How to beat Ifrit in the Final Fantasy 16 crossover event in FFXIV

The Ifrit encounter in the Final Fantasy 16 crossover is surprisingly in-depth, with several unique mechanics. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, let’s check out the battle step-by-step. Here’s how to beat Ifrit in the Final Fantasy 16 crossover event in FFXIV.

Where is the Final Fantasy 16 Ifrit fight in FFXIV?

You can battle Ifrit as part of the Final Fantasy 16 Crossover event. The event runs until May 8, 2024, and you must be at least level 50 to participate. You must also have beaten the Ultima Weapon boss at the end of the Realm Reborn campaign.

As long as you meet those requirements, you can start the event in Ul’Dah at the Steps of Nald.

How to defeat Final Fantasy 16 Ifrit in FFXIV

This battle is quite in-depth, and Ifrit has a ton of health, so expect the fight to go on for several minutes. The most important thing to know is how the event-exclusive abilities work.

You have two additional abilities in this battle: Rising Flames, an attack that lunges toward the target, and Dodge. Rising Flames has a 30-second Cooldown, but try and use it whenever you can. 

Dodge is much more important, as you’ll be prompted to use it throughout the fight. Dice infrequently appear on the screen, and they count down, as displayed in the picture above. Activate your Dodge when you spot the prompt. After a successful use, your Dodge ability briefly becomes ‘Precision Strike,’ which you can use for a little extra damage.

You must manage these abilities in addition to your usual attacks, which can be a little Overwhelming. That said, if you’re struggling, you could ignore Rising Flames and focus on the Dodge prompts when they appear.

Now that you know how the new abilities work, here’s how to deal with Ifrit’s attacks.

Vulcan Burst

Vulcan Burst looks like it covers the entire arena but can ignored entirely as it will prompt your Dodge ability. Dodge when the timer shows up, but keep attacking as usual.

Ifrit will occasionally mark you with a Spread Marker (pictured above). When this happens, stay away from Clive and Dodge if prompted. Clive usually stands directly in front of Ifrit, so it’s easy to keep your distance.

Spreading Fire

Spreading Fire is a massive AOE attack that slowly pushes toward the arena’s edges. Stand at the far edges until the AOE marker disappears, then move toward Ifrit as another AOE will hit behind you. 

Smoldering Claw

During my battle with Ifrit, he immediately used Smoldering Claw after Spreading Fire. This ability hits a wide area in front of Ifrit but can easily be avoided by staying to his rear or flank.

Fireball

Fireball is an annoying attack that peppers the arena with fiery rocks. Their AOE’s should be easy to avoid; just make sure you stop attacking if needed.

Crimson Rush and Tail Strike

Ifrit will rush toward the arena’s edge, damaging everyone it hits. In my battle, he often followed up with Tail Strike, which has an enormous AOE (pictured above). Run to the far sides of the area to avoid the blast. Fortunately, this ability doesn’t do a ton of damage if you get hit, but you can evade it with good timing.

Pyrosault

Be very careful when Ifrit uses Pyrosault, as he will jump into the air and land on the other side of the stage. This attack hurts, so beware of it, especially if you’re a ranged attacker.

Crimson Streak

Crimson Streak is arguably Ifrit’s most intimidating attack, and it’s pretty hard to avoid. Ifrit will cast several AOE markers on the ground in sequence. He will then charge through each one in the order they appeared. 

Your best course of action is to stand in one of the last AOE’s Ifrit casts and then walk toward a safe space on the map when Ifrit starts to move. This ability looks scary but doesn’t do much damage unless you get hit multiple times. 

How to protect Clive in the Ifrit fight in FFXIV

This part of the fight is a little unclear. Ifrit will cast Fetters halfway through the fight and will ensnare Clive. Walk into the silver crystal in front of Clive to protect him. 

Remember that this crystal doesn’t appear immediately, so move towards Clive when you see Ifrit cast the attack. 

When you move into position, you’ll have to mash buttons when the prompt appears to keep Clive safe. You’ll also have to mash toward the end of the fight as part of a cinematic clash. 

Break the Infernal Swords

When Ifrit’s health drops to roughly 25%, he will spawn several Infernal Swords across the arena. Stop attacking Ifrit and focus on the Infernal Swords instead. You can target them like regular enemies, and they don’t hit back.

I’m not sure if there’s a time limit for this part, but it took me a while to figure out what was happening, and I still had no problems. The only tricky part is that there are lots of AOEs to avoid, and they are similar to Ifrit’s Fireball attack from earlier.

Fiery Rampage

You’ve got Ifrit on the ropes at this part of the battle, but he has a few more tricks up his sleeve. Fiery Rampage is a hard-hitting attack with a massive AOE that splits the arena in half. 

Ifrit will hit one side of the stage and then the other, so it’s much safer to stand near the middle to avoid both halves of the attack. Ifrit loves to spam this move toward the end of the fight, so stand at his flank or directly in front of him if you’re a tank.

The boss starts to grow desperate as you deal the final blows, so there will be a few extra AOEs to dodge with later casts of Fiery Rampage.

Use healing abilities (Second Wind, for example) or potions if you get hurt and need a quick burst of healing. If you can hold out just a little longer, you’ll defeat the boss and be one step closer to finishing the crossover event.

There’s so much to do in FFXIV; it’s hard to keep up. Events are always worth doing as they don’t stay around for long, but one long-term endeavor should be getting a house. Who knows what they’ll add to the housing lottery when Dawntrail goes live?