Rude and Elena (Chapter 3) Hard Mode Guide

Rude and Elena (Chapter 3) are bosses in Chapter 3: Deeper into Darkness of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (FF7 Rebirth). Learn how to beat Rude and Elena (Chapter 3) on Hard Mode and normal difficulties, their weaknesses and resistances, and a list of their moves and attack patterns in this guide!

Rude and Elena Weaknesses and Stats

Rude Weaknesses and Stats

	Easy	Normal	Hard
HP	6854	9792	61460

Weakness and Resistances

Weaknesses	Lesser Resistances	Greater Resistances
Wind	Petrify	Sleep Stop
Absorbed Elements	Immunities
None	Proportional Damage Slow Silence Stone Morphable Items

Changes When Staggered

Weakness / Effective	Resistance
None	None

Elena Weaknesses and Stats

	Easy	Normal	Hard
HP	4950	7072	44388

Weakness and Resistances

Weaknesses	Lesser Resistances	Greater Resistances
Lightning	None	Sleep Stop
Absorbed Elements	Immunities
None	Proportional Damage Slow Silence Stone Morphable Items

Changes When Staggered

Weakness / Effective	Resistance
None	None

How to Pressure Rude and Elena

How to Pressure Rude

Hit him with powerful abilities while he is guarding Interrupt his Synergy Strikes

In order to Pressure Rude during this fight, you will need to hit him with powerful ATB commands or Wind spells. Chain ATB commands between Cloud and Tifa, or have Aerith double-cast Wind spells using her Arcane Ward, especially when he enters Atlas Stance.

How to Pressure Elena

Strike her with powerful abilities Interrupt her Synergy Strikes

To Pressure Elena, hit her with multiple Focused Thrusts using Cloud or Counter her attacks to instantly Pressure her. However, do note that when you start focusing down Elena, Rude will start using powerful AoE abilities like Triple Shockwave and Spirit Geyser.

How to Pressure and Stagger Enemies

Rude and Elena Best Party and Builds

Notice from Game8	This section is for players who are playing on Easy and Normal difficulties. To check out the best builds and tips for Hard Mode, jump to our Hard Mode Guide section, below!

Recommended Party Setup

Available Characters and Roles
Cloud	【Physical DPS / Stagger Buildup】 ・Pressure Elena by Countering and Parrying or spamming Focused Thrust. ・Equip the Sleek Saber to get better ATB Recovery via its Weapon Skills.
Aerith	【Caster DPS / Support】 ・Exploit Rude's weakness and Pressure him with Aero spells. ・Hit Elena with Thunder to exploit her weakness and Pressure her.
Tifa	【Physical DPS】 ・Pressure the enemy with Divekick and Reverse Gale (for Rude). ・Increase Stagger damage multiplier by using Omnistrike + Unbridled Strength spam.

Best Materia to Use

Materia	How to Use
Prayer	・Recover HP to all allies, but costs 2-ATB. ・Equip to the Leader character to make sure you have enough ATB to use it.
Healing	・Heal a single ally when their HP drops.
Wind	・Use Aero to exploit Rude's weakness and Pressure him. ・Best used on Aerith for her high Magic Attack stat. ・Aerith's Arcane Ward can allow you to double-cast the spell.
Lightning	・Use Thunder to exploit Elena's weakness and Pressure her. ・Best used on Aerith for her high Magic Attack stat. ・Aerith's Arcane Ward can allow you to double-cast the spell.

How to Beat Rude and Elena

Rude and Elena Boss Fight Tips
Lock-On to Elena and Focus Your Attacks on Her Use Cloud's Counterattacks to Pressure Hit with Focused Thrust when Pressured Lay Into Them When Staggered Focus on Dodging Synergy Strikes

Lock-On to Elena and Focus Your Attacks on Her

Lock-On	R3 (Press the R-Stick)
Switch Targets	R-Stick

Due to Rude's high HP and frequent guarding, it's best to take out Elena first to make things quicker. To make it easier, just lock-on to her and make sure all attacks and ATB commands are targeted her way.

