[FF7PC-98/Steam] New Threat Mod (v2.0.999992)

[Mithrain]

Just went back there, and talked to everyone. No Masamune for me, at least. Fairly sure I did all the battles, too. So it's probably some obscure bug, unless I missed one at some point.  :-X

 

[Sega Chief]

I started playing this mod and really liked it in the beginning/middle of the game. The end-game however has turned me off of this, mostly due to what, I think, are limitations in the FF7 game/engine itself: in all mods I have tried so far that makes the game more challenging, it always end up being a damage-race, either from the get-go or, in this case, at the end.

I don't think that is intentional from the makers, it's just that FF7 is not a game about tactical decisions and a complete rewrite of the combat would be necessary to archive something like that. The main issue is that everything combat-related in FF7 is essentially overpowered. We all know how easy it was to generate insane damage in the original game, making status ailments useless or a waste of a turn. Lowering the overall damage while increasing the vulnerability against statuses in enemies just breaks the game in another way as each status ailment is incredibly powerful if you think about it. The materia system itself is so flexible that you can become all but immortal if you know what's coming up in future battles. All that makes it incredibly hard to balance for a harder tactical but fair game. The limited scripting the game supports doesn't help either.

Being at the Northern Crater my experience is that the main difficulty spike from the enemies comes from their damage output and that's fine by me. However due to the added (and much needed) character customization I now have characters that are completely useless. Glass canons like Tifa and Yuffie takes between 75-100% their max hp in damage from anything while tanks like Vincent and Barret can stay in the back-row and out-DPS the DPS-classes as you can freely boost their strength/magic.

I will, however, play through this and the Arrange mode and then at least once with a rank-gimmick build like melee-Aeris.

Yeah, the biggest challenge of making this mod was finding a way to make the game's systems work while maintaining what makes FF7 feel like FF7. The core of the problem is how damage modifiers are applied and the formulas; 2x from crits/elemental, %-based mitigation, and how Level is used in damage calcs eventually make it very difficult to manage as numbers start to creep up. I didn't know how to modify the ASM until very recently, so everything in the mod is based on work-arounds using AI and other tricks. But there's a limit to what those measures can do. I also learned very recently that Defence and Magic Defence exhibit very strange behaviour when they reach the 200+ mark. They seem to start scaling much harder than before, though this may be a result of the character defence hack in the AI.

If I could go back in time with what I know now, I'd be able to build the mod using ASM modifications to the damage & mitigation formulas and I'd probably aim to work within a smaller range of values instead of the 9999 range.

But I do want to say - I feel like it's not an incredibly intuitive way to get ahold of it. Why would you use a Limit Break on some random encounter mook? Yes, they're a higher tier than typical random grunts - but not enough to where I'd do that. I always want to save my Limit Breaks for bosses. (Unless I'm grinding/farming and know I'll get my meter refilled again before I'm done and move on with the story.) And I don't see any obvious indication that this is the trigger.

The reason is a combination of what Magntitude 8 replaced and my own burn-out; Dragon Force used to proc against Limits, with the skill not being available until late in the game when you defeat a special boss that uses the skill on your party when it dies. Mag8 was its replacement at the last minute because I was stuck for ideas and saw that there was no Earth-based skill in the E.Skill library. As for the trigger, I left it as-is because by the end of 1.5's development I was badly wanting away from the game. Not the best frame of mind to be making decisions, but the project was already running late.

Alright, so, does Arrange make any changes on the player-side?  Obviously it edits enemy encounters and such, I've noticed new boss behaviors, but does it have the limit changes/materia edits/etc?

It doesn't, unfortunately. I wanted to do something with item placement shuffling so that different Materia, etc. would be available at different times but I left it in the end.

When I was on my way to Fort Condor after rescuing Priscilla (Cloud goes alone) I got encountered in the bush by Ziegfried. When He used his second hit, he blew me out of the battle. Funny thing is he was still talking and even used Odin while I was still out of the fight so he cut himself in a half and the battle was over with no drop ?!

Beachplug – all Beachplug enemies are casting BIG GUARD at the beginning of the fight. Even when there are 4 enemies they do it all one after one, so generally there are 3 useless moves...

When Cloud gets to Aerith in Forgotten City and want to hit her with his sword there are two chat options to choose one is so long it would not fit to the box.

After Jenova fight in Forgotten City when the team group up in the sleeping room, there is a blue text location name "knowlespole" is it intended ?

