Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade introduces the toughest battle yet, pitting you against a formidable foe within the Shinra Combat Simulator.
At first, Weiss might seem impossible. His raw power combined with his durability make him a terrifyingly difficult boss, but rest assured – it can be done with the right tactics and setup. And we’ve got it all covered here.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to beat Weiss in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade.
How to unlock Weiss in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
You’ll need Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, the PS5 version of the game and you’ll have to purchase and complete the Yuffie Intermission DLC. You can upgrade a previous PS4 version for free (unless it was a PS Plus version), but unfortunately this doesn’t include Yuffie’s DLC. Either way, you will have to buy it separately.
Once you have completed the main game plus Yuffie’s chapters, you’ll be told that a new foe is available in Chapter 17 of the main story. Load up your main file (you may have to transfer it over if you upgraded from the PS4 version), enter Chapter Select and head to the Shinra Combat Simulator in Chapter 17, where Chadley will inform you of a new battle available against “The Immaculate One”, which will automatically be tackled in Hard Mode.
How to beat Weiss in Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Beating Weiss requires a lot of preparation, as well as some serious tactical nouse. Each aspect of this strategy will be covered in detail.
Beforehand, you should make sure you have reached level 50 and conquered Top Secrets. You will also require quite a lot of different materia to be mastered, which we’ll cover in each character’s individual setup.
Best party and best setup to beat Weiss
The party you should choose to tackle Weiss is Cloud, Tifa and Aerith.
I am only covering the essential materia here – any spare slots are discretionary.
Cloud’s setup:
Equipment: Equip Cloud with the Gotterdammerung accessory (ignore the game’s warning about this). His weapon is debatable since he will hit with magic and physical attacks, but I recommend the Hardedge to make the most of the limit break. If you do not have a Gotterdammerung, use the Mythril Sabre instead. Go with a Chain Bangle for his armour.
Materia: Time materia linked with Magnify (Time doesn’t need to be mastered – Magnify should be mastered); Healing materia for emergencies; Revive; First Strike; HP Up x 2; MP Up, Lightning mastered
Tifa’s Setup:
Equipment: Go with the Metal Knuckles, the Supreme Bracer armour (Tifa doesn’t need four materia slots), and a Transference Module accessory which should ensure Tifa ends up with a Limit Break later on.
Materia: Parry materia (this is the most important of all!); HP Up x 2; ATB Assist mastered; ATB Stagger (optional); Barrier materia mastered; Bahamut Summon materia
Aerith’s Setup:
Equipment: Use the Mythril Rod due to its high magic attack power. Your armour doesn’t matter so much as long as you have four materia slots. For her accessory, I went for a Circlet to boost magic attack a bit further.
Materia: Magic Up x 2 (apparently stacks at 100% but there are only 2 in the game which gives a maximum of 50%); MP Up x 2; Lightning mastered; Healing mastered; Hp Up
General Tips
Before we get into the specifics, there are a few things you will need to know about this battle:
- The Gotterdammerung does work. Despite the game’s incorrect advice, any character with this equipped will start with half a limit gauge and it will build up slowly throughout the battle. It isn’t as good as usual but is still invaluable
- Weiss will always target the character you are controlling. He will only hurt AI characters if you lead him into their personal space or if you switch characters after he has commenced an attack
- Weiss has an attack called Immaculate End that usually ends up in a one-hit KO, inflicting 9,999 damage on everyone. This is only survivable with Barrier materia which can reduce damage to around 8,000, with Revival Earrings or the Reprieve weapon skills learned. The latter requires the manuscripts from Hard mode, but this isn’t necessary to win
- Most of his main attacks cannot be blocked, denoted by a red warning sign. That leaves only one option – get out of the way! Due to this, you’ll probably need one or two practice attempts to get used to Weiss’s attack patterns
- The battle will be incredibly difficult without some serious magic power – you will probably need the mastered Magic Up materia. I recommend Thundaga as your spell of choice because it is a guaranteed hit, but Blizzaga and Firaga are fine
First phase – Dual blades
This is the first but most important phase. To put it bluntly, you have to stagger Weiss within this phase or you may as well give up. Weiss has a few different attacks, and after attempting them he will usually enter a brief Pressured state which is your opportunity to strike.
