Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has arrived, and with it comes the return of summons, massive beasts that can aid you in battle should you call upon them. While summons themselves work similarly to how they did in Remake, acquiring them is a different matter. Find out how you can get Phoenix, the second major summon in the game after Titan, but one that can prove a real boon in battle.
Prepare for Phoenix’s Fiery Flames
To acquire any Summon in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, you’ll have to talk to Chadley, the white-haired boy who may also be a robot, in the corresponding region. For Phoenix, it will appear in Junon. Now, while you could just go for it immediately, best to weaken it at its corresponding Sanctuaries. You can find one to the right of the entrance to the city of Junon itself, up a mountain. Another you can find all the way in the top right of the region. And the third you’ll find just past the entrance to the Crow’s Nest. Note that you’ll have to progress Rhonda’s quest line in order to gain access to the Crow’s Nest, but it’s worth it.
Once you access the Sanctuaries and take part in their little minigame, Phoenix’s Materia will strengthen, but the battle itself will prove sufficiently weakened. It may still pack a fiery punch, especially for those still early in the game. You can use any party you like, but I highly recommend one with good ranged abilities, since Phoenix flies around a lot. I used Cloud, Aerith, and Barret, finding Tifa and Red XIII lacking the requisite range. But if you want to wait until Yuffie and Cait Sith arrive, they may work well, you’ll just have to progress far into the game.
Heating Things Up
Phoenix uses a variety of fire-based attacks, most of which you can dodge or don’t hit that hard. For those that you can’t dodge, you can block or heal as needed. It’s actually a move that does no damage that you have to watch for…
Breath of Creation is Phoenix’s most important move to pay attention to, and the most annoying. During this, Phoenix will have a summon of its own: a fiend or two (or even three) that you have to defeat. A few of these prove weak to fire, making Cloud’s Firebolt Blade helpful. While a fiend is active, Phoenix will resist all damage.
As such, it’s crucial to watch for any red tethers with orbs at the end, signaling an arrival of a fiend. Once that fiend arrives, I highly recommend manually selecting abilities through the Commands Menu, so you don’t accidentally target Phoenix by mistake and waste an attack.
Once you defeat the tethered fiends, Phoenix will become pressured. Follow up with attacks immediately, especially ranged ones. Barret’s special attack, Focused Shot, is an excellent choice for increasing stagger.
At some point, this pattern will stagger Phoenix, whereupon you can hit it with everything you’ve got. Since it’s weak to ice in this state, hitting it with a Blizzard spell—especially from Aerith—can do some real damage.
Once Phoenix’s health gets down past a certain point—likely after you’ve staggered it—it will use Rebirth Flame. This is a devastating and unavoidable move, unless you can inflict enough damage when it previously casts Empowering Flame to interrupt it. If it does use Rebirth Flame, just make sure to immediately heal up. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to cast Cure or Manaward towards the end of a Stagger session, even if it means doing slightly less damage.
Phoenix’s Final Flight
At this point, Phoenix should be almost all burnt out. It will summons fiends—three this time—which can easily overwhelm. To avoid that, simply assess each one to find a weakness and exploit them one at a time. You may also have a few Synergy Abilities available. Any can help, with those that deal increased damage ideal if you just have Phoenix left. If you still have some fiends in play, or need more ATB bars for healing, definitely use the Synergy Abilities that split your ATB into three bars. Once Phoenix is left, hit it with everything you’ve got to finish it off.
Congratulations, you’ve defeated Phoenix and can now use its summon in battle. While the fight might have proven annoying, the revival powers of Phoenix are now yours, letting you bring back fallen allies on the field and utilize a strong fire attack. Flame on!
And if you’d like to know more about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, what we called “one of the best games of the past decade,” you can read our review here.