Use Cloud's Counterattacks to Pressure

Using Counters from Cloud will allow you to easily pressure Rude and Elena. While in Punisher Mode, simply block an enemy attack to activate one (can also be done while changing into Punisher mode).

How to Counter and Parry Attacks

Hit with Focused Thrust when Pressured

Once either Elena or Rude are Pressured, use Focus Thrust to build up their Stagger meter. When filled, this procs a Stagger, stunning them and leaving them open to attack.

How to Pressure and Stagger Enemies

Lay Into Them When Staggered

Since damage output is increased on Staggered enemies, use as many attacks as possible to knock off large chunks of HP before they recover from Stagger. If you're using Cloud, spam Braver and Punisher Mode attacks to deal damage.

You can even increase the stagger damage multiplier by switching to Tifa and spamming Omnistrike and Unbridled Strength. Alternate between the two since Omnistrike has the fastest animation out of the 3 types of Chi strikes.

Focus on Dodging Synergy Strikes

While Rude and Elena are both still present, they will announce before doing a Synergy Strike. These have a large attack range, so be sure to dodge them when you see one coming. If Elena goes for the ranged grenade toss spam, simply run around the arena to dodge them.

Rude and Elena Hard Mode Guide

Rude and Elena Hard Mode Tips
★ Best Hard Mode Builds for Rude and Elena ★
Open with Focused Thrust and Arcane Ward Spam Focused Thrust on Elena to Pressure Her Build ATB on Aerith to Prepare for Aeroga Cast Aeroga on Rude While He is in Atlas Stance Spam ATB Commands and Aeroga to Finish the Fight

Rude and Elena Hard Mode Builds

Notice from Game8	The builds featured in this Hard Mode section are at Weapon Levels 7~8. If you find that you don't have enough Materia slots to complete the setup, consider getting all the possible Manuscripts on Normal, first.

Open with Focused Thrust and Arcane Ward

Take advantage of your First Strike Materia on Cloud and Aerith by opening the fight with an Arcane Ward cast on Aerith and a Focused Thrust cast on Elena. This immediately pressures Elena, allowing you to build up her stagger, while also readying Aerith's best Ward.

The goal of this fight is to build enough ATB on Aerith to allow her to double-cast Aeroga when the Turks use their Synergy Ability in the middle of the boss fight. If done right, you should have 2-ATB charges on Aerith once Elena gets staggered for the first time.

Spam Focused Thrust on Elena to Pressure Her

Once you have Elena pressured, continue using Cloud's Punisher Mode to build up ATB. As soon as you get a charge, spam Focused Thrust to build up Elena's stagger. After 2-3 casts, she should get Staggered.

Dodge Rude's Triple Shockwave After First Pressuring Elena

After you first Pressure Elena, Rude will start casting a powerful, triple-homing attack called Triple Shockwave. Once he casts it, stop hitting Elena and focus on dodging since it deals a large amount of damage on hit.

Build ATB on Aerith to Prepare for Aeroga

When Elena gets Staggered for the first time, make sure to spam ATB commands on Cloud, mixing it up between Braver, Triple Slash, and Disorder (for quick animations). The variety of moves is to ensure you proc ATB Assist as well as the Skill Master Materia.

If done correctly, Aerith should get enough ATB to push her near 2-ATB once Elena's Stagger ends. If you're finding yourself short of 2, simply use Aerith's equipped ATB Boost Materia. Hold L1 before pressing R1 to get one whole bar of your ATB filled instantly.

Cast Aeroga on Rude While He is in Atlas Stance

Once Elena's Staggered state ends (provided you did enough damage), a short cutscene will play. When it ends she and Rude will start casting their Synergy Ability. Rude will go into Atlas Stance while Elena casts Petite Powerhouse.

When this happens, immediately switch to Aerith and cast Ward Shift (Triangle) to teleport to the Arcane Ward you cast earlier. Using 2-ATB, cast Aeroga on Rude. On hit, he will be Pressured, stopping the Synergy Ability. The second Aeroga should push both Turks into Pressured states.

