Ice materia is a Magic Materia in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth that provides the user Ice-elemental spells. Ice spells cause a ice projectile to hit an enemy, and explode shortly after dealing damage. The materia is imbued with the element, and thus can be linked with the Elemental Materia to add ice damage to attacks or resist against ice. It can be paired with Synergy Materia or Auto-Cast Materia to cast ice spells automatically.
In addition to ice materia, the Fire and Ice Materia contains the properties of both ice and Fire Materia, although it is rarer and levels up slower than the ice materia does.
The ice materia in Rebirth is mostly identical to the materia in Final Fantasy VII Remake, though its spells damage enemies more easily as the projectiles shatter faster.
Obtained[]
The player already has an ice materia since the start of the game. It is also sold in all shops that sell materia for 500 gil apiece. It is also a reward in Chadley's combat simulator for completing "Combat Training: Tifa", and a level 2 version is awarded for completing "Grasslands Region Intel: Level 2" starting in chapter 12, "A Golden Key".
Stats[]
Growth[]
Level | AP required | Effect |
---|---|---|
1 | 0 | Blizzard |
2 | 300 | Blizzara |
3 | 900 | Blizzaga |
Abilities[]
Magic | MP | Effect |
---|---|---|
Blizzard | 4 | Deal a small amount of Ice damage. |
Blizzara | 10 | Deal a moderate amount of ice damage. |
Blizzaga | 21 | Deal a large amount of ice damage. |
Use[]
The ice materia grants three tiers of ice-elemental spells. The basic Blizzard spell is unlocked initially, and leveling the materia with AP unlocks the mid-tier Blizzara spell, and further leveling unlocks Blizzaga. The higher-tier spells cost more MP and take slightly longer to cast, and Blizzaga uses two ATB charges instead of one. The ice materia's spells are comparable in damage to the fire materia, as well as the Lightning Materia and Wind Materia. Although it levels up slower, the fire and ice materia contains the same spells as the ice materia.
Ice-elemental damage is most effective against biological enemies.
Ice materia has several useful Support Materia pairings. For spellcasting, auto-cast and synergy materia allow Blizzard to be cast often; Blizzard is typically less effective in this role compared to faster projectiles of the fire and lightning counterparts, but it can be useful against enemies weak to ice. This pairing is best for party members with high Magic attributes (Aerith, Cloud, Yuffie, or Cait Sith). Magnify Materia similarly can be very effective with ice against groups of enemies who are vulnerable to the element. Early on, Level Boost Materia can grant access to higher-tier ice spells if they are needed before the materia is fully leveled. Magic Focus Materia can increase the strength of ice spells against certain opponents, while Magic Efficiency Materia can reduce its spells' MP cost. Swiftcast Materia can speed the cast time. This materia, however, is generally better saved for other materia pairings.
The ice materia's role can fundamentally be changed by pairing it with elemental materia. Pairing ice materia with elemental materia on a weapon imbues all attacks with ice damage, allowing non-spellcasters to take advantage of an enemy's ice weakness. This pairing can be particularly useful on those with high Strength attributes, namely Cloud, Tifa, Red XIII, Yuffie, and Cait Sith. Pairing it with ice on an armor will instead resist (or at full level, absorb) ice damage, making it an excellent pairing on party members who prefer to tank damage such as Cloud, Barret, or Red XIII. Doing so in combination with Provoke Materia can be effective to protect other party members.
If the party member casting a spell from their ice materia has unlocked their ice-elemental weapon ability (e.g. Snow Flurry for Red XIII), Blizzard/Blizzara/Blizzaga becomes Blizzard/Blizzara/Blizzaga α, which will bestow a ice-elemental sphere to the spellcaster for the rest of the battle (unless the player changes the element with Fire α etc.) that will supplement small magical ice-elemental damage when defending against certain enemy attacks (perfect-blocking not needed) and when using ATB abilities. The attacks from the "ice sphere" do build stagger and can be critical hits.
The ice materia is outclassed by the fire and ice materia, which is more slot-efficient due to having more spells, and a greater pairing with elemental materia due to providing the ability to imbue attacks with or resist two elements rather than one. However, only one fire and ice materia can be obtained, meaning ice materia still has uses. Pairing fire and ice with elemental materia can thus provide more effective resistance or physical attack, while fire and ice materia can be more slot efficient for some spellcasters and potentially grant support materia pairing to two types of elemental spells. Either way, the rarity of fire and ice materia means ice materia maintains use.