Airbuster is a hard to beat boss in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The fight is long and tiring. There are some important things you must know before entering into the battle. In this FF7 Remake walkthrough, I had shared vital points on how to defeat Airbuster. I will not say he is an easy to deal guy. Backed by an unique side quest where you can subtract his power after finding key card, Airbuster still remains strong. This includes reducing Airbuster’s mobility or throw away BB Units to reduce his explosive power. With the right permutation and combination you can pass Chapter 7 and become a winner.
How to defeat Airbuster in FF7 Remake?
There are two parts of Airbuster Boss fight. First attacking the assembly unit and removing important components of Airbuster. This includes removing its programming core, BB Units, and M Units. Your decisions will have an impact on the final boss fight. So let’s begin.
Things to do before you start the fight:
- Collect enough Hi-potion, Airbuster Boss fight will be of three strong waves.
- Induce Auto-Cure Materia on your sword to help your allies to heal during the fight.
- Unlock a summon to assist you during the fight.
- Upgrade your weapons.
- Barret will be your best choice for a long-range attack. Induce his Light Machine Gun with Elemental Materia. This Materia adds 8% elemental damage to the basic attack. This will add very strong support in the boss fight.
- Thunder is the best spell against Airbuster.
- Limit Breaks are the best attack against Airbuster.
- AI Programming Unit and Big Bomber Shells are the two best disposal units
Key card Location
In Mako Reactor 5 – Assembly Plant, before you right with Airbuster boss, it is essential to reduce its strength by disposing of its M Units. It is a small pre-objective before the boss appears and beats the thing out of you. After dealing with the soldiers to Dispose of M Units you will need a key card. Thankfully the key cards are in the same room.
Key Card 1 Location – Right on the opposite of the console where you will insert the Key Card look near the creates for a key card. Interact with the console and it will dispose of one of the M Unit of Airbuster boss. The console on the right of the door will help you to move further.
Key Card 2 Location – Unlock the door and turn right for the second Assembly Plant. Fight the soldiers, and this time there are two consoles in this room. But there is only one Key Card and you will have to pick on between two consoles. The card is placed near the crates on the right of the console. Scan the left wall of the door which you used to enter this room.
- AI Programming Core – Increases Airbuster’s Speed.
- Big Bomber Shells – Explosives with high damage. If you choose this, Airbuster will attack with less BB.
Now among these two choices, AI Programming Cores are considered to be the best units for disposal. Reducing the speed of Airbuster gives you more chances to attack the boss in FF7 Remake.
Key Card 3 Location – Interact with the red door in the assembly unit 2 to find a way to the third room where you will get the final keycard. Elite Security officers are guarding the final assembly unit, so be ready for a fight. Scan the wall on the right of the main screen for the final key card. This time there are three choices and 1 key card.
- AI Programming Core – Increases Airbuster’s Speed.
- M Unit – Another type of enhancement.
- Big Bomber Shells – Explosives with high damage. If you choose this, Airbuster will attack with less BB.
Key Card 4 & 5 Location – You are in the final assembly room. This time there will be four consoles and two key cards. The first one is between two consoles on the left of the main screen. The second one is on the ground in the left corner on the wires.
- AI Programming Core – Increases Airbuster’s Speed.
- Big Bomber Shells – Explosives with high damage. If you choose this, Airbuster will attack with less BB.
- M Unit – Another type of enhancement.
- Big Bomber Shells – Explosives with high damage. If you choose this, Airbuster will attack with less BB.
AI Programming Core and Big Bomber Shells will give you a lot of advantages in the fight. The first one impacts the bots mobility, giving you an open window to hit Airbuster with max power. Second Big Bomber Shell reduces heavy attacks on your party. After finding all the keycards you will have to make your way for the final boss fight. But before there will be few soldiers and a sweeper in your way.
How to defeat Airbuster Boss In FF7 Remake?
There are three waves in Airbuster Boss fight. All three waves will worse than the previous one. So it is quite important to be prepared. Keep your inventory filled with a ton of Hi-potion to heal yourself and your allies. Use Barret as your primary weapon, his ranged attack will keep on shooting the robot giving you chance to stagger Airbuster Fast.
Wave 1 – Stagger the enemy
Airbuster will stay in one place, as we had removed multiple AI Cores, he will be slow. So switch to Punisher mode and release some strong attacks as Cloud. As Barret lock the target and attack shooting with LMG. The Elemental Materia will increase the damage help you to fill the pressured gauge faster. The only problem is as Cloud in Melee attack Airbuster can shoot right on your face. So be ready to dodge. Use Thunder when the pressured gauge will 50% full. This will be the first time you will stagger Airbuster, keep on attacking to enter Wave 2 of Airbuster Ghost Fight.
Wave 2 – Destroy the hands
Airbuster will still have a lot of health, he will switch his position. Stay away for a while, Airbuster will project a strong laser attack. Be ready to dodge this one, it is useless to attack. If you got attacked then check your Limit Gauge, if it is full then you have a chance for Cross-Slash attack. Use thunder spell to stagger the boss and keep fighting. As soon as you spot the boss charging up run to avoid the laser attack.
Airbusters hand will pop out and it will start attacking your party. Barret is the best one to trust, use his ranged attack to shoot down the hands. Leave Cloud and Tifa aside, after defeating the hand it will stop. Time to deal with Airbuster, continue with your chain of attacks, use Spell Thunder and look for an opening for Limit Break.
Wave 3 – Time to Summon
In the last wave, Airbuster will be airborne. This means as Cloud and Tifa you will be a little helpless to deal with the boss. Switch to Barret and keep shooting the boss. As Cloud and Tifa you just have to dodge his projectiles. He will slowly float near the platform, this is where you get a chance as Cloud to release some really strong attack. Keep using the Thunder Spell and Barret use strong attacks. If you have a Summon unlocked call for help. Airbuster will be quiet aggressive, as Barret locked the target and keep on shooting him. Whenever Airbuster floats near use the Summon or any other character and focus on using strong attacks only.
You will earn 550 Gil, your characters will be above Level 15. Defeating Airbuster will also reward you with 5SP and you will unlock a Titanium Bangle. Hopefull you will be able to defeat Airbuster within 15 minutes, or before the time runs out.
