Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier is a somewhat complex battle royale. In addition to weapons and vehicles (or, in this case, Chocobos,) First Soldier players also have a large number of special abilities at their disposal, some of which can be quite powerful when used at the right time.
Class abilities
There are currently four classes in Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, and each one comes with unique abilities available only to them. Each class also comes with a unique melee weapon and passive abilities. Let’s get this out of the way: there are no “best” class abilities in Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, as everyone should just play the class they feel most comfortable with.
- Monks can deploy a Manawall: a small barrier that reduces the damage of shots passing through.
- Rangers can cast Assess, which works a bit like Bloodhound’s scan in Apex Legends: a pulse emanates from the Ranger, temporarily revealing enemies and gravity and blizzard effects in a large radius around them.
- Sorcerers can use Arcane Field to create a pool on the ground, which rapidly restores MP and quickens the cooldowns of players standing within. This is a great team support ability that gets even stronger in the late game.
- Warriors have the straightforward Rush ability, which just lets them quickly move in the direction they are facing.
Best Magic Materia abilities in The First Soldier
Magic Materia are the abilities found during Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier matches. Any class can use them, and every player can carry up to three Magic Materia abilities. Many of them are named after recognizable Final Fantasy spells but function very differently in the First Soldier battle royale. Out of all currently available Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier abilities, four stand out as best, as they can be useful in most situations.
Aero is one of the most flexible abilities in the game. It creates a temporary mini-tornado that can displace enemies, block vision and movement through a chokehold. The tornado is stationary and can be an absolute pain to deal with. This ability can be used defensively or offensively, and it can even help your team reposition to higher ground.
Blind deploys a vision-obscuring cloud which dissipates after a while. This Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier ability is essentially a smoke grenade, and since this is a shooter, Blind is a must-have. Like Aero, this ability can be used defensively or offensively, to allow you to quickly advance on enemies in cover, obscure yourself from snipers, or heal up in the open.
Blizzard deploys an ice turret which automatically shoots at enemies nearby, and expires after a while. The beauty of this ability is that you don’t need to do anything to get value out of it: simply deploy it and continue playing. The turret will do what it needs to do, albeit within a somewhat limited range. This ability shines in the late game, when close-quarters fights are more common. It’s also great when battling powerful map bosses or enemy summons.
Raise is a revive spell: it picks up downed teammates. This spell works from decently far away, and it’s a must-have when playing with friends. A well-executed revive in the middle of a battle can be the difference between defeat and victory.
The remaining Magic Materia abilities in Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier are less useful than the best ones outlined above. They are still worth using and can be game-changing in the right circumstances.
- Bio creates a pool of damaging poison that has a short duration and can block entrances. The damage of this ability affects your teammates as it does enemies.
- Comet is a highly damaging area-of-effect spell, which unfortunately has a long delay before actually striking the targeted area.
- Cure is just a simple area-of-effect healing ability. It is good for teamplay, and especially for Monks.
- Fire lets you shoot out a flaming projectile which deals decent damage. This ability is best used in close range.
- Protect deploys a magic barrier to prevent damage for a moment.
- Thunder is another area-of-effect damaging spell that falls somewhere between Bio and Comet.
