Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Synergies Explained

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth adds a few new wrinkles to the already solid combat of Remake, and the biggest addition is in the form of Combat Synergies. Combat Synergies are actually two-fold, as there are Synergy Abilities and Synergy Skills, and they both do different things. It's quite easy to get certain elements of both mixed up, and there are some intricacies to the system the game doesn't so clearly lay out for new players. That's why we're here to break down how Synergy Abilities and Synergy Skills work, why they're useful, and how to earn new ones in one place, so let's get started with the differences between the two.

Synergy Abilities

Synergy Abilities are special team-up attacks that you will unlock along your journey, and these special attacks are quite flashy but also pack a big punch. Depending on who is in your party at any given time and which Abilities you've unlocked, you'll have several at your disposal, and to be able to use them you'll need to build up Synergy.

Certain abilities in your arsenal will build up Synergy, which you can see represented by rectangles in the bottom left-hand corner. Each Synergy Ability will require a certain number of Synergy bars from each character participating in the attack, so in the example above, you'll need three bars from Cloud and three bars from Aerith to pull off the Firework Blade.

You can see your Synergy progress represented in filled blue bars by the character portraits in the command menu, and the Ability itself also shows character portraits of those involved and how much Synergy they've built up so far, and how much they need to pull off the Ability. Once those are all filled, you select the Synergy Ability and launch it, and while Synergy Abilities can turn the tide of a battle with heavy damage, they will also provide other worthwhile buffs for your party. For example, one bonus is getting unlimited MP, which as you might assume is extremely useful to have in a tense battle.

Now, there is a caveat, as the more you use a Synergy Ability, the higher its cost grows over time. There is another big benefit though to using these Abilities, as the first time you use one Cloud will gain Affinity with that character. This also applies to Synergy Skills, and speaking of Skills, let's break those down next.

Synergy Skills

While sharing the Synergy name, there are big differences between Synergy Abilities and Skills. For one, Skills don't use ATB bars and are called upon by hitting the guard button (R1). Once you unlock them in the Folios grid, they are ready to use, but you need to be strategic when you launch them. A favorite early on is Barret and Cloud's Bullet Batter, which lets you team them up to consecutive ranged attacks, and this helps with aerial enemies in a big way for more close-range fighters like Cloud. Meanwhile, Iron Defense puts Barret and his teammate into a defensive stance and reduces damage taken from enemies, which can be perfect to give you a chance to breathe and set up your next move in the midst of a bitter battle.

There are some great offensive skills as well, like the Spell Blade with Cloud and Yuffie, which takes a bit to wind up but hits hard. Then there are some that are beneficial on multiple fronts, like Red XIII's Wild Charge. This Skill helps Red get in range to dish out more attacks, but the Skill helps guard him from attacks as well, and it builds up his Vengeance meter to boot. While these are more situational, they are no less vital to learn and use, so don't sleep on how much these skills can affect a battle.

What are your favorite Synergy Abilities and Skills in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth? Let us know in the comments and you can also talk all things Final Fantasy and gaming with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!