How to Beat Reno and Rude | Boss Fight Guide (Normal & Hard Mode)

This is a guide to beating the Bosses Reno and Rude in the game Final Fantasy 7 Remake (FF7R). This article explains their attack patterns, weaknesses, and tips and strategies for defeating them on both Normal and Hard Mode.

Reno Stats and Information

Basic Information

Reno - Ch. 12
Species	Movement	Type
Human	Grounded	Boss

Description

An operative with the Turks unit of Shinra's General Affairs Division. Fast and extremely agile, he leaps in to attack with his special Shinra-made security baton.

Assess (Tips)

Magic and lightning attacks have only a slight effect on his stagger gauge.

Reno - Ch. 12 Stats

	Easy	Normal	Hard
HP	8878	16142	33012
Attack	146		328
Magic Attack	146		328
Defense	165		342
Magic Defense	165		342

Reno - Ch. 12 Weaknesses & Resistances

Weakness / Status Ailments	-
Lesser Resistances	-
Greater Resistances	Lightning, Proportional Damage
Immunities	Silence, Slow, Berserk
Absorbed Elements	-

Stagger Rates

Melee	Ranged	Magic	Fire
×1	×1	×0.5	×1
Ice	Lightning	Wind	-
×1	×0.5	×1	-

Stagger Length

Stagger Length	8 seconds

Rewards

	Easy/Normal	Hard
Gil	850	2250
AP	10	30
Exp	510	2700
Items Dropped	Turbo Ether (100%)
Rare Items Dropped	-
Steal	Magician's Bracelet (10%)

Learnable Enemy Skills

No Enemy Skills can be learned from Reno - Ch. 12.

List of Enemy Skills

Rude Stats and Information

Basic Information

Rude - Ch. 12
Species	Movement	Type
Human	Grounded	Boss

Description

An operative with the Turks unit of Shinra's General Affairs Division. As he possesses incredible strenght and a well-toned physique, he prefers using his fists over weapons.

Assess (Tips)

Wind attacks rapidly fills his stagger gauge, but fire attacks have litle effect on it.

Rude - Ch. 12 Stats

	Easy	Normal	Hard
HP	8878	16142	33012
Attack	146		328
Magic Attack	146		328
Defense	165		342
Magic Defense	165		342

Rude - Ch. 12 Weaknesses & Resistances

Weakness / Status Ailments	Wind, Poison
Lesser Resistances	Fire
Greater Resistances	Proportional Damage
Immunities	Silence, Stop, Berserk
Absorbed Elements	-

Stagger Rates

Melee	Ranged	Magic	Fire
×1	×1	×1	×0.5
Ice	Lightning	Wind	-
×1	×1	×1.25	-

Stagger Length

Stagger Length	12 seconds

Rewards

	Easy/Normal	Hard
Gil	2550	6750
AP	10	30
Exp	340	1800
Items Dropped	Mega-Potion (100%)
Rare Items Dropped	-
Steal	Heavy-Duty Bracer (10%)

Learnable Enemy Skills

No Enemy Skills can be learned from Rude - Ch. 12.

List of Enemy Skills

Reno and Rude Boss Fight Guide

Reno and Rude Abilities and Attack Patterns

Reno

Name	Element	Blockable?	Knockdown?	Status
Beatdown	-	Yes	No	-
	Swings at a target 4 times if contact is made (cannot be stopped on Hard mode) followed by a kick.
Shock Swipe	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Charges himself with electricity and dashes at a target.
Wild Swings	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Uppercuts a target and launches them into the air followed by a series of strikes.
Flashstrike	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Crouches down and charges in one direction.
Electroburst	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Jumps into the air and crashes back down, releasing a large burst of electricity.
Flashfoot		Yes	No	-
	Darts in a zig-zag pattern, leaving streaks of electricity behind that damage anyone who walks into them.
EM Triple Shot		Yes	No	-
	Shoots 3 orbs of electricity that home in on a target.
Pyramid	-	No	No	-
	Releases a pyramid trap that binds its target until destroyed.
Binding Current	-	No	Yes	-
	An electric whip-like attack that binds the target so Rude can attack them. The target is released if Rude is unable to attack them within 3 seconds.
Turks Combo	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Only performed before Rude is knocked out. The Turks jump in the air with Reno using Electroburst and Rude using shockwave in tandem.

*Status Effects and Ailments Guide

Rude

Name	Element	Blockable?	Knockdown?	Status
Quick Jabs	-	Yes	No	-
	Strikes 6 times with his fists.
Leg Flurry	-	Yes	No	-
	Hits his target with 3 different kicks.
Leg Sweep	-	Yes	No	-
	Does a sweeping kick, knocking his target off their feet.
Hammerblow	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Kicks his target into the air and slams them into the ground.
Seize (Male)	-	No	No	-
	Chases down Cloud or Barret and binds them while attacking.
Seize (Female)	-	No	Yes	-
	Grabs Tifa and karate chops her kneck, knocking her out.
Haymaker	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Comes at a target with a powerful punch.
Spinning Axe Kick	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Jumps into the air and kicks into the ground, producing a shockwave.
Shockwave	-	Yes	No	-
	Hits the ground sending a shockwave at his target.
Triple Shockwave	-	Yes	No	-
	Hits the ground sending 3 shockwaves that home in on the target.
Whirlwind	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Summons a tornado that moves straight across the battlefield.
Turks Combo	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Only performed before Reno is knocked out. The Turks jump in the air with Reno using Electroburst and Rude using shockwave in tandem.

