FFXVI - Origin (1.20) - Ultimaniac Mode - 2nd Run - No Ultimates

#FF16
Eikon Setup - Leviathan, Ramuh, Bahamut
God I hate that bloody ground aoe from Bahamut. Okay, so whilst I don't care about scores, I know more or less this is the first time I've gotten a S rank on both leg 1 and leg 2, in the same run. I'm sure I've gotten a S rank in one of the several failed runs but never both legs. I was a bit surprised that I got a B overall, despite scoring B on the last run. So I checked my previous run on this and I scored an A on all legs and still got a B. Yeah... something doesn't add up, oh well. Both runs so far are kind of similar, damage wise at least.

[@kilokiss1951]

I like how technical your ability set is, its also a very different and refreshing set up than a lot of odins/pheonixs I usually see
I could definitely tell a titan eikon would be satisfying to see

[@shadowbringer97]

Thanks man, appreciate it. Yeah I wanted to give some love to the other eikons 😁. It's fun to try and beat the stages with other eikons and build new synergies. Oh yeah, Titan was super satisfying to use, it's one of the ones I used to use in the early days of my ultimaniac runs. My proudest use of Titan has to be the drake's spine run that I did. In that fight with Ultima I heavily use Titan to parry.

[@senpafl4405]

Okay, so the thing about S-Ranks in FF16 is that it is entirely counterintuitive to what the game teaches you over its 100 hour runtime, which, simply put is "Damage is King". You stagger bosses fast, then wail on them and get rid of cannon fodder quickly, use your abilities as efficiently as possible to gain progress as fast as possible.
Now around comes Arcade mode and it tells you to throw all of that out the window. If you're interested in those S-Ranks, you're prohibited from Ultimates, Fully Charged abilities and going on the offensive during stagger. Like I said, refrain from everything the game taught you for 2 playthroughs.
The golden key is to squeeze out every enemy like a lemon. Keep as many enemies as possible alive as long as possible. Raise your stylish rank quickly, keep it alive and spam green/rainbow abilities that don't deal too much damage. Use abilities like Will-o-Wisp or Satellite and of course stylish combos to get to 2.0-3.0 quickly and then use uncharged collateral Ice Age/Upheaval, they are great at collecting points. Also, Thunderbolt is a must, it is great to finish enemies and the more often you use it per battle the more points you get, perfect for bosses. On top of that: Limit Break Air combos on bosses while not staggered and all your quick abilities while they are staggered. Everyone of those is a precious green bonus.
Truth be told, half of the setup you used is killing your score because it barely gives you points, but deals a lot of damage. Blind Justice is not point efficient enough and collateral abilities on bosses are only useful during stagger for example. Also, don't be scared to use limit break air combos to really squeeze Ultima dry.
I am definitely not a world class player and still got into the Top 5 of Drake's Fang leaderboards, because I simply followed the rules of Arcade Mode, so with your skills, you should have no issues S-Ranking the game

[@shadowbringer97]

Seems like the arcade scoring was considered after the fact, like you said, it goes against what the game teaches you from the beginning. Yeah that's the problem for me, I can't play the way the game wishes me to for getting S ranks. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to S rank the stage but I was a bit surprised at the end that I didn't get an A considering the scores I received. Fortunately, I'm not interested in S ranks lol. None of my runs uploaded (with the exception of Kairos Gate) did I prioritize scores, it has always been completion of the stage. Props to those getting S ranks 👍