Final Fantasy 7 Remake features a whole host of summons for the player to make use of, but some are far more difficult than others to unlock. Each summon requires a boss fight which can be started by speaking with the kid that gives the Stagger Effect quest, Chadley.
Though optional, Final Fantasy 7 Remake's summons can turn the tide of battle when in a rough spot, and Leviathan is no exception to that rule. As the third available summon boss fight in the game, he is no pushover either, so players will need to prepare properly before taking him on.
In order to start the fight, players will need to speak to Chadley during Chapter 14. He can be found in various places around Midgar, but running into him during this chapter shouldn't be too difficult. Doing so will add Leviathan to the list of VR combat scenarios, and defeating him will earn the player his summon materia.
Leviathan Boss Battle Strategy
Leviathan is an incredibly tough boss fight, but there are a few things to keep in mind ahead of time that will make things a lot easier. For starters, despite Leviathan traditionally dealing heavy amounts of water damage, his attacks in Final Fantasy 7 Remake have no element, meaning the player doesn't need to focus on building up resistances. Unfortunately for this summon, he retains his established weakness to Thunder magic, so making use of this will be key to defeating Leviathan in a timely manner.
Furthermore, Leviathan moves around quite a bit, and with the large size of the stage, melee characters like Tifa and Cloud will have an extremely difficult time dealing much damage to him. Barrett is the player's best friend in this scenario, as he is capable of dealing Thunder damage at range.
Leviathan Phase 1
The first phase of the Leviathan boss fight lasts until the player reduces the beast to around half hit points. During this phase, Leviathan will make use of eight unique attacks, and understanding each is key to victory. The Briny Barrage attack sees leviathan shoot several watery projectiles at his target, this is difficult to avoid but well telegraphed, so blocking it tends to be the better option. Along a similar vein, Briny Bellow is a thin, concentrated beam of water which will do heavy damage and sweep across the field. This one can be dodged if it's noticed soon enough, but it is worth noting that staying close to leviathan will cause this attack to miss altogether.
Leviathan's tail whip ability sees him dive underwater, spinning in a circle and damaging all nearby. The best way to dodge this one is to simply get away once the attack name pops up, but it doesn't do that much damage compared to other attacks so it is less of a threat. The Spinning Dive attack, on the other hand, can be quite deadly, as Leviathan will charge across the entire battlefield damaging all characters in his path. Well-timed dodges will avoid this, but it's important to pay attention to positioning and don't let characters line up.
Finally, the Gyre Spume attack will see Leviathan draw in characters and explode in a burst of water, dealing high damage and knock-back. This move can be interrupted with a powerful enough attack but it is risky, and it may be safer to simply get away while he charges it up. The aquatic focus ability sees the Leviathan charge energy, and it is a great opportunity to deal some uninhibited damage on him, but will lead to the Tidal Wave ability. Tidal Wave is unavoidable and deals incredibly high damage, so it is vital that the player interrupts this move while Leviathan is charging it up. Thundaga works wonders here.
Leviathan Phase 2
After dealing enough damage to Leviathan, he will use his Tidal Roar ability, in which he flies into the air and summons huge spouts of water. These water spouts not only damage the player but also protect Leviathan from projectiles. At this point in the fight, using Barrett is necessary as melee characters cannot reach Leviathan. That said, not much else changes, and if the player manages to stagger Leviathan, he will be vulnerable to melee attacks again as he falls to the ground. Defeating him will reward the player with the Leviathan summon materia.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now exclusively on PS4.
Source: GameSpot