Final Fantasy 7 Remake Chapter 17 Walkthrough: Deliverance From Chaos (Spoiler-Free)

Before departing Aerith’s quarters, conduct a comprehensive equipment audit for all four party members. Acquire the Reinforce Staff weapon from the corner chest, significantly boosting Aerith’s magical capabilities. As you progress through the hallway, meticulously search the adjacent cells to discover chests containing the Enfeeblement Ring accessory and phoenix down revival item. Don’t overlook the final chest near the hallway exit containing an ether for MP restoration.

Progressing through Hojo’s research facility presents environmental obstacles and aggressive Unknown Entity specimens. After clearing debris barriers, immediately scout the eastern section of the exit corridor to locate a break room featuring both vending machine and resting bench facilities.

Entering The Drum area requires careful navigation through clustered white specimen pods. Identify the concealed northern then eastern pathway to secure the valuable Poison Materia orb, essential for inflicting debilitating status effects on biological enemies.

Advance northward using specimen pods as platforms to reach a treasure chest containing phoenix down, then proceed southward to discover another fully-equipped break room for strategic recuperation.

Reuniting with Barret triggers sequential enemy engagements: Monodrives, Unknown Entities, and the formidable M.O.T.H. Unit mechanized opponent. This final adversary employs a devastating rotary saw mechanism that inflicts massive damage at close range—maintain distance during its spinning phases and concentrate Thunder-based magical assaults. Remain vigilant against its area-of-effect electrical discharges that can incapacitate multiple party members simultaneously.

Following this demanding encounter, retreat to the previous break room if necessary for comprehensive healing. Beyond the subsequent doorway, secure Cloud’s powerful Twin Stinger weapon from the awaiting chest. After regrouping with Tifa and Aerith, investigate the chamber beyond test subject pods to claim a substantial 3,000 gil reward chest.

Execute team switching maneuvers to approach the Third Ward entrance, where another break room provides essential support facilities. Activate the specimen pod control mechanism to create traversable pathways, then cross to retrieve an ether-containing chest before reverting to your original team composition.

After defeating the Blast-Ray adversary, locate the bridge extension lever to access the central control terminal. Proceed left across the newly formed bridge to acquire the strategically vital Time Materia orb. Finally, unlock the Third Ward portal and perform the necessary team transfer operation.

Your next encounter pits you against the formidable Brain Pod miniboss, a creature that specializes in area denial through its Noxious Whirl attack. This toxic sludge spread creates hazardous zones that demand constant positional awareness—maintain distance and prioritize Barret’s long-range capabilities alongside Thunder spells for consistent damage output. Once the Brain Pod sustains approximately 40% health depletion, it initiates a replication sequence spawning multiple duplicates. During this critical phase, sustain your party’s health while systematically eliminating clones using Cloud’s Triple Slash for crowd control and Barret’s Maximum Fury for focused damage. These replicated pods possess reduced durability, making them vulnerable to ATB abilities and melee assaults once staggered. A common mistake is clustering too closely, which leaves your entire team vulnerable to simultaneous poison attacks. Complete this engagement to advance from the Second Ward.

Approaching the Fourth Ward entrance reveals a strategically placed break room for essential preparation. This sanctuary allows comprehensive healing and item restocking before confronting the Unknown Entities ahead. After dispatching these foes, you’ll execute a crucial team swap for the upcoming major engagement. The opposition consists of familiar adversaries including Sledgeworms and additional Unknown Entities. Tifa demonstrates exceptional effectiveness against Sledgeworms through basic combos enhanced by Unbridled Strength, rapidly filling their stagger meters. Deploy Aerith in a supporting capacity with Thunder magic to efficiently handle robotic enemies while providing backup against the Entities. Advanced players should note that optimal materia loadouts here can reduce encounter time by 30-45 seconds. Don’t overlook the hidden treasure—within the Ward, navigate the large conduit, take the left passage, and follow to the terminus to discover a chest containing a valuable mega-potion.

The Swordipede presents a intimidating appearance that belies its actual combat mechanics. Close-quarters assaults prove largely ineffective against this mechanized horror composed entirely of rotating blades; Cloud’s sword strikes will deflect harmlessly from its armored flanks, while its cranial saw apparatus delivers devastating damage to frontal attackers. Abandon melee approaches entirely in favor of potent elemental magics: while Thunder delivers surprisingly modest results, both Firaga and Aeroga inflict catastrophic damage, with Firaga dealing approximately 2.3x more damage than physical attacks. The creature employs several dangerous maneuvers including whirling sawblade spins, aerial electro-bomb deployment, and flight patterns designed to electrocute opponents. None present significant threat provided you maintain mobility and evasion. Focus on spellcasting and projectile attacks when the boss levitates, enabling substantial damage application with minimal risk exposure.

