Svarog is one of those bosses that can easily hurt your molars because of all the jaw clenching you’ll be doing. When it comes to hunting v Final Fantasy 16, grades really don’t seem to mean much. Until you hit the S-Ranks, that is. Because Svarog fully lives up to its reputation.
Despite the fact that this vile dragon hits like a truck and has a dozen tricks up his scaly sleeves, this is an absolutely winnable battle. Especially when you learn when to pick your shots. We will take you through each stage of this battle and provide you with a winning strategy.
Where to find Svarog
Svarog is not difficult to find. When his hunt becomes available in the third act of the game, head to Glorieuse obelisk in the Holy Empire of Sanbreque. From the obelisk, head towards the southeast end of the map and enter Mornebrume. Here you will find Svarog. He is beautiful hard to miss.
How to defeat Svarog
Svarog can be extremely complex for two main reasons. The most obvious problem you’ll face is how hard it hits. Often two attacks are enough to finish you off. In addition, his attacks huge and it’s hard to counter them since it’s almost always in the air.
The table below breaks down all of Svarog’s attacks – the ones in italics are the named attacks that appear on screen so you can pay special attention to them.
|
Attack |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Breathing Laser (Vertical) |
Svarog will fire a laser beam directly in front of him. Soon after, the earth will erupt in a wall of fire. While the beam itself is very fast, it’s also super linear and has a pretty noticeable signal. So when you see Svarog raise his head back, start hitting around him. You can also opt for a precise dodge (or block) if you’re feeling daring, but the consequences of missing are dire, so don’t try it until you feel like you have the time. |
|
Breathing laser (horizontal) |
Svarog fires a sweeping laser that will cause a wall of fire. Unlike the vertical version of the breath laser, this one erupts shortly after firing. So if you’re in the path of fire, you’ll want to use your dodge almost immediately afterwards. |
|
Fireball |
It’s a pretty standard fireball shot out of the air. Svarog usually throws three of these at once. These are easy enough to dodge accurately, just make sure you track your magic counter to hit them in the air. |
|
Rush |
Svarog charges in and takes a lot of damage in the process. Svarog will fly back before doing this rush attack. This makes precise dodging or precise blocking very easy. That being said, he usually does this attack after firing one of his flame walls, which will blur your vision. That’s when things get a little more complicated. |
|
Blazing Legion |
Svarog sends out several types of stationary (or slow moving) fireballs. If Svarog uses this move in his first phase, these projectiles do not move. However, they will move very slowly in the latter half of the fight. So, now you will be able to precisely avoid them. |
|
red dawns |
Svarog summons a wall of flaming pillars that will converge in the middle of the screen before dispersing again. All the pillars that Svarog shoots out look like a pool of fire before they erupt. So, these are the exact baits to avoid. Just stand over the pool and dodge. You will be able to enter Svarog without any problems. However, in the later parts of the fight, the form of this attack changes. Instead, it becomes a linear procession of columns of fire. It will also be used alongside his Blazing Legion attack. |
|
It gets complicated |
This attack has two parts. First, Svarog will summon a meteor that will crash from the sky. This is very easy to avoid. Then the ring of fire will slowly spread from where the meteor struck. You’ll have to carefully avoid (or jump over if you prefer) this ring of fire. Finally, the ground will begin to glow in the places where the meteor landed. The first two parts are pretty easy to avoid. The last part of this attack can catch you off guard if you’re not ready for it, but there will be space between each of these glowing spots. You’ll be safe if you target one of them. From those glowing spots |
In the first phase of this battle, you will face a lot of missile attacks. His fireballs usually come in groups of three and his beam attacks will give you plenty of time to dodge them. When Svarog makes these attacks, you’ll want to carefully dodge and track the magic counter. You can advance towards him if you want, but eventually he’ll pounce and stand at your feet. When he does, you can use precision block to great effect if you have Titan’s moveset equipped, otherwise you can just use your trusty precision dodge.
One of Svarog’s dirtiest tricks is how he uses both his horizontal mouth laser and his own red dawns to blur your vision while he prepares to launch his Fireball or Swoop. Thankfully there will still be time to react when he reacts, just hold your finger over the dodge button because the attack will follow one of these moves.
Keep using your countercraft to accurately dodge and then accurately dodge (or accurately block) his swoop attack, then follow up with your best Eikonic abilities when he’s down. You will quickly take away a third of his health and he will enter the second phase.
After you take about a third of Svarog’s health, he will start using his “Dragon Dance”. This isn’t actually a new attack, instead he starts stringing his fireballs with the lasers in his mouth. When this is happening, you’ll just want to carefully dodge and keep your distance. Don’t worry, he’ll finish this off with his Swoop attack, which will put him exactly where you want him.
He will also start comboing moves like his own Red Dawn with hers Blazing Legion attacks. That’s why, just like with the Dragon Dance, you won’t mess him up, you’ll keep your distance. Just stay on the outskirts, shower magic on him and wait for him to burst in.
While there is no “right” gear to go into this battle with, we recommend bringing some attacks to make your life easier. For beginners, Wings of Light is a great projectile attack. And the old Heatblade is still a fantastic counter to projectile attacks. We also think block is a great way to stop his Swoop hard. So if it’s not a terrible idea to have a Titan as one of the three equipped Eikons. Last but not least, your Flame of Rebirth attack is extremely useful as it only takes one hit from any of Svarog’s attacks to seriously damage you, so healing can be pretty easy.
Flame of Rebirth will also stop Svarog in the middle of a charge—while it won’t break the charge, it will stop him for the duration of the attack. This will also give you all the time in the world to think about your precision dodge or precision block.
So, to summarize, during Svarog’s second phase, only play it safe. Keep your distance, land against magic attacks, land charged magic attacks, and hit him with the best Eikonic attacks. Then unload on him after dodging or blocking his flying attack. Follow this pattern and you will end Svarog’s reign of terror once and for all!
When you finally land this dragon, you will be rewarded with the following:
|
Experience |
25000 |
|---|---|
|
Ability Points |
300 |
|
Gil |
300,000 |
|
Reputation |
60 |
|
Break it down |
Orichalcum x1, Fallen Enigma x1, Amber x1, Empty Shard x1 |