If using a guide on hard mode for the bosses.....dont. Here's why.

[Shua_J]

Just a warning for a lot of guide users for bosses on hard mode. I just finished the Prototype fight in the simulator on chapter 17 and it was really very easy when everything was in place. I looked at the guides afterwards out of curiosity and most of them don't make any sense at all. Don't follow a guide. Figure out what the materia does on its own. Here's a great example as to why...and also a fight that a lot of you are going to be very interested in winning.

This fight was Shiva, Fat Chocabo, Leviathan, Bahamut and Ifrit and then the Prototype. 5 straight rounds.

First, dont use heal with a magnifier that heals all members. It doesn't make any sense. The magnifier is way better used with barrier. Specifically ManaWall...and you don't have to use it that much. Just make sure the party has 2 full heals equipped. Chakra is way better if you have a block materia that converts to ATB. 

My configuration was to have Cloud completely resistant to Ice attack and to have Aerith completely absorb Fire attacks. With cloud, you will take no damage at all from Shiva and it doesn't matter if your other 2 die. No magic used. 2nd fight is Fat Chocabo. The only thing you have to watch out for is the little weak Tonberrys. Other than that...the little ball guys spit fire and completely refill Aeriths health. No magic used. 3rd fight is Leviathan. Center on using Aerith...and especially her heavy chargeable attack. Block often. Use her heal limit break. No magic used.

 

4th Fight is where the guides REALLY get everything wrong. The first thing they all said was to make sure when Bahamut summons Ifrit...kill Ifrit as fast as you can. Now why would you want to kill your best employee? WIth Aerith absorbing Fire and converting it to health...Ifrit will walk you to the finish line as his attacks completely refill your health. The only thing you need is some distance from Bahamut and make sure Aerith has Arise. Kill Bahamut first by unloading on him with all of your characters during his countdowns and when he's aggro'd to someone else. Clouds triple and Tifa's Star attack will help widdle him down...but Aerith is your heavy attacker here. Use a ray when Bahamut is counting down and hit with C and T. After Bahamut summons Ifrit...you're in the clear. Even if Bahamut gets his big attack off...as long as Aerith has Manawall active and her health is above 3500....you're golden because your good buddy Ifrit is filling your health constantly. Then Ifrit is left and you can just leave your character choice on Aerith...take a couple of victory laps...dance a jig...and finish him at your leisure...because he cant do a thing about it. 

Just stay to the Prototypes back...and you're good. Cast a barrier on everybody and be like TLOU2 and take him from behind. Done deal.

A lot of the other guides on the bosses are atrocious too. Just spend time finding out what all of your Materia actually does. Use asses..farm a little...but not too much and level the things that matter and level some things you never use and find out what they really do. There are some real gems in the Materia selection that seem very benign at first glance.

[Lance_87]

This is weird, i used a guide and it recommended to use Prayer on all characters for healing. I don't remember what i used with Magnify though, either Barrier or Time.

 

Also, i never used Aerith lol. And literally wasted Ifrit on Shiva because she was a nuisance. I killed Bahamut and Ifrit at the same time, too, with all three Limit Breaks at the same time

[Shua_J]

Just now, Lance_87 said:

This is weird, i used a guide and it recommended to use Prayer on all characters for healing. I don't remember what i used with Magnify though, either Barrier or Time.

 

Also, i never used Aerith lol. And literally wasted Ifrit on Shiva because she was a nuisance. I killed Bahamut and Ifrit at the same time, too, with all three Limit Breaks at the same time

Nice!! Some true creativity there. I respect it!

[thefourfoldroot]

I’m doing my first normal playthrough now, but will definitely use your tips when on hard as it makes things sound very easy.

Edited December 21, 2020 by thefourfoldroot

[Shua_J]

2 minutes ago, thefourfoldroot said:

I’m doing my first normal playthrough now, but will definitely use your tips when on hard as it makes things sound very easy.

