FF7 Remake

How to Beat Tonberry | Boss Guide

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TonberryTop2.png

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

Tonberry Basic Information

Stats and Weaknesses

Tonberry
Tonberry Enemy Icon
Species Movement Type
Biological Grounded Normal

Description

Enigmatic creatures purchased on the black market by Don Corneo. These green, robed fiends will slowly approach with no expression on their faces, but a lantern and a chef's knife in hand.

Assess (Tips)

If they fail at performing an action, they are briefly susceptible to being staggered.

Tonberry Stats

Easy Normal Hard
HP 10428 18960 34428
Attack 94 193
Magic Attack 189 418
Defense 98 194
Magic Defense 200 401

Tonberry Weaknesses & Resistances

Weakness / Status Ailments -
Lesser Resistances -
Greater Resistances -
Immunities Poison, Silence, Berserk
Absorbed Elements -

Stagger Rates

PhysicalIcon.pngMelee
PhysicalIcon.pngRanged
MagicIcon.pngMagic
FireIcon.pngFire
×1 ×1 ×1 ×1
IceIcon.pngIce
LightningIcon.pngLightning
WindIcon.pngWind
-
×1 ×1 ×1 -

Stagger Length

Stagger Length 10 seconds

Rewards

Easy/Normal Hard
Gil 154 656
AP 7 21
Exp 186 1584
Items Dropped Elixir (100%)
Rare Items Dropped -
Steal Elixir (5%)

Learnable Enemy Skills

No Enemy Skills can be learned from Tonberry.

List of Enemy Skills

Tonberry Boss Battle Guide

Tonberry Abilities and Attack Patterns

Name Element Blockable? Knockdown? Status
physical.pngChef's Knife
- Yes No
instantdeath.png
Runs towards a target and stabs them with its knife.
physical.pngTantrum
- Yes No
instantdeath.png
Its eyes begin to glow and it stabs a target with its knife.
magical.pngScourge
- No Yes -
Releases its hatred from the lantern in its right hand, preventing its target from moving for 6 seconds.
magical.pngDoom and Gloom
- No Yes
instantdeath.png
Summons three spirits that go after a target.
magical.pngBone-Deep Grudge
- No No
stop.png (10 sec)
Releases a light from its lantern that causes Stop on all nearby allies.

*Status Effects and Ailments Guide

Best Characters for This Boss

Available Characters

Cloud IconCloud Barret IconBarret Tifa IconTifa Aerith IconAerith

Most players will encounter Tonberry in the Malicious Goons Side Quest in Chapter 14, though it is also encountered in the Monsters of Legend challenge in the Shinra Combat Simulator, as well as when fighting Hell House on Hard Mode.

In the Malicious Goons battle, Cloud, Barret and Tifa will be available to use.

Recommended Characters

Tonberry can inflict Instant Death both close up and at a distance, so it's best to hit him with melee attacks and keep him Pressured. Tifa is a great choice for this, as she can achieve a high DPS and also quickly dodge out of the way of Chef's Knife.

Tonberry Attack Phases

Phase 1

Phase Point Summary
1 Tonberry will walk slowly towards nearby characters. He will use Chef's Knife and Scourge most frequently, while also uses Doom and Gloom and Bone-Deep Grudge somewhat more rarely.

Tips & Strategies for Beating Tonberry

Strategy Checklist
(Click to jump)




Equip Warding Materia + Subversion Materia

NoEffect.png

By combining the Warding Materia with the Subversion Materia, you can give your characters immunity to Instant Death. As Tonberry will use its Abilities Chef's Knife and Doom and Gloom to knock out your characters as soon as you've revived them, it's highly suggested to equip this combination to as many characters as possible before the fight to render its attacks less effective.

If your Warding Materia is Level 1 or 2, this will only prevent Instant Death some of the time; in order to fully prevent the effects of the Tonberry's attacks, you'll need to have Warding Materia Level 3, so be sure to start leveling up your Warding Materia as soon as you get them to be ready for battles with Tonberrys.

Bring Revival Earrings and Equip Revival Materia

RevivalEarrings2.png

The Accessory Revival Earrings will automatically revive a character who has been knocked out. This will prevent the need for another character to cast Raise, which will cost valuable ATB in a battle where characters are constantly being knocked out. Even if your last character is defeated by the Tonberry, Revival Earrings will give one last chance to come back and win the battle.

As Revival Earrings will only work once per character, it's still key to have Revival Materia on each of your characters for this battle, even if you equip Revival Earrings to all of your characters. Better safe than sorry!

Pressure it to Limit its Movement

Pressure.png

When a Tonberry is in a Pressured state, it won't be able to move or execute attacks. Although this won't last forever, continue pounding the Tonberry with melee attacks to keep it Pressured and prevent it from using its Instant Death Abilities.

Dodge Chef's Knife

The Tonberry's most frequently used attack is Chef's Knife, in which it runs at one of your characters and stabs them to inflict Instant Death. This attack can be dodged, but by the time you see the Ability name, it may already be too late. Be on your toes and ready to dodge as soon as the Tonberry turns to face your controlled character.

If you are able to dodge Chef's Knife, Tonberry will become more susceptible to Staggering, so go all in and aim for a Stagger as soon as possible.

Cast Slow to Gain an Edge

Tonberry does not have a resistance to Slow, making it possible to inflict it with Slow and limit its speed in using its signature Abilities. Consider casting Slow from the start of the fight and keeping it on Tonberry throughout to give your characters a chance to inflict Pressure without being overwhelmed by Instant Death attacks.

Boss Battle 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)

Author

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