Final Fantasy 16: How To Parry [Explained]

Parry is a combat move that has invaded every hack-and-slash action game and has taken root as one of the most critical moves in this genre. Just like any other game parrying in Final Fantasy 16 is quite challenging and will require some practicing to get used to. It requires getting used to, but the damage reward in battles it delivers can reach some great heights. Here is a guide on how to parry in Final Fantasy 16.

Key Highlights

Parry deals much damage but is hard to pull off with perfect timing, no matter how easy it sounds.
Additionally, it deals good damage, but compared to Perfect Dodge, it makes the character quite vulnerable. In contrast, a perfect dodge can save the player even if one fails to time a perfect dodge.
You can use a weapon with a special status effect to decrease the difficulty of perfect parrying an opponent.

Parrying is a great feature in action games and quite compulsory these days for games in this genre; we can see examples of it in recent popular games like Fromsoftware’s latest entry Elden Ring, a long-running series from Capcom, and its latest Devil May Cry 5. In Both popular action games, the parry feature has much in common, mainly how it staggers and deals massive damage to enemies.

Like these games, Square Enix has implemented these simplistic yet devastating moves into their new action game, Final Fantasy. Surprisingly one of the lead developers in combat design is also the lead combat designer of Devil May Cry 5.

How To Parry

To parry an Enemy’s attack, you need to be standing face to face and use your attacks to counter the enemy’s attacks by clashing your attack into theirs. When an enemy attacks, you need to press square just as the attack is about to land on you; this should counter and stagger the opponent, dealing massive damage afterward.

The timing is critical to pulling off the move, so make sure you time it right. And to clear something off, the timing of the parrying window is a lot different than the perfect dodge timing. To parry in Final Fantasy 16, you need to ensure that Clive is almost about to be hit with the attack until you can perfectly parry the attack.

Parry tutorial Final Fantasy 16 — You can use the in-game tutorial to give a graphical presentation to help you understand it anytime.

Parrying is a satisfying combat move set but is a pain to pull off without practicing first. One of the prime disadvantages when trying to parry is that if you don’t time it right, you could be clubbed by the enemy attack on the other side; in the case of precision dodge, it’s safer as you will dodge the attack no matter if it’s a perfect dodge or not.

So pressing R1 when being attacked by an enemy to dodge is a better option compared to getting your head hard hit by an enemy’s move. Further, suppose you hit a perfect dodge while trying to dodge. In that case, you can activate a precision counter to deliver some heavy damage, it’s not on equal grounds in damage numbers like parrying, but still, they are some high numbers.

Parry in Final Fantasy 16 makes everything slow down except Clive, allowing you, the player, enough time to deliver a blaze of attacks which can add up to a lot of damage which, compared to a perfect counter, can prove to be much more helpful against enemies with large hp bars.
Parry in Final Fantasy 16 rewards players with more battle points and better loot drops from enemies who are parried.

Bonus Tip:

If you have acquired a Burning Blade by any chance, you should try using it for practicing parrying or straight up using it as your primary weapon, making parrying in the game much easier than other blades.

That’s all we can teach you about how to parry in Final Fantasy 16; you can check out our other guides on Final Fantasy 16 and see if anything interests you. Do comment if you have any queries or suggestions.