Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s complex battle system leads to a variety of exciting encounters against Shinra’s military troopers, its huge robots, and its wild fiends–which are pretty demanding on occasion. But the game’s biggest challenges are its lengthy, involved boss fights, which put your understanding of its battle mechanics to the test. If you’re not the most experienced at dealing with fast-paced real-time combat, FF7 Remake is bound to give you some trouble. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered, as we’ve compiled a walkthrough detailing how to fight many of the game’s bosses.
Below you can find in-depth strategies for every boss we’ve beaten so far. Click from the Table of Contents to jump to where you want to go, but be careful, as this guide has some spoilers to boss identities. And for returning fans, some of the boss fights you might remember have been tweaked in significant ways, so we also encourage you to proceed with caution.
Check back often as we update this roundup with even more boss strategies. For more guides, check out our feature highlighting some essential tips to know as you play the game, as well as our PSA on why you shouldn’t skip side missions. Otherwise, you can read our Final Fantasy 7 Remake review.
Warning: Spoilers Follow
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Other Chapter Bosses Coming After Launch!
Chapter 1
Scorpion Sentinel
The Scorpion Sentinel is your first big challenge in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. As Cloud says at the start, Lightning magic is most effective. Lucky for you, Barrett has some Lightning Materia handy, so switch to him and unleash that as soon as possible. As a precaution, cast Steelskin on Barret to ensure he’s got all the added defense and resilience he needs to stay in the fight. For Cloud, use Punisher Mode attacks and Fire spells to pile on the damage and keep increasing the Scorpion Sentinel’s Stagger meter. But don’t linger close; it’ll swipe you with its tail or leap up and drop down onto you if you hang around too long. When it locks onto you with its targeting laser, get ready to block some missiles; you can try to dodge, but you’ll probably still take a fair amount of damage.
Do enough damage and the Scorpion Sentinel will activate a barrier, hindering all incoming attacks. Circle its back and hit it in the Field Generator weak spot underneath its tail. Use Barrett’s Focused Shot ability to do some substantial damage to it, while having Cloud follow up with a Fire spell. You’ll want to stay back as much as possible until you can drop that barrier, as the Scorpion Sentinel will smash you with an area-of-effect attack. Once the barrier is down, start hitting it again with Barret’s Lightning spells and Cloud’s Punisher attacks. When the Sentinel Scorpion jumps onto the wall, switch to Barrett and hit it with Overcharge shots to bring it back down. If you stagger it at any point, make sure to spend ATB to unleash Cloud’s Braver and Barret’s Focused Shot upon it.
After you’ve dealt enough damage, the Sentinel Scorpion will launch a bunch of missiles that bring down debris from around the reactor. It’ll then charge its Tail Laser; hide behind the debris to avoid getting hit by the attack, which is devastating. You can still use spells in the meantime, though.
During this final portion of the fight, the Sentinel Scorpion will cycle through several attacks, including an EM Blast around its body, a hail of missiles, lasers from its hands, and a machine gun attack. Dodge or block the incoming strikes and hang back until after the missile strike, when the Scorpion Sentinel is open for attack, then hit it before retreating to hide from the Tail Laser. Make use of Barret’s ranged attacks as much as you can, as well as magic, because these will keep you out of range from several of the Sentinel Scorpion’s abilities. Keep a consistent rate of damage, making sure to go hard when you stagger it, and you’ll win in no time.
Chapter 2
The Huntsman (Mini-Boss)
You’ll fight the Huntsman at the end of Chapter 2, who’s accompanied by several Shinra troopers. He’s basically a Riot Trooper with more powerful attacks, higher defense, and grenades. Before facing him, focus on his friends first, which include a Riot Trooper, several Security Officers. Start by wiping the floor with the Security Officers, then focus your attention on the Riot Troopers, which you can instantly drop with a Fire spell or a Punisher Mode guard stance counter.
When the Huntsman is alone, stay well clear of him, as he can deal severe damage and quickly punish you if your sword bounces off his shield. Watch out for his attack called Riot Shield, where he’ll sprint straight at you and bowl you over; it’s hard to dodge, so try to guard against it instead. He shouldn’t be able to hurt you much otherwise, so remain guarded in Punisher Mode to deal damage with your instant counter-attack. Once your ATB charges up, hit him with a Fire spell to drop his defenses. That should put him on one knee; close the gap quickly and rip him apart with more Punisher Mode attacks. Repeat that process a few times, and you should down him pretty quickly.
