I won’t sit here and tell you Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is the next Dark Souls, but its boss battles certainly pack a punch.
Regardless of which combat style or difficulty you chose, the Terror of the Deep boss fight in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is quite challenging, especially if you’re not handpicking your characters and adjusting your equipped Materia specifically for this battle. If you find yourself back at the top of the pier’s stairs each time you fail this battle in the demo, I’ve compiled some tips and tricks for you.
Terror of the Deep boss guide in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Terror of the Deep moveset and counters
Phase one
During the first phase of the boss fight, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth‘s Terror of the Deep sticks to melee combat and tries to incapacitate your party members.
| Attack Name | Description | How to Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Tail Lash | Sweeps the area in front of it with its tail. | Either dodge backward or engage in aerial combat with cloud. |
| Spiral Surge | Pulls back and charges forward slingshot style. | Dodge to the side. |
| Grasping Tail | Grabs a party member with its tail before inflicting major damage. | If the tail grab isn’t dodged, rescue the trapped party member with a DPS spell. |
| Water Cell | Traps a party member inside a water cell. | If the cell isn’t dodged, rescue the trapped party member with a DPS spell. |
Phase two
After reducing it to 50 percent health, Terror of the Deep resorts to AoE water-based attacks.
| Attack Name | Description | How to Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Oceanic Tornado | Deploys a massive water tornado in the center of the arena and pulls you toward it. | Keep dodging toward the edges of the arena to avoid damage. |
| Water Jet | Shoots three water laser beams that reach most of the arena. | Stand in between the laser beams. |
| Aquatic Twister | Tracks you with water geysers for 10 seconds. | Keep moving until the geysers stop targeting you. |
| Gnawing Fangs | Bites a party member and chews on them, dealing damage. | Either dodge or parry. |
| Water Cell | Traps a party member inside a water cell. | If the cell isn’t dodged, rescue the trapped party member with a DPS spell. |
Terror of the Deep weaknesses, resistances, and immunities
Terror of the Deep is weak to Lightning in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. You should have at least one Thunder Materia equipped on a character. It’s better if this is equipped on the party leader, so you can use it as many times as possible. Another great way to inflict Lightning damage on Terror of the Deep is to summon Ramuh. This is just one of the summons you can get over your journey in FF7R.
Avoid using Fire or Ice, since it’s resistant to those two. It also won’t be easy to inflict any debuff, like Stop, Petrify, Slow, Silence, Sleep, and Stone, since it’s either resistant or immune to them altogether.
Best team versus Terror of the Deep
The best team to beat Terror of the Deep in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are Cloud, Aerith, and Barret.
- Cloud can deal melee damage with the Aerial Combo (press circle and hold square for the gap-closer).
- Barret can deal continuous ranged damage when Terror of the Deep is out of reach.
- Aerith can provide support while buffing spells with the Radiant Ward
Strategy to beat Terror of the Deep
Phase one
To beat Terror of the Deep in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, be aware of its moveset and react accordingly. Its attacks can incapacitate your party members, causing you to waste one ATB Gauge charge to save them each time. You can counter its strategy by either perfecting your dodges when Water Cell and Grasping Tail strike, or by keeping your ATB Gauges charged at all times so you won’t have to waste a spell saving a party member.
The best way to keep your ATB Gauge filled is to keep Cloud as the party leader and engage Terror of the Deep with an Aerial Combo. To fight in the air, press circle and hold square. This triggers Cloud’s gap closer and lets you unleash continuous damage while airborne.
Once you’ve got two stacks of ATB, create a Radiant Ward with Aerith. Radiant Ward doubles the spells you cast as long as you’re inside it. So, if you stand inside the Radiant Seal with Cloud and cast Thunder, you’ll be casting two lightning-based spells for the cost of one.
Keep at it until you reduce Terror of the Deep’s health pool to 50 percent.
Phase two
During phase two, Terror of the Deep swims in the water and sticks its head out of the holes in the arena. There is one hole in every cardinal direction (north, south, east, and west). If you locate them, you’ll know where the boss will emerge next, which gives you the upper hand in battle.
When Terror of the Deep is using Water Jet, Oceanic Tornado, or Aquatic Twister, focus on dodging any incoming damage. Once it’s used those abilities, use your gap-closer to get close and deal as much damage as you possibly can to stagger it.
Once you’ve defeated Terror of the Deep, you’ll have one less FF7R trophy to worry about.
