Fafnir of the North is the first enemy in Final Fantasy 16 to combine both agility and size in one body. Players will encounter this humongous lizard foe early in the game when Clive first visits the Great Forest with his new friend Cidolfus and his trusty wolf companion, Torgal.
While Fafnir's fight isn't incredibly challenging, some of its attacks can be quite frightening and difficult to dodge in time. It's important to get used to Fafnir's attacks in case you face off against its stronger variants later in the game.
Before You Fight Fafnir
By now, you will have probably unlocked most of Clive's basic skills, as well as the fire Eikon's three main skills, but the good thing is that you can remove and re-assign your used ability points at any time.
For example, you can remove points from some skills that you won't be using in this fight like Taunt and Stomp (which are ineffective against Fafnir), and instead invest in strengthening some long-ranged attacks such as the Charged Fire spell, which is exactly what I recommend as getting close to Fafnir can spell your doom sometimes.
There is no special equipment needed for this fight, but you might want to upgrade your long sword at the blacksmith to deal some extra damage against Fafnir's hard hide.
Fafnir's Moveset
Fafnir's moves depend on which part of its body you are attacking.
- The Front: Fafnir will retaliate against your frontal attacks with a powerful headbutt. It initiates this move by pulling its head slightly backwards before thrusting its entire head into you in a curved gesture. It will also attempt to hit you with its left or right hand in the same frontal direction.
- The Back or The Tail: A tail thrash in which Fafnir moves its tail in a pendulum-like fashion.
- The Sides: Fafnir will nimbly lift its entire left side, then send it crashing down with a great impact, and after that, it will begin spinning its entire body in your direction (this is the hardest technique to expect and avoid).
- From a distance: Fafnir, with a coiled form, will jump quickly and then and try to smash-land into you with its spiky back.
- From a greater distance: Fafnir will use its signature move, Spin Cycle, which is the same as Street Fighter's Blanka Ball. It will spin around the field slightly faster than Knight Of The Blinding Dawn's lance thrusts, then finish with a coiled or cureld body slam attack similar to the one above (but with a wider jump range compared to the previous one).
How To Defeat Fafnir
Fafnir is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. It has a near-perfect set of defenses and counterattacks, and it knows how to link them together. However, you can easily lure it into doing the moves and attacks you want from it, and Fafnir is such a reactive lizard that it won't know you are manipulating it every single time.
In practical terms, all you have to do is hit one of its sides (preferably the head or tail), then quickly move to the other side and deal some real damage while it's busy fighting the air where you were standing. This isn't an omnipotent technique, however, as Fafnir can sometimes cancel its tail or head move into a jumping ball curl or Spin Cycle, so you have to be aware of its other potential moves as well.
It's probably better to use Heatwave and Rising Phoenix and bench Scarlet Cyclone for this fight, as the latter has a long casting time that leaves you open and vulnerable to Fafnir's counterattacks. The other two attacks don't take much time to cast and deal heavy damage on top of it.
All things considered, Fafnir will still move the way you want it to at least 90% of the time. If you want to attack it directly, you can still parry its headbutt and hand slam moves with your sword at precise times and flip the tables. You can also escape the technique where it lifts its body to slam and roll into you by using your Phoenix Shift on top of a double jump then an R1 dodge, and you will find yourself out of its sight in no time (don't forget to keep casting your Fire spell even when you are dodging or retreating).
The rewards for finishing the fight are 28 EXP (Experience Points), 70 AP (Ability Points), 1000 Gil and 2 Gnarled Scale and 40 Wyrrite Material.