cost: 525 AP
Master cost: 1000 AP

Will-o’-the-Wykes

This attack creates balls of flame all around you. These can act as a shield and protect you from incoming attacks. These can also damage the enemies as they move in close to you. Furthermore, players can keep attacking the enemies while this ability is active, and this also doesn’t cost as much as it’s effective. So, learning this ability is a win-win for players. Also, since it’s an elemental skill, it can damage enemies weaker than the fire attribute.

Learn cost: 100 AP
Upgrade price: 600 AP
Master price: 1000 AP

Aerial Blast

You will unlock Aerial Blast, one of Garuda’s Eikonic Abilities, in the early stages of the game. This is another really good AOE ability. This ability creates a huge tornado that trashes around enemies and lifts them off the ground. It can work really well if you’re swarmed with enemies with no way out. However, players should also note that this ability would damage larger enemies but would not lift them off the ground. Also, this ability creates a huge smoke screen, so players need to be aware of their surroundings. This smokescreen can cause limited vision, and incoming attacks may not be seen by players.

Learn cost: 1540 AP 
Upgrade price: 2005 AP 
Master price: 4000 AP

Flames of Rebirth

AOE attacks are always the most used and best-utilized abilities. Since players already have normal attacks with them, using an AOE attack every now and then can help them in many sticky and dangerous situations. The Flames of Rebirth is one such AOE ability in Final Fantasy 16. This ability creates a wave of fire around Clive which highly damages enemies in a huge range. Furthermore, considering the name, this ability also heals Clive when used.

This feature of Flames of Rebirth makes it a really good ability early on in the game. Not only can players cause AOE damage but also heal themselves. Although, due to the added advantage, this ability costs a bit extra, it’s well worth it.

Learn cost: 1695 AP
Upgrade cost: 2390 AP
Master cost: 4250 AP

These abilities are some of the important abilities that can save players in dangerous situations. Furthermore, all these abilities have real practical usage. Final Fantasy 16 has stuck to the hype it created, and the game has hooked the player base. The graphics and rich storytelling with a very well-made combat system have been a delight to players. It’s an AAA title, and considering the part few bad releases, Final Fantasy XVI has stood up to the expectations of the player base.

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