How to Beat Hugo

Hugo is a boss that appears during the Capital Punishment quest in Final Fantasy 16 (FF16). See the best strategies for how to beat Hugo, how to counter its attacks and abilities, as well as its location, quest appearance, spoils, and drops.

Hugo Overview

Hugo Location and Drops

Hugo
Quest	Capital Punishment
Location & Region	Rosalith , Grand Duchy of Rosaria
Rewards	・1200 EXP ・270 AP ・4000 Gil ・ Steelsilk ・ Meteorite ・ Earth Shard
Abilities	・Sledgehammer ・Geocrush ・Weight of Land ・Landslide ・Stripmine ・Titanic Counter ・Tumult ・Torment ・Earthen Fury ・Upheaval

How to Beat Hugo (First Phase)

Step-by-Step Guide
Parry and Dodge Basic Attacks Execute Quick Time Events

Parry and Dodge Basic Attacks

For the first phase of the fight, Hugo will be throwing basic punches, uppercuts, and jabs at you so you'll have to observe the pattern of these attacks to execute a well-timed precision dodge in order to launch a counterattack.

Consider parrying as well once you feel confident enough to fend off his attacks, then unleash your combos at him as he'll be vulnerable for a brief time.

Consider Equipping Timely Accessories

Hugo is a tough boss to fight and equipping timely accessories such as the Ring of Timely Focus or Ring of Timely Evasion, will greatly assist you throughout the fight as these tools are designed to aid you in fights that are extremely difficult.

All Timely Accessories and Effects

Execute Quick Time Events

Once you've damaged him enough, there will be a short cutscene in which the floor will shatter and he'll attack you from the air. Press R1 the moment the Quick Time Event shows on your screen to dodge it!

How to Beat Hugo (Second Phase)

Step-by-Step Guide
Phoenix Shift Out of Geocrush Fight Back After Guard Breaks Jump to Avoid Tumult Get Behind Him During Stripmine

Phoenix Shift Out of Geocrush

The second phase takes place underneath the palace, and the first thing Hugo will do is disappear and rise up from the ground to attack you! This will be indicated by a circular shape of flames on the ground indicating where he'll emerge.

Use Phoenix Shift to dodge this as the radius of the ring is large enough that regular dodges won't be enough to evade it!

He'll be doing this ability numerous times throughout the fight so be ready to switch to the Phoenix Eikon to use the Eikonic Feat!

Phoenix Shift Effects and How to Unlock

Earthen Fury Has a Wider Radius

Earthen Fury is an upgraded version of Geocrush as the radius of the flames will now take up almost the whole area of the battle arena, leaving only a small portion unscathed from the fire.

Fight Back After Guard Breaks

Guard Break occurs when you've done enough damage while Hugo is blocking your attacks with his enormous hands. He'll be briefly stunned allowing you deal damage to him uninterrupted.

Use Abilities While Limit Break is Active

Activating Limit Break buffs Clive's stats and further increases the damage of his basic attacks and abilities. Hurl out all your abilties and combos to maximize your damage.

Best Combos for Early to Late Game

Jump to Avoid Tumult

As soon as you see Hugo stomping the ground, he'll be sending out three waves of flames all across the battle zone, make sure to jump as soon as they approach you to avoid them.

Attack From Behind During Stripmine

Stripmine is an ability that he can do where he'll heat up the floor in front of him and burst it up in flames. You'll notice the area that it affects by looking at the cone-shaped fire on the ground. When this happens, circle around him and attack him from there as it'll take some time for him to charge this up.

Final Fantasy XVI (FF16) Related Guides

List of Bosses and Formidable Foes

All Formidable Foes

All Formidable Foes
Gigas	Morbol	Knight of the Blinding Dawn
Eikon of Fire	Shiva's Dominant	Tiamat
Dragon Aevis	Fafnir	Midnight Raven
Chirada	Suparna and Chirada	Benedikta
Garuda	Knight of the Dying Sun	Iron Giant
Infernal Eikon	Infernal Shadow	Imperial Cannonier
Akashic Dragon	Typhon	Republican War Panther
Akashic Morbol	Flame Lizard	Liquid Flame
Coeurl	Hugo	Undertaker
Titan	White Dragon	Necrophobe
Bahamut	Sleipnir	Barnabas (First Encounter)
Control Node	Aurum Giant	Barnabas (Second Encounter)
Behemoth	Ultima (First Encounter)	Ultimalius