This is the Final Fantasy 7 Strategy Guide. This copyright belongs to me and may not reproduced in any way without consent of me. This is freely distributed as long as the copyright remains. You may use this Strategy Guide or parts of it, but give me full credit where it is due.

If you would like to help me with this Strategy Guide, E-Mail me at db3f@uwrf.edu I would really appreciate your help if you could give it to me. If you see any mistakes that you wish for me to clear up, also mail me.

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Versions:
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Version 3.0
--Did a huge overhaul of editing and addition of information. The formatting was kind of messed up so I fixed the tables of weapons and armors as well. I completely rewrote the entire walkthrough, added a Materia Section, Emerald and Ruby Weapon strategies, all items, and various other things.

Version 2.0
--In this new version, I have gone through and done some minor corrections on a few of the spellings and margins. I have added a Weapons list for all of the characters, and an Enemy Skill list.

Version 1.0
--This is the start of my Final Fantasy 7 Strategy Guide. Walkthrough, Ultimate Weapons, Ultimate Limit Breaks, Summon Materia, Breedinga Gold Chocobo sections created.

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Contents:
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Complete Walkthrough

Event 1: Mako Industrial Complex
Event 2: Avalanche Headquarters
Event 3: Area 5
Event 4: Meeting Aeris
Event 5: The Slums
Event 6: Battling in Area 7
Event 7: Shinra Headquarters
Event 8: Bike Race and Flashback
Event 9: Chocobos!
Event 10: The Golden Bird and the Beach
Event 11: Shinra Military
Event 12: Relaxation and Surfers!
Event 13: Everyone Hates Barret
Event 14: Gongaga
Event 15: Cosmo Canyon
Event 16: Nibelheim
Event 17: Rocket Man and Yuffie's Story
Event 18: Quest For the Keystone
Event 19: Temple of The Ancients
Event 20: The Ancients
Event 21: The Search for Sephiroth
Event 22: Meteor and the Shinra
Event 23: The Search for Cloud
Event 24: The Shinra Train
Event 25: Return to Condor
Event 26: Cloud's Mind and the Final Search
Event 27: Junon Underwater Reactor
Event 28: The Quest of Space
Event 29: There is Hope
Event 30: Back to Midgar
Event 31: Side Quests
Event 32: The Final Confrontation
Limit Breaks
Ultimate Weapons
Materia List
-Magic Materia
-Command Materia
-Independant Materia
-Support Materia
-Summon Materia
Useful Materia Combinations
Summon Materia Locations
Enemy Skill List
Weapons
Armor
Accessories
Items
Key Items
Gold Chocobo Breeding
Weapon Strategies

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Complete Walkthrough:
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Event 1: Mako Industrial Complex

Items: Potion x3, Phoenix Down, Restore Materia

After watching the FMV intro you will be in the game. Jump off the train and follow Barrett and the Avalanche resistance team. You are raiding the Shinra Mako Reactor 1 and are attempting to blow it up. The Avalache are a Shinra resistance team that is attempting to fight the Shinra for sucking the lifeforce out of the planet through industrial machines.

Make sure to check each of the downed guards and you will get Potions. In most of the early battles you'll probably only use your characters normal attacks so don't worry about using magic right now.

You will meet up with everyone at a gate. Biggs will ask for yourname. Name Cloud (In this guide I will call the characters by their default name) The Avalanche will open the gate. Follow them. Barrett will stop you and say that he doesn't trust you. You now get to name Barrett. Follow all of the Avalanche to the security gate. Talk to Biggs, and he will open the gate. Follow Jesse to the elevator. Biggs will tell you how to maneuver around the complex. Talk to him if you need help. You will find yourself in the core level of the complex in a little. Cloud will set a bomb at the reactor. You will run into the first boss now, Guard Scorpion.

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Boss Strategy - Guard Scorpion

-Concentrate on regular attacks and Lightning magic.
-When the scorpion's tail is raised, he will counter attack if you attack him. However, when he counter attacks, your limit meter will rise, making you unleash some great attacks if you want.
-If you need healed, use some potions.
(This isn't too hard, and it should be a short fight.)

At some points, Guard Scorpion raises its tail and begins to shake. When he does this, don't attack him. If you attack at this point he will use his laser weapon that deals about 75 hit points damage to both Cloud and Barret. Just concentrate on keepings character's hit points over 100 and you should win with normal attacks.
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After the battle, you have 10 minutes to escape the complex (Including battles). Keep running out and make sure you save Jessie where you left her. If you don't rescue her you won't be able to open the security doors above. When you reach the top level talk to Biggs and Jessie again and they'll release the locks. Run out of the area and watch the pretty FMV.

Event 2: Avalanche Headquarters

Items:
Sector 7 Slums - All Materia, Ether

The team escapes from the reactor and proceeds to go back to their hideout. Barret wants the team to meet at the Sector 8 Station. Follow Barret off the screen.

You will run into Aeris for the first time on your way. She is the one that is selling flowers. When you talk to Aeris, say:

1. Nothing happened
2. That you would like a flower for 1 Gil.

By doing this, you will unlock a special sequence in the bar later. Proceed through the Area 8 city. You will have a choice to confront the guards or not. It is good to fight these guys, because they give pretty good experience that you might need later. You will escape with another CG showing you fleeing the station. You will be informed of Avalanche's involvement on the train. You will jump off of the train and get to Agito. Go to the bar and meet Barrett's daughter and talk to Tifa. Answer "Not this time" and she will complement you on your maturity. You name Tifa now, and you get to decide to give your flower to Tifa or Barrett's daughter. It doesn't matter what you choose. Go to the exit of the bar, and you will enter the HQ under the Pinball machine. You will tell Barrett that you are not interested in Shinra or Avalanche. Barret and Tifa will urge you to be in the Avalanche. Be prepared for a flashback sequence. Cloud made a promise with Tifa long ago. Barret will come in with Cloud's pay. And because of Cloud's promise, Cloud accepts the next mission. Barret will ask about Materia Orbs. Explain to him how they work, buy items in the town, and it's off to Area 5-Mako Industrial Complex.

Event 3: Area 5

Items:
Sector 5 Reactor - Phoenix Down, Hi Potion, Ether x2, Potion

You will be on the train again. You need to run from car to car in a given amount of time. Leap from the train into the tunnels. You can get a few items by talking to guys along your way, and one guy will take something, but by talking to him you can take that item back. Hurry along through the cars and you will get to the walkway. You will find a small hole leading to Area 5. Go in and be ready for battle. The enemies here are a little stronger than before. Battle all of the monsters and get to the reactor. A flashback will hit Cloud. Plant the bomb, and follow Tifa into the controls center. You have to push a button at the same time as Barrett. Keep trying this until you can do it, because you have unlimited time. It will open a gate which you need to enter. You are surrounded by guards on a bridge, and you meet the president of Shinra. You will have to fight a boss now.

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Boss Strategy - Air Buster

-Limit Break attacks do the most damage.
-Hitting Air Buster in the back will increase the damage done by a lot. Try to keep your best attacks hitting him in the back.
-Lightning magic also works well here.
-Make sure someone has the Restore-All combination of materia.
-After you beat him, you get a Titan Bangle.

Attacks do more damage when you hit Air Buster from behind. It is also weak to Bolt magic, so use that if you don't have powerful attacks.
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After beating Air Buster, Cloud falls unto a ledge and falls into the city below. Barret and Tifa escape. When Cloud wakes up, he is in Aeris's church where she is growing flowers.

Event 4: Meeting Aeris

You will awaken in a slum. Keep talking to Aeris and tell her you remember her. You get to name her now. Aeris requests that you will be her bodyguard, and that you get a date with her later. Tseng enters the church, trying to kidnap Aeris. You have to try to get away, so he can't succeed. Head to the top of the chapel. Aeris will fall and you will be by some barrels. Tell Aeris to hold on each time she asks. The order for pushing the barrels is: the left most barrel in the back, the far right barrel in the back, then the far right barrel in the front, and the remaining barrel.

You will escape with Aeris through the roof. Go to the northeast to Aeris's Cottage. Cloud says he needs to go to Area 7. Go upstairs and rest. You have to escape without Aeris because Cloud thinks it is too dangerous for her. Walk across the floor and you will be on your way. Leave Area 5 slum and Aeris will be waiting for you at the entrance to Area 6. You will see a sequence of Cloud and Aeris at a playground. Now a caravan comes with Tifa. Follow Aeris to the slum town.

Event 5: The Slums

Items:
The Slums - 5 Gil, Ether, Cover Materia, Poison, Phoenix
Wall Market - Ether, Hyper, Phoenix Down Sewers - Potion, Steal Materia, Hi Potion, Echo Screen, Ether

Buy any items that you need here. Go southeast to the women club and talk to the manager. Ask him if he knows where Aeris is. He will tell you to visit the mansion to the north. Go to the mansion and talk to the security guard. Only females can enter the mansion. Head to the clothing shop to the west side of town. The owners son will tell you to go to the bar. Go there and talk tohis father. He will eventually make a dress for you. You get to decide from 3 dresses which one you want. To get the best dress, chose that you want "Something that feels soft" and "Something that shimmers". Go to the clothing shop again and the owner will have made your dress. Now you need a wig. Go to the gymnasium below the weapon shop. The women will give you the wig if you face her brother in a fitness match. Press Square to kneel, X to stand up, and Circle to bend over. You have to keep a constant pattern to win. You will get the wig even if you loose. Winning the little game will get you the Blonde wig, however, and losing will get you the regular Wig. Go to the clothing store again. Go to the dressing room and change your clothes.

Note: Here you have some choices to get some more items for Cloud. The more you get, the better the chances are of Corneo picking him.

Sexy Cologne: Go to the bar and talk to the lady in the bathroom. She is sick, and you must try to gets some medicine for her. Go to the local restaurant and buy any meal. You will get a coupon after eating. Take this coupon to the Pharmacy and exchange it for the Digestive. Take the Digestive to the lady in the bar and she will give you the Sexy Cologne.

Tiara: Go to the Materia shop. The man asks Cloud for a favor. Listen to it, and head to the Inn. When staying, pay for the most expensive item (200 Gil). Take this item back to the Materia shop owner and if you bought the most expensive item, he will give you the Diamond Tiara. If you bought the 100 Gil item, he will give you the Ruby Tiara. If you bought the 50 Gil item, he will give you the Glass Tiara.

Undergarment and Make-up: Head down buy the entrance to the Honey Bee Inn. Talk to the man, and he will give you the members card so you can get into the Honey Bee Inn. You can only take one of two rooms to do your "activities". You can get the Bikini Briefs if you choose the Group Room, or the Lingerie if you choose the &$#% room. It doesnn't matter which one of these you choose. Go into the room that you would like, talk through everything, and you will get the item you need. After you are done getting this item, go into the north room, and ask the girl to the far left to put make-up on you.

Cloud should now have everything he needs now to get chosen by Don Corneo.

Go to the mansion. You will get to go in. Go downstairs and find Tifa. She will tell you to go to Corneo's room. Corneo will choose one of your members to be his women. He will choose the members according to what dress you have. You will be in Corneo's bedroom and he will tell you about the Shinra's plan. You will see a Shinra sequence. Right when you land, you have to fight the boss, Aps.

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Boss Strategy - Aps

-The best thing to use in this battle is Fire magic.
-One of Aps's attacks, Sewer Tsunami, does damage to everything, including Aps himself.
-It is not hard to beat Aps, just use Cloud's Cross Slash if he has it, and Limit Breaks from the other characters.

Aps is weak to fire magic and you can take him down fast with it. Cloud and Tifa should be using normal attacks while Aeris heals the party and uses the fire magic. Cloud's Cross Slash Limit Break can also paralyze Aps.
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After you beat Aps, you will have to go through all of the sewers. Make sure your allies are all healed. Fighting here for awhile can get you some good experience, so here might be a good time to gain some levels. After fighting for awhile, make sure to grab the Steal Materia, and equip it on someone, preferably Tifa. After you exit the sewers, you'll be in a Train Graveyard. Getting the items laying on top of the trains and in the barrels will help. Make your way up the first large train, jump to the bottom, and go around to the middle hall. Go inside the train, and exit out the other end. Go up toward another part of the Graveyard. In this area, there is an enemy named Eligor, and by stealing from him, you can get the Striking Staff, the best weapon for Aeris in this point of the game. Make sure to get one of these, as it will help you. You must make your own path to the exit of the Graveyard by going in the different trains. Go over the bridge and into the next area.

Event 6: Battling in Area 7

Items: Sense Materia, Turbo Ether, Ether

You will find Barrett and the Avalanche already in battle. Go through to the top of the tower and you will find Barret already fighting up there. You will now have to fight Reno.

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Boss Strategy - Reno

-Be careful, as Reno's magic will sometimes stun your allies. To get them unstunned, you must attack them or wait it out.
-Fire and Ice magic work well here, as do your character's Limit Breaks.
-Reno will run away after you hit him hard enough.

Reno's Electro-mag Rod can stun a victim. You can't really do much to help a stunned victim so heal them until they recover.

Reno's Pyramid attack creates a golden pyramid that also stuns the player. You can destroy the pyramid by having one of your own targets fight the pyramid itself. Fire and Ice magic is both effective here as well.
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Reno will leave and you can't save Area 7. You will see a CG clip and Area 7 will be destroyed. Barrett goes ballistic because of his anger that Avalanche members have died and he could have lost his daughter, and the other Avalanche members. Go to Aeris's house and hear the rest of the story.

Event 7: Shinra Headquarters

Items: Elixir, Potion x4, Enemy Skill Materia

You will find Aeris's mother and she will explain to you about Shinra. Go upstairs to Barret. He will tell you he thinks Aeris likes you. You get to accept the decision or not. Sleep and go back downstairs. Go to the north slums follow the children running from a fight. Ask them what they are doing. Go to the pipe behind and follow it to the upper levels of Midgar.

Climb the pipe up and it won't work. Now you have to climb down and buy a battery. Buy 3 of them. Now use the batteries in the battery outlets. You have to do some hard jumps with the Circle button. You will eventually reach the top. You are now given the option of whether or not to go through the front door or go up the stairs. Both paths are very different but lead you to the same place in the end.

If you take the Stairs, you have to run a long time. You have to go up nine sets of stairs but there are no enemies here, but there is an Elixir on the fifth set. If you take the stairs you will end up on level 59.

If you go through the front you witll have to fight the guards at the entrance. There is an Item Shop near the front of the place here. You can't open the two chests in the back of this area until farther into the game. The enemies here are very easy, so when you're ready take the elevator to the 59th floor.

59th floor:
There isn't anything here really except the keycard for the 60th floor. You have to defeat the group of guards near the stairs to get it. You can now always use the elevator here to reach other levels of the place if you have the keycard for those levels.

60th floor:
Run into the room of the left and you can break in. You have to fight four guards here but they are all simple. The guards follow a certain path, and you can avoid them, but it doesn't really matter cause they're all fairly simple. Use the large stairway to get to the 61st floor.

61st floor:
Talk to the man near the stairts and he'll give you the keycard for the 62nd floor. There's nothing else to do here so head there.

62nd floor:
Visit Mayor Domino on the left room. You need to figure out a password before he'll give you the 63rd, 64th, and 65th keycard. A guy named Hart is willing to sell you hints, but each hint costs more than it lasts, but it is the easiest way to figure out the password. If you get the pasword on the first guess you receive Elemental Materia. Hart's hints are:

-There are four research libraries on the floor with four different section of the complex
-Parts of the password are hidden in each
-There is one file in each library mixed in from another library
-There's a number at the beginning of each file that is important
-You have to match the number with the letters in the title of the file

The password is random so I can't directly tell you what it is, but you should be able to find it out with these clues. Go to the staircase and go to floor 63.

63rd floor:
You actually don't even have to come to this floor but some of the items here are nice. Go to the computer and it will give you access to the security doors, but you can only open three doors. You have to open certain doors to get all of the items here. If you get the three coupons you can turn them in for a Star Pendant, Four Slot, and All Materia. When ready head up to the 64th floor.

64th floor:
This is a big recreational complex, and there is a save point here. Save your game. Visit the locker room and you can get a few items from the lockers. You will see a Megaphone here but you won't take it cause you can't use it. This is a hint into getting Cait Sith's future ultimate weapon, but you can't get it here until much later in the game. When ready go on up to the 65th floor.

65th floor:
There is a big model of Midgar in the center of the room, but pieces are missing from it. In the locked chests around the rooms here are the pieces for it. You can only get one piece at a time, and placing that piece opens another door to get the other pieces. So complete the model of Midgar and you will be able to get the keycard to floor 66.

66th floor:
Go into the bathroom here and go up the duct, and you will be able to move toward the Shinra meeting room. You'll learn something about where Aeris is and what the Shinra is doing. When ready move out of the duct and follow the Shinra members to the 67th floor.

67th floor:
Hojo will move toward the room here and you are able to look at a specimen here. The specimen is labeled "Jenova". Cloud starts to act nervous and intimidated here. Move toward the back of the area to the save point, and you can also get a Poison Materia from here.

Also make sure to fight some enemies here because you can steal Carbon Bangles from the Moth Slashes and a Hardedge from Solderi 3rds. They are both useful items for this point in the game. Head up the stairs to the 68th floor when ready.

68th floor:
You will see Aeris here enclosed in a plastic cylinder, and Hojo is about to do some experiments on her. Cloud frees Aeris but Hojo calls for help. You will meet Red XIII here and he will offer his help into defeating Hojo's experiment. You have to choose one character to send to stay with Aeris. You are allowed a chance to equip armor here. Send Tifa to stay with Aeris cause you'll want Barret's long range attack for the boss. I recommend giving one person an Elemental and Poison Materia, because it allows you some resistance from the boss here.

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Boss Strategy - Sample: HO512

-The boss can ressurrect the fallen drones
-You need to use long range attacks

Barret is the only character with a long range normal attack so make sure he attacks every round. The Sample: HO512 will bring back its dead buddies so make sure you focus the whole fight onto HO512 itself. He is weak to Bolt magic.
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After you dfeat the boss you can get a Enemey Skill Materia near the tank. Get the keycard to the next floor. Go down to the 66th floor so you can get into the elevators. Tseng and Rude will be here weaiting for you, and they will bring you to the President. The President will talk to you about how he believes Aeris is a Cetra and key to the promised land. You are taken to cells on teh 67th floor. Go to the door so you can talk to the others. Take a nap and you'll notice your cell door is open when you wake up.

Head out and look at the fallen guard. Wake up Tifa and you can free the rest of the characters. You will notice that all the lab technicians have been sliced and Jenova is not in the same place anymore. Follow all of the blood to President Shinra's office. Sephiroth's sword is sticking into the dead president, but he isn't here. You can go out to the roof where Rufus lands on a helicopter. You will now have to fight two bosses back to back.

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Boss Strategy - Hundred Gunner, Heli Gunner

-It takes the boss two turns for the special attack
-Weak to Bolt Magic
-Physical Limit Breaks work well
-Receive a Mythril Armlet for winning

Make sure you go full force and pack the most power at the beginning of fight and kill it as soon as you can so it doesn't have a chance to use its special move. When you destroy it, Heli Gunner will come. Use the same strategy on it, and use potions when neccesary to heal.
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Now Cloud and Rufus have a conversation and you will have to fight him with Cloud alone. Equip Cloud with Restore Materia and All Materia, and its also a good idea to put Elemental and Bolt Materia on his armor so you can resist some of Rufus' attacks. You get to decide when the battle begins.

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Boss Strategy - Rufus

-Kill his sidekick first because it has powerful magic
-Use many Limit Breaks, Fire/Ice Magic

Rufus is pretty easy if you have the Elemental/Bolt combination in your armor because his Dark Nation gun uses those attacks on you. If you did that, you can go straight to pummelling Rufus with attacks and Magic, but if you didn't you should kill Dark Nation first. He's really not too difficult.
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Event 8: Bike Race and Flashback

When you are in the bike race, just keep all of the guys away from your bike by swattingthem with your sword if they come too close. You have to fight a big tank boss at the end of the road. He is pretty easy and you should be able to defeat him with simple magic and limit breaks. Heal up and fight him. Now go to the town Kalm. Goto the inn where everyone is, and you will have a flashback.

Cloud, Sephiroth, and some Shinra are traveling to Nibelheim. Cloud describes how they were there to investigate a Mako Reactor there. Sephiroth notes how his mother, Jenova, died shortly after giving birth to him as you arrive. Go to Cloud and Tifa's homes and you will find out more about them. In the morning the group wakes up and Tifa acts as a guide to the mountain for Cloud and Sephiroth. Before embarking a guy takes a picture of the party.

You will now have to cross Mount Nibel to get to the Mako Reactor. On the bridge, it collapses and you must make your way through the caves. Go farther and Sephiorth will go inside the Reactor. Sephiroth here finds out that he is a result of an experiment by Hojo. After this, Sephiroth . The sequence will shift to the Shinra hidden door in the bedroom that connects to a spiraling staircase. Head down here into a library area. You will now find Sephiroth here. Sephiroth is outraged about his past and says that he's going to find see his mother. Sephiroth destroys Nibelheim in rage and slaughters the villagers, including Cloud and Tifa's parents. As the sequence shifts to the Mako Reactor once again, Cloud tells a story of how he approached Sephiroth there and tried to stop him, but he doesn't remember what happened next, and wonders why Sephiroth didn't kill him.

The flashback is now over. When you head downstairs you will receive the PHS, which allows you to change party members on the world map. You can go through Kalm now and buy near weapons/armor. Explore the town and pick up some supplies. You'll find out that several people here mention they've seen a man with a black cape and large sword, and say he headed east. When ready, leave the and head east to the Chocobo Ranch.

Event 9: Chocobos!

Items: Ether, Tent, Long Range Materia, Mind Source, Elixer, Hi-Potion

Talk to the Chocobo in the front and if you choose the top option, he will give you the Mog and Chocobo summon Materia. Go to the stairs and talk to all of the guys. Buy a Chocobo Lure Materia so you can find them on the footprints on the world map.

Go to the Mines. You have to ride a Chocobo past the snake. Don't go here without a chocobo, or you will die. To catch a Chocobo, go to any footprints close the barn and fight until a Chocobo comes. Don't attack the Chocobo. Kill the other enemies and you get the Chocobo. Ride it past the snake. You will come across a Midgar Zolom being impaled on a huge sword. Head in the mines.

The mines are fairly straightforward and there really isn't anywhere you can get lost. You will have to climb a vine here to get the Long Range Materia. As you get to the exit, you will run into Rude, Elena, and Tseng, the Turks. Elena will mention that Sephiroth is headed for Junon Harbor, and the Turks will leave. Follow them out and you will come across Fort Condor.

Event 10: The Golden Bird and the Beach

You see a tower with a bird on the top. Go into the tower. Practice on the game, because you have to win it later in the game. It's a fun strategy game that takes awhile to get used to but is pretty fun and definitely a great mini game. You just have to kill the guys that are going up the mountain using different units. You won't be able to buy items here until you've agreed to help save the condors, and you'll have to talk to the man in the middle of the fort to do so.

When ready, save your game and get supplies and head to the Naval Base at Junon Harbor. At this point you can get Yuffie in your party. Start fighting in the forests and you may run into a girl in battle. She's not too tough in battle, and when you defeat her, the game will switch to a small map. Don't be distracted by the save point here, run up and talk to Yuffie. She will say a series of things to Cloud, and you have to respond a certain way. After each answer, you have to talk to her again. Here is what you have to say to her statements:

"You spikey-headed jerk! One more time, let's go one more time!"
Answer: Not Interested.

"You're pretty scared of me, huh!?"
Answer: .....petrified.

"I'm really gonna leave! REALLY!"
Answer: Wait a second!

"You want me to go with you?"
Answer: .....That's right.

"All right! I'll go with you!"
Answer: .....Let's hurry on.

Head to Junon. It's against the ocean, very large, and has a large cannon coming out of it. You really can't do much here, but talk to the people and learn about the area. I recommend equiping Cloud with your Long Range Materia here, because it will be useful for the upcoming boss. Also make sure that you have Barret in your party. Head down to the Junon beach and you will find a girl, Priscilla. She asks you to leave, but a monster sudden attacks, and you will have to fight it.

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Boss Strategy - Bottomswell

-Can't attack unless you have a long range attack
-Has two powerful attacks
-Short range characters should use magic

Bottomswell has two powerful attacks. One, Water Bubble, stuns a character and leaves them inactive. It's other attack, Big Wave, hits the entire party with a water attack that deals about 100 hit points to all. This is also its desperation attack, so make sure you won't die when it does at the end of the fight.
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Priscilla is hurt and isn't breathing, and Cloud will have to preform CPR on her. Pressing the O button allows Cloud to fill his lungs with air. When the small meter reaches the top, press O again and cloud will give her air. You have to get your timing right but it isn't that tough.

After saving Priscilla, the woman near the town entrance is thankful and offers you a night of rest in her home, so take her offer. Cloud heres a mysterious voice telling him to ask Tifa about Nibelheim. You will now get to walk around town again. Make sure to ru ninto Priscilla again and she will give you the Shiva Materia. Priscilla tells you that Shinra is throwing a ceremony for Rufus, but you can't directly get there because the soldiers are blocking off the path. However, Priscilla shows Cloud that her dolphin friend can help. Get on its nose and he will leap high into the air. You will have to place him at the right spot and you can land on the bar above. You will now get to Junon.

Event 11: Shinra Military

Items: 1/35th Soldier x2, Mind Source, Luck Source, Power Source, Guard Source, Enemy Skill Materia, Speed Source

Climp the pole and you will see a unique sequence of a airship taking off. Go west and go to the door below. Soldiers are hyped here for Rufus' arrival at the base. Once of the soldiers sees Cloud and assumes he's one of the soldiers, and brings him to the locker room and dresses him in a uniform. He will teach you the right moves for the reception committee, which you will have to

You will now have to jump out and join the large parade. Make sure to take your place behind the commander and fill in the back. Raise the gun when the other soldiers do as well. You can win different items depending on the ratings you get.

1-29: Grenade
30-39: Potion x6
40-49: Ether x6
50-100: 5000 Gil

Now you will have to do the different moves in front of Heidegger and Rufus. Just push the button that Heidegger calls out. Depending on how good you do here, you win different items afterward. The base is now able to be explored by you, so stock up on gear and when ready and head to the boat.

Event 12: Relaxation and Surfers!

Items:
Shinra Boat - Ether, All Materia, Wind Slash, Ifrit Materia
Costa Del Sol - Motor Drive, Fire Ring, Power Source

You will learn that all of your characters have snuck unboard in disguises. Go to the front of the boat to see Barret spying on Rufus and Heidegger. The alarm sounds now, something is wrong with the ship. Get your party members together and head to the cargo hold. You will find that most of the crew is dead, and the Shinra officers are going after anyone not in Shinra, and they will spot you. You'll have to fight a few guards but they are laughable.

Approach the standing guard at the bottom of the cargo bay and you'll find Sephiroth. He will leave abruptly and Jenova-Birth will distract you while he makes his getaway.

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Boss Strategy - Jenova-Birth

-Casts Stop on characters
-Can do Tail Laser, a 200 hp to all attack

It's time to break out your Summon Materia. Shiva and Chocobo/Mog both do major damage here, so unleash hell. Also Fire attacks will do a good deal of damage. She has some powerful attacks but should go down if you keep up consistant summons.
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After defeating Jenova-Birth, make sure to grab the Ifrit Summon Materia left behind.

You will arrive at the beach in Costa Del Sol. Talk to all the people and then walk down to the beach. Don't talk to the Shinra guy yet, talk to the girls. There isn't much to do at all other than gaze at the unique sights and watch Rufus and Heidegger land. Note that President Shinra's beach house is being sold for 300,000 Gil. Keep that in mind for the future.

If you go down to the beach you will find Hojo talking to some women. If you talk to him all he suggests is that you head to Mount Corel. Stock up on supplies here and head onward to the Corel Mountains. I especially recommend grabbing Softs for the upcoming area.

Event 13: Everyone Hates Barret

Items:
Mount Corel - Wizard Staff, Star Pendant, W Machine Gun, Turbo Ether, Transform Materia, Phoenix Down x10, Power Source, Mind Source, Tent
Golden Saucer - Ramuh Materia, Ranch Materia
Corel Prison - Silver Armlet

Keep battling down through the train tracks. You will find a ledge with a great view of a Mako Reactor at the bottom of the canyon. You will fall down on some of the broken parts. Grab all of the items down there. Go across all of the tracks and talk to all of your party members. Go into the booth and hit the switch and keep following the track to the city. At the end of the area, you enter an area where you can hear some birds chirping. If you climb up the wall in that area you will find a few birds. You can choose to take 10 Phoenix Downs, but if you do you'll have to fight a Cokatolis. Exit the train area and head toward North Corel.

North Corel was a coal mining town but now is burned up and very junky. Barret grew up here. Barret also receives a bad reception because of his past. Buy new weapons and armor and head to the Golden Saucer Ropeway, which is to the west. Before you depart on the ropeway though, Barret will tell you the entire story of North Corel. Basically what happened is there was an explosion at the Mako Reactor in Corel and Shinra blamed the citizens living in North Corel, saying that it was a terrorist attack, so they burned the whole place down, killing most of the people and making Barret an outcast.

Go up to the Gold Saucer. Buy the lifetime pass if you can, because you can do many things here later. Choose a character to come with you, and enter the Square. You will find Cait Sith here. Name him and he will join you after you talk to him a few times for no real reason. :)

Play some games and enter the battle square. Some guards are dead and it looks like Barret's work, because of the bullet holes in all of the people. One of the dying men says it was also a guy with a gun grafted into his arm. Dio, the Golden Saucer owner, throws you out of the Gold SAucer and into the prison below the Gold Saucer area.

The place is completely surrounded by quicksand and you quickly learn that you won't be able to get out of the prison in any normal way. Also some bandits living here can steal your items. If you get into a battle and an enemy steals an item and then runs away, you can't get it back, but if you quickly kill them you can. Barret is also here and pissed, but follow him off the screen to the open area. You will learn a bit about his past and how he got the gun grafted into his arm. He tells the story of Dyne and how Barret and Dyne were attacked by Scarlet. Dyne hung off the ledge as Barret caught him. The Shinra soldiers shoot at Barret and Dyne, causing them to lose their arms.

Go back to the area where you entered, and there will be yet another dead guy killed in the same way the people in the Golden Saucer were. Go through the east gate and you will run into Dyne. Dyne is very bitter about what happened four years ago, and is intent on destroying everything. He will get mad and you will have to fight him with Barret alone.

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Boss Strategy - Dyne

-Trade normal attacks while keeping your hp up
-He doesn't have much variety in attacks
-You'll win Silver Armlet for killing him

Dyne can use an attack called S-Mine that is basically the same as a normal attack, but he uses it right after a normal attack. Don't let your hit points drop before 350 or so because he can deal that much damage in two shots. Also, Dyne's desperation attack is Molotov Cocktail, which does 150 or so damage. Keep hacking away with attacks and he'll be dead.
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After defeating Dyne, he is still alive but wounded. Barret attempts to help Dyne, but Dyne just gives him a pendant to give to Barret's daughter and plummets to his death, jumping off the cliff.

You will get to rest up and the next morning you will meet the chocobo racer. Apparently you will be able to win your way out of prison if you can win the chocobo race in the Golden Saucer. You will meet Ester, the manager of the races, and she tells you how to race. She'll also loan Cloud her Chocobo to race with. Make sure to grab the Ramuh Summon Materia in the room.

The actual race really isn't hard at all once you get the hang of it. Use Manual control and increase your speed at the start of the race so you don't waste as much stamina as the other racers. Once you win, you will get out of jail. If you fail, you can keep trying as many times as neccesary until you win.

Dio apologizes for the mixup. He'll allow you access to his Buggy so you can leave the desert. Heading through a rift in the water, you will reach the Gongaga area.

Event 14: Gongaga

Items: Titan Materia, Deathblow Materia, X-Potion, White M-phone, Fairy Tale

Take the all-terrain vehicle across the river back to the Gongaga area. Cross the shallow place in the river. Follow past the destroyed Mako reactor and enter Gongaga.

Upon entering, you will run into the Turks. Elena runs off and leaves Reno and Rude to attack you.

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Boss Strategy - Reno and Rude

-Equip Elemental-Fire in armor
-Kill Rude first
-Use Summons and Magic more than normal attacks
-Winning nets you an X-Potion and Fairy Tale

This is an extremely easy boss fight. Do your best to pummel Rude early because he can heal both himself and Reno. Unleash your summon materia and you should be able to cruise through this fight.
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Follow the path that Elena took to the Mako Reactor that has been destroyed. You will see a small sequence in which Scarlet and Tseng show up and are looking for something called a "Huge Materia". They can't find anything, so they leave. Check the area Scarlet was searching for the Titan Materia. This is a useful summon. Go through the other path on the crossroads and pick up the Deathblow Materia on the way. You will come across a very small village and several people talk about Zack, a guy that left the town for Soldier. Aeris remembers that name as her old boyfriend.

When done buying items or resting up, take the buggy to Cosmo Canyon.

Event 15: Cosmo Canyon

Items:
Cave of the Gi - Added Effect Materia, Black M-phone, Ether, Fairy Ring, X-Potion, Turbo Ether, Gravity Materia

Cosmo Canyon is as its name suggets, located in a Canyon near Gongaga. Cross the river to the south of the village and follow the path into the canyon. The buggy will break down right in front of Cosmo Canyon.

Cosmo Canyon is Red XIII's hometown, where he is called Nanaki. The buggy You will see a man in the middle of town that will offer to fix the buggy for you if you study. Follow Red XIII up to meet his grandfather, Bugenhagen. Talking to Barret here will teach you about some Avalanche history. He says that he once planned to bring the entire Avalanche group here one day.

Bugenhagen has an observatory at the top of Cosmo Canyon and tells you about the planet's lifestream. He'll say the the lifestream consists of a path of energy of souls roaming around the planet. He'll tell (and show) you about what is happening to the planet because of the Shinra. Talk to him another time and he'll bring you to the very center of the town. After talking to the rest of your party, talk to Red XIII and he will tell you a bit about his family. Red XIII asks you to create a party including himself, so you have to take him for the upcoming dungeon. Go up to where Bugenhagen is and he will open a path to the Cave of the Gi.

In the cave there are actually quite a few secret paths and areas where you could get lost, but it's really not very long. The Gi Spectors here use Death Sentance on your characters so bring some Phoenix Downs. Also touching the gold liquid will cause you to slip so try to stay away from it. In the small maze area with twisting paths is an Added Effect Materia on the bottom left. You will get to a point where there are 5 caves you can enter to proceed.

First Tunnel - goes to the fifth tunnel
Second Tunnel - leads to a fight with Stingers
Third Tunnel - Dead end
Fourth Tunnel - leads to a fight with Stingers, an item
Fifth Tunnel - connects with first tunntel

You must take the second tunnel to get by, it's really the only path you need to take, but taking the fourth tunnel nets you an item after fighting the Stingers.

Equipping items that resist fire is a good idea for the next boss. Also make sure each character has a powerful summon materia. Approach the face in the wall at the end of the cave and you'll encounter Gi Nattak.

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Boss Strategy - Gi Nattak

-Can use attacks to steal HP/MP
-Has a lot of fire based attacks
-Get a Wizer Staff and Phoenix Down for winning

Nothing too terribly hard here. If you have fire resistance he will be pretty easy. Consistantly summon Shiva and Ramuh and he will go down fast. If you don't have summons use Ice based magic.

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After you defeat the boss, Bugenhagen will show you the statue of Red XIII's father, Seto. Red xIII realizes that his father was a hero that saved the village. After talking about what happened, Bugenhagen asks Red XIII to continue with Cloud because he can help the world. When leaving town Red XIII will run down and join you again. Leave Cosmo Canyon and head soutwest, to Nibelheim, Cloud's hometown.

Event 16:
Nibelheim

Items:
Nibelheim - Luck Source x2, Elixir, Platinum Fist, Turbo Ether
Shinra Mansion - Silver M-phone, Enemy Launcher, Magic Source, Twin Viper, Odin Materia, Cosmo Memory
Mount Nibel - Rune Blade, Plus Barette, Powersoul, Elixir, Counter Attack Materia, Sniper CR, Elemental Materia, All Materia

According to Cloud's memories Nibelheim completely burned down but as you enter you find out it looks like nothing happened at all. Go around through the homes and you'll find small guys wearing capes. They tell you that nothing ever happened here and Nibelheim never burned down. After talking to them, most of them give you an item.

You can go to Tifa's piano now and play the tune to get her ultimate limit break now if you want. When ready, head to the Shinra Mansion to to the north.

Explore all the rooms and gain some levels here. Read the notes on the floor. The first note suggests someone is trapped in the basement. The second note says something about a safe, and says you have 20 seconds to open it. There are hints telling you what the combination is hidden within the rooms:

-Look for the lid of the box with the most oxygen (the treasure chest in the atrium)
-Behind the Ivory's short of tea and ray. (The floor near the piano)
-The creek in the floor near the chair on the second floor. Then to the left five steps, up nine steps, left two steps, and up six steps (A loose floorboard near the chair in the bedroom upstairs, then follow the directions and search)
-Missing clue (Written in invisible ink, look at the clue sheet at the location where the dial 4 clue should be)

These hints allow you to find certain places in the mansion which give you pieces of the combination. Opening the safe isn't neccesary but it does net you a powerful summon materia if you do, and also a powerful hidden character. I definitely recommend it.

The code for the safe is: Turn right to 36, left to 10, right to 59, right to 97.

You have to fight a boss to get the prize.

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Boss strategy - Lost Number

-Unleash your summons
-Get Odin Materia for winning

If you defeat the purple side first, the red size will begin using strong magic. If you defeat the red side first, the purple side will use physical attacks. Once you have defeated one side it won't be as tough though. Also, if you're using Aeris here her Seal Evil Limit break can paralyze it for most of the fight. This makes the battle incredibly easy.

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You get the Odin Materia after defeating it. Also, if you choose to open the safe, you will receive the Basement Key. This allows you to unlock a locked door below. When ready, head down to the basement that you saw in the flashback scene through the hidden passage. Unlock the door to the east. When you go up to the coffin in the room, you'll meet a man named Vincent. Ask him about Sephiroth and he'll just go back into his coffin. Talk to him again and he'll tell you his name. He'll ask you if you've seen a woman named Lucretia, who he says is Sephiroth's mother. Then, he'll go back into his coffin again. Don't worry about this, he'll join you later.

Head into the library here. Surprisingly Sephiroth is here waiting for you! He'll ask Cloud about the "Reuion", and Cloud has no idea what he is talking about, and asks Cloud to go to Mount Nibel, where they had been 5 years ago. He'll through a Destruct Materia at you as he bolts out.

When heading out, Vincent will join your party for good. Head back to Nibelheim, this time taking the north path to head to Mount Nibel. It's a very short walk away between the mountains. The path is linear but long, and there are quite a lot of items on the way so don't go through too fast. This will seem familiar as this is the same place Cloud and Sephiroth climbed 5 years ago. After crossing the bridge, you will find a place where you can jump into 5 different chutes. But don't jump down just yet, go down the ladder and push the folding ladder down so you can come back to the top after you've taken a chute.

Chute 1 - Leads right in front of a scorpion-like creature
Chute 2 - Leads to a ledge with the Powersoul for Tifa
Chute 3 - Just takes to to the second level
Chute 4 - Drops you near a chest with an All Materia
Chute 5 - Just takes you to the second level

When ready, take the path to the south next to the creature, and you will get to the place near where Cloud fell 5 years ago. The cave is very small. After passing the Nibel Reactor, take the door behind it and you will have to fight another boss.

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Boss Strategy - Materia Keeper

-Weak to Bolt and Ice
-Uses Trine which you can learn as an Enemy Skill
-Get Jem Ring for defeating it

Materia Keeper is one of the toughest bosses in the game in my opinion, but still not too bad. Make sure not to use your gravity magic on it because it absorbs it. It's Trine attack is very powerful, as it can hit your entire party for about 500. It also has several other attacks that do about 200-350 damage each. Focus on severing it quickly with Bolt 2 and Ice 2 spells.
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Make sure to grab the Counter Attack Materia that the Materia Keeper dropped, and equip it as it's a very good ability to have. When ready, you can exit Mount Nibel and head toward Rocket Town. It's easy to spot as there's a rocket sticking out of the ground.

Event 17: Rocket Man and Yuffie's Story

Items:
Rocket Town - Power Source, Yoshiyuki, Drill Arm
Wutai - Dragon Lance, Hairpin, Elixir, Swift Bolt, MP Absorb Materia, HP Absorb Materia, Leviathan Materia, Steal as Well Materia, Oritsuru

Explore the town and talk to everyone. You will learn about the Shinra's space program and how something terribly went wrong so it never entered space. There are some nice shops here with new weapons and armor so make sure you stock up. Also, talk to the man outside the Item Shop and choose to look at the rocket with him, and he'll give you a nice weapon, the Yoshiyuki. You will find that the captain is a man named Cid, but he's not at his house right now. You can see his plane here though, the Tiny Bronco. Cid's assistant tells you that Rufus is coming to town and Cid hopes he plans to reinstate the space program. When ready, climb the top of the rocket and talk to Cid. He'll tell you about how he was supposed to go into space but a disaster happened an the rocket never lifted off. If you ask him about using his Tiny Bronco, he'll get pissed and basically say no way. :)

Head back to Cid's home. Shera will tell you all about the day of the supposed launch, and then Rufus will arrive. Go back and talk to Cid again. Rufus says he's not going to restart the space program but wants to borrow the Tiny Bronco because Sephiroth has already crossed the sea. Cid gets pissed because he thought he might be going into space again. Palmer, a Shinra flunkie, tries to steal the Tiny Bronco anyway. Go to the back of Cid's house and stop him.

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Boss Strategy - Palmer

This fight is basically a joke, he's not really even a real boss. You can paralyze him right away with Chocobo/Mog Materia or Aeris' Seal Evil limit break. For defeating him, you'll receive a Edincoat.
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After you defeating Palmer, the plane is already moving so the team jumps onto it, including Cid. Rufus gets very mad. The plane goes out of control and eventually crashes into shallow water. You are now able to head to Yuffie's hometown, Wutai, if you'd like, but it's an optional part of the story. If you don't want to do this side quest, don't head north because you can't get out of the side quest if you start it. :)

If you don't want to do the Wutai quest, skip to chapter 18 and head for Gongaga village again.

As you head north, go through the mountain pass and Yuffie will tell you this is her hometown. As you check your materia, you realize it is all gone and Yuffie has stolen it! You'll also run into some very easy Shinra guards to fight here. Follow Yuffie through the town and try to catch her. Also note that if you acquire any Materia in Wutai, Yuffie will run by and steal it. You'll learn from the people hear that Yuffie ran toward Lord Godo's house, to the north of Wutai.

Godo will be sleeping in his house, and after speaking to him multiple times Yuffie will run by and Godo chases Yuffie out of the house. There is a secret room in Godo's bedroom which allows to head through a fake wall to get a Hairpin for Red XIII. Go down to the house near the beginning of Wutai and you'll see Yuffie hiding behind the screen to the left. Find her, and she'll run off. Now, search the jar in front of Turtle's Paradise and you will have her surrounded. She'll say she gives up and will take you to her basement. She tells you to pull the left switch to get the Materia. No matter which switch you pull, it's a trap and a huge cage comes down on top of you. Free the characters and start chasing her again. Head to the north part of Wutai and ring the gong. It will open a secret door into the mountains.

You will find that Don Corneo is back, and he's kidnapping Yuffie and Elena. Follow him quickly and you'll have to fight a Shinra squad. Go back to the normal part of Wutai and you'll find out that the Turks are here. Reno and Rude won't fight you but they will suggest that Corneo ran up the mountain. Follow him there and you'll find Corneo with both Yuffie and Elena hanging on the mountain. You will have to fight a boss here.

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Boss Strategy - Rapps

-Have many Hi-Potions/Phoenix Downs ready
-Use a barrage of normal attacks and magic items

This fight is especially annoying because you don't have any of your Materia. Use any magic items you can because they'll do a lot of damage. Otherwise use normal attacks and use your items to heal. Rapps can do an attack called Scorpion Sting that can do 1,500 damage to one person, so make sure you use Hi-Potions after this attack. Having Barret use Mind Blow limit break to drain his MP is a good idea, as is having Vincent transforming into one of his best beast forms. Physical limit breaks will help a lot here. When you win this fight, you will get a Peace Ring.
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The Turks will come and agree to leave you without a fight as you helped each other out here. Yuffie will apologize for stealing your Materia and you will get it back. You can now do a Pagoda sidequest to get Leviathan Materia and Yuffie's ultimate limit break here. Save up and head to the Pagoda to the north, and Yuffie will undergo a trial. Give her your best Summons and Magic Materia.

First Fight - Gorki
Give Yuffie Elemental/Gravity Materia combination to resist his Gravity attacks. Also make sure she has Cure materia. His attacks will be useless if you have this materia combination. You'll receive an X-Potion for defeating it.

Second Fight - Shake
Give Yuffie a Barrier Materia. Shake's Rage Bomber can do 600 damage but Barrier will block half of the damage. Chocobo/Mog summon can stun Shake well. Use summons and you shouldn't have trouble here.

Third Fight - Chekhov
Equipping the fairly newly acquired Jem Ring helps a lot because you can negate his paralyze attack. Use Barrier again to absorb half the damage of his attacks. Also use Haste because he is very slow.

Fourth Fight - Staniv
He mainly uses normal attacks, so use Barrier again. Normal attacks can do the job here, especially when Hasted. If you have Barrier up this fight won't be tough at all.

Fifth Fight - Godo
This one is pretty tough. He uses Beast Sword and Trine, two very powerful attacks. The gold face can also use Cure 2, and the white face uses offensive spells like Bio and Demi 3. You won't win this fight if you don't hav ethe right Materia on Yuffie. Make sure she has Cure, Time, and Barrier at least. Cast Barrier right away and try to keep up a constant attack while healing with Cure.

You'll get the Leviathan Materia and Yuffie's ultimate Limit Break, All Creation, for winning. When ready, head back to the Gongaga area, to a house alone near a peninsula. There is a weapon seller here. He tells you abou the Temple of the Ancients and how there is an item called a "Keystone" that unlocks that temple that he sold to Dio, the Golden Saucer owner.

Go back to the Golden Saucer through the North Corel ropeway. Go to the Battle Arena again, and to a side room, and the Keystone will be displayed upon a pedestal. Dio will show up and Cloud will ask to borrow it. Dio says he'll allow Cloud to use the Keystone if you are fight in the Battle Arena. It doesn't matter if you win or lose here, as long as you try. If you defeat all eight opponents you'll receive a Choco Feather and Protect Vest though.

Event 18: Quest For the Keystone

Go to Battle Square and go into the showroom. The keystone is in the center room on the pillar. When you try to take it, Dio comes in and says he will let you borrow it if Cloud will fight in the Battle Arena. Agree and enter the arena. You will have to chose a random item from a slots machine device that will help of hurt your efforts. You will get the Keystone after the battle.

You have to spend the night at the hotel, since the transport is out of order. Cait Sith will come with you. You will find out that Sephiroth is trying to find the Black Materia. Aeris will ask you on a date. You can take the rides in the Golden Saucer for free with her. When you enter the theater area, the announcer will say you are the 100th couple to enter, so you have to be in a play. The play is one of the most humorous parts of the game. You are given several options on responses during the play. You can either make the play great or a disaster. It's really pretty entertaining if you intentionally try to screw it up.

Aeris will ask to ride the gondola next. You will see another FMV. Aeris will ask you if you want to go on another date with her. (I of course, said yes!) The FMV is very cool here. As you are leaving, you will see now that Cait Sith has stolen the Keystone and is heading to the Chocobo Racing part of the Golden Saucer. Chase him and you will learn that he works for the Shinra and was a spy the whole time. He will throw the Keystone to Tseng and he will get away with it. The party gets pissed at Cait Sith but allows him to rejoin the party because he gives you information about the Temple of the Ancients.

You will gather in the lobby, and you decide to go to the Ruins and get the Black Materia before Sephiroth. Chose who you want and go to the Temple of Ancients, which is located in the middle of a jungle.

Event 19: Temple of the Ancients

Items: Trident, Mind Source, Silver Rifle, Rocket Punch, Turbo Ether, Luck Plus Materia, Morph Materia, Nail Bat, Work Glove, Ribbon, Princess Guard, Bahamut Materia, Trumpet Shell, Megalixer

As you arrive, in the first room, you will find a man clad in black, saying something about a Black Materia. Go farther inside and you will see Tseng of the Turks lying on the ground, wounded badly. He will give you the Keystone and tell you to place it on the altar. Do so and it will open a passage into the temple.

The main part of the temple is basically a maze. However, a lot of the ledges and areas that you see you can't even travel on, it's just there to throw you off. Make sure to get all of the treasure here, a lot of the items are very useful. You will eventually see a small purple guy. Rest in his house anytime you need to. This will allow you easy access to all the treasures in the area because you can just rest again if you are hurt.

Go through the second part of the maze and you'll see another purple guy run into a door. Follow him into a room with boulders falling across the path. It's pretty easy to get past, just run through and make sure you're in the indentations so you don't get hurt. You'll soon come across a trap that shuts itself on you and bring you to a big light beam. You'll also see a flashback, which is what happened right before you entered the temple.

You will now come to a large circular room that is laid out like a clock. You can spin the hands of the clock so that the hour/minute hands form a bridge to walk across into different areas.

Room 1: Trap (Boss)
Room 2: Blocked Path
Room 3: Trap (Boss)
Room 4: Prince Guard Item
Room 5: Path and a Treasure
Room 6: Chase the Dwarf puzzle
Room 7: Weapon for Cait Sith
Room 8: Elixir
Room 9: Blocked Path
Room 10: Starting Point
Room 11: Blocked Path Room 12: Boss and the Exit

After you go through door 6, you will have to follow his pattern running through the different doors. Each of the doors here is connected to another door in the maze. You have to figure out which door he will come out of next so you can catch him. You can jump down levels by pressin the O button. When you catch him he will unlock the door for you so you can get past. Save and rest at the save point.

Again, you'll see another flashback from earlier. Sephiroth is talking about the Ancients and how he plans to become the planet itself. Cloud again begins to have mental trauma. Sephiroth will leave, but give you a Red Dragon to play with.

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Boss Strategy - Red Dragon

-Very weak to Ice based magic
-Absorbs Fire
-Bio spells are very useful

Start the fight by poisoning him with Bio. Regenning your characters will also help because he does various attacks that do around 700 damage to your party. Make sure to summon Shiva often. Casting Barrier on your party can also negate some of the physical attacks. Keep pummeling him with Ice based stuff and he'll go down.
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After you win, collect the Bahamut Materia he left behind. Go into the room on the right and you will find the Black Materia Tseng was talking about on an altar. The thing is, the Black Materia can not simply be taken because it is the temple itself. Cait Sith will volunteer to stay behind and sacrifice himself for the cause of getting the Materia. Have the main team go back into the clock room and go to room 12. You will have to fight another boss, Demon's Gate.

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Boss Strategy - Demon's Gate

-Slow spells work
-He can petrify your characters
-He is immune to Gravity and Poison
-Get a Gigas Armlet for winning

Launch a barrage of Bahamut, Kjata, and Ifrit summons. He can petrify your characters so be ready to use softs on them to make them active. Most of his special attacks are physical, so if you need to, make use of Barrier spells.
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Cait Sith calls out to Cloud from the outside, saying he will take the Black Materia and sacrifice himself now. As he does, the entire Temple implodes and becomes the Materia, and as you are walking toward it, Sephiroth will come. Cloud is overtaken by mental strain yet again, and Cloud inadvertently hands the Black Materia over to Sephiroth.

Cloud passes out and has a dream about how Aeris explains she is going to fight Sephiroth by herself. As you wake up, Aeris has already left and you're in the Gongaga Inn. Leave for the northern continent of the world with the Tiny Bronco. Go up the coastline.

Event 20: The Ancients

Items:
Bone Village - Lunar Harp, Mop, Buntline
Sleeping Forest - Kjata Materia, Water Ring
City of the Ancients - Guard Source, Elixir, Enemy Skill Materia, Magic Source, Aurora Armlet, Comet Materia

Enter Bone Village, it's on the northern continent. Enter the village and talk to the boss by the door. He will tell his team to try and find the Lunar Harp if you pay him. Basically what happens is in this area, three of the diggers can be placed and when initiated, they will look the way of the harp. Line yourself up to where all of the diggers are pointed and search and you will find the Lunar Harp.

After getting the Lunar Harp, you can go through the Sleeping Forest. Go through the forest and get the Materia here before it disappears. There is also a Water Ring in a chest along the way to the City of the Ancients. When you arrive at the City of the Ancients, there are three roads. Don't go up the middle until you've gone through the side areas to rest up and get the treasures here. While resting in the small house, Cloud awakens because he hears Aeris' voice. Take the team through the center path, but be sure to get the Comet Materia on the top of the house first. This materia lets you learn the powerful Comet magic series.

As you go through the middle you will come across a surreal crystalline city. Head up and you will find Aeris in prayer.

You will find one of the game's most memorable sequences...

Yep folks, the big dramatic scene. Sephiroth, stabbing a sword downward, falls straight down on Aeris as she prays and she is killed. Sephiroth smirks as he pulls his sword out of her body. Aeris's White Materia bounces down the pedestals in the room.

Now you will get enraged with Sephiroth, but he will leave the area quickly and force you to fight Jenova.

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Boss Strategy - Jenova Life

-Uses water based attacks
-Very weak to Earth spells
-Casts reflect, you can use DeBarrier to destroy it
-Equip the newly acquired Water Ring on someone
-Get a Wizard Bracelet after winning

Powerful summons and Quake magic do the trick here. For added insurance you can cast MBarrier at the beginning of the fight, but doing so will make your healing magic less powerful. If you need, cast Regen so you get extra hit points each round.
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Sephiroth has already left for the promised land. Cloud, saddened by the party's loss, vows to never forgive Sephiroth for what he has done. In a very well done FMV, Cloud lays Aeris to rest in the water surrounding the city.

Insert Disc 2.

Event 21: The Search for Sephiroth

Items:
Corral Valley Cave: Viper Halberd, Bolt Armlet, HypnoCrown, MP Materia, Power Source, Megalixir
Great Glacier: Mind Source, Poison, Safety Bit, All Materia, Elixir, Alexander Materia

Cloud says that Sephiroth told him to "Head North...past the snow fields..." Climb the large conch shell type stairs and around to a high ledge. You can get several treasures climbing up this way so don't miss them. Go the Glacier Lounge near the mountain tops.

Explore the town and enter the house on the eastern edge of town. Look at the map of the wall. Take the map and talk to the man on the north end of the town and tell him you want down the hill. You will be stopped by the Shinra. Elena tries to punch you. Dodge to the left and you will laugh at her falling down the mountain. The town has now been placed under Shinra guards. Go in the little house in the center of town and talk to the boy. He will give you a snowboard. You can now snowboard down the hill. This part is pretty long, but in my opinion one of the funnest parts in the game. you can do tricks by doing different combinations of the buttons off of jumps. Collect as many items as you can. When you get to the bottom, get your map and go to the red spot on it.

Touch the steaming lakes and there is Materia here. You will eventually pass out. Talk to the old man and he will tell you how to climb the cliff. Sleep and then climb. Make sure your body temperature is higher than 25 degrees, or you will have to start all over. If you press the Square button, Cloud will run in place and you will generate body heat. You can also find the Alexander summon Materia in one of the caves here. It's hard to spot but if you look long enough you will find the cave that has it. You will eventually find another cave. Go into it. Push the first rock to reveal a path. Go in it. Follow the passage and you must break the four icicles. (In combat) A bridge will appear in the room below if you do it. Equip everyone with Fire and Iced based resistance Materia and go out and fight the boss.

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Boss Strategy - Schizo

-Right side is fire based
-Left side is ice based
-Get a Dragon Fang for winning

This battle is quite easy if you know what to do. Decide which side You want to take out first and do it fast. Use spells like Ice 3 and Shiva on the right side, and Fire 3 and Ifrit on the left. Casting MBarrier is a good way to keep up your defences, because they cast elemental magic on you as well, in addition to Quake 3, which is quite annoying if you don't have MBarrier up. Each head casts a desperation attack that does about 900 damage when killed, so make sure to keep your hit points above that when you win.
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When you reach the top of the mountain, climb the cliff up to a huge crater.

Event 22: Meteor and the Shinra

Items:
The Crater: Neo Bahamut Materia, Hi-Potion, Ether, MP Turbo Materia, Kaiser Knuckle, Poison Ring

As you work your way up the crater, make sure you get the Neo Bahamut Materia from the ground. When partially through the area, Rufus, Scarlet, Hojo, and Heidegger show up. Ignore them and keep working your way on. In the area where wind is blowing hard, don't move through, but wait for it to calm down to run again. If you try to head through the blowing wind you will be forced into a fight.

At the top you will run into Sephiroth, and he's killing a few of the black caped guys you saw before in Nibelheim. He'll leave you abruptly with Jenova-Death to fight.

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Boss Strategy - Jenova-Death

-Her attacks are Fire based
-Equip Fire resistance Materia
-Get a Reflect Ring win for winning

MBarrier works wonders here, as Jenova only uses magic. Make sure to also use slow on her, as it sticks and will make it dramatically easier to win. Jenova uses Silence spells on the team as well, so make sure you have Echo Screens ready. Unleash Bahamuj, Neo Bahamut, and Kjata here and you shouldn't have too much trouble. Actually, Jenova-Death isn't even very tough for a boss at all for this part of the game.
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Sephiroth has moved even deeper into the crater. Cloud has the Black Materia, but he decides to give it to a party member because of what happened last time, and he doesn't want to subconsciously give it away again. Choose Red XIII and move on. Grab the MP Turbo Materia and save just ahead. As enter the next area you will have to do the same manuevers through the wind as you did before, and also lightning that strikes the path. It's not too tough if you time it right.

You will find Sephiroth yet again, and he will show you the flashback of the party entering Nibelheim again, but things are slightly different. Cloud isn't with him, instead there is a spikey black haired man with Sephiroth. Sephiroth claims that Cloud was never at Nibelheim with him then, and that he is a Jenova filled creation of Hojo just like all of the others. Also, Sephiroth shows you the picture that was taken that day. Cloud is nowhere in the picture, instead is the spikey black haired guy. Tifa seems a bit disturbed by these images. Cloud realizes that he doesn't remember parts of the journey, but he doesn't let it overcome him.

You will find the Shinra inside the crater. No matter who you gave the Black Materia to, Tifa will tell that person to bring it to the center of the crater. You'll discover that Tifa was actually Sephiroth in disguise. The person that you gave the Black Materia will give it to Cloud, and Cloud will give it to the real Sephiroth, who is in a crystalline state here. As he does, the Weapons will awake from their slumber and you will be left with a cool FMV scene.

When you awake seven days later, you will be in control of Tifa. She is trapped in a lab with Barret, and that the Weapons that were released are terrorizing the world. Sephiroth summoned the power of Meteor, which is to strike the planet soon if no one can do anything about it.

Rufus will decide that Barret and Tifa are to be executed to raise the Shinra morale because of they are part of the Avalanche resistance team. They are both taken to a gas chamber, and Rufus plans to broadcast their deaths to everyone. Tifa is strapped into a chair, but as the guard exits he accidently drops the key nearby.

Before they pull the switch on executing Tifa though, a Weapon begins to approach Junon Harbor. Shinra is going to fire the huge cannon connected to Junon to try to stop it. While confused, Cait Sith in disguise frees Barret from the chamber, and try to get into the air chamber to save Tifa. Look for the control room. Scarlet locks the press room so you can't get by that way. You will come across a reported who is actually Yuffie in disguise. Equip them because you'll have to do some fights here.

You are now in control of Tifa and have to attempt to escape. Pressing certain buttons in combinations allows Tifa to move certain body parts in attempt to reach the key. Use Tifa's legs twice first to pull the key over, and then use her Head to make her sit up. Now, press O and Triangle together to get the key in her mouth, and then press O to unlock the cuffs. Hit the switch on the left of the chair to stop the gas. The door is locked but you will receive a bit of help. :)

The Shinra will shoot the cannon at Weapon but it seems to do little good. Weapon cuts a huge hole in the wall. You are able to climb through the hole and climb the edge of the area. Run all the way down to the huge cannon to the end, and you'll find Scarlet. You will now have to fight her in a slapping match. Just keep pressing the Slap button continously and you will win. As you see Barret in the airship, Tifa will run toward the end, and jump off and cling to the ladder. The party has taken over the Highwind, which you will have for the rest of the game. However, Cloud is still nowhere to be found and the party thinks you should find him quick.

You now have some freedom once you get the airship. If you haven't done so anyway, you can do the Wutai Pagoda Quest with Yuffie to get the Leviathan Materia and her ultimate Limit Break, All Creation if you want. Just head to Mideel when you're ready, it's easy to spot as it's in the middle of a forest area.

Event 23: The Search For Cloud

Items: Elixir, Contain Materia

As you enter Mideel, you will find a dog in the very center of town. As Tifa pets it, you will overhear a conversation about a spikey haired guy that washed up on shore and is living here. Go into the hospital and sure enough, Cloud is there. He's undergone big mental trauma again and is in a state of coma. He has apparently contracted Mako poisoning. Tifa will volunteer to stay here with Cloud for the time being.

When done shopping in Mideel, head back to the airship. As you enter it Cait Sith will give you inside information on the Shinra. He says that they plan to collect several special materia called Huge Materia to combine for their huge cannon at Midgar. He suggests that you head to the North Corel Reactor.

Event 24: The Shinra Train

As you enter the North Corel area, go down the tracks that you saw before to get to the reactor area. You will find out that you're just a moment too late, as Shinra is driving a train away with the Huge Materia. Cid decides to hijack a train from here and chase after it. To catch up with the train you will have to alternate the train's levels as fast as possible. The two buttons you have to alternate are Up and Triangle to speed it up. Work your timing and you can build up speed.

As you catch up your party will jump onto the train. You will be given 10 minutes to stop the train before it crashes. You will also have to undergo several fights as you make your way to the front of the train.

Fight 1: Gas Ducter
Very easy, doesn't really take strategy at all. Pelt it with Magic and normal attacks, but he absorbs Bio magic.

Fight 2: Gas Ducter x2
Same thing but two of them.

Fight 3: Wolfmeister
He is very weak to Water type magic. Leviathan summon will help you out if you need it, but this fight isn't very hard either.

Fight 4: Eagle Gun
Very weak to Bolt type magic. Hit him with Bolt spells and normal attacks.

Fight 5: Attack Squad
This is actually probably the easiest battle, these guys are very weak and will be killed easily with normal attacks.

Jump into the front of the train and you will have to stop it. Keep moving both levers up and down to stop it. You'll have to alternate back and forth until the trains brakes kick in. You'll see a beautiful FMV in which the train is stopped. You will also have the first Huge Materia in your posession now. The people of North Corel will be very thankful that you stopped the train and give you an Ultima Materia.

If you didn't manage to stop the train in time, you won't be able to get this Huge Materia. Also, you can't get the Ultima Materia for free, you will have to pay 50,000 Gil for it if you want it.

When ready, head back to Fort Condor for the second Huge Materia

Event 25: Return to Condor

Talk to the guard outside and tell him you will assist him. Talk to everyone inside and gather all of the info. You have to destroy the army going up the hill. Make sure to have a lot of Gil so you can fund the troops here because you'll definitely want to win. I recommend putton the Catapults and Stone Throwers near the top of the hill and the Defenders, Attackers, and Fighters near the bottom so they can be backed up by added projectile power. If you let enemies up the middle, you'll be forced to fight with the commander.

After the battle, the condor at the top of the fort is killed, but its egg cracks and the baby lives. The people are here are grateful that you've saved their fort. Go up to the top and you'll find the Phoenix Materia near the baby. The man downstairs will now give you the Huge Materia if you talk to him.

After you're done at Fort Condor, Cid suggests that you go back and check on Cloud in Mideel.

Event 26: Cloud's Mind and the Final Search

As you enter Mideel, you'll find that he's still in a coma and Tifa is very worried. You'll hear an earthquake going on outside and the party runs out to check out what it is. You'll see one of the huge Weapons crash down into the village, and you'll have to fight it.

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Boss Strategy - Ultimate Weapon

-Use MBarrier immediately
-Make sure you are high on hit points before you attack

You don't need to win here, you just have to survive. His spells are very powerful and can knock off up to 1700 hit points or so on everyone. Make sure you immediately MBarrier up and keep people healed. As you get hit your characters will work up Limit Breaks very fast, so unleash them as you get them. Also use your most powerful summon materia as well.
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As Ultimate Weapon leaves, he destroys Mideel and the lifestream bursts through the ground. You will awaken as Tifa, who is in the dark and confused. She will eventually awaken in an area with 3 different Clouds.

Work your way through the different sequences that represent Cloud's life. This sequence explains who Cloud really is as he discovers what actually happened to him within the last few years.

(If you don't want to be spoiled don't read the next paragraph)

You will see the scene that Sephiroth showed you before, in which Cloud never was at Nibelheim but instead the spikey black haired guy is with him. Tifa explains to Cloud that he really wasn't there, and that she has kept it a secret from Cloud because she didn't want to confuse him. However, Tifa still thinks she can prove that Cloud is not just a clone. She asks Cloud to try to remember a memory about her. He remembers that he tried to join Soldier to prove that he was strong to Tifa. He also recalls the time in which Tifa's mother died and how Cloud was blamed for almost killing Tifa. Cloud says that that made him want to be stronger and become like Sephiroth. Tifa remembers this as well.

Basically what happens is Cloud searches his inner self through many flashbacks to find out who he really is. Sephiroth's picture and story eat away at him because he isn't sure he was really at Nibelheim with him years ago. After talking to Tifa, he finds out that although he was at Nibelheim then, he wasn't in Soldier, and he was in a normal Shinra uniform. He also wasn't as close to Sephiroth as he thought. The guy that you saw in the flashbacks with Sephiroth was actually Zack, who was in Soldier. Cloud realizes that when he confronted Sephiroth at the Reactor in Nibelheim, he was actually one of the guards that accompanied Sephiroth and Zack. Sephiroth wounded Tifa, then Zack at the reactor that day. Zack muttered in his last words "Cloud...kill Sephiroth..." Cloud takes Zack's sword from him, and ran up and slashed Sephiroth, killing him. Cloud had the Shinra uniform on the whole time. Cloud realizes now that this is what actually happened and is able to pull himself together and snap out of the coma.

As Cloud recovers, the team suggests to quickly collect the other two Huge Materia. When you are ready, head to Junon Village, where you can access the underwater reactor there which is holding the Huge Materia.

Event 27: Junon Underwater Reactor

Items: Battle Trumpet, Scimitar, Leviathan Scales

You can pay 10 Gil to ride the elevator up to the reactor that you couldn't access before that was blocked off. As you run through the area you will have to fight enemies so be careful here and make sure everyone is equipped. As you run through Cloud will notice that something is missing from Junon. Also as you run through, you will run into many Shinra Soldiers that you can easily defeat. As you make your way through the reactor, you will find an alarm in the hall. I've both tripped the alarm here and not tripped the alarm and it doesn't seem to make a difference. You'll take another elevator down to the ocean floor, and continue to follow the long walkway. You arrive just as the Huge Materia is being loaded into a submarine. Run to the submarine bay and your team attempts to intercept it. You will run into Reno here, and he leaves you with a boss to fight.

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Boss Strategy - Carry Armor

-Watch out for the Lapis Laser
-Arms can hold your characters rendering them inactive
-Receive a God's Hand for winning

This is not a difficult boss at all for this late in the game. He is extremely weak to Bolt spells, so Ramuh summon and Bolt 3 will do the job here. MBarrier and Haste will help but you probably won't even need them. Make sure to take out the legs and arms first. Its Lapis Laser attack can do about 1300 damage but it shouldn't hurt you too badly at this point. He can also pick up one of your characters and will hold that character, and you can't use that character in battle. You can either kill the character being held and cast a Life spell or Phoenix Down on that character, or you can destroy the arm holding the character.
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After you defeat the Carry Armor, the submarine with the Huge Materia will already have left the bay. Hijack the other submarine and you can chase it down, but grab the chests in the area first. Getting the Leviathan Scales allows you to put out flames in the Wutai fire cave and the Scimitar is a useful weapon. Fight your way to the bridge of the submarine and you get a choice to fight them or keep the hostage. It doesn't matter what you decide, but you can steal a nice Shinra Alpha Armor from the captain if you fight them.

Now you will get to play the submarine battle minigame.

Controls:
Up - Descend
Down - Ascend
Right - Turn right
Left - Turn left
Triangle - Speed up
Square - Fire Torpedo
X - Slow Down
R1 - Submarine Sonar

You'll have to chase down the enemy sub that has the Huge Materia, but you can't go over 10 minutes doing it. The sub in the red is the one that has the Huge Materia loaded, so stay near it. The yellow subs will be firing torpedos all over the place at you, so try to take them out too if possible, but try to make sure you're behind the red sub first. Try to avoid the small polygons near the towers because they're mines. If you use sonar you should be able to find the red submarine again.

After winning the battle you will get to keep the submarine. With it you can explore the ocean floor. On the radio you receive a signal from the Shinra saying that the last Huge Materia is being shipped from the Junon airport. Dock the sub near Junon and close in on it! Just as you arrive you will see the plane taking off with the Huge Materia.

When ready, head back to Rocket Town, where your team tries to intercept it.

Event 28: The Quest of Space

Head to Rocket Town and you will find that the Shinra intend to repair the rocket and launch it. Go back to the rocket area and you'll meet Rude. He will engage you in attack with his attack squad.

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Boss Strategy - Rude and Attack Squad

-Kill attack squad first
-Have Cid equipped before fight
-Rude uses Bolt Magic
-Lightning resistance helps

Put an end to the attack squad first because they can use Sleep spells on the party. Just summon Neo Bahamut and Bahamut to deal with them all at once. When Rude is left alive, he'll start casting Cure2, but if you cast Reflect on him before it, it will bounce off of him and heal you. Also, try to steal a Ziedrich off of him if you can.
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After defeating Rude, you will enter the cockpit and find out that it is just about to be launched. It is set to collide with Meteor in attempts to stop it from hitting the planet. Cid decides that he's going to pilot the rocket into space and fulfill the dream he once had. You will see a spectacular FMV of the rocket taking off into space. Cid shows you where the Huge Materia is kept. However, you will find that it's locked into the core of the rocket and you have to input a password. Cid will give you several clues to what the password is, but if you want to get straight to business, enter:

O, Square, X, X

Entering this combination will unlock the Huge Materia. If you don't suceed in entering the combination in time, it remains there and you have no chance of getting it again. After you get the Materia, head back to the engine room and you will find an escape pod you can leave on. Cid now realizes that Shera has done a good job. After you've escaped, you will see the rocket collide with Meteor. Although it begins to shatter Meteor, it quickly pieces itself together and continues to head for the planet.

After you regroup, head to Bugenhagen's laborary in Cosmo Canyon after buying needed supplies.

Event 29: There is Hope

Talk to Bugenhagen about what Sephiroth and Meteor. Bugenhagen explains that you should return to the Ancient City. You can now store all of the Huge Materia you've gotten in his lab. Get near the blue Huge Materia, and if you have acquired both the Bahamut and Neo Bahamut summon Materia, you will receive Bahamut Zero summon Materia.

These Huge Materia allow you to get Master Command, Master Magic, and Master Summon Materia later in the game. Whenever you've gotten all of a certain type of Materia, return here and touch one of the Huge Materia and it will give you the Master Materia. For instance, if you've gotten every summon Materia in the game, touch the Master Summon Huge Materia and you will get the Master Summon Materia orb, which gives you every single summon in the game on one Materia.

Go back on the Highwind and head back to the Ancient City on the north continent. Take the left path and Bugenhagen will tell you about the White Materia and how it is said to be a key. He gives you a clue that sunlight can't reach it, so it is most likely is underground somewhere.

Launch the submarine from the harbor and head near the south, but watch out for Emerald Weapon, which is one of the Weapons swimming around down here. This is a very hard boss and you won't be able to take it out now. Head north until you find an underwater cave. Inside it you will find the Key of the Ancients on the floor.

Also, while you're here, participate in a small side quest involving Vincent. Guide the ship along the west wall to the south until you find another opening. Head through there, take the narrow passage and a left into an underwater cave. Surface when you hit the big tunnel type area and you'll be near a waterfall. Land the sub here, and make sure Vincent is in the party. When you enter, Vincent will find Lucretia and you'll learn a great deal more about Vincent's past and Sephiroth.

When ready, bring the Key of the Ancients back to Bugenhagen who is waiting patiently at the Ancient City. When he puts the kye into the center, you will find that Aeris was praying for Holy, which is an essence that would allow Meteor to be stopped. However, Sephiroth's power is keeping Holy from being summoned, so you must destroy Sephiroth, or the planet will surely be destroyed by Meteor soon.

Event 30: Back to Midgar

Items:
Midgar System - Elixir x2, Megalixir, STarlight Phone, Aegeis Armlet, Max Ray
Midgar Tunnels - Power Source, Guard Source, Mind Source, Magic Source, W-Item Materia
Shinra Headquarters - Pile Banger, Master Fist, Glow Lance, HP Shout Materia Sister Ray - Elixir, Mystile, Missing Score

As you leave the area, Cait Sith tells you that Junon cannon has been attached to Midgar and that they are planning on shooting it at Sephiroth to stop Meteor. You will find out that Cait Sith is being controlled by Reeve at the Shinra Headquarters. As the team goes toward the Highwind, the earth will shatter and a you will see that a Weapon is on the move toward Midgar. Fly back to Midgar and land the Highwind. Wait for the Weapon to arrive and you must fight it.

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Boss Strategy - Diamond Weapon

-Unleash Ultima/Bahamut Zero
-Haste helps a lot
-Make sure to have someone dedicated to healing
-Beware of its special attack

Now is the time to unleash your best summons and Magic. Ultima, Comet, Bahamut Zero, and Neo Bahamut all work wornders on Diamond Weapon. Don't attempt to use physicaly attacks however, because Diamond Weapon is very resistant to them. Diamond Weapon also has a special attack, its Diamond Flash. This is an attack that it will take several turns to prepare for, but when it uses it it will do around 2500 damage to the entire party. Make sure you immediately Cure afterward. Diamond Weapon will eventually go down if you keep pelting it with your best Magic.
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After the battle, Diamond Weapon is studdered by your attack. The Sister Ray, the huge gun that is about to be fired, is ready. Diamond Weapon fires several shots all over Midgar, and Rufus is killed in the Shinra presidental office. As the Sister Ray is used, it cuts through Weapon, destroying it, and also opens up the crater where Sephiroth is.

Hop on the Highwind again, as as you move north you will see that crater has been opened and you can head for Sephiroth. Cait Sith tells you that the Sister Ray is overloading because Shinra attempts to fire another shot at the crater. He says that Hojo is attempting to fire it again to destroy Weapon, but it will likely malfunction if it is fired again. So your objective is to head into Midgar and stop Hojo.

When you're ready, head to Midgar and as you are over it, you are able to chose your party before you descend. When you are ready, your team will parachute down into Midgar in another awesome scene. Follow Cait Sith into the alleys where the party is. You are now able to form a group here. If you want to get Barret's ultimate weapon, Missing Score, you have to have him in your party here.

When ready, collect the items at the end of the ramp and go to the ladder near the platform. As you enter the next area of ladders and chutes, there are many items around and some are tough to get to, but a lot of these items are some of the best in the game so make sure to get them. When ready, go up the stairs to the save point. Save here and head into the next area.

Here you will get into the Midgar tunnel system, that connects to the Sister Ray. There are two paths, a north and south path. The Sister Ray lies to the north, but there are many items and a cool part of the story to the south. After you've gotten the treasures from the south, head to the north area. Save at the save point here, and proceed down the hall and you'll meet up with the Turks yet again, and this time all three of them are together. You can either fight them or not, but I definiately recommend you do because they each have an awesome item you can steal.

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Boss Strategy - Rude, Reno, Elena

-Steal from each of them for a special item
-Take out Elena first, and Rude next
-Stealing from Rude nets you a Ziedrich
-Stealing from Reno nets you a Tough Ring
-Stealing from Elana nets you a Minerva Band

Elena uses Confusion attacks on the party so try to take her out first. Use your most powerful summons for this battle. After you take out Elena, concentrate on Rude because he uses normal attacks, and he can get critical attacks that do up to 3000 damage. Reno uses the same sort of Lightning magic he did before and won't pose a very big threat. Haste and Barrier also help in this battle.
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After you win, return to the save point and save yet again, then head north again. I recommend that you take the second left here so you can head into the Shinra Headquarters and get Cait Sith's ultimate weapon in the floor 54 locker. You can also get the Glow Lance from a door that was previously locked here, as well as visit the gift shop. When you're ready, go back into the tunnels and take that first left turn, which takes you to an outdoor area near the base of the Sister Ray, where you will find Scarlet and Heidegger, who leave you with another boss to fight.

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Boss Strategy - Proud Clod

-Two parts, armor and body
-Take out the armor first
-He casts Reflect on your characters
-Receive Ragnarok for winning

This is actually a very easy boss. Take out the armor first so you can do more damage to the body after it's gone. Its guns can do about 1000 damage to a single character and the Beam Cannon can do 1000 to everyone, but that shouldn't be enough to keep you down. Most every type of magic in addition to physical attacks and limit breaks work well here, and you can cast DeBarrier on the party members that have the Reflect spell cast upon them so you can heal them.
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Head onward and you will find flights of stairs leading up to the Sister Ray controls. If you have Barret in your party here, there will be a chest on the stairs for him that contains his ultimate weapon, Missing Score.

At the top, you will find Hojo overloading the Sister Ray and planning to fire it very soon. You will learn that his son is Sephiroth, and he intends to fire the cannon as a way of feeding power to him. You will also learn that he has injected himself with the Jenova cells, and he will fight you.

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Boss Strategy - Hojo

First Form:
This is his easiest form. Use your normal attacks and leave his friends alone, because they just come back if you kill them. Normal attacks should dispatch Hojo in no time.

Second Form:
Make sure to get rid of his right arm and quickly because it has the strongest attacks. Even though it can regenerate it should be taken out for this reason. Use Ultima and Comet Magic on him, as well as your best summons.

Third Form:
Hojo's hardest form, he is very fast and uses a lot of status ailments to hurt the party. Make sure to have spells or items ready to use on characters that have been inflicted with the status changes. Again, Ultima/Comet and Bahamut Zero/Knights of the Round/Neo Bahamut work wonders.
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After you've defeated Hojo, Shinra will basically be destroyed and you can take out Sephiroth. You will board the Highwind again. Cloud will explain to the party who he really is and what his past was, and tell them why he wants to defeat Sephiroth.

Cloud will say that since there are 7 days left till Meteor hits the planet that each member of the party should take a break and discover what they are fighting for. You will see a scene with Cloud and Tifa sitting near the airship, and you will wait until it's time to leave. Everyone will return and state their reasons for fighting.

Insert Disc 3.

Event 31: Side Quests

There are many things to do before you face Sephiroth. Go to the eastern continent and you will find that the Ultimate Weapon has made a nest out of a mountain north of Junon where he is holding Cloud's Ultimate sword. You have to fight him a number of times. If you win the first battle, the Ultimate Weapon will fly off. Find him and ram the Highwind into him again and again, until he tumbles down and you get Cloud's Ultimate Weapon.

You can go back to the underground waterfall and get the new items. There is an extremely difficult boss down here that you can fight, Emerald Weapon. This is a very hard battle. He will give you a secret item if you win. You can go to the Golden Saucer and beat the Red Scorpion boss (Ruby Weapon) that's moving around in the sand down below. He is extremely hard as well. If you beat him he will give you the Desert Rose.

You can also collect everyone's ultimate limit breaks. Don't take on the two weapons if you don't have them all, because they are really important. Some are harder to get than others. If you need to know where they are, check the Limit Breaks section.

There are four special caves located around the world that have very nice Materia in them. The first is located on a small penninsula near Wutai. You must have a Green Chocobo, Black Chocobo, or Gold Chocobo to enter. You will receive a Mime Materia inside, which is very useful for certain battles including the battles.

The next special cave is located north of North Corel village in a desert. You can only enter this one with a Black or Gold Chocobo. Inside is a chest containing the HP<->MP Materia.

The third cave is near Mideel, and you'll need a Black Chocobo, Blue Chocobo, or Gold Chocobo to enter. Inside is a Quadra Magic Matera.

Also, if you manage to breed a Gold Chocobo, take it to the last special Materia cave, which is an island in the northeast corner of the map that holds the best summon Materia in the game, Knights of the Round.

There is a key you can find to enter Midgar again, near the Sector 5 Slums. To get this key, first head to Midgar in Disc 2 after you've gotten Cloud in your party again, and talk to the man right outside the door. He'll tell you that there is known to be a key to enter the door. Then, head to Bone Village, and choose to dig for "good treasure". Placing the workers, they should all point near a jagged piece of metal extruding the ground near the entrance. It's right across from the door that is locked. Search here and you'll get the key to Sector 5. There's really not much to do in Midgar, but you can see Aeris' ghost if you enter the church. You can also get Tifa's Premium Heart at vending machine.

You can also find the Crashed Gelnika ship under the ocean in an alcove west of the reactor underwater. I recommend going here because some of the items here are awesome.

Crashed Gelnika Items:
Heaven's Cloud, Escort Guard, Conformer, Double Cut Materia, Outsider, Spirit Lance, Megalixer x2, Highwind, Hades Materia

Some of the enemies down here are very hard. There is a save point near the beginning so make sure to save and maybe gain a few levels before tackling the depths of the ship. In the cargo bay area you will run into Reno and Rude depending on when you go here. If you do this before the final battle with the Turks they will be here and you will fight them. I definitely recommend coming here because there are a lot of very good items down here.

Make sure you take out Ultimate Weapon in Disc 3. It's a flying Weapon that starts out hovering over a round area of water near Junon. Engage it there and you'll have to fight it. It really isn't a very hard fight, but you will have to fight it a few times because it keeps flying away. After you've knocked off enough hit points the first time, it will fly toward Nibleheim, Midgar, or Cosmo Canyon. Keep following it and engaging it until it goes to Cosmo Canyon, where the last fight will take place. After you defeat it there you will receive Ultimate Weapon, Cloud's best sword. It will also open the way to the Ancient Forest.

You can also head to the Ancient Forest just to the east of Cosmo Canyon if you've defeated Ultima Weapon or gotten a Gold Chocobo. When you kill the Ultimate Weapon it with create a huge crater in the ground which allows you to enter. It's a unique dungeon type area in which you have to use various plants and insects to get through.

Ancient Forest Items:
Spring Gun Clip, Supershot ST, Typhoon Materia, Apocalypse, Elixir

Some of the puzzles here are kind of difficult but it's more fun to figure out yourself. At the end of the cave is the Typhoon summon Materia. One thing that is kind of pointless is the fact that the Apocalypse sword for Cloud is here as well because you probably already have his Ultimate Weapon. :)

Turtle's Paradise Flyer Locations:

1) Sector 5 Slum, in a house to the east, in a boy's room
2) In the Shinra Headquarters at the back of the lobby
3) Ghost Hotel at the Gold Saucer, near the item shop
4) Tiger Lily Arms Shop in Cosmo Canyon near the owner
5) Cosmo Canyon Inn
6) Near Turtle's Paradise in Yuffie's basement near the trap room

Winning the Turtle Paradise contest nets you a Power Source, Guard Source, Magic Source, Mind Source, Speed Source, Luck Source, and Megalixer if you get all the flyers and talk to the owner of Turtle's Paradise in Wutai.

Also you can find a very cool sequence having to do with the game's story if you go back to the Nibelheim Shinra mansion again. Go down through the spirialing stairs near where you found Vincent and saw Sephiroth, and into the library. You will find out exactly what happened to Zack and it explains how Cloud ended up in Midgar with Zack's sword and clothing.

If you got the Leviathan Scales from the Shinra's Underwater Reactor, you can get through the Wutai Fire Cave in the side of Da-chao. The fires here used to block your way, but if you have the Leviathan Scales you can pass. Here you will find the Oritsuru weapon for Yuffie as well as a Steal as Well Materia.

If you want to shell out 300,000 Gil you can buy the Costa Del Sol Shinra vacation home. However, all you can really do here is rest for free and get some minor items in the basement.

Also make sure you got the Master Materia from Cosmo Canyon observatory if you've collected all of a certain type of Materia. These Materia are totally powerful and will make the end of the game a hell of a lot easier.

Event 32: The Final Confrontation

Items: Mystile, Elixer x2, Speed Source x2, Tetra Elemental, Megalixer x2, Luck Source, Turbo Ether x2, Mega-All Materia, X-Potion x2, Vaccine x2, Remedy, Magic Source, Shield Materia, Imperial Guard, Hero Medicine, Counter Materia, W-Magic Materia

If you want, head down into the pit and you will fight Sephiroth and get the ending to the game. It's a long way through the left path but the right path is really short and easy. I recommend taking the left path because there are more items to get.

Just battle your way down all of the cliffs. There are many very nice items here, so make sure you look around a bit, as they can be helpful for the final battle against Sephiroth. Power up your characters in the swamps, cause they are fairly easy and you get good experience for them. As you enter one area in the crater, your team will split into two different groups. Make sure you send your best characters down with Cloud because only they will be able to rejoin him.

When you get to the very bottom of the cave, talk to your characters and they'll hand you items they found down those paths. Also, if you got the Save Crystal from the first chest in the pit, put that down here and save. As you make your way to the very center you will have to fight Jenova again.

******************************************************
Boss Strategy - Jenova-Synthesis

-It has three parts so have attacks that do damage to all
-Watch for the countdown Ultima Attack

This is perhaps the easiest Jenova in the game. It's really not too hard if all of your characters have powerful attacks that hit all enemies, which they shoudl at this point. Attacks like Slash-All and Bahahmut Zero summon do wonders here. However, it does have a powerful attack, Ultima, which causes a lot of damage to the entire party, and there will be a countdown for it, but it shouldn't stop you too long from pummeling it.
******************************************************

After defeating Jenova again, the team enters into the core of the crater where they find Sephiorth. You'll get to choose whether to switch your party between 1, 2, or 3 different groups. Make sure the parties are balanced enough, and yet your first group is still the most powerful. Doing this will ensure that your best team goes up against Sephiorth, and your second group will still be strong. You will now go into the final battle against Sephiorth.

When you engage Sephiroth, you finally get to hear "One Winged Angel", the latin end boss theme.

******************************************************
Boss Strategy - Sephiroth

Bizarro-Sephiroth:
Sephiroth is composed of five different parts. The Head, Torso, Left Magic, Right Magic, and Core. The Head, Left Magic, and Right Magic have very little hit points but Sephiroth can regenerate them infinite times in battle. If you destroy the Torso however, it goes down. The Core is what heals the Torso. The Core is very powerful and unless the Left Magic and Right Magic are destroyed, it can't be hurt at all. So make sure you do that and take out the Core, then go for the Torso. He uses a barage of powerful attacks that hit the entire party. He also uses a lot of negative status ailments on the party (confusion, poison, darkness). If you have some characters eqiupped with Restore Materia it will help a lot. Cloud's Omnislash Limit Break and Knights of the Round Summon are your best bet in this fight.

If you picked to have two teams or three teams, you'll have to divide the fight into the different parties. It's a good idea to switch the teams often because each time they come back into the fight, they have full hit points and magic points, even if they got drained earlier in the fight. However, one team is probably the easiest way to win this battle. After you defeat Bizarro-Sephiroth you'll have to fight his second form, Safer Sephiroth.

Safer Sephiroth:
This is going to be a tough fight if your characters are of low levels. Hasting all your characters will help greatly in this fight. He has a variety of very strong attacks.

-Pale Horse: This attack does negative status ailments in addition to some damage to a single character.
-Shadow Flare: Hits a single character for about 6500 damage.
-Deen: An attack that does aboug 1500 damage to a single character.
-Super Nova: This is Sephiroth's summon. It will do a large amount of damage (4000-5000) to all characters, so make sure you follow it up with a Megalixir or a barrage of Cure 3 spells.

Make healing your top priority, then attack. Spells like Ultima, Comet 2, and your best summons (Knights of the Round, Bahamut Zero, Neo Bahamut) should take care of him. If Cloud gets his Omnislash Limit Break in this battle it also does about the same as a Knights of the Round.
******************************************************

After you defeat the actual Sephiroth, Cloud and Sephiroth will have a one on one showdown. You will automatically be in limit break status so just unleash Omnislash and he's done for. It's kind of a story battle. The real end fight was against the first version of Sephiroth.

**************
Limit Breaks:
**************

There are four levels of limit breaks, and most characters have 2 limit breaks a level, but all of them have 1 4th level limit break. Learning the level 4 limit breaks are more difficult. You have to first learn all of the limit breaks on that character, and then you must have the limit break item that teaches you the attack. After you find them, you must use the correct manual on each character, and set his limit break to level 4. Here is where the manuals are found:

Cloud (Omnislash):
Back at the Gold Saucer, win 32000 battle points in a single visit and then buy the item.

Barrett (Catastrophe):
After the train ride in Disc 2, there is a lady in a hat in a building in the North Corel, she will give it to you.

Aeris (Great Gospel):
Speak to the sleeping man to the east of Junon when you've fought a number of battles in which the last two digits of the number are the same number, and he'll give you a piece of Mythril that you can exchange for Aeris' Great Gospel Limit Break in the box.

Tifa (Final Heaven):
You must play the song on Tifa's Piano (See event 16)

Red XIII (Cosmo Memory):
In Sephiroth's house is a safe, use the combo to unlock it. (See event 16)

Yuffie (All Creation):
After you beat her mini-quest, go back to Wutai. Go to the Pagoda and defeat Godo. You will get it now.

Vincent (Chaos):
Either the sub or a Blue, Black, or Gold Chocobo is needed. Go to the waterfall in the middle of the western continent. Vincent must be with you. You have to enter the left side of the waterfall.
(Note: You must visit the waterfall twice. Once on disc 2, and once on disc 3)

Cid (Highwind):
Use the sub and search for the plane wreck where you found the Hades Materia, on the southpart of the map. The sunken plane is between the easter and western continents. Inside the plane is a chest holding it.

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Ultimate Weapons:
******************

Each character has his or her own Ultimate Weapon. These weapons are very powerful, many times better than the second best weapons, and most of them also have special abilities or characteristics when equipped.

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Cloud: Ultimate Weapon

Location: Before you start the final assault on Sephiroth in disc 3, go to the world map and kill the wandering Dragon, Ultima Weapon.

Power up: This Weapon's damage in dependent on Cloud's HP level. The more HPs he has, the more damage it does.
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Barrett: Missing Score

Location: In your quest to stop the Mako overload at Midgar at the end of Disc 2 there is a chest holding the Missing Score on the staircase just before you reach Hojo. Barrett has to be a member of your party to find this weapon.

Power up: Attach Materia to this weapon. Damage is dictated by the AP of that Materia.
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Tifa: Premium Heart

Location: In Disc 2 or 3 go to Midgar City, head to Wall Market and examine the computer in the room marked "item"

Power up: Every time she has a Limit Break, but misses with at least 1 spinning wheel, the Premium Heart powers up.
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Aeris: Princess Guard

Location: While engaged in the moving clock game, obtain it from the Ancient's Temple.

Power up: This is only available for a short time, so I can't find how to power it up.
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Red XIII: Limited Moon

Location: In Disc 2, after the monster attacks Midgar, visit Bugenhagen and he will give it to you.

Power up: Like Cloud's weapon, but the MPs matter. So if you have high MPs, it will do high damage.
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Yuffie: Conformer

Location: In Disc 2 or 3, check around the wrecked plane.

Power up: Damage depends on the experience points of an enemy. If it is high, it powers up.
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Cait Sith: Marvelous Cheer

Location: In Disc 2, during the raid on Midgar, search the lockers on the 64th floor of the Shinra building.

Power up: It is the same as the Limited Moon that Red XIII gets.
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Vincent: Death Penalty

Location: When you get his Limit Break manual, you also get his Death Penalty.

Power up: The number of death blows he has delivered determines the weapon's damage. So, how many death blows in the past makes this weapon more powerful.
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Cid: Venus Gospel

Location: In Disc 1 or 2, the man who gave Cloud a sword in Disc 1 will stand outside a house by the rocket pad. Talk to him 3 times. This can only be done after the rocket has been destroyed.

Power up: Same as Cait Sith's and Red XIII's weapons.
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Useful Materia Combinations:
*****************************

The game contains hundreds of Materia, but you're left with choices of how to pair your Materia up late in the game. I've listed some of the best Materia combinations I've come up with here.

Added Effect + Poison (Weapon)
This combination is valuable because each time you hit a creature, you have a chance to poison it. This even works on some bosses and can do a pretty hefty amount of damage in the long run.

Added Effect + Time (Weapon)
Another similar combination that has a chance of slowing or stopping the creature you attacked.

Added Effect + Destruct (Weapon)
When you have this combination in a weapon, you have a chance of killing your enemy on the spot in a single hit.

Megal-All + Steal
A useful combination that lets you steal from all enemies at once.

Counter + Mime
This is another very powerful one that allows you to Mimic what the last party member did after you've been attacked. It's a bit unpredictable and sometimes not helpful, but when you're able to counter attack using a Knights of the Round summon, it's very useful.

Double Cut + Slash-All
A very powerful combination that allows you to not only attack 4 times when the Double Cut Materia is powered up, but allows you to attack many targets, and you can often finish a fight of multiple enemies off in one character's turn.

Sneak Attack + Knights of the Round
At the beginning of each battle you have a chance of pre-emptively casting Knights of the Round.

W-Summon + Knights of the Round
The only way in the game you can summon Knights of the Round two times in a row with the same character. Even more powerful is if characters that attack next Mime it, so you can do literally millions of damage in a very short period of time.

Quad Magic + Most Summon Materia
This allows you to do four consecutive summon spells. However, this does not work with Knights of the Round, but you can W-Summon that instead.

Quad Magic + Most Spells
Another similar that allows you cast any spell four times in a row.

Final Attack + Revive
One of the most valuable combinations in the game. You'll certainly need this combo if you attempt to go after Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon. If you have this combination equipped, each time that character dies he will be instantly healed.

Final Attack + Phoenix Summon
Another one similar to Final Attack + Revive, but all party members come back from the dead because of what Phoenix Summon does. Also, it damages the enemy as well.

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Summon Materia Locations:
**************************

Out of all of the Materia in FF7, the Red Materia is the most powerful for your offense. Here is a quick rundown of where all of the summon materia is.

Chocobo and Mog - Disc 1 (Wind Elemental)
Just visit the Chocobo farm and talk to the fenced in Chocobo.

Shiva - Disc 1 (Ice Elemental)
After you have successfully given CPR to Pricila in Junon Town, she will give you this if you go up to her house and talk to her.

Ifrit - Disc 1 (Fire Elemental)
On the Shinra boat, beat Jenova Birth.

Titan - Disc 1 (Earth Elemental)
There is a village in the woods named Gongaga that is before Cosmo Canyon. Wait for the Turksto leave and search the decrepit machinery.

Ramuh - Disc 1 (Lightning Elemental)
In the Gold Saucer, check the alcove in the Chocobo jockey's room.

Odin - Disc 1 (Strength Elemental)
Defeat the boss in the mansion at Nibelheim and open the safe.

Leviathan - Disc 1 (Water Elemental)
You get this after you beat the boss on top of Pagoda in Wutai.

Kjata - Disc 1 (Tetra Elemental)
In the endless forest continent go north, and you will find this floating on the second screen as you enter the forest.

Bahamut - Disc 1 (Fire/Flare Elemental)
After you meet Sephiroth you will battle a dragon in a temple. Beat the dragon and wait for the temple to shake.

Alexander - Disc 2 (Holy Elemental)
On the north continent there is an old man's shack. Below the shack is an icy wasteland. Go east through snow and find a cave. It's in there.

Neo Bahamut - Disc 2 (Fire/Flare Elemental)
This is lying on a path that leads to the first barrier on the crater inside the frozen mountain.

Phoenix - Disc 2 (Fire/Life Elemental)
Just win the mini-battle at Condor Fort. You will get this after the egg hatches.

Hades - Disc 2 (Poison/Status Elemental)
Use the submarine to find the defunct Shinra airplane. You will find it next to the brokenhelicopter inside the sunken airplane.

Bahamut Zero - Disc 2-3 (Fire/Flare Elemental)
Go to the old man in Cosmo Canyon after you have collected all of the Huge Materia and Neo Bahamut, and Bahamut. Touch the blue Huge Materia in the galaxy holodeck and you get it.

Knights of the Round Table - Disc 2-3 (???)
This is very difficult to reach, since you need to breed a Gold Chocobo. (See Part 5) Once you have it, use it to visit a strange island towards the northeast corner of the map. Find the cave and you have found the Materia.

Master Summon - Disc 3
After you have collected all of the Summon Materia, go to the galaxy holodeck and touch the red Huge Materia.

******************
Enemy Skill List:
******************

This Enemy Skills list shows you where you can get the Enemy Skill, the MP needed, the Effect, and what it does.

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Star 1: Frog Song
Magic Points Needed: 5

Effect: Makes all enemies frogs and puts them to sleep.
Learn: From the green frogs in the forests around Gongaga village. (Disc 1, 2, or 3)
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Star 2: Level 4 Suicide
Magic Points Needed: 10

Effect: Enemies with levels multiple of 4 loose most of their hit points. However, using this spell cannot kill the enemy. At best, it can reduce the enemy's hit points down to 1.
Learn: Squirrel enemies located near the Chocobo Farm. (Disc 1, 2, or 3)
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Star 3: Magic Hammer
Magic Points Needed: 3

Effect: Hit an enemy and gain up to 100 magic points, assuming that the enemy has 100 magic points.
Learn: Plant monsters that are located on the very end of the Westernmost Continent in the dark green area. (Disc 1, 2, or 3)
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Star 4: White
Wind
Magic Points Needed: 34

Effect: Each ally regains lost HP and their status ailments are cured and dispelled. The amount of HP recovered depends on the current HP of the caster.
Learn: The white cactus monsters that appear around the grassy area by Junon Town (Disc 1, 2, or 3), or from the winged serpents you fight if you're hit by a barrier at the Great Glacier. (Disc 2)
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Star 5: Big Guard
Magic Points Needed: 56

Effect: Has the same effect as casting Haste, Barrier, and MBarrier on all your allies.
Learn: From the spike shelled creatures with green tentacles that live on the coast near Gongaga Town. -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Star 6: Angel Whisper
Magic Points Needed: 50

Effect: An angle comes and brings one ally back from the dead. This also cures all status ailments.
Learn: From the women in the yellow suits that you meet in the Makou Pit if you take the right path the first time you meet your friends. (Disc 3)
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Star 7: Dragon Force
Magic Points Needed: 19

Effect: Increases all aspects of Magic Defense.
Learn: From the dragons you meet when going through the Makou Pit. (Disc 3)
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Star 8: Death Force
Magic Points Needed: 3

Effect: One ally on your side cannot die from an immediate death attack.
Learn: The turtles by the shoreline of the Westernmost continent. (Disc 1, 2, or 3)
Note: You can only gain this skill if you Manipulate. When you do, choose the bottom option to cast this spell on yourself.
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Star 9: Flame Thrower
Magic Points Needed: 10

Effect: A line of flames burns one enemy for fire damage.
Learn: From the enemies that use the Flame Thrower attack. The easiest place to learn this is in the Nibelheim mountains in the room with the pipes. You can also steal Gold Armlets from these enemies. (Disc 1, 2, or 3) You can also learn it from the flying monsters in the Mythril Mine, but they cast it less.
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Star 10: Laser
Magic Points Needed: 16

Effect: Lessens an enemy's HP by half of it's original value.
Learn: From the dragons that appear during the trip into the Makou Pit. (Disc 3)
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Star 11: Mantra Magic
Magic Points Needed: 8

Effect: A cluster of missiles are hurdled opon the enemy.
Learn: The mech enemies named Sweeper Custom around Kalm Town. (Disc 1, 2, or 3) Or from the wheeled creatures in the underwater Junon Town. (Disc 2)
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Star 12: Bad Breath
Magic Points Needed: 58 Effect: Gives the enemy status abnormalities including Shrink, Frog, Confusion, Sleep, Poison, and Mute.
Learn: From the Mobol creatures, which are green and have large mouths living on the outside ledges in the Frozen Mountain. (Disc 2) You can also meet them in the Makou Pit, considering that you take the right path the first time you run into your friends. (Disc 3)
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Star 13: Beta
Magic Points Needed: 35

Effect: All targets are hit by a circling red and white motion.
Learn: By the big snake by the Chocobo farm that was too hard to beat earlier in the game. (Disc 1, 2, or 3)
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Star 14: Aqua Breath
Magic Points Needed: 34

Effect: Large bubbles attack enemies for water/ice damage.
Learn: From the boss of the Ancient City (Disc 1), the winged chimera in the plains surrounding the Gold Saucer (Disc 1, 2, or 3), or from the floating sea-dragon creature in the ship Gelinka. (Disc 2,3)
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Star 15: Trine
Magic Points Needed: 20

Effect: A triangle encases an enemy and hits them for lightning damage.
Learn: The boss on top of the pagoda, Godo, in Wutai. (Disc 1, 2, or 3) Also from the red spider/crab-like creature living inside the Frozen Mountain (Disc 2), or the boss of Mt. Nibel, Materia keeper. (Disc 1).
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Star 16: Magic Breath
Magic Points Needed: 75

Effect: Balls hit enemies for ice, fire, and lightning damage.
Learn: From the red crab-like creatures living inside the Frozen Mountain. (Disc 2) Also from the blue enemies, Parasite, in the Makou Pit. (Disc 3)
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Star 17: ????
Magic Points Needed: 3

Effect: A weight drops onto the enemy. The damage is the amount of damage done to the caster this turn.
Learn: From the scale creatures in Nivelheim. (Disc 1, 2, or 3) Also from Behemoth that you encounter when raiding Midgar. (Disc 2)
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Star 18: Goblin Punch
Magic Points Needed: 0

Effect: One enemy is hit for strength damage. The damage done is much more severe if that enemy has the same level as you do.
Learn: The goblins wearing boxing gloves found on the forested island in the northeast area of the map. (Disc 2 or 3)
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Star 19: Chocobuckle
Magic Points Needed: 3

Effect: A Chocobo falls on one enemy. The damage increases if you run away from more battles.
Learn: Go to the Chocobo Farm. Talk to the man in the barn and choose to buy items. The 5th item from the top costs 1500 Gil, and you should buy 3 or them. Go to the Chocobo tracks on the Southern continent near the forest. Equip yourself with a Chocobo Lure materia. When you find a Chocobo, kill off all but one of the other enemies and use the item you bought 3 of on the Chocobo. The Chocobo will peck at the ground. When the Chocobo stops pecking, use Level 4 Suicide Enemy Skill on the Chocobo and he will use Chocobuckle on you. (Disc 2 or 3)
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Star 20: Level 5 Death
Magic Points Needed: 22

Effect: Enemies with levels multiple to 5 will be killed instantly.
Learn: From the blue leeches, Parasites, in the Makou Pit. (Disc 3)
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Star 21: Death Sentence
Magic Points Needed: 10

Effect: One enemy is condemned and will die when the counter on top or them reaches zero.
Learn: From the yellow spikey enemies that are in front of and in the area behind the Ancient City. (Disc 1, 2, or 3)
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Star 22: Roulette
Magic Points Needed: 6

Effect: One random friend or enemy is instantly killed.
Learn: From the Death Dealers that look like Jesters in the Makou Pit when you take the right path the first time you meet up. (Disc 3)
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Star 23: Shadow Flare
Magic Points Needed: 100

Effect: A black fire hits one enemy.

Learn: From the Ultimate Weapon hovering over the world map. Or also the Dragon Zombies in the Makou Pit. (Disc 3)
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Star 24: Pandora's Box
Magic Points Needed: 110

Effect: Stars and a question point appear and hit all enemies for strength damage.
Learn: From the large Dragon Zombies locating in the Makou Pit if you take the right path the first time you meet your friends. (Disc 3)
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To learn all of the enemy skills, a person must first be equipped with an Enemy Skill Materia. There are 24 Enemy Skills in all, and each takes up a star in the materia menu. If that spell hits you in battle; even if it misses you or kills you, you will gain the Enemy Skill. However, if your party dies, you do not learn that Enemy Skill. Enemy Skills that are casted upon teammates will not give that person the Enemy Skill, because they must have that spell casted on them by monsters only. I have found many Enemy Skills to be useful, especially some that use a low amount of MP to do a high amount of damage.

***********************
Gold Chocobo Breeding:
***********************

To breed a Gold Chocobo you need to breed a Black and Yellow Chocobo. To get the black Chocobo: If you wait awhile you should be able to breed two yellow Chocobos again, and give the Carob Nut. Try to get the blue one. If you do, make sure it is the opposite sex than your green Chocobo. Let them rest. Before you breed them again you must feed them the Sylkis green that costs 5000 Gil for the Sage. Go feed both the green and blue Chocobos ten of these each. Now you must race them at the Gold Saucer until they become Class A Chocobos. Breed them using a Carob Nut, and you should get a black one. To get the Gold Chocobo, you have to breed the Yellow one with the Black one and give them the Carob Nut.

*******************
Weapon Strategies:
*******************

In the North American version of Final Fantasy 7, there are two special bosses, Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon.

******************************************************
Emerald Weapon

-Make sure to have Final Attack/Revive Materia Combo
-Healing is priority
-Phoenix Summon is invaluable
-Underwater Materia almost neccesary

Find Emerald Weapon along the ocean floor. It roams around in the area and can only be engaged on the submarine.

Your characters will probably definitely have to be level 99 to have a good chance at defeating it. He has quite the barrage of attacks, which includes a normal attack that does about 6500 damage, four seperate lazer attacks that can do about 3500 damage each, another four lazers that can drain about 350 magic points from a single character, and a special attack that does 9999 damage to each character.

Because of this you'll definately have to have the Underwater Materia from the Kalm Traveler. If you don't have this Materia, it's very hard to win the fight because you have a 20 minute time limit. This seems like a lot of time, but when you are casting long summon spells and taking attacks it really isn't that long. Also, the Materia has to be equipped on a character. You'll also need as many Master Materias as possible, especially Master Magic and Master Summon. Using W-Summon with Knights of the Round can do over 150,000 damage each time. Also, if you have the other characters use Mime you can do keep doing this until you need to heal. Final Attack/Revive Materia combination is neccesary to keep you alive from the special attack that does 9999 to all as well. Final Attack/Phoenix will also work well. You might need to also expend some Elixers, Megalixers, and Turbo Ethers because of the strong attacks and MP drain attacks. Emerald Weapon has 1,000,000 hit points.

Winning this battle nets you an Earth Harp, which you can bring to the Kalm Traveler for a Master Magic, Master Summon, and Master Command Materia.
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Ruby Weapon

-Hades Summon absolutely neccesary
-Final Attack/Revive or Final Attack/Phoenix also important
-Can only be hurt when its claws are buried in the sand
-Uses powerful barrage of attacks including Ultima

Ruby Weapon is swimming around in the sand surrounding the Golden Saucer. You'll have to engage it by flying head on with the airship.

You can't hurt Ruby Weapon when its hands are above the sand, because its torso will be invulnerable at this time. If you attack when the arms are above the sand, he'll counterattack with a quicksand attack that kills a member of the party in one fell swoop. You'll want to use your most powerful summons here as well, including using the very valuable Hades/Quad Magic here so it gets inflicted with many status ailments. He has 1,000,000 hit points just like Emerald Weapon, so it takes quite a lot of chipping away to kill him as well. One thing you don't want to do here is summon Knights of the Round because he'll counterattack with Ultima.

For defeating Ruby Weapon, you'll receive a Desert Rose, which you can bring to the Kalm Traveler to get a Gold Chocobo.
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