I didn't consider the Ziegfried AI against a solo party member. I'm going to scrap that scripted fight in any case and make it a bit more straightforward, like the initial attack rush and then one character attack ends the fight (which is how it goes in FF6 I think).

I can add a script handler to Beach Plug so that only one of them casts it.

Yeah, I need to resize that box; I'll do it just now before it slips my mind again.

Knowlespole is the name of the Icicle Inn area, which is mentioned in the tapes that Ifalna recorded with Gast. When I was rewriting Seph's dialogue, it felt a bit strange to write Icicle Inn so I went with the 'ancients' name for it. But that meant I had to have the characters refer to it as Knowlespole in the next scene as well when they talk about what Seph said.

CD2

Materia MP Plus can be sold for 500 milions gil – in my opinion that is too much and it will make GIL useless.

While fighting Sea Worm on the beach in Mideel, last hit was given by Cid's limi Big Brawl. Funny thing is Cid missed every signgle combo hit. There was no dmg and no 'miss' word. Monster did not dissapear when killed but the fight was over with regular drop/exp/etc.

Is it possible to create a skip for the long conversation in the Northern Crater, when Clouds gives
Black Materia to Sephiroth and Weapons are Summoned ?

I received Masamune weapon from Fort Condor NPC after final battle for MegaMateria is it intended ?

Midgar Raid last Turks fight. They have nothing to steal but they have 100% drop of the items that are on the excel documentation as "to Steal". Please update documentations by changing from Steal to Drop.

While Midgar Raid/Dark Cave/ Using key to sector 5 - save points have no Rank Up options.

While Midgar Raid there is invisible NPC Shop on the 1st floor Shinra Corp.

Misspelled Valiant Cloud name in Battle Chat when charging. Says "Clod"

Documentation update – Valiant Cloud drops Ragnarok not Imperial Guard.

When you enter a fight with Hojo, those two underwater monsters are already there I think in Original version they were summoned.

When Vincent died in a fight with Iron Man he did a Final Attack Magic Counter x4 Comet2 (final attack was not equipped) is that natural ?

MP Plus is a unique drop, so if it is sold then it's gone. As for shop prices, there's an editor that can do it but it's an .exe change and the editor itself is very deprecated; it broke after I used it once, prob trying to remember directory pathways and bugging out or something.

Cid's Big Brawl seems to be bugged for FF7 PC; I don't recall ever seeing it in action though. My guess is that some important data in the animation file has been lost which results in the hit values not coming up; damage is calculated normally though. The same issue occurs when an attack is set with multiple hits but is only coded to have one hit; it just tallies the actual damage off after.

I could make a skip for that scene, but not just now.

Yeah, the masamune is the new drop for not allowing Condor to lose a single battle; this can be done without actually participating in the fights if you keep them funded. It's about 3000gil per battle, and they start off with enough funds to handle the 'inaccessible' battles that occur when the party can't reach Condor (there are less of these in NT though, due to the teleport NPC; most of the inaccessible battles happen during Junon Raid where I felt it would be a headache to implement the teleport there). Masamune can be equipped by any character and will take the appearance of their default weapon. It can also be crafted using certain items.

It's called Valiant Clod, the original was called Proud Clod. The translation was probably supposed to be 'Clad' but hey-ho.

I had that Hojo problem early on; for whatever reason, I couldn't get them to appear as invisible at the start of the fight anymore. The fight functions so I never returned to it.

Honestly couldn't tell you what happened with Vincent.

CD3

Is it even possible to steal Silver Glasses on the first fight on the train heading to Corel ? I only stole Star Pendants and Hybrid Brace. I tried couple times...

Is the Outer Junnon Weapon Shop ever opened ? The old man always says the same thing over and over on all 3 discs ?

Junnon league when choosing bracket "Cancel" - option does not work.

After fight in Dark cave sector 7 on The Pilar, once you go back down you can still go through the fence and do it again and again etc.

When fighting with Yuffie in Dark Cave she tries to steal the materia you can run from that fight but she will be laying on the floor beaten

When summoning KOR there is a typo.

It'd be tricky; definitely not worth it either.

There's a closed shop? Does he still sell you things?

I'll check the script again; thought I'd fixed that.

Ditto.

I'll add a no-escape flag.

