FF7 Remake

How to Beat Failed Experiment | Boss Fight Guide (Normal & Hard Mode)

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Failed Experiment.png
This is a guide to beating the Boss Failed Experiment in the game Final Fantasy 7 Remake (FF7R). This article explains Failed Experiment's attack patterns, weaknesses, and tips and strategies for defeating it on both Normal and Hard Mode.

Failed Experiment Stats and Information

Basic Information

Failed Experiment
Failed Experiment Enemy Icon
Species Movement Type
Artificial Life Grounded Boss

Description

An experimental specimen kept in the Shinra underground research facility. It was human once, but cellular transplants from various large creatures have turned it ito a terrifying creature. It leads a group of failed test subjects.

Assess (Tips)

Ice spells rapidly fill its stagger gauge, while melee attacks have oly a slight effect on it, and long-range and other element attacks have no effect. Crippling its tentacles will cause it to reveal its heart, and attacking its heart will rapidly fill its stagger gauge.

Failed Experiment Stats

Easy Normal Hard
HP 11229 20417 40086
Attack 184 391
Magic Attack 156 328
Defense 159 312
Magic Defense 137 268

Failed Experiment Weaknesses & Resistances

Weakness / Status Ailments Ice
Lesser Resistances -
Greater Resistances Sleep
Immunities Poison, Slow, Stop, Berserk, Fixed Damage, Proportional Damage
Absorbed Elements Lightning

How to Stagger Failed Experiment

Stagger Rates

PhysicalIcon.pngMelee
PhysicalIcon.pngRanged
MagicIcon.pngMagic
FireIcon.pngFire
×0.25 ×No effect ×1 ×No effect
IceIcon.pngIce
LightningIcon.pngLightning
WindIcon.pngWind
-
×1.5 ×No effect ×No effect -

Stagger Length

Stagger Length 13 seconds

Failed Experiment Abilities

Catch and Release
Toxic Volley
Claim
Fling
Fury
Fling
Intimidate
Livewire
Energize
Plasma Discharge

Rewards

Easy/Normal Hard
Gil 950 2250
AP 10 30
Exp 950 4500
Items Dropped Mythril Claws (100%)
Rare Items Dropped -
Steal Poison Materia (12%)

Learnable Enemy Skills

No Enemy Skills can be learned from Failed Experiment.

List of Enemy Skills

Failed Experiment Boss Fight Guide

Failed Experiment Abilities and Attack Patterns

Name Element Blockable? Knockdown? Status
physical.pngClaim
- Yes No -
Pulls an Unknown Entity towards itself and throws it at a target. Party members can take damage from the Unknown Entity while it's being held by the Failed Experiment. In phase 2 can grab up to 4 Unknown Entities.
physical.pngFling
- Yes Yes -
Throws the claimed Unknown Entity at a target.
physical.pngFury
- Yes Yes -
Lashes out twice with its tentacles.
physical.pngHammer Punch
- Yes Yes -
Punches at a target.
physical.pngLeap
- Yes Yes -
Leaps towards a target.
physical.pngCatch and Release
- No Yes -
Grabs a target with its tentacles, binding them, and hurls them at the ground.
physical.pngToxic Volley
- Yes No
poison.png (240 sec)
Shoots poison orbs from its tentacles that turn into toxic gas when hitting the ground or a wall. The gas will persist for 10 seconds.
Rally
- - - -
Summons more Unknown Entities.
physical.pngDemolish
Phase 1.jpg
- No Yes -
Jumps into the air and crashes down onto the platform, breaking it and releasing a shockwave that damages allies and enemies.
physical.pngGround Smash
Phase 1.jpg
- Yes No -
Jumps at a target and smashes down on their position.
physical.pngIntimidate
Phase 2.jpg
- No No
Stun (7 sec)
Screams and stuns anyone in range.
physical.pngTorment
Phase 2.jpg
- - Yes -
Grabs a target with its tentacles, binding them, and repeatedly strikes them with its claws.
Defensive Action
Phase 2.jpg
- - - -
Has Unknown Entities cast Shield on themselves.
Reflective Action
Phase 2.jpg
- - - -
Has Unknown Entities cast Reflect on themselves.
Voltaic Action
Phase 2.jpg
- - - -
Has Unknown Entities cast Thundaga on itself.
magical.pngEnergize
Phase 2.jpg
lightning.png Yes Yes -
Absorbs the Unknown Entities cast Thundaga to charge itself and heal.
magical.pngLivewire
Phase 2.jpg
lightning.png Yes Yes -
Channels electricity around itself and prepares to use Plasma Discharge.
magical.pngPlasma Discharge
Phase 2.jpg
lightning.png Yes Yes -
Releases large orbs of electricity that shoot across the arena, homing in on party members.

