Final Fantasy VII: Initial Equip/No Materia,Accessories FAQ by Roughdawg4 Version Final?, Last Updated 2005-05-01 View/Download Original File Hosted by GameFAQs Return to Final Fantasy VII (PS) FAQs & Guides Liked this FAQ? Click to recommend it to other GameFAQs users. No materia, Initial Weapon & armor, No accessory, Active battle challenge guide Written by: Roughdawg4 (Michael Simmons) Contact: [email protected] Table of Contents 1) Disclaimer 2) Content 3) Rules 4) Tips 5) Character Analysis 6) Difficulty Rankings 7) FAQ's 8) Walkthrough a) Disc 1 b) Disc 2 1) Getting Omnislash *NEW SECTION* c) Disc 3 9) Credits 10) Final Words ********************************************************************** DISCLAIMER That whole legal thing? I will encourage the use of my guide, so long as I get credit for it and you don't change it in any way. If you want to host it on your site just let me know. Failure to inform me will result in an ass beating, so save my foot the hassle and the inconvenience of your butt getting kicked and take my advice. This walkthrough was made entirely by me and cannot be copied without my permission. ********************************************************************** CONTENT I am making this walkthrough because I do not like people believing FFVII is so easy. This challenge is for the hardcore gamers that want to pick up this game and feel satisfied when they beat it. In this guide, I will assume you are familiar with FFVII and where to go. This guide will probably only give strategies on how to deal with bosses since they will pose the biggest problem. A big part of the guide will focus on Boss Strategies and Dungeon Survival. LUCKY 7's, the W-item trick, and Cait Sith's instant death reels is not allowed and will not be used in this challenge. I think the hardest thing with my walkthrough is not allowing accessories. In other guides, accessories can cancel out spells are negate certain effects. ********************************************************************** RULES 1) No materia is allowed for any part of the game (not even the chocobo lure). Through some sequences materia is automatically equipped. Do not use any magic in the beginning of the game since you cannot remove the materia until later. In these sequences you are not allowed to use materia and must remove it when possible. I will give frequent updates when this stuff happens to help you out. Also, you are not allowed to equip materia even if it is useless like the all materia for money purposes. I do not mind the Cloud and Sephiroth's materia in the Kalm flashback because it does not affect the game. 2) Initial weapon & armor is easy. Whatever they start with is what you end with. 3) No accessories are allowed at any time. This is really going to make battles tough 4) In the config menu, you will need to put on the active battle option (ATB). This increases the difficulty a little bit because you will not have all day to pick what you want. So battle might be decided over a couple of seconds. 5) NO CHEAP METHODS. You guys know what I am talking about. You are not allowed to use LUCKY 7's, the W-Item trick, and Cait Sith's instant death reels. ********************************************************************** TIPS 1)SAVE OFTEN. It isn't like the regular game where you can forget about saving because of ease. This is hard, please remember to save. 2)GET ITEMS, AS MANY AS YOU CAN. I cannot stress this enough. It will piss you off if you get to the end of Midgar and you got no items for those 4 boss battles in a row. I had to start over because I failed to get enough. 3)You can escape, remember that. 4)Since you do not need materia, items are really key. Getting all the items in a dungeon or town is key. It will help you heal and gain money. Also, you can sell weapons, armor, or ethers you have because you cannot use them. 5)Since healing items are important, take advantage of inns. 6)Use low level limit breaks if necessary. Low level limit breaks are faster and quicker to use. Reducing to a level 2 limit break might reduce damage but it will happen more frequent. Also, Aeris has very powerful limit breaks so this challenge could be a lot easier if she is used. 7)Do not throw your control when you see the Game Over screen. This will happen a lot in this challenge so get used to it. It is just a game ( I don't know how many times I tried to convince myself of this). ********************************************************************** CHARACTER ANALYSIS Now there are various elements that I will discuss on each character. First, what the character is initially equipped with will play a role in your decision. The general rule is that the later you ally with someone, the better there equipment is. Cloud is a better player than mostly everyone, but his equipment is very inferior to Cid's. So I will discuss each option so you will not have to :). Also, I will discuss the limit breaks of each character and how you should utilize them. CLOUD Initial Weapon: Buster Sword Attack: 18 Attack%: 96 Initial Armor: Bronze Bangle Defense: 8 Description: Well of all the characters you get early on, he has the best stats. His Omnislash & Meteorain kicks ass so you should aim for either one of those. Which one you decide does not matter but you can base it on whether or not you feel like doing the battle arena with this challenge. I personally stuck with Meteorain but the choice is yours. TIFA Initial Weapon: Leather Glove Attack: 13 Attack%: 99 Initial Armor: Bronze Bangle Defense: 8 Description: Has the worst equipment of everyone (besides Aeris). I would not recommend using her because her attack sucks and so does her limits. Other people have more useful stuff for