Dancing Steel

Dancing Steel is Odin's ultimate Eikonic Ability in Final Fantasy XVI that the player can assign to Clive's loadout. It delivers an extended flurry of sword strikes to enemies after a sizeable windup, and greatly charges up Zantetsuken; under ideal conditions, one use of Dancing Steel can max out the charge.
==Obtained==
Clive gains access to Odin's powers as part of the story, during "The Last King", usable in his loadout after the events at the top of Reverie. Dancing Steel is then learned by spending 1845 AP in the Abilities menu.
==Mechanics==
Clive can use Dancing Steel in battle whenever it is equipped to his current loadout. He can have two Eikonic Abilities alongside his Eikonic Feat, which for the dark loadout is Arm of Darkness. 
Dancing Steel has Clive manifest another sword and duel-wield them to deliver a flurry of attacks as long as the first strike hits; if the first strike does not hit, then the ability will be canceled. Dancing Steel does mediocre damage and will damage, but greatly charges Zantetsuken while forgoing Limit Break buildup. If hit during the animation where Clive manifests the second sword, he will be interrupted. During the sword flurry phase, all action is halted but Clive's.
Locking onto a target ( default) ensures Dancing Steel will only target that enemy. Using Dancing Steel when not locked on will distribute the sword slashes among all nearby enemies.
After being upgraded, Dancing Steel delivers even more hits, improving Zantetsuken-gain further.
Performing Dancing Steel into Ramuh's Lightning Rod improves Zantetsuken-gain even further.
Dancing Steel activates the eponymous battle technique, , when all hits from the sword frenzy land on a single enemy.
Dancing Steel has a 45-second base cooldown before being able to be used again. Upgrading/mastering the ability has no effect on cooldown.
AP cost 	Effect
1845 (Base) 	Able to equip Dancing Steel to Clive's dark loadout.
2420 (Upgrade)	Deliver more hits.
4250 (Master) 	Able to equip Dancing Steel to any loadout.
The reward for completing all four stages of Odin's chronolith trial within the time allotted is The Will of Darkness (Dancing Steel) accessory, which increases Dancing Steel's damage by 20%. The The Pull of Darkness (Dancing Steel) obtained as part of the main quest at the end of Stonhyrr improves Zantetsuken-charge from using Dancing Steel by 25%.
==Use==
Dancing Steel is worth upgrading to add significantly more hits to the frenzy if the player is using it in their loadout. Dancing Steel is the best ability for charging Zantetsuken, the ability where the dark loadout's damage potential lies. Dancing Steel is best used when Zantetsuken level is low to bring it up in one use of an ability.
Dancing Steel has a long windup during which Clive is prone to interruption. The player can watch the enemies and carefully time it between their attack patterns, use Ifrit's Will-o'-the-Wykes before Dancing Steel to protect Clive from interruption, freeze enemies with Shiva's Cold Snap before using Dancing Steel, partially stagger enemies with will gauges with Garuda's Deadly Embrace, or use Dancing Steel into Rift Slip's time freeze.
Using Dancing Steel into Lightning Rod nigh ensures that Zantetsuken will max out, and also improves damage and will damage. There is also an accessory called The Pull of Darkness (Dancing Steel) that improves Zantetsuken-gain from Dancing Steel by 25% (50% in New Game Plus), meaning that the player can max out Zantetsuken even without Lightning Rod.
During the chronolith trial with the Odin's abilities, triggering by landing all hits from Dancing Steel to a single enemy earns a 15-second time bonus.
==Etymology==
The ability's Japanese name, "Iron-cutting Dance", is play on Zantetsuken, Odin's signature ability in the Final Fantasy series, which translates to "Iron-cutting Sword".
Category:Eikonic Abilities in Final Fantasy XVI
Category:Battle techniques in Final Fantasy XVI