This page is for all details regarding the ultimate boss in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, Weiss the Immaculate.

How to Unlock Weiss¶

Before you can even get started, you’ll need to unlock the Weiss battle first. To begin with, you’ll need the Intergrade version of Final Fantasy VII Remake available on PS5 only. Then, you’ll need to play through and complete the INTERmission episode featuring Yuffie, upon completion, this new battle will unlock in the Combat Simulator for Cloud’s party.

Pre-battle Preparations¶

Weiss is the ultimate battle in Final Fantasy VII Remake and will put to the test your knowledge of evasion and building up the Stagger Gauge %. With that in mind, you’ll want to make sure you take the time to learn how to raise the Stagger Gauge, best done on the Fat Chocobo VR Battle. Take the time to learn how to utilize Tifa to her fullest, not only is she one of the best for raising the % but she’s the character you’ll be controlling throughout the Weiss battle.

Level 50 should be a given at this stage of the game and it helps to have Weapon Level 6 unlocked so that you can purchase the Reprieve ability on your weapons, this is a must to survive a particular attack from Weiss that will otherwise end your current attempt. With that out of the way, you’ll want to make sure you have the Chain Bangle from Chapter 17 and two Cog Bangles for the other two characters. Despite what the warning says, a Götterdämmerung is still useful on one of your characters, preferably Tifa as it will still raise at half effectiveness and seeing as Limit Breaks are crucial for this battle, you’ll want all the help you can get. Your other accessories depend on if you want security in the form of Revival Earrings or to go for a bit more damage with a Champion Belt for Tifa, a Circlet for Aerith (in which case you’d give the Götterdämmerung to Cloud).

Your Materia setup is another important factor for this battle, and the most important of the lot is a MAX Parry and Steadfast Block Materia for Tifa. The battle against Weiss is all about evasion, there’s no other way to tackle it and Parry on Tifa will give you the greatest chance. Cloud and Aerith are effectively your mages for this battle, so you’ll want Healing on all three characters with one assigned to a Magnify for Aerith. Additionally, you should set to Cloud the Time so you can work on keeping Haste on Tifa at least. You’ll also want to make sure you have MAX Revival Materias so you can focus on raising your characters should you get caught off guard. Likewise, you’ll need to ensure that all three characters have a form of Elemental Attack Materia so that you can deal damage to Weiss during his second phase, Firaga is particularly useful here.

Following this, you’ll want to assign some HP and MP Ups to your characters, ensuring that Tifa and Cloud sit as close to 9999 HP as possible and that they have enough MP for liberal use of it. More importantly, and these take priority over extra HP/MP Ups, are ATB Stagger, ATB Assist and Skill Master all designed with granting you as much ATB as possible so that you can make full use of each Stagger phase as it comes, dealing as much damage during these moments are they key to victory.

Strategy¶

Phase One - Dual Swords¶

The main thing you need to learn about the Weiss battle is that you won’t be able to damage or Pressure him normally, instead you’ll need to evade his attacks which will open him up to Pressure, getting a few hits in to start slowly building the Stagger gauge. It’s not unusual for your first few attempts to go horribly wrong, Weiss moves at a blistering pace and his attacks hit hard. If you’re coming to this battle fresh from INTERmission having not played around with Cloud’s party for a while (such as last year’s release of the original version of the game), you may wish to take the time to get used to the playstyle of this party.

This first phase is all about learning how to dodge his attacks and build up his gauge, as it’s the safest to do so. Weiss’ standard attack is a dash towards, you followed by three single sword slashes with a wide arc, with the final one being from in the air. This has no name so it can be easy to miss but you can safely evade it by dodging backwards after each hit. Don’t mistake this as an opportunity to raise the Stagger gauge however, as if you do try to go in for a few attacks, he’ll instantly counter.

Crosswise Cleave is the first of Weiss’ named unblockable attacks, Weiss will dash towards you and spin his swords around him, simply wait for him to approach and dash backwards twice to avoid this one. This will open him up for a counter so strike him to start building up that Stagger Gauge, Focused Thrust can help here with that as you build ATB with Tifa from your dodges. Evisceration, like Crosswise Cleave, will see him dash towards you and strike with both swords, like the above, simply dodge backwards as you see this and it should put you directly behind him. This is your best opportunity for building up the Stagger Gauge during this phase.

