One of the objectives for Fiend Intel 3: Top of the Pecking Order asks you to not get stunned by the Saberhawk, so we’ll tell you how to avoid that attack in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. These birds can get quite annoying if you don’t know how to stop their stun attacks.
FF7 Rebirth: How to avoid being stunned by Saberhawk
You’ll enter Fiend Intel 3 against three nasty Saberhawks, which are one of the Corel enemies to Assess. To complete Chadley’s challenge, you need to achieve all three combat objectives, one of them being to avoid the stun effect. You can avoid getting stunned by the Saberhawk in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth by dodging out of the way, or Pressuring/Staggering it before it attacks.
While these birds enjoy pecking at you from above, they’ll also warn you about an attack called Zap Talon. This will electrify party members within close range of the attack and stun them for a duration of time. The Saberhawk will make it even worse with Thunderpeck as a follow-up move against your already-stunned party member, electrifying them with lightning damage.
Instead, once you see the red label warning you that the Saberhawk is about to use Zap Talon, try to have any party members who are nearest to them dodge or run out of harm’s way. Guarding didn’t seem to make much of a difference, so I opted to dodge, as their effect radius isn’t too large.
How to Assess Saberhawk
Once you have one charge of ATB, using the Assess Materia (if one of your party members has it on hand) on the Saberhawk will reveal how to Pressure it and what it’s weak to. You’ll soon find out that the Saberhawk is weak to Fire damage, so use Fire Materia spells or any other attacks that deal Fire damage.
Staying aggressive against the three Saberhawks is another great way to avoid getting stunned. On my first attempt, I didn’t even notice them attempting to stun my teammates since I was so focused on my attacks. You can do this by Pressuring and Staggering them. I like to use Barret’s Overcharge ability to quickly rack up an enemy’s Stagger gauge.
Since one of the other objectives for this challenge is to Stagger the Saberhawk, I’d suggest a party with Cloud, Barret, and Yuffie. While Cloud and Barret can focus on Staggering the enemy with continuous blows, Yuffie can use her Fire Ninjutsu to Pressure the enemy before they can even think to use Zap Talon.
You’ll also need to defeat the Saberhawks within the time limit, so constantly switch between the three party members and stay on the offense to take them down quickly. This challenge’s objectives are pretty similar to the Stormwing, which is another enemy from a Fiend Intel.
