Chapter 8 is a long one. Not only will you have to trudge through the Scrapyard and defeat two bosses, but this chapter sees the return of side quests, and in Hard difficulty, that means Manuscripts. Up until this point Cloud, Barret and Tifa could have earned three additional Manuscripts in Hard difficulty. Aerith can earn five by the end of this chapter, and four of them will come from side quests.

• First up you’ll need to defeat Reno in the church, which will be covered in its own linked page. Defeating him will earn Cloud The Art of Swordplay Vol. VII.

• After this you’ll have to make your way through the chapel (the gunfire damage you sustain while climbing hasn’t really increased since Normal difficulty), across the roofs and down Sanctuary Way to reach the Sector 5 Undercity Station. Once there you’ll take a detour through the scrapyard, where most of the mandatory combat in this chapter occurs. Here you’ll face numerous foes, old and new, including Hedgehog Pies, Wererats, Gorgers and the odd Smogger. While Hedgehog Pies are weak to ice (along with Wererats and Gorgers) none of them are strong enough to justify expending MP. Instead, First Strike Materia and “Triple Slash” take care of the problem well enough on their own. Fire + Elemental on your armor will further mitigate the harm Hedgehog Pies can cause, as it’ll turn their most damaging attacks into a form of healing. For the Smogger, we had Aerith use “Arcane Ward” and Thunder, which was almost sufficient to destroy the bot on its own.

• After quite a bit of chatter in the Sector 5 Slums you’ll visit the Children’s Secret Hideout and the Undeveloped Land beyond, where you’ll fight more of the same enemies. For the second battle with Smoggers we toss on some Star Pendants just to mitigate their “Poison”, but otherwise the same tactics and equipment apply.

Kids on Patrol¶

This quest plays out just like the normal mode quest, culminating with a fight against the Hedgehog Pie King and his two accompanying Hedgehog Pies. Now that you’re in Hard difficulty - and you presumably have access to all the mastered materia the game has to offer - this fight should be even easier than it was in Normal difficulty. Equip Aerith with Ice + Magnify and both of them with Fire + Elemental to mitigate (and hopefully absorb) enemy fire magic. This should leave them with only their annoying - but relatively weak - “Bounce” attack, and Aerith should be capable of ripping through their defenses by casting Blizzard, regardless of what buffs the Hedgehog Pie King bestows.

Manage to defeat the Hedgehog Pie King and you’ll obtain the Telluric Scriptures Vol. VI Manuscript.

Weapons on a Rampage¶

To complete this quest you’ll need to return to the Scrapyard and hunt down five Mark II Monodrives. Three can be found in the northern-most part of the Scrapyard Back Alley area and two can be found in the Twilight Valley area (where several Hedgehog Pies normally spawn).

To defeat them you’ll need to pay attention to what barriers they’re using and respond with magic or melee attacks. If they’ve got a green rings orbiting them, use melee attacks, if they’ve got a translucent shell, use melee attacks. They’re weak to wind, but Aero is notoriously unreliable, so you’re probably better off sticking with Fire or Thunder. Aerith should use “Arcane Ward”, one of the aforementioned elements, and perhaps Magnify, while Cloud might want to rely on “Triple Slash”. In the latter case, it’s not perfect, as hitting a barrier will terminate the attack, but they move around a bit much for many other attacks, so… it’s probably the best of several bad options.

Defeat all five and you’ll earn the Telluric Scriptures Vol. V Manuscript.

Angel of the Slums¶

You’ll nee to complete Angel of the Slums before you can start this quest, and since they both give Manuscripts you’ve got good incentive to do so. This quest, aside from the tedious chatter at the beginning, is essentially the fight with the Chromogger.

Chromogger is just as much of a brute this time around as last time, and its “Skull Cracker” attack can deal massive damage if it hits. We’d recommend against this, and frankly, it’s just safer and more productive to control Aerith for this fight. Lay down an “Arcane Ward” and pelt the Chromogger’s “Iron Sphere” with Thunder (consider using Lightning + MP Absorption for this fight, as it’ll keep Aerith’s MP topped off) until it’s Staggered, then have Cloud deal what damage he can. Don’t be fooled, though, Aerith will certainly be your main source of damage this fight. Chromogger can emit two types of mist, a red mist which induces “Silence” and a blue mist that can stun. The former it’ll discharge directly in front of it, while the latter will be spread in a wide circle around it via its “Whirling Smokestack” attack - the size of the battlefield can make the circle of blue mist difficult to avoid, and if you end up stunned expect Chromogger to hit you with “Skull Cracker”.

Not a hard fight, but you do sometimes have to keep moving instead of indulging in offense of your own, although you shouldn’t need to take any preventative measures against the mist Chromogger spews - it should be easy enough to just evade.

Defeat Chromogger to obtain the Telluric Scriptures Vol. VII Manuscript.

Paying Respects¶

To start this quest you’ll have to complete the quest The Mysterious Moogle Merchant by buying the Moogle Membership Card for one Moogle Medal, after which you’ll be able to buy the Graveyard Key item for another Moogle Medal. After this you can fight the three Venomantis foes that make up the meat of this quest.

We won’t lie, this quest gave us hell in Normal difficulty, but in Hard difficulty, you have the resources to make it much, much easier. They can inflict “Poison” with their “Sickle Swipe” and “Leaping Slash” attacks and worse still, they can inflict “Sleep” with their “Torpid Sting”. If deprived of these two debilitations, however, there’s little they can do against you, as Cloud can block and counter all their attacks in Punisher mode. To counter these threats we equip Poison Materia + Warding Materia and Headbands on both characters. Ice + Magnify on Aerith is also a good idea, and while not necessary, Ice + Elemental on Cloud’ weapon will increase his damage output.

Once prepared, head to the Slum Public Cemetery and engage the three Venomantis’s. This fight, if you prepared, is pretty simple. Just switch to Punisher mode and block with Cloud. When he has ATB segments to spare, use “Triple Slash” or, if one of the bugs is “Pressured”, use “Focused Thrust”. Aerith should be allowed to idle under AI control, casting Regen on Cloud when she has the ATB (and perhaps Cure, if he’s taking too much damage) or unleashing a Blizzard + Magnify combo, as the situation warrants. Hit Staggered bugs with “Braver” and the fight should end before too long.

For defeating the Venomantis’s you’ll obtain the Telluric Scriptures Vol. VIII Manuscript.

• Once you’ve completed those four side quest and obtained the Manuscripts they yield, you’ll be free to complete the chapter. This necessitates one more boss fight, this time with Reno’s buddy, Rude, which will be given its own page as per the norm for Hard difficulty. Defeating him will earn you the Telluric Scriptures Vol. IV Manuscript.