Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: Best Late-Game Materia Setups

The final stretch in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth includes some of its toughest battles, but they are nothing that your fully equipped party can’t handle. By the late game, you should have unlocked most materia that is available to you in the world, whether it be from Chadley’s Intel missions or from fully upgrading their levels, and you will have every party member that is playable in the game.

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There are some better weapons and equipment that you’ll be able to acquire in the post-game, but if you want to get through the final chapters of the legendary story, your characters better be prepared for what’s to come.

Cloud

Cloud keeps his playstyle from the early game through the remainder of the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth story. His sentinel-like attacks allow the ex-Soldier to remain on the frontline with a barrage of powerful weapon abilities. Therefore, it’s best to equip him with materia that will rapidly increase his ATB gauge and buff him to keep him in the battle longer.

Purple materia will be your best friend when cooking up a late game build for Cloud. Materia like First Strike and Skill Master are essential as they will allow you to spam all of his strong skills to stagger your enemy quickly.

Equipment

Materia

Effect

Igneous Saber

Skill Master

ATB boost after using three types of ATB commands.

Auto-Weapon Ability

Activate Auto-Weapon Ability

Auto-Unique Ability

Allows an ally to automatically use unique abilities when not actively controlled during combat. Tifa will also use Unbridled Strength when not actively controlled if equipped.

Precision Defense Focus

Extend input timing window for precision defense.

Steadfast Block

Take slightly less damage + small ATB boost when guarding.

HP Up

Increase max HP.

Valkyrian Bangle

HP Absorption - Enemy Skill

Absorb HP. Use enemy skills as abilities.

Darkside - Chakra

Increase ability potency by 7-20% and suffer 5% HP damage on each use. Allows you to restore your own HP and cure Poison.

First Strike - Strength Up

Small ATB increase at start of battle. Increase max Strength.

Tifa

Similar to Cloud, Tifa relies on using her powerful combos and weapon abilities to stagger the enemy within seconds. Tifa’s main bread-and-butter will be her Unbridled Strength skill, which will increase her Chi level, unlocking new unique attacks to help her in battle.

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Since you’ll want to be up close and personal with the enemy, you’ll be smacked around quite a bit, so materia like Precision Defense Focus and Chakra will be essential to keep Tifa in tip-top shape for battle.

Equipment

Materia

Effect

Crystal Gloves

Precision Defense Focus - First Strike

Extend input timing window for precision defense. Small ATB increase at start of battle.

Chakra

Allows you to restore your own HP and cure Poison.

Speed Up

Increase max Speed.

Auto-Weapon Ability

Activate Auto-Weapon Ability

Skill Master

ATB increases after using 3 types of commands.

Hades Armlet

Enemy Skill - HP Absorption

Use enemy skills as abilities. Absorb HP with linked materia.

Strength Up - Steadfast Block

Increase max Strength. Take slightly less damage + small ATB boost when guarding.

ATB Stagger

Small ATB boost on staggering a foe.

Time - Barrier (or any support magic)

Allows you to use time magic. Allows you to use defensive spells.

Aerith

Throughout most of the early and mid-game, Aerith will be your go-to healer, but as you unlock and find new materia, she will become an excellent caster with incredible potential for exploiting weakness. Her high magic attack stat will shred through the enemy’s defenses no matter the situation.

The 'Lightning and Wind' and 'Fire and Ice' materia are two of Rebirth's best since they allow you to use two spells for the price of one materia slot.

The elemental magic materia, combined with MP Absorption, will allow Aerith to spam magic, while keeping some MP for dire healing situations.

If you know what kind of enemy you will be facing, you can switch both spell materia with each other depending on which you will be using more.

Equipment

Materia

Effect

Timeless Rod

Healing - Magnify

Allows you to use healing spells. Allows you to expand the range of spells with the linked materia.

Fire and Ice / Lightning and Wind

Allows you to use fire and ice magic. Allows you to use lightning and wind magic.

Yggdrasil Armlet

Fire and Ice / Lightning and Wind - MP Absorption

Allows you to recover MP when unleashing an attack of the linked materia's type.

Prayer - ATB Boost

Allows you to restore the party's HP with Pray. Doubles ATB when activated.

First Strike - MP Up

Small ATB increase at start of battle Increases max MP.

Barret

Barret will be your tank in every section of the game, but the late game is where he truly shines. While this holds true for every character to some extent, it's especially imperative that you equip Barret with Auto materia - Auto-Unique, Auto-Weapon. Barret is terrific at keeping the enemy off your flank with his rad aggro-pulling, damage-soaking, abilities.

