Chapter 14 – In Search of Hope – Final Fantasy 7 Remake Wiki Guide

After the intro cinematic has concluded, head downstairs, then open the door and head to the flower garden, where you’ll find Tifa.

After Cloud and Tifa talk, they’ll head back to bed. When they wake in the morning, Elmyra will give her blessing for the rescue mission for Aerith. Head back outside.

Intel Gathering[edit]

Head back to the Sector 5 Slums, then take the main road to the right and you’ll overhear someone slandering Avalanche.

After Tifa convinces Barret not to start up with Kyrie or the Sector 5 citizens, you’ll be free to explore a bit to try to find information on how to get topside to find Aerith.

Tifa thinks Corneo may know a way to escape the undercity, given his many connections, so return to Wall Market.

After you’ve properly stocked up, head to Don Corneo’s mansion. Head upstairs and take the middle door to return to Corneo’s office, where you’ll find Leslie.

Leslie will agree to help you reach the upper section of Midgar in exchange for help in the sewers. Speak to him and confirm you are ready to proceed and a short cutscene will trigger.

Through the Underground Waterway[edit]

Once you’ve arrived in the sewers, follow the rest of the group through the hole in the wall, then turn left.

The landscape has changed a bit since your last visit, so head straight for the pile of rubble in front of you and walk up the slope to reach the next level.

Continue straight ahead, through the short corridor, and you’ll reach the first pump room. Head down the stairs, then duck under the gate and turn right and a Sahagin will ambush you.

Climb the ladder on the right side, then follow the path around to the right and you’ll soon reach a room with a vending machine and a blue bench. Rest up if you need it, then proceed down the tunnel and drop down the ladder at the end.

Turn left and you’ll encounter a Sahagin and two Blugu. Use Lightning attacks to take out the Blugu before they have a chance to inflict Sleep on your party, then use Fire or Ice to take out the Sahagin and continue through the corridor on the left.

In the next room, you’ll find three Wererats and two Scissorclaws. Take out the Wererats first, then focus on one Scissorclaw at a time, using Ice damage to take them all out with Magnify Ice.

Continue to follow the path around to the right to reach another room with a Sahagin and two Scissorclaws, so use Magnify Ice again to Stagger and take them out. The path straight ahead is blocked, so turn right and take the corridor to the next room.

Follow the path through the corridor to the right to find one of Don Corneo’s gates. This one is already open, so destroy the Shinra boxes and head through, then follow the path as it veers to the left and climb the ladder at the end of the hall.

Cross the short bridge, then destroy the Shinra boxes on your right. Continue through the doorway and turn left.

As you turn the corner, you’ll encounter two more Blugu and two more Scissorclaws. Use Ice and Lightning to make short work of them, then continue to the end of the hall, destroy the Shinra boxes, and head down the ladder on the left.

Turn left at the bottom of the ladder to find a chest with an Ether inside, then head into the tunnel and duck under the wall at the end to reach the next area, where you’ll find three Wererats and a Blugu.

Take them out with Fire, Lightning, and melee attacks, then head to the far right side of the room and climb the ladder.

At the top of the ladder, turn right, then proceed into the corridor on your left. Follow it around to the next room, then approach the door on the right (with the Stamp graffiti) and a short cutscene will trigger.

The Hideout[edit]

After the cutscene is over, head through the long corridor to reach the line between Sector 7 and Sector 6 once again. Destroy the Shinra boxes on the left, then head right.

Follow Leslie to the gate and another short cutscene will trigger. After it’s over, head left and destroy the Shinra boxes, then return to the Corneo gate and head through to find three Scissorclaws.

Take them out with Magnify Blizzard, then open the door on the right and head through the corridor to find a blue bench and a vending machine.

Music: You can purchase Song 13. The Chase at this vending machine.

After you are rested and stocked up, destroy the Shinra boxes, then join Leslie in the next area.

Another cutscene will trigger in which Leslie’s key, which leads to the surface, is stolen by an Abzu shoat.

Recovering the Key[edit]

Run after the shoat and turn the corner and you’ll run into four Wererats. Take them out and continue down the hallway.

Loot the chest on the right to obtain two Hazardous Materials, then follow the path around the next corner to find three Sahagin. Take them out with Magnify Blizzzard, then run to the end of the hall.

Destroy the Shinra boxes on the right, then turn left and head up the ladder. Turn left to find some Shinra boxes, then cross the narrow bridge and take a left to find a chest with two Phoenix Down inside.

