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Final Fantasy 16's dramatic prologue, which recounts Clive's traumatic past, is more emotional than challenging. However, some of the bosses you encounter, such as the Knight of the Blinding Dawn, still pack a punch, and it may be worth your while to learn his move set and how to counter each move if you plan to play the game on higher difficulties.
This boss can be encountered once you take control of Clive after Joshua's small playable section. As soon as you open the door to the castle grounds and finish off the enemies lingering there, the screen will immediately cut to an upward shot featuring the Knight of the Blinding Dawn standing at the top of the castle, and the battle will begin from there.
Before You Fight Knight Of The Blinding Dawn
There's not much you can do to prepare for this fight, but you'll have enough ability points by then to unlock all of Clive's basic abilities. The abilities you should definitely focus on grabbing are Stomp, Swift Recovery, and Burning Blade.
Stomp will allow you to jump in midair and avoid some of Knight of the Dawn's spinning spear attacks on the grounds, while Swift Recovery will allow you to quickly rebalance yourself if you're unable to avoid those attacks and get knocked back. Burning Blade is a really sweet ability that you can charge while moving and use to counter some of Knight of the Binding Dawn's attacks at precise times. It's also an ability that might define the course of battle if you use it wisely.
You will also be joined in battle by Clive's teacher, Commander Murdoch.
Knight Of The Blinding Dawn's Moveset
Knight of the Blinding Dawn will first greet you with a QTE prompt that you must press in time. He will then start using his long Dragoon Lance to repeat a series of attacks for the first segment of his health.
- A spinning jump that connects into a downward smash, followed immediately by a spinning launch coupled with a strategic retreat.
- A Lance thrust in which he plunges directly at you (there is a brief pause where you can tell that the thrust is coming).
- A double spin attack that covers a wide area around the knight, which you should avoid as much as you can.
When he is down to half health, he will acquire three new attacks.
- An advanced spinning attack with a greater number of swirls.
- The Double Jump ability, where he will instantly jump into the sky and then crash-dive into you two times in a row (can sometimes be a single jump at earlier health stages at random).
- A three-step combo where he first spins his lance then tries to push you with his left hand, and then jumps to throw the lance at you from close range.
Defeating Knight Of The Blinding Dawn
You don't need to worry about working with Murdoch, as precision dodging is your true friend here. First of all, don't forget that the knight's downward smash can transform into a spinning launch, so you should remember to dodge and then move away from the area.
As for the other attacks, the trick here isn't to avoid them but to face them head-on. Don't attack haphazardly, though. Keep your sword sheathed and your Burning Blade charged at all times, and when he lunges at you, deflect his attack with your Burning Blade, which will stagger him for a considerable amount of precious seconds.
Using the Magic Burst technique (pressing Triangle after landing a melee attack can sometimes stun the Knight for a short time, but only if you cast it when you're standing behind his back.
This technique is named Parry, or as most players would like to call it, precision counter. You can also use the initial movement of the Burning Blade to step aside and hit him from behind if you can't time the parry or precision counter correctly, although I personally found that countering was easier for me when I used the charged Burning Blade rather than doing it with a bare sword.
This technique is also very effective when the knight goes into the Spinning Launch, and there's a slow window you can use to effectively counter and stagger him during that combo. As for when he gets serious later on, make sure you completely avoid getting close to his three-step combo due to its large hit window and focus on exploiting the plunge attack, as this is arguably the point where he can be considered most vulnerable.
Make sure to use the Strength Tonic in your inventory only when he's staggered to deal the maximum amount of damage, and you'll easily win the fight if you keep your distance and exploit his moves with your Burning Blade parries. You can also use your trusty Photo Mode from the launcher menu to get some good pictures of this burning-counter move, like the one I've attached above.