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Unlocking the M10-4-3: Is It a Vacation Yet? mission requires a decent amount of effort from the player, and things don’t get easier once it begins. To complete the mission, Zack must defeat the Sea Hulk, one of the most powerful bosses in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion.
How To Unlock Sea Hulk
Sea Hulk can only be fought during the M10-4-3: Is It a Vacation Yet? mission, which can only be unlocked by completing a series of other missions. The first mission players need to complete is the M3-2-2: Take Back the Carrier mission, a Rank 4 mission that becomes available during Chapter 7.
Then, the M10-3: Fun in the Sun! missions become available, each of which must be completed to unlock the next series of missions. Once all three have been completed, Zack must best the first two missions of M10-4: More Fun in the Sun! before gaining access to the final mission, in which waits the Sea Hulk.
Accessories & Materia To Equip
A high level is a must-have for those hoping to defeat the Sea Hulk, but it is vital Zack has the best Materia and accessories equipped if he hopes to minimize the battle’s difficulty level. By the time the battle against Sea Hulk is unlocked, Zack will have amassed a variety of useful battle tools, but it can be hard to decide what’s best to use.
Genji Armor
The Sea Hulk is frighteningly quick, and will often interrupt Zack’s attacks by knocking him over. A great way to negate these moves is to block using Zack’s parasol, as his iconic Buster Sword is not available. For those who wish to tank the damage in order to speed up the process, equipping accessories like the Twisted Headband or the Genji Armor can be a huge help, as they provide the Endure passive ability. This ability prevents the Sea Hulk from knocking Zack down, granting him more opportunities to deal damage.
Genji Shield
The Sea Hulk can also inflict some pretty dangerous status effects, so players should equip Zack with accessories that grant him immunity to certain ailments. The Genji Shield can be a great help as it nullifies all status effects, while also granting Zack with Barrier and MBarrier. If the player has yet to obtain the Genji Shield, a Protect Ring and a Ribbon will make up for its absence. These buffs can go a long way, especially if Zack’s HP isn’t as high as players would like.
Genji Glove
To further increase the chance of victory, Zack should be equipped with accessories that allow him to break his damage and HP limits. The Genji Armor and Genji Glove are both great ways of achieving this, but the Brutal and Adaman Bangle accessories can make for good substitutes if the player has yet to acquire them.
HP Up
Zack will need to possess a variety of unique Materia if he hopes to survive the battle against the Sea Hulk. To make full use of the Break HP Limit ability, players should equip the HP Up Materia. When equipped, this Materia multiplies Zack’s maximum HP, permitting him to take more damage than otherwise. To further increase his health, multiple copies of HP Up can be equipped, or the Materia can be powered up through Materia Fusion.
Quake
The Quake Materia is a must-have for those hoping to dish out some quick, easy damage. When used, the ground surrounding Zack will crumble, and all those who happen to be standing within the spell’s blast radius will be subjected to a pretty high level of damage. What makes Quake so beneficial is how quickly be cast. Sadly, Zack needs to be quite close to the Sea Hulk when casting Quake in order for it to be effective, but it can still be a great help if he doesn’t have access to a powerful ranged attack.
Hell-Thundaga
Though Zack can use any of the Hell spells during the battle against Sea Hulk, the Hell-Thundaga spell is arguably the best. This is mostly due to how it can be cast from afar and still strike the target. Hell-Firaga can also do this, but Hell-Thundaga is slightly faster, making it the better choice of spell.
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Curaga
While relying on Potions can go a long way during the battle against Sea Hulk, the Curaga spell is one of the best ways to restore health in the whole game. Though the Full-Cure Materia is arguably better in terms of the amount of health it can restore, obtaining it takes a ridiculous amount of work. Instead of seeking it out, players should rely on Curaga, a slightly less effective version of the spell, but a much easier one to obtain.
Dualcast
To take full advantage of Zack’s magic, players should seek out the Dualcast Materia, one of the best Materia in all of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion. When equipped, any spell Zack casts will automatically be cast twice, doubling the Materia’s potential. Zack can obtain a Dualcast Materia during the M9-4-1: Genesis’s Ambition mission by searching the chests in the southeastern corner of the map.
Costly Punch
For those still struggling to deal enough damage to the Sea Hulk, the Costly Punch Materia can make the battle extremely easy. So long as Zack’s HP Limit is broken, players should be able to inflict some serious damage against the Sea Hulk using this Materia. Costly Punch should only be used, however, if the player wishes to end the battle quickly, as that’s exactly what it will do. There are several ways to acquire the Costly Punch Materia in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, but some methods are easier than others.
How To Beat Sea Hulk
The Sea Hulk is, in essence, a different variation of the Behemoth enemy, but it might just be the most powerful version of the foe Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion has to offer. Upon beginning the M10-4-3 mission, Zack will be thrust into a battle against it, and though it might not seem too challenging at first, this beast has a few unusual tricks up its sleeve.
The first thing most players will notice is the Regen ability at play. Thanks to this effect, the Sea Hulk will constantly regenerate health throughout the battle, which can prove to make the fight much more challenging. Dispel will not remove the Regen effect, so players will need to ensure Zack is capable of dealing more damage than the Sea Hulk can recover. If the player is struggling to keep up, it would be wise to continue leveling up until they feel more confident. If that doesn’t help, the Costly Punch Materia can be used to quickly bring the Sea Hulk to its knees.
Gyro Tail
Aside from the Double Claw Swipe and Double Tail Swipe attacks, the Gyro Tail attack is the Sea Hulk’s most regularly used move. Thankfully, it can be dodged if the player can predict the attack. Zack should dodge out of the way the moment the Gyro Tail prompt appears on the screen if the player wants to avoid taking damage, otherwise, they should be ready to block whenever the beast’s animation begins to change.
Heave
Heave is also a pretty deadly attack, but so long as Zack maintains a safe distance away from the Sea Hulk whenever possible, avoiding getting hit by it shouldn’t be too difficult. With enough distance between them, the Sea Hulk will need to close in on Zack before it can unleash Heave, rendering the attack quite easy to avoid.
Ten Million Volts
The Ten Million Volts attack is arguably the weakest ability the Sea Hulk possesses. When used, a flurry of lightning bolts will surround Zack and inflict some decent damage, but only if he has no way to reduce the spell’s effects. Wall can be a huge help during this attack, but equipping the Protect Ring or the Genji Shield is a much more reliable way to lessen the damage dealt by this move.
Meteorite
Fans of the Final Fantasy series may be familiar with the Meteor spell and how Behemoths can make use of it. Sea Hulk is no exception, but this particular monster won’t start using the spell until a significant portion of its health has been depleted. It isn’t possible to dodge out of the spell’s range, so the Wall effect should be implemented to help minimize the damage it deals if Zack gets hit. It’s also possible to prevent the Sea Hulk from unleashing the attack if the player deals enough damage to it. This can easily be accomplished thanks to the Costly Punch ability.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC.
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