It’s time to awaken the dragon. Fan-favorite Bahamut returns to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, this time as Bahamut Arisen—essentially Neo Bahamut. And this giant dragon certainly rises to the challenge. Interestingly, defeating it requires use of skills and abilities unique to Rebirth. After Titan, Phoenix, Alexander, and Kujata, the Bahamut summon is something special. Here’s how to get the Bahamut Arisen Summon in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
Rising to the Challenge of Bahamut Arisen
First things first, like any summon in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, you’ll want to weaken it before battle by visiting its Sanctuaries. And this will also strengthen the summon once you get it, so it’s a win-win. For Bahamut Arisen, this means gliding around the Cosmo Canyon region. The best way to start is to use the gliding strip near the Chocobo stables to fly out to the lower area of the region. The canyon itself, if you will.
Note that you’ll need to wrangle the area’s Chocobo first, but this side mission will introduce you to the gliding mechanics. Once you’ve done that, glide on down and find a Sanctuary right in the middle. The second one is seemingly close by, but to get to it you’ll have to cross the canyon and mosey up the winding path to get to the landing strip, pinpointed above, and glide across to the Remnawave Tower and the Sanctuary will be right nearby. The third and final one will be all the way to the north. But pretty easy to find once you get there. And now for the actual hard part.
Dueling with a Dragon
Head back to Chadley to do battle with the weakened Bahamut Arisen. This flying dragon has a highly unique mode of combat, and accompanying strategy. Aside from standard moves where it will glide at you and fire projectiles, it disperses particles that can attach themselves to your party and deal damage. You can get rid of these particles by carrying out Synergy Skills and Abilities. And what’s more, using Synergy moves will also pressure Bahamut, albeit briefly.
As such, best to use whichever party members have the most Synergy Skills or Abilities between them. You can check these, and add more, through Folios. I used my tried and true team of Cloud, Aerith, and Barret, and had a few Synergy moves between them. But I also found them uniquely helpful. Aerith’s ATB Ward helps charge the ATB meter, allowing for more commands which in turn allow for more Synergy Abilities. But anything that charges the ATB meter will be your friend here.
If you really want to have the best Synergy Abilities, I highly recommend those that extend the stagger meter. Since Bahamut Arisen only gets pressured for a short amount of time, you’ll want to hit for as long as you can once you finally stagger the dragon. Aerith and Barret’s Sweet-and-Sour Salvo will handily get the job done by extending the stagger meter. But there are other Synergy Abilities with that effect.
Baha(mut) Blast
That said, Bahamut does have a signature attack of great destruction: Gigaflare. It’s unavoidable, and there’s no way to delay it or even anticipate it. However, it does take a couple moments to charge, so you can at least heal up and cast Manaward in that short window. Otherwise, use Synergy moves well—and often—and Bahamut Arisen will rise no more.
And with that, the King of Dragons becomes your loyal subject. You will now have a special version of Final Fantasy’s most famous summon at your side. And that Gigaflare attack? You won’t see it listed in Bahamut’s moveset, rather it finishes its summon appearance with the incredible move. A grand finale indeed.
If you’d like to know more about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, what we called “one of the best games of the past decade,” you can read our review here.
