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Final Fantasy 7 Remake laid the foundation for much of whatFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthhas to offer. Many of Remake’s key systems have expanded, but a few of them have received full-fledged overhauls. Weapon Levels are one such example.
Rather than upgrading your weapons using a screen akin to the Sphere Grid and Crystarium of Final Fantasies old, you now equip Weapon Upgrades that increase in number with each passing Weapon Level. It isn’t a particularly difficult system to grasp, but there’s enough terminology with the word ‘Weapon’ involved to throw someone off for a while without guidance. Eureka - here’s guidance!
What Are Weapon Upgrades?
Unlike in FF7 Remake,Weapon Upgrades are a largely automatic system. This is due, no doubt, to the fact that theFolio boardhas taken over the sort of customization style that Weapon Upgrades once did.
At eachWeapon Level, all of your characters' weapons willgain new Weapon Skills and Stat Boosts. You will seeacquired skills and upcoming skillson theright-hand side of the Weapon Upgrades screen.
Weapon Skills
Weapon Skills aremanually equipped. You can only equip Weapon Skills from yourcurrently equipped weapon, and there’s astrict limit on the number of them. However,additional Weapon Skill slotswill be added as your Weapon Level increases throughout the game.
Stat Boosts andWeapon Skills which boost statsare two separate things. A bit tricky, we know, so here’s an example of a Weapon Skill of this kind:Sleek Saber gains the Attack Power +20 Weapon Skillat Weapon Level 4. It must be equipped.
Most Weapon Skills offer something more flavorful, however.ATB Charge Rate Upincreases ATB charge rate when performing actions;Unrelenting Punisher, a Cloud-exclusive Weapon Skill, increases the number of strong attacks that Cloud strikes with while in Punisher Mode.
Stat Boosts
Stat Boosts arepassive stat increases conferred at each Weapon Level. Using the Sleek Saber example from earlier, at Weapon Level 4 it gains the following:Attack +9; Magic Attack +9.
But in addition to the aptly-named stat boosting, there are alsomore infrequent gains at Weapon Levels. You will sometimesgain another Weapon Skill slot, which is surely advantageous, since you’ll never have as many of them as you do Weapon Skills.
You’ll alsogain additional Materia slotsa few times. Materia slots are at a premium in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, andhow you arrange your Materia distributionplays a big role in your combat capabilities, so this is something to keep an eye out for.
How Do Weapon Upgrades Work?
Weapon Levels increase as characters gain SP, but as with its other applications,SP is a single all-encompassing pool. Which is to say,you are onlyspendingthe SP on Folio boards; the SP that’s kept track of for Weapon Levelsautomatically elevatesto reflect the overall amount.
Let’s say you’re looking atRed XIII’s Weapon Upgradesscreen. If the menu states he has65 out of 70 SP towards Weapon Level 3, then throughout the game, however much he has accrued to this point isthe total amount of SP he has gained to-date.
Although they all start out atWeapon Level 1, don’t expect your characters to all share their Weapon Level to a tee. That said, they’ll probably never betoofar off.
Finding skill books, not to mention simplyhaving a higher levelthan a peer, will give a character more accrued SP, so their Weapon Level (and progress to the next one) will be higher accordingly.
Once a Weapon Level improves,checkto verify you still like your current Weapon Skills setup most, even if you didn’t gain a new slot. Do the same with your other weapons as well - any that you think you might equip again!
