FF7 Rebirth: Best Early Game Skill Cores [My Opinion]

Skill cores keep unlocking as you progress through FF7 Rebirth, but the best ones can make your early game easier.

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.

Key Takeaways
  • 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.
Important: Yuffie and Cait Sith unlock during the mid-game, but I have still mentioned the best skill cores that you should unlock first for them in FF7 Rebirth.

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.CharacterSkill Cores
1CloudFirework Blade, Powerful Punisher, Max HP Up, And Relentless Rush.
2BarretUnited Refocus, Max HP Up, Enhanced Overcharge, And Avalanche Two-Step.
3TifaSynchro Cyclone, Enhanced Techniques, Leaping Strikes, And ATB Charge Rate Up.
4AerithBodyguard, Divine Punishment, Max MP Up, And Synergy Damage Up.
5Red XIIIOverfang, Max HP Up, Savage Assault, And Vengeful Guardian.
6YuffieCyclonic Kick, Enhanced Attack, United Refocus, And Shuriken Sync.
7Cait SithSoldier Moogle Class, Critical Hit Damage Up, Mayhem-Go-Round, And Moogle Sentinel.

Cloud

ff7 rebirth best early game skill cores
The Best Early Game Skill Cores For Cloud In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Image Captured by eXputer)
No.Skill CoreTypeDescription
1Firework BladeSynergy AbilityUsing Aerith as his partner, Cloud is able to use a powerful ranged attack which not only damages enemies but also increases him Limit Level.
2Powerful PunisherStat BoostSwitching 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%.
3Max HP UpStat BoostAnother 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.
4Relentless RushSynergy AbilityPairing 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

ff7 rebirth best early game skill cores
The Best Early Game Skill Cores For Barret In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Image Captured by Us)
No.Skill CoreTypeDescription
1United RefocusSynergy AbilityThis 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.
2Max HP UpStat BoostBarret 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.
3Enhanced OverchargeStat BoostOvercharge 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%.
4Avalanche Two-StepSynergy AbilityA 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

skills in the game
The Best Early Game Skill Cores For Tifa In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Image Credit Copyright: eXputer)
No.Skill CoreTypeDescription
1Synchro CycloneSynergy AbilityUsing Cloud as his partner, Tifa delivers a strong spinning attack which also buffs her with infinite MP for a brief period of time.
2Enhanced TechniquesStat BoostTifa's abilities will do 5% more damage which is why this skill can become really helpful in the early game.
3Leaping StrikesSynergy SkillTifa 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.
4ATB Charge Rate UpStat BoostYou 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

ff7 rebirth best early game skill cores
The Best Early Game Skill Cores For Aerith In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Screenshot Captured by eXputer)
No.Skill CoreTypeDescription
1BodyguardSynergy SkillAerith 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.
2Divine PunishmentSynergy AbilityIt 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.
3Max MP UpStat BoostSince 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.
4Synergy Damage UpStat BoostYou 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

skills in the game
The Best Early Game Skill Cores For Red XIII In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Image Captured by eXputer)
No.Skill CoreTypeDescription
1OverfangSynergy AbilityA powerful combo attack that is initiated with the help of Barret and it also results in the increase of the Limit Level.
2Max HP UpStat BoostThis will allow RedXIII to survive for longer during the early game by giving an extra 200 HP.
3Savage AssaultSynergy AbilityAnother powerful combo which also results in the increase of the Limit Level but this time it can only be performed with Cloud.
4Vengeful GuardianStat BoostVengeance 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

skills in the game
The Best Early Game Skill Cores For Yuffie In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Image Captured by Us)
No.Skill CoreTypeDescription
1Cyclonic KickSynergy AbilityYuffie 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.
2Enhanced AttackStat BoostA 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.
3United RefocusSynergy AbilityYuffie 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.
4Shuriken SyncSynergy SkillYuffie 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

ff7 rebirth best early game skill cores
The Best Early Game Skill Cores For Cait Sith In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Screenshot Captured by eXputer)
No.Skill CoreTypeDescription
1Soldier Moogle ClassSynergy AbilityThis 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.
2Critical Hit Damage UpStat BoostA pretty straight-forward stat buff which increase the damage of critical hits by 5%.
3Mayhem-Go-RoundSynergy AbilityThis 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.
4Moogle SentinelStat BoostMoogle 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.


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Haris Umer is a Guides Writer on eXputer who can be seen torturing himself by playing FromSoftware’s offering of Souls games. He speaks about games with overwhelming passion, which readers can spot in his guides. Haris has been avidly playing video games for 15+ years now. You can learn more about his gaming experience through his PSN and Steam profiles.

Experience: 3+ Years || Education: Bachelors In Medicine And Surgery.

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