Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Best Early Materia You Might've Missed

Materia is one of the stand-out elements of the original Final Fantasy 7, and the whole materia system been remade to be even more integral to your gameplay experience in the remake. To explain, materia are special items you can slot into your weapons. They can give you new abilities, spells, summons, Limit Breaks or buffs. Each Materia is different, and as you use them, they’ll level up to increase effectiveness or give you totally new spells.

You’ll only have a limited amount of slots, and some materia is especially rare. Some materia orbs can only be found in one location, and if you miss it, it’s gone forever — some item shops sell materia, but most of the materia listed here can’t be purchased. It’s up to you to find it.

Some of the best materia in FF7R — like one hard-to-find Summon Materia — can only be discovered by searching the environment or completing side-quests. Side-quests are pretty easy to track on your map, but ‘discoveries’ are much easier to miss. Below, I’ll keep a running list of all the best materia you need to track down, and how to get it for yourself.

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Best Materia You Might’ve Missed | Locations Guide

Some materia can’t be purchased from item shops, and isn’t easy to find. Common materia like fire, cure, or lightning are laying around all over the place — it’s possible to find 3-4 as you play, when you really only need 1. The following materia are way harder to find, and can’t be easily purchased.

Ice Materia: A common materia that you can find for free. Don’t miss it!

Ch. 3 – Sector 7 Slums – Scrap Boulevard: Found in the cave, straight ahead from the Residential Area gate.

Auto-Cure Materia: One of the best materia in the game. Equip it to your allies so they heal themselves and each other.

Ch. 3 – Sector 7 Slums – Residential Area: Sold at Chadley’s Shop for 100 Gil. Complete Battle Intel Report 01.

Wind Materia: A somewhat common materia that’s especially effective against flying enemies. You can unlock this in Chapter 3 pretty quickly by completing the Battle Intel.

Ch. 3 – Sector 7 Slums – Residential Area: Sold at Chadley’s Shop. Complete Battle Intel Report 02.

First Strike Materia: This one takes a lot longer to unlock, but it’s worth it. Complete the Intel Report 03 by staggering an enemy, then using a [Triangle] attack to completely fill your ATB meter.

Ch. 3 – Sector 7 Slums – Residential Area: Sold at Chadley’s Shop. Complete Battle Intel Report 03.

ATB Boost Materia: More ATB faster! It’s essential if you’ve got the slots to spare.

Ch. 3 – Sector 7 Slums – Residential Area: Sold at Chadley’s Shop. Complete Battle Intel Report 04.

Revival Materia: A free Revival Materia that you can find early in your adventure. Now you can revive allies with magic instead of just Phoenix Downs. Magical revive also heals significantly more.

Ch. 4 – Sector 7 – Employee Housing Area – Plate Edge: Found to the left, just as you enter the Plate Edge from the Plate Partition.

Luck Up Materia: Increases your Luck stat! Increases pretty significantly, so if you’re aiming for rare drops or more money, keep this equipped.

Ch. 4 – Sector 7 Slums – Residential Area: Reward for reaching #1 on the Darts Leaderboard in Seventh Heaven.

MP Up Materia: Rare materia that increases your total MP. The higher the level, the more MP.

Ch. 6 – Sector 4 – Plate Interior: On the way to the ‘Collapsed Passageway’ quest, you’ll reach a vertical bridge. Lower it completely to access this hidden materia.

Elemental Materia: When equipped to a weapon, gives your weapon attacks Elemental damage. When equipped to gear, halves elemental damage taken.

Ch. 6 – Sector 4 – Plate Interior: Reward for completing the ‘Collapsed Passageway’ Discovery quest. Near the end of Ch. 6, go toward the third Sun Lamp and climb the ladder down. Use the vertical platform controller to reach this materia.

Chocobo & Moogle Summon Materia: The only Summon Materia you can find in-game and miss. It’s another summon! That’s really valuable this early.

Ch. 6 – Sector 4 – Plate Interior: Near the end of the dungeon, disable two (of the three) final sun lamps and use the optional platform to the right of the Cargo Platform. Climb into the control room, and defeat the enemies in under 1:00 minute to reach this rare materia.

Magic Up Materia: Increases your Magic stat. The longer you have it equipped, the bigger the bonus.

Ch. 7 – Mako Reactor 5 – Front Gate: Complete the unlocking mini-game to access the door to the Waist Disposal Room. Found at the end of the hallway.

Prayer Materia: An ability that heals your entire party. Aerith starts with this materia, but you can equip it to anyone. Because it’s an ability, it doesn’t use MP. The more you use it, the better the effect.

Ch. 8 – Sector 5 – Residential Slums: Aerith starts with this materia.

Refocus Materia: This materia gives you access to an alternate Limit Break. Weird, right? Again, Aerith starts with this materia, but you can give it to anyone at any time.