In your initial encounter with Benedikta in Greenwood, you will come face to face with one of her subordinates, Midnight Raven. While the English translation may not explicitly convey this, in the Japanese version, Benedikta holds the title of an Anbu (Lit. Dark Squad) leader, indicating her affiliation with the Black Ops of the World of Final Fantasy 16.
It's also the same name for special ninja squads in the Naruto anime series, so it comes as no surprise to see Raven skillfully employing various Ninja techniques and exhibiting agile movements reminiscent of those seen in Naruto. Cidolfus and Torgal will accompany you in this fight.
Midnight Raven serves as an introduction to a particular variety of ninja-like enemies that players will encounter frequently throughout the game. It is advisable to pay close attention to his distinctive moves and techniques when first encountering him, as they provide valuable insight into this particular enemy archetype.
Before Fighting Midnight Raven
You just finished fighting the crazy spiky armadillo Fafnir of the North, and you should have earned enough Ability points from that encounter to spend on your preferred skills (Swift Recovery being the most important). There's also a pause between Fafnir and Midnight Raven, where you can fight enemy monsters and grind for more Ability points before fighting Raven.
Equipping the Ring of Timely Focus can also help here, as the window to avoid some of Midnight Raven's attacks can be very narrow and hard to anticipate, especially his Assassination technique, which is no different from how fast Basim was in the recent Assassin's Creed Mirage trailer.
Midnight Raven's Moveset
- Backflip Taijutsu: Midnight Raven uses a distinctive set of close-combat combos that almost always features a backflip retreat as a combo starter. When you see him perform this move, you can safely anticipate his subsequent actions. He will either capitalize on his body's weight and utilize the rear ends of his daggers to perform two-step horizontal twirls, or he will perform an uppercut followed by a downward kick.
- Instant teleportation: As a Ninja, Midnight Raven is able to swiftly vanish or phase out, only to reappear a few steps back, regardless of whether or not you have completed your attacks.
- Teleportation Taijutsu: Raven can seamlessly integrate his teleportation ability into his melee attacks. He begins with a backflip that quickly transitions into an uppercut, and immediately after that, he will use you as a jumping platform to retreat for a considerable distance. Then, using his teleportation abilities, he disappears and reappears directly in front of you to deliver a final slashing attack. He can also use this final offensive teleportation technique separately without having to go through all of these steps.
- Ninjutsu: The most Naruto-esque aspect of the fight. Midnight Raven can execute a variety of elemental techniques such as Raiton, Fuuton, and Katon (lightning, wind, and fire releases, respectively). Raiton will have Raven casting lightning-summoning circles on the ground, and Fuuton will have him vanishing instantly for a longer duration than his normal teleportation technique, while Katon allows Raven to breathe fire from his mouth, just like Sasuke from Naruto. Prior to Raven executing each of these attacks, their names will be displayed on the screen, allowing you to easily identify and avoid them.
- Assassinate: Another attack that is visually highlighted with a name screen prompt and his most distinctive move. It's basically Raven's own version of Sasuke's Chidori. Raven's body immediately emits a luminous white or lightning-colored glow when he casts it as he swiftly lunges at you with little to no time gap between casting and action. If this attack successfully connects, it will inflict a substantial amount of damage, accompanied by a cinematic action scene.
- Cinematic Clashes: This particular battle serves as a tutorial for the game's captivating cinematic clashes or Quick Time Events (QTE). Throughout the fight, you will engage in multiple scripted sword clashes with Raven, and even the conclusion of the encounter revolves around a series of three consecutive Cinematic Clashes, requiring you to repeatedly press the square button to successfully execute them and defeat him.
How To Defeat Midnight Raven
Seeing as Midnight Raven can mix and match most of his techniques as he pleases, it can be difficult to anticipate how a particular attack sequence will go. So, instead of dancing to his tempo, we'll target him at the moment he casts his ninjutsu. He's most vulnerable when he casts Katon and Raiton, and there's a large window of opportunity to deal as much damage as possible while he finishes his techniques.
Keep your distance from Midnight Raven at all times, as you never know when he will cast Assassinate, and he may catch you before you have time to escape. If he uses Fuuton before he casts Assassinate, it will be even harder to anticipate where his Assassinate will come from, so don't be afraid to go Trigger-Happy on the Dodge button even if you don't see anything worth dodging.
The backflip in his Taijutsu is also an indicator of when he will start an attack sequence, so you can catch him after he connects that backflip into a horizontal attack sequence instead of a vertical one, as this horizontal combo leaves a larger window for you to attack and stagger him. Use Scarlet Cyclone and Rising Flames to deal the most damage in the shortest amount of time before he vanishes or teleports to a different place.
The Rewards for defeating Midnight Raven are 99 Experience Points, 90 Ability Points, 1500 Gil, One Badge of Might, One Meteorite, and 30 Steelsilk.