*Status Effects and Ailments Guide

Best Characters for This Boss

Available Characters

Barret IconBarret Tifa IconTifa

Recommended Characters

When the Failed Experiment shows up, Barret is the best for attacking its Appendages which are weak to his gun attacks. Once the weakpoint appears, switch to Tifa to quickly stagger it and lay down the hurt.

Failed Experiment Attack Phases

Phase 1

Phase Point Summary
1 Unknown Entities will attack the party in waves until Failed Experiment appears
2 Some will attack with Paralyzing Fluid from afar, paralyzing their target

Phase 2

Phase Point Summary
1 Failed Experiment will begin by chipping away at the platform Tifa is on
2 It will use Rally to call more Unknown Entities to the battlefield
3 Jumps to characters and lashes out with Fury
4 Once it takes enough damage, it will destroy the platform Tifa is on and start phase 3

Phase 3

Phase Point Summary
1 Will stop calling more Unknown Entities and continue using phase 2 mechanics
2 Begins to pick up Unknown Entities and throw them at the party
3 Can heal itself with Voltaic Action and Shield the Unknown Entities with Defensive Action

Tips & Strategies for Beating Failed Experiment

Strategy Checklist
(Click to jump)



Equip Ice Materia

While physical damage may be more than enough for this boss, having ice magic is always safe. Shiva will do massive damage as well.

Take Out the Unknown Entities

Before the boss will even appear you will have to fight a few waves of these. They are weak but make up for it in numbers. Hit them with Barret's Focused Shot when grouped up or combo Tifa's Whirling Uppercut into Divekick to take them out quickly. Once the boss spawns you will want to keep taking them out, as during phase 3 Failed Experiment will use them to heal itself.

Shoot it in the Tentacles

With Barret, shoot its Appendages to briefly stun it, revealing its weakpoint. Dealing damage to the Heart will increase its stagger gauge much quicker so this should be your main goal throughout the fight.

Stagger For Massive Damage

Like every other enemy and boss before it, you can deal a huge amount of damage when it's staggered. If you have Tifa use Unbridled Strength twice and use her unique ability Rise and Fall, she can increase the damage done to Failed Experiment to make the most of the short time.

Failed Experiment: Hard Mode Guide

Best Characters and Equipment

Tifa Icon.jpegTifa Weapon: Mythril Claws7)
Armor: Force Bracelet
Accessory: Champion Belt
Barret Icon.jpegBarret Weapon: EKG Cannon
Armor: Chain Bangle
Accessory: Healing Carcanet

Best Materia to Use

The number of slots in your Weapon may vary depending on your Weapon Level.

Tifa

Weapon (6 Slots)
Armor (4 Slots)
Summon

Barret

Weapon (6 Slots)
Armor (4 Slots)
Summon
How to Beat Failed Experiment on Hard Mode




Ice is Essential

FEHard1.jpeg
Ice Magic is extremely effective against Failed Experiment on Normal Mode as well, but on Hard Mode, the importance of using Ice has been raised once again. You'll want to try ending this fight quickly by dishing out heavy damage from the start with Ice attacks. Equip Elemental Materia + Ice Materia to Barret's weapon to take out its Appendages quickly. Magnify Materia can also be useful combined with Ice, but since this will limit your healing potential, you might want to keep Magnify attached to your Healing Materia instead.

