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Can you upgrade weapons in FF7 Rebirth?

Find out how to make your weapons stronger in FF7 Rebirth

Weapon selection plays a huge part in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, with each weapon for all seven party members having its own perks and drawbacks. Players will pick up more than half a dozen weapons for each character throughout the game, and picking which one to use is difficult.

If you’ve found a weapon that’s clicking with you, you might be wondering if it’s possible to upgrade that weapon to make it more powerful, add materia slots, or increase its stats to make it more useful later in the game. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about weapon upgrades in FF7 Rebirth, as well as what weapon levels are and what they do.

Can you upgrade weapons in FF7 Rebirth?

Weapons in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are static and cannot be upgraded. Their physical attack stat, magical attack stat, number of materia slots, and just about everything else is set in stone from the moment you get them to the moment you roll credits.

A screenshot of the weapon stats screen in FF7 Rebirth

Weapon stats can't be changed.

Because of this, it’s important to weigh each weapon on its merits. Just about every weapon in the game has its ups and downs, and your play style will depend on which one works best for you. If you tend to use more abilities, you might choose to go with a weapon with more materia slots, while if you’re a heavy magic user, a weapon with more magic damage might be worth it over more materia.

Upgrade weapons with weapon skills – FF7 Rebirth

Even though you can’t make your weapons stronger through traditional means, you can upgrade your weapons with weapon skills, which can only be applied in the weapon and equipment change screen. Weapon skills are special passive skills that are applied to each weapon and range from more general buffs like increased HP or strength to more complex skills that interact with a characters’ unique abilities. You can unlock more weapon skills by increasing your weapon level.

A list of weapon skills in FF7 Rebirth

Weapon skills can help make weapons stronger

Increasing your weapon level will happen passively as you progress through the game and engage in battles, and your weapon level is on a per-character basis, not a per-weapon basis. This means you’ll retain your weapon level even when you switch weapons. Raising your weapon level unlocks more weapon skill slots, increases the amount of weapon skills available, and unlocks more abilities in your folios.

A locked skill on the folio screen in FF7 Rebirth

Some folio skills require higher weapon levels.