At the battle’s midpoint, Swordipede breaches the wall to assault your alternate squad. Capitalize on the interactive cutscene prompt by holding Square to access the menu interface, facilitating strategic redistribution of high-level Fire and Wind materia between parties if necessary. After re-equipping, replicate your successful strategy during the Central Terminal confrontation. Position yourself to intercept its floating trajectory around the chamber’s center—careless positioning may cause spells to impact the central pillar, interrupting your assault. Several well-placed magical strikes should permanently disable this mechanical menace.

Engaging Jenova Dreamweaver demands meticulous battlefield awareness and tactical positioning. The entity features two primary tentacles extending from its sides—your principal objective involves severing these appendages to restrict its offensive capabilities while accelerating stagger accumulation. Crucially, avoid flanking maneuvers to its rear sector, where a third invulnerable tentacle resides that will launch devastating counterattacks against rear attackers. Advance with your melee specialists and commence aggressive assault while monitoring Jenova’s telegraphs—when it prepares its “Cast Aside” maneuver or manifests swirling violet energy patterns, immediately disengage and await the attack sequence conclusion. Punisher-mode counterattacks excel against the tentacles, complemented by Tifa’s Omnistrike which can nearly remove one appendage in a single execution. Once the tentacles are eliminated, focus your full offensive on the main body. Meanwhile, Jenova maintains considerable magic resistance, positioning Aerith optimally in a support role, though powerful spells still inflict meaningful damage.

Jenova employs numerous punishing techniques throughout the encounter. Remain vigilant for Vengeance, a high-damage energy beam deployed after tentacle destruction—position behind environmental pillars for complete mitigation, or brace through the impact, as failure to do so results in knockdown. The creature periodically regenerates its tentacles, necessitating continuous removal to maintain pressure and maximize damage windows. Expert players can complete this encounter 25% faster by synchronizing tentacle destruction with limit break availability. Follow the viscous trail post-victory to discover a rooftop rest area with bench and vending machine facilities.

Rufus Shinra represents one of the most technically demanding one-on-one encounters in the game, requiring precise timing and strategic positioning. As the heir to the Shinra corporation presidency, he brings both formidable firepower and a loyal combat companion in Darkstar, creating a dynamic two-against-one scenario that tests your defensive capabilities and attack discipline.

This duel follows the pattern established in previous elite encounters against opponents like Roche and Rude, emphasizing blocking proficiency and well-timed counter-offensives. The critical differentiator is Darkstar’s presence, which fundamentally alters the engagement dynamics compared to pure solo battles.

Understanding the core mechanics is essential: Darkstar provides healing support to Rufus whenever you deal significant damage, effectively nullifying your progress until the canine is neutralized. This mechanic forces a specific engagement sequence that experienced players must master.

The initial phase presents the greatest challenge as you contend with coordinated attacks from both opponents simultaneously. Rufus and Darkstar employ devastating tandem combinations where the dog will immobilize you through knockdowns or grapples, creating openings for Rufus to deliver punishing shotgun blasts at close range.

Optimal positioning involves maintaining medium distance, forcing Darkstar to extend beyond Rufus’s immediate support range. This separation strategy minimizes their combo potential and reduces the frequency of high-damage coordinated assaults. Remaining too close for extended periods dramatically increases your vulnerability to chain attacks that can rapidly deplete your health.

Be particularly vigilant when Darkstar begins casting Lightning enhancement on Rufus. This telegraphs the upcoming Thunderclap ability – a powerful lightning projectile that demands quick dodging reflexes. While evadable, failing to react promptly results in substantial damage that can quickly turn the battle against you.

For stagger building, focus your Punisher mode attacks on Darkstar while using Triple Strike combos against Rufus during his reload animations. Successfully striking both opponents simultaneously will break their tactical link, temporarily staggering Rufus and creating a damage window against Darkstar.

Once you’ve sufficiently damaged Darkstar, Rufus escalates the engagement by incorporating coin-based techniques into his arsenal. The Bright Lights attack projects easily dodgeable laser trajectories, while Guns Akimbo unleashes a widespread bullet pattern that leaves you exposed to follow-up strikes from Darkstar if caught within its area of effect.

Continue applying the bait-and-damage methodology: lure Darkstar away from Rufus, exploit openings with high-damage abilities, and retreat before Rufus can reposition to support his companion. This repetitive cycle gradually whittles down Darkstar’s health while minimizing your risk exposure.

A critical execution point arrives when Darkstar’s health reaches approximately 25% – Rufus becomes more aggressive in his protection efforts, requiring tighter timing and more conservative engagement windows.

