Final Fantasy XVI Guide: “Awakening” Walkthrough

Final Fantasy 16 Guide – Main Story Quest #14

Awakening begins as soon as the previous cutscene ends. Clive is on the hunt for the hooded man, so follow him up the pathway. It’s a straightforward on-rails segment with no items or chest. As you progress to the top of the hill, where our hooded man is standing in solitude, there will be another cutscene.

After the cutscene is done, we’ll have another boss fight to contend with, this time coming in the form of a high-powered Eikon.

Boss Fight – Garuda Phase 1 & 2

Tips for beating: The fight against Garuda will come in two waves, with a cutscene nestled in the middle. To begin with, there’s a Cinematic Strike before you land on a small platform. It’s advised not to lock onto Garuda, as it makes things more difficult to attack. You can move more freely without it, slashing away at Garuda’s legs instead.

Phase 1

For this first section, almost all of Garuda’s attacks will come at you as swipes or stomps on either side or at her front. Mid-stagger, you’ll be prompted about a Takedown, where if you use Deadly Embrace (Circle while using Garuda’s Eikon abilities), it’ll extend the mid-stagger. It’s a useful tip and definitely something to use for the future.

After the first stagger, Garuda will use magic similar to the Benedikta fight. Here, she’ll trigger Aerial Blast, which sees tornados on the ground with an aura around her. Don’t attack during this stage as getting close will push you back. Just evade the tornadoes.

After the second stagger, it’s likely you’ll be near the end of the fight. Another set of Cinematic Strikes will trigger if you’re at that phase, followed by a Cinematic Clash, which will end the section.

Phase 2

The second Phase of the attack will see you playing as Ifrit. This is a bit basic and slow in truth, and Garuda doesn’t have much to work with.

Your main objective is basically to shoot ranged attacks (using Triangle) in her direction and dodging when prompted. You can also lunge toward her with Circle to close the gap down. This will help pummel her with your attack combos, which does much more damage than the fireballs.

After another Cinematic Strike, Garuda will stat casting Tornado. After more damage is done to her, she’ll also use Skyfall as well, trigger a Cinematic Clash that’ll result in her also using Aerial Blast. You’ll want to evade out the way of this one as it can do some big damage.

That’s it in terms of new attacks, so just keep hitting those attack combos and then three Cinematic Strikes, followed by some Cinematic Clashes will end the fight

  Rewards:  
55 Sharp Fang 1 Wind Shard 60 Wyrrite
2 Meteorite 500 EXP 300 Ability Points
3000 Gil    

A cutscene will ensue following Garuda’s defeat, which will then bring this chapter to a close.

Wings of Change

The Wages of Guilt

You can check out our full walkthrough and game guide here!

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