The final boss in the 3D Brawler mini-game is none other than the One-Winged Angle himself, and he’s just as challenging as you’d expect him to be. Luckily, we have some tips on how you can beat him, including his full move sets and when exactly you’ll be able to strike him.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth – How to Unlock Sephiroth in 3D Brawler” guide if you haven’t unlocked him already.
How to Beat Sephiroth in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s 3D Brawler:
Understanding His Attacks
Like the Shinra Middle Manager that you fought to unlock Sephiroth, Sephiroth is a full six-special skill fighter. This means that you’ll be using all six available movements, three on each stick, during your fight with Sephiroth in 3D Brawler. He has six attacks, and you have six directions you can use to dodge or block, though, for this fight, you’ll want to ensure you’re dodging (more on that later).
So, let’s go over each of those attacks so you know exactly which button to press when you see it. We’ll start with the stick’s downward action. For Sephiroth, this is an uppercut move and has a very distinct animation, though it’s easy to get it mixed up with the stick’s left and right attacks if you aren’t paying close attention.
Sephiroth will begin to move his fist behind himself while also bending his knees. This means he’s preparing to do an uppercut, and depending on which fist is attacking, you should move the corresponding stick down. Also, pay attention to the position of the front side of the fist. It’s facing away from you.
The second attack is the hook, which is either left or right on the stick. There’s no left stick moving right and right stick moving left, so all you have to worry about is whether he’s making a left hook or a right hook, in which you’ll respond with a left stick move left or right stick move right. The animation he makes to indicate this move can be tough to spot, but his knees don’t bend as much. His fist also moves right behind him, and it faces to the fight rather than to the back. When it does this, then you know he’s going to use a hook.
His last move is a straight attack, which requires you to move one of the two sticks up, depending on which fist is attacking. To determine when Sephiroth is going to use this move, he will lean back a little, move his fist behind him, and it will be facing up, or slightly upwards for the right side.
This is a breakdown of all basic standard attacks; now, let’s go over when you can attack him.
How Do You Attack Sephiroth in 3D Brawler?
Hitting Sephiroth isn’t as easy as it sounds because, compared to the other 3D brawlers, you have to reach his special attack (where they turn red and unless consecutive strikes) before you get the opportunity to hit him. So, starting with the fight, you have to dodge seven of his attacks, and then he will perform his special attack, which is another four dodges you have to do, for a total of 11 dodges. Once you’ve done that, he will open up for the first strike as he will be too exhausted to move. Be quick because he doesn’t stay in this state for much longer.
This initial phase is what makes this fight undoubtedly hard. You don’t have to dodge seven times in a row, but it would be best not to get hit because Sephiroth can kill you in three hits. So dodge the first seven attacks, which are sadly random. Once he starts glowing red, he will perform five consecutive strikes. Luckily, the first time isn’t random, and the combo is as follows:
- Right straight, left hook, right hook, left straight, right uppercut = Right stick up, left stick left, right stick right, left stick up, right stick down
If you dodge all his attacks, he will go into a down state, and you can attack him with L2 or R2.
After this, you must pay close attention to his attacks because things become entirely random. So, everything you learned during the first phase is going to weigh heavily in the next minutes of the fight. At this point, he also gains an additional two power-up combo, possibly a third one. He will alternate between them, so remember the first one well. I haven’t mapped out all the combos, but I believe there are three in total.
- Left hook, left hook, right straight, left uppercut = Left Stick Left, Left Stick Left, right stick up, left stick down
- Right straight, left hook, right hook, left straight, right uppercut = Right stick up, left stick left, right stick right, left stick up, right stick down
- Left Stick Down, right stick right, ????
The best tip I can offer you in determining which set he will use is as soon as he turns red, pause the game, then keep unpausing and pausing it until you see his hand move. You should be able to determine, based on his fist positioning, which moves he will use. You can try to exploit the pause mechanic after this, but you have to be extremely fast; otherwise, it will result in a block. Better to find out which combo he will use and just memorize the moves in one solid flow.
Sephiroth also offers players other opportunities that are random to strike him after the first hit phase. This will correspond with L2 or R2, but only one of them, unlike the down state from dodging all his attacks. You’ll know when the opportunity comes up because he strikes a pose, and it’s in either the left or right direction.
It’s all really about paying close attention from here on out, so don’t expect to get this on the first try. It took me a few hours to beat him myself, and we’re sure that’ll be the case for you, too. Just have patience, learn his moves, and practice, and eventually, you’ll get it.
Good luck out there!
More Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Guides on MP1st:
Thank you so much!!!