How to beat Leviathan in Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide

Final Fantasy XVI took my complaint about a lack of Ifrit fights in Echoes of the Fallen and made me regret it with The Rising Tide‘s Leviathan slugfest. This five-phase battle is a gauntlet and will push your skills to the limit. You, however, have the benefit of learning from my mistakes and going into this prepared.

Taking down Leviathan in Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide

General tips

• Remember your Ifrit combos! The few chances you get within melee range need to be used effectively.
  • (Square x4, Triangle x2)
• The fight against Leviathan is a long one broken up into multiple sections. You’re not fighting the health bar so much as you’re fighting the stamina bar to trigger the next cinematic.
• Spam Fireball as it’s a good way to get chip damage while also giving you an idea of where Leviathan is in the first section, as the water serpent likes to hide.
• Hold Circle to trigger Wildfire and close the distance.

Leviathan first phase

The first section of this titanic battle has Ifrit caught in a water spout while Leviathan moves in and out. Moving isn’t very easy as you’re not on land, but remember that you can still dodge attacks by pressing R1.

General Attacks

• Leviathan will somersault and do a vertical whip.
• Leviathan will occasionally shoot a water jet from its mouth, both up close and from a distance. The beam has no charge up and Leviathan will crane its head around for a moment, altering the course of the attack.
• When further away, Leviathan will coil up, creating a circle that summons several motes of water that fire rapidly towards Ifrit.

Riptide

Leviathan will summon several rings around Ifrit that will do damage if touched. As they close in, press R1 to dash out.

Spinning Dive

Disappearing into the sides of the water spout, Leviathan will hide before bursting through to the other side. Spam Fireball when you can’t see him to get an idea of where he’s hiding and when he’ll pop out. Then use R1 to dash out of the way.

Grand Fall

While in the sides of the water spout, Leviathan will begin swimming in circles, creating several waves of the water mote projectiles. Dodge those and prepare for Leviathan to come barreling down in pursuit.

Tidal Roar

Leviathan charges up a blast that would make Godzilla proud. Aside from the central beam, there is a damaging column around it. Hug the side of the water spout to avoid this one.

Leviathan second phase

After working through his stamina bar and staggering him, a cinematic will trigger and we move into the second phase of the fight. Your healing charges don’t carry over, but don’t worry about getting knocked out as you’ll be able to continue from this phase with a replenished stock of healing charges.

This phase is also a little more fair as you’ll be on solid ground…err water, making maneuvering a lot easier. Unlike the first phase, the second phase will end once Leviathan’s health is around 45%.

General attacks

• Leviathan charges up and releases a beam attack from its mouth directly ahead. This one is easy enough to sidestep, provided you’re not staggered from another attack.
• When Ifrit is close enough, Leviathan will quickly lunge forward and try to bite him.
• When at a distance, Leviathan will begin spiraling around itself before rocketing across the arena.
• The water mote projectiles are back, but seem to be slower this time around.
• Leviathan will summon water spouts in a V formation. Dodging to the interior is quick and will avoid the hit.

Breach

Leviathan dives into the water. Before erupting from the surface, a large AoE ring will appear. Get out of that ring lest you want to take a nasty hit.

Riptide

A large ring appears around Ifrit and begins closing in. Much like the first phase version, touching the ring is like putting your hand on a lit stovetop. Press R1 to dodge through it when it’s close enough.

Salt Spray

Leviathan will dive into the water and then appear at a distance. The sea serpent will begin circling the arena, leaving the water mote projectiles in its wake. The Eikon is fond of following this attack up with Breach.

Waterjet

Leviathan dives into the water and resurfaces further away. He then channels his Godzilla beam and moves forward, working the blast back and forth across the arena in a horizontal pattern. I had the most success in dodging it by moving toward Leviathan and either letting the beam pass by or dodging out of the way.

Leviathan third phase (Troubled Waters)

This phase is a race against the clock as Leviathan has enclosed himself in a bubble and is preparing to cast Tsunami. Failing to break the bubble will result in an immediate game over. This is by far the toughest section of the fight as there is pretty much no room for error. You must land every hit and immediately close any gap to get back in melee range when pushed away.

• Use Wildfire to rush in and move past the water spouts.
• Use Ifrit’s main combo (Square x4, Triangle x2) to do the most effective damage while your abilities are on cooldown.
• Pop your Brimstone and Splitflare attacks as soon as they’re off cooldown and you’re in range.

General attacks

• Leviathan will summon water spouts after pushing Ifrit away. Use Wildfire and dodge to move past them. The sea beast will also use them in melee range. Simply move left or right to avoid them and keep attacking.
• The water mote projectiles are back in round three. This time, they’ll track Ifrit. Let them get close to dodge them but move left or right so you stay on the sphere.

Leviathan fourth phase

After breaking the bubble and taking a walk around the block to cool off, you’re into the fourth phase of the Leviathan battle. The fight will begin with a large window where Leviathan is staggered. Lay into him and let out all that pent-up rage, but be ready, because when Leviathan is back up, it’s going to be just as aggressive as the Timekeeper fight.

General attacks

• Leviathan will somersault and do a vertical whip.
• Leviathan will occasionally shoot a water jet from its mouth, both up close and from a distance. The beam has no charge up and Leviathan will crane its head around for a moment, altering the course of the attack.
• Channeling his inner sea snake, Leviathan will slither across the arena and try to take a bite out of Ifrit.

Maelstrom

Leviathan creates a whirlpool that covers a gigantic portion of the arena. Ifrit will be sucked towards the glowing orb of doom in the center. Do everything in your power to not let that happen.

Once the core erupts, Leviathan will spawn an unknowable number of the water mote projectiles overhead. Dodge those while keeping an eye on Leviathan as the nuisance will barrel through the center of the arena.

Riptide

The glowy hurty rings are back and better than ever as it looks like someone made a Spirograph on the arena floor with them. You know what to do at this point. Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge.

Salt Spray

Leviathan will dive into the water and then appear at a distance. The sea serpent will begin circling the arena, leaving the water mote projectiles in its wake. The Eikon is fond of following this attack up with Breach.

Waterjet

Waterjet gets a glow-up the same way Rip Tide did. The premise is the same with Leviathan moving across the arena and blasting the “ground” with his beam attack. The upgrade is that Ifrit must also dodge water spouts. Cool cool cool.

Leviathan fifth phase

This is the fight that never ends. Yes, it goes on and on, my friends. Even better is that if you die during the fifth phase, you’ll start back at the beginning of the fourth phase. Don’t use your healing charges willy nilly as they need to carry you through both phases.

Waterspout

Leviathan kicks off the fifth phase of this endurance test with Waterspout. It’s exactly what the name suggests, a gigantic water tornado. This attack can one-shot you if you get caught and are out of healing charges. I was able to use Wildfire to keep moving to the right and around the monstrous attack.

Angry Seas

This isn’t a new special attack so much as it’s Leviathan playing his Greatest Hits from the past four phases. By now you should be plenty familiar with them. Keep your head on a swivel and remember that you can pause and walk away from the console for a bit if needed. The Leviathan fight is a long and difficult one, but you’ve got this!

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