FFVII Aerith’s weapons, limit breaks, stats, and materia

FFVII’s Aerith is a pretty iconic videogame character, and is a powerful magic wielder if used right. Well, in this guide, we go into detail on her weapons, stats, limit breaks, and which materia is worth equipping her with. In a game that’s full of likable characters, Final Fantasy VII’s Aerith tends to stay with you, so it’s worth knowing how to get the best out of her in combat.

Should you find this guide helpful, you might want to check out our FFVII Tifa, FFVII Sephiroth, FFVII characters, and FFVII Cloud guides too. Combine those two heroes with Aerith, and you will have the enemy cowering in fear. Or, if you’re thinking of diving into Final Fantasy X, make sure you check out our FFX Auron and FFX Lulu guides to prepare them for battle. We also have a list of the best mobile RPGs if you’re not feeling the fantasy.

Right, let’s dive into everything you need to know about Aerith Gainsborough.

FFVII Aerith’s weapons

Staves are the weapon that Aerith uses to cast her magic, which tracks when you consider the typical equipment of a magic user. Luckily for you, there are plenty of these in FFVII, each with its own benefits that can aid you in various ways, depending upon your approach to combat.

Unlike other characters, Aerith has several weapon choices that offer a range of bonuses. Such options include the striking staff, guard stick, umbrella, and the princess guard. All of them provide an increase in vitality, spirit, magic, or critical chance. However, the princess guard is also capable of doubling – or even tripling – Aerith’s damage based on how many allies have been defeated.

Since Aerith relies heavily on magic, it’s crucial that you select a stave that has plenty of materia slots available to make the most out of her casting offense and defense if given the correct orbs.

Weapon	Attack value	Magic	Where to get it	Bonuses
Guard stick	12	2	This is Aerith’s starting weapon	Plus one vitality Plus one magic Plus four spirit Element: hit
Mythril rod	16	3	Wall market	Element: hit
Full metal staff	22	4	Kalm, Junon	Element: hit
Striking staff	32	7	Gongaga, Junon	Plus four magic Plus two critical Element: hit
Prism staff	40	10	Cosmo canyon	Element: hit
Aurora rod	51	14	Wutai village	Element: hit
Wizard staff	28	6	Junon	Element: hit
Wizer staff	33	7	Junon	Element: hit
Fairy tale	37	8	Junon	Element: hit
Umbrella	58	10	Gold saucer	Plus 20 vitality Plus five critical Element: hit
Princess guard	52	22	Temple of the Ancients	Plus 12 vitality Plus 20 spirit If one ally is down, Aerith’s damage output is doubled. The effect is tripled if two allies are dead

FFVII Aerith’s Stats

Physically, Aerith is perhaps the weakest of all party members; it’s best to leave anything involving strength to someone like Tifa, but Aerith more than makes up for that with her magic capabilities. She can cause a lot of damage with her magic, and if you pair her with the right material, she can cause even more problems and potentially heal her teammates more frequently.

The below chart details the maximum stats available for each of Aerith’s attributes:

Level	HP	MP	Dexterity	Strength	Vitality	Spirit	Luck	Magic
1	177	23	5	10	11	14	14	13
10	331	86	16	22	23	28	20	28
20	721	168	25	32	33	41	21	44
30	1393	268	33	43	45	53	22	60
40	2322	381	40	53	56	68	24	72
50	3468	505	47	61	65	80	25	84
60	4715	625	51	66	71	91	26	91
70	5849	732	54	70	75	96	26	97
80	6969	837	55	73	78	100	27	100
90	7972	921	57	76	81	100	28	100
99	8809	994	58	78	83	100	28	100

FFVII Aerith’s Limit breaks

Aerith’s limit breaks very much make her a team player as they tend to buff or heal other party members, which makes her a solid addition to any party. If you’re low on MP with your other characters, Aerith may well be able to come in and save the day by healing them and keeping them in the fight. It also means you can take a more aggressive approach with the likes of Cloud of Tifa.

Below is a table detailing Aerith’s limit breaks and what you need to do to unlock them:

Limit break name	How to obtain it	Effect
Healing wind	Aerith starts with this ability	Heals the entire party with half their HP bar
Sea evil	Use healing wind eight times	Inflicts stop and silence on all foes that are not immune
Breath of the earth	Defeat 80 enemies	Cures all ailments affecting the team such as poison, sleep, alow, petrify, and confusion
Fury brand	Use breath of the earth six times	Two allies get their limit break meters filled to the max
Planet protector	Defeat 80 opponents after collecting breath of the earth	All party members become invincible for a short time
Pulse of life	Use planet protector five times	All negative status effects are cured, as well as fully restoring HP and MP
Great gospel	Read the great gospel manual after acquiring all of Aerith’s limit breaks	All HP and MP is restored for every party member, as well as making Aerith and her allies invincible for a short time

The best materia for FFVII’s Aerith

As we have stated multiple times, Aerith is a bit of a wiz when it comes to magic – we expect her to get a letter from Hogwarts any day now – so the logical thing to do is give her a healthy dose of magic-based materia. We suggest giving her materia that increases her offensive capabilities, given her limit breaks offer plenty of opportunities to heal herself. However, that’s not to say you shouldn’t consider materia with healing properties later in the game.

When it comes to which spells you should equip, that’s down to you. If there’s an element you favor, give Aerith the corresponding materia as soon as you can to ensure she holds her own in combat. Personally, I’m a fan of air, fire, and lightning. You might want to consider equipping her with a summon materia as well.

And that’s all you need to know about Final Fantasy 7’s Aerith. If you want to see more of her, check out our Crisis Core characters guide. Who knows, you might see another one or two familiar faces. We also have a Crisis Core materia guide, so you know how to get the most powerful materia in the game.