Bolt magic and physical attacks will take care of this boss in a very short time. However, be sure that you do not attack when its tail is up. This will provoke a powerful counterattack.

Boss: Air Buster
HP	1500
MP	0
Weakness	Lightning
EXP	180
AP	16
Gil	150
Win Item	Titan Bangle

Your party is split in half for this battle, meaning that the boss will keep switching directions to face different parts of your party. When he does, the character standing behind him will inflict greater damage. You may need to devote one character to healing the remaining members of your party, but then again, you may not. Use Limit Breaks and Bolt spells to pound on him.

Boss: APS
HP	1800
MP	0
Weakness	Fire
EXP	240
AP	22
Gil	0
Win Item	Phoenix Down

The only really notable feature about this boss is his Sewer Tsunami attack, which damages your entire party and him. Hit him repeatedly with Fire spells and be sure to keep your party's HPs high. Aeris's Healing Wind Limit Break will be tremendously useful in this fight.

Boss: Reno (Midgar)
HP	1000
MP	0
Weakness	None
EXP	290
AP	22
Gil	500
Win Item	Ether

Beware his "Pyramid" attack. It encases one party member in a pyramid and prevents them from acting. When one of your characters is affected, have another character attack the pyramid around him/her. The character should not take any damage--if they do, you didn't hit the pyramid. Hitting it will break it, and you can resume attacking Reno.

Boss: Sample: H0512 and H0512-OPT
HP	1000
MP	120
Weakness	None
EXP	300
AP	30
Gil	500
Win Item	Talisman

Avoid using Poison magic on this boss, as it will only heal him. Also ignore his "helper" enemies (unless you really want to keep killing them for 300 HP each every time he revives them). They aren't that big a danger. He will continuously poison your party, so don't bother healing yourself. Instead, cast healing spells and pound on him until he goes down.

Boss: Hundred Gunner
HP	1600
MP	0
Weakness	Lightning
EXP	330
AP	35
Gil	300
Win Item	None

Most of your characters will not be able to reach this boss unless they have the Long Range materia equipped. Have Barret use regular attacks with his gun (which is long range) and have your other two party members cast Lightning spells. You should take him down fairly easily.

Boss: Heli Gunner
HP	1000
MP	0
Weakness	Lightning
EXP	250
AP	25
Gil	200
Win Item	Mythril Armlet

Like the Hundred Gunner, you can't use physical attacks on this boss except through Barret. Have your other two party members cast Lightning on the boss until it dies.

Boss: Rufus and Dark Nation
HP	Rufus: 500, Dark Nation: 140
MP	Rufus: 0, Dark Nation: 80
Weakness	Rufus: None, Dark Nation: Lightning
EXP	390 (combined)
AP	50 (combined)
Gil	500 (combined)
Win Item	Guard Source (Dark Nation), Protect Vest (Rufus)

Dark Nation will cast Barrier on Rufus, so you might wish to take it out first. After that, Rufus is easy. His shotgun is his only attack, so you need only worry about healing if your HP's get very low.

Boss: Motor Ball
HP	2600
MP	120
Weakness	Lightning
EXP	440
AP	45
Gil	350
Win Item	Star Pendant

This boss's physical attacks are not much to worry about, but his fire attacks damage your whole party rather significantly. Aeris's Healing Wind Limit Break can be very useful in this battle. Otherwise, pound him with Bolt spells and physical attacks.

Boss: Midgar Zolom (optional)
HP	4000
MP	348
Weakness	None
EXP	250
AP	25
Gil	400
Win Item	None

The Midgar Zolom is the snake monster that swims around the swamp near the Chocobo Farm. While difficult to tackle early on in the game (and completely optional at any point), he does have a worthwhile reward: the Beta Enemy Skill, which he will cast when his HP gets low enough. Simply pound at him with your strongest magic, physical attacks, and Limit Breaks.

Boss: Bottom Swell
HP	2500
MP	100
Weakness	Wind
EXP	500
AP	52
Gil	1000
Win Item	Power Wrist

One of this boss's attacks encases a character in a bubble that drains his/her HP. Attack the bubble with magic to save your party members from this bubble (the party member should not be injured). Use Bolt and Poison spells if you don't happen to have Wind magic available (though the Choco-Mog summon is Wind-elemental).

Boss: Jenova BIRTH
HP	4000
MP	110
Weakness	None
EXP	680
AP	64
Gil	800
Win Item	White Cape

Jenova can, unfortunately, attack twice in one turn during this battle, so you may want to devote one character entirely to healing your party. Most elemental magic is somewhat effective. Summon spells are great. Do not use poison, as she is immune to it.