KOTR's summon attack text is the last bit of data in the kernel, and it's prone to becoming corrupt. I re-did the kernel fresh to try and rectify it but was only partially successful; the text needs to be offset to hide the garbage but any changes made to the kernel requires another adjustment for the text. I think as of the last time I checked it was no longer possible to have it appear centred without the names of other summon attacks appearing alongside it. No idea what causes it, just that it's probably too much space used in the kernel.

Suggestions
- In my opionion Boss that drops KOR is too easy, once you get KOR the rest bosses are way more easier to kill
- After obtaing Tiny Bronco you can swim to the beach in Mideel area and fight monsters over there which gives tons of exp. These monsters should be stronger in my opionion. If somebody wants to farm there he would get a lot money, exp and AP very easily. Then when proceeding with game and visiting temple of the ancients or north crater it will bring more fun if you are not so overpowered. Also please decrease drop rate for Typhoon Ring from Sea Worm. It drops like 100% and it is expensive to sell.
- Physicall Limist should be a bit stronger. When comparing to end game Magic or Summons physical limits are weak.
- Mime should work only once a fight. If you can use it more times game becomes too easy.
- Gospel Spark item should be removed, with W-item makes the game too easy. Also everyboss can be killed without it
- Dark Cave bosses and encounters should be stronger.

Thanks and hope you will do same mod for FF8,9 and 10 !!!

I'll keep this in mind and add it to my notes. I'm making a mod for FF8 at the moment; hopefully it'll turn out a bit better.

 

[Bohepans]

The reason is a combination of what Magntitude 8 replaced and my own burn-out; Dragon Force used to proc against Limits, with the skill not being available until late in the game when you defeat a special boss that uses the skill on your party when it dies. Mag8 was its replacement at the last minute because I was stuck for ideas and saw that there was no Earth-based skill in the E.Skill library. As for the trigger, I left it as-is because by the end of 1.5's development I was badly wanting away from the game. Not the best frame of mind to be making decisions, but the project was already running late.

Ah, yeah, I can understand that. Even just making a small scale FF6 mod like mine I'm working on off and on at the moment, I've had "burnout" decisions and ended up regretting and changing later. Again, it's by no means the worst thing - just perhaps something to point out in the text file in case it's not obvious to someone.
Though just to confirm - Magnitude 8 replaced something in that attack script, not as an Enemy Skill overwriting Dragon Force, right?

Also I want to make a counterpoint to the thing about Sea Worm and the Mideel beaches/general area that can be reached late in Disc 1 (though certainly not an attempt at an argument, please don't get me wrong, just offering an alternate viewpoint) - this is purely optional. The player is in no way guided or forced there. They can choose whether or not they wish to use it for extensive grinding/leveling up - which would make any decrease of challenge a conscious decision they made, not the modder. Those who choose not to use this place for grinding will experience the game without such an advantage, which they should also be able to choose to do. It's not like the Sea Worm is standing directly in the path of the player's route to the Temple of the Ancients. Much as the Junon alarm tunnel is not right in the path of the player just progressing the story (not to mention it even takes a special trigger to see those battles). So anyone doing so is making a choice of their own volition - the right to make a mod even harder or even easier by the choices the player makes is not a bad thing. If I want to make things harder for myself, I can choose to not grind at all, much less visit such areas, and rank up in a different, perhaps less efficient manner. If I want to make things easier for myself, I can choose to grind in areas like that which are out of the way but lucrative (and of course choose a path of rank ups that would better benefit me in the long run). I can understand wanting to avoid situations where the player can accidentally make things too hard for themselves - but this is clearly a situation where the player would consciously and quite obviously choose to make the mod easier, or at least different, for themselves (within the confines of what can be done without directly cheating or the like). I don't think this is a bad thing. I chose to grind early - I wanted to experience the Rank Up system and see the results quicker, as well as to start mastering Materia sooner and faster. I knew it would come at the come of some difficulty - but I didn't come here for a difficulty mod. (You even said yourself this is not meant to be a difficulty mod, right? So this is a good thing.) I came here for a different FF7 experience, not necessarily a hair-pulling one. So I made the choice to grind and Rank Up, out of wanting to experience the player-beneficial changes right away, at least among those I could access of course. Me having Tier 3 magic before the end of Disc 1 is not a poor reflection on you as a modder, by any means. You didn't put those high AP/Exp enemies right in the player's path - they just happen to be accessible if one goes out of their way. It's available as a choice. Players can chose to make things easier or harder on themselves by using some Materia/grinding areas or by avoiding them. The goal of the mod would still be met regardless - the player has an entertaining and familiar yet fresh experience in a classic video game. Is that not true? So I feel that I would adamantly defend such areas/monsters being left as-is (I like that Typhoon Rings drop often, it's a nice equipment reward for dealing with a strong monster like that, at least strong for just barely having gotten the Tiny Bronco anyway - good for both wind protection on the party, then selling extras after you get 3+).
Just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt (or a shovelful of earth, it's your choice, heh).