Chapter 4
Roche (Motorcycle Chase)
The final portion of your motorcycle ride during Chapter 4 pits you against Roche, AKA “Speed Demon.” This adrenaline-pumped maniac is a bit of a pain to deal with. First, use guard and dodge around to avoid the ranged sword slices he sends your way. If you swerve from right to left, you can easily steer clear of most of them in time. Pay attention to the pattern; his slashes stay in pretty much the same areas as they cross the street, and you can mostly zip past unscathed. When he’s not up close, use L1+Triangle to fire off your own ranged attacks once charged to keep your damage output up.
When Roche drives up on the side of the tunnel, it means he’s going to start sending vertical Lightning strikes your way. Don’t worry about attacking; instead, watch for the attacks to come down and dodge them before they can hit you. If there’s an opportunity to charge your ranged attack, shoot it his way, but remember that defense is your primary concern.
Roche will eventually jump off the side of the tunnel to smash down right next to you, so dodge hard to one side to avoid taking damage when you see him getting ready to move. He’ll usually stick up close for a while, so keep slashing at him and unleashing your spin attack when you get the chance before he repeats his cycle. Keep consistent on dodging and damage-dealing, and you’ll end this bozo’s high-speed reign–at least, for now.
Roche (Shinra Warehouse)
This second fight with Roche is more of a sword-fighting duel, and you’ll want to rely on your guard here. Blocking Roche’s attacks will bounce him off you, leaving him vulnerable for you to lay into him with a series of combos. The more you hit him or block him, the easier to interrupt he becomes.
Roche will start the battle fighting you conservatively, letting you get quite a few hits in before retaliating with his sword combo. If he starts up a flurry, dodge to the side before he lands the final spinning attack. He’ll also occasionally cast Materia spells, so make sure you’re paying attention to his casting animation to evade them in time. Stick to defense with the Punisher Mode’s counter-attacks, which is a great way to circumvent Roche’s speed and keep the damage output high. Generally, you want to stand your ground against Roche like you’re having a swordfight: block and counter his attacks to pressure and stagger him, then lay into him with combos after he bounces off your guard. He’s also weak to Fire, so if you can hit him with the occasional Fire spell, all the better.
Deal enough damage, and you’ll eventually trigger the second phase of the fight. Roche is far more aggressive and agile here, capable of easily dodging your strikes and stunning you with powerful dash attacks, but he’s still vulnerable to getting his attacks blocked. Maintain a defensive posture with Punisher Mode and keep wailing on Roche with that trusty counter. But once again, dodge away when you see him about to unleash a spell. Also, avoid using ATB abilities until he’s staggered. Rinse and repeat until he’s down for the count.
Chapter 6
Crab Warden
The Crab Warden has a bunch of different targets on its body, and to put it down for good, you need to cripple each of its legs in turn. It’s weak to Lightning magic, so make sure you have some Lightning Materia equipped ahead of time–the more, the better, but definitely give an orb to Barret, since he can stand back from the battle and support the melee fighters with spells.
As soon as the fight starts, the Crab Warden electrifies the train tracks, so make sure your party isn’t standing on them. It’ll do this every once in a while, so keep an eye out for Crab Warden readying the attack, and get yourself clear. Once the electricity dissipates, have Cloud and Tifa focus melee attacks on the Crab Warden’s legs, while commanding whoever you’ve assigned Lightning Materia to bolster their attacks with Lightning spells. Attacking the Crab Warden’s legs from the side and back from the back can be very useful since most of its guns are in the front, but be careful of its EMP blast area attack, which will hit you for big damage if you’re standing too close. Repeat this cycle of attacks and defense until you destroy a leg to stagger the crab; use that opportunity to deal massive damage with your ATB abilities.
The Crab Warden will add additional attacks as it takes more and more damage, eventually opening two big missile launchers on its sides. These are tough to dodge, so get ready to guard to mitigate the damage, and keep pouring out the Lightning in the meantime. The missiles are a significant threat, so focus on the launchers to destroy them, while also forcing the Crab Warden to expose its pilot generator. At that point, you should be free to lay into the exposed weak point with everything you’ve got to finish the boss off in short order.
Chapter 7
Airbuster
The Airbuster is a unique boss fight in that the decisions you make in Reactor 5 before fighting it impact how difficult the battle will be. If you’re paying attention, you can find as many as six Reactor 5 keycards as you move through the labs ahead of the fight with the Airbuster. Each of those keycards can be used to remove armaments from the Airbuster that you can then retrieve yourself. Removing AI Cores cuts down on the Airbuster’s movement speed and ability to use stun attacks; removing Big Bomber shells takes away the boss’s ability to use big, massively damaging explosives; and removing M units gives you random items you can retrieve ahead of the fight–although it doesn’t hamper the Airbuster’s effectiveness. You can make decisions about what to take from the Airbuster based on your playstyle, but we found removing all its Big Bomber shells was pretty helpful.