Pairings like Provoke, Vitality Up, and Spirit Up, will allow Barret to draw the aggro from the fight, letting you shred through the enemy with your other characters.

Equipment

Materia

Effect

Calamitous Bazooka

Auto-Unique Ability

Allows an ally to automatically use unique abilities when not actively controlled during combat. Tifa will also use Unbridled Strength when not actively controlled if equipped.

Auto-Weapon Ability

Activate Auto-Weapon Ability

Steadfast Block

Take slightly less damage + small ATB boost when guarding.

Provoke

Automatically uses Provoke to temporarily draw the enemy's attention when teammates are severely injured.

HP Up

Increase max HP.

Celestial Bangle

Barrier - Magic Efficiency

Allows you to use defensive spells. Reduces the MP cost of spells with the linked materia in battle.

Vitality Up

Increase max Vitality.

Synergy Support

Slightly increases synergy when other party members use a synergy abillity during battle

Spirit Up

Increase max Spirit.

Prayer

Allows you to restore the party's HP with Pray.

Red XIII

Red XIII is quite a versatile character. He excels at physical combat, yet his magic stat is nothing to laugh at. Red can equip combat magic like Fire and Ice, but if paired with Elemental, his deadly fangs and claws will now be imbued with magic, making enemies more susceptible to his attacks.

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His Vengeance Mode is one of the best sustain-based unique attacks in the game, but giving him a bit of HP Up doesn’t hurt anybody, especially if you want to give up some of your HP to increase your damage with Darkside.

Equipment

Materia

Effect

Golden Collar

Healing - Auto Cast

Allows you to use healing spells. Allows an ally to automatically use spells with the linked materia.

Vitality Up - Spirit Up

Increase max Vitality. Increase max Spirit.

Precision Defense Focus

Extend input timing window for precision defense.

Darkside

Increase ability potency by 7-20% and suffer 5% HP damage on each use.

Celestial Bangle

Barrier - Magic Focus

Allows you to use defensive spells. Increses the potency and duration of spells.

Auto Weapon Ability

Activate Auto-Weapon Ability

Provoke

Automatically uses Provoke to temporarily draw the enemy's attention when teammates are severely injured.

Steadfast Block

Take slightly less damage + small ATB boost when guarding.

HP Up

Increase max HP.

Yuffie

Yuffie is one of the best characters in the game, hands down. She inherently has the ability to exploit any enemy weakness due to her Ninjutsu ability and has the chance for huge burst potential by charging up her Banishment gauge.

With the Crystalline Cross equipped, Yuffie can use the multiple materia slots to buff her stats rather than equipping her with more magic, as she already has access to every element. Depending on the fight, you can add a magic materia paired with Elemental to add extra magical damage to your shuriken throw attacks.

Equipment

Materia

Effect

Crystalline Cross

Fire and Ice / Lightning and Wind - Elemental

Allows you to use fire and ice magic. Allows you to use lightning and wind magic. Infuses attacks with elemental magic.

ATB Assist

Slightly fills teammates ATB gauges.

HP Up

Increase max HP.

MP Up

Increase max MP.

Luck Up

Increase max Luck.

Valkyrian Bangle

Subversion -Warding

Grants resistance to the linked materia's detrimental status effect.

Prayer - First Strike

Allows you to restore the party's HP. Small ATB increase at start of battle

Auto-Weapon Ability - Assess

Activate Auto-Weapon Ability Allows you to view enemy info.

Cait Sith

Just like Red XII, Cait Sith is an excellent and versatile character, but his Roll o’ The Dice ability can provide some excellent buffs with a short cast time, making him a perfect support for your party. The amount of luck involved here can make him a barrel of fun to control, since the outcomes are always positive - no game over rolls like in the original!

Assess is crucial to every party, and can be slotted into any character build, but if you are using Cait Sith, he will be the best option to carry the essential materia.

Equipment

Materia

Effect

Crystal Megaphone

First Strike

ATB increase at start of battle

ATB Stagger

ATB boost on staggering a foe.

Barrier

Allows you to use defensive spells.

HP Up

Increase max HP.

Precision Defense Focus

Extend input timing window for precision defense.

Valkyrian Bangle

Luck Up - Assess

Increase max Luck. Allows you to view enemy info.

ATB Boost - Steadfast Block

Doubles ATB when activated. Take slightly less damage + small ATB boost when guarding.

ATB Assist

ATB increase for ally when repeating command 2 times.

Synergy Support

Slightly increases synergy when other party members use a synergy abillity during battle.

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