Okay, so, I've just gotten out of the Golden Saucer where you win the Chocobo races and Dio gives you a buggy. And I'm just about to set off to go Enemy Skill hunting (Big Guard, White Wind, Aqualung & Beta from Midgar Zolom. o_o) before I head off to Gongaga. My party consists of Cloud Tifa and Barret all the time (Don't really need the others, right?).

So here's my question! What's the best Materia setups for these guys? Bear in mind I like to have Cloud as the attacking type, Barret as the black mage (no pun intended) and Tifa as a back row healer. I'll list my Materia, weapons, armor and accessories below. I'm not asking for a be all end all setup, but something I won't have to switch up for a while. Cheers :D

Okay *inhales* here we go :p
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Materia
-
Poison : 1
Transform : 2
Seal : 1
Revive : 1
Heal : 1
Restore : 1
Lightning : 2
Earth : 1
Ice : 1
Fire : 2
Elemental : 1
All : 3
E. Skill : 2
Manipulate : 1
Sense : 1
Steal : 1
Long Range : 1
Chocobo Lure : 1
HP Plus : 1
Ramuh
Ifrit
Shiva
Choco/Mog
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Extensive, I know. :3
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Weapons
-
Cloud (Lv 20) - Force Stealer
Barret (Lv 19) - W Machine Gun
Tifa - (Lv 19) - Grand Glove
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Just to give you an idea of the slots I have available for Materia.
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Armor
-
Carbon Bangle : 3
Silver Armlet : 1
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Anyone know where I can get another two Silver Armlets?
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Accessories
-
White Cape : 1
Fire Ring : 1
Power Wrist : 1
Protect Vest : 1
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My accessory list is pitiful, need some better ones!
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Oh, yeah I'm all done. Hopefully someone takes the time to trudge through all this, thanks! :D

Well, firstly, your current materia list is pretty much set for that point in the game. However, although the materia system allows it that you are more or less free to set up any materia combination for any character, certain characters are better with certain types of materia than others.

For a start, it isn't a wise move to load Cloud and Barret up with lots of spell materia - this is because magic materia and Summon materia reduce a character's physical strength and HP (but boosts their MP and Magic), and Cloud and Barret are the heavy melees of the game. For them, it's perhaps wiser to give them Command materia or Independent materia that enhances their physical attributes, with maybe one or two spells as backup. Instead, give Aeris all the spell materia, as she has the highest Spirit and Magic in the game, making her the ideal choice of spellcaster and healer (also because she is the weakest physically the reduction to HP and strength isn't a problem for her).

Having said that though, making Cloud and Barret spellcasters is still entirely doable, but just remember you might not end up doing nearly as much physical damage with them as you could be if they weren't equipped with spell materia.

As for Armour and Accessories, I'm pretty sure there is new stock available in Gongaga, the town directly south of Gold Saucer/Corel Desert (it looks like a burnt out building surrounded by a circular forest), so if you have a bit of gil to spare, it would be worth upgrading your equipment. Weapons though aren't worth it, as the ones for sale in Gongaga are actually what you already have. Additionally, there is also a free Wizer Staff and Titan summon materia to gain also in the surrounding area, although there is also a boss fight to do too in the process. But it's still worth doing if only for the story elements that occur.

Finally, there is a free Gold Armlet to score from the Weaponsmith (on a pennisula south-east of Gongaga there's a small house, where inside is a weaponsmith who has nothing for sale. If you bring him mythril (a key item) he'll allow you to open one of the boxes for an item - the big flat box on the floor holds a Gold Armlet, but the small box on the wall upstairs holds Aeris's level 4 Limit Break Great Gospel - you can get mythril twice in the game allowing you to get both items (personally I'd recommend getting Great Gospel first, but that's just my choice.)

