It’s time for the final bosses of Final Fantasy XVI, with you entering Origin and confronting Ultima once and for all. The battle will take place across four different major phases, with each one being different. Your first battle will be against Ultima Prime, but it’s less of a battle and more of a glorified cutscene. After that, the first true battle with Ultima will begin, so this page will concentrate on the tips for that preliminary fight.

How to Beat Ultima Prime in Final Fantasy 16¶

After plenty of cutscenes, you will finally confront Ultima, who will transform into a form called Ultima Prime. He may look a little familiar, too, but this isn’t actually a true fight. It’s just a long cutscene, where you have will Cinematic Strikes/Evasions/Clashes. The damage you take during this phase is also unavoidable.

• Cinematic Strike (x3)
• Cinematic Evasion
• Cinematic Strike (x3)
• Cinematic Clash

Once you are at the Cinematic Clash portion of the “battle,” then you only have that and soon after, the fight will be over. There will be more cutscenes, then you’ll have a slow walk (you control here) to the next cutscene, which is pretty lengthy. It will be after that lengthy scene that the true first fight against the final boss will begin.

How to Beat Ultima in Of Gods and Men in Final Fantasy 16¶

It should be noted that Ultima here is just the first of three major battles, so you will want to be a little careful in how you use your healing items. You won’t find too many moves that should be troublesome in this fight, though, except maybe Smite, but that’s because it has a weird timing when you first see it. Ultima, Holy, and Flare might be a little problem at first, but they become easier with practice.

All Ultima Attacks in Of Gods and Men in Final Fantasy XVI¶

This first bout with Ultima is pretty standard fare, with there being two phases, and that one introducing some new attacks that get put into rotation.

Projectile Volley¶

As the first attack, this is pretty mild. Ultima will have a bunch of circles above his head, which will then form into projectiles and be fired in your direction. There’s a lot of them, but as long as you keep moving/dodging in one direction, you should be fine.

Flying Dash¶

Ultima will pretty much just be flying in a straight line, right at you. There have been so many different variants of this attack across the game, so you should be an expert at dodging it by now.

Triple Melee Combo¶

Ultima will attempt to strike you with some melee attacks, three in a row, in fact. There will be a slight delay in between them, in case you’re dodging and/or blocking them.

Flare¶

Ultima will conjure up some large fireballs that surround and circle you, as they gradually converge on your position. Once they meet up in the middle, there will be a big explosion. The flaming line on the ground is where the explosion will fully reach, so you will want to get out of that “circle” before the boom happens.

Jumping Attack¶

Ultima will fly off into the sky, and a second later, a circle will appear on the ground. Once the circle appears, Ultima will crash into the ground a second or so after that. This is similar to the Dragoons’ Jump attack, which isn’t really all too difficult to avoid.

Sphere Punching Combo¶

This is another melee combo, but it’s only two hits this time. Ultima will attempt to punch you, while creating a sphere of magic from his fist. Each of these punches will have a little bit of a delay to them, as he charges up the magic. As long as you remember the delay portion, you should be able to dodge the punches with ease.

Holy¶

Ultima will create a circle under your feet, with a crystal in the middle of it. A second or so after, some lines will extend from the circle. Once the lines are formed, an explosion of energy will occur, within the circle itself, as well as down the lines. There will be gaps in between the lines, which is where you will want to stand.

Magic Swords¶

This attack only seems to occur if you are close to Ultima for a prolonged period. He will form a circle underneath his body, then there will be smaller circles that form on the outside of the bigger one. After a few seconds, the bigger circle will explode with electrical energy, while the smaller ones will have a magic sword emerge from them. Just back away when you see the bigger circle form underneath him.

Magic Rifts¶

This attack (and the ones following this) won’t be put into rotation until the cutscene where Ultima changes the battlefield. A rift will appear on the ground, underneath where you’re standing and after two seconds or so, an explosion of magic will come out of it. These rifts are elongated in shape, so you can just easily avoid it by moving out of the way.

Ultima¶

Ultima will teleport into the middle of the arena and unleash a bunch of energy. During the beginning portion, you will be sucked towards him, but this part doesn’t do any damage. After a few seconds have passed, he will create a sphere of energy that will expand in size and eventually envelop the entire arena. The only way to avoid this altogether is to keep dodging away from Ultima and to the edge of the battlefield, where the attack will just stop short.

Dashing Shots¶

Ultima will dash to the side and fire some magic at you. To dodge this effectively, just evade in the opposite direction in which he is moving.

Meteor¶

You encountered this attack before, when you fought the Behemoth during Streets of Madness, and it’s the same here. Ultima will summon a bunch of meteors that crash into the ground, with their impact point marked, which will then unleash a small shockwave. Just continually move throughout the attack, dodging when necessary.

Smite¶

Probably the most annoying of the attacks during this first battle, as it can be difficult to time the dodge. Ultima begins by charging some energy up, then he will teleport right next to you and unleash a beam of energy. If this beam hits you, Clive will get knocked into the air, where Ultima will do another beam to knock you back to the ground. The goal is to dodge that initial beam, which will happen pretty much as soon as he teleports.

Strategy for Ultima in Of Gods and Men in FFXVI¶

Outside of Ultima Prime, which is just a cutscene, the first battle with Ultima is split into two phases. Once you knock off around 30% or so of his health, you will trigger a cutscene, where Ultima will change the landscape of the area. That is when he will start doing every attack from Magic Rifts onward. For the first phase, the only two attacks that should really be any kind of trouble is Flare and Holy. For the former, you will need to make sure you get far enough away from the attack to avoid the explosion.

Wherever you see the starting points for the fireballs is where the outer range of the explosion will be, so that’s your goal. If you don’t feel like you’ll get there in time, you will need to time a dodge at the same time as the explosion. For the Holy attack, the initial circle isn’t the problem, as you have more than enough time to exit it. The problem arises from the lines that extend from the circle, as you never really know where they will appear and you need to stand in between the lines to avoid the attack.

For the second phase of the battle, the Ultima skill could spell trouble, if you don’t know how to get away from it. Basically, just move as far away from him as possible, as soon as you see the name pop up on your screen. The most dangerous attack is definitely Smite, as it can be tough to dodge the first time you see it. First, he will charge up some energy, then he will teleport next to you and fire a laser beam. The moment you see him teleport is when you should get ready to dodge. If you get hit with that beam on the ground, you’ll get knocked into the air and Ultima will do another beam that’s unavoidable.

Recommended Abilities for Ultima in Of Gods and Men in FF16¶

As the final boss in the game, you will have access to your full arsenal of abilities, depending on what you have purchased, of course. The following list is what we did this battle with, but it’s not the definitive build, so you can use what you want. Remember that mastered abilities can be put on any Eikon of your choosing, so it allows some flexibility in your builds.

As you can see, this load is pretty much borrowed from the previous two boss battles, as it works well. Raging Fists and Rook’s Gambit are there for countering Ultima’s melee attacks, although, if you have mastered Diamond Dust, you can use that to replace Gambit. Rising Flames is decent damage, plus some stagger, and it comes out quickly, without needing to do any charging up for the attack. If you want to replace it with something else, it’s mostly just filler. Gigaflare and Lightning Rod is a lethal combination you should be using for when you stagger. Dancing Steel is there to help you get to Level 5 Zantetsuken, for even more damage.

Upon defeating Ultima here, you will be treated to more cutscenes, as well as one more Cinematic Clash, which will lead you into the second fight, against Ultima Risen.