FF7 Remake Summon Materia Guide: Unlocking Shiva, Leviathan, And More

Final Fantasy 7 Remake transforms the classic summon system into an essential strategic component that can dramatically shift battle outcomes. Unlike traditional RPG summons that simply deal damage, these spectral allies provide sustained battlefield presence and specialized abilities.

Summon Materia represents some of the most powerful magical resources available, yet their optional nature means many players complete the game without discovering their full potential. Mastering summon acquisition requires both exploration prowess and combat proficiency.

Strategic summon deployment can turn impossible battles into manageable encounters, particularly when facing boss enemies with specific elemental vulnerabilities. Each summon possesses unique activation conditions and combat specialties that complement different party configurations and playstyles.

Your initiation into summon commanding begins automatically during Chapter 4’s narrative progression. This fiery behemoth serves as both tutorial and primary damage dealer during early game challenges.

Ifrit excels at aggressive close-quarters combat, making him particularly effective against single targets and groups of weaker enemies. His Hellfire ultimate ability delivers massive fire-elemental damage while applying burning status effects to vulnerable foes.

Pro Tip: Equip Ifrit when facing ice-elemental enemies like Frost Demons or when you need consistent pressure against staggered opponents. His persistent presence allows your controlled character to focus on support or secondary targets.

Location: Chapter 6 introduces your first optional summon acquisition through environmental puzzle-solving. Tifa identifies the Materia’s location near industrial ventilation systems, but access requires strategic power management first.

You must deactivate two of the three sunlamps in the surrounding area before returning to H-01 to access the gondola transport system. This returns you to the ventilation corridor where the real challenge begins.

The cleaning maintenance trial demands eliminating all hostiles within a strict 60-second timeframe. Failure triggers a simplified second attempt with less demanding enemy composition, ensuring eventual success regardless of skill level.

Chocobo Kick stands out as this summon’s signature technique, delivering exceptional stagger accumulation against resistant targets. The wind-elemental affinity makes it indispensable against aerial opponents and earth-aligned creatures.

Common Mistake: Many players underestimate the mobility requirements for the cleaning challenge. Position your party near the room’s center to quickly engage spawning enemies from multiple directions.

Location: Chapter 8 marks your introduction to Chadley’s VR combat simulations. This Shinra intern stations himself between healing facilities and Materia vendors in Sector 5 Slums, offering the Shiva battle scenario upon interaction.

Party composition dramatically influences this encounter’s difficulty. Solo attempts with Cloud prove significantly more challenging than bringing Aerith for magical support and healing capabilities.

Boss Strategy: Shiva’s ice-elemental nature creates inherent vulnerability to fire-based attacks. Equip your strongest Fire Materia on Aerith while ensuring Ifrit remains available for summoning during critical phases.

Arcane Ward represents the tactical cornerstone for this engagement. This ability doubles every fire spell’s effectiveness, allowing rapid ATB accumulation and consistent pressure application.

Advanced Technique: Time your spellcasting to coincide with Shiva’s attack animations. Successful fire spells during her casting sequences can interrupt dangerous abilities like Diamond Dust.

Positioning awareness remains crucial throughout the encounter. Maintain distance when Shiva recovers from stagger states to avoid her devastating Icicle Impact area denial ability.

Fat Chocobo becomes available through specific side quest completion chains, offering unparalleled defensive utility and crowd control capabilities. His meteor shower ability deals non-elemental damage to all enemies while providing temporary damage reduction for your party.

Leviathan demands exceptional combat proficiency, requiring players to complete all available VR missions before accessing this aquatic powerhouse. His Tidal Wave ultimate clears battlefield hazards while applying water vulnerability to affected targets.

Chadley’s secret summon represents the game’s ultimate challenge, testing mastery of combat mechanics, materia synergy, and party management under extreme conditions.

Optimization Tip: Complete weapon ability trees before attempting advanced summon battles. Missing core abilities significantly increases encounter difficulty and extends completion time unnecessarily.

Choco Chick provides early-game mobility advantages, reducing exploration time between objectives while offering rapid disengagement from unfavorable encounters.

Cactuar specializes in precision single-target damage with his 1,000 Needles ability, making him ideal for eliminating high-priority targets with minimal collateral damage.

Carbuncle serves as the definitive support summon, enhancing party defensive capabilities while providing gradual health regeneration during extended engagements.

Strategic Insight: DLC summons fill specific tactical niches rather than providing direct power upgrades. Deploy them situationally rather than as primary damage sources.

For comprehensive gameplay guidance beyond summon acquisition, explore our Complete Guide covering all core systems and mechanics.

No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » FF7 Remake Summon Materia Guide: Unlocking Shiva, Leviathan, And More Master FF7 Remake's summon system with complete acquisition guides and battle strategies