The final chapter of Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a dramatic departure from the rest of the relatively straightforward story. If you’re planning on playing and don’t want to get spoiled, stop scrolling now. We won’t get into the details until you reach the boss sections below, but there are a few big surprises in store for veteran players. If you’re a fan of the classic game, you might want to experience the rest for yourself.
If you’re okay with getting spoiler, or just want to see what madness is waiting at the end of the game, keep scrolling and I’ll try my best to give tips to help you beat the final bosses of the game. Yes, after four huge boss fights in Chapter 17, there are even more boss fights waiting the team in Chapter 18. One of them is a repeated boss from the original game, but he really doesn’t count. We’re only tackling the true big bads, and the final battle is a real doozy. Here’s hoping you’ve come prepared.
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) | How To Beat Jenova, Rufus & Arsenal | All Side-Quests Guide & Rewards List
Whisper Harbinger
- Chapter 18
- Weakness: N/A
The Arbiter of Fate is a being from the future here to protect the ‘classic’ timeline. To escape the bonds of fate, you must defeat this ancestral being. It isn’t easy, but it’s the only way to change the dark fate from the original game.The strange being summons three smaller bosses your party will take on together — Whisper Rubrum, Whisper Viridi, and Whisper Croceo. In the first two phases, you’ll have to fight all three beings at once.
Before the fight begins, equip Pray on Aerith and Barret, and try to give as many people Cure as possible. Later in the fight, your team will split up — Cloud / Barret and then Cloud / Tifa / Aerith. Make sure these two teams are well-stocked with materia, but there’s no weaknesses to exploit or tricks here.
To damage the Whisper Harbinger, you’ll need to down the minions. When their health reaches zero, they’ll automatically Stagger — in the staggered state, you can damage the Harbinger too. That’s your goal. Stay alive, keep your people healed, and knock the whispers into stagger states so you can damage the main body.
Eventually, you’ll fight the true boss here — Whisper Bahamut. The three whispers combine into this elemental dragon. Keep your HP high with Pray. Bahamut can use Mega Flare, and there’s no defending against it. It will take off about 50% of your party’s HP, even if you’re guarding.
Use Magnify + Manaward and Pray to protect your party, and just focus on doing as much damage as possible. Once Whisper Bahamut is destroyed, it will split into three — each time you defeat one, Barret and Red will use their Limit Breaks on the Harbinger.
This is as straightforward as fights come. Keep healing, use your abilities, take the monsters out one-by-one, and you’ll end the Harbinger. Finish it off by attacking the fallen head.
Sephiroth
- Chapter 18
- Weakness: Punisher Mode Auto-Counter & Counterstance
For the final battle, you’ll take on Sephiroth with Cloud, then Tifa, and finally Barret. I highly, highly recommend making sure Barret is equipped with an upgraded Pray materia. Give everyone Cure Materia, and one party member should have Barrier / Manaward Materia linked to Magnify — Haste linked to Magnify is another strong combo.
Sephiroth is resistant to all kinds of magic. Physical damage is your best weapon against Sephiroth. Stay in Punisher Mode, and use the auto-counter to put Sephiroth in a pressured state. Many of Sephiroth’s abilities are purely physical, and can be countered with Punisher Mode guard. Later the in the fight, as things get more and more hectic, don’t forget about the Punisher Mode counter. It’s essential in this battle.
Sephiroth is unlike any other opponent you’ve fought so far. He’s incredibly dangerous. If you don’t guard or dodge his attacks, he can rapidly deplete your HP. Many of his combos hit multiple times — if a character like Barret is trapped in an Octoslash combo, go ahead and heal them so they don’t faint.
I didn’t find magic spells to be that useful in this battle. Better to use Limit Breaks and abilities to slowly plink away at Sephiroth’s health. Use your Limit Breaks as soon as you have a good opening — to avoid getting targeted by Sephiroth, give orders to your party members instead of swapping to them directly. Sephiroth will always target the party leader first.
The trick of this fight is just to keep your party alive and fighting. You’ll have to constantly heal — that’s where an upgraded Pray materia will really come in handy. Take it off Aerith and give it to Barret.
Even at this fight’s most hectic moments, use Cloud’s Punisher Mode to counter Sephiroth. The more you can pressure him, the faster you’ll win this fight. Things get really serious when Sephiroth grows a wing — he’ll imbue his weapon with elemental damage and use magic spells of the same type. That’s where Manaward is going to help.
And that’s it! Defeating Sephiroth is only temporary. He’s even more powerful now, and seems to understand that his fate is tethered to the Whisper Harbinger. What does it all mean? Future games might be wildly different from the original FF7. Maybe Aerith can live this time.
