Noctis Lucis Caelum

Assassin

The Prince of Lucis is an especially mobile fighter, given that he can warp to wherever any weapon in his vast arsenal is thrown. Should his enemies somehow bring him to his knees, he can summon his Armiger and ascend to power once again.

Original Appearance: FINAL FANTASY XV

Year: 2016

Role: You wouldn’t guess at first glance, but there’s tremendous power and an ancient lineage in Noctis Lucis Caelum, prince of Lucis and next in the line of succession for the monarchy. The bloodline of kings gives Noctis natural mastery of any type of weaponry, the superhuman ability to warp through space, and command of the Armiger arsenal—a ghostly collection of chosen weapons of former kings of Lucis. Noctis can call forth the weapon of his choice from thin air, at a moment’s notice. In dire straits, the spectral weapons of kings past come to aid Noctis on their own.

Arsenal

Bravery Attacks

HP Attacks

EX Skills

Bravery Attack Breakdown

Triple Slice

Noctis spins for a backhand sword swipe with limited range, chaining into two quick follow-up slashes on contact.

This standard-issue close-range combo is flexible. You can stop short after two slashes, keeping the foe close, or follow through with all three, smacking them away for breathing room or a wall hit.

The range on the first poking swing isn’t great, though, and boxing with people in close range on the ground isn’t really Noctis’s forte. Save this for harassing marksmen (whom you may want to simply bully with > , repeat) after dashing in at them on the ground, or use it to retaliate in close after evading attacks from the likes of Garland and Dark Knight Cecil (whom you’ll want to smack away from you with > > ).

If the first slash misses, guard or evasion cancel as necessary to minimize blowback. If all three hits connect, dash cancel to chase the enemy and maintain pressure.

Reckless Abandon

Noctis conjures a polearm and rushes forward with a multi-hit thrust. The earlier he catches a victim in the motion, the more hits it deals. After dragging them on the spear, he spins and hits them with a scooping blow, sending them flying away.

The range of this on the ground is much more functional than the first slash of Triple Slice, but it’s easy to sidestep if opponents see it coming. Save it for poking at grounded foes who are chasing a friend of yours, or running after a summoning core, or chasing somebody who isn’t ready to dodge a straightforward spear tackle.

Cumbersome Swing

Noctis sweeps his arms upward in a mighty swing as a great sword conveniently materializes in his hands. On hit, defenders are staggered long enough for him to bring the blade down in a heavy overhead swing.

The horizontal range on Cumbersome Swing is even shorter than that of Triple Slice. It sweeps above Noctis’s head, though, making it more useful against opponents dashing and jumping above ground. However, the reach still isn’t quite as good as it looks—the great sword’s motion lines are more dramatic than the hit area—so don’t get too caught up trying to make this a central part of your approach with Noctis. The use of Triple Slash for horizontal threats and Cumbersome Swing to swing at fliers’ toes is likely to be on defensive footing. Be ready to evasion cancel the recovery on + , should the big swing whiff.

Dagger Toss

While dashing on the ground, Noctis leaps dramatically into a spin, willing knives into existence in his hands, then twists toward the target to throw the two blades right at them.

The dual daggers are quick and deal decent damage, but have no homing capability and low reach for a ranged attack. They’re most useful in stalling face-offs against other melee attacks, where the enemy has just whiffed some big swing at you while you dash around them, too far for Noble Charge or Triple Slash to connect.

To ensure a grounded dash, hold an analog direction first, THEN press . If you press neutral , then move the stick, you’ll be air-dashing, even if it looks like you’re on the ground, and an  press will produce Bird of Prey instead of Dagger Toss. This is an easy execution mistake to make, since it happens even if is pressed mere frames before the stick direction—a minuscule difference that’s easy to inadvertently produce if you try pressing them simultaneously.

It’s not possible to dash cancel after Dagger Toss to cut the recovery short, but it IS possible to evasion cancel, then to cut short that sidestep by dashing (all told, a sequence of: Dashing (Grounded) >sidestep >dash).

Aerial Assault

Noctis hacks in front of him with a one-handed sword. On a successful hit, he can move into a combo of two more backhanded swipes, with the last one knocking opponents out to mid-range.

Aerial Assault is one of the two primary Bravery combos Noctis relies on for duels, alongside Noble Charge. As a quick, triple-jumping fighter with the power to warp through space, Noctis will have plenty of chances to swing at foes with Aerial Assault. Just beware that the range isn’t great, and it doesn’t change altitude much to chase foes above or below. When dive-bombing foes from above, Heavy Hand is tailor-made, great where Aerial Assault lacks; when chasing enemies who are higher up, you must rely on Noctis’s triple-jump and simply jump closer underneath them before swinging.

Whenever warping right up close to enemies, Aerial Assault is your best opening gambit. If the sword toss from Warp tags and stuns the target, Aerial Assault will combo them!