Thanks for the reply. I just got to Cosmo Canyon, when Bugen takes us into the caves. And then my game crashes. ): Thankfully I saved. Just thought I may as well post up my Setup for my main party now seeing as I'm bored. :)

Cloud - Butterfly Edge - Silver Armlet - Protect Vest
Wpn. - (Ramuh)=(E.Skill) (D.Blow)=(Manip.)
Arm. - (Lightn.)=(-) (L.Range) (HP Plus)
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Barret - Heavy Vulcan - Silver Armlet - Power Wrist
Wep. - (E.Skill)=(Steal) (Ifrit)=(Fire)
Arm. - (Elemental)=(Lightn.) (Sense) (-)
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Aeris (and Red for the Cosmo Canyon caves) - Prism Staff/Diamond Pin - Silver Armlet - Talisman
Wep. - (Seal)=(Time) (Titan)=(Shiva)
Arm. - (All)=(Restore) (Heal)=(Revive)
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Barret's looking a bit on the empty side Materia wise, but he's dealing quite an impressive punch with the Vulcan. Clouds Lv 24 and Barret 23. Both in the 1040< range so far. And this is my first PROPER playthrough, any other times I didn't bother carrying on past Sector 7. :D

Edit: My God. Just finished the Gi Caves, Red's gone, and so's my Materia and armor I had equipped to him. D:
Edit 2: In my crazed state of losing my healing materia I didn't think about leaving the town. Silly me. :3

Thanks for the reply. I just got to Cosmo Canyon, when Bugen takes us into the caves. And then my game crashes. ): Thankfully I saved. Just thought I may as well post up my Setup for my main party now seeing as I'm bored. :)

Cloud - Butterfly Edge - Silver Armlet - Protect Vest
Wpn. - (Ramuh)=(E.Skill) (D.Blow)=(Manip.)
Arm. - (Lightn.)=(-) (L.Range) (HP Plus)
------
Barret - Heavy Vulcan - Silver Armlet - Power Wrist
Wep. - (E.Skill)=(Steal) (Ifrit)=(Fire)
Arm. - (Elemental)=(Lightn.) (Sense) (-)
------
Aeris (and Red for the Cosmo Canyon caves) - Prism Staff/Diamond Pin - Silver Armlet - Talisman
Wep. - (Seal)=(Time) (Titan)=(Shiva)
Arm. - (All)=(Restore) (Heal)=(Revive)
------

Barret's looking a bit on the empty side Materia wise, but he's dealing quite an impressive punch with the Vulcan. Clouds Lv 24 and Barret 23. Both in the 1040< range so far. And this is my first PROPER playthrough, any other times I didn't bother carrying on past Sector 7. :D

Edit: My God. Just finished the Gi Caves, Red's gone, and so's my Materia and armor I had equipped to him. D:
Edit 2: In my crazed state of losing my healing materia I didn't think about leaving the town. Silly me. :3

That's odd. When a character leaves the active party they should still retain everything they have equipped to them (weapon, armour, accessory, materia) - only in a few particular circumstances does a character become 'deequipped', and then only their accessory and materia is removed, because a character must have a weapon and armour equipped at all times.

In which case, the materia and accessory are sent to your inventory and can be requipped to other characters or back onto that character. Check your materia list to see if Red XIII's stuff is appearing there. If it isn't, it's probably a bug that would be incredibly frustrating.

Incidentally, if you're playing the PC version (which is buggy as anything and tends to crash a lot of the time), to compensate for your lost materia you could always hack what you lost back into the game using a save file trainer - I was going to recommend the excellent Jenova program, but the site where it was available for download seems to have disappeared. There are alternative programs around though that do a similar job, so just do a search and you should be able to find one that works for you.

Yeah I'm playing the PC version, and as you said it is very buggy and does crash randomly, extremely frustrating, I don't see myself grinding anytime soon if the crashes continue.

And I did use Jenova to edit Red back into the party, removed his equipped Materia, Armor and Accessory, saved. Edited another party member back in, saved, reloaded and re-equipped Aeris, exited Cosmo Canyon... only to hear Red call me back to re-join the party. When times like this happen it really does amuse me. :p

I'm at Mt Nibel now with a level 30+ party. Taking a couple hours break before I take on Materia Keeper.

oh wow... I thought you was talking about the ps1/ps2 game of FF7

I just made a guide directed right to this! I sent it out to Agent 0042 just now to possibly use in his ES guide off FF Shrine. I'm new to the boards, I'll post it up here for anyone else that wants to use it.

Getting ES Beta (..Aqualung, Big Guard, Flame Thrower, and White Wind) easy in FF7.
This was my setup for everyone I used in my party while doing this on disc 1.

