Up, close, and personal
The Nine of Knives Final Fantasy XVI boss is quite tricky. He attacks Clive and his friends with lightning-fast strikes and can go underground for a powerful uppercut in the air. However, this battle is possible, even if you’re under-leveled. Here’s how to beat The Nine of Knives boss in Final Fantasy XVI.
Where to find The Nine of Knives in Final Fantasy XVI
The Nine of Knives is one of the easiest hunts you can find in Final Fantasy XVI. You can find this mischievous foe after reaching the Out of the Shadow questline (which is far into the game, possibly three-quarters of the way through). Simply open up the World Map and fast-travel to The Jaw. It’s a location south of The Dalimil Inn. Make sure before you get a lot of High Potions and possibly some Elixirs for this tough fight from The Hideaway’s store.
Once Clive has spawned into the area, simply run forward up the path. You’ll see the Nine of Knives waiting for you, weapons in hand. This foe seems to be all business, so it makes sense he isn’t hiding. He’s an A-rated hunt after all.
How to beat this boss
Get ready to dodge and parry this guy’s attacks. He’ll come thick and fast toward you with his rapid knife attacks. Whenever you see him hunch down, he’s about to charge. As he’s about to strike, try to get a precision dodge. This will give Clive some fiery power that has him strike his foe quickly for a limited time. His Smokescreen attack will have him throw a smoke grenade at you that has an explosive aftereffect you need to be wary of. Once again, dodge whenever you see the ability name on the screen. It should be fairly easy to do. To be honest, the rule of thumb for defeating The Nine of Knives is to always be alert.
Something else you should be worried about is his Poison Mist attack. If you see him illuminating in a blue glow and bending down, dodge immediately to the left or right. It causes massive damage if you’re within the purple mist. It will also knock Clive out cold for a few seconds. It did around 600-700 damage to me, so keep an eye out.
As you’re avoiding these two attacks, bring down his stamina meter with special abilities like Heatwave and Thunderstorm. Hold your best attacks, like the Flames of Rebirth and Judgment Bolt, for when he’s stunned and strike while he’s susceptible to damage multipliers.
Once his health dwindles down to half his HP, he’ll begin to use a nasty move called Undermine. Like an Onix digging through the ground in the Pokemon series, the Nine of Knives dives into the dirt and then does an almighty uppercut into the air. Whenever you see him burrow into the ground, run away and then dodge whenever you start to see dust emerge from below.
Rewards for beating the Nine of Knives
If you manage to defeat this boss, you’ll gain a massive 5000 experience, 90 Ability Points, 10,500 Gil, 25 Wyrrite, and two Meteorites. Clive also says a badass line: “Those who kill for sport deserve no better.” Clive is truly one of the coolest protagonists in Final Fantasy history, right? Now, show that swagger against the Dread Comet.
Published: Jul 13, 2023 08:11 pm