Air Buster

Air Buster, referred to as Airbuster in the BradyGames guide, is a boss in Final Fantasy VII. Cloud, Barret and Tifa encounter it outside of the Sector 5 Reactor.

Battle
The battle is a Side Attack with Tifa and Barret on one side, Cloud on the other side, and Air Buster in the middle. Unlike most opponents, attacks to the back of Air Buster will deal five-times normal damage instead of the regular double damage. Air Buster turns to face whoever attacked it last.

Air Buster will only use Big Bomber and counterattacks for the first four turns of the battle, in "Program 1 Operation". After the first turn, it will read "Big Bomber's out of ammo." and then enter "Program 2 Operation" and use the weaker Energy Ball for the rest of the battle.

Strategy
Using Limit Breaks against Air Buster's back results in a quick fight and the combined power of Cloud's and Barret's Limits can take down Air Buster in a single turn. If the party doesn't have Limit Breaks built up, they should use normal attacks against its back and use Bolt.

Air Buster turns to face whoever attacked it last, so Cloud should attack it first, so it turns its back towards Tifa and Barret. Both Tifa and Barret should then attack in succession, as attacks to the back yield more damage. Air Buster will turn its back to Cloud, giving him a free shot for more damage.

Gallery
Air Buster