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Final Fantasy XVI

The Nine of Knives Hunt in FF16 - Location and How to Beat

By
Jarrod Garripoli

If you hated fighting the ninja-like enemies in the game, then you’ll be delighted to learn that "The Nine of Knives" iconThe Nine of Knives is another one of those, in the form of a Notorious Mark. He isn’t a particularly memorable hunt, either, since he doesn’t drop anything worthwhile and isn’t the most exciting battle. However, he still needs defeating, so read on to find out where to find The Nine of Knives and how to defeat him.

The Nine of Knives will be the second A-Rank hunt you encounter in the game.

Where to Find the Notorious Mark, The Nine of Knives

Location Level Bounty
The Jaw, Dhalmekian Republic 38 10,500 "Gil" iconGil, 30 Renown

Before you can even think about going after The Nine of Knives, you will need to progress the main story until you reach the Out of the Shadow Main Quest. Once you have gotten that far, head to "The Hideaway" iconThe Hideaway and to the Hunt Board, where you should see four new "Marks" iconMarks, one of which is The Nine of Knives.

If you look at the bounty for this hunt, then you will see that it’s located at "The Jaw" iconThe Jaw, in Dhalmekia. This is one of the easiest hunts to find, actually, since he’s found pretty much in the open, right by one of the "Obelisk" iconObelisks. Fast travel to The Jaw Obelisk, then just follow the main path north, and you will run into The Nine of Knives right there, on the road pretty much.

(1 of 2) Knives will be in !The Jaw area of the Dhalmekian Republic.

Knives will be in !The Jaw area of the Dhalmekian Republic. (left), He will be right on the road, so he’s kind of hard to miss. (right)

All The Nine of Knives’ Attacks

Below, you’ll find all of the attacks that The !Nine of Knives has in its arsenal.

Attack Description Counter
Smokescreen Knives tosses a smoke bomb (which can actually damage you), creating a cover to do another move. You can simply walk away from the initial cloud, before the bigger one goes off.
Somersault Spin Knives does a spinning somersault, while holding out his blades. Simple to dodge out of the way.
Poison Mist Knives spits a cloud of poison mist at you, knocking you down if it hits. Not hard to dodge, unless you continue attacking.
Spinning Slash Knives spins in the air, then tries to slash you at the end. Slightly deceptive range, but can dodge away from it.
Ninja Combo Some sword slashes, then a kick into the air, followed by a divekick to the ground. "Dodge" iconDodge away from him, and try to avoid staying near him during this combo.
Undermine Knives goes into the ground, then will pop up with an attack after a few seconds. Just stay away from him until he resurfaces.

(1 of 6) Smokescreen can hurt you, but it more than lives up to its name.

Recommended Abilities for The Nine of Knives

Here, we will list our recommended ability setup to complete this hunt successfully.

Eikon Ability Damage Type
Phoenix/"Ifrit" iconIfrit "Rising Flames" iconRising Flames Damage (3 Stars), Will (2 Stars)
Phoenix/Ifrit "Flames of Rebirth" iconFlames of Rebirth Damage (3 Stars), Will (3 Stars)
"Garuda" iconGaruda "Gouge" iconGouge Damage (2 Stars), Will (4 Stars)
Garuda "Wicked Wheel" iconWicked Wheel Damage (2 Stars), Will (3 Stars)
"Titan" iconTitan "Lightning Rod" iconLightning Rod Damage (2 Stars), Will (3 Stars)
Titan "Raging Fists" iconRaging Fists Damage (3 Stars), Will (3 Stars)

There’s no reason to use "Heatwave" iconHeatwave in this battle, as the hunt doesn’t have a projectile, which means you can substitute it for something that does more damage, like Rising Flames. Gouge and Wicked Wheel are always good abilities for dealing stagger damage, so they are almost always equipped. If you can coax the enemy to strike the Lightning Rod, then they will deal more damage to themselves than you could. Raging Fists is great for the parry/counter, with it dealing great stagger damage, too.

