Skill cores included in the Folio upgrades make up each character’s skill tree in FF7 Rebirth, and players should unlock the best skill cores first by using SP to make their early game easier. Before skills cores become available for purchase in the Folio upgrades, these must be unlocked by increasing your party level and weapon level. I have listed the skills that can be unlocked earlier at a lower level.
- The playable characters in FF7 Rebirth consist of Cloud, Barret Tifa, Aerith, Red XIII, Yuffie, and Cait Sith.
- Each character has multiple skill cores that you can unlock in the Folio upgrades section.
- More Folio upgrades become available as your party level, as well as the weapon level increases.
- The best early-game skill cores will give players strong synergy abilities/skills and stat boosts in FF7 Rebirth.
- Skill cores can also be refunded, and you can gain back the SP to purchase stronger skill cores, which unlock later.
- Author’s Note: I have over 35 hours of playtime in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and have ended the main story, which is why you can trust my information regarding skill cores, as it is backed by experience.
The Best Early Game Skill Cores
Here is a list of all the best skill cores of each character that should be unlocked first:
| No. | Character | Skill Cores |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cloud | Firework Blade, Powerful Punisher, Max HP Up, And Relentless Rush. |
| 2 | Barret | United Refocus, Max HP Up, Enhanced Overcharge, And Avalanche Two-Step. |
| 3 | Tifa | Synchro Cyclone, Enhanced Techniques, Leaping Strikes, And ATB Charge Rate Up. |
| 4 | Aerith | Bodyguard, Divine Punishment, Max MP Up, And Synergy Damage Up. |
| 5 | Red XIII | Overfang, Max HP Up, Savage Assault, And Vengeful Guardian. |
| 6 | Yuffie | Cyclonic Kick, Enhanced Attack, United Refocus, And Shuriken Sync. |
| 7 | Cait Sith | Soldier Moogle Class, Critical Hit Damage Up, Mayhem-Go-Round, And Moogle Sentinel. |
Cloud
| No. | Skill Core | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Firework Blade | Synergy Ability | Using Aerith as his partner, Cloud is able to use a powerful ranged attack which not only damages enemies but also increases him Limit Level. |
| 2 | Powerful Punisher | Stat Boost | Switching to Cloud's Punisher Mode in between combos to deal stagger damage is essential to his playstyle and this stat boost buffs the damage of his Punisher Mode strong attack by 3%. |
| 3 | Max HP Up | Stat Boost | Another stat boost upgrade which increases the total health of Cloud by 200 points which can be really helpful to increase survivability especially during the early game. |
| 4 | Relentless Rush | Synergy Ability | Pairing up with Tifa, Cloud unleashes a strong combo attack which can even increase the time for which an enemy stays in the staggered state if the attack hits a staggered enemy. |
Why I Chose These Folio Upgrades: The synergy abilities gave me more freedom in my playstyle when playing as Cloud, and the stat boosts allowed me to strengthen both my offense and defense early on.
Barret
| No. | Skill Core | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Refocus | Synergy Ability | This synergy ability can only be used with Red XIII and both characters will gain 3 ATB bars after using United Refocus which will allow them to spam more of their abilities. |
| 2 | Max HP Up | Stat Boost | Barret can act like a tank and needs to have high health with a strong defense in FF7 Rebirth which is why Max HP Up boost helps his playstyle as well. |
| 3 | Enhanced Overcharge | Stat Boost | Overcharge is Barret's special attack that can be used to quickly build up stagger and Enhanced Overcharge further increases the damage of this attack by 5%. |
| 4 | Avalanche Two-Step | Synergy Ability | A powerful early game synergy ability which requires Tifa as a partner and can increase the time for which a boss remains staggered. |
Why I Chose These Folio Upgrades: These upgrades allowed me to utilize Barret’s abilities more frequently to quickly build up stagger and the Avalanche Two-Step allows me to extend the staggered state.
Tifa
| No. | Skill Core | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Synchro Cyclone | Synergy Ability | Using Cloud as his partner, Tifa delivers a strong spinning attack which also buffs her with infinite MP for a brief period of time. |
| 2 | Enhanced Techniques | Stat Boost | Tifa's abilities will do 5% more damage which is why this skill can become really helpful in the early game. |
| 3 | Leaping Strikes | Synergy Skill | Tifa cannot easily reach high hit boxes which can get out of her range but Leaping Strikes can allow her to do a jumping attacks and it can be performed with any party member. |
| 4 | ATB Charge Rate Up | Stat Boost | You will be able to charge Tifa's ATB more quickly by performing actions which will allow you to utilize more of her abilities in battle. |
Why I Chose These Folio Upgrades: Since Tifa is an offensive character, these skills allowed me to charge my ATB at a faster rate and also increased the damage of my abilities.
