Home » Articles » Guides » Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Best Healing Setup for Hard Mode

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Best Healing Setup for Hard Mode

This guide will show you the best materia setups in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for regaining HP and MP on hard mode. The setups take advantage of Aerith’s healing prowess, how the HP Absorption and MP absorption orbs work with other materia, and command materia such as Chakra. Furthermore, Square Enix throws us some relief this time around!

Mehron Rokhy 2024-04-10

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

At first glance, hard mode in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the hit sequel to 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, appears like a daunting task. Not only are enemies much tougher, you can’t use items or rest spots to regain HP or MP, just like in Final Fantasy VII Remake. The only time you fully regain your HP or MP is when the game resets it for you – usually after key cutscenes or missions. Further adding to your troubles is that because you can’t use items, you need MP to heal, making MP quite a precious commodity. However, there are some very strong strategies to ensure you keep both your HP and MP stocked at all times using different materia combinations. Using blue materia, such as HP and MP Absorption, and yellow materia, like Chakra, can yield efficient and surprising results. This guide will show you the best healing setup for hard mode in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Here’s a quick summary of the strategies that will be discussed:

Maximizing Aerith’s healing prowess.
Taking advantage of unique HP and MP Absorption materia combinations.
Taking advantage of command materia.
How Square Enix throws us a bone this time around.

If done correctly, you can breeze through hard mode without worrying too much about healing, provided you have the proper materia going into it. The biggest key is taking advantage of how the HP Absorption and MP Absorption orbs work in combination with other orbs, such as Swiftcast, Magnify, Enemy Skill, and Auto-Weapon Ability materias, as well as green orbs.

If you’d like to check out more tips and tricks related to the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, check out these other pieces at KeenGamer:

Table of Contents show

Best Healing Setup for Hard Mode I: Maximizing Aerith’s Healing Ability

We’ll start with a classic – and that is taking full advantage of just how good of a White Mage Aerith is. Remember, the name of the game is to maximize your MP output since it is directly what heals your party, so this setup was created with that in mind. For the purposes of this guide, it is assumed that all materia is at max level. Here is the materia setup that I recommend for Aerith:

Magnify Materia linked to Healing Materia
Magic Focus linked to Healing Materia
Magic Efficiency linked to Healing Materia
Swiftcast linked to Healing Materia
Magic Up Materia

Aerith casting Cura.

Yes, that is correct, you’re going to need four maxed out healing materia orbs and four linked materia slots to pull this off, but if you do, it will allow Aerith to very quickly heal the entire party with an extremely powerful cure that costs 3 or 4 MP. A maxed out Magic Focus orb directly counters 1:1 the downside of Magnify – which casts a copy of the spell linked to it for every enemy or ally it could target but at -25% strength. But, since we’re also going to attach Magic Up to Aerith, who’s already a strong White Mage, a simple Cure should be enough to take care of your party’s healing needs. This method allows you to convert a small amount of MP into a lot of HP for your entire party.

If Cure ends up being not enough, you can always bump it up to Cura, though that obviously will take a bit more MP. Furthermore, I highly recommend casting Regen on your party during boss fights as it saves you tons of MP in the long run. Oh and one note: Swiftcast in this instance, while nice and efficient, isn’t a mandatory aspect, so don’t fret if you don’t have it. It just really helps in a pinch when you need the healing to happen instantly.

Best Healing Setup for Hard Mode 2: Taking Advantage of HP and MP Absorption Materia

So these two orbs will be your best friends throughout your hard mode run. They let you gain HP and MP from enemies by attacking, which will be a crucial mechanic to your success. You may be thinking, “But wouldn’t attaching magic materia, like Fire or Wind, to HP/MP Absorption just mean I’d have to exert more MP than I gain?” Yes, this is true, but we’re gonna look for ways to get around that to make sure you always have a consistent source of MP.

Method 1: Non-Magic Attacks

Did you know that HP Absorption orb can be linked to the Auto-Weapon Ability and Enemy Skill orbs? Meaning that if you link Auto-Weapon and HP Absorption to Cloud, he’ll heal when the Auto-Weapon automatically uses Triple Slash or Braver, he will heal! This is also true if you linked the HP Absorption orb to Enemy Skill Materia and Cloud uses an enemy’s attack. I can’t stress how important this is. Why? Because it gains you HP without having to expend any MP, guaranteeing that the entire process ends as a net positive. A visual example of Cloud healing on his own is below.

Method 2: Rapid-Fire Magic Attacks

Using an intricate materia setup, you can turn someone into a damage cannon that automatically heals HP and MP. This character will be able to hit enemies hard and recharge itself at the same time. To pull this off, you will again need four maxed orbs of the same materia. Here is the setup you’ll need, and I recommend using Yuffie:

HP Absorption Materia linked to compatible green materia.
MP Absorption Materia linked to another orb of the same materia.
Swiftcast Materia linked to a third orb of the same materia.
Magnify Materia linked to a fourth orb of the same materia.

What this does is let Yuffie cast elemental spells very quickly that hit all enemies. Furthermore, she will gain a little bit of HP and MP every time she connects an attack against a foe. But because Magnify allows her to hit every enemy, she will essentially recharge herself! Furthermore, you can use Doppleganger, an ability of Yuffie that lets her temporarily cast a clone herself that copies whatever moves the original does, to double up on the spell casts for free, ensuring you pump out more damage to all enemies and earn even more HP and MP in the process! As before, the Swiftcast isn’t mandatory, but it certainly will help. A video of Yuffie and her Doppleganger casting a spell and healing both HP and MP is below.

Best Healing Setup for Hard Mode 3: Taking Advantage of Command Materia

Next on the list we have the yellow materias Chakra and Prayer. Chakra materia is important because it is a personal healing tool for each character that doesn’t use any MP to activate – that’s the key here. The healing factor may seem kind of underwhelming at first, but when you realize just how precious MP is in hard mode, you’ll find appreciation for Chakra Materia.

I highly recommend that during your hard mode run, you give Chakra materia to at least two out of your members of the combat party while giving the other Prayer Materia. Prayer materia is like Chakra, except it takes two ATB meters to use but heals the entire party, very much like Aerith’s healing limit break. While using spells like Cure is great out of combat and in a bind, activating Chakra and Prayer ensures you can gain HP without having to expend any MP. So, as you can see, a three-member party of Cloud, Aerith, and Yuffie with the right materia on hard mode can create a formidable, self-sustaining system of automated healing and MP absorption that doesn’t lack in offensive firepower. No items? No rest spots? No problem!

Orb of Chakra Materia.

Square Enix Throws Us a Bone in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

As mentioned earlier, in Final Fantasy VII Remake’s hard mode, you couldn’t use items or rest spots to heal your HP and MP. This is also true in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. However, Square Enix decides to help us out a little bit this time around. Remember how in your first run through of the game, you could follow those little Chocobo chicks you encounter, fix up a broken down Chocobo stand and use a cushion to sit on it and heal? Well you can do that in hard mode too! However, this only works for recovering MP, it won’t restore your HP. In Final Fantasy VII Remake, it was the opposite – your HP would be restored on benches but not your MP – but I’d say MP is a more valuable resource, so this is a big deal. All you have to do is use a cushion when prompted and your MP will be fully restored – in hard mode! So don’t forget to stock up on cushions as not all items are useless.

If you put all these strategies together – Aerith’s healing, HP and MP absorption materia, Chakra and prayer materia, and taking advantage of the Chocobo stands – you’ll find that you have found the best healing setup for hard mode.

A restored Chocobo stand.

Mehron Rokhy

A hardcore gamer hailing from the United States, Mehron Rokhy first began writing about video games in 2015 and joined KeenGamer as a writer in March 2024. With a background in breaking news and crypto, he strives to deliver a consistent stream of updates about the gaming industry in general with an emphasis on mobile games, as well as the occasional opinion piece or guide. Constantly in need of nostalgia, you can always find him playing the “Final Fantasy 7” and “Resident Evil” remakes on PS5.