How to easily Parry attacks in Final Fantasy 16

Parrying is one of the core combat mechanics in Final Fantasy 16, which will help you make some of the game's most challenging encounters significantly easier. However, it’s not all that easy to master, and it’s only natural that many in the community struggle to grasp this mechanic. If you are playing Final Fantasy 16 on the hardest difficulties, you will need all the help you can get.

While in Story Mode, learning how to Parry is not essential, that outlook will quickly change once you boot the game up in Action or the Final Fantasy difficulty setting. Unfortunately, in the third difficulty mode, the game will not hold your hand when it comes to learning Parry, making it one of the most challenging gameplay features to master.

Hence, today’s guide will cover how to make the most of the Parry mechanic in Final Fantasy 16.

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How to master Parry in Final Fantasy 16?

As mentioned, Parry is one of the hardest combat features to master in Final Fantasy 16. However, once you have the timing and window down to the clock, it will make most encounters significantly easier.

Hence to be able to Parry in the game, you will be required to,

• Press the attack button, the Square button on the PlayStation 5 controller, right when the enemy is about to hit you. Clive will automatically parry the incoming attack when the timing is just right, and you will get the word “Parry” popping up on the right side of the in-game screen.
• Once you have been able to successfully Parry, you will be able to slow down time for a moment and stagger the enemy as your counterattack lands.
• This will leave them vulnerable, opening them up for a full combo that you will be able to execute.
• It’s important to master Parry when you are close to full health. This is because if your Parry timing is wrong, you will receive damage from the enemy while damaging them as well. If you are very low on health, Clive will die, and you will have to restart from the recent checkpoint.

The Parry window is very short and will need a significant investment of time and effort from your end to master it.

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Can all attacks be Parried in Final Fantasy 16?

You will, unfortunately, not be able to Parry every single attack in the game. While the mechanic will work on most attacks in the game, it will not work against ranged enemies or against AoE (Area of Effect) abilities that a lot of the bosses come with.

On the whole, physical attacks can be parried, as well as those with very close hitboxes.

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How to counter Ranged and AoE attacks in Final Fantasy 16?

To counter the non-Parriable attacks in the game, you must rely a fair bit on the evade button, which is executed by R1 on the PlayStation 5 controller.

You can Perfect Dodge these attacks when executed at the right time.