Garuda

Garuda is the first Eikonic essence that Clive earns as you progress through the story (aside from Phoenix, which he starts with). This Eikon is earned after you defeat Benedikta at the top of Caer Norvent during the Headwind Main Scenario Quest.

Whether you plan to use Garuda until the end of the game or not, you should be using it from the time you receive it until you can replace it with another Eikon, which doesn’t happen until you receive your fourth Eikon after completing the Capital Punishment Main Quest Scenario.

Cinematic during the battle against Garuda in the first phase at the Eye of the Tempest

Garuda is the quintessential Eikon for players who are looking to play an aerial combat style. This can be somewhat difficult to achieve in Final Fantasy XVI, because it doesn’t provide a lot of attacks that allow Clive to remain airborne, but there are enough options for players who want to get creative. The staple attacks from Garuda include Deadly Embrace and Wicked Wheel. Utilizing Core Abilities like Jump and Stomp (obviously), along with Aerial Attack and Downthrust, allows players who employ this attack style to deal a significant amount of damage very quickly.

Deadly Embrace
Eikonic Feat

Animation of Garuda’s Deadly Embrace attack

Send a grappling claw out to grab smaller enemies and pull them towards Clive. Grappling heavier enemies will launch Clive into the air.

Tips and Tricks

This Eikonic Feat provides so much utility that most players should consider using it from the moment they receive it until the end of the game, for the host of reasons listed below.
It can be used to drag small enemies closer to Clive, including airborne enemies, which makes it one of the limited number of attacks that are useful against flying targets. Against larger enemies, however, instead of dragging the enemy closer to Clive, it will cause Clive to spin up into the air. This is one of the primary methods of getting Clive airborne for players wishing to utilize an aerial playstyle, but more importantly…
You can use the ability to get Clive airborne against bosses as a means to escape some ground-based attacks. For example, Ultima’s Neutron Flare attack is very difficult to dodge, but you can avoid it entirely by getting Clive airborne just before the attack is triggered. You can also continue to activate Deadly Embrace to keep Clive airborne as long as you need to.
The game will provide you with an overview of how to utilize a “Deadly Takedown” against Garuda during the fight against her in the Awakening chapter. This tactic is something you can use against every enemy with a “Will Gauge” throughout the entire game. It offers you an excellent opportunity to get in some free attacks, or use some of your more powerful attacks while it is stunned (Gigaflare, Dancing Steel, Gouge, etc.)
Upgrading the ability increases the distance that the claw will travel, which can be really helpful for some fights. There’s nothing worse than partially staggering an enemy at 50% of their Will Gauge only to be too far away to complete a Deadly Takedown.

Ability-Related Accessories

Reflection of Wind (Deadly Embrace)

Gouge
Eikonic Ability

Animation of Garuda’s Gouge attack

Summon twin claws that relentlessly tear at a target. Can be used in mid-air.

Tips and Tricks

When you first try Gouge out, you may be underwhelmed by its effects during battle, but this is because Gouge is one of your first “Will Gauge” focused attacks. You can see this while hovering the cursor over the ability on the “Abilities” tab, but Gouge is 4 out of 5 stars when it comes to its ability to stagger enemies. This means you can use it to either:
1. Quickly get an enemy to their stagger point.
2. Use it early when an enemy is staggered to bump up the damage multiplier so that your subsequent attacks deal more damage.
A great time to use Gouge is right after a Deadly Embrace that leads into a “Deadly Takedown.” This will typically give you enough time to fully trigger a Gouge combo, which, when fully upgraded, is a lengthy attack sequence that really depletes an enemy’s Will Gauge.
Be careful using this attack while you’re facing a large group of enemies. You can use it to hit more than one enemy if you’re facing a group of weaker enemies and they happen to be standing close to one another, but more often than not, you’ll end up getting hit in the back if there are other enemies around.

Ability-Related Accessories

Wicked Wheel
Eikonic Ability

Animation of Garuda’s Wicked Wheel attack

Perform a rising attack, striking all enemies within range and lifting smaller ones from the ground. Can be used in mid-air.

Tips and Tricks

This ability is effective against a group of tightly stacked enemies, but it has a relatively small impact area, and you’ll often find it missing targets that seem to be within range.
Just like its range, much of its power comes from its ability to juggle one or more enemies, but larger enemies and bosses can’t be juggled, which really reduces its effectiveness both against single targets and multiple targets.
It can help start or continue an aerial combo for players looking to use that playstyle. You can combine it with an Upheaval whilst in mid-air to maximize the damage dealt.

Ability-Related Accessories

Rook’s Gambit
Eikonic Ability

Animation of Garuda’s Rook’s Gambit attack

Jump back, then delivering a punishing counter. If the jump evades an attack, counter potency is increased. Can be used in mid-air.

Tips and Tricks

Very similar to Phoenix’s Heatwave except you use it to counter physical attacks rather than magical attacks. This makes it a bit more challenging to use because you’ll have to allow the enemy to get closer to you, giving you less reaction time, but as you become more familiar with an enemy’s attack pattern (e.g., during your second playthrough in Final Fantasy Mode), it becomes much easier to work Rook’s Gambit into your rotation.
This ability is strong as a counterattack, but just like Heatwave, it has far less utility if you’re using it without countering. Timing it properly to trigger a counterattack will also significantly reduce an enemy’s “Will Gauge.”
It also provides a large window of time when Clive is invulnerable to damage, making it particularly helpful for players attempting to obtain a Medal of Valor. This effect makes it a more effective defensive ability compared to other abilities, such as Raging Fists.

Ability-Related Accessories

Aerial Blast
Eikonic Ability

Animation of Garuda’s Aerial Blast attack

Summon a magic-nullifying tornado that slowly hunts down nearby enemies and, upon ensnaring them, inflicts multiple hits.

Tips and Tricks

Garuda’s ultimate ability, Aerial Blast, can be fun to use at times, but it has many critical drawbacks. Firstly, to cover the things it does well. It deals a relatively high amount of damage to large groups of enemies and can drain an enemy or boss’s “Will Gauge” fairly quickly. Still, it doesn’t do these things as effectively as other Eikon abilities.
For starters, you can’t control the location or direction of the large tornado that forms, and this tornado takes up a large portion of the screen. This makes it hard to see what’s going on and harder to dodge attacks from bosses due to all of the visual clutter.
The cooldown for this ability is very lengthy (110 seconds), so you can’t use it very often. Additionally, it takes a considerable amount of time to recharge, and it also requires a lengthy casting animation. All of this ‘extra time’ just slows down your progress through the game. There are numerous alternative Area of Effect (AoE) or multi-target abilities that provide more utility and efficiency over using Aerial Blast.

Ability-Related Accessories