[FF7R] Cloud Solo vs. Top Secrets in

UPDATE: I got a better run here! • [FF7R] Cloud Solo vs. ...
Solo run of Top Secrets with Cloud!
Rules / Restrictions:
- Enfeeblement ring equipped to allies
- No materia on allies (I forgot to take off the summon materia in this run, my bad)
- No Gotterdamerung / no limit breaks
Equipment: Hardedge, Chain Bangle & Fury Ring
Materia: Elemental + fire on Hardedge, Healing, Steadfast Block, Parry, First Strike, Skill Master, Luck Up, 2x HP Up. Any summon materia will work, but the best are Bahamut or Fat Chocobo
Notes: quite proud of this run. Ifrit played nice and did nothing for 30 (!) seconds. Sub 8 minutes is possible with better fights:
- Shiva can be killed before the last Icicle Impact comes out
- First stagger on Fat Chocobo can be a lot faster. RNG on this fight can be frustrating. Starting with the summons - Bombs are tanky, can take up to two hits of Triple Slash and can kill you with Apoptosis / self-destruct if left at low HP. Cactuars can knock you back (even while using Triple Slash!) and have tiny hitboxes. Tonberries can end your run instantly with any of their abilities. Fat Chocobo itself has a chance to use rolling attacks that are difficult to stagger it through.
- Missed a lot of Punisher hits on Leviathan, but good fight overall. Got lucky on some Triple Slashes hitting during Tail Whip
- Camera crossed me up on Bahamut and I tanked both Umbral Strikes, which is not ideal. Could also kill Ifrit faster with more Counterstances - apparently the 3rd hit of Triple Slash heals him with elemental+fire?
- Near-perfect Pride and Joy fight. Can be faster if the robot uses the knee blend / fire attack, which you can Counterstance for more damage and more ATB with Skill Master.
-There's probably a better way to optimize damage, but this is the best I've come up with for now.
Let me know what you think! Thanks for watching :)
Recorded on May 11, 2020 with PS4.

[@jessev6436]

You're the only person ive seen solo this with Cloud. Deserves way more views.

[@michaelnguyen4371]

Thanks man, I really appreciate it

[@callmemar100]

Dude those counters with bahamunt are sick didn’t know you could do that

[@muhammedshirazdindar4965]

I did it with Tifa using a similar strategy, but it was mostly using party to dodge, was scared to try with Cloud because he isnt as evasive with the Parry

[@Fool-arxana]

Could you please tell/teach me, when is the best time to use Counterstance and guard in punisher mode in Bahamut fight?
Also Umbral Strike cannot be guarded right? How to dodge it? Does parry materia make dodge easily?
Thank you in advance

[@michaelnguyen4371]

Using both is important: Counterstance does a lot of damage and punisher guard builds ATB. Best time for punisher guard is the spinning dive attack (Counterstance blocks this, but sometimes you'll miss the big damage part) and the first slash of the double slash attack. Counterstance is best for what the punisher guard can't block: Flare Breath and the initial "burst" of Umbral Aura.
To dodge Umbral Strikes it's best to be further away from Bahamut itself - maybe one or two dodges worth of distance. When facing Bahamut, dodge to the left as it throws the first strike, then dodge right as it throws the second strike. See my most recent vid for a better look

[@ebere213]

Man, I've been struggling on this for 2 weeks now. Maybe I should use the Fury Rings on both Cloud and Tifa and just go HAM with them and spells. Any pointers for this?
Especially when it comes to Leviathan when she decides to fly?

[@michaelnguyen4371]

What's giving you the most trouble? The two general tips I would give aside from learning the boss attack patterns are materia setup and party setup. A full party with steadfast block, 2 maxed HP ups and a healer with magnify + cure + high magic stat is enough to survive everything that the game throws at you, even if you have fury rings on. The materia that give you more ATB (assist, stagger, first strike, skill master) are the best in the game - make sure you have all of them equipped!
If you really want to go ham, keep your frontliners alive! Make sure at least two characters can heal (Healing, Prayer) and/or put a useful buff on (Time, Barrier).

[@MrRoaringthunder]

wow great vid: is it this workable even without Hardedge maxed out?

[@michaelnguyen4371]

Definitely possible - mine isn't 100% maxed out! You still have to grab a few weapon manuscripts from playing Hard mode, but you don't need to grab all of them.

[@MrRoaringthunder]

Michael Nguyen I’m working on Bahamut; is it my impression or VR bahamut is easier? (always hard mode chapter)

[@Taiko1122]

I am gonna try this tomorrow.... Omg I tried million of times, cannot kill Bahamut :/

[@michaelnguyen4371]

You got this! I feel you - Bahamut is the hardest part of the run. To get better practice at countering / dodging its moves, you can fight the VR mission Bahamut by talking to Chadley

[@judgementcl]

Did you know it was possible to kill Shiva before she can pull off diamond dust with a stop cycle you can get off double infinity end
Edit:Oh wait did you mean the last icicle impact lol?

[@michaelnguyen4371]

I didn't know about that, I'll have to test it out!
At around 1:50 - 1:51 I have to parry through Icicle Impact. You can kill her before it comes out

[@judgementcl]

@@michaelnguyen4371 Oh, I see now. Yeah, stop makes it so you can get Shiva's health down enough to where you can kill her during her casting animation for diamond dust.

[@NeoWeaponog]

Amazing run against Levithan, for some reason I couldn’t take him out like you did before he summons Tidal Wave

[@michaelnguyen4371]

@@NeoWeaponog yeah the Leviathan fight is weird, honestly the camera is your worst enemy. The goal is to pressure Leviathan twice; 3-4 Triple slashes and hitting most of your Punisher mode combos leads to a pressure. Your best opportunities to stack hits are Briny Bellow and Aquatic Focus

[@NeoWeaponog]

Michael Nguyen so you recommend triple slash over Braver?

[@dudeintheinternet]

Yo wtf?