Where I'm Up to in Final Fantasy VII

I got super-muddled, and this is always what stops me from finishing a game.  So I'm going to write lists.

I'm at the point of entering the Northern Cave for the Final Battle.

- I have everyone's ultimate limit break.
- I need Red XIII's Ultimate Weapon.
- I have all magic Materia except Shield, which is in the final dungeon.
- I have all Command Materia except Slash All which is in the Ancient Forest and X-Magic from the final dungeon.
- I have all Support Materia except Magic Counter from Chocobo Racing and (Support) Counter from the Final Dungeon.
-I have all Independent Materia except Enemy Away from Chocobo Racing and Mega All from the Final Dungeon.
I have all summons except Typoon from the Ancient Forest.
- I need to defeat Ruby and Emerald Weapon.
- I need to complete the Ancient Forest.
- I need to finish levelling up in the Sunken Gelnika.
- I need a few more enemy skills, all of which are available in the Northern Cave.
- I need to max my gil.


So, I need to go grab Red XIII's weapon, finish the Ancient Forest, do some more Chocobo Racing, go far enough through Northern Cave in order to pick the materia, level them, then finish the game.  And at some point in there, defeat the weapons and max out my gil.

Later

Okay, got Red XIII's weapon, the Chocobo Racing materia, and I've finished the Ancient Forest.  Time to go defeats the Weapons and get the last two items from the Kalm traveller.

Final Fantasy VII - Spoiler-free Item, Achievement & Subquest Walkthrough, Part 2

Start of Disc 2

- FC Battle 13 is unlocked at the start of this disc.  Your prize is three elixirs.
- You can still get the Umbrella at this point, but it will stop being available as soon as the airship is unlocked.
- If you're close to mastering any Materia, enemies around Mideel (southern continent) give around 200ap per battle, which can rack up quickly if you're using double ap weapons.
- Master Materia: Achievement.

Coral Valley 

- Head back to the Forgotten Capital.  From the house where you can rest, on the right, go to the next fork and go right to enter the Coral Valley.
- Go left round the shell to pick up the chest on the right, which contains a Viper Halberd.  Carry on up the shell and enter the cave on the left.
- Here you can climb up various cracks in the cave wall.  You can pick up a Bolt Armlet, a HypnoCrown, and a Megalixer.  When you get to the ladder on the left, climb down to find a Magic Plus Materia.
- In the next area, you'll find a Power Source.

Icicle Inn

- There's a weapon shop on the left with lots of shiny things for everyone.
- in the house on the right, with the snowman outside, you'll find a Hero Drink, a Glacier Map, and a Vaccine.
- in the Inn, you'll find an x-potion upstairs, by the window.
- In the house on the upper left you can find a number of videos of Aeris' parents, along with a Turbo Ether downstairs.

Great Glacier

- Here, you  can pick up a Mind Source, a potion, a Safety Bit, an Elixir, an Added Cut Materia, an All Materia, and Alexander.

- I suck with this area, so go ahead and refer to Absolute Steve's guide instead.

Gaia Cliff

- you won't be able to return to this area later.
- you can learn Trine and Magic Breath from Stilva.  At this point, none of your three enemy skills will have Magic Breath, but one or two will have Trine, so try putting them on different characters, so you can learn both skills in one battle.  You can also learn Bad Breath from Malboros. 
- When you get up to the cave, head north into the next area, then left and south to loop back.  Head over the bridge; there's a secret entrance there if you carry on in the same direction, which leads to a chest containing a Ribbon.
- Head back out and north.  There's a chest containing a Javelin here.  In the next room, you can go through the tunnel and kick the boulder off the cliff to destroy the ice crystals below.  Then you can run right back to the beginning, then north and through the tunnel to exit this cave.
- After climbing the cliffs you'll find yourself in a cave with an elixir and a save point.
- Head through the doorway on the right and round the cliffpath.  You'll come to a room containing a chest with a fire armlet on the right and a chest with a megalixir on the left.  You'll need to fight a few icicles to open the path below.  Afterwards, exit and come back in to get the option to jump down, or just run back round on the path.
- You can now pick up the speed source in the chest to the upper left.
- There's a chest containing an Enhance Sword right in front of you when you go through the right door.

Boss: Schizo

You can steal a Protect Ring from the right head.  One head absorbs fire, the other ice.  