you. AERIS Initial Weapon: Guard Stick Attack: 12 Attack%: 99 Notes: Spirit+4, Vitality+1 Initial Armor: Bronze Bangle Defense: 8 Description: If she didn't die she would be perfect for this challenge. Her 3rd and 4th level spells can heal entire amounts of HP. But because she dies, you are better off not wasting your time with her. If you need a healer for your party, she is not a bad option until you get Yuffie. BARRET Initial Weapon: Gatling Gun Attack: 14 Attack%: 97 Notes: Long Range Weapon Initial Armor: Bronze Bangle Defense: 8 Description: Barret is not someone I would recommend using, but he is extremely useful with his limit breaks. His Mind Blow technique decreases the enemies MP to 0 which is awesome. This might be very useful for some bosses, but overall, his attack is lacking. RED XIII Initial Weapon: Mythril Clip Attack: 24 Attack%: 100 Initial Armor: Mythril Armlet Defense: 18 Defense%: 3 Magic Def: 8 Description: In the beginning of the game, he will be in your party alot. He will have the best equipment for a while. Also, Lunatic High and Stardust Ray are excellent limit breaks for you early in the game. YUFFIE Initial Weapon: 4-point Shuriken Attack: 23 Attack%: 100 Notes: Long Range Weapon Initial Armor: Carbon Bangle Defense: 27 Defense%: 3 Magic Def: 14 Description: It is funny writing this description because I never used Yuffie in the conventional game. But in this challenge, I cannot see being without her. Her limit break, Clear Tranquil, is the only limit break that can heal your party besides Aeris, but she dies. If you want a healer in your group you will need Yuffie. CAIT SITH Initial Weapon: Yellow M-phone Attack: 36 Attack%: 100 Initial Armor: Silver Armlet Defense: 34 Defense%: 4 Magic Def: 22 Description: Despite having good initial equipment, his limit breaks still blow. And since you cannot use his best reel result, it makes him even more useless. VINCENT Initial Weapon: Quicksilver Attack: 38 Attack%: 110 Notes: Long Range Weapon Initial Armor: Silver Armlet Defense: 34 Defense%: 4 Magic Def: 22 Description: Has the 2nd best initial equipment in the game. Not only should that get your attention, his limits kick ass and will save yours alot. The 2 limits you will need alot is Chaos and Death Gigas. The reason Death Gigas is important is when you transform in this mode, YOUR MAX HP DOUBLES. Very crucial for getting past annoying bosses like Jenova-Life. CID Initial Weapon: Spear Attack: 44 Attack%: 97 Initial Armor: Silver Armlet Defense: 46 Defense%: 4 Magic Def: 28 Description: Has the best initial equipment in the game. Although his limits are not as great as Vincent's, his are still good. His last limit break, Highwind, does extreme damage and very useful near the end of the game. WHO SHOULD YOU PICK? Well whether you like it or not Cloud will be in your party. Also, unless you are very fortunate with items, Yuffie will be playing the role of the healer. Now this leaves one space open for someone else. I personally think Vincent's transformations make him the top choice, but you might think otherwise. Barret and Cid have very useful limit breaks so they should not be overlooked. In this challenge, I would stay away from Tifa and Cait Sith, but this is just my opinion. *********************************************************************** DIFFICULTY RANKINGS Difficulty rankings out of 10. 1. You will have to try to die 2. Pretty easy battle 3. Just attack and you should make it 4. Attack and heal when necessary. As long as your hp is high you are fine 5. A little strategy will be needed attack and heal when necessary. The battle might be a little tricky 6. More strategy is needed and specific characters might need to be used, be careful this will be hard 7. Pretty hard. You might have to fight this boss a few times just so you know what you are up against 8. Incredibly hard. You might need specific items or do certain things in battle to have a chance 9. I hope to God you saved recently because this guy is going to piss you off. You might have to fight this boss numerous times and hope he doesn't use certain attacks on you 10. WTF. You must have used materia to beat him because there is no possible way to beat him with this challenge. *********************************************************************** FAQ'S 1) Why did you do this Walkthrough? I guess I was just bored. I guess the real reason is Jon Masini said it couldn't be done. 2) Can you really do this challenge? Somehow I did it. I am not a god. 3) What was the hardest part of the challenge? Not being able to use accessories. Some bosses like Hojo and Twin Heads were ridiculous. I almost quit playing because Hojo was driving me crazy. 4) Do you have any other FAQ's? I made a Final Fantasy Mystic Quest item guide. Small but good :) 5) You can beat the game without getting the Chocobo Lure? Yes you can, you just have to be tricky about it. It will get explained more when you reach that part in the FAQ. 6) I need help with a boss can you help me? If the FAQ is not helping you out you might need levels or better items. If you are still having trouble you can send me an email and I will try and help you out. 7) Hey you can use the Water Ring to easily beat Jenova-Life. Can you credit me with that strategy in your walkthrough? HELLO. Did you read the title it says NO ACCESSORIES. You would almost think that I am making up this question but sadly I am not. *********************************************************************** WALKTHROUGH Area - Where is the location Boss - boss name; also might be a semi-boss or optional Strategy - What i used to beat it down My party(level)- Current level of what i was and my party Difficulty - On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the hardest. DISC 1 Change to Active mode in the options Menu and do not use any materia that is equipped(you cannot remove it yet) Area - Midgar Reactor 1 Boss - Guard Scorpion (800 hp) Strategy - Just attack and heal with items if necessary, do not attack when its tail is up. My Party(level) -Cloud(7), Barret(6) Difficulty - 1 out of 10 Once you get ready to go to Sector 5 you get access to the materia command. Remove Cloud's materia now. When you jump off the train you are supposed to head north, but if you keep heading south you can fight special Combatants over and over again. You do not have to do this, but if you do it is a good place to level and stock up on grenades & antidotes. Items are very important in this type of challenge and I would recommend this. Area - Midgar Reactor 5 Boss - Air Buster (1200 hp) Strategy - If you attack him from the back it does a lot of damage. Of course when you do this, he counterattacks for a lot of damage but he wont be able to keep up with you. My Party(level) - Cloud(10), Barret (9), Tifa (8) Difficulty - 1 out of 10 Area - Midgar Sewers Boss - Aous (1800 hp) Strategy - Nothing hard just keep attacking. Aeriths Healing Limit Break helps out alot. My Party(level) - Cloud(10), Aeris (6), Tifa (8) Difficulty - 2 out of 10 Since items are important in this challenge I figured this would be a good aspect to mention. Ghost's drop ghost hand and deenglow's drop graviball which are both nice items to have. Area - Midgar Sector 6 Plate Support Boss - Reno (1000 HP) Strategy - Attack the pyramid to break out of it. If you are healed up you can just attack him to death. My Party(level) -Cloud(11), Barret (10), Tifa (10) Difficulty - 1 out of 10 Area - Shinra HQ Floor 68 Boss - H0512 (1000 HP) Strategy - Ignore the little shits and attack the big guy in the back. I starting using grenades because my party sucked at attacking plus it was half damage since he is in the back. My Party(level) - Cloud (12), Red XIII(12), Tifa (11) Difficulty - 3 out of 10 These next 4 boss battles are in a row and you can't really prepare in the middle of any. I suggest at this point you better start stocking up on items. At this point, you can get BrainPod's to drop Deadly Waste. Deadly Waste is Bio2 which could help a lot for these battles. Also, The Vargid Police drop Phoenix Downs. Putting characters in Hyper mode helps too, like Aeris. Area - Shinra HQ Elevator Boss - Hundred Gunner (1600 HP) Strategy - The difficulty of this battle is all in the items. Only Barret can reach the boss so if you have a good stock of items this is a piece of cake. My Party(level) -Barret(11), RedXIII(12), Aeris(10) Difficulty - 4 out of 10 Area - Shinra HQ Elevator Boss - Heligunner (1000 HP) Strategy - Not as much life but more deadly. Again, if you got the items it is easy but if you don't, it is not looking good. Thank god for Aeris's Limit breaks. My Party(level) -Barret(11), RedXIII(12), Aeris(10) Difficulty - 4 out of 10 Area - Shinra HP Top Floor Boss - Rufus Shinra (500 HP) Strategy - Alot easier then the other boss battles. In fact, about 3 or 4 grenades will finish him off. Take out the dog first. My Party(level) - Cloud (13) Diffuculty - 2 out of 10 Area - Midgar Boss - Motor Ball (2600 HP) Strategy - This battle is really difficult. If you have no items let for this guy, you are screwed. I brought Aeris along just for her healing limits to conserve items. Keep your HP over 200. To make this extremely easy, Hyper everyone. My Party(level) - Cloud(13), Aeris(10), Barret(12) Difficulty - 6 out of 10 YOU ARE NOW OUT OF MIDGAR, FINALLY. Area - Chocobo Farm Swamp Boss - Midgarsorm (4000 HP) Strategy - The midgarsorm is going to be tough because no chocobo lure is allowed. The trick to beating him is with Barret's Mindblow limit break. When you do this, it prevents him from casting Beta, so he is easier to beat. My Party(level) - Cloud(13), Aeris(11), Barret(12) Difficulty - 6 out of 10 ********* Tip from [email protected] ******************** There is a way to get past the Midgar Zolom after making your way through Midgar and Kalm. Mainly, what you have to do first is take a few steps around in the southern part of the swamp to lure the zolom over to that area. Next get out and stay on the field as far east you can get without falling in the swamp. Switch to Ground camera view here and look around until the zolom is heading near the south edge of the swamp. Quickly change the camera angle towards the cave entrance and make a mad dash towards it. Watch as the zolom is just a second behind Cloud as he hits the fielded area. This may take a couple of tries as the aiming may be off but save right a step or two out of the swamp and load after you get game over(you may be granted a few tries from slamming down the L1 and R1 butonns as soon as the fight starts) I found this on accident just strolling across trieing to make it through without the zolom hitting me and I would've made it too had it been for being a couple steps off my direction. I was also pissed becuase when i did get caught I almost had him dead anyways but I ran out of Hi potions, potions, and Phoenix Downs. ********* Tip from [email protected] ******************** If you decide to get Yuffie, remember to remove all materia on her. Just as a side note, if you like Aeris's healing ability you obviously realize you are going to lose her sooner or later. Yuffie's 2nd Level 1 limit break is the same as Aeris's, so If you like using Aeris as a healer, I suggest using Yuffie. Area - Lower Junon (Beach Area) Boss - Bottom Swell (2500 HP) Strategy - Just attack and nail it with grenades. Hyper Aeris so you can heal faster. This guy can do put your characters