Final Fantasy 16 is the latest mainline entry in the critically acclaimed JRPG franchise that is Final Fantasy. It has a wide range of abilities to choose from; some will be available from the start, while others will require you to acquire a specific Eikon before you are able to use them. Knowing which abilities to make use of early on can greatly enhance your chances of success as you play through the beginning parts of the game.
A great feature of Final Fantasy 16 is that there is no cost to perform a respec on your character. If ever you feel an ability is not something you wish to have anymore, or if you really wish to invest in a specific way of playing and need more ability points to funnel into a smaller pool of abilities, you can refund any and all abilities that you have spent Ability Points on. This has earned Final Fantasy 16 a rather high score among critics.
Updated by Chad Thesen on July 6, 2023: This guide has received the following update to it for the purpose of increasing the number of entries to this list. An additional 5 have been added to further elaborate on which abilities will be the most useful for players, as well as which ones are close to the bottom of their priority list.
15 Aerial Blast
This is the most expensive ability you can get from the Garuda tree and unfortunately is not that great of an early ability. While it has its merits, Phoenix provides an ultimate move that will heal you and provide you with a higher range of options in battle.
Later in the game, you will have a ton of ability points to build a playstyle of abilities that works well for you, but early game, your ability points are best spent elsewhere.
14 Rising Flames
This ability is most effective against smaller enemies and will allow you to hit a lot of them into the air for aerial control. This is also a great ability to help you chain your combos together on the ground.
Rising Flames does not have that long a cooldown compared to others; however, it is still 20 seconds and thus should not be used recklessly. It is best to save this for when you want to shatter the guard of your targets.
13 Scarlet Cyclone
This ability will not have an initial cost, just like the previous entry, Rising Flames. However, upgrades can make both of them far more effective. This is a great area of effect ability that helps give you more control of an encounter.
What’s more, you can activate this ability while you are being knocked down, meaning you should save it for when you are unable to use other abilities and maximize your damage output in a shorter frame of time. It does not deal as much stagger as Gouge, but it can be used as your main source of building stagger until Gouge becomes available.
12 Wicked Wheel
Wicked Wheel will quickly replace a lot of players need for Rising Flame when wanting to set up aerial combos, although Rising Flames does serve many other uses too. Garuda’s tree is much more mobile, while Phoenix will grant you more versatility.
Testing out which abilities work best for you comes down to player choice, but Wicked Wheel sets out to dominate at being both a highly mobile ability and one with a great means of crowd controlling from either the ground or in the air.
11 Deadly Embrace
This is the Eikonic Feat of the Garuda tree, and with it, your ranged game will skyrocket. It does not cost anything at its base level and is cheap to master with an Ability Point cost of only 450. This ability lets you pull smaller enemies to you, as well as pull yourself into the air when used on larger ones.
This ability can also be used in the air to pull enemies to you. Being able to move freely around the field and isolate enemies will be a great means of adding some survivability to your playstyle if you prefer not to play in a more tanky fashion.
10 Flames Of Rebirth
This Ability may be better than any of the others listed on this list, but it comes with substantially higher costs. So, while it may be an early game ability, you will not be getting it early on until you have amassed quite a bit of ability points first.
What makes this ability so useful is that it will not only deal a nice deal of damage, but it will also be healing you in the process. This can keep you in the fight longer and push you closer to complete victory. You may need to respec before you are able to get this, and even then, you will need to build all the other Abilities back up.
9 Swift Recovery
This is an ability that will be very useful in some fights and unnecessary in others. It allows you to recover more quickly after being knocked down by an enemy. Get this skill early and get a feel for it. Truly understand when it would be useful.
This way, whenever you realize it would be good to have this ability against a certain boss, you will be able to identify why it would be useful. Not trying it out early could mean you never realize when you may need to pour your Ability Points into it and what foes it will work well against.
8 Charged Magic
Charged Magic is an ability that is straightforward, easy to use, and will just increase how much damage you deal whenever you have a window of opportunity. Whenever you cast a magic spell, you will be able to hold down the triangle button to increase its potency.
This means instead of just getting some small shots of magic in against an enemy you are getting closer to, or one that is high above you; you can hold it down for more advantageous effects while doing the exact same thing you normally would.
7 Gauge
The ability called Gauge will allow you to summon two claws that you will use to relentlessly tear away at your target. This ability can be used while in the air and will significantly increase the multiplier for your stagger damage.
This works well for stunning larger enemies to get significant damage to their health — or used against a group of smaller enemies to have better crowd control over the fight. Upgrading it will increase the speed of your follow-up strike.
6 Stomp
Stomp will allow you to press the X button to kick off any nearby enemies while you are in the air. This will increase your jump height and how long you can remain in the air for some impressive aerial combos. This is not only an effective way to fight a group of enemies but also very fun.
This is an ability that changes how you experience combat in the game and will be more effective in some areas than others. Try this ability out, and you will be able to respec into a style that makes use of it when you feel the need arises for the area you are in.
5 Burning Blade
Burning Blade will have Clive start to pour power into his sword, and then release it out in the form of a powerful flaming attack. Increasing your damage output for combos will give you the edge you need to finish off harder enemies that much sooner.
This is one of Clive's starting Abilities and only costs 25 Ability Points to get. It is advised you pick this one up early while you lack some of the high-damaging dealing abilities that will set you back thousands of ability points later. This ability can also parry as well as break through an enemy's guard.
4 Downthrust
If you are using the ability Stomp, pair it with the ability Downthrust. Pressing the X button together with the square button will have you come crashing down for high damage, after which you can then use stomp again and repeat.
This can make for a very mobile attack pattern as distant enemies try to hit you with projectiles while you are always on the move. This might not give you the same damage numbers as a Gauge plus Upheaval pairing, but both are great for different kinds of enemy groups.
3 Lunge
This ability will let you dash forward into an attack; this lets you get into combat lightning-fast to initiate combos sooner and dispatch enemies more quickly. The more enemies you can take out early, the fewer threats on the field to worry about.
It is nowhere near as flashy as some previous entries, but investing in it will certainly see your success rate go up in battles by keeping your offensive options high. This can also be used as a means of quickly avoiding the attack of an enemy while also dealing damage to another one.
2 Rook’s Gambit
This ability will allow you to jump back before delivering a punishing counter offense against your target. If you evaded an attack in doing so, the attack's damage is increased and its cooldown decreased, providing a shorter window before you can use the ability again.
This ability can even be used while you are in the air. This will be a great move for one-on-one fights to increase the amount of damage you are able to deal in a shorter window of time.
1 Heatwave
This is a brilliant way to shut down enemies that are trying to deal damage to you from a distance while you have other close-range enemies taking priority. This ability will let you summon a wall of fire that will negate a projectile coming your way.
You will then be able to dish out several shock waves of damage against your ranged attacker. Mastering this ability will let you send out even more shock waves to deal with them faster. Be sure to respec this into your arsenal for foes that will send a lot of magical projectiles your way.