Final Fantasy 16 will often pit you against large bosses to fight. Even as a Dominant, you may feel at a bit of a disadvantage. This rings true in your battle against the Akashic Dragon as it flies overhead and breathes flames across the battlefield.
You'll be fighting alongside Cid, Jill, and of course, Torgal, all of who help give you a bit of additional firepower while the dragon focuses its wrath on Clive. Fighting such a large foe means it's vital to stay out of its flames and away from its claws.
Surviving The Encounter
Even though it is outnumbered, the dragon has a great advantage in this fight. Its abilities deal tons of damage and cover wide areas, making it crucial to stay out of the way of the more telegraphed attacks, as it'll be hard to ignore the rest. Before it uses its basic claw attack, it will slam the ground with the claw it is about to use. Use this to stop your combo and prepare to dodge into the swinging claw, going into a brief counter after the attack finishes.
Multiple times the dragon will fly up into the air to attack you. While you can try to hit it with ranged attacks, focus on running before dodging, as your dodge alone won't cover enough distance. As it does strafe runs on the battlefield, run towards it, The dragon will only pick one side of the bridge to cover in flames as it flies past. After a strafe run back and forth, it will land and resume its usual attacks. Also, watch out for its Cauterize attack, which has a great range but also has a slight delay before you are damaged, giving you enough time to get out of the fire's path.
Damaging The Dragon
While the dragon can be hit anywhere to damage it, its weak point is its head. Hitting it directly here will cause additional damage, but puts Clive at the most risk. Whenever it's staggered, its head will drop to the ground for easy hits, Utilizing your limit break during this time will deal the most damage, but you'll also need to find a way to attack its head normally.
While locked on, Phoenix Shift will bring you to its head for a combo of attacks, but Garuda's abilities excel in this fight. The best combo is to use Wicked Wheel to lift Clive with an attack and follow up with Gouge to deal a flurry of blows in the air hitting its head. While up there, you are susceptible to its melee attacks or it simply moving its head, but the rewards far outweigh the risks.