How to defeat Benedikta in Final Fantasy 16

Benedikta Harman is one of Final Fantasy 16's first major battles. Dominant of Garuda, she’s a master of wind magic and will not go down easy. To push forward in the story, you must battle her during the “Dead of Night” main story mission. She awaits in Caer Norvent at the very top of the castle. However, she has several phases to endure. As long as you’re quick on evasion, she’s an easy enough battle.

However, Clive Roswell will have his hands full with Benedikta in Final Fantasy 16 between her normal form and Eikon form. Here’s what you need to know about this challenging boss battle.

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Phase 1 of Benedikta Harman battle in Final Fantasy 16

After taking the time to defeat Chirada and Suparna in Caer Norvent, you’re going to be tasked with fighting Benedikta without Cid. The two characters clash atop the castle, beginning phase 1 of this boss battle.

• Aerora is a large wind ball attack, easily avoided.
• Aeroga remains on the ground after cast, so don’t step in it.
• Wind Blades are a trio of line attacks that you can dodge or stand between.
• At 50%, her Wind Blade becomes a line in the air instead of the three ground blades.
• Keep in melee range as long as possible to keep breaking down her Will Meter.

Benedikta Harman will open up with a wave of air blasts you can easily get between. After that, be aware of the Aerora spell, which is a singular, larger wind ball. She also has Aeroga, which forms above her and slams down in front. If you dive in now, get ready to dodge.

Aeroga remains on the ground for a few seconds, dealing damage anytime you’re caught in it, so dodging it is important. Between rotating through these moves, she’ll also do a dive from the air, which you will need to parry or dodge.

Phase 1 also includes Wind Blade, which sends a trio of air blades across the ground during this Final Fantasy 16 boss battle. Stand between them or dodging around them is the best strategy. Stay in melee range as often as possible, but evade her strikes quickly.

If you aren’t confident in your combo abilities and dodging, you have a pair of accessories to make that much easier. Other than these attacks, keep an eye out for her sword strikes, as they can come in quickly.

After you stagger her, you should be able to get her under 50% HP, or even closer to 35% during this Final Fantasy 16 boss fight. She’ll knock you back with the wind when she gets up and leaps away.

Now her Wind Blade is one long curved strike instead of a series of them on the ground. She also adds a full-screen diving attack at this point as well. When you get her to 25% or less, a cutscene pops up where Benedikta transforms and attacks several times in the air.

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Phase 2 of the Benedikta Harman battle in Final Fantasy 16

Phase 2 of this battle begins with a Timed Dodge, which is easy enough to avoid. It leads into another cutscene where the winged Benedikta slams Clive Roswell around the battlefield.

• Nosedive happens almost immediately, but it’s easy to avoid.
• Aeroga has changed - now it’s three orbs that are fired - they still stay on the ground briefly though.
• Aero Rain is a new attack where she flies around, firing scattered wind orbs at you. Just run and avoid these.
• Aerial Slash is similar to Wind Blades, but longer and more dangerous.
• The Rammelfall attack starts off as a cinematic, but becomes a real threat.
• Tornado conjures its namesake to chase you down for a few moments.
• Aeroga will return as two back-to-back arrow spells.
• Gathering Clouds will try to pull you in to hit you with Rammelfall.

When combat resumes, she’ll immediately trigger Nosedive. Benedikta leaps off the screen and smashes down into the ground. She’ll aim for where you are, so it’s an easy dodge. She has a moment of vulnerability here, so really lay in the damage.

Aeroga is back in this Final Fantasy 16 boss fight, but now she summons three orbs and flings them at you. Once again, the orbs stay on the ground for a few seconds. She’s very fond of flying down to attack in melee range too.

A new attack for this phase is Aero Rain. For about ten or so seconds, she will rain down shots of wind that will sort of track you. Dodge when they’re closing in. She’s going to circle the arena and do this constantly. Just endure it until she Nosedives back in.

She also has Aerial Slash, which deals damage in three lines, but I staggered her down by the time she began this. Combo her as hard as possible when you stagger in this Final Fantasy 16 fight.

This led to another cutscene where she flings a tower at you. This attack, called Rammelfall, is a cinematic dodge, so it’s easy to avoid. You also get to follow up with a Cinematic Strike that staggers her, so take this time to wail away.

Another new attack shows up, Tornado. Just like it sounds, she conjures a tornado onto the battlefield. It’s huge, and it will try to chase you down. She’ll follow that up with a full-screen dive, so be ready for it.

Her Aerora returns, and now it’s two back-to-back arrow blasts from Benedikta. They are swift but simple to dodge from the full screen in Final Fantasy 16. Aerial Slash will also make a return.

After this, another new ability, Gathering Clouds, forms on the ground. It will try to suck you in as she prepares to cast Rammelfall again. This time, there’s no cinematic, though - dodge fast!

She'll likely trigger another cutscene around 30-40% after you Stagger her. You’ll see her Deadly Embrace attack smash Clive into the ground. However, Torgal comes in to save the day. Land the Cinematic Strike and enjoy Clive and his dog teaming up in this cutscene. There is one more Cinematic Strike, and then Benedikta staggers again.

Her Tornado now has wind blasts drop down from the sky, so you have places to avoid standing while the Tornado is spinning. She will also use her giant energy claws to grapple you. After, expect her claws to smash you rapidly into the ground.

Her attacks have a wider attack arc now. I Staggered her one final time in the end before defeating her. With that, the Dominant of Garuda is no more.

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Final Fantasy 16 is now available on PlayStation 5. You can find our review here and learn more about this epic, mature roleplaying game.