=============================================================================== !" " """" "' """"""" !" '""""""'" '!" " ""''"""""""" ! '"""""""""""""""""! ' ""'""""""""""""""""' '!!!'!'''"""'"""""""""""""""' ' '!'!'''''''"'""""""""""""'" $$$$ !$$ $$ $! $ $$ '''$$$$'''$""'$'$$$$$$$$$ $ '! , , $$ $ $ $$ $ $ $ !''''$$'$'''$'''$$'$$$'$$'$ $ $$$$ $ $ '$'$'$'$' $$ $ $ $$ $ $ $''''''$$'$'''$'''$$!$'$'$$ $ $ $'$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$ $ $$!$!!'$' ! $!'''''$$ '''$'''$$!$ ''$$ '$! $$$! $!$ $ $ $ $ $$$ $ $'$$!!$$$ !'$!! '''$$$'''$$$''$$ $! $$ $$$ $ $$ $ $ $ $ $$$ $ $ $$!!$'$ $ !'''$$$'''$'$''$$!$ $$ $'$ $$ $$ $ $ $ $ $$! $ $ $$! $ $ $'''' $$ '''$ $''$'$$ $$ $'$ $$$ !$ $'$ $ $ $$ $ $ $$ $$$ $ $!'!!$$''''$$$''$ $$ $$ $!$ $$$$ !$ '$' $ $ $$ $ $ $$ $ $ $!$!'''$$''''$ $''$'$$ $$ $'$ $$$$ !$ $ $ $ $$ $ $ '$ $ $ $'$!!!''$''''$ $''$!$$ $$ $ $ $$$$ !$ $ $ $ '' !'' '' ' !'!'' ''''''' ''''! !' ' '' !! ! !'! '' $ '$'$' $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ''!!!'!!!!!!!!''''''''' '' '!'!!!!!!!!''''! !' !!'!!!!!!!!'!'' !!'!!!!!!'!'' '!!!!!'' =============================================================================== Final Fantasy VII FAQ/Walkthrough For the Play Station Gaming Console By Nick Henson aka SinirothX (InfiniteZero000@aol.com) Version Final (Most Recent Update: 4/24/07) Copyright © 2007; Nick Henson 80 Characters Per Line Font/Style/Size: Courier New/Regular/10 =============================================================================== ¤=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*¤ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P R O E M ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¤=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*¤ Hello and welcome to my FAQ/Walkthrough for the now ten year old Final Fantasy VII. This has been my favorite game for the last eight years, and that is why I've decided to write for the game. To share everything I've learned about it in those years, to the best of my ability. I certainly do not claim this will be your favorite FAQ, or the best one for the game, but I have striven for it to be at least complete. I know this game has been covered to death, and is replete with many other incredible FAQs. I'm not writing with any thought of its oversaturation, or really even to get the most people to read it. Honestly, I'm writing this FAQ because I want to. To pay homage, if you will. I've worked hard on this guide and at this point am relatively satisfied with its content and overall presentation. To that end, enjoy. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Copyright Information =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This document is © copyright 2007; Nick Henson, also known as, and hereinafter referred to as SinirothX. It is intended primarily and solely for personal and private use. Under those circumstances, it matters not what is done with it. However, any reproduction of this file as a means to solicit profit or in any manifestation of media is strictly prohibited. The contents herein are not to be used as a basis for your own unless otherwise noted and direct permission has been granted upon request. Nor is it to be copied and pasted down verbatim, save for the purpose of printing in whole or in part (again, for personal benefit). Upon initial release of this document, the only site with express permission to host is GameFAQs and its partners. It is, however, not exclusive to them, so if you wish to host this file on your webpage, feel free to e-mail me for permission. Note that I will not grant permission to personal webpages or "fan pages." If permission is granted, please, keep the version current (preferrably within 48 hours of its initial update--will always be found, again, at GameFAQs). Should this be too heavy a burden to bear, I humbly request not even asking. There was a time that I allowed my FAQs to be translated into Spanish. However, due to hassle and inaccuracies this policy has been furthermore discontinued. Any violation or failure to comply with the aforementioned terms will result in penalties, legal or otherwise, and is an infringement of federal copyright laws. All characters, areas and events in the game are © Squaresoft (1996) and Square Enix (2004). The following sites may host this FAQ as if yet: - GameFAQs and affiliates - Neoseeker - IGN =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contact Policy =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Yes, I'm aware I list my e-mail in the header. That is for quick and easy reference. These should be thought of as a supplement to you receiving that address. I am not too particularly picky about what I receive in my inbox, but there are some things that really bother me. --> What I expect to see in my inbox: ------------------------------------- - Suggestions to improve the guide (ie. format, content presentation, language, or even typo corrections). - Strategies that you have found effective that I do not include in my listings already. I will accept and incorporate any and all of these should they prove to be efficient. - Requests for information, such as something relate to a subject covered herein, but is not currently included. - Missing information, or extra information on anything pertinent to this FAQ. By pertinent I mean do not send me anything outside the realm of enemies, strategies, maximization, or mechanics. - Should you be in need of live assistance. However, please note that I will not respond to just anything... there are particular guidelines you must follow to receive a response, or even attention, from me. - Please do not, as stated to the above, send me anything unrelated to this FAQ, and furthermore already contained within (unless it is to expand upon already present data). - Write with proper etiquette, spelling, and grammatical conventions to the absolute best of your ability. Honestly, it's appreciated. - Do not ask me questions about the game as per anything other than what this FAQ encompasses. While I'm most certainly capable of answering them, it's not what I or this FAQ have intended to do. - I will only respond to e-mails written in one of two languages: English or Spanish. Whichever the e-mail is written in, I will respond properly in the same language. Although I accept e-mails as such, do not mistake this for me allowing translation of this FAQ into any language aside from English. - It will be through solely my discretion if I wish to reply to hate mail. - All in all, just send something that's not complete shit. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Links =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * My Contributor Recognition Page - http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/30775.html * My Myspace profile - http://www.myspace.com/omnihybrid =============================================================================== ----------------------------------- .:'*':. Table of Contents .:'*':. ----------------------------------- =============================================================================== =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. Using "Section Coded" Table of Contents =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= - Yes, admittedly this is a colossal text file, and I'm sure the majority of people viewing it don't want to scroll through every section ad nauseum. - I've therefore implemented the cliche "section coding" into this FAQ. - Simply press CTRL+F, and in the box that appears, type in the "#S---" code located to the far right of the Table of Contents. - Press enter, and from there you will be immediately relocated to the desired section of the FAQ. Happy hunting. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- / SECTION #. Name | VERSION #/% COMPLETED | SECTION CODE \ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1. Update History | Changing/???% | #SA1U | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2. Basics/Mechanics | Final/100% | #SB2B | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |3. About Game's Chrs | Final/100% | #SC3C | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |4. Story of FFVII | Final/100% | #SD4S | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |5. In-Depth Walkthrough | Final/100% | #SE5W | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |6. Lucrecia's Cave | Final/100% | #SF6L | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |7. The Gelnika Ship | Final/100% | #SG7G | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |8. Getting Secret Scene | Final/100% | #SH8S | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |9. Ultimate Weapons | Final/100% | #SI9U | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |10. The Ancient Forest | Final/100% | #SJ0A | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |11. Limit Breaks | Final/100% | #SK1L | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |12. Golden Saucer | Final/100% | #SL2G | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |13. Shop Listing | Final/100% | #SM3S | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |14. The Master Materia | Final/100% | #SN4M | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |15. Kalm Travler | Final/100% | #SO5K | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |16. Secret Weapon Seller| Final/100% | #SP6S | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |17. T's Paradise Flyers | Final/100% | #SQ7T | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |18. Costa del Sol/Rev...| Final/100% | #SR8C | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |19. Midgar Key to City | Final/100% | #SS9M | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |20. Sleepy Man | Final/100% | #ST0S | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |21. Items Listing | Final/100% | #SU1I | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |22. Weapons Listing | Final/100% | #SV2W | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |23. Armors Listing | Final/100% | #SW3A | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |24. Accessories Listing | Final/100% | #SX4A | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |25. Materia Listing | Final/100% | #SY5M | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |26. Locating Yuffie | Final/100% | #SZ6L | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |27. Locating Vincent | Final/100% | #SA7L | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |28. Wutai | Final/100% | #SB8W | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |29. Chocobo Raising | Final/100% | #SC9C | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |30. All WEAPONS | Final/100% | #SD0W | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |31. Vehicle Information | Final/100% | #SE1V | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |32. Enemy Compendium | Final/100% | #SF2E | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |33. Tips & Tricks | Final/100% | #SG3T | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |34. Codes | Final/100% | #SH4C | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |35. Fort Condor/Bone V. | Final/100% | #SI5E | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |36. Date Mechanics | Final/100% | #SJ6M | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |37. Stat Leveling Info | Final/100% | #SK7S | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |38. Music | Final/100% | #SL8F | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |39. FAQs ---> Q&A | Changing/???% | #SM0A | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |40. Ah, Those Rumors | Changing/???% | #SM1R | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |41. Acknowledgments | Changing/???% | #SN1A | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |42. Over and Out | Final/100% | #SO0O | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \ THIS BRINGS THE TABLE OF CONTENTS TO A CONCLUSION. ENJOY THE GUIDE! / ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2. Game Info Corner (not really a corner, but you get the picture.... right?) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= +---------------------------+ | Name: Final Fantasy VII | | Developed: SquareSoft | | ESRB Rated: T(Teen) | | JP/US Releases: '96/'97 | | Number of Disks: 3 | | Number of Players: 1 | | Memory Card Blocks: 1 blk | |Sony Computer Entertainment| +---------------------------+ =============================================================================== ----------------------------------------- .:'*':. 1. Update History .:'*':. #SAIU ----------------------------------------- =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------ I. Version: 1.0 - Updated When: 9/11/03 - KB: 23 ------------------------------------------------ - Ok, this was the very first day I've worked on this gonna-be-a-beast FAQ, and on this day I have finished the main layout and format of the guide. - What I've also done today was finish a few of the guide's many, many appendices here and throughout. - Note: This guide was not released to the public on GameFaqs.com on this date, only started it. ------------------------------------------------- II. Version: 1.1 - Updated When: 9/12/03 - KB: 45 ------------------------------------------------- - I have finished up the semi-massive job of completing the Basics/General Infos section. - After I was all done with that, I went on to finish the About Character's section which wasn't as big a task. - And that's not all I did, no sir, I also finished little 3-min task of doing the Story of FFVII section of the FAQ. - And right when you think that's it, I throw more stuff that I've done today at you: I finished a few of the beginning Sidequests sections, as well as doing the Codes section. - And that is it! ^_^ ------------------------------------------------- III. Version 1.3 - Updated When: 9/13/03 - KB: 51 ------------------------------------------------- Not much of an update today, as you can see, but here's what went down... - I added the Menu into the Basics section. Redid statistics in the same section. - I got some awesome new ASCII art for the top of the guide. - That's pretty much it besides I nabbed one spelling error. ------------------------------------------------ IV. Version 1.4 - Updated When: 9/14/03 - KB: 84 ------------------------------------------------ - This wasn't much of a big update. The biggest thing that I did was complete the All Limits section of the guide. Which up'd me about 27K. - Next, and is the only other thing I did was to complete the Ancient Forest section which was about 6K more. ------------------------------------------------ V. Version 1.5 - Updated When: 9/16/03 - KB: 165 ------------------------------------------------ - I did a lot of sections past the Ancient Forest, but there's still a lot to come, and I also changed the final layout of this thing to what you see before you now. The layout won't change again. ------------------------------------------------- VI. Version 1.6 - Updated When: 9/24/03 - KB: 259 ------------------------------------------------- - Well, I elaborated on a lot of sections, for one thing, that were lacking some information that I felt was imperative. - I began the walkthrough, and it's finished up until you blow up the first Mako Reactor. - Expect big updates in the near future. -------------------------------------------------- VII. Version 1.7 - Updated When: 9/25/03 - KB: 276 -------------------------------------------------- - I have gotten a lot done in the walkthrough, or, to be more precise, up till you get to Tifa's bar Seventh Heaven. - I fixed up a few typos here and there, and corrected some layout issues in some sections that needed it. --------------------------------------------------- VIII. Version 1.8 - Updated When: 10/1/03 - KB: 328 --------------------------------------------------- - Worked a somewhat significant bit on the Walkthrough section. I've been relatively satisfied lately with my progress made on it, and I don't expect that it should be too much longer into the future that I finally finish the entire thing. I've been striving to make it as detail-rich as humanly possible. ------------------------------------------------- IX. Version 1.9 - Updated When: 10/7/03 - KB: 371 ------------------------------------------------- - Haha, well, the king of procrastination is back with a decently sized update to this FAQ. What did I do, you ask? Well, I'm going to tell you right now...:) - The Walkthrough is complete up until Wall Market, and I even got a little bit of that done, as well. This will take a while to complete, since I plan to make it vomit-enducingly detailed when it's finished. - I also incorporated a Stat Leveling Info section with some small datas I've collected and compiled into one section. - You know what else is finished? Huh, huh? Ok, it's the Basics section of this FAQ, as I have finally gotten around to explaining the Materia system in it. -------------------------------------------------- X. Version 2.0 - Updated When: 10/14/03 - KB: 527K -------------------------------------------------- - Huge update since that last time, no? Anyway, I did a lot, and this is where I tell you everything that I accomplished this time. - Well for one, I finished the walkthrough all the way up to when you first finish the Shinra HQ and leave for the World Map. - I subtracted and then added a little more to the Stat Leveling Information section to better please the reader. - I corrected a few spelling and grammatical errors every now and then. --------------------------------------------------- XI. Version 2.1 - Updated When: 10/26/03 - KB: 737K --------------------------------------------------- - First off, I made an addendum to criterion in the copyright section, as well as the contact section. - Finished the walkthrough up to past Cosmo Canyon. - I also redid the Limit Break section with a better format and some extra information on all Lv4 Limits for characters. ---------------------------------------------------- XII. Version 2.2 - Updated When: 10/31/03 - KB: 906K ---------------------------------------------------- - I am 90 percent happy with this update. - I mainly only worked on the walkthrough. - The walkthrough is done to Gaea's Cliff. - I plan to finish a bit past the Crater tomorrow. - That is all for this update ^_^ ------------------------------------------------------ XIII. Version 2.3 - Updated When: 11/22/03 - KB: 1321K ------------------------------------------------------ - Massively large update this time around, eh? I'm pretty frickin' happy with it, too. - Well, the absolute largest section of the guide has, at long last, been completed, and that of course is the Walkthrough. - Added a little in some random sections. - My second most major accomplishment this time around is finishing the Boss Encyclopaedia of the FAQ. - Also, the Basics/Mechanics [#SB2B] has been totally revamped with all data any beginner could want. ----------------------------------------------------- XIV. Version 2.4 - Updated When: 12/10/03 - KB: 1390K ----------------------------------------------------- - Eh, not an update with as much grandeur as the last one, but hey... - Anyhow, I did finish the Accessories section (I finally nabbed those last two I had archived in my first play but couldn't find!) - Finished the Tips & Tricks section, too! ---------------------------------------------------- XV. Version 2.5 - Updated When: 12/30/03 - KB: 1419K ---------------------------------------------------- - Added a codes section. - I also added five new Materia combos. ---------------------------------------------------- XVI. Version 2.6 - Updated When: 3/19/04 - KB: 1450K ---------------------------------------------------- - I FINALLY added all of the data that I have compiled regarding B. and S. Sephiroth's HP. - I added core stats and other relevant info (along with stats for extra things in some boss battles like Pyramid or Shinra Semi) of all bosses. - I updated the walkthrough a bit, including some new items/enemies mainly. ----------------------------------------------------- XVII. Version 2.7 - Updated When: 3/20/04 - KB: 1452K ----------------------------------------------------- - Just corrected and added a few things that needed to be corrected and added here and there throughout the guide. ------------------------------------------------------ XVIII. Version 2.8 - Updated When: 3/24/07 - KB: 3272K ------------------------------------------------------ - All the data in this update has been collected and in the works over the last 2 years in which I was in an FAQing hiatus, but I did a lot of work/testing on games in lue of that. - The enemy section is finally 100% complete. - Weapon section, Armor section, Accessory section, Materia section, Limit Break section, and Item section are all done. - Date Mechanics section included. - Basics/Mechanics section has been added to. - Added every enemy formation. - Added all the items you can excavate from Bone Village, as well as formation and general battle information for all of Fort Condor. - Included Battle Square enemy modifications. - I added in a section titled Music where, aside from Song Lyrics (which were already there), can also be found the entire tracklisting and running times for the Final Fantasy VII OST. - A Vehicles section is now part of this FAQ. - Included a Shop List section, for easy reference and supplementation. - The Wutai subquest section of this FAQ is now also finished, replete with strategies for Rapps and the five Pagoda bosses. - Fixed quite a few errors that were present, and also did some proof-reading here and there. - Addendums to Copyright and Contact Information have been made. - The next update (if there is one) will entail a lot of translated information from the Ultimania Omega (story/character-wise) and Don Corneo's choice mechanics, but otherwise this is a finished product. -------------------------------------------------------- XVIII. Version Final - Updated When: 4/24/07 - KB: 3304K -------------------------------------------------------- - I went through the FAQ and fixed some spelling and grammar errors that were present since this beginning. - Noticed some problems with some algorithms for calculating certain things, so those are fixed now. Also any minor corrections or clarifications I could make to any existing walkthrough information have been made. - The major addition in this update was Don Corneo's choice mechanics. In a nutshell I added a list of all possible combinations of accessories you can have on Cloud, and the results they yield. This list was provided with permission courtesy of Fantasy Gamer, and his Don Corneo Mechanics FAQ can also be found here on GameFAQs. =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------ .:'*':. 1. Basics/General Info .:'*':. #SB2B ------------------------------------------------ =============================================================================== In this section you will be able to find anything you may need to know before you play the game. You find all of the basics and necessities of the game of Final Fantasy VII. This includes Status Effects, basic need-to-know things, the controls, the Main Menu, Battle information, and modes of transportation. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. Basics of FFVII =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Topic #1 - Exploring The Game: ------------------------------ FF7, like with most RPGs, is a large game, and requires a large amount of exploration and discovery to be sucessful. So, don't be surprised when you find your clock's hours wearing quite high :) Through and throughout this game, you shall encounter and come upon many cities, forests, towns, caves, buildings and other things of the sort, and while not all of them require the same amount of exploration and idiosyncrasy-delving, you should at least give them more than a passing glance, as sometimes, the best items can be found in some of the most unsuspected and unusal of places. There shall be tons of treasure chests, things almost serving no feasible purpose laying in the most random places, savepoints, etc., all which are imperative to the game. Now, while some things may look the same on the ground, ie. a yellow Materia on the ground like Deathblow, then later on, W-Item, for instance, so pick up everything you see, as well as pilfering every noticeable treasure chest. Of course, some are more inconspicuously concealed than others, while others may just be sitting right in the open, saying "get the hell over here and pick me up!" There are also many of the game's secrets which require you to partake foregone sidequests in the game, ranging from various difficulties and time lengths, from easy and short, to long and time-consuming. Also, when you're in random cities, or in places you want to be in, always take it upon yourself to converse with the locals, as they sometimes divulge pertinent or useful information, or, in some instances, reward you with some useful item of some sort. Or under some circumstances, even both. Along with these items, there are some in the game that cannot be obtained ever again after you miss it at a certain time (all of those are covered in #SI5E of the FAQ. It may also behoove you to examine some "burial grounds" of bosses, who may not immediately give you an item after a fight, but indirectly in form of dropping it on the floor afterwards. Topic #2 - Utilizing Items: --------------------------- This is almost a no-brainer topic, and requires very little education to comprehend, however, I feel it imperative to give it some mention. This feature which is in most RPGs, can come in many different forms. By this I mean, you can use them as Key Items, which are used to trigger and/or unlock something special in the game, battle usage of normal items, and outside usage of some particular normal items only. First, I cover Key Items, and give an insinuendo. All right, an example of a Key Item would be the Leviathan Scales, and it is used to decinerate flames in Da Chao cave, allowing you access to the items therein. They're, obviously, contained in the "Key Item" submenu of the item screen on the Main Menu (covered also in this basics section). Topic #3 - Equipment: --------------------- This screen is simply accessible from paying a minor visit over to the Items division of the Menu Screen which you access by pressing Circle when not in a battle or a cutscene throughout the storyline or plot. Basically, in a nut- shell, what this is is a listing of every weapon and armor that a certain character has (since every character has different weapons and armors as anyone who has played Final Fantasies in the past would know). This screen allows for easy equipping and unequipping of those equipments. You also have the option of using the command called "Sort" to easily order and organize your party's armors and weapons. Topic #4 - Saving Your Game Progress: ------------------------------------- Throughout the game of Final Fantasy 7, you are inevitably going to encounter some of those little wierd-looking things laying in some places where they seem to serve no conceivable purpose. These, in fact, are save points, or save spots, if you wish to call them that as an alternative; it doesn't matter. At each and every single one of these, when you first touch them, it will let you access menu and then highlights the Save option at the bottom. Now you can save your current game progress up to that point on either memory card slot 1 or 2. Topic #5 - Where To Look For Some Darn Help?: --------------------------------------------- There is a very simple and extremely easy-to-use option which you can access by simply paying a little visit to the Menu Screen (pressing the Circle button when not in battle or cutscenes), and then by choosing on the option down at the very bottom, which is "Help". This of obviously opens up the Help Menu. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2. Statistics =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In this subsection I will cover semi-briefly the core stats that make up your characters, as well as the derived stats that come from those very same core stats. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - CORE STATS - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are a total of 9 core stats in the game, 7 of which are the real stats that determine performance in battle. The first two in the following list simply determine your capacities (health and mana). All core stats other than HP, MP, and lvl increase by 0-3 for a level gain. No more than that is allowed. 1. HP (HIT POINTS) ------------------ -> HP can be divided into two subjects of interest. One would be MaxHP. This is the maximum HP that a character has. It caps at 9999 (or 999 if said character is equipped with HP<->MP Materia). The other is what I call CurHP. This can be defined as the current HP a character has. It will always be less than or equal to MaxHP. For example if a character has a MaxHP of 8765, and battle starts with that character at MaxHP and they go five turns without sustaining any damage, their MaxHP = 8765 and CurHP = 8765. In retrospect, if their MaxHP is 8765 and they are attacked for 1349 damage, their MaxHP = 8765 while their CurHP = 7416. If a character's CurHP = 0, they enter KO/Death status. -> HP cannot be increased through Sources, but it will be increased through leveling up, as well as particular Items, Accessories, Armor, Weapons, Materia, and Limit Breaks. 2. MP (MAGIC/MANA POINTS) ------------------------- -> HP can be divided into two subjects of interest. One would be MaxMP. This is the maximum MP that a character has. It caps at 999 (or 9999 if said character is equipped with HP<->MP Materia). The other is what I call CurMP. This can be defined as the current MP a character has. It will always be less than or equal to MaxMP. For example if a character has a MaxHP of 865, and battle starts with that character at MaxMP and they go five turns without sustaining any MP damage or using any attacks which consume MP to use, their MaxMP = 865 and CurMP = 865. In retrospect, if their MaxMP is 865 and they use Wall Magic (MP cost of 58), their MaxMP = 865 while their CurMP = 807. If a character's CurMP = 0, they can no longer use any abilities which require MP. On that same note, if a character's CurMP is less than the MP cost of an ability, that ability is unavailable to them. -> MP cannot be increased through Sources, but it will be increased through leveling up, as well as particular Items, Accessories, Armor, Weapons, Materia, and Limit Breaks. 3. LVL (LEVEL) -------------- -> Levels determine the overall base stat increases of a character. The max lvl any character can achieve is 99. The lowest lvl anyone can ever see is 1, which is the base level for all characters other than Cloud and Sephiroth. However, when you get the chance to name a character when they enter your party, they are automatically brought up to around the lvl of your party, so that they are not far behind and obsolete. The maximum a character can be leveled to automatically when you name them is 98. The formulae for figuring out a character's level when you first get them are as follows. Tifa = [average party lvl - 2] Aeris = [average party lvl - 3] Barret = [average party lvl - 1] Red XIII = [average party lvl + 2] Cid = [average party lvl + 3] Yuffie = [Mysterious Ninja lvl]* Vincent = [average party lvl + 3] Cait Sith = [average party lvl] * - only 6 available values; 17, 22, 27, 32, 37, or 42, which depend on Cloud's lvl, generated as such: Cloud's Level | Mystery Ninja Level --------------+-------------------- 1~20 | 17 21~25 | 22 26~30 | 27 31~35 | 32 36~40 | 37 41~99 | 42 -> Lvl is increased through raising Exp (Experience) through winning battles. There is a way to calculate how much Exp is required to reach each level for a character. There will be two special characters defined at this point: Young Cloud (in Nibelheim flashbacks), and Sephiroth (also in Nibelheim flashbacks - not to be confused with Bizarro Sephiroth, Safer Sephiroth, and Sephiroth fought at the end of the game). Experience is gained from a character being in battle is [total Exp of enemies killed by party]; Experience gained from a character being in battle by under KO at the end is 0; Experience gained from a character being outside of battle is [Exp x 1/2] (this is not including story events in which they cannot be called via PHS - in which case they receive 0 Exp). Experience is not divided amongst characters (all characters receive the full Exp available from the defeated opposing group). The formula to calculate the required amount of total Exp needed for a character to reach any Lvl is [LvMod x {(lvl - 1) / 2} / 10], where LvMod is defined through the following: L2~11 L12~21 L22~31 L32~41 L42~51 L52~61 L62~81 L82~99 Cloud 68 71 73 74 74 74 75 77 Tifa 67 70 72 74 74 75 76 78 Aeris 68 71 73 74 75 75 75 76 Barret 70 73 75 76 77 77 77 77 Red XIII 68 71 74 75 75 75 76 76 Cid 69 72 75 75 76 76 77 77 Yuffie 69 72 75 75 76 76 77 77 Vincent 70 72 75 76 76 76 76 76 Cait Sith 69 72 75 75 75 76 76 76 Sephiroth 68 71 73 74 74 74 75 77 Young Cloud 130 140 140 110 90 70 48 27 The numbers you see for each character for each level grouping is what is used to replace LvMod in the above formula. Exp continues to increase after Lv99, but no lvl increase will take place. Now, base lvls and Exp for each character are as follows. Base Lvl Base Exp Cloud 6 610 Tifa 1 8 Aeris 1 0 Barret 1 10 Red XIII 1 12 Cid 1 18 Yuffie 1 0 Vincent 1 16 Cait Sith 1 14 Sephiroth 50 * 320438 * Young Cloud 1 * 12 * * - both these characters will never progress passed this point in terms of lvl or Exp. Lastly, here are the Max Natural values for all stats for each character. By natural it is meant without use of Sources. For HP and MP it is very hard to reach the highest Max Natural value because you must always be between certain amounts on each level, and if you're off by even 1, you can -never- reach the Maximum Natural values for either of those two stats. Keep in mind that the number on the left is the lowest Maximum Natural stat possible, whilst the number on the right is the highest Maximum Natural stat value. HP MP Str Vit Mag Spr Dex Luck Cloud 8960/9511 851/905 98/100 89/96 98/100 93/100 55/62 22/29 Tifa 8513/9037 800/850 89/96 78/85 82/89 89/96 64/71 23/30 Aeris 8304/8816 942/994 71/78 76/83 100/100 98/100 51/58 21/28 Barret 9435/9999 748/796 94/100 97/100 78/85 82/89 47/54 20/27 Red XIII 8980/9556 814/866 84/91 85/92 84/91 89/96 71/78 21/28 Cid 8682/9284 776/822 85/92 90/97 79/86 83/90 54/61 20/27 Yuffie 8471/8993 790/841 82/89 78/85 85/92 86/93 70/77 25/32 Vincent 8211/8779 859/915 74/81 74/81 89/96 93/100 51/58 23/30 Cait Sith 8608/9135 822/869 78/85 74/81 89/96 93/100 51/58 23/30 - Note: for information on exactly how Str, Vit, Mag, Spr, Dex, HP, and MP increase based on level, reference Terence's Party Mechanics FAQ, to which I credit the information in these last few charts. 4. STR (STRENGTH) ----------------- -> Str determines the base physical attack power of a character. You will only ever see it in base form if you do not have a weapon equipped. -> Str increases through increasing levels and permanently through the use of Power Sources. 5. VIT (VITALITY) ----------------- -> Vit is the base form of the resistance to physical attacks that a character possessed. -> Vit increases through increasing levels and permanently through the use of Guard Sources. 6. SPR (SPIRIT) --------------- -> Spr is the base form of the resistance to magical attacks that a character possesses. -> Spr increases through increasing levels and permanently through the use of Mind Sources. 7. DEX (DEXTERITY) ------------------ -> Dex is the base form of the speed of a character. Note that in the case of enemies, their Dex, at any value, is [Dex - 50] compared to anyone in your party. -> Dex increases through increasing levels and permanently through the use of Speed Sources. 8. MAG (MAGIC) -------------- -> Mag determines the base magical attack power of a character. This is always the the constant for Magic, however MAt will still be used to denote its derived stat. -> Mag increases through increasing levels and permanently through the use of Magic Sources. 9. LUCK (LUCK) -------------- -> Luck factors into the frequency of Critical Hits. -> Luck increases through increasing levels. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - DERIVED STATS - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. ATT (ATTACK) --------------- -> Derived from Str. -> Att = [Str + weapon Att increase] 2. DEF (DEFENSE) ---------------- -> Derived from Vit. -> Def = [Vit + armor Def increase] 3. MAT (MAGIC ATTACK) --------------------- -> Derived from Magic. -> MAt = [Mag] 4. MDF (MAGIC DEFENSE) ---------------------- -> Derived from Spirit. -> MDf = [Spr + armor MDf increase]* * - Final Fantasy VII has a bug in its coding that does not allow -ANY- MDf increase to be experienced; thus, your MDf is, in essence, your base Spr. 5. AT% (ATTACK PERCENTAGE) -------------------------- -> At% = [weapon At% increase] 6. DF% (DEFENSE PERCENTAGE) --------------------------- -> Derived from Dexterity. -> Df% = [(Dex x 1/4) + armor Df% increase] 7. MD% (MAGIC DEFENSE PERCENTAGE) --------------------------------- -> MD% = [armor MD% increase] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3. Damage Calculation =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= First off, we must define base physical damage and base magical damage: ------------------------------ STEP 1 - BASE DAMAGE ------------------------------ Base PhysDmg = [Att + {(Att + lvl) / 32} x {(Att x lvl)} / 32)}]* * - if user has Small, Att = 0 Base MagDmg = [(MAt + lvl) x 6] Now, if there has been any modification through items, spells, etc., to the above base damage calculations (and these modifications can all be found throughout this FAQ), the base damages -must- be considered as such: Base PhysDmg 2 = [Base PhysDmg x (PhMod + 100) / 100] Base MagDmg 2 = [Base MagDmg x (MgMod + 100) / 100] - Note: certain attacks do not require checks for certain parts of damage formula. These attacks are denoted mainly in the Data Representation sections for sections detailing abilities (in this FAQ). ---------------------------------- STEP 2 - ATTACK FORMULAE ---------------------------------- This step checks for the formulae the attack uses (which will be detailed in other sections that contain ability information). There are 8 total formulae that FF7 uses to calculate damage. We start off with Dmg 1 = [Dmg 1] ------------------------------------------- STEP 3 - BASE DAMAGE MODIFICATION ------------------------------------------- If an attack (again, as will be mentioned with any attack in this document that the following pertains to) has a special modification to base damage, it is calculated as such: Dmg 2 = [Dmg 1 x base damage modification] Ultimate Weapons all have their own special base damage modification, which will be detailed in their specific entries in this FAQ. It is also important to note that if two base damage modifications are being used in conjunction, the base damage modification is calculated as such: Base Damage Modification = [(Mod1 x Mod2 x 16) + (15 / 16) / 16], where Mod1 and Mod2 can be interpretted each as one of the base damage modifications in question. Base damage modification only is counted if the attack is a base Command Skill. As such, again, Dmg 2 = [Dmg 1 x base damage modification] Otherwise, Dmg 2 = [Dmg 1] ----------------------------------------- STEP 4 - EFFECT SPLIT REDUCTION ----------------------------------------- The attack's damage/effect is divided amongst the targets it is used on (which will also be noted in attack-specific sections of this document), then: Dmg 3 = [Dmg 2 x 2/3] Otherwise, Dmg = [Dmg 2] ------------------------------- STEP 5 - QUADRA MAGIC ------------------------------- The game now checks if the attack is being used via Quadra Magic, and if so: Dmg 4 = [Dmg 3 x 1/2] Otherwise, Dmg 4 = [Dmg 3] ---------------------------------------- STEP 6 - DEFENSE/MAGIC DEFENSE ---------------------------------------- If the attack is not Piercing, then the damage reduced by Def and MDf is as follows: Def Factor = [Def x (DefMod + 100) / 100] MDf Factor = [MDf x (MDfMod + 100 / 100] where, DefMod and MDfMod come from external stat modifying items, abilities, etc. (covered elsewhere). Thus, Dmg 5 = [Dmg 4 x (512 - Def Factor OR MDf Factor) / 512] Otherwise, Dmg 5 = [Dmg 4] ------------------------------------------ STEP 7 - BERSERK/CRITICAL DAMAGE ------------------------------------------ If the attack is physical and the character has Berserk, then: Dmg 6 = [Dmg 5 x 1.5], or if the attack was Critical, Dmg 6 = [Dmg 5 x 2] Otherwise, Dmg 6 = [Dmg 5] ----------------------- STEP 8 - FROG ----------------------- If the attack is physical and the character has Frog, then: Dmg 7 = [Dmg 6 x 1/4] Otherwise, Dmg 7 = [Dmg 6] --------------------------- STEP 9 - MP TURBO --------------------------- If the attack is magical and is being used with MP Turbo, depending on the lvl of the MP Turbo Materia, damage is modified thusly: Dmg 8 = [Dmg 7 x {(MP Turbo lvl / 10) + 1}] Otherwise, Dmg 8 = [Dmg 7] ---------------------------- STEP 10 - BACK ROW ---------------------------- If the user is in the Back Row and the attack under utilization is not Long Range or magical, then the following occurs even for attacking themself or allies: Dmg 9 = [Dmg 8 x 1/2] Otherwise, Dmg 9 = [Dmg 8] ----------------------------------------- STEP 11 - BARRIER/MAGIC BARRIER ----------------------------------------- If the attack is physical and Barrier is in place upon the target, Dmg 10 = [Dmg 9 x 1/2] or, If the attack is magical and Magic Barrier is in place upon the target, Dmg 10 = [Dmg 9 x 1/2] Otherwise, Dmg 10 = [Dmg 9] --------------------------- STEP 12 - SADNESS --------------------------- If the target has Sadness and the attack is not Restorative, an Item, and Random Variance is not included in the attack's damage calculation, then: Dmg 11 = [Dmg 10 - (Dmg 10 x 79/256)] Otherwise, Dmg 11 = [Dmg 10] ----------------------------------- STEP 13 - RANDOM VARIANCE ----------------------------------- If the attack uses Random Variance in its damage calculation, then: Dmg 12 = [Dmg 11 x (Rnd[0..1] + 15) / 16] Otherwise, Dmg 12 = [Dmg 11] Note that the lowest damage possible at this point is 1. -------------------------------- STEP 14 - ADDED DAMAGE -------------------------------- If the weapon has an Added Da,age and is used with a base Command Skill, then: Dmg 13 = [Dmg 12 x Added Damage] Otherwise, Dmg 13 = [Dmg 12] ---------------------------------------- STEP 15 - ELEMENT MODIFICATION ---------------------------------------- Note that this step should be taken in order of priority. If the target absorbs the imbued Element (if any), then: Dmg 14 heals Dmg 13 to the target, or If the target is immume to the imbued Element (if any), then: Dmg 14 = 0, or If the target 1/2's the imbued Element (if any), then: Dmg 14 = [(Dmg 13 + 1) / 2], or If the target is weak to the imbued Element (if any), then: Dmg 14 = [Dmg 13 x 2] Otherwise, Dmg 14 = [Dmg 13] -------------------------------- STEP 16 - FINAL DAMAGE -------------------------------- Note that now final damage is calculated, and there are actually a few things to consider once we reach this step. If the damage from all the above steps is greater than or equal to 9999, then: Final Damage = 9999 (HP Damage) or 999 (HP Damage) if HP<->MP Materia is equipped, or Final Damage = 999 (MP Damage) or 9999 (MP Damage) if HP<->MP Materia is equipped Otherwise, Final Damage = [Dmg 14] Now we have a chance of damage overflow and negative damage. Damage overflow will occur when damage is above 262144 before base damage is included into the damage formula. If damage is between 524288~559094 before Random Variance, the damage will overflow in this case, as well. If the damage overflow is negative and not positive, the game deals negative damage. In terms of this game's mechanics, this means that your damage has actually given the enemy more HP than before the attack was used, and consequently removes all of the enemy's HP, resulting in an instant KO to all enemies in the game except for Ruby Weapon. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4. Attack-Landing Chance =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Chance = [(Dex / 4 + At%) + Df% - (Df% - 1)] This is just the *basic* formula, to get the real numbers you have to factor in the Luck formula. It comes into play when you land a "lucky hit" (dealing critical damage, unless you are using Deathblow, in which case you won't be able to tell if it's a lucky hit or not). It's possible that the attack would "Miss" according to the above formula, but you have a [Luck / 4]% to land a lucky hit. So to get accurate numbers you have to take the value x that comes out of the above formula and add the luck factor: [n% + (1 - n)] x [Luck / 4]% (note that the second x is not a percentage, i.e. you have to divide it by 100 to get it between 0 and 1, and if it's above 100%, then luck doesn't come into the equation anyway). I want to note, in case you didn't notice, that the Mystile doesn't only have great Df%. If you look at the first formula (and know that Df% is [Armor Df% + (Dex / 4)]), you'll see that it also gives you a great Hit% bonus (50% to be precise). This is enough to get a 100+ Hit% on "almost" every enemy (some have sometimes under special circumstances a 255 Df% rating....), with regular attacks, that is. But even Deathblow should stick almost everytime if the character is equipped with the Mystile... but you can do the math and see for yourself >_>. So just to sum it up: if you have 100 At% and the enemy 50 Df%, chances are you will have a much better than 50% chance to hit him. To only have a 50% chance to hit you would need an armor with 0 Def% (possible) and only 3 or less Dex (don't think that's possible, without cheating, of course >_>). In fact, if you only had 3 Dex but a Mystile equipped you would have exactly 100% chance to hit. Thanks to lolo26 for this brief but effective explanation =) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 5. Status Augmentations =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= There are a large amount of status effects in FFVII, and here I will cover each of them. 1. DEATH (KO) - NEGATIVE ------------------------ -> Effect: The inflicted cannot act; remove all statuses except Frog, Small -> Continuance: Until removed (even outside of battle and into other battles) -> Removal Methods: Phoenix Down, Angel Whisper, Phoenix, Life, Life2 -> Preventative Methods: Safety Bit, Destruct+Added Effect, Odin+Added Effect, Death Force, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted lies on the ground motionless; CurHP = 0/MaxHP; HP text turns red -> Special Notes: If all characters have Death, Game Over (except in Battle Square and Pagoda battles) 2. NEAR DEATH (CRITICAL) - NEGATIVE ----------------------------------- -> Effect: N/A -> Continuance: Until removed -> Removal Methods: Restoring CurHP above 1/4 MaxHP, Death -> Preventative Methods: Keeping CurHP above 1/4 MaxHP -> Appearance: The inflicted kneels down; HP text turns yellow -> Special Notes: Near Death is only inflicted if the inflicted's CurHP is less than or equal to their MaxHP 3. SLEEP - NEGATIVE ------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted cannot act -> Continuance: 26 battle time units or until removed -> Removal Methods: Esuna, Remedy, White Wind, Angel Whisper, physical damage, Death -> Preventative Methods: Headband, Ribbon, Hades+Added Effect, Seal+Added Effect, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted kneels down; "zzz" appears above their head -> Special Notes: N/A 4. POISON - NEGATIVE -------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted receives 1/32 MaxHP physical Poison elemental damage every 2.5 battle time units and ignores Def, Barrier (damage done is not effected by Random Variance) -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: Antidote, Poisona, Esuna, Remedy, White Wind, Angel Whisper, Death -> Preventative Methods: Star Pendant, Poison Ring, Fairy Ring, Ribbon, Hades+ Added Effect, Poison+Added Effect, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted kneels down; the inflicted flashes green; Color Priority = 2 -> Special Notes: If target is immune to Poison elemental damage, they will. also be immune to Poison status, and likewise is true. Also note that the damage you receive every 2.5 battle time units is the elemental damage; the status is simply the state of having Poison. 5. SADNESS - NEGATIVE --------------------- -> Effect: [Limit Guage Growth x 1/2]; Dmg Taken = [177/256 dmg] -> Continuance: Until removed -> Removal Methods: Hyper, Esuna, Remedy, Death -> Preventative Methods: Peace Ring, Ribbon, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: Limit Guage turns blue -> Special Notes: N/A 6. FURY - NEGATIVE ------------------ -> Effect: [Limit Guage Growth x 2]; Dmg = [dmg x 2] -> Continuance: Until removed -> Removal Methods: Tranquilizer, Esuna, Remedy, Death -> Preventative Methods: Peace Ring, Ribbon, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: Limit Guage turns red -> Special Notes: N/A 7. CONFUSION - NEGATIVE ----------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted randomly attacks allies and self -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: Esuna, Remedy, White Wind, Angel Whisper, physical damage, Death -> Preventative Methods: Peace Ring, Ribbon, Mystify+Added Effect, Hades+Added Effect, Contain+Added Effect, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted spins around in circles -> Special Notes: If a command was given to the inflicted but not carried out before entering Confusion, their first action will be to use the command against allies and/or self. 8. SILENCE - NEGATIVE --------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted cannot use Magic, Summons, Enemy Skills -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: Echo Screen, Esuna, Remedy, White Wind, Angel Whisper, Death -> Preventative Methods: Ribbon, Hades+Added Effect, Seal+Added Effect, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted kneels down; an elipses appears above their head -> Special Notes: N/A 9. HASTE - POSITIVE ------------------- -> Effect: [battle time unit speed x 2]; other status effects with timers will be removed twice as quickly -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: DeSpell, Holy Torch, Death -> Preventative Methods: Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: [movement animation rate x 2] -> Special Notes: N/A 10. SLOW - NEGATIVE ------------------- -> Effect: [battle time unit speed x 1/2]; other status effects with timer will be removed half as quickly -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: White Wind, Angel Whisper, DeSpell, Holy Torch, Death -> Preventative Methods: Time+Added Effect, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: [movement animation rate x 1/2] -> Special Notes: N/A 11. STOP - NEGATIVE ------------------- -> Effect: [battle time unit speed x 0]; other status effects in place will not effect the inflicted until Stop is removed -> Continuance: 15 battle time units or until removed -> Removal Methods: White Wind, Angel Whisper DeSpell, Holy Torch, Death -> Preventative Methods: Time+Added Effect, Contain+Added Effect, Choco/Mog+ Added Effect, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: [movement animation rate x 0] -> Special Notes: N/A 12. FROG - NEGATIVE ------------------- -> Effect: Physical Dmg = [1/4 base dmg]; the inflicted can only use Fight, Item, W-Item, Toad -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: Maiden's Kiss, Impaler, Toad, Esuna, Remedy, White Wind, Angel Whisper -> Preventative Methods: White Cape, Ribbon, Hades+Added Effect, Transform+ Added Effect, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted becomes a frog/toad -> Special Notes: N/A 13. SMALL - NEGATIVE -------------------- -> Effect: Att = 0; Elemental damage uses 1 for its affinity modification -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: Cornucopia, Mini, Shrivel, Esuna, Remedy, White Wind, Angel Whisper -> Preventative Methods: White Cape, Ribbon, Hades+Added Effect, Transform+ Added Effect, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted becomes much smaller than normal size -> Special Notes: N/A 14. SLOW-NUMB - NEGATIVE ------------------------ -> Effect: When 30 battle time unit timer above the inflicted's head reaches 0, Petrification on the inflicted -> Continuance: 30 battle time units or until removed -> Removal Methods: Soft, Esuna, Remedy, White Wind, Angel Whisper -> Preventative Methods: Jem Ring, Safety Bit, Ribbon, Petrification, Resist, Peerless, Death -> Appearance: The inflicted has a timer above their head; the inflicted flashes grey; Color Priority = 1 -> Special Notes: N/A 15. PETRIFICATION - NEGATIVE ---------------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted cannot act; immune to all damage/healing; immune to all other status effects -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: Soft, Esuna, Remedy, White Wind, Angel Whisper -> Preventative Methods: Jem Ring, Safety Bit, Ribbon, Contain+Added Effect, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted turns to stone; [movement animation rate x 0] -> Special Notes: If all characters have Petrification, Game Over (except in Battle Square and Pagoda battles) 16. REGEN - POSITIVE -------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted restores 1/32 MaxHP per battle time unit -> Continuance: 32 battle time units or until removed -> Removal Methods: DeSpell, Holy Torch, Death -> Preventative Methods: Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted flashes orange; Color Priority = 6 -> Special Notes: N/A 17. BARRIER - POSITIVE ---------------------- -> Effect: [received physical dmg x 1/2] -> Continuance: 30 battle time units or until removed -> Removal Methods: DeSpell, Holy Torch, DeBarrier, Death -> Preventative Methods: Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: N/A -> Special Notes: N/A 18. MAGIC BARRIER - POSITIVE ---------------------------- -> Effect: [received magical dmg x 1/2] -> Continuance: 30 battle time units or until removed -> Removal Methods: DeSpell, Holy Torch, DeBarrier, Death -> Preventative Methods: Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: N/A -> Special Notes: N/A 19. REFLECT - POSITIVE ---------------------- -> Effect: Spells directed at the inflicted will be redirected back at user, or if an ally of the inflicted casts it, the spell will be redirected at a random enemy -> Continuance: 4 Reflects have been used or until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: DeSpell, Holy Torch, DeBarrier, Death -> Preventative Methods: Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: N/A -> Special Notes: Cure, Cure2, Cure3, Poisona, Esuna, Resist, Life, Life2, Regen, Fire, Fire2, Fire3, Ice, Ice2, Ice3, Bolt, Bolt2, Bolt3, Quake, Quake2, Quake3, Bio, Bio2, Bio3, Sleepel, Confu, Silence, Mini, Toad, Berserk, Haste, Slow, Stop, Barrier, MBarrier, Death, Freeze, Break, Tornado, Flare, Wall, Frog Song, L4 Suicide, Magic Hammer, Death Force, Flame Thrower, Laser, Matra Magic, Aqualung, Shadow Flare, Pandora's Box are the only abilities compatible with Reflect 20. SHIELD - POSITIVE --------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted is immune to normal attacks; absorbs physical and elemental damage -> Continuance: 17.5 battle time units or until removed -> Removal Methods: DeSpell, Holy Torch, DeBarrier, Death -> Preventative Methods: Petrification, Resist -> Appearance: N/A -> Special Notes: Does not protect against item damage or spells with non- elemental affinities. 21. DEATH SENTENCE - NEGATIVE ----------------------------- -> Effect: When 60 battle time unit timer above the inflicted's head reaches 0, Death on the inflicted -> Continuance: 60 battle time units or until removed -> Removal Methods: Death -> Preventative Methods: Safety Bit, Ribbon, Petrification, Resist, Peerless, Death Force -> Appearance: The inflicted has a timer above their head; the inflicted kneels down -> Special Notes: If all characters have Death Sentence, it indirectly means Game Over because the only removal for Death Sentence is Death (whether it be by the end of its counter, HP being reduced to 0, or instant Death status) 22. MANIPULATION - NEGATIVE/POSITIVE ------------------------------------ -> Effect: The inflicted is under control of the one that Manipulated them; Manipulation Menu is available in which the controller can select from the inflicted's attacks to use -> Continuance: Unitl battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: White Wind, physical damage, Death -> Preventative Methods: Sleep, Stop, Paralysis, Petrification, Resist -> Appearance: The inflicted flashes blue; Color Priority = 7 -> Special Notes: This is the only status effect that cannot be used on your party; one character can only Manipulate one enemy at once. 23. BERSERK - NEGATIVE ---------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted attacks random enemies only with physical attacks; [phys dmg x 1.5]; cannot Critical Hit; (when used on non-characters, each enemy has a specific Berserk Attack that it will solely use) -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: Esuna, Remedy, White Wind, Angel Whisper, Death -> Preventative Methods: Peace Ring, Ribbon, Mystify+Added Effect, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted flashes red; Color Priority = 3 -> Special Notes: N/A 24. PEERLESS - POSITIVE ----------------------- -> Effect: immune to all damage/healing; immune to all other status effects -> Continuance: 17.5 battle time units -> Removal Methods: N/A -> Preventative Methods: Petrification, Resist -> Appearance: The inflicted flashes yellow; Color Priority = 4 -> Special Notes: N/A 25. PARALYSIS - NEGATIVE ------------------------ -> Effect: The inflicted cannot act -> Continuance: 8 battle time units or until removed -> Removal Methods: Esuna, Remedy, White Wind, Angel Whisper, Death -> Preventative Methods: Jem Ring, Ribbon, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted kneels down; [movement animation rate x 0] -> Special Notes: N/A 26. DARKNESS - NEGATIVE ----------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted's attack accuracy percentage is reduced -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: Eye Drop, Esuna, Remedy, Angel Whisper, Eye Drop -> Preventative Methods: Silver Glasses, Fairy Ring, Ribbon, Petrification, Resist, Peerless -> Appearance: The inflicted kneels down; the inflicted flashes black; Color Priority = 5 -> Special Notes: N/A 27. DUAL - NEGATIVE ------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted loses 1/32 MaxHP per battle time unit -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: KO Waterpolo, Death -> Preventative Methods: N/A -> Appearance: N/A -> Special Notes: N/A 28. DEATH FORCE - POSITIVE -------------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted is immune to Death -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: White Wind, DeSpell -> Preventative Methods: N/A -> Appearance: N/A -> Special Notes: N/A 29. RESIST - POSITIVE --------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted is immune to all status effects -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: White Wind, DeSpell -> Preventative Methods: N/A -> Appearance: N/A -> Special Notes: N/A 30. LUCKY GIRL - POSITIVE ------------------------- -> Effect: [100% Critical Hit Rate] -> Continuance: N/A -> Removal Methods: Death -> Preventative Methods: N/A -> Appearance: N/A -> Special Notes: N/A 31. IMPRISON - NEGATIVE ----------------------- -> Effect: The inflicted cannot act; the inflicted cannot be targetted -> Continuance: Until battle ends or until removed -> Removal Methods: KO Pyramid, KO Waterpolo, KO Left Arm/Right Arm (in Carry Armor battle) -> Preventative Methods: N/A -> Appearance: [movement animation speed x 0] -> Special Notes: If all characters have Imprison, Game Over. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6. Elements List =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - STANDARD ELEMENTS - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. FIRE ------- -> Uses the element of Fire to attack/modify damage. -> Opposes: Ice 2. ICE ------ -> Uses the element of Ice to attack/modify damage. -> Opposes: Fire 3. LIGHTNING ------------ -> Uses the element of Lightning to attack/modify damage. -> Opposes: Water, Mechanical types 4. EARTH -------- -> Uses the element of Earth to attack/modify damage. -> Opposes: Wind, Flying types 5. WIND ------- -> Uses the element of Wind to attack/modify damage. -> Opposes: Earth, Flying types 6. WATER -------- -> Uses the element of Water to attack/modify damage. -> Opposes: lightning, Mechanical types 7. GRAVITY ---------- -> Uses the element of Gravity to attack/modify damage. Damage done will always be in proportion to the target's HP or MP. -> Opposes: None in particular 8. POISON --------- -> Uses the element of Poison to attack/modify damage. Attacks using the Poison element will typically inflict Poison status. -> Opposes: None particular 9. HOLY ------- -> Uses the element of Holy to attack/modify damage. -> Opposes: Undead types 10. RESTORATIVE --------------- -> Uses the element of Restore to recovery HP or in the case of Undead enemies, attack/modify damage. -> Opposes: Undead types (absorb Restorative) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - SPECIAL ELEMENTS - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. HIT ------ -> The element of Hit is used when the attack uses a blunt weapon. 2. CUT ------ -> The element of Hit is used when the attack uses a bladed weapon. 3. PUNCH -------- -> The element of Punch is used when the attack uses a Piercing weapon. 4. SHOOT -------- -> The element of Shoot is used when the attack uses a projectile weapon. 5. SHOUT -------- -> The element of Shout is used when the attack uses waves as a weapon. Also note that while it seems the only feasible character to use this is Cait Sith, he does not. This will only be experienced through enemy attacks. 6. HIDDEN --------- -> The element of Hidden is actually unknown, but can be experienced in 10 cases throughout the game: Aeris' Fury Brand, Attack Squad's Smoke Bullet, Bagrisk's Stone Strike, Cokatolis' Petrify Smog, Demons Gate's Petrif-Eye, Dorky Face's Funny Breath and its Curses, Gagighandi's Stone Stare, Marine's Smoke Bullet, and Ultimate Weapon's Ultima Beam. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 7. Battle Intelligence Data =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Topic #1 - Prepping Up For Battles: ----------------------------------- What there must be before anything else can take place is that there must be three characters set up for the battle. You can of course do this by setting them as the first three in the Formation. Note that there will be a few and minor exceptions to this rule throughout the game. Note that there will be a few and minor exceptions to this rule throughout the game. --> Some Tips: -If you're new to the game: Cloud, Barret, Tifa -If you're already experienced: Cloud, Red XIII, Barret/Aeris -If you like Physical parties: Cloud, Red XIII, Cid/Vincent -If you like Magical parties: Aeris, Vincent, Yuffie/Cait Sith Next what you need to do to get adequetly prepared for battle is have your characters well and pre-equipped with good armors as well as weapons (in other words, equipment). I suggest that for best performance in battle, that you have weapons: Ultima Weapon, Missing Score, Venus Gospel, HP Shout, Conformer, Premium Heart, Princess Guard, Limited Moon, Death Penalty. Also, refer to Secrets/Tips section for more good materia for special occasions). You might also want to heal some way or another if you're hurt before rushing off into random battles. Let's start! Topic #2 - Basics of Battling/Good-Stuff-To-Know: ------------------------------------------------- Here, I will list all possible commands you find on the Command Window in battle. But not just that, I take it up a notch and tell you not just what they do, but how to best utilize them, and even provide few examples of each. -> Subtopic #1 - Attacking: When you choose the "Attack" command, this then takes you to where there's a little arrow which you point at the enemy you wish to strike. Once you confirm your choice, you attack the set enemy with your currently equipped weapon. With some flying enemies, or far away enemies, if you try to target them as your choice, the screen will pop up with "Enemy is out of reach", which means that you cannot hit them physically, so try your Black Magics or possibly a Limit Break. Eva stat and Atk% (Acc) are also factors in this. If Atk% is much lower than enemy Eva, attack will miss. Same goes in opposite circumstances. When you attack, Str is accounted, and is the judge of how much damage you do, but that goes against enemy Def stat which may cut it down. Other factors may be a magic or inherent status that makes damage be decreased (Wall), or increased (Berserk/Fury). -> Subtopic #2 - Magic: After you've selected "Magic" command from the Command Window, it does like "Attack" would; it shows arrow(s). If it's a single- striking magic, it'll show one movable arrow, otherwise, it shows a lot of arrows on every enemy so you hit them all. After you are done choosing which opponent you wish to nail, you get them with chosen magical attack. You set different magics by using Materias. These are, unlike normal attacking, an ideal choice for taking out flyers or out-of-range enemies unless you use earth magic, which is not good for flyers. There are many types of magic, such as Elemental, Status-Changing, Restorative, Time&Space, Master. The stats that come into play here are Mdef and Mag. The higher/lower the Mag or Mdef, the more/less damage spell will do. If enemies have "built-in" good statuses on them, try to take them off with DeBarrier, or DeSpell. -> Subtopic #3 - Limit: First of all, there's a guage or meter, if you will, that's on the command menu, but the guage itself is not a command. So, only when that guage is full and flashing will you be able to use actual command. The guage can rise by being attacked by an enemy only, which is too bad that you cannot charge it when you attack, huh? Fury will increase rate at which meter charges, while Sadness decreases fill-up rate. Anyway, when meter hits the end, you can no longer choose "Attack" command, but instead, its place is taken by "Limit" command. When you choose on the Limit command, you are then taken to a list of all that character's current Limit Breaks: Lv1/Lv2/Lv3/Lv4. After selecting one, there might be special events that you must do like do the slots on Tifa's, or just be transformed like in Vincent's where he's incontrollable and permanently in that form for remainder of battle. A few stats are part of this, and some of these Limits for more than on hit at a time. Some even inflict status ailments. A list? -> Subtopic #4 - Item: These are some of the things that keep you running in battle, and against most bosses in the game, you'd be lost without items. There are many types of items, ranging from onerous to roborant. The useful and more curative items, which are used to heal HP, MP, or status ailments, can be accessed by the means of simply choosing this option. The max number of these items you can hold at once is 99x, but you can throw some away if you don't want too much of certain item. -> Subtopic #5 - Summon: Lets you summon forth an entity called a... well... summon. They come by and do an eye-candy flyby, usually resulting in more damage than a normal character could do. Sure, some do status ailments to their opponents, and they do take into account elemental affinities and the statistics of their oppositions as well. You can boost them to make them way more useful and powerful by putting certain Materia on your characters along with having the specific particular summon equipped on that same exact character as well. -> Subtopic #6 - "Run": You can *sometimes* run away from the scene of the battle if things get to intense, or if things just happen to be getting to boring.:) You can do this by holding R1+L1 for a little bit. Time it takes for party to evacuate is pending on which enemy(ies) you're facing. Note: you cannot run from bosses in the storyline. So do not never, ever try it. Topic #3 - In-The-Battle Info: ------------------------------ - Pre-Emptive Strikes: In these kind of strikes, there will be the words up at the top of the screen which read "Pre-Emptive Strike". In this, it is about the exact opposite of Ambushes, because of instead of the enemy ambushing you and getting in all of their turns first, you will be the one to get in many, many turns in before the enemies even start to begin to scathe you at all. So, what this means is that the game completely and totally disregards Agility of all members and enemies, and lets your whole party get in turns before the opposing team does. Proceeding the usage of all characters turns during Pre-Emptive Strike. - Back Attack: Ok, in this, it can be either you or the enemies that pop up that do it. What happens is that either the enemies or you show up behind the opposition, and like this, you get free attacks while they're not looking. As can be inferred, there are two types of - Side Attack: During this, the enemies that pop up randomly are located in the middle of your characters, which is totally opposite of the "Attacked from both sides" in which your party is in the middle and then the enemies you're facing are surrounding you. - Attacked from both Sides: During this, the enemies that pop up randomly are situated in the surrounding area of your party, whilst the party is in-between them. This is actually, though, the exact opposite of Side Attack. It will be referred to as Ambush in the Enemy Formations area of the FAQ (for the sake of space conservation). =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 8. All About Materia =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Before anything, you must get into the Main Menu, and there you shall find a sub-menu called "Materia". How appropriate. If you forgot how to do that for no real reason, it can be done by pressing down the Triangle button. Ok, time for the explanation and no more preliminary junk. First off, some data on just what Materia is. It's Mako energy that has been condensed into its most basic form. There are quite a few kinds of Materia types (five to be more precise; consists of Support, Independent, Summon, Magic, and Command - color correspondants in order: Blue, Purple, Red, Green, Yellow). Now, about how weapons and armors come into play when it comes to dealing with Materia. They each have different numbers of Materia "slots". These are used for the insersion of Materia, obviously. Also as you can notice, some weapons and armor with multiple slots have them linked (if there's an even number passed one, all slots are linking, and if there's any odd number, some are linking and some aren't). There is no armor/weapon that lacks Materia slots, so no worries there. Now, what do these links mean? The answer is simple, yet complex, and requires a lengthy answer. First thing, some Materia compliment each other, and can enhance eachother's capabilities, and/or multiply them, such as in this insinuendo: you can have a Fire Materia equipped in one linked slot, and then the "All" Materia in the one that it's liked to. This has no immediate effect outside of battle, though. You must first be in battle to experience and witness the effects. Not just any battle, however, it must be one with at least two or more enemies. This transforms Fire's normal effect on one enemy, so that it affects every single enemy on field. One disadvantageous factor to this is that the division of the Fire causes the damage to be spread sometimes, meaning that it does ever so slightly less damage, but nothing extremely drastic. Say, the biggest damage jump I've seen is with Fire 3, going from 9999 damage regularly, to 9300 damage with all against three enemies (by the way, the less enemies fighting, the less damage is divided into smaller parts). See? Still, the amount of damage carried out was still quite large. Another good example is when W-Summon is linked to any summon, having be summoned twice in one turn (especially good when it's linked to Knights of the Round). First example can also be applied to healing magic, like Cure, so it can be used against all your party members at once, instead of just one at a time, which can get tedious, and is sometimes more trouble than it's worth, since sometimes enemies can get damage in on a character you just healed as you are healing another one, making the effort you just did null. Another topic is about when you highlight a certain Materia on the Materia sub-screen, is that information box that appears in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. This contains pretty much all of the info you need about that particular Materia except for basic explanations of exactly what they do, but that's not too important. First thing is the name, and a colored orb of the Materia type to the left of it (use color keycodes in the first paragraph of the explanation to figure out what each orb's color means). Then, to the right of that, there's stars, and however many are filled in, is the level that the Materia is on. "Level", you ask? Yes, sort of like your characters, your Materia also gains levels and AP, but not in the same way. Below the stars is the amount of AP said Materia has, and another line below that is the AP "To next level". Both of these are all dependent on how many times you use the Materia in battle, or in some white magics' cases, outside of battle. Once said AP to next level quota is met, the Materia levels up. Five is the maximum level (see, there is five stars there). There are three level-up cases, and by this I mean that you can learn new abilities of the same class, if All is linked - first case happens along with being able to use the All+Magic effect in battle without it turning to only useable once, and in summons' cases, how many times you are able to summon a particular summoned monster in battle before the summon's option turns gray. All are caused by leveling up your Materia. In that same bottom-left box is the current ability in white, and if it can turn into a new ability, any of those can be white if attained, or grayed if not. Across from them is the effect's that each one has, and usually affects statistics (ie. some can give +?% to MaxHP, or some -1 to MP, etc.). This can become a major factor in choosing great Materias later on which can prove very beneficial to you in the more difficult battles of the game. All right, what I neglected to do earlier was to give a detailed description of the five Materia classes, so I'm going to do that now, and then end the Materia informator. First off, Support Materia: These show full effect when used in conjunction with other Materias. I explained this earlier in the case of using All along with some curative and black magic. Another one is MP or HP Plus which can, whenever damage is done to an enemy, amount of damage done is deducted from enemy as usual, but then adds that amount of HP/MP to revive. These effects are useless unless you are actually lacking on one of those two. Independent Materia which raises stats, can come very useful when trying to amplify attributes to maximum, or fighting tough foes. Summon Materia, which is exactly what the name implies, and it enables the summon of special creatures to come an do your bidding in a battle. Usually can do more damage than your normal characters, but some can become useless once your characters are able to hit at the 9999 mark. Magic Materia lets you use Black Magic and/or White Magic (which I've covered in a bit of detail in the preceeding paragraphs of this tutorial). And finally, Command Materia, and this adds special commands in battle such as Enemy Skill and Steal (can lead to Mug, by the way). This shall end the Materia informator. =============================================================================== -------------------------------------------- .:'*':. 3. About Game's Chrs .:'*':. #SC3C -------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== Note: These come from the Instruction Manual verbatim. ___ /#1.\__________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C L O U D S T R I F E ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Cloud Strife Age: 21 Height: 5'7" Birthplace: Nibelheim Job: Mercenary (ex-member of SOLDIER) Weapon: Sword Birthdate: August 19 Blood Type: AB Biography: The main character of Final Fantasy VII. Originally a member of SOLDIER, he is now a mercenary who will take any job. After being hired by AVALANCHE, he gradually gets caught up in a massive struggle for the life of the plant. His enormous sword can cut through almost anything. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ___ /#2.\__________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A E R I S G A I N S B O R O U G H ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Aeris Gainsborough Age: 22 Height: 5'3" Birthplace: Unknown Job: Flower Merchant Weapon: Rod Birthdate: February 7 Blood Type: O Biography: Young, beautiful, and somewhat mysterious. Aeris met Cloud while selling flowers on the streets of Midgar. She decided to join him soon after. Her unsual abilities enable her to use magic, but she seems more interested in deepening the love triangle between herself, Cloud, and Tifa. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ___ /#3.\__________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- T I F A L O C K H E A R T ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Tifa Lockheart Age: 20 Height: 5'4" Birthplace: Nibelheim Job: Bar Hostess, AVALANCHE member Weapon: Glove Birthdate: May 3 Blood Type: B Biography: Bright and optimistic, Tifa always cheers up the others when they're down. But don't let her looks fool you, she can decimate almost any enemy with her fists. She is one of the main members of AVALANCHE. She and Cloud were childhood friends, and although she has strong feelings for him, she would never admit it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ___ /#4.\__________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B A R R E T W A L L A C E ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Barret Wallace Age: 35 Height: 6'4" Birthplace: Corel Village Job: Leader of AVALANCHE Weapon: Gun-Arm Birthdate: December 15 Blood Type: O Biography: Head of the underground resistance, AVALANCHE, Barret is fighting the mega-conglomerate Shinra, Inc. which has monopolized Mako Energy by building special reactors to suck it out of the planet. Barret depends on brute strength and his "Gun-Arm" to see him through. His wife died in an accident several years ago, and now he lives with his daughter, Marlene. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ___ /#5.\__________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- R E D X I I I ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Red XIII Age: 48 Height: 3'9" Birthplace: Cosmo Canyon Job: Beast Weapon: Headdress Birthdate: Unknown Blood Type: Unknown Biography: Just as his name implies, he is an animal with red fur. But under his fierce exterior is an intelligence surpassing that of any human's. His sharp claws and fangs make him good at close-range fighting, but other than that, not much is known about him. It's not even certain that "Red XIII" is his real name. A real enigma. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ___ /#6.\__________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C I D H I G H W I N D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Cid Highwind Age: 32 Height: 5'8" Birthplace: Unknown Job: Pilot Weapon: Spear Birthdate: February 22 Blood Type: B Biography: Cid is a tough-talking, warm-hearted old pilot who hasn't forgotten his dreams. There's no better pilot by air or sea. He believes someday he'll fly to the ends of the universe. With his handmade spear and knowledge of machinery, he throws himself into any attack regardless of danger. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ___ /#7.\__________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S E P H I R O T H ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Sephiroth Age: Unknown Height: 6'1" Birthplace: Unknown Job: Top ranking SOLDIER officer Weapon: Longsword [Masamune] Birthdate: Unknown Blood Type: Unknown Biography: Even amongst the elite troops of SOLDIER, Sephiroth is known to be the best. His past is locked away in a confidential file held by Shinra, Inc. His giant sword, which only he can handle, has extremely destructive power. Said to have disappeared in a battle years ago, his current whereabouts are unknown. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ___ /#8.\__________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Y U F F I E K I S A R A G I ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Yuffie Kisaragi Age: 16 Height: 5'2" Birthplace: Wutai Job: Materia Hunter, Ninja Weapon: Knife, Boomerang, Origami Birthdate: November 20 Blood Type: A Biography: Although you'd never know it be looking at her, Yuffie comes from a long line of Ninja. She forced herself into the group just to get a "certain something". She's sneaky, arrogant, and "way" selfish. But with her super shuriken and her special skills, there isn't anyone else you'd rather have on your side in a fight. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ___ /#9.\__________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C A I T S I T H ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Cait Sith Age: Unknown Height: 3'2" Birthplace: Unknown Job: Toysaurus Weapon: Megaphone Birthdate: Unknown Blood Type: Unknown Biography: Cait Sith rides around on the back of huge stuffed Mog he magically brought to life. Megaphone in hand, he's always shouting orders and creating dopey attacks. When his slot machine attack works, the enemy lines look like an overturned toy box. His hobby is fortune telling, but like his personality, it's pretty unreliable. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ____ /#10.\_________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V I N C E N T V A L E N T I N E ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Vincent Valentine Age: 27 Height: 6' Birthplace: Unknown Job: Unemployed Weapon: Gun Birthdate: October 13 Blood Type: A Biography: A mystical man, stern and upright while at the same time dark and mysterious. His past connections with Shinra, Inc. is what made him join Cloud and the others. He may seem frail at first glance, but hidden inside his body lurks a fearsome power. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== ----------------------------------------- .:'*':. 4. Story of FFVII .:'*':. #SD4S ----------------------------------------- =============================================================================== =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. Main Plot =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The story of FFVII revolves mainly around Cloud, and 21 year-old, ex-member of SOLDIER, an elite group. Throughout this journey which starts out with him joining a group called AVALANCHE to go against his old group, Shinra, Inc. and to first take out Mako Reactors which harvest Mako energy. But soon, your adventure becomes much more. Throughout the game, Cloud meets many new characters, each with their own outlook on life, as well as each offering something useful and unique to your party. But, some of them play bigger roles in the whole scheme of things than others. The whole quest then turns into a big adventure to stop Sephiroth from unleashing Meteor and getting to The Promised Land, and along this path you will take part in many mystical happenings, and it takes you far beyond anything you've ever seen, or have come to know in an RPG. Hope you're prepared...! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2. Specific "Confusing" Aspects Analysis =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Here I'll cover some of the more confusion aspects and facet's of the game specifically, that gave me hell when I first played, as they are quite confusing. But, first, I must mark: SPOILER ALERT: THERE ARE SPOILERS ABOUND IN THIS AREA, AND IF YOU DON'T MIND OR ALREADY KNOW, LOOK, IF NOT, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. SPOILERS APLENTY. -------------------------------------------- Cloud With No Past/Zack & Cloud's Connection -------------------------------------------- After sustaining injuries back at Nibelheim in the incident five years ago (Cloud stabbed by Sephiroth, and Zack contorted over a container, again... by Sephiroth), they were put in those containers and exposed to Mako by Hojo, and it really did a number on Cloud, who was weak, unlike Zack. This is why Cloud was laying there in the train station during that one intermission with Tifa, where all he was doing was making hurt noises like he was in pain. As a result of Hojo's twisted experimentations on Cloud, it left his mind open and *almost* completely erased his true memories. From this, his mind was, again, vulnerable to so many thoughts and memories, that from the stories Zack, as well as Tifa, told him, and what he aspired to be, he was able to build the illusionary world he lived in for so long, before the incident at Mideel, where he was snapped out of it completely. ----------------------- Jenova's Reunion Theory ----------------------- Time for an explanation that you all might need as to all of this Goddamn... this whole Sephiroth ordeal here, as he's supposed to be dead. You've been facing the only successful clone of Sephiroth thus far, with the tatoo #1 on him. The real Sephiroth is dead, and how, you'll find out later. But, if the real one is dead, then how in God's name are the clones being controlled? This is not really simple to answer, and the game doesn't really ever explain it thoroughly. Basically, though, Sephiroth just has super powers, is what I expect. Now, another thing is about the Reunion, which also may be confusing to you. Ok, as you know from Hojo's longwinded speech, Jenova's parts were supposedly going to merge and become one with her again, however, as Hojo also stated, there's "Sephiroth's Will". It is controlling them, and since Jenova lives inside of Sephiroth in essence, they are returning to her in some way. ------------------------------------------- Lucrecia/Jenova/Sephiroth - What's Up Here? ------------------------------------------- My hypothesis on the matter goes a little something like this. First, after he was born of Lucrecia (who, as you know, has Jenova inside her), and was immediately exposed to high amounts of Mako and Jenova Cells, as with all SOLDIERs. However, again, like with Cloud, this may have made him weak, and he never knew his real mother as Lucrecia (remember, she never got to hold him once, so naturally, as a baby, he never even knew her). From all the testing and experimentation, he was probably always told that Jenova is his real mother, and that was the reality he knew, and when he went to Nibelheim five years ago, it added more knowledge to his memories, so basically, Cloud and him are the same in a lot of ways. Anyway, after a while, you can head back into the cave and go to where she once stood to receive Death Penalty and Chaos. The first one is his ultimate weapon, and the second is his Lv4 Limit Break. =============================================================================== ----------------------------------------------- .:'*':. 5. In-Depth Walkthrough .:'*':. #SE5W ----------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== This section will undoubtedly take up the largest portion of this FAQ. What I shall be covering in this section is just how to get from the very beginning of the game to the end of it. This will include strategies for all bosses along your way (no secret bosses, though), shops, item locations as you play, and just every area of the main storyline. It will not go over any of the minigames or sidequests in this game. If you want to learn about those, that's what the forty other sections of this FAQ are designated to, so don't look here for that kind of assistance. Now we begin our greatest adventure... Brace yourself! =============================================================================== =-= Disk One =-= =============================================================================== Ok, so now we begin the game. This subsection of the FAQ will offer coverage on the first disk of Final Fantasy VII (what a revelation... I cover in this sub- section exactly what I put on the header!). If you have not noticed, there are three disks in your Final Fantasy VII case, instead of what you've been used to preceeding this FF installment (you know, the single cartridge). Alright, once you turn on your PS1 or PS2, whatever, it goes directly into the classic Final Fantasy "Prelude" song. It's re-done just like with most other FF's, and this one, in my opinion, is the best one. It goes whilst pre-credits role, and once you've optionally skipped that (or watched it all, in which case I call you insane), you are on a dull screen with the Buster Sword in the ground and a solemn light shining upon it. There are two plain options here (nope, you don't get any others like in some other games that you could quite possibly be used to). They consist of the following: NEW GAME (yes, it is in all caps, because apparently Squaresoft knew it'd be so awesome and exiciting to start for the first time that they made it all in capitals), and, Continue. This is only used if there is stored data for Final Fantasy VII on your memory card. It's only used if you wish to reload from your last spot (at a savepoint, which I cover in the basics section of my FAQ, so you know what they are and how they look like). It also has a question mark as if to ask you if you wish to continue in a question form(?) Anyway, this walkthrough covers through all of if you are starting a brand new game, or replaying it. You'll definitely be saving throughout your journey and turing your game power off, so you'll also need to be loading your saved data by Continue? from time to time. Now, we start off. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #1 - 1st Mako Reactor =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: 1st Ray, Guard Hound, Guard Scorpion(B*), Grunt, Mono Drive, MP, Sweeper [* - denotes it's a boss enemy) -> Items/Weapons/Armor: Phoenix Down, 3x Potion, Restore Materia =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Dun dun dun! It's finally time to begin this amazing game, Final Fantasy VII. Sure, the first cutscene isn't anything too special in terms of graphical quality (well, back then it was the best you could ask for, but by today's stupid standards they looking quite trashy). The cutscene starts off by showing you the night sky filled with stars lighting and shining it up. Quite lovely. Then, the scene switches over to the ground, and we see a beautiful young flowergirl named Aeris. You see her for a few seconds, and then it shows her walking out into a huge and bustling street of Midgar. There's tons going on, and a lot of stores and visiting places apparently. Cool music playing, too. Many cars, and I bet it's not the most sanitary place to live, either. Hmm, what's that place Loveless I see there? Hmm... All right, then you see a huge overview of all of Midgar, and constant flashes to an area where there's a train moving along its tracks. During this time, the words Final Fantasy VII appear and grand music begins to play in the background. Soon enough, however, that train you just saw a bit ago makes a stop, and people start busting out. People fly out dead, and a spikey haired kid along with a Mr. T impersonator jump out all cool-like. He says "C'mon newcomer" to someone who obviously is better than him, and it's quite laughable. The spikey haired person is the main character in the game, Cloud, and the big guy with a gunarm is Barret. Then he starts running, and you start following him (note: press X to run instead of just walking). Examine the first deceased body to obtain a Potion, and then, keep on running. You're then ambushed by a group of soldiers. You should have no trouble whatsoever in defeating them with simple normal attacks, or if you want the job done quicker, use some magic like Bolt and/or Ice. Note however that you start off with 58MP and 302HP with Cloud, but after that fight you immediately level up to level 7. Proceeding the short-lived battle, move forward 'til you reach the next dead body of a soldier in red. Examine him and you receive yet another Potion from it. And after the battle you probably got a Potion, so you're doing quite well with Potion stock currently. And since you start with three, you're now at six hopefully. Items you start off with are of course the three Potions, an Ether, and one Phoenix Down. Note: that if you lost HP, and when you level up afterwards, your lost HP isn't automatically proportionated to your new level when HP increases to 318. Currently, after the fight your core stats should correspond to the following: Str- 18, Dex- 9, Vit- 17, Mag- 25, Spr- 18, Luck- 16; then Atk- 36, Atk%- 96, Def- 25, Def%- 2, MagAtk- 25, MagDef- 18, MagDef%- 0. Buster Sword (originally equipped weapon) has two Materia slots, by the way. Once you've taken that last Potion I mentioned to get, turn to the left at the end and go through to the next area. From here, go out on to the main street, go upwards, and speak with the two guys closest to the gate. You do not even have to press O to talk, just walk up to these people. They talk about Cloud's ex-profession in SOLDIER, about AVALANCHE, etc. Then, you get to create your name. Personally, I leave mine as Cloud as not to "disturb" the game (no effect besides when name is stated, but it changes it in my own mind). The name can only be nine letters/or numbers long at maximum. You can space it, delete letters, choose default, and when you're finally done, pick select to exit that menu. Cloud then persists in being rude in a very cool leave-me-the-hell-alone, anime -ish, typical hero who saves the world type fashion. Barret then makes the scene, and then they talk for a little while again. He explains the mission objective, splits the parties up (you're with Barret), and then the gate opens; go through it to the next semi-area. Name Barret, too. So, apparently SOLDIER is the enemy of AVALANCHE, and then Barret makes it known that he does not trust Cloud at all, him being an ex-SOLDIER member and all. Hey, why do you think his auto name in the beginning was "Ex-SOLDIER" instead of Cloud? Yeah... As you're going on through the gate, he explains how to walk and run which isn't really needed since I already explained it earlier. The camera then moves in close to Cloud as Barret runs off, and then aims at the Shinra, Inc. (a very evil autocratic "government" that apparently runs everything and anything in the Final Fantasy VII world) Tower. Now, follow them up, and eventually reach stairs that lead to a new area. Note that in that area you could encounter random enemy attack battles at any time, so move quickly. Don't even bother training there, since the real enemies to train with are in the section I'm about to explain. In this next area, you see three members of the party run off the high railing up, and the fat one who looks like he fingers his pets runs off by himself to scout. You want to go with the three who went together as to avoid a possible sexual harassment charge with the other guy. Proceed with the mission: destroy the first Mako Reactor and blow it sky high. Here, some really eerie music, which is actually my second- favorite in the entire game, starts playing. Head up the small bit of steps there and join the rest of the group. Barret talks about reactors, Mako energy, how the planet's dying out, and apparently Cloud could care less. Barret joins you, so now you have twice the abilities in battles. Don't bother talking to Jessie in the corner, since she only says "Biggs and I got the code for this door". Instead, speak with Biggs by the control panel for the door to open it. Ok, now, before I continue with this walkthrough informator any further, I'd like to explain a few things to you, since this game can get very confusing, as it already may be a little this early in the game. First off, I have to speak a little about Mako. Mako is pretty much the lifeblood this planet. It's what keeps it "alive". It comes from a special river so commensuratedly called the "Lifestream". The evil coporation of Shinra has established many Mako Reactors around Midgar (some in other parts of the FFVII world, but they're all pretty much out of commission now). You're in one right now to destroy it. What these Mako Reactors (more appropriately called Mako Suckers) do is actually drain the Mako from the planet. What for? For energy and money apparently. Those greedy bastards. This clears up and explains why Barret was going on for a brief period about the planet dying. Because with some many Mako Reactors running all the time absorbing Mako from the planet, it's drawing away its lifeblood, as previously stated. Now, I don't know about you, but my body needs blood to survive, and so does the planet in this game, so think of it that way. If your body was drained of all of its blood, you would simply cease to live, as with the planet. That's pretty much it. Now back to the walkthrough again. Once the first door is opened, you and the rest of the guys run through it, and walk up to the next door. This time it's Jessie's turn to decipher the door's code, so if you speak to Biggs he says to think about just how many people put their lives on the line in order to obtain the information for that very door code you're about to use. Who cares... right..? Now, don't e-mail me and complain about my inhumanities, ok? Thanks. Speak with Jessie then you get the "Code Deciphered", and run on through to the next one. Talk to her again and she opens this one which leads into the elevator. As if you couldn't figure this next one out on your own, she tells you to go press the button over there. How hard! Anyway, do as she says and you descend in the elevator. Barret then explains exactly what I just did in the last paragraph, although I do it in more depth, make more analogies, and just with more overall sexiness. Cloud then does a typical response of "It's not my problem". How'd we all know he was going to say that, that badass him. Barret then throws a fit and nearly busts a kidney going berserk (ok, so maybe it's not that bad) and simply repeats himself like an idiot. Cloud makes the same kind of remark, about all he cares about is the job. He turns around and the literally curses Cloud, shaking his gunarm like some old person scolding a child. Leave the elevator and you're in a new big area. Follow the rest of the gang down the stairs, and do not bother climing the ladder there, since it leads to absolutely nothing whatsoever (why would they put that there, and make it actually CLIMEABLE if it does not lead to anything beneficial). There are three flights of stairs to go down, and then you have to go through the door at the very end. Here you appear on a small platform with a broken down walkway in front of you. No, you don't have to get across some special way, just simply walk to the edge of the ledge and it'll automatically make you jump over the gap. There's Jessie at the other side. If you talk to her, she explains how to get on, climb up and down ladders. Basically in a nutshell all you have to do is press the action button (aka O or [ok]) and you'll instantly grab hold. Then once you're on, you use the D-Pad controls to move up and down, or in some cases, side-to-side. Not all the time are they ladders, but they can be vines or ledges. Simply press select to make an identifier appear to mark the things you need to climb with a green arrow. And along with that, it marks doors or escapes/tunnels with a red arrow, and our spikey-headed hero, Cloud, with a pointing finger above his spiker head. So right after the small two caption explanatory tutorial, go up to the ladder here, press action button, and climb on down to the next metal walkway. Get down, and run across to nab the Potion. Now, do not even waste your time talking to Jessie again, since she says the same exact thing as when you were just at top, so run on down the diagonal steps going downward. Here, grab hold of the ladder and make your way downward. At the bottom on the pipe, go to the right to the next place. Proceed with caution, however, as there are enemies everywhere ready to random- encounter your butt. Most of these include Sweepers (giant robotic enemies with big cannons on them), and Grunts (stupid pansy looking blue guys who can attack you and shoot small particle beams). Both of which are incredibly easy. Sweeper is electronic, so you can derail it easily with Bolt, and the other guys can be disposed of with ease under the merciless power of your regular attacks like insects. Barret starts off at lvl6, and increases to 7 in a few battles, and his stats are ok, but not truly on par with Cloud's. He's best when put in the back row under formation option at Main Menu. Well go through the next way at the end of the three-step pipe and you're in a newer area. Here you should consider training with the local beasties. But first, scale the intertwining pipes and go down to the bottom of the enormous ladder. Pretty much same enemy types here as with previous section, I just recommended this area because there is a save point at the end of the ladder (it's shaped like a question mark). Plus by at least this point you've probably accumulated a decently fair amount of Potions to heal up with. I suggest training to about lvl10 at this point so that the upcoming boss battle will seem like a walk in the park to you, and for future primary orifice-kicking. So, you'll probably be healing, gaining more Potions, and saving for about and hour to get up to desired lvl. Also do not even consume precious time looking like and idiot while trying to go through what looks like a passage next to the save point. It's nothing. If it was a passageway or some thing of that nature, when you pressed select it would show a red arrow above it. But, it doesn't, thus denoting that it is not something that you can walk through. When you've reached that lvl or higher, go down the walkway and you're near the core. I also suggest building up your Limit Breaks before going through there. Well, by this point I had accrued about 17 Potions, so I was ready to rock. I hope you are as well. Walk forward first and pick up the plain-in-sight Materia that's there. This is the Restore Materia. Now continue forward and you'll eventually seperate from Barret and he comes out and states some impertinent stuff that we already knew, such as "When we blow this place, this ain't gonna be nothin' more than a hunka junk". Umm... thank you Barret for restating the obvious. So, he then suggests that Cloud (meaning you) set the bomb in place. Cloud says that Barret should do it and Barret comes up with some excuse about his distrust and says he'd rather watch just to make sure that Cloud doesn't pull one on him. Cloud then weirds out and the screen goes red with some really strange screeching sound: "Watch out! This isn't just a reactor!!" Barret then asks what the hell's wrong with him and he replies like he's clueless as to what just happened. Cloud then plants the bomb and it sets off the alarm. Time for your first boss battle of the game with Guard Scorpion. =============================================================================== - BOSS: GUARD SCORPION - =============================================================================== -> Monster's Name: Guard Scorpion -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar #1 Reactor - Reactor Valve/Bomb Planting Point (forced) -> Monster's Level: 12 -> EXP for Defeating: 100 -> AP for Defeating: 10 -> Gil for Defeating: 100 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Assault Gun x1 (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 800 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 30, 40, 0, 60, 15, 300, 1 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (weak), Earth (normal), Poison (immune), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Darkness, Poison, Sleep, Silence, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Petrification, Manipulation, Paralysis, Berserk, Confusion, Fury, Sadness, Death Sentence, Death -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ^ Rifle 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 16 100 X X * Scorpion Tail 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 28 95 X X * Tail Laser 0 A Phys Sht Phys 48 120 X X * Search Scope 0 1 - - - - - X X (1)(2) (1) selects a target (2) Miscellaneous/Animation --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Is Action Count 0, 2? Yes: Search Scope on random character and "Locked on target" appears on screen [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 1/3? Yes: 1/3 - Scorpion Tail on Search Scope character (if Guard Scorpion has less than 1/2 MaxHP, 2/3 - Rifle on Search Scope character and 1/3 - Scorpion Tail on Search Scope character) [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 4? Yes: Is only Cloud not under KO? Yes: Cloud says "It's gonna fire that laser...", then No: Are both alive? Yes: Cloud says "Barret, be careful!" No: Is only Barret not under KO? Yes: Barret says "I dunno what's goin' on, but...", then "it looks pretty bad", then "Let's see what it does when it's tail's up..." Cloud can also say "Attack while it's tail's up!" and "It's gonna counterattack with its laser..." (unsorted) [Action Count +1] No: Game Over No: Is Action Count 5, 6? Yes: Action Count +1 No: Action Count reset to 0 -> Countattack Pattern: Counterattack with Tail Laser when Action Count is 4 -> STRATEGY: First off, do not let boss' intimidation be your weakness and downfall. It may look a little bit scary at first, but it's bite is nowhere near as loud as its bark. It has a total of four attacks as you can see by observing the above data. One is Rifle, which it always execute right after it uses Search Scope (just like the attack, Scorpion Tail it does under the same circumstances). This only hits one character, and it is not a huge thing to worry about in the long run. Search Scope I just explained, and it is not anything to fret about, but you could worry about healing if you're under 40 HP at this point before Rifle hits. Then, there's Tail Laser, which you do not have to worry about until later in the fight. But, when it does hit, it is something to worry about, since it does anywhere from 70 to 90+ damage to both Cloud and Barret. Well, time to get to strategic tactics and all. Once fight is engaged, I hope you have both of your Limit Breaks ready for action. Cloud has Braver at this point and it should do about 130 damage, and Barret should to about the same amount of his damage with his Big Shot. They both compliment each other quite nicely in this battle. From this point, it'll probably use its Search Scope. And in this span, it becomes totally useless until its next go. Now, Cloud should use Bolt for about 100 damage since it's a mechanical type creature, and Barret to simply attack. By the way, no special Materia should be set up other than your originals, with one small discrepancy: Barret should be equipped with that recently acquired Restore Materia. After you've take it to 50% of its max HP (400), it'll raise its tail. At this point Cloud issues a warning, and it starts using Tail Laser. It also starts doing less damage with your attacks, as well. Oh well... Heal after every two of them, and continue using Bolt and attack with Barret. After about three more rounds of attacks, Guard Scorpion will be nothing more than a bucket of bolts. Now, the alarm is still going. Hopefully you did not think that once you had beaten this boss, that the alarm would cease going off, because it doesn't. So, you now are under a timer of 10 minutes (10:00, 9:59...) *tick tock, tick tock* What does this mean? Well, Cloud explains it well enough. It means that you have a full ten minutes to get out of this Mako Reactor before it goes into a gigantic explosion. Don't think for one minute that the timer will pause for brief periods during special things like going into a battle, or entering the Main Menu or other things of the sort, like black screens between areas or black screens after battles. First as you're high-tailing it out of there, aid Jessie in getting get leg unstuck from the metal bars. Then follow her up the sloping ladder, then jump that same gap from earlier. In the next area, keep on making your way up the three spiraling staircases, and then go through the door at the top portion. Do not yet speak with Jessie, and go through the little way in the corner near the code door. In here, open the treasure chest to grab the item, Phoenix Down. Now, speak with Jessie and do not senselessly talk with Biggs because that would spend some precious seconds needlessly. Continue through the door, then talk to Biggs this time to make it through that next one (apparently they each had codes for each door). Now, run on down the small stairs and make it through the door. This is as far as you need to go because from here you just let the game take control as an impressive cutscene plays with the Mako Reactor blowing to smitherines. After it's done, you guys get up, talk, go to the next area and bust out of the burning building. The fat guy runs around aimlessly, then the group speaks, and you regain control, plus HP. All right, from here, the first thing you are to do is run on up the stairs there. Then, continue forward into the next area. You come into a small area where you see a few people who immediately clear out upon your appearance for some reason. Plus, there's a beautiful flowergirl (it's the same exact one that you saw in the first, opening CG Cinema that you saw right in the beginning of the game). You talk for a second, and she asks you to disclose what just happend up there; you are then given two options: "You'd better get out of here" or "Nothing...hey, listen...". It's best if you choose the second option if you wish to "have" her later in the game, but if you don't, do whatever. Read the Mechanics section where I cover it more extensively. Then, she gives you two more options: "Don't see many flowers around here", and, "Never mind". I suggest picking the first choice and then buying a flower from her. C'mon, don't be a cheapskate, they're only one Gil to buy! Jesus Christ... But, if you really don't want one, choose "Forget it", as opposed to "Buy one". Easy to distinguish what both choices initiate. After that, she leaves. Don't try talking to her as she's walking away, because I've tried before, but to no avail. It doesn't work. From there, follow where she just went through to the next area coming up. You can talk to the guy with the black clothes and the red hair here you you'd like, but he does not divulge any particularly useful information that can prove to monotarily beneficial at all. If you talk to the other man just standing, he reads the wall. Anyways, go grab the Potion and proceed into the next area. Here, just continue to run forward for a brief, short bit, and then you're ambushed from behind by Shinra guards. You can choose "Fight them!" or "Later!" The latter of the two allowing you to run away, and the first option letting you fight them. This happens four times, with four batches of guards coming in from both sides. Choose whatever options you'd like, but they all lead to pretty much the same conclusion. They are only the types of guards to had first encountered as your starting opponents when you got off the train at the Mako Reactor, so they're a sinch to overcome. One normal attack will do each of them in, and magic serves as attacks to just annihilate them. Some teams of guard soldiers contain three of them while others contain two. The only difference obviously is the amount, and the one extra attack you must pull off to kill them all off. One dissimilarity between these and the ones in the 1st Mako Reactor is that they can do a diminutively increased amount of damage than the others could, but it's still nothing to worry about. Also note that some of them may be Attacked from both sides! so you ought to be ready for those. Man, this would be quite a bit easier if that Barret would ever come through for you. I seriously recommend running away from them all four times, since the only benefit to reap from fighting them is the AP gained after battle. It's not much to make up for the amount of time you'll spend in these pathetically boring fights you'll have to endure. Anyway, after it's said and done (either of the two ways), you jump off onto the moving train. Meanwhile, they're inside doubting you, talking about how you never came, thinking you may have died, etc. Cloud then makes a surprise bust-in to everyone's surprise. They're all exultant that he's alive apparently. Yes, even Barret. Just like that guy, always barging in unsuspected, and always having people either worried, or pissed off. He then makes a stupid excuse (well, not really an excuse, but more of a "Heh, looks like I'm late" sort of thing, to lighten the mood a little). Barret then exclaims his anger and making a big production out of everything like he always does. Dude, this guy needs to take a chill pill or something, because he's always screaming and complaining about something. If it's not one thing, it's another with this guy. Goddamn...! They then move to the next part of the train. As everyone besides Barret makes their way over, they either congratulate Cloud, say how they'll improve upon what they just did next time around, or Jessie shuts the door, wipes Cloud's face and thanks him for his assistance back there when they were at the Reactor. What was he gonna do, leave her there to die? Go up and jump over as well. When the team then busts into this next car, everyone scrambles out of it into the next one (you seem some strange looking people in this car as well. First, if you try to converse with the guy laying down in the back of the train, he says this is his house and tells you to accomodate yourselves. Talk with the guy next to Barret and he talks about the Reactor exploding. He thinks AVALANCHE is a band of terrorists? Damn newspapers... He thinks they have a very calculated leader, too. Barret!? Calculated!? My ass... If you then move on to talk with Barret, he tells you to stop acting childish and sit down. Biggs has to say that the train probably has not switched security mode yet, and it'll most likely be done tomorrow. Fat Wedge is just thinking about fame and glory... Be careful not to move to far up, as some train man will come out and tell you to stop bothering the passengers. Bite me. Next is the conversation with Jessie. She asks if you wish to take a look at the train's panel there, and explains a few of her interests to you. Wait a second and a model of all of Midgar will appear on the screen. It's a 1/10000 scale (meaning that you'd need to multiply that model by about 10000 and you would get the approximate size of Midgar). We now get into the plate above Midgar, and that's about fifty meters total above the bottom section, which is the slummy, sorry excuse for a city. But the top is the better part of it. She then goes into explaining how the main support structure holds the plate up from the center, and that there are even more structures to support it up (one in each section). Pretty well thought-out design, huh? Wonder how long it took them to friggin' build that. Then she whispers in Clouds ear something about how we blew up the North section Reactor1. There's Reactor 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 (but now there's only everything passed 1, hehe). They're all what provide Midgar its electricity from Mako for it to function properly. Also, all of the towns in Midgar used to have designated names, but at this point in time, no one is able to recall them and they're just referred to as sectors. Pretty sad... Then, the screen changes to the route your train is currently on. It spirals around the main structural support, and we're coming around the center right about now and it shows it on the monitor. Next thing that is talked about is ID Sensor devices at each checkpoint. Those check out the backgrounds, as well as the identity of everyone currently aboard the train by linking to the central database at Shinra's HQs. We're using fake IDs to get by, by the way. Afterwards, the screen is switched back to its normal state, and a red light starts buzzing. That means that they're nearing an ID scanning place. Nothing to worry about, so do not fuss. It then ends quickly, and if you walk back, Barret actually has something to say. He looks out and points out that you can't see daylight at the bottom due to the plate at the top. He says that the city does not have a day or a night, since it's all the same because of that plate. Imagine how horrible the living conditions are down there, with no plants, meaning no animals to eat. It's very hard, actually, and that's why they refer to a lot of the sections as slums. Cloud then takes a gander and says that it's a quite unsettling site, like a "floating city". Barret is then quite surprised to here that out of someone like Cloud, being an ex- SOLDIER and the tough, uncaring guy that he is and all. He then continues talking with his strange language (you know, jes' for just, etc.). Hey, Barret, correct grammer is your friend. He keeps on complaining about the horrible living conditions, draining Mako, polluted air, among other things, and Cloud makes a propostorous suggestion of moving up to the upper plate (or "pizza" as Barret recently described it), and Barret says either because of lack of money or that everyone's loyal to their homes, no matter how horrid things become or develop into. Then, the scene switches to show the train moving on its tracks around the huge structure. Then you get off at the train station. We then watch the group unboard the train here and talk for a bit about meeting up at the AVALANCHE hideout. You can talk to the people here, or just follow your group to sector 7. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #2 - Sector 7 Slums =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: None -> Items/Weapons/Armor: All Materia, Ether (note: excludes items that can be purchased at shops. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In the beginning of the next section, watch as the people clear out, and you have a few directions to choose from. First, if you go down, there are two guards standing there barring passage. The one on the right says something about know who he is or some crap like that, and saying that his miserable job is preveting scum like Cloud from getting through. Man, I wish you could fight that guy and own him for saying that. Anyway, during that, the other guy's admiring his pectorals (not really, just friendly admiration and respect) and saying what a cool guy he is. Whatever. If you press the action button on the guy to the left, he says that you are not allowed to pass further than that without proper clearance, and then asks the guard on the right if he did well that time. He then says that he's gotta be tougher than that. To the North is a savepoint (save!) and a guy to talk to in the corner. Do so. At first he's a bit startled, but then he explains about there being a bomb explosion at the top, and about if it happend to come collapsing down, the slums would totally be eradicated under it. Then the screen switches over to, and the camera moves upwards to reveal its massive height. After that is done, you're back to normal and the conversation is brought to a conclusion as the guy runs away. Then, go to the path to the left and you see Jessie, Barret, Biggs and Wedge storming out of the hideout shooting people (apparently local riffraffs, or something of that nature). But who was that hot girl in that tight white shirt and the short black shorts that came out with them? That's Tifa, and if that's something that you said when you first gazed at her amazing physique, you're definitely not alone. Then you're back in control of Cloud after the small little mini-scene, and you can speak to the person hitting that girl, and the girl being hit. The hitter says something about explosions and AVANLANCHE being extremely cool. If you speak with the other person, she says "Did you hear". Click on "No, what?" to find out. But, you already know, so press "Don't care". All she talks about is how your group, AVALANCE, blew the Mako Reactor sky- high. She babbles on, but just stop it there if you originally wanted to find out, since what she continues on about is also impertinent. Don't bother trying to go into any of the shops currently, since they're all closed right now. Now, there is also a drunk guy and an old guy on the streets, too, but they're not important to talk to, either. You can, however, go into the big place and buy stuff. Nothing too good, but it's pretty much better than what you current are in possession of. The prices are manageable, as well, so why not? Go ahead if you want to, and then you can talk to the other two people here on the bottom level. Also, you can sell here if you so please. You can pay the kid 1 Gil down here to sleep up in his room. If you saying nothin', he calls you a cheap %#*^. The other guy can teach you some valuable information if you want it. Upstairs the first room is nothing for now, and up the ladder is the kid's room where you can spend the night for some Gil (pay downstairs or here, but either way you pay him 10 Gil, and he rejects your offer for one Gil, the bastard). Well, once all of your business here is over with, go on back outside to the streets of the Sector 7 Slums and then speak with Barret who's standing right outside of the AVALANCHE hideout, and that's your next mini-destination. Once you talk with him he lets you go through, and if you wait too long after he first lets you through, he says to get off of your slow-moving ass and get on inside. The nerve of that guy. Once inside, you're greeted by a young girl named Marlene, and Barret's her father (well... uh... I bet you didn't see this one coming, did you?). By the way, the bar section of this is the "Seventh Heaven", which is owned by the lovely Tifa. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie are all at the table drinking. Then Tifa comes out and goes over to Marlene, and she asks if Tifa's going to go over and say anything to Cloud who's just standing right there in the middle of the bar. Look at those knockers! (ok, I'll stop... for now). She then goes over to him, welcomes him back, and asks how everything went. Then, she questions you to see if you had any fights or arguments with Barret during your mission. If you say not this time, she talks about how you guys used to all the time, and how she's elated that you've gotten over it. But, if you say "yeah", she says she should've known and that he's always pushing and bossing people around, and that you've always been scuffing since you were both little. She was worried, apparently. Then, you get to give her a name, also. She then notices the flowers you bought from the flowergirl (that is, if you even bothered to buy any at all). Here's your first chance to score with Tifa. You can either give it to her or hand it over to Marlene. I suggest Tifa, since giving it to Marlene will only lead to something stupid later on in the game. You can talk to Biggs at the table who suggests that you slam a beer. Both of the options both lead to nothing happening whatsoever. Talk to Wedge and he compliments Tifa on her cooking, and asks if you wish to hear about a story he has to tell you. If you say yes, he gives a stupid talk about how Tifa is always allowing him to taste her delicious pus... cooking, and look at him now, he's "rolly-polly". He has dumb mixed emotions about it, and talks about how the bar is famous for its outstanding food and drinks. Jessie is making no sense. Apparently she's wasted. Go back over and talk to Marlene and it just goes "..." She's shy, obviously. Then when Tifa is spoken to once more, she apologizes for Marlene being shy. Talk to Biggs and he tells you not to tell Barret what he just stated. That's it for talking. Now, start to walk outside of the bar and Barret will come rushing in like a bull that's been poked in the ass with a needle. He then lifts up Marlene in the air and everyone begins talking with each other. He goes down the pinball machine with Marlene on his shoulder, and everyone else starts to jump all the way down. Tifa goes back to behind the bar. Go stand at the bar talk to Tifa. She wants you to sit down, and asks if you want a drink. Go ahead and say yes to continue the talk with her a little while longer. If you say no she just says "OHH!! I can make a drink as good as anyone else". Then, as you walk away she wants to know if you're feeling well. He says yes, and then it finishes. Any subsequent talks with her will result in her saying that you should go downstairs. Now, go on the pinball machine and press the action button on top of it to go down. Down here, everyone's doing their own thing. Jessie is sitting there busy at the computer terminal and TV typing and hooking things up. Wedge is there at the table doing nothing (just like him), Biggs is also at the table, but least he's passing the time by tapping his foot on the ground. Barret is punching the punching bag while Marlene sits atop a box admiring her father. Then if you walk toward them, Barret wants to ask Cloud something. He asks if there was anyone from SOLDIER fighting against you today. Cloud answers no, and explains that if there was any SOLDIERs, they wouldn't be standing. Barret starts trying to go after Cloud then, Cloud ignores him, and Biggs tries to hold the big guy back (probably for Barret's own good, anyways). Barret then knocks Biggs to hell and back, and semi-warns Cloud. After the argument, if you start to walk back, Tifa appears. Cloud ends everything by stating that he does not care about SOLDIER, Shinra, AVALANCHE... or the Planet. At this point, Barret starts punching the bag very fast. If you talk to Tifa she asks you to get everything well again with everyone. Talk to Jessie and you get some headlines. Wedge talks about more stupid stuff, like you don't care about things, but, you went over to converse with him. He asks if it's really friends that you want. You get two options: "Blow off", or, "I really don't care". If you choose the second option, he says that you really are heartless and cold-blooded. And the first choice somehow is misinterpreted by him to you look lonely, and if you ever want to speak, go to him. Marlene says her dad's so great if you talk to her, and Barret has nothing to say, really. Go up the pinball machine again. Once you're up, it goes back down. As you start to walk on out of the bar, Tifa comes up and asks Cloud to please reconsider and join AVALANCHE. He still declines and apologizes. She then goes into restating the obvious which Barret has already driven the point into the ground. The conversation continues on until Tifa reminds Cloud of a promise he once made to her. Before that, though she says you're just going to go out ignoring her, his childhood friend. Two options are then offered: "How can you say that!" or "...Sorry" Both still pretty much lead to the same place about "the promise". Cloud starts out not remembering, but then she refreshes his memory. The screen switches to a new screen to a time when they were both little children. Cloud looks pretty much the same, but with different clothes, shorter, and his hair looks even more less cared for. Tifa then appears with a hot blue dress on, but everything else is almost the same except for probably her breast size, but that's beside the point. She sits down, and they talk for a while about Cloud, him joining the Shinra and SOLDIER, Sephiroth, and how Cloud wants to be just like him because of his child-like admiration and idolization. He also tells her how he's leaving their hometown, Nibelheim, for Midgar. It seems all of the young boys are leaving, but Cloud's not going just for a job, no, he's always different. He's of course there to join SOLDIER. She then asks him to make the promise they're currently talking about: That once he becomes a famous hero/warrior, he'd come back to Tifa, and rescue her if she's ever in dire straights. After a little while longer, the flashback comes to a conclusion. He then states that he's not a hero or famous, so the promise cannot be upholded. Barret climbs up, gives Cloud his money, and another argument ensues. 1500 Gil apparently is not enough for Cloud, and he agrees to do the next job for 2000 instead of 3000, as that's for Marlene's education. Later you find yourself in the room below. This can be a bivouac for you for a while if you want to stay away from the game for a while, but too bad there is no savepoint there at all. Go up. Marlene's at the counter tending to business, while Tifa and Barret are standing in the middle of the room. If Tifa is spoken to, she asks how you slept. Now, you could either say Barret's snoring disabled you from sleeping, or that, next to Tifa, who wouldn't. The second option temporarily confuses her, and the first one has her tell you to keep it quiet, since Barret's always edgy before an operation. She's coming this time, too. If you speak with Barret, he states the current itinerary, and your mission objective to you. First you're going to the train where he'll continue the briefing (God, don't you sometimes feel like you're in some sort of strange military game), and then you're going to the Sector 5 reactor to "reinact" the whole Mako 1 Reactor. Kaboom! He then openly states that he is clueless about the utilization of Materia. You could fill him in, which initiates a whole Materia tutorial for you if you do not know how to use it either, or you could skip it by saying that he would not understand it. Here's an explanation by me, which'll be just as informative, if not, even moreso than the game's: Before anything, you must get into the Main Menu, and there you shall find a sub-menu called "Materia". How appropriate. If you forgot how to do that for no real reason, it can be done by pressing down the Triangle button. Ok, time for the explanation and no more preliminary junk. First off, some data on just what Materia is. It's Mako energy that has been condensed into its most basic form. There are quite a few kinds of Materia types (five to be more precise; consists of Support, Independent, Summon, Magic, and Command - color correspondants in order: Blue, Purple, Red, Green, Yellow). Now, about how weapons and armors come into play when it comes to dealing with Materia. They each have different numbers of Materia "slots". These are used for the insersion of Materia, obviously. Also as you can notice, some weapons and armor with multiple slots have them linked (if there's an even number passed one, all slots are linking, and if there's any odd number, some are linking and some aren't). There is no armor/weapon that lacks Materia slots, so no worries there. Now, what do these links mean? The answer is simple, yet complex, and requires a lengthy answer. First thing, some Materia compliment each other, and can enhance eachother's capabilities, and/or multiply them, such as in this insinuendo: you can have a Fire Materia equipped in one linked slot, and then the "All" Materia in the one that it's liked to. This has no immediate effect outside of battle, though. You must first be in battle to experience and witness the effects. Not just any battle, however, it must be one with at least two or more enemies. This transforms Fire's normal effect on one enemy, so that it affects every single enemy on field. One disadvantageous factor to this is that the division of the Fire causes the damage to be spread sometimes, meaning that it does ever so slightly less damage, but nothing extremely drastic. Say, the biggest damage jump I've seen is with Fire 3, going from 9999 damage regularly, to 9300 damage with all against three enemies (by the way, the less enemies fighting, the less damage is divided into smaller parts). See? Still, the amount of damage carried out was still quite large. Another good example is when W-Summon is linked to any summon, having be summoned twice in one turn (especially good when it's linked to Knights of the Round). First example can also be applied to healing magic, like Cure, so it can be used against all your party members at once, instead of just one at a time, which can get tedious, and is sometimes more trouble than it's worth, since sometimes enemies can get damage in on a character you just healed as you are healing another one, making the effort you just did null. Another topic is about when you highlight a certain Materia on the Materia sub-screen, is that information box that appears in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. This contains pretty much all of the info you need about that particular Materia except for basic explanations of exactly what they do, but that's not too important. First thing is the name, and a colored orb of the Materia type to the left of it (use color keycodes in the first paragraph of the explanation to figure out what each orb's color means). Then, to the right of that, there's stars, and however many are filled in, is the level that the Materia is on. "Level", you ask? Yes, sort of like your characters, your Materia also gains levels and AP, but not in the same way. Below the stars is the amount of AP said Materia has, and another line below that is the AP "To next level". Both of these are all dependent on how many times you use the Materia in battle, or in some white magics' cases, outside of battle. Once said AP to next level quota is met, the Materia levels up. Five is the maximum level (see, there is five stars there). There are three level-up cases, and by this I mean that you can learn new abilities of the same class, if All is linked - first case happens along with being able to use the All+Magic effect in battle without it turning to only useable once, and in summons' cases, how many times you are able to summon a particular summoned monster in battle before the summon's option turns gray. All are caused by leveling up your Materia. In that same bottom-left box is the current ability in white, and if it can turn into a new ability, any of those can be white if attained, or grayed if not. Across from them is the effect's that each one has, and usually affects statistics (ie. some can give +?% to MaxHP, or some -1 to MP, etc.). This can become a major factor in choosing great Materias later on which can prove very beneficial to you in the more difficult battles of the game. All right, what I neglected to do earlier was to give a detailed description of the five Materia classes, so I'm going to do that now, and then end the Materia informator. First off, Support Materia: These show full effect when used in conjunction with other Materias. I explained this earlier in the case of using All along with some curative and black magic. Another one is MP or HP Plus which can, whenever damage is done to an enemy, amount of damage done is deducted from enemy as usual, but then adds that amount of HP/MP to revive. These effects are useless unless you are actually lacking on one of those two. Independent Materia which raises stats, can come very useful when trying to amplify attributes to maximum, or fighting tough foes. Summon Materia, which is exactly what the name implies, and it enables the summon of special creatures to come an do your bidding in a battle. Usually can do more damage than your normal characters, but some can become useless once your characters are able to hit at the 9999 mark. Magic Materia lets you use Black Magic and/or White Magic (which I've covered in a bit of detail in the preceeding paragraphs of this tutorial). And finally, Command Materia, and this adds special commands in battle such as Enemy Skill and Steal (can lead to Mug, by the way). This shall end the Materia informator. After the tutorial you give him (if you even both to at all), he's still confused an doesn't get the concept at all, really. Then the Materia option is accessible, and he lets Cloud be in charge of Materia handling. Tifa then delivers a message to you about the Weapon Man in the slims wanting to give you something, and then she goes to Marlene and asks if she'd please take care of the bar while they're away (boy, will that be a helluva long time). Marlene complies and wishes them the best of luck. The party then joins together and then you should leave the bar. Now you can access every house/store in the slums here. If you visit the bar's next-door neighbors, there's people inside who talk about how much they miss their son. Nothing special in here at all. Go to the item shop that was closed yesterday and you can buy/sell items here, It is a good opportunity to make some money selling your unneeded items, and you can use that money to balance spendings, and buy more useful items. The shop has the following items: Potion (50 Gil), Phoenix Down (300 Gil), Antidote (80 Gil), Fire Materia (600 Gil), Ice Materia (600 Gil), Lightning Materia (600 Gil), Restore Materia (750 Gil). If you have a good supply of Gil, I suggest stocking up on the top three items and Restore Materia (two or more if it's possible). Do not worry about spending *too* much money here, as you'll quickly be regaining it whilst fighting enemies in Midgar. At the Weapon's Shop is an Iron Bangle selling for 160 Gil, an Assault Gun for 350 and a Grenade which is going for just 80 Gil. Buy some if you want some. Now, go to the second floor and then into the first room you see (the one which I said was of no use to you earlier on). Once you've entered, you first off see a savepoint bouncing away (???) Then, the guy that was there earlier now has a dog next to him, a guy to his front, and the gate door's opened. "Speak" with the dog and a big screen that tells you how to use buttons appears: L1/R1 button: To turn quickly; Directional Buttons: Up, Left, Down, Right - Walk; and Button: Triangle-Menu, Square-[used only in some special situations], Circle-speak/execute, and X-run (use in conjunction with the D-Pad controls. "Soft Reset" is L1&L2&R1&R2&Select&Start buttons (only works on the field). All must be at the same time to easily reset the game without having to get your lazy rump off your couch. Then, a finger appears over your head and a red arrow at the door. I explained this earlier, so there's no need to now. Talk to the guy next to the dog and he tells you what this place is, The Beginner's Hall. Cloud then gets cocky and then a huge screen appears with infos that he can tell the guy for free (this is really meant to explain all of that to you, but whatever, you get the point). It explains these items: How to save, How to heal your allies, Curative Magic, Weapons and Armor, How to apply Materia, Effective ways to use Materia, How to form your battle party, How to check your status, About Limit status, Other things to watch for, or, that's all. All of which are covered in the Basics section of this FAQ. You can get the Restore Materia right in front of the other person, and then he says it was Materia, and then gives you a treasure chest (more like it just falls out of the air). Open it and inside there is an Ether waiting for you. Go inside the gated area and first speak with the woman on the ground. She then explains the "fabled" savepoint, yeah right... She also says that you'll meet her again sometime (Gold Saucer GP lady), and then the treasure chest is partially explained. You can also teach the beginners up on the crates a thing or two, as well. Afterwards, just leave. Then just the leave the slums completely from the direction that you originally entered it. The guards are talking about "Loveless" if you speak to them again. They are so weird. Also, apparently, Midgar's under martial law as of currently (well, what'd you expect, people to be all happy skipping around while licking loli-pops at a time like this? Get real). Now, continue East into the train station area again. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie are already waiting for you in front of the train, and once they spot you, they board the train and it rides off without you. And if you just believed that, you're an idiot. Just get on after they do. The train man orders the door to be shut and once you're on, the important-looking guy is bummed out again and irritated, but this time he just sits down right there. Barret then gets pissed at him and asks what the hell did he say? He then says to Barret, in a sheepish manner, that it emptied out because of people like us--"hoodlums". Barret then just punches him and he's scared out of his mind (he probably pulled an Otacon from Metal Gear Solid and wet his pants or something). He then talks about the current situation with AVALANCHE briefly, and Barret threatens him over working for Shinra. Tifa butts in (Tifa and butt go well together... Mmm...) and stops him. Barret proceeds with the bleeped out vulgarity then. They then are done connecting the cars of the train together and are finally readying for departure. Heh, notice the Shinra executive now shivering and shaking with fear, hehe. Barret and Cloud then talk about the current mission and about the ID Scanning system (I call it IDSS for short). We can't use the fake IDs anymore, either. The train driver then comes on and states that you'll be arriving at the Sector 4 Train Station at 11:45 (not for you it won't). Tifa explains the three-minute situation next. Then Barret pretty much explains why you won't be arriving at that Sector 4 Station at 11:45, but even those plans are changed. This means that in three minutes you shall have to jump off the train to avoid being spotted by the ID checker. Even with that, Barret sits down and starts to relax instead of preparing. Tifa then asks you to go over to her so you can reconnoiter the monitor. If you talk with the homeless guy, he says he's impressed that you're the only ones that'll ever talk to him or even visit him, at that. Too bad he doesn't give you anything for it. The executive is pretty scared still, and thinking to himself that he's going to brag to everyone at work about this. Barret has nothing really to say besides some unimportant stuff like the hobo and the executive. Once you go up to Tifa, she can tell that you've already seen this, and as you start to see it again with her, the ID Scanner goes off. It wasn't supposed to be until later on down the tracks!??? Type A Security Alert!! Jessie then comes in and says that she will explain later, and that we have to move quickly down the cars. A search of all passengers will be conducted. Everything's flashing red, oh no! Then you have 14 seconds to get to the next car (why would you need that much?) In the next car a notice is given that it's increasing in security level to 2. In the next car, you are given 15 seconds to get all the way across, which we shouldn't even need 1/4 of. Next car is when we reach a level 3 warning, but the lights and sirens stop sounding. Barret asks if we're safe now but Jessie replies with a no and that another search is going to be conducted soon, and then everything turns back into pandaemonium. 18 seconds then 17 seconds to move up the next two cars. In one there's two guys which you have to wait to move to cross. In the third car from then you're at maximum alert, but no timer. Just follow Barret and Tifa to the front of current car and he opens the door. We're now going to have to jump out of it. Go up and talk to Tifa once, and then once more while she's looking out the door. She then goes first, then you, Cloud, go second, and Barret follows last. But before Barret goes, he says to three suspicious looking characters to take care of the rest. By the way, those three strange characters are Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie in costumes. It's pretty easy to distinguish which ones are which. Then, watch Barret jump out. We now find ourselves in the underground tunnels. Do not run South, as it's pretty much endless, but it's a good place to train here. From the beginning, though, run up, and the next screen's the last one in here. There's laser sensors here which Cloud says you cannot get passed. Well, if you have the Select function on, there should be a red arrow on screen. Go to it and examine it. After a little disputing over whether to down or not (since it looks cramped and you do not know where it leads to), Cloud has the ultimate say in it. You can stay and wait for a while and wait aimlessly, or, just go down the first opportunity you receive. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #3 - 2nd Mako Reactor/Church Crash =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: Air Buster(B), Blood Taste, Blugu, Grashtrike Proto Machinegun, Rocket Launcher, Smogger, Special Combatant -> Items/Weapons/Armor: 2x Ether, H-Potion, Phoenix Down, Potion =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Once you've slid all the way down the tunnel, the first thing you're going to want to do is to pick up the Ether that's right there plain in sight when you first reach the bottom. Then, go down the stairs at the end of this miniature tunnel. Continue climbing down the stairs, and then when you first get off, go on over to the next pair and he'll automatically start to climb down those by himself. When the screen switches, go down to the bottom. A good amount of things to pick up in this area. By the way, you're newest fighting character, Tifa, is here to add a third member to your fighting buddies, and she's not half bad, either. Her stats are automatically proportionated to fit Cloud's and Barret's by percentage after the raid on the first Mako Reactor. This reactor provides home to some nice lvl-able enemies for which you can thrash and gain all your characters some lvls. Tifa's weapons and fighting style includes using her fists with special attacking gloves equipped, and her first Limit Break, Beat Rush, can unleash some serious pain on some of the earlier enemies in the game. I'd say, damage-wise, characters should be doing in the following ranges: Cloud in the 70s-100s, Barret in the 60s-90s, and Tifa in the 40s-70s. There's a flying fish enemy in here named the Blugu, and it's really bugger to deal with. It has two attacks, physically striking and Hell Bubbles (annoying attack which can Slp your party one at a time). They possess HP which you can probably trash in one hit from Cloud or Barret, and probably two if Tifa's mixed in there first. Their prognosticatable HP is 120 (Cloud can hopefully finish it in one). Nothing else here is really that much of a pain, and there's a few rehashed enemies from first reactor such as Special Combatant and Blood Taste, which are just red-colored versions of their original counterparts which you should be able to mentally identify quite quickly. So anyway, back to the original mission. From where we left off last, there is two ways to go. They eventually lead up to the same area and you can obtain the same items, but I guess all that matters here is the order in which you get them (if you really care about things like that). I guess some can come into use quicker than others, but it's nothing really that drastically important that your life depends on it or anything. Wedge is over there to the extreme left of this area, and if you talk to him he says that the reactor's up this ladder. I went up the ladder closest to him since as I was writing this guide, I went to talk to him and didn't want to go back to the other one, so the walkthrough goes this way ^_^ Down here, there's also the Rocket Launcher enemy with its 50 HP, and that's easy to take down, even with Tifa alone. Well anyway, at the top of the ladder, there's Jessie, and two paths to take. What she has to say is sorry, and that it was her fault the ID Scanner went on the fritz. She made Cloud's ID special, and that's why it all occured. The two paths consist of going down stairs and crawling in a duct. I suggest the stairs first. Down here is Biggs, a Tent, and a savepoint to save your current progress at. Once you talk to Biggs, he says they're going to pull out now, and that they're counting on you [Barret and Tifa] to blow up the reactor. If you climb back up previous ladder, you'll notice that Jessie is gone, and there's a Potion there on the ground. If you go all the way back, Wedge is not present, either. Note: if you climbed the big ladder in the beginning, it takes you to the duct that's near where Jessie was/is. So anyhow, from where Biggs was, climb the ladder that was nearest him. A side note is that where Jessie was there were some new enemies like Grashtrikes. So, back to the path... again... Well, now's when we notice a total rehash of the first reactor for the first time, but it's just in a more gloomy color. We're in that biggest area where there was the three spiraling staircases, plus, the big useless machine in the center. There's a small difference in what we're going to do here, and it's quite a bit less time consuming. Instead of having to run down the stairs, we are at another side of this area, and from here, we can just slide down the pipe that's in front of us after we enter this place. New enemies at the bottom consist of mostly Special Combatants, and they still possess the same lame Beam Gun as the Grunts. Note that Blood Tastes are remakes of the Guard Hounds in the beginning of the first reactor which accompanied the MPs. The Special Combatants come in different number groups, as well, four being the most annoying to deal with. Once you've slid down to the bottom, go to the door at the bottom which you would normally go through if you'd gone down the large stairs. Jump over the gap to the pipe and then climb down the stairs. From there make it down the diagonal steps and then down the next ladder after it. At the bottom, move right, to the next area of the Sector 5 Reactor. Run along all of the pipes here and then to the next ladder (this is all so familiar, is it not?). At the bottom there's yet another savepoint which you can use (and it's pretty recommended due to another boss bout coming up in the very near future). From here, I do not suggest progressing further adumbratedly, but rather, begin to train some more here (for a good 1/2 hour to and hour or so). If you're already at lvl15+ from doing training to an extreme level at the last reactor, don't worry about training, but I suggest getting to at least lvl13 or 14, and 15's even more useful. Enemies in this area are pretty much all Blood Tastes and Smoggers for you to get rid of. Smoggers have the Smog attack which can do damage and inflict Dark on one character. It also has a normal attack and Poison (guess what that does). Blood Tastes use normal bites and Tentacle Drain. After you have reached desired level, you may proceed. We are at the core again and Cloud once again starts to weird out. This time we see Tifa over her dead father! She states that she hates Sephiroth, SOLDIER, Shinra, Mako Reactors, everything! Sephiroth apparently was the one who did away with her father (this is explained later). She then picks up a sword and runs through the door. After, Cloud comes to, and then the bomb is set in place. No big thing this time, since perhaps it was done with more caution or something like that. Keep on going back until you reach the door near the huge stairs again (save before this if you want to). Now proceed up those very stairs and through the door at the top. I suggest placing Materias on characters respectively, and making sure they're healed before you go too much further. Go down the elevator again and we're in yet another familiar area (man, can't Shinra use more original designs for each of their reactors?). Here, there's and Ether right there in the box, so get it. Keep going forward and there's three control panels that your three members much touch at the same time. When it starts, I suggest counting to three at medium pace to get it just right. After, go through the newly opened doors and save there. Go through the door at the top left of this small, small room and then down the short steps and through the door to the next area. Note there's Proto Machinegun enemies in that area, and they boast 100 HP plus the Machine Gun attack, so it's pretty easy. Make sure you're completely healed in every aspect possible (and by that I mean both your HP as well as your MP) before heading into the next area. Here, run to the fork of the catwalk and then Barret starts going off to the left when out come six Shinra soldiers. Now starts playing my favorite music in the whole game, and then President Shinra makes his debut. They get into a long conversation about Cloud, SOLDIER, Sephiroth (him being brilliant... perhaps too brilliant), AVALANCHE, and a bunch of other stuff. Shinra then takes his leave to a dinner (LOL) in a helicopter. He leaves you with a "play- mate" to fight, and here's Shinra's introduction to it: "Meet 'Airbuster', a techno-soldier. Our Weapon Development Department created him". He then says that the data it extracts from your lifeless bodies in the end (yeah, right) will be of great use to Shinra in their experiments later on in the future. Now is when Shinra leaves and the fight commences. =============================================================================== - BOSS: AIR BUSTER - =============================================================================== -> Monster's Name: Air Buster -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar #5 Reactor - Catwalk (forced) -> Monster's Level: 15 -> EXP for Defeating: 180 -> AP for Defeating: 16 -> Gil for Defeating: 150 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Titan Bangle x1 (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 1200 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 24, 80, 3, 75, 12, 320, 2 -> Fire (1/2), Ice (normal), Lightning (weak), Earth (immune), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Darkness, Poison, Sleep, Silence, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Petrification, Manipulation, Paralysis, Berserk, Confusion, Fury, Sadness, Death Sentence, Death - Back Attack = 5x dmg -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Big Bomber 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 50 100 X X Rear Gun 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 20 115 X X * Energy Ball 0 1 Phys Shu Phys 30 100 X X Bodyblow [1] 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 40 90 X X Bodyblow [2] 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 40 95 X X Program 1 Operation 0 - - - - - - X X (1)(2) Program 2 Operation 0 - - - - - - X X (3)(4) (1) If facing a side, turn around to face the other side (2) Miscellaneous/Animation (3) If facing a side, turn around to face the other side (4) Miscellaneous/Animation --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Is at least one character alive on Cloud's side? Yes: Program 1 Operation available Is at least one character alive on Barret's side? Yes: Program 2 Operation available Is Air Buster's ammo at least 1 (maximum of 4)? Yes: Program 1 Operation, then Select a character Is Air Buster facing not its Selected character? Yes: If facing Cloud, Air Buster turns and faces Barret If facing Barret, Air Buster turns and faces Cloud No: Big Bomber on Selected character on Cloud or Barret's side Is Air Buster's ammo 0? Yes: "Big Bomber's out of ammo." appears on screen and Air Buster cannot use Big Bomber Next, Program 2 Operation Air Buster Pre-Selects a random character Is random Pre-Select character Barret, Tifa? Yes: Is Air Buster facing Barret? Yes: Energy Ball on Pre-Select character No: Is Air Buster facing Cloud? Yes: Rear Gun on Pre-Selected character No: Is random Pre-Select character Cloud? Yes: Is Air Buster facing Barret? Yes: Rear Gun on Pre-Select character (Cloud) No: Energy Ball on Pre-Select character (Cloud) -> Counterattack Pattern: Is Air Buster's HP less than or equal to 1/5 of its MaxHP? Yes: "Turn Function non-operational." appears on screen Program 1 Operation and Program 1 Operation no longer available Air Buster Pre-Selects the last character to attack it Is Air Buster facing Barret? Yes: Is Pre-Select character Cloud's side? Yes: CV is 1 No: No CV gain No: Is Air Buster facing Cloud's side? Yes: Is Pre-Select character on Barret's side? Yes: CV is 1 No: No CV gain Is CV 1? "Counter Attack" appears on screen 2/3 - Is Air Buster facing Cloud and is Pre-Select character on Barret's side? Yes: Bodyblow (95 Hit%) on Barret No: Is Air Buster facing Cloud and is Pre-Select character Cloud? Yes: Body Blow (90 Hit%) on Barret 1/3 - Is Air Buster facing Cloud and is Pre-Select character on Barret's side? Yes: Rear Gun on Pre-Select character No: Is Air Buster facing Barret's side and is Pre-Select character Cloud? Yes: Rear Gun on Pre-Select character (Cloud) - STRATEGY: You attack this enemy from both sides (Cloud to its immediate front, and Barret and Tifa behind it). This may be a distraction, but nothing really big. It has a good amount of HP, but it is nothing that we cannot handle, especially at these levels. Airbuster boss is really susceptible to Lightning (Bolt) magic, so use that frequently along with your physical attacks, and it averages about 160 damage now when used, along with the about 100 damage that Barret and Cloud can probably do, and the about 70 or 80 which Tifa can dispense. This adds up eventually. Ok, time for how its attacks go in battle: Big Bomber is its biggest threat, and it's used on occasional turns. I've found that one character is usually put under Big Bomber's victimization, but it's not always the case. It does within the 90-100+ range as stated to the above, and can really put a hurtin' on your characters. "Behind Gun", as I like to call it since it has no name, just does little damage to a character behind it, and it's sort of like Counter Attack just for less damage, and, it does not have to be hit by magic or regular attacks by a character behind it. Counter Attack I just pretty much mentioned semi-intentionally in the last attack explanation of "Behind Gun", but I left out the fact that its damage range is usually from 30 to 40. The two "operation" attacks are no immediate threat to you, but, evetually they can mean some trouble for the character(s) Airbuster turns to face (at least with Program 1 Operation, since non-operational means that it's not functioning correctly [due to a lot of damage], and when it wants to use Program 1, it is not able to). There is more to your strategy here than just attacking using bolts. What I mainly mean by this is that whenever your Limit Break guages are filled up, use them! Cloud's Braver is extremely useful (and you probably have Cross Slash by now, too). Braver itself can do about 550 damage and Cross Slash can dish out a good 650-700. Tifa's Beat Rush can probably do around 300, and if she's gotten the Somersault, that'll let you reach about 500 damage. Big Shot can do about 500-1100 damage. Do not bother with his Mindblow, since that only restores your HP by implementing Drain in the attack (just another form of it to make it look flashier, I suppose). Do not worry if you have not obtained each character's second level 1 Limit Breaks, because the first ones will be more than sufficient to bring this factory recall down. If you do the math, 550 + 300 + ~750 equates to 1550, which is more than enough to deplete every last one of its 1200 Hit Points. Of course, you can always incorporate Bolt into your repertoire of attacks to destroy it, as previously suggested earlier in the strategy. Also note that Air Buster takes 5x damage from Back Attacks. Once it's defeated, you notice it doesn't automatically explode after all HP has been deducted like other enemies. There is a reason for this which you are about to be finding out. After the battle, you get all your AP, Exp, Items, etc., watch the proceeding cutscene. It shows the Airbuster completely exploding and Cloud narrowly holding on to the edge as the others watch in dismay. After a bit of arguing between Barret and Tifa of whether or not to stay or leave, Cloud then gets two options. I'm slipping or Stay Strong. The second one being the more admirable. Choose whatever, then the other two come to a consensus and leave. Then it explodes some more and Cloud falls all the way down (man, that's quite far down). There, that's the end of Final Fantasy VII, hope you enjoyed........ And if I was anymore full of it, I'd have crap pouring out of my ears. It's not the end; not even close. At the bottom, Cloud crashes down through a church roof and the flowers at the bottom break his fall. Then, a mysterious voice wakes up. Hey, it's the flowergirl from earlier which you [hopefully] bought flowers from for a Gil. They speak for a little while, and you get quite a few options during the course of the conversation, At first she asks him if he's ok, he replies. Then they talk about the flowers breaking his fall, and him apologizing for it. She says it's fine and that the flowers there are quite resilient due to the fact that that is a holy, sacred place. The she goes into explaining her love for this place. The first option you get is when she asks him if remember her: "Yeah, I remember you..." or "Never saw you before"; then.. "You were selling flowers" or "You're the slum drunk," heh. The she exclaims her happiness, and if you bought flowers from her before, she thanks you. The she goes about asking you if you have any Materia, and says that she is in possession of a Materia that does absolutely nothing whatsoever. Cloud does not believe it at first and tries to change it to "you probably just don't know how to use it". But, she does, it just doesn't do anything at all. It was actually her mother's keepsake until she gave it to her. Then she asks you if you feel like talking, and you are presented with the following choices to choose from: "I don't mind"/"Got nothing to talk about". If you choose the first choice, she says she first has to tend to her flowers, and if the other choiced is picked on, nothing much really happens. Once the first is chosen (whatever), you can go up and talk to her again, and then they finally get to introduce themselves to each other. She's Aeris, and you're Cloud. She has a pretty name, don't you think. It was really originally intened to be Aerith, meaning Earth, but it was changed in the process. You can make it Aerith if you so choose. Cloud then tells her his name, and a mysterious man in a black suit comes in, he's a Turks member. And then Cloud goes on to telling Aeris that he does a bit of everything. She asks if he'll be her bodyguard, and that she'll repay him by going out on one date with him (covered in the Mechanics section of the FAQ). But, that's only after you start to walk towards the front and she says bad timing on her part and then go back and speak to her again. She wants him to take her home... out of there... But, it'll cost her (that greedy son of a gun). That's when she says that she shall go out with him once if he agrees. He complies, and then a conversation with the Turks member, Reno, ensues. He has a quick 1/2 second flash back saying "I know you", and he suddenly remembers him, apparently from his Shinra days. Then three blue Shinra soldiers appear from behind Reno. She then shows them to another place to fight, as to not disturb the flowers. Go back there next, and then Reno so rudely walks over the flowers, and he says he realized Cloud's eyes and the Mako infusion he had when he was in SOLDIER. Then he continues, and comes back to say to the guards to not step on the flowers after he had just done the same thing, hehe. They protest for a second, and then the screen switches over to the back of the church where Cloud and Aeris are currently. Note that Aeris starts out pathetically and pitifully weak from the beginning but her starting Limit Break, Healing Wind, is extremely useful in healing your party. Her starting stats aren't really especially good, especially her Str. From where you start off in the back, broken down room, move in the only direction possible from the beginning, and then position yourself correctly so that you can jump across to the other side at the stairs. Isn't it amazing how he can jump that far right there and can't emulate that in other parts of the game, and sometimes when the gap is much shorter? So anyway, head on up those stairs and then to the left where you will walk across the back strip of wood of a partially broken down piece of floor. Now as you continue you make your way around the place, you'll reach another small gap which you have to jump over, but, before you can make it on over, Reno and the soldiers come barging in (how on Earth did it take them this long to come in?). And after further contemplation, Cloud goes over and thinks that Aeris can do the same, well, he's wrong. So then they make up their course of action and bullets start flying. Apparently Aeris was hit a little and she falls and slides down the big pillar. She's immediately up, and she yells to Cloud for help as there's a soldier after her. You then have three things you can choose on: "Hold on a minute!" (she waits as you go to drop a barrel down at them), "Fight 'em!" (she engages in combat), or "RUN!" (she runs away from them. I suggest choosing the very first choice on that list you get. Note that there are enemies in the top area where you go to get the barrels, but none of them are of high difficulty at all. At first, she's at the bottom left area of the ground, so, there's a specific barrel to knock down there. It is the one all the way in the back left, and once you push it over, it falls all the way down and lands on the soldier that is in pursuit of Aeris (who apparently is an "Ancient" from what Reno recently said). Aeris promtly thanks you for your help, but not too long afterwards, she's being ambushed by another soldier. This one calls for the one that's right under the one you just pushed over. After, run around a little bit and she's once again being chased. This one requires you to toss the one directly to the right of the one you just pushed over the side. It takes out the guy chasing her on the stairs. Man, these things are just so strategically placed! By the way, note that if Cloud starts getting low on HP, do not hesitate to heal him with a Potion or two. After this one, she runs all the way around and actually jumps over it this time around. She then reaches you at the top, and the view from up there completely changes. You both then run into the next area where you probably see a red arrow near the humongous hole in the roof. Go over to it and jump out of this place... you've been here long enough. But, if you decided to fight all of those battles, here are some pointers: Aeris' attacks with her weapon probably do from 12 to 20 damage at this point, and the enemies here, which consist of the following singles or pairs: Guard Hound+Guard Hound, MP+MP, or Guard Hound+MP, and some are just individually like just one MP in a battle. will probably take 2-4 hits to take down. There will be three fights in all, and I seriously suggest before all of this that you supplied Aeris with some good Materia to face them. Well, after you're through the hole in the roof, we now make our arrival in the next area of FFVII... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #4 - Sector 5 Slums =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: Hedgehog Pie, Vice, Whole Eater, Hell House -> Items: Poison Materia, Cover Materia, Ether, 5 Gil (special note on this) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Once you're out, Cloud and Aeris are conversing atop the roof. They're talking about the Turks, how they're always after Aeris for some reason (this goes back a bit into the last scene we were in, and covered more later on), how she might be cut out for SOLDIER (my foot...), etc. Cloud also explains a little to Aeris about what the Turks are. They're an organization of Shinra, and they scout out possible SOLDIER-worthy candidates. But apparently with Aeris, they have a hidden agenda. After the bulk of the conversation is over, Cloud says let's go to Aeris, and you start to scale piles of stacked up garbage and debris. You just have to move forward over all of it, while Aeris is trying to catch up and keep up with Cloud who's making it all look so easy, Cloud pokes fun at her nicely, asking is she sure she's cut out to be in SOLDIER and other things of the like. When she finally catches up to you on some trash mound, she is panting, puffing and wheezing, too, and then she asks if Cloud was ever in SOLDIER because she notices the Mako glow in his eyes. She just continues the talk for a small length of time and then they continue to traverse everything. You then come down in a new area and Aeris is quite relieved. Aeris goes upward and states that her house is over in that direction, but I suggest going down first for a bit more exploration. You can reenter the church, and they ask if it's ok that they're tending to the flowers. I told them no because I am a sinister type person, but you can say whatever >:) The kids are exuberently exultant and thank you kindly. You can leave and continue going South and see the end of where Midgar is (its outer limits). You'll be there later, so don't bother now. Now, keep heading North once more in the direction where Aeris said her house was located. You can save there, too. Your HP should be fully recovered with Aeris, as well, so take note of that. In the proceeding area, you can head up the first chance you get and you're really in the slums (moreso than in the Sector 7 Slums--wow...!). Or, you can continue going up a bit and risk fighting more monsters (I'll get to explaining those in just a sec) to talk to some little kids who're impeding passage to the North. The child on the right is extremely rude, and the one on the left is really just talking to the one on the left about a shop in the slums. About the enemies: Hedgehog Pie is just like those little red-looking demon balls in the Church with only 40 HP. It can use Charge which leads up to Fire attack; no real threat there. One hit with Cloud's regular attack can take it down, but Ice magic will do a much stronger job since being Fire, it's weak to it. It doesn't give much in the way of after-battle spoils, however. Whole Eater is a little bit more of a threat to you, but still nothing to go into a panic about at all. With a measly 72 hit points, Cloud can decimate it in just one attack. Its physical attack can do nearly 20 damage (more accurately calculate at around 15-17, though), and it'll drop 70 Gil, 2 Ap and 24 Exp. Definitely better than Hedgehog Pie except for AP which is 50 under that of HHP. It does not have any weaknesses, so take it down normally. Vice is the second hardest enemy around here, actually. 68 HP it packs, but its attack does less than HP's. Rewards are a bit nice, and like with Whole Eater, you can Morph a Potion out of it (doubt you'll be doing that now, but it's a nice to note to keep in my for later), and you can steal a Speed Drink from it. But, well, anyways, you still need to enter the slum, and there's a few things you can do from the beginning. There's a guy right in the beginning that talks about the strange guy in the pipe right next to him. Walking back and fourth next to that guy is a man in green who asks if you've heard of Wall Market. Say yes and he says that maybe he should have you run an errand for him there, but say no and he gives a brief and concise explanation of it. Also there's some guy in a hurry around the upper left store in the slums. If you talk to the dog it turns to face you and barks a little. Near the central, biggest structure, there's a woman who's walking around and it looks like she's looking at the ground. If you talk to her...: "What am I doing? I'm walking around looking at the ground". And I also guess she gives a helpful hint about looking at the ground 'cause sometimes you can find items. Heh, well anyway, there's not much left outside, so let's first go into where you're probably closest to, the pipe. As you're walking in, Aeris comes out and says something, and then you walk on in. He says nothing but "oooohhh" and "ahhhhhh". Aeris asks if Cloud'd help him, but Cloud says no, he's no doctor. Aeris is saddened. She then mentions the guy has a tatoo numbered "2". Afterwards, just leave out of there. From here, enter the left-most door in the big place in the center of the slum. In here, if you attempt to open the man's freezer, he stops you. This is, by the way, the Materia Shop. Not much is selling that's really worth it, but here's what it all is: Fire (600), Ice (600), Lightning (600), and Restore (750). I suggest the first and the last if you do not have them yet (mainly so you can have the last one on both characters), or you don't really have to. Next door to it is the Item Shop. What do they have here, you ask? Potion going for 50 Gil, Phoenix Down going for 300 Gil, Antidote for 80 Gil, and Tent is 500 Gil. Stock up on anything you may be in need or lack of (if your Gil is plentiful, go ahead and buy a few Tents while you're there, they really come in handy at save points or World Map when your HP/MP's low). Continuing to the right of that store to the right extremity of the Sector 5 Slum is a random person's house. If you speak with the first man (who for some inexplicable reason has a serious tan when there's no sun whatsoever shining down on Midgar) he talks about Shinra's lies and not being able to trust AVALANCHE. Go upstairs and there's his small son sleeping in bed. He's muttering something about not being able to find something... the top one...the bottom one... It's just 5 Gil in his drawer. Don't take it yet, since if you do, you'll miss a Turbo Ether from the boy later, who somehow bought one with 5 measly Gil (???). If you want the Gil now, though, examine both top and bottom drawers (in no real particular order), and then again is a special drawer of both of them to get the 5 small Gil). Leave the house once you're done with everything in there. After that you can go into the top left store, and there's three people crowded into that small place with all those items on top of items. If you talk to the boy in the middle swinging his legs on the boxes, he's pretending he's on a train to Midgar. If you speak with the guy on the left, he says there's no weapons that he has to sell you, and the reason behind that is the weapon shop is over there where the more elderly, chunkier man is. Not much is in supply here, and I don't even recommend buying anything. You got a Titan Bangle from the aftermath of your skirmish with Airbuster, and Grenades aren't really that useful to you. But, it's your choice to make here, I'm just your advocate and trying to get you to make better decisions in this game to accomplish the game successfully. Exit again and go through the path leading through the shining bright light next to the entrance to the Weapon Shop. This is a very beautiful and tranquil looking place, isn't it? From the start, use the savepoint, then go and get both the Ether and Cover Materia from the south garden. Then head back across the bridge, down the steps and enter the house. When you go in, Aeris comes out and says "I'm home, mom", which leads you to inquire that it's Aeris' home that she wanted you to take her to (no, this isn't the end of Aeris being with you throughout the game, by the way). After that, the screen goes dark for a second and then it shows the three of you (Aeris, Elmyra [Aeris' mom], and Cloud) talking, and the introductions begin. She then asks about the Turks following her again and asks if she's all right. The she thanks Cloud sincerely, and then he asks where Sector 7 is from here, because he wishes to go to Tifa's Bar (Seventh Heaven). A controversial talk then ensues about Tifa being a girl, and you get a chance to choose whether she's your girlfriend or not. This has an impact later in the game, so be weary of that. The talk then continues mostly about Aeris' safety, etc. Cloud acting all studly now... heh.. They talk a little bit about not being about to dispute with Aeris about anything she's always so hard-headed and determined once she's made up her mind about something. But, she then makes a suggestion that you should go tomorrow since it's getting quite late now. The scene then changes over to Aeris going up to make the beds. You can now talk to Elmyra, and for about two two caption boxes, talk about SOLDIER, and then she asks if you could leave her tonight without telling Aeris. If you speak with her again, she says the following: "SOLDIER... the last thing Aeris needs is to get her feelings hurt again..." Some of you are definitely confused by this, but it'a explained later on in the game, both by the game itself, and by me. Now, head upstairs and talk with Aeris, then after a small conversation, she wishes Cloud good night and walks downstairs. A mysterious conversation with the voice in Cloud's head once again goes down. A flashback happens with Cloud and his mother in Nibelheim. It's mainly about girls and stuff. Cloud's being stubborn, surprise, surprise. Now you wake up in the middle of the night and you have to get downstairs without alarming Aeris. This is easier than you may think. All you have to do is walk down the stairs (walk, not run!), and all shall be fine. The only way to alert Aeris of your presence going down is to 1) go into her bedroom directly, or 2) run out instead of walk - both are easy to avoid. Also be careful of the one squeaky floorboard in the middle. All of this will trigger Aeris to come out, tell you to get back in bed, and you have to keep trying. So walk along the stairs railing to walk over and then down to avoid the squeaky, loose floorboard. You can run when you're downstairs, though. Now continue the way you came, and you'll now notice, when in the slums, that only the seller's in the Weapon Shop, no one's outside besides the dog, and everyone who's really supposed to be inside of their respective shops is. So continue outward, and when you are out, go up to where those kids used to be. Apparently Aeris was too quick (somehow, somewhere, someway there must be a shortcut that she took to get right there). A brief greeting as if nothing'd happend comes from Aeris, and both of them talk shortly and she runs off with you following her. Looks like she's now back in your party. From here, this is a small, downscale sized maze -ish area. From starting point, go up the upward bridge, the across the iron walkway to the otherside. From there you head down the red bars and through the pipe tunnel. Now, walk under the iron walkway and then up the next pipe to the top. Ok, here, run to the other side and go down, and then head into the next and upcoming area. Now you're in what looks like a small children's playground. You now get to make a decision as to whether to take her home (which does not happen even if you pick that it will not happen), or you could opt to take her to Sector 7; better in both senses. If you say take her home, she'll obviously be unhappy as well. But, if you say take her to Sector 7, she says "won't I be in your way". Cloud doesn't understand (God, is he clueless), and then she says "Nothing!". She obstensibly meant about him and Tifa. That is, if you said Tifa was your girlfriend, if not, that does not happen, and she does not argue. Whatever happens, she asks if you can take a break here so she can sit at the tip of the big mouse slide and ponder about the past and old memories here. Talk to her again to inaugurate it. At the top, she becomes a little melancholy, and Cloud talks to her there, too. You talk about SOLDIER, Cloud's rank (which he gets an instant flash and says First Class), her old boyfriend a little, and more. After a while, you see Tifa going off in a Chocobo carridge to Wall Market, uh-oh... Follow them! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #5 - Wall Market =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: Corneo's Lackey, Scotch -> Items/Weapons/Armor: Ether, Hyper, Phoenix Down =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= There's a lot to do here in Wall Market on your first visit. And believe me... it is A LOT. But it's all mostly fun, though. Before continuing on with the story, there's much to be done like exploring and checking out all the sites and stores of Wall Market. There's also people to talk to and things to do, and some people actually make some pretty humorous remarks. The first person you'll see is some guy in a blue shirt near the inn who only tries to persuade you to stay at the inn. Don't feel obliged to unless you want/need to. It's costing 10 Gil per night to stay there, and that's not steep at all, so if you want, go ahead and do so, it will not deteriment what happens in the game at all. The next morning, leave and go talk to the fat guy at the other side of the vacant shop in the middle of the beginning. He talks about a shop in town, but is not too detailed. If you talk to the bad looking hoodlum wandering around he says my favorite and most memorable line in the whole game. Here it is: "Hey boy! You shore got a good lookin' heifer there!", and he's professedly talking about Aeris when he says that. Haha. Pretty much in the middle of it all is the strange, abandonned Item Shop that has a gun turret that'll nearly impale you if you examine the red screen. Do I hear lawsuit? Above it is the real Item Shop, and outside it is a little girl to talk to. Inside the guy is freaked out when you come in, but you can buy stuff afterwards. They're selling a lot: Potion (50), Phoenix Down (300), Antidote (80), Echo Screen (100), Eye Drop (50), Hyper (100), Tranquilizer (100), Hi-Potion (300 -> really recommended), and Tent (500). Above the Item Shop and to the right is a savepoint which you can use. Next to that is a restaurant with a guy outside. Here you can buy three foods (Korean BBQ Plate, Sushi Plate, or Today's Special), and they all have slightly different appearances. They cost 70 Gil, and after you eat, you eat you can say "...", "It was all right", or "I've had better dog food". No matter what you say, leave afterwards. Note: if you buy all three foods at least once, you get a pharmacy coupon for the item shop (more on that in just a little while). To the left of the restaurant is a person in purple deciding whether or not to buy something. He's next to the dress shop, but this is nothing for now, but it shall become quite important later (and leads to perhaps the most hilarious video game scene of all time *doesn't want to spoil it just yet*). In the to right corner of the first area is a strange place where the guy says they're not open right now. You can now go into the next, Northern area of the Wall Market and there's first off, two people discussing the trash build-up of the Weapon Shop owner. The first tent is the work out gym, and inside, you see four people training and working out. Also, there's a pub, and something in there leads to your progression a little later. Oh, and for a laugh, you can talk to the guy standing right outside of the bathroom and he says that someone's been in there for hours and he really has to go. Go on ahead and open the door and the person in there is apparently not done. Tons of people to talk to in here, but none of them are really that interesting. Across from there is the Weapons Shop. The person closest to the door is selling the following: Mythril Rod (370), Metal Knuckle (320), Assault Gun (350), Titan Bangle (280), Mythril Armlet (350). I can't make much suggestions here, just buy what you think is right for each character taking note of stat increases and decreases (also take heed that Tifa's coming back soon, so, don't forget her, whatever you do). The other man has nothing as of the moment. And at the very top there's a path leading to Don Corneo's place (more on that later), and it's nothing for now. So, at this point, go back to the very beginning area to where you spoke to that one overweight looking guy and head on to the right. Now here's a place I would like to the manager of! The closest guy from the start of this small area is really confused right now, and he asks you a question which you get two options for; answer however you'd like and go talk to the hoodlum kid. He's talking like he's all tough and like there's gonna be a fight breaking out and stuff. There's also a guard trying to look in (you already know what kind of place this is, don't you? And... Tifa's starting here soon!) The old fat guy there asks if you're looking for a girlfriend (and by that he means more intimacy than just a "girlfriend"). You get two options: "You know a girl named Tifa", and, "This place doesn't interest me". Choose the first option, and he says that Tifa's their newest girl acquisition. She is currently partaking at an interview currently, so, you can't see her now. He then explains how Don Corneo and him being a famous dilettante, and what he currently wants to do. This is not good news for Tifa. The person at the front basically tells you to screw off because this is a private club: "Shoo, shoo". What a pansy. Anyways, now leave again, and this is where your crapload of stuff to do begins. Just so you know, that place is called the Honey Bee Inn, if you're interested. This is where things get interesting. So, first off, you have to go back to the main entrance to the the Don's place and speak to his lackey outside. He doesn't let Cloud come in because he's... well, a guy, but he's more than happy to let Aeris in 'cause she's one fine heifer. However, Cloud has an objection to this, mainly about letting Aeris going in alone because it's "that" kind of place. Well, how are we going to get in? This is worked out by Aeris and Cloud, and you come to the final conclusion that Cloud is going to have to get all fufu and dress up like a woman. OH MY GOD! I am not lying about this, this is really what happens, and what you're actually supposed to do. Well, now you leave from here and we begin looking for stuff to make Cloud look all feminine. Damn, can you imagine if Barret was here!? I first must begin by saying that you do not have to obtain every single item mentioned herein, but, if you want to get the most out of it, follow this very closely. Time to explain a little. In dressing Cloud beautifully (still laughing about it), you have to find a wig and a dress. That's all. But, you can go the extra mile (or rather, extra few miles) and get other stuff like perfume and more. This all leads up to Don Corneo picking either Tifa, Aeris, or you, Cloud, to be his woman. I must say, this is the funniest and most amusing part of the game. This does has an effect later in the game (as touched on in the Mechanics section), and it can be detrimental or helpful to the outcome you wish to have occur. This will be taking quite a while, so, I hope you're ready (that is, if you wish for every item you can possibly have to make you look pretty), if not, ten minutes max. First off, go on and save again at the savepoint in the first area of the Wall Market after Aeris says that she's going to go and get a hot friend of hers. Now, where to go first? Well, I said that it proved no point in a perhaps earlier visit, and what I mean by this is the Dress Shop. This is located to the Northwest of the first area of Wall Market. Inside will be a woman at the counter and an old man. Don't bother about talking to the old man, since he only says to stop pushing, hoodlum. Talk to the clerk lady at the counter to initiate a conversation in which Aeris asks for a dress, but the girl replies that her father (the owner) has been in the slumps lately and that he is more than likely drunk at the bar. So what you're off to do now is to go find and bring back her father. This is easy, all you must do is go back to the second section of Wall Market and enter the bar. He'll be the guy all alone by himself in black clothes in the bottom portion of the bar. He's pretty plastered, as you can imply just by talking to him. Cloud then asks him to make him some clothes, and his first response is that he doesn't make men's clothing. Cloud then goes off for a second as Aeris talks to the man in private. She tells the guy that Cloud has always wanted to dress like a girl once, and the guy's a little surprised at first, but then he complies since he thinks it might be interesting, and since he was bored with making just regular clothes, it's pretty much a win/win situation. You now get two options to choose from for how you want your dress. There are two combos to choose from: "Soft/Shiny", "Soft/Shimmers", or, "Clean". The first choice I mentioned gets you the Satin Dress. The choice after that is the Silk Dress, after that is the cotton dress. Satin is the best and Cotton is the worst, so I suggest Satin. Don't ever pick Cotton. Picking the best option here is the first step in the progression to get the funniest results from the Don Corneo fling. Afterwards, no matter what choice(s) you make, the guy says that he has a friend that has Cloud's same tastes. Talk to him again and he'll sit there pondering what it should look like. What's next? We have to go to the Dress Shop once again and the man is already there with the dress made. He also has a new attitude and inspiration/motivation. Talk to him at the counter and he tells you to go and try it on. Received Key Item "[???] Dress"! Cloud then goes into the dressing room to try it on. Apparently he's having some difficulties in doing so. Cloud now needs a wig to conceal his spiked hair. He already set you up to get one at the gym, though, so don't worry about that. Now that you have the dress and Cloud comes out, we have to pay a little visit to the gym here in Wall Market (whoa, isn't that the last place you ever though you'd be getting a wig? I guess the men here in Wall Market have some lack of testosterone, huh?). Well, the gym's located in the top half of Wall Market, and it's the first house you can enter. Talk to the person in the middle who's watching the two guys training in squats in the ring. You talk about the wig, but it's obviously now going to cost you. No, not in money, but, you have to beat Big Bro in squatting. Big Bro is the big, burly looking black guy in the top right corner of this work out gym. The game is then explained to you. You must press Square to squat down, X to get back up, and Circle to return to the ready position. You must press them all like that (->X->O) in expedient yet synchronized order, and get all timing down correctly. The object of the game is to beat Big Bro, or in other words, get more squats down than him in set time limit (30 seconds). Don't do the next move until previous one has been completely executed correctly. Should you lose, you receive a very unsanitary wig, a dye wig for tying him, and if you just so happen to win (not that hard), you get the Blonde Wig (of course the best one, so try for it hard). If you mess up your moving during this, you stop suddenly and scratch your head, but so does he if he slips up. Received Key Item "[???] Wig"! The black guy then gets punched to the other side of the room for whining and complaining like a baby. You should now leave after Aeris rejoins your party. You could finish this now and go to the Don's place now or you can continue for a more favorable outcome. If you wish to quit now, go to Dress Shop and get dressed. I am going to continue explaining how to get every single dress-up item, as that's my job. We must first head over to the restaurant that I talked about earlier. Once you're here, take your seat (it'll be only empty one in the whole entire place). You can order whatever you like, it does not have to be any specific dish, just so long as you, after consuming the food, say "It was all right". That's a semi-compliment, and none of the other statements will work. Afterwards, you are given the Pharmacy Coupon. You can exchange this at the Items Shop for one of three special items. Since you have the coupon, you now can get one of three extra items, instead of the usual. You don't have to pay. either. The three of them are Disinfectant, Deodorant, or Digestive. The choice you make here dictates which kind of cologne you receive a little later on. All three of them net you a different kind of cologne (I really don't know why they don't call it perfume since it's in a woman's case). Here's the list in order from least prefered to most preferable: Digestive, Deodorant, and then Disinfectant. What on Earth do you do with Digestive (or whatever else you had got), you ask? Well, you must go back on over to the bar where you've been before. But this time, you have to go get the person out of the bathroom who's selfishly been in there all day long, according to the squirming guy outside the bathroom door. Go and open it, and then talk to them after the door's open to give them the item you just got from Pharmacy. I guess she just needed to flush his system due to constipation, that's why it's best (and she's most thankful) if you you give her the Digestive. For Digestive she gives you the Sexy Cologne, for Deodorant she hands over Flower Cologne, and Disinfectant nets you the normal Cologne. The other guy enters and never comes out, then. Hey, do you remember that one fat guy near the entrance to the path to the Honey Bee Inn? You know, the one who could not make up his mind earlier when you probably spoke to him, Anyway, it seems that he's partially made up his mind, and has decided to hand over his "Member's Card" item to you. This is a membership to the Honey Bee Inn (remember the one queer working there who wasn't letting you in because you were not a member). Now you can go in, and this is where the first disturbingly scarring sexual innudendo of the Wall Market takes place (not much of one, but it's enough to make some people like me think twice about playing this game again). Now go up to the owner of the Honey Bee Inn and he utters one of the most homosexually perverted phrases in the entire game, and unless he was talking to Aeris, I'm quite frankly very frightened. He now clears the way, and you can go in, and every one is in a manincal frenzy to get in too. Haha, too bad! From the beginning, I hot girl comes up and welcomes you in. By the way, Aeris is staying outside due to obvious reasons. Talk to her again and she says to choose a room to stay in. She's also thinking to herself something quite humorous. The room at the top is not available, as it's a dressing room. The two right rooms are unvacant, and you can watch the occupants through the keyholes on the doors. At the top right room is the lover's room. You can take a listen or a peek. If you take a peek you just see sort of a shower curtain and two old people talking to eachother. Sane still? If you take a listen you hear some disturbing sexual noise being uttered by two elderly individuals *shutters* The bottom is the Queen's Room. Take a peek in here and you see the same as last time, but it's almost like Sephiroth himself is in there with all the electricity and some really strange talking goes on about a queen, Satan, and President Shinra??? Some spanking at the end, too? The rest is the &$#% Room, and you can take that which gives you the Lingerie. The other is the Group Room which gives you the Bikini Briefs, and I recommend that more. Choose one and the girl in the bee suit unlocks the door and shows you in. First in here she asks if you should begin? (seems nice so far, right? Don't let this fool you, you're about to be mentally and sexually disturbed). Then she tells "everyone" to come in and Cloud is bamboozled. Choose an option and the room suddenly becomes infested with gay men. Mukki's their leader, apparently. Then you get two options, to either say I'm outta here or this could be dangerous. Either way, they undress you and you're forced to shower in a small tub with nine other men. For the love of Christ... When they ask how it feels you can say "..." or "It hurts [AHH! MAKE IT STOP!]" He also asks if you want to join the Young bubby's group; "Not interested" or "..." Your mind shall be permanently scarred forever, I can assure you. But, for enduring that torture, you get the better underwear, the Bikini Briefs. Ya'll get dressed, then they leave the premise. God, he really must care about Tifa... Now, for what goes on in the &$#% Room, it's almost as bad, but for sustaining (a little) less, you get Lingerie which is not as good. When you enter, some nice music plays (it gets me a little teary-eyed at times) plays and you see an image of Cloud in here. Cloud starts weirding out, and the image asks if you really should be here. Ms. "Poo" then comes in, and after a night, the next morning you wake up and see Mukki on top of you (you hear "rub, rub, rub", which isn't a good sign, a lot of other disturbing, disgusting sexual noises). But, you get your HP/MP restored!? Mukki's now slapping you (dear lord, you can guess what happened to Cloud, can't you?). There's two options then: "Huh...?" or "Ugh...?". He then replies with "They say say youth is so long but so short". God... He then leaves and you get Lingerie. Note that you can also have the girl in here put makeup on Cloud, either the normal makeup or a special type of makeup. Well, not that you've learned that the Honey Bee Inn is men service and woman only serve as escorts to your room... we continue to get the final item on our agenda, the Tiara. Uh-huh... But first, you get Aeris from being hit on by all of those guys out there, hehe... So, first, for the Tiara, go up to the North- east shop of the first, bottom portion of Wall Market. In here there's a guy just laying on the counter doing nothing and he doesn't really seem to care too much about his business, whatever that is. Nothing would surprise me after what we just experienced... He wants to ask a favor of you, but you can reject it if you want to. He asks Aeris to turn away and she's curious about it. He wants to know what they have in the vending machine at the inn. He does not want to ask a girl to go see for him. He also cannot go all by himself because he had a fight with the manager of the inn and was banned from ever going there again. So, first off, collect 210 Gil so you can stay the night and get the very best Tiara possible. But, you can use 110 for the medium Tiara, and 60 together for to the worst one. Aeris rejoins and you can go over there now. She was getting impatient, it seems. The 200 one is the Diamond Tiara, 100 is Ruby Tiara, and 50 Gil one is the Glass Tiara (but these are all what you get in return for taking him the item from the vending machine there afterwards). Now, leave, and you're done. For added effect, and Don Corneo's further approval, you can get make up put on Cloud at the Honey Bee Inn. Go into the dressing room to fit it all on. Aeris then gets a dress and she looks mega hot. Now if you go back to Honey Bee Inn, you can't enter since the guys crowd around you. Heh. You now get to walk/run all around as Cloudina, the First Class cookie seller of the Girl Scouts. It's funny. He even has a new feminine, girly walk. He does that well. I knew he had a little bit of "that" in him! Ok, go back to the guy at the door to Don Corneo's place and he shows his aproval for Cloud, too. Heh. Two ladies coming through! The inside of this place is awesome, man. The guy at the front desk goes to inform The Don of your arrival. Now, go up the stairs and through the door over to the right side. Down here is Tifa in a very sexy dress, as well. There's a big talk and apparently there's some jealously and animosity between the two girls who obviously have a thing for Cloud. After, go to the back and claim the Ether. If you speak to Aeris, she's there giggling at you. Tifa's confused as to why you're dressed like a woman. He then explains a little about the fall and why he's dressed as such. He then interrogates her as to what she's doing in a place like this, and it's on a mission that Barret got some information out of a suspicious character in Sector 5. The conversation continues about the Don and stuff, and then, leave the basement by way of the stairs once again. Funny, if you go to Main Menu, Cloud's picture isn't at all temporarily altered. That'd be a riot. Now, enter the main big room, and that's the Don's room. Here, walk up and talk to Kotch who tells you to line up in front of Corneo. He's astounded and obviously quite arroused. Now's where he chooses. If Cloud does not have all the beauty items mentioned, either Tifa or Aeris will be chosen, and that is done at random. Whoever is not picked, Scotch and Kotch (who, to me, have very questionable names, indeed) get to have them. If Cloud loses, he's thrown in a room with Corneo's Lackeys where you have to fight them all off. Also, get a Phoenix Down from this room. But, whoever does get picked is confronted in the bed by a horny Corneo when busts in the two others. They all threaten to smash, cut off, and rip off his testicles in an interrogation. That's a bit *too* inhumane, if you ask me. Now, the information Corneo gives is extremely useful. Stuff such as how Shinra plans to destroy Sector 7. After all the torturing and explaining of Heidegger of Shinra and more, you now, get to acquire a Hyper from behind Don Corneo's bed. Go up to the girls again and Corneo asks you a question with three different answers. All of them lead to the same final, ultimate conclusion to it, and that being that he pulls a secret lever that sends the group plummeting down to the Train Graveyard/Sewers Under Sector 6. But, by the way, the middle option is correct one according to him, if you want. But, as you're falliing, the scene switches to the main room in the Shinra HQ where it shows Heidegger (the fat guy with the horse laugh in the green suit), Reeves (the head of Urban Development), and Shinra himself, who's at the desk. They're discussing the operation to destroy Sector 7. Reeves seems to be showing some reluctancy because he played such a huge role in building, as well as running, Midgar. They also touch briefly on the lazy mayor (you meet him later). Heidegger then leaves the scene with his annoyingly stupid horse laugh (don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually throughout the game). President Shinra then suggests a vacation to Reeves. Reeves just leaves. Shinra then divulges the rest of the plans: Destroy Sector 7 and report that AVALANCHE had done it. Then they send in the rescue operation care of Shinra, Inc. The perfect plan, according to him. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #6 - Sewers Under Sector 6/Train Graveyard =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: Aps (B), Ceasar, Cripshay, Deenglow, Eligor, Ghost, Sahagin -> Items/Weapons/Armor: Echo Screen, Ether, Hi-Potion, Potion, Steal Materia =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Haha, looks like Corneo's door in his floor really works; it sends you plummeting down to the sewers below the streets of Sector 6. It's not like this is some huge trap or trick which is nearly impossible seeming to get out of, but, it's just the sheer thought of being tricked by someone like Corneo, it's enough to make you question existance. Well, when you're at the bottom, Cloud's the only one who gets up while the two girls stay down a little longer. Talk to them in any order whatsoever and they get up with Cloud asking them if they're all right. Be aware, though, there are some random encounter enemies here, so watch out. Sahagin isn't much of a threat, but it's Water Gun technique can do some damage. Nothing you can't take, however. It's 150 should go under total deletion in one hit, or two at most. Try to get your Limit Break up with Cloud up by training here. Since after you wake them both up, there's an immediately engaged boss fight with Aps. There's also the Ceasar enemy around here, though, and it's even less of a threat than the Sahagin was. It has one attack really worthy of mentioning, and that's Bubble. A lot like Water Gun. If you lose too much HP here before Aps fight, replenish it with a Potion (try not to use up your Hi-Potions yet, as you'll need them soon. Also, a pro tip would be to wake up Aeris first, without Tifa, and get both Cloud's Limit Break and her Limit Break (so that she can rejuvenate you in battle without MP cost or using up an item), and then just use Tifa in battle until her Limit is up. I suggest being lvl13 or higher for the upcoming boss bout with Aps just so that you don't find your ass being handed to you in this fight. Well, with all that being said, let us start the fight, shall we? =============================================================================== - BOSS: APS - =============================================================================== -> Monster's Name: Aps -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Sewer Under Sector 6(forced) -> Monster's Level: 10 -> EXP for Defeating: 30 -> AP for Defeating: 3 -> Gil for Defeating: 89 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Phoenix Down (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: Hyper x1 (8) -> Item Morphed from Monster: Potion x1 -> Monster's HP: 150 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 23, 32, 2, 59, 8, 64, 12 -> Fire (weak), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Silence, Confusion, Petrification, Berserk, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death Sentence, Death - Back Attack = 4x dmg -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Sewer Tsunami [1] 0 AT Phys Wat Phys 18 100 X X (1)(2) * Sewer Tsunami [2] 0 AT Phys Wat Phys 18 100 X X (3)(4) Attack 0 1 Phys - Phys 4 100 X X (5) ^ Tail Attack 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 18 90 X X (1) characters receive regular damage (2) Aps receives back attack damage (3) characters receive back attack damage (4) Aps receives regular damage (5) Sadness [100%] --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Sewer Tsunami [1] on all characters 3/4 - Is at least on character in the back row? Yes: Tail Attack on random character in the back row No: Tail Attack on random character 1/4 - Is second character in party formation not under KO? Yes: Attack on second character in party formation No: Attack on random character Is Action Count 0? Yes: Action Count +1 Is Action Count 1? Yes: Tsunami [1] on all targets [Action Count +1] Is Action Count 2? Yes: Action Count +1 Is Action Count 3? Yes: Tsunami [2] on all targets [Action Count reset to 0] - STRATEGY: First of all, when you've awoken everyone up, the match is right away automatically initiated. When the fight starts, you'll probably be scared out of your mind, 'cause man is Aps one ugly customer. It'll probably pull off a Sewer Tsunami before you even get to attack, depending on your Agl - but if not, try to get Cloud's Cross Slash on him for around 250 dmg. Now, for some information on Tifa: I suggest having her equipped with any weapon/armor you may've purchased for her at Wall Market, plus some Fire Materia if there's double (if not, substitution should take place for something like Bolt). If Tifa gets a chance for Limit Break, go on and use it, as it should be the Somersault by now, you can expect some big damage. Aeris' Limit Break, Healing Wind, comes in very useful to just about heal all of your party's HP, but should only be used when HPs are running low. Now, with Sewer Tsunami, you would assume that there'd be a status adulteration (such as Posion) involved, but it's quite the contrary. All it does is mediocre damage to you, and about twice as much on Aps. This boss has no real set attack pattern, either. Fire is its once major elemental vulnerability, so utilize it well with whomever it is equipped to. Here's how to differentiate both the Sewer Tsunami with the "Op-ed" Sewer Tsunami (besides damage - since names don't have "Op-ed"): it's the way the wave comes in at you. If it smashes you from behind, it's the "Op- ed" Tsunami and it does more damage at you than itself, but it's the exact opposite with the normal Sewer Tsunami. Aps' regular attack only does around 20 damage, so there's no need to worry over that. After the battle's done and over with, Tifa has her doubts about the people of the slums. Aeris then comforts her (no, not like that, you perverts...!). The party then congregates. Now, go on and get the Potion that couldn't be more obvious to find if there was a huge arrow point to it saying, "Hey idiot, there is a Potion right in front of you!" Get back down to the starting point and climb up the small ladder and run around the corner and down the next, upcoming small ladder at the end. Now, run up the small stairs and down the tunnel leading downward, further underground apparently. There's also a Steal Materia there (it's a yellow color, so try not to miss it, since it's a little easy to) Here, adumbrately, go down the set of tiny steps, then go across to the small green arrow and walk on up. Now, head down to the end and climb up that ladder. At the top you're in the Train Graveyard. Cloud then apologizes to Aeris for entangling her in all of this. She still refuses to go home. Tifa then suggests making it over all the trains. Save. From there, climb up the ladder to the top of the first train, near the savepoint. Up here you can collect a Hi-Potion. Continue running along the tops to the next train. From there Cloud can jump on the metal bridge. Note there are a few enemies here. Deenglow is the biggest threat. It uses Demi which subtracts 25% of current HP, meaning it can't ever totally kill you, but leave you with at least 1HP. It absorbs Ice and heals itself by set amount Ice spell was going to dish out. Invulnerable to quite a few elements, too. Double dmg by Wind if you had it. The Ghost has the Drain spell which takes HP from you, and whatever the deducted amount was is the amount of HP it heals itself by. It can also turn invisible, in which scenario you cannot hit it (everytime it's hit). It comes back after a turn or two. Ok, so continue making it to the right on the metallic bridge. From here you can spot a lot of items, but the only way to get them is to take a left on the metal bridge. When you're on level land, head up and around the train and then into the next train through the hole. You can get a Potion that's lying on the floor there. Now continue making you're way down through the inside of that train and then exit through the back door down the small ramp. Now, climb up that ladder there and continue heading North to the next train and after that, down the next ladder. Here, go into that train and cross over to the next cart. Leave out through the other side down the ramps, and from there, nab the Potion. This area is more infested with Cripshays than any other part of the Train Graveyard. Its Dual Spike attack is its only real attack and it usually only does from 10 to 15 damage. It also can execute Fire, so be prepared to heal a little bit if the need arises. I've recently found a rare enemy in these parts, and have only fought him once. It's called the Eligor, and you can obtain Striking Staff by stealing from it. Its HP is not much to contend with, but it's definitely more than the other enemies in this area of the game. It has the ability to Sleep you with one of its attacks, so be prepared for a semi-difficult battle if you encounter one (and also consider yourself lucky). From here, go upwards and into the next place. This is the more confusing section of the Train Graveyard. From the start, proceeding forward under the train that apparently was in a gigantic wreck. At the junction right after it, you should head left, then down so that you can receive yet another Potion. Enemies are just as plentiful in this portion of the Graveyard, as well. You should now head all the way North and climb on top of the train part there to obtain a Hi-Potion. Awesome. If you wish, you can jump from there to the cart above it, but that serves no purpose now. So climb back down and enter the train just below it. By the way, you can probably rack up some good Gil in this area by training with local enemies. Once you're inside that train, Cloud expropriates and annexes it and crashes it straight into the train to the left, moving it. Now run back around and into the Northernmost cart to commandeer it and he positions it next to the girder so that you can run across. So, get on the cart where your last Hi-Potion was, jump across, and then run over it to the other side to the Train Station, but first you have to climb down the cart you're on by way of the ending ladder. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #7 - Pillar Attack/To Aeris' House (Sector 5) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: Hedgehog Pie, Hell House, Vice, Whole Eater, Propeller, Reno (B) -> Items/Weapons/Armor: Sense Materia, Possible Turbo Ether =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= All right, so when you first are in the Train Station here at Sector 7 again, just run straight across. I suggest that you heal up here (or wait for the up and coming savepoint so that you can use one of your Tents and fully regenerate your HP/MP effortlessly. Also, check your Materia and make sure it's some goos stuff, since you soon have to fight another boss which can prove to be moderately difficult if you are not adequetely prepared beforehand. Anyway, on the other side, you make it, talk, and here gunfire on the pillar. The scene switches and shows AVALNACHE fighting up at the top. You see Wedge fall all the way down to the bottom, and Cloud's concerned and asks him how he's doing. He's apparently surprised that Cloud could recall his name. He apologizes to Cloud for "not being any help", and then dies. Cloud exclaims that he's going to the top, and commands Aeris to stay here and watch Wedge. Tifa then asks a favor of Aeris, and asks if she'll go to the 7th Heaven and take Marlene some place safe. Tifa clears the bystanders out as it's dangerous there. Now, why would he have Aeris watch over Wedge if he's dead. If you try to leave this area through any other path except towards the pillar, Tifa stops you and shows that she's worried about Barret (who's at the very top of the Pillar). Afterwards, Cloud's health is automatically rejuvenated along with Tifa's, so, save and then head up the Pillar in progression to get to the highest point. Also, if you talk to the old guy outside the gate, you can buy stuff. From the start, you see Biggs half dead hanging over the railing. If you talk to him, he asks if you're really not interested in saving the Planet. You then get two choices for an answer. One of them being "Nope, not interested", and the other is "You're wounded..." He thanks you for the second option and says to not worry about him, and to worry about aiding Barret who's of course at the top. If you choose the first option, he simply says that you haven't changed, and he doesn't really want to talk past that. He probably won't die happy if you choose that... Well, later Biggs. Anyway, as you keep on progressing toward the top, going around all the spiraling staircases, you'll eventually reach the next area, and if you keep going a little more up, you find Jessie who's also about to die. Jeez. She is glad that she can talk with you one last time. Two options then appear: "Don't say 'last'...", and "Is that so...". The last one, of course, is the the callous and cruel one, and the first one shows some actual human compassion (I ran out of that a while ago). The first option makes her happy, but then she says that many people died because of AVALANCHE, and that this is probably their punishment for doing so. The second option actually leads to a nice small talk. She says that you're acting cool as usual, as an ex-SOLDIER, and the fact that she always had liked that about you. None of these choices affect anything later in the game. The enemies in this Pillar consist of Propellers. They have quite a few attacks (more like 2) - aerial: Propeller which does from 15-30 dmg; aerial, normal attack (small ptd); ground, normal attack (same as aerial normal attack). After you take them past more than half of their health, they fall out of the air and lose their propellers. Also when they're on the ground they do Sword Rush which does about 25 damage. If you gain your Limit Breaks, save them up for the upcoming boss fight. Keep going up and you'll see Barret at the top platform shooting. After a cutscene when Reno comes and turns on the switch, you must fight him. =============================================================================== - BOSS: TURKS:RENO - =============================================================================== -> Monster's Name: Turks:Reno -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Sector 7 Plate Support Tower (top) (forced) -> Monster's Level: 17 -> EXP for Defeating: 290 -> AP for Defeating: 22 -> Gil for Defeating: 500 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Ether x1 (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 1000 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 32, 52, 6, 50, 20, 62, 15 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (1/2), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Silence, Confusion, Petrification, Berserk, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Seizure, Death Sentence, Death -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Electro-mag Rod 0 1 Phys Lit Phys 24 100 X X (1) * Pyramid 0 1 Mag - - - 255 X X (2)(3) ^ Short Staff 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 20 110 X X Escape 0 S - - - - I X X (4) (1) Paralysis [24%] (2) animate Pyramid around character (3) Imprison [100%] (4) escapes from battle - remove self --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Action Count +1 at the beginning of battle Reno Pre-Selects any character from party formation. Does Pre-Select character have Imprison or is under KO? Yes: BSV +1 Is Action Count greater than or equal to BSV +3? Yes: 1/3 - Is Pre-Select character the first character in your party formation? Yes: Does Pre-Select character not have Imprison and is not under KO? Yes: Pyramid on the first character in your party formation [Action Count reset to 0] 1/3 - Is Pre-Select character the second character in your party formation? Yes: Does Pre-Select character not have Imprison and is not under KO? Yes: Pyramid on the second character in your party formation [Action Count reset to 0] 1/3 - Is Pre-Select character the third character in your party formation? Yes: Does Pre-Select character not have Imprison and is not under KO? Yes: Pyramid on the third character in your party formation [Action Count reset to 0] When Pyramid is first used, Reno: "Try and break it if you can." appears on screen. -> Counterattack Pattern: Has Reno been attacked with Lightning magic? (this includes Bolt Plume, Swift Bolt, and Ice Crystal) Yes: Electro-mag Rod on last character to use Lightning magic on Reno No: 2/3 - Short Rod on random character 1/3 - Electro-mag Rod on random character -> Special KO Pattern: Is Reno's HP 0? Yes: remove Pyramid from characters remove any status effects from Reno Reno: "It's time." appears on screen Escape on self No: follow Basic Pattern ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - PYRAMID - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: Pyramid -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Sector 7 Plate Support Tower (top) (Reno battle - only when Pyramid is used) -> Monster's Level: 2 -> EXP for Defeating: 0 -> AP for Defeating: 0 -> Gil for Defeating: 0 -> Item Dropped from Monster: None -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 10 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 0, 2, 0, 50, 0, 0, 0 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (instadeath), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Confusion, Petrification, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Berserk, Regen, Peerless, Manipulation -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remove 0 S - - - - - X X (1)(2) (1) gets removed from battle (2) Miscellaneous/Animation --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: do nothing -> Special KO Pattern: Is Pyramid's HP 0 or has Gravity magic been used on it? Yes: Remove on self No: do nothing - STRATEGY: After/during the cutscene, Reno turns on and activates the switch. Crap. This guy packs a decent repertoire of attacks, but none of them are that particularly dangerous, but one can get really rather bothersome. It becomes really old and a nuisance... fast. He's also not that much of a threat as a fighter altogether, but, if you screw up on too often of occasion, he can start decimating your party (Barret, Tifa, and Cloud) slowly but surely. His 1000 HP isn't that much to deal with, either, especially at this point in time. He has two attacks that actually deal some sort of damage, but the pestering attack does not lie therein. It's in the attack that encloses your character in a clear -ish diamond (Pyramid). This prevents that character from attacking for as long as they are in there, and they're pretty much impregnable from attacks in this state (can't be too bad then, can it? Yes). But, his or her ATB Guage does not subliminize, either. Neither does their Limit Meter, as they can't can't take damage, thus disabling increase in the bar. Sometimes this happens when a character is about to attack and it prevents attack from going through and occuring. He uses it about every other turn if there's not a character on field who's currently barred by the Pyramid. Getting it off, or, removing it, is more of a simple matter than some people make it out to be at first. You must use one of your two other free characters (no more than one will ever be put in this at once) to hit the Pyramid. It then disappears. If said characters was going to do a command or action before the barrier was placed, they execute it now. Note that you do not lose any HP gradually while inside of that enclosement. One of his other attacks is where he goes up and uses Electro-mag Rod, and in it Reno uses a giant taser to electrocute the victim. As I said, only really 50 or more dmg is done (and it pretty much ranges from a standpoint of 50 to mainly a maximum of 70--80 on rare occasions). His other attack is a miniature one, and it's barely even worth mentioning. It's a regular, normal physical strike which does about 30, or slightly more, dmg. You can prognosticate that soon after a character is de-Pyramid-ed, it will be cast unto them or someone else soon enough, and all you have to do is to keep on busting them out (don't worry, like I said, no damage can be done). Also, he never uses his other attacks on an afflicted character who has Pyramid in place as to not free them himself and negate his own efforts, I suppose. Time to kill this bastard. He has no susceptibilities/weaknesses to any elements, really, but Fire and Ice will do about double the amount of damage as Bolt, since it does 1/2 damage. But, they will do more than just about any physical type attack could do (spells such as Fire, Bolt). If you can do at least 70-100 with Cloud's physical attacks, 60-90 with Barret's, and 60-70 with Tifa's, just use normal attacks throughout the whole time in an effort to conserve MP and use it for Cure spells on characters. Adumbrately, you could unload with Limit Breaks on him. I say that Cloud's Cross Slash should do 300+ damage, Barret's Big Shot- ~300, and Tifa's Somersault with all "Yeah!s" could execute 250-320 or so. These technicaly are not needed considering his low Def and generally simple to deal with HP. Hell, Aps had 800 more HP than Reno does. Anyway, once his 1000 HP count has been completedly depleted, the fight ends, but he runs away. The fight is done, and it shows Reno jumping over the side. Now, Tifa goes directly to the terminal to see if she can discontinue the detonation sequence. Talk to Barret and you can learn that it's a time bomb they set on the Pillar, damn. Tifa says that she does not know how to stop it, and tells Cloud to try it. Apparently it's not a normal time bomb. At this time, a helicopter comes up with the leader of the Turks, Tseng, in it, but that's not the only person in there... yep, it's Aeris! ****, THEY GOT AERIS!!! Tseng then reiterates the obvious by saying that you'll have a tough time disarming that bomb. It'll blow the second some stupid jerk touches it. Tifa then goes up and implores Tseng (more like begs) Tseng to stop it, but, he then explains that only Shinra Executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System. Barret gets hostile and opens fire, but Tseng suggests that he stops, since there's Aeris aboard. Everyone's surprised... unpleasently... Cloud demands to know what they plan on doing with Aeris, and he hasn't decided. Their orders were simply to locate and capture the only remaining Ancient (Cetra) on the Planet. Aeris then says that "she's" all right, obviously meaning Marlene. Tseng goes up and slaps her (resist the urge drill your Buster Sword into his face, pull out his brain, and piss on it). After a small amount more, the helicopter starts flying away as everything else is blowing up and exploding around you. Speak to Tifa and she explains about the plate falling. Barret then jumps up on the railing (apparently he has some amazing balance), and he finds a wire to get down. So, they all agree, then grab on and swing down as everything's falling and blowing to hell around them. The plate is coming down and totals everything in Sector 7. Everyone in Sector 7 obviously dies. President Shinra is looking on with apparent amusement, the bastard... After the really cool scene, you find yourself in the park in Sector 6. You all run up to the wreckage after the recent cataclysm and chaos. Barret yells out his daughters name, starts pounding and pushing, and even starts shooting in an attempt to vent out his frustration, or at least try to get through it all, but to no avail. He's also concerned about all of his partners from the group AVALANCHE, who're now also all dead. Crap. He also starts questioning everything, and their purposes, and the other two try to calm him down (man, how on earth did you guys swing down like that unscathed?), but their acts to console him are useless as Barret does not stop. He starts shooting it all over and over again. The scene switches back to them all three in the park, and Barret's sad over his loss of Marlene. Tifa then soothes him by telling him that Aeris had taken Marlene to someplace safe. Barret then is still sad about the loss of his partners, however. The talk continues about the Sector 7 tragedy, and how the Shinra killed so many innocent lives just to get to you, but, as you already should know, that's not *entirely* the case. Barret then comes to his senses about all of it, and how it was not the fault of AVALNANCHE at all, but rather, Shinra Inc. Our fight ain't never gonna be over until you get rid of them! Tifa then shows her confusion about this whole ordeal, and then he asks Cloud his opinions and feelings on the matter. He says the same thing as he always does, absolutely nothing. He walks away, and then Tifa and Barret continue the conversation on Aeris and Marlene. Tifa says that she left Aeris in charge of Marlene, and how she should be safe due to what Aeris had said right before they took her on that Shinra helicopter. He then runs out in the direction that Cloud did, and so does Tifa, but before she goes all the way, she turns around and looks at the annihilated Sector 7, and then proceeds. In the next area, you're Cloud by himself again. For some inexplicable reason besides something very obvious, you can't go back right now. So, continue along the beat path that you followed earlier when you were in this same area. Darn, now you have to fight the Hell House all by yourself if you happen to run into it (and there's litters of them around here), but with your newly-found lvls and stats increases, you should find the difficulty level of these enemies dramatically decreased. They have their Hell Bomber attack which does about 35 damage and ends in a huge mushroom cloud explosion. There's the Suicide Drop attack which does dmg to every party member (but there's only one now, so you only have to worry about Cloud when this happens). It has its "fog" attack which inflicts you with the Curse status effect. When Suicide Drop is done is when it's sustained a lot of damage, and then the house is really screwed up and awkward looking after- wards. 200 Gil you get for beating it, remember. Now, as you make your way to the wooden bridge to go across to the other side, the party catches up with you (that wasn't that long, now was it?). Barret then suddenly goes "Take me to Marlene!". Tifa asks if you're going to help Aeris? and the answer is yes. But before that, there's something that he would like to know first. He wants to know about the Ancients, and then he has a flashback to where someone is uttering the following words: "In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients. I am one of the rightful heirs to this planet!" This person later on becomes extremely important (well, becomes "the" story) to the story later on, and so do those words, but I shall not spoil it now since it's still a while down the road. Sephiroth...? Cloud then gets one of his headaches or something and they're worried about him. The party gets back together again, and now you can continue along the same set path as the last time you were here. Enemies become like nothing now. Once you have made it across, you're in Sector 5 now. So now go forward a bit and then just enter the slums, as part of that is your next destination. The guy next to the pipe talks about the plate falling down. The kid North of the pipe is crying about him being scared when it came crashing down, and still is. The two people chatting near the Weapons Shop are talking about how ironic it is that once you think you are making a living in Midgar, there comes some giant disaster like that. The woman that was looking down at the ground before now thinks that she should start looking up, just in case stuff like that persists on happening. That tyranical Shinra..! Head on over to the house on the East side of the slums, and then head upstairs to the kid's room. If you didn't take the kid's money, he'll give you a Turbo Ether which he somehow bought for 5 Gil somewhere. I don't know about you, but I want to know where! His father downstairs is outraged at the plate coming down. He doesn't care if it's AVALANCHE or Avant- garde, they're crazy lunatics. Their weapons at the shop have no changed, so don't buy anything there, that is, unless you want some generally useless Grenades. But I DO, however, recommend that you pay a visit to the item shop and stock up on some Tents, Phoenix Downs, Potions (maybe), and perhaps Antidotes. Materia Shop is still selling the same thing as ever, so don't even bother. So, where to now? That's easy, to Aeris' house. Too bad she won't be there...:( Go now and save, and then enter her house. When you come in, Elmyra asks if she remembered your name correct, as Cloud. She then asks if you're here regarding Aeris. He then breaks the news to her that Shinra have her. She already knew as they took her from that house. Cloud then asks Elmyra why the Shinra are after Aeris, and she explains that Aeris is the sole survivor of a race known as the Ancients. Barret is confused, as always, but in this one there's justification for his confusion, but, the answer is quite simple: Elmyra is not her real, birth mother. 15 years ago Elmyra's husband was sent to the front during the war at some far off place called Wutai. Then it goes into a flashback, and at first it starts saying that one day she received a letter that he was coming home to her on leave. So, she went to the Train Station in Sector 7, but... he never showed up. It shows everyone and their friend's and families meeting up, but she's left there all by herself. She wonders if something had happened to him. But, she continued to still optimistically believe that his leave was just canceled. From then on, she went to the Train Station every single day, and one day Aeris' real mom died outside of the train, with a young Aeris trying to revive her. Her last words were "Please take Aeris somewhere safe". Elmyra decided to take her in as her own child since her husband never, ever came back, and she had no kid to call her own, so, that's why she decided to take care of her. Aeris and her quickly became very close, and they always used to talk, and Aeris always told her about every single detail of her life, even somethings that she didn't necessarily want to hear or know. The flashback continues inside the house with a younger Elmyra, and a 7 year old Aeris coming down the stairs. Barret asks "Returned to the planet?" afterwards. Elmyra did not understand either, and she asked Aeris if she meant a star in the sky. Aeris responded that it was this planet. Another small flashback where Aeris comes down and tells her mom not to cry. That's what she blurted out all of a sudden when Elmyra asked her if something was wrong. Someone dear to Elmyra had just died...? His spirit was coming to see her, but he had already returned to the planet before he could reach her. She didn't believe Aeris at first, but, several days later they apparently received a note that her husband had passed on. They were and lived happily until one day when Tseng of the Turks saying that he wants her to "return" Aeris to them, and that they've been searching for a very long time for her. Aeris refuses, of course, being as recalcitrant as she is, but in this situation it's understandable. The Ancients will lead them into a land of supreme happiness and prosperity he says. That's why the Shinra would like and appreciate Aeris' full cooperation. Who cares what the Shinra would like!? Aeris denies being an Ancient and storms out of the house. However, Elmyra already was aware of Aeris' mysterious powers, and how she is able to speak with the planet. Aeris attempted extremely hard to mask it, so, Elmyra as though she never even noticed or realized it. Cloud then says how it is outstanding how Aeris has avoided Shinra for all these years (about 15 years in total). The Shinra probably won't hurt her since they need her for their sick and malignant experiments. Oh, yeah, that's much better. President Shinra will probably go all Don Corneo -ish and try and rape her while they're at it, too. We have to get her out of there, fast. Why now, though? Elmyra then says that she brought a young girl here with her. Tseng found them on the way there. She complied with the Shinra to go with them as long as the small girl remained safe. That has to be Marlene. Barret then feels horrible about it, and starts apologize for it, because of Marlene, Aeris was caught (probably slowing her down on the way home whilst she could've been with Cloud and Tifa). Elmyra then scorns Barret, and he feels bad about what she says, as well. He wants to be with Marlene, but, he has to fight, also. Because if he doesn't, there won't be a planet for him to be with Marlene on, so he's gonna continue. Admirable. She is upstairs sleeping, so Barret goes to go see how she's doing. You can talk to Tifa, and she says it's her fault since Aeris got involved in this mess. Elmyra puts her at ease by saying that Aeris doesn't think that at all. Elmyra simply sighs if you try to speak to her. You can go upstairs and go into the room Barret and Marlene're in, and Barret's crying saying that he's glad that she's all right. She tells him not to cry, and that his whiskers poke, heh. Childhood innocence ^_^ As you leave the room, he asks if you're going to go help Aeris? The reason being is that she's done so much for Barret, and he wants to return the immense favor apparently. He nods his head yeah, and Barret says if it's the Shinra you're dealing with, he's coming too. Marlene then comes up to Cloud and says that Aeris was asking her a lot of questions, like what kind of person Cloud is. Then you're presented with two choices after Marlene makes the derivation that she likes Cloud. "I don't know" or "Let's hope so". This has an impact later on in the game, so choose wisely and carefully. Marlene says you are stupid if you choose the first choice. Second choice causes her to be somewhat elated. Head downstairs now and try to leave the house. The party then gets together, and Elmyra makes Barret promise to come back to Marlene safely and actually breathing. So, now we're outside, and everyone's wondering how to get to the Shinra Building (ever wonder why every noun proceeding "Shinra" is always a capital letter?). Too bad there's no train leading to there anymore ever since the plate came down and crushed everything in Sector 7. Tifa makes a suggestion to head on over to Wall Market to see if you can find anything there or not. So, let's head to Wall Market. On your way back through the slums, it's of course easy mostly since there's no enemies directly in the slums, so that's just a straight shot through. Through the outside you'll probably combat some enemies, but you can obliterate them pretty easily. Once you're at the park, you can pick up some Sense Materia. Anyway, continue to Wall Market. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #8 - Wall Market (Again) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: None -> Items/Weapons/Armor: None =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Well, as you've already come to know, there's a decent amount to do in Wall Market. This time around there's not as much, but still a fair amount, especially if you want to make the most of this visit. You can go to tons of places around the town, such as Honey Bee Inn and talk there for a quick laugh. It seems as though some things have really changed since you last visited here at Don Corneo's place. Hey, you can go to the Materia Shop now (that's the place where you could've gotten a Tiara from earlier on). He sells stuff you probably have by now for pretty much the same price, plus, he sells Cover Materia for 1000 Gil. If you enter the Dress Shop, the dress maker says that you've dressed normally today, and that if something else "interesting" ever occurs, let him know. Item Shop is still selling the same kind of items, as well. All the people around town pretty much have changed what they say to represent something about the plate falling down to the ground. Remember, you can save your file at the savepoint to the left side of town. We won't be spending too much of our time in the first portion of Wall Market, instead, we will be in the Northern portion. The pile of junk here is duly getting larger due to the scraps falling from the plate. The people there are talking about how the Weapons Shop's owner is acting suspiciously lately (don't worry, it's nothing you have to deal with in the game, just their supersticion). Gym has not changed much, either. The guy who you helped get into the bathroom earlier is still in there. And he says that last woman was in there long, the hypocrite. Aside from that, nothing else is happening at the bar, although that wasn't much. As you walk North, you see a group of three kids saying something's interesting to the West side of town. Don't follow them just yet. You can pay a little visit to Corneo's mansion if you so desire. If you missed any items there before (Hyper behind his bed, Ether in the basement, or Phoenix down in the room where you were being chased by four men), get them now. Kotch is tied up in the basement from when Tifa beat him up. You can help him out and get him off or leave him there. If you help him he then says that once we left there, Shinra officials came saying "information leaked" and "good for nothing". They "relocated" the Don apparently, hehe. He should be executed. He then runs out by way of going up the stairs. Don's room is nothing since he left, as now there's no hilarity ensuing there. The room where you, probably, were almost sexually violated by men presents nothing now, either. So just leave the mansion and go pay a visit to the Weapon Shop. You can buy equipment from the guy to the right, and, buy a set of Batteries, which you need to progress in the game, from the guy on the left, who apparently is the owner of this store. Buy them for 100 Gil each, which amounts to 300 Gil. Now, go follow those children from earlier. When you are there, speak to the little child standing right in front of the colossally humongous wire leading upwards. The kid then explains that it leads to the Upper World (or, the giant plate above Midgar which Barret talked about on the train before). The party agress to go up, the kid moves, and you need to start climbing up the wire to the upper area. You can read grafiti on the wall as you climb up, and some is slightly amusing. I've clocked the total time it takes to scale this wire at 20 seconds. At one point, you hear children talking about Shinra doing this horrible deed. In the next area, just climb up a little bit until you get off the ladder by yourself. Run up the cord and head to the left so that Cloud jumps across to the pipe at the other side. Now, start going right to the other side where you can jump to the next pipe. *Note: there are no enemies in this area. Ok, on this next pipe, head down and insert your first Battery into the slot there. This starts up the propeller, spins for a while, and then stops in such a position enabling you to cross over safely (how the Weapon Shop owner knew that would happen is beyond me). So now go up to the very top of this pipe you're currently on and press O at the end to hop onto the propeller. Run across to the other blade and then jump to the next garbage hunk. From this point, jump down to the bottom of the tracks. Now, climb up the other side and to the top where you'll be able to embed another Battery into a socket. This now moves the blocking bar upwards so perfectly that you can walk on it to the next area. Ok, grab hold of the next wire to get to a higher platform. Your goal now is jump with just the correct timing to make it to the swinging bar and grasp it. So make it right to the edge of your current platform and wait for the bar to be as close to you as possible, then jump. As it swings to the other side Cloud releases it and lands on the other side of the junk. Run up near the train and start climbing that pipe. At the top you'll find yourself in a new area. Keep on climbing until you can finally walk freely again, then go up until you can make a left on a strong wire. Walk across for a bit then start climbing it. Now, once you've reached at the top climb back down the next wire that's there. He drops once the end has been reached, then you can plug in and place your final Battery into its respective spot. He puts it in and it opens a chest at the top of the slot which you immediately gain an Ether from. You can climb a pipe downwards there on the right, but theat serves no purpose but to annoy you by making you believe you're going some place new, but what you're really doing is backtracking to previous spots of this trashed area. So don't bother yourself by doing that. But, you do need to climb back down the one to the left in order to get back to the spot where you need to be at. So do so. Jump the swinging pipe, climb up back to the top, get off. When you're there and get to make another left at the horizontal wire and climb it, do that too, but do not continue to go below. Instead, walk up the small pipe there above it. The other way you'd be backtracking even more, further. From here, crawl down the little wire the right side of this platform onto the bigger pipe. Now, proceeding upward you'll find the gargantuan Shinra Headquarters. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #9 - Shinra Headquarters =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: Grenade Combatant, Mighty Grunt, Sword Dance, Hammer Blaster, Moth Slasher, Warning Board, SOLDIER: 3rd, Brain Pod, Zenene, Vargid Police, HO512 HO512-opt(B), Hundred Gunner/Heli Gunner(B),Rufus/Dark Nation(B), Vagrid Police -> Items/Weapons/Armor: Elixir [Note: there is an "Item Shop" in this place..], Elemental Materia, Megaphone, Poison Materia, Enemy Skill Materia, Potion (x4), Phoenix Down, Ether <- I know, that's a lot of everything, is it not? Have fun! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Now, we are in for what may be the hugest single sub-subsection of this major walkthrough, the Shinra HQ. This place is gigantic, and there is tons to do in here. Hope you're in for some laborious reading ahead of you. Now let's begin. Well, when you reach this colossal building, you'll probably have to pick your jaw up off the ground, and perhaps get a change of shorts. This is where Shinra plans everything, all of its dirty secrets also are in here, or at least start here and spread to other locations throughout the game. And you thought some of the Mako Reactors were big. Jesus, this is the biggest empire in the world, and apparently its funds far outweigh any of current real life coporations and organizations. When you first reach, go ahead and make a comparison on how the windows in this place alone are twice as large as your characters. So after that (if you actually chose to do so), you see that Barret is guessing that Cloud probably knows this building well. Actually, contrary to what Barret had believed, he doesn't. This is the first time Cloud had ever even been to their HQ. Barret says that he knows a little about this place. All of the floors that are above the 60th floor is difficult to get to... even for employees. You must be a special executive. And of course, this game being the way it is, you have to get up to past the 60th floor. There're 70 in total, and you have to get to the 70th. No, past that. The roof! Goddamn. Aeris must be beyond the 60th floor. Barret suggests to go now while security is at a minimum. He starts running towards the building, and Tifa stops and thinks he's crazy. She asks if he's just going to barge right through the main entrance. He's obviously in the mood to kick some serious Shinra butt. She suggests another method of getting in. It's now Cloud's choice. You get two options, but both eventually lead to the same place. I shall provide two walkthroughs for each path. So choose either "Let's bust on in!" or "Let's sneak in quietly". Save. ================================= Path #1 -> Let's Sneak in Quietly ================================= Now that you've made the choice, Tifa's happy, and Barret doesn't say anything. Where to go from here? Well, you don't want to head back from where you came from, and you don't go through the front main entrance to the building, so there's only one place left to go (it'd be easier to see if you had the red arrows -Select Function- enabled). This is the path over there to the left side of the TV screen. Go there. Run down the tunnel and then to the left. You see the camera moving slowly down, looking at all the insane stairs you have to climb up, and Tifa/Barret are arguing about Aeris. Start following them (man, they geta big headstart). On about the eighth flight of stairs, Barret and Tifa are waiting for you to catch up to them, then they start going again. In the next area, Cloud starts talking as you're climbing up the next steps. On the 23rd flight of stairs, they're waiting for you again before they continue running. Next area, Cloud and Barret start arguing and Tifa is amused. Once you're at the 36th flight, they're once again awaiting your arrival. Next, Barret is complaining about the stairs and how much longer they'll go on. Tifa suggests that Barret ask the stairs how much further. Funny. Once you reach 50 flights of stairs, there they are again, waiting for Cloud to make his appearance. Not done yet. Here, Barret persists on asking, in Simpsons fashion, are you there yet, and Tifa continues putting him down. At the 64th flight of stairs, you can find an Elixir laying right there on the ground, and the group there once again for your slow-moving self. In the next area, Barret says that he's had it and going back, but Tifa asks him if he'd like to take that same amount of time, and he feels stupid. At 78th flight, you see Barret exhausted from all the stair climbing, then a conversation ensues, and you continue you climb. Tifa suggests that you both go on ahead. Now, at 92, they're once again waiting. Note: two flights is one floor, so you're at about 46th floor. Also, there's no enemies in this whole stair-climbing section. Barret's again moaning and groaning, and Tifa tells him to stop acting retarded. That's impossible for Barret, as she should know by now. At the 107th flight, they're again there for you. At the 118th flight (final floor - 59th), you stop. All of you are relieved to have made it. Now, go through the door and you're in the main part. From the beginning you can head up directly to some elevators, or you can fight guards if you head right to some more elevators. The enemies you fight are the Mighty Grunts. They possess 230 HP, and their attacks are medium strength. Def of said enemies is quite high. Double Gun does about twice as much damage as their normal shot. Rollerspin is only done once their armor is destroyed (and that's once 50%, 115 dmg, has been done/HP deducted), and it does 50+ damage to its one target. Note: that if Cross-Slash is done to breach 115 HP (break its armor), it won't occur if enemy is Stopped. You need to fight them to get the Keycard 60 Key Item. Enter the elevator and heal if you need to do so. You get three choices at the terminal >1floor, 59", or 60". We need to go to the 60th floor, so click that. Talk to the party to end it and you're where there's a guard sleeping at the surveillance camera screen controls. So once you exit the elevator and appear on it, move on forward a little bit. Head up and to the right so as to avoid the first two guards. Now, in that room up there, you make the plan on how to get to the other side without being spotted. As you run, you must hide behind each of the poles, and go when the guards aren't looking. By not looking, I mean, walking back and forth. Once you get halfway, you have to start signaling the party to come when they're not looking and facing away. If you are spotted, by the way, you fight and have to start all over again from the same room. Barret goes first, then you do it for Tifa. Then you have to make it over to the other side, and signal them again to come. The other side is harder, since the guards are running. These guys are also Mighty Grunts, by the way. Arm and equip yourself with good Materia, weapons, and armor before continuing. If you fight three times, however, you can get past without you having to sneak your way across. Good for Exp, though. Now, head up the stairs and you're on the 61st floor. If you talk to the man in the black suit walking in the middle of the floor he'll explain what Barret did when you first arrived here. The guy walking next to him is talking about some woman. The people to the Northeast say stuff about the ruckus downstairs a moment ago, and how at least it's safe above this floor. The person pacing near the elevators asks who the hell you are: "Where's Aeris"/"..." If you choose the first choice, he mistakes her for the receptionist. If you opt to choose the second option, he thinks you're the Shinra, Inc. Repair Division. This leads to you getting the Keycard 62. The guy standing to the right of the two elevators explains tons of stuff to you. Now, head up the next stairs. Up here, exit through the door and go to the room where the only people are. One person outside, and the Midgar mayor, Mayor Domino. The person outside is Deputy Mayor and he gives clues to a tough question in a second. Go in and speak to Domino. He apparently knows you're AVALANCHE. He introduces himself, and says that he's really only mayor in name, and everything is actually governed by Shinra. He just watches over their documents. If you guess his password on the first try, he gives you the next Keycard plus Elemental Materia. The choices are BEST, KING, ORBS, BOMB, MAKO, HOJO. You can get clues all over the place. One way is through Hart outside, but his prices are outrageously steep. Starting at 500, it continues to add 500 Gil for each clue you want. But, you can find clues around the libraries. There's four libraries and each has a misplaced file. This is a bit confusing, so I'll explain it the best I can, which may be just a tad bit on the vague side. All right. As you can see, there are four library sections on the 62nd floor. Each of them are dedicated to one of the four branches of Shinra, Inc. These include Peace Preservation/Weapon Development, Shinra Inc. Space Development, Shinra Inc. Scientific Research, and Shinra Inc. Urban Development. Look at the signs near each door for which ones they are. Now, how do these help you find out the clue you ask? This is where it's slightly confusing. Each of the libraries contains three shelves, and these shelves have two different subjects of books in them. Meaning six subjects altogether. But, only five of them correspond to the branch of research that's on the sign. The other is from some other library. Your job is to have a working knowledge of what all of them are (which may be an insult to you idiots out there), and then find them all. There is a number on each of the missing titles. This number has great significance, and if you fail to pay attention to it, you have no chance of getting this. Ok, the reason I'm not telling you the actual answer and getting it over with is that every file you play has a different final conclusion. That's why. Anyway, why are these numbers so imperative to getting it correct? The answer is because that number is the number of letters you must look into the name of the file to get your needed letter. Example: 4 - "Ranks"; you need to derive the "k" from that word as one of your final letters. There's four libraries, thus, four letter clues, and that's how many letters each of the answers are. Now, when you get all of your answers, it may not necessarily all be in order, and this is dependent on which order you checked libraries. If all the letters don't make sense, check the answer choices and make your answer out. I suggest writing all letters on some paper, as to not forget them. Go back to Domino and tell him your answer, get the Elemental Materia (if you did it correctly), and also receive the Keycard 65 (pass 63, 64, and 65 as well). His reason for doing all of this is because, in reality, he actually utterly despises the Shinra. Yeah, and he said he wants to get back at them for every- thing they've ever done to him. His card only gets him to the 65th floor, and he thinks that's like treating him like some common employee. Wow, who cares? But thanks anyway, Domino, for the Elemental Materia and 65th floor Keycard. Now, head up to the 63rd floor. Darn, is there a buttload of items waiting in here for you or what!? From the start go into the first room you can and touch the computer terminal. It allows you to open doors up to three times. Note that you don't have to do this floor if you do not want to. Now, head up the top of this floor and open the door up there. Then, head past the next door below you and then open the next one that's past that. Not the one on the very end, but right before that to the below. You can now enter your first room and get the A Coupon. Now you have to go into the duct that is in that room and then crawl forward, then right, the up to the next room. In here is the B Coupon. Now, exit through the door. Now, what to do next? This should be fairly obvious now. Head to the left and open the door there and head up into the room to get your last, C Coupon. There goes your three door limit. Now crawl through the ducts and then head down, and then right into the computer terminal room again. Now, at the computer again, exchange your A, B, and C Coupons for Star Pendant, Four Slots, and All Materia. Awesome, huh? Now head up to the 64th floor. My God, apparently this is just a hang out place for executives. The upperleft room is a bathroom, the massive room in the middle is reserved for a workout room. Now, the bottom left room is a lounge where you can get some sleep to recover HP an MP, plus there's a savepoint in there. There's a guy in there sleeping, too. In the gym, you can talk to four people. The people on the running machines say to get some rest if you're tired, and that he's starting to worry about his belly. The guy doing crunches of some sort at the center says that because he's the head of security for the building, his stamina must be maintained. He's not doing a great job, is he? The woman at the counter says that you can use any unused machine, too bad you can't. But, if you want, you can go to one of the two vending machines in the topright and buy a "Shinra Gym Special Drink" to restore MP and HP. No matter how hurtin' you are, don't support Shinra! Get some rest in the room across the hall. Besides, they cost a ridiculously high amount of 250 Gil. In the top center room is a room full of lockers. You can get a Phoenix Down in the third locker from the right in the first row. Can get an Ether from the second locker from the right in the second row, and a Megaphone (ultimate weapon) for Cait Sith later on in the game in the third locker from the left in the last, third row. Now, you should leave this floor, since there's nothing else here. You can take the elevators up to the 65th floor, or the stairs. It does not matter which one you decide to choose... God, I truly hate the 65th floor. One reason is that it's when the enemies start popping up. This floor contains Sword Dances and Hammer Blasters. The Sword Dance enemy can get annoying at times. It's impervious to a magic which you don't have yet, Earth, and that's it. You can Stop it with Cross-Slash, but that would probably kill its 160 HP anyways. Sword Dances normal attack does about 17-30 damage. The Slap attack it can do does about 25 damage or so. Sawback does about 15 damage to the entire party. It has an attack pattern that goes like this: atk, Slap, atk, Sawback, repeat. If you let it live through an entire attack pattern rotation, that's about 60 divided dmg to characters. It also drops Loco Weed which Confuses certain susceptible enemies. Hammer Blaster enemies are a bit less of a threat to deal with. They have 210 HP to delete, but only have one attack. Where it hits you with a chained hammer. It does about 5-12 damage. It is weak to Lightning (Bolt) attacks, so it's simpler to kill off. More Exp, less Gil, and less AP is gained than with Sword Dance. By the way, its attack can inflict Confusion, though, so be extra careful. Ok, now to getting through this room. There's a model of Midgar in the middle and it has missing pieces to it. So, from the beginning, go to the topleft room and open the chest on the bottom. You get Midgar Parts. Go and set them in the very bottom of the model where the part seems to be missing. Another chest opens up. Head back to the same room and open the only other chest in there, and go place those parts in the topright missing slot of the Midgar model. Now, this leads to yet another chest being unlocked. Run on over to the room to the bottom of the one you've been getting parts from and open the bottom chest. Take it back to the parts to put it in the topleft missing portion. Go back to the last room you were in and get the next Midgar parts to embed in the bottomleft corner. Go and make your way to the topright room with all the plants to get the next set of Midgar parts; place 'em in the topleft. Now, go to the chest by the stairs to obtain Keycard 66, and then run up the stairs. Good, this is another room where there are no enemies. There is a little spying and eavesdropping in this floor, however. There are many, many rooms here, with many, many people. The person in the bottomleft room thinks the Conference Room smells. This is a small clue to something that's going to happen, but it's not anything that will do anything. Does that make any sense? There's no one in the topright room. Bottomleft room contains some paranoid person who thinks he hears voices and whispers when he's in the bathroom. The other person in there says that the major higher-ups are having an executive meeting (see the middle room with Shinra, Heidegger and a few others in the center?). Sometimes the paranoid guy comes running out of the room to the bathroom and goes back, lol, but a few people around here do. The room to the left center has three people in it, and the one man in there says he feels alive by moving the world with just his hands. The bottom woman says that they're building the future of Mako. The other woman sometimes carries files places, and she says she's tired of it, but she says she gets one benefit of being a secretary and that's meeting lots of guys. One guy walking around has nothing to say but "...[etc]" and then Phew! at the end. The thing you have to do on this floor is to go into the bathroom stall, and then up into the airduct when you get the following three choices: "Flush?" (does nothing), "Climb up?" (need to do that to proceed), or "Get out of here" (leaves the stall). Up here in the airduct, new music plays, and you must crawl forward to the next duct vent. Here you can spy on the big Shinra meeting that's taking place down below. Here's what goes down: Reeve: "We have the damage estimates for Sector 7." Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is estimated at approximately 10 Billion Gil..." Reeve: The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is..." President Shinra: We're not rebuilding." Reeve: "What?" President Shinra: "We're leaving Sector 7 as it is. And restaring the Neo-Midgar plan. Reeve: "...then the Ancients?" President Shinra: "The Promised Land will soon be ours." President Shinra: "I want you to raise the Mako rates 15% in every area." Palmer: "Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra, la, la! And please include our Space Program in the budget!" President "Shinra: Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase." Palmer: "Oh man!" Reeve: "Sir. If you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence..." President Shinra: "It'll be all right." "The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra, Inc. even more." Heidegger: "Ha ha ha! After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE! Barret: "That dirty #$*$^". President Shinra: "Hojo. How's the girl?" Hojo: "As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother. I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but now the difference is 18%". President Shinra: "How long will the research take?" Hojo: "Probably 120 years. It's impossible to finish in our lifetimes. Or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter." Hojo: "That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that could withstand our research for a long time." President Shinra: "What about the Promised Land? Won't it hinder our plans?" Hojo: "That's what I need to plan. The mother is strong... and yet has her weaknesses." President Shinra: "That concludes our meeting." Interesting, huh? As everyone walks away, Scarlet stops, looks up at the vents, and says that something stinks. This isn't necessarily your party, but could mean what that one random guy was talking about earlier when he said the conference room stunk. It could just be coming from the vent where you party is. Whew! Your party talks for a little while in a conversation about Aeris, and then comes to the conclusion to follow them. Hold up on your D-Pad to back out of the duct and back down into the stall. Now leave the bathroom totally and start walking to the stairs on this floor. You see Hojo going up the stairs. So follow the mad scientist. He then walks through the door on the 67th floor and apparently it doesn't close behind him. So after a brief conversation amongst your team, head through it. There are three enemy types in this floor, consisting of Moth Slasher (is a robot), SOLDIER: 3rd (heh, a member of SOLDIER let's see what they're made of), and a Warning Board (it does not attack, and just sits there for your pummeling). Moth Slasher's 260 HP can be destroyed by using Bolt and Bolt 2 (if you have it) attacks. You can steal Carbon Bangles from it and they're notorious for Back Attacks. Carbon Bangles are very awesome to get. Its slash can cause Fury, and the other two attacks just do damage. SOLDIER: 3rds possess Hardedge sword which you can steal, and it's a good weapon for Cloud (much better than his Buster Sword). He's also weak to the Fire elemental spell. Warning Board can be killed easily. No attacks, and still it gives you some after-battle spoils. Now, the people in the bottomleft room can't even be spoken to. The guy in the bottom left room is looking for info on a request from Hojo. The topright area is filled with cells you can't enter just yet. So, head all the way to the West in this floor. Note: SOLDIER: 3rd can put you to Sleep, and has multiple Lv2 elemental spells. Anyhow, continue forward into this area and Cloud sees Hojo in front of a monster-like specimen, and some random executive comes in and asks if that is today's specimen, and he replies with a yes. He then tells him to raise it to the upper level (won't happen until a bit, though). The guy then leaves and Hojo goes all Smeagol-from-Lord-of-the-Rings-ish with him. "My precious specimen..." Then he walks away, and your party then looks at the beast in wonder. Tifa goes up and gets a close peak into the containment. She asks a question to the guys which they obviously don't know the answer to. Cloud looks at Barret for a second, and then goes up to the enclosement to the right with the purple light emanating from it. New music starts playing, signing that it's a special, actually important, memory scene. It says Jenova on it, and then he looks in. You see some strange, mutated Ancient known as Jenova. This, folks, is Jenova, Sephiroth's mother. She has really weird breasts (one has one purple, warped nipple, and one has none at all). She's also without a head, and it's all a strange color in there. She used to look normal, apparently, since she was an Ancient just like Aeris or Ifalna, but this is the result of them doing countless biological experiments and DNA transactions on her. Cloud then starts to flip out and he starts talking about Sephiroth... Jenova. So, they've brought her here. Apparently he's met her before, and I doubt it was pleasant. Tifa then tells him to be strong, and he asks if they saw it. Cloud says that it's moving... still alive? Barret looks in and is immediately disgusted, asking where's its ****ing head? He then suggests moving on, since the whole thing is stupid. They agree, so continue upwards and save at the savepoint. Now open the chest above the savepoint for the Poison Materia. Now go up the lift at the top of this section. At the 67th floor, exit the elevator and then the party seperates yelling out Aeris' name. Hojo then learns her name apparently. Cloud exclaims and states that we're taking Aeris back with us. Hojo then goes "Outsiders..." There're so many frivolous things in this world, says Hojo. The party runs up with a willingness to make Hojo swallow his genitals, but he recommends that the party does not kill him because the equipment there is extremely delicate and without him, no one could possibly operate any of it. The party logically thinks it out (takes about 1 second to do so, too) and reconsider. Hojo commands the commands his sambo henchman to raise up the other specimen downstairs. Both races on the verge of extinction are in the same container (the sole survivors, too). The monster acts as though he's going to eat Aeris, and everyone's worried about her safety. Hojo has some twisted logic as to why he's doing this: to help them out. One'll die (the more important - Ancient), and the other'll live??? You know, for one intelligent scientist with probably 200+ IQ, he is pretty damn moronic, wouldn't you say? Cloud then asks if Barret could shoot her out (I'm sure his sword could do the same thing, but anyway...) and he starts to. Hojo tells him to stop, then the container opens and the beast comes out and starts ripping Hojo to shreads (somehow he does not die from about 5 minutes of this. That much because you are about to battle a boss). Cloud goes in to help Aeris. Cloud starts backing up because the elevator is moving, and Hojo says that it's a very ferocious specimen. The beast then talks and says he'll help you out. You then choose who you want to take Aeris somewhere safe (Barret or Tifa). Choose the weaker of the two). Cloud then asks the beast his name, and it's Red XIII according to Hojo's name he bestowed him with, but you are allowed to change it if you so please. Boss time! =============================================================================== - BOSS: SAMPLE: HO512, SUB-BOSS: SAMPLE: HO512-OPT - =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BOSS: SAMPLE: HO512 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: Sample: HO512 -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - 68th Floor (forced) -> Monster's Level: 19 -> EXP for Defeating: 300 -> AP for Defeating: 30 -> Gil for Defeating: 250 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Talisman x1 (100%), Grenade x[number of -opts killed] (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 1000 -> Monster's MP: 120 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 40, 60, 1, 65, 35, 64, 1 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (1/2), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Silence, Confusion, Petrification, Berserk, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death Sentence, Death - Absorbs Poison -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Shady Breath 4 A Mag Psn - - 255 X X (1) * Reanimagic 40 AA* MHPr Res Prop 2390 255 X X (2)(3) (4) ^ Keyclaw 0 1 Phys Cut Phys 16 100 X X (1) Poison [72%] (2) revive a Sample: HO512-opt from KO [100%] (3) revives with MaxHP (4) Sample: HO512-opts disappear when KO'd; this attack reanimates their model --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Shady Breath on all characers Is at least on Sample: HO512-opt under KO and inanimated and is Sample: HO512's MP great than or equal to 40? Yes: Reanimagic on random Sample: HO512-Opt under KO and inanimated (if more than Sample: HO512-opt is under KO and inanimated, Reanimagic on all Sample: HO512-opts under KO and inanimated) No: Does at least one character have not Poison? Yes: 3/4 - do nothing 1/4 - Shady Breath on all characters No: Keyclaw on random character with Poison ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - SUB-BOSS: SAMPLE: HO512-OPT - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: Sample: HO512-opt -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - 68th Floor (Sample: HO512 battle) (forced) -> Monster's Level: 7 -> EXP for Defeating: 20 -> AP for Defeating: 2 -> Gil for Defeating: 0 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Tranquilizer x1 (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 300 -> Monster's MP: 48 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 22, 46, 4, 45, 18, 32, 2 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (immune), Poison (normal), Gravity (normal), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Frog, Small, Manipulation -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rolling Attack 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 48 90 X X * Fire 4 1/A Mag Fir Mag 8 100 X O * Ice 4 1/A Mag Ice Mag 8 100 X O ^ Bodyblow 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 16 95 X X (1) (1) only attack that is used if under Berserk --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: BSV is 0, 1, 2, 3 (chosen randomly) Is BSV 0? Yes: Bodyblow on random character No: Is BSV 1? Yes: Does at least one character not have Paralysis? Yes: Rolling Attack on random character without Paralysis No: Is BSV 2? Yes: Is Sample: HO512-opt's MP greater than or equal to 4? Yes: 2/3 - Bodyblow on random character 1/3 - Fire on random character No: Bodyblow on random character No: Is BSV 3? Yes: Is Sample: HO512-opt's MP greater than or equal to 4? Yes: 2/3 - Bodyblow on random character 1/3 - Fire on random character No: Bodyblow on random character - Note: Sample: HO512-opt is reanimated infinitely until Sample: HO512 is KO'd - STRATEGY: This is totally a strategy fight. The boss has a few attacks, and one of which is Shady Breath. This does Poison to possibly all of your group's members, however, the Acc% of this attack is a discrepant factor in this attack. It pretty much negates the possibility (doesn't completely diminish it) of it connecting and executing its maximum effect and potential on all of the party. Meaning, that it's totally redundant to even have such an attack. It usually only gets one character, and sometimes two, in which case you should take the following precautions on two characters. In the unlikely event that it makes contact with all three characters, you'll definitely need to be in possession of a few Antidotes for possible future utilization. The before-the- battle precaution I implore you to make is to have Star Pendant which you ought to have obtained from the 63rd story. Also, if need be, I make the suggestion and strong recommendation that you equip the linked Materia combination, Elemental=Poison on an armor. And, of course, in the event that you need to nullify Poison from all three active characters, you can use Antidotes. Just about after every single Shady Breath attack, it's followed by Rolling Attack, but not in all scenarios, as I have found irreconcilable break in this (and is a major inconsistency at times -> I have discovered that it is variable from file to file). Its "slash" attack just does facetious amounts of damage, and no special exceptions or trick additions. HO512-opts (its henchmen, which I cover in just a second) have their own miniature attack, as well. Now, the HO512-opt enemies have 200 HP, and quite easy to kill if you're around lvl15+. But, there is no point at all in doing so since the boss puts them under total reanimation right afterwards, so you can never have a bare boss. HO512 is in the back row, connotating that Cloud and Red XIII do less damage with physical attacks, and Barret is the only one that can do respectable damage - that's why I allude bringing in him over Tifa. Again, don't bother killing HO512-opts as they only respawn afterwards. But, there is one minor beneficial part of killing them, and that is that you receive an amount of Grenades that is correspondant to the number of them you kill. Also, the mini foes, HO512-opts, have the Rolling Attack as part of their offensive armamentarium. This attack is more roborantly oppressive than its normal strike, and the average damage range is from 25-40 -> not much, is it? Each one's HP are depletable when 200 damage has been dispersed onto them, but it's really pointless to do so, sans the fact of Grenade accumulation which equates to amount of opts disposed of, as touted previously. HO512 itself isn't really a lot to deal with by itself, but, when you have four enemies at one time with their dmgs accumulating, it can really rack up. I'd say in an average "round" they can dish out seperated 90 damage points at least, and 125 at most. A way to heal all of your characters' diminished Hit Points at once, a quite effective method at that (although it costs some MP), is to link Restore and All, and that revalesces everyone's lost HP in just one turn rather than doing it all seperately. As you can see, this is a gigantic strategic expedite. Alleviating Poison imperfection dealt by Shady Breath would be much easier if we had Heal Materia. If you're wondeing why Red XIII's and Cloud's physical attacks do so little, it's because HO512 is located in the back enemy row, reducing damage. Barret's attack is the only attack at this point which can do regular damage. I suggest putting him in the front row, though. Atypically, Cloud or Red do over 55 damage with normal attacks. Consistently their damages do in the 40- vicinity, and they should most definitely be placed in the front row of the battle. Heh, you'd probably think by looking at HO512 it would go under some transubstantiation or transmogrification due to its biologically and freakishly disgusting appearance, however, it's quite the contrary. HO512 also possesses a medium amount of HP for this point in the game, 1800, but it's easy to beat if you follow the following agglomeration of gathered and formulated tips, and intelligence information. Now, since you already are aware of the fact that HO512 is in the back row, and Cloud and Red cannot hit for optimum damage or perform at maximum potential, this is where we begin. This is why I recommend that Cloud be equipped with some useful long-distance magic Materia, such as Fire, Bolt, or Ice. If you truly wish to inflict harm upon HO512 and HO512-opts as well, link the magic(s) with All. However, this does subtract damage dispensed on four enemies by nearly half. So, since our primary focus is the main boss HO512, I seriously do not suggest linking All to them. A good suggestion is that if you wish to add an extra 15-20 dmg to Red/Cloud's normal strikes, link Elemental Materia to Fire on their weapon(s). This cannot happen with Red, though, but he does come with Fire and All pre-linked, but it's only useable once, so take heed to that fact. It may not be much, but think of it as such: in three turns alone, that's 54+ damage extra. I have discovered that Fire does slightly more than Bolt and Ice does about the same as Bolt, give or take a few dmg pts. I've found out also that adding Elemental=Fire to Barret's weapon helps to increase his average damage by nearly 13 or so. If you've collected enough Potions, use them if you've a picky fetish about maintaining your perfect HP at all times. And in conjunction to curing minused HP, you ought to use Ethers for MP rejuventation. In this insinuendo of a situation rarity, it's the *only* time you should use that Elixir: your health is in critical state, and MP is < 4 -> only can heal one person, however. Anyways, obviously, we're going to be utilizing Limit Breaks, and of course you, as I already mentioned, will be in the front row, thus amplifying them as much as possible. Cross Slash will probably be the second most useful, with Big Shot being the most, and Red's Sled Fang (Lv1 Limit Break) will be least. If you're hurting for MP, Mindblow is good. I'd say, altogether, that if you follow these instructions and this strategic prepping, you should not have any/much trouble in defeating HO512. If you kill the HO512, its opts die along side it, yet they don't count towards the amount of Grenades you receive. After the fight is over and done with, form two groups to go with you, and then the other to go with Aeris. Now, then, head up to the top walkway and speak with the man there. He then gives you the Keycard 68, and now you can pick up the two Potions up here. Now, head downstairs and through the door. You now need to go on downstairs and then get the Enemy Skill Materia that appeared in the specimen chamber. That done, make it through the door, pick up the next the next x2 Potions, and then down the stairs. At this point, you're in the 66th floor (you know, there area that had the big meeting room for Shinra, and where you had done your "spy" mission). Anyway, from here you don't have to do any- thing large, simply make your way to the elevators. But, before you do so, I mightily suggest that you heal your HP and MP of the characters chosen, and set up some Materia that you need (although you will not be needing it much longer after that). Enter the elevator, and go up to examine the floor-choosing machine. Before you can input where you wish to go, Rude of the Turks come in, and asks that Cloud presses "Up". Cloud knows it must be a set-up, as it involves the Turks. Tseng then comes in and talks for about two caption boxes, and then the party (Cloud, Barret, Red XIII and Tifa) are in President Shinra's office in the top floor). Now, up here, they all line up, and Shinra makes a long speech about many things, and addressed a lot of cases. Some of these include the Ancients (and now you know that they used to really call themselves the "Cetra"). Red XIII is amazed that Aeris' is the last surviving Ancient. He also talks about the Promised Land and about the Neo-Midgar plan, Shinra's new glory! After Shinra concludes the "meeting", Barret insists on staying and beating the living crap out of Shinra, but as he struggles, Rude comes up and personally escorts him out of there. The next scene is where your party is divided into three cells back at the 67th floor. Here's what you must do, and what you could opt to do or not do while in here. First off, you can speak with Tifa and she'll ask how you're going to break out of this one, and you get two options. One being something to the effect of I don't know, and the other being leave it to me. Choose anything, but it's obviously better to choose on the second choice. Now, head up to the door and you are then presented with three choices. Pick the one about Aeris, and a medium-length conversation begins. She then says she knew you'd come for her, Cloud says of course as he's your bodyguard, and she restates the deal for one date. Tifa then becomes notably irritated upon learning of that fact. Aeris is then surprised that Tifa was in that cell as well, and then Tifa replies in an apparently mad manner. She then completely diverts and changes the topic of discussion to asking Aeris if there really is such thing as the Promised Land. She's not sure, but what she is sure of that the Cetra speak with and unlock the planet. Cloud and Tifa are somewhat confused, but after, you can go back to the door again and then choose either Barret or Red option. Note that you don't have to do those, as you can go directly to sleep. If you do any of those, you'd only be elongating and delaying the inevitable. Well, do whatever you please, and then sleep. When you wake up, you see that the door has been opened!? So, head outside, naturally, as Tifa's sleeping. Go to the right and examine the recently deceased guard. Head back to the cell and wake up Tifa. She then rushes out to examine what's happened. She's in utter shock. Go out and speak to her, then you get the keys to the cells. She goes to get Aeris out whilst you free Barret and Red XIII. After they've surveyed the slaughter, Barret says that he'll stay back here and clean up, and Red XIII states that he'll lead the way. So, follow him to the room where you fought your last boss fight. From here, you have Aeris and Tifa accompanying Cloud throughout the building. We now have new enemies to deal with after you're caught, as there's biological experimental disasters roaming around every where. The Zenene is one of the 3 of them. It has three attacks, and only two of them are actually of any concern to your party. One being Ghenghana. This does large Fire damage to one of your characters. Its other attack is the Piazzo Shower, in which, it releases a mist to Poison one person. Its normal attack does about 50-60 damage. They also have a weakness to White Magic. This leads to you thinking that you can Cure the guy to do about 40+ damage, and you're correct. Next is Brain Pod, who can use two different Refuse attacks. It first does Refuse [Poison] on a character and then follows it with Refuse [Sleep]. After that, it does it all pretty much randomly to another, and then continues the cycle. Its regular move does about 30 dmg to one of your party members, which isn't a lot. Vagrid Police has immensely minor Acc%, meaning that its attacks do not hit very often. If it does, it only does and execution amount of damage of 1, always. That is it for the enemy briefing. Set up weapons, armors, and Materias accordingly. Don't spend too much of your items on one single battle. Ok, when you reach the specimen room, Jenova's case has been broken, and Jenova, gone. Oh, Jesus Christ. This is where it all starts getting interesting and exciting. It wasn't Jenova that did all of this, nor did she escape on her own. Proceed to the lift. This is someone else's omnipotent presence. Uh-oh. Anyhow, you must continue following the portentous trail of blood, which almost resembles a river of blood. Who on Earth could've done this? You'll soon find out. Anyway, from here, continue to make your way up to Shinra's office. Here you find something astounding, one of the hugest plot twists in the game... President Shinra's... gone... dead... Yeah, wow. Well, that's insanely awesome. He's over his table with a brobdingnagian sword through his neck. It's Sephiroth! He's come back... he's alive... Barret and Red make their appearance and Barret's overjoyed. Palmer comes out and an interrogation by Cloud and Barret ensue. He then runs off to Rufus who's just made an arrival in a helicopter. Rufus is the vice president, Shinra's son, and now the new president. Crap! Anyway, run outside and confront Rufus. After a long talk, including introductions of the party, and Rufus making a speech in which he says that following: His dad ran Shinra and the masses by money, and how it may've seemed like perfect exterior, but too complicated. He plans to run this world using fear. What an incentive... Anyway, Cloud tells them all to leave, and after a little arguing, they all agree. As they run back to the 69th, Tifa stays to wait for Cloud, and you are in full control of Barret, Aeris, and Red XIII. As you split, you get to remove Tifa's and Cloud's Materia for now for use with the three characters, since there's a boss fight about to start soon. I suggest arming Barret with Elemental=Bolt combo on his weapon. Give Aeris Cure and Sense (just in case you wish to check HP or weaknesses of the boss. Red should get all other oppressive magic, since you won't even be able to reach it with anyone but Barret's regular attack. So, continue to the elevators on this floor, and inside, you commence in a battle with the following enemies... =============================================================================== - BOSS: HUNDRED GUNNER - =============================================================================== -> Monster's Name: Hundred Gunner -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - Elevator (forced) -> Monster's Level: 18 -> EXP for Defeating: 330 -> AP for Defeating: 35 -> Gil for Defeating: 300 -> Item Dropped from Monster: None -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 1600 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 52, 46, 1, 63, 0, 240, 0 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (weak), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Darkness, Poison, Sleep, Stop, Confusion, Petrification, Paralysis, Berserk, Frog, Small, Fury, Sadness, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death Sentence, Death -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Aux Artillery 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 16 100 X X * Hidden Artillery 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 20 120 X X * Main Artillery 0 A Phys Sht Phys 18 100 X X * Wave Artillery 0 A Phys Sht Phys 27 255 X X * Sub Artillery 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 22 100 X X (1) Transform [1] 0 S - - - - I X X (2)(3) Transform [2] 0 S - - - - I X X (4)(5) Sensor Charge 0 S - - - - I X X (6)(7) (1) dummy attack (2) transform from first form to second form (3) Miscellaneous/Animation (4) transform from second form to third form (5) Miscellaenous/Animation (6) increase Sensor Charge Count BSV (7) Miscellaenous/Animation --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Is Hundred Gunner's HP greater than 2/3 of its MaxHP? (first form) Yes: Is it Hundred Gunner's first turn? Yes: Aux Artillery on random character No: 3/4 - Aux Artillery on random character 1/4 - Hidden Artillery on random character (throughout first form) No: Is Hundred Gunner's HP less than or equal to 2/3 of its MaxHP? Yes: Transform [1] on self immediately Main Artillery on all characters (throughout second form) No: Is Hundred Gunner's HP less than or equal to 1/3 of its MaxHP? Yes: Transform [2] on self immediately Has it Sensor Charged less than twice? Yes: Sensor Charge Is its Sensor Charge Count BSV 0? Yes: "Sensor Cannon Charging!" appears on screen No: "Sensor Cannon Charged!" appears on screen [add 1 to charge count] No: Wave Artillery on all characters [charge count reset to 0] (throughout third form) - STRATEGY: This fight is not that hard. First off, have Barret equipped with Elemental + Lightning (Bolt) to his weapon. This adds Lightning affinity to his attacks, meaning they'll do about 150 damage. Plus, when he uses normal Bolt, it does about 140 damage. Aeris ought to be fitted with Cure (Restore) Materia. This in conjunction with healing items can really heal you up quite well. Also, if her Limit Break Guage fills up (which I predict to happen about 3-5 times in this fight), her Healing Wind is useful, especially after multiple hit attacks such as Wave Artillery. Red should use offensive magic like Ice and Fire until Sled Fang. =============================================================================== - BOSS: HELI GUNNER - =============================================================================== -> Monster's Name: Heli Gunner -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - Elevator (after defeating Hundred Gunner) (forced) -> Monster's Level: 19 -> EXP for Defeating: 250 -> AP for Defeating: 25 -> Gil for Defeating: 200 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Mythril Armlet (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 1600 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 52, 46, 1, 63, 0, 240, 0 90* 270* * - in second form -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (weak), Earth (immune), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (weak), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Darkness, Poison, Sleep, Stop, Confusion, Petrification, Paralysis, Berserk, Frog, Small, Fury, Sadness, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death Sentence, Death -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * AB Cannon 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 16 100 X X (1) * C Cannon 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 16 100 X X (2) * Firing Line 0 A Phys Sht Phys 19 100 X X (3)(4) * Flying Drill 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 24 95 X X * Spinning Bodyblow 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 20 100 X X Transform 0 S - - - - I X X (5)(6) (1) Sleep [28%] (2) Poison [28%] (3) Sleep [20%] (4) Poison [28%] (5) transform from first form to second form (6) Miscellaenous/Animation --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: AB Cannon on random character at the beginning of battle Is Heli Gunner's HP greater than 1/4 of its MaxHP? (first form) (hovering) Yes: Is Action Count 0? Yes: AB Cannon on random character [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 1? Yes: 3/4 - C Cannon on random character [Action Count +1] 1/4 - Firing Line on all characters [Action Count +2] No: Is Action Count 2? (was C Cannon used on second turn?) Yes: 3/4 - AB Cannon on random character [Action Count -1] 1/4 - Firing Line on all characters [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 3? (was Firing Line used on second turn or on third turn?) 3/4 - AB Cannon on random character [Action Count -2] 1/4 - C Cannon on random character [Action Count -1] (throughout first form) Is Heli Gunner's HP less than or equal to 1/4 of its MaxHP? Yes: Transform on self immediately (spinning) 1/2 - Flying Drill on random character 1/2 - Spinning Bodyblow on random character (throughout second form) - STRATEGY: After first boss is done, comes Heli Gunner. 600 less HP, but more dangerous attacks. Continue with the same kind of strategy, however. Altogether you have to face 2600 HP in this fight, Lvl19 monster, with 8 attacks (if both were combined. Remember to watch your HP and keep it high. Not much after the fight, but soon enough you will be pitted against Rufus and his guard dog, fighting only as Cloud. =============================================================================== - BOSS: RUFUS, SUB-BOSS: DARK NATION - =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BOSS: RUFUS - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: Rufus -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - Roof (forced) -> Monster's Level: 21 -> EXP for Defeating: 240 -> AP for Defeating: 35 -> Gil for Defeating: 400 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Protect Vest (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 500 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 35, 32, 14, 72, 0, 160, 8 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Silence, Confusion, Petrification, Berserk, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death, Death Sentence -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Shotgun 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 16 100 X X --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: 2/3 - Shotgun on Cloud (Shotgun will always be the first attacked used) 1/3 - Is Rufus' HP greater than 200? and is [Rufus' MaxHP - Rufus' current HP] less than 100? Yes: Rufus: "Heh, Heh, Heh..." appears on screen No: Shotgun on Cloud ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - SUB-BOSS: DARK NATION - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: Dark Nation -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - Roof (Rufus battle) (forced) -> Monster's Level: 15 -> EXP for Defeating: 70 -> AP for Defeating: 7 -> Gil for Defeating: 250 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Guard Source (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 140 -> Monster's MP: 80 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 43, 38, 18, 74, 15, 94, 3 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (normal), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Confusion -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Barrier 16 1A Mag - - - I X O (1) * MBarrier 24 1A Mag - - - I X O (2) * Bolt 4 1 Mag Lit Mag 8 100 X O ^ Bite 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 16 100 O X (3) (1) Barrier [100%] (2) Magic Barrier [100%] (3) only attack that will be used if under Berserk --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Does not Rufus have Barrier? Yes: Is Dark Nation's MP greater than or equal to 16? Yes: Barrier on Rufus No: Bite on Cloud No: Does Dark Nation not have Barrier? Yes: 1/2 - Is Dark Nation's MP greater than or equal to 16? Yes: Barrier on self No: Bite on Cloud 1/2 - IPV is 1 No: Does Dark Nation not have Magic Barrier? Yes: 1/2 - Is Dark Nation's MP greater than or equal to 24? Yes: MBarrier on self No: Bite on Cloud 1/2 - IPV is 1 No: 1/2 - Is Dark Nation's MP greater than or equal to 4? Yes: Bolt on Cloud No: Bite on Cloud 1/2 - IPV is 1 Is IPV 1? Yes: 1/2 - Is Dark Nation's MP greater than or equal to 4? Yes: Bolt on Cloud No: Bite on Cloud 1/2 - Bite on Cloud If Rufus is KO'd and Dark Nation remains, Rufus removes Dark Nation immediately ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: None (battle object) -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - Roof (Rufus/Dark Nation battle) (forced) -> Monster's Level: 1 -> EXP for Defeating: 0 -> AP for Defeating: 0 -> Gil for Defeating: 0 -> Item Dropped from Monster: None -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 1 -> Monster's MP: 1 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (normal), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: None -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- none --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: do nothing is untargettable - STRATEGY: When you're back at the scene with Cloud and Rufus, you first get to choose to remove Materia and set them up on Cloud him. I would like to make one suggestion first. Set Elemental + Poison on his weapon, plus, Fire is a very useful magic spell in this face-off. If Cloud needs to be healed before the bout (due to Materia change) with HP or MP, do so, because chances are, he's going to need all of it due to Rufus' Shotgun attack - usually does 45+ damage at one time. Plus he has a lot of Spd, so, he does it on a lot of turns. He also has his Dark Nation hell hound, as I like to call it, which can help him out. One thing it can do is use Bolt magic on you, which reallt starts to add up insanely in the long run. Not only that, but its physcial attack does about 20 damage with frequency, as well as accuracy. It also helps him out in another wat, but I shall get into that in just a little bit later in the next paragraph that's coming up. All right, as you know, Rufus only has one attack Shotgun. Now, I already covered it previously at the above, so I shan't at this time. Anyway, the dmg can truly add up. Dark Nation has one technique known as Barrier, This is a lot different from Reno's Pyramid. This is mainly because instead of putting it on one of your characters and preventing them from attacking, it places a protective barrier on Rufus and/or itself. This increases his Def and halves all damage from physical attacks. When these occur, you'll want to resort to using magical instead of physical moves. Spells like Fire or Bolt will do quite nicely. About two of those spells are enough to murder Dark Nation. Also, Dark Nation has MBarrier, which halves magically based damage. If both of these are placed unto one of them, then you're pretty much screwed, as not even Braver or Cross Slash can penetrate the regular Barrier. Your only best best at this point is to use your Poison Elemental weapon, although Limits can still do in the 100s of dmg. Rufus has 500 HP, so, attack as much as you need to in order to defeat him. When the fight is over, he submits a Report, and if Dark Nation is not already KO'd, he removes Dark Nation, then flies off. All right, ok then, after the fight, run back into Shinra's office and run past him sticking the middle finger up at his dead body. If you want, go up and piss and spit on it. But whatever you do, leave through any of the stairs and meet up with Tifa at the bottom. You may want to use the savepoint on this floor, as well. Now, the scene switches on over to Aeris, Barret, and Red who somehow just go off the elevator. Anyways, start heading out and Barret comes out and goes outside, and immediately gunfire is heard. Barret comes running back inside, and says that you're surrounded. He also states that if he was alone, it wouldn't be a thang, but he's got a reputation to protect, however believeable that is... Aeris tells them to get out while they can, as it's her they're after, not them. Barret literally says screw that because he owes her for what she did for Marlene. Ok, as Barret's about to go outside and open a can on 'em, Tifa comes running down the stairs. She then tells them to hurry up and they're all confused at first. Then you see Cloud on a motorcycle riding all around Shinra tower. The rest go out and get in another cheaper vehicle, and they all bust out of the building through a high-story window and land on the road. That is one kick-ass bike! Then, everything's explained. Note: look to the bottom to see this, as this is where I join both of these sections. ============================ Part #2 -> Let's Bust On In! ============================ Once you bust on into the place, everything goes to hell below the 59th floor. You're attacked by tons of guards and crap, and you have to beat them all. Do not worry, though, since they're not difficult whatsoever. As you head up the stairs, you hear some rather humorous comments. Well, one the second floor, you can pay a small visit to the Item Shop. They have tons of items which you may want to buy for best survival in the Shinra HQ (Si) You can also take a look at a video for Shinra Motors (Ni), but that's all really for no in there (Ro). Also, there are two treasure chests in there which you (Th) cannot open just yet in the game. After you've done your business in there, you'll want to head up the elevator (X's) Now, this definitely is not the best of elevators you've ever been on. The alarm for intruders begins to go off, and the elevator goes on the fritz. Floors start spinning wildly, and you should stop on each one. What is on every chosen floor is different: ranging for a frightened employee, to enemy battles. After a few of them, you will (FF7) land on the 59th floor (FAQ). Here, it's (©) the same as before (2003;) with the Let's Sneak (Nick) In part of the Shinra (Henson) HQ. From the beginning you can head up directly to some elevators, or you can fight guards if you head right to some more elevators. The enemies you fight are the Mighty Grunts. They possess 230 HP, and their attacks are medium strength. Def of said enemies is quite high. Double Gun does about twice as much damage as their normal shot. Rollerspin is only done once their armor is destroyed (and that's once 50%, 115 dmg, has been done/HP deducted), and it does 50+ damage to its one target. Note: that if Cross-Slash is done to breach 115 HP (break its armor), it won't occur if enemy is Stopped. You need to fight them to get the Keycard 60 Key Item. Enter the elevator and heal if you need to do so. You get three choices at the terminal >1floor, 59", or 60". We need to go to the 60th floor, so click that. Talk to the party to end it and you're where there's a guard sleeping at the surveillance camera screen controls. So once you exit the elevator and appear on it, move on forward a little bit. Head up and to the right so as to avoid the first two guards. Now, in that room up there, you make the plan on how to get to the other side without being spotted. As you run, you must hide behind each of the poles, and go when the guards aren't looking. By not looking, I mean, walking back and forth. Once you get halfway, you have to start signaling the party to come when they're not looking and facing away. If you are spotted, by the way, you fight and have to start all over again from the same room. Barret goes first, then you do it for Tifa. Then you have to make it over to the other side, and signal them again to come. The other side is harder, since the guards are running. These guys are also Mighty Grunts, by the way. Arm and equip yourself with good Materia, weapons, and armor before continuing. If you fight three times, however, you can get past without you having to sneak your way across. Good for Exp, though. Now, head up the stairs and you're on the 61st floor. If you talk to the man in the black suit walking in the middle of the floor he'll explain what Barret did when you first arrived here. The guy walking next to him is talking about some woman. The people to the Northeast say stuff about the ruckus downstairs a moment ago, and how at least it's safe above this floor. The person pacing near the elevators asks who the hell you are: "Where's Aeris"/"..." If you choose the first choice, he mistakes her for the receptionist. If you opt to choose the second option, he thinks you're the Shinra, Inc. Repair Division. This leads to you getting the Keycard 62. The guy standing to the right of the two elevators explains tons of stuff to you. Now, head up the next stairs. Up here, exit through the door and go to the room where the only people are. One person