Head back across the bridge, then turn left and duck under the boxes. Turn the corner and you’ll be ambushed by an Abzu Shoat.

Abzu Shoats are weak to Fire, so light them up to Stagger them. They will search the environment and pick up items using Collect, then use the spinning Typhoon attack, which deals massive damage.

Typhoon is easily dodged, as the Shoat moves slowly during the attack, and dodging causes them to sit on the ground for a while. Use this opportunity to hit them hard to Pressure and Stagger them.

After the Shoat is through with the item, it will throw it using the Toss attack, which also deals severe damage. Keep your distance, block, and heal. Abuse Fire spells to soften it up for the kill, then heal up and circle the corner to the right to continue.

Navigate through the barriers to pursue the Shoat and you’ll reach another open area. This time, you’ll be pitted against two Abzu Shoats and a Blugu.

Take the Blugu out with Lightning or Wind damage, then spam Fire on a single Abzu Shoat at a time, but keep an eye on the other to avoid taking Typhoon / Toss damage.

Materia: After the fight is over, head to the far right corner of the room to find some Poison Materia.

Head around the corner and chase the Shoat through the debris, then open the door on the right. Head inside and you’ll encounter a Sahagin and two Shoats.

Take the Sahagin out first with Fire or Ice damage, then target the Shoats and take them out, one at a time, then head through the door at the back of the room to continue.

Follow the hallway to the left and you’ll see the Shoat cross another large room. Follow it and you’ll enter combat against an Abzu Shoat and two Scissorclaws. Use Magnify Blizzard to take the Scissorclaws out quickly, then finish off the Shoat.

Destroy the Shinra boxes on the right side, then open the chest to find two Mega-Potions. Follow the path to the left to chase after the Shoat. As you approach, the shoat will jump over the side, so take the ladder down to the left and you’ll run into two Blugu, a Sahagin, and a Scissorclaw. Hit the group hard with Fire, then finish them off with melee attacks.

Once the area is clear, head towards the open gate leading down into the sewers. Before you head through the doorway, turn left and open the chest to claim an Ether.

Head through the gate and down the stairs and you’ll see the Shoat on the pathway on the left. Follow and a short cutscene will trigger, with Barret and Tifa taking the path on the right, and Cloud taking the path on the left.

Slowly approach along the left walkway, towards the showboating Shoat. As you approach, it will sprint past you along the channel and Cloud will turn around.

Chest – Equipment: Before you follow, turn around again and you’ll find a chest with a pair of Protective Boots.

Run back to the main walkway, then turn left and follow Barret and the Shoat. Hop over the barrier and turn left and the Shoat will be waiting in the large room.

Tip: Equip Magnify Fire on the character with the highest Magic stat.

Approach and you’ll enter combat with the Mischievous Shoat.

The Mischievous Shoat is weak to Fire, like his siblings are, so cast Firaga as soon as you have an ATB charge, then follow up with Focused Thrust to Stagger it and finish it off with powerful attacks.

At that point, four Abzu Shoats will join the fight. Use Magnify Fire to deal damage to them and take them out quickly.

After the fight, the party will retrieve Leslie’s pouch, but the key isn’t inside. Leslie will explain the situation, so follow him to the nearby door.

Open it and head through, then follow the series of corridors that follow and you’ll soon reach a ladder.

Quest – Corneo’s Secret Stash: Activate the lever to the right of the ladder to lower the water level, then return to the room where you fought the Mischievous Shoat. Head out to the walkway and turn right, then hop over the barricade and take the second path to the right. Follow it around to reach a Corneo gate, then open it and head inside. Run down the stairs and you’ll encounter two Sahagin and the Sahagin Prince. Loot the chests after the fight to find an Enfeeblement Ring, an Elixir, and the Emerald Tiara. Head back to the room with the ladder.

Climb the ladder and you’ll reach a small duct. Follow Leslie through and drop down the ladder at the end. Head up the stairs and follow the path to the right, then follow Leslie down the ladder just ahead.

At the bottom of the ladder, turn right and run down the long corridor. Follow it around to the left twice and you’ll see Leslie standing in front of the door.

Fateful Decisions[edit]

Leslie will tell you to wait as he crosses the threshold into the room. Follow him through the door, anyway, then rest at the blue bench to the left.

Boss Fight Incoming: Equip Ifrit Summon Materia, Magnify Healing, Elemental Fire (Weapon), and Cleansing Materia, as well as Star Pendants for Poison immunity. You can also equip Prayer on your most powerful Magic-user, Barrier on one of your close-range fighters, and Synergy Fire on whomever has open slots and has the fewest essential Spells. We used Mythril Saber Magic-build Cloud, balanced Big Bertha tank Barret, and rushdown, hard-hitting Metal Knuckles Tifa.

