Pre-battle Preparations¶

The battles are a little tougher than your previous solo matchups but with a little preparation, they shouldn’t cause you too many issues. To begin with, assign Cloud the Elemental-Lightning combo, you’ll find many mechanical enemies as the rounds go on although it’s worth bringing along a Fire materia for some of the regular Shinra grunts.

Round 1/5¶

You’ll have to deal with a Security Officer, two Grenadiers and a Sentry Gun Prototype, the main threat here. It’s best to start the battle by dashing in and using Triple Slash to take care of the Shinra Grunts before focusing on the Sentry Gun Prototype with either regular attacks (due to Elemental-Lightning) or a cast of Thundara.

Round 2/5¶

You’ll be up against two Flametroopers next and you can deal with them easily by casting Fira from the start, followed by a Triple Slash as soon as the ATB allows. Be wary of the Flamethrower ability and try to attack the Flametroopers from the back, just be cautious of Combustion should you burst the tank on their back.

Round 3/5¶

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You can easily counter the Shock Trooper in Punisher Mode.

It starts to get a little tougher here, you’re up against a Shock Trooper and two Sentry Rays. Ignore the Shock Trooper to begin with and instead dash to the back and use either Triple Slash or Thunder(ra) spells to dispatch them quickly. Once you’re left with just the Shock Trooper, switch to Punisher Mode and counter the Shock Trooper.

Round 4/5¶

Next up, a Riot Trooper and two Slug Rays and this time, you’ll want to focus on dealing with the Riot Trooper first, a single cast of Fira should do the trick. Slug Rays themselves should be fairly simple once the Riot Trooper is out of the way, Triple Slash works especially well if you have Elemental-Lightning set.

Round 5/5¶

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A single cast of Thundara is enough to Stagger the Sentry Launcher.

The final battle at least, is somewhat of a challenge and despite the hulking presence of the Sweeper, the main threat here is the Sentry Launcher hiding behind it. Left on it’s own, Full Salvo can deal some nasty damage while also interrupting you, allowing the Sweeper to cause more harm. Make use of Thundara to scrap it as soon as possible and then switch to Punisher Mode to deal with the Sweeper, many of it’s attacks can be countered. Alternatively, keep up with the Thundara spells and toss them the Sweeper’s way.

Your reward for this tournament is The Art of Swordplay Vol. II which will raise Cloud’s SP by 10.