Noble Charge

Like the grounded Reckless Abandon move, this attack starts with Noctis thrusting forward with a polearm, striking out with good range. Upon skewering the target, he rears back for an even more forceful spear stab, hurling them off.

When he’s not close enough for mid-air Aerial Assault swings, Noctis can slide forward with this dashing spear strike. It’s fast enough to catch enemies when warping around them to the edge of their close-range space. In skirmishes with other melees, it’s more useful than Reckless Abandon, simply because you’re going to be spending much more time in the air, but it has the same susceptibility to sidesteps. The tracking up or down isn’t extreme, either, so don’t plan on dive-bombing or arcing upward hard with this attack. The long range means it’s still good for aerial poking, and for tricky scenarios like intentionally warping off to the flank of the foe before angling in with the spear.

Heavy Hand

Noctis plummets toward the earth with a great sword slam that would make Cloud proud, catching anyone along the way and slamming them into the turf. His impact with the ground also causes an area-of-effect explosion, hurting enemies even if they dodge the blade itself.

The area-of-effect slam gives this good range, extending beyond the great sword itself against anyone near the ground.

Heavy Hand gets Noctis a lot of mileage as a change-up coming out of Warp. When warping right at the enemy, Heavy Hand is a way to quickly get in a single slap that knocks them back and scores a Warp Crit almost automatically, unless one of the target’s teammates interrupts Noctis. Another obvious but still effective use is to warp high above the enemy, then fall with the great sword—a fully charged Warp to high altitude into a plunging Heavy Hand basically makes Noctis himself into a beefy bomb that hits up to three minimap circles away!

Bird of Prey

Noctis dashes forward with a double-dagger spin, wheeling around automatically twice more for more hits against anyone who gets in his way.

There’s no need for follow-up presses to finish this combo, which has good reach and speed. Best case, it’ll score a wall hit and set up a combo opportunity; worst case, it’ll push a guarding foe out past close range. On contact, it can’t be dash canceled for chase pressure, but it can be evasion canceled to act again more quickly.

HP Attack Breakdown

Warp-Strike

Noctis has one HP skill for each of the major weapons he uses. For the HP Attack version of Noctis’s trademark EX Skill, he hurls a one-handed sword forward about the length between minimap circles, then teleports straight to it, driving the blade home.

The range and action on this attack are about the same as on an uncharged Warp attempt, although Warp-strike can’t be aimed like Warp can. If you want an HP Attack that allows Warp-like aim, check out Plunge, the dagger attack.

As with the EX Skill Warp, Noctis’s teleport action during Warp-strike grants him a few frames of invincibility. Well-timed, this can be used to dodge wide attacks, like summon strikes, and pass through moving projectiles, like marksman barrages. It’s also fast enough to be used to follow up wall hits and ally combos, while adding a little Bravery damage before the hit, if the thrown sword connects. Even if the thrown sword misses, Noctis’s finishing strike can still hit, for the all-important HP-destroying part.

Shooting Star

Noctis manifests and hurls a polearm way above the intended victim’s head, quickly warping to it, then plummeting earthward. The atmospheric shock before Noctis is huge, hitting an enormous area under him.

Shooting Star is a Jump-style attack that would make Kain jealous. As with his other warping attacks, Noctis is invincible as soon as he zips toward his weapon. Rather, it’s not fully correct to say he’s invincible—he’s simply not in the arena while teleporting. Enemies can’t even target him while he’s teleporting. Once he reappears around the polearm and descends, he’s vulnerable again, but he’s functionally surrounded by a gigantic spherical fireball.

Although it seems quick, anyone who keeps running in one direction will dodge Shooting Star’s impact. It’s great for tacking on a hit to ally combos/wall hits, for dropping into groups paying attention to someone else, and for using on reaction to laggy enemy actions. If you see a marksman commit to a lengthy cast, or an adversary start charging energy for a summon, firing off Shooting Star can guarantee an easy hit. Using it this way to punish stuff that sticks people in place is similar to the strategy behind using Kain’s fully charged EX Skill, but without waiting on a cooldown timer.

Steel Pirouette

This is the great sword counterpart to Warp-strike. Noctis builds tension while readying the two-handed blade, before sending it whirling ahead. The great sword is a bigger, more damaging projectile when thrown than a one-handed sword, cutting a broad, flat swath through the space ahead. As with other teleport attacks, Noctis disappears after tossing the great sword, then reappears to catch it farther along. He finishes the attack with a big downward slash.

Steel Pirouette has a little more range and a wider hit area than Warp-strike, but takes longer to start. It’s a tiny difference, around a quarter of a second, but it’s long enough to mean this HP Attack isn’t fast enough sometimes, whether in duels or when trying to capitalize on wall hits and such.

