As a passionate Crisis Core player, I know the thrill of acquiring rare materia through mastering challenging content. But what if I told you there was an easier way to gain access to exclusive, high-powered materia without needing to grind for hours or spend any gil?
Through materia fusion, you can combine standard materia in your inventory to create rare and mighty materia not obtainable through traditional means. As a veteran Crisis Core player with countless fusion experiments under my belt, allow me to guide you through everything you need to know to master this complex yet immensely rewarding system.
A Crash Course on Materia Fusion
The materia fusion feature allows combining two materia to produce one new materia that inherits properties from its parent materia. For example, fusing two Fire materia together can yield a more powerful Fira materia.
The attributes of the resulting fused materia are calculated based on:
- The attributes of both parent materia
- Hidden fusion rank values assigned to each materia
Understanding Fusion Ranks and Influence
Every materia possesses a hidden fusion rank between 1-100 that determines the degree of influence it will exert over the properties of the fused materia.
Higher ranked materia with ranks closer to 100 contribute more to defining the attributes of fused materia. As a general rule, when fusing materia together:
- Materia with ranks over 50 have higher impact
- Ranks below 50 exert less influence
For example, fusing a rank 80 Fire materia with a rank 30 Chakra materia results in a fused materia that inherits 80% of its attributes from the Fire materia and 20% from the Chakra materia.
The precise influence calculation works as follows:
Materia 1 Influence % = (Materia 1 Fusion Rank ÷ Total of Ranks) x 100
Materia 2 Influence % = (Materia 2 Fusion Rank ÷ Total of Ranks) x 100 So in our rank 80 Fire + rank 30 Chakra example:
Fire Influence % = (80 ÷ (80 + 30)) x 100 = 72.7%
Chakra Influence % = (30 ÷ (80 + 30)) x 100 = 27.3%Understanding how fusion ranks impact fused materia is key to predicting fusion outcomes.
Types of Fused Materia
Now that you grasp the basic principles, let‘s explore the different categories of materia you can potentially create via fusion along with some kickass recipes under each category:
Magic Materia Fusions
Magic materia imbues your character with magical abilities like spells. Fusing two magic materia together will compound their magical energies into a single deadly materia.
For example, fusing two Thunder materia creates Thundara materia which packs both Thunder spells into one materia for twice the damage output!
Here are some especially lethal magic materia fusion combinations:
| Materia 1 | Materia 2 | Fused Materia | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | Libra | Fira | More potent fire magic |
| Thunder | Poison | Dark Thundara | Thunder + Poison damage |
| Tri-Thundaga | Outsider | Ultima | Supremely destructive non-elemental magic |
Ultima materia, only obtainable via fusion by combining Tri-Thundaga with Outsider, is hands down one of the most powerful magic materia in Crisis Core.
Command Materia Fusions
Command materia unlocks special abilities beyond magic attacks that can be extremely useful in combat. Fusing command materia combines these command powers into creative new abilities.
Here‘s an ultra badass command materia fusion:
| Materia 1 | Materia 2 | Fused Materia | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outsider | Goblin Punch | Costly Punch | Insane damage but drains gil per use |
The resulting Costly Punch materia inflicts a degree of physical damage so obscene that it demands compensation…in the form of your hard-earned gil! But damn if it isn‘t satisfying to utterly obliterate enemies with it.
Support Materia Fusions
Support materias apply enhancements and bonuses to equipped magic and command materia. Fusing support materia concentrates their enhancement effects.
For example:
| Materia 1 | Materia 2 | Fused Materia | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Libra | MP Absorb | MP Absorb Plus | Restores more MP when attacked |
MP Absorb Plus steals even more of an enemy‘s MP during attacks compared to regular MP Absorb materia.
Here‘s an especially handy support fusion for high-level magic spamming:
| Materia 1 | Materia 2 | Fused Materia | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Libra | Quadra Magic | Quint Magic | Equip 5 magic per materia! |
Independent Materia Fusions
Independent materia activate special effects like stat boosts passively. Fusing independent materia magnifies their effects.
For instance:
| Materia 1 | Materia 2 | Fused Materia | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Libra | Magic Attack | Magic Atk Bonus | Stronger magic damage boost |
Magic Atk Bonus materia grants an even bigger boost to magic attack than regular Magic Attack materia.
Now you have a firm grasp of fused materia categories and kickass recipes for each. But how do you actually access materia fusion?
Unlocking the Materia Fusion System
Materia fusion becomes available early on in Crisis Core Reunion after reaching Chapter 3 and visiting the Shinra Manager situated in the mountain mining area.
After a brief tutorial from the manager on how materia fusion works, the Materia Fusion menu becomes accessible from the game‘s main menu.
With materia fusion unlocked, let‘s cover some pro tips to fuse the mightiest materia possible:
Pro Tips for Optimal Fusions
While fused materia attributes draw mainly from the higher ranked parent materia due to influence percentages, you can amplify fusion results by keeping these key tips in mind:
Match Materia Levels
Fuse materia of equivalent levels whenever possible for more predictable fusion outcomes.
Attempting to fuse a level 1 materia with a level 5 materia often produces underwhelming results since influence skews heavily towards the higher level materia.
Max Out Materia Before Fusing
Level up both materia to their max level cap before fusing rather than preemptively fusing. This passes down the full attributes of mastered materia.
For example, materia only grow to their second tier upon mastering their base level cap (Fire to Fira, Cure to Cura etc.) Fusing two unleveled Fire materia would only produce another basic Fire materia rather than Fira.
Pay Attention to Hidden Ranks
Catalog and closely compare materia fusion ranks when selecting fusion candidates.
Focus on fusing materia with higher ranks over 50 if aiming for specific attributes in the fused materia. Or, fuse with both ranks under 50 for more randomization.
Get Creative with Categories
Don‘t just fuse materia of identical categories. Fascinating hybrid abilities can emerge from fusing across categories like command with support materias. The combinations are endless!
For example, fusing Poison magic materia with the Jump command materia produces Poison Jump. Jump kicking enemies with a nasty toxic after effect!
Enhance with Libra
Use Libra as a fusion base materia when aiming to boost attributes of other single materias. Fusing with Libra concentrates the core aspects of the fused materia.
For example Libra + Fire = Stronger Fire. Libra + Cure = Cura.
Now get out there and start fusing materia like your life depends on it! Just maybe one day it will…good luck and godspeed fusion master!
