Final Fantasy 7 VII Rebirth Gears and Gambits (Hard Mode) Guide

Gears and Gambits is a minigame in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. It’s first available in Chapter 10 from the Phenomenon Intel (Protorelics) in Cosmo Canyon Region. There are 4 Gears and Gambits minigames, each having a Normal and Hard Mode version. Normal Mode is when you play the Phenomenon Intel for the first time. Hard Mode is unlocked after finishing all 4 Phenomenon Intel in Cosmo Canyon. Then you can revisit the Phenomenon Intel locations to replay this minigame in Hard Mode.

Finishing all minigames in Hard Mode is needed to unlock all of Johnny’s Treasure Trove Items.

Tip: You can make Normal & Hard Mode of this minigame much easier by changing the combat difficulty to “Easy” in the game settings. The combat difficulty is a separate setting from the minigame difficulty but makes the minigame easier too. ATB will recharge faster with this setting.

Gears and Gambits – Unlock Requirement

• Normal Mode is unlocked when doing the Cosmo Canyon Phenomenon Intel in Chapter 10 for the first time (4 total).
• Hard Mode is unlocked after clearing all Cosmo Canyon Phenomenon Intel in Chapter 10. Then revisit the Gears and Gambits locations to replay them and pick the Hard Version.
• Refer to » All Phenomenon Intel (Protorelic) Locations.

Gears and Gambits – How to Play

This minigame similar to Fort Condor, except this time you use robots. The goal is to defeat the boss in the middle. Each type of robot is strong against another type: Type 1 is effective against Ice, Type 2 against Fire, Type 3 against Lightning. It will show the weakness icon above the enemy’s head, so simply play the ones matching that icon. If the enemy has a blue ice icon you play your Type 1 which has ice attacks, against red fire icon you play your Type 2 which has Fire Attacks, against yellow lightning icon you play Type 3 which has Lightning Attacks. You see an ATB bar in the bottom left of the screen, whenever it’s charged you can deploy one of 3 robot types by pressing .

For Normal Mode: The first two fights are easy. But the third and fourth get much harder. The enemies are flying and must be shot down first. You’ll need to equip your robots with gravity or missiles to shoot down the flying enemies. In the robot selection screen, press , then to auto-equip your robots with the best loadout for the fight. This will make it significantly easier. Because the enemies are flying you’ll be quicker to defeat them when you play two of the robot types they are weak against. For example, if an enemy has a yellow lightning icon, you should play 2x Type 3 Robots (equipped with lightning attacks) in a row. They will quickly shoot down the flying enemy with their missile or gravity attack and then they will follow up with their elemental attacks. This quickly clears the path forward to the boss. After putting 2 robots, let the ATB charge enough that you can place another 2 when the next enemy spawns. This way you always have 2 robots in reserve to counter whatever the opponents are weak against. If you don’t have any luck with your loadout, go back to the customization menu before the fight, and press > again to have it automatically customize your robots.

Gears and Gambits – Hard Mode Strategies

Tip: Putting the game on easy difficulty in the settings makes this easier.

After unlocking Protorelic in Cosmo Canyon region you will unlock the hard version of Gears and Gambits. On Hard you can’t use the automated building option before the match. You will have to customize the robots yourself. You are also limited to having only 2 of each robot on the field at any given time (but can keep playing them infinitely when one dies). Because of the limit, you’ll want to make each robot as strong as possible. This makes them more expensive but will improve survivability and damage output.

Use this setup for all 4 Hard Mode matches:

• T1 Robot (Blue) (750 Health / 95 Cost / 10 ATB / Fire Affinity)
  • Foe = Blizzaga Shot – condition: 1 enemy destroyed
  • Foe: Airborne = Gravity Shot
  • Foe = Shock – condition: self HP < 50%
  • Elemental Weakness Priority = Blizzard Shot
  • Self: Modify HP & Cost = Cost -20
• T2 Robot (Red) (900 Health, 135 Cost, 14 ATB / Thunder affinity)
  • Foe = Firaga Shot – condition: 1 enemy destroyed
  • Foe: Airborne = Missile
  • Elemental Weakness Priority = Fire Shot
  • Foe = Hyper Lariat
  • Self: Modify HP & Cost = 150 HP
• T3 Robot (Yellow) (1050 HP, 130 Cost, 13 ATB, Ice Affinity)
  • Foe = Thundaga Shot – condition: 1 enemy destroyed
  • Foe: Airborne = Gravity Shot
  • Elemental Weakness Priority = Thunder Shot
  • Foe = Lariat
  • Self: Modify HP & Cost = HP +300, Cost +15
• Portal Skills: Aeroga & Comet

If an opponent plays more of one specific robot type, you can switch the HP +300, Cost +15 to the robot that counters it (restart the match and change this before the rematch). You can also try replacing Blizzaga / Firaga / Thundaga with buffs and healing abilities (Healing, Regen etc) but it’s not necessary. As you can play new robots infinitely it’s better to go for an aggressive high-damage loadout than a defensive one, if a robot dies you can immediately play a new one.

For the gameplay strategy: always let the opponent play a robot first, then play the color that counters it (if opponent has a red icon you play your red fire T2 robot, always matching the color of the enemy icon). Keep at least 1-2 robots in reserve, in case enemies spawn on a lane you don’t have many robots on you can still counter them. Remember to use your Portal Skills: Aeroga & Comet (Offensive Loadout). Use this when 2 or more enemies are close together. You can also use them on the boss if he’s at low health and you want to force the victory, but generally they are better used on regular enemies to clear the path. If you struggle with a particular boss follow the video walkthrough above.

For more guides check out Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Wiki.