The Eikons are at the center of Final Fantasy 16's combat and story. Massive creations, capable of leveling mountains while fighting is surely a spectacle to see in a cutscene and even more of an experience to play through the battle yourself.
In his search for revenge, Clive comes face to face with Garuda, the Warden of Wind, having to fight her in a two-phase boss fight, once as Clive and once as Ifrit. Both phases of this battle will have Garuda fighting to her strength, and you'll need to counter this strong foe to seize victory.
Fighting Garuda As Clive
The first phase of this boss fight will have Clive fighting Gruda on a small floating platform high up in the sky. Garuda's size takes up most of the platform, making for a cramped battle where dodging toward the little open areas is crucial. During this phase, watch out for Garuda's long windup for a kick attack, dodging toward the incoming leg to get to her other side to land a few attacks quickly.
Garuda will also call down attacks from the sky, some simply exploding while others spawn temporary tornados. Watch the ground around you and use these attacks to run around the battlefield to a safe area while spamming your magic attack to give off a bit of damage yourself. Garuda's weak point is her head, making head-on attacks the most effective. Utilize Clive's new Garuda abilities to launch up in the air and attack the weak point many times before dropping to the ground.
Fighting Garuda As Ifrit
Shortly after beating Garuda as Clive, the real fight will begin. The first part of this fight gives players a lot of freedom to try out Ifrit's different abilities and feel the full strength of playing as an Eikon. Ifrit's most damaging attacks are melee, while Garuda is great at dishing out ranged attacks. Your first goal should be closing the gap and always be strafing sideways with your dodge to avoid getting hit by ranged attacks. You can also fire a Fireball at an incoming ranged attack to counter the spells in an explosion.
Constantly use your lunge ability to get close to Garuda, even if you don't land each one. Once in melee range, make sure you land your entire combo and hit Garuda one more time to use your finisher while she's down for your highest damage attack. Despite how strong Ifrit may seem, this fight is all about dodging, so make sure to focus on not getting hit before looking to get in a few hits yourself.