Check out this Final Fantasy 7 Remake (FF7 Remake, FF7R) secret boss fight guide on how to beat the Pride and Joy Prototype. Know how to unlock, weaknesses, resistances, & how to defeat!!!
Table of Contents
Video Guide On How To Beat Secret Bosses
How To Unlock Secret Boss & Rewards
Location & Rewards
| Location | Shinra Combat Simulator |
|---|---|
| Unlock Conditions | - Can be unlocked during Chapter 17 (even when playing on Normal Mode) |
| Mission | Three-Person Team vs Top Secrets |
| Clear Rewards | Gotterdammerung (Best accessory in the game) |
Unlock Requirements
| 1 | Clear the main story |
|---|---|
| 2 | Collect all Battle Intel Reports |
| 3 | Clear all Corneo Colosseum battles |
| 4 | Clear all Shinra Combat Simulator challenges |
Beat Corneo Colosseum in Chapter 9
To complete Corneo Coloseeum, remember to also clear all of Aerith's matches in Chapter 9. You can access the available fights after you have beaten the Hell House.
Check Out The Chapter 9 Story Guide Here!Pointers & How To Prepare For The Secret Boss
Recommended Party Members & Equipment
Cloud | Weapon: Twin Stinger Armor: Supreme Bracer Accessory: Revival Earrings |
|---|---|
Barret | Weapon: Big Bertha Armor: Cog Bangle Accessory: Revival Earrings |
Aerith | Weapon: Reinforced Staff Armor: Chain Bangle Accessory: Revival Earrings |
Make Sure To Bring Aerith!
In order to reach the secret boss, you will need to fight all of the 5 summons in a series of battles. And in order to last until the end, you will need the support & healing skills of Aerith to survive. For offensive power, go with Cloud & use Barret to deal with Leviathan.
Check Out Aerith Here!Equip Revival Earrings Before Going In
Revival Earrings are a must-have during this fight. As you cannot use Phoenix Downs & items to revive teammates, getting caught in Bahamut's Mega Flare can wipe out your whole team. With this accessory, your team can withstand team-wiping moves once. You can buy this in shops for 500 gil.
Alternate To Revival Earrings
At Weapon Level 6, you'll unlock the weapon skill Reprieve (only on some weapons). This ability will allow you to survive survive one hit from any attack once per fight. This will allow you to live through Mega Flare (provided you don't die earlier in the fight!) If you choose this option, consider equipping more offensive accessories instead.
Recommended Materia
| HP Up | ・Greatly increases maximum HP ・Equip up to 2 per character |
|---|---|
| Healing | ・Allows the user to use Healing spells. Equip everyone with this |
| Revival Materia | ・Revive fallen allies. Equip to everyone in your team |
| Barrier × Magnify | ・Counter against Bahamut's Mega Flare ・Equip Aerith with this one |
| Fire Materia | ・Effective against Shiva |
| Lightning Materia × Elemental Materia | ・Effective against Leviathan & Secret Boss ・Must-have Materia ・Equip on a melee character's armor |
Max Out Your AP
The fight to the secret boss in the FF7 Remake is undoubtedly the hardest challenge in the game. In order to beat it, it is recommended that you get all of your Materias maxed.
Check Out How To Max Your AP Here!Fight 1: Shiva - Tips
How To Beat Pointers!- Evade Whiteout
- Frost Familiars makes Shiva immune to elemental attacks
Use Fire Magic
Using Fire magic against Shiva quickly fills up her stagger bar. Use it to induce Stagger & use the opportunity to deal heavy damage. Prepare your Limit Breaks for this chance.
Beware Of Whiteout & Heavenly Strike Combo
Getting hit with Whiteout puts your characters to sleep, which Shiva will then use as an opportunity to use Heavenly Strike. Try to evade Whiteout as getting hit with Heavenly Strike can cripple your chances.
Immune When With Frost Familiars
Shiva can call 5 orbs, Frost Familiars, to guard her. While these orbs are present, Shiva is immune to any elemental damage, especially from Fire.
Heal Before Diamond Dust
▲Hits all characters with 4000 damage
Diamond Dust is Shiva's ultimate move. It deals damage to your whole party and cannot be evaded or prevented. When you notice Shiva casting Diamond Dust, start healing your whole party.
Fight 2: Fat Chocobo - Tips
How To Beat Pointers!- Eliminate the summons first
- Guard against heavy attacks
- Boss has high HP
Slow & Predictable Attacks
The Fat Chocobo's attacks are slow and takes time before it executes it. Whenever you see it charging up for an attack, evade or use guard to withstand the damage.
Quickly Destroy Summoned Units
The floating Moogle accompanying the Fat Chocobo can summon other units using "Fingers crossed, kupo!". The summoned units have low HP, so deal with them as fast as you can as they can be a nuisance during the fight.
Guard Against "Kewh Kewh"
Watch out for the Fat Chocobo's "Kewh Kewh" as it can deal massive damage if you are caught unprepared. It's a special attack composed of 5 rolls and 3 bounces, making it hard to evade so use Guard instead.