Still, the extra range is great, giving Noctis teeth from farther than opponents might expect. The attack can be charged, which adds a tiny bit more range—the difference between charge levels is about one character-length each. The extra meter of range per level of charge is nice, but this is better to throw off timing (giving enemies a chance to sidestep early, for example, which leaves them momentarily helpless).

Plunge

This is Noctis’s dagger HP Attack. Noctis subtly tosses his daggers into the air somewhere around himself, then warps to them, popping back into existence with both knives already primed above his head as he readies a fierce pounce. He springs straight ahead with both daggers for the attack.

You get to choose which direction Noctis tosses his daggers, and thus where he teleports to and attacks from. When aiming his EX Skill Warp around enemies, you’re oriented as though looking straight at them: up on the stick is above, down on the stick is below, left and right teleport alongside their flanks. Plunge is different. For Plunge, imagine you’re looking straight down at Noctis from above. Up is toward the target, gaining distance before the strike; down is away from the target, feinting backward before pouncing back into that space. Left and right strafe to either side before angling forward.

Noctis’s underhand dagger toss takes about a third of a second, then he instantly zips in whichever direction you pick. From the new location, he’s immediately potentially vulnerable to enemy HP Attacks, but anything aimed at the space he just vacated will miss. Springing forward for the strike takes a half-second after the teleport, so although this is a dagger strike, it’s slower to hit than Warp-strike or Steel Pirouette. Of course, the extra deceptiveness can make up for that. The max range (aimed straight at the enemy) is the same as Warp-strike’s, a bit less than uncharged Steel Pirouette’s.

EX SKill Breakdown

Warp

Noctis’s signature move, Warp, is a power afforded to him by the blood of kings flowing in his veins. With a backhand flick, he manifests a sword and sends it spinning forward. Wherever it stops, Noctis pops into existence to catch it, vanishing from his starting location and instantly skipping the space in between.

The tossed sword is a projectile that deals little Bravery damage but delivers a full stun. With a well-aimed Warp, Noctis staggers the target, and an instant follow-up attack is guaranteed!

Up to three Warp uses can be stocked at once, indicated by the number on the EX Skill icon in the bottom-left. One use of Warp takes 45 seconds to restock; restocking all three uses takes 135 seconds.

Hitting someone right after Noctis emerges from Warp scores a Warp Crit, which instantly refills much of the EX gauge. Warp right up to someone and hit them with + , > , or + , and the Warp has already paid for itself. It doesn’t matter if it’s on hit or guard; it just matters that it’s immediately after Warp recovers. (Note that attacks used immediately after Warp are always aerial versions, so +  produces Heavy Hand.)

Warp can be charged, increasing its travel distance, at the expense of increased start-up time. Uncharged Warp covers close range. Fully charged Warp (Level 2, two pulses) extends into mid-range. A partial charge (Level 1, one pulse) lands Noctis on the border between mid- and close range.

Finally, Warp can also be aimed, increasing its trickiness and versatility. While holding to begin charging, point the left stick wherever you want to go. Leaving it in neutral while releasing auto-aims the throw straight at the enemy, but pointing it in any direction will cause Noctis to throw the sword and Warp in that direction. You can hold left while releasing to Warp to their left flank, then arrow in with the spear of Noble Charge, or hold up to warp overhead before plunging down with Heavy Hand, as just a couple examples of use. Directional Warps can be useful for dodging projectile threats you don’t want to chance passing directly through.

Armiger

When Noctis takes enough punishment, finding his health at a critical level, the spirits of all his forefathers emerge in the form of the Armiger arsenal, a cloud of shimmering weapons that materialize from thin air to augment his strength.

When connecting with Bravery strikes, Armiger adds on extra slashes. These don’t inflict extra stun, so this doesn’t lead to extra combos, but bonus damage is always a plus. Final stages of Bravery Attacks have four Armiger slashes accompanying them, adding 40 damage; pre-final, poking stages of Bravery combos have two slashes added, for 20 extra damage.

Armiger is basically an attack buff Noctis gets for falling below 1500 HP. It activates automatically and persists until he’s incapacitated or the match ends. Even if he’s healed back above 1500 HP, Armiger remains. This has interesting implications—you can equip the Share HP EX Skill on purpose, using it to off-load HP to allies and intentionally invoking the Armiger arsenal. Coordinate this with allies equipped with HP Regen (or Y’shtola) to gain the permanent damage boost without having to stay at dangerously low HP.

Battle Plan

Noctis is, naturally, an assassin. This heir to a long line of weaponsmasters can manifest any kind of cutlery you can think of out of the very air around him, creating his weapons even as he winds up the motion for their swings. Plus, Noctis isn’t armed strictly with his own assortment of daggers, swords, great swords, and polearms. His ancestors’ surviving, most-favored weapons—the Armiger arsenal—are bound to him, 13-strong, ready to spring to his aid and bolster his attack power when it counts.

