Final Fantasy 16’s Eikons are the RPG’s cornerstone, the biggest battles in the game, and the source of Clive’s superhuman powers. Visually spectacular as the Eikons are, the actual abilities of these classic Final Fantasy summons don’t all stack up the same in combat. Some Eikons lend themselves to nearly every situation, while one or two others are better suited to normal enemy mobs or New Game Plus. You can make good use of all Final Fantasy 16’s Eikons, but we’ve ranked our favorites below, from worst to best.
Phoenix – The good
Despite Phoenix’s comparatively low ranking on our list, their abilities are actually pretty useful and can see you through much of the game. You get a healthy mix of attack, support skills that keep enemies away, and healing skills as Phoenix, and the shift ability is particularly useful for covering ground and setting up combos. They’re simple and basic, perfect for getting used to how fighting works.
Phoenix – The bad
It takes a lot of skill points to make Phoenix’s abilities viable the further you get into Final Fantasy 16. You could – and should – be using those points to power up your other abilities, and even when you do invest in Phoenix’s, the returns in terms of damage dealt and health restored are minimal.
Garuda – The good
Garuda’s skills are excellent at breaking tough foes, and if you pepper your combos with a few of her skills, it means you can take down formidable enemies and bosses more quickly. Deadly Embrace helps make short work of weak monsters as well and has slightly better range than Phoenix’s shift ability. We’re also big fans of Rook’s Gambit – if you can get the timing right.
Garuda – The bad
The downside is that pretty much all of Garuda’s skills have low attack power, except Rook’s Gambit. Even Aerial Blast is a wee bit underpowered, despite hitting foes multiple times. Still, the skills accomplish their purpose, which is to get you used to the idea of building mixed combos and swapping your style on the fly.
Titan – The good
Titan’s abilities are some of the most powerful until you reach later in the game. You can counter most attacks and unleash a strong attack if your timing is good, shatter enemies with a mighty punch, and launch everyone high, setting them up for aerial combos and a quick finish.
Titan – The bad
Titan’s attacks are slow, though, which is made apparent from the opening cutscene showing Hugo battling Jill. It makes timing difficult, and if your opponent is particularly fast, it’s nearly impossible to use. It’s a fair tradeoff in New Game Plus, when you need to balance defense and offense more efficiently.
Ifrit – The good
Ifrit is a good middle-of-the-road Eikon with mild defensive abilities and a powerful attack. Limit Break is the big draw, a transformative ability that turns Clive’s standard attacks into powerful flaming strikes.
Ifrit - The bad
Ifrit is strong, and his ties to the story make him easy to stick with. He’s that great outside of Limit Break, though. There’s no real weakness and no real strength. Just make sure to experiment with other powers when you get them instead of sticking just with Ifrit.
Ramuh - The good
Ramuh is an excellent choice with an impressive range of attacks. Blind Justice, Lightning Rod, and Thunderstorm target multiple enemies and deal heavy damage, while Judgment Bolt launches a devastating streak of lightning at a single foe. There’s even an area-of-effect attack that hits everyone around you. Ramuh’s kit has something for every situation.
He’s also tied to one of the best Cids in Final Fantasy.
Ramuh – The bad
The problem is that you have to aim a few of Ramuh’s skills, which takes time and leaves you vulnerable to attack from stronger opponents.
Shiva – The good
Playing as Shiva finally makes decent use of the Eikons’ elemental affiliations by letting you skate around and freeze enemies. It’s fun, useful, and looks pretty darn flashy and stylish. On the practical side, her skills deal quite a bit of damage and even keep foes at bay or draw them in for combos. Shiva strikes an excellent balance between support, setting up combos, and damage.
Shiva – The bad
Knockbacks, mesmerize, and freezing don’t do too much good against fast-moving foes and bosses, so you’re limited to two of Shiva’s abilities in some of Final Fantasy 16’s tougher fights.
Odin – The good
Odin’s setup is one of the more involved and interesting in Final Fantasy 16. Arm of Darkness replaces your standard attack with Odin’s blade and powers up Zanketsuken, a much stronger final strike once you fill the Zanketsuken gauge. Heaven’s Cloud lunges at one enemy and can be used multiple times if your hit lands, and Rift Slip lets you instantly recover from an ability. Every skill powers up the Zanketsuken gauge, and with as many multi-hit skills as Odin has, you’ll be dealing damage nearly all the time.
Odin – The bad
Odin’s best skills don’t unlock until nearly the end of the game. The initial skill selection is good, but you really don’t get much time to toy around with the full set.
Bahamut – The good
Bahamut’s skills are a powerful bunch, befitting one of the series’ oldest and strongest summons. Wings of Light deals hefty damage as Megaflare the longer you charge it, while Impulse freezes enemies to the spot. Satellite makes using magic actually worthwhile, and the star of Bahamut’s show is, of course, Gigaflare, which is its usual, exceptionally overpowered self.
Bahamut – The bad
Bahamut’s best skills take some time to charge and aim. They’re tricky to get used to, but the payoff is more than worth the trouble.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