I'm jealous that it isn't my first playthrough again. Good luck and I hope you have a blast with it.

[RoastedPeanut]

Great tips! Its cool seeing these alternatives to the "classic" strategies. I 100% agree with not using magnify heal and chucking it on barrier instead. I still personally went with two elemental + fires, but I understand splitting it between fire and ice to save some MP. I also went with Barret in place of Tifa. He handled Leviathan pretty well with Aerith, and then having the two elemental + fires really made Bahamut a non issue thanks to his....sorry, I mean our helper, Ifrit

[Shua_J]

10 minutes ago, SnowStorm said:

Great tips! Its cool seeing these alternatives to the "classic" strategies. I 100% agree with not using magnify heal and chucking it on barrier instead. I still personally went with two elemental + fires, but I understand splitting it between fire and ice to save some MP. I also went with Barret in place of Tifa. He handled Leviathan pretty well with Aerith, and then having the two elemental + fires really made Bahamut a non issue thanks to his....sorry, I mean our helper, Ifrit

Nice. That's really the spirit of my post. So people can come and talk about their super creative setups and help those who are going to take on a challenge to realize that with a little bit of experimentation...they can really do some damage in a ton of different ways. Thanks for giving your strategy, too. Cool to see it. Makes me want to try some different things on the fight.

[RoastedPeanut]

Oh I'm fully intending on playing again on my alt account, just to do a second platinum run. I want to mix things up though with strategies, and when it comes to this fight I'll be trying something completely different. Its just fun mixing things up a bit!

[maydayofhighbury]

On 12/20/2020 at 6:40 PM, Shua_J said:

be like TLOU2 and take him from behind

lmao savagery

[me_is_caveman]

You said don't use a guide for the hard mode bosses, and then you made a guide yourself. I guess that means I shouldn't follow what your guide says either?

[mastiingwerf]

I prefer ice resist for Shiva, Ifirit's not that strong so I just killed him and saved my limit breaks to finish off bahamut. You don't really need Barrier either as long as you have reprieve/ auto-life necklace you'll be fine in my opinion.

[Shua_J]

10 hours ago, me_is_caveman said:

You said don't use a guide for the hard mode bosses, and then you made a guide yourself. I guess that means I shouldn't follow what your guide says either?

This isn't a guide. This is a suggestion as to why not to follow a guide rigidly. If I was going to write a guide...I would have wrote a guide properly. Now...more people are jumping in and telling the way they were creative in doing it....and if you bothered to read the thread...their input supports exactly the title of the post. I'm pretty sure you thought that sounded awesome in your head though.

[Optinooby]

This VERY similar toy build from last year, way I had it

 

- Absorb Ice on Cloud. 

- Immune to instant kill on Tifa. 

- Aerith beat Leviathan with arcane ward (double casts) and lightning. 

- Absorb fire on Tifa, Prayer on Aerith with Healing Carcanet accessory, every1 else with Revivial Earrings.

- Aerith magic build, cloud and tifa strength build. 

- My prayer would heal every1 for approx 5000 without magnify. VERY important as Magnify+Barrier is a must to half dmg. 

- Revival Earrings are a safety net, they prevent the possible interruptions to ur battle rhthym. 

 

VERY very similar, few changes. I feel the same, why does nobody use Barrier+Magnify, its a must, perhaps for every single hard boss as well! 

Edited March 21, 2021 by Optinooby

[NoosaHeadz]

On 20/03/2021 at 0:22 PM, Shua_J said:

This isn't a guide. This is a suggestion as to why not to follow a guide rigidly. If I was going to write a guide...I would have wrote a guide properly. Now...more people are jumping in and telling the way they were creative in doing it....and if you bothered to read the thread...their input supports exactly the title of the post. I'm pretty sure you thought that sounded awesome in your head though.

