Clash in the Deep Sea

Clash in the Deep Sea is the thirty-first chapter of Final Fantasy VII, and the first chapter of the fourth act, "Decisive Battle". When Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart fell into the lifestream, the two uncovered the truth behind Cloud's past. Cloud, confident in himself, returned to lead the party aboard the Highwind, and, operating on Cait Sith's information, continued their quest for the Huge Materia in the Junon Underwater Reactor.
== Walkthrough ==
=== Highwind ===
Cloud becomes leader of the party and with control of the Highwind. With Cloud as leader, a few things became available:
* Snowboarding is available again in Icicle Inn, making the Great Glacier accessible again (though there is no major reason to go back other than to find missed items).
* The Gold Saucer is open once again.
** This means Chocobo breeding—and the unlocked Materia Caves and Ancient Forest unlocked as a result—is made easier with the Chocobo Square available.
** The Battle Square is available, with the Championship Belt and the manual for Omnislash for Cloud now available for easier prices, and the W-Summon Materia available.
* Going to Nibelheim and playing the "Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII" will now grant the manual for Final Heaven, Tifa's ultimate Limit Break.
* If Cloud returns to the Nibelheim Mansion's basement, the game will play a flashback.
* Going to ??? on the world map (doable with an upgraded Chocobo). If Vincent is in the party and accesses the cave, a short dialogue sequence begins. Exiting and beating between 2 and 11 fights and returning to Vincent obtains his Limit Break manual for Chaos and his ultimate weapon, Death Penalty, respectively at the back of the cave.
Otherwise, all sidequests available are the same as when Tifa first became party leader with the Highwind. Though it is possible to complete sidequests now, other opportunities will later arise for them.
The main objective of the story quest is to head for Junon for the Huge Materia.
=== Junon ===
Junon is entered by taking the elevator from Under Junon to the top level (costing 10 gil). Exiting the elevator at the top floor, the party must take the bottom-left path onto Junon's streets and run across.
While running through Junon, Cloud will comment on the disappearance of the Mako Cannon. The objective is to head to the end of the streets into the roadway area, and heading down on the middle leads to a tunnel. Shinra soldiers are found here, commencing a short dialogue sequence. At the bottom of the tunnel is an elevator that the party must take. After a dialogue sequence in the elevator, a battle occurs with two Submarine Crew enemies. The party must then run down a series of hallways to a save point and another elevator.
=== Underwater Reactor ===
At the bottom of the elevator is the Underwater Reactor, with a linear path leading to underwater tunnels. Here, the Ghost Ship can be fought randomly; this enemy can be morphed into a Guide Book, which is relevant for the Kalm traveler sidequest much later in the game, but the area can be returned to if the player wishes.
Past the tunnel screen is one where Cloud must press a red button to progress, followed by a screen overlooking the submarine docks, and then a screen with a save point. Along the next path are a series of battles before reaching the reactor interior. A short scene commences, and running to the next room and talking to Reno commences a boss battle.
===Carry Armor boss battle===
Carry Armor is capable of grabbing and immobilizing two random party members, and the arms do damage to said party members until they are released. Immobilized party members are released by defeating the corresponding arm, which have 10,000 HP each. Destroying an arm also renders it incapable of using the attack again. It also has a strong Lapis Laser attack, which is non-elemental. Big Guard or another MBarrier should be used to protect against it.
As a mechanical enemy, Carry Armor is weak to the Lightning element. This means Materia is effective both paired with Elemental Materia can be used on party members focused on physical attacks, especially if they use Slash-All. Spellcasters can pair Lightning with All Materia or Quadra Magic to use Bolt3 to hit both arms and the boss at once, or pair with MP Turbo for a powerful single target hit. Other attacks that hit all enemies, such as Trine or a Summon Materia, are effective.
Carry Armor drops God's Hand, an exceptional weapon for Tifa which is among her strongest all-around weapons until her ultimate weapon and has 255% hit rate (meaning perfect accuracy).
=== Obtaining submarine ===
After Carry Armor is defeated, the party must enter a submarine. Battle Trumpet, a similarly strong weapon for Cait Sith (but with no Materia growth), is found around the docks left of where Carry Armor was fought. Scimitar, a weapon for Cid with only two Materia slots but triple growth, and Leviathan Scales, are found just in front of the grey submarine that the party must enter.
After a few battles to enter the submarine, climbing down will open a save point and then the party heads to the main cockpit. Regardless of if the player chooses to fight the crew or leave them, the party gains control of the submarine, and after choosing "Sit in the seat", the Submarine Game minigame begins.
=== Submarine Game ===
The minigame gives the player 10 minutes to shoot down the opposing red submarine. The controls are to descend, to ascend, to move left or right, to slow down, to accelerate, to fire, for sonar, and to change view.
The red submarine appears directly in front of the player submarine. When the opposing submarine appears, the player must open fire until it is destroyed.
=== After minigame ===
If the player wins the minigame, the grey submarine can then be used on the world map. The player returns to Junon and must head to its airport, but will later be able to find the red Huge Materia by controlling the submarine and traveling to the crashed red submarine on the Bottom of the Sea.
If the minigame is lost, Cloud will wake up at Under Junon. The player can then return to the Junon Underwater Reactor to find the dog blocking the way to a red submarine dock has moved, allowing the player to take control of this and have a red submarine. However, the red Huge Materia is lost.
Regardless, after a submarine is controlled, the next quest, "Toward the Sea of Stars", can commence.
== Citations ==
Category:Chapters in Final Fantasy VII