FINAL FANTASY VII: LOW LEVEL/NO ITEMS/INITIAL EQUIPMENT/ NO ACCESSORIES/COMMAND MATERIA ONLY CHALLENGE By Thundaka (thundaka@yahoo.com) Copyright 2005 Thundaka. This guide is solely for private use. If you wish to host this guide on your website, contact me for permission before doing so. Any profitable use is strictly prohibited. VERSION HISTORY v1.00: First version of this FAQ posted on GameFAQs. Any suggestions or corrections which could improve this FAQ are encouraged. v1.10: Made numerous corrections and additions, most significantly the presence of a bed in Corel Prison. INTRODUCTION In December 2004, soon after GarlandG had completed the formidable Low Level/No Items/Initial Equipment/No Accessories challenge, Necrosis posted this on the GameFAQs message boards: "I've been thinking lately, and I believe that this challenge could be possible using command materia only." After much thought and planning, it was agreed that it could be possible to beat the game with those restrictions. Five months later, in May of 2005, GarlandG finally completed this behemoth of a challenge. The rules of the LLNIIENACMO challenge are as follows: 1. No character can exceed Level 29 at any point in the game. 2. You may never use the Item command in battle. 3. With the exception of the Save Crystal in the Northern Crater, you may never use the Item submenu under the field menu. 4. You may never use the Equip command under the field menu. 5. Only command materia, and more specifically only the Sense, Enemy Skill, Manipulate, Deathblow, and Double Cut materia, may ever be used. (Steal, Throw, Morph, and W-Item violate the No Item restriction, while Mime and Slash-All are impossible to reach.) 6. When the game forces you to use materia other than those listed above--Lightning and Ice on Cloud in the Sector 1 reactor, Fire and All on Red in the Sample:HO512 battle--you must not use the abilities these materia provide. Remove all banned materia at the first opportunity. 7. Cait Sith's Slots limit may only be used once, in the Hojo battle. When it is employed, you must not use the instant victory combo (three Cait Siths). All other combos are fair game, though for practical reasons you must avoid the Cait Sith/Cait Sith/BAR and three Moogle combos. Though superficially this challenge seems similar to LLNIIENA, in fact it is an entirely different beast. Prior to getting the buggy in Corel, you do not have access to Potions, Cure, or any healing enemy skills; Aeris' and Yuffie's limit breaks are the only sources of healing. Since Aeris will lose more HP than she can gain from Healing Wind (without Fury, anyway), many Midgar battles can turn deadly if they drag out too long. And when neither healer is present--most notably against Sample:HO512, Rufus, and Dyne--you cannot heal at all; you must end the battle before the designated survivor is killed, using inns to heal between battles. Also note that there are only three ways to revive fallen characters: inns, Aeris' Pulse of Life limit break, and the Angel Whisper enemy skill. Pulse of Life takes too long to charge for use in the earliest battles, and since Angel Whisper is learned in the Northern Crater it can only be used in a few random encounters and against the final bosses. This means that there is simply no way to revive fallen characters in most battles, including all battles on Disc 2. Besides removing the ability to heal and revive, the CMO restriction takes away a number of other useful functions of your materia. Stat boosters like HP Plus and Magic Plus go out the window. In addition to being available earlier, basic magic materia like Restore, Heal, and Barrier cost much less MP; since you are forced to use the more expensive White Wind and Big Guard, MP is usually more of an issue than in LLNIIENA. You cannot poison your enemies, so the Materia Keeper battle (and to a lesser extent Bottomswell and Red Dragon) is completely different. No elemental or status protection is possible, making Big Guard and White Wind even more crucial. On the other hand, your characters do have some advantages in this challenge. In order to defeat certain bosses, your characters will learn some higher- level limit breaks: Meteorain for Cloud, Planet Protector and Pulse of Life for Aeris, and Slots for Cait Sith. In addition to possessing more powerful limit breaks, the extra EXP from killing enemies to learn these limit breaks will boost your characters' stats. It is because of this extra EXP that the maximum level for this challenge is Level 29, rather than Level 28 as in most LL challenges. You also get Yuffie earlier, granting your party a second healer and long-range character not long after leaving Midgar. And because there is no need to buy items or materia, you will never have to fuss over conserving gil or picking up items and equipment to sell. As with LLNIIENA, you will frequently need a calculator in this challenge. Five bosses must be defeated without access to Sense--the first four Midgar bosses plus Rapps--and most of the last few bosses are immune to Sense. To assist you with this, HP values are provided below each enemy's name. Where it is relevant, I will list MP values as well. This will tell you how much MP you can gain from them with Magic Hammer, and in some cases how much you must take away to disable their attacks. I think it is no exaggeration to say that LLNIIENACMO is THE elite challenge for the FFVII gamer. BATTLE PLAN In order to complete any Low Level challenge, you need a battle plan. The battle plan lists all forced encounters and boss battles in the game, as well as any other EXP-earning battles you must win in order to defeat all the bosses. Examples of the latter include battles in which you learn a new enemy skill, or low-EXP enemies you defeat to learn a new limit break. With the exception of the Icicle battles on Gaea's Cliff, only one character can be alive at the end of any battle. This will ensure that only one character gets active party EXP, allowing everyone to stay below Level 30. Survivors in the active party get full EXP, characters not in battle get half EXP, and active party members dead at the end of battle receive nothing. (Characters are considered to be in the party if you can access their materia via the Exchange command. Cid is not in the party when you fight Palmer, and Yuffie is not in the party during the Wutai sidequest; hence, they do not receive any EXP during those times.) Since she will not be around to receive the EXP from the enemies on Discs 2 and 3, Aeris will be the designated survivor in most Disc 1 battles. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Enemy | EXP | Survivor | KO | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | MP x2 | 32 | Cloud | | | Guard Scorpion | 100 | Cloud | Barret | | 106 x (Mono Drive x3) | 5724 | Cloud | Barret, Tifa | | Air Buster | 180 | Cloud | Barret, Tifa | | 54 x (Whole Eater + | 3456 | Aeris | Cloud | | Hedgehog Pie x2) | | | | | Aps | 240 | Aeris | Cloud, Tifa | | Reno | 290 | Barret | Cloud, Tifa | | Mighty Grunt x3 | 150 | Cloud | Barret, Tifa | | Sample:HO512 | 300 | Barret | Cloud, Red | | Heli Gunner | 250 | Barret | Aeris, Red | | Rufus + Dark Nation | 310 | Cloud | | | Motor Ball | 440 | Barret | Cloud, Aeris | | Ark Dragon + Crawler x3 | 252 | Cloud | Tifa, Red | | Mystery Ninja | 160 | Cloud | Red, Aeris | | Bottomswell | 550 | Yuffie | Cloud, Aeris | | Midgar Zolom | 250 | Aeris | * | | Jenova-BIRTH | 680 | Aeris | Cloud, Yuffie | | Death Claw x2 | 192 | Barret | Cloud, Red | | Dyne | 600 | Barret | | | Zemzelett | 70 | Aeris | Cloud, Yuffie | | Beachplug x3 | 285 | Cloud | Barret, Yuffie | | Harpy | 148 | Aeris | Cloud, Yuffie | | Stinger | 290 | Aeris | Cloud, Red | | Stinger | 290 | Aeris | Cloud, Red | | Gi Nattak | 1400 | Aeris | Cloud, Red | | Materia Keeper | 3000 | Aeris | Cloud, Yuffie | | Palmer | 1800 | Aeris | Cloud, Yuffie | | Attack Squad x2 | 600 | Aeris | Cloud, Barret | | Attack Squad x3 | 900 | Aeris | Cloud, Barret | | Rapps | 3200 | Aeris | Cloud, Barret | | Red Dragon | 3500 | Aeris | Cloud, Cid | | Demons Gate | 3800 | Aeris | Cloud, Cid | | Razor Weed x2 + Tail Vault | 1190 | Cloud | Barret, Tifa | | Touch Me | 170 | Cloud | Barret, Tifa | | Harpy | 148 | Cloud | Barret, Tifa | | Jenova-LIFE | 4000 | Cloud | Barret, Tifa | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | END OF DISC 1 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Icicle | 500 | Cloud, Yuffie | Red | | Icicle | 500 | Cloud, Yuffie | Red | | Icicle | 500 | Cloud, Yuffie | Red | | Schizo | 4400 | Cid | Cloud, Yuffie | | Jenova-DEATH | 6000 | Cloud | Tifa, Cait Sith | | Stilva** | 1000 | Cid | Cloud, Tifa | | Beachplug x3 | 285 | Cid | Barret, Red | | Zemzelett | 70 | Cid | Barret, Yuffie | | Attack Squad x2 | 600 | Cid | Barret, Yuffie | | Submarine Crew x2 | 1700 | Cid | Cloud, Tifa | | Submarine Crew x2 | 1700 | Cid | Cloud, Tifa | | Submarine Crew | 850 | Cid | Cloud, Cait Sith | | Submarine Crew x2 | 1700 | Cid | Cloud, Barret | | Underwater MP x2 | 1640 | Cloud | Barret, Tifa | | Carry Armor | 5700 | Cait Sith | Cloud, Red | | Submarine Crew x2 | 1700 | Cait Sith | Cloud, Red | | Submarine Crew x2 | 1700 | Cait Sith | Cloud, Red | | Submarine Crew x3 | 2550 | Cait Sith | Cloud, Red | | Attack Squad x2 | 600 | Cloud | Barret, Red | | Attack Squad x2 | 600 | Cloud | Barret, Red | | Attack Squad x2 + | 1530 | Cloud | Barret, Red | | Senior Grunt | | | | | Rude + Attack Squad x2 | 4000 | Cid | Cloud, Cait Sith | | Senior Grunt | 930 | Cid | Cloud, Cait Sith | | Diamond Weapon | 35000 | Cloud | Cait Sith, Cid | | 11 x (Whole Eater + | 704 | Cait Sith | Cloud, Tifa | | Hedgehog Pie x2) | | | | | Proud Clod | 7000 | Yuffie | Cloud, Cait Sith | | Hojo | 25000 | Cait Sith | Cloud, Yuffie | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | END OF DISC 2 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Pollensalta | 1000 | Cloud | Barret, Red | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXP Remaining Before Level 30 ----------------------------- Cloud: 706 Barret: 872 Tifa: 1721 Red: 205 Yuffie: 620 Cait Sith: 658 Cid: 840 *If Cloud or Yuffie is thrown out of the battle, they receive inactive party EXP. Whether they are thrown out or are dead when the battle ends, you will be able to adhere to the battle plan so long as Aeris is the only character standing. **You must give Red the Black Materia before fighting this battle. The character holding the Black Materia is temporarily taken out of the party, and hence receives no EXP from this battle. ============================================================================= LLNIIENACMO STRATEGY GUIDE ============================================================================= *****DISC ONE***** This sordid story begins in the city of Midgar, as a train rolls up to the Sector 1 Mako reactor. I. Midgar - Sector 1 Head off the train, and go forward to engage in your first battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MP x2 30 HP Two physical attacks will take care of them. Not too tough... yet. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head on to the next screen to talk with the AVALANCHE members, then name Cloud and Barret. (I will be using default names for all characters except Red XIII.) Place Cloud in the back row. It is time to start practicing the fine art of running away. Have Cloud defend on his first turn, then do nothing until he successfully exits the battle. Don't bother moving Barret back; you will have to kill him in the first boss battle, so the more damage he takes the better. Take the elevator down to the reactor, and take advantage of the first save point. As you may have noticed, there's no way for you to heal right now. For the moment you need to just concentrate on minimizing the damage Cloud receives. Keep Cloud in the back row, and walk up to the reactor to trigger the first boss fight. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guard Scorpion 800 HP Before attacking, Guard Scorpion will use Search Scope on his intended target. This will give you plenty of opportunity to defend or change rows if you deem it necessary. It's best to enter your commands during Guard Scorpion's attack animation, so you don't accidentally trigger Tail Laser. Despite his reduced attack power, the lower damage from Guard Scorpion's attacks makes moving Cloud to the back row well worth it. Cloud still does a respectable 20 damage, while Barret does about 35 damage. Both limit breaks do around 120 damage. The first time he raises his tail, simply wait until he lowers it again. The second time have Cloud defend, and Barret attack several times. Guard Scorpion will counterattack with Tail Laser, doing 70 damage to Barret and just under 20 damage to Cloud. He also gains a big Defense bonus in this stage, so your attacks will only do half their normal damage. Be aware that Barret will gain limit breaks twice before he dies; you need to make sure Guard Scorpion has enough HP left to survive a second Big Shot plus a few physical attacks. Have Cloud do nothing except defend after he gains his limit break. Depending on how many times Barret has been targeted, it may take two or three Tail Lasers to put him at low enough HP. Kill him off with physical attacks, then have Cloud finish Guard Scorpion with Braver. Be careful not to trigger Tail Laser after Barret has died; it will do 50% more damage then, and Guard Scorpion will still only take half damage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once Cloud has won the battle, save immediately. If he stays in the back row and defends, Cloud should have no trouble surviving the random encounters. I managed to make it out with 100 HP and a little over seven minutes to spare. Time to head back to the hideout. (Note that Cloud's HP is automatically restored after you escape the reactor.) Buy a flower if you wish, then head south. When you meet the three groups of soldiers, choose "Later!" each time. After a number of cutscenes, you'll be back in Sector 7. Home sweet home. II. Midgar - Sector 7 Head straight for Tifa's bar, in the southwest corner of town. Do not be tempted to start the Mono Drive battles just yet; besides giving Barret extra EXP, this will cause Tifa to join at a higher level. Go through the cutscenes at the bar, and the party will get to rest up. Go upstairs, skip the materia tutorial, and Tifa will enter the party. Now that you have access to the Materia menu, unequip Cloud's Lightning and Ice right away. Before we can board the train, Cloud has to learn Meteorain. This requires him to kill 320 enemies; we will be using Mono Drives, since they give the least EXP of any enemy outside the Number 1 reactor. To fight them, head right past the train platform to enter the train graveyard. They appear three at a time; together with the two MPs from the beginning, it will take 106 battles to learn Meteorain. Move Cloud to the front row before entering the train graveyard ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mono Drive x3 28 HP Have Cloud attack each of them once. If Barret and Tifa are still alive, finish them with physical attacks before killing the final Mono Drive. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apply the above strategy 106 times, resting at the inn above the weapon shop when your HP falls below a certain amount. (50 HP would be a safe minimum.) Though no enemy here is unusually powerful--the most damaging attacks are Sweeper's Smoke Shot and W Machine Gun, each of which does about 25 damage--with no healer it doesn't take long for the Sweepers and Guard Hounds to wear down your HP. When Cloud reaches 28 Strength, most likely at Level 12 or Level 13, he will be able to consistently kill them in one hit from the back row; placing him there will allow you to last twice as long between stays at the inn. Don't bother switching Cloud's limits any time soon; Blade Beam and Meteorain charge extremely slowly, and you want to learn Cross Slash soon anyway. You can expect the whole process to take three to four hours. If you have trouble finding the patience to learn Meteorain here, it would be wise to quit the challenge now. You'll have to do the same thing when you get Aeris in Sector 5, and several boss battles require similar amounts of patience; this is no speed run. But if you do have the patience for it, this is one of the most exciting challenges available. There is no need to count the battles one by one, as after battle 106 the words "Meteorain gained" will appear on the EXP screen. Rest at the inn one last time, move everyone to the back row, save your game, and then board the train. III. Midgar - Sector 5 When you approach Tifa in the railroad car, the alarm will go off. Just head straight out of each car, ignoring the people with items and the guy who steals your money. If you reach the last car, you will only have to cross one screen to reach the security sensors. Go down the hole, take the ladder up to where Jessie is, and then go left to reach the save point. From now on, make it a policy to be in the back row and defending unless otherwise noted. Save your game, and slide down to the Number 5 Reactor. Don't wander around down here for too long. Not only do the enemies deal more damage, but Smogger's Poison can be painful at the highest battle speed. Descend into the reactor, taking advantage of the save point down there, set the bomb, and go back up to the stairs leading to the elevator. You will have to push the button at the same time as Barret and Tifa. Hopefully this won't take more than a few attempts. Finally, run to the save point. If Cloud has much less than 300 HP, you may want to consider reloading from a previous save. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Air Buster 1200 HP This battle is an automatic side attack, meaning everyone will get a turn before Air Buster. It is not a normal side attack, however. Air Buster takes five times normal damage from attacks to his weak side, rather than the standard double damage; but his weak side is not always his back. His weak side is whichever side he did not attack from last. If his last move was Big Bomber, Energy Ball, or his bodyblow counterattack, Air Buster's weak side will be the back; but if his last attack was Rear Gunner, he will take extra damage from the front. Have Barret and Tifa attack continuously while Cloud defends. Air Buster's counterattacks should finish them off quickly, but you should still be careful that you don't kill him too quickly by attacking his weak side. (If Big Shot hits his weak side it will do 500 damage, and more than likely will end the battle prematurely.) The instant both Barret and Tifa have been killed by Air Buster, activate Cross Slash. This does 900 damage to his weak side, and should guarantee the win. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Air Buster explodes, you land in a bed of flowers, and Cloud's HP is restored. Go figure. Say hello to Aeris. This lovely lady is our salvation for Disc 1, so be nice to her. Before you can save, you'll have to take care of some Shinra troops. To avoid the forced battles, have Aeris run from the first soldier, "Hold on!" for the second, and run from the third. To take care of the second soldier, push the top barrel. Your HP will be restored when you exit the church. Save right away. You can start the Planet Protector battles either before or after going to Aeris' house. Either way, you won't be able to rest until you go through the events there. As always, walk past Aeris' room rather than running. Head toward the Sector 6 exit to get her back in your party, then save your progress. You need to win 54 Whole Eater + Hedgehog Pie x2 battles for Aeris to learn Planet Protector. This enemy formation is found in front of the church, on the screen with the save point, and immediately in front of the Sector 5 village. Despite the smaller number of battles and Aeris' ability to heal, this is much harder than the Mono Drive battles. The Hedgehog Pies attack for 10 damage, and their Fire does 25 damage. The Whole Eater is even worse; its physical attack does 30 damage, and he is able to attack twice on the same turn. You also will frequently encounter two Whole Eaters together in this area, though you can defend and run away from that battle. Move Cloud to the front row. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whole Eater, Hedgehog Pie x2 72 HP, 40 HP Focus on killing the Whole Eater first, then the Hedgehog Pies. Be certain you've killed Cloud before you finish the last Hedgehog Pie. Your exact strategy depends on how strong Aeris is; see below. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- At first, you will have no choice but to rest after each battle. Aeris will start with less than 250 HP, dealing a little over 20 damage per hit. If Cloud attacks the Whole Eater first, Aeris will be able to take it out with one physical attack; she can then move to the front and kill each Hedgehog Pie in two hits. However, after Cloud has died she has little hope of killing the Whole Eater quickly enough. Even with Healing Wind, she most likely won't live long enough to survive his double slashes plus the Hedgehog Pies' attacks. Things become much easier after Aeris has used Healing Wind seven times against the Hedgehog Pies, earning her Seal Evil. (If you escape from a battle in which Healing Wind is used, that use does not count toward Seal Evil.) This stops all enemies for a minimum of three rounds, more than enough time to kill the Whole Eater, and also silences the Hedgehog Pies. Even at relatively low HP, Aeris should have no trouble winning the battle if she's able to get out Seal Evil. Still, even using Seal Evil she can usually only survive two battles before resting. Don't try entering the battle without at least 150 HP and a halfway full limit gauge. Critical hits can easily screw up your strategy. If Cloud's attack goes critical and accidentally kills the Whole Eater in two battles, you can no longer risk his help; should he kill another Whole Eater, Aeris will be one battle short of Planet Protector. Likewise, you don't want Aeris accidentally killing the last Hedgehog Pie before Cloud is dead. After she reaches Level 6, you can do this: move to the back row once only one Hedgehog Pie is left, and have Aeris attack it. This won't kill it even if Aeris gets a critical hit, but will still allow her to finish it in one hit after Cloud kills himself. Expect this to take as long as learning Meteorain, if not longer. After the 54th battle, you will be notified that Aeris has learned Planet Protector. It would be wise to keep a save here for the duration of the challenge, in case you badly screw up the battle plan and have to start from the beginning. This way, you won't have to learn your level 3 limit breaks all over again. There's one more task to take care of before you can move on to Wall Market: learning Pulse of Life. Fortunately the process is quite easy, and doesn't give you any EXP. Set Aeris' limit to level 3, then allow her to be attacked until she has Planet Protector ready. (You will have to rest at least once for this to happen.) Get into a battle with Vice. Use Planet Protector, then wait for the Vice to steal an item and leave. Even though he escapes, the use of Planet Protector still counts because the EXP screen is shown. After you do this five times, Pulse of Life will be yours. You lose the items the Vice steals, but you would have no use for them anyway. IV. Midgar - Sectors 6 and 7 Set Aeris' limit breaks back to level 1, and move both Aeris and Cloud to the back row. Rest and save one last time, then head north to Wall Market. There is a small chance you will be attacked from both sides by a group of Whole Eaters along the way, rendering you unable to escape. If so, focus your attacks on the single Whole Eater; eliminating the enemies on one side will allow you to escape an attack from both sides. Make sure that Cloud and Aeris both have limit breaks before you start the Wall Market mission. To avoid fighting Don Corneo's lackeys, Cloud is going to be his date. Here's how to get him picked: Ask the man at the Honeybee Inn about Tifa. Go all the way north, and talk to the guard at Don Corneo's mansion. After talking to the girl in the clothes shop, go to the bar on the second screen and talk to her father. Tell him you want a dress that "feels soft" and "shimmers." Upon returning to the clothes shop, you will receive the Silk Dress. Now go to the gym, and hit Square-X- Circle over and over to beat Big Bro. This will earn you the Blonde Wig. Don't visit the clothes shop yet. Instead, enter the restaurant just north of the item shop. Sit down and order anything on the menu; when prompted say, "It was alright." Take the Pharmacy Coupon you're given to the item shop, and exchange it for a Digestive. Now go all the way north to the bar, and talk to the woman in the bathroom. Offer her the Digestive; in relief and gratitude, she will give you the Sexy Cologne. Finally, talk to the man in the shop on the northeast corner of the first screen. Accept his offer, stay at the inn, and buy the 200 gil item from the vending machine. He will give you the Diamond Tiara. So to recap, you need four items: Silk Dress, Blonde Wig, Sexy Cologne, and Diamond Tiara. With these, Cloud is guaranteed to be chosen. Be aware that after you put on the dress, it is no longer possible to leave Wall Market to charge your limits. Save one last time, and enter Corneo's lair. This place gives me the creeps. Head into the basement to find Tifa, then back upstairs to be picked by the Don. After some further unpleasantness, you'll be thrown into the sewers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Aps 1800 HP The key to this battle is being able to manipulate Sewer Tsunami. In addition to damaging the whole party, it also hurts Aps. If used under the right circumstances, Sewer Tsunami can help Aeris finish Aps while ensuring that she is the only one left alive. There are two versions of this move: a forward version that does 180 damage to Aps and 50 damage to the party (assuming they are in the front row), and a backward version that does 45 damage to Aps and 100 damage to the party. Aps will open the battle with the forward version of Sewer Tsunami. Use both Cross Slash and Seal Evil immediately after he does, immobilizing him for a long while. Continue attacking Aps until one more hit will put him below 600 HP. At the lowest battle speed, you can easily do this before Aps starts moving. Then attack Cloud and Tifa until they have less than 140 HP remaining. While you are doing this, Aps will only use Lick on Tifa or his tail attack. If he uses Lick, make sure Tifa has less than 80 HP remaining. (Sadness will reduce the damage she receives by one third.) Have Aeris defend rather than move to the back row; moving her back causes her to be the target of all his tail attacks. When the above conditions have been met, start attacking again. Once he falls below 600 HP, Aps will enter "Tsunami mode." He will skip his first turn, use the forward Sewer Tsunami, skip his third turn, and finally use the backward version of Sewer Tsunami. Have Aeris defend after the first Sewer Tsunami, and otherwise just keep attacking until he has no more than 60 HP remaining. The backward Sewer Tsunami should kill Cloud and Tifa, and either kill Aps outright or weaken him enough that Aeris can kill him in one hit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- After battle, move Aeris to the back row and raise the battle speed to help you escape from random encounters. Ignore the Steal materia, and take the ladder into the train graveyard. It is perfectly possible for Aeris to make it through the train graveyard by herself if you take the most direct route. When you reach Sector 7, Cloud and Tifa are revived. Save your game, and run to the top of the pillar. Talk to Barret, and proceed directly to the battle. No need to open the menu. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Reno 1000 HP Damage is not a problem here; both Reno's staff strike and Electro-mag Rod do about 60 damage, and Barret will only take half that. The problem is finishing the battle with only Barret alive, since Pyramid on your only surviving character is a Game Over. Attack Reno until Barret is able to kill him in one hit. Then kill Tifa, and lower Cloud to critical HP. (I recommend keeping Cloud alive because he can target the Pyramid with his limit break. Tifa's limit break hits a random target, and has a very good chance of accidentally killing Reno instead.) Whenever he uses Pyramid, break it immediately; characters alive inside a Pyramid at the end of battle will receive EXP. It is critical that Reno deal the killing blow to Cloud. This ensures that he cannot use Pyramid immediately after Cloud dies, and will give Barret time to deal the killing blow. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Swing on the rope to escape the collapsing pillar. When the cutscenes are over, Cloud will be revived with full HP. Move him to the back row, and run south to make Barret and Tifa join you. Now head back to Sector 5 to witness the cutscenes at Aeris' house. When all is said and done, take advantage of the bed and use the save point. V. Rescuing Aeris Time to return to Wall Market. On the way there, be sure to pick up the Sense materia. This is the first materia you are allowed to equip, and the only one that will be of any use prior to the world map. I recommend putting it on Tifa. Rest at the Wall Market inn if you've lost too much HP, buy the batteries from the weapon shop, and climb up the maze of pipes and wires to reach Shinra Headquarters. Move everyone to the front row. Save your game, then soft-reset and reload. Prior to guessing Mayor Domino's password, it is impossible to escape from random encounters; if you get one while crossing floor 59, you will have to reset and climb all 59 flights of stairs again. Resetting your game should prevent you from getting a random encounter. Head left from the save point, and start climbing. The stairs occupy nine screens; the party will stop for a cutscene on the sixth. When you reach Floor 59, you will be forced to fight one battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mighty Grunt x3 230 HP Eliminate two of them, then Sense the third. Reduce his HP to the point where Cloud can kill him in one hit, then have Cloud move to the back row and defend. Meanwhile, Barret and Tifa should work on killing each other off. Finish him once they are both dead. (After sensing him, you can keep track of his current HP by pressing Select to open the help window.