 

[boozek]

Also I want to make a counterpoint to the thing about Sea Worm and the Mideel beaches/general area that can be reached late in Disc 1 (though certainly not an attempt at an argument, please don't get me wrong, just offering an alternate viewpoint) - this is purely optional. The player is in no way guided or forced there. They can choose whether or not they wish to use it for extensive grinding/leveling up - which would make any decrease of challenge a conscious decision they made, not the modder. Those who choose not to use this place for grinding will experience the game without such an advantage, which they should also be able to choose to do. It's not like the Sea Worm is standing directly in the path of the player's route to the Temple of the Ancients. Much as the Junon alarm tunnel is not right in the path of the player just progressing the story (not to mention it even takes a special trigger to see those battles). So anyone doing so is making a choice of their own volition - the right to make a mod even harder or even easier by the choices the player makes is not a bad thing. If I want to make things harder for myself, I can choose to not grind at all, much less visit such areas, and rank up in a different, perhaps less efficient manner. If I want to make things easier for myself, I can choose to grind in areas like that which are out of the way but lucrative (and of course choose a path of rank ups that would better benefit me in the long run). I can understand wanting to avoid situations where the player can accidentally make things too hard for themselves - but this is clearly a situation where the player would consciously and quite obviously choose to make the mod easier, or at least different, for themselves (within the confines of what can be done without directly cheating or the like). I don't think this is a bad thing. I chose to grind early - I wanted to experience the Rank Up system and see the results quicker, as well as to start mastering Materia sooner and faster. I knew it would come at the come of some difficulty - but I didn't come here for a difficulty mod. (You even said yourself this is not meant to be a difficulty mod, right? So this is a good thing.) I came here for a different FF7 experience, not necessarily a hair-pulling one. So I made the choice to grind and Rank Up, out of wanting to experience the player-beneficial changes right away, at least among those I could access of course. Me having Tier 3 magic before the end of Disc 1 is not a poor reflection on you as a modder, by any means. You didn't put those high AP/Exp enemies right in the player's path - they just happen to be accessible if one goes out of their way. It's available as a choice. Players can chose to make things easier or harder on themselves by using some Materia/grinding areas or by avoiding them. The goal of the mod would still be met regardless - the player has an entertaining and familiar yet fresh experience in a classic video game. Is that not true? So I feel that I would adamantly defend such areas/monsters being left as-is (I like that Typhoon Rings drop often, it's a nice equipment reward for dealing with a strong monster like that, at least strong for just barely having gotten the Tiny Bronco anyway - good for both wind protection on the party, then selling extras after you get 3+).
Just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt (or a shovelful of earth, it's your choice, heh).

I understand your way of looking at this. I just showed my own opinion and I did not say to remove mosters or block the area but just make them a bit stronger ~+25% and the ring to downgrade drop to maybe 33% ? I think that way it will bring more fun and challenge.

 

[boozek]

Just went back there, and talked to everyone. No Masamune for me, at least. Fairly sure I did all the battles, too. So it's probably some obscure bug, unless I missed one at some point.  :-X

Maybe you did not give them enough money for these couple fights they fought without your help ?

 

[Mithrain]

Maybe you did not give them enough money for these couple fights they fought without your help ?

Yeah that seems to be the reason. I had no idea that was a thing, I just figured I had to go back for every fight and it was all good, but oh well, I'll just nab a Masamune or two, the old fashioned way. o/

 

[TheDragonKing82]

Hi Sega Chief, First great work on the mod, well done sir!

I have encountered a loop-bug with the NT Technician guy on the Highwind, he allowed me to refight the Dark Cave boss Mirage since I didn't seem to get the Mystile but no matter how many times I defeat it there is no rewards screen and the option to fight him is still there. It also repeats asking to convert the Micro-Engine to a key item.

I have searched for info and added the Hotfix but nothing. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[rc2112]

Hello!

I just started playing NT this week and I have a few things that might be bugs?

