Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the hit sequel to 2020’s critical acclaim RPG Final Fantasy VII Remake, features many characters with different styles of combat, all of them being playable or overpowered in some way. However, there is one character that is quite unique due to his characteristics – and that is Barret. Barret is essentially the only tank class character in the game, and giving him specific materia, such as the Vitality Up Materia, makes him even tankier. But even if they did, they are nowhere near as tanky as Barret.
This guide will help you maximize Barret’s potential as a damage-soaking machine, ensuring that your enemies’ biggest attacks are neutered or at least not directed toward your other two party members (I recommend Aerith and Tifa, though anyone fit in those roles). After reading this guide, you may feel like you’re playing Overwatch rather than Final Fantasy with the proposed tank/healer/DPS setup. Here’s a quick summary of the strategy we’re going to go over:
- To properly tank with Barret, we’ll need the proper materia orbs and equipment. Vitality Up Materia, Spirit Up Materia, Provoke Materia, and Healing Materia are crucial. Equipment wise, you’ll want to give him the items that grant the most defense.
- To Maximize Barret, we’re going to take advantage of his Steelskin ability, which uses one ATB meter and temporarily reduces the amount of damage Barret will take. This move triggers quickly and is very spammable.
- We can further buff up Barret’s defense using spells such as Barrier or Protect. Barrier cuts physical damage in half while Protect pumps up a party member’s defense stat.
- The aforementioned tactics combined with casting Regen on Barret will ensure that he’ll essentially never die, setting up him to be the ultimate utility character.
- Using the Provoke Materia orb, we can goad enemies into attacking Barret after his defense is pumped up, keeping their strikes both inert and away from your other party members.
Barret using Steelskin.
If done properly, Barret will simply have a combination of healing, toughness, and HP that most enemies – including bosses and summon – will struggle with taking down. Not only that, using the Provoke Materia or other abilities, we can force enemies to attack into Barret’s hard exterior shell, wasting their attacks in the process, making tanking with Barret a premium strategy.
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:
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | How to Get Infinite ATB and Limit Break Meter
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | Best Healing Setup for Hard Mode
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | How to Beat the 3D Brawler Mini-Game on Hard Mode
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | How to Romance Barret, Red XIII, and Yuffie
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | How to Romance Cait Sith
Barret, the Damage Sponge
Your role with Barret will simply be to soak up as much damage as possible, keeping attacks away from Aerith and Tifa so they can play their positions without encountering any issues. To properly tank with Barret, I recommend using the following materia setup. Also, for the purposes of this guide, it is assumed that all materia is at maximum level:
- Vitality Up Materia x2 – Will boost Barret’s defensive stats greatly when both are equipped at the same time. Having two maxed out Vitality Up Materia orbs is crucial to this strategy.
- Spirit Up Materia x2 – Will boost Barret’s magic defense stats greatly when both are equipped at the same time.
- Provoke Materia – Allows Barret to goad enemies into attacking him, making sure they don’t pester your other party members.
- Reraise Materia – Great for the off chance he does happen to die, but if you don’t have it, it’s not a requirement.
- Chakra Materia – This is a great way to regain a huge chunk of HP after taking a big hit from a boss or summon without having to expend any MP.
- First Strike Materia OR ATB Boost Materia – This will make sure Barret has ample ATB meters to be able to spam the Steelskin ability.
- Darkside Materia – This will boost Barret’s attack abilities by 20% at the sacrifice at 5% of his HP. But since our goal is to make Barret extremely tough and unkillable, this is perfectly fine. Especially when Regen is cast on him, neutering the effects of the Darkside damage.
Orb of Vitality Up Materia attached to Barret.
Aerith, the White Mage
Your primary role with Aerith is simple – you will primarily be a pocket healer and status buffer for Barret, though if you’re not on hard mode you may find this role diminished. The first thing you should do as Aerith is hit your entire party with Regen. This is crucial to turning Barret into a damage-gobbling juggernaut against tougher enemies. The materia setup I recommend for Aerith is:
- Magnify Materia linked to Healing Materia
- Magic Efficiency linked to Healing Materia
- Magic Focus linked to Barrier Materia
- Fortification Materia
- Magic Up Materia
- Revival Materia
- Fire and Ice Materia
Tifa, the Obliterator
Okay, now let’s get to the DPS character. I highly recommend Tifa, though Cloud or Red XIII could fill this role if you prefer. However, they both lack the raw taijutsu power of Tifa. Your role with Tifa will be to absolutely pummel your enemy with the best and strongest combos available, taking full advantage of her Unbridled Strength ability and the best equipment you have for her in terms of pumping up her attack power. The materia setup I recommend for Tifa looks like this:
- Elemental Materia linked to Lightning and Wind Materia on her weapon
- Strength Up Materia
- Speed Up Materia
- First Strike Materia
- ATB Boost Materia
The Result – Tanking with Barret
The results should look something like the video above, where Barret takes big hits, shrugs them off and continues on his way. Even a full might summon on hard mode can barely damage him. If all the mentioned tactics are deployed at the same time – meaning you have the proper orbs (Vitality Up Materia, Spirit Up Materia, etc), cast the proper spells on Barret, and use Steelskin a couple of time – Barret can survive nearly anything in the game other that one-shot kills, such as Odin’s Zantetsuken or Tonberry’s instant death move. Here are some other tips to consider as well:
- Consider using Barret’s Lifesaver ability from time to time after his defense is pumped up. This acts very much like the Provoke Materia.
- Make sure to unlock all the nodes in Barret’s skill tree that up his defense.
- Barret also has a node in his skill tree that will allow him to start off the fight already having Regen.
- If you equip Barret’s first weapon, he has an add-on called Overcharge Protection that automatically casts Protect on him after he uses the attack Overcharge.
- If you want to take it to the next level, you can use the Disempowerment Mateira to cast Debrave and Defaith on your enemies, weakening their attacks.
The Regeneration ability in Barret’s skill tree.
