With seven playable characters and over 50 types of materia, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth provides nearly infinite options for players to choose their own builds and playstyles. Between Magic, Command, , Complete, and Summon materia, several viable materia fill the slots in your party's weapons and armor. Different types suit certain characters more than others, and a well-rounded and well-equipped party will allow you to easily navigate the game.

When equipping your party, consider a few things, the first and most foundational of which is the character's baseline stat block. For instance, Barrett and Tifa are physical attackers, relying on their base attacks and ATB attacks to do damage. This means they're more suited to materia that buff themselves rather than materia that relies on a certain stat, like Magic materia. Aerith and Cloud, on the other hand, are better at magic.

How To Pick The Best Materia For Each Character

Some materia work best with characters they're suited to, but others are more universal. Materia like HP Plus, Auto-Cast, Auto-Weapon, and Auto-Unique Ability make your non-controlled party more useful, meaning you get more bang for your buck from your AI-controlled companions. The HP Plus materia increases your survivability outright by giving you additional health, which is helpful if your dodge timing isn't as good as you'd like

As explained by NorZZa on YouTube, the "best" materia depends highly on what type of build you're looking to make. Often, these materia work in conjunction with the abilities, weapons, armor, and accessories you have on each character. This synergy is more complex, so this guide will only focus on how materia works with each character's stats and innate playstyle for this discussion.

Best Materia For Cloud

Like in the original FF7, Cloud's stats are relatively well-rounded. His speed is slightly lower, but his overall balanced stat block means most materia will benefit him. What you equip depends on your preferences and playstyle, but here are a few materia that are particularly effective on Cloud, focused on buffing his main attack damage and providing macro advantage over opponents:

Best Materia Combinations For Cloud

If you're not interested in playing a melee-focused build, using Magic and Command materia will help increase your MP and magic uptime. A magic-focused build will focus on giving Cloud access to more elements that take advantage of enemies' type weaknesses. Using elemental Magic materia allows you to do critical damage to enemies with type weaknesses.

Best Materia For Tifa

Tifa is a melee fighter, but unlike Cloud, her magic stats are pretty good. Some of her best builds take advantage of her melee prowess, using her fast-building ATB gauge and higher magic stat. Here are some of the best materia to take advantage of Tifa's unique fighting style in FF7 Rebirth:

Best Materia Combinations For Tifa

Since her builds ATB pretty quickly, her Unbridled Strength, combined with Tifa's best weapon skills, allows her to heal huge amounts of damage consistently and in quick succession. When you consider the power she can output even when she's not being controlled, these materia mean she's a powerful member of the team in her own right.

Best Materia For Aerith

As a magic with low defense stats, Aerith is a ing character through and through. Aerith's specialty is healing, buffing, and using her own magic attacks, but knowing how to take advantage of these strengths is essential to building her well. Here are some of the best materia to help Aerith be her most useful without having to micromanage her in battle:

Best Materia Combinations For Aerith

This set of materia is pretty ive in of playstyle, but Aerith needs specific weapons in FF7 Rebirth, armor, and upgrades to be super viable as a damage-focused companion. This build allows Aerith to from the backline both actively and while not in your control. This makes her an ideal character to empower your active fighters, making them stronger and capable of staying in battle longer.

Best Materia For Barret

Barret is similar to Aerith in that his ATB builds very quickly in FF7 Rebirth and has a decent magic stat. This means they share some build styles and have a few materia that work well in common. Here are some of the best materia that take advantage of Barret's tank style and give him higher sustain and magic output:

Best Materia Combinations For Barret

Since Barret is a tank, he is an ideal candidate for a few builds, not just healing. You can also take advantage of Barret's Maximum Fury damage with materia like First Strike. This materia increases how full the ATB gauge is at the start of the battle. Overall, Barret's physical and magic capabilities mean you can build him to whatever suits your playstyle, whether you go for a ive tank or a damage build.

Best Materia for Yuffie

Yuffie is more of a glass cannon than any other character in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. She has access to multiple elements without having to level each individually and can also take advantage of linked materia slots to give her base attacks elemental damage. These materia allow Yuffie to exploit enemies' weaknesses with quick attacks and high damage:

Best Materia Combinations For Yuffie

These materia turn Yuffie into an elemental master with massive DPS and high versatility. If you're looking for something with straight damage, relying on material like First Strike to build your ATB and using Commands will get you there. Whether you go for the jack-of-all-trades build or focus on just one aspect of Yuffie's capability, her high damage will surely make her an excellent addition to your team.

Best Materia For Red XIII

Thanks to Red XIII's super high magical and physical defensive stats in FF7 Rebirth, quite a few materia work for him. His heavy attack builds ATB quickly, and Siphon Fang, his special, does damage while also increasing his survivability. Red can do it all, so look to equip the following:

Best Materia Combinations For Red XIII

This set of materia relies on using Red XIII's Siphon Fang often, taking advantage of its healing and damage output. If you'd rather lean into his elemental capabilities, you can choose materia that better suit this playstyle. However, these materia should allow Red XIII to consistently deal damage and still stay alive.

Best Materia For Cait Sith

Cait Sith excels at making your party stronger while putting out decent damage. This can be improved with a few weapons available for Cait Sith. Alongside his Moogle buddy, Cait Sith uses his abilities to cast all-party buffs like Bravery and Faith, Berserk, and Protect and Shell. Between Cait Sith and his Moogle, here are the best materia to equip for this furry friend:

Best Materia Combinations For Cait Sith

With this build, Cait Sith's only job is to strengthen your team. If you don't want to spend time controlling him in the fight, investing in an Auto materia will allow you to be more hands-off while still getting the benefits Cait Sith can provide. Additionally, if you'd rather cast less, you can pair your magic materia with a Magnify materia to cast spells on multiple people simultaneously.

There is no best materia for each character in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth because there are infinite combinations of materia and equipment. However, following the lists above will provide a strong starting point so that players can understand each character's innate strengths and weaknesses. As you play more, find out what materia, weapons, and armor work best for your party combination and equip items that allow your party to be prepared for any fight.

Source: NorZZa/YouTube