Final Fantasy XVI is an action-packed adventure that follows Clive, a Shield charged with protecting his brother Joshua the Phoenix Eikon. The prologue takes you through several missions until you reach Phoenix Gate where you prepare to go to war with another nation. This is a slightly longer quest, and there are two boss battles within it. The guide below goes over how to complete the third main quest, Flight of a Fledgling and complete your first Eikon battle in Final Fantasy XVI.

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!The Phoenix Eikon awakens.

Starting Flight of a Fledgling in FF16¶

Once you clean up the swamp and defeat the Malboro, in Lost in Fog, you can move on to the next area on the map, Phoenix Gate. It’s here that you will see more of the army as they celebrate Clive’s recent victory, and prepare for battle. During the feast, Joshua will wander off to speak with Clive. After a bit of dialogue has passed, the camp will go to bed and the Imperial Soldiers will invade Phoenix Gate, killing all in their way.

Playing as Joshua at Phoenix Gate¶

You start off by playing as Joshua, who despite having a sword can only use magic. His spells are powerful, and this section has you more or less playing as a supporting character as you walk a short distance through the area. You can hit triangle to shoot magic that greatly reduces the enemies’ health, and allow Wade to finish them off. Once you get to the injured guard, another cutscene will play where the family reunites with Joshua, and you take over playing as Clive.

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(1 of 3) Follow the hallway forward.

Playing as Clive at Phoenix Gate¶

Once you have switched to Clive you’ll have your full move set back, you will want to move into the Phoenix Gate feast hall and take down any soldiers on the way. The path is pretty linear, so it’s hard to get lost. Along the way, you will also pick up a few items like Potions and High Potions. Once you exit through the door into the courtyard, a fight with Imperial Soldiers will begin. Your target is the magic user of the group as he can hit you with powerful attacks from a distance. This will only take a few minutes, and once you are done a Dragoon called the Knight of the Blinding Dawn will appear.

Use the quick time event to dodge him and your normal dodge to keep out of range of his attacks. He’s relatively easy to beat as long as you don’t let him slam down from the air into Clive. Once defeated another cutscene will play where both Joshua and Clive turn into Eikons and begin a cinematic battle.

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(1 of 3) Follow the hallway to the mess hall.

Phoenix Vs. Ifrit Phoenix Gate Eikon Battle¶

You will now jump back to the start of the game where you saw Phoenix and Ifrit fighting each other while falling down a hole. You will take control of Joshua, who is the Phoenix. This is mostly a cinematic moment as you only need to press dodge when prompted and shoot fire. There is a bit of aiming involved, but it’s hard to miss Ifrit even with all of the jumping around the Eikon does. Just keep hitting him until you move to the final cutscene of the prologue and prepare yourself to dive into the full game with the mission A Chance Encounter.