Uploaded July 2016 | Updated September 2026, 41 minutes ago
Game: Final Fantasy VII
Port: Steam
The final of the 2 Superbosses is Ruby Weapon, who hides out at Gold Saucer and will only appear when Ultimate Weapon has been slain and 1 battle after has been fought.
Of the 2 superbosses, I find this one to be more of a pain in the ass than Emerald was, considering it took me 4 tries to finally figure out a strategy that works without having to resort to that KOTR, Cloud Limit Break and especially Dazer abuse shit most players are fond of (the boss isn't Paralysisproof.
I came up with this idea after watching a guy beat Ruby with Tifa using only physical attacks, but I didn't want to sacrifice control via the War Gong. So I made a facsimile 3-4x Cut using some Counter Commands, Steals with Mug and my Counter Attack purple Materia and found a plan to deal damage primarily with counters. The results are as follows.
ANTI-NORM RULES (No Cheesing)
============================
- Active Mode
- No Dazers
- No Knights of the Round
- No Limit Break Chaining
- No Mime
- No Stat Maxing
- No Final Attack Combos
- No Master Command Glitching
PLAN
=====
Like Emerald, Ruby has two forms. He will start off Invulnerable. He will only turn off his invulnerability status if there is only 1 party member on the field, so it is wise to enter the battle with 2 slain members.
Once there is only 1 party member standing, it will summon 2 Tentacles behind you. Both tentacles carry Gravity-style attacks that will target your HP/MP hard plus apply effects, which the Ribbon can negate easily. Any Counters will be redirected to Ruby Weapon if a tentacle strikes you. The tentacles won't kill you, but taking a back strike from the Right Tentacle can bring you down to the point where any attack from Ruby will end you.
Ruby himself with use Ruby Breath (non-elemental damage to 1 party member), Ruby Flame (Fire damage to 1 party member) and can get vicious with Shadow Flare and Ultima, doing as high as 3500 damage. This form lasts until the beast is destroyed or a tentacle is slain (each has 40000 HP). If you decide to revive any party members here, you have 25-33 attack turns to slay the boss before it begins using Whirlsand (instant kills and banishes a party member, only casts if active party is more than 1 person). In the PC version, Whirlsand is random.
Once the tentacles are retracted, all it does is physically swat you with normal attacks, Big Swing (hits everyone) and Comet2 (4 hits of magic damage). In this phase, it is a lot easier to treat yourself and damage him back without holding back. Every turn he makes, he has a 20% chance to reconstruct his tentacles and go back to his Tentacle Phase. To revisit this phase, slay a Tentacle again.
Off the bat, you must apply Haste and Slow the boss as Ruby's Dexterity is 200+. You must use Speed Pluses or Speed Sources to get your Speed as high as you can so you can squeeze turns in. Once you are in good position, slap down a Dragon Force cast and a few Hero's Drinks as you need to have your Physicals pierce it's 500+ Defenses (otherwise you are forced to use Pandora's Box, Bahamut-genus, Chocobuckle or Coin).
CHARACTER
===========
For Tifa, I use Premium Heart and combine 2 Steal Masters (which makes Mug, which is a standard attack + Steal) to Counters and a Counter Attack materia so I can get 3 hits into Ruby in the event I take damage from either the tentacles (counters are redirected since Ruby has to use a command to attack you with them) or Ruby deals damage. I then use a Mug on the Tentacle so my back isn't turned to them and I don't take double from the Right Tentacle. Mug is used since I cannot use my Limit Breaks against Ruby as my attack will drop sharply and I would need to wait for my gauge to charge again to achieve max output and the only time it is safe to do so is when Ruby's tentacles are retracted.
For fast heals, Angel Whisper, Regen and Elixirs/X-Potions can go a long way. Fire + Elemental to armor also turns Ruby Flame into a minor heal. Just make sure you pay attention cause all it takes to lose is 1 back tentacle and then a Shadow Flare/Ultima/Ruby Beam and it's over (this happened 4 times before this, the first 2 was a failed plan, the 3rd attempt I made this idea up).
The only way this can backfire is if you fail to heal in time or you kill Ruby when the tentacles are down (as the kill script when the tentacles down doesn't work correctly). You can also attach an HP Absorb to a Master Command to make all Mugs (both counter and manual) heal Tifa for 10% of the damage to help heal (I didn't do this because I didn't have a Master Command or the spare slots for it, and I didn't feel like W-Item/Morphing Speed and Luck Sources).
