Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Best Party & Party Composition Setup Suggestions
One of the largest advantages that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has over its predecessor is the sheer number of playable characters. Back in Remake you never really had much choice about who your party was - it was determined by the story and situation. In FF7 Rebirth, you actually often have direct control over which characters are in your party. That's exciting but it also leaves you with the paralyzing choice of trying to figure out who the best party members are, and what exactly the most effective and best party composition will be. That's where this handy Rebirth party guide comes into play.
The Best Party Members in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
First thing's first: Final Fantasy VII Rebrith is a well-made, pretty exquisitely balanced role-playing game. That means that while we absolutely have suggestions of the best party members in FF7 Rebirth, we wouldn't for a second suggest that this list is gospel. There are lots of ways to make combat work for you in Rebirth, after all.
The truth is, the best party members are likely going to always be those you most enjoy playing as and can really vibe with the rhythm of playing as, given that each party member plays so differently. There's also less ridigity in FF7 Remake than in many RPGs; thanks to the wide range of stats on available Weapons for each character and the sheer versality of the Materia system, you can quite easily take a character and build them to play quite differently, outside of their natural strengths.
With all that said, we do have some recommendations of characters we think particularly stand out as some of FF7 Rebirth's best party members; the characters with the strongest utility, who can easily fit into a range of party setups. These are the characters we feel are most worthy of your consideration when you
Yuffie
Has access to all four elements regardless of what materia you have on her. Blindside can be spammed even when knocked around to quickly fill ATB / Synergy gauge. Give her ATB boosting materia and she can alternate between ninjutsu and Pray, Enemy Skills, or whatever. Being able to attack from range also just keeps her safe most of the time.
Barret: Barret is Rebirth's ultimate supportive tank character. He doesn't have the highest attack values or MP, but his health is unmatched and his Lifesaver ability gives the entire party effective access to that unmatched HP pool. Handing him the Revive Materia and putting it on Auto-Cast means your party practically has a revive-bot on hand, while Barret's gun attacks provide gun damage and animation interrupts from almost any range. His only weakness in the role is a low MP count, but equipping Item Economizer and Item Master will allow him to replenish himself and others with items.
Cloud
Cloud's role as party leader and his mandatory inclusion in most party setups means that he's the game's best all-round fighter. He has aerials, anti-air moves (note that you can dodge and spam the attack button to send out waves of blade magic), and the most potent counterattacks this side of fully charging Red XIII's vengeance. Make sure to give Cloud a First Strike Materia so he can get the first move in combat (which should be used for Assess). Cloud's also a great candidate for holding onto the Enemy Skill Materia, since the Enemy Skill abilities are great ones to use as openers or to fill a gap in the party's coordination.
Tifa
Tifa's the number one assassin character. In the right hands, she's practically unmatched in delivering single-target burst damage over a short time. That's something of a continuation of her role in Remake, the evidence of which lies in the fact that Tifa can solo the infamous 300% Stagger Damage challenge, which returns from Remake to bedevil Rebirth players. She's also the most agile of the characters save Yuffie, and can dodge away from blows that would otherwise connect with anyone else. Her only weakness is that Tifa's a bit more grounded (literally) than Cloud as a melee fighter. She requires a bit of setup to get airborne, either from a Synergy Skill like Leaping Strikes or through her Techniques, making her slightly less convenient to go after fliers with than, say, using Cloud's blade waves or just switching to a ranged character.
Cait Sith
Cait Sith is an unusual with a move set and ability suite that takes some getting used to, but can be potent with practice. This is one you'll need to put a bit of work getting used to in order to see the maximum benefit, but if you do this robotic kitty sings.
Unlike in the original game, players control the little cat portion of "Cait Sith" most of the time. The Moogle can be summoned and ridden by Cait Sith as a mount, and has its own set of moves. But it's also a tad slow and unwieldy, meaning you'll want to close distance as the cat and jump on and off the Moogle as the situation requires. Cait's weapon abilities are also influenced by chance, so you'll also want a high luck to boost the likelihood of a good result. Finally, Cait can also be a decently strong support caster, with a lot of weapon skills that extend buffs and debuffs he casts on friends and foes, respectively.
