At long last, players can finally feel what it's like to run around as Red XIII in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. He appeared in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but he wasn’t playable until the sequel. A previous Tetsuya Nomura game may have taught players how Red XIII would play, though.

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In Kingdom Hearts 2, Sora turned into a lion to match Simba in the world based on The Lion King. That build feels a bit similar to Red XIII in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, although he uses Collars as weapons instead of Keyblades like Sora. Red XIII’s Collars come with weapon skills, and these are some of the best in the game.

7 Offensive MP Saver (Silver Collar)

Turn This Red Lion Into A Red Mage

The Silver Collar is one of the hardest weapons to get for Red XIII. Players need to get a high score in the "Run Wild" mini-game located in Costa del Sol. Players can unlock it as early as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s sixth chapter, but the weapon will never go away, so there is no rush.

With the Silver Collar, players can equip Red XIII with Offensive MP Saver. This Skill will reduce the MP cost of attack spells, like Blizzaga, by 10%. Also on the Silver Collar is Restorative MP Saver, which reduces MP by 10% for healing spells like Cure. Equipping both can turn Red XIII into a jack-of-all-trades Red Mage.

6 Weapon Ability Damage +5% (Mythril Collar)

Building Up The Stardust Ray

The Mythril Collar is Red XIII’s default weapon when he becomes playable in Chapter 2. With it, players can learn one of Red XIII’s best weapon abilities in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Stardust Ray. This attack will target all foes, damage them for a short span, and pull them toward each other.

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Players can also equip the weapon skill Weapon Ability Damage +5% with the Mythril Collar. It will increase the damage of abilities like Stardust Ray by a noticeable 5%. There are two of these weapon skills on the Mythril Collar, and their stats do stack.

5 ATB Charge Rate Up (Renegade’s Collar)

Act Faster, Act Smarter

There is a bit of a story shift in Chapter 3 of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. About halfway through the Mythril Mine, Red XIII and Barret will split off from the party for their own mini-dungeon. On this route, players can find the Renegade’s Collar for Red XIII.

Players can equip the ATB Charge Rate Up weapon skill with it to increase how fast Red XIII’s ATB bars charge up. This is important if players plan to use a lot of magic, specials, or items with Red XIII. Otherwise, ATB charges are not needed for normal attacks.

4 Siphon Fang HP Up (Mythril Collar)

Heal More Through Bites

Once players beat the game, they can go back in for a more challenging experience. In this harder mode, players cannot use items to heal during battle. That means Magic Materia like Healing will become very important in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

There are other ways to heal though, like Red XIII’s Siphon Fang. He can heal himself while damaging an opponent at the same time. The Mythril Collar has the Siphon Fang HP Up weapon skill, which will increase how much that attack heals for., making it that much more valuable

3 Enhanced Counterspin (Mythril Collar)

Spin Me Right Round

There is a countering system in the game that is a bit tricky to master. Red XIII has a more intricate system that allows him to do a move called Counterspin once he blocks an attack. Using Counterspin is primarily how his Vengeance gauge will rise.

Vengeance Mode will put Red XIII into a trance-like state, and it will increase his stats for a short period. A weapon skill like Enhanced Counterspin on the Mythril Collar will increase Counterspin’s power, giving Red XIII a stronger counterattack than any other playable character in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

2 Vengeance Gauge Charge Rate Up (Silver Collar)

Building Vengeance Mode

Using the Mythril Collar to enhance Red XIII’s Counterspin is one strategy to improve his combat usefulness. Another would be to increase how fast the Vengeance gauge rises. It could be argued that going into that state as soon as possible will do more damage than a few enhanced Counterspins.

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Vengeance is Red XIII’s greatest move, but it takes some strategy to get it going. Players can increase its charge with the aptly named Vengeance Gauge Charge Rate Up on the Silver Collar. Players can stack this weapon skill up to two times on the Silver Collar to increase the charge rate even more.

1 Enduring Vengeance (Mythril Collar)

Taking Advantage Of Red XIII’s Limits

There are a lot of meters to keep track of in this game, including the ATB bars, health bars, the Lime Break meter, and, for Red XIII, the Vengeance gauge. Of all the tabs, meters, and bars in the game, Red XIII’s special will be the hardest to increase, as was previously stated. That’s why players have to make it count once activated.

With the Mythril Collar, they can stay in this state for 20% longer thanks to the Enduring Vengeance skill. For some of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s more difficult fights, like bosses or rare monsters, it is best to control Red XIII to get the Vengeance gauge charged quickly. Overall, the Mythril Collar undoubtedly has a lot of good skills to enhance that state, making it an excellent offensive choice for Red XIII.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Platform(s)

PlayStation 5

Released

February 29, 2024

Developer(s)

Square Enix

Genre(s)

RPG

See at Playstation Store