How to Beat the Materia Guardian

Materia Guardian is the boss of Chapter 1: Fall of a Hero in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (FF7 Rebirth). Read on to learn how to beat Materia Guardian, its weaknesses and resistances, a list of its moves and attack patterns, as well as tips and rewards for beating it.

Materia Guardian Weaknesses and Stats

Stats

	Easy	Normal	Hard
HP	29313	41875	?

Weakness and Resistances

Weaknesses	Lesser Resistances	Greater Resistances
	None	None
Absorbed Elements	Immunities
None

Changes When Staggered

How to Pressure Materia Guardian

How to Pressure

Evade its capture attempts or free captured allies. Destroy its legs while it is on the ceiling.

To pressure and stagger the Materia Guardian, you will need to evade Seizing Claws and free allies that were captured by it. Also, while it's on the ceiling, you can target and destroy its legs to further pressure it.

How to Pressure and Stagger Enemies

How to Beat Materia Guardian

Materia Guardian Boss Fight Tips
Break the Legs and Dodge Grabs to Stagger the Boss Target the Legs When it Goes to the Ceiling Use Double Helix to Bring it Down in Phase 3

Break the Legs and Dodge Grabs to Stagger the Boss

The easiest way to transition between the different phases of this boss fight is to pressure the Materia Guardian until it gets Staggered. Target its Left and Right Hindlegs during the fight to remove its grab attack entirely.

When either Cloud or Sephiroth gets grabbed by the Seizing Claws attack, use your Aerial combos to cripple the leg that grabbed them, increasing pressure by a large amount. Alternatively, dodging this grab attack will also count as applying pressure!

Use Focused Thrust or Voidshatter to Quickly Build Up Pressure

Cloud's Focused Thrust skill as well as his new Synergy Skill with Sephiroth called Voidshatter will also be good alternatives for applying pressure. If you find yourself easily dodging the Materia Guardian's grabs, consider comboing into these attacks for max pressure.

Target the Legs When it Goes to the Ceiling

During Phase 2, the Materia Guardian will start hanging from the ceiling and using deadly ranged attacks. The easiest way to bring it down to ground level is to use Sephiroth's Fire Materia to instantly cripple its legs.

Simply cast Fire on any one of its Forelegs or Midlegs to deal critical damage and bring it down from the ceiling. Once it lands, the Materia Guardian will be stunned for a few seconds, giving you an opening to attack.

Counterfire Works Against Mucous Discharge and Stonefall Attacks

The new Synergy Skill called Counterfire will negate the damage of the Materia Guardian's Mucous Discharge and Stonefall attacks during Phase 2. When timed properly, it can be used to fully block damage if you don't have enough ATB for a Fire spell.

Use Double Helix to Bring it Down in Phase 3

Once the Materia Guardian enters Phase 3, it will start parking itself on top of some ruined pipes, preventing both Cloud and Sephiroth from getting into melee range. To bring it down from the pipes, use the new Synergy Ability, Double Helix.

Similar to Phase 2, it will remain stunned for a portion of time once it hits the ground. Use this opening to attack with either Cloud or Sephiroth. Expend your ATB gauges to quickly build up pressure until the boss gets Staggered.

Spam Abilities, Limit Breaks, and Spells After Using Double Helix

Double Helix is unique in that it grants both Cloud and Sephiroth unique buffs after the attack animation plays. Cloud will get a huge boost to his Limit Break Gauge while Sephiroth will get unlimited MP for a short duration.

If you manage to fill Cloud's Limit Break gauge, you will be able to use a special Limit Break called Ascension. Similarly, by having unlimited MP, you can spam multiple Fire spells as Sephiroth so long as you have enough ATB slots for casting.

Materia Guardian Moves and Attack Patterns

Abilities and Attack Patterns

Name	Element	Blockable?	Knockdown?	Status
Stonefall	-	-	-	-
Deadly Descent	-	-	-	-
Leaping Crush	-	No	-	-
Horn Rush	-	-	-	-
Seizing Claws	-	No	-	-
Mucous Discharge	-	-	-	-
Mucous Jet	-	-	-	-
Dual Tail Lash	-	-	-	-
	Lashes at you with its tail

Battle Icons, Status Effects, and Ailments Explained

Materia Guardian Best Party and Builds

Recommended Party Setup

Recommended Party Setup
Cloud	【Support】 ・Weaker but flexible Materia selection. ・Primarily used as a buffer and healer. Recommended Level: 40
Sephiroth	【Main DPS】 ・Has access to the powerful Firaga spell. ・Unlimited MP after using Double Helix. Recommended Level: 40

Take Direct Control of Sephiroth

Sephiroth is much stronger than Cloud when it comes to his stats and Materia selection. Make sure to to set him as your party leader so that you can use his powerful Fire spells that the Materia Guardian is very weak to.

Cast Faith on Sephiroth

Casting Faith on Sephiroth will heavily increase the damage of Fire spells, so make sure to cast it on him as soon as possible to maximize his damage output.

Materia Guardian Best Materia to Use

Recommended Materia for Cloud

Weapon
Empowerment		Level Boost
Armor
Healing		Auto-Cast
HP Up		Assess

Empowerment linked to Level Boost gives Cloud the ability to cast Faith on Sephiroth, buffing his magic attacks.

Healing and Auto-Cast are used to so that you don't have to worry about manually selecting Cloud to heal your party members.

Finally, HP Up and Assess are flexible Materia slots for this build. HP Up increases Cloud's survivability while Assess is used to check Materia Guardian's stats during battle.

If you want to use different Materia instead, it is recommended to use Fire so that Cloud can also target the Materia Guardians' weakness.

Recommended Materia for Sephiroth

Weapon
Wind			Magnify
Revival		Healing		Fire
Armor
Ice			Magnify
Lightning			Magnify

Since Sephiroth is a temporary party member, his Materia cannot be changed. For this fight particularly, he will mainly be using Fire spells to deal massive damage to the Materia Guardian, and Healing to keep Cloud and himself alive.

Materia Guardian Rewards and Details

Rewards

Basic Information and Details

Materia Guardian
Location	Chapter Unlocked
Mt. Nibel, Northern Ridge	Chapter 1
Species	Movement
Biological	Grounded
Details
A ferocious beast that dwells within the caves of Mt. Nibel. Prolonged exposure to mako has caused it to mutate. its dangerously sharp claws allow it to scale the walls and hang from the ceiling with alarming ease, granting it full control of the battlefield. Evading its capture attemps or freeing captured allies will pressure it. Destroying its legs while it is on the ceiling will also pressure it.

FF7 Rebirth Related Guides

Boss Fight Guide and List of All Bosses

Story Bosses

Optional Bosses