The Shinra Tower has been expanded in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake — and you’ll encounter even more upgraded basic enemies from the original. Ridiculous regulars like the Brain Pod and the Swordipede are now fully-fledged boss fights, and they’ve all got unique quirks you need to know about. This set of early end-game battles aren’t too difficult compared to what comes next, but we’ll worry about those big confrontations later.
All three of the bosses in this section are pretty straightforward. Your job is just beating them up with sword attacks and staying alive. They’re kind of like classic FF7 bosses — which were pretty simple and easy in the early hours compared to these titanic fights. I highly recommend completing as many coliseum challenges and side-quests in Chapter 14 before going out to save Aerith. The more levels you have, the better these fights will go.
More Final Fantasy 7 Remake guides:
Tips & Tricks Beginner’s Guide | How To Unlock Level 2 Limit Breaks | All Weapon Locations & Proficiency Abilities | All Rare Materia Locations | How To Unlock All Summon Materia | All Jukebox Music Tracks Locations | ‘Heavenly Dart Player’ Trophy Guide | ‘Sultan of Squat’ Trophy Guide | PSA: 3 Very Useful Button Inputs | How To Get 200% Or 300% Stagger Bonus | How To Beat Roche, Crab Warden & Air Buster | How To Beat Reno, Rude & Hell House | How To Beat Abzu, Ghoul & Eligor | How To Beat Reno & Rude, Failed Experiment & Abzu (Rematch) | All Side-Quests Guide & Rewards List
The Valkyrie
- Chapter 15
- Weakness: Thunder, Aero
The hunter-killer robot is an advanced drone that’s resistance to long-range attacks and magic — unless you hit it with Aero or Thunder. Equip Barret with a long-range weapon so he can continously put pressure on the Valkyrie and build his ADP gauge. I also recommend giving Barret Pray so he can keep everyone’s HP up.
The Valkyrie flies around the arena, using a powerful Flame Drill to slam into the ground and track you. It uses its machine guns constantly, and will launch a barrage of rockets you’ll have to guard against. In the second phase of the fight, it will summon a laser satellite drone and enter a special Overcharge Mode. When glowing purple, it takes less damage and attacks faster, but all attacks will fill its stagger guage.
To break it out of its Limiter Override mode, stand underneath the Valkyrie until the laser activates — shooting itself. That disables Limiter Override and does a huge amount of stagger damage. Doing lots of damage with melee attacks combined will cause the Valkyrie to be pressured.
The boss does a lot of damage over time, and at range. Keep your HP up, keep hitting it, and you’ll eventually win.
Specimen HO512
- Chapter 16
- Weakness: N/A
This disgusting experiment surrounds itself with tiny minions that constantly unleash different elemental spells. The giant creature itself stomps around, grabbing characters with its Left Claw appendage, and spawning more minions.
The fight is pretty straightforward. You can smash the Left Claw to disable its grapple attack, but it will use Regrowth to heal and regenerate the claw. Attack the Left Claw and using True Strike or Focused Strike seem to be the best way to charge its Stagger gauge, but it will recover extremely quickly when staggered.
After dealing damage, the Specimen will retreat and use the tanks of mako to gain new abilities. In Phase 2, it will begin spawning minions. In Phase 2, it will empower minions with mako energy, causing them to explode when they’re close to you. In the third phase, it also will try to heal by leaching the smaller mako tanks.
Save your Limit Breaks and Summon for the final stage. When it attempts to heal, unleash your limit breaks and your most powerful abilities. The Specimen has no specific weaknesses, so most magic will work against it. If you’re struggling in this fight, make sure to complete all the Shinra Combat Trials in the cafeteria area. It’s a great spot to grind a level or two.
Swordipede
- Chapter 17
- Weakness: N/A
The Swordipede is another ridiculous enemy from the original game that’s been enhanced into a big boss battle. The Swordipede flies in the sky, drilles across the ground, and drops payloads of electricity bombs from the sky. Before entering its chamber, prepare both parties — make sure both Cloud / Barret and Tifa / Aerith have Cure materia.
Equip a long-range weapon for Barret, and only attack with Cloud / Tifa standard attacks while the Swordipede is flying in the air. When it’s on the ground, it will knock melee attacks back. Mid-air, you’ll be able to pull off combos.
The second half of the fight is much harder. The Centipede leaves Cloud / Barret and attacks Tifa / Aerith on the central platform. There’s nowhere to run here, so equip Manaward and Magnify to keep your party alive. Pray also helps! While the Swordipede isn’t weak to Thunder, it does seem to take more stagger gauge damage. Use magic on the Swordipede while it’s electrified to stagger it faster.