If you’ve got the Elemental Materia, this is an excellent time to use it–set it with a Lightning Materia for Barret so that he fires Lightning-infused bullets, allowing him to do more damage while quickly increasing the Airbuster’s Stagger meter.
In the fight itself, you’ll start with Cloud separated from Barret and Tifa, and the Airbuster facing him. Take a defensive posture; block with your guard stance all incoming gunfire and laser beams from the Airbuster, and dodge the EM Mines it kicks out periodically. Close the gap and perform melee attacks if you can manage them, but note that the Airbuster will use a blast of static electricity to knock you back if you linger too close. Fire off magic spells instead when you’re not defending–the Airbuster is weak to Lightning–just like the Crab Warden–so go nuts with it. Hit the Airbuster with enough Lightning, and it’ll be stunned for a few seconds, allowing you to get in close and hit it with ATB abilities.
If Cloud is taking too much damage, Barret’s Lifesaver ability from his Light Machine Gun can help, allowing him to tank damage from the other characters. Use it to spread around the hurt.
After a time, the Airbuster will turn and face Barret and Tifa. As Cloud, you now have a chance to get close for some damage, but watch out for the Airbuster’s jets, which will fire periodically and knock you to the ground.
When the Airbuster’s second phase hits, you’ll need to worry about its massive Tankbuster laser. It’ll shoot it down the center catwalk, making it pretty easy to dodge, but make sure you avoid it, or your characters will take a ton of damage. From here on out, the Airbuster will periodically fire the laser; when it does, drop everything and get clear.
You can now close the cap on the Airbuster and hit it at close range while continuing to smash it with as much Lightning as possible. After a short time, the Airbuster’s arms will split off, firing arcs of electricity between them. When that happens, focus your fire on one of them to stagger and destroy it quickly, using Barret’s ranged abilities and magic. The arms will move to the other catwalk and try to punch you before long, so try to stay clear of them.
You should also get the opportunity to use a summon during this phase of the battle, which will help take the pressure off fighting the arms. After you hit them hard enough, the Airbuster will pull the arms back to its main body. Keep hitting it as hard as you can with Lightning to stagger the Airbuster, and then lay into it for some considerable damage.
When the Airbuster gets down to about half-health, it’ll hover off the side of the catwalk, beyond the range of your melee team’s attacks. Switch to Barret and open up with his guns, while continuing to support him with as many Lightning spells as you can manage. When Airbuster floats back to the catwalk, send the melee fighters in to wail on it as much as they can.
Watch out for when the Airbuster rises to either crush you with a big punch from one of its fists, lay into you with its machine guns, or fire flamethrowers from its palms. When you see it preparing any of those attacks, dodge clear. It’ll also fire its Tankbuster laser while rotating, covering more ground, so when you see it readying that attack, run for it.
As the Airbuster’s health drops, just keep pounding away with Lightning spells to pressure it. Getting it close to death will trigger some significant, last-ditch attacks, like the Big Bomber, which will shoot a giant grenade at one of your teammates. But at this point, you should be able to overpower the Tankbuster and finish it off by unloading damage on it relentlessly.
Chapter 8
Reno
As soon as the fight starts, take care of the Security Officers; the Iron Blade’s Triple Slash ability should come in handy here. Once they’re dealt with, focus your attention on Reno. You want to maintain a steady balance between speed and measured defense. Similar to Roche, this is a swordfight of sorts, and you’ll need to block Reno’s attacks to open him up to attack. He likes to zip at you with a dash to get behind you, then attack you from the back, so you’ll want to be ready to Guard when he closes the gap. Reno can be easily hurt with some well-timed Punisher Mode counter-attacks, but any block of his electro baton will allow you to strike back. You want to be sure to block him, because the baton won’t just hurt you, it’ll stun you, too. If you’ve got enough ATB stocked, follow up your Punish Mode attacks with a Focus Thrust.
Eventually, Reno will start to throw EM Mines at you, which will float around, arcing electricity between them to stun you and open you up to attack. Run away from the mines and either nail them with magic spells or cut in close and slice them out of the air, but be sure you don’t attack them when they’re charged with electricity or you’ll get zapped. The EM Mines are particularly dangerous toward the end of the fight, when Reno will come after you for close-range attacks while you’re dealing with the mines, so keep your distance and even up the odds as quickly as you can. Keep the pressure on, and you’ll eventually come out of this encounter victorious.
