Final Fantasy 7 (VII) Remake Chapter 17: Deliverance from Chaos Walkthrough

Chapter 17: Deliverance from Chaos is the 17th story mission in Final Fantasy 7 (VII) Remake. This walkthrough will guide you through all objectives of the Deliverance from Chaos Main Mission.

Deliverance from Chaos starts when you complete The Belly of the Beast.

Area: Sector 0 – Shinra Electric Power Company
Requirement: Complete Chapter 16: The Belly of the Beast
Objectives:

• A Way Out
• Find the Others
  • Cloud
    • Find Barret
    • Use the Central Terminal
    • 4th Ward
    • Rescuing Red XIII
  • Tifa
    • Research the 3rd Ward
    • Rescuing Red XIII
    • To the Central Terminal
    • A Way Up
    • Source of the Sound
• The Ominous Trail
• The Showdown
• The Great Escape

A Way Out

At the start of the chapter, Cloud wakes up in bed in Aerith’s childhood room, where the group brought him after he passed out. When you are in control before doing anything else, open the purple chest to obtain a Reinforced Staff, which is Aerith’s final weapon.

Speak to Aerith twice to continue, then after the cutscenes finish head out of the room. In the first room to the left you can find a chest that contains an Enfeeblement Ring, then in the second one on the right, you can find another chest that contains a Pheonix Down.

Out in the hallway before going out to the larger one there is one more chest, this one containing an Ether.

Head back through the lab on the route you took before, then back into the lab where you rescued Aerith. In the lab, you’ll be blocked in and the group will be attacked by a group of Unknown Entities while Red and Barret clear the stairs. After the group is defeated the way will be clear and you can continue towards the elevator. If you wish to use it the room opposite where you enter the elevator hallway has another bench and vending machine to use, then when you’re ready you can continue up the elevator.

Find the Others

After being knocked down, Cloud is separated from the group. Continue along the path, pulling the switch on the right wall to make a way forward. Continue along the linear path further down. In the first more open area you will have a couple of Monodrives to deal with before proceeding. Continue forward and there will be a path you can go into the doubles back a bit through the pods, which has a Poison Materia at the end.

Continue along the path to find an area with a couple Unknown Entities. Red XIII will jump down and help you out, though he isn’t a directly controllable party member so just does whatever he wants. After defeating them continue upwards. At the top of the stairs, the game prompts you about getting Red to cross gaps and help you across. After getting him to do that, turn around and jump across the other pods first, as this platform has a chest that contains a Phoenix Down.

After crossing the pods there is a small room with a bench and vending machine inside. After using those continue down the main hallway.

Find Barret

Midway up the stairs, you can hear Barret shouting about something. Head into the room to help him deal with a group of Monodrives attacking him. After they are dealt with two Unknown Entities will jump out of nearby pods, then after that you will be attacked by a new enemy called a M.O.T.H. Unit. These Shinra robots have spinning blades on them and attack with electrical attacks. You can’t fill their stagger gauge outside of right after they use the electrical attack, so use that opportunity to hit them with magic and skills.

Continue out onto the walkways past this room. Before going up the first set of stairs look to the left of them for a purple chest. This chest contains Twin Stinger, which is Cloud’s final weapon.

Continue upwards and you’ll have another gap to send Red over to pull a switch. After the scene showing Tifa and Aerith go into the small room the Unknown Entities jumped out to find a chest that contains 3,000 gil.

Continue around the other side of the booth Tifa and Aerith are on and interact with the console to speak with them. From here you get to pick which part you’re going to play as first, Cloud and Barret, or Tifa and Aerith. For this first part, switch to playing as Tifa and Aerith. If you want to switch to the other characters at any time just go to and of the PHS Terminal locations.

Research the 3rd Ward

Head up the stairs to the top floor where you are shown the door leading to the 3rd Ward. Go just past it on the right to pull a switch, which moves pods out of the wall. This also moves them out for the group below so they can get across when you switch back to them. Just across the pods on this level, there is a chest that contains an Ether.

Jump back across, then use the nearby terminal to switch back to Cloud and Barret.

