Raiding Shinra HQ!

Final Fantasy VII Guide - Walkthrough

Raiding Shinra HQ!

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|| Treasure: | Elixir, (Elemental Materia, or Elixir, or Ether, or Potion),   ||
||           | Star Pendant, Four Slots, All Materia, Phoenix Down, Ether,    ||
||           | Poison Materia, Enemy Skill Materia, Potion (x4),              ||
||           | Talisman(Boss Reward), Protect Vest(Boss Reward),              ||
||           | Guard Source(Boss Reward), Star Pendant(Boss Reward).          ||
||-----------|                                                                ||
|| Other:    | Turtle's Paradise Flyer No. 2.                                 ||
||-----------|                                                                ||
|| Key Items:| Keycard 60, Keycard 62, A Coupon, B Coupon, C Coupon,          ||
||           | Keycard 65, Keycard 66, Midgar Parts (x5), Keycard 68.         ||
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You'll be given the choice to fight your way in through the main entrance, or take a sneak route to the left, which means walking up 60 stairs. If you take the stairs, just head to the left and walk all the way up. You can pick up an Elixir on the way up. Breaking in through the front is what I suggest you do, as you can get the Elixir by walking a bit down later on. Besides, busting in through the main entrance is more rewarding.

You'll have to fight some Shinra Soldiers right away. Head all the way to the back, not heading up the stairs yet. Check out the news bulletin on the right (and also the right part) to read Turtle's Paradise Flyer No. 2. This is the first of the only two chances you'll get to read this particular flyer. I suggest you read it. Now climb up the stairs to the second floor. You can go through the doors (with green light) at the top to find a shop and two locked chests. Buy something if you really need to. Go back and take the elevator up.  You'll have to fight through around five battles (sometimes an employee shows up) when the alarm sounds. Press the elevator button to start a battle. When you're up, walk down to fight more Shinra Soldiers. Cloud will pick up the Keycard 60, which means free access to all floors up to floor 60. If you want the Elixir from the stairs, walk left and ignore Barret and Tifa. You'll have to walk down 5 screens, the blue flask is the Elixir. Note: The Elixir is always 5 screens walking, either up or down. This is probably done so you can't get it easily. Walk back up and head right into the elevator on the right, and go up to the 60th floor.

After the scene, walk up. Guess you'll have to sneak past, so go in the room on the left. You have to get to the right. To do this, have Cloud hide behind the golden statues and make a run to the next one when the guards are moving. You can move Barret and Tifa with the circle button. The second part is slightly harder because the guards run. If you get caught, just try again.

Head up to the 61th floor. Here, talk to one of the guys walking around the lower part of the screen and answer with “.....” and guess what? You'll get the Keycard 62, no questions asked! There's nothing else to do on this floor except to talk to some other people.

This video tours you around the 62th through the 64th floor, and ensures that you miss no items while exploring. On the 62th floor, use method 2 to quickly find out the password!

Walk up to the 62th floor. This is the library, and also the floor where the 'Mayor' Domino resides. He's in the room on the left, so pay him a visit. You must guess the password correctly, and he'll give you his Keycard. If you get it right on the first try, he'll also give you the Elemental Materia. If you don't get that, you won't be able to get it for quite a long time.
You can figure out the password though, although I can't hand it to you as it's different every playthrough. You can also pay Hart 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, and even 15000 gil for hints, but I urge you not to, as he won't say anything that isn't already written here. There are three methods of getting the password. The first involves you puzzling it out on your own, with tables to help you on your way. The second and third methods are tricks to get the password quickly.

Note: Method 1
There are 4 different sections of the library. The lower left is the 'Urban Dev. Research Library'. In this section, the following files are the ones that this section normally has to have:

                .-------------------------------------------.
                |Names of the files:                        |
                |-------------------------------------------|
                |Midgar City map: Sectors 5-8               |
                |Reactor Construction Chart                 |
                |Problems with Plate construction in Midgar |
                |New plans for Urban Planning               |
                |An illustrated guide to City Planning      |
                |Midgar City Map: Sectors 0-4               |
                '-------------------------------------------'

The lower right section is the 'Scientific Research Library', and the following files are the ones that the section should normally have:

              .------------------------------------------------.
              |Names of the files:                             |
              |------------------------------------------------|
              |Final evolutionary stages in land dwelling life |
              |Report on high Mako levels in living beings     |
              |The Ancients in History                         |
              |Mako energy and the rise in life forms          |
              |File on Dr. Gast, Biologist                     |
              |Data on experimental animals living near Midgar |
              '------------------------------------------------'

