Feelings from the Heart of Every Place

Feelings from the Heart of Every Place is the thirty-fifth chapter of Final Fantasy VII, and the fourth chapter of the fourth act, "Decisive Battle". It refers to events after the raid on Midgar, and before Cloud Strife's party invaded the Northern Cave to stop Sephiroth.
The chapter does not refer to a mandatory story event, but instead comprises a number of optional story events and sidequests taking place before the final story chapter, "The Planet's Judgment".
== Walkthrough ==
=== Bugenhagen's rest ===
Directly after completing "Mako Cannon Rampage", heading to the observatory in Cosmo Canyon will trigger a scene involving Geisel Bugenhagen that cannot occur earlier in the story. Following the end of this scene, Red XIII's ultimate weapon, Limited Moon, is awarded.
Limited Moon deals more physical damage based on Red XIII's current MP. Because Red XIII is better built as a spellcaster, he should either use MP Absorb to mitigate this if he still wants to use physical attacks, or forego physical attacks entirely and focus on spellcasting. The weapon provides a significant boost to his Magic atk, meaning it serves him well in this area.
=== Ultimate Weapon ===
After Diamond Weapon was defeated, Ultimate Weapon (who was previously fought very briefly during "Searching for the You of That Day") appears around the world map. Using the Highwind, the player must ram into it and follow it around until it stops at a destination, then fly over it to attack it.
Ultimate Weapon has 100,000 HP, but can be fought multiple times. After a few turns, or after receiving more than 20,000 HP damage, Ultimate Weapon will run away and must be chased to its next destination (though using Knights of Round can deal enough damage to it in one turn for its final battle). Its final battle, over Cosmo Area, where it loses 100,000 HP, is where it will be permanently defeated.
Ultimate Weapon is fought in both area battles and ground battles. In aerial battles, one will need to either use magic or summons, or use long range physical attacks, either from Barret, Yuffie, Vincent, or Long Range Materia on anyone else. Its attacks include Quake2 and Ultima Beam, both of which can be protected against with Elemental Materia on armor (where Quake2 is protected with from the Earth Materia, while others are protected with from the Hidden element from most paired Materia).
Upon defeat, Ultimate Weapon will cast Shadow Flare against whoever dealt the killing blow. This is an extremely powerful single target attack which can be learned for the Enemy Skill Materia. It will still be learned if the party member dies when it hits, but using Reflect can avoid damage.
Defeating Ultimate Weapon will unlock Cloud's ultimate weapon, the Ultima Weapon. This weapon deals more damage the more HP Cloud has, meaning that Cloud can be extremely powerful when his HP is full. Cloud can make use of HP Absorb Materia paired with some attacks, or the player can keep his HP high in other areas. The weapon provides immense boosts both to his Magic atk and his Attack stat, meaning it serves him well however the player builds him.
When Ultimate Weapon is defeated, it is possible to attempt Ancient Forest without needing a special Chocobo.
=== Return to Midgar Sector 5 ===
In Bone Village, after "Mako Cannon Rampage", one can find the Key to Sector 5. After asking the digger to dig up "Good treasure", the key is dug up in the area below the broken cockpit of the crashed fighter plane.
With the key, the player can enter Midgar and reach Sector 5 Slum. In the Church in the Slums, a brief ghost of Aeris is seen.
In Wall Market, the party can travel to the store that says "Item" above it. If Tifa and Cid are in the party, a scene will occur here. Following it, the player can now use the machine to obtain Premium Heart, Tifa's ultimate weapon.
Tifa's ultimate weapon deals more damage the higher her Limit gauge is. The downside is when the gauge is empty, her damage will be lower than it would be with another weapon, but when it is full, she can more easily deal immense physical damage. As such, Tifa is best used with Cover and Counter Attack Materia, causing her both to receive damage (boosting her Limit gauge) and return physical damage of her own. It is even possible to equip multiple Counter Attacks (given the number of Materia slots) to counterattack multiple times. Outside this, her God's Hand and Powersoul can still deal ultimate weapon-levels of damage output when she is inflicted with negative statuses, but without the Materia slots an ultimate weapon provides.
Aside from this, the Sneak Glove can be purchased her for 129,000 gil, but is not an essential purchase.
=== Battle Square ===
The Battle Square has a number of powerful rewards for those who can obtain points for it. In the square, 10 GP (purchased from the man at the front of the Gold Saucer) enters a battle to fight eight battles. After each battle, a handicap is applied, and the handicap affects the points at the end. Losing in a battle causes no penalty, but does lose all points earned up to that point. Leaving the Battle Square loses all points.
Enter whichever party member will be participating in the arena and equip them with:
* Their ultimate weapon, which will grant not only the most damage but the most Materia slots.
* Either Mystile, the strongest well-rounded armor, or either the Escort Guard for male party members or Minerva Band for female party members.
* Ribbon, which will protect against all status ailments, rendering most handicaps irrelevant.
* Restore, and an Enemy Skill with Big Guard and Magic Hammer learned, for defensive Materia.
* HP Plus and MP Plus, to mitigate the effects of some handicaps.
* Double Cut, Counter Attack, and Ultima or a powerful Summon Materia for offense.
In every battle, Regen amd Big Guard can be cast for defense, and Magic Hammer can be used to restore MP. With both physical damage and magic covered, the player should be resistant to most physical attacks.
By completing this a number of times, rare rewards can be won:
* Champion Belt, a strong accessory with an immense stat boost, for 16,000 points. Because only two Ribbons could be obtained at this point of the game, this is a good option for a third party member, but not essential.
