FF7 Remake
FF7 Remake (Final Fantasy 7 Integrade) Walkthrough & Wiki Guide
How To Beat Air Buster - Weakness & Fight Guide

FF7 Remake | How To Beat Air Buster - Weakness & Fight Guide | Final Fantasy 7 Integrade

Last Updated:
FF7 Remake | How To Beat Air Buster - Weakness & Fight Guide | Final Fantasy 7 Integrade - GameWith

Check out this Final Fantasy 7 Remake (FF7 Remake, FF7R) boss guide on how to beat Air Buster. Including hard mode, weakness, keycards, disposal of parts (AI Core, M Unit) & more!!!

Table of Contents

Check Out The List Of All Boss Fights Here!

Air Buster - Weaknesses And Resistances

Air Buster Stat Info

Air Buster
HPEXPAPGil
328481010550
DropRare DropSteal
Titanium Bangle-AI Programming Core

Weaknesses And Resistances

Weakness /
Status Ailments
Thunder
Lesser Resistance-
Greater ResistanceStop
ImmunitiesPoison, Silence, Sleep, Slow, Berserk, Percent Damage
Absorbed Elements-

Disposal Recommendations

Boss Abilities Change Depending On What You Dispose Of

AI Core

The Air Buster battle will be affected by the parts you choose to remove beforehand! It's possible to decrease the frequency of its abilities or weaken it overall. The number of parts you can use is limited, so you'll have to make some key decisions. Here are the parts we recommend.

Effects Of Disposed Parts and Items You Get

Priority LevelPart
Effect
Obtained Item
Effect
★★★AI Programming Core
Reduces how often it fires Fingerbeams
AI Programming Core
Sells for 500 Gil
★★・Big Bomber Shell
Reduces the number of Big Bomber Shells
Big Bomber Shell
Deals 500 damage to enemies in range
★・・M Unit
No effect
Ether x2
Restores 20 MP

Disposing Of The AI Core Is Best

You should definitely prioritize disposing of the AI Programming Core, as this will allow you to reduce the amount of Fingerbeams, which can have the negative of effect of paralyzing you as well. Then, removing Bomber Shells is the next best bet, as they deal massive AoE damage.

Floor Parts And Card Overview

FloorNumber of
Cards
Disposable Parts
B81M Unit
B71Big Bomber Shell
AI Core
B61M Unit
Big Bomber Shell
AI Core
B52M Unit
Big Bomber Shell
AI Core

How To Beat Air Buster

Air Buster Battle Overview

  • Weaken him by disposing of the right parts before the fight
  • The battle has 3 phases
  • There is a time limit
  • Run out of its firing range while it charges Tankbuster
  • Weak to Lightning magic

Weaken It Earlier In The Dungeon

エアバスターの強化パーツを廃棄

If you collect cards that are lying around the dungeon, you'll be able to use them to dispose of certain parts of Air Buster and make it weaker!

3 Phase Battle

Must Be Defeated within Time Limit

Air Buster will transition into different phases depending on its remaining HP. Heidegger will indicate that a new phase has begun His abilities will change greatly from phase to phase, so pay attention!

HP And Phase Change Details

Remaining HPDetails
100%Sandwiching him from 3 sides in a T shape on the bridge
75%Uses Tankbuster
Hands come off and attack you
50%Begins to fly

Thunder Is A Must

Use Lightning Attacks to Build Stagger

Simply put: Air Buster is weak to Lightning attacks. Bring Thunder and use it on him over and over!

Watch Out For Tankbuster

Tankbuster

Air Buster will begin to use the powerful laser move Tankbuster in its second phase. This deals massive damage, so as soon as you see it, stop what you're doing and move out of range!

Hit It With Ranged Attacks

Hide from Air Buster

Hitting Air Buster with ranged attacks while it's charging/firing Tankbuster is your best bet here. Make sure melee users are out and then switch to Barret or someone else to cast spells.

Destroy The Hands First

Arms

In phase 2, Air Buster's hands will split into two and come at you. They can really get in your way, especially when trying to avoid the laser, so focus down the arms first!

Switch To Barret When It Flies Away

Flies Away

In Phase 3, Air Buster will lift off and fly around the room. You simply won't be able to reach with melee users, so swap to Barret. Your remaining characters should be relegated to healing or using magic.

Deal Heavy Damage Once It Approaches

Deal Heavy Melee Damage when Air Buster Gets Near

After flying around for a while, Air Buster will eventually close back in on you. At this point, your melee hits will be able to reach, so lay everything you have on it! It might be worth it to save ATB for this if you can afford to.

Air Buster Moves & Counters

Tankbuster

Tankbuster

One of Air Buster's signature attacks. It will charge up a beam and deal massive damage in a line down the central bridge in front of it. Move away as soon as you see this charging!