The big difference between Noctis and other melee attackers is Warp. You’ll want to get used to the different ranges at which it can place him with different levels of charge, so you don’t have to think about it in the thick of combat. Look for the subtle flashes that indicate when he hits Level 1 and then Level 2. They’re a split second apart, so getting the middle level of charge when desired may take some practice. It’s worth it, though, to achieve better precision placing Warps near your prey.

Post-Warp, if you KNOW you timed it correctly to end up at close range, emerge from the Warp with Aerial Assault’s first two stages, > . If you’re not sure about the distance, go ahead and emerge with +  for Noble Charge’s sliding stab. Thanks to Warp Crits, you’ll restock Warp with +  or >  anyway, without finishing the combo. If you like, you can still always opt to add the closeout attacks, whether to punt the enemy far away or score a wall hit. However, it can be better to just take the opener hits, the “free” Warp restock, and stay in your quarry’s face. This is especially true versus marksmen. They can have real trouble merely getting away from a sequence of > , pause, > , pause, without help.

Those are precision strikes against one foe, whether it’s a marksman you’re pursuing or an assassin you’re dueling. Against duos or trios of hostiles in close proximity, warping above and using Heavy Hand (+ ) can clear everyone out, hit or guard, with the explosive impact slam.

The better you aim Warps, the more likely you’ll be able to poke on-target immediately after regaining control. That’s great for the usual reasons—combos, Bravery, knockback, wall hits, looking cool—but also because scoring hits right out of Warps causes Warp Crits, refilling the EX gauge right away. Basically, the better you are with hitting right after Warp, the more you’ll be able to keep using Warp. It’s only if you totally miss three Warp attempts close together that you’ll be waiting on a cooldown, using a character who is briefly missing his standout feature.

Aiming Warps directly on-target also gives Noctis something most characters don’t have by themselves: a verifiable, inescapable multi-attack combo. All by himself, Noctis can stun someone with the sword toss before warping to it, flatten the dazed victim against a nearby wall with a Bravery combo, then drive the point home with an HP Attack finish.

With short range on standard combo attacks and assassin-grade poise, Noctis isn’t equipped to go toe-to-toe with stout vanguards, but he can be a marksman’s worst nightmare with his mobility. They don’t just have to worry about the usual assassin advantages like speed and altitude, but with good timing and matchup knowledge, Noctis can also Warp directly through their strongest assets. Shooting Star can be used on reaction to many marksman attacks, dropping on top of them after they overcommit; all other HP Attacks plus the Warp EX Skill can teleport through the short lives of most projectile threats.

One thing to be cautious of when aiming at enemy marksmen, or engaging in any kind of mid-air duels, is that Noctis’s toolkit unfortunately doesn’t cover upward diagonals very well. You can always plunge down at people with Heavy Hand (+ ) or Shooting Star (if equipped), but Noctis doesn’t efficiently hit above and ahead of himself. Rely on his triple-jump to get level with fliers before engaging with Noble Charge, or better yet, see if there’s someone else you can opportunistically engage on better footing.

Unlike most assassins who have at least one ranged option, Noctis does not have a true projectile attack, nor does he have an HP Attack that he can use to reliably annul incoming projectiles. His closest projectile-like attack, Dagger Toss, lacks the range and homing needed to be a real mainstay, and realistically you’re not going to be dashing on the ground a lot. This is more a defense/runaway option if you already happen to be stalling and dashing away from an onrusher at ground level, usually after guarding in mid-air and falling straight down. Otherwise, your ranged option is Noctis himself, whether zipping forward with a fully charged Warp or Steel Pirouette, or dropping from above with Shooting Star or Heavy Hand. But distant action was never going to be this melee master’s forte. He’s better served wisely dashing and triple-jumping around the opposing team’s flanks, looking for chances to move in and pick them apart with his powerful attacks.

Share HP is a great common EX Skill to activate Armiger at will. Other useful skills include Mighty Strikes, Revivify, and Teleport, which all add to Noctis’s offensive strength, whether in raw power or speed. Be careful when using Provoke with Shooting Star, as leaving the arena causes the debuff to disappear. It is worth noting that if you don’t have Share HP on, you may never see Armiger active because many players tend to rely on one-shot kills, especially against characters like Noctis or Shantotto who have HP-based effects.

Noctis’s summon of choice is Bahamut, as Warp Crit combined with Bahamut’s pre-summoning effect grant him more uses of Warp throughout the course of a match.

Due to Noctis’s poor reach against targets above him, he prefers flatter arenas that allow him to use his triple-jump to get above most of the combatants. However, obstacles don’t affect him much, since he doesn’t rely on projectile attacks that would be nullified on contact with surfaces. His ability to Warp around corners and attack players from above means that it is difficult to hide from him by simply using parts of the stage as cover.

Gallery

Appearance

Weapons