Final Fantasy XVI Guide: “Fanning Embers” Walkthrough

Final Fantasy 16 Guide – Main Story Quest #9

After Fast Traveling to The Greatwood, we’re now in the first of a number of different dungeons that can be replayed later on in Stage Replay. For now though, an opening cutscene will see you given access to Torgan, who can be controlled using the d-pad, on the same area as your consumable screen in the bottom left side of the UI. If you don’t fancy controlling this yourself, there is also an optional accessory you can equip within the Gear menu that allows Torgal to be completely automated.

There’s also an easy Trophy you can gain here too, if you pet Torgal by tapping X five times next to him. Once you’re ready to progress forward, follow Cid along the narrow pathway, where you’ll encounter a number of different enemies that you’ll notice variations of across the rest of the game.

Worgen are essentially weak wolves and only really have lunge attacks and should be easy to take out. There are also projectile spewing living plants called Vampire Thorns too, and they have a melee attack too, so be sure to hit them with your best Eikon attacks, especially when there’s a few around.

Once these different enemies are taken care of, follow Cid near a log that you can interact with, which will open up the next area. Be sure to pick up two Sharp Fangs on the way too, just before facing off against a Dragon Aevis.

Mini Boss Fight – Dragon Aevis
Tips for beating: These small dragon enemies are the first of a number of variations you’ll encounter across the game’s extensive run-time. It’s definitely worth familiarizing yourself with the attack pattern here. There are no named attacks, but Aevis tends to attack with spins and lunges, with obvious windups as you’ll notice from his animations. There’s one ranged fire breath attack, but it’s easily spotted as Aevis will pull its head back. There’s not much range, and it only hits in one direction, so dodge out the way and smash Aevis with your combos. Eventually he’ll go down.
	Rewards:
1 Dragon Talon	15 Sharp Fangs	12 EXP
30 Ability Points	500 Gil

After defeating Dragon Aevis, follow the path along to pick up both a Potion and a Steelsilk along the way. When you reach a dead-end, you’ll be given another prompt, this time to show Torgal’s ability to show you the way. He’ll bark to alert you to the direction you need to go in.

Follow Torgal to the area and keep your eyes peeled for a Magicked Ash just past where Torgal is standing. When you’re ready, proceed through the gap and you’ll be graced with 2 more Sharp Fangs.

After another combat encounter with both Worgen and Vampire Thorns (of which there are several waves) follow the path across to a large, open area. Yep, it’s Boss Fight time!

Boss Fight – Fafnir
Tips for beating: Fafnir is a large lizard with a spiky back and strong attacks. Most of what it offers are very slow, with long delays before attacking too, so be sure to keep your finger on the dodge button. When Fafnir is doing its standard attack patterns, it will rise up in that general direction. For example, raising one leg will alert you to the direction that Fafnir is going to roll in. There’s also another attack here, where Fafnir will jump into the air, curl into a ball, and then drop directly onto the ground. Be sure to dodge this in any direction to make sure you’re not hit hard with this. Typically when it is doing normal attacks it will raise up in the direction it is going to move, so when it raises its head and/or front legs it is attacking forward, but if it’s raising its legs on one side it’s going to roll to that side. After the first stagger, Fafnir will gift you with its main attack, Spin Cycle. Here, Fafnir will curl into a ball but then roll around the walls of the arena before trying to steamroll straight through the arena and knock you over. Be sure to keep an eye on Fafnir and avoid this by dodging either side. If you still have them equipped, be sure to take on some Strength Tonics just before Fafnir is fully staggered to hit him with maximum damage. Eventually, he’ll go down.
	Rewards:
2 Gnarled Scale	40 Wyrrite	28 EXP
70 Ability Points	1000 Gil

Journey Through The Woods

After defeating Fafnir, you’ll be given another cutscene where Cid and Clive will discuss their victory. Be sure to pick up a Potion once this ends, and when you leave the cave, there’s also a High Potion up on the cliff. Depending on how you’ve fared with Fafnir, you may need these!

Keep heading forward and you’ll find 2 Bloody Hides. Defeat the Hornets that follow, using Circle to immediately teleport across and land in mid-air to get a good combo in.

There are a few little areas here where you can pick up items like extra potions, but the road is rather linear so any deviations will tunnel you back to your destination so there’s absolutely no chance of you getting lost.

Following the river upstream, you’ll find more enemies waiting for you, along with another Dragon Aevis. Just behind this big boy is a chest, which happens to hold Meteorite inside.

Keep going on this path to grab another High Potion and watch the cutscene. In doing so, we’ll close out the chapter with another boss, Midnight Raven.

Boss Fight – Midnight Raven
Tips for beating: Midnight Raven is a tricky customer and he’ll be joined by a whole bunch of friends too. Much like Shiva’s Dominant, don’t pay attention to the soldiers and focus solely on Midnight Raven by locking on. He has a tendency to warp around the battlefield and lunge at you, usually from behind you, along with hitting slower lunges toward you. Watch out to not attack immediately either, as he tends to have a string of swinging attacks that can catch you off-guard if you’re not careful. After the first stagger, you’ll trigger a Cinematic Clash sequence. After this, the attacks start to come thick and fast. There’s Raiton, which shows up as a series of lightning bolts around you. Avoid these by dodging the bolts of light on the ground. Katon is a simple fire attack, and when it’s used, be sure to get in close, dodging to the side to hit with a cheap combo or two. The final move is a two-part attack. The first part, Futon, will see Raven disappear and then reappear. When they do, they’ll attempt a move called Assassinate, which serves as an extremely quick lunge forward. Watch out for this as it can do big damage. You’ll know it’s coming because of the bright blue hue around him. If you’re hit with this, be prepared to immediately use a potion as it does big damage. Once Raven has a small amount of health left there’s another set of Cinematic Clashes which you need to win to end the fight.
	Rewards:
1 Badge of Might	30 Steelsilk	1 Meteorite
99 EXP	90 Ability Points	1500 Gil

Onto Orabelle Downs

Once Midnight Raven and his cronies are gone, you’ll be rewarded with the accessory Badge of Might. It’s recommended to equip this, as it’ll increase your attack by 7 points. However, it’s now onto Orabelle Downs, which becomes available on the World Map, so be sure to teleport there, which brings this quest to an end.

Hide, Hideaway	Louder than Words
You can check out our full walkthrough and game guide here!