How to Beat The Valkyrie | Boss Fight Guide (Normal & Hard)

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

The Valkyrie Stats and Information

Basic Information

The Valkyrie
Species	Movement	Type
Mechanical	Flying	Boss

Description

A high-speed aerial weapon manufactured by Shinra's Advanced Weaponry Division. Its giant cannon launches grenades and status-ailment bombs.

Assess (Tips)

Melee, lightning, and wind attacks rapidly fill its stagger gauge, but long-range and magic attacks have only a slight effect. All attacks have a slight effect on its stagger gauge during Limiter.

The Valkyrie Stats

	Easy	Normal	Hard
HP	28373	51588	84888
Attack	191		328
Magic Attack	191		328
Defense	206		342
Magic Defense	117		194

The Valkyrie Weaknesses & Resistances

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

Stagger Rates

Melee	Ranged	Magic	Fire
×2	×0.25	×0.5	×1
Ice	Lightning	Wind	-
×1	×1.25※	×1.75	-

Stagger Length

Stagger Length	10 seconds

Rewards

	Easy/Normal	Hard
Gil	1200	2250
AP	10	30
Exp	1200	4500
Items Dropped	Cog Bangle (100%)
Rare Items Dropped	-
Steal	-

Learnable Enemy Skills

No Enemy Skills can be learned from The Valkyrie.

List of Enemy Skills

The Valkyrie Boss Fight Guide

The Valkyrie Abilities and Attack Patterns

Name	Element	Blockable?	Knockdown?	Status
Mark 98 Rotary Cannons	-	Yes	No	-
	Fires at the party with its gatling guns.
Mark 99 Anti-fiend Artillery		Yes	No	-
	Fires 2 rockets simultaneously at the party 3 times.
Napalm Drop		No	No	-
	Drops napalm onto the battlefield, lighting areas on fire for 12 seconds (24 on Hard mode).
Antipersonnel Gas	-	No	No	(120 sec) (15 sec)
	Drops gas bombs in 4 directions onto the battlefield, leaving gas clouds that cause Poison and Sleep for 12 seconds (24 on Hard mode).
Drill Dive	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Begins spinning and pierces the ground with its drill.
Firewheel	-	Yes	No	-
	Stabs its drill into the ground and chases a target while spinning.
Bombardment		Yes/No	No	-
	Uses Mark 98 Rotary Cannons, Mark 99 Anti-fiend Artillery, and Napalm Drop all at once.
Limiter Override	-	-	-	-
	Shields itself, increasing its magical and elemental defense, as well as boosting its movement speed.
Particle Cannon (Drone)	-	No	Yes	-
	A beam of light that follows a target and if touched will shoot a particle ray in 2 seconds (1 on Hard mode). The Valkyrie can be hit by the Particle Cannon as well but only if baited by a party member.

*Status Effects and Ailments Guide

Best Characters for This Boss

Available Characters

Cloud

Barret

Tifa

Best Characters and Equipment

Because The Valkyrie will stay in the air for much of the first Phase, it's recommended to focus on attacking with Barret. Equip Barret's weapon with Elemental Materia + Lightning Materia to maximize damage.

Cloud	Role: Attacker & Healer Weapon: Mythril Saber Armor: Heavy Duty Bracer Accessory: Otherworldly Crystal
Tifa	Role: Attacker Weapon: Mythril Claws Armor: Gothic Bangle Accessory: Mythical Amulet
Barret	Role: Tank & Long-Range Attacker Weapon: Big Bertha Armor: Mythril Armlet Accessory: Healing Carcanet

When it's Staggered, come in with Cloud or Tifa and use hard-hitting melee attacks. You can also use this opportunity to increase your party's damage output by using Cloud's Infinity's End.

Best Materia for Cloud

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

Weapon (5 Slots)
Healing + Magnify
Luck Up	HP Up
Magic Up
Armor (3 Slots)
Enemy Skill	Assess
Steal
Summon
Leviathan

Best Materia for Tifa

Weapon (4 Slots)
ATB Boost + AP Up
Parry + HP Absorption
Time
Armor (3 Slots)
Revival	First Strike
Item Master
Summon
Ifrit

Best Materia for Barret

Weapon (5 Slots)
Elemental + Lightning
Warding + Binding
MP Up
Armor (2 Slots)
Warding + Poison
Summon
Fat Chocobo

During the battle, use Barret to deal damage with his lightning-infused attacks and Thundaga. Since Barret is also equipped with Warding Materia linked to Binding and Poison Materias, he will also gain resistance to the effects of Antipersonnel Gas.

Cloud will be your healer for this battle so be sure to equip him with Magic Up materia to increase his healing output and HP Up materia to make him endure more hits.

Save Tifa's MP so she can use Raise (or Arise) whenever an ally is downed. Since she is using her ATB charges mostly to revive downed members, which should not be happening a lot of times during the battle, use these charges to summon Ifrit and issue summon skills.

The Valkyrie Attack Phases

Phase 1

	Phase Point Summary
1	You'll be on a narrow, slanted platform.
1	The Valkyrie will fly around off the stage, out of range of most melee attacks.
2	It will use Mark 98 Rotary Cannons and Mark 99 Anti-fiend Artillery.

