« Final Fantasy 7

Battle Arena

The Battle Square can be found at the Gold Saucer. For 10 GP, you can fight a series of battles against randomly selected enemies. You won't recieve any gil, experience, or AP, but you will be awarded Battle Points (BP). You can then trade in BP for good prizes. We all like prizes, don't we?

It is rather difficult if you're not on a high enough level or improperly equipped. Make sure you have a Ribbon, at least one character's ultimate weapon, and enough materia to make you deadly. If you want the materia "W-Summon" and Cloud's best Limit "Omnislash", then be prepared to fight in the Battle Arena for a long time.

Where the Battle Arena is located:
To enter the Arena, go to Battle Square at the Gold Saucer, and talk to the lady behind the counter at the right of the back of the room. You will fight 8 consecutive battles every time you enter the Arena. After each round you will recieve the message "Great!", and your current BP will be displayed on the right side of the screen (you will rarely have more than 1000 BP before the last round of combat). You will be asked if you wish to keep going, and given 2 choices: To quit or keep fighting. If you keep fighting, you will choose a new random handicap via a slot machine. The handicaps are listed in a section below.

You can't learn Enemy Skills in the Arena. However, you can either Morph enemies or Steal from them if you want. When you exit, your Limit will remain at the level it was before entering, even if you use it during battle.

How to leave the Arena:
You will not leave the Battle Arena until:

-You win all 8 rounds

-You quit after a round

-You are killed by your opponents

-You cast "Escape" or use an item that ends a battle

-You run away

Suggestions before entering the Arena:
Equip the Ultimate Weapon for whichever character you choose to use in the Arena, because you won't gain AP for materia growth anyway, so you might as well have high attack power. The ideal armor would be the Imperial Guard, since it has high Defense power. The Ribbon accessory is perfect for negating all bad status affects.
As far as materia is concerned, use as little as possible. Naturally, fill all your open slots on the character you're using. Cloud is best. Assume you use Cloud for the Arena. Equip him with Slash-All, Enemy Skill(big guard), Time(haste/slow), HP Plus, Counter Attack, Knights of the Round, and a powerful Green Materia such as Ultima or a mastered Bolt or Fire. Rely on your equipment, but use your magic as well. That way, you'll need only worry about the Break Yellow Materia handicap and the Break Purple Materia handicap. If you rely on Summons and Magic, you'll be crippled if you receive the Break All Materia handicap.

Strategies for winning in the Arena:
The first round is pretty important if you want the battles ahead to go as smoothly as possible, because the enemies will be the weakest you will face. First, cast Big Guard or Haste, whichever you have. This will make your time meter fill up faster not just for this battle, but for all the upcoming battles as well. Then dispatch your enemies with a Slash-All.
If you have a Ribbon equipped, try to time the handicap to hit an abnormal status handicap (such as "Poison", "Miniature", or "Toad"). That way you'll suffer no handicap, plus you'll get a few seconds for your time meter to fill up while you're covered in the orange mist that tries to change your status. If not, try for the least severe handicap given (except Cure, as you will receive 0 BP if you do).

From the second match on, you won't have to worry too much about anything. Remember to use Big Guard or Haste if you are ever slowed and use items to heal yourself.

Problems with the Strategies:
In the first round it is common to encounter a silkworm-type enemy called "Jayjujayme". Not a major threat, but he can slow you down with Silk. In this case, kill the enemies and cast Big Guard/Haste in round 2.

You might encounter a small, hunched over enemy called a "Tonberry" in the later rounds (6 or 7). Kill him as quickly as possible, because his Knife attack automatically kills you. Use whatever means you have to kill him before he reaches you, and don't be afraid of overkill: He has over 30,000 HP.

Another enemy to look out for is the "Ghost Ship". He usually comes in the 8th round, and he also has the ability to instantly end you. He picks you up on his oar and throws you from the Arena. He generally doesn't use this as his first attack. If you use a Phoenix Down on him, since the Ghost ship is undead, the Phoenix Down will kill the ship outright. He is a much larger threat than Tonberry, because you'll get way less time to defeat him.

On occasion, you will be forced to accept handicaps. These are usually going to be the hardest battles you will fight, as the handicaps are almost always extraordinarily hard to recover from (such as a broken accessory. If you're using a Ribbon, this can be devastating.). The best thing to do is continue fighting until you can't survive another round, then quit. You won't gain many BP, but it's better than nothing.

Handicaps information:
After each round of battle, you are asked to select your handicap from a slot machine containing three choices. You'll have to pick 7 of them for each time you go through the battle arena. Handicaps range from physical damage to status ailments, to completely filling your HP! They are as follows:

Slot Icon	Handicap	Effect
Poison	Poison	You become poisoned
Frog	Toad	You become a toad
Small Cloud	Minimum	You shrink
Red Materia	Summon Materia is broken	you can't summon
Yellow Materia	Command Materia is broken	you lose special commands
Green Materia	Magic Materia is broken	you can't cast spells
Purple Materia	Independant Materia is broken	your stats are normal
Blue Materia	Support Materia is broken	other materia loses support
5 Materia	All Materia is broken	disables all materia of every color
Ring	Accessory is broken	you loose accessory benefits
Bag	Item command is sealed	Prevents you from using items
Lucky 7	Yesss! No handicapp!	No handicap.
Boot	1/2 Speed	Makes your Time gauge fill half as quickly
HP	1/2 HP	Lowers your Max HP by 50%
MP	1/2 MP	Lowers you Max MP by 50%
HP MP	1/2 HP&MP	Lowers your Max HP and Max MP by 50%
MP0	Zero MP	Empties your MP, but you can refill it normally
Sword	Weapon is broken	your attack strength is lowered
Bracelet	Armor is broken	your defense is lowered
Clock	Time X30 Damage	you take damage based on your time meter
LV v	Down 5 levels	Your current level is lowered by 5
LV V	Down 10 levels	Your current level is lowered by 10
Cure	HP restored	Fills up your HP to max.

