How to Beat Shiva | Boss Fight Guide

This is a guide to beating the Boss Shiva in the game Final Fantasy 7 Remake. This article explains Shiva's attack patterns, weaknesses, and tips and strategies for defeating her.

Shiva Stats and Information

Basic Information

Shiva
Species	Movement	Type
Unreadable	Grounded	Boss

Description

An ice-element summon recreated in virtual reality. It is the manifestation of a queen who once healed the planet's wounds with ice, as evidenced by the existence of permafrost in the polar lands.

Assess (Tips)

Tactical data not available.

Shiva Stats

Shiva Weaknesses & Resistances

Stagger Rates

Melee	Ranged	Magic	Fire
×1.5	×1	×1.5	×1
Ice	Lightning	Wind	-
×No effect	×0.5	×0.5	-

Stagger Length

Rewards

Defeat Shiva for Her Materia

The first time you successfully clear Shiva's VR Mission, Chadley will reward you with the Shiva Summoning Materia. As this is the only way you can get her materia, players should definitely give it a shot!

Shiva Level Increases by Chapter

Learnable Enemy Skills

No Enemy Skills can be learned from Shiva.

List of Enemy Skills

Shiva Boss Fight Guide

Name	Element	Blockable?	Knockdown?	Status
Icicle Shot		Yes	No	-
	Shoots 3-6 pieces of ice that chase a target.
Wild Icicle Shot		Yes	No	-
	Shoots 16 pieces of ice that go after random targets.
Ice Missile		Yes	No	-
	Fires 5 sharp icicles at a target.
Ice Skate		Yes	No	(15 sec)
	Shiva skates around the arena, leaving a trail of ice that damages those who touch it. Persists for 7 seconds.
Whiteout		-	No	(15 sec)
	Sends trails of ice that home in on a target and put them to sleep.
Heavenly Strike		Yes	No	-
	Creates a giant icicle over a target's head that crashes down after 4 seconds.
Icicle Impact		Yes	No	-
	Ice shoots out from around Shiva, damaging anyone close.
Blizzara		Yes	No	-
	Casts Blizzara on a target.
Blizzaga		Yes	No	-
	Casts Blizzaga on a target.
Frost Familiars	-	-	-	-
	Summons 3 frost orbs that float around and shield her from damage.
Diamond Dust		No	No	-
	Freezes everyone in ice and breaks it to deal massive damage.

*Status Effects and Ailments Guide

Best Characters for This Boss

Available Characters

Cloud

Aerith

If you do the fight in Chapter 8, Cloud and Aerith can be used.

Best Equipment for Characters

Note: The setup below is for when you fight Shiva in Chapter 8. If you are in a later chapter and already have better equipment and materia, use those instead.

Cloud	Role: Attacker Weapon: Buster Sword Armor: Caliginous Bracelet Accessory: Power Wristguards
Aerith	Role: Red Mage Weapon: Silver Staff Armor: Mythril Armlet Accessory: Crescent Moon Charm

Best Materia for Cloud

Weapon (3 Slots)
First Strike	Healing
Assess
Armor (3 Slots)
Ice + Elemental
HP Up
Summon
Ifrit

Yeah, that's it, you just equip Ice + Elemental materias on your armor and you can use this fight to practice whatever combos or attacks you want, especially if your Elemental materia is at least level 2. Summon Ifrit if you are already getting bored to quickly finish the fight.

Best Materia for Aerith

Weapon (3 Slots)
Healing	Fire
Revival
Armor (2 Slots)
MP Up	Prayer
Summon
Chocobo & Moogle

Set an Arcane Ward first if you are going to cast Fire (or higher). You might need to heal Cloud if your Elemental materia is still level 1 so save up ATB charges just in case.

Tips & Strategies for Beating Shiva

Walkthrough Checklist
Wait Until Aerith Rejoins Use Fire to Stagger Shiva Summon Ifrit as Soon as Possible Increase Your Ice Resistance Take Out Her Frost Familiars Keep Your Health Above 50%

Wait Until Aerith Rejoins

It is possible to fight Shiva right after Aerith leaves your party in Chapter 8, but we recommend waiting to do the battle until you have her back in your party unless you are looking for a challenge. Aerith's Arcane Ward lets magic be cast a second time for free when within it so this can be taken advantage of to save ATB and MP.

Use Fire to Stagger Shiva

Like always, Shiva is weak to Fire, so blast her every chance you get. She also has a Lesser Resistance to Physical attacks, so magic is definitely the way to go.

Summon Ifrit as Soon as Possible

Not only will having another unit to take some heat help you a lot, Ifrit is also perfect for Shiva's Fire weakness.

Increase Your Ice Resistance

Equipping the Elemental Materia and Ice Materia together in the linked slots of your armor like the Mythril Armlet will reduce the amount of damage you take from Shiva tremendously. If you missed out on the Elemental Materia, try to boost your Magic Defense as much as possible.

Take Out Her Frost Familiars

When Shiva uses Frost Familiars, she will summon three ice orbs that will negate magic damage. Instead of wasting MP and ATB, switch to physical attacks until they disappear.

Keep Your Health Above 50%

When Shiva has around 25% health left, she will use her ultimate attack, Diamond Dust. This can deal more than 1000 damage and instantly end the fight if you're not adaquetly prepared.

Shiva: Hard Mode Guide

Link Elemental and Ice

Just like on Normal Mode, equipping Ice and Elemental on your armor will prevent Shiva's attacks from doing damage to you at level 3. On Hard Mode your goal is to take the least damage and use as little MP as possible so preventing her from dealing damage will help you a lot in this gauntlet.

Super Boss Fight Guide

Boss Fight Related Articles

List of Boss Battles

Major Story Bosses

VR Mission Bosses

Story Sub-Bosses

Monster Variants & Optional Sub-Bosses

Intergrade and INTERmission Bosses