 

i get what you mean , basically figure out what works for you by trial and error . i was struggling with Roche using guides then i read this and came up with my own method and kicked his ass . iv got the hell house next and im nervous , i stuggled with it on normal

[Shua_J]

6 hours ago, NoosaHeadz said:

 

i get what you mean , basically figure out what works for you by trial and error . i was struggling with Roche using guides then i read this and came up with my own method and kicked his ass . iv got the hell house next and im nervous , i stuggled with it on normal

Hell house was definitely a challenge. Being prepared with Materia counters to it's magic attacks is the key. Without going into great detail...if you're having issues...go watch Speedrunners doing no damage runs. Speedrunners always give the best insight I've found to challenging aspects of a game concerning bosses. A lot of guides are great..but sometimes aspects of them are more concerned with "being first" than being good. I rarely use guides myself...nothing against them in any way...but the proliferation of guide makers sets up a competitive situation where it's more advantageous to be first than to be awesome. Good luck! This game is incredible.

[da-Noob123]

19 hours ago, Shua_J said:

Hell house was definitely a challenge. Being prepared with Materia counters to it's magic attacks is the key. Without going into great detail...if you're having issues...go watch Speedrunners doing no damage runs. Speedrunners always give the best insight I've found to challenging aspects of a game concerning bosses. A lot of guides are great..but sometimes aspects of them are more concerned with "being first" than being good. I rarely use guides myself...nothing against them in any way...but the proliferation of guide makers sets up a competitive situation where it's more advantageous to be first than to be awesome. Good luck! This game is incredible.

Speedrunners are usually pretty good guide wise if they provide commentary like our resident @Optinooby. Love his speedrun guides because he gives great insight into how things should be done and why. Excited to see he is working on one for FF7R!

 

That said I do enjoy experimenting with Materia combinations. However,  some battles on Normal I am barely getting through i.e. Hellhouse. So a guide maybe in order for hard mode for me at least. That said I am only on chapter 10 on my first playthrough and I think I will save the platinum for my 7,000 trophy which is less than 100 trophies away right now so I will need a filler game or two in between now and then.

[Shua_J]

5 hours ago, da-Noob123 said:

Speedrunners are usually pretty good guide wise if they provide commentary like our resident @Optinooby. Love his speedrun guides because he gives great insight into how things should be done and why. Excited to see he is working on one for FF7R!

 

That said I do enjoy experimenting with Materia combinations. However,  some battles on Normal I am barely getting through i.e. Hellhouse. So a guide maybe in order for hard mode for me at least. That said I am only on chapter 10 on my first playthrough and I think I will save the platinum for my 7,000 trophy which is less than 100 trophies away right now so I will need a filler game or two in between now and then.

Congrats on being close to 7000. That's a lot of gaming.

Speedrunners know games better than most everyone, including some of the Devs who actually make them. I love the fact that Optinooby gives the reasons why he's doing what he's doing. I'll have to check out some of his runs if he's got vids and put them on while I'm grinding. Speedrunners are a totally different breed and usually a wellspring of information concerning any game they decide to run. It's really great when they go in-depth because often times something they figure out in the mechanics and strategy of one game can be roughly applied to several others. Massive respect to all the speed runners out there.

[da-Noob123]

2 hours ago, Shua_J said:

Congrats on being close to 7000. That's a lot of gaming.

Speedrunners know games better than most everyone, including some of the Devs who actually make them. I love the fact that Optinooby gives the reasons why he's doing what he's doing. I'll have to check out some of his runs if he's got vids and put them on while I'm grinding. Speedrunners are a totally different breed and usually a wellspring of information concerning any game they decide to run. It's really great when they go in-depth because often times something they figure out in the mechanics and strategy of one game can be roughly applied to several others. Massive respect to all the speed runners out there.

Agreed. When I did my Big Boss Emblem for MGS4, I was following an amazing guide with a commentary from someone who used to have the number one time for the BBE back when the game first released. The tricks he pulled SMH just awesome. He and the other speedrunners found ways to get around unskippable cutscenes o_O and do a  double stun amongst other neat things. I tip my hat to all speedrunners. 

[Optinooby]

9 hours ago, da-Noob123 said:

Speedrunners are usually pretty good guide wise if they provide commentary like our resident @Optinooby. Love his speedrun guides because he gives great insight into how things should be done and why. Excited to see he is working on one for FF7R!

 

That said I do enjoy experimenting with Materia combinations. However,  some battles on Normal I am barely getting through i.e. Hellhouse. So a guide maybe in order for hard mode for me at least. That said I am only on chapter 10 on my first playthrough and I think I will save the platinum for my 7,000 trophy which is less than 100 trophies away right now so I will need a filler game or two in between now and then.

 

I hope they come in useful m8, the boss guides at least. It's a shame with this game in regards to platinum as you can't really make a speedrun quick. Even a good platinum speedrun is abt 20hrs, maybe that will change with PS5, especially if there are some nice QoL improvements. In regards to my walkthrough, i've cut a lot of the content to try and keep them short, still quite long through,it's mainly just a real efficient 100% run though, showing a speedrun route as a guide on this would make hard mode much harder as you would be way underlevelled!

 

The hard boss guides im extracting from the walkthrough and putting into separate vids should come in useful I hope though, I should be on Hard mode Hellhouse soon actually as just done Chapter 8

 

3 hours ago, Shua_J said:

Congrats on being close to 7000. That's a lot of gaming.

Speedrunners know games better than most everyone, including some of the Devs who actually make them. I love the fact that Optinooby gives the reasons why he's doing what he's doing. I'll have to check out some of his runs if he's got vids and put them on while I'm grinding. Speedrunners are a totally different breed and usually a wellspring of information concerning any game they decide to run. It's really great when they go in-depth because often times something they figure out in the mechanics and strategy of one game can be roughly applied to several others. Massive respect to all the speed runners out there.

 

I just hope I haven't explained 'too' much!! I've looked at a few boss guides here and there and found they still require you to learn the fights as they showcase it in realtime and just provide tips along the way.

 

What i've done or am doing, is i'm pausing after EACH command and instructing you on EXACTLY what command to perform next, and sort of explaining why. I'm hoping the strategies work the way I expect them to for others  

[da-Noob123]

46 minutes ago, Optinooby said:

 

I hope they come in useful m8, the boss guides at least. It's a shame with this game in regards to platinum as you can't really make a speedrun quick. Even a good platinum speedrun is abt 20hrs, maybe that will change with PS5, especially if there are some nice QoL improvements. In regards to my walkthrough, i've cut a lot of the content to try and keep them short, still quite long through,it's mainly just a real efficient 100% run though, showing a speedrun route as a guide on this would make hard mode much harder as you would be way underlevelled!

 

The hard boss guides im extracting from the walkthrough and putting into separate vids should come in useful I hope though, I should be on Hard mode Hellhouse soon actually as just done Chapter 8

 

 

I just hope I haven't explained 'too' much!! I've looked at a few boss guides here and there and found they still require you to learn the fights as they showcase it in realtime and just provide tips along the way.

 

What i've done or am doing, is i'm pausing after EACH command and instructing you on EXACTLY what command to perform next, and sort of explaining why. I'm hoping the strategies work the way I expect them to for others  

By the time I get to that point on hard mode your boss guide will probably be done. ? And the more info the better!

[NoosaHeadz]

On 25/03/2021 at 6:31 PM, Shua_J said:

Hell house was definitely a challenge. Being prepared with Materia counters to it's magic attacks is the key. Without going into great detail...if you're having issues...go watch Speedrunners doing no damage runs. Speedrunners always give the best insight I've found to challenging aspects of a game concerning bosses. A lot of guides are great..but sometimes aspects of them are more concerned with "being first" than being good. I rarely use guides myself...nothing against them in any way...but the proliferation of guide makers sets up a competitive situation where it's more advantageous to be first than to be awesome. Good luck! This game is incredible.