Boss: Dyne
HP	1200
MP	20
Weakness	None
EXP	600
AP	55
Gil	750
Win Item	Silver Armlet

Allow Dyne's attacks to build up your Limit Break, then unleash it on him. Magic and summon spells are effective. Just make sure you keep your HP up.

Boss: Rude and Reno (Gongaga)
HP	Rude: 2000, Reno: 2000
MP	Rude: 135, Reno: 80
Weakness	None
EXP	Rude: 720, Reno 600
AP	Rude: 70, Reno: 60
Gil	Rude: 2000, Reno: 1500
Win Item	Rude: X-Potion, Reno: Fairy Tale

Summon spells and magic should help knock their HP's down swiftly. Concentrate physical attacks on a single enemy. If you wear one down, the other will soon run away.

Boss: Gi Nattak and Soul Fires
HP	Gi Nattak: 5500, Soul Fire: 1300
MP	Gi Nattak: 200, Soul Fire: 220
Weakness	Gi Nattak: Restore, Revive, Holy; Soul Fire: Holy, Wind
EXP	Gi Nattak: 1400, Soul Fire: 200
AP	Gi Nattak: 150, Soul Fire: 10
Gil	Gi Nattak: 3000, Soul Fire: 100
Win Item	Wizer Staff

Gi Nattak is undead, so use Holy and curative magic to damage him. He and his pals are immune to water magic and will absorb Poison. A Life2 spell could be a one-hit kill in this battle.

Boss: Lost Number
HP	7000
MP	300
Weakness	2000
EXP	2000
AP	80
Gil	2000
Win Item	Cosmo Memory, Basement Key, Odin materia

After this battle begins, you will fight for a few rounds and he will then shift to one of two forms. If you get his all-red form, pound on him with magic. If you get his all-purple form, which is much harder, use physical attacks and just try to keep yourself alive between hits of his spells.

Boss: Materia Keeper
HP	8400
MP	300
Weakness	None
EXP	3000
AP	200
Gil	2400
Win Item	Gem Ring

Try to use Choco-Mog to stun this boss, and hope that he casts Trine so your Enemy Skills materia can pick it up. Avoid Fire and Gravity magic, and otherwise use Limit Breaks to defeat this boss.

Boss: Palmer
HP	6000
MP	240
Weakness	None
EXP	1800
AP	98
Gil	5000
Win Item	Edincoat

It's physical attacks all the way with this boss, whose gun can do fire, ice, or lightning typed damage against you. He is rather hilarious to fight--I mean, you have a team of seasoned warriors against an overly fat astronomer. How funny is that?

Boss: Rapps (optional Boss at Da-chao Statues)
HP	6000
MP	300
Weakness	None
EXP	3200
AP	33
Gil	20,000
Win Item	Peace Ring

This boss is made hellishly difficult by your total lack of materia, but that also makes the strategy simpler. Use regular attacks, healing items like crazy, and Limit Breaks whenever possible.

Boss: Red Dragon
HP	6800
MP	300
Weakness	None
EXP	3500
AP	200
Gil	1000
Win Item	Dragon Armlet

Don't use the Kjata summon, status attacks, Gravity magic, or Fire magic in this battle. They are quite worhless and/or will heal him. Try to use Slow on him to give yourself an advantage, and hack away with physical attacks and Limit Breaks.

Boss: Demon's Gate
HP	10,000
MP	400
Weakness	None
EXP	3800
AP	220
Gil	4000
Win Item	Gigas Armlet

Beware his powerful Earthquake attack, which will do nasty things to your HP, but have a great effect on your Limit Break meters. Barrier is your friend in this battle.

Boss: Jenova LIFE
HP	10,000
MP	300
Weakness	Earth
EXP	4000
AP	350
Gil	1500
Win Item	Wizard Bracelet

Jenova uses Reflect to protect herself from magic, so use Titan to inflict Earth damage. Keep your HP up and beware her powerful Aqualung attack.

Boss: Schizo (Left and Right necks)
HP	18000 each
MP	350 each
Weakness	Right head: Ice, Left head: Fire
EXP	2200 each
AP	120 each
Gil	1500 each
Win Item	Protect Ring (steal from Right head), Dragon Fang

Physical attacks can damage both monsters. Use Ice on the right head and Fire on the left. Earth elemental summons are also a good idea.

Boss: Jenova DEATH
HP	25,000
MP	800
Weakness	None
EXP	6000
AP	400
Gil	5000
Win Item	Reflect Ring

Jenova DEATH likes to cast Silence, so you will be using a lot of physical attacks in this battle. If you can keep the Silence status off, powerful summons or magic like Comet will come in handy.

Boss: Carry Armor, Right Arm, Left Arm
HP	Carry Armor: 24,000; Right Arm and Left Arm: 10,000 each
MP	Carry Armor: 200, Right Arm: 100, Left Arm: 200
Weakness	Lightning
EXP	Carry Armor: 2800, Right Arm: 1500, Left Arm: 1400
AP	Carry Armor: 240, Right Arm: 90, Left Arm: 95
Gil	4000 (combined)
Win Item	God's Hand

Protect your party with Barrier. Carry Armor's arms can seize and imprison two of your party members. The Phoenix summon can come in handy during this battle. Lightning magic is very effective against this, as against all machines.

Boss: Reno and Rude (Downed Shin-Ra Plane/Gelnika)
HP	Reno: 15,000; Rude: 20,000
MP	Reno: 230, Rude: 280
Weakness	None
EXP	Reno: 5000, Rude: 5500
AP	Reno: 300, Rude: 360
Gil	4500 each
Win Item	Elixir, Tough Ring (steal from Reno) and Ziedrich (steal from Rude)

Protecting yourself from the pair's confusion spells is the most difficult. You cannot inflict status attacks on them, which is unfortunate. Just hammer with physical attacks and limit breaks.

Boss: Rude and Attack Squad
HP	Rude: 9000, Attack Squad: 1300 each
MP	Rude: 240, Attack Squad: 100
Weakness	None
EXP	Rude: 3400, Attack Squad: 300
AP	Rdue: 80, Attack Squad: 10
Gil	Rude: 3000, Attack Squad: 420
Win Item	Hi-Potion, Ziedrich (steal from Rude), 8-inch Cannon, Tranquilizer (steal from Attack Squad), S-Mine (Steal from Attack Squad)

The easiest way to work around Rude's magic protection is to cast Reflect on one of your own party members and Reflect spells off them onto Rude. Otherwise, just use phyiscal attacks.

Boss: Reno, Rude, and Elena (Midgar)
HP	Reno: 25,000; Rude: 28,000; Elena: 30,000
MP	Reno: 200, Rude: 250, Elena: 100
Weakness	None
EXP	Reno: 3400, Rude: 5500, Elena:
AP	Reno: 80, Rude: 600, Elena:
Gil	Reno: 3000, Rude: 5000, Elena: 8000
Win Item	X-Potion, Elixir, Tough Ring (steal from Reno), Ziedrich (steal from Rude), Minerva Band (steal from Elena)

Fire heals Rude, Ice heals Elena, and Bolt heals Reno. Ultima and Wind magic will be your friend in this battle, as will Limit Breaks. Be sure to keep your HPs very high. Avoid using the Phoenix summon, which will revive you but heal Rude. Barrier and Haste (or Mighty Guard) are also a good idea.

Boss: Proud Clod and Jammer Armor
HP	Proud Clod: 60,000; Jammer Armor: 20,000
MP	Proud Clod: 320, Jammer Armor: 300
Weakness	None
EXP	Proud Clod: 7000, Jammer Armor: 8000
AP	Proud Clod: 1000, Jammer Armor: 1500
Gil	Proud Clod: 10,000; Jammer Armor: 15,000
Win Item	Ragnarok

Destroy the Jammer Armor first if you can, or just unleash Bahamut on both of them. Knights of the Round will also work. Keep your HP high. Don't both with status effects or Gravity, but nearly everything else will work.

Boss: Hojo, Poodler Sample, Bad Rap Sample, Helletic Hojo, Right Arm, Left Arm, Lifeform Hojo-NA
HP	Hojo: 13,000; Poodler Sample: 10,000; Bad Rap Sample: 13,000; Helletic Hojo: 26,000; Right Arm: 5000; Left Arm: 24,000; Lifeform Hojo-NA: 30,000
MP	Hojo: 250, Poodler Sample: 200, Bad Rap Sample: 250, Helletic Hojo: 200, Right Arm: 300, Left Arm: 400, Lifeform Hojo-NA: 100
Weakness	None
EXP	25,000
AP	2500
Gil	6000
Win Item	Power Source

This is a very very long series of battles. First you will take on Hojo, who summons Poodler and Bad Rap Samples to aid him. Ignore the mini monsters and kill Hojo, as he will keep summoning the Samples to help him out. Once you have defeated Hojo, Helletic Hojo will show up with Left and Right Arms. Beware the powerful attacks of his Right Arm; cast Barrier to avoid them. The arms regenerate if you kill them, so just focus on the main body. After defeating that, you fight Lifeform Hojo-NA. Ribbons are helpful in this battle to avoid the multitude of status effects. Do not use Earth, as some forms are immune to it. Status ailments are useless against Hojo. Just use physical attacks and powerful summons like Bahamut ZERO to destroy him.

Boss: Jenova SYNTHESIS, B, and C
HP	65,535
MP	3000
Weakness	None
EXP	60,000
AP	1000
Gil	0
Win Item	None

The tentacles have HPs of 10,000 and 8000 respectively. How quickly you defeat this boss will determine the number of parties you create for the final battle. Jenova SYNTHESIS takes forever to attack, so unload with summon materia, Ultima, and physical attacks. This battle is not difficult.

Boss: Bizarro Sephiroth (and parts)
HP	Bizarro Sephiroth: 82,500; Bizarro Sephiroth B: 2000; Bizarro Sephiroth C: 10,000; Bizarro Sephiroth D: 6000; Bizarro Sephiroth E: 4,000
MP	Bizarro Sephiroth: 3000; Bizarro Sephiroth B: 400; Bizarro Sephiroth C: 400; Bizarro Sephiroth D: 600; Bizarro Sephiroth E: 400
Weakness	None
EXP	N/A
AP	N/A
Gil	N/A
Win Item	N/A

Use Barrier and Wall to protect yourself against his powerful attacks, and hammer away with your most powerful magic and physical attacks. Switching parties re-sets your summon count, so if you had multiple mastered copies of a summon materia, you could start again from zero. Knights of the Round is a good choice for all around damage. In fact, one casting of it should thoroughly destroy Bizarro Sephiroth, if you want to be cheap.

Boss: Safer Sephiroth
HP	150,000
MP	8500
Weakness	None
EXP	N/A
AP	N/A
Gil	N/A
Win Item	N/A

Again, summoning Knights of the Round should wreak a nice amount of havoc, particularly if supplemented by a few healthy doses of Bahamut and other powerful summons. If you're doing it the old fashioned way, keep one character devoted to healing while the other two unload with physical attacks and Limit Breaks. If he uses SuperNova, a Megalixir is probably your best bet. After all, there's no need to conserve them anymore. After this battle, Cloud and Sephiroth will face off alone. One hit of Omnislash will finish Sephiroth off, and you'll have beaten the game. Enjoy the ending.

Optional Bosses

This section covers the four Weapons and Yuffie's Sub-Quest.

The Weapons

Boss: Ultimate Weapon
HP	10,000
MP	400
Weakness	None
EXP	0
AP	0
Gil	0
Win Item	Ultima Weapon, Cursed Ring (Steal at Mideel), Circlet (Steal at Fort Condor or Northern Crater), Reflect Ring (Steal at Midgar or Corel)

You must chase Ultimate Weapon around the world until you find it sitting quietly somewhere. It likes to hang out near Junon, the Northern Crater, Fort Condor, or North Corel. It uses only two attacks, so you might want to equip Earth materia linked to Elemental materia on your armour to reduce damage or absorb HP. Use strong summons and powerful magic like Comet and Ultima. When you damage it enough, it runs away and you must hunt it down again. Have your Enemy Skills materia equipped in case he casts Shadow Flare, which is a very awesome Enemy Skill. When you finally kill it, you get Cloud's Ultima Weapon sword, his final weapon.

Boss: Diamond Weapon
HP	50,000
MP	3000
Weakness	None
EXP	35,000
AP	5000
Gil	35,000
Win Item	Rising Sun (steal from him)

There's not much to this boss. Steal the Rising Sun from him and pound the daylights out of him with magic. If you don't kill him quickly enough, the Sister Ray will finish the job.

Boss: Ruby Weapon
HP	1,000,000
MP	900
Weakness	None
EXP	50,000
AP	50,000
Gil	50,000
Win Item	Desert Rose

Before you enter this battle, kill off your two extra party members. Give Cloud a Revive materia with at least Life 2, linked to the Final Attack materia (which had better be at level three, at the very least.) Equip him with the Mystile armour and the Ribbon. Link Knights of the Round to HP Absorb, and equip the Mimic materia and W-Summon as well as an Enemy Skills materia with Big Guard. Ruby hangs out in the desert around Gold Saucer. Fly into him with the Highwind to start this battle.

If you have all three characters alive, Ruby's initial attack will take them out. Hence, enter the battle with both of them dead. Don't bother reviving them, either. It's not worth it. Cast Big Guard, then W-Summon Knights of the Round to take down Ruby's lovely tentacles, which will drain your MP otherwise. The Ribbon will protect you from its repeated castings of Confuse, and the Mystile should give you at least a 50% chance of dodging its Ultima spell. Mimic yourself every turn after that to keep from wasting your MP, and you will W-Summon Knights of the Round every turn, absorbing HP as you go. It's very important to keep your MP up as well, because the Final Attack materia can only revive you if you have enough MP to cast the spell. For winning this battle you get the Desert Rose, which you can trade to the old man in Kalm for a Gold Chocobo.

Boss: Emerald Weapon
HP	1,000,000
MP	1000
Weakness	None
EXP	50,000
AP	50,000
Gil	50,000
Win Item	Earth Harp

Before beginning this battle, try to master your Mimic materia so that you have two. Morph a Ghost Ship enemy in the Underwater Reactor for a Guidebook, which you should take to the old man in Kalm. He will give you the Underwater materia, which removes the time limit on this battle. Having Knights of the Round at a minimum level of 4 is recommended. Equip Knights of the Round linked to HP Absorb, plus W-Summon, on one person (preferably Cloud, as he will probably have the highest Magic stat) and equip Mime on your other two characters. (Alternatively, also equip Bahamut ZERO linked to MP Restore on the same character as Knights of the Round.) Have one of them equipped with Final Attack linked to the Phoenix summon (Final Attack should be level 3 or higher). Everyone should have a mastered Restore linked to a master Enemy-All.

Have Cloud start out the fight by W-Summoning Knights of the Round. Then have your other two characters Mimic him every turn thereafter. You'll heal yourself in so doing. (Or you can W-Summon Bahamut ZERO and Knights of the Round, which will restore both your HP and MP.) Continue to do this until you defeat Emerald. If you get Omnislash, go ahead and use it and then re-cast the Knights/Bahamut combination. You win the Earth Harp for defeating Emerald, which you can trade to the old man in Kalm for a complete set of master materia (Summon, Magic, and Command.)

Yuffie's Sidequest

Here I will list the five bosses you fight in the Wutai Pagoda. Keep in mind that you can leave the Pagoda after each battle to use a Tent, save, and switch your equipment. I recommend using Yuffie's Level 1 Limit Breaks, because Clear Tranquil will heal her. Equip her with a Restore materia and definitely a high-level Poison materia. Summons are also a pretty good idea, as are any HP/MP Pluses you happen to have. It is also a good idea to start every battle with Haste and Barrier (or the Big Guard Enemy Skill if you have it.)

Boss: Gorki
HP	3000
MP	150
Weakness	Wind
EXP	1500
AP	50
Gil	0
Win Item	X-Potion

Gorki is nothing too special. Hit him your first turn with your most powerful Bio spell, and then sit back and relax. With Poison continually doing damage, you can take it easy and conservatively. Attack when you can, and heal whenever you have to. He's not very hard.

Boss: Shake
HP	4000
MP	180
Weakness	None
EXP	2200
AP	50
Gil	0
Win Item	Turbo Ether

Use the same strategy you did for Gorki. Hit him hard with Bio early on, and play it conservatively from there, healing whenever you need to and attacking when you can. He's a bit tougher, but not much.

Boss: Chekhov
HP	5000
MP	210
Weakness	None
EXP	2900
AP	50
Gil	0
Win Item	Ice Ring

Bio is your friend here, as before. His Stare Down attack can paralyze you, so you may wish to use an accessory that prevents that status. Hit him hard and keep him poisoned, and keep your own HP high.

Boss: Staniv
HP	6000
MP	240
Weakness	None
EXP	3600
AP	50
Gil	0
Win Item	Elixir

His War Cry attack causes the Sadness condition, but otherwise this battle is much like the rest. Let Poison do your work for you while you keep your HP's high and attack.

Boss: Godo
HP	6000
MP	240
Weakness	None
EXP	5000
AP	60
Gil	40,000
Win Item	All Creation, Leviathan

This time, link Poison and Added Effect on your weapon. The Counterattack materia is a good idea too. Definitely equip an Accessory that protects against poison. Regen, if you have it, is great to start this battle. Godo can cure himself and poison you, which is very bad from your perspective. Use Mighty Guard if you have it. Cast Slow on Godo and Haste on yourself to give Yuffie an advantage. You win the Leviathan materia and Yuffie's Level 4 Limit Break item for defeating Godo.