Cast Haste on everyone with Cloud as soon as possible and ensure you are controlling Tifa at all times. Spam R1 and circle to Parry-dodge as much as possible, but run around normally when you have some distance so Tifa’s ATB charges up. Weiss has three main unblockable attacks:
- Stab – a forward burst which can be dodged to the side but is actually dodged more easily by dodging towards him. If you pull this off, Tifa will vault over his head and always leave Weiss pressured
- Crosswise Cleave – this is another forward burst but is much easier to dodge to the side. Weiss will always be pressured after this attack
- Evisceration– Weiss’s most devastating attack. If it lands, he’ll follow up with a combo that will easily knock down over half your health. It can be dodged by moving directly away from Weiss rather than to the side (you have to get a decent distance away). This move doesn’t always leave him pressured, so keep a close eye on his status and if you don’t see ‘pressured’ appear, keep moving. This seems to be based on how you time the dodge, but the most important thing is not getting hit
Continue dodging these attacks and each time he ends up pressured, swiftly move in with Tifa. Land a full combo of normal attacks and finish off with a Focused Strike. If Cloud is nearby, hit him with a Focused Thrust as well. If Cloud isn’t close enough, don’t bother as Weiss will quickly move out of the way.
Hitting him continually whilst pressured will extend the pressured state, so don’t worry if you take a bit of time to reach him – as long as you get there and start attacking before he regroups you will have enough time to land Focused Strike.
You will gradually fill up Weiss’s Stagger gauge this way slowly but surely whilst Cloud and Aerith are charging ATB. Only control Tifa and try to avoid taking any damage as you don’t want to waste ATB or MP. You can get away with a Curaga or two if she’s hit, and keep Haste activated at all times.
This will probably take 6 or 7 different bouts of attacks when Weiss is pressured. However, it’s also important to not stagger Weiss too early, as we’ll discuss below.
Stagger Weiss
Since you are filling up the gauge slowly, you can keep control of when you actually inflict the stagger. This is important, because you need to make sure the following conditions are met when stagger takes effect:
- Tifa has already used two Unbridled Strength and has Rise and Fall available
- Cloud has a full limit gauge
- Aerith has two full ATB bars
- Tifa also has two full ATB bars (optional if you have ATB Stagger)
Basically, you’ll have to stagger Weiss after all of this is done but before he performs a Phase Shift. This should be a reasonable window but if he does his Phase Shift first it’s all over and you should restart. Why? The short version is that this means he will shift his next phase sooner and end up healing himself.
When you stagger him, it’s time to take action quickly:
- Tifa’s Rise and Fall followed by Omnistrike immediately
- Activate Cloud’s Ascension Limit Break
- Use two consecutive Thundagas with Aerith
- Whilst these are being actioned, smash two consecutive True Strikes with Tifa which should land first to increase the damage
- Once all this is done, hit him with Whirling Uppercuts and another True Strike – you should reach around 300% stagger bonus
- Due to ATB Assist from the True Strikes, Aerith should be able to fit in another Thundaga
- When Cloud’s limit ends, there may also be enough time for him to use a Thundaga of his own
- Any spare time – repeat magic and mash Whirling Uppercuts/True Strikes
Needless to say, the timing is important here so make sure you enter the menu and take a breath if you need it. This should all take off well over half of his health, and it will automatically trigger a Phase Shift.
Note: If you don’t have two high-levelled Magic Up materia on Aerith, it may be worth using Ray of Judgment immediately instead. If you don’t have the Gotterdammerung, you should use Infinity’s End.
Second phase – Gunner
Weiss will now start using a large gun, and he becomes immune to physical attacks. He will still occasionally attack at close range, but he is easier to dodge than before. The only attack to really worry about is Debilitate, which can inflict silence if it hits.
Now, you can switch around characters a bit but I still wouldn’t advise it – the other characters are not as reliable dodgers. Instead, I recommend dodging around and attacking him from behind as much as possible with Tifa.
This won’t do any damage but the true purpose here is to build up ATB. Once it’s built up, summon Bahamut as soon as possible. Afterwards, use consecutive Unbridled Strength and give the other characters a well-timed ATB Assist to help them keep up their magic attacks. Finally, make the most of Summon Abilities with Tifa. Her magic attack isn’t strong so this is a far better use of her ATB.