Optional: Shiva
If you keep in touch with Shinra intern Chadley, he should provide you with a new Battle Intel scenario that pits you against summon creature Shiva in order to earn a new Materia. You’ll have whoever’s in your party when you take on this fight, so if you try it with just Cloud, it’ll be tougher than if you tackle it with Aerith in your squad. We recommend that you bring Aerith along, though.
Shiva is an Ice summon, and thus weak to Fire. Give Aerith your best Fire Materia, and make sure you have the Ifrit summon equipped, then head into the battle. Cloud can pretty much take care of himself, so you’re better off controlling Aerith to run up her ATB bars as quickly as possible; the more Fire or Fira spells you can cast on Shiva, the faster you’ll manage to stagger her. Make use of Aerith’s Arcane Ward ability, which automatically makes you cast two spells for every ATB bar you spend, to maximize your damage. A good Fire spell will knock Shiva to the ground, offering Cloud a chance to lay down some melee attacks. Make sure you’re not too close when she gets back up, though, because she’ll use the Icicle Impact area attack spell around her when she’s back on her feet.
You’ll want to keep laying down spells on Shiva while working to keep Aerith alive. You’ll need to be on top of dodging her clear of incoming danger, which includes Blizzara spells that Shiva will shoot your way. Shiva will also summon a bunch of ice crystals to shoot at you in a group. Dodging that attack is a losing battle, so guard against it and power through.
Once you do enough damage, Shiva will get more aggressive, with spells that come faster and new Frost Familiars that protect her and increase the number of spells she casts. Keep firing away with spells to knock out the minions, but beware of the White Out attack, which will send ice crystals through the ground at you. If they hit you, you’ll fall asleep, opening you up to a huge but slow magic attack from Shiva called Heavenly Strike. You’ll see a massive ice crystal form above the sleeping character; quickly switch to your other character and use Smelling Salts to wake up the sleeper, then dodge away to avoid the big crystal.
As soon as you can get Ifrit in the battle, summon him and start using his abilities to do significant damage and keep Shiva off-balance. The Fire attacks should end up staggering her quickly, allowing you to do a bunch more damage. At about one-quarter health, Shiva will do her big summon attack, damaging your entire party. Makes sure you’re healed up before that happens, or she can take you out in one blow. After that, keep hitting her with Fire spells until she’s done.
Rude
After fighting Reno, it’s expected that you’d deal with his buddy Rude sooner or later. Make sure you have Wind materia equipped, particularly on Aerith, because it’s going to help you a great deal.
Rude is basically the opposite of Reno, in that his attacks are big, powerful, and tough to block–instead, you want to be ready with a dodge to avoid taking the brunt of it. Focus also on trying to dodge sideways rather than backward, as Rude will travel forward with a lot of his attacks to keep hitting you even if you back off. Keep away from his Haymaker attack, which does a whole lot of damage, and do what you can when he comes at you with the Running Tackle, which will leave Cloud bound and exposed to the suplex that follows. Deadly Dodge is an excellent way to open up on him after staying back for a moment.
Aerith will be completely ignored by Rude, giving you a chance to use her to dump spells on the boss. Wind magic will hugely push up Rude’s pressure meter, allowing you to stagger him easily. So try to keep Cloud safe in the melee fight while focusing on Wind magic to do the real damage. Her Pray ability should also help keep the party in the right shape. Make sure you’re switching back to her whenever you think Cloud is about to be in a tough position.
After you get Rude’s health down some, you’ll trigger a second phase, where he starts using attacks called Shockwave and Spirit Geyser. Shockwave travels through the ground and will track you some, while Spirit Geyser will cause explosions underneath you–in both cases, keep moving to avoid the damage. Keep firing away with Wind spells and you’ll make pretty quick work of Rude.
Chapter 9
Hell House
The Hell House is a tough fight, so make sure you’re prepared. Spread Magic Materia between Cloud and Aerith so you have spells covering all four elements: Blizzard, Fire, Wind, and Lightning. It’s also a good idea to remove Elemental Materia from your weapons for this fight. You need a balance of elements because the Hell House will constantly change its elemental affinity, using a barrier that will defend it from your attacks. That means that if you’re using Elemental Materia and the wrong barrier is up, your physical attacks will be useless, putting you at a big disadvantage. You also want to bring plenty of Ethers to this fight.