 

Finally beat that big shit house , hell house . God it was worse than i thought . All day i was at it , must have fought it 20 times . In the end i abandoned all strategy and just poisoned it , threw the kitchen sink at it with cloud and used Aerith to heal and knock it out of the sky .

ended up needing to hit it once ,i had 1 HP left , Aerith KO'd and a cutter right on my ass chasing me rouund the arena . Managed to focus thrust and end the fight but boy it was close with that cutter .

[Shua_J]

14 hours ago, Optinooby said:

I just hope I haven't explained 'too' much!! I've looked at a few boss guides here and there and found they still require you to learn the fights as they showcase it in realtime and just provide tips along the way.

 

What i've done or am doing, is i'm pausing after EACH command and instructing you on EXACTLY what command to perform next, and sort of explaining why. I'm hoping the strategies work the way I expect them to for others  

That's awesome. Do you have runs online for other titles? Preferably with commentary? Go ahead and shamelessly plug yourself. This is my designated cleanup year and I need interesting things to have on for the grinds on some of the things I foolishly played before ever deciding to actually hunt trophies.

[Optinooby]

5 minutes ago, Shua_J said:

That's awesome. Do you have runs online for other titles? Preferably with commentary? Go ahead and shamelessly plug yourself. This is my designated cleanup year and I need interesting things to have on for the grinds on some of the things I foolishly played before ever deciding to actually hunt trophies.

 

Efficient platinum runs with comm, quite lot m8 yea, just a few of top of my head;

 

- RE0

- RE1

- RE2Re

- RE3Re

- RE5

- RE7

- Mortal Shell (5hrs)

- Demon Soul's (10hrs)

- TLOU2 (15+)

- Ratchet and Clank (8hrs)

- Control (7hrs, 100% trophies)

- Vampyr (7hrs)

 

Much more, too many to name m8, all over on my channel, plus a few written guides here. Next up after FF7 is a Abe Soulstorm platinum speedrun and a Horizon Zero Dawn (always aimed at beginners)

 

 

Have you check some of my boss guides for FF7 by any chance, like the Airbuster or Crab Warden, be interesting to hear your input if you feel most guides don't explain them well enough or don't make them as easy as they could be!

 

Thanks m8

Edited March 27, 2021 by Optinooby

[BestUsername----]

Is no one gonna point out the irony where OP mentions not to use a guide when he kinda giving us a guide?

 

In all seriousness, I haven't started this game yet but it seems like there is a 50/50 split on Hard mode being hard or easy.

[Optinooby]

On 26/03/2021 at 3:37 PM, da-Noob123 said:

 However,  some battles on Normal I am barely getting through i.e. Hellhouse. 

 

I got Hellhouse worked out today, will throw guide up tomoz once recorded. 

 

Its weird as I remember finding it real hard last year, this time, ive actually found airbuster harder. 

 

No1 knows if was nerfed??? 

 

I start with poison level 3, then ice level 2 and ice level 3, boss enters 2nd phase. 

 

2nd phase it always charges, well u can counterstrike it, I do that. Then 2 x focused thrusts followed by ice level 3, boss is staggered

 

Go to town on boss to fill all 4 atbs, then retreat amd wait for 2 jetstream attacks. 

 

After that, roll away from house call jump then the boss will begin element charge ram, be ready to STRAIGHT away cast the level 3 of that element and it will land and pressure before it geta moving. 

 

Then 2 x focused strikes and go mad again filling all 4 atbs.

 

Now wait and get far away as boss will begin element sucking. Again, STRAIGHT away, cast the level 3 of what element it is weak to and it will land first and knock boss into last phase. 

 

Last phase, lob level 3 when it gets a flying element to knock it down, 2 x focused thrusts and ice level 3 and its dead!! 

 

 

This works EVERY SINGLE time, obviousy but more to it, but much simpler to work this out compared to the annoying Crab Warden with a thousand targetable parts and then awkward annoyance that is Airbuster

Edited March 27, 2021 by Optinooby