Materia is used to build a customized, powerful party in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and using it to create optimized builds is essential for hard mode. You can equip Materia to your weapons and armor to cast spells, summon creatures, and benefit from various buffs. What’s more, your Materia will level while they’re being actively used, so here’s how to level up Materia in FF7 Remake, and as efficiently as possible.
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How to Level Up Materia in FF7 Remake
You level up Materia by earning AP for them, which is like XP, but for Materia. When you attach Materia to your weapons and armor, you earn AP for them when they’re used in combat. The number of available slots for Materia in your gear varies, and some slots are connected to allow for powerful synergies.
Each Materia has different levels, which will improve its stats when enough AP has been earned to climb a level. Materia is mastered when its AP ceiling has been reached. In fact, mastering all 12 green (magic) Materia is one of Chadley’s Battle Intel Reports objectives, for which he’ll give you the MP Absorption Materia in return. If you link MP Absorption with magic Materia, you can recover MP when the attached attack is used.
Some Materia are more useful than others, and some take longer to level. Consider focusing your AP generation on Materia such as Revive, HP Up/MP Up, Elemental, Healing, and Magnify to build the most versatile party possible.
FF7 Remake Materia Leveling Tips: Prepare for Hard Mode as Quickly as Possible
If you haven’t mastered all the Materia you wanted to yet, you may be thinking about AP farming, especially if you’re thinking of a hard mode run. AP farming is only really worth doing once you’ve completed the game, because you get a 3x bonus to AP generation from that point. This boost also stacks with the AP Up Materia.
In its original form, AP Up doubles the AP gain for any Materia to which it’s connected. AP Up is found in Chapter 14, and it’s right opposite you when you leave Aerith’s house. The thing is, you first find it as the Pedometer Materia, but it turns into AP Up once you have taken 5000 steps with the Pedometer Materia equipped. You’ll get a pop-up on your HUD to tell you once the Materia has been upgraded.
If you missed the Pedometer/AP Up Materia, and you’ve completed the game, use the now-unlocked Chapter Select option to head right to it and popular AP farming locations to put it straight to work.
The next things to consider are the best weapons, Materia, and armor for AP farming. These have more available (and linked) Materia slots, but while it is possible to upgrade any weapon to a maximum of six slots, this isn’t possible for all of them until you get into hard mode.
The best armor pieces include the Chain Bangle, with four slots (all linked), and the Ninja Armlet, with three (two linked). The Chain Bangle can be found in a chest in chapter 17, and the Ninja Armlet is equipped by Yuffie once you start the Episode INTERmission DLC.
In terms of Materia, ensure you connect AP Up to the Materia you want to upgrade. Also, ensure you’re equipping Materia to keep fights as quick and breezy as possible: think Materia like First Strike, which grants additional ATB at the start of a fight, Magnify, which pairs with elemental Materia to strike multiple targets, and Magic Up to increase spell potency.
Once you’ve completed the game, unlocked Chapter Select, and obtained the weapons, armor, and Materia you need to farm AP as quickly as possible, unleash them on particularly efficient farming locations such as:
- The Shinra Combat Simulator in chapter 17: Two Person Team vs High Flyers is a popular choice, but restart after the early rounds to keep things easy.
- Corneo Colosseum: You get access to this solid AP farm spot in chapters 8 and 14.
- The early sections of chapters 14 and 16.
Once you’ve done all that, you’ll have the fully-upgraded Materia you need to face the challenge of hard mode.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
- Released
- April 10, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