Best Party Composition & Setup Suggestions for FF7 Rebirth
Individual Party Members are only the start of the equation, of course. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is replete with RPG systems - and in any deep party-based RPG, a major question becomes not just who the best party members are - but what the best party composition and the best party setup is.
Because sometimes, just throwing the three best characters together doesn't give you everything that you need - you need a balanced team that can cover all bases. Other times, you might be more focused on character relationships & choices, probably for your potential romance and Gold Saucer date, and therefore be prioritizing popping off synergy moves with your would-be date. There's balance to be found - you've got to satisfy all the areas.
As is often the case with well-made RPGs and just like with the individual party member advice above, we on RPG Site would be quick to tell you that there is no outright best party in FF7 Rebirth - pretty much any composition can work if you're engaging with the Materia, Synergy, Folio, and Weapon Upgrade systems fully, and have kitted yourselves out with
With that said, we do have some suggestions for party setup and layouts that we found particularly effective during our play-throughs. Some characters are just a more 'natural' fit together, after all. Here's the RPG Site team's best party suggestions for Rebirth:
Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie
If you want a total jack-of-all trades party, this may very well be the one to go for. While Yuffie isn't strictly speaking a natural mage, this party setup will treat her like one - because she has access to all four elements with her innate Ninjitsu abilities - so you can exploit any elemental weakness at the drop of a hat, from a distance, and with a normal attack that doesn't consume ATB. Lean into this by giving Yuffie equipment and materia that boosts her magic stat - and make her your designated healer, either with Curative Materia and Magnify Materia, or with Pray, which can be borroowed from Aerith. Yuffie can wreck enemies from a distance, primarily casting, and get in close and still be decent in that sense as required.
Equip Tifa the opposite way - treat her as your damage dealer. Her natural health and slight squishiness means that she'll be a little bit of a glass cannon, but you can augment that with HP up materia. Tifa's main role is to step in once an enemy is staggered, and use her brilliant stagger-boosting abilities to raise that stagger damage percentage as high as possible; at which point Cloud and Yuffie can lay on as much pain as possible. Cloud acts as the team's anchor, sitting in between as a jack of all trades. Once Tifa has driven up the stagger, use his high-damage melee skills to lay on the pain.
Cloud, Barret, Aerith
While the ideal way to play party combat in FFVII Rebirth is to swap between members often, A Cloud-Barret-Aerith team is an ideal option if you want a "full autopilot" option. Barret and Aerith are fairly self-sufficient party members, and will keep a strong barrage of sustained fire while you clean up as Cloud.
Use Cloud to engage at melee range: The enemy AI's tendency to target the currently controlled party member will do the work of "keeping aggro". Meanwhile, Barret and Aerith will support from a distance. This team setup becomes more potent as you gather Auto-Cast, Synergy, Auto-Weapon Ability and Auto-Unique Ability Materia. Attach Auto-Cast to beneficial spells so your party members will buff you on their own, and the Auto-Unique and Auto-Weapon Ability Materia will ensure that Barret uses abilities like Overcharge and Focused Shot without your prompting. Furthermore, Barret's supportive abilities like Lifesaver and Steelskin can keep Aerith and Cloud healthy. Give Barret a Provoke Materia, too, so he can take the hits when one of you gets into critical health.
That said, you will want to at least open the menu and manage Aerith's spellcasting and Barret's ability use from time to time, since things like Synergy Skills, Limit Breaks, and Summons need manual activation. This team setup gives the team access to several strong Synergy Skills and Abilities. Counterfire, Iron Defense, Bodyguard, and Combat Savior are all on the table as Synergy Skills, while United Refocus, Sweet-and-Sour Salvo, Partners in Pain, Firework Blade, and Arcane Blast provide access to the full range of Synergy Ability bonus effects.