Nibel will be the fifth major region you will visit in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. It’s a little bit smaller than previous areas, but it still contains all of the normal open-world stuff for you to get. After gathering all of the Expedition Intel in the region, you will unlock the Classified Intel, which will pit you against the dreaded King Zu. This page will detail the strategies to use against the King Zu, including its attacks and how to avoid the Swan Song attack.

King Zu is the Classified Intel for the Nibel Region.

Where to Find King Zu

King Zu is the Classified Intel for the Nibel Region, which means you will need to find all of the Expedition Intel in the area first. Once you do, Chadley will chime in and say he has located a dangerous fiend. The map marker will put the fiend on an island on the western side of the map, with it called Classified Intel: Avian Tyrant. There’s nothing special you have to do to get inside, either, as the entrance is at sea level and located at the southern end.

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(1 of 2) The location where you’ll find King Zu on the map.

The location where you’ll find King Zu on the map. (left), You don’t really need to do anything special to get to its domain. (right)

All King Zu’s Attacks

The King Zu doesn’t have a whole lot of attacks, but some of them can be kind of annoying. The main ones to watch out for are Swan Song and Zephyr Prison.

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Tornado: Unlike other attacks with the name, the King Zu will send out two very small tornadoes at a character. They don’t seem to erupt into a bigger one, but they do move quickly. They aren’t really too difficult to dodge.
Whirlwind: Not named, you will sometimes see some wind picking up on the ground around King Zu. That should be your cue to move away from it, as it will summon a large whirlwind around it.
Firestorm: Despite the name of the move, this is actually a wind-based attack. King Zu will summon three medium-sized tornadoes in front of it, which will then slowly move toward one of your characters.

Tornado is just two little bits of wind sent in your direction.

If you see wind on the ground around King Zu, it will do this attack.

Firestorm will be three medium whirlwinds that go around King Zu’s body.

Tyrant’s Twisters are fire-based tornadoes that get sent in four directions.

Assault is an unblockable flying attack that you can dodge at the last second.

(1 of 5) Tornado is just two little bits of wind sent in your direction.

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Tyrant’s Twisters: Fire-based attack that starts as a little fire on the ground, which will then split into multiple fire tornadoes that go in different directions.
Zephyr Prison: King Zu will conjure a ring of fire on the ground, essentially trapping you in a small area. If you touch the ring of fire at all, you will be knocked back and take some damage. It will do some other attacks while you’re trapped, then the ring will dissipate.
Assault: Unblockable. This is nothing more than King Zu diving straight across the arena at one of your characters. It’s pretty easy to avoid, despite the size of the fiend.
Pinion Gale: King Zu will close its wings, then open them up and shoot a bunch of wind gusts from its body.

Zephyr Prison is a ring of fire that King Zu will summon.

Once you are inside, you won’t be able to escape until it disappears.

Touching the flames will hurt you, so try to avoid them.

King Zu will perform attacks while inside the circle.

(1 of 4) Zephyr Prison is a ring of fire that King Zu will summon.

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Swan Song: Unblockable. This is King Zu’s big attack and one you need to stop. If you don’t, then you will take 9,999 damage. While charging this move, little fiery whirlwinds will appear at random. Destroy the two wings to stop this move and pressure the King Zu.

King Zu Strategy

King Zu is a big bird that will be somewhat of a challenge, with its big move being something that will kill you outright. Its attacks can deal a lot of damage, too, if your characters have low magic defense (all but one attack is magical-based). The two biggest attacks to watch out for are Zephyr Prison and Swan Song. The former is something that will trap you in a smaller area since King Zu will summon a ring of fire. If you touch the ring at all, you’ll take damage and a lot of its attacks will knock you back quite a bit, sometimes into the fire.

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There’s really nothing you can do about Zephyr Prison if you are already trapped, since you cannot escape it. However, it is possible to not get trapped, since there is a brief window in which the ring of fire isn’t there. As for the other move, you will want to be prepared for Swan Song, as it is the big move. King Zu will begin charging up and its wings will now be targetable. If you destroy the wings before the move is performed, then you will stop the attack and it will become pressured. The only catch is that little fire tornadoes will pop up, preventing you from doing just this.

Swan Song is the ultimate attack of King Zu.

Use your strongest attacks to destroy both wings.

If you do that, then you will pressure the boss.

If you fail, then you will take 9,999 damage from the attack.

(1 of 4) Swan Song is the ultimate attack of King Zu.

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If Swan Song is performed, then your party will receive 9,999 damage. Thankfully, there’s a good amount of time for you to destroy the wings, provided you have some ATB saved up. If you feel you might not make it and have a Limit ready, then feel free to use it. Other than that, King Zu will be weak to lightning, so if you want to use Lightning Materia on it, feel free. While it will do big damage, Thunder will not pressure it at all, as the only way to do so is by breaking the wings during Swan Song. It has lesser resistances to both Fire and Wind, too, and the only immunities are Petrify and Proportional Damage.