At the start of the fight, watch the Hell House’s windows. When they’re red, the house’s barrier is tuned to Fire; green is Wind; yellow is Lightning; and blue is Ice. You want to cast spells of the opposite type of whatever the barrier is in order to run up the Hell House’s Stagger meter–so if the barrier is Fire, use Ice, and if it’s Wind, use Lightning, and so on.
In the first phase, the house will fling explosive furniture and toys at you, so stay well back. The Chair Salvo attack will launch a bunch of chairs that will track you like missiles, but you can avoid them fairly well if you just run around the arena and try to keep moving. When the house sprays out stuffed animals, stay clear of them–they’re all bombs. And when it uses its Hospitality attack, try to run away; it’ll suck one of your characters into the house, taking them out of the fight briefly while inflicting a bunch of damage. If you can hit the house with a spell opposite its barrier during that attack, do so.
The first phase isn’t too tough if you have the magic to deal with it. After the house takes some damage, it’ll flip to a much more aggressive second phase. You’ll get fewer indications of the house’s barrier from here on out; what magic to hit it with will be dictated by its attacks, which you can interrupt with the right spells. Keep back from its Jetstream attack, in which the house will spin around and spray fire, then use Ice. Do the same for the Double Rocket Charge attack, where the house will shoot itself straight at you–run to the side to avoid the first charge, but know that the house will follow up with two more. The Housing Shock attack will see the house chasing you around to do electrical damage, so try to hit it with Wind. Renewed Hospitality is a Wind attack, so use Lightning.
The tough part of this fight, really, is dealing with God House Mode. The house will create a barrier for itself that severely reduces both physical and magical attacks and isn’t tied to an element. When that happens, change targets to the Hell House’s arms and focus fire. A couple of big spells from Aerith or ATB attacks from Cloud should be enough to damage the house and drop the barrier, opening it up for your regular slate of attacks. You’ll really need to be on your toes for this one, though; as soon as the barrier is down, hit the Hell House with whatever spell will stagger it most based on its window color, since you have a brief period after God Mode drops where you can get a big boost on stagger.
This battle will put you through your paces because it’ll require you to be ready with the right spell at the right time, but it also makes charging your ATB meters difficult as you deal with the barriers. When you do get a big hit with the right element, close the gap with Cloud for Punisher Mode attacks and ATB abilities in order to run up as much stagger as you can. Above all, though, be careful about keeping your team alive; don’t be afraid to use a lot of items and healing spells here, because you’re going to need them.
In the last phase, Hell House will add an attack called Heavensward, where it’ll fly around the battlefield, shooting more chairs and other explosives at you. If you keep moving, you should be able to avoid the missiles, but eventually the house will shoot itself back down at you. You’ll have a brief window before it hits it with a spell, if you can land it, so pay attention and get your ATB bars charged ahead of time.
Optional Boss: Fat Chocobo
Fighting Fat Chocobo is a whole lot easier than Shiva, but you still need to keep your wits about you. The summon creature doesn’t have any major weaknesses, so you’ll just want to hit it with your toughest attacks and spells. The best way to pressure Fat Chocobo is with ATB abilities, like Cloud’s Braver and Focused Thrust. Go with the ones you like best and deal the biggest damage, while having Aerith keep up a variety of spells, and keep hammering at Fat Chocobo in an attempt to stagger him.
Fat Chocobo his back with physical attacks, so if you have Barrier Materia, use it to protect your squad. His Wark attack has him throwing random garbage at you, which you can easily avoid. When you get in close, watch out for Boom, in which he pops up into the air and drops back down for a big area-of-effect strike. After a bit, he’ll start rolling around with Roly Poly, which you can dodge clear of if you’re quick.
Meanwhile, the Moogle that floats around Fat Chocobo will occasionally summon spectral enemies to come after you–specifically, Bombs and Tonberries. Knock these out quickly if you can with Triple Strike, or let Aerith handle them with her magic while you keep up your assault on Fat Chocobo. You’ll occasionally want to switch to Aerith to speed her ATB gain for healing spells, especially if Cloud gets walloped with a few of Fat Chocobo’s big attacks.
When you get a chance, summon Ifrit or Shiva into the battle to further pressure Fat Chocobo–the further into the fight you get, the more minion enemies will get spawned in to overwhelm you. They shouldn’t bother you too much, though, but if you’re finding yourself taking a lot of damage, peel off and take a second to deal with them before returning your focus to the boss.
Chapter 10
Abzu
Abzu is a big foe with a long reach, but the biggest danger in this fight is poison from all the sewage. Getting hit by certain attacks from Abzu will poison your characters, and you’ll want to deal with that quickly with Antidotes or Cleanse magic, because you might not realize how much damage you’re taking from it until too late.