Spam ATB Commands and Aeroga to Finish the Fight

With both Turks Pressured, unload ATB Commands with Cloud and Aeroga with Aerith to push them into a Staggered state. Since both Turks will be in close proximity after you interrupt their Synergy Ability, it will be easy to put them down at the same time.

Note: You can allow the AI to control Tifa since her Auto-Unique Ability and Auto-Weapon Ability Materia should be more than enough to get her to spam commands throughout the entire fight.

Rude and Elena Rewards and Details

Rude Rewards

Rude Rewards
Easy/Normal						Hard Mode
・560 EXP ・50 Party EXP ・10 AP ・1400 Gil						・5200 EXP ・30 AP ・6500 Gil ・Telluric Scriptures Vol. VIII・Fortunes Untold Vol. XV
Items Dropped						Rare Items Dropped
・Mega-Potion						None
Stealable Items						Morphable Items
・Mega-Potion						None

Basic Information and Details

Rude
Location	Chapter Unlocked
Mythril Mines	Chapter 3
Species	Movement
Human	Grounded
Details
An operative with the Turks unit of Shinra's General Affairs Division. He prefers to use his bare fists and physical prowess to subdue his enemies. With his partner Reno out of commission, he has instead teamed up with new recruit Elena on his current business. Hitting him with multiple powerful offensive abilities while his guard is up will pressure him. Interrupting his synergy strikes will also pressure him.

Elena Rewards

Elena Rewards
Easy/Normal						Hard Mode
・700 EXP ・50 Party EXP ・10 AP ・700 Gil						・6500 EXP ・30 AP ・3250 Gil
Items Dropped						Rare Items Dropped
None						None
Stealable Items						Morphable Items
None						None

Basic Information and Details

Elena
Location	Chapter Unlocked
Mythril Mines	Chapter 3
Species	Movement
Human	Grounded
Details
A new operative with the Turks unit of Shinra's General Affairs Division. After distinguishing herself in the military academy, she was brought into the fold as the unit's newest member. What she lacks in practical experience, she makes up for with enthusiasm. Hitting her with powerful offensive abilities will pressure her. Interrupting her synergy strikes will also pressure her.

FF7 Rebirth Related Guides

Boss Fight Guide and List of All Bosses

Story Bosses

All Major Story Bosses
Chapter 1	Materia Guardian
Chapter 2	Midgardsormr
Chapter 3	Rude and Elena Mythril Golem
Chapter 4	Terror of the Deep Roche
Chapter 5	Jenova Emergent
Chapter 6	Grasptropod
Chapter 7	Custom Valkyrie Gigatrice
Chapter 8	Dyne Anuran Suppressor
Chapter 9	Specimen H1024 Crimson Mare Mk. II
Chapter 10	Gi Nattak
Chapter 11	Diabolic Variant Yin and Yang Forgotten Specimen Galian Beast Roche
Chapter 12	Abzu Rude and Elena Rufus
Chapter 13	Red Dragon Ironclad Reno and Rude Tseng and Elena Moss-Grown Adamantoise Demon Gate
Chapter 14	Jenova Lifeclinger Sephiroth Reborn

Optional Bosses

Grasslands
Summon	Titan
Classified Intel	Quetzalcoatl
Side Quests	White Terror
Junon
Summon	Phoenix
Classified Intel	Mindflayer
Side Quests	White Mousse Hell Rider II Sandstorm Drake
Corel
Summon	Alexander
Classified Intel	Tonberry King
Side Quests	Dark Claw Joker
Minigame	Test 0
Gongaga
Summon	Kujata
Classified Intel	Great Malboro
Side Quests	Levridon Mastodon Gorgon Mane Gigantoad
Cosmo Canyon
Summon	Bahamut Arisen
Classified Intel	Jabberwock
Side Quests	Irasceros Gigaworm
Nibel
Summon	Odin
Classified Intel	King Zu
Side Quests	Queen Bee Dranabarga
Meridian Ocean
Gilgamesh's Island	Gilgamesh Titan and Bahamut Arisen Phoenix and Kujata Alexander and Odin
Pirate King's Treasure	Ogre Raider Brineborn Demon Hueyacoatl Sea Dragon