Recommended Items and Equipment for The Nine of Knives

Gear

These are what we used for this hunt, but should you not have them, just use whatever you have that’s the strongest. If you wait a little bit, though, and finish the Blacksmith’s Blues II side quest, then you could potentially have access to "Excalibur" iconExcalibur.

Accessories

Accessory 1 Accessory 2 Accessory 3
"Berserker Ring" iconBerserker Ring "Badge of Mettle +1" iconBadge of Mettle +1 "Cleric's Medallion +1" iconCleric’s Medallion +1

This is what we used for this battle, although you can use whatever you want. If you have trouble with the action-based fights in the game, you could use the Timely accessories to help with dodging or issuing commands to Torgal.

Items

Shortcut 1 Shortcut 2 Shortcut 3
"Potion" iconPotion "High Potion" iconHigh Potion "Stoneskin Tonic" iconStoneskin Tonic

These are the items we had on the shortcuts for this battle. Potions and High Potions are always great, in case you need healing, and the Stoneskin Tonic is useful for increasing your defense, especially should you get hit by the combo attacks.

The Nine of Knives Boss Strategy in Final Fantasy XVI

The Nine of Knives moves around quite a bit, due to being one of those ninja-type enemies. Despite that, though, you will want to be careful not to get too complacent, since he does have a few moves that can deal major damage. By far, the most annoying move in his arsenal is the Spinning Slash, as there is a bit of an arc to it, so the hitbox can be a bit deceptive. Using "Titanic Block" iconTitanic Block here is a great counter to it, especially if you time it for a Precision Block. This will allow you to do the Titanic Counters and get some free damage/stagger in, too.

Knives’ other melee attacks aren’t as bad, although you should watch out for the Ninja Combo, since it’s a series of attacks in a row and just not a one-off, like the others. Smokescreen is really not much more than a front to use another move, but note that the little explosion that happens can hurt you, so you can’t just sit still and will need to dodge out of the way. Poison Mist also isn’t too bad, as you have ample time to get away from it, unless you get a little greedy and continue attacking after you see its name pop up on the screen. Also, don’t worry about poison, as the attack just knocks you down for a few seconds, should it connect.

(1 of 2) !Lightning Rod is always great, if you can goad the enemy into attacking it.

!Lightning Rod is always great, if you can goad the enemy into attacking it. (left), There are a number of attacks that can knock you into the air. (right)

After you stagger him for the first time, he will add a new attack to his arsenal, Undermine. Despite the potential to be an annoying move, it’s actually one of the easier ones to avoid. Undermine will start with the mark burrowing underground, where you should see the little bit of a trail while he’s under there and moving. Once a few seconds have passed, Knives will burst out of the ground with an attack. The only consolation is that he doesn’t seem to move too far, and it’s more likely he just targets the closest thing to him, which will probably be "Torgal" iconTorgal.

Despite being an A Rank Notorious Hunt, The Nine of Knives is a fairly easy foe. The only caveat is that he is quick and some of his attacks can be tricky, until you learn how to counter them. For defeating The Nine of Knives, you will receive 5,000 XP, 90 AP, 10,500 Gil, and 30 Renown. Additionally, he will drop 25 "Wyrrite" iconWyrrite and 2 "Meteorite" iconMeteorite.

More Final Fantasy 16 Hunts

For tips on how to beat some of the other "Notorious Marks" iconNotorious Marks you can take on in Final Fantasy XVI, check out these pages below:

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Square Enix
  • Platforms,
    PS5
  • Genre
    Action RPG
  • Guide Release
    21 June 2023
  • Last Updated
    2 August 2023
    Version History
  • Guide Author

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This is the tale of Clive Rosfield, a warrior granted the title “First Shield of Rosaria” and sworn to protect his younger brother Joshua, the dominant of the Phoenix. This guide for Final Fantasy XVI contains the following:

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