What are the best abilities to use in combat? Just got the 4th power so now I have to choose.

[aweigh]

Currently I'm using:

- phoenix circle attack
- phoenix big AoE attack, think it's called rebirth.

- ramuh small AoE ability
- ramuh big AoE, think it's called judgment.

- (just got) 4th power and using the wind-up punch
- the big AoE forget what it's called, he throws the floor at them.

Any recommendations of changing things up? any particular ability combos that are cool? i do kinda miss the wind ability of yoinking enemies toward me, tbh.

EDIT: also is it me or do will-of-the-wisps and Ignition (the bullrush ability) seem completely useless?

[C1REX]

I combine Ramuh's crystal with Bahamut mega laser for max damage against staggered bosses. The crystal makes the beam more damaging. Fully charged Tytan's punch also does good damage.
All other abilities are for max stagger damage.
I think stagger damage is generally more important against bosses. That is also why Tonberry's Knife is so strong.

[Dagný]

The game is so ez you don't need the best of anything

[aweigh]

Originally posted by Dagný:

The game is so ez you don't need the best of anything

Oh I know, but it gets boring fighting the same way every time. The combat is the weakest part of FF16 and a big reasonf or why the game is a big mistake for the FF series.

[jordyexists]

Of the four early Eikons, I liked Ramuh's abilities the best. Keep in mind you can refund your points with no downside (except you have to repurchase all your abilities, even at the end of the game that might take a minute or two at most.)

Titan's Eikonic ability is neat if you like to parry attacks. The timing is a bit more generous than doing a precision dodge, but, obviously because of precision dodge, it isn't a necessary skill if you prefer using Pheonix's shift strike.

Garuda's Eikonic ability, deadly grasp, is incredibly useful; especially for heavy enemies when you get them to half their stagger bar and can prolong their vulnerability window by pulling them down. It's also the best for controlling the position of smaller enemies; even at the end of NG+ and in Arcade Mode/Kairos Gate score runs, I still use it. It's almost a necessity.

Will o Wykes is one of the best abilities for getting high scores in Arcade Mode/Kairos Gate, but it isn't very useful at all in a regular or NG+ playthrough. If you find yourself getting close to death and want a little bit of extra survivability, Wykes would be a solution, but most people don't have that issue in regular/NG+ runs with the easily available healing items.

Ignition is an easy way to group up a bunch of small enemies together to then hit with an aoe effect.

Lightning Rod + Will of the Wykes is really powerful, as the wykes orbs will just constantly hit the rod, causing it to explode every second. It doesn't give score bonuses, but it is a combination that works great for regular/NG+.

I would advise just playing around with different skills, refunding your points and then trying other ones so you can max out whatever you're using at the time. That will help you find what you like to use to compliment your play style.

[Koby]

Ignition is great. I use it even in end game because it lets you push everything together to crush them with your other abilities.

At the point you're at in the game (4 Eikons)… I'd say probably my favorite setup was:

1) Garuda with Ignition and Lightning Rod
2) Ramuh with Judgment Bolt and Thunderstorm
3) Titan with Windup and Raging Fist

[Charumaru]

Will-o'-the-Wykes is a great ability as it's effectively a free shield that does damage for each fireball. Ignition is niche.
Phoenix's Heatwave is absolutely busted. Good damage, counters ranged attacks/magic and decent cooldown. Rising Flames is kinda ♥♥♥♥. Flames of Rebirth is probably one of the better AoE's in the game since it'll heal you and has a MASSIVE radius.

For Garuda, Rook's Gambit and Wicked Wheel are the better options. RG being a great physical counter (needs the upgraded version to be worth) and WW is an excellent Stagger bar killer. Gouge is okay, but Aerial Blast isn't that great (compared to other big AoEs) and not worth the point investment IMO.

For Ramuh, Lightning Rod and Judgment Bolt are great. LR is kind of easy mode, while JB is an excellent nuke. Sadly Blind Justice is an absolutely dogwater ability.

All of Titan's abilities are actually pretty decent, but your setup of Windup and Earthen Fury are fine.

My setup at your point in the game was:
Phoenix (Phoenix Shift): Will o' the Wykes, Heatwave
Garuda (Deadly Embrace): Rook's Gambit, Wicked Wheel
Titan (Titanic Block): Windup, Judgment Bolt (from Ramuh Mastery, this is a HEAVY point investment though.) OR Ramuh: Lightning Rod (can swap this with Windup mastery from Titan), Judgment Bolt

[aweigh]

thanks all, some good stuff here.

gonna change up my abilities a bit. and yeah garuda counter ability and the air launcher ability are fantastic for decreasing stagger bar.

think i'm gonna try out the will of the wyks / lightning rod combo.

[iameatingjam]

These are the skills I use

Phoenix shift - scarlet cyclone - flames of rebirth

Wings of light - gigaflare - Aerial blast

Blind justice - judgment bolt - satellite.

All mastered.

Btw blind justice and satellite are two really great skills to have to do damage from a distance. And then Flames of rebirth, judgement bolt and gigaflare are really great damage dealers for when an enemy is down. Flames of rebirth, aerial blast, scarlet cyclone, and even blind justice again are all good for when you have lots of weak enemies to deal with.

Actually you could put wings of light into that last category too, but takes some time to charge up, btw, dodging attacks speeds up the charge up time, greatly.

And if you didn't know, once a skill is mastered, it you can apply to a different Eikon for better mixing and matching.