Final Fantasy 16: Best Build [Eikons, Accessories, And Weapons]

Final Fantasy 16 introduces 38 Eikons with numerous accessories and powerful weapons. Deciding on a build becomes tough, with each ability having unique effects and synergy. This guide looks at our recommended Final Fantasy 16 best build, including the Eikons, accessories, and recommended weapons.

Here’s a summary table for the Best Final Fantasy 16 Build:

No.	Eikonic Abilities/Feats	Ability	Damage Values	AP Cost
1	Abilities	Raising Flames	Attack: 3 Stagger: 2	Base: None Upgrade: 500 Mastery: 1000
2	Abilities	Flames of Birth	Attack: 3 Stagger: 3	Base: 1695 Upgrade: 2390 Mastery: TBA
3	Abilities	Lightning Rod	Attack: 2 Stagger: 3	Base: 120 Upgrade: 525 Mastery: 1000
4	Abilities	Pile Drive	Attack: 3 Stagger: 3	Base: None Upgrade: 660 Mastery: 1000
5	Abilities	Aerial Blast	Attack: 2 Stagger: 5	Base: 1540 Upgrade: 2005 Mastery: TBA
6	Abilities	Rook’s Gambit	Attack: 2 Stagger: 2	Base: 120 Upgrade: 660 Mastery: 1000
7	Feats	Phoenix Shift	Attack: 0 Stagger: 0	Base: None Upgrade: N/A Mastery: 357
8	Feats	Deadly Embrace	Attack: 0 Stagger: 0	Base: None Upgrade: N/A Mastery: 450
9	Feats	Blind Justice	Attack: 1 Stagger: 2	Base: None Upgrade: N/A Mastery: 500

What’s A Final Fantasy 16 Build?

So what makes the best Final Fantasy 16 build? Builds in Final Fantasy comprise the following three aspects: Eikons, accessories, and weapons.

• Eikons are special abilities you can access by harnessing the power of several beings called Eikons. Of these, there are the regular Eikon abilities with a standard cooldown, and then there are the Eikonic Feats that grant mobility and have no cooldown.
• Although there are six playable Eikons in Final Fantasy 16, you can only use three at a time. Additionally, you can only use two Eikon abilities and one Eikonic Feat from each Eikon. This brings you down to a total of 9 functional skills at once.
• Abilities are restricted to the Eikon they belong to. For instance, Rising Flames is a Pheonix ability and can only be used if you use the Pheonix Eikon. However, if you were to master Rising Flames, you can use it with other Eikons.
• Besides that, there are accessories, which are items that grant small buffs. Of these, there are the Timely Accessories. Timely Accessories alter time in one way or the other, allowing you to get a massive upper hand over the enemies.
• Lastly, you’ll have to decide on a weapon. Luckily, the weapon choice is mainly streamlined, with a linear progression of weapon damage. Hence, you won’t have to think too long and hard about this. Just pick the weapon with the most significant damage.

The Best Final Fantasy 16 Build

Here is our recommended best Final Fantasy 16 build. Although we mainly focus on the late game, we also provide alternatives for the early and mid-game in this guide.

Recommended Eikon Abilities

Ability	Effects	Damage Values	AP Cost
Rising Flames	A wing appears that deals fire damage and hurls lighter foes in the air.	Attack: 3 Stagger: 2	Base: None Upgrade: 500 Mastery: 1000
Flames of Rebirth	A fiery pillar appears that deals fire damage to all foes within the radius. This attack also regenerates HP for Clive.	Attack: 3 Stagger: 3	Base: 1695 Upgrade: 2390 Mastery: TBA
Lightning Rod	You make a ball of lightning that chains enemies together.	Attack: 2 Stagger: 3	Base: 120 Upgrade: 525 Mastery: 1000
Pile Drive	You push the staff of Ramuh into the floor. This electrifies all foes in the radius.	Attack: 3 Stagger: 3	Base: None Upgrade: 660 Mastery: 1000
Aerial Blast	Call upon a twister that gradually chases enemies, trapping them and dealing constant damage.	Attack: 2 Stagger: 5	Base: 1540 Upgrade: 2005 Mastery: TBA
Rook's Gambit	You dash backward and then quickly dash in, dealing damage once. If your first dash avoided an attack, then your strike deals more damage. You can also use this when airborne.	Attack: 2 Stagger: 2	Base: 120 Upgrade: 660 Mastery: 1000

We highly recommend building the above skills for Eikon’s abilities. Here’s a rundown of our choices:

Rising Flames

Rising Flames is an excellent Eikon ability in the early game with the Pheonix Eikon. This ability deals damage while also flinging enemies into the air. This should be your go-to for the game’s earlier stages.

