How to Beat Rust Drake | Boss Fight Guide

This is a guide to beating the Boss Rust Drake in the game Final Fantasy 7 Remake (FF7R). This article explains Rust Drake's attack patterns, weaknesses, and tips and strategies for defeating them.

Rust Drake Stats and Information

Basic Information

Rust Drake
Species	Movement	Type
Biological	Flying	Normal

Description

Spell-weaving airborne lizards found in the Sector 5 slums. Inquisitive by nature, they cannot resist collecting shiny object such as jewelry.

Assess (Tips)

While enveloped in darkness, they absorb all spells. However, inflicting a certain amount of damaging while they cast Gravity will dispel the darkness and make them susceptible to staggering for a short while.

Rust Drake Stats

Rust Drake Weaknesses & Resistances

Stagger Rates

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

Stagger Length

Rewards

Learnable Enemy Skills

No Enemy Skills can be learned from Rust Drake.

List of Enemy Skills

Rust Drake Boss Fight Guide

Rust Drake Abilities and Attack Patterns

Name	Element	Blockable?	Knockdown?	Status
Wing Cutter	-	Yes	No	-
	Charges along the ground towards a target.
Glide	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Flies into the air and glides into a target.
Talon Snatch	-	Yes	Yes	-
	Dives at a target and grabs them then hurls them at the ground.
Fire Breath		Yes	No	-
	Soars into the sky before charging at the ground breathing fire.
Black Hole	-	No	No	-
	Summons an orb of gravity that persists for 45 seconds. The orb sucks in party members and deals damage equal to 10% of their remaining HP if they come into contact with it.
Dark Ball	-	Yes	No	-
	Spits out 3 floating orbs of gravity towards a target.
Gravity	-	No	No	-
	After 10 seconds of casting, summons a large orb of gravity near a target and causes it to explode.

*Status Effects and Ailments Guide

Best Characters for this Boss

Available Characters

Cloud

Barret

Tifa

A Rust Drake is encountered during the Chocobo Search Odd Job in Chapter 14. In this chapter, Cloud, Barret, and Tifa will be available for battle.

Recommended Characters

The Rust Drake will be in the air for most parts of the battle so make Barret as your main attacker and equip him with Elemental + Ice / Wind materias to increase his damage output.

Rust Drake Attack Phases

Tips & Strategies for Beating Rust Drake

★ Strategy Checklist ★ (Click to jump)
Spells are Absorbed By Darkness Prepare for an Attack when It Stops Flying Keep Your Distance from Black Holes Unleash Heavy Attacks Before Gravity Use Magnified Healing

Spells are Absorbed By Darkness

The Rust Drake will envelop itself with darkness most of the time. While this is active, avoid using attack spells against it as they will only be absorbed and heal the Rust Drake.

Prepare for an Attack when It Stops Flying

While flying, there will be a lot of times that it will stop and start preparing for an attack. Get out of its way when the Rust Drake stops flying before it breathes fire across the ground in front of it or launches black orbs.

Keep Your Distance from Black Holes

The Rust Drake will also cast Black Hole very frequently which stays for quite a long time. This can be very annoying since it can mess up with your positioning and deal continuous damage once you are close to it, which may be difficult to notice if you are more focused on dealing damage to the Rust Drake.

Unleash Heavy Attacks Before Gravity

Conserve your ATB bars as much as possible before it starts charging for Gravity. The Rust Drake will be stationary while casting this attack and the only way to interrupt it is by dealing significant damage such as using Maximum Fury and Overcharge. Avoid using attack spells against it while it is casting Gravity since they will only be absorbed by the darkness.

Use Magnified Healing

It might be difficult to deal enough damage while it is casting Gravity so be sure to have one of your members equipped with Magnify + Healing materias for fast recovery. You can also cast Regen to keep your party members healed throughout the battle.

Boss Battle Related Articles

List of Boss Battles

Major Story Bosses

VR Mission Bosses

Story Sub-Bosses

Monster Variants & Optional Sub-Bosses

Intergrade and INTERmission Bosses