The best materia in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth are the ones that solve its biggest problems: Healing and Magnify for party recovery, Elemental for exploiting or nullifying weaknesses, Prayer for MP-free healing and Enemy Skill for flexible extra abilities. Add AP Up and EXP Up to speed up leveling, and support picks such as Steadfast Block and ATB Assist to keep your gauges full. Here is what each one does, where to get it and the pairings that make it shine.
We compiled this from PowerPyx's full materia location list, Game8's materia ratings and character builds, Fextralife's materia pages and RPG Site's Enemy Skill guide, all checked in November 2026.
How Materia Works in Rebirth
PowerPyx counts 86 types of materia in Rebirth, including the pre-order Moogle Trio. They come in five colors: green Magic materia for spells, yellow Command materia, blue Support materia, purple Complete materia with passive effects and red Summoning materia. Support materia only work when placed in a linked pair of slots, so a blue orb like Magnify or Elemental does nothing until it shares a link with the right partner.
Most materia level up by earning AP in battle, and each level unlocks stronger spells or bigger bonuses. A large share of the best orbs are not found in chests at all. Chadley crafts them from World Intel data you gather in each region, which is why clearing Intel objectives early pays off in combat. The Materia Completionist trophy asks you to develop every craftable materia with Chadley, so completionists will touch every region's Intel eventually.
Because slot links are limited, the real decision is which pairs you build around. Game8's late-game builds show the pattern: one or two linked pairs for offense or healing, then the unlinked slots filled with stat boosts and passives. Weapons and armor with more linked slots matter for that reason, and our weapon upgrade guide covers which ones to target.
Elemental: Damage on Weapons, Immunity on Armor
Elemental is the most versatile support materia in the game because it does two completely different jobs depending on where you put it. Link it to a spell materia such as Fire and Ice, Lightning or Wind, and Fextralife's page shows what each level does:
| Level | On a weapon | On armor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 star | Adds 8% linked elemental damage | Halves linked elemental damage taken |
| 2 stars | Adds 15% linked elemental damage | Nullifies linked elemental damage |
| 3 stars | Adds 23% linked elemental damage | Absorbs linked elemental damage |
That armor column is the reason Elemental shows up in every hard fight guide. A max-level Elemental linked to the right spell on armor turns a boss's signature attack into healing. Fextralife notes that if more than one elemental materia is slotted, only the first one applies, so keep the pair clean. You can earn copies from Chadley's Combat Simulator: Junon's Conqueror of the Skies challenge, Gongaga's Distant Tremors challenge and a later Brutal Challenge each reward one, per PowerPyx and Fextralife.
Magnify, Healing and Prayer: The Recovery Core
Healing is the single most important green materia. It covers Cure, Cura, Regen and Curaga, and Game8 rates it as essential from the first hours, ideally on a support character. Pair it with Magnify and a single cast heals the whole party. Fextralife lists the trade-off: the spread effect is reduced by 60 percent at level 1, 45 percent at level 2 (500 AP) and 25 percent at level 3 (1,500 AP), so leveling Magnify makes a huge difference.
Magnify is scarce. PowerPyx lists a copy in Chapter 1 that you lose when the chapter ends, one Cait Sith carries when he joins in Chapter 9, the reward for the Chapter 12 side quest Victim of Circumstance in Cosmo Canyon and a copy from the Brutal Challenge Hellions' Intonement, which is level 70 and opens after Gilgamesh. Plan to move your copies between characters rather than expecting one per person early on.
Prayer is the backup. It heals the party for ATB instead of MP, and Game8 notes it costs 2 ATB for Barret, which makes it ideal on characters who build ATB quickly. Chakra works similarly for attackers like Tifa and Red XIII. Together they let you save MP for spells that matter, a skill that becomes essential in our Hard mode guide, where items are banned.
Enemy Skill: Seven Abilities From the Combat Simulator
Enemy Skill works differently in Rebirth than in the original or in Remake. You do not learn skills by getting hit. RPG Site explains that the materia and every skill come from Biological Intel challenges in Chadley's Combat Simulator, unlocked by assessing enemies and defeating classified foes as you explore. There are seven skills:
- Sonic Boom, from Know Thine Enemy, available as soon as you reach the Combat Simulator
- Plasma Discharge, from Blinded By Light
- Soothing Breeze, from Breath of Life
- Self-Destruct, from At Any Cost
- Mind Blast, from Head Case
- Rancid Breath, from That's the Smell
- Gorgon Shield, from Stony Stare
The materia itself also grows stronger. Fextralife lists its passive bonuses as 5 percent max HP at level 2, 5 percent max MP at level 3, 5 percent Strength at level 4 and 5 percent Magic at level 5. Game8's mid-game Cloud and Red XIII builds pair it with HP Absorption, a combination that keeps a frontline fighter topped up. RPG Site's advice is to assess every new enemy you meet, since that is what opens the later challenges.
