Final Fantasy VII owned by Square Enix.
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Part Six: Shinra Building

Shinra Building

- Time passes, stuff happens. Speak to everyone in jail and have a nap to head to the next section of your explorations.

- The door out of here is now open. Speak to Tifa, then let Barret and Red XIII out. Speak to Tifa and Aeris to form a party with them. Materia is removed from everyone but Cloud and Tifa, so reequip Aeris and head out. The new enemies in the area are stronger than the previous bunch, but they’re not too bad with magic besides Fire.

- Follow Red XIII to the west and up the service elevator in the north. Follow the trail of blood through the next floor and up the stairs.

- Floor 69. Head west, use the save point, and head up the stairs to the 70th floor. A shocking cut scene follows, and after you head outside you’ll wind up swapping your team to Aeris, Barret, and Red XIII. If necessary, take Cloud and Tifa’s materia and equip them on your new party members - you’ll want long-ranged attacks, with a preference for electricity - then head for the elevators. A boss awaits.


Hundred Gunner

This is a two-phase attack, and in both you’ll need long range attacks (either magic or Barret’s guns) to actually hit the boss. Hundred Gunner begins with standard bullet attacks; do enough damage and it will hit everyone with damage from that point on. Lay into it enough and it will begin charging its Sensor Cannon, which will hit for significant amounts of damage. You’ll have enough turns to lay into it before Sensor Cannon goes off to destroy it, assuming you use electrical attacks most of the time.



Eventually the Hundred Gunner will be replaced by the Heli Gunner, a flying enemy that moves a bit more quickly but doesn’t hit quite as hard most of the time. It can put characters to sleep, which is… annoying…? Rip through this thing - it’s nothing special, really - to end the fight. You’ll earn a Mythril Armlet for winning.

- Jump to Cloud. Strip your other party members of their materia, suit up Cloud - he should at least have Restore materia - and prepare for a solo brawl.


Rufus

Supported by a Dark Nation, a fairly meh beast that will use Barrier on itself and on Rufus while it’s alive to increase their overall durability, Rufus is not a terribly dangerous enemy. That said, you only have Cloud, so all hits are going to him. Take a few hits to build up Cloud’s Limit Break, then use it to wipe out Dark Nation in one hit. Then trade blows with Rufus until he retreats, healing and Limit Breaking when needed. Keep your HP above 200ish and you should win the fight fairly easily. If you’ve learned Cross-Slash you can annihilate Rufus all the easier, as it will often inflict stop on Rufus. You’ll earn a Protect Vest and a Guard Source for beating Rufus.

- Head downstairs and use the save point, then speak to Tifa. The game will jump to Aeris and company, down in the lobby. Try to exit and the team will reunite. A mini game follows; equip your current team to be ready for battle, then get ready for a high-speed pursuit.


Escape Midgar

Time to flee. Cloud is now on a motorcycle, tailing a truck that’s carrying the rest of the team. You need to use Cloud to smack away enemy bikers who try to attack the truck. If they hit Cloud, or hit certain parts of the truck, your party members will take damage. Use your sword to swipe away the baddies before they can reach the truck or collide with Cloud’s motorcycle. Resist ‘em as much as you can, ‘cause the damage you take will carry over to the next battle…


Motor Ball

The last hurdle before you flee Midgar. Motor Ball is not that bad an opponent, though it can prove rough if you did poorly while fleeing on the motorcycle. Swap your characters out of their back attack positions if necessary, heal any bad injuries, then take the thing on with lightning attacks. Motor Ball doesn’t hit that hard, but it strikes quickly enough that the damage piles up. Its only really dangerous attack is Rolling Fire, hitting everyone for about 200 HP of damage, and this doesn’t come out too often. You’ll know it’s about to happen when Motor Ball unfolds and raises its blade. You’ll receive a Star Pendant for beating Motor Ball.


- Besting Motor Ball will end the escape from Midgar, as well as get you out of Midgar for the foreseeable future. You won’t return her for a looooong time. Onward, into the world!

Part Eight: Kalm and the Nibelheim Flashback