To unlock the Phoneix in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, one of the Summons that can be called upon during battles using Summon Materia in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, you first need to defeat them in the latest version of Chadley's Combat Simulator.
There are six Summon Materia that can be unlocked in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and the battle with Phoenix will become available in the Combat Simulator as soon as you enter the second open-world zone in the game. Let's figure out the best way to defeat and unlock Phoenix in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and acquire its fiery resurrection powers.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Phoenix boss guide
As with all Summon entity battles in the Combat Simulator, it doesn't matter what level you attempt the battle at because these ultra-tough bosses have level sync, meaning they will always be of similar strength to your characters, keeping the challenge at a high level. Check out the strategies below on how to take Phoenix down in Chadley's Combat Simulator:
- As soon as the battle starts, Phoenix will quickly use "Breath of Creation" to spawn some additional enemies that are tethered to it. You must prioritise taking down those linked enemies because Phoenix will be impervious to all damage while its creations are connected to it. Initially, these enemies will be relatively simple opponents like Bombs or Flans, whose weaknesses you should know by now to dispatch them quickly (if not, use Assess Materia).
- Once all linked enemies are down, focus all damage on Phoenix, and nuke the boss using Ice-based and physical attacks since it is resistant to all other magic and will absorb fire-type attacks. Use Limit Breaks, Synergy moves, Ice magic and attacks to lower its HP before it summons a new wave of linked mobs.
There is no special tactic for Staggering, and the only way to pressure Phoenix is to inflict enough damage while casting Empowering Flame.
Enough damage will also interrupt this cast, and it is crucial to interrupt it because if Phoenix successfully casts Empowering Flame twice in a row, it will follow up with Rebirth Flame, which you don't want (it won't recover the boss's HP, but it will deal massive damage to the whole party).
- The second wave of linked mobs will be slightly stronger, but you should keep the same tactics as before, and after just one or two more rounds, the stagger gauge should be full, allowing you to finish the boss off eventually.
If the battle with Phoenix is still too difficult for you, you can: lower the difficulty to Easy or find and complete the 3 Summon Crystal mini-games in the Junon region (see the maps below for the location of all three shrines).
With the Summon Crystals collected you will be able to fight a significantly weakened version of Phoenix. However, if you defeat it, you will still obtain the Phoenix Summon Materia.
Once summoned during the battle Phoenix can deal a large amount of fire damage to your enemies with his ultimate attack: Rebirth Flame, which also heals the party. If you level up Phoenix Summon Materia up to LVL3 you will unlock Reraise and Arise spells as well.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Guides and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth page.