Characters :
Cloud (Lvl 23, 920 HP, 191 MP)
Red XIII (Lvl 22, 890,167)
Tifa (Lvl 22, 779, 160) With all equip slots using materia.

Equipment :
Cloud : Force Stealer, Silver Armlet, Star Pendant.
Red XIII : Mythril Clip, Carbon Bangle.
Tifa : Motor Drive, Carbon Bangle, Talisman.

Materia Used :
Cloud : FS : ES, Restore**, Heal*
SA : All**+Poison, Manip., Lightning**
Red XIII : MC : All+Fire**, Sense
CB : Trans., Earth, Ifrit
Tifa : MD : ES, Revive, Seal
CB : All**+Restore**, Steal

Right out of getting out of the prison and having two ES materia I went directly to the desert (world map) and fought a Harpy to get both ES materia Aqualung. Which was quite easy, I got it on my first shot and no one died on me. Next I took the buggy down to the Coral Shoreline and manipulated a Beachplug with ease to grab Big Guard for both ES. Then I drove to Costa Del Sol, and for 100 G got smuggled across sea back to Junon. On the screen with the white suited man you can catch a lift from helicopter to right outside of Junon. I took up the offer and was on the map outside of it. You can now drive and grab White Wind while your on your way to grabbing Beta by fighting and Maniping a Zemzelett now. Once you do that enter the Mythril Mine and you can also now grab Flame Thrower by Maniping an Arkdragon for the 2nd ES or both if you didn't get it previously for the first. (You don't have to manip these really, they use Flame Thrower alot in battle which all I did to get it for the first ES is wait till it used it on my character.) In the main menu options arrange / customize the first couple items accordingly for your next fight with the Midgar Zolom : Hi-Potions, Ethers, Phoenix Downs, Elixirs. (All as precautions.) Then save on the world map right before the marsh and battle with the Midgar Zolom.

Midgar Zolom Battle :
This battle I thought was pretty easy honestly with my set up. (You can make this even more easier by having Cloud, Red & Tifa's (Or whatever your party is) limit breaks ready to go at the start of battle. I used Cloud as my person to grab Beta for the ES, so my strategy was pretty much for Tifa or Red (or both) to use their limit breaks, and have Cloud use Big Guard right at the start of battle. When that's taken care of have Red use Fire2 and Ifrit. Have Cloud use Restore when needed. If your party gets into a jam HP wise have Tifa use All+Restore when not attacking with Enemy Skills and reg attacks. The Zolom will get up and whip either Tifa or Red out of battle. Continue hitting the Zolom with the remaining person and Cloud cause after this happens a couple of times I've done this it goes straight to using Beta for me right after. If so immediately heal Cloud (I usually had the other remaining party alive also at this point but really low on health as long as Big Guard was still enabled when Beta hit) and the other member if still alive. Then hit it back with any high hitting attacks you have. You prolly will have a limit break or two you can use at this point. Which will make him fall very quickly. When dead go into your menu screen and swap ES materia from Cloud to Tifa so that Cloud now has the new ES that doesn't yet have Beta. Repeat the battle process. You can now use Beta at the beginning or mid battle to do more damage and have a quicker fight. NOTE : You may during battle need to use one Ether or Elixir on a party member to keep up the MP. Congrats, now both materia have Beta, White Wind, Flame Thrower, Big Guard, and Aqualung (all moderately to HIGHLY useful) early in the game.

---------- Post added at 03:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:24 AM ----------

I just made a guide directed right to this! I sent it out to Agent 0042 just now to possibly use in his ES guide off FF Shrine. I'm new to the boards, I'll post it up here for anyone else that wants to use it.

Getting ES Beta (..Aqualung, Big Guard, Flame Thrower, and White Wind) easy in FF7.
This was my setup for everyone I used in my party while doing this on disc 1.

Characters :
Cloud (Lvl 23, 920 HP, 191 MP)
Red XIII (Lvl 22, 890,167)
Tifa (Lvl 22, 779, 160) With all equip slots using materia.

Equipment :
Cloud : Force Stealer, Silver Armlet, Star Pendant.
Red XIII : Mythril Clip, Carbon Bangle.
Tifa : Motor Drive, Carbon Bangle, Talisman.