Abzu is weak to Fire spells, so a pumped up Fire materia or two is key here. Fire massively drives up his stagger meter while also taking him out of the fight briefly, allowing you to inflict big damage. You’ll want Aerith wielding the Fire materia if you only have one, but if you’ve got more, it can’t hurt to get more magic into this fight, especially to stop some of Abzu’s big attacks. Primarily, you want to focus your attacks of Abzu’s horns whenever you can. Crippling the horn knocks out some of its biggest water-based attacks, so the quicker you can do that, the better off you’ll be.
Early on, Abzu will use its Backwash attack, which is deadlier than it first appears. It makes bursts of sewage fly out of the brown puddles scattered arond the arena, which hurt and inflict poison. If your characters get hit, deal with the poison so that the damage doesn’t pile up. Other than that, be careful of its Ground Slam attack, which you can dodge when you see it coming, and its big melee swings, which you can block and counterattack with Punisher mode. When Abzu jumps up onto the pipes alongside the arena, it means he’s about to come back down with a big Pounce attack and pin one of your team. This is a great time to nail him with Fire, which will interrupt his mauling of your teammate and leave him vulnerable to more damage. After a few seconds, he’ll flee into the water.
You can’t raise Abzu’s stagger meter with magic attacks, so reserve those for damage–instead, lay into him with melee strikes, particularly with Tifa, to try to push his stagger meter up. More important, though, is trying to cripple Abzu’s horn, which will also open up to sustained attacks.
In the next phase of the fight, Abzu will get Enraged and become more aggressive. It’ll jump on the pipes again and use its Backwash Blast attack, which will spray a bunch of sewage out of one of the big pipes on the sides of the arena; when that happens, run alongside the pipe to avoid the flood. You’ll also want to watch out for Backwash Spout, which creates water tornadoes out of the puddles on the battlefield, which will come at you fast.
Crippling Abzu’s horn will knock him out of Enrage and open him up to attacks again, so keep up with hitting him as much as you can and lay down big damage with Fire magic. Keep clear of him when he readies his Triple Charge and Bash and Smash moves, although if you’re quick with a powerful spell, you’ll be able to interrupt both. Keep your party healthy keep setting the boss on fire until you’re victorious.
Chapter 11
Ghoul
Beating the Ghoul requires you to keep an eye on it, because only certain attacks will work at certain times against the big ghost. When it’s solid, you can hit it with melee strikes, but magic will be pretty ineffective. When the Ghoul becomes ghostly and lit in red, melee attacks lose their potency, so switch to magic–landing any big spells will seriously drive up the Ghoul’s stagger bar, with Fire being the most effective. You’ll want to outfit Aerith with some strong spells, but scatter a few good materia to Tifa and Cloud as well, so they can also help out when the Ghoul shifts forms.
The Ghoul primarily likes to use its Telekinesis attack to suck up objects from around the room and chuck them at you. When that happens, duck behind any other debris you can for cover. You’ll also want to watch out for the Ghoul’s slash attacks. When the Ghoul is corporeal, its slashes leave a blue line on the ground that’ll explode to deal big damage to your team, so be sure to dodge clear. When the Ghoul is ghostly, it can turn invisible to ambush your team with slash attacks, so watch for the red light that indicates where the ghost is.
The Ghoul likes to use a big scream attack that can stun your teammates if you’re too close, and it has additional attacks that can afflict characters with silence. Switch quickly to attack the ghost if it stuns one of your group to interrupt its follow-ups, and keep Echo Mist on hand in case you get silenced.
Do damage when you can with your melee team, but the real time to capitalize is when the Ghoul is in ghost form and you can have a big effect on its stagger gauge. Hit the Ghoul with a couple of big spells and it should get pressured; close the distance with Cloud and Tifa and use moves like Focused Strike and Focused Thrust to try to stagger it.
Once you hurt the Ghoul enough, you’ll get into the second phase of the fight, in which the ghost will add additional attacks, with blue flames crossing through the room and more area attacks around itself that you’ll need to dodge away from, like Balefire. You should also watch out for the Ghoul to pick up all the objects in the room and swirl them around in the air; when that happens, stop attacking and get well clear.
The Ghoul will pick up a party member and hold them up in the air. However, this Ghoul is a lie! When this happens, remove your lock-on and look to the other side of the room to attack the real Ghoul. Wail on him enough, and he’ll be forced to free your party member.
The Ghoul isn’t too tough, so maintain spell pressure when it goes ghostly to put him back in the grave where he belongs.
