Cloud and his party has their own boss battle in the Temple of the Ancients, in Reno and Rude. This brings you back to Aerith’s group, who had to go through another section of the Hall of Life. Of course, while trying to regroup with the others, they run into the other two Turks, Elena and Tseng, sparking another boss battle.

All of Elena’s Attacks¶

Elena will have a good number of returning abilities from the last time you fought her in Chapter 12. She will have a few new attacks, especially when she combos up with Tseng.

• Grenade Kick: Unblockable. Elena will toss a grenade into the air, then kick it straight at a character. Note this is a stun grenade, so if you get hit, you’ll also be stunned.

• Stun Grenade: Unblockable. She will toss a grenade at someone, which will explode after a few seconds. If hit, you’ll get stunned for a brief moment.

• Soaring Kick: Elena will jump into the air, then perform a diving kick at someone.

• Butterfly Kick: Elena does a number of somersaults, while trying to kick you.

• Backflip Barrage: Unblockable. Elena will do a backflip, tossing out some stun grenades while doing it.

• Sync Stance: Special combo move with Tseng, where they unleash a number of attacks together on someone. After doing three, they go to the end of the arena, then start attacking again.

• Turks’ Special: Unblockable/unavoidable. Combo move with Tseng, where they’ll do a number of attacks on your characters, with a countdown. If that countdown ends, then they unleash a cutscene attack that deals big damage to everyone.

• Petit Powerhouse: Unblockable/unavoidable. Elena’s super attack that is only used if Tseng has been defeated first.

All of Tseng’s Attacks¶

Tseng will do a few moves on his own, but generally, he has a string of them together that he does for a combo. After doing the combo, he will generally use a finisher. If he fails to connect with a finisher, then he does a big attack.

• Knifehand Swipe: Unblockable. Combo move. Tseng will dash towards a character and try to slice them with a knife.

• Furor: Unblockable. Combo move. Tseng will do a two-hit straight punch combo.

• Vortex Kick: Unblockable. Combo move. Tseng will perform a sweeping kick attack, which sends a small shockwave at the target for a short distance.

• Chi Burst: Unblockable. Combo move. Does a quick charge, then fires a big projectile at one of your characters.

• Dive Punch: Unblockable. Combo move. Tseng will quickly jump into the air, then go straight down, punching the ground. This knocks you into the air.

• Shoulder Ram: Finisher. He will perform a charge attack, leading with his shoulder. This move can stun you.

• Palm Strike: Finisher. Tseng will perform a quick strike in front of him with his palm. Can stun you, if it hits.

• Asuran Shockwave: Unblockable. Used after a failed finisher. Tseng will begin charging up and eventually do a big explosion around him. You should never really get hit by this, since it takes several seconds to charge, meaning you can easily move away. You can also deal enough damage while he’s charging to stop it.

• Instant Chi Blast: Unblockable. Used after a failed finisher. Similar to Chi Burst, except it’s instantaneous.

• Sync Stance: Special combo move with Elena, where they unleash a number of attacks together on someone. After doing three, they go to the end of the arena, then start attacking again.

• Turks’ Special: Unblockable/unavoidable. Combo move with Elena, where they’ll do a number of attacks on your characters, with a countdown. If that countdown ends, then they unleash a cutscene attack that deals big damage to everyone.

• Wheel of Annihilation: Unblockable/unavoidable. Super attack used by Tseng if Elena has been defeated.

Elena and Tseng Boss Strategy¶

You already should know how Elena fights by now, since you’ve fought her twice during the main story, and one of those was just in the previous chapter. She will use mostly the same moves here, although she has a few new named ones. Soaring Kick is nothing more than a diving kick while in the air, and Butterfly Kick is a somersault while trying to kick you. Of course, the main problem with Elena are her unblockable moves, since most of those revolve around stun grenades that, well, stun you if they connect.

Moving onto Tseng, he is kind of set in a pattern, so you can usually know what he’s going to do. He will almost always beginning attacking you by using three moves in a row, which are designated as a Combo Move from the list of attacks above. He will pick them at random, so you never truly know what’s coming, but he only really have five Combo Moves. After doing those three, he will then initiate a Finisher. If this move connects, then he’ll start over from the beginning. Should you dodge the Finisher, then there will be a very brief moment where he’s pressured (it only lasts like a second).

Of course, after dodging the Finisher, he will then move onto doing one of two moves, either Asuran Shockwave or Instant Chi Blast. The latter is the same as Chi Burst, but it comes out fast. The other move is a large explosion focused on Tseng that takes around 6-7 seconds to charge. If you deal enough damage while he’s charging the shockwave attack, then he’ll be pressured for longer. If you don’t feel you will reach that threshold, then quickly move away from him to avoid the blast. The other failed finisher move is pretty much the Chi Burst ability, but he’ll do it instantaneously.

Once you get one of the Turks down to about 70-75% HP, they will initiate the Sync Stance. Basically, all this is both them doing a bunch of skills at the same time, similar to the ultimate attack during the Reno and Rude fight. However, they typically do two or three moves, then jump to the one side of the arena, before going right back in and doing more moves. Thankfully, these attacks aren’t really all too difficult to dodge, so you should be able to get away from them during it. You can still attack them during this and if you do enough damage, then they will become pressured. Additionally, a strong attack, like a Synergy Ability, will also knock them out of it.

Not too long after Sync Stance has ended will the pair start another special ability, called Turks’ Special. This will be accompanied by a countdown at the top of the screen, with the pair relentlessly attacking you in the process. Once the countdown has ended, then they will pull off a cutscene attack that does big damage to your party. You can break them out of this by doing a Synergy Attack or Limit Break. If both enemies are still alive after this, then they will continue using Sync Stance and Turks’ Special.

Of the two enemies, Elena is probably the easier to defeat, since you simply need to use two ATB commands to pressure her. Meanwhile, you have to wait until Tseng uses Asuran Shockwave and then you have to do enough damage while he’s charging it, in order to sufficiently pressure him. Thus, it’s easier to go after Elena first, who is still weak to lightning. However, if you do bring her down, know that Tseng does have a Phoenix Down he can use to revive her (he won’t do it right away). He can only use this once, though, and she only comes back with half health, so it’s not too bad. Tseng is weak to ice, if you decide to go after him first, and Elena can’t do anything to bring him back.

Defeat the two Turks and a few cutscenes will follow the battle. Once everything is said and done, all of your characters will be back together and you can make a party with everyone as a choice. The home stretch is coming, but you still have a little bit left here in Chapter 13.