outside, and the Midgar mayor, Mayor Domino. The person outside is Deputy Mayor and he gives clues to a tough question in a second. Go in and speak to Domino. He apparently knows you're AVALANCHE. He introduces himself, and says that he's really only mayor in name, and everything is actually governed by Shinra. He just watches over their documents. If you guess his password on the first try, he gives you the next Keycard plus Elemental Materia. The choices are BEST, KING, ORBS, BOMB, MAKO, HOJO. You can get clues all over the place. One way is through Hart outside, but his prices are outrageously steep. Starting at 500, it continues to add 500 Gil for each clue you want. But, you can find clues around the libraries. There's four libraries and each has a misplaced file. This is a bit confusing, so I'll explain it the best I can, which may be just a tad bit on the vague side. All right. As you can see, there are four library sections on the 62nd floor. Each of them are dedicated to one of the four branches of Shinra, Inc. These include Peace Preservation/Weapon Development, Shinra Inc. Space Development, Shinra Inc. Scientific Research, and Shinra Inc. Urban Development. Look at the signs near each door for which ones they are. Now, how do these help you find out the clue you ask? This is where it's slightly confusing. Each of the libraries contains three shelves, and these shelves have two different subjects of books in them. Meaning six subjects altogether. But, only five of them correspond to the branch of research that's on the sign. The other is from some other library. Your job is to have a working knowledge of what all of them are (which may be an insult to you idiots out there), and then find them all. There is a number on each of the missing titles. This number has great significance, and if you fail to pay attention to it, you have no chance of getting this. Ok, the reason I'm not telling you the actual answer and getting it over with is that every file you play has a different final conclusion. That's why. Anyway, why are these numbers so imperative to getting it correct? The answer is because that number is the number of letters you must look into the name of the file to get your needed letter. Example: 4 - "Ranks"; you need to derive the "k" from that word as one of your final letters. There's four libraries, thus, four letter clues, and that's how many letters each of the answers are. Now, when you get all of your answers, it may not necessarily all be in order, and this is dependent on which order you checked libraries. If all the letters don't make sense, check the answer choices and make your answer out. I suggest writing all letters on some paper, as to not forget them. Go back to Domino and tell him your answer, get the Elemental Materia (if you did it correctly), and also receive the Keycard 65 (pass 63, 64, and 65 as well). His reason for doing all of this is because, in reality, he actually utterly despises the Shinra. Yeah, and he said he wants to get back at them for every- thing they've ever done to him. His card only gets him to the 65th floor, and he thinks that's like treating him like some common employee. Wow, who cares? But thanks anyway, Domino, for the Elemental Materia and 65th floor Keycard. Now, head up to the 63rd floor. Darn, is there a buttload of items waiting in here for you or what!? From the start go into the first room you can and touch the computer terminal. It allows you to open doors up to three times. Note that you don't have to do this floor if you do not want to. Now, head up the top of this floor and open the door up there. Then, head past the next door below you and then open the next one that's past that. Not the one on the very end, but right before that to the below. You can now enter your first room and get the A Coupon. Now you have to go into the duct that is in that room and then crawl forward, then right, the up to the next room. In here is the B Coupon. Now, exit through the door. Now, what to do next? This should be fairly obvious now. Head to the left and open the door there and head up into the room to get your last, C Coupon. There goes your three door limit. Now crawl through the ducts and then head down, and then right into the computer terminal room again. Now, at the computer again, exchange your A, B, and C Coupons for Star Pendant, Four Slots, and All Materia. Awesome, huh? Now head up to the 64th floor. My God, apparently this is just a hang out place for executives. The upperleft room is a bathroom, the massive room in the middle is reserved for a workout room. Now, the bottom left room is a lounge where you can get some sleep to recover HP an MP, plus there's a savepoint in there. There's a guy in there sleeping, too. In the gym, you can talk to four people. The people on the running machines say to get some rest if you're tired, and that he's starting to worry about his belly. The guy doing crunches of some sort at the center says that because he's the head of security for the building, his stamina must be maintained. He's not doing a great job, is he? The woman at the counter says that you can use any unused machine, too bad you can't. But, if you want, you can go to one of the two vending machines in the topright and buy a "Shinra Gym Special Drink" to restore MP and HP. No matter how hurtin' you are, don't support Shinra! Get some rest in the room across the hall. Besides, they cost a ridiculously high amount of 250 Gil. In the top center room is a room full of lockers. You can get a Phoenix Down in the third locker from the right in the first row. Can get an Ether from the second locker from the right in the second row, and a Megaphone (ultimate weapon) for Cait Sith later on in the game in the third locker from the left in the last, third row. Now, you should leave this floor, since there's nothing else here. You can take the elevators up to the 65th floor, or the stairs. It does not matter which one you decide to choose... God, I truly hate the 65th floor. One reason is that it's when the enemies start popping up. This floor contains Sword Dances and Hammer Blasters. The Sword Dance enemy can get annoying at times. It's impervious to a magic which you don't have yet, Earth, and that's it. You can Stop it with Cross-Slash, but that would probably kill its 160 HP anyways. Sword Dances normal attack does about 17-30 damage. The Slap attack it can do does about 25 damage or so. Sawback does about 15 damage to the entire party. It has an attack pattern that goes like this: atk, Slap, atk, Sawback, repeat. If you let it live through an entire attack pattern rotation, that's about 60 divided dmg to characters. It also drops Loco Weed which Confuses certain susceptible enemies. Hammer Blaster enemies are a bit less of a threat to deal with. They have 210 HP to delete, but only have one attack. Where it hits you with a chained hammer. It does about 5-12 damage. It is weak to Lightning (Bolt) attacks, so it's simpler to kill off. More Exp, less Gil, and less AP is gained than with Sword Dance. By the way, its attack can inflict Confusion, though, so be extra careful. Ok, now to getting through this room. There's a model of Midgar in the middle and it has missing pieces to it. So, from the beginning, go to the topleft room and open the chest on the bottom. You get Midgar Parts. Go and set them in the very bottom of the model where the part seems to be missing. Another chest opens up. Head back to the same room and open the only other chest in there, and go place those parts in the topright missing slot of the Midgar model. Now, this leads to yet another chest being unlocked. Run on over to the room to the bottom of the one you've been getting parts from and open the bottom chest. Take it back to the parts to put it in the topleft missing portion. Go back to the last room you were in and get the next Midgar parts to embed in the bottomleft corner. Go and make your way to the topright room with all the plants to get the next set of Midgar parts; place 'em in the topleft. Now, go to the chest by the stairs to obtain Keycard 66, and then run up the stairs. Good, this is another room where there are no enemies. There is a little spying and evesdropping in this floor, however. There are many, many rooms here, with many, many people. The person in the bottomleft room thinks the Conference Room smells. This is a small clue to something that's going to happen, but it's not anything that will do anything. Does that make any sense? There's no one in the topright room. Bottomleft room contains some paranoid person who thinks he hears voices and whispers when he's in the bathroom. The other person in there says that the major higher-ups are having an executive meeting (see the middle room with Shinra, Heidegger and a few others in the center?). Sometimes the paranoid guy comes running out of the room to the bathroom and goes back, lol, but a few people around here do. The room to the left center has three people in it, and the one man in there says he feels alive by moving the world with just his hands. The bottom woman says that they're building the future of Mako. The other woman sometimes carries files places, and she says she's tired of it, but she says she gets one benefit of being a secretary and that's meeting lots of guys. One guy walking around has nothing to say but "...[etc]" and then Phew! at the end. The thing you have to do on this floor is to go into the bathroom stall, and then up into the airduct when you get the following three choices: "Flush?" (does nothing), "Climb up?" (need to do that to proceed), or "Get out of here" (leaves the stall). Up here in the airduct, new music plays, and you must crawl forward to the next duct vent. Here you can spy on the big Shinra meeting that's taking place down below. Here's what goes down: Reeve: "We have the damage estimates for Sector 7." Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is estimated at approximately 10 Billion Gil..." Reeve: The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is..." President Shinra: We're not rebuilding." Reeve: "What?" President Shinra: "We're leaving Sector 7 as it is. And restaring the Neo-Midgar plan. Reeve: "...then the Ancients?" President Shinra: "The Promised Land will soon be ours." President Shinra: "I want you to raise the Mako rates 15% in every area." Palmer: "Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra, la, la! And please include our Space Program in the budget!" President "Shinra: Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase." Palmer: "Oh man!" Reeve: "Sir. If you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence..." President Shinra: "It'll be all right." "The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra, Inc. even more." Heidegger: "Ha ha ha! After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE! Barret: "That dirty #$*$^". President Shinra: "Hojo. How's the girl?" Hojo: "As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother. I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but now the difference is 18%". President Shinra: "How long will the research take?" Hojo: "Probably 120 years. It's impossible to finish in our lifetimes. Or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter." Hojo: "That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that could withstand our research for a long time." President Shinra: "What about the Promised Land? Won't it hinder our plans?" Hojo: "That's what I need to plan. The mother is strong... and yet has her weaknesses." President Shinra: "That concludes our meeting." Interesting, huh? As everyone walks away, Scarlet stops, looks up at the vents, and says that something stinks. This isn't necessarily your party, but could mean what that one random guy was talking about earlier when he said the conference room stunk. It could just be coming from the vent where you party is. Whew! Your party talks for a little while in a conversation about Aeris, and then comes to the conclusion to follow them. Hold up on your D-Pad to back out of the duct and back down into the stall. Now leave the bathroom totally and start walking to the stairs on this floor. You see Hojo going up the stairs. So follow the mad scientist. He then walks through the door on the 67th floor and apparently it doesn't close behind him. So after a brief conversation amongst your team, head through it. There are three enemy types in this floor, consisting of Moth Slasher (is a robot), SOLDIER: 3rd (heh, a member of SOLDIER let's see what they're made of), and a Warning Board (it does not attack, and just sits there for your pummeling). Moth Slasher's 260 HP can be destroyed by using Bolt and Bolt 2 (if you have it) attacks. You can steal Carbon Bangles from it and they're notorious for Back Attacks. Carbon Bangles are very awesome to get. Its slash can cause Fury, and the other two attacks just do damage. SOLDIER: 3rds possess Hardedge sword which you can steal, and it's a good weapon for Cloud (much better than his Buster Sword). He's also weak to the Fire elemental spell. Warning Board can be killed easily. No attacks, and still it gives you some after-battle spoils. Now, the people in the bottomleft room can't even be spoken to. The guy in the bottom left room is looking for info on a request from Hojo. The topright area is filled with cells you can't enter just yet. So, head all the way to the West in this floor. Note: SOLDIER: 3rd can put you to Sleep, and has multiple Lv2 elemental spells. Anyhow, continue forward into this area and Cloud sees Hojo in front of a monster-like specimen, and some random executive comes in and asks if that is today's specimen, and he replies with a yes. He then tells him to raise it to the upper level (won't happen until a bit, though). The guy then leaves and Hojo goes all Smeagol-from-Lord-of-the-Rings-ish with him. "My precious specimen..." Then he walks away, and your party then looks at the beast in wonder. Tifa goes up and gets a close peak into the containment. She asks a question to the guys which they obviously don't know the answer to. Cloud looks at Barret for a second, and then goes up to the enclosement to the right with the purple light emanating from it. New music starts playing, signing that it's a special, actually important, memory scene. It says Jenova on it, and then he looks in. You see some strange, mutated Ancient known as Jenova. This, folks, is Jenova, Sephiroth's mother. She has really weird breasts (one has one purple, warped nipple, and one has none at all). She's also without a head, and it's all a strange color in there. She used to look normal, apparently, since she was an Ancient just like Aeris or Ifalna, but this is the result of them doing countless biological experiments and DNA transactions on her. Cloud then starts to flip out and he starts talking about Sephiroth... Jenova. So, they've brought her here. Apparently he's met her before, and I doubt it was pleasant. Tifa then tells him to be strong, and he asks if they saw it. Cloud says that it's moving... still alive? Barret looks in and is immediately disgusted, asking where's its ****ing head? He then suggests moving on, since the whole thing is stupid. They agree, so continue upwards and save at the savepoint. Now open the chest above the savepoint for the Poison Materia. Now go up the lift at the top of this section. At the 67th floor, exit the elevator and then the party seperates yelling out Aeris' name. Hojo then learns her name apparently. Cloud exclaims and states that we're taking Aeris back with us. Hojo then goes "Outsiders..." There're so many frivolous things in this world, says Hojo. The party runs up with a willingness to make Hojo swallow his genitals, but he recommends that the party does not kill him because the equipment there is extremely delicate and without him, no one could possibly operate any of it. The party logically thinks it out (takes about 1 second to do so, too) and reconsider. Hojo commands the commands his sambo henchman to raise up the other specimen downstairs. Both races on the verge of extinction are in the same container (the sole survivors, too). The monster acts as though he's going to eat Aeris, and everyone's worried about her safety. Hojo has some twisted logic as to why he's doing this: to help them out. One'll die (the more important - Ancient), and the other'll live??? You know, for one intelligent scientist with probably 200+ IQ, he is pretty damn moronic, wouldn't you say? Cloud then asks if Barret could shoot her out (I'm sure his sword could do the same thing, but anyway...) and he starts to. Hojo tells him to stop, then the container opens and the beast comes out and starts ripping Hojo to shreads (somehow he does not die from about 5 minutes of this. That much because you are about to battle a boss). Cloud goes in to help Aeris. Cloud starts backing up because the elevator is moving, and Hojo says that it's a very ferocious specimen. The beast then talks and says he'll help you out. You then choose who you want to take Aeris somewhere safe (Barret or Tifa). Choose the weaker of the two). Cloud then asks the beast his name, and it's Red XIII according to Hojo's name he bestowed him with, but you are allowed to change it if you so please. Boss time! =============================================================================== - BOSS: SAMPLE: HO512, SUB-BOSS: SAMPLE: HO512-OPT - =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BOSS: SAMPLE: HO512 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: Sample: HO512 -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - 68th Floor (forced) -> Monster's Level: 19 -> EXP for Defeating: 300 -> AP for Defeating: 30 -> Gil for Defeating: 250 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Talisman x1 (100%), Grenade x[number of -opts killed] (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 1000 -> Monster's MP: 120 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 40, 60, 1, 65, 35, 64, 1 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (1/2), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Silence, Confusion, Petrification, Berserk, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death Sentence, Death - Absorbs Poison -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Shady Breath 4 A Mag Psn - - 255 X X (1) * Reanimagic 40 AA* MHPr Res Prop 2390 255 X X (2)(3) (4) ^ Keyclaw 0 1 Phys Cut Phys 16 100 X X (1) Poison [72%] (2) revive a Sample: HO512-opt from KO [100%] (3) revives with MaxHP (4) Sample: HO512-opts disappear when KO'd; this attack reanimates their model --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Shady Breath on all characers Is at least on Sample: HO512-opt under KO and inanimated and is Sample: HO512's MP great than or equal to 40? Yes: Reanimagic on random Sample: HO512-Opt under KO and inanimated (if more than Sample: HO512-opt is under KO and inanimated, Reanimagic on all Sample: HO512-opts under KO and inanimated) No: Does at least one character have not Poison? Yes: 3/4 - do nothing 1/4 - Shady Breath on all characters No: Keyclaw on random character with Poison ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - SUB-BOSS: SAMPLE: HO512-OPT - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: Sample: HO512-opt -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - 68th Floor (Sample: HO512 battle) (forced) -> Monster's Level: 7 -> EXP for Defeating: 20 -> AP for Defeating: 2 -> Gil for Defeating: 0 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Tranquilizer x1 (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 300 -> Monster's MP: 48 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 22, 46, 4, 45, 18, 32, 2 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (immune), Poison (normal), Gravity (normal), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Frog, Small, Manipulation -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rolling Attack 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 48 90 X X * Fire 4 1/A Mag Fir Mag 8 100 X O * Ice 4 1/A Mag Ice Mag 8 100 X O ^ Bodyblow 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 16 95 X X (1) (1) only attack that is used if under Berserk --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: BSV is 0, 1, 2, 3 (chosen randomly) Is BSV 0? Yes: Bodyblow on random character No: Is BSV 1? Yes: Does at least one character not have Paralysis? Yes: Rolling Attack on random character without Paralysis No: Is BSV 2? Yes: Is Sample: HO512-opt's MP greater than or equal to 4? Yes: 2/3 - Bodyblow on random character 1/3 - Fire on random character No: Bodyblow on random character No: Is BSV 3? Yes: Is Sample: HO512-opt's MP greater than or equal to 4? Yes: 2/3 - Bodyblow on random character 1/3 - Fire on random character No: Bodyblow on random character - Note: Sample: HO512-opt is reanimated infinitely until Sample: HO512 is KO'd - STRATEGY: This is totally a strategy fight. The boss has a few attacks, and one of which is Shady Breath. This does Poison to possibly all of your group's members, however, the Acc% of this attack is a discrepant factor in this attack. It pretty much negates the possibility (doesn't completely diminish it) of it connecting and executing its maximum effect and potential on all of the party. Meaning, that it's totally redundant to even have such an attack. It usually only gets one character, and sometimes two, in which case you should take the following precautions on two characters. In the unlikely event that it makes contact with all three characters, you'll definitely need to be in possession of a few Antidotes for possible future utilization. The before-the- battle precaution I implore you to make is to have Star Pendant which you ought to have obtained from the 63rd story. Also, if need be, I make the suggestion and strong recommendation that you equip the linked Materia combination, Elemental=Poison on an armor. And, of course, in the event that you need to nullify Poison from all three active characters, you can use Antidotes. Just about after every single Shady Breath attack, it's followed by Rolling Attack, but not in all scenarios, as I have found irreconcilable break in this (and is a major inconsistency at times -> I have discovered that it is variable from file to file). Its "slash" attack just does facetious amounts of damage, and no special exceptions or trick additions. HO512-opts (its henchmen, which I cover in just a second) have their own miniature attack, as well. Now, the HO512-opt enemies have 200 HP, and quite easy to kill if you're around lvl15+. But, there is no point at all in doing so since the boss puts them under total reanimation right afterwards, so you can never have a bare boss. HO512 is in the back row, connotating that Cloud and Red XIII do less damage with physical attacks, and Barret is the only one that can do respectable damage - that's why I allude bringing in him over Tifa. Again, don't bother killing HO512-opts as they only respawn afterwards. But, there is one minor beneficial part of killing them, and that is that you receive an amount of Grenades that is correspondant to the number of them you kill. Also, the mini foes, HO512-opts, have the Rolling Attack as part of their offensive armamentarium. This attack is more roborantly oppressive than its normal strike, and the average damage range is from 25-40 -> not much, is it? Each one's HP are depletable when 200 damage has been dispersed onto them, but it's really pointless to do so, sans the fact of Grenade accumulation which equates to amount of opts disposed of, as touted previously. HO512 itself isn't really a lot to deal with by itself, but, when you have four enemies at one time with their dmgs accumulating, it can really rack up. I'd say in an average "round" they can dish out seperated 90 damage points at least, and 125 at most. A way to heal all of your characters' diminished Hit Points at once, a quite effective method at that (although it costs some MP), is to link Restore and All, and that revalesces everyone's lost HP in just one turn rather than doing it all seperately. As you can see, this is a gigantic strategic expedite. Alleviating Poison imperfection dealt by Shady Breath would be much easier if we had Heal Materia. If you're wondeing why Red XIII's and Cloud's physical attacks do so little, it's because HO512 is located in the back enemy row, reducing damage. Barret's attack is the only attack at this point which can do regular damage. I suggest putting him in the front row, though. Atypically, Cloud or Red do over 55 damage with normal attacks. Consistently their damages do in the 40- vicinity, and they should most definitely be placed in the front row of the battle. Heh, you'd probably think by looking at HO512 it would go under some transubstantiation or transmogrification due to its biologically and freakishly disgusting appearance, however, it's quite the contrary. HO512 also possesses a medium amount of HP for this point in the game, 1800, but it's easy to beat if you follow the following agglomeration of gathered and formulated tips, and intelligence information. Now, since you already are aware of the fact that HO512 is in the back row, and Cloud and Red cannot hit for optimum damage or perform at maximum potential, this is where we begin. This is why I recommend that Cloud be equipped with some useful long-distance magic Materia, such as Fire, Bolt, or Ice. If you truly wish to inflict harm upon HO512 and HO512-opts as well, link the magic(s) with All. However, this does subtract damage dispensed on four enemies by nearly half. So, since our primary focus is the main boss HO512, I seriously do not suggest linking All to them. A good suggestion is that if you wish to add an extra 15-20 dmg to Red/Cloud's normal strikes, link Elemental Materia to Fire on their weapon(s). This cannot happen with Red, though, but he does come with Fire and All pre-linked, but it's only useable once, so take heed to that fact. It may not be much, but think of it as such: in three turns alone, that's 54+ damage extra. I have discovered that Fire does slightly more than Bolt and Ice does about the same as Bolt, give or take a few dmg pts. I've found out also that adding Elemental=Fire to Barret's weapon helps to increase his average damage by nearly 13 or so. If you've collected enough Potions, use them if you've a picky fetish about maintaining your perfect HP at all times. And in conjunction to curing minused HP, you ought to use Ethers for MP rejuventation. In this insinuendo of a situation rarity, it's the *only* time you should use that Elixir: your health is in critical state, and MP is < 4 -> only can heal one person, however. Anyways, obviously, we're going to be utilizing Limit Breaks, and of course you, as I already mentioned, will be in the front row, thus amplifying them as much as possible. Cross Slash will probably be the second most useful, with Big Shot being the most, and Red's Sled Fang (Lv1 Limit Break) will be least. If you're hurting for MP, Mindblow is good. I'd say, altogether, that if you follow these instructions and this strategic prepping, you should not have any/much trouble in defeating HO512. If you kill the HO512, its opts die along side it, yet they don't count towards the amount of Grenades you receive. After the fight is over and done with, form two groups to go with you, and then the other to go with Aeris. Now, then,head up to the top walkway and speak with the man there. He then gives you the Keycard 68, and now you can pick up the two Potions up here. Now, head downstairs and through the door. You now need to go on downstairs and then get the Enemy Skill Materia that appeared in the specimen chamber. That done, make it through the door, pick up the next the next x2 Potions, and then down the stairs. At this point, you're in the 66th floor (you know, there area that had the big meeting room for Shinra, and where you had done your "spy" mission). Anyway, from here you don't have to do any- thing large, simply make your way to the elevators. But, before you do so, I mightily suggest that you heal your HP and MP of the characters chosen, and set up some Materia that you need (although you will not be needing it much longer after that). Enter the elevator, and go up to examine the floor-choosing machine. Before you can input where you wish to go, Rude of the Turks come in, and asks that Cloud presses "Up". Cloud knows it must be a set-up, as it involves the Turks. Tseng then comes in and talks for about two caption boxes, and then the party (Cloud, Barret, Red XIII and Tifa) are in President Shinra's office in the top floor). Now, up here, they all line up, and Shinra makes a long speech about many things, and addressed a lot of cases. Some of these include the Ancients (and now you know that they used to really call themselves the "Cetra"). Red XIII is amazed that Aeris' is the last surviving Ancient. He also talks about the Promised Land and about the Neo-Midgar plan, Shinra's new glory! After Shinra concludes the "meeting", Barret insists on staying and beating the living crap out of Shinra, but as he struggles, Rude comes up and personally escorts him out of there. The next scene is where your party is divided into three cells back at the 67th floor. Here's what you must do, and what you could opt to do or not do while in here. First off, you can speak with Tifa and she'll ask how you're going to break out of this one, and you get two options. One being something to the effect of I don't know, and the other being leave it to me. Choose anything, but it's obviously better to choose on the second choice. Now, head up to the door and you are then presented with three choices. Pick the one about Aeris, and a medium-length conversation begins. She then says she knew you'd come for her, Cloud says of course as he's your bodyguard, and she restates the deal for one date. Tifa then becomes notably irritated upon learning of that fact. Aeris is then surprised that Tifa was in that cell as well, and then Tifa replies in an apparently mad manner. She then completely diverts and changes the topic of discussion to asking Aeris if there really is such thing as the Promised Land. She's not sure, but what she is sure of that the Cetra speak with and unlock the planet. Cloud and Tifa are somewhat confused, but after, you can go back to the door again and then choose either Barret or Red option. Note that you don't have to do those, as you can go directly to sleep. If you do any of those, you'd only be elongating and delaying the inevitable. Well, do whatever you please, and then sleep. When you wake up, you see that the door has been opened!? So, head outside, naturally, as Tifa's sleeping. Go to the right and examine the recently deceased guard. Head back to the cell and wake up Tifa. She then rushes out to examine what's happened. She's in utter shock. Go out and speak to her, then you get the keys to the cells. She goes to get Aeris out whilst you free Barret and Red XIII. After they've surveyed the slaughter, Barret says that he'll stay back here and clean up, and Red XIII states that he'll lead the way. So, follow him to the room where you fought your last boss fight. From here, you have Aeris and Tifa accompanying Cloud throughout the building. We now have new enemies to deal with after you're caught, as there's biological experimental disasters roaming around every where. The Zenene is one of the 3 of them. It has three attacks, and only two of them are actually of any concern to your party. One being Ghenghana. This does large Fire damage to one of your characters. Its other attack is the Piazzo Shower, in which, it releases a mist to Poison one person. Its normal attack does about 50-60 damage. They also have a weakness to White Magic. This leads to you thinking that you can Cure the guy to do about 40+ damage, and you're correct. Next is Brain Pod, who can use two different Refuse attacks. It first does Refuse [Poison] on a character and then follows it with Refuse [Sleep]. After that, it does it all pretty much randomly to another, and then continues the cycle. Its regular move does about 30 dmg to one of your party members, which isn't a lot. Vagrid Police has immensely minor Acc%, meaning that its attacks do not hit very often. If it does, it only does and execution amount of damage of 1, always. That is it for the enemy briefing. Set up weapons, armors, and Materias accordingly. Don't spend too much of your items on one single battle. Ok, when you reach the specimen room, Jenova's case has been broken, and Jenova, gone. Oh, Jesus Christ. This is where it all starts getting interesting and exciting. It wasn't Jenova that did all of this, nor did she escape on her own. Proceed to the lift. This is someone else's omnipotent presence. Uh-oh. Anyhow, you must continue following the portentous trail of blood, which almost resembles a river of blood. Who on Earth could've done this? You'll soon find out. Anyway, from here, continue to make your way up to Shinra's office. Here you find something astounding, one of the hugest plot twists in the game... President Shinra's... gone... dead... Yeah, wow. Well, that's insanely awesome. He's over his table with a brobdingnagian sword through his neck. It's Sephiroth! He's come back... he's alive... Barret and Red make their appearance and Barret's overjoyed. Palmer comes out and an interrogation by Cloud and Barret ensue. He then runs off to Rufus who's just made an arrival in a helicopter. Rufus is the vice president, Shinra's son, and now the new president. Crap! Anyway, run outside and confront Rufus. After a long talk, including introductions of the party, and Rufus making a speech in which he says that following: His dad ran Shinra and the masses by money, and how it may've seemed like perfect exterior, but too complicated. He plans to run this world using fear. What an incentive... Anyway, Cloud tells them all to leave, and after a little arguing, they all agree. As they run back to the 69th, Tifa stays to wait for Cloud, and you are in full control of Barret, Aeris, and Red XIII. As you split, you get to remove Tifa's and Cloud's Materia for now for use with the three characters, since there's a boss fight about to start soon. I suggest arming Barret with Elemental=Bolt combo on his weapon. Give Aeris Cure and Sense (just in case you wish to check HP or weaknesses of the boss. Red should get all other oppressive magic, since you won't even be able to reach it with anyone but Barret's regular attack. So, continue to the elevators on this floor, and inside, you commence in a battle with the following enemies... =============================================================================== - BOSS: HUNDRED GUNNER - =============================================================================== -> Monster's Name: Hundred Gunner -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - Elevator (forced) -> Monster's Level: 18 -> EXP for Defeating: 330 -> AP for Defeating: 35 -> Gil for Defeating: 300 -> Item Dropped from Monster: None -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 1600 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 52, 46, 1, 63, 0, 240, 0 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (weak), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Darkness, Poison, Sleep, Stop, Confusion, Petrification, Paralysis, Berserk, Frog, Small, Fury, Sadness, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death Sentence, Death -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Aux Artillery 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 16 100 X X * Hidden Artillery 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 20 120 X X * Main Artillery 0 A Phys Sht Phys 18 100 X X * Wave Artillery 0 A Phys Sht Phys 27 255 X X * Sub Artillery 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 22 100 X X (1) Transform [1] 0 S - - - - I X X (2)(3) Transform [2] 0 S - - - - I X X (4)(5) Sensor Charge 0 S - - - - I X X (6)(7) (1) dummy attack (2) transform from first form to second form (3) Miscellaneous/Animation (4) transform from second form to third form (5) Miscellaenous/Animation (6) increase Sensor Charge Count BSV (7) Miscellaenous/Animation --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Is Hundred Gunner's HP greater than 2/3 of its MaxHP? (first form) Yes: Is it Hundred Gunner's first turn? Yes: Aux Artillery on random character No: 3/4 - Aux Artillery on random character 1/4 - Hidden Artillery on random character (throughout first form) No: Is Hundred Gunner's HP less than or equal to 2/3 of its MaxHP? Yes: Transform [1] on self immediately Main Artillery on all characters (throughout second form) No: Is Hundred Gunner's HP less than or equal to 1/3 of its MaxHP? Yes: Transform [2] on self immediately Has it Sensor Charged less than twice? Yes: Sensor Charge Is its Sensor Charge Count BSV 0? Yes: "Sensor Cannon Charging!" appears on screen No: "Sensor Cannon Charged!" appears on screen [add 1 to charge count] No: Wave Artillery on all characters [charge count reset to 0] (throughout third form) - STRATEGY: This fight is not that hard. First off, have Barret equipped with Elemental + Lightning (Bolt) to his weapon. This adds Lightning affinity to his attacks, meaning they'll do about 150 damage. Plus, when he uses normal Bolt, it does about 140 damage. Aeris ought to be fitted with Cure (Restore) Materia. This in conjunction with healing items can really heal you up quite well. Also, if her Limit Break Guage fills up (which I predict to happen about 3-5 times in this fight), her Healing Wind is useful, especially after multiple hit attacks such as Wave Artillery. Red should use offensive magic like Ice and Fire until Sled Fang. =============================================================================== - BOSS: HELI GUNNER - =============================================================================== -> Monster's Name: Heli Gunner -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - Elevator (after defeating Hundred Gunner) (forced) -> Monster's Level: 19 -> EXP for Defeating: 250 -> AP for Defeating: 25 -> Gil for Defeating: 200 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Mythril Armlet (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 1600 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 52, 46, 1, 63, 0, 240, 0 90* 270* * - in second form -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (weak), Earth (immune), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (weak), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Darkness, Poison, Sleep, Stop, Confusion, Petrification, Paralysis, Berserk, Frog, Small, Fury, Sadness, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death Sentence, Death -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * AB Cannon 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 16 100 X X (1) * C Cannon 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 16 100 X X (2) * Firing Line 0 A Phys Sht Phys 19 100 X X (3)(4) * Flying Drill 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 24 95 X X * Spinning Bodyblow 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 20 100 X X Transform 0 S - - - - I X X (5)(6) (1) Sleep [28%] (2) Poison [28%] (3) Sleep [20%] (4) Poison [28%] (5) transform from first form to second form (6) Miscellaenous/Animation --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: AB Cannon on random character at the beginning of battle Is Heli Gunner's HP greater than 1/4 of its MaxHP? (first form) (hovering) Yes: Is Action Count 0? Yes: AB Cannon on random character [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 1? Yes: 3/4 - C Cannon on random character [Action Count +1] 1/4 - Firing Line on all characters [Action Count +2] No: Is Action Count 2? (was C Cannon used on second turn?) Yes: 3/4 - AB Cannon on random character [Action Count -1] 1/4 - Firing Line on all characters [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 3? (was Firing Line used on second turn or on third turn?) 3/4 - AB Cannon on random character [Action Count -2] 1/4 - C Cannon on random character [Action Count -1] (throughout first form) Is Heli Gunner's HP less than or equal to 1/4 of its MaxHP? Yes: Transform on self immediately (spinning) 1/2 - Flying Drill on random character 1/2 - Spinning Bodyblow on random character (throughout second form) - STRATEGY: After first boss is done, comes Heli Gunner. 600 less HP, but more dangerous attacks. Continue with the same kind of strategy, however. Altogether you have to face 2600 HP in this fight, Lvl19 monster, with 8 attacks (if both were combined. Remember to watch your HP and keep it high. After, the screen switches back to Cloud and Rufus where they're about fight... =============================================================================== - BOSS: RUFUS, SUB-BOSS: DARK NATION - =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BOSS: RUFUS - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: Rufus -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - Roof (forced) -> Monster's Level: 21 -> EXP for Defeating: 240 -> AP for Defeating: 35 -> Gil for Defeating: 400 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Protect Vest (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 500 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 35, 32, 14, 72, 0, 160, 8 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Silence, Confusion, Petrification, Berserk, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death, Death Sentence -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Shotgun 0 1 Phys Sht Phys 16 100 X X --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: 2/3 - Shotgun on Cloud (Shotgun will always be the first attacked used) 1/3 - Is Rufus' HP greater than 200? and is [Rufus' MaxHP - Rufus' current HP] less than 100? Yes: Rufus: "Heh, Heh, Heh..." appears on screen No: Shotgun on Cloud ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - SUB-BOSS: DARK NATION - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: Dark Nation -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - Roof (Rufus battle) (forced) -> Monster's Level: 15 -> EXP for Defeating: 70 -> AP for Defeating: 7 -> Gil for Defeating: 250 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Guard Source (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 140 -> Monster's MP: 80 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 43, 38, 18, 74, 15, 94, 3 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (normal), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Confusion -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Barrier 16 1A Mag - - - I X O (1) * MBarrier 24 1A Mag - - - I X O (2) * Bolt 4 1 Mag Lit Mag 8 100 X O ^ Bite 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 16 100 O X (3) (1) Barrier [100%] (2) Magic Barrier [100%] (3) only attack that will be used if under Berserk --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Does not Rufus have Barrier? Yes: Is Dark Nation's MP greater than or equal to 16? Yes: Barrier on Rufus No: Bite on Cloud No: Does Dark Nation not have Barrier? Yes: 1/2 - Is Dark Nation's MP greater than or equal to 16? Yes: Barrier on self No: Bite on Cloud 1/2 - IPV is 1 No: Does Dark Nation not have Magic Barrier? Yes: 1/2 - Is Dark Nation's MP greater than or equal to 24? Yes: MBarrier on self No: Bite on Cloud 1/2 - IPV is 1 No: 1/2 - Is Dark Nation's MP greater than or equal to 4? Yes: Bolt on Cloud No: Bite on Cloud 1/2 - IPV is 1 Is IPV 1? Yes: 1/2 - Is Dark Nation's MP greater than or equal to 4? Yes: Bolt on Cloud No: Bite on Cloud 1/2 - Bite on Cloud If Rufus is KO'd and Dark Nation remains, Rufus removes Dark Nation immediately ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: None (battle object) -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Shinra Headquarters - Roof (Rufus/Dark Nation battle) (forced) -> Monster's Level: 1 -> EXP for Defeating: 0 -> AP for Defeating: 0 -> Gil for Defeating: 0 -> Item Dropped from Monster: None -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 1 -> Monster's MP: 1 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (normal), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: None -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- none --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: do nothing is untargettable - STRATEGY: When you're back at the scene with Cloud and Rufus, you first get to choose to remove Materia and set them up on Cloud him. I would like to make one suggestion first. Set Elemental + Poison on his weapon, plus, Fire is a very useful magic spell in this face-off. If Cloud needs to be healed before the bout (due to Materia change) with HP or MP, do so, because chances are, he's going to need all of it due to Rufus' Shotgun attack - usually does 45+ damage at one time. Plus he has a lot of Spd, so, he does it on a lot of turns. He also has his Dark Nation hell hound, as I like to call it, which can help him out. One thing it can do is use Bolt magic on you, which reallt starts to add up insanely in the long run. Not only that, but its physcial attack does about 20 damage with frequency, as well as accuracy. It also helps him out in another wat, but I shall get into that in just a little bit later in the next paragraph that's coming up. All right, as you know, Rufus only has one attack Shotgun. Now, I already covered it previously at the above, so I shan't at this time. Anyway, the dmg can truly add up. Dark Nation has one technique known as Barrier, This is a lot different from Reno's Pyramid. This is mainly because instead of putting it on one of your characters and preventing them from attacking, it places a protective barrier on Rufus and/or itself. This increases his Def and halves all damage from physical attacks. When these occur, you'll want to resort to using magical instead of physical moves. Spells like Fire or Bolt will do quite nicely. About two of those spells are enough to murder Dark Nation. Also, Dark Nation has MBarrier, which halves magically based damage. If both of these are placed unto one of them, then you're pretty much screwed, as not even Braver or Cross Slash can penetrate the regular Barrier. Your only best best at this point is to use your Poison Elemental weapon, although Limits can still do in the 100s of dmg. Rufus has 500 HP, so, attack as much as you need to in order to defeat him. When the fight is over, he submits a Report, and if Dark Nation is not already KO'd, he removes Dark Nation, then flies off. All right, ok then, after the fight, run back into Shinra's office and run past him sticking the middle finger up at his dead body. If you want, go up and piss and spit on it. But whatever you do, leave through any of the stairs and meet up with Tifa at the bottom. You may want to use the savepoint on this floor, as well. Now, the scene switches on over to Aeris, Barret, and Red who somehow just go off the elevator. Anyways, start heading out and Barret comes out and goes outside, and immediately gunfire is heard. Barret comes running back inside, and says that you're surrounded. He also states that if he was alone, it wouldn't be a thang, but he's got a reputation to protect, however believeable that is... Aeris tells them to get out while they can, as it's her they're after, not them. Barret literally says screw that because he owes her for what she did for Marlene. Ok, as Barret's about to go outside and open a can on 'em, Tifa comes running down the stairs. She then tells them to hurry up and they're all confused at first. Then you see Cloud on a motorcycle riding all around Shinra tower. The rest go out and get in another cheaper vehicle, and they all bust out of the building through a high-story window and land on the road. That is one kick-ass bike! Then, everything's explained. You get to press Triangle to go to the menu and set up Materia (take heed, there's a mechanical boss coming up, so...). X button is to form your party, and Start is to begin everything (I'll give suggestions for everything during the battle, so when you are ready, press Start. Controls are the D-Pad to move,  to attack left, and O to go right. You are being pursuited by Shinra's bike troops (God, they have people for everything, don't they?). You must fend them off from attacking the truck. If any of your characters die (lose all of their health bar, it's Game Over). Cloud also has a health bar, and likewise applies for him, also. Ok, here's how this whole thing plays out: There are soldiers on bikes from Shinra that are in hot pursuit of you, that much is obvious. You're not going to raid their HQ, injure their president, kill a lot of their guards, and ruin experiements in their tower and expect to get away without somebody knowing and wanting revenge. So, there're two different colored bikers chasing after you: Red and Yellow. The yellow ones are so stupid that apparently, to them, there is indifferentiation between their asses and holes in the ground. They are the suicidal bikers that literally suicidally and insanely attack your truck with no regard for their own lives. Red ones, on the other had, are quite intelligent, and difficult to deal with. They stay away from the truck until you are stupid enough to go and follow them, and then with their immense speed and handling, go get some free hits on the truck, and then back off. The worst case scenario that could possibly happen during this is that you have three red bikers on at once - VERY annoying. You must kill anyones of any color that you see while doing this, and try to keep damage sustained to a minimum. But, there are more ways that just slashing to kill these guys, and I'm about to mention every single one of them, just in case you want to put a little divertation into your method(s), or if it's just to bothersome to nail them the normal way. Ok, one of them is knocking and turning hard into the side walls on the road with the other bike sandwiched in-between. This sometimes takes a while, though. Another way, and one of my most prefered ways, when a bike is just coming up from behind you, stop and reverse the gas into the very front of their bikes and they'll right away fall down. This is somewhat of a challenge to pull off sometimes, as you need to have semi-decent accuracy (yourself, not the stat). You can also wait until their are bikes aligned with each other (one in front of the other), and then kill the one in front, and this causes somewhat of a chain reaction, or domino effect that knocks them, and everyone behind them down. This isn't always effective, as the smarter red guys sometimes dodge, but not always. The most I ever knocked down with this was four, so ha! The last way (and my least favorite aka not recommended) is to do sort of the same thing with the first method, but against the truck, and that can rarely do it. One last note: when attempting the third suggested method, be careful, as sometimes when it's done in front of the truck, they can sometimes hit the truck itself, and cause damage. At a 3/4 way point, you go around a turn and the camera is reversed. Don't let this fool you, controls are still the same. At the end, the fight starts. =============================================================================== - BOSS: MOTOR BALL - =============================================================================== -> Monster's Name: Motor Ball -> Monster's Locations: - Midgar - Highway (forced) -> Monster's Level: 19 -> EXP for Defeating: 440 -> AP for Defeating: 45 -> Gil for Defeating: 350 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Star Pendant x1 (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 2600 -> Monster's MP: 120 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 44, 32, 10, 67, 17, 34, 1 -> Fire (1/2), Ice (normal), Lightning (weak), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Darkness, Poison, Sleep, Stop, Confusion, Petrification, Paralysis, Berserk, Frog, Small, Fury, Sadness, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death Sentence, Death -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Twin Burner 16 A Mag Fir Mag 10 255 X X * Rolling Fire 24 A* Mag Fir Mag 16 255 X X ^ Deadly Wheel 0 A Phys Hit Phys 16 100 X X Arm Attack 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 20 110 X X Highway Back Attack 0 A Phys Hit Phys 16 95 X X --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Highway Back Attack on all characters at the beginning of battle 100% Back Attack Is Action Count 0, 1? (first turn) Yes: Motorball is in first form (hidden flamethrower) Arm Attack on character with highest HP [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 2? Yes: Motorball is in second form (revealed flamethrower) Is Motorball's MP greater than or equal to 16? Yes: Twin Burner on all characters No: Deadly Wheel on all characters [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 3? Yes: [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 4? Yes: Deadly Wheel on all characters [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 5? Yes: Motorball is in first form (hidden flamethrower) [Action Count +1] No: Is Motorball's MP greater than or equal to 24? Yes: Rolling Fire on all characters No: Deadly Wheel on all characters [Action Count reset to 0] -> Counterattack Pattern: Is Motor Ball's HP less than or equal to 1/8 of its MaxHP? Yes: second form (revealed flamethrower) is no longer available No: first and second forms are still available - STRATEGY: Well, right after the way on the highway (couldn't resist), a huge mech boss enemy confronts your party. He first chases you a bit during the actual game, and then you break out into a fight. Its name is Motor Ball, and you will not like it. 100% Back Attack. Anyways, time to make suggestions. (before you even started the bike chase). I do suggest that Cloud have linked the following two Materias onto his weapon/armor: Cure and All. This allows you to automatically cure every character at once, since unmistakably, after such attacks as Rolling Fire, you'll be feeling pain, believe me. Another given is to equip your character with highest Str (probably Cloud or Barret) with the Elemental/Lightning combination on their weapon (well, since Cloud's Hardedge only has one linked couple, this'll have to go to Barret or Red XIII, unless Cloud is not given the previous recommended combo and someone else is. This will enable that character to do two things: 1) begin that they can attack with Lightning affinity in their attacks, and 2) be allowed to use Bolt seperately. This is actually more useful, as it does more damage. Normal Lightning attack in this fight dishes out about 270 damage or so, and the attack with Lightning on it, a good 150-160 at most. Both very useful, and if you want to conserve MP there's nothing wrong with doing normal attack as its 2600 HP isn't that much to deplete altogether. But if you want to, instead of doing Elemental Lightning (since that can be substituted by just using normal Lightning -> smarter, since it does almost twice the damage), you can put Elemental + Fire combo on an armor and completely put damage normally done by Twin Burner and/or Rolling Fire under complete negation, reducing the need for Cure/All. I definitely suggest removing that Elemental/Poison off of Cloud from the Rufus/Dark Nation fight, since it's immune to Poison status/Bio element. Limit Breaks work like a charm in this fight, so use them at any opportunity, and keep an eye on HP! Since Motor Ball possesses a susceptibility to Slow, you may wish to exploit that to your utilizational and advantageous needs, to more easily bring about a swift derailing of Motor Ball. Once the heated battle is finally over, they all have a long talk about what they're going to do, and what's going to happen. Cloud says that Sephiroth is alive, and that he has to settle the age old score. Barret wants to know if that'll save the planet from its current course to damnation, and Cloud says that it looks like it will. Barret then agrees to go under that circumstance. Aeris decides she's going to go with you all as well, because she has things she wishes to find out. Not just about the Cetra (although that's partially it) but also about other things, as well. Tifa's also going, and just says that it's goodbye Midgar, as there's no Sector 7 or 7th Heaven to return to, so, she's going to come along on the adventure with you. The scene then switches to outside where the party is waiting to leave. God, this music is so tear- enducing, since it's the time when "FF7" truly begins. The great journey. What a signification. You can now speak with everyone. Red XIII says that he'll accompany you until he reaches home (hey, how does he know that you will even be going to his home, anyway, although you are, just for the record...). Tifa guesses that this is the start our journey, and goddamn is she right. You then get to choose from two options: "You hate traveling?" or "It's dangerous. You sure you want to go?"; none of them matter, just pick one. The second answer she gives for the second choice is cool: it should be all right as long as he keeps his promise. If you pick first one, she says that she doesn't have nowhere else to go, so it doesn't matter if she hates traveling or not. Aeris says this is the first time she's ever actually left Midgar. Two choices are then presented: "Really?... You worried?" or "It's dangerous. You sure you want to go?". First choice she says she is but she has her bodyguard for protection. Second choice leads to her saying that she thought he'd say that. If you speak to Barret, mentions Marlene, and how you asked of Elmyra to take her and relocate her someplace safe. So, she should be fine. You can then choose from "Yeah, she should be" and "Hmm, I don't know". First one has Aeris turn and start talking a little about her mom wanting to leave Midgar, so she ought to be safe, anyways. Now, the second one also has Aeris speaking, and she says to just stop it! She's worried about both of them, too. Well, when you want to leave, start to head out and choose Let's go! Barret says that ya'll need a team leader for the quest, and that only he's cut out for the job. Pfft. Tifa and Aeris immediately suggest otherwise, and think Cloud should be it. Barret's noticeably mad at this, but surprisingly maintains his composure and just gives in, and says to depart to the to the Northeast town of Kalm. If something happens, you will all meet up there. Damnit, of course, the game just can't ever let you all stay together, since apparently it's too dangerous to be strolling the fields with five people, which makes little sense, since you'd have more manpower. God. Anyway, it's now your job to split the party up into two groups. Make your selection, and then set them up with proper Materia and weapons (equip that Star Pendant from Motor Ball, too). Anyway, this is where it all begins, really. You have a long and memorable road ahead of you, where there will be love, tragedy, happiness, and sorrow, and it all makes this game amazing. The world is so huge and immersive, so I hope you're prepared to face it. You'll get to know your characters throughout this game so well that they'll become like your own friends. Embark now on your epic quest in FFVII. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= World Map/Road to Kalm =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Well, there's no turning back now. You're too far into this thing. So, from the start when you leave Midgar, you learn that when you're out on the World Map, you can do it without a savepoint. The Rs and Ls buttons now are of some use whenever you're on the map; they can move your camera angle forward and up, and can rotate it as well. The radar you start off with in the bottomright corner tells you where you are (flashing red dot), the cities/towns/villages, continents, and all the black around it is oceans and ohtre bodies of water. It can be enlarged and made invisible by using the Select Button. You still have an empty spot on the menu, and that's for the PHS later. Music's pretty nice, too, eh? As you may have guessed, the World Map will be a great tool, and probably primary source of lvling up through and throughout the game. The beginning is no exception. Each area has varying enemies, each for the stage in the game, and the most recommended lvl you should be at. In this area, there are Devil Ride enemies, for one. These are the ones that look like super pimped-out hogs, and they're mainly red and white in color. Their HP isn't very much (only 240, actually). Their attacks aren't anything special, but Drift Turn is the only one that actually hits everyone, and it's for nearly in the 10-15 area. Kalm Fang enemies are ones that look like psychotic purple wolves. They have a regular attack which does about 20-25 damage, and Bodyblow which does about 20-30. Devil Rides are partially weak to Lightning, but not as weak as you might think. Kalm Fang are pretty easy to kill; only 160 HP. Sometimes these guys are paired together, and you should combine all of the above information to your advantage. Around these parts can also be found the Prowler, it has 150 HP and it has a tendency to pilfer items from you. If you wait too long after it takes them, it can disappear and you lose the item forever, but if you off it quickly enough, you get your item back. Custom Sweepers are the harder of the enemies out here. It has the Matra Magic Enemy Skill for you, and you can get it once it uses it, under two conditions: you have Enemy Skill Materia on, and you survive the attack (both easy to do). Steal Atomic Scissors from it, as well, as they're a great weapon for Barret. Note that all of the commodities of using savepoints also become available, like using Tents. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #10 - Kalm =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: None [with the exception of the flashback, but Sephiroth does the fighting] -> Items: Ether, Guard Source, Peacemaker =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= After you've reached around lvl17 or so, I suggest heading Northeast, and not prolonging it. There you should reach a town with a humongously evident disproportionation called Kalm. Anyway, do not disregard in the slightest talking to the people in this town, as they can divulge some very pertinently useful information to you. You can also do some exploring after the party disbands and heads to the inn. There's actually a good amount to do in this seemingly uneventful town. First off, the house nearest the inn has a staircase right in the beginning. Open the door on it and grab the Ether inside. The woman talks about Mako Energy, and gives you two choices. The little girl upstairs pretty much restates what her mom downstairs just said. In the house to the right of that you can speak to an old man there. Under the stairs you can free his dog for no retrobution or compensation. Up the stairs is a locked treasure chest, so don't even bother going up there. The next house over has a guy in there that says he saw a man in a black cloak and has a wicked-looking sword. My God, it's Sephiroth! I'm surprised Cloud doesn't make a bigger commotion about hit, but he stays nanchalant. Go up the straight stairs to the top, first. Here, in a cabinet, there's a Guard Source; nab it. The boy running around says he wants to be in SOLDIER later in life, so that's why he's training to vigorously. Sorry, kid, but you're gonna have to do better than that. Up the spiraling staircase is Peacemaker in a treasure chest just so you know. The house all the way to the right of town, first off, contains an elderly- looking woman who asks if Shinra really made a monster, and you probably have no clue unless you've played the game previously. I'm not going to spoil it now, so choose whatever choice you please. The guy upstairs says that he's content with the world as it is, at peace. Well, man, not for much longer, I can tell you that, and that's what leads to a very rewarding and retrobutional sidequest later on into the game. But for now, all's well. If you head under the bridge, you enter the very secluded bar. The guy on the left talks about terrorist (AVALANCHE) attacks on Midgar. The guy on the left says he left his job in Mythril Mine as enemies have begun to show themselves as of late. This is actually has more significance later than you might think now. The bar is speaking about Shinra and AVALANCHE. Now, why can't I get a hard one! If you even attempt to enter the back kitchen, the woman with an obvious obesity disorder tells you to literally get the hell out. Not much else is going on at the bar. Up the stairs to the top of town (you sometimes have to contend with getting up with some guy who also goes up and down as slow as a snail with its balls chopped off. Up here, the very first store on the extreme left is the Item Store. Here they sell Potions (50), Phoenix Down (300), Antidote (80), Eye Drop (50), Hyper (100), Tranquilizer (100), Tent (500). Buy and stock up on whatever you need. Now, to the right of the Items Shop is the elaborated Materia Shop-and-Go. It even has a sparkling Materia showcase in some really expensive-looking case. You wouldn't think a town like this would have this much money. Anyway, I hardily recommend acquiring assloads of Gil out on the World Map, since I want you to buy at least one of everything here except for maybe Sense, since chances are you've already made acquisitions of two or so of them. Everything you can purchase here costs as follows: Earth (1500 -> definitely recommended), Poison (1500), Steal (1200), Sense (1000), Heal (1500 -> most recommended thing to get at this store). I know, the prices may seem a little bit ridiculous, but for what they do, it's worth it, believe me. To the right of the Materia Shop is where the Weapons Shop is (you don't even have to leave the store, since it's one big store in one). The proceeding equipment is one sale: Mythril Saber (1000 -> Cloud/Hardedge is better), Cannon Ball (950/Barret -> get!), Mythril Claw (750 -> Tifa/get this, even if she's not in your party), Full Metal Staff (800 -> Aeris/definitely purchase it), and Mythril Armlet (350 -> use on anyone / get it, although it may reduce Barret, but the outcome for Cloud and Aeris is usually better. The others most often stay the same). Now that we have done and covered all of this, make your way towards the inn. Head up the stairs and meet up with your gang. If you wish to make things take, like, three seconds longer, speak with the clerk and she'll tell you that your party is waiting for you upstairs. You're late. Aeris informs you of this fact. Hey, you know what sucks? There's a big cabinet near the stairs, and if you open it, there's an item inside, but Cloud's too short to reach it. Damn, he can jump 5 feet into the air with Braver, but he can't do this... give me a break. As you join the group, Cloud apologizes for not being on time. Barret then says something to the effect of "let's hear your story..." You know, the one about Cloud explaining Sephiroth, and the "real crisis for the planet". The music then ceases from playing as Cloud states that he once wanted to be like Sephiroth so he joined Sephiroth. We already know this from the flashback a tad earlier about Cloud's promise to Tifa. After working with Sephiroth they became like friends, well more of war buddies, but... He was older then Cloud, and he never talked about himself or anything (that's why in his instruction manual biography it almost says everything is unknown). Suffice it to they trusted each other. That is, until that one fateful day... He then explains what the duty of SOLDIER was after the war; defeat any of Shinra's resistances 5 years ago, which have long since past when Cloud was 16, thus begins the flashback. It starts out with Cloud, three random SOLDIERs, and Sephiroth all driving in a truck. Cloud starts out by mentioning the obvious: it's raining hard. I wonder how long it took him to figure that one out? He then goes up to check on one of the blue soldiers; he's all right. He then does the same with the other guy. Sephiroth then, for the first time in the game (and not the last, since this guy likes to talk about himself more than President Shinra ever did), talks. OMG! He tells him to settle down, as he seems very restless. He then starts doing squats and childishly talking about a new Materia he received (man why couldn't he do squats that perfectly in the Wall Market gym =P) Cloud then asks if Sephy's gonna brief you on the mission parameters. After his first statement, Cloud's already pumped, and the conversation drags into Cloud saying how he admires Sephiroth, blah blah). By the time the war was over it was the time he made First Class, haha! Sephiroth then gives him a briefing after Cloud calls him "MISTER" Sephiroth. Blasphemy! He then says everything that's going to happen in the mission (about the investigation of a run-down, hole-in- the-ground Mako Reactor, as, of late, there's been strange sitings of monsters around there). Reason for this is that it has been malfunctioning and producing violent, brutal creatures. The objective is to kill the monsters and then located the problem for neutralization. It's in Nibelheim, Cloud's old, hometown. Something then crashes into the truck, then Cloud and Sephiroth go out to fight it. You won't really get to do any actions, so, don't try, as Sephiroth utterly abolishes it with a really, really, REALLY powerful attack. Holy Heaven, how is this guy that strong? Maybe the lvl50 he's at will do the trick, huh? Yeah... I suppose so. Notice the humongous monster, and how it does 0 dmg to Sephiroth, and notice Cloud's damage done/HP/MP in comparison to Sephiroth's. It takes Sephiroth two hits to kill the cyclopean monster. Afterwards, the flashback momentarily ends, and Cloud then comments on how the sheer awe-inspiring strength that Sephiroth displayed that day was simply utter insanity. It's unreal. He then states how he's more powerful in real life than he is in any story you could've possibly heard about the badass. Tifa then asks where does Cloud come in, and he replies with he was mesmerized by the way Sephiroth fought. The flashback the continues once they reach the town of Nibelheim. Sephiroth then starts out by asking Cloud what is feels like to be back at his hometown. He asks this mainly because he does not possess any knowledge of the feeling to be home. Cloud asks if he has any parents; Jenova's Sephiroth's mother, and she had died after giving birth to him, and his father (he'd rather not talk about it apparently). You all then make the scene. Now, if you speak with the soldier on the left, he says that he is so bored and frustrated being on watch duty. You can say if he envies you, in a nutshell, or to just sit tight and that it's his job. The first choice leads to you teaching him the "SOLDIER" pose, and him saying that he honestly does not care to be in SOLDIER anymore. The second choice has Cloud saying that you'll talk to him every so often. Plus, the other guy just gives you a warning to something. Talk to Sephiroth and he states that Mako small is quite bad in this parts. As you move forward into town, Barret first mentions that Jenova was that freakish looking thing in the Shinra HQ. What genius you are, Barret! Here's your reward: ... that's it, that's your reward. Tifa is obviously annoyed that Barret idiodically interrupted Cloud's story for such a trivial matter. Anyway, the flashback then continues on. When in restarts, Sephiroth says that you'll head for the reactor tomorrow morning, so get some sleep soon. He then heads into the inn. Sephiroth also gives Cloud permission to visit his family and friends. Man, this guy's evil? He seems nicer than Aeris... Some random person runs out of the house and then stops of the house next to the inn. He desires a picture of the legendary Sephiroth. You then get to answer with "Take my picture" or "Better get back in the house, it's dangerous". The first one is funny. He says he doesn't take pictures with nobodys. Haha, sorry Cloud, looks like you're nowhere near like Sephiroth. The second one is strange, and I never could make much sense out of it. Now, exploration time! House next to the inn has somebody in it who comes up and greets you. Cloud then flashes out of it, as it has no bearing or pertinence to the flashback. The house at the very West of town, across the bridge, has nothing or no one in it, so don't even bother entering. If you go two houses up from it, it's... it's, Cloud's house. Too bad you can't explore it just now, since it has nothing to do at all with the incident 5 years ago. As you "memory-leave" from there, the party stops you and says that they want to hear. Two options are presented forth when asked if he saw his family: "Don't want to talk about it"/ "All right..." I suggest choosing on the second option. If you do, it's kind of elongated and tells a bit about the mysterious Cloud's "family". He doesn't think of it as a family as his father died when he was immensely young, and that is why his mom was living alone as a widow in this house. He saw his mom, and then he goes into talking about how she was a vibrant woman. She died a couple days later. They then have a lenghty conversation about how he's grown, girlfriends, and more. Maybe she died of a broken heart because Cloud's such an inconsiderate, uncaring son of a... Apparently they have an argument at the end, and she ends it with something to the effect of I will always be your mother. He then wants to stop. You're back out on the street again. Ok, next on your list of places to go is the house one down from Cloud's. It's Tifa's! As you enter, Tifa asks if you entered her house. Yeah.. No..? To continue in there you have to press yes. Head upstairs. First off, up here, go into the room to the left and she asks if you went in her room. In her big dresser is her Orthopedic Underwear. Tifa goes ballistic, and you have two options of "It's true!!!" or "Just kidding. Don't get mad". You can examine her Piano and then you get three choices. You can play as much as you want. When you're done, if you want read the letter, and then, head back to the inn. Inside of the inn, the guy to the left of the counter is Zangan, and he starts talking without previous introduction. He is Tifa's old instructor of martial arts, and he goes around everywhere teaching it to younger children. He jumps over Cloud and states his 128 students worldwide. He thinks Tifa'll be a very powerful fighter (well, we know that now, good job Zangan!). Head upstairs and talk to Sephiroth. He feels like he's been here due to this scenery. If you talk to the soldier, he states that you're short by one bed. Now, talk to Sephiroth once again and he says that you should get some sleep. Once you wake up in the morning, you may be wondering how they came to a solution for the beds shortage. Well, my guess is that the lookout slept on the floor, or even outside. Well, the next morning, it shows Cloud running out of the inn towards the Northern part of town. I guess he overslept. The person in the white shirt wants to get a picture of Sephiroth, who, according to him (and the rest of the world), is a "somebody". Tifa's dad is down at the bottom, obviously worried about something. Now, talk to Sephiroth to begin initiation of everything, and to proceed. Now, the guide comes. It's some girl with a huge head of hair, and then Tifa's dad goes up to Sephiroth and talks. Sephiroth says to trust him. Now, the girl is... is... Tifa. Heh, she looks like a female version of Cloud! Cloud is a little hesitant and relucant to drag Tifa into this mission, but Sephiroth simply says if he protects her well, it should all be fine, right? The photographer then asks if he could get a picture of the whole group of three, Tifa, Cloud and Sephiroth. Once he gets it developed, he's gonna give 'em each a copy of it. Now, a CG plays where it shows the enormous Mt. Nibel. It explains a little about the mountain, and says that there was the Mako Reactor built on it, since it was an ideal location due to the abundant Mako. Upon your arrival, you first cross the bridge, you probably already know what's going to happen. Ineliminably, the bridge collapses, sending Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth, and one soldier down. The other guy apparently is lost... but was expendable anyways. Sephiroth asks if they can keep on moving to where we were. This is a small impedement to the mission, but not huge, as the caves are intertwined. By the way, now, if you go to the menu, Cloud has a different picture from when he was younger, and you can see Sephiroth's. You can check out weapons, stats, Materia, etc. of both characters, but it shall not allow you to change any of it. Well, how on Earth did they survive such a far fall? I guess now we know how Cloud survived the drop from the Sector 5 Reactor, he's used to it. All right, the enemies around here are all creamated by Sephiroth, so you truly do not have to worry too much. Ok, so keep on heading up the path. Enter the first door you get a chance to here, and then inside, it's a strangely colored cavern. From the start, head forward slightly and Tifa explains to the group what this is. Sephiroth has an idea as to why the cave is colored as such, and it's probably the Mako energy that's copiously abundant here, as I stated before. Once the party's gotten back together, know that there's nothing going for you through the first mini- cave path to the left of the beginning. So, head around the right side to the other side of the cave. At the next area, there's a beautiful sight. It's a Mako Fountain, a miracle of nature. It is rare to find Mako in its purest form. You then learn from Sephiroth that Materia is simply a condensed version of Mako. Cloud asks why when Materia is equipped, and Sephiroth answers him, but is surprised that he didn't know that from being in SOLDIER. The wisdom of the Ancients is inside Materia, and this wisdom can allow us to freely use powers of the planet, and it interacts between both the user and planet. They talk a little bit more about Hojo and Mako, and then continue along the mountain trail. You all then reach the big Reactor that you've been wandering for (hey, if it took this little of time to do it after the fall, I bet it was just across the bridge before, unless that fall actually helped you. So, upon reaching the Mako Reactor, start to go on up the steps. Cloud orders Tifa to wait here and she complies, since only authorized people are allowed to enter the inside of the Reactor. It contains Shinra's big industrial secrets. Sephiroth then orders the soldier to contain Tifa and take care of her here. She is noticeably aggravated as Cloud and Sephiroth, and has it known by her stomping her foot on the ground and exclaiming her frustration. She then says the he better take really good care of her, and from that you can imply whatever you want... Ok, so inside, walk across the wires as Sephiroth is way ahead of you. Now, to the left until you can get off on a metal platform, and from there, climb down the chains. Once the bottom is reached, run across the giant pipe to the other side to head through the open door there. This is the place. Make your way up the stairs to meet up with Sephiroth. He's staring at the name at the top of the door, "Jenova", in absolute horror. They then walk down the stairs, and Sephiroth checks one of the containment chambers. There's the reason for the major malfunction. He then orders you to close the valve as he checks another one of them. He does so, then go talk to Sephiroth. He then takes a peek inside one, and says that he now understands, Hojo. But then, Sephiroth explains, he will never be on the same level as Professor Gast. You may've heard of him while reading his notes at the HQ in Midgar. Sephiroth then explains to Cloud that this is a system that condenses and freezes the Mako energy when it's functioning correctly. You now get to see what's inside, and it's a hideous monstrosity, but it used to be a human. Hojo has been condensing and freezing Mako energy, but with those humans inside, and the product is a mass-produced super SOLDIER. Cloud falls off the window in shock and disbelief. These people have been exposed to a far further degree of Mako than Cloud was. The twisted "monsters" here are simply mutated, mutilated living organisms produced by the Mako energy. Sephiroth then goes all Cloud -ish and starts freaking out. He starts asking himself if he was created like this too, and pulls out his Masamune and starts slashing away at the containment machines. Cloud jumps back to watch his own ass. He asks if he's the same as all of these monsters, and continues slicing another one. Durable sword, huh? Cloud fails and refuses to believe that those monsters were human beings. Sephiroth then goes into talking about how ever since he was small he felt somehow different, or in some way special. A monster at the top then breaks out, and apparently Cloud would be flipping out right about now. Afterwards, the flashback again takes a break and you hear Barret saying something about the more he hears about the Shinra, the more he despises them. Tifa never would have believed that the Mako Reactor held such a brutal secret. Red XIII then makes the suggestion that we should listen very carefully to Cloud. After Barret asks why is he talking to him, you can save and then keep talking, or just choose to pass up saving for now and keep on telling the story, which I bet most of you find to be quite interesting. After doing whatever you wish here, the flashback then continues on. Back at Nibelheim, Sephiroth had confined himself at the inn, and did not try to talk to anybody there, not even Cloud. He then disappeared into the huge Shinra Mansion near the North side of Nibelheim. Everyone congregates near the Shinra Mansion: Tifa, Tifa's Father, Photographer, SOLDIER member, Zangan, and Cloud. And after that, Cloud bravely enters the mansion. Holy crap, there's a lot of rooms here. I'm going to detail them all for exploratory purposes. The first room on the left contains two windows, and a few tables. The piano on the right has the keys for all the notes on this piano and the one in Tifa's house, and this has some significance for later on. The room directly across the main hall has nothing in it of any benefit to you. The room under the stairs in the middle leads to a new room with nothingness on the right, and the piano room on the left side of the hallway. Up the stairs and to the left has a safe, and that's the only thing of importance, but not to now, for later on. Up the stairs and then to the right is where you need to go. The soldier there says there is no sign of Sephiroth, but he saw come here to this room. Head into the room in front of him, and then into the corner wall which should have a red arrow on it. Take the spiraling, wooden walkway down to the bottom and into the below part of the mansion, the basement. Take note that there is no enemies here now, but there will be later on in the game, so that's when you have to walk around with cognizance, not now. At the bottom, run forward in the evily colored corridor, and into the next area. Keep on running to the other side, the basement. In there you find Sephiroth reading about his mother Jenova in a book. It says that an apparently dead organism was discovered in a geological stratum of 2000 years of age. Professor Gast had named this organism Jenova. X Year, X Month, X Day, and the book also says that Jenova was dubbed and confirmed to be an Ancient. The "Jenova Project" was approved, and the 1st Reactor (which we blew up in a catastrophic bang!), was also approved for usage. He turns the page and continues reading into the back section of the library. He then asks himself, could it just be a coincidence that Jenova's his mother's name, and then there's the Jenova Project. He also wishes that Gast would have told him something, revealed some information to him before he died. Go and talk to Sephiroth now, but he wants to be alone. As you start to leave, you see Sephiroth going through numerous books, and Cloud is talking about he didn't come out ever, and he was reading as if he were possessed by something. Not once did the light go out in the library. Later, you wake up in a bed in the mansion, and some eerie music is playing. Uh-oh... Go back to the basement. If you talk to the soldier first, he says that Sephiroth seems different. No, what was his first clue? Anyhow, back at the library, you hear Sephiroth malignantly laughing. Make your way to the back portion of the library. This is when the story really starts shaping up. Upon your arrival, Sephiroth calls you a traitor. Cloud is quite confused, then Sephiroth intensifies it by calling you an ignorant traitor. But then he explains everything. He starts by talking about the Cetra who were an intinerant race. They'd migrate in to settle the planet, and then continue on. After their difficult journey had came to an end, they found the Promised Land, and land of supreme happiness and prosperity. However, there were those who disliked that harsh journey full of labor and hardships, so the opted to build homes and shelters and lead a simpler, easier life, but obviously sans the serenity of the Promised Land. Those people had taken what the Cetra and the planet had made without giving one whit in return for it. Those are Cloud's ancesters, which I guess is what Sephiroth means by calling Cloud a traitor. His story continues. Disaster struck this planet a long time ago, and Cloud's ancesters survived because they fled and hid, whilst the Cetra made the huge sacrifice to save the planet. So, I guess they're the creators and saviors of this planet. I guess it's "humans" that're Cloud's predecessors, since that sounds just like our pitiful human race. But, the Cetra were galant. But as of then, Sephiroth continues, all that's left of the Cetra is in those notes, reports, and scientific research. Obviously, he's not aware of Aeris. Cloud then asks what does all of this have to do with Sephiroth himself? He then goes on a says that Jenova, a Cetra, was found in that geological stratum, and his mother is Jenova, so, he's an Ancient. The Jenova Project was aimed to produce people with the Cetra's magnificent powers and abilities (I guess this answers a lot about Sephiroth's incredible strength). Sephiroth was a production of the Jenova Project. Cloud is in awe over this astounding fact. It was Professor Gast, genius scientist and head of the Jenova Project pretty much manufactured, produced, and bioengineered Sephiroth from Jenova's cells. He then marches to the other side of the library, and Cloud still wants to know how Gast did it all. Sephiroth says that he's going to see his mother, and Cloud tries to stop him by knocking some sense into him. Good luck with that. The devilish theme of Sephiroth begins to play. Something abhorrent has just happened. So, exit the mansion through the front entrance. When you arrive outside, you see the town up in an inferno of the raging and burning flames of hell. Almost everyone in Nibelheim has been massacred in the carnage. Cloud is jubilant... not! In fact, he's recognizably pissed off beyond belief. Sephiroth was so unostentatious before coming here, but now look what happened. A little knowledge about his mother has proven to be extremely deadly. All right, out here, amongst the ravaging flames which makes you feel like you're in the pit of hell, go on a talk to Zangan. Cloud surveys the destruction, and then Zangan asks you to help him after asking you if you're still sane. He checks on house and you check yours. You come out empty-handed, and then think to yourself that this is despisably terrible... no, too terrible. Cloud then turns around and sees Sephiroth slaughter two more people. Then, my favorite mini-scene in the game, where Sephiroth is standing in the flames, and then walks through them as the biggest badass on earth. Now you KNOW he isn't human. Back at the Mt. Nibel Mako Reactor, make it back to the room with Jenova in it. But first, as you're entering the room, you see Tifa laying over her dead father who just died fighting valiantly versus Sephiroth. This is the real part of that scene where Cloud weired out at the Sector 5 Reactor. She then picks up a sword and charges in the room like a bat out of hell. Sephiroth is here to see his mother, and Tifa charges Sephiroth. He then takes the sword from her, and cuts her pretty badly, and she slowly falls down the stairs, the bastard. Talk to the wounded Tifa, and she says that you promised you'd come whenever she was in trouble or in danger. Cloud carries her off to the side without saying anything, then you run up to the Jenova room, with a purpose, too! As you enter, you see Jenova, and Sephiroth is talking about taking back the planet with his mother. He has thought of a great idea of going to the Promised Land. Cloud now makes his appearance. He then is asking why he did all of those horrendous things out there to his home and his family (I thought he said he didn't really have a "family" - ???). Sephiroth then begins to chuckle very sinisterly, saying they've come again. Jenova with her superior knowledge, magic, and power, was destined to rule this planet by fate. So, he's the seed of the most powerful Ancient... figures... Then a CG plays with Sephiroth talking about the worthless creatures taking the planet from his mother. He then rips off the statue and sees the real Jenova behind it. But Cloud says what about his sadness, his family and friends, the sadness of having his own hometown destroyed and taken from him!? He draws his Buster Sword. He then says it's the same as Sephiroth's sadness, but Sephiroth replies with his Masamune out, "Hahaha...my sadness? What do I have to be sad about?". He is the chosen one, and he has been chosen (by his mother, apparently), to be the supreme, ultimate ruler of this planet. He has orders to retrieve the planet from the current, stupid, mindless inhabitants of the planet for the Cetra. Cloud trusted Sephiroth, and now look what he gets for it. He's not the Sephiroth he used to know and admire. It starts flashing back and forth between them, and they fought, and the outcome is explained later in the game, and I don't want to spoil it now. But, Cloud's not dead and Sephiroth's alive now, so what happened? It all makes sense (very little) later. Well, that's the end of Cloud's story. Barret asks if there's more, but that's all that Cloud can recall and remember. Aeris asks what happened to Sephiroth, and in terms of skill, there was not a snowball's chance in hell that Cloud could've won, and official records Tifa read in a newspaper state that Sephiroth is dead. But then Aeris replies that Shinra owns the newspaper, so, that goes to the questioning of its believeability. Cloud is now traveling with another purpose: to find out the truth of what happened...then. Tifa's even still alive after her short-lived confrontation with Sephiroth. None of this is making any sense to them (and probably you, too). Jenova was in the Shinra HQ when they were there, but that's because it/she was transported from Nibelheim to Midgar. But, how'd they seize it from Sephiroth? But of course, it was later found missing, so, it must've been Sephiroth who took it out. Barret's confused also (doesn't take much), then Barret starts to go down the stairs. He says let's go. You get the choice of waiting for a bit, or going now. After a notion from Barret, you get the chance to say "Beautiful, just beautiful" (if that's in a serious or facetiously sarcasting manner, I don't know), or "Is that all?" Whatever choice(s) are chosen, Barret still runs downstairs. Tifa then goes up to Cloud and asks just how badly she was cut (well, for one, I'm surprised that she can walk after landing on the steel steps like that). He thought she was a goner for sure, and he was actually...sad. Aeris then mentions that the Cetra, Jenova, and Sephiroth, are all the same. Cloud, Tifa and Aeris head on down the stairs, and Red XIII stays for a second to say that that was a truly fascinating story. At the bottom, Tifa gives you the PHS. This enables you to change your party members by way of phone. But, it only works when at a save- point or you're out on the World Map. The girls go on ahead. The guy right in front of the inn says that he saw Sephiroth walking to the East to that grassy field. Finish up any last things you may want to do in Kalm, but after it, just leave out to the World Map. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= World Map/Road to Chocobo Ranch =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= All right, so, look at the radar at the bottomright corner of your screen (or at whatever display you have it on). Our next destination is the white dot to the East of Kalm. That is the Chocobo Ranch, where you need to go. On the way there, you'll undoubtedly encounter some new enemies. One enemy that you'll definitely be seeing a lot of is the Levrikon. You shall be able to distinguish them from the other enemies by them looking like huge birds on land (they don't fly). It is lacking high HP, so, you'll be able to slay it in a matter of no time. Its Flaming Peck can do Fury on you, and it's normal Bird Kick does some good damage, as well. Mu is an enemy that can prove to be very useful. They look like some strange creatures in the ground. One of their attacks, Sewer, is immensely powerful. Average damage is 200 from it and it's a great way to build up Limit Breaks. Its regular attack launches a rock at you for some small ptd. Hot Springs is a very useful attack. It actually goes up and heals your HP, but its animation looks like that of Sewers, but don't freak out. You can also, if you have Enemy Skill Materia equipped, learn L4 Suicide from it, but that is a rarity when it uses it, but, it does administer substancial damage. Sinking does Earth elemental damage on one character. Next on our list of enemies is the Mandragora. This guy is like a downscale, plant-like version of the Mus. It's a plant coming out of the ground, and it has quite a few attacks. Its HP is very low for this stage, and you should be able to cut it down to size in one hit, but at most two. Also, against it, magic is absolutely not the way to go, although at first glance you might believe that it'd be especially pregnable to Fire based attacks. This, however, is not the case, just like with any other magic you can through its way. To make up for this restriction to mainly physical attacks, Square decided to give it really little, low HP, as to not piss you off to badly with as many of you know their unruly parsimoniousness (they're Gods like that). It only does its moves as counter attacks to your attacks, as well, so... The absolute last newly seen enemy on this trail is the Elfadunk. It has higher Hit Points than any other enemy in this area, but not by much. It possesses two attacks, one of them being Shower. This shoots bubbles at the target, and then ends looking a small bit like Mu's Sewer, yet it does a lot less damage to said character. Also, they can do a normal physical attack on you. They have no weaknesses or preferences to elements just like every other enemy here in the "outback". One last thing is that Elfadunk can Sadden your characters with its attacks. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #11 - Chocobo Ranch (Howdy, Partner!) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: None -> Items/Weapons/Armor: Choco/Mog Materia =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I really don't think you should train or lvl up too much outside the Chocobo Ranch, because as it is, you're already one or two lvls ahead of what you normally should be for easy passage if you've listened to me. Around 15-17 will do fine. Ok, you'll know that you're nearing the Chocobo Ranch because you will begin to see these footsteps that look as though they were created by huge birds, and that's exactly what Chocobos are, and you should know that if you have played any Final Fantasies previous to this one. They're giant yellow birds that are mainly for serving you and transporting you more safely from place to place. But, they've really made Chocobos a humongous aspect and facet of this game, as described in the Chocobo Breeding section of the FAQ. But, that's further into the game, and you shouldn't be concerned about doing any of that stuff now, as it's virtually impossible. Well from the beginning, you'll definitely see some four Chocobos fenced in the front of the farm. Speak with the one that's looking at you from the start. You then receive two choices. If you say "Warrrk" they get pissed and nothing happens. But, if you choose "Wark" they become jubilant, do a little cute dance for you, and then you receive your first red, summon Materia, the Choco/Mog. I suggest putting this on someone. What are you supposed to do now? Well, head over to the house and talk to the man inside. This is Choco Bill. He asks you if you're thinking of crossing the marshes. Your choice has to be "yeah" to continue. He then says that it will probably be safer if you get yourself a Chocobo. And with such, you can expedite getting across the marshes, and avoid any unneeded confrontations with the humongous serpent-like monster there which I cover in a little while. He explains that it's the only way to avoid being attacked and ambushed by the Midgar Zolom. That is not so, as there is a way to get across without getting a Chocobo, and probably a better way, as it'll save you a lot of money, but, I shall explain both ways in-depth. He then tells you exactly what the Midgar Zolom is, and it's pretty much what I already said, but he also adds in that it's over 30 feet tall! The creature detects footsteps that enter the marshes and rushes towards them for an attack. Then, he suggests that you go to the back stables to the rear of the ranch to talk to his grandson, Choco Billy. All right, run past everything, and don't try to climb that one ladder, and just enter the stables in the back. Ok, inside of the stables with the weird picture of a Chocobo on the front (God, you'd think this was a ranch for artificial insemination) you find Bill's grandson, Choco Billy. He's not the guy in brown walking around, as that's Chole, probably one of the caretakers and all he says is welcome. Billy is the small 'lil guy. He's either really young, or a midgit, as he's like, half the size of Cloud! But, we all know this isn't the most accurately proportionated game in the world. He asks if you want a Chocobo. Too bad, though, they're all out of them. The ones out front are being watched for someone else, so, what are you possibly going to do to solve this problem? Well, you're going to catch one out of the wild yourself, that's what. Aww, get your asses off your easy chairs, put down your Buds, turn off sports and stop being lazy and go out and do it. Well, you can now inquire about some information about Chocobos, such as what they are (I've already said that), how to catch them (I'll get to that in just a quick jiffy), and what else? What else explains a little more about a thing in capturing them. Then, after you click on that, a new option arises that says where are they. I suggest simply skipping all of that and saying nothing. He then says you should get down to business. He shall sell you a Chocobo Lure Materia for 2000 Gil. Hmm, this is really yout choice, whether you want to dump all of that Gil out for something you don't need, or, you want to expedite doing it. I suggest not buying it, but whatever. But, if you do buy this, you can buy greens for catching Chocobos. Here's how to do that if you'd like. First off, you must have Chocobo Lure on someone's weapon or armor. Anybody's. Now, you must also have greens to keep Chocobos distracted as you relentlessly destroy the enemies they come paired with (only if Lure is in place). In lamen's terms, the more expensive the green, there longer it keeps the Chocobo happy and content. Now, where do you find these guys? It's obvious. They're located in the places where you see Chocobo foot tracks on the ground on the World Map. There's some right outside the ranch. Yee-haw! Well, if you're going to follow the method of capturing the Chocobos, read the next paragraph, and if you're not, skip over to the paragraph proceeding that one, but they both, of course, lead to the same place: Mythril Mines. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= World Map/Catching Temporary Chocobo/Road to Mythril Mines =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= All right, it's time to do some scouring for a Chocobo. I suggest you've bought two of the most expensive green at least, and five of the cheapest one. Don't buy any of the other ones, as they're complete wastes of time and money. Well, as you're searching for a Chocobo, with Chocobo Lure on, mind you, you should be able to find it in no time at all. You'll know even before the battle starts if you have a Chocobo in there or not, as the battle music changes to something a bit more catchy. Anyway, once the battle starts, waste no time in immediately tossing a green to the Chocobo. If you decide to throw the cheap one, you might have to rethrow 3+ times during the match, so that is why I recommended buying around five, just in case you miss your first opportunity in a fight. And, if you make the choice to use the more pricey ones, you *might* (meaning there's a slim chance) have to throw one more, so that's wht I had you by 2-3. Note that you've already probably wasted 3000+ valuable Gil buying and preparing for this, when you could've used it on some items, Materia, or equipment. Another note is that if you enter Choco Bill's room, you can pay him to stay there and sleep to pervade and revitalize any lost HP and MP. In battle, do not attack enemies when Chocobo is not eating, and try to move quickly to prevent the monsters from attacking you too often. Chocobo's are highly sensitive, and scare quite easily. Anyway, this isn't hard to capture a Chocobo, so after you get one, DON'T GET OFF! That would revoke all your efforts and Gil to capture one and you'd have to do it again. This is a negligibility, don't even toy around with it, as you'll get very ticked off. After you defeat all enemies, a Chocobo belongs to you, by the way. Also know that you can learn an attack from them with Enemy Skill called Chocobuckle, but it's rather difficult to do so. This next method of getting across the marshes doesn't even require you to go to the Chocobo Ranch, but, you'll still want to, if only to obtain the Choco/ Mog summon. Anyway, this one may be dismissed by some people as "cheating", but if you have the balls to do it, I wouldn't call it that. Anyway, when you're ready, head out for the marshes. First things first, don't head out into the marshes until I advise you to. So, once you're at its edge, change camera views so that your vision can span the marsh, so that you can see the Zolom's current location in accordance to what we need to do. Now, once it's far away from the middle or so, change camera back to normal quickly, and then run as far as you can into the marshes. The Midgar Zolom will, of course, pick up on your movement and come after you, and like this, you stand no chance in hell of out- running it. So, when it's as close as possible to you without initiating battle, go to the menu. Here, save your game, then turn your console off. Now, reload your game again, and the Zolom will be located in another spot of the marshes, allowing you more time for easy passage across. Also note that you can get across without using this method or Chocobos, and do it purely, and straightforward on foot, but it's insanely improbable. Of course, there's yet another method of doing this, and that's killing the Midgar Zolom. Of course, to do this, you're going to need some hardcore tips, as it's a crazily challenging fight for this time of the game. First of all, I think you should know a little about its HP, and how it attacks first. It possesses a high 4000 HP count, which is more than double any single boss you've battled thus yet, making it a formidable battallion. Not only that, but it has some ungodly powerful attacks. One of them, where I really wish to stress, is Beta. Beta is a magic attack that is used once it's at 500 HP or lower. It does over 1000+ damage to all characters, but is used after a character is ejected from battle. You can also learn this as an awesome Enemy Skill, but I suggest doing that later in the game once your HP is at 1500+, which won't be too long. It has other attacks, as well. Well, two of them, to be exact. One of them is its normal attack, where it goes up and bites a character. This usually does 275+ damage to one character, so have them Hi-Potions and Cure Magics ready. It also has an attack where it attacks you and sends you permanently out of the fight. Also, if you had Morph at this time, you could potentially get an X-Potion out of it. All right, well, here's the recommended party, and what Materia to have them equipped with. Cloud, first of all, since you have no choice. Put Choco/Mog on him definitely. He also should be equipped with Restore (Cure) + All combination. Some lvl2 black magic will also do nicely here, as they're your best bet for actually damaging Midgar Zolom. Next, I'd like to recommend Aeris. She should also have some lvl2 black magic in her Materia set-up. I don't suggest giving her Cure, as she has Healing Wind, and that will be coming up quite frequently due to intense damage dished out by Zolom, although you might have to use some Phoenix Downs, so buy some from Kalm. Also stock up on Potions, since, if you sustain some smaller amounts of damage, you might want to heal up slightly. But, Cure is always the best way to go when you don't have Healing Wind up. If Aeris has Seal Evil, that's an insane advantage you have, but it's not as needed if you have Barret, but still have her in with it, and if Barret doesn't have a turn or isn't around due to its "knock out" attack, she comes in quite handy, or vice versa. Next character as you've probably inplied from my above rambling, is Barret. His Mindblow Limit, for the first time, comes in real useful. Also, give him your other Restore Materia that you should've bought from Kalm. And also link it with All. So, if you need to heal on either Cloud or Barret's turns, you can heal every one instead of just one person at a time. If you wish to give him some lvl2 magic, do so, and give anyone else any other Materia that you'll find useful, but try to keep HP high before battle, as its attacks are hard-hitters. Bio, for one, is very good here - does dmg, plus, occasionally Poisons Midgar Zolom. Another very useful item for your inventory is Hi-Potions. Hopefully you have five or more, and you didn't use them up and dissipate them, as it's really incomprehensible as to why you'd even need to. It's a very predominant boss, so you'll need them here more than back then... Your first step to propitously winning this fight is to either have Barret or Aeris with their Limit Breaks at full maximum. Now, whoever receives their turn first, use either Seal Evil with Aeris or Mindblow with Barret. This minuses one major factor later on in the fight, and that's the usage and execution of Beta. It's a magically inclined offensive manuever, so, if you use Seal Evil to Silence it it's without required MP to carry out desired attack. And with Mindblow, it depletes all MP from Zolom, so, it's yet again disabled. If you use Seal Evil, don't you dare use Mindblow, instead, use Big Shot for actual damage. If you use Mindblow first, save Aeris' Healing Wind for later when it's really needed. Cloud's Cross Slash can also be used quite advantageously. Cross Slash does about 350+ damage in one hit to the Zolom, and if you pair that with Big Gun, that's about 700-800 damage in just two quick moves. Now, soon enough, Zolom should be receiving its turn, in which it'll only be using its bite for the first chunk of the fight, and you should use Cure or Hi-Potion after each one (Hi- Potion is more recommended if you have Cure-All, unless all characters are damage). By the way, I suggest using a Tent beforehand just in case you have some wounded people. Also, in conjunction with healing and Limit Breaks, you should use those lvl2 magic attacks I so explicitly mentioned. They can do from 150-250 damage per hit, whichever one, too. Another way of dispensing a quick 300+ damage upon Zolom is using that Choco/Mog summom Materia, but, it can only be used once in this fight, so choose your time carefully. Now, at some point during this showdown, when it's HP gets under 1000 or so, it stretches up so you can see its true height. This also is a signification that it can now start executing a new attack. No, it's not Beta, it's the ejection attack. In this, it chooses just one character and then knocks them completely out of the battle for the rest of it. This is useful and annoying at the same time. Useful in the sense that when Beta is used and cataclysmically obliterates your party, the end result will not be a Game Over, but rather, just a wipe out, and you start again with everyone at the beginning of the marshes again. If you skip this stage and go straight to the Beta stage (which is under 500 HP, you can be quite screwed with a Game Over). But, during the "knock out stage", after it knocks one of you out of battle, it simply resorts to biting again until its HP has hit or gone under 500. Now's when Beta will start occuring. Of course, you have nothing to worry about if you've used the Mindblow or Seal Evil previously, and you can continue pummeling him until his death. Also, if you have Enemy Skill on now, and Beta does go through, it'll say Enemy Skill "Beta" Acquired, but since you're dead, you will not have it afterwards. I suggest coming back later when your HP/Stats are higher, and as suggested by my friend, Chdnz0r, Laser has been acquired. Another thing, if you use Cross Slash when its HP is on 501 at most (whatever the chances of that are), and it does extra damage, and it kills the Zolom, the Beta part of the fight is over, but your Str does have to be quite higher for that. Remember to keep your HPs high, and that Healing Wind is your friend. If all this is followed correctly, you should emerge from the fight fortuitous, but, with some 250 Exp, 25 AP, and 400 Gil. Also note that once you kill the Zolom, another one simply appears, just in a different location of the marshes. At the other side of the marshes, there's a cave; enter it. Here, you you'll see a dead Midgar Zolom transfixed over a tree. Right through its body, and this is obviously the doing of Sephiroth. I swear, if I hadn't seen that flashback in Kalm, I never would've believed that he was capable of somthing like this. You can talk to your group and they're just in utter amazement. Now, leave here, and then enter the cave again. Now you're in the Mythril Mines, which, unlike seeing that Zolom transpierced, is actually condusive to your progression in Final Fantasy VII. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #12 - Mythril Mines =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: Ark Dragon, Castanets, Crawler, Madouge -> Items/Weapons/Armor: Ether, Long Range Materia, Tent =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Interesting looking place, no? All right, first, this place is crawling with enemies. The most dangerous of the bunch is the Ark Dragon. Its HP is higher than the HP of any normal enemy you could've fought yet. But, even with this, it has its weakness, but more strengths, though. Its one weakness is the element of Wind. Now, we've recently ascertained a new summon that is of the Wind persuasion, and that's the Choco/Mog. You can summon this for some major damage onto it. Its weakness to Wind comes from the fact that it's a flying type enemy, thus, stimulusly and susceptibly opening itself to Wind attacks, but, also immunizing itself from Earth attacks. Its attacks consist of Flame Thrower (learnable Enemy Skill), and its normal attack. You can steal an Ether from it, as well. Castanets is the next enemy I'd like to discuss and cover here. One of its attacks, the 2-stage Attack, does minimal physical damage to one character. Scissor Spark causes a minor explosion which does around 30 dmg. It's weak to Fire, so use it. Fire-Elemental on your weapon is a very effective means of killing off these pests. Their HP isn't high at all (~190 I believe), so fighting them should not consume too much of your time. You can win some Hi- Potions from them too. Crawlers, on the other hand, are even easier than the Castanets. Their HP is substancially lower (140), and their physcial attack does only from 15-30 damage. The only threat they could possibly pose is by utilizing their attack, Cold Breath. Earth is their major vulnerability, so, exploit it. Lastly is the Madouge enemy. These are the second most powerful of the enemies here. Their attacks with their ball and chains do from 40-60 dmg to one character. Also, they have the Swamp Shoot attack which does about 30 damage, and is slightly like the Castanets Scissor Spark. You can Steal Grand Glove from them if you wish. Too bad you don't have Morph yet, as if you did, you could get a Hi-Potion out of these psycho looking fiends. If you have Tifa in your group, go on and equip Tifa with the Grand Glove. Well from the starting entrance to the Mythril Mines head to the right and into that first room. Be mindful of your HP as well. Here, go ahead and climb up the plant vine on the left-most wall to this area. Up here you will find the Long Range Materia. This should only be placed on Cloud or anyone else besides Barret. Cloud is the most recommended, however. This allows that character to attack at normal capacity even front far distances. Boy, this would've been useful during that HO512 fight, eh? Climb back down and run up the stairs to the highest peak in this place. Here is a treasure chest and the contents of it is a Tent. At around this point Red XIII should know Lunatic High, by the way. As you're coming down the stairs grab the Ether off to the right. You can now leave this room and head in the left direction of the entrance. Once you reach the junction at the bottom, go right first to get a Mind Source from the chest down in the corner. Then take the left fork road up to the next area. When you first arrive here, you see Rude there. Red XIII starts it out by saying that he'd hoped that he'd never see Rude again, and then he actually asks you if you know who he is. Holy mother of god, what does he takes us for, a stupider than usual dresser? You can say you don't know and make yourself seem as such, or you could say that you know he's from the Turks. He then explains what the Turks do, and as you try to stay awake, out comes a new Turks member, Elena. She, in all honesty, is an idiot. The only reason they have her around is because earlier on we messed Reno up pretty bad. She's really just a lackey to Tseng, in the big picture. He then dismisses Rude and Elena and tells them to remember to file their reports. She just slips up again with such idiocy and divulges where Sephiroth is headed to. Tseng then gets pissed and finally dismisses her completely, and they both leave. Reno now wants to show you his "affection" with a new weapon after the injuries he sustained at your hands heal. Tseng then comes up and if Aeris's with you or not affects this scene. After he leaves, go up through the North room and get the Elixir in the chest. Then head up the ramp there to the top and pick up that Hi-Potion. Man, this is a super-item-filled area, huh? Some very useful stuff you've picked up here. Note that this is the place that the one guy in the Kalm bar resigned from his job at because of these monsters showing up. Now climb the vine to where Tseng just was and exit the Mythril Mines completely. Now you're back at the World Map. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= World Map/Road to Junon =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= From here, don't go straight to the first land structure you see, since that's Fort Condor. We shall visit there later in the game. I shall tell you the location you need to go to now, though. You see that one dot right on the west coast of the Eastern Continent? That's the city of Junon, and if you paid any attention to Elena, that's where Sephiroth is going, thus, your destination. On the way over there however, since it's a long hike, there's quite a few enemies wandering around these new parts. Note: you can of course go to Fort Condor now and get some stuff, and learn a few things for later on, but, you can do just whatever you want, as it's not currently a big aspect of the story, but will be later, as I said before. I cover it all more in-depth in the Fort C. section of this guide. The first enemy I wish to talk about is the Zemzelett. It's a giant and strange bird like creature. It looks more like a fusion of a bird and a bear, if you ask me. It has an attack where it conjures up this black mist to do damage on you, but not much. Thunderbolt is its next attack of mention. Obviously, it does Lightning (Bolt) damage, so, if you want, to avoid the usual 235 damage that occurs on one character, have the Elemental-Lightning on one character, and hope that it usually does it against them with more frequency. If you opt not to take that risk, just use Cure on attacked character there afterwards. Once it has 100 or less HP, it flies into the air. You can also learn White Wind Enemy Skill, but only later on after Manipulate has been acquired (I'll que you when you can later in the game). This monster is totally weak to Wind, and Wind elemental attacks do radical amounts of damage. So, if you put Choco/Mog-Elemental linked pair on a weapon to do crazy damage, or you can do it singly. 285 HP isn't a lot any more. In the forests you'll find a very annoying and troublesome enemy that likes to appear in large numbers known as the Capparwire. They look like grown up they could be grown up versions of the Mandragoras from earlier on the Road to the Chocobo Ranch. Their most favorable attack (to them, not you) is the Grand Spark. This causes what looks like an explosion of friction in front of one character and the end result is usually 100-130 damage done to them. They also have a regular attack which does 50-60 damage, give or take a few. They are admittedly not weak to Fire, which may come as a surprise to some, just like with the Mandragoras. They have substancially lower HP than any other enemy in this area so that's their only downfall, really. Hell Rider VR2 is the next topic of discussion. This guy is a rare find around here, but is mainly in the open plains. It has no weaknesses whatsoever, so, nothing will do any extra damage to it. On the other hand, it also has no strengths, thus, all attacks are pretty much equal, unless you upgrade to magics like Fire2 or any other lv2 spell. Now, Formula is the most power enemy around these parts, although it does not have the highest amount of HP to complete, as that title is awarded to the Zemzelett, and is a 45 HP deficit, as well. It looks like a baby, always- flying version of the Zemzelett, and if that was somehow the case, then I'm glad it evolved, as they can had you your ass, and the other is just weaker, plus Zemmy is a much more common fight in this neck of the woods. This guy possesses two attacks, both of which are quite powerful, indeed. One, of course is more powerful, though. Its regular attack does powerful damage against one character, and it's more than what you've come to expect from a regular enemy's normal attack (and even some previous bosses), but, get used to it, as that's how it gets from now on. Blue Impulse is its best attack, and does about 200 damage to the entire group of party members. Cure-All is in order definitely. Being a flying enemy, it's invulnerable to Earth and weak to Wind, so, Choco/ Mog will work nicely in that aspect, and that it can be Stopped. Steal a Boomerang from it for Yuffie who's in forests around these parts. Lastly, is Yuffie, a secret character you can get at this time in the game in forests. She is the female ninja. You can get her to join your party eventually in the game. She's the first secret, unlockable character in the game, and arguably the easiest of the two to unlock. The first time you can enlist her is when you have left the Mythril Mines, and she'll be found in any forest (big areas of green plants and marsh on the World Map) throughout the game. How to get her to appear is to continue to fight random battles in these forests, and a thieving ninja girl will eventually pop up. This is Yuffie. First, you must beat her in the battle (it's ridiculously simple, by the way, so don't fret). Just be totally adequetely prepared and completely ready for tons of Fire based attacks. She may have the name "Mystery Ninja" in this battle, but her name will change to Yuffie Kisaragi once you get her. Once the fight is over, you're automatically taken to a small area with a save point, your three battling characters, and Yuffie lying on the ground. If you try to use the save point, Yuffie steals 200 Gil from you and runs away. So, while here, talk to Yuffie on the ground. She then issues a challenge to fight you once again, so that she can prove herself. Here's how the conversation has to go to get her: Yuffie- "You spikey-haireded jerk! One more time, let's go one more time!"; Response- "Not interested."; Yuffie- "You're pretty scared of me, huh?"; Response- "...petrified."; Yuffie- "I'm really gonna leave. REALLY!"; Response- "Wait a second!"; Yuffie- "You want me to go with you?"; Response- "...That's right."; Yuffie- "All right! I'll go with you!"; Response- "...Let's hurry on." Now congratulations, Yuffie's now one of your playable characters from here on out. Use her ninja skills wisely and she'll be a great asset to you, and the game. Now, when you're totally ready, you can proceed to Junon exactly where I told you it was located. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #13 - Junon Harbor =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: Bottomswell(B) -> Items/Weapons/Armor: Shiva Materia =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As the party enters the Junon Harbor area, Cloud first mentions how run-down the town is. Talk to the lady at the bottom of the screen from the start, and she mentions how it's a rare occurrance to see anybody from the outside of town (besides the Shinra), as it's such a beaten-up old place. Inside of the house that she was in front of is nothing of use right now, but you're able to rest there later. The house on the ground to the East of town is the Weapon/Item Shop (God, they're so poor they can't even make two seperate stores with decent items, sheesh). Here they sell one piece of equipment, and with redundancy to a previous shop in Kalm. It's the Mythril Armlet which is selling for 350 Gil, but, it can still be useful. The rest there is items, and they include the following: Potion (50), Phoenix Down (300), Grenade (80), Tent (500)--all like past stores. Nothing new is going on in this bottom portion of the city, so don't expect it to. But, I stil suggest purchasing some Tents while you're there, since there's no inn to rejuvenate your HP and MP at, you can at least exit to the World Map and use Tents. But, this will change soon enough. Across from that shop to the left is a guy next to giant hanging dead fish bones. In a very polluted-sounding voice he talks about how ever since the war when the Shinra had built that city up above, there has been no fish (like that whopper) in the water due to the obvious and increasingly high level of pollution here. This is like a *majorly* downscale, degraded version of Midgar. But, there were some places in Midgar that made this place look like heaven. Don't follow the path under him just yet, as that leads to something you don't want to do yet until I advise you of stuff in the next paragraph. The guy walking around near the top of town (not the Shinra dude), says that he's never seen a feller with a black cape before when Cloud asks him if he has. The high house which he generally walks under or near has nothing of value, but you can climb the bed just for a quick relaxation period in which you can go take a shower, get a snack, or just change the channel as you play, I guess... The Shinra guard to the North basically tells you to **** off when you talk to him. So, now, there's going to be a boss fight soon with an enemy called Bottomswell at the shore. I suggest Barret being in your party and in the front row with a Long Range weapon such as Assault Gun. You ought to give Cloud the Long Range Materia on his weapon. I suggest having your other character be Red XIII, since his Str at this point is generally stronger than that of Tifa or Aeris, and that's really what you need in this fight. Also, of course, if you're going to be needing some Long Range weapons and attacks, that obviously hints at the fact that you'll be needing some lvl2 magic attacks such as Fire2/Bolt2/Ice2/ but Earth2 won't work. Also, don't refrain from using Choco/Mog Summon, as Bottomswell is weak to Wind attacks. So when you're duly prepared to fight it, go down to the beach. Here you shall meet a small girl by the name of Priscilla and she'll be found playing with a dolphin, which she's named Mr. Dolphin. She has a tendency to be good with animals, and, she absolutely loathes Shinra, Inc. She makes this fact known by thinking that you're members of Shinra, Inc., and she tells you to get out of there. Well, in a second, the who place is rocked and boss music starts rollin'! This is when Bottomswell, an apparent production of all the bad pollution, comes to fight. This guy looks insane, but trust me, he's not as difficult as he may seem. =============================================================================== - BOSS: BOTTOMSWELL - =============================================================================== -> Monster's Name: Bottomswell -> Monster's Locations: - Junon - Mr. Dolphin Area (disk 1) (forced) -> Monster's Level: 23 -> EXP for Defeating: 550 -> AP for Defeating: 52 -> Gil for Defeating: 1000 -> Item Dropped from Monster: Power Wrist x1 (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 2500 -> Monster's MP: 100 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 42, 36, 1, 69, 30, 96, 0 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (immune), Poison (normal), Gravity (1/2), Water (normal), Wind (weak), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Stop, Confusion, Petrification, Paralysis, Berserk, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death Sentence, Death -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Big Wave 0 A Phys Wat Phys 30 100 X X * Moonstrike 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 20 90 X X * Tail Attack 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 20 90 X X ^ Bodyblow [1] 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 40 90 X X ^ Bodyblow [2] 0 1 Phys Hit Phys 40 95 X X ^ Waterball 0 1 Mag - - - I X X (1)(2) Transform [1] 0 S - - - - I X X (3)(4) Transform [2] 0 S - - - - I X X (5)(6) (1) Imprison [100%] (2) animate Waterpolo around character (3) transform from first form to second form or second form into third (4) Miscellaenous/Animation (5) transform back into first form (6) Miscellaenous/Animation --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: Bottomswell's range is far Is Bottomswell in first form? Yes: Is Action Count 0, 1, 2? Yes: Tail Attack on random character [Action Count +1] No: 2/3 - Bodyblow [1] on character with highest HP 1/3 - Pre-Select is Tail Attack (if Bottomswell takes more than 6 turns in first form, Transform [1] on self - Bottomswell is in second form) (if Bottomswell's HP is less than or equal to 1/2 of its MaxHP, Transform [1] on self - Bottomswell is in third form) No: Is Bottomswell in second form? Yes: Is Action Count 0? Yes: Is second character in party formation not under KO? Yes: Moonstrike on second character in party formation No: Is first character in party formation not under KO? Yes: Moonstrike on first character in party formation No: Is third character in party formation not under KO? Yes: Moonstrike on third character in party formation No: Action Count +1 [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 1? Yes: Bodyblow [2] on character with highest HP No: Is Action Count 2? Yes: Moonstrike on random character [Action Count +1] No: Is Bottomswell's HP greater than 3/4 of its MaxHP? Yes: Transform [1] on self Bottomswell is in second form No: Moonstrike on random character [1/2 - Action Count is 1] [1/2 - Action Count is 0] (if Bottomswell takes more than 6 turns in second form, Transform [1] on self - Bottomswell is in third form) No: Is Action Count 0? Is there at least 2 characters without Imprison and not under KO? Yes: Waterpolo on random character without Imprison and not under KO [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 1, 2? Yes: Action Count +1 No: Is Action Count 3? Yes: Is Bottomswell's HP greater than 1/2 of its MaxHP? Yes: Transform [2] on self Bottomswell is in first form No: Big Wave on all characters [Action Count +1] No: Does at least one character have Waterpolo? Yes: Action Count is 1 No: Action Count is 0 -> Special KO Pattern: Is Bottomswell's HP 0? Yes: Big Wave on all characters as final attack Does at least one character have Waterpolo? Yes: remove Waterpolo from all characters with Waterpolo No: do nothing No: follow Basic Pattern ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - WATERPOLO - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Monster's Name: Waterpolo -> Monster's Locations: - Junon - Mr. Dolphin Area (disk 1) (Bottomswell battle - only when Waterball is used) -> Monster's Level: 4 -> EXP for Defeating: 10 (only if not KO'd) -> AP for Defeating: 0 -> Gil for Defeating: 0 -> Item Dropped from Monster: None -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 40 -> Monster's MP: 0 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 1, 100, 1, 1, 1, 254, 0 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (normal), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Darkness, Poison, Silence, Sleep, Stop, Confusion, Petrification, Paralysis, Berserk, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Regen, Peerless, Manipulation, Death Sentence, Death - Immune to physical damage -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remove 0 S - - - - I X X (1) (1) gets removed from battle --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: do nothing -> Special KO Pattern: Is Waterpolo's HP 0? Yes: Remove on self No: do nothing -> Special Character KO Pattern: Has character with Waterpolo been KO'd? Yes: Remove on Waterpolo No: follow Special KO Pattern - STRATEGY: Well, after Priscilla chases it and then falls down in the water in clear and present danger, the party then decides to go to her rescue (I do suggest that the party be Cloud, Barret, and Red XIII, for reasons stated to the above). All right, first of all, this enemy, Bottomswell, has four attacks, and all of them compliment each other quite nicely, also. It also has somewhat of a predictable attack pattern from beginning to end. It starts out the whole battle doing Tail Attacks, which damage can really start to gather up from, until HP is taken to a certain point. At this point, Bottomswell starts moving faster and more aggressively. This signals that on its next turn, it shall enclose you in a bubble. This attack places a character inside a not-so- protective enclosement and prevents said character from attacking, and disables all actions from them. If character in question has an attack in progress, it's rainchecked until the bubble is removed. While the character is inside of the bubble, trapped, it slowly eats away at your HP, and you'll slowly die a very prolonged agonizing death. There is only one possible way to remove this bubble once it's been set into action, and that is to use any magic attack on it. Even its an element linked on your weapon to the Elemental Materia carried out in a physical attack, that'll work. Be careful, though, and be sure that you're arrow is pointing to the bubble when the attack/magic is executed, as, unlike with Pyramid, you can actually do damage to your contained character if you are not careful and mindful of this fact. Once they're free, the horrible boss changes his attack pattern to strictly using Moonstrikes, and that damage can also accumulate badly over time if you do not watch your HP constantly and heal it up when it's down. All right, as for attacking, I pretty much stated it all before the strategy in semi-depth, so now I cover every little facet of it. First of all, this battle is completely fought in the Long Range perspective, so, make sure Cloud (I truly recommend it on him other than any other character, as his Str is more than like the biggest). Along with that, on his weapon, link Elemental-Choco/ Mog so that you can exploit his weakness to Wind. So, when you attack, it feels Wind's ultimate wrath, and, if you decide to flat-out summon it, it even adds in an extra 25 damage most of the time. But, that can only be used once in the battle, that is, unless you're a freak with no life and has trained your summon and characters for 50+ hours outside of Junon, in which case you can summon it twice. This is a good way to bust characters out of bubble move, as well, as it has Wind *magic* on it, so, it works wonders. I recommend putting most of your lvl2 magics with Red XIII, so that he can do substancial and actually respectable damage on more occasions than when he gets to use Sled Fang (note: if you desire more, faster-coming turns, use Lunatic High to Haste the entire party). Barret's weapon should do some good, 110+ damage on its own as long as it's a long range one, and Big Gun can do impressive amounts of damage, too. Any lvl2 magic besides Earth (which I doubt you even have lvl2 of yet, anyways) can do great damage, as they're Long Range moves, hence, their damage is nice. This in conjunction with Cloud's Long Range on his weapon + Elemental-Choco/Mog summon amounts in some serious hurtin' of Bottomswell. Limit Breaks are always a nice addition here and there. Also, watch your HP, as when Bottomswell's HP goes under 1000 he starts using Big Wave, which can annihilate an unwatchful party, and does around 100 damage to all. After the fight, Priscilla is unconcious and not breathing. A guy the comes down the steps and checks on Priscilla. The then insists that Cloud does and performs CPR (Mouth-to-Mouth Rececitation) on her. I mean, this guy doesn't even give a please. Very demanding SOB, wouldn't you agree? Your party then urges him to do it. All right, now it's explained to you just how to do this. You must press the  button once in order to activate the CPR Guage, and it moves the bar up the lung-shaped sides. You must press  once again in order to breathe into her. It also must be done at exactly the precise time. That is, right when it reaches the top. You might want to get your timing down a bit, and don't let it exceed the limit to where overexert yourself. Anyway, it isn't too hard. After you've done it correctly 5 times, each with the full 10 total inhalations, her conciousness is revived. The man then exults his happiness and joy and then carries her off home without thanking you or anything. All right, the woman that was wandering around seemingly aimlessly by the front before has now stopped by the door to her house. She invites you into her humble abode. She then thanks you so much for what you did for Priscilla, then she offers you the three beds for the night, meaning you can replenish HP/MP for free. Of course you're going to say yes, if not you're a moron. During the night it is not like a normal stay at an inn, though. Cloud talks to that mysterious voice in his head, with that eerie yet beautiful music playing in the background. They talk about 5 years ago, Nibelheim, Tifa being your guide, and a little bit more. Tifa then wakes you up, and some marching band -ish music is playing outside. Cloud then asks Tifa about his dream, then they rush outside. What could it possibly be now? The party is together in the middle of town. If you talk to Yuffie (who you may or may not have, but I won't state this from now on, as I expect you recruit her), she says the music is giving her a headache. Aeris mentions something that she heard something about Priscilla regaining conciousness. Tifa believes that it's strange that it all got so noisy and loud all of a sudden. Barret, of course, like always, very astute. Nothing gets past him... Red XIII wonders if this has anything to do with the Shinra? Well, does anything so grand ever happen in the FF7 world without the Shinra being a part of it? Not often, let's leave it at that. The local denizens are talking about how it used to be a busy fishing port, until that blasted Shinra came in and ruined everything. When you're ready to continue, start going up the stairs to the highest house. At halfway, Priscilla comes down and Cloud asks how she's doing. She then shyly exclaims her gratitude and apologizes for mistaking you for a member of Shinra. She's forgiven. She then says that she'll make up for it, and reward your enormous favor by giving you the Shiva Materia. Shiva is a beautiful Ice goddess summon. Barret asks what's all the music and commotion, and she's heard that they're rehearsing the big, grand reception for the newly-appointed, and cheatingly-dubbed president of Shinra, Rufus. Oh dear god... Barret then says he has to "pay his respects", hehe. Priscilla continues with some information about her grandparents have told her many a story about how this whole place use to be a beautiful beach when they were young many moons ago, but after the Shinra built that huge city of Junon above it (which, in size, does not pale in comparison to Midgar), which prevents sun from shining through, and the water to become very polluted. Now it's just some desolate old town under where everything really happens. Priscy, as I like to call her, was raised on that story and detests the Shinra so much she could die. I bet that there would be a humongous extolated eulogization down here if the Shinra were one day to fall... The whole conversation continues on, and Aeris is wondering if Rufus is planning on crossing the ocean to the west, too. They then get into Sephiroth, and Red's puzzled as to why Rufus is still alive. He thought Cloud had killed him. Barret then suggests going to the tower and climbing to the top, but Priscy immediately advises against that, since there's a high voltage current underneath the tower. She then gets the brilliant idea that Mr. Dolphin could help you out with getting up there. So then, follow her back down to the beach's shores where you first met her. The party also forces Cloud quite sarcastically to be the one to do this and then split. Lousy cowards. Anyway, follow after Priscilla to the beach, now. Note: now you can go back to the woman's house and use it as a free in all the time if you'd like. Now, go on over and talk to Priscy. She then whistles and the dolphin comes. Barret comes out and says that he's never, ever seen a dolphin jump that high. Well, he's not just a dolphin, he's MR. DOLPHIN! Ok, whenever Priscy blows that whistle, dolphin jumps for her. She then gives you control of it. You must stand in a precise location and blow the whistle with . Mr. Dolphin then comes and catapults you upwards. Now, you'd think this one would take you a while to figure out, but, that's not so. After Barret takes the PHS warning that it'll break if it gets wet, and you getting the whistle, it's time to start. From the starting place, blow the whistle once to have the dolphin vault you up. Now, at that precise spot of landing, without moving a bit, whistle it again. This time, you'll land on top of the contumacious structure. Or, you could do it the hard way and try to position yourself for hours in every feasible location. Idiot. From up there, jump across to the left and climb up. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #14 - Junon =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: None -> Items: Grenade, 6x Potion, 6x Ether, 5000 Gil, x2 1/35 Soldier, Mind Source, Luck Source, Power Source, Guard Source, Speed Source, Silver Glasses, HP Plus Materia, Force Stealer =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= You then see the view of a colossal airship. Ok, so now, make your way forward. In the next area, board the oversized elevator and then at the other side, press on the yellow control box. This lowers you down below, then you can run directly across and enter the main section through the small entrance. As you walk in, you see three soldiers walking past you marching, and then some guard comes out and mistakes you for a SOLDIER because of your clothes. God, they don't pay much attention to who they have appointed around here, do they? Well, anyhow, he basically tells you to get the hell in the room. Now, go examine the cracked open locker and you can then change into the Shinra uniform (which you must do in order to progress). He says it brings back memories as he's about to change, the guard tells you to hurry up and quit yappin'. He then goes into the changing room and starts with how he was so proud when he first put it on many years ago, and it seems he's having a bit of difficulties getting it on correctly. Hmm. Eventually, he couldn't bear wearing it any longer. Then, you see him come out as a soldier with his rifle in position. Man, first he dresses like a woman and now he dresses like the enemy, what's next, a watermelon? The guard compliments him on his appearance in it, then asks if you remember the Greeting Procedure. Your eyes show that you're confused and don't recall. He then instructs you as if you were in military school or something. Two other guards come in to aid in the demonstration. Once you've gotten the gist of it, follow everyone. You see everything happening outside, with a helicopter flying by, people looking out the windows, and tons of soldiers on the street. You see all these soldiers marching, Heidegger in the front, and Rufus riding along in a heavily protected car. When you've relinquished control once again, go and save around the corner. Now, if you enter the room nearest the savepoint, you can go down an elevator to Junon Harbor, but, you'll have to go back up, so, go through the other door up here. You then get an awesome view of Junon and its gigantic cannon. You then arrive in the streets, and it appears as though you're late, but then decide to take a shortcut to catch up with everyone. So, at the other side, you need to sneak into a back row without drawing too much attention to yourself. You're on TV, and how you perform affects your live TV ratings. Depending on your ratings, you can receive one of the following items: 29% or under- Grenade, 30%-39%- x6 Potion, 40%-49%- x6 Ether, 50%+- 5000 Gil. At the next area you see Rufus and Heidegger talking about stuff, and Rufus tells him to stop the dumb horse laugh, haha. They then leave on the machine after Heidegger harassess some soldier. Soldier's then talk about a man in the black cape and it tweaks Cloud's interest. The guard then comes up and asks you if you're messing with the army. You then later appear back in the locker room, and he explains that your orders for today are to send off Rufus at the docks. His other soldiers come in and you start a new drill. After you get the hand of using buttons for this and all, you can do the special pose, which Cloud shows off his battle ending pose. They like it, so they'll use it. All right, it's time for you to do some exploring of the town. You see Rude walking, but you can't catch him, so don't try to. At the first building is a Materia shop. Here's what's up for sale: Sense (1000), Seal (3000), Restore (750), Heal (1500), Revive (3000). It's all good stuff, and they new stuff they have is the expensive, 3000 Gil Materia, so, buy them both. The next building contains the Item Shop with some good stuff in it: Potion (50), Hi-Potion (300 - get a lot of these), Phoenix Down (300), Antidote (80), Eye Drop (50), Echo Screen (100), Hyper (100), Tranquilizer (100), Tent (500). Load yourself with whatever you need as it's all useful, but especially get some Hi-Potions. Man, I'm surprised being a soldier you don't get any special discounts. Through the next door is a normal house. Talk to the guard to go into the basement. People at the other side ask you about stuff. The guy on the left asks about Materia. Topics covered are: Growth, Kinds, Combinations, Divisions, Number of Materias. The rest is a secret if you don't want to. Guy on the right asks about Limits. Coverable here is: Developing Limits and Extreme Limits. All the people on the right are ghosts of the people at the Beginner's Hall earlier. They didn't do well because apparently you didn't explain everything to them. They want revenge... So, now you explain tons of crap to them now if you'd like. You can also get the Enemy Skill Materia down here. Head back up the ladder when you're prepared. Now, go up the stairs in this house. In the first room on the left is a Mind Source and a 1/35 Soldier. Next to that room is a Luck Source. Continuing up the stairs there's a Power Source and Guard Source. The guy in the room says he's not going to the parade, as becoming SOLDIER First Class is very difficult and strenuous. Leave this whole building now. Keep heading down the street. Here head straight forward, as there's nothing to the bottom. Continue, over, and into the next neighborhood complex. In the first building on the right is a bar with Elena and two guys who appear to be Tseng and Reno. Elena says some interesting stuff about the men of the Turks. You can talk to Reno and Elena but not Tseng. You can save in the next building, and it's an inn on the bottom floor. 30 Gil per stay. Upstairs talk to the girl, and then it's another Materia shop. The girls here are apparently to attract customers.:) Here they sell Fire (600), Ice (600), Lightning (600), Earth (1500), Poison (1500). Buy, if you want. Keep going on up and there's an ex-SOLDIER running the Accessory Shop which has Silver Glasses and Headband both going for 3000 Gil. Silver Glasses protect against Darkness, and Headband protects against Sleep. The next house is a SOLDIER's house. Here is a Speed Source. There's also a lazy delinquent worker in there, too. Up the stairs is another 1/35 Soldier off to the side (may be a little hard to spot, it's to the right of the rubber duck). The Shinra Manager is sad that he's not in a 5-Star hotel on this trip like they promised. The next place over is the Weapons Shop. What do they have, you ask? Well, I I'll tell you: Mythril Saber (1000), Cannon Ball (950), Mythril Claw (750), Full Metal Staff (800), Mythril Clip (800) -> just like in Kalm's stock. When you're all done with this part of town, head into the next area. Time for you to impress Rufus' ass. You must now follow all the commands that you learned in the locker room last time, and at the end, press any button to pull of your special finishing move. Your performance affects Rufus' mood, and his mood affects which item you receive. Hey, by the way, notice Red XIII in the background? Anyways, here're the prizes rewarded by Heidegger for making Rufus happy: 50 or lower nets you Silver Glasses (good way to get them for free instead of for 3000 Gil at the Accessory Shop), 60 through 90 you get an HP Plus Materia, but, 100+ nabs you a Force Stealer. After the two head honchos leave, you guys talk for a while, and you can make tons of gestures with your buttons. All right, as you're leaving, you talk to Red XIII for a while, and then you're boarded on the Shinra ship. Avast ye matey! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #15 - Shinra Cargo Ship =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: Jenova-BIRTH(B), Marine, Scrutin Eye -> Items/Weapons/Armor: All Materia, Ether, Wind Slash =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ahoy lads and lassies, you're now on the Shinra Ship. We be crossin' that thar body 'o water fer the new continent! Well, as you're crossing the ocean, you again regain control of Cloud after a long ways. Ok, so, once you start out, you can pick up an Ether in the chest to the right. Over to the right is Yuffie in a sailor's suit, and she's impeding your way to an All Materia. She asks if you have a Tranquilizer, as she's becoming very seasick. You can get the All a bit later. Near the front of the cargo holds area in the blue soldier suit is Aeris. This conversation has some bearing on what happens later on in the game. She asks if you saw that airship at Junon. She wonders if she could ever get on it. Your answer choices are "I'll take you someday" and "I dunno..". You know which one to pick if you want a positive response from her, jackass. As you go up the stairs, you can talk to a guy that's working out vigorously. Up here, you can see Tifa atop a platform scanning and patrolling. She's doing a very good job blending in if I do say so myself, but too bad the same thing can't be said for Red XIII. This talk also has some impact on further on. She reiterates that she hates war, soldiers, uniforms, etc., which you learned a bit earlier on, and she wishes they'd all disappear. This is where you get to make a choice to agree with her or act like an asshole. The guy on the starboard of the ship. If you say something's missing he'll sell you a Potion for 50 Gil and Phoenix Downs for 300. Nothing much, but I guess it's better than nothing. If you say that you're tired he'll sell you, for 250 Gil, an Invisile Alpha which is a super drink for seamen. It puts HP and MP under total revification. Or you can opt to tell him to leave you alone. Over by the savepoint is Red XIII who's pathetically trying to stand on two legs and blend in. He says that it's harder than it looks to stand on two feet, but he thinks he makes a fine looking human being. He also thinks that he should not get caught or spotted, as humans only look at appearances anyway. But, Red, your tail is sticking out like the sore thumb! All righty then, so, you've found everyone in your party but one: Barret! He's not hard to find, either, although it may seem like you've checked everywhere for characters. So, head back down to the holds down below. Here you should speak to Aeris once again. She hopes Barret isn't doing some stupid (is that even a possibility?), but, like always, he is. So now if you head back up to the top, the guy who was once blocking your way to the next area talking about a vacation to Costa Del Sol is gone, allowing you passage. And wouldn't you know it, there's Barret in a retarded looking sailor suit spying in on Heidegger and Rufus in the next room. So close, yet so far... Talk to Barret again and he loses his cool, and he starts saying that he's going to settle things here and now. The alarm starts insanely going off, and everyone thinks that they were found. You need to go meet up with your team in the area you just came from. They're all here, so, it must be him... Sephiroth. If you didn't before, save now. Now you must form a party for the upcoming battle. I do recommend that it be Red XIII and whoever else is the strongest in your group, but, it's always a matter of who you like in this game, and party you've grown to like more. Plus, if you're the more honorable type, and don't want women to get involves, that rules out three people, but overall is stupid. You now go look into what's happened. And after the party is chosen, they drop the disguises and go look. But, the unchosen characters stay in the uniforms. The seller guy still sells stuff. If you have second thoughts on your party, go talk to the others and change people out for others. When you head down, you notice that everyone down there has been brutally killed. You can also go pick up that All Materia that Yuffie was blocking earlier. But, another thing that's new is there is enemies aboard the ship. First is the Scrutin Eye. They have a weakness to Wind, so, that always calls for Choco/Mog summon, or based attack. They are totally immune to Earth, since they hover above the ground. Its normal attack isn't much to worry about, but, its Ice2 and Fire2 can be extremely dangerous. You can steal Ethers from these guys, and their 240 HP isn't much to deal with. Choco/Mog can also Stop them, but, from damage already done, they'll most likely be done with. All in all, even though they're not hard or difficult to beat at all, they are the hardest normal enemy located on this ship, so that should be a little bit of a relief to you. As your consolation enemy, the Marine, is very easy to dispose of. First of all, you can loot the Shinra Beta armor from them. It's quite decent of an armor for this time in the game, too. None of their attacks are really anything bad, but, they have 300 HP, which may be somewhat troublesome. At this point, it's time for you to put together your Materia before the up and coming fight. Refer to the actual strategy of the boss for some serious recommendations. But for now, after you've taken care of your business in the cargo area, head through the door which the soldier was blocking access to previously. Make sure you're all healed up, too. When you enter here, go up the stairs and around the walkway to pick up the Wind Slash weapon for Yuffie Kisaragi. Ok, when you're totally prepared to engage in combat, go up and examine the guard up front who's near the wall. He then turns and falls dead at your feet. Then, a mysterious voice comes out and starts saying that after a long sleep, the time has come. Sephiroth then appears, and everyone's in shock. Sephiroth, apparently, doesn't remember Cloud. The time is now. He starts bouncing around the room, knocks you down, and leaves you to fight Jenova... Jenova-BIRTH. To fight Jenova, there's not the normal boss music, but instead, it's Jenova's theme. =============================================================================== - BOSS: JENOVA-BIRTH - =============================================================================== -> Monster's Name: Jenova-BIRTH -> Monster's Locations: - Shinra Cargo Ship (forced) -> Monster's Level: 25 -> EXP for Defeating: 680 -> AP for Defeating: 64 -> Gil for Defeating: 800 -> Item Dropped from Monster: White Cape x1 (100%) -> Item Stolen from Monster: None -> Item Morphed from Monster: None -> Monster's HP: 4000 -> Monster's MP: 110 -> Att, Def, Df%, Dex, MAt, MDf, Luck 38, 56, 1, 60, 30, 180, 10 -> Fire (normal), Ice (normal), Lightning (normal), Earth (normal), Poison (normal), Gravity (immune), Water (normal), Wind (normal), Holy (normal) -> Immune: Poison, Silence, Sleep, Stop, Confusion, Petrification, Paralysis, Berserk, Frog, Small, Slow-Numb, Manipulation, Death Sentence, Death -> Attacks: * Name MP Tar Type Elem Form PwrCst % M R +Added ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Tail Laser 0 A Phys Sht Phys 48 90 X X (1) * W-Laser 0 1/A Phys Sht Phys 48 90 X X (2) ^ Laser 0 1/A Phys Sht Phys 48 90 X X (3) * Stop 34 A Mag - - - I X O (4) Gas 0 1 Phys - Phys 48 90 X X (5) (1) cannot Critical Hit (2) cannot Critical Hit (3) cannot Critical Hit (4) Stop [60%] (5) cannot Critical Hit --> Attack Pattern: -> Basic Pattern: 1/2 - Action Count is 0 at beginning of battle 1/2 - Action Count is 3 at beginning of battle Is Action Count 0? Yes: Does at least one character have Stop? Yes: Gas on random character with Stop No: Is Jenova-BIRTH's MP greater than or equal to 34? Yes: Stop on random character No: Action Count +1 [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 1, 2? Yes: Action Count +1 No: Is Action Count 3? Yes: 2/3 - Does at least on character not have Stop? Yes: Laser on random character without Stop No: Laser on random character 1/3 - Laser on all characters without Stop and not under KO [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 4? Yes: Tail Laser on all characters [Action Count +1] No: Is Action Count 5? Yes: 2/3 - Does at least on character not have Stop? Yes: W-Laser on random character without Stop No: W-Laser on random character 1/3 - W-Laser on all characters without Stop and not under KO [Action Count +1] No: Does at least one character have Stop? Yes: Gas on random character with Stop No: 2/3 - Action Count reset to 0 1/3 - Gas on random character [Action Count reset to 0] - Strategy: Well, there is one major party that I recommend, and can totally eradicate Jenova-BIRTH if used correctly. This party is Yuffie, Red XIII, and of course, Cloud. Also, pay heed to the Materia set-ups and commands I suggest, as well. First of all, we start by examining Cloud. He may've received Force Stealer for impressing Rufus in Junon, but, I still recommend pertaining to Hardedge, as even though it has lower stats, it has more Materia slots, and some are actually linked, unlike Force Stealer with three unlinked ones. Ok, first thing, I implore you to equip him with Enemy Skill (if you learned Flame Thrower from Ark Dragon in Mythril Mines) on a potentially unlinked Materia if at all feasibly possible. Also, placing the Revive/All combo on his weapon/ armor is a definite bonus. As a last offensive procedure, I'll tell you to put Shiva in any one of his left-over, free Materia slots. Do not be audacious to any of this even though some may seem like wastes; they're not, and extremely useful. Now, Red XIII. First thing, I suggest entrusting him with most of the useful magic in the group, such as Choco/Mog (summon), the lvl2 spells, and Cure/All combination. He'll probably be receiving most of the turns due to high Dex, so, he should have your most usefully oppressive techniques. Note: take off Long Range Materia from anyone if it's equipped. Make sure that he has Lunatic High Limit Break also (he should, anyways). Now, last but not least, Yuffie. Her Throw ability comes in very handy in this fight. I hope that you stole tons of Boomerangs on the Road to Junon outside of Mythril Mines, as they are quite considerably useful, and probably the best projectile thus far. Also, if Yuffie hasn't learned Clear Tranquil yet, train a lot outside in the cargo bay to gain it. All in all, that should pretty much be all of the preparations that you need in order to beat Jenova-BIRTH, so now, we move right along, directly into the strategy on how to pound her into the group. Nyah! First of all, her Tail Laser is quite the dangerous attack, but it isn't anything big to worry about compared to one of her other attacks in a second. If you've linked Restore/All, you can restore any of the HP you may lose from your party being hit by it. Sometimes Jenova thinks it's funny to do it a full two times in a row and cause double (about 330) damage. This can still be cured by Cure/All, it's just annoying. Its W-Laser is stronger than it, but is only done upon one character. It's not recommended that you waste Cure/All's MP on just curing one character (unless you need to from other attacks previously), so, just use a Potion in order to heal about half the HP deducted from it, or, Hi-Potions, which aren't the most expendable items in the world, to heal it all. Not only that, but you have its troublesome regular attack, which it uses on frequent occasions. It does in the same damage radius as Tail Laser, but only on one opponent. Recommended to heal this one is a simple Potion, which should be an abundant commodity to you at this point. Procuring a few Ethers is also mightily recommended if you use a lot of MP using summons and magic. Note: you can really only use summons once in a fight at this time so choose your time wisely. If you want, equip Shiva/Elemental onto Cloud if an extra link is available, for a respectable amount of damage added onto his normally expected damage. Then, Shiva on regular occasion can do a horribly high damage count of about 300, sometimes higher. Under no circumstances are summons in this fight irrevokable after utilization, unless it's a special case in which you've gone off the perverbial deep end, as touted in the Bottomswell battle. Its other attack is Stop, and that's its most annoying attack. It prevents you from doing any actions, and there's only one way of negating this status, and that is to wait until Tail Laser is done onto them to nullify the effect. This, of course, may take from a very little amount of turns, to a huge number of turns for it to take place. Now, Jenova has high quickness, so, you'll see it start doing a lot of turns in tandem. Sometimes too quickly, as I already mentioned with her double Tail Laser attack, and damage can start adding up. There is a way you can start to turn the tables and get in more turns yourself. First of all, get to about lvl17 or so, so that you can high HP to survive tons of attacks, and not "turn off" the following effect. You can use Red XIII's Lunatic High Limit Break to Haste your party. Like this, you can usually receive 2 turns in the time it takes BIRTH to get one. More than likely (not always a definitive yes, though), you'll lose a character or two in this fight. This is why I recommend having Revive/All combo present and in full effect. Note that once an All effect has been consumed, however, that's it for the fight, unless it happens to be yet another special case as stated with the summons, and it lvls up. In this fight, lvl2 black magic attacks can do nearly 200 damage (more precisely would be to say 170, but, sometimes it does exceed expectations and limitations like that). Choco/Mog can do about 235 damage, but only useable once. Again, this should be placed on Red XIII for best results strategically. Same note that I gave for Revive/All goes for Cure/All, for your information. Now, Yuffie's role in this fight is to Throw Boomerangs at the monster. Recommended is that you stole at least 10 from that one area. Her Greased Lightning is good for some damage towards BIRTH. But, the only really required of her Limits is Clear Tranquil, which heals all members. This pretty much replaces Aeris' Healing Wind. Also, Mindblow and Seal Evil do not prevent Stop as some might originally think it would. Bah! Having Cloud with Enemy Skill is a huge advantage to you, as the Flame Thrower move works miracles in this fight, hitting damages of around 250 or more. It's a derivative of an enemy mentioned before in Mythril Mines. If you don't have it, Matra Magic is ok. Also, any of Cloud's Limits'll do 340+ damage, and Blade Beam (if obtained now/Lv2) even more. Barret's Big Gun should hit for around 220, and if he's attained Grenade Bomb, around 270 or more. Note that it uses W-Laser 3 times in a row, once on each character. That should be all you need to know to beat this thing. The fight ends with you winning (hopefully), and the party will stand victorious against the Jenova that dared to oppose you. What's left of it is its arm that remains there moving as if it still had life. After some small deliberation, they now know it was Sephiroth, and the arm somehow disappears, vanished into thin air. They're also rather baffled as to what the meaning of "the time is now" meant. Barret openly states his confusion, saying he doesn't know what the hell is going on. What else is new? He asks Cloud ro explain it all, and you can choose not to, or try to. If you try to, he first tells Barret not to interrupt. Sephiroth went off searching for the Promised Land, so that he could take back and rule the planet for the Cetra, and it has been 5 years since then. Now he comes back and kills Shinra, and now you just saw him and he was carrying Jenova (how on Earth could some small guy like that carry some 20 foot monster which you just fought?). Sephiroth, of course, wants to go to the Promised Land with his mother, Jenova. That's it. Cloud, what the hell was there to interrupt? That was one short-as-hell explanation. An announcement then goes over the intercom that you'll be docking in Costa del Sol in 5 min. [Spanish-to-English translation of Costa del Sol = Sun Coast] Barret then suggests that you hurry and hide, and then him and Red XIII walk off. Don't neglect picking up the Ifrit Summon Materia. Now, follow the rest of them. As you're leaving the room where you fought Jenova, Cloud talks to himself for a brief second, and then leaves. You now dock at Costa del Sol. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #16 - Costa del Sol =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: None -> Items/Weapons/Armor: Fire Ring, Motor Drive, Power Source =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= When the party arrives, Barret is hot, but glad he can dispose of his sailor outfit. You now have to mingle like regular folks, according to Barret, so... whatever. They then talk about how Barret's sailor suit was so cute, and he gets mad over that. Tifa suggests that he uses them for pajamas, and asks Cloud his opinions on the trifle matter. You can say yeah, or, to keep their minds on Sephiroth. Red then politely asks if you could continue on and cut this pointless talking, as the heat is drying his nose. Yuffie says it's drying her nose, too??? Ok... Yuffie runs off and says not to bother looking for her. Tifa and Aeris are gonna go swimming (yeah, sure...;P *thinks perverted thoughs*). Aeris then asks Cloud if he's thinking of anything in particular, and that his cool exterior's cracking, hehe. If I were him, I'd now need to resist the immense urge to join them. You now get to explore the bustling city with your chosen party from on the Shinra Ship. As you go up the steps, Rufus and Heidegger as well come out of the ship and meaninglessly chat amongst themselves for a while. A helicopter also lands on the helipad at the other side of the bay. All the norms here are all surprised and curious as to what the hell's going on. Rufus is VERY pissed at Heidegger, and consistently insults him. Rufus now boards the copter, and Heidegger is real edgy, attacking the commonfolk. If you haven't noticed, Heidegger is very volatile and has a major inferiority complex. You now have control again, and can explore the town. The first door at the other side of the short bridge leads to some inn which you can't use. And down the stairs of that place is a Fire Ring in a chest, Power Source, and the Motor Drive. There's no reason to go into the bar unless you just want to mingle with the commonpeople. Near the other side of town are two kids playing soccer, and you can kick the ball around if you'd like. Through the entrance that says Bar del Sol, there's some delusionary guy, and his girlfriend's taking a shower. Squeaky, sweaky. Here're a few lists so I can save time of the prices of stuff sold here. MATERIA SHOP: 1. Heal - 1500 Gil 2. Revive - 3000 Gil 3. Restore - 750 Gil 4. Seal - 3000 Gil 5. Fire - 600 Gil 6. Ice - 600 Gil 7. Lightning - 600 Gil * Note: If Yuffie is in your party (which she should be), she'll be in charge of running the Materia shop. She's trying to make a buck, so, apparently she still considers herself an independent part of the group. If she's not with you though, the fat guy who stands next to it when she is running it runs it. His name is Butch, and he just advertises when she is, though. When she's running it, he says that they're lucky to have that cutie working for them part-time. But, of course, if Yuffie's not in your party, she won't be there. ITEM SHOP: 1. Potion - 50 Gil 2. Hi-Potion - 300 Gil 3. Phoenix Down - 300 Gil 4. Soft - 300 Gil (buy some!) 5. Antidote - 80 Gil 6. Eye Drop - 50 Gil 7. Hyper - 100 Gil 8. Tranquilizer - 100 Gil 9. Tent - 500 Gil Also, there's an inn in town. It's situated right between the Materia Shop and the Item Shop, and it's unmissable, as it says "INN" in huge bold lettering. In order to spend the night, talk to the guy playing pool and he charges 200 Gil a night. You'll definitely need some healing after that bout with Jenova-BIRTH. Excogiate your newly replenished HP/MP, then leave. You can talk to people down by the beach. Note: there's a man in the bar who'll sell you Platinum Bangle (1800), Carbon Bangle (800), Four Slots (1300), and Molotov (400). All very useful except Molotovs. But altogether, this city is pointless, and has no pertinence to the storyline whatsoever. Leave. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= World Map/Road to Mt. Corel =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Once you've departed from Costa del Sol, save on the World Map. You shall only be finding two enemies out here. The first one is the Beachplug. However, you will need to walk along the sandy shores of the beaches in order to encounter it. They're no threat to your party, but can be dangerous if you're that unsuspecting. They can use the Ice spell, but that only hits you for about 35 damage and they scarcely use it. It does have Big Guard, and you can learn that via Enemy Skill Materia (which you now can have on two characters if you like), but, it's not available now. You need to come back at a later date (around the time you need to go back to the Fort Condor area for Zemzelett's White Wind) and use Manipulate on it. It's at that time, and that time only that you can attain the Big Guard spell. God, they can't just make it easy on you and not test your memory. Don't worry, though, I'll remind you later. They only have 200 HP, which is low for the current game's standards. They come in groups of three usually, but still aren't that much of a threat, especially considering they usually only use their normal attacks for about 10-15 damage. The other enemy around here is the only real threatening one, and that's not even that much of a worry in itself. It's the enemy known as the Grangalan, and it's one interesting specimen at that. You can tell nature (aka Squaresoft) was having a clever day when they designed this bastard. First and foremost, these guys cannot be found in the beach areas, so don't waste your time ever searching there unless you're looking for the Beachplugs. Anyways, their only attack is Silver Wheel, which like from the Wild Wild West movie, shoots a silver bladed wheel at a person to hit them in the head (but in the movie, it actually adhered to the laws of nature which state: "If you're sliced anywhere on your body by a silver wheel, you shall lose that part of your body). The attack usually only does 60 damage, and appearances stay intact. Anyway, once you take its HP to 330 of 550, it creates a Grangalan Jr. This enemy's Silver Wheel does only about 45 damage. Grangalan Jr has as much HP as the Grangalan's HP when it adds a Jr - 330. Once the Grangalan Jr's HP goes to 110, it makes 3 Grangalan Jr Jrs, enemies with 110 HP. This is as far as the chain goes. These guys' Silver Wheels do about 30 damage with frequency. If it goes that far, I suggest using All lvl2 black magic, or summoning to kill them all out. If the big one goes, the others go, too. They're all immune to Earth. Also, if you only kill the big one, you only get Exp for that guy, but if you kill them all individually or at once (which is where my suggestion for All or summons came from), you get all the Exp from each one, which amounts to 363 (88+77+66+ 66+66 = 363). Well anyhow, you may be pondering where in the hell you need to go at this point. First take close heed to your HP before you continue, and if it's low, heal with a Tent, as enemies in Mt. Corel are some tough cookies. Well, time to find this Mt. Corel of which I speak. It's actually quite easy to find if you know what you're looking for, but, spotting it may be quite the hassle. It's through the mountains trail that you see quite near to here. There'll be a set path going through the mountains, and you have to cross it. At the other side when you're back on the grassy area, enter the cave to enter Mt. Corel. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #17 - Mt. Corel =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: Bagnarada, Boatfloat, Bomb, Cokatolis, Needle Kiss, Search Clown -> Items/Weapons/Armor: Mind Source, Phoenix Down, Star Pendant, Tent, Transform Materia, Turbo Ether, Wizard Staff, W Machine Gun =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This place is just crawling with monsters, and some of them are actually quite difficult to deal with, surprisingly enough. We've been used to simple monsters thus far during our adventure (with the exception of a few bosses, of course), so, it's all about to change. I always thought that might be why it's playing the same music as when you left Midgar, as it's somewhat of a turning point or something. Whatever, now, let's start off by mentioning my least favorite enemy in this whole place, the Bombs. These guys have three attacks, but only two of them are really worthy of any recognition whatsoever. First of all, its second- to-biggest attack, Fireball. It simply does Fire elementally based damage to one character, and is usually for 80+ damage or around that vicinity. The other one only occurs under certain conditions. Bomb possesses 600 HP, and once you have dealt 450 damage to it (leaving it, of course, at 150), it will explode on your last attacking character for 500dmg. God almighty. I told you enemies here aren't pushovers. Then it has its physical attack, which hits for about 22 dmg only. Big break from the normal damage it does, huh? Also, they're immune to Earth and Fire. Next enemy in this place is the Bagnarada. The thing looks like a huge mutated turtle with majorly serious growth hormones. Poison Breath attack done by them causes the Poison status to be inflicted, and of course, afflicted character gradually loses HP over time. It also does some atrocious damage. Star Pendants on two characters is useful, and you're going to get your third one soon. Its other two physical attacks do about 50-60 damage. The Def and durability level of this monster is phenomenal, and it also has 450 HP, so be prepared for quite the fight. You can steal a Diamond Pin from them, and later on when you get the Morph ability, you can use that you turn them into Guard Sources for you. Now is the Search Clown bastard, or more appropriately, bastards. They have very low HP counts, but conversely they come in large groups. Four Laser is a move that can get on your nerves quite quickly, and does some considerable damage, and when you have 4 or 5 enemies doing it at once, it can enfuriate you rather quickly. Seed shooting is very little when it comes to damage, but, again, with tons of them doing it to you at one time, the damage can start to add up. They absorb and regain health from Fire inclined attacks, so, just refrain from using them. No other magic really has an above average effect, but any of them will have enough power behind them to kill it completely, since its 150 HP isn't much, right? Boatfloat is a rather easy enemy. It has 240 HP (and that can be disposed of in 2 hits, or about there. If not, lvl up you lazy bum). It has a weakness to Wind *cough Choco/Mog cough*, but an immunity to Earth attacks. Its normal attack does laughable damage, but Spiky Hell is a different story--it's actually quite powerful. And their Vacuum can also be considered, as well. Needle Kiss is a flyer, meaning it's immune to Earth, but also it's immune to Lightning. Thunder Kiss does Lightning damage, while Chute Attack is quite nothing. The enemy is weak to Wind, and also have 180 HP, so with that information combined, they're rather simple to beat. Note that you can Chocobo/Mog/Elemental your weapon to kill them off very quickly with one physical attack, especially Cloud's. The final enemy on the list is Cokatolis, a weird bird. If you bought tons of Soft from Costa del Sol (which is the reason it's the first place in the game to get them, and they were mooching off you for them, but it was worth it). They have Petrify Smog, and that's what Softs are for. Bird Kick is its second best attack which does physical damage, and its beak striking attack is even weaker. It has 420 HP in all, so, it may be a slightly lenghty battle, but nothing you're not set to handle. Well, back on track, when you've first entered the Mt. Corel area, start making your way up, jump the rocks, etc. Now, there's a guy there who's obviously very exhausted. Talk to him for some valuable information about Sephiroth. He says he just passed him there, and he tried to warn Sephiroth of the dangers up ahead (LOL) and Sephiroth just blew him off. Your party then bands together again, and you start moving up the path into the next area. Note: at this point you have a summon for everyone: Choco/Mog (sometimes Fat Chocobo which I failed to mention, but detail it in the Materia section), Shiva and Ifrit. And, Shiva could do 800+ damage to the local Bagnaradas!!! Keep on going up and you're right in the area of a Mako Reactor. Huh, here!? All right, so proceed around the catwalk fighting any enemies that show themselves, and then run down the train tracks. Here, continue down the tracks until you are in the next area. There is a savepoint for your usage here, so, don't be shy. This place is rather interesting. In three parts of the tracks, you'll start falling. Don't prevent this the first two times. You'll fall, and you have to mash eiter right or left + O to go to a direction. This dictates which item you get. To the right, as you climb back up, you receive a Star Pendant, so now your whole fighting party can be protected from Poison. And to the left you get a Wizard Staff. In addition to this, on the tracks, you can get a Turbo Ether, Transform Materia, and W Machine Gun in the treasure chest. If you take the bottom path into the next area, the rest of the party says you need to put the bridge down and that the switch is in the shack ("over there (^^);"). You can also use PHS here if you wish to switch people out. If you wish to maintain any PHSed character's Materia before exchanging, remove them at the Materia screen with Triangle. So go back and take the upper path to the new area. Run over to the shack and put the bridge down for the other characters. As they're running across, you'll here some birds. Now, climb up the back wall here and you'll see some birds in their nest. This is a beautifully animated scene. But, you see it on top of a treasure chest. You then have a choice to take the treasure or leave it where it is. If you take the treasure, you get a whopping 10 Phoenix Downs. But, at that expense, your friends are a bit disappointed in you, but, this has no bearing later on. Also, at the expense of you gaining the 10 Phoenix Downs, you are to fight the mother Cokatolis. Note that Yuffie will be extremely happy if you take it, though, damn thief... I love her >;) As you jump way far down afterwards, continue to move across the tracks to the previous area, then go across the bridge like the others did, along all the tracks into the next mini-area. Now, run to the other side of the *HUGE* bridge and into the next area, Corel Village. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #18 - Corel Village =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: None -> Items/Weapons/Armor: None =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Well, as you enter this destroyed rubble city (my god, my toilet after I've eaten beans looks better than this). As you enter the town, Barret's greeted by some not-so-friendly people. These guys heavily bash Barret into the ground ruthlessly, and don't stop for a while. I mean these are some horrible arraignments, and they continue embittering him abhorrently about how it's his fault North Corel was turned into this hellhole, etc. Barret doesn't even have the aptness to argue, as it's all truthfully said. I've never seen Barret be abased left and right like this! Barret apologizes, and that's all he says. They then walk away saying that Techno-freak isn't worth it. Barret confronts the party and says that it's all true. Once control is abdicated to Cloud, you can go around town. At the Weapons Shop you can buy a Carbon Bangle (800), Force Stealer (2200), as well as Molotovs (400). All stuff you have. Man, this place really is some disconsolate, uncouth heap of garbage. But don't get me wrong, this place was once very prosperous. If you talk to one of the guys walking around here, he says the only way to make ends meet in this acheronian, barren wasteland is to collect junk. At the Item Shop they have: Transform (5000 - ludicrously priced), Maiden's Kiss (150), Cornucopia (150), Soft (150), Hyper (100), and Tranquilizer (100). The Item Shop here is superlatively pathetic; Potion (50), Phoenix Down (300), and Tent (500). That's it. What redundancy... so boring. Anyways, you can talk to a lot of people with their cruel demeanors, and the inn is the top house, going for 50 Gil. Not the bext accomodations, but whatever. When you're ready, go up to where it says Gold Saucer on the sign, go talk to the party, and after the whole scene, get on the Ropeway to Gold Saucer. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area #19 - Gold Saucer =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -> Enemies: N/A [with exception of Battle Arena enemies - note that their stats are increased from normal map enemies] -> Items/Weapons/Armor: Sprint Shoes =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As you arrive, you see the awesome CG as you enter the Gold Saucer. My god, this place kicks ass. This is the best theme park known to mankind. I mean, just look at the place. This, along with Midgar and Junon, is just one way you can tell how advanced technology is in this game. Anyway, as the train makes a stop at the front entrance of the Gold Saucer, you exit it. Now, the first noticeable feature is the "happy" guy in the Chocobo suit walking and jumping around. Next is the savepoint back in the back. You cannot use this yet, as they feel like screwing you can charging 5 GP to use it. This, in other words, is Gold Saucer money. You can go back and save here later if you'd like. So, to actually proceed you must go up and speak to the woman near where it says "welcome" under a pair of eyes. You *must* pay to get in, but, you can regulate how much Gil you fork over in one sitting. If you want a single pass, you have to pay 3000 Gil. However, a lifetime pass costs you 30000 Gil. If you're very loaded (either because you trained insanely and gained unfathomable amounts of Gil by this point, or you've just neglected buying anything at shops), I now recommend buying a lifetime pass, but, if you aren't necessarily rich and are going to wait until later on, get the single time pass. Note that i