Phase 2

	Phase Point Summary
1	You'll move to a wider, flat platform.
2	The Valkyrie will stay closer, hovering just over the ground, within the range of attack for all party members.
3	Right off the bat, it will use Antipersonnel Gas. Watch the ground and dodge!
4	It will use its previously listed attacks, as well as Drill Dive, immediately followed by Bombardment. When it uses Drill Dive, stay out of the way and wait for the attack to end.

Phase 3

	Phase Point Summary
1	It will start off out of reach and immediately use Limiter Override. It will also release a laser satellite at the same time. The attack from the satellite takes a long time to charge, so you should be able to avoid it easily.
2	Will continue to use Limiter Override throughout the Phase.

Tips & Strategies for Beating The Valkyrie

★ Strategy Checklist ★ (Click to jump)
Use Lightning Materia Prepare Immunity to Sleep Hide Behind the Wall Pierce Limiter Override with the Laser

Use Lightning Materia

Like other mechs, The Valkyrie suffers from a serious weakness to Lightning Magic. It's suggested to equip all three party members with Lightning Materia before the battle, and be sure at least one is powered up to Level 3 by this point, unlocking Thundaga.

It's highly recommended to give Elemental Materia + Lightning Materia to Barret, so his bullets will deal extra damage to The Valkyrie throughout the fight. Since he's the only ranged fighter available, this will provide a steady source of damage even when The Valkyrie is out of reach.

Other combinations, like Synergy Materia + Lightning Materia, can also be helpful to stack on.

Prepare Immunity to Sleep

The Valkyrie's Antipersonnel Gas Ability can put your best fighters to Sleep in the middle of the fight. Its Poison effect can be remedied quickly, but it's best to ensure that you can avoid sleep using Accessories such as the Headband, or combinations like Warding Materia + Binding Materia which provide immunity to Sleep.

Hide Behind the Wall

In the second phase of the fight, there will be a wall available which The Valkyrie's bullets can't penetrate. Use this when The Valkyrie is preparing an Ability, then come back around to fire off a stream of bullets with Barret.

That said, keep in mind that the wall can't protect from the laser attack from the satellite, so be sure to dodge this attack as it's charging up.

Pierce Limiter Override with the Laser

When The Valkyrie uses Limiter Override, it becomes resistant to all types of attacks, which also causes your attacks to have almost no effect on its stagger gauge.

Once the barrier is up, you can pierce it using its own laser satellite. Lure the satellite towards The Valkyrie until it starts to charge, then dodge to avoid receiving massive damage from the laser attack.

If the laser hits The Valkyrie, it will pop the Limiter Override barrier, deal a lot of damage to it, and will significantly fill its stagger gauge.

This is the most effective way to deal with the effects of Limiter Override as The Valkyrie will just use it again immediately once the effects of the previous barrier ends.

The Valkyrie: Hard Mode Guide

Best Characters and Equipment

Cloud	Weapon: Mythril Saber Armor: Force Bracelet Accessory: Criclet
Tifa	Weapon: Feathered Gloves Armor: Force Bracelet Accessory: Champion Belt
Barret	Weapon: Light Machinge Gun 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)
Magnify+ Healing		Steadfast Block
Wind	Revival	Cleansing
Armor (4 Slots)
HP Up	HP Up	MP Up
MP Up
Summon
Shiva

Tifa

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

Barret

Weapon (6 Slots)
Elemental+ Wind		Steadfast Block
Healing	Revival	ATB Stagger
Armor (4 Slots)
HP Up	HP Up	MP Up
MP Up
Summon
Leviathan

★Strategy Checklist★
Watch Your MP Usage Switch Characters Constantly Only Has Wind as Its Weakness Be Sure To Bring Healing Materia Stay Away From Its Laser!

Switch Characters Constantly

When it is using one of its attacks it will focus on the character you are controlling at the moment. You will be holding block most of the time otherwise so it is best to switch immediately and start attacking with your other party members.

Only Has Wind as Its Weakness

Unlike in normal mode, Valkyrie has no weakness to Lightning magic this time around. Make sure you have Wind materia equipped and time your spells right to make sure they hit!

Watch Your MP Usage

The Valkryie fight functions very simiilarly to its Normal Mode counterpart so your main objective is still to hit its weakpoints and stagger it. However, the inability to use items to recover MP means you must be wary of your surroundings to minimize how much you use healing magic.

Be Sure To Bring Healing Materia

On Hard Mode, the Valkyrie's attacks are incredibly strong and can trap a character leading to their death, so be sure to have Healing and Revive Materia equipped to prepare for the worst case.

Be watchful for its Antipersonnel Gas as well, as it will inflict Sleep and Poison on whoever it hits. To combat this, have a Cleansing Materia equipped on one of your characters.

Stay Away From Its Laser!

The laser that appears on the battlefield during phase 3 can deal around 5000 damage to anyone it hits, possibly leading to death, so more than before make sure to keep away from it!

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)