Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth nearly doubles the number of party members you can control, adding on the likes of feline Red XIII, Yuffie the ninja, and Scottish plush toy Cait Sith. These new characters bring wildly different combat strategies, on top of all the ways the previous members have been enhanced and changed. All this means there are dozens of ways you can build your party and that can easily become overwhelming, especially if you’re hoping to take on Rebirth’s more challenging bosses and Brutal combat simulators. We’ve put together a few recommended party setups for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, for both the main game and unlockable Hard Mode.
Best Party Setups in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Additions like Red XIII and Cait Sith create some dynamic new party setups.
If you’re playing on Easy or Normal mode, you can get away with nearly any party setup your first time through Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. However, if you’re on Dynamic difficulty, things might be a little trickier, especially if you’re taking on secret bosses or the combat simulator. There are a few party members that work exceptionally well together, so with every single character in mind, here are our recommended party setups for your first time through Rebirth. Of course, keep in mind there are quite a few moments in the game that make you play as a specific party.
Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith
Cloud is required for your party for most of the game, but that’s fine as he’s arguably the strongest character in the game, at least in terms of physical attacks. Setting Cloud with Tifa and Aerith provides a wealth of options for combat, and provides a nice balance between physical attacks and magic.
Aerith is going to be your healer and buffer, and she should focus on that. But you should also give her a Fire/Ice materia or Lightning/Wind materia, to exploit enemy weaknesses.
Tifa and Aerith’s Divine Punishment Synergy ability is one of the best in the entire game, causing magic damage to enemies over a wide area. It can also interrupt enemy attacks, even for bosses, giving you a crucial opening to recover, if needed.
The other benefit of this setup is that both Cloud and Tifa have Focused abilities that build the stagger gauge. Use Aerith to exploit elemental weaknesses, then slam enemies with Cloud and Tifa to stagger them quickly. After stagger, you can use Tifa’s abilities to increase the stagger percentage, or Aerith’s Ray of Judgment to do the same thing.
Cloud, Barret, and Red XIII
This is another well-rounded setup that gives you a lot of flexibility, and Red XIII is easily the best character in Rebirth behind Cloud. He has a good balance between physical and magic power, and his weapon abilities are incredibly useful.
For this, you should once again spec Cloud around physical attacks, but it’s also a good idea to give him a bit of magic. Barret should be your main healer as he has the best defense, while Red XIII focuses on buffing and magic attacks.
The key here is to use Barret as a kind of healing tank that can soak up the damage, while Red XIII exploits weakness and Cloud drives things home. Red XIII’s abilities should also play a big role. Supernal Fervor can be used with two ATB gauges while Red is in Vengeance Mode, and Hastes the entire party.
Cloud, Yuffie, and Cait Sith
This last setup is more of your wildcard option, when you want a group that can cause a ton of damage quickly. The focal point of this party is Yuffie, whose Ninjutsu ability lets you exploit any elemental weakness. Because of this, you’ll want to keep Cloud and Cait Sith focused on stat-boosting materia, rather than loading them up with magic.
Give all the magic to Yuffie, outside of some Healing and Revive materia for the other two. After that build Cloud entirely focused on physical attacks with materia like Strength Up, HP Up, ATB Assist, etc. You’ll want Cloud to use weapon abilities as often as possible, as it also helps him build Limit Gauge. Cait Sith, on the other hand, should focus entirely on building his Luck stat, and other boosting stats like HP, so it should be a constant use. Watcher’s Respite, on the other hand, can give you some healing in a pinch.
Best Hard Mode Party Setups in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Red XIII is one of the most useful characters in Rebirth, due to his fantastic Vengeance Mode abilities.
Hard Mode is where things get interesting, as suddenly your party can’t use any items whatsoever, both in and out of battle, and every enemy is just a bit stronger. You’ll need to methodically build each of your characters with a proper materia and weapon setup, but these are the parties that should help give you a leg up. As a note, on Hard Mode, every single character should have an HP Up materia.
Cloud, Red XIII, and Yuffie
This will likely be your main party post-game, and the same ideas we mentioned for each of these characters before apply again. Yuffie is absolutely essential in Hard Mode because of her elemental attacks, meaning you don’t have to focus on loading up a character with elemental materia.
Yuffie should get equipment and materia that bumps up her magic, so things like Magic Up, MP Up, Comet, etc. Red XIII should be assigned as your healer, so make sure he has Magnify on his Healing Materia. Again, his abilities will be tremendously useful on Hard Mode, as you won’t have to expend MP to use Haste or heal.
Cloud should still focus on physical attacks, but because Hard Mode takes out items, make sure he also has healing and revival materia. It’s also a good idea to equip Cloud with an Elemental materia on Fire/Ice materia, as it lets him take advantage of the majority of enemy weaknesses across the game.
Cloud, Barret, and Aerith
This is an alternate party you can use on Hard Mode, focusing on defensive strategies. Aerith has the lowest defense of anyone in the game. Because of that, you’ll need to make sure she’s protected a lot of the time, with Cloud and Barret taking enemy attention and soaking up damage. Boost Aerith’s HP and defense as high as possible with HP Up and Vitality Up materia.
Load up Aerith with magic attack materia, and make sure Cloud and Barret still have healing and revive options. Aerith should be your primary magic attacker, as her Soul Drain ability ensures she’ll never run out of MP.
Barret can also focus on buffs, so feel free to equip him with things like Enervation materia. You can also link those materia to a Magic Focus materia, which makes his buffs last even longer.
Again, Cloud’s loadout should focus on boosting his physical attacks. You should also give him as many ATB boosting materia as possible. If you’ve upgraded his Folio properly, Cloud will boost his Limit Gauge by expending ATB charges, so the faster you attack with abilities, the faster you can use a Limit Break.
