One of the exciting features of Final Fantasy 16 is the best weapons are ones you’ll craft or earn as a reward for completing quests. Unfortunately, the only weapon you’ll find in FF16 is a two-handed sword. Still, there are so many varieties, rarities, and stat variances you’ll almost forget you can only find and equip swords.
The best weapons in Final Fantasy 16, explained
For the most part, your best weapons in FF16 are your progression weapons, so Stormcry up to Everdark. However, you’ll get a few weapons through quests, Charon’s Toll, and the final two big weapons—Gotterdammerung and Ultimate.
Each of these weapons has different stats, requirements, recipes, and costs, which means there are ones that are beneficial throughout your early, mid, and late game adventures. In the tables below, I’ve listed the weapons by rank, up to five, with five being the absolute best.
Best early-game weapons
You won’t get access to many outstanding weapons in the early game, but a few will be helpful as you start your journey across Valisthea.
| Rank | Weapon | Prerequisites | Ingredients | Weapon Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | Stormcry | Craftable after defeating Garuda in the Awakening main quest. | Wind Shard | 135 Damage and 135 Stagger |
| Two | Flametongue | Craftable after defeating Ifrit in the main quest, Buried Memories. | Fire Shard Stormcry Meteorite | 180 Damage and 180 Stagger |
Best mid-game weapons
In the mid-game, you’ll access more weapons through the progression sword and by completing quests. And there are some that you’ll be able to craft or buy from Charon’s Toll.
| Rank | Weapon | Prerequisites | Ingredients | Weapon Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | Levinbolt | Craftable after obtaining the Lightning Shard after you defeat the Republican War Panther. | Flametongue Meteorite Lightning Shard | 190 Damage and 190 Stagger |
| Two | Grindstone | Craftable after defeating Hugo Kupla in the main quest, Capital Punishment. | Levinbolt Meteorite Earth Shard | 225 Attack Damage and 225 Stagger |
| Three | Brightburn | Craftable after defeating Dion and Bahamut in the main quest, Fire in the Sky | Light Shard Grindstone Meteorite | 270 Damage and 270 Stagger |
Best late-game weapons
In the late game, you’ll get the best weapons in Final Fantasy 16, some being craftable or obtained through quests. Gotterdammerung is the best of all the weapons in FF16, as it offers the highest attack and stagger damage. Then, once you finish the main campaign and play the FF16 New Game Plus, you’ll also be able to get the weapon Ultimate. This is the ultimate weapon in the FF16 story and the wider universe.
| Rank | Weapon | Prerequisites | Ingredients | Weapon Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | Icebrand | Craftable after obtaining the Ice Shard from Jill and starting the main quest, Across the Narrow. | Brightburn Ice Shard Meteorite Magicked Ash | 300 Damage and 300 Stagger |
| Two | Everdark | Craftable after defeating Barnabus and Odin in the main quest, The Last King. | Sharp Fang Meteorite Icebrand Dark Shard | 315 Damage and 315 Stagger |
| Three | Defender | Obtained from Goetz Toll during the main quest, Streets of Madness, or from Charon’s Toll. | 5,000 Gil | 320 Damage and 320 Stagger |
| Four | Gotterdammerung | Obtain the draft and Ragnarok after completing the Blacksmith’s Blues Quest four. | Ragnarok Orichalcum Darksteel Primitive Battlehorn | 375 Damage and 375 Stagger |
| Five | Ultima | Craftable after completing the main campaign and starting the FF16 New Game Plus. You must also re-craft your progression weapons to Everdark, called Everdark Reforged in New Game Plus. And you will need to craft Gotterdammerung Reforged. You’ll also need to finish all the Blacksmith’s Blue’s Side Quest again. | Everdark Reforged Gotterdammerung Reforged Utterance of Creation (automatically unlocked after starting New Game Plus) | 700 Damage and 700 Stagger |
Best mythology-inspired weapons in Final Fantasy 16
Two mythology-based weapons should get an honorable mention, including Ragnarok and Excalibur.
| Rank | Weapon | Prerequisites | Ingredients | Weapon Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | Excalibur | The draft is obtained after completing the side quest, Blacksmith’s Blues quest two. | Bomb Ember Wyrrite Scarletite Grimalkin Hide | 268 Damage and 268 Stagger |
| Two | Ragnarok | Obtained after completing the side quest, Blacksmith’s Blues quest four. | None | 325 Attack and 325 Stagger |
Although Excalibur has excellent stats, you may have already crafted Brightburn, which is only fractionally ahead of the former weapon by a couple of stat points.
However, as a mythology fan, I simply couldn’t pass crafting Excalibur, even if obtaining all the ingredients from the various Notorious Marks took me quite a while. Thankfully, these marks were actually quite easy to defeat, so I had no trouble getting the materials. And the crafting process isn’t all too difficult either.
Related: Final Fantasy 16 The Breaker of Worlds location
