There are a number of trophies you can earn in Final Fantasy XVI for demonstrating your expertise with a variety of Eikonic Abilities in combat. One such trophy is Cold-Blooded, which you can unlock by Simultaneously defeating three or more enemies frozen using Frostbite, Permafrost, or Diamond Dust (excluding battles in the Hall of Virtue). This page will provide tips and strategies for unlocking the Cold-Blooded trophy in Final Fantasy XVI.
How to Get the Shiva Eikon in Final Fantasy 16¶
To gain access to the abilities you’ll need to use to unlock this trophy, you need to gain Shiva’s powers. This is an unmissable story event which, sadly, occurs quite late in the game. You must complete the main quest Through the Maelstrom to unlock Shiva’s Eikonic ability tree. Fortunately during the next main quest Across the Narrow you’ll be able to travel pretty much anywhere you wish, which will help you farm this trophy, although you might want to wait until a bit later in the game to tip the power balance further in your favor - you can delay until Back to Their Origin, which is just before the final battle.
How to Unlock the Cold-Blooded Trophy in Final Fantasy XVI¶
In order to earn this trophy you must simultaneously defeat three or more enemies frozen using Frostbite, Permafrost, or Diamond Dust - so these three aforementioned abilities only have to be used to freeze, not actually kill. Both Frostbite and Permafrost are tied to the Cold Snap ability, which is the Eikonic Feat you can use by pressing while Shiva is equipped and selected. Cold Snap, on its own, is a dodge ability, and if you press again while dodging through an enemy (or enemies) you’ll perform the Frostbite attack, freezing said foes. If you perform a precision dodge while using Cold Snap, Clive will perform Permafrost, unleashing an AoE counterattack that freezes all enemies in a wide area. Permafrost is a fine way to freeze enemies, if you can get the timing down, while Frostbite is… generally less useful, but neither will actually kill enemies once they’re frozen, forcing you to seek a followup attack to simultaneously kill these frozen foes.
Flames of Rebirth has good AoE, but only moderate damage, and deals this damage out via numerous smaller damage ticks, Piledriver’s range is inferior, its damage is moderate, but it deals its damage in one quick burst, Earthen Fury affects a wide area and deals heavy damage, but the attack is directional - enemies have to be somewhat lined up. Gigaflare deals massive damage, albeit over time via increments, and while the beam is somewhat large and penetrates enemies, it also has to be lined up, requiring a bit of luck.
Or, instead of bothering with Cold Snap’s various freezing effects and looking for a suitable damage-dealing followup, you can just use Diamond Dust for both. Diamond Dust has a wide AoE and inflicts freeze, but on the downside its damage is only moderate and comes in two main waves. First, the attack will freeze nearby enemies, dealing negligible damage, then Clive will stab his sword into the ground twice, each time causing ice to erupt forth and deal damage to enemies in a generous range. The first ice eruption deals most of the attack’s damage, and it’s likely here where you’ll unlock your trophy or fail.
While it does have some downsides, relying on Diamond Dust is arguably your best bet, as it’s by far the simplest core strategy. Your goal is to find non-flying enemies who are weaker than you (flying enemies can sometimes avoid the effects of Diamond Dust), run into their midst, and unleash Diamond Dust. Obviously this will work better if you’re a higher level than your foes (by the time you get access to Diamond Dust, most non-quest enemies will be level 33+) and if you have damage-increasing gear equipped, like Genji Gloves or The Will of Ice (Diamond Dust) (gained by completing the Trial By Ice Chronolith Trial). If you’re sufficiently leveled (40+) and have been keeping your gear upgraded, this shouldn’t be necessary, however.
Our go-to trick for this trophy (assuming it doesn’t just unlock through normal gameplay) is to just fast travel to The Gilded Path obelisk and head up the road to the north. You should come across a mob of enemies - several Revenants and a Specter, all level 33. Just run into the midst of them and unleash Diamond Dust. If the trophy doesn’t pop but the results looked promising, just fast travel back to the same obelisk and try again - you can make an attempt every time the ability cools down, more or less. If things don’t look particularly close, you should probably level up and try again later. Your companions may prove to be spoilers during this, but at the start of Back to their Origin you’ll only have Torgal to worry about, so refrain from doing side quests if you can to keep this simple.
If you’re having trouble with this trophy, you can also attempt to farm it during Streets of Madness, as there are plenty of densely-packed, weak enemies in this main quest. You may need to prep your enemies by hitting them a few times to take them down to around half their life before going for the kill with Diamond Dust, and Joshua and Torgal will, as usual, play the spoiler, but a bit of save scumming can go a long way.
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