The BEST Eikon Abilities In FF16 [Top 15]

FF16’s best Eikon abilities for Clive can change the tides of battles in a matter of seconds as these special abilities provide a burst of strong damage against single-target enemies and maintain crowd control. You will obtain most of these Eikons by defeating their dominants throughout the main story and can then purchase the abilities via the Ability Points. Whether you’re new to Final Fantasy 16’s action combat or not, these Eikon abilities are intended to allow you to easily decimate foes in their stagger phase and chain together for DPS in combos.

Final Fantasy 16 Best Eikon Abilities

1. Gouge

Without a doubt in my mind, the first Eikon ability that comes to my mind is Gouge which is unlocked in the main story quest “Wings of Change” by defeating Benedikta. Upon activation, Clive will summon twin claws that will relentlessly tear at a target. The Gouge Eikon ability of Garuda truly shines against single-target foes, and while it doesn’t have the best attack rating or damage, it compensates for that in its stagger damage rating.

Pros

• In my personal experience playing FF16, Gouge is the best early-game ability solely due to how you can tear through the stagger bar of enemies.
• You can follow up Gouge with Garuda’s grapple-like ability, Deadly Embrace, which at 50% stagger, will make enemies kneel for a few seconds so you can unleash more damage.
• The ability upgrade increases the speed of the consecutive claw strikes.

Cons

• Gouge is not as effective to use during crowd-control combat encounters.
• There are better abilities to use during DPS in staggered phases since Gouge has a weak attack rating.

2. Rising Flames

Rising Flames will be one of the first Eikon abilities you use when starting out Final Fantasy 16 in the prologue, as this Eikon’s powers are blessed to you by Clive’s younger brother, Joshua. On activation, you will summon a fiery wing that deals damage and can launch lighter enemies into the air.

Pros

• Rising Flames heavily excels in single-target situations of combat, especially against mini-bosses and other boss fights.
• By upgrading it, Rising Flames does increased hits on impact, which can considerably help with DPS.
• It is a fantastic start-up attack to execute combos into mid-air on nimble enemies.

Cons

• While it can succeed in damaging one or two enemies on impact, I would not suggest using Rising Flames against a group of enemies due to the low AOE range.

3. Rook’s Gambit

Rook’s Gambit is another Garuda Eikon ability, but you might be debating whether it’s a good choice to the list here, but there’s a reason for that. In my experience with the game partway through it, Rook’s Gambit felt like an invaluable ability against tough bosses, especially in Monster Hunts.

It essentially allows you to Jump back and then deliver a punishing counter. If the jump evades an attack, counter potency is increased. Furthermore, It can be used in midair to dodge aerial attacks or if you’re performing combos and want an extra evasion technique at your disposal just in case.

Pros

• Offering a great tactical evasion technique, if you time the ability correctly right before the opponent lands an attack, Clive will perform a unique vertical slash counterattack.
• By upgrading Rook’s Gambit, you can increase the number of hits, effectively boosting its low damage.
• Rook’s Gambit offers a larger evade window than the normal precision dodge of Clive’s skills.

Cons

• While it is great early on in gameplay, you will most likely swap to using other FF16 best Eikon abilities instead of it for DPS or even entirely other Eikons too.
• Without any upgrades, it has both low attack and stagger damage capabilities.

4. Heatwave

Heatwave is an Eikon ability of the Phoenix which summons a projectile-dispelling wall of liquid flame before launching several deadly shockwaves. Furthermore, that wave force is amplified upon dispelling magic. You can essentially use this ability to easily block Projectile attacks from the enemy and counterattack with your own. Without dispelling magical projectiles, you will only launch a single flame wave at the target.

Pros

• Heatwave can easily help you negate their magical projectile-based attacks in a few boss fights of the early-to-mid-game portions in Final Fantasy 16.
• It can also prove viable as a ranged attack as the flame waves have great travel distances.
• Upgrading Heatwave boosts its viability as you launch an extra flame wave.

Cons

• Heatwave can be treated as a utility Eikon ability, so aside from helping you negate attacks, it is unsuitable for DPS.
• Unfortunately, while it is a great projectile counter, it has both low attack and stagger damage ratings.

5. Titanic Block

The Titan Eikon is obtained once you defeat Hugo Kupka in the main story quest ‘Bolts from the Blue.’ Titanic Block is essentially the ‘Eikonic Feat’ ability of the Eikon, much like Phoenix Shift, where upon pressing the circle button, you will be able to block and guard against enemy attacks. When a guard is timed perfectly, you can then press square to launch up to three counterattack punches.

Pros

• The ability is especially useful against mini-bosses or boss fights, where they deliver an easily telegraphed attack so you can get a free Titanic Block counterattack.
• Mastery of the Titanic Eikonic Feat allows you to gain an increased Limit Break charge when successfully blocking attacks.
• You can block almost any kind of attack with precise timing, whether it’s melee, magic, or even an AOE attack.