Support and Passive Picks Worth a Slot
Beyond the headline orbs, a handful of support picks show up in almost every strong build. Game8 rates Magic Up, Skill Master and ATB Assist highly for the late game. Skill Master rewards using three or more different commands, and ATB Assist boosts the party's ATB when you repeat a command twice. For defense, Steadfast Block and Precision Defense Focus appear on nearly every character in Game8's builds, and Fortification reduces both physical and magic damage on a tank.
Assess deserves a permanent place early on, because knowing weaknesses tells you which Elemental pairing to equip. First Strike, a fixture in Game8's late Yuffie and Cait Sith builds, comes from the Grasslands challenge Horror on the Range and the Chapter 10 challenge Flower of Destruction, per PowerPyx. HP Absorption needs to be linked to a damaging materia to work, while MP Absorption recovers MP based on damage and suits casters like Aerith.
Summoning materia also live in your slots, and they are some of the strongest red orbs you can carry into a boss fight. Our summon guide covers how to unlock each one through Chadley.
Example Builds for Each Role
Seeing the orbs in context makes the choices easier. These loadouts come from Game8's late-game recommendations and show how the pieces above fit together on real characters:
- Aerith as healer: Healing linked with Magnify, plus Phoenix, Prayer and ATB Boost. Her job is keeping everyone standing while her wards do steady damage.
- Tifa as stagger specialist: Chakra for self-healing, Skill Master, Time and Barrier, so she can support the party between combos.
- Red XIII as elemental attacker: Fire and Ice linked with Elemental, Darkside and Empowerment with Magic Efficiency.
- Cloud as all-rounder: Auto-Unique Ability, Auto-Weapon Ability, Steadfast Block, Skill Master and HP Up.
- Barret as tank: Auto-Unique Ability, Steadfast Block, Provoke and Prayer, with his mid-game build adding Elemental linked to Lightning and ATB Stagger.
The common thread is that each character carries at least one form of recovery and one defensive passive, then spends the remaining links on whatever their weapon does best. When you swap a character in for a story section, check that they have Healing or Prayer before the next boss rather than discovering the gap mid-fight.
AP Up, EXP Up and Faster Leveling
Two materia exist purely to speed up progress. AP Up, linked to another orb, doubles the AP that partner earns, according to Fextralife's listing of a 100 percent increase. PowerPyx lists copies in Chapter 3's Northern Quarry storage area, from Combat Intel in Corel (Badlands Beasts) and Nibel (Chthonian Rondo) and as a reward in the Musclehead Colosseum six-person bouts. EXP Up arrives late: it is in a chest in the Amberstar area of the Chapter 13 Labyrinth, and Game8 says it doubles the EXP of the character who equips it.
The June 2026 update added another shortcut. The Streamlined Progression options include 2x EXP and 3x AP gain and a Max Materia Levels toggle, but RPG Site warns that Max Materia Levels blocks the Materia for Beginners trophy and keeps its effect even after you switch it off. If you are chasing level 70 as well, our level cap guide lists the best spots to farm EXP and AP together.
Skip the Materia Grind
Maxing every orb, especially the rare Magnify copies, is one of the longest grinds in the game. The store's Chapter 12 Hard mode save lists all materia at max level, with the one exception noted on the page: a Magnify from a Yuffie side quest is missing. It also includes max character and party levels and is set up for New Game+ and Hard mode. The save works on PS5 and PC (Steam) only, not PS4, and you must already own the game.
You can browse the store's other listings on the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do you get Elemental materia in FF7 Rebirth?
Chadley's Combat Simulator rewards it for the Junon challenge Conqueror of the Skies, the Gongaga challenge Distant Tremors and a later Brutal Challenge.
How do you get Enemy Skill materia?
Complete the Biological Intel challenge Know Thine Enemy in Chadley's Combat Simulator. Further skills come from later Biological Intel challenges.
Where is the EXP Up materia?
Look for it late, during the Temple of the Ancients section of Chapter 13.
What does Elemental do on armor?
Linked to a spell on armor, it halves that element's damage at level 1, nullifies it at level 2 and absorbs it at level 3.
How many Magnify materia are there?
PowerPyx lists four sources: Chapter 1 (lost at the end of the chapter), Cait Sith's starting gear, the Victim of Circumstance quest and the Hellions' Intonement Brutal Challenge.
Does Max Materia Levels block trophies?
RPG Site found it blocks the Materia for Beginners trophy, and its effect stays even after you turn the option off.