How to beat Mindflayer in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

The Mindflayer in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is known as “The Whisper in the Darkness,” a classified intel boss found in the Junon region. Unlike other bosses like Quetzalcoatl, the Mindflayer lacks an elemental weakness, making it a more challenging foe to defeat. This guide will detail how to beat the Mindflayer and how to avoid its Psychotic Break attack.

For assistance throughout your adventure in Gaia, consider looking for guides on weapon locations, Tifa’s romance options, and strategies for Fort Condor.

Mindflayer Location

The Mindflayer can be located in the southern area of Junon, situated on the peninsula between a lifespring and a Protorelic Fort Condor match. To summon the Mindflayer, you must visit and complete all four Lifespring locations in Junon. Once completed, the Mindflayer will appear on your map as ‘Classified Intel: The Whisper in the Darkness.’

To quickly find the Lifesprings, activate the Remnawave Towers, which reveal more World Intel locations when you press their red switches. Some Lifespring locations may be tricky, so look for springseeker birds that may guide you. You might need to swim or use the Junon Chocobo to access them.

How to Avoid Mindflayer’s Psychotic Break

The only way to escape the Mindflayer’s Psychotic Break attack is to hide behind the boulders that drop just before it uses the attack. The rest of your party will follow the character you control during this moment, so focus on positioning one character behind a boulder.

This strategy is crucial, as the Psychotic Break attack can instantly eliminate your party unless their health or defense is exceptionally high. Even then, it can deal significant damage.

How to Beat Mindflayer in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

The Mindflayer has 20,856 HP on normal difficulty and no elemental weaknesses. To effectively deal damage, utilize Synergy Abilities to Pressure the Mindflayer. These abilities are unlocked in battle after using enough special abilities, skills, or items from multiple characters. Look for the two black and white lines resembling a pause symbol next to an action to determine if it counts towards unlocking a Synergy Ability.

If you’re in a tight spot, you can utilize Backline Commands by pressing Triangle from the Commands Menu when it appears to use a Synergy Ability from party members not currently in battle. These will also Pressure the Mindflayer.

Keep in mind that the Mindflayer is resistant and immune to various effects such as Sleep, Silence, Slow, and attack and magic reduction spells. Until you unlock Synergy Abilities, focus on normal attacks and avoid using magic. Consider not including Aerith in your party unless necessary for healing.

Preparing for the Fight

For the battle against the Mindflayer, it’s recommended to form a team with Cloud, Barret, and Tifa. This combination provides strong physical attacks and Pressuring abilities, with Barret offering long-range support. Equip the trio with all available HP Up and Vitality Up Materia instead of spells. Healing Materia can be helpful, but the Item Economizer Materia is often more effective as it allows you to use items like Potions without consuming an ATB charge, though it has a longer cooldown.

Additionally, consider equipping the Auto-Unique Ability or Auto-Unique Weapon Materia on all characters, enabling them to use their special and weapon abilities automatically. This lets your other party members build Synergy Abilities without direct control.

Mindflayer Boss Strategy

With the information above, the strategy for defeating the Mindflayer is to use Cloud, Barret, and Tifa’s abilities and items until you build up Synergy Abilities, then unleash Synergy Abilities to Pressure the Mindflayer, as this is its only weakness.

Before the Mindflayer executes the Psychotic Break attack, make sure to hide behind a boulder. Your party will follow, helping to ensure survival. If you fail to hide in time but one party member survives, you can still use a Backline Command to activate a Synergy Ability from an inactive party member to Pressure and possibly Stagger the Mindflayer.

Apart from Psychotic Break, the Mindflayer utilizes projectile and AOE (area of effect) attacks. Roll away using a fast character like Tifa during projectile attacks, and maintain distance while controlling Barret during AOE attacks, dodging as necessary.

Finally, unless your Auto-Unique Ability or Auto-Unique Weapon Materias are handling the fight, switch between characters and use their abilities and items to build up Synergy Abilities. Failing to do so can significantly complicate the battle.

Once Pressured and Staggered, unleash your most powerful attacks to inflict as much damage as possible before the Mindflayer recovers. Good luck defeating the Mindflayer!