Cons

• The counterattack punches of Titanic Block may leave you vulnerable to attacks from the enemy, especially if they’re in the middle of a combo.
• The damage and execution speed of the counterattack punches is mildly slow.

6. Pile Drive

The Eikon of Lightning, Ramuh, is passed down to Clive via his dear friend, Cidolfus Telamon. Pile Drive is a unique Area-of-Effect Eikonic ability, whereupon activation; Clive will slam Ramuh’s staff into the ground, electrifying all enemies within a radius of the strike. It is one of the popular ability choices right now for DPS among myself and other players.

Pros

• Pile Drive is one of the best FF16 crowd-control Eikon abilities, boasting great AOE attack damage.
• The upgrade is a great addition to the ability as it increases the range of Pile Drive as well as the number of hits you can execute.
• Pile Drive is also excellent for single-target DPS as it provides a sustainable amount of stagger damage and can be viable for DPS due to its fast startup animation.

Cons

• The only major downside is that you cannot use it in midair, and the ability itself has a long cooldown unless decreased via equipping accessories related to it.

7. Rift Slip

The Eikon of Odin is granted to you once you overcome King Barnabas Tharmr during the main quest called The Last King. Rift Slip is an interesting Eikonic ability in Final Fantasy 16, as it essentially allows you immediately recover from any ability or action. This means that whenever you activate the ability during the combo or even at the end of it, you can cancel the animation to follow up with more attacks or abilities.

Pros

• The main benefit of Rift Slip is that it will allow you to experiment and chain various combos or inputs without any interruptions, allowing you to dish out DPS during stagger phases smoothly.
• Rift Slip also slows down time when you activate it immediately after using any ability.
• Upgrading the ability shortens the cooldown as well as increases the time slowdown effects, and if you use it to recover your poise, it will reduce the cooldown by 50%.

Cons

• Since it is a utility-based eikon ability, it offers no damage or stagger capabilities.

8. Upheaval

Upheaval is another one of Titan’s powerful melee-based Eikon abilities, but the key difference is that Upheaval dishes out AOE shockwaves. You basically slam a fist to the ground, dealing damage to all enemies within range. Also, by holding the input button for the ability, you can increase its range.

Furthermore, the ability can also be chained at the end of combos and used in mid-air. Lastly, the upgrade increases the red-colored area in the charge meter so you can have a better chance to power it up timely.

Pros

• Titan’s Eikon abilities are mainly based on a charge dial, so by fully charging Upheaval, you can release it at the sweet spot to deal maximum damage using it.
• Upheaval is fantastic to use in mid-air, as upon activation, Clive will slam the fist into the ground from the air, which is great for clearing any trash fodder beneath you.
• It has solid stats for both attack and stagger, making it the best Eikon abilities against bosses and enemies of almost all types in FF16.

Cons

• The charge-up animation of Upheaval may occasionally leave you vulnerable to attacks from enemies.
• The mid-air version cannot be charged up to deal extra damage.

9. Deadly Embrace

Deadly Embrace is the Eikonic Feat ability of Garuda. It allows you to send a grappling claw out to grab an enemy and pull it toward Clive. Furthermore, grappling heavier enemies will launch Clive into the air.

The ability is one of the essential abilities from the early to mid-game, as using it on a powerful enemy or boss who’s partially staggered (Stagger bar at 50%) will allow you to perform a brief takedown, during which you have a short time window to deal free damage to their HP and Stagger bar.

Pros

• In my experience, Deadly Embrace has become a necessary ability, as whenever you take down an enemy, you can follow it up with an ability such as Gouge or Pile Drive to unload constant strikes and initiate the stagger phase right then and there.
• For bigger enemies, using Deadly Embrace to launch Clive into the air can help you close the gap on them.
• It is one of the best Eikon abilities to use in the early game events of FF16, as you can pull in multiple enemies around you and then activate an AOE ability, such as Scarlet Cyclone, to decimate them.

Cons

• Using it on heavier or large enemies to launch yourself in mid-air doesn’t provide a huge advantage.
• The partial stagger has a really short window, so you need to be quick on unleashing your next set of attacks.

10. Raging Fists

The Raging Fists is another charged Eikon ability of Titan, which I myself absolutely enjoyed using in the demo of Final Fantasy 16. The ability lets you step forward and deliver a blinding flurry of high-speed punches. Blocking an enemy attack with the step forward increases the potency of the following punches. Upgrading the Raging Fists increases the attack power, allowing you to do more damage when using it.

Pros

• Raging Fists has great attack speed as each rapid punch connects fast, and if you have the upgrade purchased, then each of the hits is deadly.
• It can serve as a great counterattack to dangerous boss attacks as the step forward in the animation will block any incoming attack if timed precisely and also increase the power of the punches.

Cons

• Like most of Titan’s abilities, Raging Fists will only execute at close-range on the target.
• It is viable in single-target situations, as Clive may be vulnerable to attacks from other enemies during its animation.