Prizes for Battles:
You will always receive a "Tissue" after exiting the Arena. This item is absolutely worthless, but you can be sold for 1 gil.

Trading in BP for stuff:
After you win all 8 battles or give up, you receive a certain amount of Battle Points. These can be traded in for rare items at the machine to the left of the entrance. If you leave the Battle Arena, you will lose all your BP. So, don't leave until you've spent your BP. The prizes are as follows:

Disk 1:
	Phoenix Down = 100
	Remedy = 200
	Mimmet Greens = 400
	Enemy Lure = 800
	Bird Wing = 1600
	S Wing = 3200
	Pre-Emptive = 6400
	Speed Plus = 12800
	Championship Belt = 32000
	Omnislash = 64000

Disk 2 & 3:
	Remedy = 100
	Enemy Lure = 250
	Right Arm = 500
	Pre-Emptive = 1000
	Regan Greens = 2000
	Speed Plus = 4000
	Stardust = 8000
	Championship Belt = 16000
	Omnislash (Limit 1) = 32000
	W-Summon (Limit 1) = 64000

The only prizes you really need are Omnislash (Cloud's level 4 limit) and W-Summon (Lets you summon twice in one turn). If you want more, the only prizes you shouldn't get are the Remedy, Right Arm, and the Regan Greens. You can either buy these elsewhere or get them from monsters or bosses.

How to access the Secret Duel:
To access the Secret Duel, you have to trade in enough BP for the W-Summon materia and Omnislash, and you need Cloud's ultimate weapon, the Ultima Weapon, which you get from the "Ultima Weapon" boss. Cloud is the only party member that can participate in the Secret Duel.

The Secret Duel puts you up against Proud Clod with just one character. In this set of battles, you should equip as much materia as you would against a large boss. You might want to use Knights of the Round against Proud Clod (if you have it, that is). I don't recommend using it against any of the other enemies, though, or it'll take you half an hour to beat the 8 rounds. I strongly suggest Magic Plus materia whether you're using KOR or not. This will pretty much guarantee that your spells are doing all the damage they are capable of.

Put on as many Counter Attacks as you have, plus Mime (if you have it). That way you can mime however many counter attacks you've done. If you have 4 or less Counter Attack materia, use 4X Cut instead. If you don't have 4X Cut, you're doing it the hard way.

Prizes for winning the Secret Duel:
The first time you beat all 8 battles, you will be given Final Attack materia. This will allow you to use materia you link it to when you reach 0 HP right before you die. You can hook it up to Revive or Phoenix so that you will be brought back to life when you die. It's pretty much required if you want to beat Emerald Weapon.

Also, you get handy "Dio's Diary" and "Dio's Autograph" consolation prizes, which do absolutely nothing. You can't even sell them.

Enemies in the Battle Arena:

Normal Battles:
	Round 1:
		Foulander A, B
		Garuda, Jayjujayme A, B
		Dual Horn A, B
		Razorweed A, B, C
		Garuda A, B, C
	Round 2:
		Under Lizard
		Under Lizard A, B
		Tonadu
		Slaps A, B, C, D, E
		8 eye A, B
		Acrophies
	Round 3:
		8 eye A, B
		ToxicFrog A, B, Jemnezmy 
		Adamantaimai
		Doorbull
	Round 4:
		Boundfat, Malldancer A, B, C
		Jumping A, B
		Hippogryph
		Acrophies
		Trickplay, Boundfat A, B
		Ice Golem A, B
	Round 5:
		Lessaloploth
		Lessaloploth A, B
		Shred A, B, Frozen Nail
		Frozen Nail A, B
		Magnade
	Round 6:
		Cuahl, Headbomber A, B
		Zolokalter, Headbomber A, B
		Evilhead A, B, C
		Stilva
		Headbomber A, B, C
	Round 7:
		Malboro
		Ironite A, B
		Gremlin A, B, C
		Blue Dragon
		Gremlin A, B, C
		Tonberry
	Round 8:
		Ghost Ship
		Serpent
		Sea Worm
		Ho-chu

Secret Duel:

	Round 1: Sea Worm
	Round 2: Ho-chu
	Round 3: Unknown 3
	Round 4: Serpent
	Round 5: Wolfmeister
	Round 6: Behemoth
	Round 7: Maximum Kimaira
	Round 8: Proud Clod

Handicap Tricks:
- As long as you have a Ribbon, you can easily get through an entire set of 8 battles with only 1 or 2, if any, handicaps.

- When the slot machine starts up, watch carefully for an abnormal status handicap. Now keep hitting the Square button continuously. When you are holding square, the dial stops spinning. Now all you have to do is get in the position that the handicap before the one you want shows up. Quickly let go of Square and hit Circle. You should, with some practice, be able to time it exactly so that you always get hit with the desired handicap. Now you won't be hit with any handicap, and when it tries to change your status an orangeish cloud will appear over you, allowing your time gauge to fill up without being attacked.

- If you have Mime materia, you can continue using materia after it is broken. If you cast any spell or summon, you can mime it after that type of materia is broken. For example, let's say you cast Ultima. After that round, you select the "Magic Materia is broken" handicap. If you use mime, you can continue casting Ultima.

- If you link Command Counter to any Command Materia, then select the "Command Materia is broken" handicap, You may still use that Command when you are attacked.