It brings the world of Gaia and its story of life, heredity and environmentalism to the modern standard of gaming. It also brings a lot of the familiar tried-and-true traditions of Final Fantasy VII, most notably the Materia system. Socketing orbs of Mako into your weapons grants you the use of magic, abilities and the occasional passive trait. You make these crystals grow by earning AP, or Ability Points. Enemies all over the world give AP. But there are going to be times when it’s worth your time to put the story on pause and do some grinding on your own time. You can do this anywhere, of course. But there are five specific spots through the game that are much, much better for AP.
5. Western Slums Wererats – Chapter 3
After Biggs and Wedge tell you all about weapon customization and whatever, go hit the streets. Go take on the quest Rat Problems and the subsequent On the Prowl. Once you’ve completed both, you’ll have free access to the western part of the slums known as Scrap Boulevard. This is where you’ll get it started. The premise is simple: Do laps around the Boulevard and fight wererats. They spawn infinitely, but their natural spawn rate is somewhat slow. What helps keep the enemies flowing is letting the Wererats successfully use their ‘Call to Arms’ ability, which summons another rat or two. Normally that’s something you’d interrupt. But when looking for AP, it’s a gift!
4. Farming the Factory – Chapter 3
Once you’re done in the Scrap Boulevard, go and complete the quests Nuisance in the Factory and Just Flew in from the Graveyard. Clearing this will give you free access to the northern Factory part of the map. Once you’re ready, head up to the point where you can run back and forth between the two warehouses (the southern part of the Factory area). Now all you gotta do is run back and forth between the warehouses checking for Gorgers. Each one of these plump boys is 3 AP. You usually fight them in groups of four, so each time they appear in one of the warehouses you’re going to get 12 AP. Spend some time here and all your Materia will be maxed, and you’ll be leveled up. Keep in mind after level 22 this spot has severely diminishing returns, but fret not: you have a lot of game left. And this is a great way to start on it.
3. Corneo Colosseum – Chapter 14
At the end of Chapter 14, Cloud, Tifa, and Barret are all ready to finally scale the edge of the Wall Market to go and rescue Aerith. Once you’ve reached the point right before you climb that wall, when Barret asks if you’re ready, tell him you’re not and head back to town. This is your last chance to do a lot of things, with one of them being the grind. Time for the Colosseum! You remember where it is, right? Head on back! The guy at the door will gladly let you through, and you’ll see there’s a whole list of new fights. The one we’re interested in is the last Rank 3 battle called “Three-Person Team vs. Shinra Warriors”. Head in swinging and fight through to round 4, then retry the whole thing to keep it going. Round 5 is needlessly annoying and can put a damper on the grind. So it’s best to skip it. This is a great way to actually prepare for the tremendous rescue mission ahead of you.
2. VR Bugaboo Battle – Chapter 17
Once you get Aerith back, she’s bound to be a little under leveled when compared to the Avalanche crew. Understandably, you’ll want to beef her up – and lucky there’s a VR machine right at the start of the chapter. Of the new offerings, the one that interests us the most is the one called “Two-Person Team vs. High Flyers”. Yes, you can only bring in two party members. But it’s a fast & efficient source of experience and AP. The first match has you fighting against a swarm of sixteen Bugaboos. It may seem overwhelming, but here’s the secret: Triple Slash. Wade into the group of gross little creatures and fire off as those Triple Slashes. A First Strike Materia helps out a lot. Even after you clear the bugaboos, the next two battles in the sequence are also easy and provide you the means to power up. After your first time completing the whole challenge, it is very much more time efficient to pause the game during the last round and just restart, rather than waiting for the game to load you in and out of the VR system.
1. The Parking Garage – Chapter 16
This is the best place to cap character levels and max your Materia, and is done after completing the game. After you do so, you’re given a permanent 3x boost to AP and EXP, which helps tremendously. After arriving at Shinra HQ the team decides to take a route through the building’s parking garage. While this is a smart move for a small vigilante crew on a rescue mission, it’s an even smarter move for a player who’s looking to max out their Materia. The garage segment isn’t really very long, but it’s packed with soldiers, dogs, and machinery. There’s a lot of battling that happens between entering the place and leaving in the elevator. And that’s great! If you clear the garage then restart the chapter, you’ve set yourself up for a loop of pure growth. It won’t take you long at all (seriously like only a few hours) to max everything you have. And this is the best way to get powerful and prepare yourself for the forthcoming hard mode – and all the secret bosses that it has within it!
