Ramuh is an optional boss in Yuffie’s Intermission DLC. He’ll undoubtedly be a familiar face for Final Fantasy fans who have seen him show up and blast enemies with his all-powerful Judgment Bolt for decades. This time, like many other summons within Final Fantasy 7 Remake, you’ll have to beat him in battle yourself to earn his materia.
This will be a challenging battle when you first attempt it, but Ramuh can be defeated with the correct setup and strategy.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to beat Ramuh in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intermission.
How do you fight Ramuh in Final Fantasy 7 Remake?
Ramuh is encountered early on in Yuffie’s Intermission DLC. After you’ve reached the Sector 7 slums and met up with Avalanche, explore the area to find Chadley standing on the corner near the place you entered. Talk to him and you’ll be able to take on a VR Battle against Ramuh, which will reward you with the Ramuh summon materia.
You cannot fight Ramuh within the normal Final Fantasy 7 Remake game, meaning Cloud and company will not be able to snag his materia.
Can you beat Ramuh with Yuffie solo?
Yes. When you first reach Ramuh, you’ll be at around level 25. Your first attempt may leave you scarred and unsure whether it’s realistically possible, but you can certainly beat Ramuh at this point with Yuffie alone.
Obviously the battle will be easier when you recruit Sonon, but with the right tactics and execution you can definitely beat him with Yuffie at level 25. Follow the instructions below and you’ll be fine.
Best setup to beat Ramuh with Yuffie
There are only a few essential materia orbs on a solo Yuffie run.
Ramuh is weak to Wind so equip this, along with Healing materia to get you out of a tight spot. Don’t bother with any other offensive magic as Ramuh is strong against Fire and Ice and can absorb Lightning.
Steadfast Block is worth equipping to reduce block damage, along with at least one HP Up materia. There’s nothing much else strictly required, so another HP Up or MP Up is fine. Don’t bother with Assess or Steal – Ramuh has nothing to steal and everything you need to know about him has already been mentioned.
Keep your distance and attack from afar
The key to this battle is ensuring you don’t get hit very often. Ramuh has many different attacks, but fortunately the vast majority of them are ranged attacks that can be dodged (see below).
Keep your distance from Ramuh and you’ll find you can generally dodge to the side and stay out of trouble. If you are hit, most attacks will leave you temporarily stunned, allowing Ramuh to follow it up with another hard-hitting move. This can all accumulate into a lot of damage that can take you out altogether if you aren’t on high HP.
Throw your shuriken at Ramuh and continually press the attack button whenever you get a moment spare, so you can keep building your ATB in between your dodges.
How to avoid Ramuh’s attacks
These are Ramuh’s main attacks, and how to avoid them:
Levin Arrows: Ramuh fires lots of lightning sparks around the area, which stay on the ground and stun you if you touch them. Dodge the initial attack and then pay attention to your surroundings to make sure you don’t collide with one afterwards.
Lightning Strike: A series of lightning blasts directly at Yuffie, so keep dodging to the side and you should be able to avoid them.
Luminous Falchion: Ramuh will teleport next to Yuffie and physically attack with his staff several times. You can either dodge backwards or block the attacks (which negates damage altogether if well-timed). Once he’s finished, it’s a good time to use Windstorm.
Thunderous Orbs: This is very similar to Lightning Strike but this time the bursts zig-zag and have a slightly wider range. You can still avoid them easily by moving sideways and repeatedly spamming the dodge button.
Charged Current: Ramuh strikes into the ground and releases a shockwave that surrounds him. As long as you are keeping your distance this will be fine, but if you are nearby dodge backwards as quickly as possible.
Voltaic Lance: A one-off blast of lightning that can be dodged to the side, just like the rest of Ramuh’s ranged attacks.
Circuitous Bolt: Three constant beams that rotate around Ramuh. Get far enough away and you’ll be out of range, but it’s possible to get cornered by this one. If the worst comes to the worst, you can actually block this to reduce the damage.
Orbiting Wand: Very similar to the above, but instead of beams it’s a wand that flies around within a wide radius of Ramuh. Can also be blocked, or evaded if you are far away.
Judgment Bolt: This cannot be dodged, and you’ll simply need to be on high HP to survive. We’ll discuss further below.
Use the Wind element
As soon as the battle starts, throw your shuriken and build up some ATB whilst dodging his Levin Arrows. The moment you get an ATB bar, activate Elemental Ninjutsu and set it to the Wind element. This will stand you in good stead for the rest of the fight. Afterwards, use your two other wind-based attacks – Aero and Windstorm.
If your Wind materia is at level 1, then Windstorm will do more damage and this should be prioritised. However, you’ll need to be within a reasonably close distance for it to reach.
Use Windstorm after Ramuh teleports in and uses Luminous Falchion. He will usually strike two or three times so dodge or block these, use Windstorm and get out of there as soon as possible. Keep amassing ATB bars whilst dodging from long-range and when Ramuh uses a long-range attack you should evade it and cast Aero during the brief respite to strike him from distance.
Between these three Wind-based attacks you will increase Ramuh’s stagger gauge whilst chipping down his health. There isn’t exactly a phase shift but after a while, Ramuh will use Summon Sparks.
