Elemental Materia (VII Remake)

Elemental materia is a in Final Fantasy VII Remake and "Episode INTERmission". It can be linked with the , , , and , to apply the element to equipment. When equipped in a paired slot on a weapon, it will infuse attacks with added elemental damage to that weapon, allowing attacks to exploit an enemy's weakness and increasing overall damage. Using this setup adds a visual effect on the wielded weapon during battles. When equipped in a paired slot on armor, it provides either resistance to, immunity to, or absorption of that element, depending on the level of the elemental materia.
==Obtained==
Two elemental materia are available. During Chapter 6, "Light the Way", an elemental materia is the reward for the discovery quest "Collapsed Passageway".
A second elemental materia can be obtained in Chapter 14, "In Search of Hope". After completing all Odd Jobs in that chapter, the party can find Letter from the Guardian Angel, from the "Angel of the Slums" herself, which contains the elemental materia . It can be found in Wall Market, near the exit to the sewers in the Urban Advancement District.
As with other support materia, elemental materia cannot be re-obtained using chapter selection once already acquired. Where an elemental materia was previously picked up, replaces it on the Sector 4 Plate, and no letter from the Angel appears on the Wall Market.
In "Episode INTERmission", an elemental materia is found in the middle of the platform in Ward 1 of the abandoned factory where Yuffie Kisaragi and Sonon Kusakabe head in to rescue Zhijie from Shinra Public Security Forces, in "Wutai's Finest", during "The Handoff". Next to the blue materia is a switch activated by throwing Yuffie's weapon with ; a yellow climbable wall next to the platform spins, and the player must scale to the top of that wall to reach an area from there the player can throw Yuffie's weapon at the switch again to align the wall with the platform that has the materia.
==Stats==
Level	AP required	Effect
1 	0 	Weapon: 8% linked elemental damage dealtArmor: Halves linked elemental damage taken
2 	2500 	Weapon: 15% linked elemental damage dealtArmor: Nullifies linked elemental damage taken
3 	7500 	Weapon: 23% linked elemental damage dealtArmor: Absorbs linked elemental damage
==Mechanics==
Elemental materia uses a percentage of an action’s pre-assigned power value (based on the materia level) as a baseline to add extra damage to all sources besides spells and items. The damage added by elemental uses the following basic formula: \left(2 \times User\ Magic\ Attack-Reciever\ Magic\ Defense\right)\times \frac{Action\ Power}{100}\times Elemental\ Materia\ Damage\ Modifierwhere the Elemental Materia Damage Modifier depends on the materia's level (x0.08 for level 1, x0.15 for level 2, and x0.23 for level 3). The damage is then subject to random variation and conditional damage modifiers, but will ignore critical hits, status on the attacker, and statuses on the receiver, as well as any damage penalties from attacking a single target with Triple Slash.
The Enhanced Elements weapon passive boosts damage added by elemental materia to attacks by +10% or +5%. It is present in Cloud's and , Barret's and , Tifa's and , and Aerith's .
Elemental materia also allows attacks to utilize the stagger rate multiplier of the paired element, which can increase or decrease the stagger rate, depending on the target.
Usually Cloud's Triple Slash decreases in power when used against a single target rather than against three different targets. However, additional damage added by the elemental materia will remain at full strength regardless of how many enemies are targeted. This means that when using elemental materia paired with a magic materia that target's the enemy's elemental weakness, single targets will take considerably higher damage from the second and third hits than they normally would, especially with a high Magic Attack. This makes Triple Slash considerably more viable for single target damage, particularly in magic-based builds. Because the damage difference from physical to elemental is very high, having the materia paired to an enemy's absorbed element is also capable of healing the target rather than dealing damage.
==Use==
Elemental materia is especially useful on weapons in certain situations. Elemental can mitigate enemies' physical resistance if paired with a materia that targets the enemy's elemental weakness. Some weapons can be upgraded to further boost elemental materia damage by 10% or more.
When the elemental materia is linked to weapons, the physical attacks' properties do not become pure elemental (unlike in the original Final Fantasy VII), but instead become additive with the elemental bonus percentage of the damage dealt. For example, an enemy that can absorb or nullify fire damage will still take normal damage from physical attacks if the character has the elemental materia linked with the fire materia. Elemental materia affects all character abilities, enemy skills, attacks, and limit breaks, but does not have any effect on magic spells.
In most situations, elemental materia is better for offensive use, and understanding the enemy types and their elemental affinities allows the player to effectively exploit them. Elemental materia deals its damage based on the user's attribute, and therefore can add more or less damage than stated, particularly when physical damage is also dealt. This means that enemy and resistances will also play a role in how much damage the elemental materia adds against each specific enemy. Using the can complement elemental by increasing the user's , further increasing the damage added by elemental. While Aerith seems like a good choice for elemental for her naturally high magic, she may prefer to use the slot for a different materia that plays more to her strengths, since it does not affect spells, which are Aerith's best source of damage. Elemental may be especially useful on Cloud, as with it, he can do vastly more damage with his single-targeting Triple Slash.
Elemental materia can also be used defensively to provide resistance to an element, and is especially useful at level 3 as it can be used to heal a character without spending MP, which is particularly important for hard mode when MP is a scarce resource, and some enemies deal immense elemental damage, such as the M.O.T.H. Unit. This can be done on the character with the lowest HP (normally Tifa or Aerith) to help them survive and even restore HP against many enemies. This also pairs particularly well on Barret when using Lifesaver, as it will help keep him alive, and by extension, his party, should the enemy also use elemental attacks. Having the two elemental materia linked with in armor for two party members for the "Top Secrets" gauntlet is also useful, as both Ifrit and Pride and Joy Prototype use fire attacks, and having two characters healed by them would be highly beneficial. 
In "Episode INTERmission", elemental is less useful on weapons as Yuffie can already make her attacks elemental on-the-fly with Elemental Ninjutsu. It may be more useful when equipped onto armor; in hard mode, it is especially useful in the Combat Simulator battle against Bahamut and Ifrit, to resist, nullify, or absorb Ifrit's fire attacks.
Cloud Fire Elemental from FFVII Remake.jpg|Cloud's weapon with Fire + Elemental.
Fire Elemental from FFVII Remake.jpg|Effects of Fire on enemy.
Cloud Lightning Elemental from FFVII Remake.jpg|Cloud's weapon with Lightning + Elemental.
Lightning Elemental from FFVII Remake.jpg|Effects of Lightning on enemy.
Cloud Wind Elemental from FFVII Remake.jpg|Cloud's weapon with Wind + Elemental.
Wind Elemental from FFVII Remake.jpg|Effects of Wind on enemy.
Aerith Ice Elemental from FFVII Remake.jpg|Aerith's weapon with Ice + Elemental.
==Behind the scenes==
Though contentious, the elemental materia was the tied-most popular materia among survey respondents, at 15%.Final Fantasy Portal Site August 14 2020
==Citations==
==References==
* 
* 
Category:Support materia in Final Fantasy VII Remake