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Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis are all well-trained guards who are more than capable in protecting the Lucian Prince, Noctis.
Besides being his friend, they’re also very strong – and each come stock with a wide variety of techniques to use against whatever foes may try to end the royal road trip.
These techniques range from dealing damage, to buffs, and even healing.
There are a good amount of them too. So which ones are the best to invest time into mastering? Let’s take a look.
5. Piercer
Most of Prompto’s techniques revolve around one thing: shooting the enemy.
This makes sense, given his proficiency with firearms. And for the most part you can count on him to deliver a steady stream of good damage throughout.
However, out of all of his gunslinging talents, there’s one that stands above the rest:
Piercer.
Despite its simplicity, Piercer is one of the most reliable and effective techniques out there.
It may not have the flashiest animation or as long-lasting effects as the others – but it packs a punch, can pierce through a whole row of enemies, is excellent for trying to break monster parts, and can even inflict the Compromised status effect, which lowers an enemy’s vitality for that much more damage.
Piercer is one of the earliest techs you get – and will be useful for quite a while, if not the whole game.
4. Royal Guard
Sometimes the enemy attacks with an attack so big and sudden that you don’t have much time to react.
Attacks that come from seemingly nowhere to lay down the hurt can be pretty upsetting – especially if you had nowhere to hide to begin with.
Noctis has the unique ability to hide behind rocks or hang from high places to gather himself.
But when neither are an option, what’s a Prince to do?
Rely on his friends, that’s what!
Gladio is a big brute of a man who can easily step up and become Noctis’ refuge.
Gladio’s Royal Guard technique is reminiscent of the classic Final Fantasy Cover ability in that it automatically provides a safe space for somebody in need.
Gladio will shield Noctis for a short while, providing the same benefits and buffs as if he was hanging or hiding.
This is a great way to weather strong attacks or just catch your breath!
Plus, it just looks cool.
Who doesn’t want to be coddled by Gladio?
3. Impulse
And as well as he can protect, Gladio can just as well attack.
He has those huge swords, right?
Here’s how he uses them!
Granted, Gladio has a range of attack techniques. But none quite feel as good or as effective as Impulse.
Call on Gladio to pull it off, and he’ll haul across the battlefield with big sweeping swings that deal fantastic damage – and can hit multiple enemies all at once.
Even better, Impulse has a much higher chance of breaking enemy parts off, meaning if you’re farming for stuff like horns and wings it’s going to be much easier.
Furthermore, Impulse has a high chance to interrupt enemy attacks. And if the enemy keeps getting interrupted, then they can’t hurt you, right?
Keep them all at bay!
Impulse is a lot of fun to use, and super effective at what it does.
2. Overwhelm
Have you ever had one enemy in particular upset you?
Maybe a rogue Spiracorn or some Imperial mech won’t leave you alone and is really making your day even worse.
The obvious solution is to, of course, defeat them (that’s the ultimate punishment).
And Ignis’ Overwhelm is a fantastic means to that end.
Overwhelm orders the group to focus everything onto one enemy.
The group goes full force, using Deathblows and finishers to deliver as much damage as they can.
And even better, using Overwhelm gives the team the strength-boosting Tenacious status effect – and gives Noctis a high boost to critical damage.
This means that pretty much whatever Ignis says to overwhelm is going to get overwhelmed.
If you’re looking to deal a lot of damage in a short period of time or to finish a fight quickly, Overwhelm is the tech for you.
1. Regroup
There are very few techniques in Final Fantasy XV that are as useful and have as much staying power as Regroup.
Other techs might come and go, swapping them out for newer stuff or things to master.
But Regroup is so helpful that it’ll probably be Ignis’ go-to tech for many, many hours.
It really can’t be understated how great it is.
Regroup has Ignis ordering the team to fall back behind him and, yes, regroup.
The camera resets, everybody puts distance between them and the enemy, and most importantly, everybody heals.
Regroup can’t restore maximum hit points if they were lost – but it does fully heal the group’s current HP. And that’s amazing.
It also brings party members out of the danger status.
And once you level it up enough, it even provides a defense boost.
Regroup is a technique that does all this, and only for two bars!
If this is all your Ignis does during your adventure, then that’s enough. And it’s worth its weight in gil.
Brian knows more about RPGs than he does world history. Combine with his love of writing and you get somebody who can, and will, go on forever about every nuance of every game he's played.
