How to Beat Brutal Challenge: Unending Nightmare

This is a guide on how to beat Brutal Challenge: Unending Nightmare in the Combat Simulator of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (FF7 Rebirth). Check out the unlock requirements and rewards, a list of enemies and bosses in each round, and the best party, equipment, and Materia to beat this challenge.

Best Party and Builds

Best Party for Brutal Challenge: Unending Nightmare
Yuffie	Tifa	Aerith

Yuffie Equipment and Materia

Yuffie Main DPS
		Weapon		Armor
		Crescent Sickle		Cetran Bracer
		Accessory		Summon Materia
		Sorcerer's Earrings		Gilgamesh
Weapon Materia			Armor Materia
HP Up MP Up Magic Up Speed Up Luck Up ATB Assist			First Strike Steadfast Block Magic Focus Fire and Ice Magic Focus Lightning and Wind Revival Prayer
Weapon Skills
Shuriken Mastery			Precision Defense ATB
ATB Charge Rate Up			Opening ATB Bonus

Yuffie will be the Main DPS for this team thanks to her ability to target multiple different weaknesses with her Elemental Ninjutsus and the Fire and Ice plus Lightning and Wind Materias.

She also has other great abilities like Shooting Star for crowd control and Doppelganger to double cast spells and abilities. When combined with her elemental prowess, Yuffie can easily take down the hordes of enemies in this Combat Simulator challenge.

Since Yuffie will be your main character, she will also hold the ATB Assist Materia to fill the other party member's ATB Gauges and Prayer since she will have her ATB full most of the time compared to the other two who would rather use Curaga's one ATB charge to heal.

Tifa Equipment and Materia

Tifa Secondary DPS
		Weapon		Armor
		Kaiser Knuckles		Valkyrian Bangle
		Accessory		Summon Materia
		Full Throttle Wristguards		Odin
Weapon Materia			Armor Materia
HP Up MP Up Strength Up Luck Up Steadfast Block Precision Defense Focus			Magnify Healing ATB Stagger Skill Master First Strike Revival
Weapon Skills
Martial Arts Mastery			Enemy Parts Damage Up
Synergy Damage Up			Concentration

Tifa will be your Secondary DPS on this team because she can heavily increase stagger's damage bonus, helping you finish off an enemy before they can get back up again.

Healing and Revival are useful in case Aerith is preoccupied or doesn't have ATB charges while ATB Stagger and Skill Master let her spam her skills when an enemy gets staggered as long as you switch to her before they get knocked down.

You also have the option of running Warding linked to Petrify over ATB Stagger and Skill Master to prevent Tifa from getting Petrified, but her stagger burst damage will be worse.

Aerith Equipment and Materia

Aerith Support
		Weapon		Armor
		Ceremonial Staff		Cetran Armlet
		Accessory		Summon Materia
		Enhanced Psychic's Charm		Phoenix
Weapon Materia			Armor Materia
HP Up MP Up Steadfast Block Precision Defense Focus Time Cleansing			Magnify Healing Magic Efficiency Revival Synergy Comet Warding Poison and Petrify
Weapon Skills
Reprieve			Max MP +3
Altruistic Buff Up			Altruistic Buff Up

If you don't have a Ceremonial Staff with 6 Materia Slots, you can use Gambanteinn with Spiritual Harvest, Max MP +3, Reprieve, and ATB Charge Rate Up instead.

Aerith will be a traditional healer support with Curaga and Arise along with Resist and Esuna to deal with negative status. This means that she should equip Warding linked to Poison and Petrify so that she doesn't get Poisoned or Petrified herself.

Aside from that, she has Synergy linked to Comet to provide crowd control whenever your leader uses an attack command and Time for generally useful Haste buffs.

Take Advantage of Strong Magic Spells at the Start

Strong 3 star magic spells such as Firaga and Blizzaga is capable of immediately taking down enemies, and this can make battles easier if you can use it at the start. You can try equipping materia and accessories that increase your ATB at the beginning so that you can use these spells as soon as possible.

Recommended Equipment to Increase ATB at the Start

Item	Effect
First Strike	Increases how full the ATB gauge is at the start of the battle.
ATB Boost	Doubles ATB when activated. Cannot be used continuously. Press L1 + R1 to activate.
Whistlewind Scarf	Slightly fills the ATB gauge at the start of the battle.
Chocoking's Cape	Fills ATB charge at the start of battle.

How to Beat All Rounds

Round 1

Jump to Round
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Enemies		・Elphadunk ・Queen Bee ・Guard Bee x2

Prioritize killing Queen Bee first with Yuffie's Fire attacks, then you can switch to killing the Guard Bees before dealing with the Elphadunk.

Remember to switch to Tifa whenever an enemy is about to get staggered so you can swiftly finish them off and immediately move on to the next foe.

Round 2

Jump to Round
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Enemies		・Gi Lancer ・Gi Archer ・Gi Sorcerer ・Kelzmelzer

Kill the Gi Sorcerer first before doing anything else this round because they can revive downed enemies. Max out Yuffie's ATB Charge on other enemies first then cast two Firas on the Gi Sorcerer as soon as they start casting a spell.