The upper left section is the 'Peace Preservation/Weapon Dev. Research Library' and the following files are the ones that the section should normally have:

                 .-----------------------------------------.
                 |Names of the files:                      |
                 |-----------------------------------------|
                 |Materia production and its military uses |
                 |Heidegger's Shinra peace keeping law     |
                 |Breakdown of SOLDIER members by class    |
                 |Plan for new land weapons                |
                 |Economic report: anti-Shinra activities  |
                 |Ranks and extended use of Mako weaponry  |
                 '-----------------------------------------'

Last, the upper right section is the 'Space Dev. Research Library' and the following files are the ones that the section should normally have:

              .-----------------------------------------------.
              |Names of the files:                            |
              |-----------------------------------------------|
              |Modern history of Midgar space program vol. 1  |
              |Modern history of Midgar space program vol. 2  |
              |Diminishing Mako energy and Planet movements   |
              |Results of the failed space mission "YA-79"    |
              |Economic report: Space Dev Program             |
              |Shinra rocket space travel                     |
              '-----------------------------------------------'

You'll notice that there is one file in each section that doesn't belong there.  You can simply check the above tables to see if something doesn't belong in a section. That file, that doesn't belong in the section, has a number in front of it, which you must check. This number indicates which letter of the file is used in the password. For example, with the file 'Shinra rocket space travel' with the number 15, the letter A is used in the password. Spaces don't count, just letters/characters. Check all four the sections, and you'll get four letters.

These letters should form one of the words the Mayor lets you pick out of:
BEST, KING, ORBS, BOMB, MAKO, HOJO. The answer is never: ORBS or HOJO.

Note: Method 2
This one's easy, and comes from BrutalAl. Walk to the upper right room, also known as the 'Space Dev. Research Library', which has a blue floor and green shelves. Check out the file on the LEFT of the MIDDLE shelf.

       .-------------------------------------------------------------.
       |If the file is this:                      |Then password is: |
       |------------------------------------------|------------------|
       |2 Economic report: Space Dev Program      |       BEST       |
       |1 Results of failed space mission "YA-79" |       KING       |
       |1 Breakdown of SOLDIER members by class   |       BOMB       |
       |10 New plans for urban planning           |       MAKO       |
       '-------------------------------------------------------------'

Note: Method 3
There is also an easy trick that will also allow you to skip this whole puzzle.  Basically, talk to the Mayor, and when he asks you to choose a password, choose 'Wait a second'. Now take the elevator on the bottom of this screen to the first floor. Head outside, and save the game. Go back up with the same elevator, to the 62nd floor again. Try all the passwords until you got the right one. Now reset the game, restart from your save, and go back up to the Mayor and answer with the password you got from the previous time. Voila, the Elemental Materia is yours!
Your reward varies on how good you do:
Get it right on your  1st try: Elemental Materia
Get it right on your  2nd try: Elixir
Get it right on your  3rd try: Ether
Get it right on your  4th try: Potion
Get it right on your 5th try: Nothing

With the Keycard 65, head up to the 63 floor. You can skip this, although there are useful items to be gotten here. Walk to the computer on the lower right, and it'll allow you to open three doors anywhere on this level. To get all items, you must open up the right combination of doors. Walk all the way up from the right, and then a bit to the left. The door that blocks the path to the left is the first one you should open up. Walk more to the left, ignore the first door below, but open the second door below. Grab the 'A Coupon' from the room to the left, and enter the air-duct. Crawl to the end on the top of the screen, and grab the 'B Coupon' from the room you land in. Now just walk out the room, to the left, open the door, and grab the 'C Coupon' from the room. Crawl back in the air-duct, and exit by the right.

(Perfect Game Note 5:)
Don't exchange the Coupons for the items. You can get the items later on, but the Coupons will be lost forever if you exchange them. This may sound as another dilemma if you see the items as missed Treasure, but having the Coupons shows you pretty much did do the puzzle, and thus could've gotten the treasure at any wanted time. So don't count it as 'missed treasure'.

The computer can change the coupons you found for the following items:
A Coupon = Star Pendant
B Coupon = Four Slots
C Coupon = 'All' Materia

The Four Slots has, well, 4 materia slots, but it's defense sucks, so I advise you not to equip it. The Star Pendant is your first accessory, and it protects against Poison, so be sure to give it to someone.

