FF16 Wind Shard: Unlock & Usage

Discover the FF16 wind shard and its uses in crafting the powerful Stormcry Sword for epic battles, especially during the game.

Wind Shard in FF16 is a crafting resource you receive as a reward for defeating Garuda, the Eikon of Wind. With this item, in your inventory, you can craft Stormcry Sword at Blacksmith’s which you can use for your defense as you move across Valisthea. Therefore, Wind Shard uses in Final Fantasy 16 comes with a crucial resource contributing to Clive’s survival.

Key Takeaways
  • The Wind Shard is a crucial crafting resource, earned as a reward for defeating Garuda, the Eikon of Wind.
  • It is obtained during the “Awakening” major quest as a one-time reward.
  • There is no opportunity to acquire it again through replaying the stage.
  • The Wind Shard allows players to craft the Stormcry Sword, a powerful early-game weapon for Clive in FF16.
  • The Stormcry Sword inflicts 135 Damage and provides 135 stagger Damage, making it an impactful weapon against enemies.
  • Though initially impressive, the Stormcry Sword’s capabilities can be further enhanced throughout the FF16 via upgrades.

What Is Wind Shard In Final Fantasy 16?

The Wind Shard in Final Fantasy 16 is a valuable resource obtained after defeating Garuda, the Eikon of Wind. It is used to craft the Stormcry Sword at Blacksmith’s in The Hideaway, providing the best early-game weapon in FF16 to aid Clive’s journey across Valisthea.

How To Get Wind Shard In FF16?

Wind Shard In Final Fantasy 16
Wind Shard In Final Fantasy 16 [credits: image by eXputer]
To get Wind Shard, all you need to do is kill the Garuda who is Eikon of Wind, during the “Awakening” major quest. However, you will only get this as a reward for doing this for the very first time. Later, no stage replay or anything can get you Wind Shard again.

Garuda’s Boss Attack Patterns

You can continue reading the guide or watch this video here & learn how to beat Garuda in FF16:

YouTube video

Garuda, a wind-based Eikon in Final Fantasy 16, will certainly test your combat strategies and quick reaction times. In the beginning, she primarily uses her winged talons for direct attacks, either slamming them down in front of her or swiping at you. Additionally, she can use a spinning tornado kick after a brief charge-up. Pay close attention to her arms as they telegraph these winged talon attacks.

  • After reducing her health to 50%, Garuda shifts her strategy and unleashes her Aerial Blast attack.
  • This move consists of pillars of tornadoes that prevent direct melee attacks.
  • On top of this, the pillars sporadically continue to appear during her melee attacks later on.
  • This stage of the battle is denoted by a green and black light indicating where the pillars will form.

In the second part of the battle system, where you fight Garuda Eikon vs Eikon as Ifrit, her move-set changes again. She will use wind blasts when at a distance and also unleashes a Tornado attack, sending three pillars of tornadoes toward you. Garuda also has the Skyfall attack, in which she gathers nearby rocks into one huge rock to slam down on you. Get over the fight by learning these attack patterns and get the wind shard in FF16. 

Best Strategy To Defeat Garuda

Rooks Gambit Ability
Rooks Gambit Ability [credits: image by eXputer]
Firstly, before the fight, I highly recommend that you unlock the Rook’s Gambit ability and upgrade it. This move lets you dodge and counterattack effectively in Final Fantasy 16, which is crucial for avoiding Garuda’s attacks. Also, use the Gouge ability to stagger her quicker.

Gouge Ability
Gouge Ability[credits: image by eXputer]
  • During the battle, dodge her talon attacks and counter with Rook’s Gambit, while targeting her head for maximum damage.
  • You can reach her head by using Phoenix Shift for aerial hits.
  • For extra damage and staggering, use Eikon abilities like Gouge and Garuda’s own Deadly Embrace.
  • This takedown ability is particularly effective when Garuda’s will gauge is reduced to 50%.

Once she’s staggered, you can unload your attacks. Make sure to efficiently manage your cooldowns so you have Mastered abilities ready when she’s vulnerable. The Burning Blade skill can be particularly useful here due to its quick charge time and effectiveness. After Garuda’s health is halved and she starts using Aerial Blast, focuses on evading and using ranged attacks, like Chared Shots.

  • When you’re fighting Garuda as Ifrit, your strategy will be quite simple.
  • Evade her attacks and then charge in to land your own hits.
  • Be aggressive and take advantage of openings.
  • When she launches her Tornado attack, sidestep around it and close in again.
  • Ifrit’s lunging dash can help you close distances quickly.

Remember to evade her AOE attack, Aerial Blast. Continue these tactics and look out for Quick Time Events (QTEs) during cinematic sequences. Finally, utilize Ifrit’s signature Hellfire ability to slay Garuda for good.

How To Use The Wind Shard?

Once, you have a Wind Shard in FF16 you can use it to craft a Stormcry weapon for Clive in Final Fantasy 16. To do it, you need to head back to The Cid’s Hideaway. Once you reach there, interact with Black Smith. Black Smith has a forge, that offers you a variety of items in exchange for resource items you have. Thus, as you go there with a Wind Shard, and open the forge menu, you will see that you can craft a Stormcry.

Stormcry weapon
Stormcry weapon[credits: image by eXputer]

Stormcry Sword

You can use Stormcry Sword throughout your Valisthea journey to fight against enemies. This is a great weapon that gives enemies 135 Damage and 135 Stagger. However, don’t throw it even if you don’t find these stats attractive. As you progress through the game, you will find various opportunities to upgrade this Sword, which makes it deadly.

As we’ve journeyed through the epic landscape of Valisthea in Final Fantasy 16, the Wind Shard has proven to be an invaluable asset. A hard-won reward from the challenging battle against the Eikon of Wind, Garuda, it has enabled many players, like you in Final Fantasy 16, to craft the powerful Stormcry Sword.

With this, I bring my FF16 Wind Shard & its uses guide to an end. For more informative articles you can look at Final Fantasy 16: Torgal, How To Heal, and Ability Points.

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Sameer is a Senior Writer & Editor for all sorts of guides on eXputer. He has dove deep into many gaming genres and ended up investing 8,000+ hours on COD titles, Pokemon games, Witcher 3, Minecraft, and Bloodborne. Sameer has a degree in Writing and Editing from the University of Michigan. Additionally, he has several years of writing experience and has worked for Mashable previously. Get familiar with Sameer's gaming library on his PSN and Steam profiles.

Experience: 5+ Years || Previously Worked for Mashable || Education: ACCA

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