in a bubble which is really annoying. The bad part is you need magic to break the bubble which he can't do. So you will have to let your characters die to use them again. My Party(level) - Cloud(15),Barret(14),Aeris(12) Difficulty - 5 out of 10 Area - Cargo Ship Boss - Jenova-Birth (4000 HP) Strategy - Hyper everyone and just go limit crazy on Jenova. Be careful of Jenova's attacks, stay with high HP. My Party(level) - Cloud(15), Tifa(14), Aeris(12) Difficulty - 5 out of 10 When you get Cait Sith, remove his materia. Cait Sith has a powerful initial weapon equipped and also very good initial armor so he could prove to be useful. Area - Corel Prison Boss - Dyne (1200 HP) Strategy - Use all the Molotov's you got on him because he can finish you off fast. Don't bother healing because it only takes 4. Be careful though, it is possible he can attack twice in a round. My Party(level) - Barret (16) Difficulty - 3 out of 10 SAVE ONE X-POITION THAT YOU RECIEVE. It will make your life really easy. If you don't have one yet you can get one in Gongaga (in a house) or Cosmo Canyon (at the inn) when you get there. Area - Gongaga Boss - Reno (2000 HP), Rude (2000 HP) Strategy - You only need to defeat one of them so concentrate your efforts on Rude. It doesn't matter which one since they both have the same HP and seem to have the same defense. The reason to beat rude is he drops a X-Potion which is a really good item. In case you are wondering, Reno drops a good weapon but you can't use it anyway. To make this battle quick you can use some Molotov's. My Party(level) - Cloud (17), Aeris (16), Tifa (16) Difficulty - 2 out of 10 Heavy Tanks in the Gongaga Meltdown Area give decent XP and Gil if you want to get some levels. They also drop Hi-Potions. Sneaky Step drops M-Tentacle. This item casts Bio2 on an opponent and is extremely valuable for later boss fights. Try to get a couple (at least one). Area - Cave of the Gi Boss - Gi Nanataku (5500 HP) Strategy - Use an X-Potion on him and the battle is over. Good thing you saved one of them. (Note: Curt also noted that a phoenix down can also kill the boss instantly. The only downside is that the phoenix down doesn't always work, but they are much more plentiful.) My Party(level) - Cloud(20),Red XIII(18),Tifa(20) Difficulty - 1 out of 10 Area - Shinra Mansion Boss - Lost Number (7000 HP) Strategy - If you got M-Tentacles use them because they do sick damage and could poison him. This guy rapes and you are in trouble for this guy. After the M-Tentacles nail this guy with Molotov's til he dies. If you happen to poison him with something you can just defend and heal till he dies. My Party(level) - Cloud(21),Tifa(20),Aeris(19) Difficulty - 5 out of 10 If you are having trouble beating Lost Number you do not have to beat him. The main reason to beat Lost Number in this walkthrough is so you can get Vincent. If you will never use Vincent, this battle is a waste of your time. Vincent starts with awesome equipment, which might be to your advantage. His initial weapon has 20 more attack and 14% more accuracy than Cloud's weapon. He has the strongest initial weapon and armor at this point and only one more person has a better equipment than him. *Alternate Strategy from Acid Angel 13 <[email protected]>* His party: Cloud, Tifa, Aeris average party level 35 Limits: Cloud Lv.3, Tifa Lv.3, Aeris Lv.1 Open with Aeris' Seal Evil to lock him up, then pound him with magic items. I used 2 M-Tentacles, an Earth Drum, and roughly 15 Bolt Plumes. This should make him turm red; When he does, unload Meteorain on him. For me, he dropped right there, but if he doesn't, use Tifa's Reels to finish him off. Area - Nibel Mountains Boss - Materia Keeper (8400 HP) Strategy - Do not use fire items on him or Vincent's Level 1 limit break (if you use him for this battle) because Materia Keeper absorbs all fire type damage. If you really want to use Vincent for this battle I would suggest getting his Level 2 limit break. Everyone is going to need to be fury for this battle (or at least Aeris). His Trine attack does close to 600 damage to everyone in the party and Hell Combo rapes one person so be careful. My Party(level) - Cloud(26),Vincent(26),Aeris(25) Difficulty - 5 out of 10 Area - Rocket Town Boss - Palmer (6000 HP) Strategy - If you have made it this far in the challenge, this boss is a joke. My Party(level) - Cloud(27),Vincent(27),Yuffie(23) Difficulty - 3 out of 10 Cid is the best player in the game for this challenge. He has the best initial armor and weapon. CHECK OUT WUTAI'S ITEM SHOP. You can get some sweet attack items in the shop like Bolt3 and Fire3. I suggest buying alot of these because you need all the decent items you can get. Area - Wutai Mountains Boss - Rapus (6000 HP) Strategy - Oh No you can't use materia. I went into this battle with all my limit breaks ready because the enemies here make it easy to do that because this boss does not mess around. He has many attacks and one or two of them might instant kill your member because of the high damage it causes. Just attack or throw Swift Bolts at the boss. This guy will piss you off. I think this boss took me about 6 or 7 tries to take him down. (Alternate Strategy)- If you use Barret's Lv.1 Mindblow limit break, it will really cripple Rapus's magic. So if you are having trouble with my strategy, this one is a good one too. (Credit to Zevgun) My Party(level) - Cloud(28),Vincent(28),Aeris(27) Difficulty - 7 out of 10 When you get back on the World Map, you are going to have to remove all your materia that was automatically equipped. You can try the Padoga fights if you want, but I suggest avoiding optional battles. All you get really is Yuffie's Level 4 limit break, but you