Walkthrough: Disc Three

Northern Crater

ITEMS IN THIS AREA: Limited Moon, Save Crystal, Guard Source x3, Mind Source x2, Magic Source x2, Elixir x2, Power Source x2, HP Absorb materia, Megalixir x4, Hero Drink x3, Mystile, Speed Source x2, Tetra Elemental, Almighty Medicine x2, Vaccine x2, Shield materia, Imperial Guard, W-Magic materia, Counter materia, X-Potion x2, Turbo Ether x2, Everything All materia, Luck Source

You'll start off on the deck of the Highwind. If you'd rather explore the World Map instead, just go back to the cockpit, talk to the engineer next to Cid, and choose the top option. If you haven't noticed it yet, the Highwind is now rocket-powered.

Before descending into the crater and exploring the Northern Crater, you may want to pick up Red 13's Ultimate Weapon. Return to Cosmo Canyon and climb up to the second floor of the observatory, making sure that Red 13 is in your group beforehand (you can switch characters at the Save Point near the Tiger Lily Arms Shop if you need to). Bugenhagen is lying on his couch. He chats with Red 13 for a while, then leaves (I thought he died! Yeesh!) Back at the bonfire, Red 13 rejoins his companions, and now has the Limited Moon in his inventory. Also, if you haven't gotten either of the 'optional' characters yet (Yuffie or Vincent), then now would be a good time to add them to your party.

When you're ready to explore the Northern Crater, land the Highwind and go out to the deck. You can talk to the man out here to change party members (he'll automatically ask you every time you return to the Highwind). Climb down the rope ladder to reach a new area, then head southwest. In the next screen you'll be given an option: pick the bottom one to turn back or the top one to descend into the pit. After hopping down the steps, you'll see a cavern entrance. If you go inside it, it merely returns you to the last area, in which you can climb up the stone column and make your way back to the Highwind. Otherwise, simply follow the path as it winds it's way down into the ground. Don't worry should the ground crumble away since you can jump over the gaps. The first chest you find contains a Save Crystal. It can be used once while in the Northern Crater to create a Save Point. Considering that there are no Save Points at all in this level, the Save Crystal is a handy item to have. The next chest you find has a Guard Source in it.

In the next area, you can climb the silver parts of the ledges by pressing O when you are standing near them (a message appears prompting you to do this). Go to the right and hop down the 'steps'. The first chest you find has a Guard Source inside of it. Be sure to make your way to the next chest and not explore the edge of the ledge below the chest you just opened or you'll jump down to the bottom and will have to climb all the way back up again (although you'll be doing that at some point anyway, so it's no big deal). In the second chest is a Mind Source. You can now either climb back up and get the rest of the chests, or continue searching the Northern Crater and get the chests when you are coming back out (assuming you want to make more than one journey into the Pit). To get the chests, climb up the ledge to your left (you're at the bottom of the screen, remember?) Go all the way to the left and climb up two ledges, then walk to the right to find another chest containing a Magic Source. Go left again, go up to the next ledge, then go to the right and climb up again. Walk all the way to the right, climb up the tall ledge, then head left to find a chest holding an Elixir. From there, walk up to the next ledge, go to the left, and climb up the silver part to arrive at a chest that has a Power Source in it. If you go to the right, you'll find an HP Absorb materia just past a large rock. Finally, jump back down, go to the right, and climb up the ledge to reach the top again (you can jump to the top ledge from here and exit the Pit by going back up the spiraling passage).

If you head south from the bottom of the screen, you'll arrive at a large chamber pocked with holes. Walk to the right until you fall down a level, then go left to uncover a chest (inside is a Mind Source). Go to the edge of this ledge, turn around, and press O to juMP Plus to the upper ledge (just like in the last area, you'll be prompted to jump whenever you are near a ledge ending). Head left until you fall down, then go to the right and step into the hole by pressing up. Beyond the opening is a treasure chest containing a Megalixir. Go back out again and walk all the way to the left and you will fall down to a new level (since you can't see Cloud, move left or right until he falls). Run to the right in order to find a chest, which has a Hero Drink inside of it. Walk to the left and enter the hole. As you walk along the adjoining path, stop to open a treasure chest to your left which holds a Guard Source, and go through the hole that's a little farther up to reach a chest with a Power Source inside it. Go back out the hole and keep climbing to reach an opening that deposits you back at the top of the screen. To get back down to the bottom, run to the right until you drop down, press right again to fall a second time, and enter the hole. The passage beyond it leads to another hole; press left to fall down it (if you want to get back up, just climb the ledges to your left). Then walk to the left until you fall, and walk right to fall again.

Here, climb down the two stalactites in order to reach the ground where your friends are waiting. Each one asks you which path they should take, the left one (top option), or the right one (bottom option). Furthermore, you may have certain characters join you (depending on which path you took), or you may be asked to make a new group (if you asked characters in your group to go in another direction).

