Chapter 14 is the final chapter of the main story in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, with it mostly consisting of a boss gauntlet to wrap up everything. The first boss you faced was Jenova Lifeclinger and once you defeat that monstrosity, you will be taken to the second boss, Sephiroth. Thankfully, Cloud won’t be alone here, as he will be joined by Zack!
After defeating Jenova Lifeclinger, you’ll have a fight against Sephiroth.
Zack Combat Guide¶
As mentioned in the opening paragraph above, Zack will be joining Cloud for this battle. Getting adjusted to Zack’s combat prowess is a good idea here, as he offers some nice power to the battle. His normal attacks are mostly the same as Cloud’s, except the Hold Square attack will launch enemies into the air (doesn’t work on Sephiroth here). The same move used in the air will spike them to the ground. Zack will have two different abilities, called Chain Slash and Meteor Shot.
If you look at them, you will notice they are both Level 1, so you will be able to use higher leveled versions. To do that, you’ll need to utilize his Triangle skill, Charge. Hold the button down to charge up the meter, which will increase the level and the two abilities just mentioned. Chain Slash is primarily focused on dealing damage, while Meteor Shot helps increase the stagger gauge, so keep that in mind should you be using Zack a lot. Note that if you’re not charging with Triangle, the meter will slowly deplete itself.
(1 of 2) Zack has access to a bunch of spells, including a Cure linked with Magnify.
Zack has access to a bunch of spells, including a Cure linked with Magnify. (left), To use the stronger versions of Zack’s skills, you need to charge the meter by holding Triangle. (right)
At Charge Level III, Zack will gain access to a new ability, called High Braver. Using this will allow you to press Square with the right timing to unleash up to three consecutive strikes. Zack will also have a few materia equipped that grant him magic, like 
Fire, Blizzard and Aero, as well as Cure (hooked up to a 
Magnify Materia), Raise and 
Haste. You’ll definitely want to make some use of these during the battle, especially the Cure and Haste ones. Their Synergy Ability together, SOLDIER’s Honor, will give Zack unlimited MP for a short duration, which is very helpful.
All of Sephiroth’s Attacks¶
This fight against Sephiroth isn’t all too involved, as you can see from the skillset below, although you still need to be careful.
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Melee Combo 1: Sephiroth has access to a few melee combos, which can be hard to dodge. The first is just a series of quick slashes after he runs up to you. There might be a delay slash after the combo seemingly ends.
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Melee Combo 2: Sephiroth will dash towards you, then perform a spinning slash that kind of sucks you in towards him. He will then jump into the air to do a plunging attack, with an explosion that follows and knocks you into the air.
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Air Melee Combo: He will fire a projectile at you and should it hit, the orb knocks you into the air. This will allow Sephiroth to follow up with an air melee combo.
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Zanshin: While not technically named as such in the battle, Sephiroth can fire off three waves of energy at you after swinging his sword. There will be three of these fired off in a row.
(1 of 3) Sephiroth’s normal attacks are almost always melee combos of some kind.
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Skewer:
Unblockable. Essentially a grab move, where Sephiroth performs a stabbing motion. If he hits you with it, then you’ll be bound for a few seconds and then throw to the ground. -
Octaslash: Unblockable. Sephiroth will start charging this maneuver, then after a few seconds, will unleash it. It’s a series of eight quick slashes that you can’t escape from, once you get hit with any of the attacks.
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Octaslash Prime: Unblockable. Follow-up attack to Octaslash, where Sephiroth does a quick dash through a character. The character will then be hit by a series of slashes.
Sephiroth Boss Strategy¶
Sephiroth is not too difficult here, since he doesn’t have a lot of abilities, but you still need to be careful. As you can see above, you will have control of Zack in this battle, along with Cloud, so you may take it upon yourself to try out Zack (a brief tutorial on his combat style is above). The biggest problem with Sephiroth here is that he’s quick and while his normal attacks don’t do a whole lot of damage, they are part of combos and that damage can add up quickly.
The good thing about all of these combos, though, is that you can block them to mitigate the damage and if you become really good, even perfectly block them. The latter isn’t easy, just so you know, since the attacks are very quick. Of the three named abilities that Sephiroth can use, Skewer is probably the hardest to avoid completely, since it’s fast and he will teleport up in your face before doing the stabbing motion. If you do get hit by it, then you’re going to take some damage from the ensuing grab attack, though.
(1 of 3) Skewer is a grab maneuver that is quick, so try to dodge at the last second.
Octaslash has a big charge time to it, so you have plenty of opportunity to just get away from Sephiroth. However, if you get hit even once, then you are going to take the full brunt of the whole/rest of the attack. He will also follow up Octaslash with Octaslash Prime, which is just another attack that will be unavoidable, should you be hit. Thankfully, Zack has Magnify linked up to his Cure Materia, so a Cura/Curaga can do wonders in keeping your health full, especially if you use Cloud and Zack’s Synergy Ability that gives Zack unlimited MP for a short duration.
There’s not much else to say here regarding this fight, except that the last bosses of the game don’t really have data on how to pressure them. This is especially the case for this Sephiroth fight, so just get in attacks in between his and eventually, you will stagger him. Once you do, you should be able to deal out enough damage to get him close to defeat. At like no health left, there will be a cutscene and you’ll automatically be put into the next boss fight.
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