FFVII PC Notes for ANY% RTA (as of April 13, 2016)

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FF7 PC RTA Any% (Updated April 13th, 2016)
My PB: 2:41
Sample Run Video with commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK2IMmT4ITA

I always recommend clearing out the saves before starting a new run so that the memory slots are clean and you don't get mixed up with any old saves. Don't pick up any items unless told so in the notes; getting out of your way to pick up something extra can cause you time loss and make you fight extra battles. I will put (optional) so it's to your discretion if you want to pick it up or not.
**I WILL USE CAPS AND ASTERISKS TO INDICATE MANDATORY SAVES**
Midgar Step Count I use: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1maFA0NCzZuBoC9NQz4goWfsBfs2gEf9rLZKi5yR9c1g/pub

~~~~~~~~
BEGIN

Set Time to Active, Set Cursor to memory, All Speeds to Fast

Scorpion Fight:
Barret: Attack, Cloud: Bolt
During this battle, you want to make sure you get limit break for both characters.
You can achieve this by attacking while the tail is up.
Optimal fight, having Cloud or Barret use their limit break before tail rises up.

You are forced to pick up potion before Jesse.

Jessie Scene Skip: Talk to Jessie when Soldier pushes you, then progress text to "flash" and leave (Only saves a few seconds)

You can save a few seconds by exiting and entering the screen before entering seventh heaven. Proceed with flashback.
Once the alarms go off:
On the second screen of the train Grab Hi Potion from NPC
Barret> Assault Gun
Cloud> Remove Ice
Place Cloud, Barret in the Back Row

Navigate the tunnels toward north.
Grab the green ether after entering duct.

Grab the ether from the chest in the room where you have to push the button to open the door. Proceed toward Airbuster.
Air Buster: Hold confirm.
Alternatively, You must press menu fast to switch over to Tifa
Tifa:Attack, Cloud:Limit, Barret: Limit, Tifa:Attack

After Cloud falls, always choose 2nd dialogue choice when talking Aerith
For soldier chase: Have Aeris Run, Wait and knock down 12'o clock barrel, Have Aeris Run


~At weapon shop before Aeris
Sell: All Potions
Buy: 21 Grenades~

Choose 2nd dialogue at Aeris's house.
Proceed to Wall Market

Wall Market Instructions for Don:
Talk to Guy outside Honeybee Inn, Then Head to Don's Mansion
Go To Dress Shop, Then Talk To NPC in Materia Shop, Then Eat Sushi at Restaurant"It Was Alright"
Go To Item shop and get Digestive Medicine, Then Sleep at INN buy 200 gil drink.
Return To Materia Shop to get Tiara
Head To Bar: give medicine and get dress that is soft and shimmers
(Use bar skip to save some time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL5zQjC6218 )
Return to Dress Shop, then Get Wig, Then back to Dress Shop
Head to Don's Mansion
Grab the Ether after dialogue with Tifa and Aeris is over
Choose 2nd dialogue options while talking to Don

APS:
Tifa: Grenade, Aeris: Grenade, Cloud: Bolt (1st turn), then grenade the rest of the way
You can hold down confirm if your cursor is set to memory to spam the grenades
Another tip: Hold up and circle to quickly select grenades

After the fight
Head over to train graveyard.
Pick Up Hi Potion (first item when you walk on the train)
Head over to Reno

Reno:
Spam Grenades

~Head over to weapon shop before Aeris's house
Sell: Everything except for grenades, 1 Hi Potion
Buy: Grenades until you have at least 670 gil.~
Head over to Aeris's house


Head over to weapon shop at wall market
Buy: Mythril Rod and the pack of batteries

Navigate through the stairs, pick up Elixir
Before facing the mighty grunts, change time to Wait
For the Grunts:
Throw 2 grenades at the front guy. Throw 3rd grenade at the back grunt that already shot. Throw 4th grenade at the other grunt. Finish them off with grenades.

Head over to Sample 5012. For the password guessing, it never the 3rd or 6th password!
Pick up poison materia in chest before Sample. Change time to Wait

H0512:
Red XIII: Fire (1st turn), then grenades , Cloud:Grenades, Barret:Grenades

Change time to Active and track back to the elevator.
Choose to talk to Aeris, then sleep.
Head over to top building.

Elevator battles:
Red XIII: Grenade, Aeris: Grenade, Barret:Grenade
If Aeris hp less than 75, use healing wind.

