Best abilities to get early in Final Fantasy 16

Once you have progressed through the four or five hours of early-game setups and tutorials, you will finally be given the freedom to explore the world of Final Fantasy 16 and take on the main quests. But don’t go rushing into things, as there are a lot of things you will have to do to set yourself up for success.

Apart from equipment, items, and armor, you will also need to manage your skills and abilities to make sure you have enough moves in your arsenal to deal with a plethora of different foes and bosses. At the start, you are given a small number of abilities from which to choose, but it can be confusing to decide which to take first, so I’ve compiled a guide to help you figure it out.

Best early-game abilities in Final Fantasy 16

Most of the early-game abilities are geared toward basic combat, such as giving Clive new moves or techniques he can use on the battlefield. Most of these starting abilities will come down to your own playstyle.

Also, if you are just that unsure of what to pick up, my advice would be to allow the game to decide for you. By holding L3, the game will automatically unlock recommended abilities for you so you don’t have to choose. If you would still like to pick out some good starting moves, though, these are the three we recommend taking first.

Lunge

With Lunge, Clive can swiftly close in on an enemy and attack it using the X and square button at the same time.

I probably don’t really need to explain how useful this is for most people, considering how in many fights with multiple enemies, they are completely spaced out and you’ll need to close in on them at all times. With this ability and coupled with the Phoenix Shift ability you get by default, you can close the gap between larger groups of enemies and defeat them a lot quicker.

Related: Final Fantasy 16 party system explained: How to control party members

Burning Blade

Burning Blade gives Clive the chance to charge up and release a powerful attack by holding the Square button.

A simple attack, it has the chance to deal massive amounts of damage at once, which works well against certain enemies that Stagger. There isn’t really much else to say about this move other than it’s simple to use and very effective, especially against grouped-up opponents.

Swift Recovery

By Pressing R1 immediately after being knocked back or down, Swift Recovery allows you to recover immediately and keep up the fight.

Against larger bosses and creatures, the chances of you being thrown around increases rapidly and you might spend most of the time on your backside than actually in combat. To counteract this, I definitely recommend taking the Swift Recovery ability and Mastering it to give you a chance to stay on your feet and stay in the fight when taking a massive amount of damage.