Once the Gi Sorcerer is down, you can continue to use Fire attacks to deal with the Gi Archer and Lancer. Finally, spam Tifa's unique ability on the Kelzmelzer to quickly stagger and kill it.

Round 3

Jump to Round
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Enemies		・Zemzelett ・Griffon

Focus down the Zemzelett first with Ice attacks to pressure and stagger it as soon as possible. Once it's down, you can swap to the Griffon and employ the same strategy but with Lightning attacks instead.

The reason why you don't go after the Griffon first is because it will automatically put itself under pressure while the Zemzelett needs to be actively pressured.

Round 4

Jump to Round
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Enemies		・Threadspinner Chimera ・Pyretail x2

Use Fire attacks to deal with the Pyretails first since they can be fast and annoying. Once they've been dealt with, swap to Ice to take down the Threadspinner Chimera.

Round 5

Jump to Round
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Enemies		・Devil Rider ・2-C SOLDIER Operator

Take down the Devil Rider first with Lightning attacks since he's more annoying to deal with because of his speed and movement. Once the biker is down, swap to Fire to swiftly dispatch the 2-C SOLDIER Operator.

Round 6

Jump to Round
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Enemies		・Whymzelett ・Shirdal

Focus down the Whymzelett first with Ice attacks to pressure and stagger it as soon as possible. Once it's down, you can swap to the Shirdal and employ the same strategy but with Lightning attacks instead.

The reason why you don't go after the Shirdal first is because it will automatically put itself under pressure while the Whymzelett needs to be actively pressured.

Round 7

Jump to Round
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Enemies		・Valron ・Cavestalker ・Desert Sahagin ・Chimera

Prioritize killing the Valron first with Ice attacks, especially when it uses Graviton Charge, since Graviga will bring you down to single-digit HP.

Once it's been dealt with, focus on the Cavestalker and Desert Sahagin next since they're also weak to Ice. Finally, switch to Fire attacks to kill the Chimera and end the fight.

Round 8

Jump to Round
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Enemies		・Enmidunk ・Cockatrice ・Death Claw

If you don't want to deal with Yuffie potentially getting Petrified, deal with the Cockatrice first; otherwise, kill the Enmidunk since it can be annoying to deal with when it's Rampaging and your camera's locked onto a different target.

Once those two have been dealt with, you can easily kill the Death Claw by dodging its Reaper Claws and countering it with Tifa's powerful attacks.

Round 9

Jump to Round
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Enemies		・Ancient Dragon ・Panthera Protector ・Bomb

Kill the Panthera Protector first since getting trapped in its Ring of Fire can leave you vulnerable to attacks. Once it goes down, switch to Wind to quickly deal with the Ancient Dragon before moving on to the Bomb that you can easily kill by pressuring it when it breathes fire.

Round 10

Jump to Round
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Enemies		・Marquis Valron ・Sahagin Warrior ・Silver Chimera

Prioritize killing the Marquis Valron first with Ice attacks, especially when it uses Graviton Charge, since Graviga will bring you down to single-digit HP.

Once it's been dealt with, focus on the Sahagin Warrior next since it's also weak to Ice. Finally, switch to Fire attacks to kill the Silver Chimera and end the fight.

Brutal Challenge: Unending Nightmare Unlock and Rewards

Basic Information
Brutal Challenge: Unending Nightmare A series of three-person fights in which you pick your team. Defeat formidable fiends who are known to outsmart and outmaneuver even the worthiest of fighters. ・Items cannot be used ・Only available on Hard difficulty
Level	70	Rounds	10	Team	1-3
Rewards		・Prayer Materia Earrings
Unlock Requirements
・Complete Brutal Challenge: Requiem for the Scorned

To unlock Brutal Challenge: Unending Nightmare in the Combat Simulator, you will first need to beat Brutal Challenge: Requiem for the Scorned. Once you've done that, you may now attempt this Combat Simulator challenge.

Brutal Challenge: Requiem for the Scorned Guide

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Related Guides

All Combat Simulator Battles and Rewards

All Combat Simulator Articles

Combat Simulator Guides
Brutal and Legendary Combat Simulator Guide

Biological Intel

List of Biological Intel Missions
Know Thine Enemy	Blinded by Light
Breath of Life	At Any Cost
Head Case	That's the Smell
Stony Stare	-

Brutal Challenges

List of Brutal Challenges
Army of the Damned	Requiem for the Scorned
Unending Nightmare	Hellions' Intonement
The Seventh Seal	Rulers of the Outer Worlds

Legendary Bouts

List of Legendary Bouts
Cloud vs. The Warriors	Barret vs. The Colossi
Tifa vs. The Martialists	Aerith vs. The Magi
Red XIII vs. The Beasts	Yuffie vs. The Wronged
Cait Sith vs. The Abominable	Bonds of Friendship
To Be a Hero	-