Rufus:
Cloud: Braver Dog, Spam Grenades on Rufus
Immediately use braver on the dog. Spam Grenades on Rufus

Open Menu and Equip Cloud with Bolt and Restore
Cloud> Bolt, Restore

**MAKE SURE TO SAVE WITH CLOUD BEFORE TALKING TO TIFA (1st slot for example),
WE WILL BE LOADING THIS SAVE LATER, DO NOT SAVE OVER**

Before starting mini game, (again make sure Cloud has Bolt and Restore)
Start mini game

Motorball:
Cloud: Bolt, Tifa:Grenade, Barret: Grenade
Cloud will use bolt the whole time while, the others throw grenades (hold Confirm if set to memory)

Use Barret skip to save time while exiting Midgar (it is important to learn Barret skip in this run)

**SAVE BEFORE ENTERING KALM (for example 2nd slot),
WE WILL BE USING THIS SAVE LATER, DO NOT SAVE OVER **

~Head over to Kalm Shop
Sell: Talisman, Protect Vest, Star Pendant
Buy: 11 Potions, 11 Pheonix Downs, 3 Hypers, 11 Tranqs, Rest on Tents~

Finish Kalm Flash Back and head over to Mythril mines
Perform Zolom Skip: https://youtu.be/mi0fVC82jSg?t=2h10m42s
If having trouble, use the save and reload method (for example save when your halfway, then reload and run)
Continue through the mythril mines and exit it

**SAVE AFTER EXITING THE MYTHRIL MINES (for example 3rd slot),
WE WILL BE LOADING THIS LATER**
Quit the game and reload the Kalm save (for example load 2nd slot)
Perform the flash, and execute the picture skip (walk toward the gate and talk to photographer at same time)
This will allow you to head over to Mountains without Sephiroth.
Do not proceed toward the bridge (Tifa), Go the screen before the bridge, and get into a battle. Here Cloud will purposely die.
Reload the save after exiting mythril mines (for example load 3rd slot)
Get into a battle in the dark area, by winning a battle in the world map (use grenades and limits) we can wrong warp to where Cloud died in the Flashback.
Head over to Materia Keeper, slide down 1st Pipe

Before Materia Keeper:
Swap Tifa for Aeris, Swap Barret for Red XIII (Or you may keep Barret)
Traq Everyone, Arrange Items by Type
Put Everyone in Back Row
Reset Aeris Limit Break
Red XIII(or Barret)> Give Poison Materia
Aeris>Equip Mythril Armlet
Check Aeris attack power (should be at level 8) to make her Attack ∈ {28, 29, 30}, with this attack power she will do 13 to MK in the back row.
If Aeris Attack is 27: Equip her with Mythril Rod, and give her a magic materia (fire, bolt, ice)
If Aeris Attack is 32 (rare): Give her any two additional magic materia (fire, bolt, ice)
If Aeris is level 9 somehow: make her attack {28,29}
**MAKE SURE TO SAVE BEFORE DOING THIS FIGHT (you may save anywhere except over the Shinra Building save)
HE HAS A CHANCE TO OPEN WITH TRINE**

You will be changing the time gauge to what the strat you perfer to use. There are two strats for active (fast and medium speed), and a strat for wait. I highly recommend the fastest active strat because it's faster out of the three, just takes a little bit of practice, but is very simple to pull off:

If you are not comfortable, you can use also use the other strats. I will underline  strats here with video tutorials.
The battle is fairly easy once you practice it enough.
The premise is to make Keeper's HP 7777
8400-262+100-13-262+100-262+500-262-262 = 7777

For Active Strat(fastest speed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdqwY99GPCs

Step 1
-Cast Poison and Cure the target MK hits
-Have Aeris Ready to throw Elixir at MK during Bio Cast,
if bio hits throw elixir and move to step 2, otherwise repeat step 1.

Step 2
-Immediately Throw 2 Potions with the other 2 characters, then
have Aeris Attack, then follow up with hi-potion
WIN


For the Active Strat (medium speed), Keep time to active but change the battle speed between the letters O and M of Recommended
https://youtu.be/mi0fVC82jSg?t=2h21m14s
1) Start off by inflicting poison on it. Have cloud cast poison, aeris potion, Red XIII heal. Repeat cycle until green.
Cloud (Poison), Aeris (Potion), Red XIII (Cure)
2) Once it's poisoned start throwing two potions at it, and have Aeris Attack
Cloud (Potion), Aeris (Attack), Red XIII (Potion)
3) Throw a HI Potion at it with anybody.
Cloud (Hi Potion)
4) Materia Keeper should die in a few seconds if executed properly. Heal up with Red XIII, queue up a Phoenix down if Cloud
is going to die.
If this is not working you, you may be throwing a hi potion too early. Wait for an extra tick, then throw hi potion.

For the wait strat, CHANGE TIME TO WAIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykV2YcXGiOU
1) Start off by attempting to poison it with bio. Whether it gets poisoned or not, throw a potion at it, while having Red XIII heal in the middle.
Cloud(Poison) -Red XIII(Cure) - Aerith (Potion)
2) Once Keeper is poisoned, Keeper will get off an attack and should get one poison tick. After the poison tick, have Cloud throw a potion, Red XIII heal who got hurt. Attack with Aeris (use healing wind if limit os full)
Cloud(Potion) -Red XIII(Cure) - Aerith (Attack)
Keepers HP sequence
8400-262+100-13 =8225
3) After those set of turns, we will wait for a second tick, have Cloud throw a potion after the tick, and Red XIII heal, Aerith doesn't have to do anything here. Attack with her if you havent though.
Cloud(Potion)-Barret(Cure)
Keeper HP Sequence:
8225-262+100=8063
4) For the last set of turns, wait for the third tick, and have either Cloud or Aerith throw a Hi Potion at it after the third tick. Barret is just there to keep party healthy.