Game: Final Fantasy VII
Port: Steam
The final of the 2 Superbosses is Ruby Weapon, who hides out at Gold Saucer and will only appear when Ultimate Weapon has been slain and 1 battle after has been fought.
Of the 2 superbosses, I find this one to be more of a pain in the ass than Emerald was, considering it took me 4 tries to finally figure out a strategy that works without having to resort to that KOTR, Cloud Limit Break and especially Dazer abuse shit most players are fond of (the boss isn't Paralysisproof.
I came up with this idea after watching a guy beat Ruby with Tifa using only physical attacks, but I didn't want to sacrifice control via the War Gong. So I made a facsimile 3-4x Cut using some Counter Commands, Steals with Mug and my Counter Attack purple Materia and found a plan to deal damage primarily with counters. The results are as follows.
ANTI-NORM RULES (No Cheesing)
============================
- Active Mode
- No Dazers
- No Knights of the Round
- No Limit Break Chaining
- No Mime
- No Stat Maxing
- No Final Attack Combos
- No Master Command Glitching
PLAN
=====
Like Emerald, Ruby has two forms. He will start off Invulnerable. He will only turn off his invulnerability status if there is only 1 party member on the field, so it is wise to enter the battle with 2 slain members.
Once there is only 1 party member standing, it will summon 2 Tentacles behind you. Both tentacles carry Gravity-style attacks that will target your HP/MP hard plus apply effects, which the Ribbon can negate easily. Any Counters will be redirected to Ruby Weapon if a tentacle strikes you. The tentacles won't kill you, but taking a back strike from the Right Tentacle can bring you down to the point where any attack from Ruby will end you.
Ruby himself with use Ruby Breath (non-elemental damage to 1 party member), Ruby Flame (Fire damage to 1 party member) and can get vicious with Shadow Flare and Ultima, doing as high as 3500 damage. This form lasts until the beast is destroyed or a tentacle is slain (each has 40000 HP). If you decide to revive any party members here, you have 25-33 attack turns to slay the boss before it begins using Whirlsand (instant kills and banishes a party member, only casts if active party is more than 1 person). In the PC version, Whirlsand is random.
Once the tentacles are retracted, all it does is physically swat you with normal attacks, Big Swing (hits everyone) and Comet2 (4 hits of magic damage). In this phase, it is a lot easier to treat yourself and damage him back without holding back. Every turn he makes, he has a 20% chance to reconstruct his tentacles and go back to his Tentacle Phase. To revisit this phase, slay a Tentacle again.
Off the bat, you must apply Haste and Slow the boss as Ruby's Dexterity is 200+. You must use Speed Pluses or Speed Sources to get your Speed as high as you can so you can squeeze turns in. Once you are in good position, slap down a Dragon Force cast and a few Hero's Drinks as you need to have your Physicals pierce it's 500+ Defenses (otherwise you are forced to use Pandora's Box, Bahamut-genus, Chocobuckle or Coin).
CHARACTER
===========
For Tifa, I use Premium Heart and combine 2 Steal Masters (which makes Mug, which is a standard attack + Steal) to Counters and a Counter Attack materia so I can get 3 hits into Ruby in the event I take damage from either the tentacles (counters are redirected since Ruby has to use a command to attack you with them) or Ruby deals damage. I then use a Mug on the Tentacle so my back isn't turned to them and I don't take double from the Right Tentacle. Mug is used since I cannot use my Limit Breaks against Ruby as my attack will drop sharply and I would need to wait for my gauge to charge again to achieve max output and the only time it is safe to do so is when Ruby's tentacles are retracted.
For fast heals, Angel Whisper, Regen and Elixirs/X-Potions can go a long way. Fire + Elemental to armor also turns Ruby Flame into a minor heal. Just make sure you pay attention cause all it takes to lose is 1 back tentacle and then a Shadow Flare/Ultima/Ruby Beam and it's over (this happened 4 times before this, the first 2 was a failed plan, the 3rd attempt I made this idea up).
The only way this can backfire is if you fail to heal in time or you kill Ruby when the tentacles are down (as the kill script when the tentacles down doesn't work correctly). You can also attach an HP Absorb to a Master Command to make all Mugs (both counter and manual) heal Tifa for 10% of the damage to help heal (I didn't do this because I didn't have a Master Command or the spare slots for it, and I didn't feel like W-Item/Morphing Speed and Luck Sources).
