Warning: This post contains major SPOILERS for Final Fantasy 16Party companions and childhood friends Clive Rosfield and Jill Warrick are polar opposites on the battlefield when it comes to their Eikons – Ifrit and Shiva, with one dealing fire and the other serving up an icy blast on the front.
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The calming nature of Shiva is also present in Jill’s demeanor (which explains why she takes Clive’s initial romantic rejection so well) alongside her silver hair, and it’s easy to see why the Iron Kingdom is keen to use her during The Battle of Nysa. Here is every Shiva ability ranked in order of power inFinal Fantasy 16.
5Cold Snap
Clive will obtain Shiva’s abilities during the Through the Maelstrom quest, and these are the penultimate set of abilities you will acquire during gameplay, followed by Odin’s. Clive’s dash across the ground is similarto Ifrit’s ability, Ignition, but this element is the antithesis of Shiva’s.
Starting off Shiva’s ability ranking and in last place is Cold Snap, allowing you to slide across the ground in any direction. Whilst giving ice skating your best shot, Clive can also deploy a series of attacks while gliding, which will freeze nearby enemies temporarily with Permafrost. The perks of Cold Snap include dodging incoming attacks more easily, teeing up a following attack in Frostbite, and freezing all enemies within range after a precision dodge.
The Cold Snap ability does not offer an upgrade, but it will allow you to master it for 3000 Ability Points, which will increase the duration of Permafrost. Even though this ability is handy for dodging, it doesn’t deliver the impact of some higher-ranked abilities.
As an enemy, you don’t want to become stuck in one of Shiva’s crystals while the Rime ability is in action. While it’s relatively effective, it doesn’t match the sheer force of some of the other abilities on this list and, therefore, sits in a lower position.
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When the Rime ability is triggered, Shiva will summon a gigantic ice crystal that causes enemies to become trapped inside. Enemies will then be subjected to continuous attacks until the crystal disappears. Some of the perks include being able to use the ability in midair and keeping enemies on the outskirts busy while you take care of imminent threats. However, Rime will only be able to capture small or light enemies in the crystal, and the ability will not affect adversaries standing near Clive.
you’re able to upgrade the Rime ability for 550 Ability Points in order to increase the longevity of the crystal and then spend 1000 Ability Points to master it, which will allow you to assign Rime to any Eikon.
3Mesmerize
Taking third place in the ranks is Shiva’s Mesmerize ability, which can be used as both an offensive and defensive technique as well as one killer opening blow.
Mesmerize involves a number of ice shards that launch toward surrounding enemies, and their force also pulls them toward Clive for a second attack. Instead of dashing towards an enemy, this ability immediately gets a hold of the threat in front of you and saves you from any opening attacks from the opposition.
Upgrading the Mesmerize ability will set you back 525 Ability Points, allowing the attack to launch a further three ice shards behind Clive in addition to the ones in front. Mastering the ability will cost 1000 Ability Points, allowing you to assign the ability to any Eikon–the same as Rime.
In second place is Ice Age for its potency and tendency to deliver crucial blows on the field when Clive needs to take a breather, joining a number of abilities shown during The Battle of Nysa againstthe Eikon, Titan.
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Triggering Ice Age will allow a flood of icicles to surge against enemies, forcing them back upon impact, and it’s a great technique to get the mob off your heels. By holding in the assigned button, the range of the attack and the force of the knock is increased, and its long range and short cooldown period work a treat when you’re outnumbered.
You can upgrade Shiva’s Ice Age ability for 600 Ability Points to extend the window of opportunity, and spending 1000 Ability Points will allow you to master it and give you the option to assign it to any Eikon.
1Diamond Dust
The strongest ability (and possibly the coolest–no pun intended) is Shiva’s Diamond Dust, which is an Ultimate ability that subjects players to a long cooldown period but delivers some cinematic scenes beforehand with considerable damage.
Diamond Dust sees Shiva summon a winter storm around enemies that deploys a blanket of ice to freeze them in place, concluding with a burst of ice damage. If you need an extra boost to help deplete the last of enemy HPs, Diamond Dust will inflict a lot of damage when an opponent is staggered, and the range of this ability is unmatched. Diamond Dust will also briefly freeze time to give you a head start on your next move.
Standing as the most demanding ability to upgrade in Shiva’sstacked Ability Tree, this top-ranking attack will cost you 2575 Ability Points just to upgrade it, increasing the attack by two ice blasts and boosting the number of hits deployed. Mastering this ability, however, will set you back a staggering 4500 Ability Points, allowing any Eikon to use it.