probably won't use it because you need to keep her limit break on Level 1 for healing purposes. When you do the battle arena for the Keystone, you do not need to win any fights to win it. So to conserve items, I suggest you die in the first round. Area - Temple of the Ancients Boss - Red Dragon (6800 HP) Strategy - This guy isn't that bad if you can keep your hp high. His attacks will make your limit breaks go crazy. He does alot of damage, but you have faced worse bad guys. My Party(level) - Cloud(32),Aeris(30),Vincent(31) Difficulty - 5 out of 10 Area - Temple of the Ancients Boss - Demon's Gate (10000 HP) Strategy - Hyper everyone for this battle. This guy has a lot of HP but isn't as bad as he seems. He does a decent amount of damage but this is what I did. I put Cloud and Aeris in the back row and I put Vincent in the front. With Cloud and Aeris in the back row they don't take a lot of damage and can throw items and heal easy. With Vincent using his 2nd limit break, he has so much HP he is almost impossible to kill. My Party(level) -Cloud(32),Aeris(31),Vincent(32) Difficulty - 5 out of 10 Area - Forgotten City Boss - Jenova-LIFE (10000 HP) Strategy - As most battles, I test out stuff and see how it goes. My first time I got raped in 35 seconds by Aqualung. Pretty much I think you will die anytime Aqualung is cast, but thank god Jenova doesn't cast it often. This boss is really easy except when that spell is casted. I got hit on my 2nd attempt very late with Aqualung and only Vincent survived because he had 3000+ HP. Only problem was he was transformed so I could not heal. I ended up beating Jenova with 40/3226 which means I got extremely lucky. I love you Vincent. My Party(level) - Cloud(33),Yuffie(28),Vincent(32) Difficulty - 8 out of 10 ********************************************************************** DISC 2 This is one of the first times I will mention a dungeon, but Gaea's Cliff is really hard. Watch out for Stilv's because their magic breath attack can kill you instantly. Its attack did 2500 damage to everyone which was almost double some of my characters HP. For the upcoming boss fight I was having a lot of difficulty, I would recommend getting some levels near the heal point to have a better chance. Area - Gaea's Cliff Boss - Twinheads (18000 HP) Strategy - This boss is by far one of the top 3 hardest bosses in the game. He does serious damage to one or all characters and will be hard to heal from. Make sure you are ready for this battle because this one will take a while. I was using items like crazy. First, I used a Hero Drink on Yuffie then I was using Megalixirs and X-Potions because I couldn't keep up with the damage. This battle took an incredible amount of attempts so you are going to need to keep your patience for this one. The main problem is that 2 attacks in a row could kill Yuffie and she is the main healer, so you need to get her HP above 1900. If you are really having problems with this boss fight, go back to the save point and level up around the healing spring. I think I had to gain about 5 or 6 levels on everyone to have a chance. My Party(level) - Cloud(43),Yuffie(40),Vincent(43) Difficulty - 9 out of 10 *Alternate Strategy from Acid Angel 13<[email protected]>* My party: Cloud, Cid, Yuffie levels: Cloud 51, Cid 48, Yuffie 46 Limits: Cloud Lv.3, Cid Lv.3-1, Yuffie Lv. 1-2 *Bring lots of Fire Veils and X-Potions (Wutai and surrounding area) Start with Dragon Dive and Meteorain, then stick to normal attacks on Schizo Right (the fire breathing side, not the ice breathing side) until your Limits are up again (which won't be long). Use Yuffie solely for healing and don't be stingy with X-Potions; survive and you can cruise back to Wutai and get more (the little moth critters you randomly fight drop them). Continue to drill him with Limits until (hopefully) Schizo Right goes down. Heal from his final attack and start throwing Fire Veils and Limits at Schizo Left. Keep your HP up (over 1500, at least) to survive his final attack. Nothing to it! (Okay, that's an understatement, but any brawl you can crawl away from...) Area - Whirlwind Maze Boss - Jenova-DEATH (25000 HP) Strategy - Jenova can silence you, but that isn't going to do much against you. This boss has a lot of hp, but isn't anywhere as hard as the last boss battle. If you made it past the Twinheads, this boss shouldn't be much of a threat. My Party(level) - Cloud(43),Yuffie(40),Tifa(33) Difficulty - 7 out of 10 You can buy S-Mine's at Fort Condor. These are very nice in combat and i recommend always having a stock of these for the remainder of the game. ********************************************************************** Getting Omnislash *Section submitted by Acid Angel 13* You didn't go after Omnislash in your guide, and I can see why, but here's how to get it (relatively) easily: First, you need to level up, a lot. To stand a chance, you need to be at Lv70, at least. Before you go into the Battle Square, get 99 of each-Hi-Potion, X-Potion, Hyper, Remedy, each of the individual status cures (antidote, cornucopia, ect.) note that echo screens are pointless, S-mines, Fire Veils, and Swift Bolts. Also try to have plenty (10-20) Dragon Scales and M-Tentacles. These are extremely important as D.Scales basically cast Aqualung, which is brutally powerful against anything (Adamantiose, found on the beaches north of Wutai drop these), and M-Tentacles (and possibly Deadly Wastes) cause instant death to some of the more annoying foes you'll be up against. What you want to do is set Cid's limit to level 1 and use him. At Lv70 Cid OWNS the Battle Arena. Try to use Cid's brute strength and limits instead of items, and try to land the slots on what are usually the