Use the Central Terminal

With the path now open due to pulling the switch above, you can continue across the pods. On the other side, you will need to deal with a Blast-Ray and a pair of Slug-Rays.  When they are defeated, pull the nearby switch to open a bridge to the middle of the area. Before pulling any of the main switches, go to the left and grab the Time Materia.

Go back to the middle and pull the switch with the 03 label above it, then switch back to playing as Tifa and Aerith.

You can now progress into the opened door leading to the 3rd Ward. In the dead-end room pull the switch on the wall, which opens up the large door in the hallway. Deal with the group of Unknown Entities, then squeeze through the partially open door. In this room with all the cages, you can proceed midway through then turn right around a corner to find a chest that contains a Mega-Potion.

Continue out of this room then into the next, where you will be attacked by a number of Bloodhounds that break out of cages. When they are all defeated, crawl under the obstruction, then continue out into the hallway again. In this section go to the left first, where you can find a chest in the corner that contains 5,000 gil.

In this hallway, you will find an enemy called a Zenene. These operate somewhat similar to an Unknown Entity, but are stronger and don’t have a specific elemental weakness, but do have minor resistance to fire.

When it’s defeated, go into the side room to pull a switch and open the next section of the hallway. Continue into the next room and up the stairs to the second floor. Proceed out onto the pipes and start walking across to the next area. Midway across you’ll fall down, and need to deal with a pair of Zenene in this room. After they are dealt with don’t go under the door yet, go up the nearby ladder and over the pipes to reach a chest that contains a Mega-Potion.  You can also go to the opposite end of the room to activate a switch, which options the opens the large door allowing you to reach the chest in the cage that contains a Force Bracelet.

Continue out to the next area and you will be back in the central room. Go down the flight of stairs then to the left where you will have a group of three Sentry Turrets to deal with. After that go up the ladder, then pull the lever to open the next set of pods. Go across and use the next terminal to switch to Cloud and Barret.

Pull the level marked 02 before leaving the central area, then go across and through the now opened doors and into the 2nd Ward. Proceed through the hallway into the large room, and now this group will be locked in and required to take out a group of Zenene. Head out of the room into the hallway, then go to the right to the large gate. Around the pile of junk, you can find a chest that contains an Astral Cuff.

In the next room you will need to deal with a group of three Shock-Rays, along with another M.O.T.H. Unit. Try to take out the Rays as quickly as you can so they can’t shield the M.O.T.H., then you only need to worry about it on its own. In the next room, Red tries to go after Hojo but gets caught, so just Cloud and Barret need to deal with a new type of enemy named a Sledgeworm. There are three in here, and they can pop back and forth between the round holes in the floor, so you need to constantly watch for where they are. Like most robots they are weak to Lightning, so that can be used to deal larger amounts of damage. If you see one doing an attack called Torpid Strike avoid being near them as if they hit you it will inflict Stop and then they will perform a large combo on you while you are stick.

When they’re dealt with, go under the door then up the stairs to rescue Red. From here instead of continuing the way to the objective, go the opposite way through the other observation rooms. In the third one by the door, you can find a chest that will contain 2 Remedies. In the room you’re supposed to continue through, go to the right corner instead of up the stairs. Here you can find a chest that contains a Chain Bangle.

Continue through the rooms until you get to the room with all of the screen walls. Before you can exit you will be locked in by the enemy from earlier, which is called a Brain Pod. These primarily spew poison attacks at you to attack, and are weak to Lightning like other mechanical enemies. When it reaches half health it will stun everyone and have you stuck in the center of the room, then summon many copies of itself, followed by spraying poison around the outer edge of the room. Once all copies are destroyed the fight will be over and you can head out of the room back to the central area.

4th Ward

Up the stairs, you’ll pass the door leading to the 4th Ward. Nearby is another bench and vending machine room, then you can continue around to reach another spot to send Red to open a pod wall.

