Spin quickly, creating a ring of fire that burns all enemies in range.
Description
Scarlet Cyclone is one of Clive's default abilities in Final Fantasy XVI that the player can assign to his loadout. Clive will sprout the wings of a Phoenix and spin, damaging all enemies around him. It can be used when being knocked back to cancel the knockback and to boost the power of the Eikonic Ability.
Obtained[]
Clive has Scarlet Cyclone unlocked since the start of the game, as a result of having Blessing of the Phoenix from Joshua Rosfield. The player can refund skills to get their AP cost back and re-buy them at will.
Mechanics[]
Clive can use Scarlet Cyclone in battle whenever it is equipped to his current loadout. Clive can have two Eikonic Abilities alongside his Eikonic Feat, which for the fire loadout is Phoenix Shift.
Scarlet Cyclone has Clive spin fast, damaging all enemies in his immediate vicinity and slightly pulling small enemies toward him. After being upgraded in the Abilities menu, Scarlet Cyclone delivers more hits.
Scarlet Cyclone can activate a battle technique, Collateral Cyclone, when used against multiple enemies.
The ability can be used when Clive is being knocked back to increase damage potency and shorten its cooldown. It is not a counterattack; Clive needs to be hit and recoiling.
After being used, the ability has a cooldown period before being able to be used again. The default cooldown is 30 seconds, reduced to 20 if used during knockback. Upgrading/mastering the ability has no effect on its cooldown.
| AP cost | Effect |
|---|---|
| Already learned | Able to equip Scarlet Cyclone to Clive's fire loadout. |
| 475 (Upgrade) | Delivers more hits. |
| 1000 (Master) | Able to equip Scarlet Cyclone to any loadout. |
Because the only reward for mastering the Eikonic Ability is the chance to use it on a different Eikon's loadout, there is no point doing it until Clive acquires Titan and the player has to choose between four Eikons, the maximum kept on hand being three, and so the player may opt to stop using the fire loadout. However, at this point, the player will likely have better abilities than Scarlet Cyclone, anyway. For Phoenix's trial, Scarlet Cyclone is automatically mastered, regardless of its status in Clive's menu.
Use[]
Scarlet Cyclone is Clive's crowd-control and staggering ability in the early game. Against a group of foes, Clive should run/lunge/shift to the middle of them and use Scarlet Cyclone to hit as many enemies as possible at once. Scarlet Cyclone is also good against foes that have a will gauge in the early game, making the ability overall useful both against regular foes and for boss encounters. Scarlet Cyclone's other intended use case is when Clive is being knocked back by an enemy's attack; however, the player will likely try to precision-dodge or otherwise avoid being hit.
Scarlet Cyclone will be outclassed by Clive's more powerful abilities when he will gain new Eikons. The Phoenix's own Flames of Rebirth is much better against groups, as well, though its cooldown time is also much longer. When Clive has three loadouts that he can switch between on-the-fly, however, one ability's long cooldown is less of a detriment.
During the chronolith trial with the Phoenix's abilities, triggering Collateral Cyclone gains a +12s time bonus.
Other appearances[]
Final Fantasy XIV[]
Scarlet Cyclone appears as an action used by Clive during 
Memory of Embers, part of the Final Fantasy XVI crossover event The Path Infernal. It deals light fire damage in an area of effect.
Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]
This section about an ability in Final Fantasy Record Keeper is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.Etymology[]
Scarlet is a bright red with a slight orange tinge. Scarlet and other bright shades of red are associated with courage, force, passion, heat, and joy. In the Roman Catholic Church, scarlet is worn by a cardinal, and is associated with the blood of Christ and the Christian martyrs, and with sacrifice. Scarlet is also often associated with immorality and sin, particularly prostitution or adultery, largely because of a passage referring to "The Great Harlot", "dressed in purple and scarlet", in the Bible.
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth.