Sephiroth
Sephiroth is the final boss of the game and is fought in Chapter 18: Destiny’s Crossroads. He is fought in four phases, with an ally coming joining the battle as you progress further into the battle.
Stats
| Level | – |
|---|---|
| HP | |
| MP | – |
| Weakness | |
| Lesser Resistance | Fire, Ice, Lighting, Wind, Magic |
| Greater Resistance | Fixed Damage |
| Immunity | Poison, Silence, Sleep, Slow, Stop, Berserk, Proportional Damage |
| EXP | |
| AP | |
| SP | – |
| Gil | |
| Items | Telluric Scriptures Vol.XIV (Hard Mode) |
Attacks
| Name | Details |
|---|---|
| Telluric Fury | Three-hit sword combo. Winds up the attack by pointing the sword at the target and dashes towards them. |
| Aeolian Onslaught | Two-hit rising slash followed by a downward strike. Causes knockdown on hit. |
| Firaga/Blizzaga/Aeroga/Thundaga | Casts a level 3 elemental spell. Can cancel into other attacks. Firaga and Blizzaga are used during the first phase of the fight, Aeroga on the second, and Thundaga on the third. |
| Scintilla | Multi-hit counterattack. Winds up the move by bringing his sword to his side. Causes knockdown on hit. Uses the move during the second phase of the fight onward. |
| Hell’s Gate | Sephiroth jumps into the air and performs a plunging strike that does AoE damage on the effective area. Uses the move during the second phase of the fight onward. |
| Zanshin (Sword Waves) | Sephiroth will unleash three energy waves from his sword at the target. Uses the move during the second phase of the fight onward. |
| Lightning/Fire/Wind/Ice Infusion | Infuses Sephiroth’s normal and special attacks with elemental damage and grants him access to special elemental attacks. Uses the move during the third phase of the fight onward. |
| Thunderstorm | Summons massive lightning bolts around Sephiroth during Lightning Infusion. Has wide AoE range. |
| Flamewall | Summons a wall of flame in the area that lingers for a period of time during Fire Infusion. |
| Octoslash | Eight-hit sword combo that deals heavy damage to a single target. A short cutscene will play before Sephiroth unleashes the attack. Assumes a similar stance to Telluric Fury before executing. Used during the third phase of the fight onward. |
| Shadow Flare | Summons an orb of dark elemental energy that explodes in a wide radius. Used during the third phase of the fight onward. In phase 4, Sephiroth will summon multiple orbs around the area. Uses the move during the third phase of the fight onward. |
| Heartless Angel | Reduces the HP of all targets caught in the effective area to 1. Uses the move during the fourth (final) phase of the fight onward. |
| Divine Proclamation | Sephiroth counts down from 10 to 0 to use Meteor. Results in the entire party being wiped out if Sephiroth is not defeated in time. |
Strategy
First Phase
Sephiroth’s first phase consists of him performing various sword attacks and casting level 3 magic. He has resistances to all four elemental magic himself so it is not recommended to use them against him. A good strategy is to take advantage of the Twin Stinger’s Counterstance ability, which is capable of countering Sephiroth’s sword attacks and spells to build up his stagger gauge.
Be sure to have Healing materia equipped as Cloud must take on Sephiroth alone during the first phase of the fight. Having the Steadfast Block materia is also good for guarding against Sephiroth’s attacks while speeding up your ATB gauge fill rate.
Second Phase
The second phase of the fight is very similar to the first, though one of your allies will join the fight. If Aerith becomes available, you can use support magic such as Barrier, Manaward or even Manawall against Sephiroth. Watch out for Sephiroth’s new attacks in this phase which are Scintilla and Hell’s Gate. Stay from Sephiroth when he charges Scintilla as he will quickly counterattack incoming attacks. To avoid Hell’s Gate, watch the ground to know where Sephiroth will land and dodge out of its range. Keep using Counterstance and unloading on him when he is staggered to force him into the third phase.
Third Phase
Another ally will join the fight during the third phase. Here, the difficulty ramps up quite a bit as Sephiroth will gain access to a number of more powerful spells and abilities during the fight. He will start throwing out more AoE spells, especially after casting Lightning and Fire Infusion. He will also use Shadow Flare which deals heavy elemental damage to anyone caught within its radius. It has quite a long charging time, so run away when you see Sephiroth casting it.
Have Aerith put up Manaward while using Curaga to keep each character’s HP to more than half at all times. This is because Sephiroth will start using Octoslash that is likely to kill characters (usually the one you are using) with less than 2,000 HP, especially without Manaward. Have Tifa assisting Cloud in building up Sephiroth’s stagger gauge before throwing out Limit Breaks when they are available. It is recommended to save your summon for the last phase of the fight.
Fourth Phase (Final)
They key to defeating Sephiroth here is to quickly burst his HP down by using Limit Breaks, summons, and abilities before he counts down to zero. If you fail to do so, Sephiroth will use Divine Proclamation (Meteor) to wipe out your party for a game over. Have two of your characters cycle between normal attacks and abilities while one character on the back lines (Aerith or Barret) heal any characters with low HP. When Sephiroth begins casting Heartless Angel, move everyone away from its effective range as those caught in it will have their HP reduced to 1. Do not hesitate to use all healing items at your disposal at this point in the game.
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