Aerith
| No. | Skill Core | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bodyguard | Synergy Skill | Aerith can easily get locked in enemy attack because her dodges are not that great which is why Bodyguard skill will allow you to use a party member to defend Aerith while she casts her spells and uses her abilites. |
| 2 | Divine Punishment | Synergy Ability | It is a great synergy ability to deal with ganks which can be executed with the help of Tifa and it not only deals AOE damage but it also increases the Limit Level. |
| 3 | Max MP Up | Stat Boost | Since Aerith's playstyle really depends on her using spells, that is why every MP matters and the Max MP Up skill can come in clutch especially at lower levels. |
| 4 | Synergy Damage Up | Stat Boost | You can increase the damage of the above mentioned synergy ability by 5% and it will work for all synergy abilities that unlock later as well. |
Why I Chose These Folio Upgrades: Bodyguard is a really helpful skill early on as it safely allowed me to cast support spells for my party members, and the extra MP also increased the number of spells that I could cast before resting at a bench.
Red XIII
| No. | Skill Core | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Overfang | Synergy Ability | A powerful combo attack that is initiated with the help of Barret and it also results in the increase of the Limit Level. |
| 2 | Max HP Up | Stat Boost | This will allow RedXIII to survive for longer during the early game by giving an extra 200 HP. |
| 3 | Savage Assault | Synergy Ability | Another powerful combo which also results in the increase of the Limit Level but this time it can only be performed with Cloud. |
| 4 | Vengeful Guardian | Stat Boost | Vengeance Gauge will now charge at an even faster rate every time you block an attack. |
Why I Chose These Folio Upgrades: The extra HP allowed me to tank some attacks, while the strong early game synergy abilities gave Red XIII big damage-dealing potential during battles.
Yuffie
| No. | Skill Core | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cyclonic Kick | Synergy Ability | Yuffie and Tifa team up to rain down an explosive attack on their enemy which will also increase the time of staggered state if the foe ends up getting staggered. |
| 2 | Enhanced Attack | Stat Boost | A simple yet useful stat buff which boosts the damage of Yuffie's basic attacks by 3% which can be really helpful when you first unlock the character. |
| 3 | United Refocus | Synergy Ability | Yuffie can build up more ATB since she can get 3 ATB bars by using United Refocus with Barret and that will allow her to utilize more abilities. |
| 4 | Shuriken Sync | Synergy Skill | Yuffie can throw her shuriken mid combos and the Shuriken Sync skill will allow either Cloud, Tifa, or Barret to follow up that shuriken with their attacks. |
Why I Chose These Folio Upgrades: Not only did these skills increase my damage, but they also allowed me to further extend my shuriken combos with the help of my party members.
Cait Sith
| No. | Skill Core | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soldier Moogle Class | Synergy Ability | This ability allows Cloud to get on top of Cait Sith's Moogle and the Moogle then uses Cloud's sword to deal damage to an enemy or a boss which also ends with an increase in the Limit Level. |
| 2 | Critical Hit Damage Up | Stat Boost | A pretty straight-forward stat buff which increase the damage of critical hits by 5%. |
| 3 | Mayhem-Go-Round | Synergy Ability | This is one of the best synergy abilities in FF7 Rebirth as it can not only be initiated from range but it also deals damage to all enemies around the battlefield with the help of Barret. |
| 4 | Moogle Sentinel | Stat Boost | Moogle is one of the major sources of damage for Cait Sith's playstyle which is why the Moogle Sentinel skill comes in clutch as it reduces the damage that Moogle takes by 15%. |
Why I Chose These Folio Upgrades: I was able to boost my critical damage and also increased Moogle’s defense as soon as I unlocked Cait Sith as a playable character.
My Take On The Best Early Game Skills
Synergy abilities and skills play a huge role in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s gameplay, and your playstyle can vary depending on the skill cores that you invest in. Getting the best synergy abilities and skills, plus the stat boosts, can really make your early game easier. You can even refund these skill cores to purchase the stronger ones once they unlock later in your playthrough.
This concludes my guide on the best early game skill cores that you should unlock first in FF7 Rebirth. I hope that the guide was helpful in learning about the strongest synergy abilities, synergy skills, and stat boosts that you can unlock for all playable characters early on. You can also read Hamid Shah’s review of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and find out if the game lives up to the hype.
NEXT:
- FF7 Rebirth: All Piko Feed Locations
- FF7 Rebirth: Location of Dried Driftwood
- FF7 Rebirth: How To Upgrade Weapons And Get Weapon Skills
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