Fight 3: Leviathan - Tips
How To Beat Pointers!- Equip Melee Characters with Thunder Materia
- Easier with Barrier
Attacks With AoE & Magic
Almost all of Leviathan's attacks are magic-based and can hit large areas in the battlefield. Equip a Magnify Materia on your party's healer to counter the Leviathan's attacks. Barrier Materia also helps as it allows you to reduce the damage taken.
Counter Spinning Dive With Ranged Attacks & Magic
With Spinning Dive, Leviathan will fly across the battlefield, making it untargetable with melee attacks. The only thing that can damage it while doing this move are Barret's normal ranged attack and magic. Equip Lightning Materia on your melee fighters so that they can attack whie Leviathan is in the air.
Attack With Melee When Using Briny Below
Leviathan will be very vulnerable to melee attacks while using Briny Below. Take advantage of this opening and get Cloud or Tifa next to it to deal large amounts of melee damage.
Heal Before Tidal Wave
▲Manawall works well against its Tidal Wave.
Tidal Wave is Leviathan's ultimate move. It cannot be dodged and it deals a significant amount of damage to the whole party. Try to heal up once it starts to cast this move. You can also prep with Manawall to reduce the damage.
Fight 4: Bahamut - Tips
How To Beat Pointers!- Most difficult boss fight
- Manawall against Mega Flare
- Ifrit appears when HP is lowered to 50%
- Defeat Ifrit with Limit Breaks
Use Manawall Against Mega Flare
▲Even with Manawall, Megaflare's damage goes over 5000.
Once Bahamut's countdown reaches 0, it will unleash its ultimate move, "Mega Flare". If caught unprepared, this move will wipe out your whole party so use Manawall to guard against it. For better results, add a Magnify Materia into the mix.
Revival Earrings For The Win!
Still having the Revival Earrings during this battle makes it a lot easier as you can survive a direct hit from Mega Flare. This increases your odds of surviving through the whole ordeal and reaching the final secret boss.
Prepare For Ifrit's Arrival
▲Bahamut and Ifrit join forces
Once Bahamut's HP gets halved, Ifrit will appear to join the fray. While Ifrit is not that formidable and its HP is not that high, getting hit by both of them at the same time can end your run. Try to keep them apart and defeat Ifrit as soon as possible!
Use Limit Break Against Ifrit
You should prioritize defeating Ifrit first once it appears. Try to save your Limit Breaks for it and pour everything on Ifrit to quickly dispatch it.
Secret Boss Fight: Pride and Joy Prototype - Tips
How To Beat Pointers!- Easier than previous bosses
- Guard or dodge initial attack
- Use Thunder when caught
- Attack it from behind
- Destroy parts to stagger
- Frequently uses melee attacks
Attack Patterns Per HP
| Phase Remaining HP | Attack Pattern |
|---|---|
| Phase 1 100~91% | - Uses Beam Cannon |
| Phase 2 90~66% | - Stunned for first 7 secs - Open cores to charge energy (Color changes from Purple > Yellow > Red) - May use Jammer Laser when the core is lit (especially when attacked by magic) - May use Beam Cannon when the core is red (Core charge reset after used) - When either leg is destroyed, it fully regenerates after 7 seconds of stun - When a leg is destroyed more than twice, it will not be able to fire flames from the leg - When grabbing a target, it will target other character while charging energy faster - After throwing the character, it will use Napalm repeatedly |
| Phase 3 65%~ | - High chance to start the phase with Beam Cannon - May fire Jammer Laser repeatedly or use Stun Blast when core is lit -Will lose ability to grab when right arm is destroyed - Will lose ability to fire Napalm and Spark Whip when left arm is destroyed -When HP drops below 10%, it may fire Napalm repeatedly |
Dodge Or Guard Against Beam Cannon
Pride and Joy Prototype opens the fight with a Beam Cannon. Getting directly hit by it chips off a huge chunk of your HP so guard or evade it by dodging to the sides once the battle start. If unfortunately you still get hit, revive with the 2 remaining characters.
| Point! | Starting the battle with a Parry Materia-equipped Tifa allows you to quickly dodge without any problem. Take advantage of the sluggish movement of the boss and use your quick dodges to get hits in, then pull out. |
|---|
Hit Right Arm With Thunder When Caught
Pride and Joy Prototype is very weak against the Thunder element. While using Thunder-based attacks is the way to go, saving MP for when a character gets caught is recommended. A grabbed character will die if left alone, so use your magic attacks to destroy the right arm!
Check Out The Lightning Materia Here!Go Around & Attack From Behind
Take advantage of the boss' slow turning speed and movement speed by relentlessly attacking it from behind. Destroying both of its feet staggers it so try to concentrate on hitting its parts.
Destroy Parts To Stagger
Pride and Joy Prototype has 4 different parts that you can hit and destroy (Right Arm, Left Arm, Right Leg, Left Leg). Hitting them fills up the Stagger gauge so try to hit its easily reachable legs when you can!
Get Close & Attack!
Pride and Joy Prototype's only ranged attack is Beam Cannon. Try to keep it busy by using melee characters to hit it relentlessly. This also results in leaving Aerith free to revive fallen teammates as the boss' aggro is on the melee attackers.
Other Boss Guides
| vs. Optional Boss Guide | |
|---|---|
| Shiva | Leviathan |
| Fat Chocobo | Bahamut |
| Type 0 Behemoth | Secret Boss |