- Carry on into the whirling winds.  After Tifa joins the party, you'll come across a Neo-Bahamut Materia followed by a save point.
- Speak to the first two men in black to get a Hi-Potion and an Ether.
- There's a Kaiser Knuckle in the chest along the path.

Boss: Jenova * Death

Uses only fire attacks.

Junon & The Highwind

- Following your escape from Junon, you'll be in control of the Highwind - an airship!
- You can complete FC Battle 12 now.  The prize is three elixirs.
- The last weapon shop in Junon - near the guy who calls the helitaxi - has new items, but you have better already.
- The man in the bar in Costa Del Sol has loads of new weapons with decent attack and eight slots.
- There's some new armour in the weapon shop in Rocket Town.  You'll also find a Fourth Bracelet in the weapon shop, and a Guard Source in a chest in the bedroom of the item shop.
- Check Tifa's piano to receive an Elemental Materia, assuming you played it as Cloud during the flashback.
- In Cosmo Canyon you can get into the backroom of the item shop (go to the far right of the campfire and up the ladder).  There's a Fullcure Materia, an Elixir and a Magic Source there.
- On the northern continent, north of the Coral Valley Cave, you can find the Chocobo Sage.  Speak to his Green Chocobo and you'll get the fourth Enemy Skill Materia.
- Now you have all of the Enemy Skill Materia, you can go ahead and complete Yuffie's Sidequest in Wutai.  Head to the Pagoda and agree to climb.

Boss: Gorky

Try using a combo of Choco-Mog and Elemental in a weapon to increase physical damage. He went down in one hit.

Boss: Shake

Try using poison.  Two castings of Bio 3 and a physical attack was all it took.

Boss: Chekhov

Use poison again.  Have Yuffie equiped with something that prevents paralysis - Ribbon will work.

Boss: Staniv

Try poison and physical attacks again.

Boss: Godo

Try poison and gravity.  Remember to learn Trine for your final Enemy Skill Materia.

You'll earn the Leviathan Materia and All Creation.

- Yuffie's Final Limit Break: Achievement.

- At this point, you can gather a few more Enemy Skills - though some will need to wait until you enter the Northern Cave.
- you can morph cactuars into Tetra-Elementals.  You'll find them on the desert island south of Cosmo Canyon.  This is an accessory that absorbs Fire, Cold, Lightening and Earth attacks.
- You can pick up a second Chocobo Lure at the Chocobo Ranch now.  You can also begin finding Chocobo's and renting stables, though you won't be able to race them until Gold Saucer reopens.

Mideel

- Mideel is on the south continent.
- speak to the panicking woman in every shop.  Give her white Chocobo some Mimett greens and tickle it behind the ears to receive the Contain Materia.
- At the weapon shop, inspect the door in the back.  Then go out and across the bridge.  Round the side of the Accessories store, you'll find an old key.  Try it in the door, then confess the truth when asked to received the Cursed Ring.
- Return to Mideel after the scenes.  You'll find an elixir in the house in the middle.

North Corel

 - Head to the Reactor.  It's probably easier to access this from the cave on the other side of the mountain.  Try to enter and you'll have to fight an attack squad.
- Enemy Skills like Trine and Laser are useful against the enemies on the train.  Steal the Warrior Bangle from the Eagle Gun.
- Stop the train correctly, and you'll receive the Huge Materia and then the Ultima Materia when you walk further into town.
- After resting at the Inn, speak to the women in the house below and to the left.  She'll give you Barrett's Final Limit Break.

- Barrett's Final Limit Break: Achievement.

Fort Condor

- This is the last battle.  Let the enemy reach the shack and you can battle the Commander for an Imperial Guard.
- If you don't go outside, you can pick up an extra Phoenix Materia from Bone Village in Disc 3 before you collect this one.  Otherwise, grab the Phoenix Materia now, and get the Huge Materia from the guy at the table downstairs.

Boss: Ultima WEAPON

Do as much damage as you can and steal its Cursed Ring before it flies away.