Cloud or Aerith (Hi Potion), Barret (Cure)
Keeper HP Sequence
8063-262+500=8301
5) Now it's a waiting game, just defend and keep party healthy, because the next 2 poison ticks will set Keeper's HP to 7777, and will be ticked to death.
Keeper Sequence
8301-262-262=7777



Pick up Counter Materia, change time back to fast active if changed
Save after entering world map (for example save over materia keeper save), there is a chance of Pincer battle, reload if you
get a pincer while walking to Rocket town.
Before entering Rocket town:
PHS Aeris for Barret or Red
Revive any dead members, tranq all if necessary, and use Tent


Enter rocket town and talk to the old man outside item shop twice to receive Yoshiyuki (This special sword will make
Cloud powerful when two characters are dead.)
Open Menu:
Tranq Barret
Cloud> Equip Yoshiyuki and swap bolt materia for counter attack
Head over to Cid and back to his house. You will fight Palmer

Palmer:
He will be taking damage from poison ticks, have Red XIII cast poison until ticked. Cloud will heal in between.
Once poisoned, have Red XIII and Barret use grenades and limit breaks with Cloud as the healer (you may use bravers for damage too)
After 30 seconds of poison ticks, let Palmer kill off Red XIII and Barret. Cloud will always be healing himself if he
gets attacked.
Cloud: Cure and bravers Red XIII: Poison (until ticked), Grenade, Limit Break, Barret: Grenade, Limit Break
Don't worry if Red XIII and Barret don't die in this battle, but it's ideal.

Once you have tiny bronco, drive it to the top of Midgar continent, and land on the beach near Midgar.
Optional: Use hypers on Red XIII and Barret if still alive, and put the two in the front row.
Perform Zolom Skip again and exit mythril mines. (If you get lost with bronco watch the youtube video)
**SAVE AFTER EXITING MYTHRIL MINES (example save over pre-Rocket Town Save),
WE WILL LOAD THIS LATER**
Reload the Shinra Building Save
Start mini game and purposely let the motorcycles hurt you. You will suicide on Motorball.
Once you are dead, reload the most recent save after you exited the Mythril Mines
Run over to the forest in search for Yuffie (1/8th chance of finding her). We need to defeat her to initiate Yuffie Warping.
Use cure to heal Cloud if he's low on HP, use Tents/Elixir if need be (low on MP).

Yuffie:
Kill off Red XIII, and Barret if still alive. (Use bio with Red XIII or cloud attack them)
Have Cloud Attack them.
Cloud:Attack, or Limit Break Yuffie
You will instantly be warped to motorball

Motorball:
Cloud will be attacking the whole battle. If his HP<100 use cure or use your judgment for curing, motorball has 2600 HP.
Cloud: Attack, cure(hp<100)

Leave Midgar: It is important that you use Barret Skip to save time, other wise HP will become fully restored rendering the Yoshi useless. If you cannot do it, the next battle will take a bit longer.
Cure Cloud's HP, and place him in the front row
Take the Tiny bronco back to Nibelheim moutains.

Enter the nibelheim mountains. The screen will freeze for a bit, and dialogue will appear. Progress dialogue and leave nibelheim mountains.
Take the Tiny bronco to gold saucer area (through the river) and search for a battle with 1 flapbeat and 3 Spencers.
You will run away from this battle. (Make sure to keep an eye on Cloud's HP while searching)
Once you run away from the battle, head to the beach and initiate a battle (attack with Cloud).
By winning a world map battle after running from the flapbeat and spencers you will warp to the debug room.

Once in debug room:
Talk to Middle Cloud, Select 1st Option, Then Vincent
Talk to Yuffie on left, choose item iroro, and member zeni
Press Switch(Square button for PSX)once and then talk to Yuffie normally
Select these options: Menu On , Full Materia, Full Name

Open up Menu:
PHS (you can also safety save here), swap Barret and Red XIII with Cid and Vincent
Cloud> Ultima Weapon
Double Cut (use arrange materia to help find them), Remove Counter
Cid> Venus Gospel
Double Cut
Vincent> Steal on Weapon Slot, Master Magic on any other slot

Talk to Yuffie and choose battle999 to fight pyramid.
Have Vincent attack the top pyramid.
Do the battle one more time.

Open Menu:
Vincent> Death Penalty
Make sure everyone is in front row.
Head over to Tifa (bottom with hat), press Switch once, then talk to her normally. Choose Las 4-4

For these finals battle do these exact turn orders for a smooth experience, all battles will end with Mug.

Jenova Battle:
1 Cloud:Double Cut
2 Cid:Double Cut
3 Cloud:Double Cut
4 Vincent:Mug

Bizzaro:
Wait at least 3 seconds
1 Cloud:Double Cut
2 Cid:Double Cut
3 Vincent:Mug

Safer:
1: Vincent:Despell as soon as Sepiroth casts wall
2: Cloud: Double Cut
3: Cid: Double Cut
4: Cloud: Double Cut
5: Cid: Double Cut
6: Vincent: Mug

Finish!