11. Scarlet Cyclone

The Scarlet Cyclone is an ability granted by the Eikon of Phoenix. Just like Rising Flames, it is also one of the early-game Eikon abilities that you’ll use in FF16. The following ability will allow you to spin quickly, creating a ring of fire that burns all enemies in range. Upgrading the Scarlet Cyclone increases the number of hits it produces.

Pros

• The most notable quality of the ability is that it has great AOE capability, which makes it the best choice to use against crowd-control encounters in Final Fantasy 16.
• Most importantly, it will be your main source of stagger damage against enemies and bosses in the beginning sections of FF16, so make sure to use it often.
• A detail that players might not know is that you can also use it as you are knocked back by the enemy, allowing you to tank damage and retaliate.

Cons

• Scarlet Cyclone lacks in range as its AOE spin attack is only viable in close-range.
• Despite having high stagger damage potential, it lacks attack damage.

12. Cold Snap

Cold Snap is an Eikonic Feat ability belonging to the Eikon of Shiva. You will unlock the powers of Shiva by completing the main story, “Through the Maelstrom.” Cold Snap allows you to slide effortlessly across the ground in any direction. Attacking with your melee attack while sliding can temporarily freeze enemies. It does not offer any attack capabilities but instead can be used as an evasion technique in combat.

Pros

• If you successfully dodge incoming attacks from enemies at the last second, Clive will unleash a powerful AOE blast called Permafrost which can freeze enemies around him.
• The upgrade increases the duration of frozen status caused by Permafrost.

Cons

• It is not the best ability to use during boss fights, as you are much better off using the Eikon’s damaging abilities instead for DPS.
• The temporary freeze caused by frostbite after damaging an enemy via a slide only lasts for a split second.

13. Lightning Rod

Lightning Rod, in my personal opinion, is highly underrated as it is one of the best stagger-phase Eikon abilities to use for DPS in FF16. How it works is that you create a ball of lightning that, upon being struck, chains lightning damage to other nearby enemies. The upgrade increases the range of the lightning damage chained to enemies.

Pros

• The ideal strategy to use it is to summon it when you stagger an enemy immediately, and then by using your other multi-hit Eikon abilities; you can dish out enormous amounts of damage easily.
• I found that using it with Odin or Bahamut’s abilities worked greatly to boost damage against elite-type enemies and even certain bosses.
• You can also taunt enemies to lure them into the Lightning Rod to quickly chain lightning damage.

Cons

• While Lightning Rod can certainly help increase the damage multiplier during stagger phases quickly, it lacks optimal damage.
• The ability cannot be used in mid-air situations.

14. Heaven’s Cloud

Heaven’s Cloud is one of the best Eikon abilities for Odin; in my personal opinion, though the stats might be low, it makes up for its viability in charging up Zantatsuken quickly. It essentially allows you to surge forward to strike an enemy. It can be executed multiple times in succession if the previous hit lands and each hit landed fills the Zantetsuken gauge. Upgrading it increases the number of times you can chain the ability again.

Pros

• Heaven’s Cloud is just straight-up better than Gungnir as in a single cast; it does more damage and fills Zantetsuken faster.
• You will primarily use Zantetsuken for unleashing high volumes of damage on a target while they’re in the stagger phase so Heaven’s Cloud can easily charge the meter for it.
• It has Clive doing rapid strikes across multiple enemies, making you highly maneuverable during the animation.

Cons

• I would not recommend using it against a boss or elite enemy who is constantly dishing out attacks, as you might get damaged while executing Heaven’s Cloud.

15. Gigaflare

Lastly, the list wouldn’t be complete without me mentioning one of the best high-damaging Eikon abilities in Final Fantasy 16, Gigaflare. You will unlock the power to wield its Eikon, Bahamut, during the main story quest, “Fire in the Sky.”

The ability description is simple enough as it essentially fires a massive beam of overcharged light that burns any enemy it hits. Furthermore, upgrading will increase the number of hits caused by the laser beam.

Pros

• It has one of the highest damaging capabilities in the game in terms of most Eikon abilities in FF16.
• Along with the upgrade, you can fire for such a duration during stagger phases; it will chew through the HP of elite enemies and bosses.
• It deals the most damage at Level 5 of Megaflare.

Cons

• Unfortunately, the major downside is that it takes an incredibly long time to charge up Megaflare, especially to Level 5.
• It leaves you vulnerable to enemy attacks while firing the laser, so I’d only recommend you use it in stagger phases or on single-target encounters.

This concludes the guide to the FF16 Best Eikon abilities; while you are experimenting with what abilities to use from the list, why not also learn how to reach the max level in Final Fantasy 16? You can further enhance your viability in FF16’s battle system by pairing these abilities to use with the Best Weapons for Clive. Lastly, if you’re fresh off the prologue, I strongly advise checking out the Beginner’s Tips and Tricks to give you a headstart.

If you have any questions or queries about the guide, please let me know in the comments section below! I hope you are enjoying your time with FF16 so far, and as always, eXputer wishes you luck!

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