Reactor 1 Raid

Treasure List:

• Potion x2
• Phoenix Down
• Potion
• Restore Materia
• Assault Gun (Boss Drop)
• Potion

Platform

Once you gain control of Cloud, search the nearby body to find your first items, 2x Potions. These are your basic healing item in FF7.

Your first point of call if you’re playing through the original version is to press the “Select” button. This highlights all the possible exits on the current screen, as well as where you currently are, and a bunch of other really handy things. This will also prevent you accidentally missing an entrance or getting stuck in a particular area while you can’t locate the exit.

Head down the tracks toward the two Guards to initiate a fight with them. Use your regular attacks to wear them down and the fight will be over quickly.

Sector 1 Train Station

Speak to your teammates on the next screen and you’ll have the option to rename Cloud and Barret. If you do change them, you wont have another chance to rename them later.

Sector 1

After speaking to them all, follow your party heading north. You’ll start to find random encounters along the way, again your regular physical attacks will be enough to take them all down. Don’t waste your MP on regular enemies for this portion.

No. 1 Reactor

Eventually, you’ll enter the Reactor area and be able to speak with Barret, he’ll officially join your party giving you two team members to control in battle now.

**Go into the menu and move Barret’s position to the “Backrow”. Select “order” in the menu and then double-click on Barret to have his image move back. This will mean he’ll take less physical damage. Generally, allies in the back row will deal less physical damage and take less physical damage. However, since Barret is ranged, it does not affect his damage output at all**

Speak to Biggs and Wedge to have them open the doors going forward for you. Just ahead of you, in a southern room, you can find a Phoenix Down in a chest, grab it, and continue on to find Jessie. Speak to her and she’ll open the next set of doors for you leading onto an elevator.

Press the elevator button and then after the dialogue between Cloud and Barret, you’ll be able to leave the elevator and continue onward. Follow Jessie down and through the doors, down here you’ll receive a quick tutorial on climbing ladders. If you hit “select” earlier, they’re marked with Green Triangles. Continue to find a blue ‘potion’ on the ground. Grab it to receive a Potion.

Head down the next ladder and over some pipes to continue toward the final ladder leading down.

Here you’ll find your first “Save Point” make sure to save your game as we’ve got a Boss Battle coming up. In general, it’s a good call to make multiple copies of save files in case you miss something or want to do something differently.

Once you’ve saved continue down to the next screen and you’ll see a small green orb on the ground. Grab it to obtain your first piece of “Materia”, this one is a Restore Materia which grants spells from the Cure family. See our guide for Magic Materia which covers Restore Materia here.

Ahead of you is a valve, interact with it to trigger the Boss Battle:

Boss Battle: Guard Scorpion

HP: 800

EXP: 100

AP: 10

Gil: 100

Drop: Assault Gun (100%)

Weakness: Lightning

Nullifies: Poison, Gravity

Weak to Status Effects: Slow, Stop

Attacks:

Search Scope – Affects 1 enemy, selects target for next attack

Rifle – Affects 1 enemy, Physical attack

Scorpion’s Tail – Affects 1 enemy, Physical attack

Tail Laser – Affects all enemies, Physical attack

Strategy:

The Guard Scorpion is a machine enemy, making it weak to the Lightning Spell that your characters already have. The general strategy for taking it down is to use Lightning with Cloud while Barret uses his physical attacks every turn.

The boss’s attacks will follow a very particular pattern, it will use Search Scope to identify a target and then attack that target for multiple turns. Eventually, it will raise its tail, which you’ll be notified of, and it will counter any attacks with a powerful Tail Laser. Simply wait for it to lower its tail and you can safely begin attacking again. Boost your damage output as well by using your Limit Breaks whenever they become available.

No. 1 Reactor

After defeating the Guard Scorpion you’ll have 10 minutes to leave the reactor, as it’s going critical and likely to blow. Make sure you change Barret’s equipment over to the more powerful Assault Gun which the Guard Scorpion dropped and then start making your way back out. Be aware that the timer does not stop while you’re in the menus.