Take whatever path is available to you (you'll get a message if you can't go in that direction). Refer to the LEFT PATH or RIGHT PATH sections depending on which one is available to you. Note that once you reach the PLACE OF GATHERING, you can go back and explore all the areas freely (remember that because you may be approaching an area from a different location, you may have to do it in a different order. For instance, you can tackle the LEFT PATH: LOWER ROUTE area from either the top or bottom, so take note while playing (and no, I'm not going to write out the section backwards and forwards, just figure it out yourself depending on where you're going!)

RIGHT PATH
You'll find yourself on a column of stone. Follow the winding path that leads along the column. Eventually, you'll reach a gap in the path. Pick the top option to jump down to the area below, or the bottom option to turn back. When you land on the ground, look to your right for a chest containing a Mystile. To your left is a green Elixir. Take it and continue along the path until you reach a broad, gray area. Here, there is a treasure chest to the north containing a Speed Source. If you look to the south, wedged between several broken structures is another chest that has a Tetra Elemental inside it. Go back to the main path and head east, then north. Here, the path splits to the north or the west.

Take the west branch and it'll lead to a dead-end where there is a chest. Inside it is a Megalixir. Retrace your steps and keep going north; just to your right will be a chest that also has a Megalixir inside of it. If you keep going north, you'll arrive at a bridge made of curving bones. Work your way down it and you'll arrive at the PLACE OF GATHERING (see below).

LEFT PATH
In this room, your teammates will each ask if you should take the upper (top option) or lower (bottom option) route. Pick accordingly, and refer to the UPPER ROUTE and LOWER ROUTE sub-sections depending on what you chose. You may be prompted to make a new party yet again after you have decided on the route you will take.

LEFT PATH: UPPER ROUTE
Hop down onto the branch-like structure, run to the right, and when you can't go any further, press Up to jump to another branch. From here, go right to reach a chest containing a Magic Source. Now, hop back to the first branch and go left, then north. When you reach the edge, Cloud will jump onto the nearby rocks. Walk north along the path and Cloud will dive in the water and jump out on the other side of the screen. If you walk to the left, then go north, you'll arrive at a chest which has an Remedy within it. Head right, but take the upper branch (go east, then north) in order to arrive at a new area.

Here, head to the far right to find a chest which contains an Hero Drink. Then take the upper path and run all he way to the left. If you go a little ways to the north, you'll see a chest; it has a Vaccine in it. To the right of the chest is a large rock; walk in front of it and you'll see a path that leads up to the top of the rock, where a green materia is lying on the ground (Shield). Take it and walk to the left, then press Down to descend the rock face. Cloud will jump into the water and pop out again near a treasure chest (Imperial Guard). After opening the chest, keep pressing Down and Cloud will dive into the water again and end up on the other side of the screen. From here, run south and then east to reach yet another unexplored area.

This area is full of green shrubbery and stone tiers. Walk to the left in order to work your way down the tiers, but then go to the center of the screen and walk north until you're right beneath the shrubbery. There is a small dot here; press O to examine it and you'll find that it's the W-Magic materia. From here, work your way down to the shining light (go south, then east). There is a patch of darkness in the light--examine it and you'll get the Counter materia. Now, walk west and then north to find a cave entrance. It leads to the PLACE OF GATHERING (see below).

LEFT PATH: LOWER ROUTE
Hop down the stone columns and investigate the chest to your left to find a Remedy. Head to the right and hop up the stone columns to arrive at a chest that has an Elixir inside of it. Then go back to the first treasure chest and press against the bottom of the ledge. You'll hop down to a column where there is a chest containing an X-Potion. Make your way to the southeast. In the next screen, hop down the stone columns and then go to the left to find a chest with an Turbo Ether in it. Then follow the path east and north. There's another chest here and a Vaccine is inside it. Walk to the west, then follow the path south and hop across the columns. When you reach the bottom of the screen, run to the south.

In this area, go to the right and press down to hop down to a small ledge. Below is a larger ledge and a green chest (X-Potion). Walk to the left across the thin stone bridge, drop down a level, then keep going right until you see some stone 'steps'. Go down them; to the left is a green chest containing a Turbo Ether. If you walk to the left, you'll jump down to a low ledge. Nearby, there is a ball floating in the air. Hold Up in order to jump from a small ledge to a larger ledge, and when you get near the ball, tap O repeatedly. If you timed it right, you'll be able to take the ball, which is actually the Mega All materia. If you missed it, just press left to jump back down to the lower ledge and then try again. You can only get the materia while jumping to the small ledge, not while jumping from the large western ledge.

Once you've gotten the materia and are on the large ledge, walk to the other end of it. There's a chest here (Speed Plus Source). Now walk to the south and press against the edge to jump down to a lower area. Keep walking south and you'll reach the PLACE OF GATHERING.

PLACE OF GATHERING (my name for it, okay?) On the right side of this chamber is a chest containing a Luck Source. Follow the path as it curves around until you reach a set of stone steps. Your friends will show up here. Depending on where you told them to go earlier, they may or may not have items to give you. Talk to each one of them to get an item (or not), then approach the stone steps. Pick the top option to go down them or the bottom option to stay where you are. Once you pick the top option, you can't go back, so feel free to choose the bottom option and then leave this area from the upper ledge (walk to the left) if you have more exploring to do.