Rescuing Red XIII

Opening that pod walls cause a bunch of Unknown Entities to spawn in. Defeat the two on your platform, then you will see Red get knocked down to a lower area and you need to quickly help him. Go across the path to the PES Terminal and switch to Tifa and Aerith, then follow the path back from where they are. You will have to fight two Sledgworms on the platform as you go past, then head down the ladder. On this lower platform, two Enhanced Shock Troopers will appear that you need to deal with as well before continuing. Go underneath the pods to reach Red, then help him take out the rest of the Unknown Entities.

To the Central Terminal

From the platform you start on, head down the nearby stairs. At the bottom take a left turn again to find a chest in the corner that contains an Ether. You can then send Red across the wall to open the pod wall for you to get across.

A Way Up

Go to the nearby switch and pull it to extend the bridge to the central terminal. After you do it will spawn a number of Ray enemies to quickly deal with. You can then move to the middle area and pull the switch marked with 04, then switch back to Cloud and Barret.

When back as Cloud and Barret you’ll need to defeat a couple more Unknown Entities, then continue up and through the door into the 4th Ward. When you enter the pipe go to the left first. At the end, you can find a platform with a chest that will contain 2 Mega-Potions.

Head back down the pipe in the other direction and pull the switch on the left to open the door. In the next room go down the ladder on the right to reach the lower level, then climb up the ladder into the next tube.

You’ll jump back down to the lower room, where you need to fight a new enemy named a Swordipede. Though more like an eel than a centipede, these robots float around the area, not doing many direct attacks. If you try to attack it directly with Cloud your swings will typically bounce off, so you’re generally better just switching to controlling Barret and shooting it, then avoiding its attacks when it does them. When you get it to half health, it will break out of the area and go to where Tifa and Aerith are, at which point you want to basically do the same thing and switch to Aerith to hit it with ranged attacks.

After it is defeated you will still be playing as Tifa and Aerith. Head towards the objective and you will automatically enter an elevator.

Source of the Sound

After the elevator, follow the path around, then pull the switch to open the door. The crew is back together, and you can go head back to the elevator to continue. Follow the path around to the next one. Here Red explains this is the final point of no return. Currently, you can go run around back in the prior area still all you want, but once you go through this elevator you’ll be going right until the end of the story. When you’re ready to continue, respond “Yes” to going to the roof.

The Ominous Trail

At the top, follow the trail of purple goo.  At the top room, you can head out a side door to the rooftop where there will be a bench and vending machine on either side. Use them if you need, then continue around the edge of the rooftop.

Boss Fight: Jenova Dreamweaver

Jenova can be one of the most annoying bosses since she counters almost every melee attack with a tentacle whip. However, there’s a trick to winning this battle easily…use Aerith! If you use her as party leader and hang back using her regular attack and Tempest, Jenova can’t hit her with her counter and for some reason doesn’t counter your AI partners often while they’re auto-attacking.

The main attack you’ll need to dodge is Black Light, which fires a direct ray of what looks like ink at your character. When you see this attack winding up, duck behind a pillar to avoid it. What you need to do is knock out both the Left and Right Tentacles to Stagger the main Dreamweaver body. Just focus on attacking one at a time with Aerith and using the strongest ATB abilities of Cloud and Tifa from the Command menu. Blade Burst and Starshower work well.

After Jenova goes down to half health, she’ll become immune to any attack and a ton of tentacles will pop up around the arena. Your task is to take all of these out before you can resume attacking her. You’ll have to take out about 30 of them, but Triple Slash will absolutely murder them. Just attack in Operator Mode to build up ATB then immediately Triple Slash.

Once they’re gone, resume the previous tactics, keeping your distance with Aerith and using ATB commands with Tifa and Cloud.

Hard Mode Tips: This fight is exactly the same on Hard except this time you can use Gotterdammerung if you beat Pride and Joy earlier in this chapter (highly recommended). Equip it on Cloud and immediately use his Ascension on one of Jenova’s tentacles to break it and then keep using it whenever available, preferably on the main body. If you save it for a Stagger then it will do insane damage.

One other tip is that this might be a rare occasion where it’s best to use a MAX Pray Materia on one of your characters (probably Aerith) instead of using Magnify-Cure. The reason being is that you have two bosses left almost immediately following this one, with the last one being arguably the toughest story boss in the game. You’ll want as close to maximum MP on Aerith for that as you can so if you can save usage of it now, take the opportunity.