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take the elevator to Floor 60. The next part is one of the most annoying portions of any Low Level challenge. Cloud, Barret, and Tifa must run past both pairs of guards without being noticed, or you will get a forced encounter and have to climb the stairs and defeat the Mighty Grunts again. The middle gaps are the most dangerous part, since there is always a guard looking through them; you need to cross as soon as you see them moving to make it. The guards on the right are much faster, so be extra careful when passing them. Once Tifa has made it past the second set, you can breathe easy for a bit. Walk up the stairs to floor 61, and talk to the man walking along the bottom of the screen to receive Keycard 62. Then go up, and get Keycards 63-65 from Mayor Domino. Simply guess every option until you get the password. Ignore floor 63, and head straight up to floor 64. Finally, a save point and some beds. Rest to revive Barret and Tifa, move them all to the back row, and save your game. Open all the suitcases on floor 65 to receive Keycard 66, then eavesdrop on the meeting. If Cloud or Barret has lost a substantial amount of HP, it would be a very good idea to rest again on Floor 64. Follow Hojo up. When you reach the save point, put the battle speed at the slowest setting; this will help to minimize poison damage. When your old friend Nanaki joins the party, do him a favor by giving him a better name than Red XIII. (I will simply call him Red.) Tell Tifa to leave with Aeris. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Sample:HO512 1000 HP Depending on your luck, the Sample can be the first really nasty boss of the challenge. He will always be in the back row, so Cloud's and Red's physical attacks only do half damage. His Shady Breath will usually poison the whole party, a definite problem in a battle where you can't heal. And his little helpers can be pretty nasty as well: Rolling Attack does 30 damage in the back row (Sample:HO512's attack does about the same damage), and their Fire and Ice do more than 70 damage. If the initial Shady Breath misses Barret, consider yourself lucky; it should make his survival much easier. Paralyzing the boss with Cross Slash can prevent him from poisoning you for several turns. Use Red's first two turns to move him to the back row, then Sense the Sample. After that, there's really only one thing you can do: physically attack the Sample. You may attack the little guys to get rid of your limit breaks at the end, but you must not kill them; the EXP from one of these guys is enough to push you to Level 30. Reduce the Sample to the point where one more attack from Barret will kill him, then move Cloud and Red to the front row. In addition to taking more damage from the little guys' attacks, this will increase your characters' damage so they can kill themselves more quickly. Have Barret defend during this time. (See note below about defending while poisoned.) Unfortunately, if the Sample and his buddies start a Barret killing spree you can't win. You just have to hope that doesn't happen. IMPORTANT NOTE ON POISON: You should be aware that being poisoned interferes with Defend. Normally, after a character chooses to Defend they will take half damage from physical attacks until they enter a different command. But after the numbers indicating poison damage appear above a character's head, the defensive stance is broken and the character takes full damage again. To return to the defensive stance, you must select Defend again soon after the damage has appeared. This fact is of moderate importance in this battle and the Hundred Gunner+Heli Gunner battle, since it is possible to survive even if you never defend. However, it is the difference between life and death when fighting Rapps. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. Escape from Shinra HQ After the battle, you will have to form a party. Pick Cloud, Aeris, and Red. Remove Red's Fire and All materia, move him to the back row, and raise the battle speed once again. I shouldn't have to tell you this, but pick up the first Enemy Skill materia; you can't complete the challenge without it. Return to floor 67 and save. Take the stairs back down to floor 64, and rest to revive the party. DO NOT enter the elevators yet. Set Cloud's limit breaks to level 3, and get into a random encounter on floor 65 to fill his limit gauge. If Sword Dance's Slap puts Aeris into Fury, you can do this without resting; otherwise, you'll have to use the beds on floor 64 at least once. While you're at it, let them charge Red's and Aeris' limits. When both guys have a ready limit break, save one last time. It would be wise to make a permanent save here as well, at least until you finally get to the world map; if you screw up after being captured, it will be very difficult to charge your limit breaks again. Once you are ready, enter the elevator. After being captured, the party's HP will be restored. Escape your cells, then follow the trail of blood to floor 69. Save your game. If Aeris still doesn't have a limit break, get one now. When you discover President Shinra's body, your HP will be restored again; but you now only control Cloud. (Unfortunately, whenever your HP/MP is restored Fury and Sadness will be automatically removed as well. Hence, putting Aeris in Fury to increase your healing will do no good at all.) Unless you want to watch that cutscene again every time you die to Heli Gunner, you'll want to take Cloud back down and save again. Walk outside to talk with Rufus. Take Aeris to the elevator, and hope you don't get any random encounters along the way. Before taking the elevator, make sure that everyone is in the back row and the battle speed is at the slowest setting. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Hundred Gunner 1600 HP Aeris' and Red's physical attacks cannot reach him. Because of this, it is doubly important that Barret attack him every turn he gets. Have Red open with Sled Fang while Aeris defends. Follow up by having Red Sense him, then do nothing; he can only damage Hundred Gunner with Sled Fang, and defending slows your limit breaks down. The more often he attacks Aeris in the beginning, the better off you are. Once either Barret or Aeris is just above half HP, restore them both to full health with Healing Wind. Like Red, she cannot afford to defend most of the time; Healing Wind is vital for keeping Barret alive to the end of the battle. The only exception is if her limit gauge is just barely short of filling, and you are sure she will get Healing Wind even if she defends. This will save her some precious HP, allowing her to survive a little bit longer against the pernicious Heli Gunner. Once he falls below 1066 HP, he will stop using single-target attacks and start using Main Artillery on the party every turn. This can be quite painful, and you will probably need the first Healing Wind early in this phase. Keep attacking, and hopefully you'll be able to reduce him below 533 HP. He now uses the more powerful Wave Artillery. While this is more damaging--it hits the whole party for about 50 damage--this phase is easier because he needs two turns to charge every time he uses it. Keep attacking with Barret and Sled Fang, and soon enough Hundred Gunner will be toast. When Aeris gains her second Healing Wind, use it immediately. Heli Gunner 1000 HP Before you win this battle, you are going to have a burning hatred for this tin can. Like Hundred Gunner, Heli Gunner can only be reached by Sled Fang and Barret's attacks. He also has good evasion, so Barret will miss him about 20% of the time. But the thing that makes him evil is his status effects. He can inflict Sleep with AB Cannon (used at the beginning of battle), Poison with C Cannon, and both Poison and Sleep on the whole party with Firing Line; these do about the same damage as Hundred Gunner's attacks. If Barret is put to sleep, you won't be able to hurt Heli Gunner until he wakes up; use a physical attack from Aeris or Red to do this. (Heli Gunner's physical attacks will also wake him up, but he will lose time and suffer more damage as a result.) Aeris or Red falling asleep isn't as big a problem, except if Aeris is put to sleep just as she gains Healing Wind. You really do need three Healing Winds, and especially if Aeris is poisoned it's quite possible for an extra physical attack to kill her before she can use the third. Poison is almost as bad. Unlike Sleep it can't be removed, and the longer the battle drags on the more it will hurt you. If Barret is poisoned early, his prospects of living to deal the killing blow aren't good. Similarly, if he poisons Aeris early and doesn't attack her very often after that, she most likely won't live to use the final Healing Wind. And of course, it screws up Defend as mentioned in the Sample:HO512 strategy. Barret still must attack Heli Gunner all the time, and Red and Aeris still must not defend unless only a miniscule amount of damage is required for a new limit. Have Red use Sense at the beginning of this battle. Once Aeris uses the third Healing Wind, have her do nothing but defend; she won't get another one, so she should stay alive to serve as an alternate target for as long as possible. If you somehow manage to get him below 250 HP with Barret at high HP and Poison-free, you are one lucky dude. Instead of status effects, he starts attacking single targets with the powerful Spinning Bodyblow and Flying Drill; the last does almost 100 damage even in the back row. Be aware that he receives a big Defense bonus in this form, so you need to get his HP even lower than previous bosses. Red will most likely get a Sled Fang just before he dies, so make sure Heli Gunner has at least 160 HP remaining before he uses it. Have Barret defend--be sure to reenter the command when needed if he is poisoned--and move Red to the front row. Hopefully he won't target Barret too often before the others die, and Barret will be able to deal the finishing blow. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You think that was nasty? Just wait until you fight Motor Ball. After the battle is over you will be in control of Cloud on the rooftop. Open the menu, move Cloud to the front row, and raise the battle speed all the way to the maximum. You need quick fingers here. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Rufus, Dark Nation 500 HP, 140 HP As soon as you are able, activate Meteorain. If you manage to use it before the Dark Nation casts Barrier, you can take out most of Rufus' HP in the first round; but that won't usually happen. Two hits of Meteorain, or one hit of Meteorain followed by one physical attack, will be enough to kill the Dark Nation. Once it is gone, attack Rufus nonstop. The Barrier will wear off pretty quickly, and without Dark Nation to recast it Rufus should die soon enough. Rufus will often waste a turn laughing, giving you additional time. Cloud will probably be at low HP when the battle is over, but you should win. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Make a beeline for the floor 69 save point. If Cloud gets killed in a random encounter before reaching it--well, if that happens you have some unbelievably bad luck. Just hope that it doesn't happen. To make Motor Ball a little bit easier, consider getting into a random encounter after you save to fill up Cloud's limit gauge a bit more. If he is targeted with Refuse or Piazzo Shower, escape immediately; Poison damages him without charging his limit gauge. When you feel you are ready to go on, talk to Tifa. Move Aeris towards the entrance, and after a cutscene it will be motorcycle time. Fortunately, your characters are revived after this. Form a party of Cloud, Barret, and Aeris. Move them all to the front row, and lower the battle speed. Equip Sense on Barret. Then initiate the motorcycle minigame. Believe me, you are quickly going to loathe this minigame. Any damage the motorcycle troops inflict will be subtracted from your character's HP in the boss battle, weakening them without charging their limit gauge. Protecting Aeris is an absolute priority; you will not be able to win if she loses more than 60 HP. But you must also protect Barret, since he is the survivor and needs high HP to live through the battle. It can be very difficult to adequately protect both, so do your best to eliminate the troops before they get near the car. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Motor Ball 2600 HP If either Aeris or Barret has less than 320 HP remaining, give up now. Unless you get very lucky with the wheel attacks missing, Rolling Fire will wipe them out. This is a Back Attack battle, so the rows are reversed: since everyone was in the front row, they now are in back and receive half damage from Motor Ball's physical attacks. Also, Motor Ball will use Arm Attack before anyone gets a chance to move; half the time he will use it twice in the same turn. It will always target the character with the highest HP, usually Cloud. Move Aeris forward on her first turn, and have Cloud and Barret attack. He will use Arm Attack again. Move Cloud to the front row, and pound away with physical attacks. Unfortunately, Motor Ball's evasion is almost as good as Heli Gunner's; you have to hope that he doesn't make too many of your attacks miss, because he will wipe the floor with you if he lives long enough to use a second Rolling Fire. Motor Ball will then change into his compact form and use Twin Burner. This does 80 damage to everyone, but unfortunately probably won't give anyone a limit break. Unless Aeris started the battle at full HP, you need to move her back now. If she has between 210 and 230 HP remaining, her next turn should be to defend; this will allow her to save 10 HP from the coming wheel attack, possibly saving her life. The same goes for Cloud and Barret, though their HP is generally higher than hers. Once the wheel attack has been used, it is safe to move Aeris to the front row for a while. He will skip the first turn after Twin Burner, use the wheel attack (40 damage to all, 20 if in the back row), and return to his upright form. Then comes Rolling Fire, for a devastating 200 damage to the party. Cloud must be in the back row before Rolling Fire is used. If everyone survives, they will all get limit breaks. Activate Healing Wind, Big Shot, and Meteorain in that order; if you're quick and wait until the last moment to activate your limit breaks, you may be able to get two or three physical attacks on the same turn. Meteorain does 600-800 damage, depending on how many critical hits you get, and is quite vital for shortening the battle. After you've used all your limits following Rolling Fire, Motor Ball should have around 1000 HP remaining. Have Barret Sense him, while Cloud and Aeris continue attacking; once the second Arm Attack has been used, move Cloud back to the front. Once he falls below 375 HP, Motor Ball skips whatever his next move was going to be and instead transforms into his compact form to use Twin Burner. (If he is already in the compact form, he will waste another turn changing to the upright form.) Have Cloud and Aeris attack themselves, but make sure at least one is still alive when he uses the second Twin Burner; it will do 120 damage if Barret is the only one alive. Except for his wheel attack, which does 30 damage if Barret is the only target, Motor Ball will do nothing for the three turns following Twin Burner--plenty of time for Barret to finish him off. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I can honestly say that Motor Ball was the hardest boss in the challenge for me, and in fact one of the nastiest bosses I've ever fought. If you've succeeded in killing him, you are more than capable of defeating every other boss. Goodbye and good riddance, Midgar. Never before had I spent so many hours and gotten so many Game Overs just trying to get out of the place. It will no doubt be a pleasant change to hear the world map music again, and to have more at your disposal than just your physical attacks and limit breaks. VII. Midgar Area, Mythril Mines, and Junon Area Once you decide to leave Midgar, you will have to form a new party. So long as Aeris is in it, you are fine. Set Cloud's limit breaks back to level 1, move everyone to the back row, and raise the battle speed again. Obviously, you should save. Head northeast to Kalm, and enter the inn to begin the flashback of Cloud's past. Just do it like you normally do; there's nothing you can change here. The party will automatically be rested, and when you leave you receive the PHS. You can now change party members at will. Yay! Go to the world map, and form a party of Cloud, Aeris, and Red. I recommend making your final permanent save here. Should you screw up later on, this save will allow you to fix things up without having to face Motor Ball or watch the Kalm flashback again. Make your way to the chocobo farm. If Levrikon's Flaming Peck puts Aeris under Fury, save immediately. You can now switch her limit breaks to level 3, allowing her to fully restore your HP and MP and revive dead characters with Pulse of Life. On the other hand, if Elfadunk inflicts Sadness either reset or rest at the chocobo farm immediately. Limit breaks are still the key to your survival, though they will no longer be your sole offense. Stick around the chocobo farm for a little bit to build Cloud's and Red's limit breaks. Time to cross the Midgar Zolom's swamp. You'll be kicking his butt soon, but only after getting Yuffie. For the moment, do this: Walk across the swamp until you see the Zolom appear at the edge of the screen. Immediately open the menu--you must be quick, as he can force you into the battle even after the menu button has been pressed--and save your game. Soft-reset quickly after closing the menu to avoid the battle. You will be at the same place you stopped, but the Zolom will be far away. Using this trick, you should be able to make it across the swamp in two or three legs. Once you see the cutscene with the impaled Zolom, switch Aeris for Tifa. Equip Enemy Skill on the character with the highest HP, probably Cloud, and save your game. Go right once you enter the Mythril Mines, and run around inside the room with the Long Range materia until you run into an Ark Dragon accompanied by three Crawlers. If you get attacked from both sides by two Ark Dragons, kill one of them with limit breaks and reset once you've escaped. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ark Dragon, Crawler x3 280 HP, 140 HP Wait for the Ark Dragon to use Flame Thrower on the character with the Enemy Skill materia. When he does, immediately activate both Cross Slash and Sled Fang to kill him. (Flame Thrower heals him, so don't use it.) Once he's gone, it should be quite simple to kill Red and Tifa and finish off the three Crawlers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go back outside, save, and make your party Cloud, Aeris, and Barret. Go through the Mythril Mines, and once back on the world map head southwest to Fort Condor. Climb the ladder, talk to the man at the table, and accept his offer to gain access to their beds. Even if you don't need to rest now, you will before fighting the Zolom. Replace Barret with Red once you leave. Now head west to the forest near the beach. Put Aeris and Red in front and Cloud in back, then save your game. If he doesn't already have it, equip Enemy Skill on Cloud. 1 of every 8 encounters in the Junon forest will be with the Mystery Ninja; run around inside there until you find her. The enemies here can do some pretty vicious damage--Capparwires come in groups of five and use the powerful Grand Spark, Formula's attacks do about 100 damage, and neither can be reduced by defending or changing rows--so be ready to reset if it looks like Cloud won't survive the Mystery Ninja. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mystery Ninja 600 HP You must kill her within 10 rounds, or she will automatically flee. Cross Slash is helpful, as it paralyzes her for a few rounds and does over 200 damage. Sense her, and beat her down with Flame Thrower and your physical attacks. Using Flame Thrower on your allies makes it much easier to kill them quickly; the Mystery Ninja's attacks will help as well. Beware if she turns Cloud into a frog, as he will no longer be able to use Flame Thrower and his physical attack will only do 20 damage. If that doesn't happen, it should be easy enough to finish her with Flame Thrower. You shouldn't need to heal, so take care not to use Healing Wind or Pulse of Life. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can now get Yuffie. You MUST NOT open the menu at any time, or she will escape and you will have to reset. Pick the following responses: "Not interested." "...petrified." "Wait a second!" "...That's right." "...Let's hurry on." Yuffie has joined the party. Remove her Throw materia immediately, then return to Fort Condor and rest. Make your party Cloud, Aeris, and Yuffie, moving everyone to the back, then pass through the Mythril Mines again to reach the edge of the Zolom's swamp. Do not cross it; just run around here until you encounter a group of Levrikons. Defend, and wait for them to inflict Fury on both Aeris and Yuffie. When this happens, head back to the Junon area. Walk all the way west to Junon itself. Give Sense to Aeris, and make sure she is using her level 3 limits. Save, and enter the village. (From now on, it is safe to assume unless otherwise noted that all characters should remain in the back row.) Walk down to the shore to trigger the next boss battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Bottomswell 2500 HP Yuffie is going to learn Clear Tranquil in this battle. While the prospect of waiting for Bottomswell to charge her limit gauge while he's using Waterpolos may not seem appealing, I can assure you that the other method for learning Clear Tranquil before fighting the Zolom is no better. It requires that Yuffie join the party with the minimum Strength possible (27), and gives your character 378 EXP from killing Custom Sweepers. Believe me, this way is preferable. It takes 8 Greased Lightnings to learn Clear Tranquil. If none of them go critical, Yuffie will need between one and three physical attacks to finish him. If one goes critical, the final Greased Lightning will kill him. If two go critical, reset. Cloud and Aeris will never attack him, acting in a purely defensive role. While he is in his initial stage, Aeris should use Pulse of Life whenever one of your characters is at low HP. She needs to be in the front row at all times. (Pulse of Life also restores Cloud's MP, ensuring he can cast Flame Thrower whenever it's needed.) Cloud should defend constantly, as should Aeris once her limit gauge fills. You can move Yuffie to the front to fill up her limit gauge faster, so long as you are careful that Aeris is able to heal the damage fast enough. Don't leave her in front if she has the highest HP; he can headbutt the highest-HP character for 230 damage, and if this attack goes critical Yuffie is in trouble. When he starts convulsing up and down after the third Greased Lightning, you need to be on your guard. He will start trapping a character in a Waterpolo, immobilizing them and quickly reducing their HP to zero. The Waterpolos are immune to physical damage, so you can't just hit them the way you killed Reno's Pyramids. If Aeris or Yuffie is targeted, it's no big deal; Cloud can destroy it with Flame Thrower. (Wait mode is helpful, as it can allow you to avoid taking any damage during Flame Thrower's spell animation. Note that you can't just target the afflicted character, but must press up above their head to target the Waterpolo.) Things become dangerous when Cloud is targeted. Since you can't break his Waterpolo, you must simply wait until he dies and it disappears. When that happens, Aeris will be able to revive him with Pulse of Life. Yuffie should attack Cloud in the meantime, to shorten this very dangerous phase of the battle. Since the Waterpolo automatically puts Bottomswell into the back row, cutting your limit gains in half, it is doubly important that you kill Cloud quickly. If you manage things right, the only way you will get a Game Over is if he puts Cloud and then Aeris into Waterpolos in short succession. The fourth Greased Lightning will end this phase, but only temporarily. It would be a good idea to charge up Pulse of Life before Yuffie uses her limit. After the fifth Greased Lightning, he will start convulsing even higher and hitting the whole party with Big Wave. Move everyone to the front; you need limit breaks more than ever in this stage, and the faster you can kill Cloud in a pinch the better. Have Yuffie defend if both she and Cloud have been targeted by Waterpolo, and do your best not to let her die; getting all the Greased Lightnings out becomes very difficult if she loses Fury. Fortunately, he will no longer use Waterpolo if Yuffie is the only free target. After the Pulse of Life following the sixth Greased Lightning, try to kill off Cloud and Aeris as fast as possible; when he imprisons one of them, concentrate on killing the other. If Yuffie is still under Fury, and moves to the back row to reduce damage, she will have enough HP to use the final two Greased Lightnings and still survive his final Big Wave. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revive Priscilla with five full lungfuls of air, then exit Junon. DO NOT sleep in the old lady's house yet, or you will not be able to learn Beta until it is too late. Instead, save your game on the world map now. Replace Aeris and Yuffie with Barret and Red, and walk to Fort Condor. Rest there, switch Aeris and Yuffie back into the party, and cross through the Mythril Mines. Equip Enemy Skill on Aeris and Sense on Cloud. Set Cloud's limit to level 3. Once again, allow Levrikon to put Aeris and Yuffie under Fury; also allow them to charge Meteorain. Put the battle speed at the slowest setting, and save your game one more time. Now stand in the swamp, and simply wait for the Midgar Zolom to approach you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Midgar Zolom 4000 HP While this is not exactly a hard battle, it depends heavily on luck. The Zolom is able to kick a character out of battle twice. Since Aeris is the designated survivor, and the one with Enemy Skill, she must be the character who remains. Though in principle you could allow Yuffie to be killed and then let Aeris deal the finishing blow, I have never beaten him without having two of my characters kicked out. For the most part, your pattern of attack is pretty simple. Cloud senses the Zolom at the beginning of battle, then defends until it's time to use Meteorain. Aeris and Yuffie attack with Flame Thrower and physical attacks respectively. In Fury, one attack from the Zolom will be enough to trigger Clear Tranquil or Pulse of Life. Be sure to take advantage of the limit break system, and attack before using the limit breaks to take advantage of the fast recharge times. Unfortunately, Aeris cannot survive a critical hit; just hope he doesn't hit her with one. When you reduce the Zolom below 3000 HP, he will rise into an upright position. Though he will only occasionally do so at this point, it is now possible for him to kick out a character on his turn. Hopefully he won't do so, but as long as Aeris isn't the target it is winnable at least in principle. If he hasn't removed a character yet, he counterattacks by doing so when he falls below 2000 HP. Get him as close to 2000 as possible-- Flamethrower is good for this, since it cannot go critical--and activate Meteorain. This will reduce the Zolom to around 1200-1300 HP, and remove Cloud in the process. This part is extremely important. If you attack the Zolom in your current state, Beta will wipe you out and you will earn no credit for having learned the skill. Instead, wait for him to charge both Aeris' and Yuffie's limit breaks. Don't use Aeris' limit for the moment; instead, defend and wait until Yuffie has her limit ready. Then restore Aeris to full HP, and put up Planet Protector. You are completely immune to all damage for the next half dozen or so turns. Attack once to trigger Beta. (If he kicked Cloud out before the counterattack could be triggered, Beta will be cast the instant his HP falls below 1500.) Once Aeris learns it, she can cast Beta twice against the Zolom for close to 700 damage each time. Unfortunately, because of Fury one or both castings will likely miss, and she will only have enough MP for at most two castings of Flame Thrower. If she had full HP before she used Planet Protector, you can work around this. Simply attack normally until Planet Protector wears off, then allow the Zolom to attack her. She can now restore her MP with Pulse of Life, giving her as much time to cast Beta as she needs. If Yuffie is kicked out before Planet Protector, both Betas must connect; Aeris cannot survive once Planet Protector wears off, and without two successful Betas there is no way she will kill the Zolom before that happens. Kill Yuffie if you want to; but since the Zolom can still kick Aeris out and Pulse of Life will revive Yuffie, it is probably safer if you just wait for Yuffie to be kicked out. Aeris can keep casting Beta and restoring her MP until it finally connects and kills the Zolom. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that we have Beta, we can leave the continent. Set Cloud's limits to level 2 for the moment. Return to Junon, and sleep in the old lady's house. Cloud will be by himself when he wakes up, and until the party regroups on the cargo ship it will stay that way. Approach Priscilla's house to initiate the next cutscene, then head to the beach and get into the water with Mr. Dolphin. Press Square twice without moving, and you will reach the platform and be on your way to upper Junon. Up on top, go through the routine with the parade. Like most of the minigames, it is quite irrelevant to the challenge; the only useful thing you can gain from it is gil, and you should never be short on that. However, once Cloud is dismissed there is one very important task to complete. Enter the last doorway on the first screen of Junon proper (the one you see Rude cross), and talk to the soldier on the first floor. He will move out of the way, and Cloud can jump into the room below. Down here is the second Enemy Skill materia. Pick it up. From now on, I will refer to the Enemy Skill materia in the order you get them--the new one is Enemy Skill #2. Continue on to the dock, and send off Rufus. It doesn't matter how well you do, though I always aim for the Force Stealer regardless. Once it's over, board the cargo ship. VIII. Cargo Ship, Costa del Sol, and Corel Area Talk to Tifa and Red, then talk to Aeris. Head to the left side of the ship and talk to Barret twice to continue the plot. When everyone regroups, form a party of Cloud, Aeris, and Yuffie. Give Sense to Cloud and Enemy Skill #1 to Aeris, then save. The faster the battle speed is, the better. Descend into the ship to meet Sephiroth for the first time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Jenova-BIRTH 4000 HP With both Aeris and Yuffie able to heal the party, this is a pretty easy battle. Have Cloud sense Jenova at the beginning of battle. Aeris should attack with Beta and Flame Thrower until she runs out of MP, then join the others in meleeing him. Once Pulse of Life charges, she can restore her MP and resume casting spells. Before she can use it, Yuffie must use Clear Tranquil to heal her once. When his limit gauge fills, Cloud can use Blade Beam for close to 300 damage. The only real danger is from Stop. It won't last very long at the highest battle speed, but if it's used at the wrong moment--if Yuffie's limit gauge is about to fill, and he starts attacking her nonstop--you could be in trouble. Jenova can only cast it three times per battle, fortunately, and if Aeris puts herself under Planet Protector she will be immune. Since all of Jenova's attacks are physical, you can ensure that only Aeris is left standing by having her defend while Cloud and Yuffie move forward. Once they are both dead, finish Jenova with a final Beta. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exit this room to disembark from the cargo ship. After two short cutscenes, you will be in the Costa del Sol. In case you were wondering, the cargo ship is temporarily out of service under Heidegger's orders. You won't be able to board it again until you are freed from Corel Prison and get the buggy. Rest at the inn, then head west toward Mt. Corel. Keep both Aeris and Yuffie in the party, and healing should not be an issue. From the Mako reactor, head south to reach North Corel. Mash Circle to jump over the collapsing tracks; falling down for the items is a waste of time. The bridge just before reaching the town is potentially dangerous: you will sometimes be attacked from both sides by three Cockatolises, all of whom can inflict Slow-Numb. Kill the group of two with Beta, then escape as quickly as possible. The next time you risk an ambush from both sides is in the Gongaga area, and by then you'll be able to cure status effects with White Wind. Save on the world map just outside North Corel. Fill Barret's limit gauge now. Stay at the inn, then enter the Gold Saucer. You will definitely have enough gil for the 3000 gil ticket, perhaps even enough for the lifetime pass. Enter the main station area to trigger a cutscene. Once Barret runs off to Wonder Square, choose to go with Yuffie. In Wonder Square you will meet Cait Sith. Contrary to what some may say, Cait Sith is an excellent character; he will become very important on Disc 2. Remove Transform and Manipulate from him, then head over to the Battle Arena. Cloud will automatically run in, and as a result get the whole party thrown into Corel Prison. If you are attacked from both sides by a pair of Bandits, I would advise you to just defend and allow them both to escape. One of them will most likely steal an item and escape before you're able to flee, and if that happens the EXP from killing the first Bandit will ruin the battle plan. Run to the save point, then run to the cabin. (Note that you can rest in the front seat of the Shinra truck, southwest of the cabin.) After Barret gives his long speech about Dyne, form a party of Cloud, Red, and Barret. Give the Enemy Skill materia to Cloud and Red, and Manipulate to Barret. Use the save point again, move Cloud and Red to the front row, and head to the first "desert" screen past where you entered. Take care not to wander into the desert proper. It is easy to get lost out there, and chances are good you will get a Game Over before you make it back to the prison. Run around here until you encounter two Death Claws by themselves. Beware of the Bullmotors, whose Matra Magic can inflict deadly damage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Death Claw x2 400 HP Have Barret manipulate one of the Death Claws as soon as possible. Cloud and Red should work on killing the other one, using Flame Thrower and physical attacks. Don't use Blade Beam; though it will kill one of the Death Claws, it will also remove Manipulate from the other. The manipulated Death Claw can join in with Laser (which ignores both Barrier and MBarrier) and physical attacks. Once the second Death Claw is dead, you can get to work. Cast Laser on both Cloud and Red, then kill them off with Flame Thrower. The Death Claw should use all its remaining MP reducing itself to low HP with Laser. Have it use a physical attack on itself to end the battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now save, go back to the cabin, and replace Red with Aeris. Give Enemy Skill #1 with Beta to Barret. Save one last time, and go through the junkyard. If Barret gets killed along the way, run back to the Shinra truck so he can rest and recharge his limit gauge. He must enter the boss battle with Big Shot. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Dyne 1200 HP Barret will be fighting alone, so he has no way to heal. Though his 550-600 HP is a lot for a Low Level game, he still won't last for a long time: Dyne's attacks do 70-80 damage each, and he's able to attack twice on the same turn. That is why we learned Beta. Despite Dyne's very high Magic Defense, Beta will still do 350 damage to him. Since Dyne is only able to use his double attacks when he has less than 600 HP, two Betas will ensure that he only uses his double attacks once. If Dyne ever gets a critical hit, or Barret's attacks ever miss, a Game Over is probable. Open the battle with Big Shot. Do your best to get the first attack in, or Barret's survival becomes difficult. Use Flame Thrower, then two physical attacks. Barret should gain a second Big Shot now; use it. At this point Dyne should have just over 600 HP remaining, just short of triggering the double attack phase. Cast the first Beta, and Dyne will use a double attack. Unleash the second Beta, and Dyne should be dead. There's a 50% chance he will use Molotov Cocktail as his final attack. Depending on Barret's HP, the final attack may or may not kill you; it definitely will if Dyne also attacked first. If it doesn't, breathe a sigh of relief. Never again will you have to fight a battle without the ability to heal. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time to go chocobo racing. To win the race easily, switch to Manual mode and hold down R1+R2. This will reduce stamina consumption to nothing while riding normally, and greatly reduce it when dashing. Tap Square repeatedly to make your chocobo speed up, dashing if necessary to build up a lead. Once you're on the finishing stretch, do an all-out sprint. You're home free, and the buggy is yours. IX. Corel Area, Gongaga Area, and Cosmo Canyon Once back on the world map, save immediately. Harpy lurks in the Gold Saucer desert, and if you're unprepared its Aqualung will kill you. The grass in the Gold Saucer area isn't much safer, since Joker can inflict Death. Replace Barret with Yuffie, then head northeast to Costa del Sol. When you enter the Costa del Sol, cross the bridge back to the harbor. Talk to the sailor in front of the ship, and pay him to be a stowaway. Once in Junon, talk to the sailor to catch a helicopter flight out to the world map. Equip Enemy Skill #1 on Aeris, Enemy Skill #2 on Cloud, and Manipulate on Yuffie. Now run around the grassy areas until you encounter a lone Zemzelett. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zemzelett 285 HP If the Zemzelett casts Thunderbolt before you are able to manipulate him, run away. After Thunderbolt he will no longer have the MP to cast White Wind. Otherwise it's straightforward enough. When White Wind has been learned, kill Cloud and then Yuffie. Aeris can finish him with Beta. (Be aware that Zemzelett is immune to both gravity and water.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now any of your characters can restore the party's HP and remove status effects at will. Be aware that White Wind has a pretty high MP cost, and that its healing is weak when the caster's HP is low. Replace Aeris with Barret. Now give Enemy Skill #1 to Cloud and Enemy Skill #2 to Barret. Make sure Yuffie is in the middle position. Sleep at the house in Junon, then bribe the guard 10 gil to take the elevator up. Return to the boat and enter the cargo hold to return to the Costa del Sol. Save when you get back to the world map. Now run up and down the Costa del Sol beach until you encounter a group of three Beachplugs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beachplug x3 200 HP Manipulate one of the Beachplugs, and have it cast Big Guard on Cloud and Barret. Then kill Barret and Yuffie, and finish the Beachplugs with Beta. Easy enough. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Put Aeris back in the party, and rest again at the Costa del Sol. Give Enemy Skill to Cloud and Yuffie and Manipulate to Aeris. Get back into the buggy, then take it into the Gold Saucer desert. You should reduce the battle speed to at least the default level. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harpy 800 HP Put up Big Guard as soon as possible, then manipulate the Harpy. Cast White Wind if the Harpy reduces any character's HP below 300, or if it poisons Aeris. Once the Harpy is manipulated and Aqualung is learned, have it kill Cloud and Yuffie with Poison Storm and physical attacks. Then have it kill itself with two Aqualungs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Save your game, then rest in the Costa del Sol one last time. (If Aeris has a limit break ready, you can use Pulse of Life instead.) Head southwest past Gongaga, taking care to avoid the forests. Now head up into the Cosmo area. This place is awesome, simply because it's so easy to get your characters under Fury here. Encounter a Skeeskee and have Aeris cast Laser on it; it will automatically counter with Rage Bomber, putting Aeris under Fury. On the other hand, Griffin can wipe out your MP in one shot with Peacock. Pulse of Life is quite important here. Enter Cosmo Canyon, and go through the opening cutscenes with Red. Make your way to the observatory at the top to meet Bugenhagen. Climb down the ladder, then enter the door on the bottom right to find Cait Sith. Talk to him, and form a party of whoever you wish. Return to the observatory for a rather lengthy cutscene. Then go back down, and meet with the party at Cosmo Candle. Talk to Tifa, Barret, Aeris, and finally Red. When you are prompted to form a party, make Aeris your third character. (Did you even need to ask?) Give Enemy Skill #1 to Cloud, Enemy Skill #2 to Aeris, and Sense to Red. Save your game, follow Bugenhagen up to the third story, and enter the Cave of the Gi. On the first screen, enter the third cave from the left and break the rock open to continue on to the second screen. Simply head up to reach the third screen. Try to rely on White Wind for healing in the random encounters. This spell is especially nice here, since it removes Heg's Poison and Paralysis. Pulse of Life should be reserved for restoring MP and reviving fallen party members. Go through the second tunnel from the left, and walk through the spider web to trigger a forced encounter with a Stinger. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stinger 2200 HP Have Aeris cast Laser, Cloud cast Beta, and Red use a physical attack in that order. The Stinger will counterattack with Sting Bomb against Cloud and Red, taking off 75% of their HP. Now wait for him to use Sting Bomb for the third and final time. If it lands on Aeris, she will have to use Pulse of Life and heal Cloud and Red as well as herself. (Sting Bomb also ignores MBarrier, so don't bother with Big Guard.) In any case, have Aeris defend and move Cloud and Red forward once the final Sting Bomb is used. Stinger's physical attacks will make short work of them. Finish him with Aqualung. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- If Aeris gets into a random encounter, wait until she gains Pulse of Life. Use it to revive her allies, then run away. Move up to the next Stinger. Note that you will sometimes be attacked from both sides by two Gi Spectors on this screen. Kill one with Aqualung, then escape from the other. Unfortunately, if you get this encounter before your allies are revived a Game Over is all but guaranteed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stinger 2200 HP The strategy is exactly the same as last time. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head up a bit to watch the cutscene just before you have to engage the boss, then immediately backtrack to exit the cave. Save. Reenter the cave, and walk to the screen with the boss. Put the battle speed on the slowest setting. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Gi Nattak 5500 HP Unlike virtually every other challenge out there, you will not get to insta-kill him with an Elixir or a Life spell. This will be an honest, mano a mano match. It's still not that hard, though due to his tendency to steal HP and MP it would be quite impossible without Pulse of Life. The really danger is Fire2 from the Soul Fires that accompany Gi Nattak. This does over 250 damage, enough to kill Aeris in two hits but not quite enough to charge Pulse of Life. After Gi Nattak uses Take Over the Soul Fire will focus all its spells on the selected character, meaning you will need to heal that character every turn. Expect to be casting White Wind more than you attack during this phase, particularly if Cloud is the target of Take Over and Aeris is not. (Don't bother healing Red, since he has fairly little to contribute offensively or defensively.) Fortunately, the Soul Fires can only cast it 10 times before they run out of MP, and they will waste much of their MP casting it on themselves. After that, it's a pretty easy battle. Besides Take Over, Gi Nattak will damage one of your characters and heal himself for just over 100 HP with Drain, and occasionally spear one of your characters for about 300 damage. He will also very rarely steal your MP with Aspil. Since these are all single-target attacks, it could be difficult at times to get Pulse of Life so you can restore your MP. Have Red use Sense at the beginning of battle, then use physical attacks. Cloud and Aeris will attack with Beta and White Wind, respectively. Both hurt Gi Nattak and heal the Soul Fires, ensuring you don't gain unnecessary EXP from killing them, and White Wind's accuracy is unaffected by Fury. (Gi Nattak and the Soul Fires are both immune to Aqualung, so don't bother.) Since you often won't have enough MP to cast the desired spell, physical attacks and limit breaks are going to form a major part of your offense. Both Cloud and Aeris should set aside 34 MP for White Wind on the party, just in case an emergency arises. Since Gi Nattak can heal himself with Drain, and since your only sources of healing affect the whole party, it may be difficult to end the battle with just Aeris alive. Flame Thrower and Laser help a lot, as they allow you to quickly kill one character without affecting the others. Don't attempt this before the Soul Fires have run out of MP, as Fire2 will complicate things too much. As soon as Cloud and Red are dead, activate Planet Protector; in addition to keeping Aeris from dying, it also stops the healing from Drain. Finish him off with one or two White Winds. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Red gets some father-son bonding time, it's time to leave. Form a party of Cloud, Aeris, and Yuffie once again. Remove Red's Sense, and give it to Yuffie. When you return to the world map and Red rejoins you, the party's HP and MP will be restored and Fury will be removed. X. Nibel Area and Rocket Town Raise the battle speed back to normal and save your game. Wander around the dirt area until you encounter a Skeeskee. Have Aeris use Laser on it, Yuffie use a physical attack, and Cloud defend. If the party has been hit by Peacock, be sure to use Pulse of Life before exiting the battle. Save again, and head north in the buggy toward Nibelheim. There's nothing for you to do in Nibelheim. Simply walk north, saving just outside the Nibel Mountains. The enemies on the way up Mt. Nibel do a lot of damage, and often come in large groups. Expect to use White Wind a lot, as well as your healing limit breaks. While crossing the bridge, there is a chance you will be attacked from both sides by a pair of Sonic Speeds. Cast Aqualung to kill one, then have everyone defend while you escape from the other. Inside the mountain, things aren't much better. In addition to the nasty Lay Flat bugs, you've also got Dragon. Both Flame Thrower and his physical attack do 500 damage; White Wind will be vital here, as you need to make sure everyone is at full HP in case you run into one. (It also ensures you're prepared for fighting Materia Keeper. He is similar to Dragon in a lot of ways: he's immune to gravity and most disabling status effects, absorbs Fire, has very high HP and Magic Defense, and his Hell Combo does about the same damage as Dragon's physical attack.) Slide down the number 1 pipe to land right next to the save point. Set the battle speed to the slowest setting, save your game, and approach Materia Keeper. Press X to initiate the battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Materia Keeper 8400 HP At the beginning of the battle, the key thing is to keep everyone's HP above 400. That's the damage Hell Combo, or any other attack gone critical, does in the back row; stay above that, and you will probably be fine. Pulse of Life and Clear Tranquil should take care of most of your healing, though you will occasionally need to use White Wind. If Hell Combo goes critical, it will almost certainly kill the target. If Cloud or Yuffie is killed, it will be inconvenient but probably not debilitating. If Aeris is killed, you obviously must start over. Yuffie uses Sense at the beginning, then uses physical attacks. Cloud and Aeris should cast Aqualung until they have just over 34 MP remaining for White Wind, then join Yuffie in meleeing him. Aqualung does about 400 damage, way better than physical attacks despite MK's high Magic Defense. (Because Beta is fire-based, it will heal Materia Keeper. Never use it.) A Big Guard early in the battle could be useful as well, since Haste will allow you many more attacks during the slow first half of the battle. Once Pulse of Life is used, your MP will be restored and you can continue casting Aqualung. After he's been reduced below 4200 HP, make sure one of your characters has at least 56 MP set aside for Big Guard. When Materia Keeper casts Cure2 on himself, put up the Big Guard immediately; he will follow up with Trine, which deals close to 600 damage to the party if you're not under MBarrier. Despite the heavy damage, there are some definite advantages to his Cure2+Trine combos. First, you now have the Trine enemy skill. Trine is much more damaging for each MP spent, dealing about 275 damage for a mere 20 MP; you should never have to resort to physical attacks if you start casting Trine instead of Aqualung. You can still use Aqualung just before your MP is restored by Pulse of Life, provided it won't prematurely kill Materia Keeper. Second, Cure2 makes it harder to accidentally kill him too fast. (See the paragraph below.) Third, at the lowest battle speed your barriers will last for a long time. They will easily last to the second Trine if you're using Wait mode, saving you 56 MP, and Barrier greatly reduces the healing load from his physical attacks. And finally, Trine charges your limit breaks very fast. One Trine is capable of instantly charging Aeris' and Yuffie's limit breaks, while two will give Cloud a new Blade Beam. Cloud will definitely learn Climhazzard before this battle is over. Materia Keeper will use the Cure2+Trine combo six times, and will cast Cure2 by itself an additional time. After that he will have 16 MP remaining, and will not be able to cast any more spells. I advise you to wait until he has cast the seventh Cure2, then sense his MP to be sure he can no longer cast any spells, before attempting to end the battle. Cure2 will complicate things too much otherwise. Reduce him below 250 HP, so one Trine will finish him. When you're ready, move Cloud and Yuffie to the front while Aeris defends. His normal attacks now do 400 damage, while Hell Combo will kill its target at full HP. Once they are dead, use Planet Protector to make Aeris invulnerable. Cast Trine until it connects and Materia Keeper dies. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Raise the battle speed back to normal. It's quite possible for Aeris to make it to Rocket Town on her own. Still, use the save point just to be safe. Go out the right end of this screen and take the path to the world map, then walk all the way north to Rocket Town. Fully restore Aeris' HP with White Wind in a battle on the world map. Go through the back of Cid's house to look at the Tiny Bronco. Then climb the rocket to speak to the Captain. One guess what I'm naming him. Go back to the world map, and save your game. Enter Cid's house, and go through the cutscenes there. Finally, go back to the Tiny Bronco once more. No need to lower the battle speed for this battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Palmer 6000 HP Palmer is more of a practical joke on the player than a real boss. While his Mako Gun does 450 damage--pretty good damage for this point in the game--it is very easy to survive. And he can only cast it 10 times before his MP runs out, rendering him helpless. The first Mako Gun will instantly charge Pulse of Life, allowing Aeris to fully heal herself and revive the others as well. Have Yuffie sense him and then attack, while Cloud and Aeris cast spells at him. Aqualung does 600 damage, while Trine does 400. If either Cloud or Yuffie falls below 450, heal them with White Wind immediately. If Aeris is targeted with Mako Gun again, your MP will be restored and you can continue attacking as before. After he has used the tenth Mako Gun Palmer will have 20 MP remaining, just short of one more Mako Gun. Reduce Palmer to a few hundred HP, kill Cloud and Yuffie, and have Aeris cast Trine until it ends the battle. The ending is just as bizarre as the battle itself. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- XI. Wutai, Gold Saucer Area After the battle Cid joins the party, and you get the Tiny Bronco. World mobility is yours. Follow Yuffie's advice, and go west to the Wutai beach. Switch Yuffie for Barret, and save your game. If you know what's coming up, you probably know how much it's going to suck with a low level party and no use of items or accessories. But you have to do it to avoid the Turks in Midgar, who really are impossible, and because Aeris and Yuffie are your only healers (and Yuffie is unavailable during the sidequest) it has to be done before the Temple of the Ancients. Head north, and Yuffie will stop the party. Some Shinra troops will ambush you, and in the confusion Yuffie will get away with all your materia. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attack Squad x2 1300 HP This battle sucks, no doubt about it. Because you have no materia, you have to use physical attacks. But the Attack Squads love inflicting Sleep and Darkness with Smoke Bullet, and use it as an automatic counterattack when reduced below 833 HP. While Sleep may slow you down, it is temporary and easily removed. Darkness is the real pain; it lasts for the entire battle (unless Cloud or Barret is killed and revived by Pulse of Life), and makes the battle nearly twice as long. It's a real shame you don't have access to White Wind. This is a long battle, and you will be heavily dependent on Blade Beam, Climhazzard, and Big Shot for your damage. Big Shot does 175, Blade Beam does 275 to its main target, and Climhazzard does 350. Because Sense is stolen as well, you must keep track of the exact damage you do to the second Attack Squad. (This is why I don't recommend Meteorain. To ensure Aeris is the only survivor without use of the Sense materia, you must be able to exactly how damaging each hit is.) If possible reduce him to less than 50 HP, so Aeris can kill him with one or two physical attacks once Cloud and Barret are dead. The procedure is the same as usual: Cloud and Barret move forward, and assist the Attack Squads in killing themselves while Aeris defends. If Aeris' limit gauge fills before she can kill the Attack Squad, she has no choice but to revive her allies. (If she uses Planet Protector, you will never make it to the village alive.) Between Sleep, Darkness, Fury, and the Attack Squad's fairly high damage, it could take a very long time to deal the killing blow with just Aeris alive. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Save again, and run as fast as you can to the north end of the Wutai continent. While your materia is gone the encounters in the dirt areas of Wutai are the most dangerous in the game, even more so than the Stilvas, Evilheads, and Malboros that reside on Gaea's Cliff. The nicest enemy you will encounter here is Tail Vault, who does 200 damage in the front row; he's the one you'll want to use to recharge Pulse of Life. Bizarre Bug does the same damage with his normal attacks, and his Toxic Powder inflicts Poison and 300 damage to the whole party (400 if Aeris is the only one alive). Thunderbird's Lightning is virtually guaranteed to wipe out the party--it does over 400 damage to everyone--and his physical attack does as much damage as Tail Vault's. And naturally, all of these enemies come in large groups, and will attack you from behind or ambush you in a full quarter of the battles. Very rarely, you will be attacked from both sides by a Thunderbird, a Tail Vault, and two Bizarre Bugs; unless you have some truly miraculous luck, you will die. Since the dirt area covers so much ground, I would recommend saving at least twice: after crossing the first pair of bridges, and after crossing the final bridge. The enemies on the grass are far less dangerous; the most powerful attack is Edgehead's Electric Burst for 350 damage, and Edgehead is a pretty rare enemy. Enter Wutai, saving on the world map one last time. From the entrance, enter the Turtle's Paradise on the left edge of the screen. Talk to Elena to initiate a short cutscene with the Turks, then exit the bar. Go due north to the item shop. Pick up the MP Absorb materia in the chest, and Yuffie will automatically steal it from you. Exit the shop, and enter the house on the right side of the screen near the entrance. Fold back the screen to find Yuffie and make her scurry out of the house. Finally, examine the pot outside the Turtle's Paradise and punch it three times. Yuffie will give up (or so she says) and several cutscenes will take place. When Yuffie has escaped again, exit the house and use the save point. Go northwest to the screen with the pagoda. Examine the bell to your left to open a secret door. Go down through the door to meet Don Corneo. Of all the rotten luck. Follow Corneo up the stairs, and then you'll have to eliminate some incompetent Shinra grunts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attack Squad x3 1300 HP Just like the last battle, except that there is one more enemy. The strategy is exactly the same, and Aeris once again is the sole survivor. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exit this building, then talk to Reno to continue the sidequest. Before you can face the boss, you need to build Barret's limit gauge. Revive him with Pulse of Life, and get into a battle with Razor Weed at the base of Da-Chao Statue. (Razor Weed is ideal for building limit breaks. He does good damage, but not so much that Pulse of Life can't keep up with him, and the only status effect he inflicts is Fury.) When Barret has a full limit gauge, go back and save. Now run up the statue, going right, then left, and finally down. Set the battle speed to the slowest setting before triggering the boss fight. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Rapps 6000 HP While Rapps' first move is the most dangerous part of the battle, it doesn't get that much better. Before you eliminate his MP Rapps is able to cast Aero3, a powerful magic attack that is guaranteed to kill its target. Have Barret use Mind Blow immediately to eliminate Aero3. Don't rush; if you select the limit break too quickly, you may accidentally use Big Shot and screw yourself as a result. As many as half my attempts ended on the first turn, when he immediately killed Aeris with Aero3. Once his MP is gone, the real chore begins. You have to remove all of his 6000 HP using nothing but physical attacks and limit breaks. Dealing the damage isn't a problem, though it is certainly a long battle; Barret and Cloud both do over 40 damage from the back row, Barret almost always gets to use Big Shot before he dies, and Cloud will periodically get to unleash the powerful Climhazzard. Unlike the Attack Squads, actually dealing the damage is easy. The real problem is keeping Aeris alive to the end of the battle. It takes one and a half attacks from Rapps--one taking normal damage plus one defending--to charge Pulse of Life, while Aeris can survive two and a half. Rapps can use both his wing attack and Scorpion's Tail twice in the same turn, which he does much more often near the end of the battle. You can be assured that Aeris will be the target of both hits several times during the course of the battle. He also gets critical hits quite often. While a double attack or critical hit will instantly charge Pulse of Life, it creates a severe problem: if Aeris has already taken normal damage from one wing attack or Scorpion's Tail, and Rapps then uses a double attack or a critical hit on her, she will be killed before she can use her new limit break. Far from being a freak case of bad luck, this will be your inevitable death if you don't pay attention to the damage she's receiving. And obviously, once Aeris dies all hope is lost. At first, the problem is easy enough to solve. If Aeris joins the men in attacking while at full HP, then defends or uses Pulse of Life immediately after she is hit, she'll be safe enough. But Scorpion's Tail inflicts Poison, and poison damage breaks the defensive stance. (See the note under the Sample:HO512 strategy.) The lower battle speed saves your life here. Besides reducing the rate at which you lose health to poison, it also makes the numbers appear less often. What Aeris needs to do is this: except for the end, she should never attack once she is poisoned. Have her do nothing until Rapps attacks her, then select Defend immediately after the poison damage appears above her head. Have her stand by a bit longer. If the poison damage appears before Rapps attacks, immediately select Defend again. While this will usually prevent Rapps from attacking just after the defensive stance has been broken, it can be treacherous; it's quite possible there will be times when the poison damage appears, and half a second later Rapps kills Aeris with a double attack. Wait mode can be a lifesaver here, as it allows you to avoid spending extra time and suffering unnecessary poison damage during your own attack animations. If you manage to employ this tactic successfully, the only way Aeris will die is if she is attacked twice and one of the attacks goes critical. Fortunately, this probably won't happen; I've seen it happen to Cloud and Barret, but never to Aeris. Do not defend before Aeris has been attacked. If Rapps uses a double attack or critical hit on Aeris while she is at full HP, and she takes full damage from it, Pulse of Life will be instantly charged; this will often allow the men to survive longer and get extra limit breaks. If Aeris is defending, the opportunity is wasted; it will take longer to heal Cloud and Barret, and since they are more likely to die the chances of Aeris ending up alone--a situation that greatly increases the danger of untimely double attacks or critical hits--become much higher. Even when you've whittled Rapps to less than 50 HP and you're ready to end the battle, you're not out of the woods yet. You will move Cloud and Barret forward at this point, and once they are both dead Aeris can cast Planet Protector. But it takes some luck for this to happen. If Aeris gets a limit break while Cloud or Barret is still alive, she must use Pulse of Life to avoid getting killed herself. But in the process, Pulse of Life also revives and fully heals her allies. You will have to wait until Rapps uses a lucky combination of moves that ends with only Aeris alive; it may take a long time, but if you're patient it will happen. Once it does, if she lives to get her next limit break you can cast Planet Protector. (As you may have noticed, the poison does 0 damage now. God, I love Peerless.) Move Aeris to the front row, and swing at Rapps until she connects. If Rapps had less than 50 HP remaining, one hit should be enough. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was ever any doubt of Aeris' awesomeness, it's gone now. With nothing but physical attacks and limit breaks, your Low Level party just smited one of the cheapest bosses in the game--and with Aeris surviving by herself, no less. Once you return to the world map, raise the battle speed back to normal and save. Also, set Cloud's limits to level 3. Go back into the town, return to the screen with the pagoda, and this time enter the house on your right. Enter the room to your left, and rest. Return to the world map, give Enemy Skill to Cloud and Aeris again, and run around the grassy area until you encounter a Razor Weed. Use Spaz Voice to put Aeris under Fury once more. It's tempting, but you are not getting Magic Hammer just yet. You won't need it until you get the third Enemy Skill materia, so there's no sense in wasting 1190 EXP on an extra battle. Save your game, and walk south to the buggy. Things aren't quite as bad on the return trip, though the Thunderbirds can still easily wipe you out. It's a real shame you can't just smite them with Aqualung. Once back in the Tiny Bronco, go east through the river crossing the continent and get off in the Gold Saucer area. Head north into Corel, switching characters if one is killed by Joker. Go to the Gold Saucer, buy another ticket, and visit the Battle Arena. Look at the Keystone, and Dio will challenge you to a match in the Arena. Though you won't get very far with no status protection and no Magic Hammer, he gives you the Keystone anyway. Attempt to leave, and you will find that you are stranded for the night. You go through some dialogue in the Ghost Hotel, Cloud dates one of the party members (most likely Aeris), a certain mischievous toy steals the Keystone, and you have to form a party with Aeris. As if you weren't going to anyway. Make Cid your third character, and give him Sense. Then leave the Gold Saucer, save, and return to the Tiny Bronco. XII. The Temple of the Ancients Before entering the Temple of the Ancients, head west to make a quick stop at Wutai. Go to the grassy area east of the beach, and run around here until you encounter a Razor Weed. As before, have Aeris attack it until Fury sticks. Get back into the Tiny Bronco, take the river to the other side of the continent, and get off on the island with the Temple. Save at the beach, as there's a chance you will get attacked by Slaps. These guys are able to inflict Sadness with Bug Needle, as well as disable your characters with Berserk Needle, and can ambush you from both sides. If you manage to pass through unscathed, climb the temple stairs and get the Keystone from Tseng. It would be wise to go outside and make a backup save before using the Keystone, just in case you screw up inside and need to backtrack to the world map. The random encounters inside the Temple aren't too bad, though Toxic Frog's Frog Song can be annoying. Make your way past the cylindrical boulders, then watch the cutscene. There is a command materia here, but it's the item- producing Morph. You need it not. Talk to the Ancient to save your game. Never choose to rest while inside the Temple; Pulse of Life is very important, and to ensure it's used often enough Aeris needs to be under Fury. In the clock room, head straight for the six o'clock door. Make sure to avoid the second hand, as you will fight a forced battle if you are knocked into the room below. Once the Ancient gets away, jump down to the second level and enter the second door from the right. Jump down to the bottom edge and enter the rightmost door. Then exit this area via the clock room, and immediately reenter. This moves the Ancient to the top level, so you don't have to make the trip to the top again if you have to reload your game. Put the battle speed at the slowest setting, save your game, then enter the mural room. A long cutscene commences (way too long, if you ask me), and then... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Red Dragon 6800 HP Don't be fooled by the fact that he only uses single-target attacks. If you're careless about your MP, Red Dragon can easily kill you. Cast Big Guard as soon as possible, and hope he doesn't use Red Dragon Breath before Big Guard is up. Red Dragon Breath is a guaranteed kill without Big Guard, and even with Big Guard it does more than damage than anything save a critical bite attack. Because of this, you need to keep Cloud and Aeris above 450 HP at all times. Cid has little importance, beyond Sense and the occasional Boost Jump, so don't worry about healing him. He'll probably be taken care of when you use White Wind to heal Cloud or Aeris. Though you can cast Trine while your MP is high, I don't recommend doing so when you have less than 100 MP remaining. If he doesn't target Aeris very often, MP will quickly become a serious issue. Be especially careful when a character's barriers are running out, as you'll need 56 MP for Big Guard in addition to any MP needed for White Wind. When Pulse of Life is charged, and Red Dragon has well over 1000 HP remaining, have Aeris and Cloud cast Aqualung. Cloud's Aqualung does around 400, about the same as against Materia Keeper, while Aeris' Aqualung does almost 600. (It should go without saying, but Red Dragon absorbs Beta.) Your limit breaks will compose a big part of your damage as well. Boost Jump does a good 450 damage, while Meteorain does over 700 damage. With luck, and a few uses of Pulse of Life, it shouldn't take long to reach the end of the battle. When his HP is below 200 or so, move Cloud and Cid to the front row. This can get difficult if he targets Aeris too often, as you will have to either use Pulse of Life or waste MP casting White Wind repeatedly to keep Aeris alive. When both Cloud and Cid are dead, use Planet Protector and proceed to cast Trine until he is killed. NOTE ON BARRIERS: Contrary to appearances, Barrier and MBarrier status does not disappear as soon as the Barrier gauges to the right of your characters' names empty out. Instead, your characters will remain under Barrier and MBarrier for a full "tick" after the gauge has completely emptied. (A "tick" is a discrete unit of time, as indicated by the movement of the color in the Barrier gauge.) Hence, if you recast Big Guard as soon as the gauge appears empty the spell will miss, and you will remain vulnerable for the next turn. The best solution to this is to enter Big Guard as the last of your three commands, and allow your current barriers to expire during the attack animations. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head right and examine the model to advance the plot. When the cutscene is over, exit the room and save your game. Return the battle speed to its normal level if you wish, and return to the mural room. Run around here until you get a random encounter, and wait for Aeris' limit gauge to charge while she heals with White Wind. If you run into a group of Ancient Dragons, you can cast Laser to kill one or two of them and reduce the damage to a more manageable level. Once Aeris has gained Pulse of Life and revived the others, escape from battle. Try to make sure everyone is at full health, or at least above 400 HP. Put the battle speed at the slowest setting, and save your game. Head through the clock room to the 12 o'clock door, and attempt to leave. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Demons Gate 10,000 HP While this guy is the bane of most Low Level challenges, in this one he's quite easy. He must not kill Aeris, but otherwise there are relatively few ways he can screw up the battle. Pulse of Life will revive anyone Demons Gate has killed and fully restore everyone's MP, so you can fight him for as long as you want. In fact, because he will quickly refill Aeris' limit gauge with Cave-In he is substantially easier than Red Dragon. The first move is the most dangerous. Cid can survive an unprotected rock drop without Barrier (or equivalently, a critical hit/double rock drop under Barrier) at full HP, but Cloud and Aeris cannot. Note that a critical rock drop or double rock drop on Aeris will kill her, no matter what, so you do need a little luck with Demons Gate's attacks. Everyone should survive if he opens with Cave-In or the charge turn for Demon Rush. Assuming that Aeris wasn't killed, cast Big Guard at your first opportunity. Cid uses Sense, then always uses either a physical attack or a limit break. When Cloud or Cid is killed and revived by Pulse of Life, cast Big Guard as soon as they are revived to make sure they remain protected as well. 400 HP is enough to ensure that everyone will survive a rock drop; cast White Wind to make sure everyone has enough health. If he uses Petrif-Eye you will need to cure it; but wait until he attacks again before doing so, so White Wind will recover some HP as well as curing the status effect. Due to Demons Gate's infamously high Magic Defense, physical attacks and limit breaks are the most effective way of damaging him. Even so, I recommend having Aeris and Cloud cast Aqualung just before you activate Pulse of Life. You don't lose any MP, and it still does over 100 damage to him. Meteorain and Boost Jump are as effective here as they were against Red Dragon, and even from the back row Cloud and Cid can hit for decent damage. Obviously you need to watch your Barrier gauge carefully, so you can ensure Big Guard is recast just after Barrier has worn off. Whittle him down to less than 100 HP, taking care not to use limit breaks when his HP falls too low. Now move Cloud and Cid to the front row while Aeris defends. (It might be wise to fill Aeris' limit gauge before you do this, and heal her with White Wind.) The men should die pretty quickly, though if Aeris' HP falls too low before they do you will need to use Pulse of Life. Once they are gone, put up Planet Protector to guard Aeris. Finish him with Trine or Aqualung. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- XIII. Searching for Aeris Some cutscenes commence, Cloud goes berserk, and... Aeris is gone? What?! Sadly, she's never coming back. Never again will you be able to see her lovely face, or take advantage of the powerful Planet Protector or Pulse of Life. Since your characters will now have to take care of protecting themselves and restoring their MP the hard way, you have some work to do. First, though, you must get the third and final Enemy Skill materia. Restore the battle speed to normal, set Cloud's limit breaks to level 1, and save. Go south to get into the Tiny Bronco, head all the way north to the Icicle area, and enter Bone Village. Talk to the guy in front of the shack, and tell him you want to dig up the Lunar Harp. Climb the ladder to the top level, then move Cloud so he is obscured behind the plume of white smoke rising from the shack below. From the south edge of this level take a few paces north, so he is still obscured by the smoke. There's no need to order a search; simply select "Done" immediately, set off the bomb, and press Square to designate the dig spot at your current location. You should get the Lunar Harp within a few attempts this way. Head through the forest, then through the trail beyond it, and on to the City of the Ancients. Take the right fork as you enter, and choose to rest in the second building. When the party wakes, walk behind the beds. You will find the third Enemy Skill materia lying on the floor. Now leave the City of the Ancients and return to the Tiny Bronco. Give Enemy Skill #1 and Manipulate to Cloud, Enemy Skill #2 to Barret, and Enemy Skill #3 to Tifa. (To do this, call for a dig and immediately end it by selecting your current location as the dig site. The party will get to rest for free.) Get off at the Wutai beach, and run around in the grassy area east of the beach until you meet a Tail Vault and some Razor Weeds in battle. This way, you can avoid the dangerous trek to Wutai proper. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Razor Weed x2, Tail Vault 1000 HP (145 MP), 960 HP Have Cloud attempt to manipulate one of the Razor Weeds. When he succeeds, cast Magic Hammer on all three characters. Once everyone has learned the spell, have the Razor Weed attack itself to break Manipulate. (Unfortunately, casting White Wind prior to learning the spell will leave the relevant character with 0 MP, completely destroying their spell-casting ability.) Kill Barret and Tifa, use Magic Hammer to restore Cloud's MP, and allow him to end the battle with one Trine and one Aqualung. Fortunately for him, the Razor Weeds cannot counter multi-target attacks. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Save your game, and get back into the Tiny Bronco. Rest at an inn--I would suggest Nibelheim--to revive Barret and Tifa. Get off just south of the Gold Saucer desert, save on the world map, and enter the Gongaga Forest. Run around the first screen until you meet a solitary Touch Me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Touch Me 300 HP (74 MP) Manipulate it, then cast Frog Song on Cloud, Tifa, and Barret in that order. When Cloud is put to sleep, wake him with a physical attack and use Frog Jab to remove Toad. Let Barret and Tifa kill themselves, have it use Frog Jab on itself to remove Manipulate, and let Cloud finish it with Trine. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to the world map, save, and get back in the Tiny Bronco. Get off near Nibelheim, and go into town to use the inn. The buggy should be nearby. Get into it, and take it through the Cosmo and Gongaga areas to reach the Gold Saucer desert. (Magic Hammer will prevent Griffin's MP-destroying Peacock, while Frog Song will stop most other enemies.) It would be wise to lower the battle speed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harpy 800 HP (200 MP) Have Barret or Tifa cast Big Guard while Cloud attempts to manipulate it. If he succeeds, cast Aqualung on the party and end it the same way you did the first time. If the Harpy casts Aqualung on its own, you could employ an alternate strategy. Frog Song will immobilize the Harpy, and two Magic Hammers will prevent it from casting Aqualung or Poison Storm when it wakes up. Just make sure that both Barret and Tifa are dead before the battle is over. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Save the game, and go back the way you came to reach the Tiny Bronco. Make a brief stop at Bone Village, and rest using the trick mentioned above. If Cloud doesn't already have Cross Slash charged, build his limit gauge in a random battle until he does. Head to the extreme east of the world map, so you are on the beach near the chocobo farm. Run up and down the beach until you encounter an Elfadunk. Manipulate it, and use its Shower to put Cloud, Barret, and Tifa under Sadness. Change your party to Cloud, Yuffie, and Cid, and put them under Sadness as well. (Whenever I tell you to meet an Elfadunk in the future, just follow the same procedure.) You can also put Red and Cait Sith under Sadness for good measure, but you don't have to. Put Barret and Tifa in your party again, return to the Icicle area, and save. The following is important, so read it carefully. To make the upcoming bosses as easy as possible, you need to make your way through the Great Glacier and Gaea's Cliff without resting. This means that none of your characters are allowed to die, at least not until the battle plan says they are supposed to, and hence all healing and MP restoration must be taken care of with White Wind and Magic Hammer. It's really not as bad as it sounds; Frog Song will immobilize every enemy on Gaea's Cliff, and with Sadness everyone except Tifa (who will be dead and out of the party anyway) can survive the most powerful single-target attack, Malboro's Frozen Beam. Be sure to put Hungry to sleep with Frog Song if you run into him. When he casts Mini on a character and then removes them with Eat, that character will lose Sadness. You cannot afford for that to happen. Take the middle way now, following the shining path to the water altar. Replace Cloud's Manipulate with Sense, save your game, and approach Aeris. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Jenova-LIFE 10,000 HP (300 MP) The only potential danger lies in the first move, if Jenova casts Aqualung before Cloud can move. It is far too powerful for the party to survive. Otherwise, use Cross Slash to paralyze Jenova. You will easily be able to cast three Magic Hammers before she moves again, eliminating her MP. (Cross Slash is necessary because Jenova counters all magic attacks with Reflect.) With no MP, Jenova cannot attack at all. Sense her HP, move everyone to the front row, and start attacking her. You can spend your MP attacking with Trine if you wish, but mostly you will have to rely on physical attacks. (In any event Cloud must have at least 3 MP after the battle, so he can restore his MP with Magic Hammer.) At least you can stay in the front row this time. Kill Barret and Tifa once she has a few hundred HP or less, and let Cloud end the battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- More than ever, Aeris' death leaves a sting this time. That's why we're going after Sephiroth, so we can stick it right back to him. *****DISC TWO***** XIV. Corel Valley, Icicle Area, and Great Glacier Don't rest. Instead, go south to return to the world map. Change your party to Cloud, Yuffie, and Cid, transferring Enemy Skill #2 to Yuffie and Enemy Skill #3 to Cid, then save. There will be no need for Cloud to use his higher-level limit breaks for a long time, so leave him at level 1. From now on, you will follow the same basic procedure in most random encounters: Hold L1+R1 for a while, on the off chance that you're able to escape immediately. If you don't, cast Frog Song to put your enemies to sleep. Heal with White Wind if necessary, steal some MP with Magic Hammer, and then proceed to flee. Since you can't heal out of battle, the time spent restoring your HP and MP while the enemies are asleep is vital for your survival. (You should save Clear Tranquil for the Icicle or Schizo battles, since it takes so long to charge under Sadness.) No matter what, be absolutely certain that your characters have 3 MP or more at all times. If not they won't be able to restore their MP, and hence will be rendered virtually useless. Follow the path Sephiroth took into Corel Valley, then hop up the spiral path to reach the cave. To get through the cave, follow these directions: climb up the crack at the bottom, go left, climb up the next crack, go right, climb up the next crack, go left, climb up the final crack, then take the ladder up to the top. Exit onto the world map. Walk west until you are past the mountains, then head north to reach Icicle Village. Save here. Enjoy the pleasant world map music, because this is the last time you're going to hear it. As you enter the town, enter the building on the right side. Grab the map off the wall inside. Attempt to exit the back of the town, and Elena will arrive with some Shinra goons. To dodge her punch and save a little time, press the Cancel and left directional buttons. Now go into the middle house, talk to the boy, and take his snowboard. Finally, go out the back of town to start the snowboard minigame. Don't these people have anything better to do than set balloons and igloos in the middle of an enormous snowboard slope? Do not spend too much time wandering in the Great Glacier, or Cloud will collapse and you will have no choice but to rest at Holzhoff's cabin. My directions will assume that you turned right at both intersections on the snowboard course. Head north until you encounter a frozen lake, and continue to the northeast. Head right on the screen with the lone tree, and from there just keep going north. When you reach the snow field, take note of the horizontal and vertical lines in the snow. Simply walk along one of the vertical lines, tapping X frequently to set markers behind you. When the screen starts to turn, stop moving; the markers will help to point you in the right direction. You will walk past an igloo in the middle of the snow field; if you enter and exit the igloo, the screen will be oriented with north on top again. You can and should use the save point inside Holzhoff's cabin, but do not talk to Holzhoff himself. XV. Gaea's Cliff and Whirlwind Maze This is a pretty fearsome place in LLNIIENACMO, though not necessarily because of your inability to revive your characters. The most powerful single-target attack is Malboro's Frozen Beam, which does about 675 damage with Sadness. Everyone will survive it if they are at full HP, though to ensure this you need to cast Frog Song, White Wind, and Magic Hammer in essentially every random encounter. (Without exception, every enemy on Gaea's Cliff and in the Whirlwind Maze will be put to sleep by Frog Song. It is enormously valuable for neutralizing Malboro, Stilva, and their irritating smaller brethren.) The true dangers are two full-party attacks: Stilva's Magic Breath, which does 2400 damage to all characters (1600 with Sadness), and Malboro's Bad Breath, which poisons and immobilizes the party while he cuts them down one by one with Frozen Beam. If either is ever cast--before you're prepared for it, anyway--consider it a guaranteed Game Over. While in the outside areas, you must always keep your body temperature above 26 degrees. Otherwise you will return to Holzhoff's cabin and have to make the ascent all over again, though you are no longer required to rest there. The faster you get out of there the better, to avoid the Malboros as well as the button-mashing to stay warm. Inside isn't quite as bad, though you still need to put Stilva to sleep to prevent him from casting Magic Breath. Evilhead's Ultrasound is also pretty bad; use Frog Song to immediately put them down (Aqualung if they attack from both sides), and cast White Wind if anyone is silenced. Push down the rock in the first cave area to clear the path, make it through another chilly outside area, and use the save point. Replace Cid with Red, transferring Enemy Skill #3 to him. Go out the door to the right, curving around the outside to reach the top of the cavern. If Red is hit by Frozen Beam, he will die. But that's alright, since we can win all three Icicle battles without him. I strongly recommend putting the battle speed on the slowest setting and using Wait mode. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Icicle, Evilhead x4 3000 HP (300 MP), 740 HP (45 MP) The Icicle itself cannot attack; it is the four Evilheads and their Ultrasound that will cause all the trouble. If Red is still alive, cast Frog Song on the Evilheads one by one. If one of your characters is hit with Ultrasound, have Cloud or Yuffie cast White Wind immediately; Silence is very bad in these battles. Once they are all asleep, kill Red. Restore your HP with White Wind if you haven't already, drain the MP from the Evilheads (the Icicle counters Magic Hammer), and cast Laser on the Icicle. Since Icicle is weak against gravity, Laser will automatically kill it. If Red is dead when you enter the battle, use the strategy listed below. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the battle, you will be given the option to jump down into the cavern. If you're feeling uneasy about these battles, you can use the save point and fight them one at a time. For the moment, I would recommend trying to fight all three battles in a row. If worse comes to worse, you can always escape. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Icicle, Evilhead x4 3000 HP, 740 HP If all four Evilheads get to act before your turn, there is a 42% chance that both Cloud and Yuffie will be silenced by Ultrasound, rendering them defenseless. If that happens, activate Clear Tranquil immediately and escape. Otherwise, enter into a menu and wait for the Evilheads to finish their attack animations. Have the one not hit by Ultrasound heal with White Wind, removing Silence in the process, and the other end the battle with Laser. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Continue to the left. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Icicle, Evilhead x4 3000 HP, 740 HP Same strategy as above. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jump down now. No need to fight the fourth Icicle. Run to the save point and switch Cid back in. Swap your materia around, giving Enemy Skill #2 to Cid and Enemy Skill #3 to Yuffie. Return the battle to normal speed and save your game. Hop over the newly created stepping stones to reach the other outside area, then curve around left to reach the final chilly set of ledges. Once again, don't allow your body temperature to fall below 26 degrees; it's a long walk to get back. When you reach the next cavern area, lower the battle speed and save immediately. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use the healing spring; without Sadness it's quite difficult to beat Schizo. If you run into a Blue Dragon along the way, Big Guard is an absolute must; he is immune to sleep and paralysis, and his attacks can easily kill you even with Sadness. Be absolutely sure that everyone is at full HP before entering the battle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOSS: Schizo (Right), Schizo (Left) 18,000 HP (350 MP), 18,000 HP (350 MP) With no protection at all, Schizo's breath attacks do about 1000 damage. This is about the same damage as Malboro's Frozen Beam, so with Sadness everyone can survive one attack before Big Guard is up; after that, everyone can survive a double attack. Hopefully they won't both attack the same character, or both Cloud and Cid, before you can cast Big Guard. Yuffie casts Magic Hammer on one of the heads, Cloud or Cid (whoever has lower current HP) casts Big Guard, and the remaining character casts White Wind after the breath attacks. Then have everyone cast Magic Hammer, using White Wind only if someone is left with less than 400 HP. Your first and foremost priority is to eliminate one head's MP by casting Magic Hammer on it four times. Removing its MP will disable that head, and you will be down to one attack per round. After it uses three breath attacks, the other head will do nothing for two rounds--plenty of time to stop the painful double breath attack. With no MP, Schizo can no longer use its breath attacks or earth-based counterattack. Even so, you are not out of the woods yet. Its final attack does not require MP, and since each head uses the final attack seperately you have to be very careful when you kill them. Sense both heads, move everyone forward, and use your limit breaks. Since Yuffie has nothing better to do with her MP, have her cast Aqualung until she runs out. Cloud can cast Trine a few times, but make sure he has at least 90 MP remaining. Cid should save all of his MP, in case he needs to use White Wind a few times after battle. Once everyone has cast their respective spells, start meleeing one of the heads; I usually target the left one first. Once it has less than 400 HP remaining, stop attacking. Now target the other head, reducing it to just under 400 HP. This phase is crucial. The final attack does 1300 damage to all targets, w