Despite being born with a golden spoon, Rufus is not afraid of getting himself dirty. While the man prefers to let his Turks do most of his jobs, he is more than happy to challenge Cloud to a battle. After obtaining the key to the Temple of the Ancients, the new President of Shinra clashes with Cloud once again in the Gold Saucer arena. Rufus is arguably one of the toughest boss fights in FF7 Rebirth, and many players may struggle to beat him due to his speed.
FF7 Rebirth Rufus Boss Fight Guide
During Rufus’ boss fight, you can only use Cloud to beat him in FF7 Rebirth. To make things more challenging, this battle immediately occurs after the second fight with Rude and Elena.
- Weakness: None
- Lesser Resistance: None
- Greater Resistances: None
- Absorbed Elements: None
- Immunities:
- Proportional Damage
- Berserk
- Slow
- Poison
- Silence
- Sleep
- Stop
- Stone
- Petrify
- Morphable Items
You want to keep your distance from Rufus during this FF7 Rebirth boss fight since the man can block and perform counterattacks when hit with regular attacks. I highly recommend casting Haste on Cloud so you can gain ATB Gauge faster.
Whenever Rufus reloads his gun, you can use Focused Thrust to pressure him. You should always keep at least one ATB Gauge ready so you can unleash your ability whenever the man reloads. Also, make sure that you’re not too far from him, or you won’t be able to reach him when his guard is down.
One move that you need to be wary of is Homing Bullets. These projectiles will tirelessly chase after you, so it’s better to block or deflect them. I recommend equipping Precision Defense Focus Materia to extend your input timing. You may also cast Barrier if you have trouble dodging or deflecting Rufus attacks.
In the second phase, the loyal hound Dark Star will join the battle. While the dog makes the fight more difficult, you can use it to gain ATB Gauge and pressure Rufus by severing the link between them. Just use your ranged slashes to chip away its HP; once the link is broken, hit Rufus with a strong ability.
If you unleash your Limit Break when the man is staggered, you can deal a ton of damage. I actually ended the boss fight against Rufus in FF7 Rebirth with a Cross-Slash.
