Imperial Cannonier is a mid-level boss fight that appears during the 19th main mission of Final Fantasy 16, The Crystals’ Curse. As the party including Clive, Jill, Cid, and Torgal makes their way across the Drake’s Head, they are ambushed by a deadly foe wielding a massive cannon in his hands.
The boss fight with Imperial Cannonier in FF16 is a difficult one and requires players to be at least level 20 and have a good grip on the combat mechanics. This enemy has a vast array of attacks in his arsenal and hits like a truck. Clive has access to only two Eikons and their abilities up to this point, Phoenix and Garuda.
How to defeat Imperial Cannonier in Final Fantasy 16
In Final Fantasy 16, the Imperial Cannonier always starts the fight by using Black Powder ability. He slams his cannon into the ground resulting in multiple eruptive explosions from the ground. This attack can easily be dodged by carefully observing the patterns on the floor. Use Phoenix Shift to close the distance and land some strikes.
This will prompt the Imperial Cannonier to resort to using melee attacks. He swings his cannon in an arc and slams it on the ground where Clive is standing. This attack has a very slow animation and requires a lot of patience to dodge it perfectly.
The worst attack involves the Imperial Cannonier using his cannon as a flamethrower. This attack takes an extremely long time to end. Make sure to spam the dodge button to avoid this attack. If it connects, Clive takes massive HP damage.
Once the Imperial Cannonier is half staggered, use Garuda’s Deadly Embrace to temporarily stagger him for a couple of seconds. This is your best chance to inflict as much damage as you can. Avoid using any Eikonic abilities and save them to use once the foe is fully staggered.
Repeat the strategy mentioned above to stagger the Imperial Cannonier in FF16. Take him out by using all the abilities in your arsenal. However, this fight is far from over as the Imperial Cannonier goes berserk and turns into Akashic Imperial Cannonier in Final Fantasy 16.
How to defeat Akashic Imperial Cannonier in FF16
The Akashic form is basically Imperial Cannonier’s souped-up form in Final Fantasy 16 where he gains a lot of additional power and new attacks on behalf of losing his sanity to Aether. This fight starts with him using Rocketeer ability that allows the Imperial Cannonier to propel himself in Clive’s direction. This is a multi-phase attack so don’t get comfortable if you manage to dodge it once.
Imperial Cannonier also fires three cannon balls at regular intervals at Clive’s location. These are extremely difficult to dodge due to the strange time gap between the attacks. Make sure to heal yourself in case you get hit.
Black Powder ability gets way more vicious and a lot more difficult to avoid now. Be very quick on your toes and spam the dodge button as much as possible.
Keep repeating this strategy until the Imperial Cannonier is staggered completely. Use all the abilities in your arsenal to deal the maximum damage possible. However, the Imperial Cannonier has a much larger health pool during this phase and he won’t go down that easily.
He introduces a new attack at this point called Hard Launch. Imperial Cannonier jumps in the air and comes down slamming with his cannon at Clive’s location. This attack can be dodged easily resulting in giving players enough time to deal a lot of damage to the enemy.
The rest of the fight is just a test of patience and endurance. Imperial Cannonier starts using his abilities more often towards the end and attacks the players non-stop. Don’t be greedy. Dodge the incoming attacks and go on the offensive whenever possible.
Use Torgal to heal and various potions to increase your defense and attack power. This fight will be over in no time if you carefully follow all the steps mentioned above.
Imperial Cannonier boss rewards
Rewards for defeating the Imperial Cannonier include 70 exp points, 110 ability points, 2000 gil, Wyrrite, Steelsilk, Imperial Link and The Favor of Inferno (unique accessory that increases Inferno skill damage by 12%).
