Once you meet Chadley in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, you’ll be stuck with a whole load of ‘Battle Intel’ challenges. By the end, you’ll have to max out all your Materia and weapon proficiencies — and let me tell you, some of those weapon proficiency challenges totally left me confused.
Materia is straightforward — the more you use it, and the longer you have it equipped, the more points you’ll earn. Weapon proficiencies only increase when you complete a special challenge, so they’re a lot trickier. Really, weapon proficiencies are much easier and faster to complete if you know exactly how these challenges work.
NOTE: You only need to complete 16 weapon proficiencies to complete this intel. There are way more than 16, and you can check the weapons guide linked below for all their locations.
More Final Fantasy 7 Remake guides:
Tips & Tricks Beginner’s Guide | How To Unlock Level 2 Limit Breaks | All Weapon Locations & Proficiency Abilities | All Rare Materia Locations | How To Unlock All Summon Materia | All Jukebox Music Tracks Locations | ‘Heavenly Dart Player’ Trophy Guide | ‘Sultan of Squat’ Trophy Guide | PSA: 3 Very Useful Button Inputs | How To Get 200% Or 300% Stagger Bonus | How To Beat Roche, Crab Warden & Air Buster | How To Beat Reno, Rude & Hell House | How To Beat Abzu, Ghoul & Eligor | How To Beat Reno & Rude, Failed Experiment & Abzu (Rematch) | All Side-Quests Guide & Rewards List
Report 17 – Weapon Abilities
- Acquire all 16 weapon abilities.
- New Materia: Skill Master Materia
Cloud Weapons:
Buster Sword Proficiency: Use Focused Thrust ability! It’s that simple.
Iron Blade Proficiency: Use Triple Slash to strike three (or more) enemies. Very straight-forward. You’ll gain proficiency in any battle against 3+ enemies when using the Triple Slash ability.
Nail Bat Proficiency: Use Disorder in combat while in Operator Mode. You’ll switch to Punisher Mode automatically using the Disorder Ability — strike an enemy in your new mode before swapping manually.
Hard Edge Proficiency: Build up your ATB to full, then unleash the Infinity’s End ability on a staggered opponent. You’ll need to use this on tough enemies, which you’ll encounter plenty of in Chapter 14.
Mythril Saber Proficiency: Use the Blade Burst ability to defeat an enemy. Get an enemy to low health, then unleash Blade Burst to finish them off.
Twin Stinger Proficiency: The Counterstance ability puts Cloud in a guard stance. Any attack will initiate an auto-counter that’s very powerful — yes, that includes magic attacks and elemental abilities. To gain proficiency, use Counterstance and pull off counterattacks.
Barret Weapons:
Gatling Gun Proficiency: Use Focused Shot ability to stagger an enemy. Focused Shot increases Stagger by a lot, and it becomes more powerful if you use Focused Shot with your ATB gauge full.
Light Machine Gun Proficiency: The Lifesaver ability causes Barret to absorb any damage taken by your allies. Use Lifesaver and let an ally take damage to gain proficiency. You’ll only gain proficiency once per Lifesaver activation. In a long fight, you can use it multiple times to gain proficiency.
Steel Pincers Proficiency: The Charging Uppercut ability uses 1 ATB, but it will also recharge your ATB if you land a good hit. To earn proficiency with this weapon, you’ll need to fill your ATB gauge (2 ATB), use 1 ATB to activate Charging Uppercut, then land it to regain 1 ATB. You’ll gain proficiency by refilling your ATB meter completely.
Wrecking Ball Proficiency: Very simple. The Wrecking Ball is a powerful ground slam that makes a large explosion that affects nearby enemies. Use it in the center of a group of 3+ enemies to earn proficiency.
EKG Cannon Proficiency: Use the Point Blank ability to kill an enemy. You need to score the killing hit with the ability — Point Blank, like Focused Shot, can use 1 ATB or 2 ATB depending on your meter. Use a fully charged Point Blank to deal even more damage!
Tifa Weapons:
Leather Gloves Proficiency: Another simple one. Use Divekick to kill an enemy. Lower their health, and use Divekick to finish them off. Works on weak enemies, as Divekick is a pretty quick move.
Metal Knuckles Proficiency: After using the Overpower ability, enter into a standard attack combo [Square]. Don’t use Tifa’s Unique Attacks [Triangle]!
Sonic Strikers Proficiency: This charging strike damages Stagger. Use it to land the final blow that staggers an enemy. Very easy for weak enemies.
Feathered Gloves Proficiency: The Starshower ability launches a series of furious punches. Fill your ATB to full, use Starshower, then use any offensive spell or ability. Anything that does damage is powered-up by Starshower.
Mythril Claws Proficiency: Incredibly simple. Just use Chi Trap to strike an enemy. You’ll gain proficiency for every Chi Trap that damages an enemy.
Purple Pain Proficiency: Use True Strike on a staggered enemy. You don’t even need to stagger them. Just use this weapon’s ability on a staggered enemy.
Aerith Weapons:
Guard Stick Proficiency: Just use the Arcane Ward ability, then have an ally use a magic spell. You can only gain proficiency once per arcane ward summon.
Silver Staff Proficiency: Use the Sorcerous Storm ability to strike three enemies at the same time. Run into the center of battle and unleash your attack.
Arcane Scepter Proficiency: Summon a Fleeting Familiar, then use a spell or ability. The familiar will launch a follow-up attack after you use offensive magic. As long as you aren’t interrupted, you can earn proficiency for each familiar.
Mythril Rod Proficiency: Use the Ray of Judgement ability on a staggered enemy. Very straightforward.
Bladed Staff Proficiency: Use the Lustrous Shield to strike an enemy. ‘Striking’ counts as an enemy touching the shield. You can only gain proficiency once per shield activation.
Reinforced Staff Proficiency: Just like the Arcane Ward, you have to do is summon an ATB Ward, then have an ally use an ability / spell while standing on the ward.
