Kingdom Hearts 2 Message Board  

This section is simply general advice when fighting Sephiroth. A more detailed account is found in the "flow of battle" section below. On with the tactics:

+ Never lose sight of Sephiroth.
This means you should know where he is at all times. Keep a lock on him whenever he teleports since it will break with each teleport.

+ Sephiroth's first attack can be "react"ed against.
I've named this attack "Sin Angel" for this guide. It hits multiple times, however the reaction command will parry all of them. He will always open with this attack.

+ Be defensive and attack at vital moments. That is very vague so I shall expand on it. Sephiroth is an offensive brute however his defense is really quite weak. He soaks damage like a sponge and that is something you must take advantage of throughout the fight. For example, it is often better to let Sephiroth launch Sora into the air so that
you can execute a vicious air combo to interrupt his Air Omnislash.

Further still, Sephiroth is open to attack just after a Grounded Omnislash and after a Sin Angel. Both generate some recovery time, and if you were able to guard or dodge the attack, you can use that oppurtunity to strike.

+ Offensive magic is useless.Thunder, Fire, Blizzard, and Magnet of all forms are rather useless. The only useful magic spells are defensive or curative: Reflectaga and Curaga.
Reflect can be used to dispel the destruction orbs, while Cure can entirely heal Sora.

+ Conserve MP if playing defensively.
You will need MP in order to use Reflect to counter Sephiroth's Orbs in his second and third phases, for this reason it is important to have MP at those critical times.

+ Charge Berserk is abusable.
Yes, this skill is a huge boon when used correctly. While it does prevent finishers from occurring while MP is charging, it allows infinite normal combos. This will result in higher damage overall if 6 or 7 iterations of a
combo are unleashed upon Sephiroth. You can easily deplete Sora's MP with a simple Curaga spell, so an infinite chain is always at your disposal.
Sephiroth will generally break out of the chain after 7 iterations, however,so don't be overzealous.

+ Sephiroth can only be defeated with a finishing blow.
This means that the final hit to defeat Sephiroth must be classified as a "finisher" by the game. If not, Sephiroth will remain with one sliver of health until a finisher is used. Remember that finishers do NOT occur if Charge Berserk is equipped and Sora's MP is charging. Simply continue a combo attack and a finisher will end it.