Materia Used :
Cloud : FS : ES, Restore**, Heal*
SA : All**+Poison, Manip., Lightning**
Red XIII : MC : All+Fire**, Sense
CB : Trans., Earth, Ifrit
Tifa : MD : ES, Revive, Seal
CB : All**+Restore**, Steal

Right out of getting out of the prison and having two ES materia I went directly to the desert (world map) and fought a Harpy to get both ES materia Aqualung. Which was quite easy, I got it on my first shot and no one died on me. Next I took the buggy down to the Coral Shoreline and manipulated a Beachplug with ease to grab Big Guard for both ES. Then I drove to Costa Del Sol, and for 100 G got smuggled across sea back to Junon. On the screen with the white suited man you can catch a lift from helicopter to right outside of Junon. I took up the offer and was on the map outside of it. You can now drive and grab White Wind while your on your way to grabbing Beta by fighting and Maniping a Zemzelett now. Once you do that enter the Mythril Mine and you can also now grab Flame Thrower by Maniping an Arkdragon for the 2nd ES or both if you didn't get it previously for the first. (You don't have to manip these really, they use Flame Thrower alot in battle which all I did to get it for the first ES is wait till it used it on my character.) In the main menu options arrange / customize the first couple items accordingly for your next fight with the Midgar Zolom : Hi-Potions, Ethers, Phoenix Downs, Elixirs. (All as precautions.) Then save on the world map right before the marsh and battle with the Midgar Zolom.

Midgar Zolom Battle :
This battle I thought was pretty easy honestly with my set up. (You can make this even more easier by having Cloud, Red & Tifa's (Or whatever your party is) limit breaks ready to go at the start of battle. I used Cloud as my person to grab Beta for the ES, so my strategy was pretty much for Tifa or Red (or both) to use their limit breaks, and have Cloud use Big Guard right at the start of battle. When that's taken care of have Red use Fire2 and Ifrit. Have Cloud use Restore when needed. If your party gets into a jam HP wise have Tifa use All+Restore when not attacking with Enemy Skills and reg attacks. The Zolom will get up and whip either Tifa or Red out of battle. Continue hitting the Zolom with the remaining person and Cloud cause after this happens a couple of times I've done this it goes straight to using Beta for me right after. If so immediately heal Cloud (I usually had the other remaining party alive also at this point but really low on health as long as Big Guard was still enabled when Beta hit) and the other member if still alive. Then hit it back with any high hitting attacks you have. You prolly will have a limit break or two you can use at this point. Which will make him fall very quickly. When dead go into your menu screen and swap ES materia from Cloud to Tifa so that Cloud now has the new ES that doesn't yet have Beta. Repeat the battle process. You can now use Beta at the beginning or mid battle to do more damage and have a quicker fight. NOTE : You may during battle need to use one Ether or Elixir on a party member to keep up the MP. Congrats, now both materia have Beta, White Wind, Flame Thrower, Big Guard, and Aqualung (all moderately to HIGHLY useful) early in the game.

Beta is pretty easy to get, and you can get it the first time you see the Midgar Zolom. All you need is a charachter with roughly 700HP. Set that charachter in the back row and use a Tranquillizer on them to give them the Sadness status. This way the Midgar Zoloms bite attack only deals around 150 damage to that charachter. For Materia, give that charachter Enemy Skill, and the Elemental + Fire combination on his armour. This should reduce the damage Beta deals down roughly to 500. All you need for the other charachters is to give one of them Restore Materia, and give the other Poison Materia.

With that setup, all you need to do to get Beta is cast Bio 1 over and over again to Poison the Mdgar Zolom and work his HP down, while using Cure 1 any time the Zolom attacks anyone. Once the Zolom gets near 2000HP he'll rise up on his tail. Just keep using Bio 1, and he'll eventually flick that charachter out of battle. Then just sit there doing nothing but healing every time he attacks until the Poison gets his HP down to 1000. This is the point where if you attack him he counters with Beta. All you have to do now is make sure your charachter with the Enemy Skill is at full HP, then attack the Zolom with that charachter. The Midgar Zolom should counter attack using Beta, and then immediately after that he'll use his bite attack. You charachter should learn Beta, and he should just manage to survive the Midgar Zoloms attacks. From here all you need to do is heal using Hi-Potions and wait for the Poison to finish him off.

Thats how I do it anyway :)