If you are looking to have a little extra fun with the game’s combat, you should learn how to parry in FF16. This is no new mechanic and has existed in the series for quite some time now. And in this game, it’s just as rewarding (if not more) as how it was in the others. But it is not easy to pull it off always if you don’t know what you are doing. So here is a full explanation of how the parry system works in Final Fantasy 16.
How to Parry Attacks in FF16
In order to parry in FFXVI, you have to attack (press Square) when the enemy attack is just about to hit you. When you successfully parry an opponent the game tells you by showing “Parry” on the right side of your screen. Most importantly, the biggest perk of parrying enemy attacks is slowing down time for a brief moment and staggering them. This leaves them vulnerable for you and your party to barrage them with your attacks.
But as useful as this mechanic is using it is also risky. When you mistime a parry you take damage while also hitting your enemy. So trying it while low on health can do more harm than good. Depending on the enemy, the parry timing can change. And so, it is best you first practice it on enemies that don’t do as much damage to get used to how the mechanic works.
To stress it again, Parrying in this game isn’t exactly very easy as the window is quite short and you need to be precise with it.
What Attacks can you Parry?
You cannot parry every single attack in the game. While it may work on most attacks. Ranged attacks or AoE (Area of Effect) abilities used by enemies cannot be parried.
So you should parry only physical attacks or the ones enemies hit you up close with. And this mechanic wouldn’t be any fun if it didn’t work on the game’s bosses. So as long as they don’t use ranged or AoE moves on you, you should be able to parry them (granted you time it perfectly).
And for every other attack, you always have the option to evade them by pressing R1.
That sums up how the parry system works in Final Fantasy 16. For more such guides for this game don’t miss out on our FF16 section.