Head through the next door and a cutscene will follow, leading to the next boss fight against Abzu and the Abzu Shoats.

Boss: Abzu and Abzu Shoats[edit]

• Weakness / Status Ailments: Fire
• Lesser Resistances: Ice
• Greater Resistances: None
• Immunities: Poison, Silence, Slow, Proportional Damage
• Absorbed Elements: None
• Abilities: Bash and Smash (Physical), Tailspin (Physical), Charge (Physical), Ground Pound (Physical), Backwash (Magical: Poison), Backwater Blast (Magical: Poison), Playtime, Pounce (Physical), Provoke (Magical: Fury)
• Items Dropped: Phoenix Down
• Rare Items Dropped: None
• Stealable Items: Turbo Ether
• Notes: Magic attacks have only a slight effects on its stagger gauge, and ice attacks have no effect on the gauge at all

Tip: Because of how Abzu Shoats have been treated in this area (as major threats), one would think the best strategy would be to clear them out first, then focus on Abzu itself, but that’s not the case. Abzu will constantly summon more Shoats during the fight, so ignoring them is the best way to secure a quick victory.

The same strategies that worked for the first fight with Abzu will work now with the second encounter, with a few minor differences. Since you broke one of Abzu’s horns in the last fight, there will only be one to focus on during this encounter, so start off by hitting it hard with Firaga.

Dealing heavy Fire damage to the horn will cause Abzu to jump in place as it burns, so use that opportunity to lay on attacks which increase the Pressure gauge.

Abzu will advance on the player aggressively throughout, either using standard melee attacks, or multi-hitting, staggered moves such as Bash and Smash.

Switch to Punisher Mode to minimize the damage taken, as well as deal retaliatory damage to Abzu and any Shoats foolish enough to be nearby (which is incredibly powerful if Cloud is the one with Elemental Fire equipped).

Abzu may crouch on the wall during the fight, in order to prepare the Pounce attack. Just as before, Pounce is unblockable, inflicting Bound on the character it hits. Abzu will hammer them with attacks during this time, so be sure to run away from Abzu at an angle to avoid getting hit.

If you need to heal, but are having trouble getting away from Abzu to do it, obstruct its line of sight by hiding behind boxes. Take out any Shoats with Fire damage to create openings, then use Magnify Cure/Cura or Pray, and cast Barrier on targeted party members.

This, in conjunction with Barrets Steelskin and Lifesaver abilities, will make survival much easier.

Abzu will jump into the tunnel above the fighting arena several times throughout the fight, as it prepares to flood the area with Poison sewage with the Backwater Blast attack.

The camera will cheat towards the tunnel the poison will come from, so run to the other side of the arena to avoid taking damage.

After being knocked down below half health, Abzu will call another flood of poison, and it will revive the Shoats and wash away the obstacles.

At this point the Shoats will begin chasing you around, performing rapid-fire Headbutt attacks, which can knock the player down and deal heavy damage. Counter them with Punisher Mode to destroy them, then return focus to the boss.

Bring Ifrit into the battle as soon as you can and lay into Abzu (target Abzu’s horn if it’s still intact), dedicating your healer to keeping the party topped off while the other two dump ATB charges into Ifrit’s attacks.

Once Abzu reaches low health, it will Enrage, but just keep using the same strategies to bring the fight to a conclusive end.

For the Reunion[edit]

After the fight ends, head through the marked door on the far side of the area to meet back up with Leslie.
Once the cutscene has concluded, open the marked door ahead of you to unlock a shortcut back to this room, then follow Leslie up the ladder and another cutscene will trigger.

Tip: Once you have control of Cloud again, turn right and head down the stairs to find a chest with three Moogle Medals. You can also return to Marle if you completed the Don Corneo’s Secret Stash, spend all your remaining Moogle Medals, and finish any Quests you still have yet to complete before moving on to the point of no return (perhaps even obtain the Leviathan Summon Materia. Once you are done, return to Wall Market – Urban Advancement District via Chocobo to continue.

Warning: This is the point of no return. From here on, the path will be linear and you will not be able to return to previous areas until the game is over and Chapter Select is unlocked.

Run ahead, towards the wall, and Barret will ask you if you are ready to head over the wall. Tell him you are ready to bring an end to Chapter 14.