Make your way back to the last area where you saw Jessie, she’ll be crouched down on the lower part of the screen. Speak to her to help her free her foot and she’ll leave as well. Make your way back to the elevator and ride it back up to the surface. Here speak to Jessie and Biggs to open the door and let everyone escape. There will be some scenes before you regain control of a character again.

Sector 8

Make your way up the stairs and you’ll encounter a Flower Girl here. Depending on what you say to her will affect a date scene later in the game. Buy the Flower from her and continue on to the next screen.

Here you’ll find a potion on the ground and then you’ll be clear to take the south exit onto the next screen.

As you enter you’ll be attacked by a couple of Shinra Guards. You can choose to either fight them or run away. Afterward, follow Jessie and you’ll wind up in a Train Cabin.

Inside the Train Cabin, speak to Jessie and she’ll explain the train system in Midgar, speak to Barret afterward. Once the train ride is over, speak to Barret again for a quick briefing on what’s coming up.

Sector 7 Station

Now that you’re outside the Train, you can follow everyone back to the base to continue the story or you can also head to the right exit from this screen to enter the Train Graveyard area and do some training against the monsters there. Completely optional, but it gives you an early option to gain some levels and also stock up a little on some cash.

Once you’re finished in the Train Graveyard, follow everyone off-screen to the left to continue on to the Hideout.

Sector 7 and 7th Heaven

Treasure List:

• 1500 Gil
• All Materia
• Ether

Sector 7 Slums

Follow everyone to the left, you can speak to a man in the upper left corner of the screen to get a view of the “Pillar” holding up the world above the slums.

The party will move toward their base, which is a bar in the slums called “Seventh Heaven”. Speak to Barret and then head inside.

7th Heaven

Inside the bar, you’ll meet “Tifa” she’s a childhood friend of Cloud’s and another member of Avalanche. You’ll get the opportunity to change her name if you want as well.

Attempt to leave the Bar and go outside to trigger the next scene where you’ll meet Barret’s adopted daughter Marlene. Barret will head outside afterward, speak to Tifa, and then head down into the secret base area with her. After some more scenes, you’ll receive your first salary payment from Barret: 1,500 Gil.

Cloud will head to sleep for the night and you’ll regain control in the morning.

Sector 7 Slums

Go back up and speak to Barret and Tifa. You can take a short tutorial on Materia if you’re not familiar with the system as well. Afterward, head outside the bar and make your way to the Weapon Shop on the lower right side of the screen. Here you’ll be able to purchase some Iron Bangles, grab 3 of them, and be sure to equip them to all party members through the menu.

If you need an inn so that you can continue to train at the nearby Train Graveyard, then speak to the kid in the Weapon Shop and offer him 10 Gil. He’ll then allow you to use the bed in his room upstairs for sleeping that will restore your HP/MP each time you use it.

The second floor above the Weapon’s Shop is the “Beginners Hall” here you can read and speak to a few people to find out more about the basics of the game. Speak to the Dog for general information and the man for a list of things he can explain to you. You’ll also find an “All” Materia on the floor here, it’s a blue orb on the right, and you’ll also find a chest containing an Ether that drops down from above. Speak to the men on the crates to learn more about battle topics as well.

The third floor of the Shop is the boys room from the first floor, again if you pay him 10 Gil you’ll be able to rest and restore HP/MP here.

Head out of the weapons shop and this time make your way to the building on the lower left side of the screen, this is the Item and Materia Shop. You’ve already got copies of most Materia here, pick up at least 1x Fire Materia though, as you don’t have access to this yet. Grab any items you may want from the Item shop as well, a couple of Potions, Phoenix Downs, and Antidotes are all great to have on hand. If you need more cash you can sell any Ethers you may have for 750 Gil a piece, or you can make a trip to the Train Graveyard to gather some Gil from fights there.

In Cloud’s Equipment menu, add the Lightning Materia to a linked slot and place the All Materia in the linked slot. This will mean that your Lightning spells will hit all targets on the first cast. Split the remaining Materia between Tifa and Barret.

When you’re ready to continue, head back to the Train Station and hop on board to head off on your second mission, the Reactor 5 Raid.