It has excellent crowd-controlling abilities and gives you more time to reposition yourself. This ability has a unique technique called Rising Combo. This lets you conduct a combo attack on the enemy after you have flung them into the air. Rising Flames has a faster recovery time, meaning you can easily land combo strikes.

Upgrading this ability makes the fiery wing hit several times in a row. If you choose to master Rising Flames, however, you can use it with other Eikons. This is only recommended if you decide to use the abilities of other Eikons but want to add Rising Flames to the mix.

Flames of Rebirth

The next ability you should build is Flames of Rebirth, another early-game skill that will help you deal enormous damage. Flames of Rebirth creates a giant fire pillar that deals fire damage to all enemies that fall within it.

But that’s not all. This skill also regenerates a bit of Clive’s HP dependent on your current HP regain bar, shown with light green near the life bar. Since the HP regeneration depends on your HP regain, this skill is best for when you have a higher HP regain.

Flames of Rebirth has a technique called Collateral Flames. This increases the area of Flames of Rebirth and hits several foes at the same time. Upgrading it will boost the number of hits, working perfectly with Collateral Flames.

Lightning Rod

Lightning Rod is one of the best crowd-controlling Eikon abilities. It summons a lightning ball that chains opponents and binds them. The ball emits damage whenever it is hit by either your opponents or Clive.

If Clive hits the ball, it immediately triggers the chaining effect. Conversely, if an opponent activates the ball, it deals more damage. Hence, you must decide whether you want better control or more damage.

If the lightning ball is far away, you can bring it closer by hitting the execute button. Additionally, taunting enemies will force them to hit the ball.

Lightning Rod has a technique of the same name that lets you hit an enemy with burst damage caused by another foe’s attack. Upgrading this ability boosts the range of the lightning damage and chaining effect.

Pile Drive

Much like Lightning Rod, Pile Drive is an exceptional skill that damages several enemies in a radius. However, it is better than Lightning Rod because the enemies will take longer to recover.

This skill deals with lighting damage to several enemies in a wide radius. Pile Drive has the “Collateral Drive” technique that lets you strike several enemies with just one Pile Drive.

When you upgrade Pile Drive, it hits more enemies through its wider radius and deals multiple strikes. Mastery of this skill lets you use it with any other Eikon.

Aerial Blast

Aerial Blast is a Garuda ability that you acquire in the mid-game. This ability creates a twister that gradually chases enemies. And once it finds them, it binds them while dealing multiple hits.

This ability is unique in that it actively seeks out opponents. Additionally, you can continue dealing damage with your basic attacks while the tornado does its job. Its technique of the same name hits several opponents simultaneously with one Aerial Blast.

When you upgrade Aerial Blast, the tornado lasts a lot longer. Hence, it deals more damage to enemies on the way and has more time to hunt down foes.

Rook’s Gambit

Rook’s Gambit is one of the few mobility Eikon abilities that isn’t an Eikonic Feat. It’s a two-part skill that lets you dodge and counter with more damage. Whenever you dodge an attack, the counter damage is boosted. Additionally, Rook’s Gambit’s cooldown is decreased by a third.

You can cancel the ability if you don’t want to do a counterstrike. This completely resets the cooldown, making it a makeshift dashing ability. But it can only dash backward.

Gambit Counter, the particular technique, lets you hit an enemy with the counter strike. And if you decide to upgrade this ability, which we recommend, it enables you to hit several enemies with the counter strike.

Alternate Abilities

If you want to swap out any of the abilities we mentioned above, here are some other resourceful recommendations:

• Heatwave: You create a wall of fire that blocks incoming projectile attacks. Then, you send out a series of shockwaves that deal damage in an area. The number of shockwaves increases with the number of projectiles blocked by the firewall. Upgrading this skill boosts the number of shockwaves.
• Wicked Wheel: This AoE attack hits all enemies within range and lifts them from the ground for a short period. This effect is excellent for crowd-controlling and can also be used when airborne. Upgrading it increases the number of hits it lands on opponents.
• Gouge: Gouge is another damaging Garuda ability. Gouge sends two Garuda claws that thrash and tear apart your foe. You can also use this ability mid-air. Upgrading Gouge allows the next strike to be landed much faster after using it.
• Judgment Bolt: You summon a powerful lightning bolt with copious burst damage to a single target. This is the best option for damaging bosses and more formidable enemies. When you upgrade this skill, the number of levinbolts stricken increases.
• Thunderstorm: This creates a mighty storm that sends down several lightning bolts on a single target. This is an excellent choice for bosses and minibosses, especially the Dominants. Upgrade this ability to get more lighting bolts.