Equip Headband to Counter Sleep

Failed Experiment Hard Mode Headband
The Failed Experiment can cause both of your party members to Sleep. Have Headband equipped on at least one party member to make sure it does not happen! You can also equip Subersion linked with Warding Lv.3 to be immune to Sleep if you have the materia slots to spare.

Block against its jumping attack

When Failed Experiment jumps onto one of your characters, be sure to hold R1 to guard immediately. This attack will do major damage even when blocked, but if it hits a party member who fails to block it, they'll have a difficult time recovering and getting back into the battle.

Focus on the Appendages and try to end the fight quickly

On Hard Mode, Failed Experiment will deal significantly more damage with each attack, and if you play too defensively, this battle can stretch out and wear your party down. Wait for the Appendages to appear, and use Barret's Elemental + Ice attacks to hit hard, while slamming them with Ice Magic. Once you've destroyed the Appendages, target the Heart, which will allow you to Stagger Failed Experiment. If you can deal enough damage while Staggered, you can wrap this fight up quickly.

Unknown Entities will continue harassing you throughout the fight, but by casting Silence on Failed Experiment, you can significantly limit their effectiveness, and won't have to spend too much time destroying them. Focus on hitting Failed Experiment and ignore the little guys for the most part.

Hide behind obstacles during Plasma Discharge

Failed Experiment will use its ultimate attack Plasma Discharge to strike almost the entire field in one blow. However, you can avoid this attack by hiding behind the obstacles on the map.
These obstacles are not close to the position from where you start the battle, so you'll have to move closer to these obstacles during the battle in preparation for Plasma Discharge.

Boss Fight Related Articles

List of Boss Battles

Major Story Bosses

All Major Story Bosses
Chapter 1 Scorpion Sentinel
Chapter 4 Roche
Chapter 5 Crab Warden
Chapter 7 Airbuster
Chapter 8 Reno
Rude
Chapter 9 Hell House
Chapter 10 Abzu
Chapter 11 Ghoul
Eligor
Chapter 13 Failed Experiment
Chapter 14 Abzu (2nd Fight)
Chapter 15 The Valkyrie
Chapter 16 Specimen H0512
Chapter 17 Jenova Dreamweaver
Rufus
The Arsenal
Chapter 18 Motor Ball
Whisper Harbinger
Sephiroth

VR Mission Bosses

All VR Mission Bosses
Chapter 8 Shiva
Chapter 9 Fat Chocobo
Chapter 13 Leviathan
Secret Boss Bahamut
Superboss Pride and Joy Prototype

Story Sub-Bosses

All Story Sub-Bosses
Chapter 2 The Huntsman
Chapter 3 The Hoodlums
Chapter 4 Enigmatic Spectre
Chapter 12 Enigmatic Spectre
Chapter 17 M.O.T.H. Unit
Brain Pod
Swordipede

Monster Variants & Optional Sub-Bosses

All Monster Variants & Optional Sub-Bosses
Chapter 3 Doomrat
Cerulean Drake
Wrath Hound
Chapter 8 Hedgehog Pie King
Mark II Monodrive
Venomantis
Chromogger
Chapter 14 Rust Drake
Tonberry
Trypapolis
Type-0 Behemoth
Chapter 17 Malboro

Intergrade and INTERmission Bosses

Intergrade and INTERmission Bosses
Chapter 1 Levrikon
Gigantipede
Chapter 2 Scarlet & The Crimson Mare
Projector
Nero the Sable
Optional Ramuh
Weiss the Immaculate
Pride and Joy Mk. 0.5 (Top Secrets)

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