'Final Fantasy XVI' Gives Players Tons of Abilities — Here Are the Best Ones That We Recommend

Spoiler alert! This article contains minor gameplay details for Final Fantasy XVI.

With the release of Final Fantasy XVI, fans of the franchise finally have their hands on one of the latest and greatest installments in the series. The new game follows Clive Rosfield, a former prince who becomes exiled from his kingdom shortly after disaster befalls his kingdom and his beloved brother Joshua. Several years later, he joins a band of freedom fighters who attempt to rid the land of Valisthea of ongoing oppression, though Clive is solely focused on revenge.

On his quest, Clive comes to wield the power of different Eikons, godlike beings who command various elements. Clive's movelist expands wildly as he gains access to new elements and abilities. With the eventual ability to mix and match them as they please, players can come up with several different combinations to fit their combat style. If you're having trouble getting started, here are the best abilities we recommend for FFXVI.

Aside from his own inherent skills, Clive has access to the powers of the Eikons and can wield any three at once. Each of them has its own abilities and can be unlocked and leveled up individually using Ability Points obtained through winning battles or completing main quests and side quests. While certain abilities are tied to certain Eikons, you can also unlock the ability to assign any ability to any Eikon for different loadouts.

We're going to break down the best ability to unlock or level up first based on each Eikon.

As the first set of abilities that Clive has access to, you'll be spending lots of time with this Eikon in the early game. Out of all the firebird's techniques, we recommend Heatwave.

Under normal circumstances, Heatwave fires powerful projectiles to keep enemies at bay. If you use it to block enemy projectiles, however, Clive will fire off his own counter shots as an immensely satisfying way to push back against foes.

It's out of the frying pan and into the oven once you unlock Ifrit's fiery abilities. While unlocking extra Limit Break bars with this set is highly recommended, Will o' the Wykes should be next on your list. This ability summons several fireballs that spin around Clive as a damage-dealing barrier.

They may not seem like much at first, but against larger enemies with Stagger meters, they can easily enhance Clive's normal combos to whittle away at their Stagger before you know it.

These wind-based abilities allow Clive to pelt his enemies with swift and deadly strikes, most of which can be used in mid-air against flying enemies. While Gouge might be useful for a relentless assault, we'd like to suggest Rook's Gambit and Wicked Wheel.

Rook's Gambit is an excellent evasive move that allows Clive to counter any attack with a spinning strike. Meanwhile, Wicked Wheel is great for when Clive is surrounded by enemies, pulling both him and his foes into the air for some aerial combos.

You can really bring down the Thunder with Ramuh with its ability to electrify all of Clive's enemies for extra prickly damage output.

Lightning Rod is a very effective tool in this set. With this, Clive can summon a little ball of lightning that sends out literal shock waves when it's struck. Clive can hit it with any of his attacks and abilities to activate its electricity while it's on the field.

Trying combining it with Will o' the Wykes for a close-range barrage.

These earth-based abilities hit like a truck with proper timing and the Eikon as a whole can be considered an excellent staple for expanding Clive's defense options with its blocks and counters.

Raging Fists is an excellent move to counter almost any attack with a well-timed block and is especially helpful against bigger enemies for wiping out Stagger meters. Otherwise, Upheaval is a great all-purpose attack. It requires timing on the ground for full effect, but you can pop it in the air for an instant ground pound.

With the icy powers of Shiva, Clive can freeze enemies in place and send waves of ice their way. As far as helpful movies go, Mesmerize is another helpful crowd control move. If you're dealing with fast-moving enemies on the ground or even in the air, you can use this handy technique to pull enemies toward you and combine it with other abilities to wipe them out.

Using the powers of darkness from the swordsman Odin, Clive can deliver deadly sword strikes. Each of his Odin abilities fills the Zantetsuken gauge, which can then be used to unleash a devastating flurry of slashes.

Most of Odin's moves are already great, so we actually recommend saving up to level up Arm of Darkness, his inherent Eikonic Feat. This bumps up the upper limit of the Zantetsuken gauge from Level 3 to Level 5. His regular moves already quickly fill the gauge, so you can easily maximize damage with a higher Zantetsuken level.

Bahamut's powers offer great support to Clive, letting you summon light constructs that remain on the field while you switch to your other moves. To that end, Satellite is one of our favorite moves. This summons a tiny orb of light (two at higher levels) that add supplementary shots to all of Clive's magic. If you can weave in Magic Bursts into your combos, then Satellite will even continue to fire off during your physical combos to keep pummeling enemies.

Final Fantasy XVI is now available on the PS5.