Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will throw a ton of enemies at you. Luckily, you’ll have a wide variety of healing spells, magic attacks, unique abilities, and weapon skills at your disposal. And while you can also buff your party, you can debuff your enemies too, making them more susceptible to your attacks.
Read More: 15 Essential Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Side-Quests
Debuffs can be very effective, but Final Fantasy as a series has had an unfortunate tendency to make most bosses immune to them, leaving regular enemies fair game. Still, some abilities like Poison or Debrave will prove effective against many of the game’s bosses. Always Assess an enemy to see what they’re resistant to, and keep an eye out for the materia listed here to gain an even greater edge over the opposition.
Binding
Binding materia will let you cast up to three spells. At first level you can cast sleep, sending your enemy off to dreamland. And at second and third levels, you can cast Silence and Berserk respectively. The former restricts your target from casting magic spells while the latter makes it more vulnerable to damage (though it can also deal more damage while Berserked, so keep that in mind). You can find Binding materia in the following locations:
- Purchasable from most item and materia shops after reaching Gongaga
- In the Central Colliery in the Old South Corel Mines
- Earn an A-Rank in a performance of “Aerith’s Theme” on piano
Disempowerment
Disempowerment allows you to effectively lower physical and magical attacks from your enemies. You can find it in the following locations:
- Purchasable from most item and materia shops after reaching Gongaga
Enervation
Whereas Disempowerment goes after an enemy’s attack stats, Enervation lowers a foe’s defenses, with Deprotect at Level 1 lowering physical defense and Deshell at Level 2 lowering magical defense. You can find Enervation materia from the following locations:
- Part of Yuffie’s starting loadout
- Near the rest area in Mt. Corel’s Foothills
- Purchasable from most item and materia shops after Chapter 10
Poison
Poison’s a very handy materia to have on hand as it affects a wide range of enemies, and you can combine it with Warding materia to gain resistance from it. You can find Poison materia from the following places:
- Part of Red XIII’s starting loadout
- Purchasable from most item and materia shops after Chapter 4
- On the upper level of Bandit’s Bluff in the Dustbowl
- Reward for “Gongaga Region Intel: Level 1” in Chadley’s Combat Simulator
Petrify
Petrify is a nice two-for-one materia: It not only casts Quake, but can also turn an enemy into stone via Petrify. You can combine this orb with Warding materia to grant resistance to Petrify yourself. This is particularly handy, as having all members of your party petrified will result in a game over screen. You can find Petrify in the following locations:
- Develop with Chadley in the Gongaga region
Poison and Petrify
Like Fire and Ice or Lightning and Wind materia, Poison and Petrify gives you access to casting both Bio and Quake. It’s a valuable way to save space in a character’s materia slots. You can find Poison and Petrify materia at the following location:
- Develop with Chadley in the Cosmo Canyon region after Chapter 10
Don’t forget about Time materia!
I included Time materia in our best party buffing materia list, but though it can cast Haste to speed up your characters, you can also cast Slow and Stop at higher levels, making it both a buffing and debuffing materia.
Subversion
Subversion is essential for dealing with enemies who like to cast Barrier, Manaward, Shield, or Reflect on themselves. At Level 2, the materia will give you access to “Dispel,” which will let you cancel out any of an enemy’s buffs. You can find Subversion materia from the following locations:
- Purchasable from most item and materia shops after reaching Gongaga
- Next to a rest area in Reactor – B4 in the Gongaga Reactor
- Near Salvation’s Altar in the Temple of the Ancients
While you can defeat most enemies by simply outmatching them in power, making smart use of debuffing materia can make your targets way more vulnerable to your attacks. This is especially true for materia that lowers your enemies’ magical defenses, allowing you to use lower-level spells and save on MP.
