Specimen H1024 Hard Mode Guide

Specimen H1024 is a boss in Chapter 9: The Planet Stirs of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (FF7 Rebirth). Learn how to beat Specimen H1024 on Hard Mode and normal difficulties, its weaknesses and resistances, and a list of its moves and attack patterns in this guide!

Specimen H1024 Weaknesses and Stats

Stats

	Easy	Normal	Hard
HP	?	49324	?

Weakness and Resistances

Weaknesses	Lesser Resistances	Greater Resistances
Ice	Sleep Stop	-
Absorbed Elements	Immunities
-	Fire Lightning Proportional Damage Berserk Slow Poison Stone Morphable Items

Changes When Staggered

How to Pressure Specimen H1024

Deal Damage After Mako Ingestion

Inflicting enough Ice Elemental damage against Specimen H1024 will immediately apply pressure, enabling you to start building up the stagger meter. Alternatively, if you do not have any Ice Elemental attacks, you can wait for Specimen H1024 to cast Mako Ingestion before unleashing all of your powerful attacks. Dealing enough damage following the Mako Ingestion will automatically apply Pressure to the boss.

How to Pressure and Stagger Enemies

Specimen H1024 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

Recommended Party Setup
Cloud	【Punisher / Magic Caster】 ・Best used after applying pressure or staggering the boss ・Can cast Ice spells as he has the highest amount of MP on the team
Barret	【All-Rounder / Tank】 ・His Lifesaver ability can let him tank all the damage ・Can inflict decent damage with abilities ・Can also act as a support for the team, providing heal or cure poison
Cait Sith	【Support】 ・Summon an ally to fight during battle ・Best used as a support for the team to heal allies or cure poison.

Specimen H1024 Best Materia to Use

Recommended Materia

Materia	Effect
Ice	・Ability to cast Ice magic, which is the only weakness of Specimen H1024. ・Can be equipped to all characters.
Shiva	・Can help inflict ice damage once summoned.
Healing	・Heal a single ally in battle. ・Best equipped on Cait Sith or Cloud
Magnify	・Heal all allies in battle when linked to Healing Materia. ・Best equipped on Cait Sith or Cloud.
Cleansing	・Can cure Poison. ・Can be equipped to all characters.
HP Up	・Increase the HP of a character. ・Can be equipped to all characters.
MP Up	・Increase the MP of a character. ・Can be equipped to all characters.
Steadfast Block	・Gain ATB when blocking attacks. ・Can be equipped to all characters.
Subversion	・Removes any beneficial status effects on the enemy. ・Best equipped on Cait Sith.
Enervation	・Temporarily reduces the Physical and Magical Defense with Deprotect and Deshell. ・Best equipped on Cait Sith.

How to Beat Specimen H1024

Specimen H1024 Boss Fight Tips
Use Ice to Exploit Weakness Use Offensive Abilities During Mako Ingestion Don't Get Hit by Mako-Infused Attacks Pressure or Stagger Before It Uses Memento Mori Guard against Thunder Spells

Use Ice to Exploit Weakness

Specimen H1024's main weakness is Ice damage. Equip Ice Materia to all your characters to allow them to cast Ice magic, or you can use abilities that can inflict Ice damage to Specimen H1024.

Bring MP Recovery Items to Keep Casting Ice Spells

If you want to focus and keep casting Ice spells, it's best to bring tons of MP recovery items. You should be able to purchase them from a vending machine before the boss fight!

Use Offensive Abilities During Mako Ingestion

Specimen H1024 is easier to pressure once it starts its Mako Ingestion. Use powerful offensive abilities to pressure it quickly and move it closer to being staggered.

Don't Get Hit by Mako-Infused Attacks

Most of Specimen H1024's Mako-infused attacks deal a lot of damage against your characters. Move away, dodge, or block them to avoid getting damaged badly. Some of those attacks will also come with debuff after the first phase, like lowering your defense and magic defense.

You should be able to know if it's a Mako-infused attack based on the prompt above its head!

Pressure or Stagger Before it Uses Memento Mori

Memento Mori is an unblockable and unavoidable attack by Specimen H1024, which happens once he accumulates enough Mako. Pressure or stagger Specimen H1024 quickly to prevent it from unleashing Memento Mori!

Guard against Thunder Spells

The Thunder Spells by Specimen H1024 are not projectile attacks and will almost instantly hit your characters once cast. Once you see a Thunder Spell being cast, prepare to guard to reduce the damage you will take.