Best Eikonic Feats

Ability	Effects	Damage Values	AP Cost
Phoenix Shift	You close the distance between you and your opponent. You can use magic hits and melee attacks during the dash.	Attack: 0 Stagger: 0	Base: None Upgrade: N/A Mastery: 357
Deadly Embrace	Garuda's claw grabs enemies and brings them to you. If you use the claw on heavy foes, Clive will instead get flung into the air.	Attack: 0 Stagger: 0	Base: None Upgrade: N/A Mastery: 450
Blind Justice	You shoot a flurry of ball lightning at the opponents. Before you use the skill, you must lock onto targets, which will be the only ones to get hit by the barrage. If you hit the ball while it's attached to a target, it will deal more damage and discharge.	Attack: 1 Stagger: 2	Base: None Upgrade: N/A Mastery: 500

Here are our recommended Eikonic Feats for this build:

Phoenix Shift

Phoenix Shift is one of the best Eikon Feats, especially considering you can unlock it reasonably early in the game. This Feat, on the surface, seems like any ordinary dash ability.

However, seeing its many techniques, you’ll soon realize it’s possible. Phoenix Shift has seven techniques, including:

• Shift Strike: You hit the enemy with a melee strike after the dash.
• Aerial Shift Strike: You land a Shift Strike, but when airborne.
• Shift Shot: After the dash, you hit the enemy with a magick shot.
• Aerial Shift Shot: The same thing happens but in the air.
• Lifting Shift Shot: You first lift a fallen foe using your Shift Shot.
• Shift Combo: When you hit with a Shift Strike, you finish a Combo on one enemy.
• Aerial Shift Combo: After hitting with a Shift Strike while airborne, you finish a Combo.

While you can’t upgrade Feats like Eikon abilities, mastering Eikon Feats has different effects. Mastering Pheonix Shift increases the distance that you dash.

Blind Justice

Blind Justice is an Eikonic Feat that’s slightly more complicated to understand. During the attack, you will let loose a flurry of ball lightning that hits several enemies and attaches to them. If you hit the enemy, it will discharge and deal more damage.

However, when you discharge a ball of lightning, you will discharge all of them. Hence, you’ll deal instant damage to all targets. Additionally, the initial damage determines the discharge damage. We recommend starting with melee attacks, which deal more damage.

The targets are determined by who you lock onto before you use the Feat via the right stick. You can also lock onto a single target several times.

Blind Justice has three techniques:

• Blind Justice: You hit one target with Blind Justice.
• Collateral Justice: You trigger the discharge of the ball of lightning.
• Justice Chain: Blind Justice hits several enemies.

When you master this Feat, it increases the number of enemies you can lock on to.

Deadly Embrace

Deadly Embrace is an Eikonic Feat that, instead of making you dash to the enemies, pulls them toward you. Deadly Embrace can pull down even flying enemies and pull grounded foes up.

However, if you try to grab heavier enemies, Clive will be the one to get launched into the air. Deadly Embrace has seven techniques:

• Deadly Embrace: Use Deadly Embrace to pull an opponent.
• Deadly Combo: You land a damaging 4-part combo on an enemy after you use Deadly Embrace.
• Deadly Aerial Combo: You launch a 3-part combo on an enemy after using Deadly Embrace.
• Deadly Chain: You attack with Dead Embrace in between other moves.
• Deadly Takedown: This technique can be used when enemies are staggered to keep them immobilized for longer.
• Deadly Leap: You jump on a heavier enemy.
• Deadly Leap Chain: You perform a Dead Leap in between other moves.

Mastery of this Eikonic Feat drastically boosts the range of Garuda’s claw.

Alternate Eikonic Feats

If you cannot acquire the Feats mentioned above, try these as alternatives. Remember that these are not related to the Eikons of the recommended abilities. Hence, you’ll need to master them if you want to use them with the Garuda, Pheonix, or Ramuh Eikons.

• Titanic Block: This is the first Eikonic Feat we recommend building once you master it. It blocks incoming attacks from opponents, and if you block right when the enemy hits, you can press the square button to send out three counterstrikes.
• Wings of Light: You cast Megaflare by charging it beforehand. The longer you charge it, the more damage it deals. The Megaflare has four levels, and this ability also allows you to perform a Megaflare Dodge.
• Cold Snap: You will slide on the ground wherever you prefer. If you press the square button during the sliding phase, you will freeze the enemies for a short period. This allows you to deal tons of damage or reposition yourself where needed. If you dodge with this skill, you will freeze all enemies.
• Arm of Darkness: You receive Odin’s blade instead of your current weapon. When you use abilities with this ability activated, your Zantetsuken gauge gets filled up. You can execute a Zantetsuken, whose potency corresponds to the level. You can also perform a Steel Counter or Flash of Steel.