Head up to floor 64. In the fitness room, there is a vending machine in the upper left that sells 'Shinra Gym Special Drink' for 250 gil. Try it out and bang on it. Later on, you'll be able to get a reward from this.. You can also rest and save in the room on the left. Last but not least, you can grab a Phoenix Down and an Ether from the lockers in the upper room. The megaphone looks worthless now, so Cloud will leave it.. go to floor 65.

On this floor, you will occasionally have to fight random encounters. Another puzzle. You must complete the scale model of Midgar here. The lower chest in the upper left room holds the first parts. Place them in the model counterclockwise, starting with the bottom right. Where you place the parts matters for what chest opens. If you place them like this, the chests will open in the order I describe. Every time that you place the parts in the model, another chest opens up. The second parts are found in the lower chest in the lower left room. The third parts are in the remaining chest in the upper left room. The fourth parts are in the remaining chest in the lower left room. The last parts are in the upper right room. After placing the parts, the chest near the stairs opens up for you to take the Keycard 66. Go to floor 66.

On this floor, just go to the toilet on the upper left of the screen. Enter the smaller toilet inside, and climb up. Flush if you like, too. Crawl to the end of the duct to attend the Shinra meeting. After the scene, go back to the stairs to follow Hojo to the next floor.

Here you will have to fight creatures as well, and you can steal some good equipment from some of them. For example, the Moth Slasher (the robot on the spiked spinning wheel) holds a Carbon Bangle which you can steal. It's a really good armor with 28 defense, and 3 slots (two of them paired). Try to get 5 of them, and equip your current party with it. Just run around to find enemies. You may find the encounter rate low, but it's really worth it to seek these enemies and steal these things.

Make sure you steal 3 Carbon Bangles, along with a Hardedge for Cloud. They're awesome upgrades!

Also take your time to steal an Hardedge from SOLDIER:3rd (blue pants). It's a great weapon for Cloud, twice as good as the Buster Sword. Be sure to equip it!
When you're all done, head to the left part of the area for a scene. After that, head up and grab the Poison Materia from the chest. Save at the save point. Give Cloud the Star Pendant, and Barret the Materia Combination Poison- Elemental in his ARMOR, with LINKED SLOTS. Also give Cloud the combination Fire-All, and Barret Ice-All. Now ride the elevator to floor 68. After the scene, name Red XIII, and fight the Boss! Send Tifa to look after Aeris.

A boss is coming up, and he and his lackeys pack quite a punch!

.------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
|Name: Sample: H0512 (Level: 19)           |Halves: Lightning                  |
|HP: 1000                                  |Nullifies: Gravity                 |
|MP: 120                                   |Absorb: Poison                     |
|Exp: 300                                  |-----------------------------------|
|AP: 30                                    |Status Effect Weaknesses:          |
|Gil: 250                                  |Sleep, Stop, Slow, Darkness,       |
|Drops: Talisman(100%)                     |Paralyzed                          |
|Steal: ---                                '-----------------------------------|
|Attacks: Keyclaw [1 Enemy, Phys Atk, 63 Base Damage]; Shady Breath [All       |
|Enemies, Cost=4MP, Can inflict Poison]; Reanimagic [All Allies, Mag Atk,      |
|Cost=40MP, Revives all dead OPT-Samples]                                      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Strategy:This boss will be almost always in the back row because of his little|
|OPT-samples blocking the way. Only Barret can use regular attacks that will do|
|full damage to this boss. First of all, never use Poison in this battle. Red  |
|XIII comes with All-Fire, so use that Fire. Also use Fire with Cloud, and Ice |
|with Barret. The smaller side kicks should be (almost) dead after this. Focus |
|your attention mainly on H0512, with spells like Fire and Ice. Barret can     |
|attack normally too. Cloud's Limit Cross-Slash can paralyze him for a few     |
|turns. He should go down swiftly. If you do kill the little H0512-OPT's you'll|
|also receive Tranquilizers for them as battle prize.                          |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'

After the battle, form a party. I usually go with Barret and Red XIII. Grab the yellow Enemy Skill Materia, then exit the screen. Go up the small steps and grab two Potions. Talk to the Employee who'll give you the Keycard 68. Head right and grab two more Potions along the way. Go down the stairs and walk to the elevator on floor 66, step in and press the button. Looks like a trap indeed.

