Sephiroth Guide - Guide for Kingdom Hearts II

Auther: Akinom (KingdomKey)
Title: Sephiroth Guide
Game: Kingdom Hearts II
Platform: Playstation 2

Introduction
------------
This is a guide to help you beat the hardest optional boss in Kingdom Hearts II... 
the infamous Sephiroth!

Where is Sephiroth?
-------------------

First and foremost, you will have to have sealed the Space Paranoids keyhole 
in order to find Sephiroth.
He appears just beyond Crystal Fissure in the last section of Hollow Bastion, 
which is now called Radiant Garden, called the Dark Depths. Hit Triangle to 
converse with him to engage in combat.


Preparing for battle
--------------------

Before even attempting to fight Sephiroth, you'll want to have the following 
abilities and items:

-Ultima Weapon (MUST have)
-Air Slide
-Air Dodge (optional)
-High Jump Level 2
-Reflect Guard (optional)
-Revenge Slash
-Combo Plus(es) and Air Combo Plus
-supply of Elixirs (preferably), or Hi Potions -Level 70+ (preferably) with 
strength & defense 40+ each


Note: Just a heads up of what you are going to be up against.
Sephiroth is super strong and has 15 life bars. I beat him at level 63 after 
some hard working at a sound strategy.
He has three different attack phases which will be discussed in granulated 
detail below in the strategy section.
Also, Ultima Weapon is a must have (YES it is worth putting the time into 
getting it) because of the MP Hastega ability it possesses. You'll need speedy 
MP recovery to help heal yourself when needed. More about healing below.



Strategy
--------


1st Phase
---------

Repeatedly press Triangle at the start of the fight to block all of the hits 
from Sephiroth's starting move, the Dash & Cut move. You will block the attack 
and then Sephiroth will be momentarily open to a combo attack. From here on is 
where the battle starts. YOUR BEST OFFENSE IN THIS FIGHT IS A GOOD DEFENSE, so 
wait until Sephiroth is vulnerable to attack.
Let him attack, then dodge and attack him, never the other way around. 
Remember this because this is key to the entire battle. Another key to 
remember is to do only a single combo attack on him and then wait for him to 
attack again. Never try and string more than one combo together as he will 
teleport out of the latter combo and you'll be open to attack. One last 
noteworthy thing, you MUST be on the ground to block the Dash & Cut attack. 
Even if you were in mid-air and have only landed a mere second before he 
launches the attack, you most likely will still get caught in the attack.

Sephiroth will randomly do the Dash & Cut attack as well as Omnislash in this 
phase, along with the most annoying Teleport then Uppercut attack. If you have 
Reflect Guard equipped, you can block Omnislash and his Uppercut attack by 
pressing Square. If not, simply use Air Slide to avoid the attack.
When he uses Omnislash, either block it or slide away and attack him once he 
is vulnerable.

If Sephiroth teleports behind you, and you are quick enough you may be able to 
block his uppercut. If you don't have Reflect Guard equipped, dash away. But 
take note here as well that he may choose to teleport more than once to do a 
second or third uppercut. Either way, he will continue with Omnislash 
afterward so don't attack until he is done with this. In the most likely even 
that the Uppercut connects with Sora, you will be shot up into the air where 
he will perform a mid-air Omnislash combo. If this happens, wait about a full 
second while in mid-air and then press Square to do the Revenge Slash: You'll 
break out of your ascent upward and, if timed right, you'll have landed a hit 
on Sephiroth as soon as he teleports to the air landing him open for an aerial 
combo. Even if you miss him you'll still be in a better position to avoid his 
combo. Simply keep hitting Square until you land a hit and then combo.

Continue on with this strategy until you have depleted
5 of his life bars, which will begin his second attack phase.


2nd Phase
---------

All of the above attacks remain in this phase with a few additions or tweaks. 
Omnislash now has a much greater range of attack & will requiere 2 Air Slides 
to dodge it (if you can actually get away from it), or just block with Reflect 
Guard. Sephiroth will produce black orbs that form around Sora and pull toward 
his position. You can simply ignore them and dodge through them when few, but 
when there are a lot of orbs, knock them away and even bat them back at 
Sephiroth to do some minor damage. Don't get too caught up with the orbs, 
however, because Sephiroth makes his way over to you and will perform 
Omnislash at his earliest convenience so just worry about the orbs that are in 
your way to escape, then slide out of the way of danger.

Sephiroth will also perform Descend Heartless Angel (DHA) in which he will 
mutter a few words while teleporting away from Sora in order to rise into the 
air for this nasty attack: It brings you down to 1 HP and 0 MP.
Here, you have two options. First option is to try and hit him. This is where 
you'll need High Jump Level 2 because he is too high out of normal High Jump 
attacking range and you won't reach him. High Jump Level 2 enables you to get 
to his position, with my suggestion of having Air Dodge equipped, hit X and 
you'll gain some extra needed height to attack him. Once you land a hit he 
will stop the sequense of DHA and he will forfeit his attack.
Your other option is what to do if he attack before you can reach him. If you 
know you'll be out of range then DON'T EVEN GO FOR IT. Reason is because he 
will connect and drain your HP to 1, then with you at close proximity he will 
perform Pillar of Fire, which now draws Sora in toward him making it much 
harder to dodge, in which case you die. (Note: either run or slide away from 
Pillar of Fire, don't jump. If you jump you'll be sucked in quicker in air and 
will get hit with the
fire)

When you know you can't reach Sephiroth in time to stop DHA, hold your 
position and heal with an Elixir or Hi Potion when the attack is over (if you 
are good enough you can actually use Curaga at the precise moment before DHA 
connects and you will fully heal HP, but still lose MP). Be prepared that 
since you are at a distance now he is going to go directly into his Dash & Cut 
attack.
You'll notice this right away because the screen will turn it's usual darker 
shade. Heal, block the Dash and then attack when he is open.

Continue all of this but be advised he may use Pillar of Fire at random. Once 
brought down to 5 health bars remaining he will begin his final attack phase.


3rd Phase
---------

Sephiroth will stop dead and produce a pnk aura that
glows around the upper portion of his outfit. This denotes
his last phase. He becomes even faster and will sometimes
even glide across the ground to attack Sora. His Omnislash
will now go the length of the battle field and he will
conjure dozens of black orbs to hityou.

He will no longer use Pillar of Fire, but Dash & Cut and 
DHA still remain with the addition of Meteor. Still use
the previous strategies for the other attack: Block 
Dash & Cut, then attack; hit Sephiroth to stop DHA; and
try to somehow avoid Omnislash (Air Slide is useless
as he will connect always due to it's massive range).

Once he summons Meteor, slide out of the way to avoid the
attack as best you can, making your way over to Sephiroth.
He is actually out of attacking range but stay as close as
possible to get in an attack once he lands. **What I did
was avoid Meteor, work my way over to Sephiroth while
target locked on him, jump as if to attack when close and
get hit by Meteor. Sounds dumb, but once you are hit once
and you are near Sephiroth, hit Square to Revenge Slash
and Sora willremain above most of the Meteors only to
hit Square again once hit (sustaining minor damage) until
the attack is over and Sephiroth is vulnerable.

To be quite honest and accurate, the only times when 
Sephiroth is really vulnerable to attack in this phase
is after Meteor and Dash & Cut. You'll simply have
to be patient and have some luck as to find an opening.
Quite difficult, but many failed attempts should yield
you a good eye for his attack and a win!


After the Battle
----------------

Well done! Congratulate yourself for beating one of the
hardest bosses ever (i'd say). Sit back and enjoy the Showdown 
of Fate. You earned it!

After the Showdown of Fate cutscene Tifa will give you Fenrir, 
the best Keyblade in the game.

Fenrir has Attack +7, Magic Attack +1 and auto-ability
of Combo Minus (decreasing your overall combo hits by
one).

Website
-------
If your interested visit my Kingdom Hearts Website:

http://www.freewebs.com/heartlesscenter



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