Optional Quests

Now you've got Cloud back, there are a few things you can take care of.
- go to Bone Village and find the Key to Sector 5.  If you tell them to dig on the upper level, right inbetween the smoke and the fireplace, they'll find it.
- You can then re-enter Midgar.  Pick up Tifa's Ultimate Weapon from the Item Shop with the gun in Wall Street, then buy the Sneak Glove from the guy who sold you batteries earlier.
- Head back to Nibelheim and play the Highwind Theme.  On Steam, this was;

cancel
switch
menu
page-up + menu
page-up + switch

cancel
switch
menu
page-up + cancel
ok

cancel
switch
cancel

- You can finish breeding the Gold Chocobo now.

- Gold Chocobo: Achievement.

- With your Gold Chocobo, you can pick up four Materia; Mime, HP <-> MP, Knights of the Round and Quadra Magic. Their locations are pictured below.

 - Knights of the Round: Achievement.


-  Head to the circular area behind Nibelheim and dismount near the ledge.  Enter with Vincent for a scene, which is important for picking up his final limit and final weapon later on.  Come back after 10 battles to pick up Vincent's best weapon, the Death Penalty, and his final limit break, Chaos.

 - Vincent's Final Limit: Achievement.

- At Gold Saucer, if you have your Gold Chocobo - or any other - win ten S-rank races, Esther will give you a pair of Sprint Shoes, a Precious Watch, Cat's Bell, Chocobracelet, and a Counter Attack Materia.  You can also pick up a Sneak Attack Materia from winning an S-Ranked race.

Junon

- Now, back to the plot.  Head to Junon, to the upper level, and down the tunnel where the soldiers are practicing.
- In the underwater tunnel, Morph a Ghost Ship into a Guidebook.
- You can steal Shinra Alphas from the Underwater MPs.

Boss: Carry Armour

Use Magic Hammer twice, then Trine until the arms die. 

- After defeating Carry Armour, pick up the Battle Trumpet, Scimitar, and Leviathan Scales form the chests, before boarding the submarine.
- You'll need to sink the red submarine to gain the Huge Materia.  I had to look at this video and hope, because the game makes me motion sick.
- Head to the top of Junon to watch the plane take off.

Optional Extras with the Sub

- Find the Red Submarine and pick up the Huge Materia.  It's in the southwest corner of the ocean.
- Find the Sunken Gelnika.  Head towards Costa Del Sol, and from there, to the dock towards the Gold Saucer.  The Gelnika is just here; try to avoid the Emerald Weapon.  Every enemy in here can be morphed into some sort of source, which will allow you to power up your characters.
- Head to the save point.  There are no encounters in this room, but you will find a chest containing Heaven's Cloud.
- Head into the northern room first.  There's a Megalixer and an Escort Guard in the chests here.  Head downstairs around round to the upper right corner; there's a Double Cut Materia here.  Yuffie's best weapon, the Conformer, is in the top left corner on this level.
- From the save point, head left to battle Reno and Rude.

Boss: Reno and Rude

They will try to cause confusion.  You can still a Tough Ring from one and the Zeidrich armour from the other.

- In the next room, you'll find chests containing a Megalixer and a Spirit Lance on the upper level.
- Downstairs is the Hades Materia, the Outsider weapon for Vincent and Cid's Final Limit Break, the Highwind.

 - Cid's Final Limit: Achievement.

- Sail the Submarine over to Bone Village and submerge. There's a tunnel nearby, within which you can find the Key of the Ancients.
 - Head back to Wutai, and up the cliff to the cave with the flames.  You'll be able to put them out and pick up the Oritsuru and the Steal as Well Materia.

- Head back to Kalm, and go to the house on upper right.  Upstairs there's a man who'll trade you the Underwater Materia for a Guide Book (morph a Ghost Ship, either at the Underwater Reactor or in Battle Square).

Rocket Town

- When you're ready to get on with the plot, head back here and on to the rocket.  You'll face a few attack squads of normal enemies before facing Rude.

Boss: Rude

Steal his Zeidrich then waste him.  Physical attacks will do, he only has 9000 hp.

- On the rocket, head right and up to the Huge Materia.  The passcode is [OK][Switch][Cancel][Cancel].
- Afterwards, head back to town and speak to the guy outside the Item Shop.  He'll give you Cid's Ultimate Weapon, the Venus Gospel.


Diamond & Ultimate Weapons

 - Speak to Bugenhagen upstairs.  If you haven't failed any missions, four huge Materia will pop up.  Examine the blue one to receive Bahamut Zero Materia (only if you have Neo Bahamut and Bahamut materia).
- Head to the City of the Ancients.  Take the left path and head back to the circle room.  After a couple of scenes, leave the area to find that Diamond Weapon is heading towards Midgar.  Go and wait for it on the beach.