*Status Effects and Ailments Guide

Best Characters for This Boss

Available Characters

Cloud

Barret

Tifa

Recommended Characters

While you should be switching between all three playable characters in this fight, there are times where Barret becomes the most viable. As Barret can stay further away from Reno and Rude's hard hitting physical attacks, you can take advantage of his hard hitting Overcharge and Focused Shot abilities for heavy damage. He is also the best for quickly taking out Rude's helicopter to move into phase 3.

Reno and Rude Attack Phases

Phase 1

	Phase Point Summary
1	Reno will start alone and use abilities like Beatdown and Wild Swings to interrupt your party.
2	He will also rotate Flashstrike, Flashfoot, and EM Triple Shot which deal lightning-based damage.
3	Once enough damage is dealt, Rude will show up in his helicopter.

Phase 2

	Phase Point Summary
1	Reno will be briefly out of the fight and Rude will start dropping bombs with Special Delivery.
2	Reno will return and continue using attacks from phase 2.
3	Once enough damage has been dealt Reno will briefly go down and Rude's helicopter becomes the focus.

Phase 3

	Phase Point Summary
1	When Rude's helicopter goes down, he and Reno will begin acting together.
2	Reno will occasionally release a Pyramid to trap a party member and Binding Current to set up Rude's attacks.
3	Rude will use Haymaker or Seize when his target is close, Shockwave, Triple Shockwave, or Whirlwind when far, and Spinning Axe kick at medium range.
4	From time to time the two will team up for their Turks Combo, an unavoidable attack that deals a large amount of damage to those within range.

Tips & Strategies for Beating Reno and Rude

★ Strategy Checklist ★ (Click to jump)
Magnify Your Healing Materia Poison Is Your Friend Don't Bother With Stagger Be Patient, Not Greedy Use Your Limit Breaks

Magnify Your Healing Materia

Reno and Rude will do a lot of damage, some unavoidable, to your entire party. To remedy this and keep everyone healthy, link the Magnify and your strongest Healing Materia together to keep everyone in tip-top shape.

Poison Is Your Friend

If you have been using the Poison Materia, bring it along! Both Reno and Rude, especially Rude, are susceptible to the poison status effect which can help whittle down their HP bars.

Don't Bother With Stagger

Reno becomes invincible to damage in two different portions of his fight so it isn't advised to attempt to stagger him. Go on the offensive as much as you can to keep pushing into the next phases. Rude is easier to stagger but as he starts the battle with half HP, you may not need to bother.

Be Patient, Not Greedy

If you get close and try to attack too much, Reno will often take advantage of this and interrupt your attacks before you can block. Take a few swings and block to prevent his Beatdown or Wild Swings from hurting you too bad. When Rude enters the mix, he will often be blocking to take reduced damage and get ready for a counterattack with Haymaker so the same rules apply.

Use Your Limit Breaks

Chances are you'll either be blocking or taking a lot of damage which will power up your Limit Gauge by phase 2 or 3. Just one LB can be enough to take out the last of either Reno or Rude's HP so don't hold back!

Reno and Rude: Hard Mode Guide

Best Characters and Equipment

Cloud	Weapon: Buster Sword Armor: Force Bracelet Accessory: Champion Belt
Tifa	Weapon: Metal Knuckles Armor: Force Bracelet Accessory: Champion Belt
Barret	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.

Cloud

Weapon (6 Slots)
Elemental+ Wind		First Strike
Time	Revival	Chakra
Armor (4 Slots)
HP Up	HP Up	Steadfast Block
ATB Boost
Summon
Leviathan

Tifa

Weapon (6 Slots)
Elemental+ Wind		ATB Assist
Poison	Revival	Chakra
Armor (4 Slots)
HP Up	HP Up	Steadfast Block
Parry
Summon
Ifrit

Barret

Weapon (6 Slots)
Magnify+ Healing		Steadfast Block
Binding	Revival	Prayer
Armor (4 Slots)
HP Up	HP Up	MP Up
MP Up
Summon
Shiva

★How to Beat Reno and Rude on Hard Mode★
Use Barret as a Healer Pressure Them During Phase 3 Cast Poison on Rude and Sleep on Reno Use Counterstance against Reno Use Wind magic to take out Rude

Use Barret as a Healer

Barret will not join your party until directly before this fight, so he has the advantage of entering the fight with no MP previously used. If Cloud and Tifa's MP have already been used to some extent during the chapter, be sure to place the Magnify Materia and Healing Materia on Barret before the fight.

Pressure Them During Phase 3

The only time you can pressure Rude or Reno is during phase 3. You will need to block or dodge Reno's attacks to pressure him. For Rude, similar in chapter 8, you will need to use Wind magic and hit him twice or during an action to pressure him.

Cast Poison and Sleep on Both of Them

Rude and Reno are both susceptible to poison magic, particularly Rude is. They are also vulnerable to Sleep spell. Use Sleep on one of them then Poison on the other and focus them in a 3 on 1!

Use Counterstance against Reno

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Almost all of Reno's attacks can be countered. There are some points where he might break through your counter, but in general, try to taunt Reno into coming at Cloud, and use Twin Stinger's Counterstance Ability to hit back against his attacks and take out Reno easily.

To make sure you have sufficient ATB to counter his attacks, equipping the Steadfast Block Materia will help you charge quickly.

Use Wind magic to take out Rude

Rude suffers from the same weakness to Wind Magic he did in Chapter 8, and hitting him with multiple Wind attacks in sequence will knock him down and build up his Focus Gauge quickly. Simply put, pummel him with Wind attacks repeatedly.

Before the fight wears on and your party members start to get tired, knock out Rude quickly at the start of the battle by going hard against him from the start with Wind Magic. Pairing Elemental Materia with Wind Materia on Tifa and/or Cloud will help take him out even more efficiently.

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)