Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: How to Maximize Synergy Materia

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Square Enix’s sequel to the 2020 hit RPG Final Fantasy VII Remake, not only brings new and exciting types of materia to the series but also reintroduces some classics from the last game. Some of the interesting new materia, such as Fire and Ice, combines two elements together and allows its wielder to cast spells of either type. While most materia is straightforward, there is one specific blue materia that has lead to confusion in the past, and that is the extremely powerful and often overlooked Synergy materia.

Synergy materia allows a character to cast the first-tier attack spell of a linked green materia for free whenever the party leader takes an attack action that uses an ATB gauge. So let’s say for example you have Synergy materia linked with Fire materia attached to Aerith and Yuffie is your party leader. When you engage in combat, whenever Yuffie uses an attack ability that uses an ATB meter, such as Art of War, or casts a magic spell, Aerith will automatically follow up that action by casting fire on the same target – for free. That’s right – it happens automatically and it goes off without using any ATB meter or MP.

Now you may be thinking, ‘Well, it’s just the first-tier spell of the materia, what use is that later in the game against tougher enemies?’ You’re right to have this thought – casting the first-tier spell of green materia usually doesn’t do much to stronger enemies and you may be thinking it’s not worth it, even if it’s for free. However, this guide is going to show you that this line of thinking – while completely fair and intuitive at first glance – will end up holding back your potential in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth as Synergy materia can be quite a powerful tool in many cases. Here’s how to use it efficiently.

The Party

To maximize use of the Synergy materia, you’re going to need a party of Aerith and Yuffie, and either Cloud or Tifa – though you probably could get away with using Red XIII in this role if that’s your preference. However, Aerith and Yuffie are mandatory. The idea is to use the third party member as a primary beater that continually builds ATB meters so they can used to trigger the Synergy materia, which will be linked to Yuffie. Since only the first-tier spell of the materia will be cast, I recommend linking the Synergy to Comet materia, which will let you rain down celestial hell upon your enemies.

Yuffie, the Wutai ninja

Now we’ll get into the reason why Aerith and Yuffie are mandatory for this strategy. Yuffie should be the carrier of Synergy and Comet for one reason and one reason only: she has the Doppleganger ability. This ability allows Yuffie to make a clone of herself that copies whatever move the original makes – including the casting of Comet via Synergy materia. That means when Doppleganger is activated and you spend an ATB meter with your party leader, you get two free casts of Comet. And we’re just getting started.

This is where everyone’s favorite flower girl comes in. Aerith has a special ability, Arcane Ward, that drops a special zone onto the battlefield which causes anyone who casts a spell within it to automatically cast the spell again, also for free. Meaning that if you have Yuffie and her Doppleganger both in the Arcane Ward zone and you use an ATB attack with your party leader, you would get four free casts of whatever you have linked to your Synergy materia. This would trigger every single time your party leader uses ATB meter! This, in combination with a fierce hack and slash routine from your party, can pack a huge punch.

And no, I know what you’re thinking – unfortunately, you cannot attach another orb of the same green materia you already have attached to Synergy to Magnify as well so that if Synergy were to trigger, it would cast a copy for each enemy on the battlefield. This sadly doesn’t work.

The Setup

Here’s the materia I recommend to pull off this attack strategy. For the purposes of this guide, it is assumed that all of the materia is maxed out. If you need help farming EXP and AP in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, check out this other guide at KeenGamer about how to grind effectively.

Synergy materia sold by Chadley in Cosmo Canyon.

For your party leader, you’re going to need:

• First Strike Materia
• ATB Boost Materia
• Strength Up Materia
• Speed Up Materia
• Elemental Materia linked with Fire and Ice Materia set on weapon OR
• Elemental Materia linked with Lighting and Wind Materia set on weapon

The combination of Strength materia and Elemental materia will give your party leader a massive boost in power as well as infuse two elements to each of their strikes. The First Strike materia will ensure they’d start the fight with at least one ATB meter and the ATB Boost materia will help them keep up their gauge throughout the fight.

For Yuffie, I recommend her setup include the following:

• First Strike Materia
• Magic Up Materia
• ATB Boost Materia
• Synergy Materia linked with Comet Materia

First thing’s first – make sure Yuffie has the highest magic attack power possible by giving her the proper weapon and accessories, such as Sorcerer’s Earrings. In combination with the Magic Up materia, this will greatly boost the efficiency of your Comet attacks. The First Strike materia will allow Yuffie to immediately use Doppleganger so she and your party leader can immediately get right to it – slamming your enemies with a deadly combination of powered up, elemental-infused strikes and an endless barrage of space rocks. The ATB Boost Materia will help you get the meter you need once Doppleganger inevitably wears off and you need to use it again. And lastly, remember that the Synergy materia can be obtained from Chadley in Cosmo Canyon for 80 data points.

Aerith casting Arcane Ward.

For Aerith, honestly it’s nothing special, you just really need her for the Arcane Ward. The only thing I recommend other than Healing materia is linking Magnify with Time materia so you can give the entire party haste to keep up the ATB meters of Yuffie and your party leader. If you have trouble building meter with Aerith for Arcane Ward, you may want consider giving her one of the ATB Boost orbs. One thing to note about Arcane Ward: it may be tricky to get Yuffie and her Doppleganger to stand in the doublecast zone, so you will probably need to manually maneuver them inside of it before switching over to your party leader and attacking.

The Results

The result of this tactic should be quick deaths for your enemies, way too many comets raining down on your TV screen, and a much easier time in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. If done right, it should look something like the video below. Enjoy!