Boss: Diamond Weapon

Try limit breaks, or Knights of the Round, or W-Summoning Bahamut Zero and Neo Bahamut.  Then mime until it dies.  You can steal a Rising Sun weapon from it, and it gives lots of exp and ap so bring a couple of double AP weapons and all your spare AP along.

 - Defeat Diamond Weapon: Achievement.

Boss: Ultimate Weapon

Ultimate Weapon will spawn near Junon after you defeat Diamond Weapon.  Again, lots of exp and AP.  You'll need to chase it down and ram into it a couple of times until it'll let you fight it, and it'll take a few battles because it keeps running off.  It does not heal HP between battles.

 It took me three castings of Knights of the Round to defeat it.  Put all of your Enemy Skills on the person who deals the finishing blow because it'll cast Shadow Flare. 

This will earn you Cloud's Ultimate Weapon - Ultima Weapon.

 - Defeat Ultimate Weapon: Achievement.
 

 Special Battle at Gold Saucer

With Ultima Weapon, you can face a special battle at the Gold Saucer.  Just go up to the desk at Battle Square as usual and the assistant will ask if you want to take part.  If you win once, you'll get a Final Attack Materia.  Winning ten times will net you a ribbon; you can also morph the Ho-Chu which shows up in the second battle into a Ribbon, which is probably a lot simpler.

Midgar

- Fly over the North Canyon for a scene.
- Fly over Midgar to parachute in.
- After going down under Midgar, take the upper path - left from Cloud's view.  This will lead you to a Megalixer and an elixir.
- Go back to the starting point and take the other path.  Once you're down, go left and up this ladder to open the chest containing an Aegis Armlet.
- The path will break when you go right.  Follow the left path round until you reach two chests containing an Elixir and a Starlight Phone.
- Head down the stairs and the tube first, then up a ladder to pick up the Max Ray weapon.
- Go back to the two chests then take the upper path.  After the save point, climb through the tube and there's a boss battle.

Boss: The Turks

Steal an item from each of them; a Tough Ring from Reno, a Zeidrich from Rude and a Minvera Band from Elena.  Try to take them out together, as they'll run away if you take out one of them.

- Head south down the tunnels.  In '3' you'll find a chest containing a Power Source. There's a Guard Source in '2'.  You'll find a Mind Source and a Magic Source to '1'.  At the very end, you'll find a save point and the W-Item Materia.
- Go back to where you fought the Turks.  Go right till you reach a dead-end, then backtrack one screen and take the left to reach the Shinra Building.  This is optional, but is your only chance to retrieve a few items.

Shinra Building

- Take the stairs.  There's a Behemoth Horn on them, in a bag.  If you go straight up the stairs, sometimes it skips screens so you'll miss the horn.  If you reach the top and go back down, you'll be able to pick it up.  You can also grab the Elixir if you didn't before.
- If you go through the front entrance, you can view Turtle's Paradise Newsletter 2 on the message board in the top right corner.  On the second floor, you can find an item shop in that same corner.  There are chests containing a Pile Bunker and a Master Fist here.
- You can pick up a Glow Lance in a bag on the 63rd floor.  You can see it from the elevator.
- On the 64th floor, you can get a Mind Source and the Speed Source by banging on the vending machine.  You can also pick up Cait Sith's Ultimate Weapon, the HP Shout from the lockers.

- Head back down to the tunnels and take the other path.  You'll eventually go up a ladder and meet a boss.

Boss: Proud Clod

Try a casting of Knights of the Round, then mime it if you need a few more hits.  Nothing to steal.

- After the boss, head forward to the save point.  You'll find chests containing a Mystile and an Elixir nearby.   Put Barret in your party now, or else the chest containing his ultimate weapon won't appear.

- Head upstairs.  Up another flight, past Vincent, you'll find the chest containing the Missing Score.
- Steal a couple of Shinra Alphas from SOLDIER:1ST.

Boss: Hojo

This battle is in three parts.  Use physical attacks to take Hojo down in the first part  and his two pets will disappear with him.  I used w-summons, mime, and KOTR to take down the next two forms.