most debilitating handicaps (broken acc., broken materias...) Break your weapon or armor and you're pretty much done. Once Cid wins two complete sets (all 8 rounds), you should have about 23,000 Battle points, if you scored good handicaps (Break All Materia on the last round will make BP skyrocket). At this point (23,000 BP), the game starts to be really cheap with its enemy choices. Switch to Cloud, using his L3 limit and abuse Finishing Touch. Fight as long as you can and always, ALWAYS, duck out after the 7th roud (if you get that far). NEVER fight the last battle, you'll end up agaist a Marlboro, Ochu, or that damned Ghost Ship... All 3 of these guys will eat you for lunch and you'll forfiet all your BP for that round, as well as any items you used. You'll be bringing down 2-4 thousand BP for each 7 round stint (usually), and you'll gradually get to 32,000. Is it worth it? Omnislash nails any group or single enemy 15 or 16 times with a high critical rate and deals over 2000 damage per shot at Lv70. Thats 30,000 HP from a single target, plenty enough to slaughter Hojo in a single shot. So, I'd say, yeah, yeah it is. Notable enemies: The 8-Eyes (they look like Jell-o molds with eyeballs all over them) can absorb several hundred, or even thousand, HP from your charcter per turn, and they appear in sets of 2. But they are ridiculously weak to Bio; toss a M-Tentacle at them and they go bye bye. Jezemny (long haired girl in a one-piece) There's two versions of her; one appears with a group of Toxic Frogs and one with Wind Wing (a dragon type, looks like a miniature version of the Rapps boss). She can use Fascinate (confuse) on your guy, which is potentially fatal, especially when she pulls it every round. Luckily, she, too, is weak to Bio. (Note that Toxic Frogs ABSORB Bio, but they only take 1 hit to wipe out. Deal with the tramp first). Tonberry. Rare, but will most certainly end you. Ghost Ship. Everybody hates this cheap bastard. For some reason, though, I came up against him in my first battle set with Cid, and it never used Gonnani against me. Serpent. My favorite. Simply fall back and defend until the idiot uses its stock of MP (this takes a while though). Use limits when you get them, and keep healing. Once its MP are gone, it just floats there and you can pound it at your leisure. ********************************************************************** Area - Fort Condor Boss - Cmd. Grandhorn (8000 HP) Strategy - Just attack this guy and heal when needed. Piece of cake from what you are used to My Party(level) - Cid(34),Vincent(44),Yuffie(41) Difficulty - 3 out of 10 Area - Mideel Boss - Ultima Weapon (10000 HP) Strategy - Throw a bunch of S-Mines at this guy until he runs away. You need to be fast so Ultima Weapon cannot get any serious attacks on you. My Party(level) - Cid(36),Yuffie(42),Vincent(44) Difficulty - 4 out of 10 Area - Undersea Reactor Boss - Carry Armor Body (24000 HP), Carry Armor Arms (10000 HP) Strategy - Swift Bolts. This guy is weak against lightning, and Swift Bolts targets everything. You will need about 17 for a victory, so just last that long. Also transform Vincent with his Level 2 limit break. This will give him sick hp, plus his 2nd attack is lightning based. Even though he has a nice weakness, this guy is not easy. He can rip you apart pretty fast so be quick in this battle. My Party(level) - Cloud(44),Yuffie(43),Vincent(45) Difficulty - 5 out of 10 Area - Rocket Town Boss - Rude (9000 HP) Strategy - This is a joke. This battle is nothing you can't handle. My Party(level) - Cloud(45),Yuffie(44),Cid(40) Difficulty - 4 out of 10 This part is optional. You do not have to go to the Downed Shinra Plane and I would really not recommend it. The reason I chose to go there is for the elixir, 2 megalixirs, and for the walkthrough. If you feel you do not need them, don't go. Area - Downed Shinra Plane Boss - Reno (15000 HP), Rude (20000 HP) Strategy - Take out Reno first because his new weapon confuses you. Really this is the biggest pain of the battle. Once you take out Reno, this battle is pretty much over. Throw S-mines or attack and this battle is yours. I actually got Vincent's level 4 limit break and used Chaos in battle. This made the battle a complete joke. My Party(level) - Cloud(45),Yuffie(45),Vincent(47) Difficulty - 4 out of 10 For your information, once you beat the Turks, the treasure chest you first run into is a Megalixir. This is the only thing that is useful in this walkthrough, so you can leave after you get it. Area - Outside Midgar Boss - Diamond Weapon (50000 HP) Strategy - Diamond weapon attacks do not cause a lot of damage. This boss is more defensive than offensive. The only attack that does not qualify is his Diamond Flash Attack. This attack, even if you have max HP, will devastate your party but at least it can't kill you (I think it takes of 90% of your current HP). The only easy part about this attack is you know when it is coming since he has a countdown. Since this attack can't kill you, it will max everyone's overdrives, allowing you to heal. If Yuffie is ready to heal each time after the attack, this boss will die like the rest. My Party(level) - Cloud(46),Vincent(47),Yuffie(45) Difficulty - 7 out of 10 When you face the Turks you are given a choice of what you want to occur because the next battle is optional. If you choose No, let's not go, no battle will occur. The choice is yours. I prefer not to fight just because it makes your life easier and they dont give anything that good. Although people might frown against it, I think it is foolish to waste really good items that could be saved for later. If you do want to fight just start throwing out Swift Bolt's to nail them all. I think it takes around 13-15 to start knocking people out. Area - Midgar Sector 8 Boss - Proud Clod (60000 HP), Proud Clod Armor (20000 HP) Strategy - I will first point out to not attack the armor. Attacking the armor is just for increasing magical damage. Since we cannot use materia, we will not focus any efforts on it. Be careful when Proud Clod drops on its knees because it does moderate damage. Besides that, this boss isn't that hard. My Party(level) - Cloud(50),Yuffie(51),Vincent(51) Difficulty - 5 out of 10 Be prepared for these next 3 battles because they are all in a row. The first two do not pose much of a threat, but the last one is extremely deadly and will be the hardest boss you have faced so far. Level up if you have to. Area - Midgar Sister Ray Boss - Hojo (13000 HP) Strategy - This isn't that bad. Just attack and heal and you will be fine. Ignore the creatures around him. My Party(level) - Cloud(51),Yuffie(51),Vincent(52) Difficulty - 4 out of 10 Area - Midgar Sister Ray Boss - Helletic Hojo (26000 HP) Strategy - This battle is a little harder but still nothing to worry about. Just make sure you keep your HP high so you can go into the final form with full strength. Don't worry about Hojo's limbs. My Party(level) - Cloud(51),Yuffie(51),Vincent(52) Difficulty - 5 out of 10 Area - Midgar Sister Ray Boss - Lifeform-Hojo (30000 HP) Strategy - This battle will really piss you off and he is right up there with Twinheads. Hojo's main attack is a combo which does a decent amount of damage, but the problem with this attack is at the end it causes the victim to fall asleep. Also, Hojo can cast Slow on your party which makes this even worse. If you get nailed by the combo, just remedy the person so they can continue combat. Toss whatever S-Mines you got and burn the bastard. You should try to keep track of Hojo's HP because if you get him really low you should concentrate more on killing him then healing dead or sleeping party members. My Party(level) - Cloud(51),Yuffie(51),Vincent(52) Difficulty - 9 out of 10 *Alternate Strategy from Acid Angel 13 <[email protected]>* Party: Cloud Lv75, L4 limit; Cid Lv76, L4 limit; Yuffie Lv76, L1 limit Simply pound Hojo's first 2 forms with S-mines. Use Yuffie to heal. Try to time your killing blow on form 2 so that Cloud's turn is up first, and unload Omnislash as soon as you get to. Use Cid's Highwind if you have to, but you shouldn't. ********************************************************************** DISC 3 The first thing that is a must is we need to get levels ASAP. I do not care how good you are, when Sephiroth casts Shadow Flare at you, you will die. I think you will need to be at least 80 just to have enough HP to survive the attack. I think the HP total is 8,000 to survive, I don't remember. I went to Mideel and started leveling up around that area to get all my characters to level 80. They are really easy to beat because all you need is 2 Swift Bolts (or another level 3 spell) to kill them all. They give really good exp and money that will help you fund anything you will need. Since you can buy S-Mines, they are one of the best offensive items you will be able to buy. You can pick these up at Wutai. As for healing items, you are mainly going to have to rely on Yuffie's Limit Break. If you want to get some extra X-Potions you can get some from the Scissors and Gargoyle's at the Final Dungeon first area. As for the final dungeon, RUN AWAY. You should not get in any unnecessary battles because you will need everything you have. Sephiroth and Jenova are extremely hard and they are like nothing you have faced. You can fight if you want, I am just warning you. Area - Everywhere Boss - Ultima Weapon (100000 HP) Strategy - Actually this battle isn't that hard. The only hard part is following him around the whole world trying to kill him. The only thing that sucks is when you beat him he casts Shadow Flare which will kill a character of yours. My Party(level) - Cloud(88),Vincent(89),Yuffie(90) Difficulty - 4 out of 10 When you beat the Ultima Weapon, you now have access to the Ancient Forest. There is an elixir in the forest and that is the only item in there that you can use. Just wanted to add that for anyone wanting more elixirs. For the final dungeon I would recommend going down the top left path. The reason for this is the enemies here are the least of your problems. Create a save point at the end of the maze where all 3 connect then go back and get the other items if you can. There are a lot of elixirs and megalixirs in this dungeon which will be very useful for you. Right Route - 1 Elixir, 1 Speed Source, 2 Megalixirs Top Left Route - Hero Drink (VERY IMPORTANT, it raises all your stats) Bottom Left Route - 1 Elixir, 2 X-Potions If you send Vincent or Yuffie to the right, you will get a Megalixir from each of them. For the final 3 bosses I used Yuffie's Level 1 limit break to heal, Cloud's Level 3 limit break for Meteorain, and Vincent's Level 4 limit break for Chaos. You should use Vincent because when he transforms, he is a badass. Also, if Cid is a high level he could be very useful too. Area - Final Dungeon Boss - Jenova Synthesis (60000 HP), Left Arm & Right Arm (10000 HP) Strategy - Actually not that hard. If you got some limit breaks ready it will kill off Jenova's arm really fast and then you can just attack her at your own pace. Don't use any items because you will need them later. My Party - Cloud(90),Vincent(92),Yuffie(92) Difficulty - 5 out of 10 Area - Final Dungeon Boss - Bizzaro Sephiroth (40000 HP), Core (10000 HP) Strategy - I didn't list the other parts because they have 4000 HP or less. Take out the right arm first then do the left arm. These arms have deadly attacks and if