How to Pressure Fonadu in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (FF7R)

Completing Fiend Intel missions in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a great way to earn points with Chadley so you can unlock rare material and other rewards, but sometimes, the enemies that you face don’t have clear weaknesses. Facing off against Fonadu in Junon is one such example.

If you’re trying to complete Fiend Intel 1: Cacophonic Corvid in the Junon region of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, then you might be having some trouble completing all of the optional objectives to get a full score on the mission. Even with an Assess Materia equipped, figuring out how exactly you’re supposed to Pressure Fonadu before the timer stops can be frustrating.

How to Pressure and Stagger Fonadu in FF7 Rebirth

Unlike most enemies, you can’t Pressure Fonadu by capitalizing on its elemental weakness. While the bird does have a weakness to Wind attacks, landing Aero spells or other related abilities won’t Pressure or stagger it. Instead, you need to inflict enough damage to force it to unleash a powerful attack. Evading that attack will immediately Pressure Fonadu.

The attack you need to look out for is called “Death from Above.” It’s an unblockable move, so it’ll have a red exclamation mark next to its name whenever Fonadu uses it. If you manage to dodge this diving attack, Fonadu will become Pressured. If you get hit by it, then you’ll need to force it to use Death from Above again by inflicting more damage. If you accidentally defeat Fonadu, you can restart the Fiend Intel mission by holding the Triangle button.

Once you’ve Pressured Fonadu, the bird should go down fairly easily. Pelt it with melee attacks, Wind magic, and stagger-inducing abilities like Cloud’s Focused Thrust to stagger it so you can get 100% completion on this Fiend Intel mission. Fonadu is the only enemy in this encounter, so you don’t need to worry about anything else.

To make Fiend Intel missions easier, make sure to equip an Assess Materia on Cloud or your favorite party member. This will let you view enemy weaknesses (including how to Pressure enemies) for the cost of just one ATB gauge, so it’s a lifesaver in situations like this. You’ll also need to Assess every Junon enemy to unlock certain combat simulator challenges, so make sure you Assess Fonadu so you don’t need to come back later.