FF7 Rebirth special boss fight: Gilgamesh

Final Fantasy V (FF5) was the starting point of the franchise's most iconic boss, Gilgamesh. Since then, the legendary swordsman has traversed through dimensions, encountering numerous protagonists across the Final Fantasy universe. And now Gilgamesh makes yet another appearance in FF7 Rebirth, which is something that does not exist in the original game.

Gilgamesh, the Eccentric Swordsman, is an optional boss you can challenge in FF7 Rebirth. To fight him, you must go through an extensive questline that is as long as the main story itself. For long-time Final Fantasy fans, Gilgamesh's appearance in FF7 Rebirth is a huge celebration.

This anti-hero, who has been in multiple Final Fantasy titles, returns once again with his whimsical, prideful and otherworldly demeanor. And his theatrics, akin to a Kabuki performance, adds depth to his already amusing character. In FF7 Rebirth, Gilgamesh fights against Cloud over his lost treasures, or rather his Genji arsenal. Find his arsenal through a series of side quests, mini games and challenges from the Protorelics quest. Defeat him and unlock high value rewards in FF7 Rebirth.

The following are the steps you need to take to track Gilgamesh down throughout FF7 Rebirth:

Your efforts throughout an arduously long journey have finally paid off. With the Protorelics whole, you can now challenge Gilgamesh at his full power—a clash of fates on his private gardens. But not before he recites a Haiku and transforms himself like a Sailor Moon. And with that, let the battle begin!

Gilgamesh has a wide array of abilities that deal considerable damage. Throughout the fight, he will summon his arsenal one at a time as his Masamune or Rune Axe. He moves swiftly, making it difficult to block a lot of his attacks. However, successfully blocking his attacks will cause him to drop his weapons and pressure him. He can also use Genji Shield and gain multiple buffs. When the shield appears, destroy it quickly to pressure him and reduce his defense.

Once you have dealt enough damage, Gilgamesh will move to his second phase. In this phase, he summons what he thought to be his Excalibur. Except, it is actually his inferior all-time classic Excalipoor. But do not underestimate it. Because with Excalipoor, Gilgamesh can shred you with Sloppy Sword, dealing one-damage attacks over 2,000 slashes.

Eventually, Gilgamesh will cast Swordsman Supreme where he instantly summons all of his weapon arsenal. From there, he will use his strongest ability, Ultimate Illusion, and start a countdown. Once the counter hits zero, Gilgamesh will summon his Excalibur and unleashes a spinning cleave attack that deals massive damage.

The best way to defeat Gilgamesh is to quickly pressure and stagger him. Try your best to block his attacks or simply destroy his Genji Shield to pressure him. Have Tifa in your party as she is the only character that can easily increase the stagger using her Unbridled abilities and True Strike. Equip a Healing and Magnify Materia to consistently keep your team at full health.

You can also equip Reraise Materia or Phoenix Materia to cast Reraise. This will ensure you survive instant death from Gilgamesh's Ultimate Illusion by automatically reviving upon death. You should already be able to purchase Reraise Materia from Chadley using the Meridian Ocean data points.

Defeating Gilgamesh will net you some of the best rewards in FF7 Rebirth. The first reward is the Gilgamesh Materia, which allows you to summon him in battle. More importantly, you can now craft Genji accessories with your Item Transmuter. One of them is the revered Genji Gloves. With Genji Gloves, your attacks are no longer capped at the 9,999 limit.

However, in order to craft the Genji accessories, you must first reach craftmanship level 16 by crafting every single Item Transmuter recipes once. You also need to gather resources that are only available in Hard Mode. The Genji recipes are as follows:

At the conclusion of a long and epic bout, Gilgamesh bids you farewell with utmost honor and grace, marking the end of the Protorelic quest. But right before he jumps into the portal that leads to wherever, he declares "Prepare yourselves, Warriors of Light!"

He is most likely referring to Bartz Klauser, his first rival and main protagonist of FF5. Or perhaps he may also be referring to the Warriors of Light from FF14. Who knows what goes inside the mind of the quirky dimension dweller. Better to put it at rest and look forward to another day of exchanging swords with the great Gilgamesh.

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