Recommended Accessories

Accessories are the next part of your Final Fantasy 16 best build that you should focus on. These are items that attach to Clive and grant you additional buffs. While these buffs are minor, they significantly impact your battling abilities.

You can make three accessories with your build. For the first build, we highly recommend building Genji Gloves. These grant you a 5% damage boost. While 5% may not seem like a lot, remember that the buff depends on your total damage. Hence, the more damage you have, the better the Genji Gloves’ buff.

Genji Gloves cannot be bought or crafted. Instead, you must acquire them after giving Patron’s Whisper 2,365 Renown. This is what makes this accessory a late-game item in Final Fantasy 16.

If you’re in the early or mid-game, you can use the Badge of Might to replace the Genji Gloves. The Badge of Might grants a constant +7 power boost, which will help you earlier in the game.

Next, build the Ring of Timely Focus. It slows down time whenever the enemy launches an attack that Clive can evade. You can see why this accessory is so overpowered. However, you cannot use this with the Ring of Timely Evasion.

Finally, if you want maximum damage, you should build Berserker Ring. This Ring grants you a power boost whenever you perform a precision dodge. The increase lasts a short while but is enough to make you unstoppable for the next few seconds.

The Berserker Ring can be acquired when you reach 85 Renown. Patron’s Whisper gives it to you as part of the “Pillow Talk” reward. Hence, it’s a reasonably early-game accessory you can build immediately.

Other Accessories

Other accessories that we recommend making in place of the ones already mentioned include:

• Badge of Mettle: This accessory grants you +10 Defense. It’s the best for taking down early-game bosses and minibosses if you need that extra armor boost.
• The Golden Testament: You earn 35% more Gil. You can get this from Charon’s Toll during the “Cid the Outlaw” quest. It’s ideal for farming currency.
• Adamntite Gauntlets: Grants a +500 Maximum HP boost. This great defensive accessory pairs well with the Badge of Mettle. However, it’s a reasonably late-game accessory.
• On Fortune and Heavens: You gain 15% more EXP. You can find this at the same place you find The Golden Testament. It works wonders for farming EXP and quickly leveling up.
• High Cleric’s Medallion: High potions will heal you 25% more. You get this from the “A Light from the Heavens” donation awarded by the Patron’s Whisper at 715 Renown.
• The Wages of Warcraft: You receive 25% more ability points when facing regular enemies. You will find this in the same place as The Golden Testament. Use it to upgrade abilities and unlock new ones quickly.

Best Clive Weapons

Weapons in Final Fantasy 16 are relatively simple to understand. Each weapon has two stats: Attack and Stagger. Attack refers to how much damage your weapon can deal, whereas Stagger decides how much damage the weapon does to a target’s Will.

Each weapon only has these two stats to look out for, with the stats increasing as the weapons become rarer and more powerful. For the early game, we highly recommend building Flametongue.

Flametongue is relatively easy to acquire and can be crafted from the Flame Shard. It has significantly better stats than other early-game weapons. If you got the pre-order, you would already have access to the Braveheart, which has slightly less Attack and Stagger damage than the Flametongue.

For the mid-game, you’ll be better off with the Grindstone. It has the highest power of any mid-game weapon and can be crafted through the Earth Shard. For this, you’ll need to defeat Hugo Kupka. You can also opt for the Levinbolt, which has lower damage than the Grindstone.

And for the late-game, there is no better weapon than the Gotterdammerung. It has the highest Attack and Stagger damage in Final Fantasy 16. Of course, it’s the hardest to acquire, as you’ll need to craft it after you finish the Blacksmith’s Blues IV.

Check out our Final Fantasy 16 best weapons and comparison guide to know the best weapons.

Final Thoughts

Our Final Fantasy 16 best build looked at several aspects of what makes a good build. We recommend building Eikon abilities such as Rising Flames, Flames of Rebirth, Lightning Rod, Pile Drive, Aerial Blast, and Rook’s Gambit in this build.

For the Eikonic Feats, we highly recommend Deadly Embrace, Pheonix Shift, and Blind Justice. You should also build the Genji Gloves, Ring of Timely Focus, and Berserker Ring for the accessories.

As for the weapons, we suggest going for a Flametongue in the early game, Grindstone for the mid-game, and Gotterdammerung for the late game.

Do you need help with Active Time Lore? Then our Active Time Lore guide will help you out.

If you want information on all the trophies and achievements, head to our Final Fantasy 16 trophies guide.