How to upgrade weapons in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

O Weapon Upgrades skill tree, where art thou?

Garret's gun from the Weapon Upgrade menu FF7R
Screenshot by Dot Esports

Despite being a sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth revamps many game mechanics from its predecessor just to keep things interesting.

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If you played FF7 Remake, chances are you’re now eyeing the Upgrade Weapons menu in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, wondering where exactly the Skill Tree full of Nodes went. Well, for the sake of simplicity, Square Enix has decided to add a twist to the weapon upgrade process so you can now focus on all those open-world activities, like playing Queen’s Blood and becoming a virtuoso pianist.

How weapon upgrades work in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

FF7R's Weapon Upgrade menu dissected with arrows
Info overload. Image by Dot Esports

In Final Fantasy 7 Remake, you would open a Weapon Skill Tree to unlock new Skill nodes. Rebirth does away with this process and instead automates the unlocking process.

Here’s how the Weapon Upgrade menu works:

  • Weapon list: This list shows every weapon this character owns. If you hover over X, the stats displayed in the Upgrade Weapons menu describe that weapon. 
  • Weapon Stats and Description: The section next to the weapon list expands on the weapon’s information: physical damage and defense, magical damage and defense, HP and MP bonuses, Abilities (not to be confused with Skills), and a description.
  • Weapon level and SP (Skill Points): The weapon’s level and SP are found on the bottom left. This weapon is level three and currently has 40 SP. “To Next Level: 30” means that if I get 30 more SP, my weapon will level up to four.
  • Weapon Skills: On the far right, the current Weapon Skills are displayed at the top, and the ones you unlock in the next level can be seen at the bottom.

How to upgrade a weapon in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Option to choose how to spend SP points in Weapon Upgrades FF7R
FF7R takes care of the weapon upgrading for you. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Every time you defeat a foe, you earn Weapon SP and Character SP, which is spent through the Folio system. Unlike Character SP, Weapon SP is automatically spent as weapons level up.

To configure the upgrade weapons system in FF7R, follow these steps:

  1. Open your pause screen with Options.
  2. Select the Upgrade Weapons menu. 
  3. Select the character for whom you want to upgrade a weapon.
  4. Select the weapon you want to upgrade.
  5. Press the Options button again to enter Auto-Upgrade settings.
  6. Select how you want to auto-spend SP points: Balanced, Offensive, or Defensive

How to equip Weapon Skills in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

menu to choose weapon skills in FF7R
Barret’s Skills. Screenshot by Dot Esports

To equip a different skill in your weapon in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, press the triangle in the Weapon Upgrade menu and choose a new skill from the Weapon Skills list with X.

As you level up your weapon, you can equip more than one Weapon Skill at a time. Stats, meanwhile, are passive upgrades that don’t need to be equipped to take effect.

Author
Image of Cande Maldonado
Cande Maldonado
Though Cande started her journey in the video game industry as a localization specialist six years ago, she soon realized that her true calling was to annoy NPCS and smash virtual pottery. Under Nintendo and Square Enix's chokehold, she will willingly pour hours upon hours into reaching 100% completion in the longest roleplaying games ever made. But hey, who needs fresh air and sunlight when you can just live in Ivalice?