One of the classic Final Fantasy 7's defining gameplay features was its Materia system. This interchangeable magic-equipping feature proved popular enough for Square Enix's Remake trilogy to recreate it in full. Your options were relatively limited in Remake, but has diversified your options considerably.

If you're not particularly familiar with the FF7 universe's Materia, we've got you covered. If you know your Greens from your Purples, but you'd like a better idea of your options, look no further. And if you just want to read abꦅout FF7 Rebirth some more, we're happy to provide this article.

What Is Materia?

Well, there are two answers, right? In-universe, Materia is Mako that has crystallized to contain the Lifestream's essence. It allows people to cast magic. Equipping Materia orbs grants characters access to a wide array of spells, abilities, even summons.

There are five categories of Materia, each with its affiliated color:

• Magic Materia includes spells like Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Cure, Esuna, and so forth. (Technically, the orbs themselves often have separate names; 'Ice' for Blizzard, 'Healing' for Cure, and so forth.) Magic orbs are green.
• Command Materia includes non-magical abilities. You'll often find these just as handy - sometimes more so. For instance, Assess lets you scan enemies. Steal lets you, well, steal from them. Chakra is useful for healing. Command orbs are yellow.
• Summon Materia includes legendary summoned entities such as Bahamut, Titan, and Alexander. Summon orbs are red.
• Support Materia includes Materia which, when linked to other Materia, enhances their power. Some examples include Elemental, which adds elemental attack or defense, and Magnify, which increases range. These are blue.
• Independent Materia includes provides stat increases and similar fare for the wielder. HP Up, MP Up, Strength Up, Magic Up - as you can see, many Independent Materia names are self-explanatory. Look for purple orbs.

To equip Materia, hop into the Equipment and Materia screen, press triangle, and have a blast! Different weapons and armor have separate amounts of slots, not to mention those ever-handy linked slots.

How Do You Get More Materia?

Materia can be acquired in a variety of ways. Since there's so darn much of it in the world of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, expect to find new forms of Materia (as well as further copies of orbs already in your possession on a routine basis.

• Materia is available for purchase in each region and hub. Advancing the story to unlock new regions will expand the amount of Materia orbs you can purchase. In Kalm, you'll only find a few; by the time you reach Gongaga, it will have quadrupled.
• Materia can be obtained through Chadley's World Intel as you complete his tasks. Building your stockpile of regional points lets Chadley develop new Materia, most of which can't be gotten elsewhere.
• Chadley's Combat Simulator, which updates for a variety of reasons, sometimes sports new Materia. Enemy Skill Materia gains new techniques after using Assess on Fiends. Summon Materia pops up in each region, but locate shrines to make the fights more manageable.
• Side quests sometimes include Materia as rewards - it's never a guarantee, but do enough of them, and you'll be positively swimming in the stuff.
• Dungeon-like settings typically have several Materia strewn throughout. Many are in quite obvious locations, though it's good practice to scour areas with your camera just in case.

These are just the most common examples. Occasionally, you'll find Materia hidden throughout the world, or earn it as a prize for a minigame. You never qܫuite know when fres𒁃h orbs will be yours!

Which Materia Should You Equip?

With so many different kinds of Materia in FF7 Rebirth, plenty of combinations can work to your advantage. But we do have several suggestions on some ideal setups, as well as particular character stat parameters to consider when deciding which ones to wield.

• Since Rebirth has introduced elemental abilities on characters' Folios, the pressure to always have all four elemental magic Materia orbs equipped has been reduced. But if you're in an area where enemies have a certain weakness, do equip that type!
• Healing Materia ought to be with someone in your active party pretty much always. The Materia that contains Poisona and Esuna will be equally vital by mid-game, thanks to enemies' status effects. Barrier and Enervation are great grabs, too.
• Don't let Summon Materia go to waste. Every character has one Summon Materia slot, and there's no downside whatsoever to filling it. Take the characters' stats into account, and look for Summons that boost the right ones.
• Magnify, Elemental, Item Economizer, and ATB-related Materia can make quite a difference in both your power and your defensive prowess. In general, anything that makes building your ATB bar and using items easier is a smart move.
• Auto-Cast and Auto-Ability prevent you from the need to micromanage your allies so often. This is more for convenience's sake than anything, but man, it sure is useful for that.

Equipping Auto-Cast to a linked Magic Materia is required to enable your ally to use that particular suite of magic, whereas Auto-Ability doesn't need a linked slot, because its utility is instead determined by which abilities the character has set as shortcuts.