Laser Attack

Laser

Air Buster will fire out a myriad of tiny lasers that bounce around the room and hit you. It might not be possible to dodge these completely.

Big Bomber

Big Bomber

A massive rocket that, when it connects, deals massive damage in the form of an explosion. When you see it fired out, start moving away!

Lightning Balls

Stand Between Lightning Balls

Air Buster will fire out small blueish-white balls that will deal damage. Watch when it fires them off and move away from them if you can.

Hard Mode Tips

Recommended Equipment

CloudCloud Weapon: Hardedge
Armor: Force Bracelet
Accessory: Supernatural Wristguards
Limit: Ascension
BarretBarret Weapon: Big Bertha
Armor: Supreme Bracer
Accessory: Revival Earrings
Limit: Catastrophe
Tifa
Tifa
Weapon: Feathered Gloves
Armor: Cog Bangle
Accessory: Supernatural Wristguards
Limit: Somersault
Check Out A List Of All Weapons Here

Recommended Materia

MateriaRatingReason
Elemental ★★★ ・Link with Lightning in Barret's weapon to gain elemental Lightning damage on hit
Lightning★★★・See above
・Air Buster's main weakness
HP Up★★★・Recommended to run one on each character
Healing★★★・Useful to heal yourself up when low
・One on each character
Magnify ★★★ ・Link with Healing on your main healer (Tifa is recommended)
Revival ★★★・Recommended to run on at least 2 characters to be safe
MP Up ★★★ ・Recommended to bolster your MP, at least one on your main healer, if not two.
Barrier ★★・ ・Useful to apply Manaward and reduce magic damage, especially during phase 2
Time★★・・Hasting Cloud increases DPS a lot
ATB Stagger★・・・Helps slightly to deal more damage during Staggers
First Strike★・・・Lets you get off a Haste first thing in the fight
Check Out A List Of All Materia Here

Force Fast Staggers

Air Buster

By infusing Barret's gun with Lightning magic and using stagger increasing abilities like Forced Thrust, Overpower, and Focused Shot, you can stack up Air Buster's stagger bar extremely fast and get out of the first phase incredibly quickly.

Don't Stack During Phase 2

Air Buster

Try to avoid having characters stack together like in the above picture, as this will only increase the damage you take from Big Bomber. Incidentally, try to keep up Barrier on everyone during this phase to reduce Big Bomb damage.

Switch As Soon As A Character Is Disoriented

Air Buster

Air Buster's hands will fire lasers that temporarily daze your characters. At this point, immediately switch to another character and reposition. Take out the hands as fast as possible, as they are extremely frustrating to play against.

Save Summons And Limits For Phase 3

Air Buster

Phase 3 will be the most hectic and require you to take out Air Buster before his damage overwhelms you and your MP runs out. For this reason, we highly recommend using your summons and limits here. If possible, wait for a stagger to use limits. For summons, we recommend Bahamut.

Unable To Guard Tankbuster?

Air Buster

We were unable to mitigate the damage of Tankbuster by guarding through it. It seemed to do around 3000 damage regardless. Therefore, we think it's best to consider this unavoidable damage. Instead, focus on making sure it only hits one character!

Save Up Your ATB

This is the type of fight where the lack of an available ATB gauge at a crucial moment can cost you everything. As such, we recommend playing somewhat passively, holding on to your gauges, especially on your Magnify + Healing character, to help out in a dangerous situation.

Manuscript Reward

For defeating Air Buster on hard mode, you'll get Sharpshooter’s Companion Vol. VI, which gives SP To Barret.

Check Out The Location Of All Manuscripts Here!
Have some feedback? Click here

Your feedbacks will be checked by our staffs and will be attended to accordingly. Please be advised that we may not reply to every individual feedbacks.


Article Written by
FF7 Remake Strategy Team

FF7 Remake Strategy Team

Reader Comments
Max. 300 Characters

By clicking Submit you are agreeing to the Terms of Use.
*Offensive, insulting or inappropriate use of forum may lead to ban/restriction.
To avoid griefing, you will not be able to post or report for the first %d hours upon visiting this forum for the first time.

Close

Looks like nobody posted here yet...

Copyright Notice

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE © 1997, 2020 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
All trademarks, character and/or image used in this article are the copyrighted property of their respective owners. Its licensors have not otherwise endorsed and are not responsible for the operation of or content on this site.
▶Final Fantasy VII Official Website

Article Menu
Story Walkthrough
Boss Fight Guide
vs. Boss Guides
All Quests
Chapter 3 Quests
Chapter 8 Quests
Chapter 9 Quests
Chapter 14 Quests
Useful Information
Play Tips
Choices & Differences They Make
Combat Guides
Dress At Corneo's Mansion
Summons
Items
Materia
Hidden Materia
Mini Games
Database
Characters
FF7 Related Wiki Guide
日本版FF7 Remake攻略