The final attack for this Phase is Stab, you can only effectively avoid this attack if you have your MAX Parry set. Weiss will dash towards you in a thrusting motion, however if you Parry towards him as he’s about to connect, Tifa will leap over him and place you directly behind him, prime for a counter. Your main goal during this Phase is to get Weiss as close to Stagger before he triggers Phase Shift to begin the second Phase, it’s important to learn this first Phase so you can focus on not getting hit and not wasting precious MP.

Phase Two - Gun¶

Phase two is arguably one of his toughest Phases as you’ll no longer be able to deal damage from Physicals outside of Stagger so you’ll have to rely on Magic, which will cause a dent to the Pressure Gauge. This is why it’s important to have the Pressure Gauge close to full as he enters this phase, so you can potentially skip it with a Stagger. The first new attack for Weiss in this Phase is actually a melee one, Azure Assault, where he’ll run at you and attempt to swipe you twice with his gun, this is best to block through if you have Steadfast Block as it will not only greatly limit the damage done, but also fill your ATB.

Behemoth Beam is a massive arcing laser beam that will sweep any targets in close or medium range, if you find yourself in that position, attempt to Block through this. If you’re already in medium range, you should be able to dash backwards and avoid the attack entirely. Weiss will often use Ballistic Blackhole at the start of this Phase and it will persist throughout, slowly following you around, dealing damage over time whenever it’s close to you. Likewise, Weiss likes to use Debilitation while Ballistic Blackhole is out, this will see him cast small puddles around the arena that, should you step into, will inflict both Silence and Slow, which is especially problematic during this Phase as you can only use magic against him.

Weiss’ final attack in this Phase is Mutilation, another close-range melee attack with his gun, only this time it’s unblockable. Weiss will attempt to ram you with the gun and, should you be caught, you’ll be come bound. Quickly switch to another character to pelt him with magic or else you’ll suffer massive damage. Throughout this Phase, Weiss has the ability to use Rejuvenation, a buff that will begin to slowly lower his Pressure Gauge so be sure to keep up with -ga level magic to avoid it dropping too low.

As you can see from the above, the second Phase is by far Weiss’ most dangerous, and you’ll ideally want to skip it by having the Pressure Gauge almost full as you enter this Phase. That way, a single -ga will Stagger him and allow you to start building up the Stagger Gauge as high as possible before hopefully unleashing a Limit Break. Abilities such as Ray of Judgment and True Strike are crucial here as they’ll drive the gauge up as quickly as possible, this entire battle is about dealing as much damage as possible during the few Stagger Phases so you’ll need to make every one count.

Phase Three - Double Sabre¶

The third and final Phase for Weiss is triggered by another Phase Shift during the Second Phase, this time he’ll wield a Double Sabre which can be potentially devastating. As a rule, most of Weiss’ attacks during this Phase has the HP Leech effect, meaning that he’ll be restoring his own HP if you’re careless, undoing all your hard work so far and prolonging the battle.

Like the first Phase, Weiss only has three attacks to contend with and they can be safely evaded with careful timing and learning the attacks. Extermination will see Weiss conjure spectral swords around him before swiping them towards you, keep your distance and dodge, but be ready for the follow-up dash strike from him that will heal him massively should you get struck by it. Decimation will see Weiss warp over to your location and slam down with his blade, causing massive damage and heal his HP, avoid this by dodging backwards when you see the name appear. His final attack, that he uses less often, is Crimson Whorl, and it probably the toughest one to avoid. Weiss will use a multi-hit combo with a flaming sword before leaping into the air and coming down to cause a fiery area of effect, it’s best to Block through this if you’re too close as it will leave you close enough for a counter to counter trying to bring him to Stagger.

The most dangerous part of this Phase however, is the fact that it signals that you’re close to Weiss’ ultimate attack, Immaculate End. This should be treated like an enrage timer of sorts that, should you take long, will kill you. Weiss will use this screen hitting attack that will inflict 9999 damage to all party members, this is where the Reprieve ability comes in use, if you don’t have it, the battle is over. As such, the battle against Weiss is a race against time, you can achieve a second survival against Immaculate End should you have Revival Earrings equipped too but any more than that, and it’s an instant wipe so you should focus on trying to kill him as soon as possible.

The battle against Weiss will take many attempts to learn his attacks and know how to effectively raise the Stagger Gauge as high as possible to inflict the most damage in any given phase. Skipping the second Phase will increase your survivability massively and consider using Shortcuts for Unbridled Strength and True Strike so save time spent in the menus. This is a battle for those who have truly mastered the Final Fantasy VII Remake battle system and should you come out victorious, you’ll obtain two Götterdämmerungs and the Corrupter of the Immaculate Trophy.