Once you've chosen the top option, assemble a new group. You'll leap down the steps and arrive at the lowest levels of the Northern Crater (home not only to Jenova and Sephiroth but also to massive slowdown). Simply jump from floating ledge to floating ledge, working your way towards the bottom of the screen. In the second screen, make your way to the central island of rock, where the final form of Jenova will appear and attack you.

BOSS TIPS: JENOVA*SYNTHESIS LV: ?? HP: 60000 MP: ???
JENOVA*SYNTHESIS B LV: 61 HP: 10000 MP: 600
JENOVA*SYNTHESIS C LV: 61 HP: 8000 MP: 600

Start the round by using Haste and Barrier on yourselves, then use Enemy Skills and Summon Materia to dish out damage. The tentacle-like arms will droop and become useless after you've attacked them long enough, but they regenerate with some HP if you don't kill the boss quickly, so use high-level spells (Ultima or Inseki) to take them out and injure Jenova at the same time. When she is about to die, a message appears and starts counting down the rounds from 5; if you don't kill her by the time it reaches zero, Jenova Synthesis will cast Ultima. For the second- to-last boss, this is an easy battle. She has very weak physical attacks (500-800 damage), and not much else. If you want to conserve MP, you can take out the boss using physical attacks with little injury to yourself. If she does cast Ultima, the battle ends, but you get no EXP, GP, or AP, so try to kill her as quickly as possible.

After the death of Jenova Synthesis, the ground will break up and Cloud and his friends will awaken to find themselves floating in space. Sephiroth makes his final appearance here, floating next to the core of the Northern Crater. You'll get to make a new party*, then the battle with Sephiroth will commence.

This is dependant on how long it took you to arrive at, and kill, Jenova Synthesis.

BOSS TIPS: BIZZARO SEPHIROTH A LV: 61 HP 40000 MP: ???
BIZZARO SEPHIROTH B LV: 61 HP 2000 MP: 400
BIZZARO SEPHIROTH C LV: 61 HP 10000 MP: 400
BIZZARO SEPHIROTH D LV: 61 HP 4000 MP: 400
BIZZARO SEPHIROTH E LV: 61 HP 4000 MP: 400

Use Wall and Haste on yourselves (maybe even Regen), then use your best attacks against Sephiroth, like Coin Toss, Ultima, and summon spells. Every time you kill a few of of it's body parts, you'll be asked if you want to switch to another team (left option to switch, right option to keep using the current party). In this case (if you have more than one team), you'll find that only one team can damage the yellow orb (part C) of Sephiroth's body. Once part C is sufficiently damaged, you'll get a message stating that Cloud can now attack part C as well, so switch back to him and attack Sephiroth. Once part C is destroyed, kill off the rest of the body parts. If you only have one team, all you can do is attack. The number of teams you have will affect the strategy used against this boss, so keep that in mind when attacking*. I'm not exactly sure about this, but: Sephiroth will gain more HP and MP in proportion to Cloud's experience level, and using the Knights of Round materia will _usually_ kill Sephiroth. If you more than one team, keep in mind that the battle will end if even one team is killed. And interestingly enough, the number of times you've used a summon materia resets when you switch to a team and back.

Sephiroth can heal himself using a technique called Bizzaro Enegy, and he can use it to bring defeat body parts back to life. Among his attacks are Demi 3, an explosion attack that causes 1500+ points of damage, a fire ray emitted from his chest that inflicts 1700+ damage, and a 'Fallen Angel'-type attack that reduces all party members' HP to one point.

I'm saying this because one time I was able to kill Bizzaro Sephiroth before receiving the message to attack part C.

Once Bizzaro Sephiroth has been defeated, Sephiroth shows up in a new form. You always fight him using the team that Cloud is a part of.

BOSS TIPS: SAFER SEPHIROTH LV: ?? HP: 72359 MP: ???

Safer Sephiroth can cast Slow, Flare, Wall, Break, Doom, and Dispel (Dispel will affect all members). Other attacks include Supernova (a 'summon' style spell that inflicts 1100-2200 damage to all allies; it causes confusion and silence), Pale Horse (a laser attack causing 3700- 3800 damage), and Dein (ring-shaped flares break apart the ground and cause 1200-1300 damage to all members. His sole physical attack is a wing slash that causes upwards of 5000 damage points. Sephiroth can fly around, too, preventing some characters from using certain skills or attacks against him.

Use Wall on yourself, and then heal, revive, and fix status ailments with the Angel's Whisper Enemy Skill. Haste yourselves and use physical attacks, your best summon materia, and Ultima. You can even use Coin Toss or Throw if you want. Safer Sephiroth isn't easy to kill, but he's certainly no challenge, even if you have low levels.

Just remember that Safer Sephiroth's stats. and attack patterns change, depending on what Cloud's level is. Safer Sephiroth will have far more HP and be very vicious if Cloud is Level 99, as compared to Cloud being at Level 50.

After a brief automated sequence, Cloud fights Sephiroth one last time. I'll leave this up to you... I doubt you'll lose!