Eligor
Wow, these boss fights are starting to get wild. It just goes to show how bizarre the enemies from the original Final Fantasy 7 were, so to see them represented in-world here is a wonderful treat.
First and foremost: Bring Steal Materia to this fight. Eligor carries the Bladed Staff weapon for Aerith, and you can only get it if you steal it off him. Steal attempts seem most effective when the boss is staggered, but keep up the attempts throughout the fight until you get your prize.
Eligor is a ghostly chariot who is particularly weak against Ice magic, but Fire and Lightning are also pretty effective at pressuring the boss and pushing its stagger meter, and you’ll want to stock Wind spells for later as well. Physical attacks, on the other hand, are tough to land against Eligor. The boss is highly mobile, which can be troublesome for Ice spells, since they take a moment to detonate, but Thunder spells can make up the difference in a pinch with their guaranteed hits. Watch Eligor’s movements so you can hit him with spells when he’s stationary. Aerith is the obvious choice for spell-slinging, but extra Ice Materia on Cloud and Tifa can help spread out that burden.
You’ll still want to bring melee attacks against the boss, they’re just tougher to land than usual. The wheels of Eligor’s chariot will bounce Cloud’s blade, so you generally want to circle around the back of the boss and hit it from there–since most of Eligor’s attacks go straight out in front of it, its back is also the safest place to be. You’ll be most effective if you can hit Eligor with magic, but barring that, your melee fighters should work to stay behind Eligor and hit him as constantly as they can manage. Boost Tifa with Unbridled Strength and pummel him with Cloud’s Deadly Dodge and Punisher Mode attacks.
In the first phase of the fight, Eligor is mostly a problem because he’ll try to run you over with Trample. It’s a move that can send you flying and do a lot of damage, but you can guard your way through it. That’s the advisable course since it’s very tough to effectively dodge the huge chariot as it comes barreling toward you. The Sweeping Gaze attack is also a problem, but easily avoided: when you see Eligor getting ready to use it, disengage and move well back to keep out of its range.
Magic is great for staggering Eligor, allowing you to pummel it and move on to the second stage of the fight, which sees Eligor taking to the air a whole lot more, which often will put him out of range of physical melee attacks. Aerith’s regular attacks can help maintain damage when this happens, but you’ll probably want to use Pray and Healing Wind to top off your party’s HP while you’re not in direct danger. This is also when you want to use Wind magic, because if you can hit Eligor with Wind while it’s flying, you’ll give it a ton of stagger. And while melee attacks are tough, if you can get a jumping attack off and hit the boss, you can knock it out of the air, as well.
While Eligor is up there, he’ll use a Piercing Gaze laser attack that will stun your characters, then start throwing electric javelins at you. Dodge away and hide behind the cargo container in the room until it’s destroyed. If you can get around the side of or behind Eligor while it’s doing the javelin attack, hit it with Wind or melee strikes to get it out of the air.
The final phase of the fight highlights Eligor’s final weakness: his chariot’s wheels. Unfortunately, he’ll be moving very fast the whole time while swinging a blade, so you’ll want to try to stay in the center of the arena to avoid getting cut apart. Use magic on the wheels and be careful of the javelins that’ll occasionally fall out of the sky just above you. You’ll also want to be wary of the Wind of Gehenna attack–heal whoever gets pulled into it, or risk them getting knocked out in one big hit.
Go to town on the wheels while keeping your team healthy, and you should eventually stagger Eligor and finish it off. This party ain’t afraid of no ghosts!
Chapter 12
Reno + Rude
The two Turks are cooperating to take you down for good this time. With Reno and Rude working together, you’ll need to be on your toes because they’ve got some new attacks up their sleeves.
You’ll start the fight against Reno, who moves around the arena more quickly this time, so don’t count on slower hitting attacks like Braver or Divekick to hit him unless he’s stalled or pressured. Your strategy is similar to what you used against Reno before, using Punisher mode counterattacks to knock Reno back and open him up to strikes. Guarding is key to this fight because Reno is a lot faster and likes to lock you up with a bunch of attacks.
Try to get a feel for how fast Reno moves, as one of his new attacks leaves behind a trail of lightning that can be painful if you foolishly run into it. Reno also has lots of combos, so be sure to keep your party’s health at least three-quarters full, so you’re not caught off guard by a sudden attack chain.
Block Reno’s attacks and you’ll have a few seconds to wail away on him. Use Focused Thrust and Focused Strike with Cloud and Tifa to keep pushing up Reno’s stagger meter as quickly as you can, but be sure to only attack him when he’s been thrown off his game. Barret can also chime in with Focused Shot and other big attacks, but you’ll primarily want him on healing and spell duty.