So first thing. Cloud has a defense stat of 60 (I'm early on, reactor 5) and Tifa has a defense stat of 44. Both are in the front line, yet Cloud is taking more damage for some reason. Am I not understanding something with the new rules? I had the Chocobelt equipped to him for a couple battles but switched back to the armor you but in sector 7 (Iron?). Not sure why he is taking more damage.

During the Air/Plasmabuster fight, the boss seemed to keep glitching back and forth so you could never really tell which way it was facing.

And I gotta say I loved the "F-it.Close enough" line right before that fight when you have to hit the switch. Been playing for almost 20 years and I still can never get that timing right. Glad that was improved

 

[Sega Chief]

Hi Sega Chief, First great work on the mod, well done sir!

I have encountered a loop-bug with the NT Technician guy on the Highwind, he allowed me to refight the Dark Cave boss Mirage since I didn't seem to get the Mystile but no matter how many times I defeat it there is no rewards screen and the option to fight him is still there. It also repeats asking to convert the Micro-Engine to a key item.

I have searched for info and added the Hotfix but nothing. Any help would be appreciated.

I'll sort this out; I'm going to replace the hotfix patches + IRO later tonight with some other fixes as well.

Hello!

I just started playing NT this week and I have a few things that might be bugs?

So first thing. Cloud has a defense stat of 60 (I'm early on, reactor 5) and Tifa has a defense stat of 44. Both are in the front line, yet Cloud is taking more damage for some reason. Am I not understanding something with the new rules? I had the Chocobelt equipped to him for a couple battles but switched back to the armor you but in sector 7 (Iron?). Not sure why he is taking more damage.

During the Air/Plasmabuster fight, the boss seemed to keep glitching back and forth so you could never really tell which way it was facing.

And I gotta say I loved the "F-it.Close enough" line right before that fight when you have to hit the switch. Been playing for almost 20 years and I still can never get that timing right. Glad that was improved

Air Buster has that problem in the original game as well, I've tried fixing it with AI but it's apparently an animations file problem. The way to tell is to ignore his visual facing and assume that whoever attacked him last, he is facing them (or if he attacked, then he is facing that target; even if it is Rear Gun).

I'm not sure either about why Cloud would be taking more damage; it could be variance, Sadness, or something else. If anyone is taking noticeably more damage later on in the game let me know.

 

[Sega Chief]

New patches + IRO are up.

 

[iDerek759]

New patches + IRO are up.

Uh oh... the latest IRO is causing NT to crash upon exiting the 1st field when jumping off the train 

 

[Sega Chief]

Ah, must have used the wrong template; I'll replace it with the old link while I make a new one.

Edit: That should be it now.

 

[iDerek759]

Ah, must have used the wrong template; I'll replace it with the old link while I make a new one.

Edit: That should be it now.

You are fast sir! 

Edit: I also forgot to ask, you mentioned in an earlier post that boss morphs were being put back in. Is this in the latest build now?

 

[rc2112]

Air Buster has that problem in the original game as well, I've tried fixing it with AI but it's apparently an animations file problem. The way to tell is to ignore his visual facing and assume that whoever attacked him last, he is facing them (or if he attacked, then he is facing that target; even if it is Rear Gun).

I'm not sure either about why Cloud would be taking more damage; it could be variance, Sadness, or something else. If anyone is taking noticeably more damage later on in the game let me know.

Understood. I'll keep an eye out for it.

 

[cha0tic]

How do we cure or prevent zombie status?

Im at the final disc one boss fight and that zombie status is screwing me over.

 

[Sega Chief]

You are fast sir! 

Edit: I also forgot to ask, you mentioned in an earlier post that boss morphs were being put back in. Is this in the latest build now?

No, not yet; I need to go through all the bosses and decide what to put on them.

How do we cure or prevent zombie status?

Im at the final disc one boss fight and that zombie status is screwing me over.

Zombie can't be cured or prevented; the character afflicted with the status should be first priority for MBarrier and Poison/Dual-Drain should be healed off the character with Antidotes or Esuna ASAP. You can block Degen and Rigor Lock if you have a Lv.2 Elemental Materia by combining it with a non-elemental Magic Materia like Seal, or by accessories that block the statuses attached to them (Dual, and Slow/Paralysis; Jem Ring is a good shout). You can also take a risk and use Sleep on Jenova here, but there's a 25% chance of it waking up after each action and counter-attacking with a unique attack so only do this as a last resort.

