Summon Materia is vital in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, helping out against most of the tougher enemies in the game. With the right summon equipped, you can even trivialise some boss encounters. However, obtaining these summons isn’t straight-forward, and there’s even one in a secret area within an early chapter. With that in mind, here’s a handy Final Fantasy 7 Remake summons guide detailing where you can find every Summon Materia and tips to get them.
If you haven’t taken the plunge into the world of Final Fantasy VII Remake just yet, why not read our review and see if it’s a game you might enjoy?
Chocobo Chick, Carbuncle, and Cactuar
There are three summons which were pre-order bonuses.
We’ll get the easy summons out of the way first. Some Final Fantasy 7 Remake summons were bonuses for people who pre-ordered the game. These are the cactuar and carbuncle, two legendary creatures from past titles, and the Chocobo Chick, a new addition to the remake. If you’re absolutely dying for these summons, then fortunately Square Enix has included the Cactuar summon with the deluxe edition of the game. Not particularly helpful if you’ve already bought the game, but useful if you’re considering a purchase.
Ifrit
No worries about finding Ifrit.
Ifrit will be the first Summon Materia you receive as it’s part of the story. Once you’ve finished Chapter 3, Jessie will kindly hand you the Materia. No tricks or gimmicks, just a simple exchange of favours. You’ll also be glad that Jessie gives you this early on as it can help with certain bosses massively. Ifrit very clearly uses fire elemental damage, a very versatile element that not a lot of bosses are resistant to. In fact, the fights with Abzu in the Sewers, and the fight with the Ghoul in the Train Graveyard are made much easier due to their weakness to fire.
If you know a boss fight is coming up but don’t know its weakness, Ifrit is your best bet early on.
Chocobo and Moogle
So many Chocobos!
The next Materia available to you is in Chapter 6, in a secret area towards the chapter’s end. You may have noticed this pesky red ball as you made your way across the powerful fans around halfway through the chapter. To get behind these fans, you’ll need to shut off all three sun lamps to activate the service platform. Before you ride the platform, look straight at it and turn to your right. You should notice a smaller platform that you’ll need to take to get behind the fans. You’ll know you’ve got the right one when Barrett starts singing a little song about finding treasure.
Once you’re across the gap, climb the ladder and you’ll see a terminal. Before you activate this terminal, be aware that you’re in for a fight in the next room. Not only that, but the fight is timed, meaning that if you don’t kill everything quickly, you’ll be locked out of the room with the Summon Materia inside. Make sure you have your strongest Materia equipped for the fight. There’s a couple of monsters and some turrets, so Ice and Lightning Materia are a must. Defeat them all in time and activate the terminal at the other side of the room to stop the timer. Head inside and the Summon Materia is yours for the taking.
Shiva
Chadley is a very important person to have on your side.
The rest of the Summon Materia you’ll need are gifts from Chadley after completing a certain amount of his Battle Reports. Once you’ve completed Chadley’s reports, he’ll give you the option to fight each summon so you can then use it yourself. The first ideal place to get Shiva is during Chapter 8, although you can fight Shiva as early as Chapter 3 if you’re feeling brave. These summon fights can be very rough if you go in unprepared, and the Ifrit summon that you receive at the end of Chapter 3 is very useful when fighting Shiva.
If you go into the Shiva fight in Chapter 8, you’ll only have Cloud and Aerith in the party. Make sure both members have strong Fire Materia equipped, as well as the aforementioned Ifrit Summon Materia. A general rule of thumb with these summon fights is to stagger them as much as possible. Summons have the longest stagger period of any fight in the game, so it’s a good opportunity to get some damage in. Spam Focused Thrust with Cloud whenever you can and heal with Aerith. Try to save your stronger attacks such as your Limit Break for when Shiva is staggered to deal massive damage.
If you found the Elemental Materia in Chapter 6, there is a way to absolutely trivialise the fight with Shiva. Make sure you level up the Materia to at least level 2, and attach it to Cloud’s armour. Link it to an Ice Materia, and Cloud will be invincible during the Shiva fight.
Fat Chocobo
It’s harsh but true.
Despite it’s outward appearance, Fat Chocobo is a pretty rough fight if you’re going in with just Cloud and Aerith. The Fat Chocobo fight will become available to you after you complete ten of Chadley’s Battle Reports. Personally, I would wait until Chapter 14 when you have both Barrett and Tifa to help you out. That way, Cloud and Tifa can stagger him whilst Barrett heals the group. Fat Chocobo has no weaknesses, but there’s one very simply way to beat him if you can get your head around the mechanics.
Use Focused Thrust with Cloud, Focused Strike with Tifa, and Focused Shot with Barret if you have enough AP. Just before you stagger him, use Tifa’s Unbridled Strength twice. This way once he’s staggered, you can use Tifa’s Rise and Fall and Omnistrike abilities to increase the amount of stagger damage you dish out. You can then repeat the move to increase the stagger damage some more. Whilst doing that, use Cloud and Barrett’s strongest moves at the same time, and you should be dealing massive damage to Fat Chocobo. Repeat the process and you’ll have him down in no time.
Leviathan
Leviathan is another rough fight if you don’t play your cards right.
These next couple of summons are quite difficult, and I very much recommend waiting until Chapter 14 to fight them. This is mainly because Barrett will be your MVP in the Leviathan fight. You can fight Leviathan after you’ve completed fifteen of Chadley’s Battle Reports. Another reason why it’s better to attempt this fight in Chapter 14 is that you can use the Colosseum in Wall Market to grind out these Battle Reports. The initial fight isn’t too difficult, and the tactics from previous summon fights are also applicable here.
However, about half way through the fight, Leviathan will fly into the air and batter you from above whilst water spouts batter you from below. This is where Barrett comes in. Use Barrett to damage Leviathan when he’s in the air and unleash Cloud and Tifa’s strongest moves when he comes closer to the ground. If you can, try to stagger him with Focused Strike and Focused Thrust. This fight will likely test your patience, but persevere and you’ll bag yourself a very powerful ally.
Bahamut
You’ll need to prep before this one.
The strongest Final Fantasy 7 Remake summon is Bahamut, and his fight is rough. Not only does he hit hard, but his Megaflare attack deals 9999 damage to every party member. Bahamut is only available to fight until after you complete all of Chadley’s Battle Reports. This includes maxing out every Magic Materia and becoming proficient in around three quarters of all available weapons. You can do this by grinding in the Colosseum in Chapter 14, although I would personally wait until you’ve finished the game. That way you can fight Bahamut with Tifa and Aerith.
Before you even attempt this, make sure you’ve got a maxed out Barrier Materia on one of your party members. That way you can use Manawall and halve the damage done by Megaflare. You can also give the Magnify Materia to Aerith and link a Healing Materia to it. That way, instead of healing just herself, Aerith can heal the whole party at once. Bahamut is a very tough fight. Just be sure to heal regularly, try to stagger him as much as you can, and keep an eye on when he’s going to use Megaflare. Follow the tips in this guide, and you should be fine.
So there’s a list of all the Final Fantasy 7 Remake summons and how to get them! Be sure to read our review if you’re considering a purchase, and good luck with those summon fights.