While you’re busy fighting Reno, Rude will be supporting his buddy from above while piloting a helicopter. He periodically dives in for a bombing run, but if you stay out of the middle of the arena, you should be fine. After a while, Reno uses an attack called Pyramid, which freezes a party member in place while damaging them. If it lands, have another party member attack the Pyramid with some big strikes to free them before Rude can attack them from his helicopter. Once you damage Reno enough, focus your attacks on Rude’s helicopter until it crashes and he joins the fight on the ground.
As with most group battles in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, try to focus on taking out one enemy at a time. Your style should dictate which target you go for: Cloud is best equipped to knock out Reno with Punisher counterattacks, but his attacks are quicker and can cut your spellcasting and ability wind-ups short. Cloud has a tougher time against Rude, but he’s slower and better for Tifa and Barret to take on.
Remember from your last fight with Rude that he’s weak against Wind attacks, so hit him with Aero spells to raise his stagger meter and open him up to more attacks from Cloud and Tifa. He has more aggressive versions of his attacks from the Chapter 8 fight, including seismic attacks that track through the ground and can hit multiple characters at once. With Wind spells, you should be able to shut him down pretty easily, though. Once one Turk is down, finishing off the other one won’t be an issue.
Chapter 13
Failed Experiment
The first portion of the fight sees you flooded by enemies called Unknown Entities. These guys are pretty weak generally, but can be a problem if they come after you in big numbers. Use attacks that take down lots of guys quickly: Barret’s Maximum Fury is great because he’ll blast an enemy until it’s dead, then pick a new target and keep going, until his ATB is expended. Use the attack with two full charges and you can shoot down lots of Unknown Entities in one go. They’re also weak to Ice spells in particular, so bring Ice Materia and Shiva to help you diversify your attacks. It’s good practice to equip Barret with an Elemental Materia and Ice on his weapon, so he can more quickly take down Unknown Entities.
Keep fighting off the Unknown Entities until Barret yells for Tifa to go close the vent. When that happens, take control and head to the staircase as quickly as possible to advance the fight to its next phase, when the Failed Experiment appears. With Tifa on the upper level, use Chi Traps and Starshower attacks to quickly clear out the smaller enemies. Run toward the wall, because the Failed Experiment will start wrecking the walkway while you’re on it.
You’ll now have your team separated, with Tifa dealing with small enemies and Barret stuck closer to the big guy. You want to use Tifa to kill the smaller enemies and try to get the Failed Experiment’s attention, while Barret focuses his fire on the “Appendage” target on the Failed Experiment’s back. Maximum Fury, Focused Shot, and Overcharge are good for dealing a lot of damage to the weak point. At the same time, keep Barret on the move to avoid the Toxic Volley attack, which will afflict you with Poison.
Once you rip through the Appendage, the fight will progress with the walkway where Tifa is positioned getting destroyed, bringing her back down with Barret. Now the Failed Experiment will get serious, using the Claim ability to pick up the smaller minion enemies, and the Fling attack to literally throw them at you. Use the cargo containers and other debris around the room as cover to avoid getting walloped, and keep knocking out the little guys as much as you can.
You also need to keep an eye out for one of the Unknown Entity enemies starting to cast Thundaga. When that happens, immediately prioritize that target and kill the enemy before it can cast the spell. Otherwise, the Failed Experiment will get charged up with lightning, giving it the ability to throw electrified enemies at you, or to use a Plasma attack that sends blasts of energy coursing through the entire battlefield that can seriously mess up your day.
Keep hitting the Appendage as much as you can with Barret’s gunfire and with Ice spells with one character while the other mops up other enemies as much as possible to keep the battlefield manageable. Once you do enough damage, you’ll expose the Failed Experiment’s weak point; pour on the damage even more with Focused Shots and Focused Strikes to stagger it. Take full advantage of your best abilities and Ice spells to put the hurt on it. Repeat the process from there, being sure to keep your team healthy and to keep eliminating Unknown Entities (they’ll probably have barriers up now that make them immune to magic, so gun them down quick) until the boss falls.
Your reward for winning the fight is a new set of gloves for Tifa: the Mythril Claws weapon.
Other Chapter Bosses Coming After Launch!
As stated in the intro, we’re still working our way through Final Fantasy 7 Remake. We’ll be updating this guide with even more boss strategies after launch, so be sure to bookmark it and check back later. Thank you for reading so far, and let us know if you have useful boss tactics you’d recommend, too!
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