Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: How to Farm AP

Materia are an essential element of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s gameplay, serving as the party’s means of boosting stats, casting spells, and accessing a variety of special actions in combat. Materia usually begin at level 1 when acquired, which allows an equipped character to use the weakest form of that Materia’s power. AP is earned for all equipped Materia when defeating enemies, which will eventually cause the Materia’s level to increase.

Players will earn some AP throughout Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth by playing normally, but maxing out all the Materia will require some farming and patience. With help from the right equipment and a good combat encounter to farm, the time needed to level up a Materia can be considerably shortened, so here are some tips and tricks to help you achieve exactly that.

AP Up Materia

One of the best and easiest ways to speed up AP gain is to make use of the AP Up Materia. This is a Materia that does not need to be leveled up. Instead, it boosts the AP earned by a Materia it is linked to by 100%. To link the AP Up Materia to another Materia it must be placed in a linked Materia Slot that links to the Slot the other Materia is placed in. Using an AP Up Materia will double the AP gain for the Materia it is linked to, and certain weapons and armor have three linked slots, allowing AP Up to be connected to two Materia at once.

Over the course of the game players can find four AP Up Materia. Here are the locations:

• In the Mythril Mines, at the end of a thin walkway shortly after Barret and Red go down the cliff after the Hooded Figure. First accessible during Chapter 3.
• Complete the Combat Simulator Challenge “Corel Battle Intel: Badlands Beasts”, which can be unlocked during or after Chapter 9 by Completing Fiend Intel 2 and Fiend Intel 6 in the Corel Region.
• Complete the Combat Simulator Challenge “Nibel Battle Intel: Cthonian Rhondo,” which can be unlocked during or after Chapter 11 by Completing “Mako-Cursed Abomination Fiend Intel” and “Stone-Cold Spitter Fiend Intel” in the Nibel Region.
• After Completing the Main Story, complete the “Six-Person Bouts: Ululating Quartet” challenge at the Musclehead Colosseum.

Chadley’s Combat Simulator, Fiend Intel, & Musclehead Colosseum

One of the most readily available sources of AP is Chadley’s Combat Simulator. Taking on fights in the simulator against multiple enemies will allow players to build up AP relatively quickly. The only downside to this method is that it will only provide AP to Materia equipped by the characters participating in the fight. An alternative that allows party members outside the current party to earn AP too, is farming a Fiend Intel fight. These take place in the open world, allowing the entire party to gain AP while remaining repeatable and easy to trigger.

A third option, that becomes available during Chapter 8, is to farm AP by participating in fights at the Musclehead Colosseum. Much like the Combat Simulator and Fiend Intel, the Colosseum fights can be repeated as much as you want and offer some huge group fights. Taking on fights with lots of enemies, such as “Devil-May-Care Desperados”, will allow players to farm AP the most efficiently. In the case of “Devil-May-Care Desperados”, players can quit or reset the challenge after defeating the bandits in the first round to farm AP faster and more efficiently.

The Chocobo Armband (Chapter 11)

Starting in Chapter 11, players can access the sidequest “Esoteric Secrets.” Completing this sidequest will reward players with the Chocobo Armband, a powerful piece of armor that triples the AP gained by equipped Materia. By making use of this Armband, players can vastly accelerate their AP gain and improve their Materia much more quickly.

Post-Game Bonus

After Beating the Main Game, all AP gain is tripled. This means that players can take on any remaining sidequests and challenges while leveling up their Materia much faster. This can be especially useful before heading into NG+ and Hard Mode, since Materia can be maxed out before entering another run to make things much more manageable.