Throughout your playthrough of Final Fantasy 16, you will be unlocking more Eikons and gaining access to powerful Eikon abilities to use. One such Eikon is The Phoenix. You will unlock this Eikon after you have completed the main quest: “Sunrise, Sunset” during the prologue.
The Phoenix will give you a large number of fire-based skills and some extra healing options. These healing options are great for longer-running fights and having to deal with waves of enemies. Some parts of the game will have you take on the full form of the Phoenix to engage in large-scale Eikon versus Eikon battles. If you have trouble deciding on what to spend your Ability Points on, maybe try out the automatic allocation feature.
5 Rising Flames
This ability is great for setting up combos against smaller enemies. It will allow you to launch them into the air, giving you a greater degree of crowd control and can be chained into other abilities. You should not just use it as part of your regular mix-up, but rather save it for when an enemy is trying to defend against you.
This is because rising flames can break through their blocks and open them up to a combo. This ability can be upgraded to increase its number of hits and allow it to be assigned to any of your other Eikons. This ability will not cost you anything at the start, but it will cost 500 for the first upgrade and 1000 more to master, giving it a total mastery cost of 1500.
4 Phoenix Shift
This is the Eikonic Feat for the Phoenix, and it will let you quickly close the gap between you and your targets. While you are shifting, you will still be able to let out both melee attacks and magical ones. This allows you to play a lot more aggressively, or to move out of combat with one target and into combat with another at great speeds. This is brilliant when followed up with additional attacks.
If you find yourself surrounded, and there is at least one enemy outside those gaining up around you, you can use this ability to escape. This ability has no base cost, and its only upgrade will master it for the low total cost of only 375 ability points. Once upgraded, you will be able to shift for a longer distance. You can use this ability while both on the ground and in the air, making it even more versatile in your arsenal of abilities.
3 Scarlet Cyclone
This ability will let you perform a quick spin that will also create a powerful circle of flames that will burn away at any enemies within its range. You will be able to use this ability even while you are being attacked, making it a great way to deal damage when you are unable to use other skills. In fact, that is precisely when you should use it. If you use it while being knocked backwards, its cooldown is reduced by a third, and it will be more potent. This helps it ramp up your damage output whenever you are getting knocked about in a fight. This is another one of The Phoenix abilities you will have access to from the start, and as such, it will not cost you anything.
This ability will also be your go-to for inflicting as much stagger as possible in the earlier parts of the game, which you will need to master quickly before taking on some of the harder enemies in the game. After its first upgrade, it will dish out even more hits to enemies, and once mastered, you can assign it to any Eikon. However, upgrading it for the first time will cost 475 ability points, with a mastery cost of an additional 1000. This means it will cost a total of 1475 ability points. While its total cost may be lower than Rising Flames, this ability is able to pump out more damage in larger groups, and its ability to reduce its cooldown and become more effective when used as a counter just adds to that.
2 Heatwave
Heatwave lets you swipe a wave of flames that can dispel projectiles. You can then follow this up by unleashing a barrage of follow-up attacks in the form of shock waves that travel from your location. The damage these shock waves deal is increased if you have dispelled a projectile first. This makes it great for defending and attacking, and it is not the only Phoenix ability that does so. Upgrading this ability will increase the number of shock waves you are able to send out.
Mastering this ability will allow you to assign it to any of your other Eikons. This ability has a cost of 120 to learn it, as well as a cost of 620 for the first upgrade and 1000 more to master, giving it a total mastery cost of 1740. This ability also is required to get one of the game’s trophies. You will need to execute two Heatwave Counters by successfully dispelling projectiles, all in a single battle.
1 Flames Of Rebirth
This is one of the best abilities to make use of from the Phoenix. This ability will create a blazing pillar of fire that can deal damage to numerous enemies at once, and the best part is that it will also heal you in the process. It is highly recommended that you pair this ability with accessories that reduce its cooldown and increase its damage. This will make you far more formidable in any fight by keeping your health topped up.
On your first upgrade to this ability, it will increase the number of times it hits each enemy, and upon mastering it, it will be available for you to assign to any one of your Eikons. It has a rather steep cost, though, with the base ability costing 1695, and its first upgrade being 2390. Combine that with a mastery cost of 4250, and you are looking at a total ability point cost of 8335. It’s a good thing you are able to respec and take all your points from earlier to funnel them into this one.