You'll want to be aggressive and try to get the fight wrapped up quickly before things get out of hand. Try and inflict Slow on her (Shiva can do this 100%) at the start of the fight, and get MBarrier up to help block incoming damage on your Zombied character. Element-wise, Holy and Earth should work. You can get Holy onto a weapon by combining Elemental with Restore Materia if you don't have more than 1 Earth Materia (Titan can also be used), and she has relatively low Magic Defence compared to other bosses. I'd try avoiding the use of Sadness here as well because you'll want to be throwing out Limit Breaks for extra damage. Your group can be in the front row as well with no risk, as none of her attacks are physical.

 

[TheDragonKing82]

I see the patches are having more work done but just to feedback that the last fix didn't help with the issue I mentioned.

Can't think what but I'm not sure if I messed something up somehow.

 

[Sega Chief]

I see the patches are having more work done but just to feedback that the last fix didn't help with the issue I mentioned.

Can't think what but I'm not sure if I messed something up somehow.

The script looks fine:

Code: [Select]

If Var[11][233] bitON 7 (else go to label 4) Resizes/Repositions the window #0 (X=57, Y=19, width=205, height=57) Ask Question "Mystile Drop (Dark Cave Boss) Yes No" in the window #0 (and put selected answer in Var[5][13]) first line=1, last line=2 If Var[5][13] == 1 (else go to label 4)  Add 1 item(s) Mystile to the inventoryLabel 4If Var[11][233] bitON 7 (else go to label 5) Resizes/Repositions the window #0 (X=57, Y=19, width=205, height=57) Ask Question "Micro Engine - Add to Key Items Yes No" in the window #0 (and put selected answer in Var[5][13]) first line=1, last line=2 If Var[5][13] == 1 (else go to label 5)  Bit 4 ON in $KeyItemsLabel 5

There's no fight ID trigger for Mirage, it just drops the Mystile. There's no way it can loop with the Micro-Engine check either as there's no Jump to Label 4. Make sure that you've applied the patch properly or updated to the new IRO if using that. And check inventory afterwards.

 

[TheDragonKing82]

There's no fight ID trigger for Mirage, it just drops the Mystile. There's no way it can loop with the Micro-Engine check either as there's no Jump to Label 4. Make sure that you've applied the patch properly or updated to the new IRO if using that. And check inventory afterwards.

I went back and made sure to use both the NT 1.5 Scene/Enemy Hotfix and NT 1.5 Flevel/Script Hotfix patches, this has fixed and changed the Mirage Fight option to Mystile drop Yes/No option and it dose add the item.

The option to add the Mystile remains every time I speak to the technician along with the micro engine key item add. I can live with it but maybe you want to look into resolving it for the mod's standing. I have noticed something else which may be related, I have an item in key items listed as -Unused- with a :O as the description. I remember I had the key to sector 5 before doing the Dark Cave side quest but had to dig it up again after since it was gone when I went to do Cid's Limit quest. I don't recall if this dose have anything to do with the Dark Cave or the Micro Engine but its the only "bug" I have really encountered so far...

 

[cha0tic]

No, not yet; I need to go through all the bosses and decide what to put on them.

Zombie can't be cured or prevented; the character afflicted with the status should be first priority for MBarrier and Poison/Dual-Drain should be healed off the character with Antidotes or Esuna ASAP. You can block Degen and Rigor Lock if you have a Lv.2 Elemental Materia by combining it with a non-elemental Magic Materia like Seal, or by accessories that block the statuses attached to them (Dual, and Slow/Paralysis; Jem Ring is a good shout). You can also take a risk and use Sleep on Jenova here, but there's a 25% chance of it waking up after each action and counter-attacking with a unique attack so only do this as a last resort.

You'll want to be aggressive and try to get the fight wrapped up quickly before things get out of hand. Try and inflict Slow on her (Shiva can do this 100%) at the start of the fight, and get MBarrier up to help block incoming damage on your Zombied character. Element-wise, Holy and Earth should work. You can get Holy onto a weapon by combining Elemental with Restore Materia if you don't have more than 1 Earth Materia (Titan can also be used), and she has relatively low Magic Defence compared to other bosses. I'd try avoiding the use of Sadness here as well because you'll want to be throwing out Limit Breaks for extra damage. Your group can be in the front row as well with no risk, as none of her attacks are physical.

I went used mbarrier and lmfao I beat the boss without really realizing and without to much difficulty, thanks sega!