Rufus Hard Mode Guide

Rufus is a boss in Chapter 12: A Golden Key of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (FF7 Rebirth). Learn how to beat Rufus on Hard Mode and normal difficulties, his weaknesses and resistances, and a list of his moves and attack patterns in this guide!

Rufus Weaknesses and Stats

Stats

	Easy	Normal	Hard
HP	20686	29552	54631

Weakness and Resistances

Weaknesses	Lesser Resistances	Greater Resistances
-	-	-
Absorbed Elements	Immunities
-	Proportional Damage Berserk Slow Poison Silence Sleep Stop Stone Petrify Morphable Items

Changes When Staggered

Weakness / Effective	Resistance / Immunity
-	Resistances: Direct Attack Physical Magic Immunities: Fire Ice Lightning Wind

How to Pressure Rufus

Strike Rufus While He's Reloading Sever Rufus and Darkstar's Link to Pressure

Strike Rufus While He's Reloading

After certain attacks, Rufus will stop and take some time to reload his gun. Use this opening to strike him with an attack or Weapon Ability to pressure him.

Do note that using a regular attack applies less pressure than using a Weapon Ability, so make sure to understand his attack pattern to perfectly time your abilities.

Sever Rufus and Darkstar's Link to Pressure

Deal enough damage to Darkstar to sever the link between it and Rufus. Once this happens, both of them will become pressured, so make sure to immediately swap your focus to Rufus so that you can stagger him.

How to Pressure and Stagger Enemies

Rufus Best Party and Builds

Change Build Between Bosses

You're able to change Cloud's build after the Rude and Elena fight by holding down the square button during the cutscene. If you missed it, you can pause and select Retry from This Battle to go back to the cutscene.

Normal Mode Build

Cloud Solo Boss Fight

How to Use Cloud
Cloud	・Fight from a distance with his ranged sword attacks ・Use Focused Thrust or Braver once Rufus reloads to stagger him instantly Recommended Level: 45

Best Materia to Use

Materia	How to Use
Healing	・Gives the ability to cast healing spells
HP Up	・Equip to increase HP
Chakra	・Recover HP without consuming an item
Steadfast Block	・Fill up ATB with each successful block
Precision Defense Focus	・Increase the overall efficiency of blocking
Item Master	・Increase the effect of items like Potions
Item Economizer	・Automatically use an item (mostly potions) without spending an ATB after several actions.
Enemy Skill	・Plasma Discharge's outburst can hit and pressure Rufus.

Hard Mode Build

Notice from Game8	This Hard Mode build uses equipment that's at least Weapon Level 8. If you don't have enough Materia slots or the right Weapon Skills to complete Cloud's setup, consider using a different weapon or collect all of his Manuscripts first.

Best Build for Cloud

Cloud Solo
		Weapon		Armor
		Umbral Blade		Cetran Bracer
		Accessory		Summon Materia
		Enhanced Draconic Ring		Gilgamesh
Weapon Materia			Armor Materia
HP Up MP Up Strength Up Steadfast Block Precision Defense Focus First Strike			Swiftcast and Healing Reraise Time Skill Master Enemy Skill ATB Boost Chakra
Weapon Skills
Reprieve			Defense +50
Max HP +200			Limit Gauge Guard

Since Cloud will be alone while fighting Rufus, this build will focus on defense and Cloud's survival. Chakra will be your primary source of healing to preserve MP, and Swiftcast-Healing should only be used if you're very low on health.

Other notable Materia are First Strike and ATB Boost, so that you can cast Haste and Plasma Charge as soon as the fight begins, as well as Skill Master to give you an extra ATB Charge after using 3 commands. If you're not feeling confident, you can also cast Reraise in case Cloud goes down after Reprieve procs.

Besides that, Cloud has the usual HP, MP, and Strength Up for generally good stat boosts, and Steadfast Block plus Precision Defense Focus to support the more defensive build and playstyle.

Also for his accessory, you can opt to swap the Enhanced Draconic Ring for either an Enhanced Expeditionary Medal for Level 3 Limit Breaks or a Gotterdammerung for consistent Limit Gauge buildup.

How to Beat Rufus

Rufus Boss Fight Tips
Focus on Blocking Attacks Cast Haste Whenever You Can Always Have Plasma Disharge Active Use Braver Once He Reloads Ignore Darkstar and Focus Rufus Use Limit Breaks to Interrupt and Pressure

Focus on Blocking Attacks

Focus on blocking attacks since you generate ATB Charges whenever you block a hit thanks to the Steadfast Block Materia. Also, you only have an opportunity to attack whenever Rufus is reloading, so you'll want to be blocking anyway while waiting for an opening to attack.

Only go in for an attack when Rufus is reloading, otherwise, he will counter you and you'll be left open for follow-up attacks.

Cast Haste Whenever You Can

Considering that this fight will be slow and you'll be playing more defensive, you'll want to cast Haste so that you're still passively generating ATB Charges while waiting for Rufus to act.

Always Have Plasma Discharge Active

Plasma Disharge has an interesting interaction in this fight where the electric outburst from gaining an ATB Charge can pressure Rufus if it hits him. Focus on guarding so that whenever Rufus dashes in to attack you, you can proc the electric outburst by blocking the attack.

Unlocked by Beating Biological Intel: Blinded by Light

Do note that you'll need to unlock this skill for the Enemy Skill Materia by beating the Biological Intel: Blinded by Light challenge in the Combat Simulator. If ever you haven't beat it yet, check out our guide for it below!

How to Beat Biological Intel: Blinded by Light

Use Braver Once He Reloads

Out of all of Cloud's Weapon Abilities, Braver is the best attack to use since it has a relatively fast animation and it instantly staggers Rufus. Always have at least one ATB Charge saved so that you're ready to attack once he reloads!

Ignore Darkstar and Focus Rufus

When Rufus reaches around 40% HP, he'll send out Darkstar to assist him in battle. You can ignore Darkstar since you only need to beat Rufus to finish the boss fight.

During this part of the fight, swap to using Triple Slash on Rufus so that you can also maximize your damage against him while also severing the link between him and Darkstar.

Use Limit Breaks to Interrupt and Pressure

Save your Limit Breaks to interrupt Rufus' attacks and give you enough space to either heal up or reset your buffs. Using one will also pressure him, so you can use your ATB Charges to stagger him with Focused Thrusts.

Rufus Rewards and Details

Rewards

Basic Information and Details

Rufus
Location	Chapter Unlocked
Gold Saucer	Chapter 12
Species	Movement
Human	Grounded
Details
The new president of the Shinra Electric Power Company, he has rejected his father's unscrupulous methods in favor of establihsing a new world order. He enters the ring as a means of fulfilling his true wish: to find the fabled promised land. Striking him while he is reloading or landing an ATB command after he attacks will pressure him. ATB commands will leave him open longer than basic attacks. Hitting him with certain attacks while he is reloading or after he attacks will stagger him instantly.

FF7 Rebirth Related Guides

Boss Fight Guide and List of All Bosses

Story Bosses

Optional Bosses