In what must be one of many extra annoying battle sequences of Last Fantasy VII Rebirth, President Rufus Shinra reveals as much as take Cloud on in a one-on-one match within the Gold Saucer in Chapter 12. As in Last Fantasy VII Remake, Rufus is a quick and lethal opponent. But he’s very beatable if you happen to deploy the correct methods.
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Rufus’ battle will power you to dodge assaults extra so than different battles in Rebirth, and you want to search for key openings to strike.
The three-step resolution for combating Rufus
You’re going to wish to observe some restraint and persistence when combating Rufus, keying into clear home windows of alternative. His assaults deal an intimidating quantity of harm, he’s quick, and he can simply counterattack and stun you. Listed here are three items of recommendation to remember whereas combating Rufus Shinra.
I’m telling you that you just’re gonna need to dodge bullets
Get able to mash circle loads to dodge Rufus’ varied assaults. In actual fact, I like to recommend spending time getting used to reliably dodging his assaults earlier than you begin touchdown assaults. Preventing Rufus is nearly like multitasking, and also you’ll have to depend on your dodges virtually being on autopilot when you search for openings to assault him.
When you begin getting used to dodging his assaults, it’s time to utilize Cloud’s ranged assault to start out elevating your ATB gauge.
Replenish your ATB with Cloud’s ranged strikes
Cloud’s bought a reasonably respectable ranged assault that, whereas not essentially very highly effective with every particular person strike, does have a number of utility. After hitting circle after which instantly hitting sq., Cloud will unleash a beam from his blade that’ll fly towards a goal (be sure to’re locked on to your opponent with R3). When you maintain sq., he’ll bodily fly towards his opponent. That final bit can get you into hassle with Rufus as he’s prone to counterattack.
You may after all maintain spamming circle adopted by a couple of presses of sq. to maintain attacking Rufus, however Cloud’s blade beams don’t deal a wild quantity of harm. As a substitute, they’re extra helpful for elevating Cloud’s ATB, which try to be prepared to make use of as quickly as Rufus begins reloading. After some time, Rufus will grow to be proof against this assault as effectively, so that you’ll need to strike simply sufficient to refill your ATB, then permit Rufus to make his personal assault, after which he’ll probably have to reload.
Rufus’ reload animation leaves him wildly weak
Rufus is vicious together with his counterattack, however if you happen to wait to strike him whereas he’s reloading, you’ll be able to simply Strain him. His reload animation (which is accompanied by the phrase Reload over his head) is your window of alternative. Not solely do you want to be continuously avoiding his assaults, you want to keep inside vary to be able to land strikes. Utilizing ATB Talents Braver and Targeted Thrust may also push him additional towards a Staggered situation; it’s a good suggestion to setup and memorize the shortcuts for these assaults—particularly Targeted Thrust which can ship Cloud surging towards him.
Additionally, if you happen to wait to see him really performing the Reload motion, you might typically be too late by the point Cloud pulls off his assault and end up simply getting punished by Rufus’ counter. Simply needless to say he all the time reloads after performing sure gun-based assaults. Supplied you handle to dodge it, we discovered the second proper after Rufus deploys Weapons Akimbo to be a very good alternative to shut in and rating some hits.
A couple of different concerns
You can poison Rufus with Bio. It received’t do an incredible quantity of harm, however it could actually slowly drain him of HP. Additionally, it’s precious to forged Haste and/or protecting spells like Barrier/Defend on your self. Be aware that Rufus doesn’t have elemental weaknesses, so be at liberty to make use of Cloud’s materia slots for materia that’ll buff his total battle efficiency and therapeutic spells like Regen.
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Be aware that you would be able to entry the primary menu in the course of the cutscene that takes place in between the Elena/Impolite battle and Rufus’ battle by holding sq.. If you wish to restart simply the battle with Rufus, choose “Retry From This Battle” after pausing the sport and choosing Retry.

What to do with Darkstar
Rufus has a hound buddy that’s terribly annoying. He’ll be part of the battle when you knock Rufus right down to round half his well being. You’ll notice that there’s a connection between the 2, and breaking that hyperlink will Strain the hound.
Concentrate on taking out Darkstar as quickly as you’ll be able to. Wailing on him will increase your ATB. I like to recommend that you just keep away from utilizing Triple Strike as that’s prone to trigger Cloud to strike Rufus, thus risking a counterattack from the president which can price you HP and time.
The colosseum battle in Chapter 12 definitely borders on sensory overload with the loud music and fixed chatter from the announcers. In some methods, that provides to the issue of taking down the previous president’s son. However avoiding his assaults and putting when the second is true will see you out of this battle and in your approach towards the ultimate moments of this epic RPG.