You can also try to perfect block it, but it's risky as you will get hit with its full power if your timing is off, even just by a second.

Specimen H1024 Hard Mode Guide

Specimen H1024 Hard Mode Tips
★ Best Hard Mode Builds for Specimen H1024 ★
Pressure With Ice Elemental Attacks Use Dispell to Remove Bravery and Manaward Memorize the Dodge Timing Remove the Poison from Mako Overdose

Specimen H1024 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.

Cloud

Barret

Cait Sith

Cloud Damage / Stagger Buildup
		Weapon		Armor
		Slipstream Saber		Valkyrian Bangle
		Accessory		Summon Materia
		Chocoking's Cape		Bahamut Arisen
Weapon Materia			Armor Materia
Healing and Magnify Steadfast Block Ice ATB Boost Precision Defense Focus			Revival Strength Up First Strike ATB Stagger MP Up HP Up
Weapon Skills
Magic Attack Power +20			Attack Damage +5%
Stagger Recovery			Trade-Off

Barret Tank
		Weapon		Armor
		Battle Cry		Enhanced Varvados Bracelet
		Accessory		Summon Materia
		Enhanced Karmic Cowl		Kujata
Weapon Materia			Armor Materia
HP Up MP Up Vitality Up Subversion Steadfast Block Chakra			Healing Revival ATB Stagger Auto-Weapon Ability Auto-Unique Ability
Weapon Skills
Staggering Charge			Overload Overcharge
Attack Power +20			Massive Recharge

Cait Sith Magic DPS
		Weapon		Armor
		Gjallarhorn		Celestial Bangle
		Accessory		Summon Materia
		Hermes Shoes		Shiva
Weapon Materia			Armor Materia
Magic Efficiency and Ice Steadfast Block Precision Defense Focus Assess Luck Up			MP Up HP Up Enervation Disempowerment Revival Darkside
Weapon Skills
Ability Critical Hit Rate Up			Magic Attack Power +20
Lucky Jockey			Synergy Damage Up

Pressure With Ice Elemental Attacks

Equip the Chocoking's Cape along with an ATB Boost Materia to start the fight with two ATB bars. This setup enables you to instantly cast Blizzaga using a 3★ Ice Materia at the onset of the battle, immediately applying pressure to Specimen H1024.

Use Deshell to Improve Your Damage

To enhance the damage output of your Ice Elemental attacks, utilize Deshell to lower the Magic Defense of Specimen H1024 during the fight. It is crucial to take advantage of this, especially considering your limited MP for casting spells.

Use Dispell to Remove Bravery and Manaward

During the battle, Specimen H1024 will frequently cast Bravery and Manaward on itself to reduce the damage you inflict. Quickly cast Dispell using a 2★ Subversion Materia, to remove these buffs before you continue to deal damage for efficiency.

Memorize the Dodge Timing

Specimen H1024 utilizes spells such as Thundara, Fira, and Mako Shot, which are attacks that can be easily dodged once you memorize the timing. Mastering the timing of these spells enables you to evade these attacks perfectly.

How to Evade - Battle System Explained

Remove the Poison from Mako Overdose

Some members in your party is guaranteed to get afflicted by Poison after Specimen H1024 uses Mako Overdose in the last phase. Immediately cast Poisona using a Cleansing Materia, as it will slowly drain your party's HP if left alone.

Specimen H1024 Rewards and Details

Rewards

Drops Fortunes Untold Vol. IX on Hard Mode

You can obtain the Fortunes Untold Vol. IX for Cait Sith by defeating the Speciment H1024 on Hard Mode during Chapter 9: The Planet Stirs.

List of All Manuscripts Guide

Basic Information and Details

Specimen H1024
Location	Chapter Unlocked
Gongaga Reactor	Chapter 9
Species	Movement
Unreadable	Grounded
Details
A monstrosity created by Shinra's R&D Division. Although this mako-chugging creature miraculously survived Professor Hojo's experiments, it has taken on a vile new appearance nigh unrecognizable from its former self. Strengthens itself by ingesting mako, then unleashes a powerful attack after a certain amount of time has passed. Inflicting damage after Mako Ingestion will both interrupt the subsequent attack and pressure it.

FF7 Rebirth Related Guides

Boss Fight Guide and List of All Bosses

Story Bosses

Optional Bosses