Final Fantasy VII’s Materia system allows players to take advantage of its unique mechanics and create entirely different playstyles and builds for their beloved party members. Players will find loads of them sprinkled throughout the game and are given the task of leveling them up through usage in battle.

While any kind of Materia can be useful in the right hands and in different situations, there are some that stick out among the rest once they reach their full potential. Which of these maxed-out Materia will be your saving grace throughout the Final Fantasy VII Remake?

10 MP Absorption Materia

This is a support Materia that is gained at the very end of the game by completing Chadley’s 18th battle intel report and provides one of the best methods of keeping your MP at a sufficient level. This comes in especially handy in Hard Mode as there is a lack of MP restoration items at your disposal.

This can be paired with many different Materia, but Deadly Dodge is likely one of the best to pair it with as players will be spamming it quite frequently and dealing decent damage in a wide area in the process. Deadly Dodge can be used when MP is running low to keep your reserves up to dish out even more powerful magic attacks.

9 Time Materia

While the Time Materia may be one of the most useful in the game all around, its first spell, Haste, is one of its biggest assets. While Slow and Stop have their uses as well and are quite potent spells against the enemies that don’t resist them, they’re largely useless in boss fights.

Slow reduces the ATB gain of enemies and Stop completely immobilizes them for a short time, allowing the party a few seconds to beat the life out of them for a few seconds. This is an amazing Materia to have, just don’t expect full usage of it in most battles.

8 ATB Stagger Materia

As one of the core battle mechanics in the Remake, the Stagger system is vital in taking down enemies in the most heart-pumping and efficient manner. The ATB Stagger Materia takes full advantage of this by rewarding the player with ATB upon successful stagger.

This Materia gives more ATB as it is leveled up and is more than worth enhancing it all the way. Getting more ATB for staggering allows for more powerful attacks to be used while enemies are stunned, leading to quicker fights and boss battles.

7 Steadfast Block Materia

Players may not realize it at first, but blocking is extremely important this time around, and it isn’t possible to get away with blindly mashing the attack button. Since evading attacks is quite difficult and limited, blocking oncoming attacks can be the difference between life and death.

Steadfast Block ensures that players are rewarded for vigilant defense, as it gives an ATB boost while defending against attacks. It gives quite a large ATB boost when leveled up to maximum and is especially helpful against a lot of the end-game bosses.

6 Prayer Materia

Items and MP aren’t the only ways to heal your party’s wounds, as the Prayer Materia allows the use of ATB to heal the entire party. This Materia doesn’t offer much at its base level but quickly becomes a viable option as one gets closer to its fifth level.

This Materia is great for just about anyone needing a niche option to heal the party or someone who needs to conserve their MP for other options like attacks, buffs, or debuffs.

5 First Strike Materia

When beginning a battle, the party would normally start fresh with no ATB and will have to gain it through battle, but the First Strike Materia is kind enough to grant some free ATB to its holder.

While the ATB increase it gives at its base level is minimal, it gives quite a hefty amount of it at the start of a battle. When paired with the Whistlewind Scarf accessory, the specified character will actually start the battle with both ATB gauges filled, making this a definite worthwhile investment.

4 Revival Materia

Well, Cloud just got blasted with Firaga and is taking a power nap on the floor, and the player is in desperate need of all the help they can get. They are all out of Phoenix Downs and the rest of the party’s HP is looking pretty sparse. This is where the Revival Materia comes in, giving access to the spells Raise and Arise.

This Materia is nothing short of amazing to have at all times but is especially recommended in Hard Mode where all items are banned. Raise is a great spell, but Arise heals the revived party member to full health to both conserve MP and keep your party in top shape.

3 Healing Materia

What more can be said about the Healing Materia other than “it heals” to make it one of the most useful Materia in the game? This is one of those Materia that everyone should have on a least one party member no matter what, and it would be a death wish to go without it.

When leveling up these Materia from the beginning of the game, they do a great job of healing the player enough HP relative to their level, so it’ll be a great Materia at any point in the adventure. Regen and Curaga are definitely worth the grinding, however, especially when paired with the Magnify Materia.

2 Barrier Materia

Players will understand the frustration of enemies like the Mark II Monodrive throwing up a shield to mitigate certain types of incoming damage, and working around this poses much more of a challenge. However, it’s nice to think that enemies get just as frustrated when the party uses the Barrier Materia.

At the max level, it gives the spells Barrier, Manaward, and Manawall, which half the damage of physical damage, magical damage, and both types of damage respectively, making most enemy encounters a ton easier.

1 Elemental Materia

The Buster Sword is cool and all, but what if it was on fire? Not only does the Elemental Materia make weapons look even more pleasing, but it provides some bonus elemental damage on weapons and elemental defense on armor.

At its highest level, it gives a bonus 23% damage output from the linked elemental Materia or absorbs that element entirely when slotted into an armor piece. When battling mono-type enemies like Shiva, this Materia can completely shut down their entire moveset.

NEXT: Final Fantasy VII Remake: Every Chapter Ranked From Worst To Best