There are many different types of enemies for Clive to face in Final Fantasy 16 - huge monsters, Eikons, swarms of annoying mooks, and highly-dangerous humans. Ninjas are one such enemy type, broadly covering a range of foes faced throughout the game who use teleporting attacks and elemental skills that often falls under the term 'Ninjutsu' in the Final Fantasy series.
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Some of these ninjas take the form of important enemies, being either bosses, minibosses, or notorious marks that Clive must defeat. They're tricky customers, especially when they're not alone, so read on to find out how to deal with them.
Like dragoons and orcish warlords, you can consider ninjas to be a broad 'category' of an enemy in the game. Throughout Final Fantasy 16, there are a few different times you'll face them:
As enemies, ninjas can be considered 'elite' - that is to say, they have Stagger bars, far more health than regular enemies, and take some effort to take down.
Let's go over ninjas and their attacks. The table below details all of their possible attacks - note that not every ninja will be able to use all of these attacks.
Attacks with names in italics are ninjutsu and will show up on the screen as they are being cast.
Attack
Description
Slashing Attacks
Ninjas have a variety of slashing attacks that they can employ consecutively.
Ninjas with light armor (such as those from Dhalmekia) attack with twirling and dancing movements. Their attacks include twists, backflips, and short dashes.
Notably, more heavily armored ninjas (such as those aligned with Sanbreque) also have speedy attacks but tend to seem more deliberate with their movements. They feel easier to dodge.
When fighting ninjas in melee range, it's always handy to keep an eye on their weapons. While they are fast, they're not so fast that you can't react to their blades being swung at you.
Dashing
This attack starts with a forward dash into an upward swing. This is often followed by more melee attacks.
As long as you dodge the initial attack, this shouldn't be too difficult to cope with. The follow-up combo is quite slow, and you can safely get a lot of hits in, and also use abilities with confidence, as the ninja will stay relatively stationary.
Whirlwind Slash
This attack starts with the ninja leaping away from you and then making a leaping, twirling attack right back at you. This attack can be a horizontal twirl or a vertical somersault.
This attack is very quick, and it's hard to discern the initial leap backward from the ninjas' usual dancelike movements. Just keep this in mind whenever the ninja puts any distance between you and them.
Kickoff
After a quick twirling slash into the air, the ninja will kick off Clive and leap backward.
The leap backward only happens if you get struck by the initial slash attack, so be wary of this if you're fighting ninjas in melee range.
Phase Strike
The ninja will disappear, leaving behind green particles for just a moment. They will then reappear either somewhere else or right in front of you, attacking.
When you see the ninja disappear, immediately get ready to react to them reappearing with a dodge. If you dodge successfully, the attack has a massive cooldown window that you can exploit.
Smokescreen
The ninja will create a large cloud of smoke. This deals no damage itself but provides a large amount of cover for the enemy.
When the ninja uses this, be ready to dodge a Whirlwind Slash attack from within the smoke. It doesn't always use this, though, so be ready to adapt on the fly.
Smokescreen
There is an alternative version of Smokescreen where the smoke cloud is centered on Clive. This will explode after a moment, so just move him out of the cloud.
Katon
The ninja leans forward and breathes a large jet of fire in front of them.
When this attack starts, immediately do what you can to get behind the enemy. This is a safe zone and the perfect time to attack with time-consuming abilities.
Poison Mist
This attack is identical to Katon, but the ninja breathes poison instead of fire, dealing far more damage. If you get caught in the poison for too long, Clive will fall over, stunned, as he takes very heavy damage.
Avoid this in the same fashion as Katon.
Raiton
This attack summons small circles of lightning on the ground. After a few moments, lightning will strike down in the circles.
Move out of the circles as they appear.
Futon
The ninja disappears for a long time before reappearing somewhere else on the battlefield.
Assassinate
This is a very fast fash forward combined with a slashing attack.
Thanks to this being a named ability, you should have plenty of time and warning to react to this, dodging out of the way.
The key to any ninja fight is to first make sure you're fighting them alone - take out their allies first - and then match their agility. You'll want to focus on dodging their attacks and finding openings.
Their most punishable attacks are those that keep them in one place for a while, such as Katon and a missed Phase Strike attack.
Below, you'll find specific strategies for dealing with unique ninjas.
You'll face this boss at the end of the Greatwood level, and he will be the first ninja you face in the game. It can be a tricky battle, especially as you likely won't be used to such an agile enemy.
Of the list of ninjutsu attacks, Midnight Raven will use Raiton and Katon most often but can also use Futon and Assassinate. Since Katon is the most punishable ninja attack by far, this is a good opportunity to learn its timing and range so you can more easily avoid and counter it.
When we fought the boss, we found that Assassinate would most often follow a Futon, so it's important to find Midnight Raven as soon as you can after he teleports to avoid the followup.
This fight also serves as a tutorial to Cinematic Clashes. After Staggering Midnight Raven for the first time, and then again when he's on very low health, cinematic sequences will begin in which you'll have to mash the Square button when prompted. After completing the second one, the fight will end with your victory.
The rewards for beating Midnight Raven are as follows:
Experience
99
Ability Points
90
Gil
1,500
Spoils
Badge of Might x1, Steelsilk x30, Meteorite x1
The Nine of Knives is a late-game hunt, and easily the most difficult ninja fight in the game. He's a Dhalmekia-style ninja with graceful moves, Poison Mist, a ton of health, making this battle something of a battle of attrition.
The Nine of Knives is located in the center of The Jaw area, in the south of Dhalmekia.
In addition to the above, the Nine of Knives also has one unique move that no other ninja has:
Attack
Description
Undermine
The ninja will disappear for a few moments. After a while, they will pop up near you, dealing damage in a radius.
You will be able to see the ninja's trajectory underground, so just move away from them.
You'll be used to fighting ninjas by the time you tackle this hunt, but it's worth being wary of this new attack.
In terms of offense, this is a good fight to break out some of Titan's defensive moves - Titanic Block and Raging Fists are great for countering heavily-telegraphed physical attacks.
As long as you can deal with this hunt's inflated damage and the new attacks, you should adapt to the battle quite easily.
The rewards for beating The Nine of Knives are as follows:
Experience
5,000
Ability Points
90
Gil
10,500
Renown
30
Spoils
Wyrrite x30, Meteorite x2
NEXT: Final Fantasy 16: Beginner Tips