Best tips and tricks for Final Fantasy 16 beginners

Final Fantasy 16 is a behemoth of a game, so there’s no shame in needing a little bit of help. Apart from the sheer amount of content, the systems present in the FF16—a big one being the battle mechanics—have changed quite a bit from previous installments of the franchise, which makes taking your first steps in Valisthea a little daunting.

To help you out on this formidable journey, we have rounded up 10 tips and tricks we deem essential in making you more confident to cross that finish line in FF16.

Tips and tricks for beginners in Final Fantasy 16

Select the right difficulty mode

Right when you begin Final Fantasy 16, you will be asked to customize your game settings, as per your preference. Apart from the graphics, language options, and so on, there is one very crucial option which is the setting for selecting your preferred difficulty mode.

Currently, there are two difficulty modes you can choose from: the Story Focused mode and the Action Focused mode.

If you choose the Story Focused mode, you automatically get the Timely Accessories equipped to Clive at the start, which make battles much easier. This makes it so you can breeze through the battles and be able to focus on the game’s story fully.

If you choose the Action Focused mode, you will be able to experience the game in its entirety, putting more emphasis on the battles since they will be as tough as they were intended to be with no hand-holding from the game’s side.

Related: All Final Fantasy 16 characters

You need to note you can, in fact, switch between these difficulty modes at any time, while equipping the Timely Accessories can be done in the Action Focused mode too.

Learning the battle mechanics

Unlike the turn-based battling system of the past titles in the FF franchise, Final Fantasy 16 instead adopts an action-based real-time combat system. While these two systems are fundamentally different, there are still a lot of similarities.

Here is a list of FF16’s default button layout for its combat:

• Square: Melee attack.
• Triangle: Magic attack.
• Circle: Eikonic Feat. 
• X: Jump.
• R1: Block.
• R2 + Triangle: Eikon ability.
• R2 + Square: Eikon ability.
• L2: Switch Eikon.
• D-Pad: Potions and Tonics
• D-Pad Left: Torgal Menu.

Master dodging

Dodging is a pretty new mechanic to the Final Fantasy series, and also an important one. In FF16, the dodge button is mapped to the R2 button and is used to get out of the path of an enemy attack. When you dodge an attack right before it hits Clive, this opens the enemy up for a counterattack. This is called a perfect dodge.

By repeatedly performing perfect dodges, you will be able to swiftly lower an enemy’s Will gauge, staggering them and making them vulnerable to even more damage, apart from the obvious benefit of keeping Clive safe from enemy hits and preserving his health. You save essential healing items this way.

Learn the importance of healing and consumable items

Healing may seem like a mechanic that doesn’t need too much explanation, but there is more depth to it than what appears on the surface.

When hit by an enemy, you’ll notice your health bar has been lowered, but there is a portion of your health bar that remains higher than where the main part of your health bar has fallen down to. The extra portion of your health bar represented by a lighter green color shows the amount of health that you can regain through magic, while the darker green portion of your health bar denotes your current health.

If you want to heal past the amount the light green bar shows you, you will need to resort to using potions. But potions aren’t the only useful consumable items you need to consider.

There are a ton of different consumable items players have access to, so make sure to read what they are used for as you come across them. Simply go to the ‘Items’ tab in the menu to use them, or just assign them to the directional pad for swift use in combat.

Remember to take Torgal’s help

Dog is a man’s best friend and Torgal just so happens to be Clive’s. After you meet with Cid for the first time, Clive will also be reunited with Torgal, his long-lost pet dog. Torgal can cast magic to support Clive in sticky situations during battles.

Torgal has three abilities that are all only available during fights. These are Sic, Heal, and Ravage.

Sic makes Torgal perform his basic attack. Heal, as you would have guessed, heals Clive through an AoE healing spell for five HP per second. Ravage causes Torgal to toss small and medium-sized enemies into the air, making them vulnerable to Clive’s follow-up attacks.

While Torgal isn’t a killing machine, he certainly can be the difference-maker in a fight where you’re not sure of making it out in great condition. Try not to be too caught up in battles by yourself and make it a point to get help from your faithful buddy as often as you can.

Complete side quests and hunts, gain renown in the process

Side quests are a feature unlocked early. While they may seem simple in the beginning, they will soon turn increasingly difficult. Side quests are a great source of extra XP, AP, and unique upgrades such as gaining the capacity to carry extra potions.

Hunts are unlocked a little later and are a great way to farm tougher enemies that you get more XP from, as well as tempting amounts of Gil bounties for beating them. If you make it a point to complete the highest-difficulty bounty as you unlock them, you will easily jump multiple levels higher than where Clive should naturally be in the story.

Completing side quests and hunts also have the added benefit of rewarding you with renown, which is unlocked later. The more renown you have, the better your rewards get in terms of quality and utility. Aim to earn as much renown as possible, and completing side quests, hunts, and a few story missions should become increasingly worth it for the heightened rewards.

Always check in with the blacksmith

After returning to the hideout after completing a main mission, make it a point to check in with the blacksmith. More often than not, you should find crafting materials you haven’t noticed before and you can go ahead and craft much better gear than you currently have.

After a main story boss, you will be rewarded with a unique crafting material belonging to the same element that the boss fought with, letting you craft some pretty unique weapons. While you’re at the blacksmith, make sure to reinforce your gear as well so you’re in tip-top condition for all the tough battles.

Make use of the Active Time Lore

With a ton of places, people, and lore shoved into your face constantly as you venture through the world of Valisthea, it can be quite the chore to keep track of what’s going on, especially if you’re invested in the story and you feel like you can’t catch up.

This is exactly why Final Fantasy 16 has implemented the Active Time Lore feature. Simply hold down the touchpad to bring up the Active Time Lore which will give you brief pieces of information regarding the characters in your journey at the moment, who they are, what they are talking about, and other juicy details.

If you’re ever feeling like you’re a little lost, or if you just want that extra layer of information, the Active Time Lore has pretty much got you covered.

Test out various skills

Clive has access to a plethora of abilities in his skill tree, and the more Eikons you gain to switch between, the increasingly greater that list of skills becomes. Even though AP is spent when trying to unlock or upgrade skills, they can also be easily refunded, letting you try out as many skills as you like.

Related: FF16 The Breaker of Worlds location, how to beat Atlas, and rewards

You also have the option to lock specific skills you like while refunding the rest as you try out various builds. If you simply cannot be bothered to figure out which skills work for you, however, there is an automatic upgrade button that uses all your AP to unlock and upgrade the skills the game thinks would be best for you.

Don’t be afraid to sell

During your playthrough, you will collect a lot of black blood, gil bugs, empty shards, and amber. These are not materials used to craft gear for yourself but are rather valuable items that can be traded over for Gil.

Head on over to the nearest shop and sell all of these goods by pressing the touchpad and making a whole lot of dough in one go.