Chapter 12 of the main story will unlock a bunch of new quests for you to do in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. One of those new quests is Sand and Circuses in the Corel Region. This is a pretty simple quest, as it just involves fighting a bunch of enemies, although it will be solo battles, so things can get a little challenging. This page will detail where to start Sand and Circuses, as well as tips on how to defeat the Joker enemy.

Sand and Circuses Location¶

This quest will become available in Chapter 12 of the main story, with it being located in The Dustbowl in the Corel Region. Before you head there, though, make sure you have completed both the Of Robed Men and Ransom and Trouble in Paradise quests in the same region. The former can be done in Chapter 7, while the latter is also available in Chapter 12. Once all of the prerequisites have been done, head to The Dustbowl and towards the Beast Battleground, where you’ll find Leslie.

Leslie is searching for a woman important to him and heard rumors she is being offered as a prize from this Beast Battleground event. You decided to participate in the event, which will be a series of five solo battles, using each of your human party members (sorry Red XIII). When you’re ready, head to the Beast Battleground and tell the guard you’re there for “Gus’ Party,” which will bring up the menu for these matches.

The Ninja vs. Winged Ones: Yuffie vs. Valrons¶

The first battle is Yuffie versus two Valrons. They are weak to ice, so make sure you get Ice Ninjutsu on her right away. Most of their attacks are melee, except for Graviton Charge. If you see this, then you should immediately focus your attacks on that enemy, until they become interrupted and stop charging the move. If you just focus on that one thing, you should have an easy time. Once you stagger one, use Art of War to deal some great damage and bring them defeat.

The Flower Seller vs. Fireballs: Aerith vs. Bombs¶

It might be a good idea to equip Aerith with the Barrier Materia, as long as it’s level two, since that grants her the Manaward spell. She will be up against two Bombs and despite their fiery nature, they don’t actually have an elemental weakness. This could be a troublesome battle, since Aerith isn’t the most nimble of characters and her normal attacks come out rather slowly. The main thing here will be to dodge the fireballs, which can be tough with Aerith’s lackluster dodge.

You can circumvent this by placing a ward and using Ward Shift to teleport to it whenever one of the Bombs shoot a fireball at you. Staying away from the Bombs is a good tactic and using magic that isn’t Fire will help in defeating them. If you can bring their health low enough for them to use Explosion Imminent, attack them to trigger their Self-Destruct and keep away from that. This allows you to get rid of them without having to expend more energy on attacking.

The Gunner vs. Wind Sages: Barret vs. Zemzeletts¶

Barret will be facing two Zemzeletts, which will be weak to ice, so make sure you have some Ice Materia on him. On his own, Barret shouldn’t really have any trouble with these enemies, since he has high HP and good damage output. You can use Steelskin to make sure you won’t get interrupted when doing your bigger attacks. Additionally, Lifesaver will grant him more health, should you need some extra insurance. When these enemies use Wingbeat, they will push you away, which doesn’t really matter much, due to Barret’s range.

The Pugilist vs. The Undertaker: Tifa vs. Modded Sweeper¶

Before starting this battle, put a Lightning Materia on Tifa, as you will be using it quite often to exploit the Modded Sweeper’s weakness. Using Thunder on it will pressure the enemy, allowing you to use Focused Strike to build up the stagger gauge. Focusing on the arms is a good idea, as that will remove some of the attacks from the Sweeper. Note that the Sweeper can respawn the arms, though, but it shouldn’t really get a chance to do that.

The Merc vs. Bloodstained Joker: Cloud vs. Joker¶

The last bout in this little competition will be Cloud versus a new enemy, the Joker. This is definitely an annoying foe, for more reasons than just the one. Soul Sucker is an unblockable move where Joker attempts to siphon HP from you to heal itself. Make it a priority to dodge this move at all costs, as that is the main way to pressure it when its HP is high. You’ll know this will happen, as the enemy will use Anima Howl on itself.

Destiny is a multi-layered skill that Joker will use, with the ability that comes from it depending on the type of card drawn. Hearts will have the enemy simply recover HP, while Diamonds will cause Joker to cast a buff on itself. Spades results in a magical attack, while Clubs is a physical attack. The worst move of all from Destiny occurs when it draws a Joker, as the resulting attack will leave Cloud with naught but a single HP should it hit (it’s very hard to dodge).

Once you bring its HP down low enough, it will use Anima Unleashed and put itself in a permanent pressured state. This is your cue to unleash constant attacks, like Focused Thrust, to get the stagger gauge full and end the fight. It will start using Destiny and Joker a lot more often at this point, too, so you don’t want to prolong things here. With you bringing down the Joker, you will witness some scenes, then finish up this quest.

Sand and Circuses Rewards¶

The main prize from this quest is the Way of the Fist Vol. VI manuscript, which will grant Tifa an additional 10 SP. Of course, you will also receive the usual Party EXP and character experience for your troubles, as well as a relationship increase for Tifa.