While Cloud is having fun with Rufus and his dog Darkstar on the roof of the Shinra tower, the other members of the group have to defeat an other Boss. The last chapters of Final Fantasy VII Remake are rich in explosive action, and in this area, the Arsenal has everything to spare. To face this boss, you have an unlikely group formed for the first time, consisting of Barret and Aerith (with Red 13 as a guest). There is no room for melee combat here.
Planning & Materia
- You only have a few moments during the boss cutscene to access the character menu and optimize your Materia, don't miss this opportunity. With all the group changes in this chapter, if you want to optimize each character, it's easy to find yourself in a difficult position, and without the right Materia.
- The weakness of the Arsenal is Lightning, as with all robots. We therefore advise you to equip a Lightning Materia for each member of the group, in combination with the Elemental Materia on the weapon. This will give you an easy option to deal critical damage to him and fill up his stagger bar.
- Having one or more group members equip Healing Materia is also highly recommended.
- No summoning Materia particularly shines here, the fat chocobo or Leviathan are good options.
- In this fight, the light shield of Aerith is of great importance, it must have been unlocked via her weapons, or have her equip the corresponding weapon the Bladed Staff stolen from Eligor.
Arsenal abilities
- Primary Fire: During all the phases of the combat, the boss will seek to fire with his mega cannon mounted on his right arm. When he charges it, it becomes a weak point that you can target. Inflicting enough damage on it will deactivate it for a few seconds, and make it more vulnerable to attack.
- Saturation Fire: The boss's left arm will regularly release a barrage of projectiles. You can either cash them in, or use obstacles to block them (pillars, rubble). Aerith's flowery shield will perform miracles in this fight.
- Homing Laser: One of the worst attacks of the bosses, a long series of guided lasers will touch a character. Again, use rubble to block them. If you are still caught in it, send an emergency treatment with the other character.
- Charge : From the second phase, the boss will rush at full speed in the area. It's really not easy to dodge with Barret and Aerith, so make good use of the pillars.
- Pulse Cannon: The ultimate technique of this boss is the large ventral laser which charges for several seconds. You can target it to inflict huge damage or even deactivate the boss for a few seconds. But beware, during the very last phase, this will no longer deactivate it. A character hit by this laser will die instantly. The good news is that it will also fully load its break limit bar. It is therefore better that it is Barret who takes it, then that you bring it back to life with a Phoenix tail, and you will only have to counterattack. You can use the pillars and rubble to protect yourself too, however each time the obstacle concerned will be destroyed. Aerith's shield will be your last hope in the long run (or a resurrection).
- Firewall (fire): In the last phases of the fight, the boss will create 2 walls of fire in order to block you in front of him. It will then charge its mega laser. You must then use Aerith's shield or manage to inflict enough damage on it.
Combat
- The first phase is very simple, the boss is stationary and use only machine gun, to use his lasers and his arm cannon. You just have to hide behind debris with Aerith, summon its seals on the ground and then take down the flying shield drones one by one. Remember to exploit the weakness of the arm cannon when it's preparing to fire.
- Once all the drones are shot down, the boss goes into phase 2, things will get much more complicated. It will charge in all directions and unleash its attacks. You will no longer be able to remain stationary. It may be advisable to reposition the shield and the seals in the middle of the room. You will need to prepare to avoid charges and hide behind a pillar when the mega-gun charges. It may be more advisable to check Barret during this phase. Your objective will be to take advantage of the weak point of the arm cannon or the mega-cannon to deactivate the boss for a few moments. This will make its 4 wheels vulnerable (they have a big damage reduction otherwise). By destroying the wheels, you will trigger real stagger, which will allow you to reduce its life.
- Once the boss's life is low enough, he will get mad. He will then use his fire walls to block you before using his Pulse Cannon. If you still have pillars, you can use them. Otherwise, use Aerith's shield, or sacrifice Barret. His death will fill his limit break gauge. By bringing it back to life, it will be able to pull it directly. During this phase, shoot the exposed special parts of the boss to inflict massive damage. Aerith's limit break, on the other hand, is defensive, which isn't exactly what you need.
- Finally, the boss will enter critical mode, the walls of fire will be permanent and he will unleash his great shot in a loop. It's a DPS race, check Barret and use the same technique as in the previous phase. Unleashing lightning and maximum fury spells will complete it.