The elimination of Darkstar transitions the battle to its final phase, where you face Rufus alone without his healing support and combo-enabling partner. This represents the tactical turning point where offensive opportunities increase substantially.

With Darkstar neutralized, Rufus adopts a more mobile combat style, using his firearms for rapid battlefield repositioning. He maintains near-complete invulnerability throughout most of this phase, countering standard attacks with precise retaliation that punishes aggressive play.

The reload animation remains your exclusive damage window – all other offensive attempts will be met with devastating counters that reset your progress. Time your assaults carefully, landing 2-3 attacks maximum during each reload sequence before resetting to defensive positioning.

Major abilities to monitor include: Bright Lights (dodge the laser trajectory), Think Fast (retreat from coin-based explosives), and Up In Smoke (avoid the debilitating smoke cloud area). Guns Akimbo’s bullet spread can be avoided through lateral movement, though maintaining guard posture provides more consistent protection against this ability.

Your defensive stance should prioritize blocking against rapid-fire attacks while conserving stamina for dodging telegraphed major abilities. This balanced approach ensures sustainability throughout what can become an extended engagement requiring patience and precision.

Seasoned players can optimize this encounter through several advanced methodologies. First, master the animation telegraph for Rufus’s reload sequence – the subtle shoulder dip and weapon adjustment provides your cue to engage. Second, coordinate your materia usage to enhance either defensive capabilities or burst damage during limited windows.

The Punisher mode against Darkstar proves most effective when combined with ATB-building abilities that ensure you have necessary resources when stagger opportunities arise. Third, practice the specific dodge timing against Thunderclap, as mistiming this evasion represents one of the most common failure points for players attempting this battle.

Common strategic errors include overcommitting during stagger phases, underestimating the range of tandem attacks, and failing to recognize the visual cues for reload sequences. Each of these mistakes can extend the encounter duration unnecessarily or lead to catastrophic failure.

For players struggling with the timing requirements, consider reviewing our Class Guide to optimize your character build specifically for duel-type encounters that emphasize reaction time and precision over sustained damage output.

When you’ve inflicted sufficient damage on the Arsenal unit, it will deploy defensive Firewall barriers to encircle your squad while preparing its devastating Cry Havoc assault. These energy barriers serve dual purposes: restricting your mobility and creating kill zones that amplify incoming damage. The key survival tactic involves immediately rotating 180 degrees to seek cover behind the nearest structural debris, which provides complete protection from the area-of-effect blast. Understanding this pattern cycle is crucial for repeated success in the engagement.

Firewall placement follows predictable patterns based on your team’s positioning. Advanced players can manipulate spawn locations by clustering in specific areas before the phase transition. The debris field offers multiple cover options, but the largest fragments near the arena’s center provide the most reliable protection. Time your movement to avoid being caught mid-transition when barriers materialize.

Following each Cry Havoc evasion, capitalize on the brief vulnerability window to unleash maximum offensive capability against the mechanical adversary. Electrical-based ordnance proves exceptionally effective against the Arsenal’s armored plating, with lightning spells dealing approximately 40% increased damage compared to conventional weaponry. This elemental advantage becomes critical during the final encounter stage when time constraints intensify.

During the concluding battle phase, the Arsenal will initiate its ultimate attack sequence with only a limited timeframe available for termination. This approximately 3-minute window demands perfect execution of damage rotation and cooldown management. Teams should pre-assign roles: one member focuses on barrier destruction while others maintain constant pressure on the primary target. Coordinate ability usage to ensure lightning attacks are available during this decisive moment.

Weapon selection significantly impacts time-to-kill metrics. Prioritize armaments with inherent electrical properties or modifiable damage types. The BF6 Weapons Unlock Guide provides detailed information on optimal loadouts for this encounter, including specialized gear that enhances lightning damage output.

Superior positioning transcends basic survival—mastering movement patterns allows for continuous damage application even during defensive phases. Anticipate the Arsenal’s animation cues: shoulder cannon glow indicates imminent Cry Havoc, while arm articulation signals Firewall deployment. These visual tells provide precious seconds for positional adjustment.

Common execution errors include premature cooldown usage, misjudged cover distances, and inadequate barrier clearance. Teams often fail by saving ultimate abilities for ‘perfect moments’ that never arrive—instead, employ them systematically during each damage window. Resource management separates competent squads from elite operators.

Class composition dramatically affects encounter difficulty. Technical specialists with engineering capabilities can temporarily disable Firewalls, while assault classes provide sustained damage. Consult our comprehensive BF6 Class Selection Guide for optimal team building strategies tailored to this specific boss engagement.

Proceed to our Battlefield 6 Campaign Walkthrough: NATO Operations.

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