How to defeat Ultimalius in Final Fantasy 16?

Ultimalius is the truest form of Ultima, Final Fantasy 16’s final boss. The game’s protagonist, Clive Rosfield, will face a fight unlike any before. Since this is the last enemy you’ll encounter in the RPG title, expect it to be a long and frustrating battle. Nonetheless, studying his arsenal of attacks will make this epic fight quite bearable.

This walkthrough will detail how to deal with FF16’s final boss, including Ultima’s various phases. It will also provide tips on properly timing your attacks to quickly chomp off this boss’ life points and get that well-deserved win.

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Ultimalius – Final Fantasy 16’s big bad

Knowing is half the battle

Ultimalius is about to bring a whole world of hurt. (Credits: Square Enix)

At the beginning of the boss battle, Ultimalius will initially be in his first form/phase, known as Ultima Prime. This initial phase will mainly consist of Quick Time Events. All you have to do is be mindful of the prompts that will show up on the screen.

The next part of the boss fight will take you to its second phase. You can take advantage of Ultima's melee attacks which are quite slow. To that end, you can perform Precision Dodges and Precision Strikes every time he makes these melee attacks during this phase.

You also need to watch out for his magic bullets. Performing a Precision Dodge will greatly help, not to mention the opportunity for you to counter. You can either do melee strikes or ranged attacks for this type. The ranged ones would be the best option since he can follow it up with a rush attack.

During this phase, he’ll also use named attacks like Holy, Flare, Meteor, and Ultima. Just avoid their AoEs, and you’ll be all good. In line with this, there will be some sort of markers on the ground on where it will fall. Get out of it as quickly as possible by dodging. Performing Cold Snap is also a good option.

As we head to Ultimalius’ third phase (Ultima Risen) in Final Fantasy 16, you can now rain down a heap of attacks toward him since he won’t inflict much damage. Another thing worth noting is that the life that was chipped off from you will be restored via Firelight. So you can go out there guns blazing.

You have to be wary of his Antistrophe attack, where he will perform three huge blasts, which you should be dodging. During phase three, another attack to watch out for is Ultimalius’ Purgatory, when his life bar is down to 50 percent. You better destroy the barrier before time runs out. Otherwise, it’s all over.

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Enter Ultimalius

It all goes down to this - Ultima’s fourth and truest form, Ultimalius. Be reminded that he can now perform the abilities of other Eikons. The named attacks will also have a wider AoE.

Ultimalius can now perform Fulmen and Fulgur, which are thunderstrikes all over the battle area that will be followed by a rush attack. Avoid the lightning strikes and quickly dodge whenever he rushes towards you.

You also need to be wary of Cataclysm. It will produce a wide radius around Ultimalius. You need to run away from it as soon as it forms. This final boss will also perform numerous slam attacks known as Euroclydon. You’ll need to dodge on this one, especially the final slam with a longer reach.

Exaflare is a beam of laser that will have a double sweep. If you want to counter this attack, dodge toward Ultimalius. Divine Embrace is an annoying attack where the boss will release a projectile that will tightly grasp you once you’re caught. You can dodge sideways on this one.

As for Boreal Rhapsody, the final boss will be dropping huge shards of ice. Dodge these, too, as much as possible. Severance is another Eikon attack to avoid as the final boss creates lines that would later turn into slashes. Just like Boreal Rhapsody, avoid these lines or get sliced.

After the dodge-heavy battle and chomping off half of Ultimalius’ life, he will utilize a new set of attacks (Phoenix-based). One of his attacks is Empyrosis, where you must stay away from him when he’s about to unleash it. It will produce a shockwave when he lands.

He can also launch a flame bullet attack known as Ashes to Ashes. This, too, will be followed by a slam attack heading towards you.

Flames of Creation is comparable to Son Goku’s Spirit Ball technique that slowly descends and will hound you. Just let it follow you but avoid getting hit by it. If you’re too near to it, do a quick dodge.