The Showdown

After that boss fight is finished, you can head outside again. Continue around to the other side of the window on the rooftop, where there will be another bench and vending machine to use. When ready, go up the nearby ladder.

Boss Fight: Rufus & Darkstar

You’ll only have Cloud for this fight but you shouldn’t have any issues if you know what you’re doing. The first task is to take out Darkstar. To do this, use Punisher Mode, then use your Counterstance ability when you see ‘Whirlwhip’ appear above his head. Then use Blade Burst once you’ve built up your ATB. Taking him out will get rid of the connection between himself and Rufus, which also acts as a shield and powers up their attacks.

Rufus is a little trickier and the terribly unhelpful Assess blurb doesn’t give us much of a clue. Only using ‘a certain ability’ will Stagger him. Luckily, using powers of deduction, the only ability Cloud has had since the start that wouldn’t require any mastery of other abilities is Braver. Therefore, your aim should be to build ATB and use Braver whenever Rufus reloads.

He has two main attacks, Guns Akimbo and Bright Lights. Guard Guns Akimbo and dodge Bright Lights to the side. Then whenever he finishes these attacks and ‘Reload’ appears above his head, use Braver and hitting him will result in instant Stagger, letting you attack him in Punisher Mode. If you don’t have ATB then get some quick attacks in and roll away before he can counter. Never attack him outside of his Reload animation since he’ll just counter it right away and damage you.

That’s all there is to it. Wait for Reload, use Braver, use Punisher Mode during Stagger and repeat.

Hard Mode Tips: If you obtained Gotterdammerung from Pride and Joy earlier in Chapter 17 (highly recommended) then this is one of easiest boss fights in the game. As soon as you start, hit Darkstar with Ascension and it’ll lose half its health and be in Stagger or close to it. Finish it off with Punisher Mode attacks and a Triple Slash/Blade Burst.

Then turn your attention to Rufus, using the same method as above. Your Limit should be close to recharged by now, but save it for his Stagger. Hit him with Braver, then use Ascension and it’ll take off practically his entire life bar. If he isn’t dead then a couple more attacks will do it.

The Great Escape

Boss Fight: The Arsenal

Note: During the elevator cutscene after defeating Rufus hold when the button is displayed in the bottom left corner. This lets you change equipment before the Arsenal boss (especially helpful on hard difficulty to switch Gotterdammerung accessory from Cloud to Barret).

Arsenal is one of the hardest and most frustrating bosses in the game.

You can spend a good 15 minutes whittling its health down and finally coming so close to winning… only for a cheap unblockable move to wipe you out if you don’t do enough damage within a time limit. Anyway, more on that later. This battle also tests the limits of the lock-on system too, with so many moving parts it gets really fiddly. It might be best selecting all abilities from the Command Menu just for this fight rather than using shortcuts.

You only have Barret and Aerith for this battle, so it’s going to be fought from range. Red XIII will chip in with some melee damage up close, but you can’t control him so you’re left to his whims. Equip Elemental-Lightning to your armor (not weapons) since he likes to use electric attacks and frequently swaps his elemental resistances so you can’t gain an advantage with attacks.

The first thing you’ll need to do is take out the three Barrier Drones which are covering Arsenal. Use Overcharge/Maximum Fury in between regular attacks to take them down. With Aerith use Ray of Judgment. Focus on one at a time and they’ll be destroyed, at which point you can attack Arsenal.

Its attacks hit hard, so your best defense against its Saturation Fire barrage of bullets is the large pillars around the room. Arsenal is weaker to attacks from behind, so your best tactic is to draw fire with one character, then switch to the other and go behind it back and use your strongest abilities.

During this phase, its main attack alongside its normal bullet attacks will be Voltaic Discharge, which are electric circles on the floor. If you’re caught in these you’ll take a lot of damage, so as soon as you see one either roll away or run away as you only have a couple of seconds. These can hit you behind pillars too!

