Final Fantasy 7 Remake shows the strides the series has taken in terms of turning the franchise into a real-time combat system as opposed to a turn-based one. The game follows the story of Cloud and his buddies as they try to overthrow Shinra from their powerful position, only for things to spiral out and the scope of the threat to increase immensely.
As is the case with the original game, materia plays a huge role in Remake as well. You need to combine different forms of materia to get stellar combinations that can be used in combat to great effect. Here are some of the best materia combinations you can use in Final Fantasy 7 Remake to decimate enemies, heal up efficiently, or potentially perform both actions at the same time.
Updated June 29, 2023 by Jack Webb: Final Fantasy 7 Remake has plenty of Materia pairings to go around, and this list has been updated to throw some new options into the mix.
12 Steadfast Block + Provoke
These two Materia work wonderfully together on the character you're not playing as. Steadfast Block further reduces the damage you take while guarding and charges your ATB faster. The idea behind these two Materia pairings is that you can create a Tanking character to take the aggro from you.
Provoke, as its name implies, lets your character use the Provoke ability to taunt enemies and take their attention away from other characters. Enemies tend to focus on the character you currently control, so having a party member with this setup will let them act as a defender and keep your party safe.
11 Magnify + Healing
Magnify is a materia that will definitely appear multiple times on this list. After all, the sheer act of targeting every enemy or ally instead of one of them with a game-changing ability is useful for obvious reasons.
Characters who don't have the Prayer skill should definitely sport this combo. You can never have enough healers in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and being able to rely on someone to heal the entire party in a tough spot is always appreciated.
10 Magnify + Regen
While a single heal is good enough, you will definitely benefit from staying prepared in battle. Instead of waiting for the damage to get too severe, your strategy should be to stay one step ahead of your opponents.
So, whenever there's a chance for characters to incur damage, it's better to cast a magnified version of Regen early on. This will let you focus on ramping up a series of attacks instead of having to micromanage a party member's health.
9 Magnify + Barrier
Barrier is one of the best materia in the entire game that is downright necessary for certain tough battles. Having a layer of protection that negates damage from certain attacks is a boon for obvious reasons.
Using Magnify along with Barrier leads to everyone enjoying the benefits of this added protection. The only compromise you'll need to make is in terms of the protection's duration, but that's minor compared to its massive benefits.
8 Magnify + Haste
Haste is a great status effect to have that plays right into the importance of the ATB system in Final Fantasy 7. Having the ability to use powerful attacks quickly is pretty neat, and this benefit can be enjoyed by the entire party as well.
Magnifying a cast of Haste will lead to enemies being at the mercy of your party, letting you absolutely decimate them with special moves. It's a great way to make combat more frenetic and action-packed, continuing the tradition of being one of the best buffs in every Final Fantasy game.
7 Enemy Skill + HP Absorb
Enemy Skill is one of the most legendary materia in Final Fantasy 7. This materia was coveted in the original game as it allowed you to populate it with magic from all over the game's world
This Blue Magic materia makes its appearance in Final Fantasy 7 Remake as well, even though it can only learn four spells. However, all of them are great in their own right, and pairing this materia with HP Absorb means that you can unleash a powerful attack and heal up at the same time.
6 Elemental Materia + Any Offensive Spell
You should always make it a priority to equip and level up Elemental materia in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. This materia buffs a normal attack significantly, making it great for melee fighters like Cloud and Tifa.
The highest level buffs damage by a whopping 23 percent, which is a substantial increase in a character's damage. It might take a while to reach this stage, but the benefit you can enjoy with the highest level of Elemental materia is pretty great indeed.
5 Poison + Warding
Warding is a great piece of materia that you can use to reduce the effects of certain debuffs. Status effects can be pretty annoying, but the classic poison status is something that fans will absolutely dread in this game.
Using Warding along with Poison materia will reduce the effect of this status on characters. Anyone with a low HP pool in an area dominated by enemies that poison you will benefit from this materia combination.
4 Deadly Dodge + HP Absorb
Deadly Dodge is a great materia that both Cloud and Tifa can make the most of. It allows for a defensive move to turn into a wide-sweeping attack that hits multiple enemies for decent damage.
Pairing this move with HP Absorb is a great way to get health in the blink of an eye. You can technically spam this move whenever your melee fighters are low on health to get them back into the heat of things without having to waste an ATB bar for healing purposes.
3 Synergy + Any Offensive Spell And HP Absorb + Any Offensive Spell
Synergy used to be a pretty okay Support materia in the original release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake that was buffed significantly once Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade was released. The update let synergized characters cast spells even if their ATB bar wasn't charged.
This made Synergy a must-have materia that someone in the party should definitely equip. Using two of the same offensive materia on a character with links to both Synergy and HP Absorb means that players can both heal certain characters and attack enemies in one fell swoop.
2 Warding + Binding
The Warding Materia's description says that it nullifies the effect of the material it is linked with. What this means in layman's terms is that if you slot this Materia next to debuffing spell Materia, your character will be immune to the status it inflicts.
Warding must be equipped on your armour slot for this status immunity to work. Warding and Binding Materia linked together will make you immune to Berserk, Sleep, and Silence. Other examples of this include linking Warding with Poison to make you immune to the Poison debuff. Warding and Time Materia grants immunity to Slow and Stop. The higher level of your Warding Materia, the more immunity it provides.
1 Magnify + Any Offensive Spell And MP Absorb + Any Offensive Spell
Magnify makes another appearance in what might be the most broken materia combination in the entire game. With this combination, it's possible for you to cast spells without spending any MP at all.
Just like the last combination, you need to pair two versions of the same elemental attack materia with Magnify and MP Absorb. This lets you perform some much-needed crowd control with a single spell while also replenishing all the MP lost casting this spell.