Battle Strategy & Tips | How to Fight Like a Pro

This is a page for battle strategies in the game Final Fantasy 7 Remake (FF7R). Read on for tips and tricks that you should remember and make use of during combat!
For more tips and strategies for combat in Final Fantasy 7 Remake (FF7R) and Intergrade DLC, check out our other combat guides below!

Combat Guides
Battle Strategy & Tips	Intergrade Battle and Combat Tips

To learn all the details of the battle system with explanations of all the techniques available to the player, check out our full explanation of the battle system below!

Battle System Explanation

Preparing for Battle

Master Weapon Abilities

There are 6 weapons available for each character which are all found as you progress through the main quests and sidequests. Always check the purple chests, weapon stores, and side quests to keep up with the ever-growing difficulty of enemies.

Once you have a weapon equipped, keep using the ability it provides until you reach 100% Proficiency, mastering its ability. Also try to use the ability by how the Proficiency Bonus instructs to gain more proficiency than by just executing the ability.

For example, Iron Blade's Triple Slash ability will gain a proficiency bonus if you "strike three or more enemies" with the ability. This simply means that if you hit 3 or more enemies using a single Triple Slash, Cloud will gain additional proficiency for Triple Slash.

After you master a weapon ability, that ability will be usable even if you use another weapon, which you can use in conjunction with other abilities or in certain situations.

Check the link below for a list of all weapons in the game!

List of Weapons Stats and Materia Slots

Use Optimal Equipment Setups

While you check different places for weapons, also try to find armors and accessories that are better with what you currently have equipped.

For armors, prioritize those with more materia slots than higher stats. Materias often gives a huge advantage in most situations so it is important to equip as much as you can. Check the guide below for a list of the best armors!

How to Get the Best Armor

For accessories, use stat-boosting accessories or aim for the best accessories. See the link below for a list of the best accessories that you should aim for!

How to Get the Best Accessories

Your setup should also have synergy between all equipments, especially materias. This means that each of your character should have a role for every battle. Check our guide below on the best setup for each character!

Best Build for Each Character

Equip Everyone with Healing and Revival Materias

The survivability of each party member is very important. More members alive means more commands that you can use, which can turn the tides of the battle.

Make sure that all of the members can heal or revive others by equipping Healing and Revival materias since not every member has the luxury to heal everyone as soon as they need it since actions like these consumes ATB charges, though the ATB consumption can be lessened by linking a Healing materia with the Magnify materia.

You can use Phoenix Down as alternative for Revival materias but not on Hard difficulty since items are disabled, which makes it difficult if the party member holding the only Revival materia that you have was incapacitated.

Stock Up Consumable Items

Stock up considerable amount of items, especially recovery items, before you charge to battle, that is if you are not playing on Hard difficulty. Do this by breaking Shinra boxes, opening chests, completing quests, or purchasing them from stores.

Consumable items can be used as alternatives for effects that are not covered by your available abilities or spells.

During Combat

Read the Enemy Intel

Know more about your enemies by using the Assess ability (obtained from the Assess materia) on them then viewing their intel using the touchpad. The information included in each enemy intel will give you an idea on how to defeat them such as their resistances, skillset, and assessment. The assessment section often suggests ways to stagger an enemy or how to deal with their attack pattern, though some enemies are unreadable.

Know more about all the battle icons that you can see while viewing an enemy intel by clicking the link below!

Battle Icons Guide

Maximize the Use of Haste and Regen

Haste from the Time materia and Regen from the Healing materia are both essential in Hard difficulty, so you might as well practice using them even if you are playing on other difficulties. Haste increases the frequency of command uses while Regen keeps your party healed so try to reactivate each buff as soon as their duration ends.

To effectively use these buffs at the beginning of the battle, have the member with the First Strike materia use Haste immediately on your healer, who should have Magnify + Healing materias linked together. After gaining an ATB bar, have your healer cast a party-wide Regen. Haste the other members one by one afterward. This technique can also be done by a single party member if you equipped all the materias mentioned above to a designated member.

It is also recommended to link the Magnify materia to the Healing materia than to the Time materia since you will need party-wide Cures more than party-wide Hastes.

Utilize Battle Settings

The Battle Settings option on the main menu will let you map abilities and spells to certain buttons so you can use them quickly during battle.

Using battle shortcuts allows you to execute commands immediately as soon as you find a perfect opportunity for it, such as using Counterstance just before an attack hits or spamming True Strike on a staggered enemy.

Learn more about using battle shortcuts from our guide linked below!

How to Use Shortcuts

Keep Your Team Healed

Keeping your team healed at any point of the battle is important as you might suddenly get bombed by your opponent's most powerful attack when you least expect it. Link Magnify + Healing materias or bring a Prayer materia to heal all party members at once while also using ATB charges efficiently.

Do not use healing spells and items blindly to avoid wasting MP or stock. Try to use these only as needed.

If your team is suffering from low HP and low ATB charge, try poking the enemy by giving it a few hits before immediately retreating or try blocking attacks to accumulate ATB charges. Once you have enough charges, you can now heal yourself and your allies from a safe distance.

Use Items if Needed

There are a lot of items obtainable everywhere so do not be stingy in using them if you really need to. This includes not just recovery items but also combat items such as Celeris and Orb of Gravity.

Click the link below to know more about items and tips on how to use them!

How to Use Items

Memorize Enemy Attack Patterns

After viewing the skillset of an enemy in their enemy intel, try to memorize their attack patterns and the frequency of their attacks.

Some enemies show hints of their attacks by doing certain actions. For example, Rust Drake stops and flies backwards before unleashing a fire breath attack while Phantoms disappear then immediately attack after reappearing near its target.

However, most enemies will have the ability's name on top of them before they use it. This makes it easier for you to decide on what to do next.

Block Quick Attacks

Dodging attacks can be better than blocking them as blocking just reduces the damage taken while dodging completely avoids being damaged. However, not all attacks are dodgeable. Some quick attacks just make it worse if you tried dodging them instead of blocking them.

After you have memorized the attack patterns of your enemies, distinguish attacks that are quick from those that can be easily dodged and just block them instead of dodging them.

Restart Battle if Needed

If all else fails, you can pause using the Options button and choose Retry from Last Battle to abort the battle and have more preparation time. Take note that you will lose all EXP and AP that you have accumulated during the battle that you just restarted.

If the battle that you aborted was part of a series of battles, you can also choose Retry from First Battle to start over from the beginning of the gauntlet.

Related Links

All Tips & Strategies

Beginner Guides
How to Level Up Fast | Exp Farming Guide
Gil Farming Guide | How to Get Gil Fast
AP Farming Guide | Best Way to Farm AP Fast
Where to Buy Items
How to Get DLC Items | Butterfinger Items
Mastering the Game
Hard Mode Guide
Battle Strategy & How to Fight Like a Pro
Best Items to Sell
Steal Guide | Best Items to Steal
Collectibles
Trophy List and Guide | How to Unlock All Trophies
How to Get All Dresses
The Johnny Experience Trophy Guide | All Johnny Incidents
Manuscript List and Locations
Music Disc Locations | Jukebox Songs
Complete List of Missables
Moogle Medal Locations | The Moogle Shop
Intergrade and INTERmission DLC
Intergrade Leveling & AP Farming
Post-Game Content and 100% Clear Guide