Drive Ramuh's staff into the ground, electrifying all enemies within a radius of the strike.
Description
Pile Drive is one of Ramuh's default Eikonic Abilities in Final Fantasy XVI that the player can assign to Clive's loadout. Clive will drive Ramuh's scepter into the ground, sending out an electric current to all directions that damages all enemies in its area of effect.
Obtained[]
Clive gains access to Ramuh's powers as part of the story, during "Cid the Outlaw", usable in his loadout after the events inside Drake's Head.
Mechanics[]
Clive can use Pile Drive in battle whenever it is equipped to his current loadout. He can have two Eikonic Abilities alongside his Eikonic Feat, which for the lightning loadout is Blind Justice.
Pile Drive has Clive drive Ramuh's scepter into the ground, sending an electric current to all directions, damaging all enemies it comes into contact with, and stupefying them, making them unable to act for a brief moment.
Pile Drive activates the battle technique, Collateral Drive, when the electric shocks of a single Pile Drive strike multiple enemies.
After being used, the ability has a 38-second cooldown before being able to be used again. Upgrading/mastering the ability has no effect on its cooldown.
| AP cost | Effect |
|---|---|
| Already learned | Able to equip Pile Drive to Clive's lightning loadout. |
| 660 (Upgrade) | The electric currents extend further and deliver more hits. |
| 1000 (Master) | Able to equip Pile Drive to any loadout. |
Use[]
Pile Drive is worth upgrading if the player is using it in their loadout to extend range and increase damage. Pile Drive is best used when Clive is being swarmed by multiple enemies, halting them on their tracks and dealing damage. This gives Clive an opportunity to follow up with Blind Justice without fearing interruption during the targeting phase. Whenever enemies gather, the player can quickly lunge toward them, or use Phoenix Shift, and then use Pile Drive when in the middle of the enemy group. The player can also bunch smaller enemies with abilities like Ifrit's Ignition and Bahamut's Flare Breath, and then use Pile Drive.
Though Clive has many area attacks in his arsenal, Pile Drive's boon is its stupefying effect that leaves shocked enemies needing a brief moment to recover to be able to act again. Its animation is also very fast, and its will damage is good. However, as Clive has limited number of ability slots, the player may consider a stronger ability to be of more use overall.
During the chronolith trial with the Ramuh's abilities, triggering Collateral Drive by striking multiple enemies with a single Pile Drive earns a 12-second time bonus.
Etymology[]
A pile drive is a heavy-duty tool used to drive piles into soil to build pole supported structures. The name refers to Clive's motion of driving Ramuh's scepter into the ground to perform the attack.