you take them out it will make your life a lot easier. After that, start working on the core and the head. The head will keep reviving but it usually only takes 2 or 3 attacks to kill it again. Just make sure you have decent HP but do not worry too much because his attacks aren't serious. Again, save your items for the next fight. My Party - Cloud(91), Vincent(93),Yuffie(93) Difficulty - 6 out of 10 *Alternate Strategy from Acid Angel 13 <[email protected]>* My party: Cloud Lv.96, limit L4; Cid Lv.96, limit L4; Yuffie Lv.96 limit L3 Ironically, tyour most powerful weapon in this fight is a support item. Use a Lunar Curtain on Bizarro to cast MBarrier on him. This halves the effect of his restorative magic, but doesn't affect the damage dealt by magic items. From there, assault him with Dragon Scales, which should hit for 2000+ HP to all targets. Use limits when they come up, X-Potions to heal single party members, Megalixers for everyone. If you last long enough, Sephiroth will use up his MP, and can no longer use Demi3. Keep MBarrier up on him constantly, watch your HP, and pour it on. This is one pain in the ass long fight. Area - Final Dungeon Boss - Safer Sephiroth (80000 HP)??? Strategy - First of all I do not know if that is the right HP amount. I was keeping track but I lost count. Sephiroth has a pattern with all his spells though. His pattern is Wall, (ascends), Shadow Flare, Pale Horse, Supernova, Break, (Descends), Despell, Deen, and then repeated again. Even though Super Nova rapes, it cannot kill you, so remember that. Although Break can kill you right after it. Sometimes you can just accept death for certain characters and just throw out S-Mines the whole time. A trick I figured out is make sure Cloud is hypered for the Super Nova. After this is cast, Cloud will have a limit break and then you can unleash it own him. Each Meteorain takes off 10,000-13,000 HP so this is a good trick (if you have Omnislash it probably does really sick damage). If you have Yuffie in hyper mode, she will constantly get her limit break but that will not be good enough since it only heals half your HP. Usually, whoever gets Break after the SuperNova will die because it does 6,000 damage. Just remember to do that trick with Cloud and you should be fine. As a side note, bring a porno magazine or something because you will need to entertain yourself during every SuperNova sequence. My Party - Cloud(91),Vincent(93),Yuffie(93) Difficulty - 10 out of 10 *Alternate Strategy from Acid Angel 13 <[email protected]>* My party: Cloud Lv.96, limit L4; Cid Lv.96, limit L4; Yuffie Lv.96 limit L3 Sephiroth's first move will be to cast Wall on himself. Yours should be to use a Lunar Curtain on the party. Then, in order, use a Light Curtain, Hyper Cloud (if he isn't), and feed Cloud ALL of the Hero Drinks you have. ALL OF THEM!! When Super Nova comes up, have the next available party member ready with a Megalixer. If that happens to be Cloud, switch to someone else, if possible. As soon as Super Nova is over, mash the confirm button to get that Megalixer in your guys before Break happens. If Super Nova occurs before you get through the above steps, especially giving Cloud your Hero Drinks, DO THAT before using the Limit that Cloud now has. Are you ready for this? Sephiroth's ultimate attack, Super Nova, is his undoing. Cloud now has a full Limit and several Hero Drinks in him. So drop Omnislash on Seph, sit back, and enjoy the ending. Congratulations, you beat the game on a very hard challenge. You deserve the final sequence. ********************************************************************** CREDITS Me - Duh! Squaresoft - Making this excellent game. Without the game this document couldn't be possible CJayC - For allowing this document on GameFAQ's. Jon Masini - Convincing me to do this walkthrough. Zevgun - For contributing the tip on Rapus and also making me aware of Barret's Lv. 1 Mind Shot. I can't believe I forgot about this limit break, it is very useful in this challenge. Christian "Killer" Reid - Fr prof reding my papr. Evan Weatherly - For being the first person to complete my challenge. CONGRATULATIONS. Curt - For the alternate strategy of beating the Cave of the Gi boss with a phoenix down. Acid Angel 13 <[email protected]> - For the alternate strategy for beating Lost Number and Twinheads (very grateful because it is one of the hardest). Also, For his easy way to getting omnislash and for providing and extra way to beating Hojo and Sephiroth. [email protected] - For a tip of getting past the Midgar Zolom *********************************************************************** FINAL WORDS Well I guess this is it. If there is anything you have a question about or something is wrong with my FAQ, feel free to send me an email and slam me down. I really hope you enjoyed this challenge and got one more use out of the game. Also, if you want to add something send me an email and I will put it in. I also started making my web page http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mls8 If you want to help me out with information for that or help fix mistakes I made on that feel free to do so. I also was going to add that I really appreciate all the tips and alternate strategies I have received. I am glad that people are actually attempting the challenge and see that I am not a God nor or all my strategies the best. *********************************************************************** Written by: Michael Simmons Email: [email protected] Copyright @2004 Final Fantasy VII: Initial Equip/No Materia,Accessories FAQ by Roughdawg4 Version Final?, Last Updated 2005-05-01 View/Download Original File Hosted by GameFAQs Return to Final Fantasy VII (PS) FAQs & Guides