When it charges up Homing Laser, its arm (called Laser Cannon) will temporarily become a weak spot. You have about 10 seconds to deal as much damage as you can to this arm, so hit it with Maximum Fury/Ray of Judgment (again, be wary of the temperamental lock-on mechanic in this part, select your abilities/target manually) and if you do enough damage, the attack will be halted and you’ll significantly boost his Stagger bar. If not, get behind a pillar or you’ll lose the vast majority of your HP.

Keep hitting its weak point whenever you can and the second phase will start. It will start using its wheels and moving around, adding a Charge attack to its repertoire. Dodge sideways or get behind a pillar to avoid this.

At this point, it seems like you’re meant to destroy the wheels to Pressure the boss and put it in Stagger, but the wheels have a barrier on them which makes them resistant to almost anything. Therefore, it’s best to just carry on hitting the main body. As its health dwindles, it will use a combination of Firewall and Pulse Cannon more frequently. Firewall traps you between two lines of fire which you can only dodge if you pre-empt it, and then it charges a blue laser for between 5-10 seconds then fires it.

This laser will almost certainly kill you unless you’re at full health, so if you are trapped in the Firewall it’s probably better to roll out of it, even if you’ll take damage from the flames. Then, hide behind a pillar or other debris to avoid being hit by Pulse Cannon. After this attack, it will be Pressured so this is your chance to hit it with Focused Shot/Ray of Judgement to build that Stagger bar. If you can, save Barret’s Catastrophe Limit for the Stagger, or if the boss has less than 25% health then save it until the final phase.

The final phase is incredibly annoying. You’ll get a cutscene where Arsenal slams against the wall and threat level goes to critical. Now it won’t move and you’re trapped between two walls of flame as it charges its laser. Immediately hide behind the debris behind you to block the shot as it will decimate your party otherwise!

However, the boss will soon start charging the laser again and you’ll have no debris left to hide behind. You have to kill it before it attacks again. On Easy or Normal, this is doable by closing the distance and using your strongest attacks. Overcharge, Maximum Fury (with 2 ATB bars if you can), Aerith’s Ray of Judgement and hopefully you saved Barret’s Catastrophe Limit Break. This should be enough to finish the fight as you have about 30-45 seconds before the laser fires. Good luck, otherwise it’s back to the start!

Hard Mode Tips: This is by far one of the hardest bosses in the game. Remember during the cutscene you can hold to reassign the Gotterdammerung from Cloud to Barret. Not only can’t you use Cloud, but it’s the third in a row without a breather or a chance to recover MP. Hopefully you took our advice during Jenova and used Pray to heal instead of burning Aerith’s MP before this fight.

To begin with, equip Time Materia on Barret and Aerith. You MUST have Haste for the final section or else it will be hard to deal enough damage to Arsenal before he fires his second laser. Use Haste on both characters to charge their ATB faster for quicker usage of Maximum Fury/Ray of Judgement.

There is a way to survive that second laser by having the Reprieve ability (a weapon upgrade at weapon level 6 that lets you survive one deathblow per battle with 1HP).

Another thing you should have is Gotterdammerung (obtained by beating Pride and Joy on Hard in Chapter 17 Shinra Combat Simulator). It automatically recharges your Limit Breaks. Having regular Limit Breaks every couple of minutes is INCREDIBLY useful. Start off with Catastrophe on a Barrier Drone and it’ll nearly destroy it and give you a headstart, then try and use it throughout the fight when Arsenal is Pressured, or even better, Staggered. Remember, if Arsenal is close to entering the final phase it’s best to save it to finish it off quickly.

As for the fight in general, the same tactics apply except you have to be on the boil with healing and make sure you dodge any of Arsenal’s major attacks by using the pillars around the room. Most importantly, try and spot when he’s about to do Firewall and do your best to run out of the parallel tracks.

 

This finishes Chapter 17: Deliverance from Chaos in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Now the mission Destiny’s Crossroads starts.

Next Up: Chapter 18: Destiny’s Crossroads

For all other Mission Walkthroughs, check out our complete Final Fantasy 7 (VII) Walkthrough.