How to defeat Gilgamesh in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

The Bladesman of Legend, Gilgamesh, is in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and acts as one of the game’s optional superbosses. If you aren’t completing each region of the game, you could completely miss that he’s even in the game. He’s your final encounter for the Demi Protorelic quest chain. You need to first claim all of the relics as your own, then meet him on Gilgamesh Island as the step.

Once you’ve completed The Tempering—defeating a series of battles where you fight two summons at once—you are finally ready to tackle Gilgamesh in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. In addition to a summon materia, he grants you access to a trio of incredibly powerful relics to craft alongside other rewards.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the later parts of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

---

Beating Gilgamesh in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Gilgamesh's Assess information (Image via Square Enix)

If you want all the trophies for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Gilgamesh is one of the foes you absolutely must beat for the Bladesman of Legend trophy. For me, this was the hardest boss in the entire game, harder still than the final boss. Makes sense as a superboss, though. There’s no reason not to turn the difficulty down to Easy, either. That’s entirely up to you, though.

Regarding what you must bring to this fight, I recommend Cloud, Aerith, and Yuffie. I brought Tifa, but I should've brought Yuffie for her powerful Fire Ninjutsu ability and rapid strikes. Everyone should have fire abilities and Fire Materia. You also want someone with either Magnify+Barrier or Magnify+Cure Materia. Gilgamesh in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth only uses physical damage, so casting Barrier is a great idea.

A variety of weapons come at this boss's call (Image via Square Enix)

According to his Assess information, he’s not only weak to fire but most debuffing status ailments. Therefore, you can cast deprotect/debrave on him if you want, but I certainly recommend keeping Bio on him at all times for Poison.

This boss seems overwhelming; after all, many of his strikes are quick and can deal pretty significant damage. With high HP and the Barrier spell up, though, it’s far more manageable. If you want to pressure Gilgamesh in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, just deal lots of damage or perfect block his incoming attacks. Doing this makes him drop some of his extra weapons, which, in turn, reduces his damage.

Look out for the following weapons:

• Muramasa
• Banana Fan
• Rune Axe
• Excalipoor (Fake Excalibur)
• Genji Shield

It's Excalipoor! (Image via Square Enix)

Excalipoor is a reference to his appearance in Final Fantasy 5, and it was a weapon that dealt almost no damage. Gilgamesh had the wrong weapon in FF5, and seeing it again in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was a treat. Most of the time, he just bumbles around with this weapon, but it has a slim chance to deal some truly staggering damage, so don’t underestimate it.

Genji Shield is the most frustrating weapon to see because it makes him immune to all damage until you break through the shield’s HP. The trick to this boss is to perfect block anything that can be and evade the other strikes to avoid serious damage. Gilgamesh gets serious when he has around 25% HP left in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

He keeps using Ultimate Illusion, so keep your defenses and health topped off (Image via Square Enix)

He’ll count down from five to one and then unleash the deadly Ultimate Illusion attack. He’ll keep doing it over and over at this point, so you really have to ramp up your damage and start slamming him with Synergy Attacks, Limit Breaks, and as much Fire and Poison as you can muster to wrap up the Gilgamesh boss fight.

Defeating him gives you access to a trio of Genji Relics you can craft via the Item Transmuter system, Brutal/Legendary battles in the Combat Simulator, and the Gilgamesh Materia. This is also how you unlock some rare, powerful materia from Chadley:

• Swiftcast Materia
• Reraise Materia
• Spare Change Materia
• Limit Support Materia

From here, enjoy the cutscenes, and get ready to wrap up the game since, by this point, you’re likely on the last chapter of FF7 Rebirth.

---

Check out our other Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth guides

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review || Upgrade weapons || Get the right date || The right difficulty for you || Tips for beginners || Change party leader || How long is the game ||