Take out the orbs and pressure Ramuh
Once around 60% of Ramuh’s HP is remaining, he’ll summon three orbs. These float around and can deal some steady damage if they are nearby. They aren’t a particularly big threat as they move slowly and are easily avoided. The real reason to take them out is that it will leave Ramuh pressured for a significant period of time.
Target the first orb, throw your shuriken and keep hitting it from afar. Once you have ATB, Retrieve to zip close by and defeat it with Windstorm. Do the same with the second one, leaving only one left.
At this point, it’s important to conserve your ATB and try to have two full bars ready for when Ramuh is pressured. Simply throw your wind-infused shuriken at the last one and steadily take it out with ranged hits whilst being careful of Ramuh’s attacks.
The moment it’s defeated, Ramuh will be pressured and vulnerable. Throw at Ramuh and Retrieve to get up close. Smash him with two consecutive Windstorms, and swiftly keep attacking to recharge that ATB as quickly as possible. you’ll blast down a huge amount of health here, and should have enough time to fit in another Windstorm.
He can summon these orbs again later in the battle, but by then his HP will likely be fairly low so they are not worth the effort.
Ramuh will likely be staggered during this period. If he’s very close, refrain from using your Windstorms until the stagger takes effect. This skill increases the damage bonus as well as striking his weakness, so will probably finish him off. It’s also a good time to use your limit break if you have one.
Heal if you see him preparing Judgment Bolt
Judgment Bolt has previously been a welcome sight within the Final Fantasy series, but not so much when you’re on the wrong end of it.
Ramuh’s ultimate attack is unblockable, but it can be survived. If you are taking him on early in the chapter (ie, around level 25), then you will simply need to be near full health.
Keep a close eye on Ramuh and as soon as you spot this move being charged, heal up immediately. You don’t have much time, but it should be enough if you already have some ATB available. Use Cura or an item to replenish your health and you’ll just about manage to get back up. The good news is you’ll probably also have a limit break. If Ramuh is on low health, use it immediately. Otherwise wait until he is staggered.
Note that it is easily possible to beat Ramuh without him ever using this attack. If you are already on full health when you see him casting it, you may as well use the window to attack.
How to beat Ramuh with Sonon in the party
Obviously adding Sonon into the mix makes things easier. Two ninjas are better than one, after all.
Equip Sonon with a Wind of his own, and give Yuffie Revive just in case he falls in battle. There’s no need to equip Revive on Sonon since he automatically sacrifices himself to save Yuffie if she is KO’d. You should definitely equip Ninja Cannonball if you have it, but this isn’t acquired until the second chapter of Intermission.
Start the battle by chipping away in the same manner as before. Use Aero/Aerora with Sonon and avoid his attacks whilst striking from range with Yuffie.
When the orbs are summoned, this is your opportunity to destroy Ramuh by staggering him. Go all out on the orbs until one remains. Then try and amass full ATB for both characters whilst defeating the last one. Once Ramuh is pressured, you can finish him off in a swift assault.
Use one of Sonon’s ATB bars to strike him with Twirling Lunge and use Windstorm or Wind Banishment with Yuffie. Don’t waste all your ATB because you’ll need both characters to have one bar when he is staggered.
Synergise and pepper him with attacks until his stagger gauge fills up. Then use Synergised Windstorm, which increases his damage bonus along with dealing huge Wind-based damage itself. Try and build ATB back up quickly (easier with Ninja Cannonball) and strike with another Synergised Windstorm if you can. This will almost certainly finish him off, but if not retreat and blast him with Wind magic again.
Level up in the wasteland
If Ramuh is proving difficult, you can run back out into the wasteland where you came from. Some tricky enemies will respawn here, and you should be able to level up pretty quickly. A couple of levels could be the difference between winning and losing, and it’s also a good opportunity to get used to Yuffie’s playstyle. She is definitely one of the most fun characters to control once you’ve got a handle on her skills and abilities.
While you’re at it, equip Wind and HP Up to see if you can amass enough AP to level them up, which will assist during the battle.
Recap
There are a few different ways to go about it, but this should just about cover everything you need to know to beat Ramuh whether it’s Yuffie solo or alongside Sonon. Here’s a brief recap:
- Equip Wind, Healing, Steadfast Block and HP Up materia – everything else is optional
- Keep your distance from Ramuh and dodge all of his ranged attacks
- Use Elemental Ninjustu to infuse your shuriken with Wind and steadily attack from afar to build ATB and increase stagger
- Use Windstorm when he warps up close and Aero when he stays away
- Take out the orbs and try and get full ATB ready whilst defeating the last one
- Once they are beaten, rush in and blast him with consecutive Windstorms whilst Ramuh is pressured
- When Ramuh is close to stagger, try and save up your ATB to use your Windstorms after he is staggered. Alternatively, use a limit break
- Stay healed up in case he uses Judgment Bolt
- If you are fighting with Sonon, take out the orbs and stagger Ramuh before obliterating him with Synergised Windstorm
That’s just about everything you need to know to take down Ramuh and earn his summon materia. If this guide of how to beat Ramuh was useful, check out some of our other tips in the articles below:
