Cloud and company finally learned where the Temple of the Ancients is located, although they met some opposition with Vincent Valentine, who transformed into some beast to put a hindrance to their plans. With this knowledge, they leave the Shinra Mansion behind them, but as they make their way back to the village, a familiar face drops in and challenges Cloud to another one-on-one duel. Roche is back, although he seems a little different this time, so let’s get to the battle!

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It’s time for a one-on-one rematch with Roche!

All of Roche’s Attacks¶

Roche will pretty much use the following moves throughout the entire fight. There is a second phase later on, but it’s actually easier and doesn’t introduce anything new.

• Sword Beams: Basic unnamed attack, with Roche sending out two horizontal blade beams, then a vertical one at the end.

• Fire Wave: Basic attack, where Roche sends a little wave of fire energy along the ground in your direction.

• Stygian Chains: Unblockable. Roche fires a purple orb at you that, should it hit you, stuns you for a short duration.

• Dragoon Dive: Unblockable. He will jump into the air and stab the ground, causing a small explosion. After a second or two, there will be a second, bigger explosion that follows, so stay back until that occurs.

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(1 of 5) Getting hit by Stygian Chains will leave you vulnerable to a follow-up attack.

• Soul Cleave: Unblockable. A horizontal slash that usually follows Stygian Chains, especially if you get hit.

• Sinister Slash: Unblockable. Vertical shockwave he sends in your direction that comes out quickly. Usually see this after Soul Cleave sometimes, so be prepared.

• Combustion Sword: Unblockable. A jumping attack, usually at the end of a sword combo, where he’ll do a leaping strike with his sword that has a small explosion.

Roche Boss Strategy¶

Yep, you’re fighting Roche for the second time and once again, it will be a one-on-one battle between him and Cloud. You will want to be extremely careful here, as Roche can be quite difficult if you don’t know what to do. All of Roche’s named moves in this battle are unblockable, meaning you’ll have to dodge them all. He is also quite evasive, especially if you are aggressive yourself. What you need to do is play a little defensively and wait to attack after he does an ability himself.

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(1 of 3) One of the normal combos that Roche can do involves sending out shockwaves.

Roche will have three different melee combos as part of his normal attacks. These are all blockable, so if you can time perfect blocks, that can help in filling up the stagger gauge. As for the named moves, well, the biggest one to watch out for is Stygian Chains, since you become stunned for a short period should you get hit by it. This can usually lead to a follow-up from one of the normal combos, or something like Soul Cleave.

The trickiest move is definitely Dragoon Dive, as there is an initial explosion when Roche connects with the ground, but there is a second one that occurs a few moments later. It’s easy to get hit by this since you think the move is over, so just wait before jumping in to attack. After you see Roche finish an attack, you should rush in and retaliate with one of your own. This is actually how you pressure him, as just going all in from the beginning will have him dodging a number of attacks.

Once you get Roche’s health low enough (probably around 20-25%), there will be a short scene and the second phase will begin. This is much easier, as he will continually be pressured, and there won’t be any new moves introduced here. It’s also much easier to make him flinch here, so you can definitely be a lot more aggressive. In fact, the best thing to do is to build ATB, then use Focused Thrust to quickly build the stagger gauge. Upon getting staggered, you should be able to do enough to bring the fight to a close.

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(1 of 3) Using Limit Breaks can provide a much needed boost to damage on Roche.

Finishing Nibel Region¶

There will be a number of scenes after finishing up the boss battle with Roche, which will be the last one you face in this chapter. Once you regain control, Chadley will chime in and say he’s picking up some Protorelic readings in the area, which will open up the Phenomenon Intel here. You will also find a new Quest available to you, My White-Haired Angel, which is from the one chef at your old house.

To continue with the main story, simply head back to Nibel Airstrip and approach the smoke signal to find Cid waiting for you. Talk to him when you’re ready and the party will take off for the Gold Saucer. Enjoy the plane ride there, as it won’t last for too long before some mechanical failures happen and the Tiny Bronco becomes a ship.