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Final Fantasy XVI

To Kill a Dominant Main Quest Walkthrough

By
Nathan Garvin

As is the normal for Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy XVI begins with cinematic flair, throwing you immediately into (admittedly low-stakes) combat before getting to the nuts and bolts of a proper tutorial section. This page provides a walkthrough for FF16’s first two quests, the blink-and-you’ll miss it quest "A Flame Summoned" iconA Flame Summoned and the somewhat lengthier (if not much more substantial) quest "To Kill a Dominant" iconTo Kill a Dominant.

The game starts out with a cinematic fightscene between two fiery !Eikons. Participate (or not) as your whims dictate.

FF16 Main Quest Walkthrough - A Flame Summoned

Final Fantasy XVI starts with a fight between two fiery Eikons. You’ll be in control of Phoenix, and can shoot Fireballs by pressing DualSense-ButtonTriangle and you can dodge with DualSense-R1. You don’t have much incentive to do either, however, as this cutscene just provides an interactive illusion of combat - there are no stakes and the game will progress just fine without any input at all. This scene constitutes the entirety of the main quest A Flame Summoned.

FF16 Main Quest Walkthrough - To Kill a Dominant

After the scene ends you’ll transition into controlling Clive, the game’s protagonist, and the quest To Kill a Dominant will begin. When you’re able, move Clive with DualSense-Stick-L and control the camera with DualSense-Stick-R. Walk a few steps forward and you’ll be prompted to press DualSense-ButtonOptions to access the main menu, which at this point only contains the system settings - don’t worry, it’ll expand soon enough.

Access the Active Time Lore menu early and often to avoid being left in the dark.

You can also hold down the DualSense-Touchpad button to access the Active Time Lore menu. Normally introduced somewhat later in the prologue, nothing stops you from having a gander at it now, and since the ATL menu includes entries on relevant topics (your current location, recently mentioned/interacted with characters, concepts and places, etc.) it can give you greater insight into story/lore elements than you’d otherwise have access to.

Continue forward and you’ll be prompted to run by tilting the DualSense-Stick-L further and follow the linear path ahead until you’re treated with a lengthy cutscene. Reminder that you can use DualSense-Touchpad to access new ATL entries during the cutscene - it may be grating to pause the cutscene repeatedly, but it will provide you with insight you’d otherwise not have.

Use the basic navigation commands you’ve learned to escape danger.

Clash of the Eikons

Once the cutscene is over you’ll need to follow a new linear path, but this time you’ll need to jump (and climb) by pressing the DualSense-ButtonCross button. Proceed until your progress is interrupted by another cutscene, after which you’ll need to escape a massive threat under some apparent duress. Once again, the danger is illusory - the game’s not going to kill you if you just stand around, but play along and follow your comrades until you trigger yet another cutscene, which marks the end of this quest.

The !Eikons !Shiva and !Titan duel at the Nysa Defile.

The story will continue with the next main quest, Pride.

Now that you’ve got your feet wet, here are some other topics for players fresh into FF16 to consider:

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Square Enix
  • Platforms,
    PS5
  • Genre
    Action RPG
  • Guide Release
    21 June 2023
  • Last Updated
    2 August 2023
    Version History
  • Guide Author

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This is the tale of Clive Rosfield, a warrior granted the title “First Shield of Rosaria” and sworn to protect his younger brother Joshua, the dominant of the Phoenix. This guide for Final Fantasy XVI contains the following:

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