FF7 Rebirth Materia Guide: Living in a Materia World
Materia girl.
Materia come in a variety of flavors and colors but if you’ve never tried to make the most of one of these orbs of magical ability, knowing which ones to equip can be daunting. The ten we picked out below offer a wide range of use cases and will be beneficial from Chapter 1 all the way through a subsequent replay on Hard Mode in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
If Materia slots are coming at a premium and you can’t decide on what to wear, some of these orbs can be unlocked as earrings, giving the wielder the highest tier of that particular Materia in exchange for filling their accessory slot.
Enemy Skill
Previously one of the most underrated Command Materia in the original Final Fantasy VII, Enemy Skill allowed Cloud and team abilities that would normally wipe the floor when used by enemies.
Where to obtain: Complete Chadley’s Grasslands Battle Intel: Know Thine Enemy
Previously one of the most underrated Command Materia in the original Final Fantasy VII, Enemy Skill allowed Cloud and team abilities that would normally wipe the floor when used by enemies. In Rebirth, rather than being hit by the skills to learn them, Chadley instead offers up the materia and additional skills by completing combat challenges unlocked by using the Assess Materia and scanning each and every enemy in the field. The first skill learned, Sonic Boom, combines a ranged wind elemental attack while simultaneously granting the caster both Bravery and Faith, a physical and magic attack increase respectively. All of this comes at the added benefit of costing zero MP to perform.
Chakra
Where to obtain: Any vendor that sells Materia (Chapter 2 onwards)
Being able to recover HP without requiring MP or consumable items is a beneficial boon in any RPG. Chakra has the added benefit of curing the user of poison while also recovering a fraction of their lost HP. While it won’t ever heal the user up to full, at maximum level, it can recover 40% of the user’s missing health for only one ATB. At lower levels, both for the Materia and character it’s attached to, Chakra’s effectiveness can be underwhelming but it’s still worth keeping equipped until its ability is maxed out.
Prayer
Where to obtain the Prayer materia: Aerith’s starting equipment
Where to obtain: Aerith’s starting equipment
Abilities that cost two ATB gauges can be costly to pull off but are often well worth the investment. The Prayer command ability allows players to cast Pray and heal the entity party at once. On Hard Mode where healing items are prohibited, expect to keep at least one character in your party with this materia on at all times. Personally, I would leave this on a secondary character, keep Chakra equipped to my main character and use whichever is situationally better.
Time
Where to obtain: Chapter 6: Pirate’s Rampage minigame at Costa del Sol
Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. What better way to dish out more damage than to strike before the enemy can even reach you? While Haste won’t make you necessarily attack faster, every attack will fill up the ATB gauge at a substantial boost to pull off those flashy character abilities and stagger an enemy before they can even move. Couple that with the ability to Slow or even Stop the enemy and victory can be all but assured.
Level Boost
Yuffie, a ninja in Rebirth, can make use of materia in her weapon.
Where to obtain: Chadley’s Development Intel (Chapter 10 - Junon Region) or purchase from the Gold Saucer (Battle Square - 2,500 GP)
With few exceptions, Materia in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth level up and gain more effectiveness as players grind out levels and earn AP. Many high ranking Materia abilities cost thousands of AP to unlock the next tier and Level Boost simply lets players get to that next level and use spells such as Arise from the Revival Materia much earlier on. There are only a handful of Level Boost Materia available in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth but players will slowly rely less on these as their Materia naturally level up and they can slot in a more effective Support materia in the place of Level Boost.
Synergy
Where to obtain: Chadley’s Development Intel (Chapter 9 - Gongaga Region)
If you stick to playing just one or two characters, that’s an entire third character who won’t be using the spell materia and skills slotted into their gear. By combining the Synergy ability, that AI-controlled character will use whatever is paired when the player character uses up one of their ATB gauges. Take Comet, for example. Rather than having to spend 29 MP to cast the skill, why not get a complimentary cast and build up additional stagger damage for free? This Support materia works by being linked together with a Materia on a piece of armor or equipment and a glowing icon appears if Synergy works together with the selected Materia.
First Strike
Where to obtain: Chadley’s Grasslands Battle Intel: Horror on the Range
When maxed out, First Strike lets the wearer start a fight with one ATB gauge and instantly pull off a signature ability or spell. For even more synergy, combine this with the ATB Boost materia which doubles the user’s current ATB level and perform back-to-back abilities as soon as the fight starts. This is especially strong for Tifa to cast Unbridled Strength and Focused Strike, or Yuffie to cast Elemental Ninjutsu and Doppelganger to shred through an enemy’s elemental weakness.
Fire and Ice/Lightning and Wind
Lightning and Wind Materia lets you use lightning and wind magic.
Where to obtain: Chadley’s Development Intel (Grasslands Region - Fire and Ice/ Junon Region - Lightning and Wind)
For most of Rebirth’s adventure, players will have weapons and armor that will cap out at four, maybe five Materia slots. This limits what spells and commands Cloud’s party can being to battle and finding ways to open up Materia slots can be very beneficial early on. These dual-element Materia can grant the cast ranks of two different elements at only a single Materia slot but come with the added cost of requiring more AP to reach the next tier.
Elemental
Where to obtain: Chadley’s Junon Battle Intel: Conqueror of the Skies or Gongaga Battle Intel: Distant Tremors
On its own, Elemental Materia is full of potential but useless without another Materia junctioned alongside it. Depending on whether players slot the Elemental Materia into their weapon or armor determines whether they’ll use that infuse that element into their attacks or take less damage by that chosen element. When Elemental is combined with one of the dual-element Materia such as Lightning and Wind, that’s half of the possible elements that players will take less damage from and eventually absorb if leveled to the maximum.
Steadfast Block
Where to obtain: Any vendor that sells Materia (Chapter 6 onwards)
Steadfast Block and Precision Defense are a pair of Complete (or Independent from the original Final Fantasy VII) Materia that don’t need any other Materia to confer their bonuses. While both of these Materia are great for giving the player-controlled character more defensive options, Steadfast Block is better for beginners or those that are still learning the proper timing to parry incoming attacks. With Steadfast Block, players can take less damage and also gain a small amount of ATB for successfully blocking an attack and the effectiveness becomes more substantial as the Materia is leveled up over time.
