Leveling up your Materia is one of the main ways of getting stronger in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but farming AP to increase your spell levels is a huge pain since it takes so long.
This process is made even more frustrating when you want to level up multiple of the same Materia type so different party members can use the same spells. Thankfully, there are some things you can do to start earning AP much faster so you can speed up the Materia leveling process.
How to Get AP in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
AP is rewarded at the end of every battle in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. In addition to XP and Gil, you’ll receive a fixed amount of AP after every fight even if you don’t cast the spells associated with the Materia you want to level up. Simply having the Materia equipped on a weapon or accessory is enough to level it up.
Related: How to raise relationship levels in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Each Materia takes hundreds of AP to level up and unlock new spells, however, so just running around and fighting enemies in the overworld isn’t the best way to upgrade them. Fighting enemies and gathering World Intel helps, but there are better ways to spend your time if you just want to level up your Materia to make fights easier.
How to Level Up Materia Fast in FF7 Rebirth
While you can just fight enemies when exploring different regions of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to earn AP, the absolute best place to farm AP for your Materia is Chadley’s Combat Simulator. Everyone’s favorite little nerd is back in Rebirth and he has an all-new set of trials for Cloud and friends to complete.
You’ll need to complete World Intel throughout each region of Rebirth to unlock new Combat Simulator missions, but you’ll be rewarded with a ton of XP, AP, and Gil for doing so. Plus, Chadley’s Combat Simulator trials also reward rare Materia and higher-level versions of standard Materia that will give you a headstart on the leveling process.
To make things even easier on yourself, you should use an AP Up Materia to level up your favorite spells even faster. You can obtain an AP Up Materia in the Mythril Mine during Chapter 3 of the main storyline, and you can get two more by completing Corel Battle Intel: Badlands Beasts and Nibel Battle Intel: Chthonian Rodeo in Chadley’s Combat Simulator (though not until much later in the game).
To use an AP Up Materia, you need to place it in a linked Materia slot on a weapon or accessory. A linked Materia slot has a line connecting it to another Materia slot. If you place an AP Up Materia in one linked slot and another type of Materia in the slot next to it, it will earn AP twice as fast as usual. This is the best way to level up Materia fast in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, so make sure you’ve always got an AP Up Materia slotted when you’re leveling.