After the scenes, talk to Tifa, then walk toward the door and think about everyone. Get some sleep after that...Huh?! The door opened when you were asleep? Go outside, check out the guard, talk to Tifa, then free Barret and Red XIII, and talk to them again. Talk to Tifa and Aeris, and you're ready to go.

Walk to the left area and talk to Red XIII. Go up the elevator, and follow the trail of blood to the next floor. You can save here. Follow the trail up to floor 70. After the scene, go up to the outside. Again, after all scenes, you can choose to remove Cloud and Tifa's Materia. Do so, and place the materia on Aeris, Barret and Red XIII. Give Aeris and Red at least one Lightning or Fire/Ice Materia. Now go down, a bit to the left and in the elevator. Upon pressing the button, a boss battle will begin.

This is actually two boss battles merged in one fight: Hundred Gunner and Heli Gunner are much tougher than the regular mechanical enemies you've fought so far, but long distance attacks, magic and Limit Breaks will do them in.

.------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
|Name: Hundred Gunner (Level: 18)          |Note: Long-range enemy             |
|HP: 1600                                  |Weakness: Lightning                |
|MP: 0                                     |Halves: Gravity                    |
|Exp: ---                                  |-----------------------------------|
|AP: ---                                   |Status Effect Weaknesses:          |
|Gil: ---                                  |Slow                               |
|Drops: ---                                |                                   |
|Steal: ---                                '-----------------------------------|
|Attacks: Aux Artillery [1 Enemy, Phys Atk, 110 Base Damage]; Hidden Artillery |
|[1 Enemy, Phys Atk, 137.5 Base Damage]; Main Artillery [All Enemies, Phys Atk,|
|123.75 Base Damage]; Wave Artillery [All Enemies, Phys Atk, 185.625 Base      |
|Damage]                                                                       |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Name: Heli Gunner (Level: 19)             |Note: Long-range enemy             |
|HP: 1000                                  |Weakness: Lightning, Wind          |
|MP: 0                                     |Nullifies: Earth                   |
|Exp: 250                                  |-----------------------------------|
|AP: 25                                    |Status Effect Weaknesses:          |
|Gil: 200                                  |Slow                               |
|Drops: Mythril Armlet(100%)               |                                   |
|Steal: ---                                '-----------------------------------|
|Attacks: AB Cannon [1 Enemy, Phys Atk, 119 Base Damage, Can inflict Sleep];   |
|C Cannon [1 Enemy, Phys Atk, 119 Base Damage, Can inflict Poison]; Firing Line|
|[All Enemies, Phys Atk, 141.3125 Base Damage, Can inflict Poison, Sleep];     |
|Spinning Bodyblow [1 Enemy, Phys Atk, 148.75 Base Damage]; Flying Drill [1    |
|Enemy, Phy Atk, 178.5 Base Damage]                                            |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Strategy: This is probably the hardest boss fight so far, due to the fact that|
|you're facing two right after each other. The battles starts off with Hundred |
|Gunner, who has quite alot of damaging attacks. Keep your HP's above 250  at  |
|all times and you should be fine. Use spells only, especially Bolt. When you  |
|get Limit Breaks, have Aeris heal the party, and Barret and Red XIII attack   |
|away. There's not much else you can do except to watch your HP. When you beat |
|him, Heli Gunner appears right away. Don't change your tactics, and keep using|
|spells. When someone falls asleep, try and wake them with a physical attack.  |
|Again, keep your HP's high with Cure and Potions. You should come out         |
|victorious.                                                                   |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'

After the fight, the scene flashes back to Cloud, who's about to battle Rufus, the new president of Shinra. Remove the materia of the others. Be sure to give Cloud the Poison Materia. The rest doesn't really matter much.

Rufus and Cloud face off in a one-to-one fight. Deal with Dark Nation first; That dog casts protective magic on Rufus, unnecessarily stretching the battle.

.------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
|Name: Rufus (Level: 21)                   |Nullifies: Gravity                 |
|HP: 500                                   |-----------------------------------|
|MP: 0                                     |Status Effect Weaknesses:          |
|Exp: 240                                  |Sleep, Poison, Slow, Paralyzed     |
|AP: 35                                    |                                   |
|Gil: 400                                  |                                   |
|Drops: Protect Vest(100%)                 |                                   |
|Steal: ---                                '-----------------------------------|
|Attacks: Shotgun [1 Enemy, Phys Atk, 57 Base Damage]                          |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Name: Dark Nation (Level: 15)             |                                   |
|HP: 140                                   |Status Effect Weaknesses:          |
|MP: 80                                    |Sleep, Poison, Silence, Slow,      |
|Exp: 70                                   |Stop, Paralyzed (possibly more)    |
|AP: 7                                     |                                   |
|Gil: 250                                  |                                   |
|Drops: Guard Source(100%)                 |                                   |
|Steal: ---                                '-----------------------------------|
|Attacks: Bite [1 Enemy, Phys Atk, 63 Base Damage]; Barrier [1 Ally, Mag Atk,  |
|Cost=16MP, Inflicts 100% Barrier]; MBarrier [1 Ally, Mag Atk, Cost=24MP,      |
|Inflicts 100% MBarrier]; Bolt [1 Enemy, Mag Atk, Cost=4MP, 90 Base Damage]    |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Strategy: You need to get rid of Dark Nation, Rufus' pet dog. Try to kill it  |
|immediately with Bio, or a Limit Break if you have it. It will cast Barrier   |
|and MBarrier on Rufus and itself, making the battle alot harder than it needs |
|to be. When it's out of the way, keep attacking Rufus with Bio. If you use    |
|Cross-Slash, you can paralyze him for a few turns. This is an easy battle if  |
|you keep your HP above 250.                                                   |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'

Head down after the battle, and save your game if you want to. Then, after meeting up with Tifa, walk Aeris towards the entrance. After the cool scene, form and equip your party first. Since the next Boss attacks you in the back, make sure that everyone except Barret, is in the back row. That will switch to the front row. Put Barret in the front row. Give Cloud the Elemental-Fire combo in his armor, and the Lighting Materia. Have one other character hold the Restore-All Materia's. The rest doesn't matter much, but you can always equip extra Materia to level them up faster due to the high amounts of AP that bosses give. You should however, equip the Protect Vest and Talisman accessories on your characters, as they increase defense.

Now to play a fun mini-game. You can use square and circle to attack left and right respectively. Hit the bikers that want to attack the truck. The orange bikers are easy targets, and you tend to wonder why Shinra ever hired them. No, the red bikers are the better threat. They'll try and lure you away from the truck so that other bikers can get past you and hit the truck. Use caution around red bikers, and (try to) kill them ASAP. At the end you get ambushed by a bad-ass robot called Motor Ball. Such balls!

And yet another boss fight awaits you, closing the quartet of bosses you've recently fought (or technically even 5 if you count Heli Gunner as well). Motor Ball uses strong fire-elemental spells, but the boss is weak against Lightning.

.------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
|Name: Motor Ball (Level: 19)              |Weakness: Lightning                |
|HP: 2600                                  |Halves: Fire                       |
|MP: 120                                   |Nullifies: Gravity                 |
|Exp: 440                                  |-----------------------------------|
|AP: 45                                    |Status Effect Weaknesses:          |
|Gil: 350                                  |Slow                               |
|Drops: Star Pendant(100%)                 |                                   |
|Steal: ---                                '-----------------------------------|
|Attacks: Highway Back Attack [All Enemies, Phys Atk, 70 Base Damage]; Deadly  |
|Wheel [1/All Enemies, Phys Atk, 70 Base Damage]; Twin Burner [1/All Enemies,  |
|Mag Atk, Cost=16MP, Fire Element, 135 Base Damage]; Rolling Fire [All Enemies,|
|Mag Atk, Cost=24MP, Fire Element, 216 Base Damage]; Arm Attack [1 Enemy, Phys |
|Atk, 87.5 Base Damage]                                                        |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Strategy: Motor Ball will ambush you, but if you changed the order of your    |
|characters, this should mean nothing for the rest of the battle. Keep your    |
|party's HP above 250 and keep casting Bolt and Ice. Avoid Fire spells. If you |
|want to, you could slow him with the Spider Web item, or speed yourself up    |
|with the Speed Drink item (preferably on your Bolt caster) to make this battle|
|easier. You should be able to beat Motor Ball if you keep up your HP with Cure|
|(and if necessary Hi-potions).                                                |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'

After the scene make sure your party has the right order again, front/back row.  Leave, and form a party. You'll finally be on the World Map, where everything is mini, except Cloud.