* The manual for Omnislash, Cloud's ultimate Limit Break, for 32,000 points. This Limit Break is immensely powerful due to its number of hits against enemies, and is the most valuable reward earned by far.
* W-Summon, a Command Materia that casts two summons in one turn, for 64,000 points. This can be exceptionally powerful with Knights of Round, attacking twice in one turn. However, it is also much harder to obtain and is a luxury item best used against the superbosses, not needed for the final dungeon.
After obtaining these items, if Ultimate Weapon was beat, a special challenge can be fought ending with a rematch with Proud Clod. The prize is Final Attack Materia, for which the connected Materia is cast when the party member using it dies. If paired with Phoenix, this means Final Attack will be used and instantly revive the entire party, meaning the party will instantly return to life after being wiped. Once this battle is beat, the woman at the bottom of the stairs gives Sprint Shoes, an accessory that automatically applies Haste on the wearer.
=== Final preparations ===
Before the Northern Cave, it is important for players to be prepared for the final battle by getting every party member's ultimate weapon and ultimate Limit Break manual. Their ultimate Limit Break manual will teach them the level 4 Limit Break when they have learned all their previous level 1-3 Limit Breaks.
Ultimate weapons each have perfect Materia slots: eight slots, in four pairs of linked Materia. Each have a mechanic multiplying their damage, allowing them to easily reach 9999 damage with strong attacks. However, they have no Materia growth, meaning they cannot be used to level up Materia. Nonetheless, these are the weapons that should be used in boss battles and more difficult dungeons.
Party members' ultimate weapons and manuals are found in the following places:
* Cloud's Ultima Weapon is found from beating Ultimate Weapon and his Omnislash manual is found from the Battle Square. These are difficult to obtain, but given that Cloud is a required party member and has the strongest all-around stats anyway, are also the most worthwhile to obtain. As Ultima Weapon deals more damage the fuller Cloud's HP is, he should use HP Absorb Materia or other means to recover his HP after attacks.
* Barret's Missing Score was found at the end of "Mako Cannon Rampage", and his Catastrophe manual is found in North Corel by talking to a woman in the ruined building near the inn in North Corel. Catastrophe is a multi-hitting Limit Break that is an extremely powerful attack. Missing Score is hard to grind for as it deals more damage based on how much AP its equipped Materia has, but on the other hand means that Barret can equip all the strongest Summon and Magic Materia with no penalties to his physical damage. If the player missed it during "Mako Cannon Rampage", it cannot be obtained.
* Tifa's Premium Heart is found by returning to Sector 5 in Midgar, while her Final Heaven manual is found by playing the piano in Nibelheim. As Premium Heart deals more damage the more full her Limit gauge is, and Final Heaven gives her a number of powerful attacks depending on slots, she can be an exceptionally strong physical attacker; however, even without these equipped, her physical damage can reach ultimate weapon levels.
* Red XIII's Limited Moon is found by seeing Bugenhagen in Cosmo Canyon, while his Cosmo Memory manual is found more easily by defeating Lost Number in the Mansion in Nibelheim. Cosmo Memory deals one very powerful hit against all enemies, making it moderately useful, while Limited Moon deals more damage based on how full Red XIII's MP is, meaning he should use MP Absorb, or focus on spellcasting.
* Yuffie's Conformer is found in the Sunken Gelnika, while her All Creation manual is obtained from beating Godo in "Homecoming of a Miserable Daughter". All Creation deals great damage to all enemies at once. Conformer is more useful, requiring the least investment or maintenance to reach its strength: it deals damage based on the level of the enemy. As such, it will always be strong against whichever foe it is used.
* Cait Sith's HP Shout was found from the Shinra Bldg. in "Mako Cannon Rampage", and he has no manual, learning his Dice Limit Break. HP Shout works the same way as Cloud's attack, and Dice's strength scales with Cait Sith's level. It is a high-risk, high-reward Limit Break.
* Vincent's Death Penalty and Chaos manual are both found in ???, a cave found behind a waterfall. Using either the submarine or a special Chocobo that can reach it allows one to trigger a scene there, fight 2-11 battles, and then return to obtain the special items. Death Penalty deals more damage the more enemies Vincent has killed, while Chaos is a high-risk ability that causes Vincent to change his form, being immune to some statuses but being uncontrollable. Death Penalty's use will depend entirely on how much the player has or hasn't used Vincent.
* Cid's Venus Gospel is found by talking to the old man in Rocket Town a number of times, while the Highwind manual is obtained in Sunken Gelnika. Highwind deals 18 hits against random enemies, making it a very strong physical attack. Venus Gospel deals more damage the fuller Cid's MP is. Unlike Red XIII, Cid's stats are not built toward spellcasting, making it an easier choice to focus him toward physical damage and avoid spellcasting.
As well as obtaining these, there are also tasks the player can do:
* Chocobo breeding, if not already done, can be done to obtain Materia from the Materia Caves. Of these, Knights of Round is most useful, allowing one to almost single-handedly beat the final boss with just one ability.
* Morphing enemies in the Sunken Gelnika can lead to infinite stat-boosting items. With Yuffie's Conformer, Morph will deal full damage. However, this is entirely optional as it is not necessary to fully max every party member's stats for the final dungeon.
* The Ancient Forest, if not already completed, allows one to obtain rare items.
== Citations ==
Category:Chapters in Final Fantasy VII