So you want to summon the ice queen into battle and freeze all your foes in their tracks? Similar to other Summons, Shiva is one of the most powerful beings that Cloud and his party can call into battle when they’re against a powerful enemy. While some of these can be found in the world of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, others require players to defeat these creatures in battle before they’ll lend you their strength. One of the first Summons you’ll fight is Shiva, who is an Ice Summon that focuses on area of effect (AOE) and ranged attacks.
Unlocking the Shiva Materia Fight
To unlock Chadley’s VR battle against Shiva you will need to progress to Chapter 8: Budding Bodyguard. Once you reach the Slums and are free to explore, speak to Chadley who is hanging by the bench, vending machine, and Materia store. Speaking to him will unlock the VR fight, allowing you to fight Shiva. If you win, you’ll earn this character as a Summon and there’s no penalty for dying or retrying the battle.
How to Beat Shiva
Going into this fight it’s critical to realize that Cloud is by himself. He won’t have any backup or Party Members to assist him, so prepare accordingly. We strongly recommend you give Cloud the Healing and Fire Materias, even if they’re currently equipped to other characters. Fire is especially good against Shiva since it can stun her out of attacks and build up her Pressured meter.
When the fight starts, attack Shiva with a quick combo and then roll to her side. She will try to launch one of her ice attacks to freeze Cloud in place. Don’t let this happens as Shiva typically follows up by dropping a big icicle on your head. You’ll want to constantly strike her a few times and then bail out, as most of her moves are AOE attacks. These can be annoying to be trapped in, as they punish overly aggressive foes.
Instead, when you roll away use Cloud’s Fira ability to ignite Shiva, stunning her and sending the ice queen to the ground. Rush over and hammer away with your most potent sword combos. Only run away when she gets back up, as Shiva will typically retaliate once she’s afloat. She will not start firing projectiles at Cloud, so either roll away from them or use his block to mitigate some of the damage. They don’t hit hard, so don’t worry about blocking this attack.
At around half health your Summon Meter will begin to fill, letting you call out Ifrit into battle. This is when the fight gets super easy, as Ifrit’s fire moves do a lot of damage to Shiva, allowing you to overwhelm her before she can attack. Consider timing your Summon with her Stagger meter so Ifrit can do extra damage after she is knocked to the ground. Once Shiva is dead you will be taken out of the VR world and be given her Materia.
Congratulations, you can now summon this frosty foe to lay waste to all your adversaries!