As for the other characters, keep Haste activated and pelt him with as many Thundagas as possible. Ideally you would cast these spells within an Arcane Ward, but this is actually quite risky – you would have to keep manually controlling Aerith, who is particularly difficult to keep safe. Even if you lure Weiss away, she has a nasty habit of following him around. Overall, I don’t think it’s worth it.
Nonetheless, your spell barrage will deal a fair amount of damage, and Bahamut’s Megaflare will also take down some massive HP. Overall, it may just be enough to finish him.
It’s hard to stagger Weiss in this phase as he can use the Rejuvenation ability which gradually reduces his stagger gauge. Don’t worry too much as you can beat him here without a stagger. If he still isn’t down after Megaflare, quickly make sure Cloud is fully healed and cast Manawall on him with Tifa.
Immaculate End
If you don’t defeat Weiss within his gunner phase, he’ll Phase Shift and almost immediately use his ultimate move, Immaculate End.
You won’t have much time to prepare for this which is why you should have healed Cloud and cast Manawall beforehand. As long as Cloud’s health is over about 8,000 he should survive.
You can also survive with Reprieve or Revival Earrings, but the latter is a waste of an accessory since you need the Gotterdammerung.
Weiss will usually phase back to the gunner phase and you should have enough time to revive Tifa, switch over to her and start dodging again. You can actually get yourself back to full health as this is the easiest phase to avoid damage – but he doesn’t stay in it for long. Don’t use limit breaks in this phase as he will be immune to physical damage!
Soon, Weiss will shift his phase again – either back to his initial phase or to a new, twinblade phase.
Third phase – Twinblade/Healing
In this phase, Weiss will be easier to stagger but he is immune to magic attacks. The real downside is that he will also heal himself gradually.
Therefore if Weiss switches to this phase after Immaculate End, you will have to finish him off quickly. If you survived this far, you should have Limit Breaks for Cloud and Tifa – use them!
Weiss has a few attacks, but they’re all relatively easy to avoid with Tifa if you’re spamming Parry-dodge. Importantly, he does not need to be pressured in order to land attacks so counter every move you dodge with a flurry of attacks.
It’s only worth continuing here if you have limit breaks nearly charged or if he started on very low health. It takes too long to stagger him without them so you simply need to use them as soon as you can. He will shortly heal up and revert back to his initial phase to activate another Immaculate End, so it’s now or never.
What are the rewards for beating Weiss?
Beating the toughest foe Final Fantasy 7 Remake has to offer will grant the following rewards:
- 4,500 EXP
- 90 AP
- 2,250 Gil
- Gotterdammerung x 2
You probably don’t need any of this, and it’s mainly about the sense of accomplishment, but two more Gotterdammerungs are enough for the game to be suitably broken from this point forth.
Who is Weiss?
Weiss first appeared in Crisis Core, and later became the final boss from the PS2 spin-off title Dirge of Cerberus, an RPG-shooter hybrid starring Vincent that never quite took off.
He is a SOLDIER who ended up having his mind infiltrated by a digitized version of Hojo’s consciousness. Though he was defeated by Vincent, Weiss ended up merging with his brother Nero and destroying the presence of Hojo.
Since Nero also appears during Yuffie’s Intermission chapters, it certainly seems as though the Remake instalments will continue to pull from the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 going forward.
Summary
There’s a lot to take in here, so I’ll finish with a quick reminder of the most important points:
- Dodge like crazy with Tifa, using Parry materia
- Counterattack Weiss when he’s pressured to build his stagger
- Keep Haste activated as much as possible
- Once he’s staggered, hit him with Aerith’s magic, Tifa’s stagger-bonus moves and Cloud’s limit break
- On the next phase, summon Bahamut and attack with as much magic as possible with Cloud and Aerith
- If he’s still standing, heal Cloud and cast Manawall on him as he will shortly inflict a one-hit kill with Immaculate End
- After this, revive your teammates with Cloud as soon as possible and try to finish off Weiss with Tifa and Cloud’s limit breaks – but don’t use them in his gunner phase
We hope this guide of how to beat Weiss in Final Fantasy 7 Remake helped you out. Comment below if you managed to pull it off, and be sure to check out some of our other articles:
